Officials and fans bear with Election-enforced changes

Source

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

Eleven out of twelve S.League clubs will find themselves deprived of their regular training grounds during the General Election 2011 campaigning period, as many sports stadiums islandwide have been designated as rally sites for the next eight days.

This was announced by the Singapore Sports Council in a press release on Wednesday evening, after it was confirmed that 26 out of 27 constituencies in this year’s General Election will see contests, making it the largest in scale since the start of the S.League in 1996.

As a consequence of the Nomination Day results, Bedok, Bishan, Choa Chu Kang, Clementi, Jurong East, Jurong West, Tampines, Toa Payoh and Woodlands Stadiums have been designated as rally sites and will be closed to all bookings for sports activities.

32 other locations islandwide, most of which are open fields, are also involved as rally sites for the campaigning period.

In addition, sleague.com understands that Hougang Stadium and Queenstown Stadium will also be held in reserve by the Singapore Police Force, which leaves Jalan Besar as the only stadium available for holding of S.League matches.

The stadium is the Courts Young Lions’ home ground, but they do not have any home matches within the campaigning period.

Apart from the matches themselves, however, clubs are also in a mad scramble to find other fields they can go to in order to train and prepare, which is no small challenge even in normal times.

“With everything that revolves around the General Election, most of the stadiums will be unavailable for S.League usage,” said FAS Deputy Director (Marketing & Competitions) Ridzal Saat.

“With that, we have to reschedule some of the matches to a later date or relocate them to Jalan Besar Stadium.

“We are working closely with the clubs and SSC to source for alternative venues for their training for the period of the General Election. This includes Jalan Besar Stadium.”

The impact of the General Election on the S.League calendar goes beyond a change of venues, with double-headers originally scheduled on three days now to be broken up due to the shortage of venues.

Monday evening was set to see SAFFC host the Young Lions at Choa Chu Kang, while Geylang United were to travel to Queenstown Stadium to face reigning champions Etoile FC.

Both of those games must now be postponed, and the effects of these changes were not lost on Geylang coach Mike Wong, who had been planning on the assumption his team’s match would not be affected.

The Tampines GRC resident admitted those plans could now change.

“I’m not sure at this point if our game against Etoile is postponed,” said Wong on Wednesday evening, prior to the postponement announcement.

“If it is, then I will have to redo my training programme to prepare the team for the next game after that. Some things might be disrupted, but it may be a blessing in disguise, because we have some injuries in our team.

“I’m sure that as coaches, most of us would prefer our game not to be moved. But an election happens only once every four or five years.

“This year’s election, especially, is going to involve so many venues. It’s a big thing in the country, so I guess we really have no choice.”

Japanese outfit Albirex Niigata (Singapore), which had joined the S.League in 2004, are the first team to see their home match moved as a result of the General Election.

Their meeting with eight-time league champions SAFFC this evening was supposed to be played at Jurong East Stadium, and the club had originally planned a party set promotion for groups of three or more attending the game.

But with the stadium now designated as the sole election rally venue for Yuhua SMC, the game has been moved to Jalan Besar.

It was something White Swans vice-chairman and general manager Koh Mui Tee, who is Singaporean and lives in Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC, had to explain to the Japanese staff members at the club.

“My Japanese colleagues are surprised, because in Japan it is the clubs who own the stadiums,” he remarked.

“They were not used to the idea of us having to move our games for an election. But once I told them we don’t actually own the stadiums here, but instead use them on rental, they accepted it.

“We had to see to some logistical arrangements, like moving our sponsors’ advertising boards from Jurong East to Jalan Besar. We also had to apologise to people we had informed about a planned promotion at Jurong East because we had to cancel it.

“The good thing is we were able to make pre-emptive plans early, because we Singaporeans know that stadiums are often used as rally sites. I told my colleagues there may be changes coming about, so it was not that much of a surprise for all of us.”

Early reactions in cyberspace threw up the possibility of postponing all eight fixtures directly affected by the election rallies, as well as the two Friday evening matches on 29 April and 6 May, which were designated to take place at Jalan Besar anyway due to television reasons.

Both Koh and Wong were not keen on the idea, however, believing that playing on throughout the campaigning period is in everybody’s best interests given the rare circumstances.

“Our preference would of course have been to play the game as scheduled at Jurong East,” said Koh, whose side was also to travel to Clementi Stadium next week to face bottom team Tanjong Pagar United, only for news to emerge that the match will now be postponed.

“But moving the place where we play the game is the next best option, because postponing the game introduces new uncertainties like deciding when to hold the game. Besides, Jalan Besar has a good artificial pitch, and we have no complaints about that.”

“Playing on this field is not easy, and if you don’t get a couple of training sessions in, the first 15 or 20 minutes would be a tall order for some players,” added Wong.

“But if you postpone all the games, there might be some fixture congestion down the road. We have the Singapore Cup coming up, there are the World Cup qualifiers, and there’s also the SEA Games, so it is probably better to carry on with the league as much as possible right now.”

Also in agreement with the venue switch decision is 36-year-old Muhammad Abdullah, who has been following the S.League for the last twelve years.

The Sengkang West SMC resident said he did not expect the General Election to draw him away from too many matches, even if some people he often sees might be missing for a while.

“I will still come to games and support my favourite teams,” he told sleague.com.

“It may cause some inconvenience, but we’ll do our part for the elections. If it means playing every game at Jalan Besar for this period, then so be it.

“Will I go to a rally instead of a football game? Yes and no, depending on whether there are any interesting rallies that day, as well as what game is on.

“Not everyone may think like me, and I think attendances will be affected by the election rallies, but it is something we will just have to bear with. The elections will be over in about a week, so in the meantime let’s try to keep on giving support to our football teams.”

Tan salutes ‘near perfect’ performance

Source

Singapore: Tampines Rovers coach Steven Tan was beaming from ear to ear after arguably one of the best performances of his side's season so far in the 3-1 AFC Cup victory over Hanoi T&T at Jalan Besar Stadium.


Ahmad Latiff scored twice for the hosts and although Gonzalo Marronkle pulled a goal back for Hanoi, veteran striker Aleksandar Duric wrapped up a win that sees them move four points clear of their rivals in the battle to qualify from Group G.

"The guys played almost a perfect match today. It was one of our best performances," said Tan.

"We could have scored more goals but more importantly, we got the win which was what we wanted. We need to keep our feet on the ground ahead of our next match (against Victory SC). We win that match and we go through."

Tan revealed that Latiff was suffering from an upset stomach hence his early substitution.

"Latiff gave us what we wanted but he can be better than that still. We need him and everyone to play like they did for the whole 90 minutes and not just for 20 or 30 minutes," he added.

The former Singapore international also sensed their opponents' discomfort with the pitch.

"We felt they had problems with the field. They were obviously not used to it and with the rain, it was very greasy," Tan said.

Duric reflected on an important result for club and country.

"We are carrying the Singapore flag as the only team in Asian competition and it was an important result for us. It was certainly one of our best performances, an almost perfect team performance," he said.

With 13 goals from 15 games in all competitions so far, Duric looks to be having yet another Indian summer in the twilight of his career.

"Yes I must say this is one of my best starts to the season. We have a good team spirit and we are performing very well every week," he added.

But he was looking no further than the next game in the tournament.

"We play Victory next week and every year the clubs from the Maldives are always improving," he said.

"We must be at our best and get the three points to seal our place in the next round."

Hanoi coach Phan Thanh Hung was in no doubt that the artificial surface at Jalan Besar played a key role in his team’s meek performance.

"There were two reasons for our loss today. One was the fact we conceded two goals very early and two, it was the pitch. We were simply not used to it," he said.

"That said, Tampines were much better today compared to how they played in Hanoi two weeks ago."

With the defeat, Hanoi are now four and six points behind Tampines and Muang Thong United respectively in the group standings and are now long shots to claim one of the two spots from Group G to progress to the knockout stages. Still, Thanh Hung remained defiant.

"We play Muang Thong in our next game. If we win that match, maybe we still have a chance," he added.

Hanoi captain Cristiano (Cristiano Rocha Canedo Roland) was less optimistic over their future.

"We have no chance now to go to the next round but we will still try our best in our last two matches," he said.

