BoLASEPaKO•COM - A Blog on Singapore Football

Atsushi Kawata headed home the lead Geylang International coach Jorg Steinebrunner couldn't hide his disappointment after saw his men conceded three goals without reply against a less intense Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in the first semi-final played on past Sunday. "We just don't have the physical presence in the first half where we gave away the (first) goal cheaply," said the German coach. "I am disappointed with the standard of play that after two days we played against (Brunei) DPMM when we had play with such high intensity, the desire was missing today." added Coach Steinebrunner. Tatsuro Inui (left) facing hurdles in the match The remarks from the former Woodlands Wellington coach could be felt by many at the ground where the Eagles looked jaded and simply failed to strike a rhythm against a resilient White Swan who sat back to defend in numbers after took the lead in the 10th minute with a header from Atsushi Kawata who rose above the s...

Kristic (center) got a hat-trick This could be the only trophy not within the reach of the most successful club in the S.League anytime soon, given the kind of display the Warriors dished out hours earlier. The local scene got back to action after the SEA Games recess with The New Paper League Cup kicked start last evening with Alex Weaver led his troops to Toa Payoh to face their fellow AFC Cup representatives - Balestier Khalsa whom themselves were former winners of the Cup back in 2013. Nico Velez (10) closed down by Ho Wai Loon Ironically, the Cup, which is title-sponsored by a local newspaper of the same name this season, has never been won by any of those powerhouses of local football with the Warriors (when they were still known as SAFFC) came close in 2009 as runners-up to Brunei DPMM who are the most successful side in the tournament with three victories under their belt. Due to the ongoing Ramadan period, all fixtures in this tournament are scheduled for 8.30pm ...

A new milestone with TNP sponsor the League Cup The New Paper League Cup, which will be title-sponsored by the local daily of the same name, held its draw earlier of the day at the Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) headquarters at Toa Payoh North. Being the first trophy of the local domestic football scene up for grab every year, the tournament will see the participation from eight S.League clubs (with the exception of Courts Young Lions and Harimau Muda) and two NFL representatives in the likes of Singapore Recreation Club (the reigning FA Cup winners) and Sporting Westlake (the current NFL Division One champions) in this edition. The objective in recent years to include teams from the NFL in this tournament is to see the gap between the them and the professional sides of the S.League to be narrowed through competition like this that offers rare interaction among the two. LTC (Ret'd) Kok Wai Leong outlines the tournament rules While the Cup may have seen foreign clubs c...

"Do I need a copy of dictionary beside me when I intend to buy a ticket online?" That was what that gone through my mind after not once but thrice received the similar reply (twice verbally and once online) in regards to the ticketing terms defined by the ongoing SEA Games organizers in my futile attempt to get some tickets to those football matches that involved Singapore U23 side (Cubs). Those terms are "unavailable" and "sold out" . Collage of Screengrab via Official Ticketing Site At the time of writing this, the match between the Cubs and Indonesia on 11th June is declared "SOLD OUT" when I logged on over the past weekend. Whereas, ticketing status for match against Cambodia tomorrow (8th June) is defined "unavailable", similar to that of match against Myanmar when I called to clarify days earlier. On both occasions, the hotline staff replied "tickets are not available for sale as for now, until the organizers d...

This article is a contribution by Asyraf Isnin, who is a keen follower of the local football scene and hopes that his writing(s) can contribute to the development of football on our shores. And here is his take on the recent occurrence in the local scene. Great Eastern Yeo's S League has 243 players registered, of which 132 are Singaporeans (and therefore eligible for national team call-up). From this 132, only six are deemed to be good enough to be part of the national set-up in the upcoming friendlies. six out of 21 players selected by Bernd Stange. Of the others, 11 are from LionsXII and the remaining four playing abroad i.e. Hassan Sunny, Hariss Harun, Baihakki Khaizan and Shahril Ishak. Of all these players, only four have not represented our LionsXII at some point i.e. Hassan Sunny, Zaiful Nizam, Ismadi Mukhtar and Zulfadli Zainal. All 21 of them (or maybe 20, not sure about Ismadi) have been part of the NFA youth teams. Ismadi Mukhtar in action for Stags So if you...