BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Coach Ogura must prepare to take a bold step now Little time should be wasted now since the writings are already on the wall following the announcement of the draw for the groupings of the AFF Mitsubishi Electric Cup (hereafter referred to as the AFF Championship ) on 21st May. THE CHALLENGE AHEAD FOR COACH OGURA With both Lion City Sailors and BG Tampines Rovers participating in the AFC Champions League 2 (ACL 2) — the former in the group stage and the latter in the play-off round ** (see footnote) as the second-best local team — it is an opportune time for national coach Tsutoma Ogura to broaden his scouting scope. This is particularly pertinent given the scheduling overlap between the biennial regional showpiece and ACL 2 , the new second-tier continental club tournament where many key Lions players are likely to be involved. OPPORTUNITIES FOR NEW TALENTS Since the AFF Championship is a non-FIFA sanctioned tournament, clubs are under no obligation to release their players for

Coach Ogura having some thoughts at a training session? Is it too early to conclude anything from just two games after Tsutomu Ogura took charge? Probably in some cases but judging from the sentiments from the public, things are looking positive when fans lauded the performances of the Singapore national team after their two recent World Cup Qualifying matches against China. Despite having drawn 2-2 at home before losing 4-1 away to the Chinese, the Lions put up spirited displays against the team that is ranked 88th on the FIFA ranking (as of the time of writing). The wild celebration ignited by Jacob Mahler's equaliser at Kallang on 21st March was matched by the fist-clenching moment for the soft penalty given to the Chinese in Tianjin that resulted in the hosts taking the lead and propelled them to a face-saving win. Both The Straits Times and CNA praised the performance of the Lions despite the defeat in the third largest municipality of China. "The Lions put up a brave

Singapore claimed its first World Cup Qualifiers point with this draw This post will wrap up the largely euphoric sentiment following our 2-2 draw with China on the 21st of March at Kallang. One can sympathise with the players for their joy when Jacob Mahler levelled the game, especially after a tumultuous period under Takayuki Nishigaya , the former coach. It was like a huge relief, finally being able to breathe properly. Although Nishigaya's successor, Tsutomu Ogura , was quick to express his displeasure at that celebration , which resulted in one of the corner flags being damaged in the process, during the post-match assessment after his first game in charge. In his opinion, the former Japan assistant coach felt the celebration was premature while the game was still ongoing. Encouraging start for Coach Ogura (left) I am sure the same message was relayed to the team immediately after the game in the dressing room. I am not sure if this result can be compared with that famous goa