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Why Malaysia Cup "IS IMPORTANT"?

Why is it so? Read on  It was the right decision for me not to snap in the recently concluded AFF Suzuki Cup , which I would like to show my greatest appreciation to Mr Jaron Lee for helping this platform when I felt I was not physically and mentally prepared for that regional marquee tournament. In the meantime, we also noticed the increased presence of "fan-based media" like myself during the abovementioned tournament who also have been actively churning out content for the past one, two years. The emergence of these new players is a welcome sight, and it is also a constant reminder to me that the need to be innovative in order to stay relevant in the field. BEING SELECTIVE NOW I thought with the proliferation of social media tools which are now seen as a "must-have" for many organizations and individuals, information posted on these new media domains can be shared, re-curated by other platforms easily . This is why weeks right after the end of the 2021 Singapore

[Telegram Chat] - 𝐍𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐄𝐆𝐆𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐀 𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐓

Kyoga Nakamura's deal - a bigger news I can sense that excitement when Tampines Rovers surprised everyone when they dished out an unprecedented contract to bind Kyoga Nakamura for the next five years . After all, a commitment for that duration is something unheard of in local football where it was a common thing to see one or, if lucky, a two-year contract for the players. Furthermore, it came at a time when the economy is not doing well when most of us are worrying about our bread and butter. CONTINUING OF THE HYPE? The surfacing of this development definitely gave us a "wow" reaction, and probably something of a continuation of hype after the heroics of the Lions that melted the hearts of the nation in the recent AFF Suzuki Cup followed by the signing of Izwan Mahbud and M Anumanthan to the big-spending Lion City Sailors (LCS). Not forgetting Albirex Niigata (Singapore) made eyes turn when they roped in former Japanese international Tadanari Lee  ( Lee is famous for s

[AFF Suzuki Cup 2020] Was It Benny's Idea In 1977?

Indonesia (red) and Thailand (blue) are finalists of AFF Suzuki Cup 2020 Final (credit: Jaron Lee) While it may seem like a different concept when he made the suggestion in 1977, but the ongoing AFF Suzuki Cup - a tournament contested by Asean nations should be the brainchild of Indonesian Benny Moelyono. Speaking to The Straits Times during 1978 Pre-World Cup qualifiers, the then Indonesia assistant team manager proposed an "Asean Cup soccer tournament, run along the lines of the UEFA Cup" According to Moelyono, Asean "needs is a meaningful competition," and invitation tournaments like King's Cup (of Thailand), Merdeka Cup (Tournament of Malaysia) were for the "sake of it" which did not arouse national spirit like the Asean tournament he proposed. The idea of "Asean Cup" first mooted in 1977 (credit: NLB archive ) "I'm sure it would be a success. Besides helping Asean countries improve their soccer standards, the tournament would

[AFF SUZUKI CUP 2020] Glaring ERRORS In The Official Programme

Plenty of blunders were made in the official tournament programme of AFF Suzuki Cup 2020, according to a friend of mine. In a series of text messages, my friend highlighted these mistakes with illustrations forwarded for my reference. "TWO-LEGGED" ONLY STARTED IN 2004 On the "Roll of Honour' page of the programme (as illustrated), said my friend: "From 2004 , the knockout stage is played over two legs on a home-and-away format.", pointed out using those emojis on the glaring mistakes made such as wrongly listed Singapore beat Vietnam "on aggregate" to win her first international honour - the Tiger Cup in 1998 . "My friend" claimed this was a 1997 SEA Games team photo The next things being singled out were the wrong Singapore team photo used in introducing the tournament history and the name of the tournament. "(It was the) wrong (Singapore team) photo used on 1996 First ever “AFF Suzuki Cup”, (it) should be (called the) Tiger Cup. I

[Telegram Chat] - 𝐓𝐔𝐌𝐔𝐋𝐓𝐔𝐎𝐔𝐒 𝐏𝐑𝐄𝐏 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐒𝐔𝐙𝐔𝐊𝐈 𝐂𝐔𝐏

An IG poll was conducted to see how many noticed this poster There is some marketing buzz going on for the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup though I am not sure how many noticed this banner while strolling along this busy walkway of Bishan MRT station? Not that far away from this station is Bishan Stadium - the venue for most of the Group B matches. One thing to take note of is the stadium is installed with a new natural grass surface (picture below) which I had a look at recently from the nearby Bishan Sports Hall. Being a surface that was only laid not that long ago, not sure if it is able to withstand the robustness of the team like the Vietnamese who are known for their pace. (maybe someone with some horticultural knowledge can answer that)? Will Vietnam thrive on this new surface? In the meantime, the delay in the announcement of the ticketing and broadcasting details caused some anxieties among the local fans during the run-up to the biennial showpiece. Yet when the ticketing details we

[Telegram Chat] - 𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐅𝐔𝐋𝐋 𝐔𝐒𝐄 𝐎𝐅 𝐈𝐓

