BoLASEPaKO.com - a simple view on Singapore Soccer

[Event]: Record of 104 teams graced the "H-TWO-O Ultimate Challenge" futsal event

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 13:38:00 +0000

The trophy is named after the GOH - A/P Ho Peng Kee, the Senior Minister of State for Home Affairs and Law, who is also one of the two advisers of the FAS.

A total of 104** teams took part in the futsal competition of the "H-Two-O Ultimate Challenge" held at the Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP) campus at Ang Mo Kio.

According to the organizers, this figure of 104 had set a new record in the Singapore "Book of Records" for the largest number of teams taking part in a futsal tournament held in Singapore.

This event was held in effort to raise fund for the Jamiyah Children's Home.

The "Bishan Glory", played in the youth category, with skipper Amirul (second from right)

Met a friend, Daniel (pictured above, second from the left) who was there with his group of "kakis" taking part in the event.

Called themselves the "Bishan Glory", the group of five had known each other for more than four years and been playing the game regularly in their usual hangout where they live (Bishan, of course).

The "Sims" being natural for this shot here

While this team (pictured above) called themselves "Sims" which initially I thought they named the team after the "Sims Family", only to realize they are associated with SIM, the educational institute, instead.

Other than those groups formed by the "weekend warriors", there are also various S.League clubs represented by their COE teams.

A/P Ho (pictured above) graced the occasion and urged all to support all levels of football in Singapore, which had achieved quite a lot during his tenure as the president of FAS before stepping down earlier this year.

Ms May Ngiam, VP for Markerting of Yeo's (pictured right above) presented a token of appreciation to A/P Ho following his opening address.

Mayor Zainudin Nordin (pictured above), the president of FAS also said a few words before the commencing of the futsal event.

The symbolic kick-off by the VIPs

The referee brief the teams' skippers before the start of the matches.

The hockey field of NYP was divided into four makeshift "futsal" fields for this event.

The NFA boys checking out at the Group standings.

While the Tampines Rovers' youngsters were warming-up themselves with the ground staff doing some patching up of the arch.

The scores and group standings were updated constantly throughout the day

Geylang United's youth squad also made their presence felt.

(Picture above) S.League footballers like Razaleigh Khalik, Lionel Lewis, Isa Halim and Indra Sahdan were also involved in this event, as they pit their skills against a group of boys representing the Jamiyah Children's Home (in yellow bib).

National skipper Indra Sahdan Daud, who is also a part-time student of NYP, showcase his striker's instinct in this friendly.

THE WINNERS THAT EMERGED FROM A HARD DAY OF WORK

(Picture above) "RV140" fought their way out of the 51 teams that took part in "Open Category" to clinch the honour.

(Picture Above) The Tampines Rovers U18 "B" Team were crowned the kings of the "U-21" category.

THE RECORD-BREAKING MOMENT

Ms Ngiam represented the organizers received the certificate, that confirmed the record-breaking feat, from the official from the "Singapore Book of Records".

AFTERTHOUGHTS & SUGGESTION

It's definitely not easy to organize such a big-scale event but the organizers did a wonderful job to ensure everything was smooth-sailing and thanks to the complimentary "H-TWO-O" that worked its magic to ensure all involved were always remained hydrated under the scorching sun.

Perhaps, further tweaking of the game's rules is necessary to encourage more passing plays and closer control of ball skills.

As the disappointing part in some games was to see some teams' "kiasuism" in playing the ball to the opponents' half by having the goalkeeper making long throw into the opponents' arch hoping his team-mate would "flick" in a goal (must be the fact that we are being Anglophile in football sense).

But that's not what the 5-a-side version of the game is all about...

Players should refrained from taking "piledriver" unless necessary in futsal.

As futsal should be a game more on "ground-play".

A place where players learn to develop close-control of the ball.

How to work your way out of a tight situation in a confined space.

Unless you are dead accurate with your shot (like this goal), not point whack the ball hard as it will go out of play and disrupt the flow of the game.

Many thanks and appreciations to Ms Belda Chen of Yeo's for making this blog entry possible.

(**P.S: It was later confirmed that the actual total number of teams took part in the futsal event was 104, instead of 106 after 2 teams did not turn up for the event and the whole event had raised almost $15,000 for the Jamiyah Children's Home)

太极(Tai-Chi) Football is perfectly fine....

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 15:05:00 +0000

Shadow Boxing football is a joy to watch actually.

As what Super Reds had shown us how fundamental skills were being applied to curb a superior team like SAFFC, who were, honestly, out-of-sort hours ago.

Pending how individual look at it, for me it was a joy to watch despite the snail-paced of football played as it's not very often we seen such simplicity style of being played in an era when the game is getting more complex with list of dubious formations and much focused on pace, rather than the basic skills we first taught to master at very young age.

AUDIO CLIPS FROM THE POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE

Super Red's coach Jeon Kyeong Joon's comment after the game
http://www.mediafire.com/file/kckdgq0yjmv/jeon-after-2-nil over saffc.mp3

Coach Jeon pays tribute to his team for the efforts shown tonight and attributed the victory for controlling, moving the possession effectively throughout the game.
SAFFC's coach Richard Bok's comment after the game
http://www.mediafire.com/file/cdmqmai231y/bok-after-2-0 loss to Super Reds.mp3

Coach Bok admitted that his team were not playing as a team and being "static" during the match, also felt the sending off of John Wilkinson before the end of the first half being the turning-point of the game.