"It was a very difficult game today with the field as it made the game very fast."

Convincing victory boosts Stags’ hopes

Source

Gary Koh
info@sleague.com

A first-half brace from Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin inspired S.League leaders Tampines Rovers to a 3-1 victory over Vietnamese side Hanoi T&T in their AFC Cup Group G clash at Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday.

Despite the visitors pulling one back through Argentinean striker Gonzalo Marronkle, Stags skipper Aleksandar Duric put the result beyond doubt with a tap-in with 20 minutes to go.

The win ensured the sole Singapore representatives in Asian competition pulled away from their opponents to stay second in the standings behind group pacesetters Muang Thong United of Thailand, who remained on top after winning 4-0 against Maldives side Victory SC in Male.

With the first game in Hanoi between the teams ending in a 1-1 stalemate, both came into this match knowing that a positive result was crucial for either side to increase their chances of earning their place in the octofinals.

The home side made only one change from the eleven that won two successive league games after their Hanoi assignment. South Korean defender Park Yo Seb was benched after he reported ill on the morning of the match.

Japanese centreback Seiji Kaneko recovered from a thigh strain sustained in the previous group fixture to take his place in the back three alongside French sweeper Benoit Croissant and Jufri Taha.

The Stags dominated proceedings and earned a quick succession of corners from the start, and T&T goalkeeper Duong Hong Son and skipper Cristiano Roland were busy keeping the yellow shirts at bay with last-ditch stops in the box.

But there was nothing the 2010 V-League champions could do to prevent former Singapore international Latiff from sweeping a Shahdan Sulaiman corner low into the bottom corner of the net and give Tampines the lead on 12 minutes.

The veteran attacking midfielder doubled his side’s advantage ten minutes later, after a half-clearance from the white shirts only reached as far as him outside the box.

From 30 yards on the right, he produced an outrageous lob that sailed into the top corner and gave the stranded Duong no chance to react.

T&T pulled one back six minutes after the restart when a cross on the right from Nguyen Van Quyet found an unmarked Marronkle at the far post. The striker had the time and space to coolly slot the ball past Hassan Sunny to reduce the deficit.

With the visitors threatening to run riot after scoring, Latiff’s involvement in the game ended after 35 minutes when he made way for Shukor Zailan in the middle of the park.

Tampines could have restored their advantage, but found the Vietnam international goalkeeper in inspired form as his saves kept T&T in contention.

Shukor came agonisingly close to restoring the hosts’ two-goal cushion when he saw his attempt off an Ismadi Mukhtar lay-up beat the custodian but not the crossbar.

As the visitors poured men forward in search for the equaliser, gaps were opened up in their defence and allowed the two-time domestic league winners to threaten on the counter.

It was virtually game over for the crumbling Vietnamese side on 70 minutes when Imran Sahib supplied a cross on the right for Duric to tap home at the near post for his fourth AFC Cup goal in as many games this campaign.

Boosted by the goal, Tampines threatened to increase the scoreline on several occasions as the minutes ticked away, and only the combination of profligate finishing and strong goalkeeper work ensured the match ended 3-1 in favour of the hosts at the final whistle.

Stags head coach Steven Tan was very pleased with his side’s strong showing and desire to keep them in contention for a place in the next round.

“The guys played an almost perfect game tonight and could have scored more,” he said at the post-game press conference.

“I am happy to see the boys put in the commitment as I demand of them for the full 90 minutes.”

With a good chance of their continental journey extended beyond the group stage against Victory at home next Tuesday, the former Singapore winger cautioned against his side getting carried away with the win.

“We need to keep our feet on the ground and hope to qualify after next week with a game to spare in Bangkok,” he continued.

“Hopefully by the time we travel there, we will not have the pressure and can play the game we want to secure home advantage in the next round.”

As for Latiff’s early exit in the game, Tan remained unperturbed as the player set the stage for victory before coming off.

“He suffered from some gastric problem – but only after scoring two goals!” he quipped to huge roars of laughter.

“He gave us what we wanted out of him, so there is no problem for me to take him off early since he is not feeling well.”

He also admitted the pitch played a role in his side earning three points at their opponents’ expense.

“Hanoi had a major problem with the pitch even though they were given training slots to adapt to the ground,” he noted.

“I could understand their passes going astray and straight to another shirt, as the surface is very greasy which affects the speed and weight of their passing.”

This observation was shared by his Vietnamese counterpart Phan Thanh Dung as he attempted to explain his side’s capitulation in Singapore.

“We are not used to playing on artificial turf and do not have the time to train on such surfaces back home as there aren’t enough in Vietnam,” said the T&T head coach.

“We virtually lost the game when we allowed two goals early on. Tampines played much better here than they did in Hanoi.”

Another three points against group whipping boys Victory on Tuesday at the same ground will confirm the Stags’ place in the round of 16 with a game to spare in the group.

Tampines Rovers: Hassan Sunny; Seiji Kaneko, Benoit Croissant, Jufri Taha; Imran Sahib, Akihiro Nakamura, Shahdan Sulaiman (Zahid Ahmad 88’), Ismadi Mukhtar; Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin (Shukor Zailan 35’), Aleksandar Duric, Aliff Shafaein (Jamil Ali 65’).

Hanoi T&T: Duong Hong Son; Nguyen Quoc Long, Nguyen Tien Dung, Cristiano Roland, Nguyen Van Bien; Nguyen Van Quyet, Vo Duy Nam, Nguyen Ngoc Duy (Thach Bao Khanh 81’), Cao Sy Cuong (Le Hong Minh 66’); Le Cong Vinh (Matias Recio 66’), Gonzalo Marronkle.

Home win despite unimpressive show

Source

Bhaskaran Kunju
info@sleague.com

Two goals from Frederic Mendy sealed three points for a below-par side Home United as they claimed a 2-1 win over Geylang United at Bishan Stadium on Tuesday night.

The talismanic striker needed just six minutes to break the deadlock, before adding a second just after the hour mark.

Geylang pulled a goal back through midfielder Kim Jae Hong, but that was not enough to save them a point.

The contest between the two sides fell some way below expectations as they churned out uninspiring performances that disappointed a decent turnout of 1,279.

The Eagles defence, in particular, was in charitable mood for the night, given the manner they conceded the opening goal.

An underhit back pass by Syed Thaha was pounced on by Mendy, who easily outmuscled Syed Fadhil to race into the penalty box, and then calmly rounded Yazid Yasin to slot into an empty net.

The score remained 1-0 at the break, but Yasir Hanapi so nearly collected an equaliser for his team with an overhit lob to Lionel Lewis from the half-way line.

Ironically, that near-accident came when Yasir had really intended to return possession to the Protectors for playing the ball out to allow Eagles striker Jung Hee Bong to receive treatment.

Lewis was able to tip the ball over the crossbar in time, but the national custodian failed to last the entire half, being walked off the pitch with a hamstring injury moments later, allowing Fajar Sarib to take his place.

Mendy collected his second goal of the game, also through some slack defending by Geylang, by getting on the end of a routine Qiu Li cross just past the hour mark.

But Geylang were able to reduce the deficit on 68 minutes as a neatly-worked move ended with Kim poking the ball in right before Fajar collected Jung’s weak shot.

The match was a dull affair with neither team being able to shine, though Geylang looked the better side for the latter part of the match, coming to life after pulling a goal back.

A hopeful shot by Hassan Aziz was nearly directed into goal after Kenji Arai had stuck his leg out to deflect the ball towards an unguarded net with Fajar wrongfooted.

The late introduction of Masrezwan Masturi caused more trouble for the home side, and his snap-shot minutes before the final whistle flashed agonisingly past the upright.

Kim Dae Eui had an opportunity to give his side an undeserved flattering scoreline, but his cheeky chip from a tight angle came off the crossbar at the far side with Yazid well beaten at the near post.

The lacklustre performance from the title hopefuls clearly left Home coach Lee Lim Saeng feeling less than impressed.

The Korean had not only followed his team in to the dressing room at half-time but looked despondent during the post-match conference, looking nothing at all like a man who had just guided his team to victory and second place in the standings.

“We needed to get three points, but I am disappointed with the performance,” said Lee, looking crestfallen.

