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[Telegram Chat] - "Come And Fight" To Be In Ogura's Radar

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

[Telegram Chat] - "DA CUKUP LAH!"

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

[Telegram Chat] - WORTH THE EFFORT OR "BUANG MASA"?

The recent no-show by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi in Beijing and Hong Kong respectively had yet again got people asking if staging friendly games in this part of the world featuring high-profile marquees like the mentioned duo is a worthwhile investment. Leo Messi gave Singapore a miss in 2017 There's no doubt that to boost ticket sales, you need a few crowd pullers, and very often, these tickets aren't cheap, but many fans are still willing to pay a hefty price for them. However, recent games of such nature especially those held after the pandemic suggested fans are not going to splurge like they used to do and are taking a more cautious approach when times are bad. The recent pre-season games featuring a few top-tier European club sides in Singapore neither saw a packed stadium nor were the tickets being snapped up at a frantic pace. Notice the empty spaces in the background of the Liverpool-Leicester game in July 2023? Furthermore, those marquee are susceptible to

Unleashing Talent: The Singapore Youth League (SYL) Set To Revolutionize Singaporean Football

(The content of this post is based on the media release announcing the official launch of the Singapore Youth League (SYL), and all the images featured in this blog post are credited to the Football Association of Singapore (FAS).) Co-organised by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) and Sport Singapore (SportSG) , the highly anticipated Singapore Youth League (SYL) is set to kick off on the 24th of February following its official launch Tuesday evening (6/2) at the National Stadium. STRUCTURE OF THE SYL The SYL, an initiative under the Unleash the Roar! (UTR!) national football project is the country’s first-ever nationwide elite youth football competition and is set to feature over 200 registered teams from 52 clubs and academies across various age groups. Singapore Youth League (SYL) was officially launched on the 6th of February Cater to six age groups (Under-8, Under-10, Under-12, Under-13, Under-15, and Under-17) and open to both boys and girls, the matches will be play

[Telegram Chat] - ANSWERED A QUESTION IN QUORA ON SINGAPORE FOOTBALL

How things got worse for Singapore football (AI-generated image) [Quora] - WHY HAS THE SINGAPORE NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM BEEN SO ATROCIOUS IN THE LAST FEW YEARS? There were a few opportunities in the past when we could have built on after winning those ASEAN titles . It should have been a natural progression to see us move forward to compete with the rest of Asia rather than remain in stagnancy at the ASEAN level. Unfortunately, the participation of “Lions XII” in the Malaysian League during 2012–2015 seems to accelerate the declining process. Mainly because most of the Singapore national players during that period played for Lions XII. While there were some successes for the team like clinching the Malaysia League title and the Malaysia FA Cup, it came with a heavy price. During that period (2012–2015), most of the national players did not have a chance to play in the AFC tournaments (i.e.: AFC Champions League, AFC Cup ). As such, these players missed the opportunity to play against v