Not yet a STAR but learn to deal with it too

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 02:05:00 +0000

"I didn't make him a star, the media did!" refuted a coach recently when asked about the less-than-desirable performance by his "star" player after another defeat to his team.

How true that statement was as a matter of fact it's only when a player who performed consistently well enough and therefore being mentioned in the media.

(Picture) ex-Sengkang coach Jorg Steinnebrunner with the media after their season opener

As this player continued to maintain his good form and help his team to gain victory after victory, it's inevitable that public would want to know more about him and his life outside football.

So this perhaps how the love-hate relationship between footballers and media developed.

Use it wisely not only it helps to lift up the profile and image of that particular player but having it works against you, the press pack will be the last persons one would want to see.

One classical example would be former national left-winger Lee Man Hon (P.S: Nothing personal here, just using his case as a case study).

When the then 19 year-old left footer made his presence in "Dream Team" of the Malaysia Cup days, his impact was immediately felt in that team that boasted the likes of established stars like Fandi Ahmad, Abbas Saad etc.

(Picture) Was Man Hon "killed" by the unnecessary media attention then?

Furthermore, being a natural left-footer playing on the left flank had solved one of the perennial headaches of the national coach then, coupled with the fact that being one of few ethnic Chinese players who always had that boyish grin of his face, it's not surprise to see Man Hon became a media darling then.

Sadly though, the former SAFFC, ex-Tanjong Pagar United winger found the fame and attention too much to handle, gradually saw him bowed out of the game due to injuries and that weight issues that been dogged him since his enlistment to national service (remember that infamous TNP frontpage that depicted a bloated Man Hon who was just enlisted?).

(Picture) One undeniable fact - the team and media must work hand-in-hand despite the differences

Which is why we see how delicate and difficult the balancing act is of the relationship between the two parties as mentioned earlier.

So what can we learn from this and ensure our younger generation from getting tangled in the web of mess?

Frankly, neither do I have a solution.

However having these budding footballers to engage in such media engagement is not totally an evil thing at all.

At least, they'll be trained on how to deal with the press at an early age as part of a character-building process, rather than being a "late-boomer" who might stammer when talking in public.

(Picture) Fury's coach Ian Ferguson claimed he was misquoted when asked about Robbie Fowler's status weeks ago

Although, some measures need to be taken care of to avoid spilling the beans and not to be misquoted on certain issues (remember NQLD Fury's coach Ian Ferguson had to come out and set the record straight after speculation went wild that marquee Robbie Fowler might not be playing against Tampines Rover during their visit here weeks ago?).

(Picture) Darby: We missing him, don't we?

At the end of the day, I feel that to revive the wanning interest of the league not just depend on improving the quality of play but also how crucial we have some colourful characters to spice up the interest like R Vengadasalam and Steve Darby (above) in the yesteryear to Brunei DPMM's coach Vjeran Simunic in the current season.

Although, at this stage a lot of the guys tend to be discreet in what they say in the public, if not like what Darby used to say,"I'm not sure am I gonna be FINE if I said this."

Testing Testing... post match video interviews of Rams-Tigers Clash

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 16:45:00 +0000

Shortly after the match at Woodlands Stadium, both coaches gave their brief assessment of the match.

(P.S: Sincerely apologize for the fact of the poor audio as it's been a long time I'm using my "Ranger"DV camera)

Balestier coach Nasaruddin Jalil shared his thoughts

Woodlands coach Nenad Bacina shared his thoughts

At least we got one side of the story now (Part One..)

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:19:00 +0000

After I blogged on why Bryan Soane's sudden departure from Balestier Khalsa had only side of the story covered , this morning's TODAY seem to have revealed the other side of the story.

(Picture) Soane and agent gave their side of story

Finally, we got the other side of the story after the news broke out weeks ago that the young Aussie striker had quit and went back to Sydney.

In the latest twist in the event that it was alleged by Soane's agent that "The club tore strips off him for doing nothing,".

Now that we had heard both sides' story, let's leave it to the league authority to look into it as too many opinions and views will lead us to no where.

http://www.mediafire.com/file/nnjnnqnixzn/1007SPC048.pdf - Cache copy of the story of the "PrtSc" above

[Event] : H-TWO-O Ultimate Challenge

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 23:00:00 +0000

In an effort to raise funds and the profile of orphans and children from disadvantaged families in Singapore, YEO’S will be holding its inaugural H-TWO-O Ultimate Challenge event on 18 July 2009 at Nanyang Polytechnic. This event will feature 2 exciting challenges - 5v5 Futsal and Biathlon.

5v5 Futsal is sanctioned by Football Association of Singapore. All proceeds collected will be donated to Jamiyah Children’s Home.

To register or information, please visit http://www.yeos.com.sg/htwooultimatechallenge/

Registration close on Sunday, 12 July 2009.

Shortly after that upset at Hougang Stadium....

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 22:43:00 +0000

... where a fired-up Sengkang Punggol defeated the newly-crowned League Cup champions, Brunei DPMM 2-1, coaches of both sides shared their thoughts with the media after the match.