“We were disorganised. It is very difficult to see what we want.

“We have to prepare for the next game now. Tampines (Rovers) are top of the league and we are second after tonight.”

Lee however was also reluctant to be too harsh on his players.

“I don’t want to blame the players (for tonight’s performance),” he told sleague.com.

“Mendy saved the team today.”

His Geylang counterpart was however in slightly better mood despite the defeat, and was less harsh in appraising his team’s performance.

“Two defensive errors, two goals conceded,” said Mike Wong, summing up the match from his perspective.

“Home’s a good team. We did well enough to compete. To come to Bishan and get one point is not easy.”

With his team three places off the foot of the table at the end of the first round of games, Wong provided some insight into the disappointing season his team had had thus far.

“A lot of players tell me the injuries we suffered caused a problem for us, but we can’t take that as an excuse,” he remarked.

“Sometimes we’ve had depleted squads but it’s not an excuse.

“Certain players are not playing up to mark, but it’s down to the coaching team. So it’s my responsibility and it’s the coaching staff’s responsibility.”

Hougang sink Tanjong Pagar for five

Source

Paul Green
info@sleague.com

The misery continued for Tanjong Pagar United at Clementi Stadium on Monday night when Hougang United made off with a convincing 5-0 win in the Great Eastern-YEO’s S.League match held at the western venue.

Having conceded a goal after only 15 minutes to one of their own former players in Ratna Suffian, the Jaguars did what they could to limit any further damage before half-time, only to succumb to goals from Mohd Noor Ali either side of the break.

After that, at 0-3, there was no way back for the home side.

Only rarely did Tanjong Pagar look like troubling Hougang custodian Ridzuan Fatah Hassan, and then only with long-range speculative efforts that the keeper did well to save when almost caught off his line.

There was another snap-shot that rattled the post, late on but those efforts had come out of the blue.

Two more goals from the visitors made it a sorry night for the Jaguars, who lost skipper Kim Seong Kyu at half-time due to the Korean feeling unwell in the dressing room.

Tanjong Pagar coach Terry Pathmanathan made another change at half-time, replacing Abdul Rahman Haneefa with Patrick Paran, having substituted Kim with Delwinder Singh.

But there was little for the home fans to get excited about in the game, even when Hougang relaxed a little towards the end.

The opening goal from Ratna, almost a replica of the one he had scored a week earlier against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) at Hougang Stadium, came after a corner from the right was swung to the far post by Duncan David Elias.

Goalkeeper Ridhuan Barudin flapped at the ball, getting nowhere near it, and Ratna did the rest as the ball hung invitingly in the air.

But the Jaguars custodian did have to make one or two saves, even if a few blunders were spotted from him as well.

After Jordan Webb had played Brazilian Diego Gama de Oliveira into space, the low shot that was produced was parried well by the goalkeeper to deny his old side a second goal after only 17 minutes.

Tanjong Pagar tested Ridzuan not long afterwards when Gary Loo hit a low shot that was pushed around the post.

It was one of the very few chances the home team were granted.

Oliveira, who played his first full game since returning from injury, might have opened his account on 26 minutes after a sharp turn and shot from just inside the box, but the ball flew narrowly wide.

Another chance for the home team came two minutes later when Hyun Jong Woon played Takaya Kawanabe into a good position, only for the Japanese to skim the crossbar from 12 yards out.

Jaguars midfielders Kim Jong Oh and Kawanabe combined well on 36 minutes before Sudhershen Hariram joined in on the move, but the wide man’s shot was not good enough to beat the Hougang goalkeeper.

Just when it looked as if Tanjong Pagar could go to the sheds to lick their wounds and give some thought to preparing to turn around the one-goal deficit, Hougang struck again on the break.

Webb sped past his man down the left and, once inside the area, laid on a pass for veteran Noor Ali, who gleefully swept the ball home to make it 2-0 to the visitors.

The 35-year-old, revelling in the space being afforded him by the Tanjong Pagar defence, was able to volley home Oliveira’s cross from the left on 47 minutes to make the task nigh-on impossible for the locals at 0-3.

The Cheetahs made it four on 55 after a lovely flowing move involving Webb and Mamadou Diallo, which saw the former’s nice ball to the near post finished superbly by Oliveira with a skilful flick with the outside of his foot.

Tanjong Pagar tried valiantly to clamber their way back after that. A long-range lob from Loo, who had spotted the keeper patrolling well in front of his goal 57 minutes in, showed initiative, but then Ridzuan was able to recover and make the save.

Azlan Alipah also had a similar effort that the Hougang custodian was able to brilliantly tip over the bar, really an opportunity that had followed a slight drop in intensity by Hougang.

When that drop was first noticed, it allowed Sudhershen to get to the by-line and cross well, only to see no Tanjong Pagar head getting anywhere near the ball that had been served up on a platter.

Six minutes from time, Webb had a shot superbly tipped over the bar by Ridhuan, but the resulting corner only spelt further damage for the struggling side.

After the play had seen the ball partially cleared, the ball came back in from the opposite side and hung menacingly in the air. Diallo managed to beat everyone to the ball, sending a looping header over the goalkeeper to make it 5-0.

Hougang coach Aide Iskandar was very pleased with the win.

“We eased off a little near the end, but there were many pleasing things in the game, such as Noor Ali scoring two, Diego scoring a good goal and lasting the whole game, as well as Diallo and Ratna getting on the scoresheet.”

But the pockmarked pitch was not conducive to good football, so it was surprising that there was so much action to entertain the crowd of 836.

“The pitch was very heavy and uneven, which made it difficult to play on,” said Aide.

“Duncan and Shariff (Abdul Samat), especially, had trouble with the pitch.”

Aide also mentioned that, apart from two clean sheets in a row, with two different goalkeepers engaged, his team had now collected five clean ones already this season.

As for Tanjong Pagar, their coach Pathmanathan cut a dejected figure after the match.

Bewailing his players’ lack of control, even allowing for the poor surface, he felt his players fell well short of the mark again, after occasionally looking to be showing improvement in some recent games.

“I only have these players available, so I have to ask them to show me what they can do if they want to stay at the club for any length of time,” he said.

“They need to keep working and maybe they can improve; but today was a day when nothing went right for us.”

The loss leaves the Jaguars firmly at the bottom of the ladder, and the seasoned coach will be hoping meeting the same opponents a second time will show what the players have learned, after being thrown in at the deep end at the start of the season in one big rush.

Under-16s get Flamengo and Everton

Source

Republic's teams drawn in separate groups as Newcastle take over Benfica in youth tourney

by Low Lin Fhoong

Apr 26, 2011

SINGAPORE - Skipper Jeffrey Lightfoot wants a spot in the final at the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup. If he is to lead the Singapore under-16 side out in the final at Jalan Besar Stadium on June 26, then they will first have to finish in the top two of Group B, which features the under-15 teams of Flamengo of Brazil and Everton of England.

In the draw conducted yesterday at Football Association of Singapore (FAS) headquarters at Jalan Besar Stadium, the Singapore under-15 team were pooled in Group A, with the under-15 sides of Juventus of Italy, and England's Newcastle.

The nine-day tourney will kick off on June 18 with the opening game featuring the Singapore under-15s' clash with Newcastle. Top Portuguese club Benfica were initially pencilled in for the tournament but were unable to compete due to school examinations and Newcastle were drafted in to replace them.

Teams to watch will be the samba boys of Flamengo and Juventus, whose under-15 side boasts a list of achievements including winning the Manchester United Premier Cup and Giovanissimi Nazionali National Championship.

Many local fans will recognise the Singapore under-16 side, who cheered the nation with their run to a bronze medal at the inaugural Youth Olympic Games held here last year. Besides the captain Jeffrey, one would expect star forwards Hanafi Akbar and Muhaimi Suhaimi to also figure prominently if the team are to make the semi-finals.

Japanese coach Koga Takuma was hired last week to get the team ready and after the draw, he played it safe when he said: "I'm happy that the team will have the opportunity to play Flamengo and Everton because it will provide them with the chance to experience two different styles of play - South American and English. What I hope for the team to get out of the tournament is match experience against quality sides."

The Republic's under-15s were crowned champions at the recent 2011 International Youth Football Invitational in Hong Kong and boast Best Player Award winner and tournament joint-top scorer Adam Swandi.

