BoLASEPaKO.com - A Blog on Singapore Football

Izwan Mahbud ended his first club continental venture Without any doubt, it was a painful exit from the tournament that saw Tampines Rovers ended their continental campaign in the hands of Bengaluru FC of India after a goal-less affair which allowed the latter to cruise to the AFC Cup semi-final stage on a wafer-thin advantage of an aggregate score of one goal to none. Nonetheless, the Stags shouldn't be faulted for tried all means to put themselves back on level terms when they signalled their intention right from the start with the series of offenses they launched towards the team from Bangalore who elected to opt for a safety first approach by being the absorber of those raids. Amrinder Singh (1) raised above all to fist the ball  Hafiz Abu Sujad (16) tried his luck from a distance Such conservative tactics seems to serve the Indian side well as the designated home team who were left frustrated on countless of occasions on those chances they failed to convert thr

Anxious moments for Balestier (yellow) It was not the best game to be shown on live television but it really does not matter when you were able to get the job done at the end of the day like Albirex Niigata (Singapore) did at Toa Payoh earlier. One would expect the Japanese side to go all out to secure a bigger buffer in the second-leg of RHB Singapore Cup semi-final match against Balestier Khalsa whom they had a wafer-thin one-goal advantage carried into this match. Atsushi Kawata (left) closely monitored  But none of that urgency was shown in the match that was best described as uninspiring and tepid encounter which most would not associated to the usual intensity of a Cup game. Barred for some anxious moments in the Balestier's penalty area in the first half when Albirex found themselves tried to break down the Tigers' resilience at the back, there wasn't much action to keep the sporadic crowds at the ground or viewers at home at the edge of their seats.

(This entry is formulated by the media release issued by Full Circle PR , the PR agency for the "Battle Of Europe 2016") (L-R) Karl-Heinz Riedle and Darren Anderton Leading up to the highly-anticipated showdown of one of the greatest footballing rivalries will see England Masters take on their German counterparts – a match that is set to bring fans back down to the memory lane with arrays of stars from yesteryears ready to thrill them this coming November at Kallang. As part of the building up to the match - Battle Of Europe , which is to be played on the 12th of November at the National Stadium, former German international Karl-Heinz Riedle alongside ex-England and Tottenham Hotspur star Darren Anderton made their appearance at the media conference held this afternoon at Singapore Marriott Tang Plaza Hotel, the event official hotel. (L-R) Steve Black having a chat with Riedle In his opening speech, Steven Black, the CEO of Masters Football Asia (the

We tried but it has been largely a futile effort to see some clubs fused into the vicinity they based despite the reaching out that yield limited progress over the years. Just name me a list of which club had been able to mobilize the whole town to their home game when there is one? It may have come to a juncture that building rapport with nearby residents isn't really a workable model that clubs should cast their net wider to tap on those unearthed fan bases, not necessarily being parochial. AWKWARDLY LOCATED ... Given the small land area Singapore has, it has proven to be a challenge to create those cross-town or regional rivalries we have seen in other countries. Furthermore, the constant dynamism in the electoral boundaries has neither help to foster a sense of belonging (Take one example in Hougang Stadium - located in Ang Mo Kio GRC, bordered by Aljunied GRC and Hougang SMC). Politically, Hougang Stadium isn't part of Hougang SMC  Given our relatively homogeneou

Tampines faced an aggressive opponents in Ceres (black) Tampines Rovers knew that something wasn't quite right when they took on UFL side Ceres La Salle in the returning leg of their RHB Singapore Cup semi-final fixture at the Jalan Besar Stadium last evening. The Stags were a depleted side with several notable absentees like skipper Fahrudin Mustafic (suspension), Fazrul Nawaz (injury), etc. thus taking on an aggressive side like Ceres would meant to see both their mental and physical strength being put a test right from the start. Encounters like this were common occurrences  Which was eventually the case when the team from Bacolod raided the designated away side with sheer aggressiveness that barely allowed the latter any freedom to roam around. Not less than three times in a space of fifteenth minutes since the kickoff saw Ceres being awarded free kicks from the edge of the box after Azkal international Patrick Reichelt effectively forced Tampines committed those