Sengkang Punggol's caretaker coach Aide Iskandar's comment after the game.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/wykwz4yqnnm/Aide-after-SKP2-1-win-over-DPMM.mp3

The former national skipper believed that his team had "learned from their mistakes after the matches against Tampines and Super Reds" and shows his appreciation to another former national captain Fandi Ahmad for the advice rendered during his team preparation since taking charge the Dolphins.

DPMM's coach Vjeran Simunic's thoughts of the game.
http://www.mediafire.com/file/4noonyjo5yd/Simunic-after-losing sengkang-2-1.mp3

The Croation coach was duly waiting us outside the dressing room after we had our session with Aide.

Coach Simunic admitted that missing of his several key players, fatigue were some of the reasons behind their defeat, while reiterated his view that the league is a tough one where every team is capable to beat each other.

(P.S: Guaranteed that the clips are full-unedited version and also trying out something new here, please feel free to feedback and comment if you have any thought, thanks)

The forgotten training ground outside Yishun MRT station...

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:14:00 +0000

Took this picture yesterday during my train ride when the north-bound train stopped at Yishun station.

Of course, it's nothing usual about this green plot of uneven field and furthermore there's this sheltered walkout that linked the station to the nearest residential block but what prompted me to blog something about it is because the field used to be the training ground of already-defunct Gibraltar Crescent SC, which used to play in old Premier League during the 80's.

I still recalled many years back while on my way to my uncle's place in Yishun, I would alighted at this MRT station and transferred to a feeder bus and it was during one of those visits I chanced upon an opportunity to catch the team in training.

Sadly though, the team, together with another northern-based team, Sembawang SC merged together as Sembawang Rangers FC to play in the inaugural S.League season in 1996, had faded away in 2003 when the Stallions decided to quit the league due to financial difficulties.

What a shame as the team, that used to have the likes of Nazri Nasir, Thai midfield star Tawan Sripan and Noh Alam Shah, was one of the best-supported team in the league.

From Brunei's perspective....

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:08:00 +0000

(Picture) "PrtScr" from The Brunei Times

Got an email from a reader from Brunei who shared with me the match report of last night's match between Brunei DPMM and Balestier Khalsa at Bandar Seri Begawan.

Interested readers may wish to download a "pdf" copy of the match report from the link below:

http://www.mediafire.com/file/84y5xnmynn0/dpmm20bk.pdf

Thanks for the effort, Aziz

More signatures

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 22:43:00 +0000

More signatures were gathered during the charity match in aid for Charmaine Lim's cancer treatment.

I finally got hold of former Geylang United and ex-Balestier Khalsa coach Jang Jung after missed him on several occasions.

Rudy Khairon was walking behind me after Jang Jung signed the poster, and I asked, "Hang on, let see if you were inside the poster?", "Yeah, I think so... " said the former national midfielder.

But the agony was the missing out of Hasnim Haron who is nippy as ever as in his playing days when he left the ground early after the match...

[Event] CHARITY MATCH IN AID OF 4-YEAR-OLD CHARMAINE LIM’S CANCER TREATMENT

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 16:43:00 +0000

Was late for the game anyway but it was a good turn-out for this charity match organized by former Singapore international Rafi Ali, as thousands of fans turned out at the Tampines Stadium to catch stars of the yesteryears to parade their skills in aid for the four-year old cancer patient Charmaine Lim.

PICTURES AT THE END OF THE MATCH

Show of appreciation at the end of the day

Cheque presentation to Charmine's mother Mrs Cynthia Lim (in pink)

Part of the crowds who help in the charity event by paying an admission fee of $10

This one for the album

Short scribe on Home U's misadventure in Hong Kong (edited)

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 05:22:00 +0000

Got a call from my friend, Bryan Lim who saw the match where Home United were trounced 4-0 by Hong Kong powerhouses - South China AA in the AFC Cup knock-out stage.

Here are some of the extracts from his posting filed from Hong Kong...

"I just came back from the game played @ the HK Stadium.A passionate & capacity crowd of about 8K watched the humiliating defeat. Here's the starting lineup (3-5-2): Lionel-Rosman,Mani & Hiek-Dickson,Shadan,Syed Fadhill & Perez-Lodovick & Azhar. Sivaji(as usual left an orthodox leftback,Jumaat on the bench), keeping faith with the oft crticized rotation system.

The pitch was slippery after showers in the afternoon and an hour before the game. Weather was humid."

"The SC supporters sitting in front of me asked if I was from Singapore. We had a chat & they admitted that HU was a good team but lacked a finisher. Frankly,HU's porous defence made 2 fatal errors which made SC looked gd. they were very impressed with Dickson. By the way, you may have also realised that Jiayi is missing. Has he been transferred to Tampines already???"

"So what excuse is Sivaji going to use this time? Too much rest???"

For more detailed report by Bryan, please log on to this link.

And thanks Bryan for the time, effort and most importantly - the passion (your effort had made some mainstreamers hide behind the curtains...hahaha)

Well Done...

Managed to source this youtube clip on the Home United's defeat to South China (in Cantonese though)...

and see for yourself how skipper Mani's heroics towards the end denied South China from scoring a few more!!

Come Clear and Balance it!!

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:16:00 +0000

Two news broke out today which had been circulated around the fraternity lately.

(Picture from "Today") "Where are you, Bryan?"

Young Australian striker Bryan Soane had left Balestier Khalsa over contractural dispute, while management reshuffling took place in Sengkang Punggol saw coach Jorg Steinnebrunner and chairman Ben Lim walked out of the club.