1) I never utilize the "story" function available on Instagram until June last year when I posted my first "story" in June 2020. As I used to think why should I bother to post something which only lasts for 24 hours. It was only after I posted my first poll in November 2021 and realized how useful it is to solicit feedback and understand the ground's sentiments on various issues on local football. Like this poll, I conducted to find the fans' preferred mode to watch their AIA Singapore Premier League matches. A marginal majority preferred at the stadium 2) This recent poll was meant to be a tongue-in-cheek attempt to gauge how was the response seemed to be one-sided, and Shopee did reply after I tagged them in this story. I never expect Shopee would reply after I posted this 3) On a serious note, this poll was conducted right after the draw of the AFF Suzuki Cup which is scheduled to take place in Singapore at the end of the year. And seems like many are

[Telegram Chat] - 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐋𝐘, 𝐂𝐎𝐀𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐒 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐒𝐂𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐂𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐒

39th FAS Annual Congress (picture credit: FAS) The following are some of the key points mentioned in the 39th Football Association of Singapore (FAS) Annual Congress . A) From the 2022 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season onwards, the fielding of one Under-23 (U23) player instead of three in the starting lineup. B) No limit on the number of U23 players registered in each SPL squad. C) Young elite leagues to resume in the 2022 season (subject to prevailing circumstances). D) FAS will "put in a strong and determined bid to host" AFF Suzuki Cup . I thought the biggest takeaways would be points (A) and (C) , especially for the former that head coaches would not find themselves in a constrained situation and give more flexibility to field their ideal XI. The move to revive the youth elite leagues is a good one and hopefully, we can see a conduit in place to allow proper progression than having a fast-tracking mode that saw more teenage players in a top-tier league in this s

OFTEN FORGOTTEN - THE SHADOWED SIGNIFICANCE OF LIONS' ASEAN GLORIES

Most of those relive-the-glory-days moments would always have that 1994 Malaysia Cup-winning video shown but overlooked the few other notable moments - the 1998 victory over Vietnam in Hanoi that saw us win our very FIRST international honour - the Tiger Cup before repeating the same feat in 2004 at Kallang when we won at HOME - in front of a full capacity (old) National Stadium and not forgetting the 2007 and 2012 moments of glories too. The 1994 Malaysia Cup triumph moment, as seen in an exhibition at the National Museum   Yet many times, many social media postings seem to favour the footage from the 1994 Shah Alam victory when comes to savouring that bit of nostalgia. "It feels like you celebrate your 25th anniversary at work by showcasing the company that fired you as (a) prelude." remarked a friend after seeing it on the  AIA Singapore Premier League Facebook Page of the 1994 Malaysia Cup Final last year. TESTAMENT FOR THE FLEDGLING S.LEAGUE Don't get me wrong, whi

[Annual Review] - Stay At Eight To Ensure Competitiveness For 2021

Was not thinking of penning this annual review since it was a shortened season due to the ongoing pandemic. Nonetheless, I decided to come up with a short piece, to sum up my thoughts on the extraordinary year that not only affected local football but also our daily life as well. First of all, congratulations to Albirex Niigata (Singapore) for regaining the Singapore Premier League (SGPL) title which they last won in 2018 as part of their clean sweep of local major honours. A PACKED 2021 CALENDAR - A HEADACHE FOR FAS AND CLUBS The ongoing Covid19 pandemic resulted in a number of competitions, both regional and domestic, being postponed or canceled thus it is likely to see a packed footballing calendar next year. Not only will we see Tampines Rovers, Lion City Sailors, and Geylang International taking part in continental tournaments like the AFC Champions League and the AFC Cup, but the AFF Suzuki Cup is also scheduled to return next year  (though in December 2021 at the latest update p

Are The Lions Ready For Bukit Jalil At End Of March?

Shroud in secrecy that at the eleventh hour, many are still unsure if the Singapore national team is ready for their first tournament of the year with no clear indication from the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) on their participation in the AIRMARINE Cup 2019. "The FAS will be making an announcement on this shortly." was the reply received by this platform after inquiries were put forward to ask several matters pertaining to the quadrangular organized by the Football Association of Malaysia (FAM) who announced the tournament will feature Oman, Afghanistan (as a  replacement for the Solomon Islands ) beside Singapore and host nation Malaysia in a press release issued on 25th of February. FIGHTING FOR FIFA POINTS With the statement like this that read "The AIRMARINE Cup 2019 aims to be a tournament that delivers a competitive platform for national squads during the international break to gain the necessary exposure and ranking points to advance in the Inter

"Abang" Taking Charge in November

Fandi Ahmad will take charge of the Suzuki Cup campaign It was a mere formality when the earlier press conference was called to announce Young Lions coach Fandi Ahmad as the man in charge of the Singapore National Team for the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup campaign in November. This hastily-arranged media gathering more or less confirmed a Straits Times'  report that appeared days ago which suggested the former Singapore skipper “will hold the fort for the national team while the search continues for the coach who will lead the Lions on a permanent basis”. So when the panel that comprised Messrs Lim Kia Tong (FAS president), Edwin Tong (FAS vice-president), Yazeen Buhari (FAS Acting General Secretary), and Fandi, himself, took their seats before the start of the event, the awaiting media at the venue already knew what was on the agenda. Fandi spoke to the media after the presser “I am really excited about the new Suzuki Cup format,” said the one-time FC Groningen striker o