The two Singapore teams could have been drawn together, and coach Dejan Gluscevic was happy they avoided meeting the seniors.

"We're happy that we're not in the same group as the under-16s because it provides both teams with the chance to gain more match experience against these top teams. With the two teams that are in our group, we might be viewed as underdogs, but I trust in the players to deliver and do well."

Lifelong Flamengo fan, Francisco Zoroastro Campos, the president of the Fla-Cingapura fan club, was part of the draw and he is already planning to rally the 50 members to support their team.

"Flamengo will bring a very strong team, they are training very hard. Flamengo is very good, this year in January they were the under-18 champions in Brazil. I think they can win all the games and win the championship."



Group A: Singapore, Juventus, Newcastle

Group B: S'pore under-16, Flamengo, Everton

* only under-16 team in the tourney

S'pore U-15 team drawn with Juventus, Newcastle in Lion City Cup

Source

Singapore's under-15 boys will take on Newcastle United U-15 in the opening game of the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup at the Jalan Besar Stadium on June 18.

Singapore's under-15 team, winners of the 2011 International Youth Football Invitation, were drawn into Group A alongside Italian club Juventus FC and Newcastle, who will replace Benfica.

The Portuguese under-15 side are unable to compete due to school examinations.

Group B will consist of the Republic's under-16 Youth Olympic Games team, Brazil's Flamengo and Everton FC.

Representatives from the teams' fan clubs took part in the tournament's draw ceremony at Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday.

The top two teams from each group will advance to the knock-out stage for a spot in the finals, which will be played on June 26.

Title sponsor Canon Singapore will also donate S$1,000 for each goal scored by the two Singapore teams, with the money going towards development of the youth footballers.

Tickets for the Lion City Cup go on sale from May 1, and are priced from S$20 to S$25 for the open category and S$7 for students and senior citizens.

-CNA/ac

Tampines Rovers Soccer Academy 2011 Term II

Source

Tampines Rovers Football Club will kick off the 2011 Soccer Academy Term II programme on Sunday, 1 May 2011.

The academy will be held in two sessions.

Sunday morning session
Time 8:30am to 10:00am

Sunday evening sessionTime 4:30pm to 6:00pm

Interested participants can register at the Admin Office, Tampines Stadium, 25 Tampines Avenue 5, Singapore 529759 from Monday, 18 April 2011 onwards at 10:00am. (Mon to Fri, during office hours 10:00am to 6:00pm)

Term II (12 Sessions)
Session Dates
1. Sunday, 1 May 2011
2. Sunday, 8 May 2011
3. Sunday, 22 May 2011
4. Sunday, 29 May 2011

5. Sunday, 5 Jun 2011
6. Sunday, 12 Jun 2011
7. Sunday, 19 Jun 2011
8. Sunday, 26 Jun 2011

9. Sunday, 3 Jul 2011
10. Sunday, 10 Jul 2011
11. Sunday, 17 Jul 2011
12. Sunday, 24 Jul 2011

Tampines Rovers COE selection trials

Source

Tampines Rovers Football Club will be holding selection trials for their Centre of Excellence programme for the Under-14, Under-12, Under-10 and Under-8 age groups.

The selection trial dates are as follows.

Date: Saturday, 30 April 2011 and Sunday, 1 May 2011
Time: 8:30am to 10:30am
Venue: Open field in front of Tampines Stadium

The selection trials will be held by the Club’s Technical Director Vorawan Chitavanich, S.League Head Coach Steven Tan and Team Manager Zulkarnaen Zainal. Assisting with the trials will be coaching staff members Narong Saiket, K. Balagumaran and Satria Mad.

For further details, please contact the Club Admin Office in person or call 6784 6670.

Hougang sink Tanjong Pagar for five

Source

Paul Green
info@sleague.com

The misery continued for Tanjong Pagar United at Clementi Stadium on Monday night when Hougang United made off with a convincing 5-0 win in the Great Eastern-YEO’s S.League match held at the western venue.

Having conceded a goal after only 15 minutes to one of their own former players in Ratna Suffian, the Jaguars did what they could to limit any further damage before half-time, only to succumb to goals from Mohd Noor Ali either side of the break.

After that, at 0-3, there was no way back for the home side.

Only rarely did Tanjong Pagar look like troubling Hougang custodian Ridzuan Fatah Hassan, and then only with long-range speculative efforts that the keeper did well to save when almost caught off his line.

There was another snap-shot that rattled the post, late on but those efforts had come out of the blue.

Two more goals from the visitors made it a sorry night for the Jaguars, who lost skipper Kim Seong Kyu at half-time due to the Korean feeling unwell in the dressing room.

Tanjong Pagar coach Terry Pathmanathan made another change at half-time, replacing Abdul Rahman Haneefa with Patrick Paran, having substituted Kim with Delwinder Singh.

But there was little for the home fans to get excited about in the game, even when Hougang relaxed a little towards the end.

The opening goal from Ratna, almost a replica of the one he had scored a week earlier against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) at Hougang Stadium, came after a corner from the right was swung to the far post by Duncan David Elias.

Goalkeeper Ridhuan Barudin flapped at the ball, getting nowhere near it, and Ratna did the rest as the ball hung invitingly in the air.

But the Jaguars custodian did have to make one or two saves, even if a few blunders were spotted from him as well.

After Jordan Webb had played Brazilian Diego Gama de Oliveira into space, the low shot that was produced was parried well by the goalkeeper to deny his old side a second goal after only 17 minutes.

Tanjong Pagar tested Ridzuan not long afterwards when Gary Loo hit a low shot that was pushed around the post.

It was one of the very few chances the home team were granted.

Oliveira, who played his first full game since returning from injury, might have opened his account on 26 minutes after a sharp turn and shot from just inside the box, but the ball flew narrowly wide.

Another chance for the home team came two minutes later when Hyun Jong Woon played Takaya Kawanabe into a good position, only for the Japanese to skim the crossbar from 12 yards out.

Jaguars midfielders Kim Jong Oh and Kawanabe combined well on 36 minutes before Sudhershen Hariram joined in on the move, but the wide man’s shot was not good enough to beat the Hougang goalkeeper.

Just when it looked as if Tanjong Pagar could go to the sheds to lick their wounds and give some thought to preparing to turn around the one-goal deficit, Hougang struck again on the break.

Webb sped past his man down the left and, once inside the area, laid on a pass for veteran Noor Ali, who gleefully swept the ball home to make it 2-0 to the visitors.

The 35-year-old, revelling in the space being afforded him by the Tanjong Pagar defence, was able to volley home Oliveira’s cross from the left on 47 minutes to make the task nigh-on impossible for the locals at 0-3.

The Cheetahs made it four on 55 after a lovely flowing move involving Webb and Mamadou Diallo, which saw the former’s nice ball to the near post finished superbly by Oliveira with a skilful flick with the outside of his foot.

Tanjong Pagar tried valiantly to clamber their way back after that. A long-range lob from Loo, who had spotted the keeper patrolling well in front of his goal 57 minutes in, showed initiative, but then Ridzuan was able to recover and make the save.

Azlan Alipah also had a similar effort that the Hougang custodian was able to brilliantly tip over the bar, really an opportunity that had followed a slight drop in intensity by Hougang.

When that drop was first noticed, it allowed Sudhershen to get to the by-line and cross well, only to see no Tanjong Pagar head getting anywhere near the ball that had been served up on a platter.

Six minutes from time, Webb had a shot superbly tipped over the bar by Ridhuan, but the resulting corner only spelt further damage for the struggling side.

After the play had seen the ball partially cleared, the ball came back in from the opposite side and hung menacingly in the air. Diallo managed to beat everyone to the ball, sending a looping header over the goalkeeper to make it 5-0.

Hougang coach Aide Iskandar was very pleased with the win.

“We eased off a little near the end, but there were many pleasing things in the game, such as Noor Ali scoring two, Diego scoring a good goal and lasting the whole game, as well as Diallo and Ratna getting on the scoresheet.”

But the pockmarked pitch was not conducive to good football, so it was surprising that there was so much action to entertain the crowd of 836.

