BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

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

(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

Back in March 1996, after a few pre-season friendly matches saw huge crowds turned up in thousands at stadiums like Bedok, Woodlands and Tampines to catch S.League teams like Geylang United and Woodlands Wellington in action, safety and security concerns were raised and highlighted in the newspapers. According to The New Paper (TNP), approximately 7,500 fans packed the Bedok Stadium to witness a star-studded Geylang United skippered by Fandi Ahmad taking on Johor SEDC on the 12th of March. When was the last time we had sights like this? (credit: NLB archive) Headlined "Safety, security action" on one of the back pages of its 14th of March edition, the tabloid included a picture of a scene that had never since reoccurred at games in recent years - a sardine-packed crowd congested the main stand of the Bedok Stadium to see the aforementioned match. SAFETY CONCERN  Geylang star defender Kadir Yahaya was quoted in the same article saying: "Although the turnout was

Am I glad the season is over! It must be one of the most dreadful seasons since my involvement when I breathed a sigh of relief after Albirex Niigata (Singapore) was finally awarded the trophy  that accoladed them as the inaugural champions of the revamped professional league aka Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League (SGPL), despite the confirmation months earlier after their draw against Balestier Khalsa at Toa Payoh to close the 2018 season. Albirex Niigata (Singapore) established a dynasty in local football In an attempt to distance itself from the S.League which was associated with much of the flaws of the old regime, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced the rebranding of the Republic's only professional sporting league as SGPL in a glittering setting at the Singapore Sports Hub (SSH) amid much skepticism from the ground . SUPERFICIAL CHANGES? Perhaps the only difference between the SGPL and the S.League is the change in the name and the

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

Instead of clamouring for those good old days, I always believe one shall never dwell on things that were already long gone. Yet, the irony is we still need those past glories to inspire the newer generations to push the boundaries to do better than their predecessors. Mat Noh embraced Uncle Choo after beat Malaysia 1-0 (New Nation) PRE-WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS (ASIA ZONE GROUP ONE) IN SINGAPORE It was a time when Singapore, the host, were ranked outsiders in this tournament which featured regional powerhouses like Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia as well. How would one expect the Lions to do well against a technically superior Malaysia team who still boasted the likes of “Spiderman” R Arumugam, “Towkay” Soh Chin Aun, Santokh Singh, Wong Choon Wah, James Wong, etc. in the absence of the legendary Mokhtar Dahari who was injured? Yet a hotly-disputed penalty which was converted by Mat Noh (who was tasked by coach "Uncle" Choo Seng Quee to train on penal

Yusof B Ibrahim was among those who made their presence days ago at the International Champions Cup - Singapore (ICCSG) tournament which was held for the second time in the Lion City. Here is his summary of the tournament after catching the likes of Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) in action in a space of five days at Kallang. Arsenal head coach Unai Emery The second edition of the International Champions Cup Singapore tournament (ICCSG) was held in late July at the Singapore Sports Hub with the likes of Arsenal, Atlético Madrid and PSG (Paris Saint-Germain) pitted against one another in this annual mega tournament featuring some of the biggest football clubs in the world. Early birds Arsenal arrived with a full squad which included former German international Mesut Özil who was, however, not featured in their opening match against Atlético Madrid, as new Gunners gaffer Unai Emery opted for a similar system favoured by his predecessor Arsene Wen

SGPL - Home Utd 1-0 Hougang Utd 010718 I think panic button should be pressed by now With this Great Eastern-Hyundai Singapore Premier League fixture between Home United Football Club and Hougang United Football Club (HGFC) together with the one I saw a day earlier, I would say if we are to depend entirely on this league as our main source for the team playing in the AFF Suzuki Cup, the panic button should be pressed by now. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES Friendly - Ex Internationals vs SCRC 180718 Former Lions skipper Razali Saad (left) in action This friendly match between Ex International Legends and SCRC from SMRT was played at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The former is preparing for the upcoming The Sultan of Selangor's Cup in late August while the latter is gearing up for the GSFL season. Additional photos from Mr Yusof Ibrahim. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES ICCSG2018 - Atlético Madrid 1-1 Arsenal (AM

(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

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you) ABL - Slingers vs Formosa Dreamers 110218 "黑人"posed with fans It was an ASEAN Basketball League match full of errors that eventually saw the hosts Singapore Slingers walked away with a 72-65 win over the cellar dwellers Formosa Dreamers 寶島夢想家. Taiwanese celebrity "黑人" 陳建州's presence at the courtside added much glamour to the game and saw the Dreamers GM had a impromptu "meet-the-fan-session" before and after the match. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE MATCH PICTURES ABL - Slingers vs Chongson Kungfu 040318 Former Slingers star Justin Howard (55) up against Chris Charles What amazed me was the fact that Chongson arrived at this ASEAN Basketball League game with only seven players to rotate throughout the