Based on both stories by TODAY, the details seems to be one-sided as public were only given one half of the stories, while scratching their scalp why the other half, being the concerned parties, were not being quoted or giving their side of the stories.

(Picture from "Today") "Where are you, Jorg?"

I was told efforts were made to get into contact with the gentlemen but with not much success.

Apparently, the gentlemen felt it's not time to spill the beans or they just simply don't want to dwell on it?

Whatever it may be, I felt the fans have every right to know the inside out of both stories rather than having their imagination running wild by going on speculating aimlessly.

(Picture from "Today") - Saswa spilled the beans last year...

Ironically, they should have did what former Sengkang coach Saswadimata Dasuki did last year when the ex-national defender came out in public to refute claims that he "went on leave to sort out some personal matters" when in actual fact he was told to "do so by the club".

So what if it may be the case that can of worms would be opened if these gentlemen decide to let go everything off their chest but one thing for sure is that some questions shall never be swept under the carpet.

Kung-Fu Friendly as Cubs beat the Indonesian U23...

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 15:56:00 +0000

(P.S:Things were made so easy now since the opening of the Pioneer MRT station, located within strolling distance of the Jurong West Stadium.)

The Cubs redeemed themselves after that Malaysian thrashing by beating the Indonesian U23 at the Jurong West Stadium, although they clearly knew it very much that much work needed to be done if they want to be seen as a favourite of the year-end SEA Games.

2-0 was the scoreline as the Cubs finished off the Indonesian guests with two well-taken goals in each half but not without any incident that made the match a mockery of that as a friendly with four players (two from Singapore, one on-field and one bench player of the visiting side) being sent off by referee Abas Daud.

PICTURES FROM THE MATCH
The only "friendly" moment of the game?

The Cubs celebrate their second goal of the night...

Fans at the terraces.

"Cool it guys!! it's just a friendly match"

Short Take of the League Cup Final

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:22:00 +0000

DPMM fans before the game (snapped outside the Stadium)

"Expectations are high and the whole Brunei are exciting about it." said Aiqbal, a fan specially flew from Brunei to catch Brunei DPMM in action in their first quest for sliverware in their maiden S.League season.

According to him, there were a total of approximately 500 fans , comprised of local-based and visiting Bruneians to cheer their team on.

"I go for a one-nil win for my team," added Aiqbal who attributed the success of DPMM to the "enjoyment" everybody is deriving from their current fine form and said coach Vjeran Simunic is a "fan's man" in the old-rich sultanate.

BEFORE THE GAME

The calm moment before the kick-off at tunnel

The trophy they are fighting for

The DPMM fans made their presence felt.

THE GAME IN SUMMARY

Everybody knew very well that in any Cup final match, the most important thing is to grab the lead as soon as possible, not to be lagged behind for large part of it and so as to keep pace with one another throughout the 90 minutes.

With that theory in mind both SAFFC and DPMM gave the fans at the Jalan Besar Stadium an epic start of a memorable game.

Barely fifth minute into the game, the Warriors' skipper Aleksandar Duric headed home off a Hafiz Osman's cross from the right before Croatian defender Rene Komar struck from outside to level the scores in the ninth minute.

End-to-end actions dominated large part of the first half as fans were treated to pacey game of football.

However, it was a rather tepid affair in the second half as compared to the first as both teams were much more cautious in their play.

Fair to say though both DPMM and SAFFC had their fair share of chances to seal the game but poor finishing and stout defence stood their way.

So much to the dismay of some fans, the match went into extra time.

And being the most cruel way to decide the outcome – Brunei DPMM snatched the League Cup after the match headed to the ultimatum penalty-shootout following the same scoreline after the extra 30 minutes of play.

THE PRESS CONFERENCE

"We were lucky and we didn't play well as a lot of players were playing according to instructions and not taking anything away from DPMM who were very well-organized and played well." said SAFFC coach Richard Bok (left in above picture) in his post match assessment.

"After that goal (the equalizer), some players tried to play their own game and we tried to come back in the second half by putting pressure on them but nothing came out." added coach Bok

"Basically, we tried to go as far as possible, tough game like this is good preparation to see where the team can improve."coach Bok concluded.

"The game was not bad but both sides missed some very good players" commented DPMM coach Vjeran Simunic (above) after the match.

"To me SAFFC is always the best team as they won many titles and it's not easy to beat SAFFC but we did something special (tonight) as we put 150% of effort for this moment and we deserved where we are to be in the final." added Simunic

DPMM's players and fan posed with the League Cup after the match.

League Cup Semi-Final Short Take (edited)

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Tue, 16 Jun 2009 16:28:00 +0000

DPMM's fans outside the ground celebrating their team's win (Sorry for the quality as I used my mobile to snap this)

The first thing that came to my mind on the Monday morning was whether DPMM would be able to sustain their run with their hard and tough aggressive that won admiration from most lately.

The answer a definite yes, Woodlands Wellington were clearly outclassed by the in-form Bruneians who slowly revealing their true abilities.

Two well taken goals resulted from some attacking plays bore the testaments that whoever are going to face them will face a very tough fight.

Despite that coach Vjeran Simunic was not pleased with the result.

"Unfortunately, tonight we only won 2-1 and I'm surprised as we had created five, six chances in the game." said coach Simunic in his post match assessment.