“The pitch was very heavy and uneven, which made it difficult to play on,” said Aide.

“Duncan and Shariff (Abdul Samat), especially, had trouble with the pitch.”

Aide also mentioned that, apart from two clean sheets in a row, with two different goalkeepers engaged, his team had now collected five clean ones already this season.

As for Tanjong Pagar, their coach Pathmanathan cut a dejected figure after the match.

Bewailing his players’ lack of control, even allowing for the poor surface, he felt his players fell well short of the mark again, after occasionally looking to be showing improvement in some recent games.

“I only have these players available, so I have to ask them to show me what they can do if they want to stay at the club for any length of time,” he said.

“They need to keep working and maybe they can improve; but today was a day when nothing went right for us.”

The loss leaves the Jaguars firmly at the bottom of the ladder, and the seasoned coach will be hoping meeting the same opponents a second time will show what the players have learned, after being thrown in at the deep end at the start of the season in one big rush.

Singapore 23rd Canon Lion City Cup 2011

Groups & Fixtures for Lion City Cup 2011

Group A Results:
Day 1 [18 June 2011]: Newcastle U15 (3) Singapore U15 (4)
Day 2 [20 June 2011]: Juventus U15 (1) Newcastle U15 (0)
Day 3 [22 June 2011]: Singapore U15 (1) Juventus U15 (2)

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
Juventus U15	2	2	0	0	3	1	2	6
Singapore U15	2	1	0	1	5	5	0	3
Newcastle U15	2	0	0	2	3	5	-2	0

Group B Results:
Day 1 [18 June 2011]: Everton U15 0 Flamengo U15 1
Day 2 [20 June 2011]: Flamengo U15 (1) Singapore U16 (1)
Day 3 [22 June 2011]: Singapore U16 (1) Everton U15 (1)

Team	P	W	D	L	F	A	GD	PTS
Flamengo U15	2	1	1	0	2	1	1	4
Singapore U16	2	0	2	0	2	2	0	2
Everton U15	2	0	1	1	1	2	-1	1

Semifinals:
Friday, 24 June 2011

Juventus U15 vs Singapore U16
2 - 2
Singapore U16 won 5-4 on penalties

Flamengo U15 vs Singapore U15
3 - 0

3th/4th playoff:

Sunday, 26 June 2011

6pm

Juventus U15 vs Singapore U15

0 - 4

FINALS:

Sunday, 26 June 

8.45pm

Singapore U16 vs Flamengo U15
0 - 0
Flamengo U15 won 4-3 on penalties

Group A Videos:

Singapore U-15 vs Newcastle U-15 video highlights 

Group A Reports:
Singapore U15 vs Juventus U15 Match Report
Singapore U15 vs Newcastle U15 Match Report


Group B Videos:
Singapore U-16 vs Flamengo U-15 Muhaimin Goal  
Singapore U-16 vs Everton U-15 Highlights

Group B Reports:
Singapore Under 16 vs Everton Under 15 Match Report
Singapore U16 vs Flamengo U15 Match Report Link 1
Singapore U16 vs Flamengo U15 Match Report Link 2 

Semifinals Videos:
Juventus U15 vs Singapore U16 Penalty Shootout

Semifinals Reports:
Flamengo U15 vs Singapore U15 Match Report
Singapore U16 vs Juventus U15 Match Report

Finals Videos:
Singapore U16 vs Flamengo U15 Penalty Shootout

3rd/4th play off and Finals Official Report:
Singapore U15 vs Juventus U15 & Singapore U16 vs Flamengo U15 Match Report


23rd Canon Lion City Cup 2011 Video Montage

Juventus and Newcastle clash in Singapore

Source

Monday 25th April 2011

The youth sides of Juventus and Newcastle will face off in Singapore as they bid to win the 23rd edition of the Lion City Cup.

The Lion City Cup has had a long and illustrious history, stretching back some 30 years, and over nine days in June, youth squads from Newcastle United, Everton FC, CR Flamengo and Juventus, as well as the Singapore Under-15 and Under-16 sides, will battle to make their mark in the competition, which has returned after a two-year hiatus.

Six teams were pooled into two groups of three, playing in a round-robin format. At Monday's official draw, representatives from the various local fan clubs expressed their delight in being a part of the historic occasion.

Mr Francisco Zoroastro Campos, President of the FLA-Cingapura, the local fan club for Brazilian club CR Flamengo, said: " It is a real honour and privilege to represent our Under-15 team in this ceremony. We are excited to see our young samba boys play against Singapore's best in June."

On the June 18, Newcastle United will take on the Singapore U-15 squad, while Flamengo will face Everton at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Juventus, who will be arriving late at the competition because of their league commitments, will face Newcastle on June 20, while the Singapore U-16 youngsters will face Flamengo.

June 22 will see Juventus taking on the host's U-15 side, and Everton against their U-16 youngsters.

R. Sasikumar, Managing Director of The Red Card, organisers of the competition, hinted that a marquee name could be brought in to raise the glamour of the event.

"We've been trying to get a household name in, and we were chasing Ronaldinho previously, but that hasn't worked out", the ex-Singapore national player revealed.

"However, we are hopeful that England legend Peter Beardsley could come with the Newcastle youngsters."

The finals of the 23rd edition of the Lion City Cup will be held on June 26 at the Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore.

FAS & JFA create history with football partnership

Source

Date: 

Wed, 20 Apr 2011

SINGAPORE, 20 April 2011: The Football Association of Singapore (FAS) is pleased to announce that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Japan Football Association (JFA).

With MOUs signed between the Japan Football Association and the French Football Federation (2005) and Spanish Football Federation (2010), this will be the JFA’s first Memorandum of Understanding signed with an Asian country in their illustrious history.

This partnership will provide a new impetus for the cooperation between FAS and JFA in the development of football, particularly in the area of youth development, football science and medicine, coach and referee education.

The partnership will also serve as a basis for developing possible future collaborations and relations between both sides.

Under the terms of the partnership, Singapore and Japan will, among others, implement an Exchange and Attachment Programme which may comprise of courses, clinics, seminars and attachments for administrators, coaches, referees, players, instructors, football science and medicine personnel.

Both FAS and JFA will also work towards facilitating the arrangement of potential training camps for their respective national and club teams in both countries.

Another area of cooperation is the mutual exchange of information, know-how and expertise in key areas pertaining to the administration and management of football in both countries. This will include the application of information technology in the administration of the domestic leagues of both countries.

FAS President Zainudin Nordin said: “The signing of this MOU is in line with our Strategic Plan. One of our key objectives under the Strategic Plan is to develop and enhance the capacities and capabilities of our players, coaches, administrators and referees, among others, by sending them for overseas attachments.

“Apart from Japan’s success on the pitch over the past two decades, during which they qualified for four consecutive FIFA World Cups and won four Asian Cups, the JFA also won the AFC Member Association of the Year at the AFC Annual Awards in November last year. In this regard, we are confident that we can leverage and benefit from the expertise and experience of the JFA to bring Singapore football to the next level.”

Mr Zainudin also announced that the FAS has, through the assistance and recommendation of the JFA, appointed Mr Takuma Koga as the new National Football Academy U-16 coach.

“Koga's immediate task will be to prepare our NFA U-16 team, who have just been awarded the SNOC Team of the Year (Team Sport, Juniors), for the upcoming 23rd Canon Lion City Cup in June 2011. In addition, he will prepare the "Cubs" to participate in the 2013 AFC U-19 Youth Championships.

“Koga, who was previously the head coach of Cerezo Osaka Under-15 team, holds the S License obtained in 2006, which is equivalent to the AFC Pro Diploma - the highest coaching qualification in AFC. I am pleased to note that Koga's Club Cerezo Osaka are playing in this year's AFC Champions League and are currently on top of the group. Koga’s appointment as our NFA U-16 head coach has been made at the right moment, as the boys have completed their school competitions and will be able to focus their attention on the task ahead. Koga will be reporting to the FAS Technical Director Slobodan and he will also be sharing his coaching experience with our local youth coaches,” said Mr Zainudin.

Apart from his coaching credentials, Koga also boasts a distinguished playing career. As a professional footballer, Koga played alongside household names like Brazilian legend Dunga at Jubilo Iwata, where he won the J-League titles in 1997 and 1999, as well as the J-League Cup in 1998.

