BoLASEPaKO.COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

.. that this blog been covering, rather I would welcome any opportunity to take a peek on other forms of the game being played in Singapore, after all, this is blog is a "simple view on Singapore Soccer". Being told visually that was this "Velocity Beach Festival" being held at Novena's Velocity and one of the events feature was the " 3-on-3 Beach Soccer Competition ". So after the mandatory market session, I headed down to the mall that prided itself as "Singapore’s dedicated sports mall" . Everything looked disorganized when I first arrived at scene, saw some guys having a kick-about in the sand pit. (only to realize they were just getting ready :P) A few close-up shots from the sideline. Some action-packed photos from the sideline. AFTERTHOUGHTS No t a bad idea to catch some beach football action in a downtown area, eh? One thing I do realized is playing the beach version of the game require one's leg muscles to be strong and well-con...

The mock background at the lift lobby of JBS In the end, Gombak United claimed their first major trophy since joining the S.League with two goals from their "Golden Boy" - Gabriel Obatola in the Avaya -J & J League Cup Final. While Jeon Byung Euk's stunning equalizer levelled the scores in the second half, the match was concluded in a fiery manner which saw three players being sent off. Personally, I wasn't impressed with Bulls' 'keeper's "playing with the fire" antics that triggered the mess towards the end. SOME PICTURES FROM THE LEAGUE CUP FINAL The Super Reds spared no effort to hype up the support by roped in K-Pop artistes from Korea and the fans luv it, of course A video clip of their performance. Gombak coach Swandi Ahmad (center) shared his thoughts after a fiery finale.

.. of you at the National Stadium just now, for the presumptive last game at the Grand Ol' Dame of Kallang. Many Thanks to Ms Lee TienSin for taking this shot at the doorstep of "Press Booth No.2" (Wish I could have the black tag as a souvenir) Unfortunately, the gallant Hassan Sunny in goal was not enough to stop the Saudis from confirming their spot in the final round of the World Cup qualifiers at our own expenses (those of you who saw the game should know why and how..) With the exclusive last goal-scorer at the National Stadium fallen to Ahmed Al Fraidi. SOME PICTURES FROM "SILVER" ROOM "We knew it will be a very hard game against Singapore, especially after they scored three goals against Uzbekistan (in their last home game)." said Saudi coach Nassir Johar (wearing a cap), through his translator on his right. "And they made the Uzbeks suffered a lot before wining the game 1-0 at Tashkent. "We were tactically well-prepared, having know...

Alrite, we all know very well that we were being "played out" last year by that event . Nonetheless, this could well be the LAST I guess... So just a kindly reminder that, for those who are heading down to the stadium tomorrow, do yourself a favour - sing the "MAJULAH SINGAPURA" lound and clear... If you want to have a guide on how to see the national anthem, here's a clip to show you how. HOW TO SING "MAJULAH SINGAPURA"

Look what I found during the tidying of my stuff over the weekend? Two Malaysia Cup-era posters of the Singapore team (it's not right to call them the NATIONAL team when they playing in a domestic competition of another sovereign state)!! Good thing that I didn't dump them away, but honestly speaking I have totally forgotten their existence till the tidy up!! So wasting no effort, I had these two valuable posters laminated and next on the plan - is to trace down each individual and ask them to sign on these poster :) So guys, watch out for me, with these posters and a marker, in coming weeks :P (P.S: Unfortunately, "Russian Tank" Borhan Abu Samah is one I can't get to sign on it...... )

The leading up to and the days that follow after the game against Uzbekistan saw some of my letters being published on the mainstream papers. Urging the fans to turn up at the National Stadium - "Mypaper" - 2nd June 2008 (Well, 28,000 of you, as seen below this line, turned up.. How many responded to my call??) Days later (6th June 2008), another of my letters (below) was published on "TODAY" (dated 6th May). This time round, I voiced my opinion by saying it wasn't fair to "pin-point" the naturalized players only for the defeat. (Unfortunately, the guys at TODAY tweaked my line a little bit and somehow misnterpreted my views.. Sight! ). On the same day on "MyPaper", one honest chap gave his "wake-up" call to we all die-hard supporters (as depicted above). Feeling a lump in my throat, I wrote in again (above, published on 9th June 2008) and "thank him" for his honest view. Writing to the mainstream press can be a daunti...

Really... there's nothing to shame. You guys did yourself a great favour to restore the pride of the team. Nothing to shame about, just bad luck and the Uzbeks simply expoited it. You were so close to savage a draw, but this is one of the games you guys out there should walk away with your heads up. Hope to see you carry on with this great performance when you are back in town for the Saturday game against the Saudis. Well done boys, you made a fool out of the Uzbeks... :)

With deepest sympathy and sadness, we say goodbye to Mr Khairudin Idris , who passed away peacefully this morning in his sleep. Mr Din had been actively involved in the local football scene in the capacity as a match commissioner for the S.League. Ironically, the last time I saw Mr Din was at Choa Chu Kang Stadium on Wednesday. Rest In Peace, Mr Din.

