BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

(Media information by Football Association of Singapore ) SINGAPORE, 30 October 2009: After a winning performance at the Ho Chi Minh City International Tournament in Vietnam last week, Singapore will be looking to continue their good form when they play Indonesia on Wednesday 04 November 2009 at the National Stadium. With this match being the Lions’ final preparation before the all-important Asian Cup Qualification match against Thailand on 14 November, it is no surprise that National team coach Raddy will be scrutinising this game for the final tune-up. “The Lions had a successful campaign in the HCMC International Tournament last week, but we did not have the benefit of a full national team as some of the players were still playing in the Indonesian League. This friendly match against Indonesia is very important as it give the players the opportunity to play together, and also allow us to experiment with tactical variations. From there, I will then be able to select the best possible

Referee Abdul Malik made a brave decision to carry on the match despite the heavy downpour (as pictured above) that started prior to the start of this live televised game. Frankly, this fixture would have been a title decider perfectly fit for this season's finale, but it wasn't the case after all. If not for that disastrous October which Tampines Rovers eventually blew their title hopes away. Still, given the storied feud between these two giants of Singapore football over the past few years, be it title-decider or not, SAFFC-Tampines promising an exciting encounter whenever they meet. SOME PICTURES FROM THE MATCH "Head or Tail?" as SAFFC won the toss to kick-off. Err guys, the ball is still with the referee... Khairul Amri did well to shackle Duric off the possession. Akihiro Nakamura prowled the flank. It's always so physical when these two meet. Tampines striker Qiu Li whizzed his way through with close attention from SAFFC's defenders Razaleigh Khalik and

TTM warming-up before the game To be honest, it was already a damper prior to this returning fixture of this Singapore Cup semi-final between these two invited teams - Bangkok Glass and TTM Samut Sakorn. With a huge task ahead, it wasn't a surprise to write off the Smokers (TTM's nickname), as not many teams can do what the Portuguese did in 1966 World Cup against the North Korean, before the match started. Former Sengkang and Balestier striker Paul Bekombo (9) fine-tuning his skills Nonetheless, TTM started the match strongly by stretching the Glass Rabbits (Bangkok Glass' nickname) to the limit, right from the start. In the end of this see-saw battle, TTM walked away as the victors with a 4-3 victory that saw one player from each side being sent off by referee Sukhbir Singh in the second half. But it wasn't good enough for the Smokers as it will be the Glass Rabbits led by former Home United star J Surachai to face Geylang United on the same venue on 8th November. SOM

(P.S: I wonder if some of the some young players out there agree with me the importance of staying put together, if possible.) After his team defeated Balestier Khalsa , Young Lions' coach Terry Pathmanathan (pictured above during the " Sultan of Selangor Cup 09 ") was not a happy man as you thought he would be. In the post-match media conference, the former national skipper remarked "some of the boys are getting big on their heads that they need a knock on it." In short, the ex-Tampines Rovers stalwart blasted his boys for not playing according to plan and making many unnecessary moves in the game. Young Lions' striker Khairul Nizam's (hidden by the fourth official) "over-the-top" goal celebration warranted an unnecessary yellow card in their recent match against Balestier. "During my time after I scored a goal, I get back to my position and game carry on." said coach Terry when asked if the "over-the-top" goal celebration

The ban resulted that Brunei DPMM's participation in the S.League is null and void, despite written approval was sought at the start of the year from the world governing body on the team's participation. Part of DPMM's supporters at the League Cup Final At that point of time, DPMM, a BAFA associate who used to play in Malaysian League, found themselves in a wilderness after the Malaysians decided to pull the plug after BAFA was de-registered by Brunei's Registrar of Societies, which is not inclined with FIFA's stand of "non-interference from government" policy, so it was subsequently not recognized as the game governing body in the oil-rich sultanate. And so, when DPMM admitted into the league at the eleventh hour, the league authority thought with that perceived "iron-clad" written approval from Zurich, everything was fine until recently when things changed at FIFA congress when BAFA was officially banned. Suddenly, the league, already saddled w