"It shown we are improving after every game we played and proved that my players as good as players like Noh Alam Shah.” he added.

(note: Not sure if there were some unpleasant incidents that Woodlands' coach Nenad Bacina briefly interrupted when Simunic was addressing to the press. And angry words were exchanged when Bacina stormed into the media conference.)

“We had lost to a better team because they got hold of their chances” said coach Bacina.

“And I expect them (DPMM) to beat us as they are among the top-three teams and we can't complete with them with the budget they have and the level of competition they played before.

“I'm happy with my team's performance as many people don't expect Woodlands to do well this season.”added the Croatian coach.

THE THOUGHTS/SHORT TAKE ON THE FOLLOWING DAY

The general sentiment is while DPMM may have made some of their critics ate their words with their success in the league cup with their robust style of play but it will also take this same element to plot their downfall faster than anybody thought.

Just take a look at the way they lost their talismantic skipper Sallehuddin Damit and ace marksman Abdelhamid Berguiga in their semi-final win over Woodlands Wellington.

Just to serve as a reminder that the Bruneians lost their first game in the season (against Home United) because the missing of six regulars due to suspensions.

The uniformed derby is always a hotly contested event on and off the field.

Home United stick to their rotational policy that been serving them well by deployed some fresh legs in their duel against the “auld enemy” SAFFC.

While the fatigued Warriors were struggling for large part of the game, they did reasonably well to hold the Protectors at bay.

Again, football being a funny game when you cannot score you have to pay the price for let others to score instead and that was what happened to Home United in the first half when “Doo” (Naruphol Ar-Romsawa) blasted wide after eluded the entire Warriors defence.

So Park Tae Won took the chance and Aleksandar Duric had his in dying seconds sent the Warriors to the final amid a crumbling Home defence on both occasions.

“SAFFC deserved it overall.” said Home United coach Mr PN Sivaji (left in above picture) after the match.

“Although they (SAFFC) are a tired outfit, they have more experience. They closed the game up quite well and we don't have a answer to their defence with eight players behind the ball most of the time as we couldn't get our passes which is our weakness tonight.” he added.

“We are not playing that well and we are not playing that bad either, as we have been missing some key players and we are being a bit lucky.” said SAFFC's coach Richard Bok (right in above picture).

“It would tough but if you're winning, it'll compensate the tiredness ”said coach Bok on his team's chances against the fired-up debutant of the league.

Continue the trend of excitement as DPMM bulldozed Geylang in League Cup

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 16:29:00 +0000

Cup games are always something different as it's a no-hold barred contest between the two team that whoever lose - OUT YOU GO!! simple as that.

The match between Geylang United and Brunei DPMM was my first League Cup match having just returned from my Down Under trip.

This was deemed "NO-GOAL"

Was late for the game as it was last minute decision to be at the ground for this match, so I missed the first goal of the night.

But sheer aggressiveness shown by both teams gave the fans barrowload of goals to cheer about and end-to-end action of this game had also ensured this season's League Cup not being a dull affairs (as I was told).

The was the "freeze" moment before the ball went in

"There are some individual errors that we have to look at it, specific players have to ask themselves why as we cannot carry on like that to the next league (game) and the Singapore Cup but I'm proud the way they played." said Geylang's coach Mike Wong after the game.

Coach Wong revealed that the Eagles will approach their next league encounter against the same opponent differently as "this is a Cup game so when you are two-one down, you still go for a two-two draw but because this is going to be a league game so we approach differently."

DPMM's fans hailed their heroes after the hard fought battle

While his DPMM counterpart Vjeran Simunic would rather to stay focus in their on-going League Cup semi-final clash against Woodlands Wellington next week.

"Woodlands are a very dangerous side as we played Woodlands three times and we lost twice" said the Croatian coach paying tribute to his semi-final opponents.

"I think the game (against Woodlands) would be very tough like tonight." he added.

When asked if his team are at the top of their game now, this is what coach Simunic said,"Yeah, I'm sure because against SAFFC, we dominated the last 20 minutes and also today we played very nice last 20 minutes, so both were good results for my team."

Feel Free to tell us about urself

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Gavin's blog on BBC ("PrtSC" from BBC)

The name - Gavin Strachan don't seems to ring a bell to most of us who are more familiar with Rooney, Stevie G, C Ronaldo etc.

Neither do I, after all, Gavin described himself as a "journeyman" footballer plying his trade in the lower tier of the English football for years.

But here's a player who planned well for his career after the game by studying journalism during his spare time and therefore the BBC blog which he maintaining is what he making use of what he learned.

Inside this blog, Gavin shared with us his insight as a lower tier football player far from the glamorous lifestyle of that of those Premiership millionaires.

So one thing came to my mind instantly - how many of our local footballers tried doing this before? None?

I do came across some so-called "star columnist" appeared on the papers occasionally but none of this like what Gavin is doing as these column mainly dealt with match preview, analytical type of dull stuff.

How "Twitter" looked like

While I'm not trying to ask our local footballers to do something like what Gavin is doing but I felt there are other meant of sharing with us, the fans, what and how they going about with their non-footballing lifestyle.

Entering "Twitter" - the microblogging sensation that taken the world by storm, this is definitely an unique concept that user can update their "tweets" either via their profile page and the best thing, of course, through their mobile phone.

