BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

(The content and  images depicted in this entry were made available by the media release issued by the organizers) As part of the action plan to cement the commitments that were spelt out months ago in the ambitious blueprint to lift Singapore football out of the doldrums, the audience at the Jurongville Secondary School witnessed the launch of the School Football Academy (SFA) programme under the Unleash The Roar! (UTR!) project last Saturday (23rd July). Mr Edwin Tong (extreme right) and Mr Eric Chua (extreme left) Graced by the presence of Mr Edwin Tong, the Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, the event also saw the unveiling of the logos of both SFA and UTR!. Being one of the key pillars of the UTR! project, the SFA initiative was first announced last November following a partnership with the Spanish top-tier league LaLiga. TRAINING FREQUENCIES TO INCREASE Among the key features of the programme are increased training frequencies – up to four times a week from the averag...

Nineteenth-time English league champions Liverpool concluded their South East Asian tour with a 2-0 win over fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace to clinch the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy last evening at the National Stadium. The result meant the Reds fly out of the region with a record of a win and a defeat (4-0 loss to Manchester United in Bangkok). Liverpool fans at the match (credit: Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy 2022) In front of 50,217 fans, the fixture was the first that featured the two European top-flight clubs played in Singapore since 2019. Other than a small number of Palace fans that congregated behind one of the goals, it was almost a partisan Liverpool crowd that recreated the Anfield atmosphere at Kallang, such as the rendition of the club's iconic anthem - "You'll Never Walk Alone" during the night. Liverpool took an early in the 13th minute when skipper Jordan Henderson fired past Eagles' keeper Vicente Guaita in the box after...

The VIPs at the announcement of the match  Nineteenth-time English league champions Liverpool will take on fellow Premier League side Crystal Palace in the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy 2022. A press conference was held this morning at Gardens by the Bay to announce the match will be played on 15th July at the National Stadium. FIRST MATCH FEATURING EUROPEAN CLUB SIDES SINCE 2019 Organized by TEG Sport in partnership with Standard Chartered, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), and CARRO, the confirmation of this fixture will see the Reds and the Eagles being the first two European top-flight clubs to play in Singapore since 2019. Brendon Bainbridge, Managing Director of TEG Asia “TEG is proud to bring live sporting action to Singapore once again. As the organisers of the Standard Chartered Singapore Trophy 2022, our priority is to provide an exceptional sporting event in an atmosphere with all the elements that make watching live sport an incredible experience for all fans in att...

Lee (19) exchanges pleasantries with SNL participants Albirex Niigata FC Singapore's star striker Tadanari Lee will be donating all of his goal bonus, which is worth S$200 per goal, to ‘Goals for SportCares’ campaign till the end of the AIA Singapore Premier League 2022 season, according to the club. LEE: BE PART OF THE COMMUNITY “When I came to Singapore in January 2022, I wanted to be part of the community and a way to do this is to give back through what I can do best – sport. So, when I heard about SportCares and how they use football to engage the youth, it really resonated with me." said Lee in the said media advisory. The 37-year-old kicked off his donation drive in the SportCares’ Saturday Night Lights (SNL) event yesterday (23/4) at Clementi Stadium where Lee joined the youth players in their football drills and shared some pointers with them on the field. Lee showing pointers to SNL participants Following the drills, Lee also joined the Muslim participants for iftar...

Neymar Jr said "Goodbye" before making his exit from the Nigeria game due to an injury   The Brazilian national team concluded their whirlwind tour of Singapore that saw them pit against Senegal and Nigeria over the past few days at the National Stadium. These friendly matches were scheduled as part of the exclusive arrangement between the Brazilian FA (CBF) and Pitch International, a leading sports marketing agency, under the "Brasil Global Tour" package that began in 2012 and will continue till the 2022 World Cup tournament. Liverpool's Roberto Firmino (20) made his attempt against Nigeria POOR CROWD FIGURES  As compared to the 51,557 that packed the same arena five years ago to witness the "Seleçāo" featured against their Japanese counterparts and saw superstar Neymar Jr. netted all four goals, a paltry crowd of 20,621 turned up for the designated hosts' one-all draw with Senegal on the first night despite having some of the bigges...

Much attention have been generated since the announcement of the "Brazil Global Tour 2019" which will be taking place in Singapore next month. This event will feature the Brazilian national team in two friendly matches to be played at the National Stadium where the "Seleção" will play Senegal on the 10th of October before facing Nigeria three days later. It marks the second visit of the five-time World Cup champions to the republic where they last visited back in 2014 when they beat Japan 4-0 in the 55,000-capacity arena of Singapore Sports Hub (SSH). STAR-STUDDED SQUAD TO COME TO SINGAPORE The Brazilians will have the likes of PSG's Neymar Jr and Roberto Firmino who is likely to face his Liverpool team mate Sadio Mané (if he is being selected) of Senegal in the first match. The stellar cast with these stars to parade their skills on our shores had fans like Frankie Goh looking forward to the upcoming bonanza. The "Seleção" squad named ...