Mr Kohzo Tashima, Vice-President and General Secretary of Japan Football Association, also explained the reason for JFA’s agreement to this MOU when he said: “We are pleased to sign the Memorandum of Understanding with Singapore because we believe that the way to raise Japanese football standards to the next level is by helping our fellow Asian countries improve.

“We decided to work with FAS because they are the leading Association in ASEAN and one of the top member Associations in Asia, especially in football administration, and it was only natural for us to share our expertise and aim for the continued development of football in both countries together.”

Mr Zainudin also added that in line with the Strategic Plan, FAS are also in advanced discussions with a few countries to tap on their respective areas of expertise.

“This will benefit our players, coaches, referees and other personnel involved in the game, and ultimately translate into more success for Singapore football,” he said.

FAS SIGN MOU WITH JAPAN FA

Source




SINGAPORE (21 April 2011) – The FA of Singapore (FAS) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Japan FA in the areas of youth development, football science and medicine, coach and referee education.

Singapore and Japan will, among others, implement an exchange and attachment programmes which may comprise of courses, clinics, seminars and attachments for administrators, coaches, referees, players, instructors, football science and medicine personnel.

They will also work towards facilitating the arrangement of potential training camps for their respective national and club teams in both countries.

“The signing of this MOU is in line with our Strategic Plan. One of our key objectives under the Strategic Plan is to develop and enhance the capacities and capabilities of our players, coaches, administrators and referees, among others, by sending them for overseas attachments,” said Zainudin Nordin, the president of the FAS.

“Apart from Japan’s success on the pitch over the past two decades, during which they qualified for four consecutive FIFA World Cups and won four Asian Cups, the JFA also won the AFC Member Association of the Year at the AFC Annual Awards in November last year. In this regard, we are confident that we can leverage and benefit from the expertise and experience of the JFA to bring Singapore football to the next level.”

It was also announced that through the assistance and recommendation of the JFA, the FAS have appointed Takuma Koga as the new national football academy U-16 coach.

“Koga’s immediate task will be to prepare our NFA U-16 team, who have just been awarded the SNOC Team of the Year (Team Sport, Juniors), for the upcoming 23rd Canon Lion City Cup in June 2011. In addition, he will prepare the ‘Cubs’ to participate in the 2013 AFC U-19 Youth Championships.”

Kohzo Tashima, the Vice-President and general secretary of JFA added: “we are pleased to sign the MOU with Singapore because we believe that the way to raise Japanese football standards to the next level is by helping our fellow Asian countries improve.”

Flat Young Lions tamed by Bulls double

Source

Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com

They were outshouted in the stands, and they were outworked on the field.

The comprehensiveness of the Courts Young Lions’ defeat on both sides of the touchline at Jalan Besar was appropriately reflected, then, by the 0-2 scoreline shown at the end of the 90 minutes.

Goals from Ruhaizad Ismail and Park Kang Jin gave Gombak United the three points they needed to ease themselves into fifth place, giving their fans good reason to be loud and proud about their team’s upswing in fortunes.

For Young Lions coach Robin Chitrakar, however, this was another Saturday evening to forget as his ‘Tinkerman’ tactics backfired on him in improbable fashion.

Having recently stressed the importance of producing results to match performances he had viewed in positive terms, the 34-year-old retained just four of the eleven players that had started against Home United in midweek.

Fazli Ayob, Shahfiq Ghani and Faritz Abdul Hameed were among those relegated to the bench as Firman Hanif and Ignatius Ang were handed their first starts, while goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud, who had played exceptionally well recently against Tampines Rovers, was dropped altogether.

If Izwan’s replacement Jasper Chan was hoping his defence would hold up against Gombak, the thought was shot to pieces after just three minutes.

A botched attempt by leftback Afiq Yunos to clear the ball gave Ruhaizad an opening, and the winger gleefully took it at the first time of asking to give the Bulls the perfect start.

Ruhaizad had missed Gombak’s previous game due to suspension, and he seemed on a mission to make up for lost time as he made an absolute nuisance of himself in the opening minutes.

Behind him, the rest of the men in white were comfortably keeping control, particularly on the flanks where Ismail Yunos and Jeremy Chiang mopped most things up with little fuss.

Up in the gallery, Gombak too were in dominant form, their fans singing in fine voice and hitting their instruments with an abundance of enthusiasm.

So clear was the impression they were leaving in the stands, it was easy to make the mistaken guess this was actually the Bulls’ home game, as the Young Lions fans, underrepresented in the sparse crowd of 646, could not find it in them to raise their volume.

At least on the field it was eleven against eleven, although a few players were having noticeably quiet games for the home side.

Syafiq Zainal, deployed in an unfamiliar defensive midfield role alongside skipper Hariss Harun, was one such, while Ang was hardly noticed on his full debut as most of the attacks appeared to go down the right side, where Nazrul Ahmad Nazari repeatedly tried to break through in vain.

The Young Lions did have a rare glimpse at a chance to equalise on 36 minutes, when Khalili D’Cruz was at the centre of a moment’s lapse from the Gombak backline and pulled a shot that at least forced Zakariah Nerani to fumble the ball for a second.

But with striker Haniff Ja’ffar Sadique picking up an ankle injury, Chitrakar decided to make a couple of changes during the interval as Izzdin Shafiq and Shakir Hamzah were introduced.

Surprisingly, Hariss joined Haniff in making way for the pair of substitutes, and Afiq was also withdrawn in favour of Irwan Shah before the hour was up.

The shuffle changed the spine of the team as Firman, Syafiq and D’Cruz all moved one step up the 4-2-3-1 formation ladder, but that did little to change the balance of the game as Gombak maintained a level of industry that was just enough to close off the opposition.

The visitors could even have created a few more chances had Hamqaamal Shah been more incisive down the left flank, but as it was he already did enough to trouble Eugene Luo, who was not looking particularly comfortable in his defensive role for the Young Lions.

One clear example came twelve minutes from the end as Hamqaamal trotted into an attacking position with the ball at his feet the whole time, only for the shot to go across the face of goal.

The 24-year-old then failed to make the most of a through ball sent his way seconds later, but the way things were going, Gombak looked good value for a second goal.

That duly arrived on 83 minutes, and again it was a moment of defensive failure that gifted the opportunity.

A throw-in routine on the right ended up sending the ball towards Park 25 yards out, and with no red shirt closing in, the Korean saw no harm in swinging a left-footed shot after taking a touch.

Chan appeared to initially react, but then froze on the spot and could only watch in horror as the ball glided sweetly into the net, effectively sealing all three points for the Bulls.

The visitors could have had even more goals had Hamqaamal cut the ball back smartly to late substitute Fareez Farhan in the penalty area on 88 minutes instead of getting greedy and going for a glorious cross-shot, but by then the Young Lions had all but given up.

And if their fans had expressed any pride in their work despite the defeat, it would have been difficult to hear it, so emphatically joyous was the cheering the Gombak fans offered even as they made their way out.

Stewart pleased Bulls resume normal service
Gombak United coach Darren Stewart was satisfied to see his charges bring the industry back into their game as they overcame the Courts Young Lions 2-0.

The Australian had cut a disappointed figure in his team’s last match, calling the showing against Tanjong Pagar United “our worst performance of the year” despite garnering a 3-0 victory then.

There were no such complaints from him this time, however, as the Bulls showed the intensity and focus to silence their hosts at Jalan Besar.

“We were much better today, back to our normal selves,” he told sleague.com.

“We’re not going to play perfect football, but the high work rate and intensity had all come back, which is really pleasing. That is what we build our game around, and we thought that dropped off in our last game.

“I can’t praise the boys enough for getting it back, and I’m mostly pleased with how we lifted ourselves and played much better today. I think the boys have all been above themselves, and looking at the season, we’re all happy with where we are at this moment.

“Maybe the other team got unlucky with the first goal, even though it was a great finish, and they gave us a hard game until maybe the last ten minutes. But we’ll always be tough to beat.”

Young Lions coach Robin Chitrakar meanwhile mounted a zealous defence of his decision to aggressively rotate his squad against Gombak, having made seven changes to his starting eleven.