Unfortunately and fortunately, the main restriction is the 140-character limit of each "tweet" but that should be enough as that is what "Twitter" is all about - need not have to go into length to tell the world how you feel, just says, "man,tired after the win but worth d effort!!hehehe" (just 50 characters)

How "SgBEAT" looked like

Then again, the drawback about "Twitter" is that you can't upload picture from your profile page without using a "third-party" tool like "TwitPic".

So recently, as you all been noticing that I been utilized this new microblogging site - "SgBEAT" to do my live streaming match update and the beauty of it - you can upload your "beat" (equivalent to "tweets") using not only your mobile, through your profile page but users are allowed to upload picture together with their text!

It'll go on and on if I go further in details, so jump into the bandwagon using these neat tools and "Feel Free 2 tel us abt urself".

(P.S: Opinions expressed are personal views of blogger without any form of influence, interferences or whatsoever from the mentioned service site.)

more "endorsers" of BOCAP...

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 07:10:00 +0000

NOTICE: I would like to state it clearly before-handed that it is never my intention to make use of the gentlemen depicted below as any form of advertisement or whatsoever for the BOCAP. As the caps were given to them as a memento and keepsake out of my own will... Thank You.

"Hope you find this cap (BOCAP) handy" I told Robbie Fowler (above) as handing over the cap to him while he was about to make his way of the football clinic last Saturday.

Which it was very handy indeed when he cheekily use it to cover a kid's jersey's logo of the club sponsored by ailing insurance giants AIG (get what I mean?) which having his photo taken with him :)

Many thanks to Fandi Ahmad for allowing me to snap this picture (above) after a short chit-chat with this boyhood hero of my.

"I like this material and it's light, not like those cotton-type" he said (at least, I found an ally on this as many lambasted the material that make it looked "cheapo")

Mission Continues.....before heading out...

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 00:48:00 +0000

P.S: I think by the time you guys read this entry, I should be out of town already.

Nonetheless, I already scheduled some entries, which are not time-sensitive, to be loaded up while I'm away from home so as to the blog running (a tip I learned from some blogging experts to retain viewership).

The recent NQLD Fury vs Tampines Rovers friendly not only saw the Stags beat the visiting A-League team but also a chance for me to grab a few more signatures on my posters.

(Picture credit: "Cloud" of Kallangroar.com)

Just like any star-struck fan, I had my posters in "standby" mode just in case anyone depicted in these posters walked through the glass doors that linked the main lobby to the playing field of Jalan Besar Stadium.

So we had Lee Man Hon (above) signed on the 1993's poster, after I spotted him he walking through the glass doors.

Midfield Dynamo - Malek Awab was catching the main event along the corridor when I asked, "Excuse me Sir, would you help me to identify this gentleman inside this poster?" before handed over the marker :P

Friendly : North Queensland Fury vs Tampines Rovers on 31st May 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sat, 30 May 2009 22:00:00 +0000

PREVIEW
Did some googling around and from one source I read that other than the "GOD" - Robbie Fowler, the new A-League franchise also have the likes of former Geylang United star Brendon Santalab and Ian Ferguson, former Rangers star as its coach.

Any Eagles fans who will always remember Santalab for his prolific score-rate in his 22-game stint in 2003 and was nominated for that year's "Young Player of the Year" award.

It was also mentioned that the Queensland club are keen to establish a working relationship with any interested party in this region.

"It just another game for me and it's good have a good game under my belt as the season is half way through but most important thing are the League and Singapore Cup." said Tampines ace striker Noh Alam Shah (on left with the blogger in a picture took many donkey years back) on his prospect of facing the Fury this coming Sunday.

"For me game vs North Queensland (Fury) or Liverpool is just a matter of me against another player in terms of popularity and well-know (reputation) but it's still a 90-minute game and doesn't matter much whether I (get to) play or not" added "Ah Long" as he's known in the local football fraternity.

"We'll play our normal game as Robbie Fowler is one player from opposite team" said Tampines Rovers' coach Vorawan Chitavanich (right, file picture) after his team's one-nil victory over Balestier Khalsa in mid-week.

"Everybody is the same maybe because of his (Fowler's) reputation but it's good for the Tampines players to play against players who played in top international experience.

"It's also a way to find out how our team can play against team of a higher-level but I hope my team would not have any injury problem after this Sunday game."coach Chitavanich concluded.

But barely a day later, it was revealed that the star attraction - Robbie Fowler might not be able to be on the starting lineup as he's still nursing a groin strain that coach Ian Ferguson was quoted, "“We definitely won't take any chances (with Fowler),” “The priority for the Fury is to make sure he's ready for the start of the season."

But the matter was put to a rest when I got an email on Friday (29th May 2009), regarding Fowler's status which I post it up as a separate blog entry to avoid "lost-in-the jungle" situation.

I had a chat with former national skipper Fandi Ahmad after the "Red Card Football Clinic" at Hougang Stadium.

"It's a nice reunion for the curtain raiser match for those played in 93 and 94's squads and Sasi (R Sasikumar - the organizer) done a good job for the gathering.

"I hope the fans will turn out for this match not just to catch the game but also doing charity by attending this game." added the current Pelita Jaya coach.