With due respect to the past visiting teams, this year's International Champions Cup Singapore (ICCSG) Tournament was probably be the most glittering since Singapore Sports Hub first hosted the event in 2017 under an ongoing four-year agreement. Not only because two of four participating teams - Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspurs are two of the best supported English Premier League sides in Singapore, Juventus, who back in Singapore for the first time since 2015, were boasted by the presence of talismanic Cristiano Ronaldo and the impressive 19-year-old Matthijs de Ligt, the new signing from Ajax Amsterdam following his notable performance that won him admirers among the top clubs in Europe. Credit to the man in cap for started the Kallang Wave on last Saturday Apart from the largely cold shoulder response by the Red Devils to their adoring fans upon their arrival at their Ritz Carlton Millenia base, the players of other three participating sides duly ob...

The new Merlion Cup trophy was unveiled by the members of the FAS Council It was a mere formality earlier this afternoon at the Jalan Besar Stadium (JBS) to confirm the revival of the Merlion Cup tournament this coming June following news of its coming back being revealed by Fox Sports Asia weeks ago. Back in late April, the online portal first reported the Philippines U22 side will be taking part in the mentioned tournament and posted another update days ago that revealed the dates and venue of the quadrangular which will be taking place on 7th and 9th June at the JBS. Former Lions skipper Terry Pathmanathan (second from left) shares his Merlion Cup experiences In a draw that was conducted during the press conference at JBS VIP Lounge, the fate of the four participating teams namely - the U22 sides of Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines were made known. THE FORMAT The first day (7th June) of the tournament will see Thailand vs Indonesia in the first match...

(All images depicted in this entry were made available by the media release issued by the organizers) The coming July will see a blockbuster cast of teams and stars descend on the shores of Singapore when it is confirmed by the organizers of the International Champions Cup (ICC) Singapore tournament that English giants Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur will be featured in the third Singapore edition of this summer tournament with Italians powerhouses FC Internazionale (Inter) and Juventus. (L-R): Dwight Yorke, Franceso Toldo, Fabrizio Ravanelli and Teddy Sheringham "We are very pleased to bring the International Champions Cup to Singapore again. The event is the only platform for fans in the region to get up close to their favourite teams," said Charlie Stillitano, Executive Chairman of Relevent Sports Group - the owner and operator of ICC, in a media release issued shortly after the official launch of the tournament at The Incubator, Esplanade Park. Echoed th...

71st SCC Rugby 7s @ Padang - 031118 A ball boy tossing the ball before the start of a game The SCC 7s is affectionally dubbed as the ‘Friendly Sevens’ and over the decades, legends like the late Jonah Lomu, New Zealand Rugby World Cup Sevens winning captain Eric Rush, All Blacks’ Hall of Famer Tana Umaga and South Africa’s former World Player of the Year Cecil Afrika graced the Padang on their ascendency to rugby stardom. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES 71st SCC Rugby 7s @ Padang - 041118 "There is a card for you" The SCC 7s is affectionally dubbed as the ‘Friendly Sevens’ and over the decades, legends like the late Jonah Lomu, New Zealand Rugby World Cup Sevens winning captain Eric Rush, All Blacks’ Hall of Famer Tana Umaga and South Africa’s former World Player of the Year Cecil Afrika graced the Padang on their ascendency to rugby stardom. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES AFF Suzuki Cup - Singapore 6-1...

(This entry is formulated by the media release issued by Full Circle PR , the PR agency for "ICC Singapore" with all images depicted in this entry belong to International Champions Cup ) (L-R) José Luis Caminero, Robert Pirès and Maxwell Scherrer Football fans, mark your calendar this coming July when the International Champions Cup (ICC) will return to Singapore with three of Europe’s top football clubs.

 Following the success of last year’s tournament that saw 104,407 fans turned out at the National Stadium to catch the likes of Chelsea, FC Bayern Munich and FC Internazionale Milano, the second installment of the Singapore edition of the ICC will see the participation of Arsenal, Atlético de Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) at the same venue on 26th, 28th and 30th of July. Patrick Murphy, President & Chairman, Catalyst Media Group. Acknowledged the positive reception of last year’s tournament in this part of the world is Mr Patrick Murphy, Chairman a...

Yusof B Ibrahim was at the National Stadium last Saturday to witness the "Battle of Masters" Tournament featuring the likes of former Arsenal players alongside their Liverpool and Singapore counterparts. Football fans at the National Stadium were in a treat the last weekend when they were given a chance to witness a number of former English Premier League stars in action alongside Singapore footballing legends in the “Battle of Masters” tournament organized by Masters Football. DURIC SCORED AGAINST HIS HEROES ... Both Arsenal and Singapore Masters raised the curtain for the night by dishing out some entertaining football with the Gunners had two of their attempts denied by the woodwork in the first half. Aleks Duric (blue) scored on his new National Stadium debut Shortly after the breather,1998 World Cup winner Robert Pirès reminded us all of his trickery during his “The Invincibles” heydays when he opened the account in the 23rd minute of play (each half of the ma...