BoLASEPaKO•COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

(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) Lions' 2012 Suzuki Cup Prep... Coach Raddy (wearing white cap) put the teams to drills I didn't apply for the necessary accreditation (which I eventually did, thanks to those you know who you are) that I thought it will be good for me to turn out for some shots two days before the semis against Philippines and only have it published after we won the game. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO SEE THE REST OF THE SHOTS 2012 NexLions Cup 16/12/12 Luis Cortez - to be the NEXT one? It was the dark horses in the likes of Sporting Lisbon U 19 emerged as the champions of this inaugural tournament beating Liverpool U19 2-0 in the final with another English side Manchester United U19 clinching third spot with a 2-1 win over gutsy hosts Singapore Youth Selection. ...

"Lemme think properly, can or not?!" PREFACE  "Amid the general consensus towards newly proposed initiatives, as an individual, we would have to ask ourselves have we all gave a serious thought on why, how those initiatives came about and are we being swayed in an emotional turmoil before making any comment?" That was the question I posted on one of the postings on the blog Facebook Page following a commentary by Leonard Thomas of The New Paper urging the largely skeptical masses to give the much-criticized initiatives by the Special Business Unit (SBU) a chance to prove their worth with the year ended with another tumultuous finishing as the local football fraternity embarked itself for another new journey in 2013. EASY TO SCRAP THE S.LEAGUE "STAND BY ME ..." From time to time have we not heard cries urging the scrapping of the S.League to start everything afresh, given the kind of situation we are in now. It would be a sensible move and it...

Skipper Shahril Ishak (left) and Hariss Harun hoisted the AFF Suzuki Cup Trophy  I may be wrong, but I can't recall and am not sure if the scenes at the Jalan Besar Stadium earlier were something we have not seen for years. I am not that certain when we were last crowned as ASEAN champions in both 2004 and 2007 and had something like what we saw earlier (I did remember the last victory parade at Orchard Road in 2004 did attract a similar turnout). However, what that is certain is you don't expect this to happen that often in recent years when Singapore football was in the doldrums. A snap of the fans who were there to welcome the Lions at JBS I think that was the first time since my involvement I saw fans and supporters eagerly gathered outside JBS to catch a glimpse of the Lions after the "Victory Parade" to celebrate the Lions' AFF Suzuki Cup triumph. Armed with their autograph books or another thing that can be scribed onto, these fans stretch...

Jubilation at Toa Payoh East CC after the defeat  I saw them sweat a bucket, I saw them toil under the heat in the obscure Geylang Field and amid all those uncertainties that led to the building up for the Suzuki Cup after the disastrous World Cup Qualifiers campaign that ended point-less and at the foot of their group. No one knows what to expect from them from the tournament they last won in 2007 on the same ground with uninspired friendly results before the real test began. It was only after the 3-0 win over the Malaysians that slowly regained that bit of confidence in those massive skeptics out there, but things took a sudden twist when they found themselves deprived of the services of key players like "Boy Wonder" Hariss Harun and Shi Jiayi due to unforeseen circumstance. It is either JBS or Geylang Field for Lions prep (file picture) It was then everyone on the team realized they had to grit their teeth to push themselves to the limit, they were aware o...

Coach Raddy is aiming his hat-trick of Asean supremacy One would have felt that coach Raddy Avramovic is vindicated after taking a 3-1 advantage over hot favourites Thailand in the AFF Suzuki Cup final first-leg match (at least for now with the second leg due this coming weekend). Tasked with the enforcer role in the middle of the park by the Serbian tactician, both Fahrudin Mustafic and Isa Halim combined well to shackle the creativity of Datsakorn Thonglao who has been instrumental in the War Elephants' unbeaten run in the tournament. "Farra" (15) and Isa (center) - key Lions midfield enforcers Despite having to retake the penalty after the referee's order to do so, the calm demeanor of "Farra" (as Mustafic is popularly known) helped the hosts to take the one-goal lead over the Thais by cooling placing the ball into the net and much to the joy of those decked in red in the Jalan Besar Stadium in 9th minute. To some critics, the Lions may not ...