SHORT TAKE OF THE EVENT
The "Curtain Raiser" - The "Dream Team" vs The "Celebrities"

After 15 years, the "Dream Team" were together for good cause

It was a moment every fan had been waiting for as the "Dream Team" of the 1993-4 graced the field of the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The group photo before the start of the curtain-raiser

Doesn't matter the stadium don't look the same like it used to be but certainly these yesterdays' heroes cherished the chance to get together at the same location of that old arena where they trained and slogged in harmony in the past.

Rafi Ali launched his rocket against the "celeb" wall in a dead-ball situation.

Abbas Saad (no.21) takes on a defender.

The "Dream Team" in defensive mood.

The "Dazzler"- V Sundramoorthy (no.18) performed his tricks

The curtain-raiser ended in an one-nil victory to the "Dream Team" with V Sundramoorthy scored the only goal in the second-half, when he tapped home from close-range off a R Suriamoorthy's cross from the left.

CHAT WITH ABBAS SAAD
“I'm always open and free anytime to come back here, especially for charity in anything we can help.” said former idol Abbas Saad after his first match in Singapore in 15 years.

Abbas Saad (2nd from left) talked to the media after the curtain-raiser.

“I'll do that and I always do that in Australia and always from my own heart, which I'm sure everybody will do that and it's great we give something back to the game and to the people who really love the game who can't play the game as full professional.” said the Lebanese-born Australian who was idolized by many girls back in the early 90s.

“Fantastic, as the (AFC “A” license coaching) course has been enjoyable and obviously (because) the instructor is Vincent (Subramaniam) who is a former coach, and the participants are all former players and it's home sweet home for me, that's for sure.” as Abbas shared with the media his thoughts on the on-going coaching course.

“You never say never ( to any offer), if there's any good opportunity comes up and why not because I have the experience in this part of the world as I been here for 20 years and so (once) I got my qualification that should be enough.” when asked if he is keen to coach in Singapore one day.

PICTURE GALORE with THE STARS

Fandi Ahmad with fans

Abbas Saad with a female fan

1998 Tiger Cup winning skipper Nazri Nasir posed with a young fan

Good to note that these guys are not forgotten after all, as many fans took this golden opportunity to snap pictures with those heroes during the half-time break of the main event.

The "Main Event" - Tampines Rovers vs North Queensland Fury

"Where's Robbie?" that was the question in everybody's mind when the "GOD" was nowhere to be seen at the tunnel area.

Much to the disappointment of the crowds who turned out hoping to see the "GOD" in action were pretty much disappointed when Robbie Fowler wasn't in the starting line-up!

"There's Robbie!" right in front of me when all were crowded around the tunnel

I guess it must be that 'unforseen circumstances" that coach Ian Ferguson said before-hand and so the ex-Liverpool star was benched.

Anyway, the hosts almost credited themselves with the opening goal as early as in the first minute when Qiu Li burst through the yet-to-be-tested Queenslanders' backline but 'keeper Justin Pasfield passed his first test of the night when he got down well to deny the would-be opener.

I guess the man's focus would have been on the field if the "GOD" played, just as he contended reading the papers instead.

"Disappointed as I came all the way to see him (Fowler) play, just hope I can see him play at least five or ten minutes before the end of the game." said CJ, a Liverpool fan stayed in Bishan.

"Ridiculous! At least they should informed the fans before-handed but anyway too bad for the (Fowler's) fans, I'm here to support Tampines not Fowler." said Leon, a Stags fan.

"He should at least come out and show his appreciation to the fans (who came to see him, which he did after the game)" said another fan, Frankie

It was a rather physical game.

And it was found out that five minutes before the game, the Queenslanders decided that it was not in the best of their interest that Fowler in action, so end of the story.

However, another fan named Mohamad was more understanding as he said if Fowler is really injured, it's best not to field him, rather than risk him for further injuries.

Some action photos from the terraces.

In a match that was rather highly-physical and intense saw defender Shariff Samat sent off in the 51st minute when he held back a Fury player in his attempt to win the ball.

Robbie Fowler addressed the crowds and explained a "slight niggling" forced him to sit out of the game.

Despite having that extra man advantage, the visiting side failed to make a full use of it and succumbed to a one goal defeat in the end when substitute Fathi Yunus scored in the 77th minute having nicely latched onto another replacement, Edward Tan's through ball that broke down the Fury's defence.

THE POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE

“Tampines gave us a good test” said Fury's Scottish coach Ian Ferguson (pictured above, center with match organizer R Sasikumar on his left).

“It was decided last night that not to field Fowler after reviewing by the coaching and medical staff following the recurrence of the injury.” said the former Rangers player when quizzed why the star attraction – Robbie Fowler was missing in the starting and bench line-up.

“Everywhere, definitely, need to be improved as I said this is our first game and we got a lot of things to do but I'm happy that we played reasonably well”added coach Ferguson when asked what are the areas need to be addressed following the game.

The media in action

“I think we are disappointed obviously” said R Sasikumar, the match organizer.

“But in the end of the day we didn't invite him (Fowler) all the way to seat on the bench, I'm sure in some stages like (coach) Ian Ferguson had said that obviously it's the injury and that's the coaching personnel's job (to decide) whether he gets to play or not and as promoters we can only hope we can bring in more big names like him to Singapore.