First-year players Ignatius Ang and Firman Hanif were among the second-stringers picked to start as several mainstays were dropped, while skipper Hariss Harun and vice-captain Afiq Yunos were withdrawn less than an hour into the game.

Chitrakar was adamant that these changes were necessary for the rookies’ development.

“We played lots of back-to-back games, and there’s a big game against SAFFC coming up,” said the 34-year-old.

“It’s not like we just go out there and field whoever we want to; obviously we have plans and we’ve worked at this in training. This is a very good place for people to get a chance to play and get experience and exposure.

“This game was a good opportunity to get some of them started in terms of playing. These boys badly want a game, and if anything, this game shows that they need more, many more games.

“These are 19-year-old boys we are talking about, and I don’t think they will get the same opportunities in many of the clubs out there. Hopefully they will gain from this experience, and they will be much more ready when they are called upon again.”

Warriors and Stars play out eventful stalemate

Source

Bhaskaran Kunju
info@sleague.com

Singapore Armed Forces FC and Etoile FC shared the spoils at Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday night in a keenly-contested tie that ended 1-1.

Though the match was largely even-tempered, it was not without controversy. While Hicham Bouchemlal was given his marching orders for his second caution after a heavy challenge on Mislav Karoglan, it was referee Abas Daud who took centrestage in the closing minutes of the game.

While trying to defuse a heated exchange between Serge Souchon and Karoglan by the touchline adjacent to the Etoile bench, Abas looked to give the Frenchman a hard if accidental shove, which sent the player hurtling to the ground clutching his face.

The curious incident almost precipitated an all-out melee between both groups of players, only to be quickly quelled by all four match officials on duty for the night.

In the aftermath, Souchon and Karoglan were booked to a cacophony of boos hurled at the man in the middle.

Stars coach Guglielmo Arena, who was seen giving fourth official Sukhbir Singh a lengthy complaint, was surprisingly withdrawn about the incident in the post-match conference, refusing to criticise the performance of Abas outright.

“He is a good referee, a very good referee but just today he gave a ‘small performance’, that’s all,” said the Italian cautiously in halting English to ensure nothing was lost in translation.

He did state his displeasure with the red card issued to Bouchemlal, and expressed disappointment with his team letting slip victory.

“It was a severe decision (sending off Bouchemlal),” he remarked.

“The first yellow, okay, but the second one, no. For Barcelona (against Real Madrid in the recent Copa del Rey final), Xavi was only given a warning for pushing a player after already picking up a yellow card. So I don’t know.

“I am disappointed we didn’t get three points today.

“The players are good, but unfortunately, we don’t have enough mature players for this kind of big match,” he said, slightly despondent.

“We can do better.”

The resurgent title holders were however in good stead according to Arena, as he proudly indicated that Etoile now had four points in the mini-league between the top four sides, on par with SAFFC and above Home United, who had only managed one point, while Tampines Rovers lead with seven.

SAFFC head coach Richard Bok too was in no loss of mood, though he too expressed disappointment that his side had failed collect all three points.

“I was disappointed with the result, we had a good first half and played good football,” said the three-time MIKASA Coach of the Year.

“We just couldn’t convert our chances. Then there was a lapse of concentration and they put one in.”

The goal in question came minutes after the restart, after Hafiz Osman fluffed his clearance and sprayed the ball to an unmarked Anthony Moulin, who made no mistake in putting his side ahead.

The Warriors had been in full control of the first half and had restricted Etoile so well the Frenchmen had barely a sniff at goal.

But Bok’s repeating of the phrase “we couldn’t convert our chances” in the post-match conference was an indicator of his side’s inability to seriously threaten Antonin Trilles in the Etoile goal as well, despite a few decent chances.

Ivan Jerkovic sailed his free kick on 26 minutes agonisingly over the crossbar, while a tight shot by Hafiz from inside the box at the goalkeeper’s near post was well turned away by the custodian.

Jerkovic also drew an excellent save out of Trilles with a thundering shot from open play, but otherwise there were limited chances of quality of note.

And after Moulin’s surprise goal early in the second half, Etoile appeared to be in the ascendancy.

The eight-time S.League champions however relied on an opportunistic chance themselves to get back on level terms.

Fazrul Nawaz headed home from close range from a Daniel Bennett cross, as all players in the Etoile defence were found guilty of ball-watching.

Even the dismissal of Bouchemlal with fifteen minutes of regulation time to go did not alter SAFFC’s fortunes. The quick introduction of Indra Sahdan and Razaleigh Khalik to push for a three points fizzled as well.

Surprisingly, Etoile not only managed to comfortably hold off the Warriors, but even kept their opponents pressed in their own penalty box for most of the last ten minutes of the game.

It was a sight that drew no small amount of disappointment from the SAFFC bench as they sat through a tense finish.

“They were down to ten men but we couldn’t take advantage,” mused Bok.

“It was a committed performance from them in the second half, but we did well. I’ll be happy if i can get this performance week in and week out.”

The readiness in which both coaches accepted the result could be due to the non-impact the result had on either team’s position in the table.

The point earned kept the Warriors in second place, four points behind leaders Tampines, while Etoile remained fourth in the table, going level on points with the Protectors in third place and within two wins of the summit.

Lionel Lewis – Full-time footballer, part-time actor

Source

SINGAPORE, 19 April 2011: Five years ago, when Lionel Lewis won nomination for the 2006 Asian Footballer of the Year award, making him the only ASEAN player and only goalkeeper nominated in the history of the award, little did he know that it would open up gates to opportunities that one can only dream of.

One of the many opportunities came in the form of a sponsorship deal with YEO’S in 2008. Identified for his professionalism, charisma and inspirational determination on and off the field, Lionel, along with two of his Singapore National Teammates, became the face of H-TWO-O. Since then, the partnership between Lionel and YEO’S blossomed and as the ambassador of H-TWO-O, he has been actively involved in their advertising campaigns.

Today, the success of Lionel is evident and widespread. Not only is he well spoken of amongst his peers and the public, he is also synonymous to H-TWO-O as a brand ambassador. YEO’S acknowledgement of Lionel’s success as a footballer and brand ambassador was re-affirmed when they re-signed him as a brand ambassador for another five years. In return, this gave him additional media exposure.

To date, Lionel is H-TWO-O’S longest-serving brand ambassador. A delighted Lionel was given more to shout about when he was presented an opportunity by YEO’S to be the first S.League player to be featured in a TV commercial which was produced outside of Singapore.

Lionel feels that he would not have been where he is today if not for the support of YEO’S and acknowledges that such an opportunity doesn’t come by often.

Exemplifying the importance of hydration and how H-TWO-O can help an athlete reach their optimum performance level, the TVC, featuring Lionel and Triathlete Victoria Campbell, was shot at an altitude of 6,000m above sea level and took two weeks to shoot. It is currently aired on national TV.

Nakamura drive seals Stags victory at Bedok

Source

Elwyn Lee
info@sleague.com

Thursday night’s eastern derby at Bedok Stadium ended in three points for visitors Tampines Rovers after an Akihiro Nakamura stinger midway through the first half made it 1-0 to the Stags at the end of the 90 minutes.

Hosts Geylang United had their chances to take at least a draw, but their failure to convert, combined with good goalkeeping by Tampines custodian Hassan Sunny, proved otherwise.

It was nonetheless a credible performance as far as Geylang coach Mike Wong was concerned, although he acknowledged he had badly wanted the goals and the points.

“I am disappointed with the result but not with the way we played,” he told sleague.com after the match.

“We played well in the second half but could not create the opportunity to score and finish our buildups with the goals. We have been practising at our training sessions to finish well, and I was confident of that today, but it did not materialise as planned.

“As for Tampines, they also defended well, and with Hassan in goal picking up the shots and chances confidently, that also made it difficult. We tried playing the low balls too, but their defenders were able to pick up on that too.”

There was a clear air of resignation in Wong’s last comments, and it was understandable given how hard-fought this match had been.

With the two storied eastern rivals playing at close to full strength, the outcome of this battle was looking decidedly cagey from the moment the game got underway.

Tampines came close in the eighth minute when a close-range Benoit Croissant effort stung the fists of goalkeeper Yazid Yasin, the Eagles captain on full alert as he parried the ball away.