So who has been tracing us from Tashkent? Based on "FEEDJIT", someone from Tashkent visited this blog A click on the referrral shown this particular someone was checking on Lionel Lewis - our national team goalkeeper. What's more based on "FEEDJIT", it was logged on from a PC near to where the main stadium of Tashkent is, hmmm....

“The Straits Times” shown some mercy when they lauded the "courage and effort shown", whereas its sister paper, the free tabloid “Mypaper” screamed "Disgraceful, Inept, Shameful!", while the rivalling “TODAY” depicted a player looked like Aleksandar Duric or Fahrudin Mustafic holding his head in despair with the tag "LIONS' SHAME". Those were the reactions from the mainstream media following the national team's biggest home defeat in their competitive history. While I don't blame the media for splashing that kind of eye-catching headlines across the front-pages since they were telling what we saw with our own eyes. Although, all these happened at the wrong timing. Wrong timing in a sense, these happened when the chips are looking up for the national team, who are slowly trying to regain the faith of the notorious sceptical football followers of this country. Yes, we were being taught a very good lesson of the game and the Uzbeks truly deserved ...

No doubt, it is setback for the dream. The Lions were sent crashing back to earth by the much superior Uzbekistan side. But isn't that football ? Before the "FLOODGATE" open.... Hey, I'm not finding any excuse and I know some of you, sceptics out there, already have your knives sharpen to prove your "incompetence" theory had correctly predicted the downfall, that was aided by the fact the game was shown live on television for all to witness that. Looking at a bigger picture, the Lions were given a very good lesson learnt, weren't they? Took this picture with coach Raddy after the game (Many thanks to the gentleman, who took this shot, I'm sorry that I forgotten to ask your name.. but I appreciate your help :)) Coach Raddy always mentioned the Uzbeks are playing a different style of football and they did (seen what fast they slammed three more after we levelled?). On a few occasions, our players actually waiting for the possession and not fighting fo...

For the first time, I took part in a pre-match press conference of the national team at the Amara Hotel (above), prior to their match against Uzbekistan on 2nd June. Where the panel seat... While the media getting ready... Nice setting near the poolside at the sixth-level of the hotel (although, the only grouse was the constant traffic movement beside hotel, that noise generated by those vehicles tend to distort when the coaches were saying something.) "As the Uzbek league played its (league) championship match from 26 to 28th May, the national team can't conduct its centralized training till 28th.” said Rauf Inileyev (above, the man in green is the media officer and translator for the visiting team), coach of the Uzbekistan national team, who arrived in Singapore only yesterday. "Thus, there isn't enough time to prepare the team against Singapore, but this is not the main problem." (which he refer to aspects like having came from a region in a different tim...

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Ten years back, soon after the national team claimed its first major honour - the Tiger Cup at Vietnam in 1998. An ambitious project "GOAL 2010" was launched with the ultimate aim to see us qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Since then, it was downward spiral all the way. The 4-0 home defeat to the "auld enemy" Malaysia at Kallang in 2002 being singled out as the darkest day in Singapore football. Like a phoenix rise from the ashes, the appointment of Serbian Raddy Avramovic as the national coach proved to be a masterstroke. Under the non-nonsense Raddy, the Singapore national team transformed itself from the under-achieving side of Asean football to a force to be reckoned with in Asian football. Yes, there were dark days in the turn of the century and eventually saw the scraping of the "Goal 2010" project. But looking back on what the national team had achieved since, can't we not say we are actually "back on track" to complete what "Goal ...

Two months back, when asked what would be his biggest fear, given the lengthy break after the Lions' victory over the Lebanese. Coach Radojko Avramovic hoped his boys would take a good care of themselves to avoid any unnecessary injuries while fulfilling their club obligations. Perhaps, the string of injuries that occurred to a handful of the players is something coach Raddy would not want to see. Prior the friendly against Bahrain, already saw skipper Indra Sahdan Daud being ruled out till the return game against Uzbekistan (if he recover in time) on 7th June. Joining the Home United star are the likes of Hariss Harun, Khairul Amri, John Wilkinson and etc (barring Hariss, Wilko and Khairul did featured against the Bahrainis). Again, was late for the post-match conference, when I saw coach Raddy (above) being surrounded by the media pack. (Initially, thought that the organizers had changed the venue from the usual "Sliver" room to the staircase that led to it!) after the ...