“But in the end of the day, he's (Fowler) a human being and we have to take his health into consideration and like I said I left it to the coach to decide whether to play him or not” said the former national defender whose famous “shoulder blade goal” claimed the country's first ever regional title in 1998 – Tiger Cup.

Syed Faruk - the Tampines' team manager addressed the media.

"Disappointed and not just me but the boys as well for not able to play against Fowler." said Syed Faruk, the Stags team manager in his team's media gathering on his team's sentiment for not able to play against the former Liverpool legendary striker.

"We told the boys before the game that this is just a friendly game and we don't want to have any injury from this game but I think as a player they just went in hard." commented Faruk on his take of the physical nature of the game.

"At least with this win, it shows that we are not overawed by team who have players who played in higher levels than us" he added.

Many thanks and appreciations to Mr Jonathan Leow and Ms Fadilah Amir Hamzah of SPRG Pte Ltd for making this blog entry possible.

"Red Card Football Clinic with Robbie Fowler and Fandi Ahmad"

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sat, 30 May 2009 03:49:00 +0000

Registration counter of the clinic

I was told of this clinic, being one of fringe activities of the visiting North Queensland Fury, by the media liaison officers.

It is certainly a nice thing to see two footballing legends - Robbie Fowler and Fandi Ahmad came together and imparted some of their knowledges to these kids who were obviously having a good time despite the scorching heat at Hougang Stadium.

Like earlier mentioned by the newest A-League franchise, hopefully event like this open up the doors to more footballing exchanges between these two countries in the near future.

MORE PICTURES FROM THE CLINIC
Fandi Ahmad shared his tips with the kids

Fury's coach Ian Ferguson passed out his instructions before a drill.

The main men (L-R): Robbie Fowler, coach Ferguson, match organizer R Sasikumar and Fandi

"You have anything to ask Robbie?" as coach Ferguson asked the kids

These kids are showing some great potential.

"Well Done, lad.." said Robbie

Some tussling going on...

Both coach Ferguson and Robbie talent-spotting.

This one for the album.

Almost every kid had an opportunity for this "up close and personal" moment like this

Robbie signed on jerseys, scarves and whatever associated with him and Liverpool FC

Robbie being interviewed by the media

I would kicked myself if I didn't have this taken (Thanks Vik..)

Many thanks and appreciations to Mr Jonathan Leow and Ms Fadilah Amir Hamzah of SPRG Pte Ltd for making this blog entry possible.

Mission Continues.....(edited)

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Fri, 29 May 2009 15:00:00 +0000

The "Super-sub" of the late 80s - Abdullah Noor signed on the 1990's poster (25th May 2009)

"Don't take my picture!!" said Abdullah Noor when I bumped onto him just now outside the Jalan Besar Stadium.

But when he saw the priceless poster, he was surprised and asked how and where I got it.

Having told him the story, he duly signed the 1990's poster with admiration from his students.

"Can make ONE copy for me or not" said the former Balestier Khalsa, ex-Sengkang Marine coach before parting off.

A tip-off just now from my friend, Mr Ong Jiing Yih saw me at the Jalan Besar Stadium not for the game but to grab hold of former national coach, Vincent Subramaniam's signature on the 1990's poster (Vincent was the assistant to Robin Chan then). (29th May 2009)

But the coup of the night - yes, right in front of your eyes - the "twin-terrors" that struck fear in any defence and rocked the whole Kallang and Singapore whenever one of them scored - Fandi Ahmad and Abbas Saad. (29th May 2009)

Robbie IS playing after all....

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Fri, 29 May 2009 10:07:00 +0000

After the news broke out that Robbie Fowler might not be playing this coming Sunday against Tampines Rovers due to his groin strain, I got an email from the media liaison officer which carried a statement from Mr Ian Ferguson, coach of North Queensland Fury.

Here's it goes....

Hey Po Hui,

We know that there’ve been reports that Robbie might not be playing, but the coach would like to verify that the comments have been made out of context and that he IS playing on Sunday.

Please see the below for Ian Ferguson, coach of North Queensland Fury, comment:

“Dear Singapore fans, I would like to clarify my statement on this report which categorically states that Robbie Fowler will not be playing in our match against Tampines Rovers this Sunday. This report is not accurate and my quote has been taken entirely out of context. The journalist had asked me if I would play Robbie in this match if there were any concerns as to niggling injuries, and I had answered based on that hypothetical question. Allow me to state clearly that barring unforeseen circumstances, Robbie would be taking the pitch against Tampines Rovers on Sunday. I hope this puts the matter at rest.”

Hopefully you’ll be able to make the clarification online. We don’t want those Fowler fans disappointed!

Thanks!

Appreciate the effort and thanks for the clarification, guys :)

After 2 years..New Template...here's the verdict (edited)

noreply@blogger.com (Pohui) — Sun, 24 May 2009 07:00:00 +0000

Just changed my blog template from 2 columns to 3 columns... now left a bit of fine-tuning here and there.

The idea to switch from 2 to 3 columns is to make the blog less-cluttered, as you can see for yourself that the main column is now flanked by the two side columns with the content of the side menu evenly distributed out.

Unfortunately, the template has no room for the iconic title bar (below) that it had no other choice but call it a day, thanks for the past almost one-half-year of service.

And did a survey to gather feedback on the new template and here is the outcome -

The result shows that you can't please everybody and this template is here to stay till the next change is deemed necessary, thanks for taking part in the poll...