Geylang sought to open up the lead with a couple of frenzied attacks deep inside the Stags’ half, and they used the flanks to good effect as they found their way into their opponents’ box a good many times.

Striker Jung Hee Bong’s cross from the right on 22 minutes found compatriot Kim Jae Hong deep inside the Tampines box, but defender Jufri Taha and custodian Hassan’s presence blocked Kim’s attempt as they positioned themselves neatly in the way.

Although Geylang looked more likely to open up the scoring within the first half-hour of play, Tampines proved the more clinical of the sides.

A corner for the Stags on 27 minutes was dispatched to Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin at the far post, and the ball was then threaded to the unmarked Nakamura, who was lurking just outside the 18-yard-area.

The Japanese midfielder duly composed himself before smashing a venomous curler to the right of Yazid’s goal, the blistering drive well beyond anyone’s reach as it rocketed past all and sundry into the right corner.

It was an emphatic reply that would go on to charge up the visitors while sapping the spirits of their hosts.

Chances presented themselves both ways as both the Eagles and the Stags launched forward.

Tampines captain Aleksandar Duric’s cheeky lob on 39 almost made it two for the visitors, the ball heading toward the underside of Yazid’s crossbar before a right-handed save tipped the orb away.

Geylang’s effort to equalise before half-time then saw the determined Korean pairing of Jung and Kim coming very close two minutes before the break, but Jung’s close control after Kim had crossed to him could only be drilled into the frame of Stags defender Park Yo Seb, who defended well to deny his countrymen.

Coming back strongly in the second half, the Eagles faced the prospect of national custodian Hassan going to air as well as ground in repelling all attempts at his goal.

The 27-year-old’s commanding presence between the sticks was bolstered by a line of defence that kept out whatever the Eagles could muster in search of a comeback.

Goalkeeper and defenders aside, Geylang were their own worst enemy as they finished poorly whenever chances presented themselves.

As a typical example, an attempt on 65 minutes by striker Hafiz Rahim was hit way over the bar when he only had the keeper to beat from 12 yards out.

With their shots not hitting the mark, Geylang gambled with the introduction of Rizawan Abdullah and Shah Hirul for Jung and Adrian Dhanaraj in the final ten minutes.

The shift in dynamics into a more attacking-oriented charge was evident, but the Eagles were still to rue their missed chances as clinical finishes still eluded them.

A volleyed drive from inside the six-yard box by Hafiz, after the striker was fed a crisp pass from teammate Syed Fadhil from down the right, was sent narrowly wide of the left post.

And with the hosts’ backline necessarily weakened by the substitutions, Tampines came knocking again in the second minute of injury time, Duric passing his two markers and penetrating into the Eagles box only for the presence of Yazid to deny the Stags a second goal once more.

Tampines coach Steven Tan was nonetheless happy with the points off a single strike, the second such result in a week for his team.

“It’s the three points that’s more important,” he stressed.

“We have a hectic schedule, with the AFC Cup match next Wednesday before playing another league game that same week on Saturday. So the points earned were important today.”

The win opens the Stags’ lead at the top of the standings to five points, although second-placed SAFFC can slash it if they avert defeat at the hands of reigning champions Etoile FC in 24 hours’ time.

Second-half spark puts fire into Balestier

Source

 

A. Ong
info@sleague.com

Sometimes, all it takes is the half-time team talk.

Balestier Khalsa switched on the afterburners after a dour first half had ended scoreless, and two quickfire goals midway through the second half secured them all three points against a toothless-looking Woodlands Wellington.

Strike duo Kim Young Kwang and Vitor Borges both notched up goals within minutes of each other to clinch their first victory at Toa Payoh Stadium this season and push Balestier to seventh place in the S.League standings.

Arguably, none was as pleased at the home win as Tigers head coach Salim Moin.

“The spirit of the boys was fantastic. They were very focused, and you could see the hunger they had to win the game,” said Salim.

“At half-time, all I told them was the corrections they needed to make, and just to go for it! In the second half, my players followed the instructions very well, working as a unit and scoring those goals,” explained the 49-year-old about his side’s improvement in the second half.

The winners were always going to be the team that would manage to lift their game after a largely eventless first half, which was summed up by Goh Swee Swee’s poorly-struck free kick over the bar, after Leonardo Alexio da Costa had been fouled on the edge of the area on 13 minutes.

That was the first half in a nutshell – stoppages in the game, coupled with a general lack of quality shown in front of goal.

The closest anyone came to scoring in the opening 45 minutes was K. Vikraman’s header ten minutes before the break, but the Balestier winger could only nod a looping effort past the far post from Ridhwan Osman’s fine cross.

The second half was a wholly different affair, and within a few minutes da Costa and Kim had come close with headed efforts at opposite ends.

The crowd was also treated to Armanizam Dolah’s ambitious effort from inside the centre circle, though Woodlands goalkeeper Ang Bang Heng got back in time to make a comfortable save.

Ang was to make an even better stop on the hour mark, though it will remain a mystery how much he actually knew about it.

A quick free kick released Ridhwan down the right flank, and his pinpoint cross gave Kim a pointblank chance, but the Korean’s header cannoned off Ang to the home crowd’s amazement.

Kim was to be denied on 68 minutes again, seeing his powerful header tipped over by Ang, after Armanizam had swung over a corner from the right.

The Rams still did not heed the warning posed by Kim’s aerial prowess, and they were to be punished dearly from the subsequent corner. A carbon copy if ever there was one, as Kim nodded home from another Armanizam delivery, despite the best efforts of Ang to keep it from crossing the line.

Six minutes later, the points were in the bag for the Tigers. A quick counterattack found Borges with the ball on the edge of the area, after good approach play from Vikraman.

The Brazilian shifted the ball to his right foot and blasted an unstoppable shot past the Woodlands goalkeeper into the top corner, to the delight of the home fans.

Woodlands, who had scored in their last three games after drawing a blank in their first five games of the season, would only come close to breaching the Balestier goal on the stroke of full time.

Shahri Musa was fastest to react after an Adrian Butters shot had been charged down, but the Woodlands midfielder saw his shot deflected over from less than two yards out.

Had that chance been converted it might have been just a consolation, though Rams coach R. Balasubramaniam felt the match had been more even than the final scoreline suggested.

“There was nothing much between the teams, which were equally strong. I think 0-0 would have been a good result for both teams,” remarked the former Balestier staff coach.

It was another blank drawn by the Woodlands frontline, though Balasubramaniam had praise for his towering Brazilian attacker.

“I thought Leo did well, but as expected he was marked very tightly by Balestier. He did his best, especially when there were some tackles on him that weren’t spotted by the ref,” pointed out the 37-year-old.

“But we need to learn to defend better, especially on set-pieces. Also, we have to keep possession for as long as we can, so these are the things we need to work on.”

Those lessons will have to be learnt awfully quickly, if Woodlands are to escape what is shaping up to be a basement battle between themselves and bottom club Tanjong Pagar United.

Balestier, on the other hand, can take heart from their two wins on the trot. But tougher times lie ahead, with upcoming games against last season’s top trio of Tampines Rovers, Home United, and Etoile FC.

Still, Salim is unfazed by the task that lies ahead of his team.

“We always set a style of play, and we don’t change it if it works. If we can have tighter defending and keep on pressing the opponents, then we can carry out the same plan against Tampines as we have done today.”

By the evidence shown here, Balestier are certainly a force to be reckoned with on their day, and the leading teams in the league would do very well to heed that warning.

Late Duric goal foils Izwan heroics

Source

Noor Farhan
info@sleague.com

For 80 minutes on Sunday evening, Tampines Rovers seemed to find no way past Izwan Mahbud as the goalkeeper stood tall between the sticks in a bid to earn the Courts Young Lions a clean sheet.

Lady Luck eventually smiled on the hosts at Tampines Stadium, though, as a scrappy goal by Stags hitman Aleksandar Duric was enough to break the deadlock in their 1-0 victory over their hardy opponents.

The scoreline could have been far more clear-cut if not for the sheer talent of Young Lions custodian Izwan, who was outstanding throughout.

But he, like so many goalkeepers before him, was beaten in the end, and with the three points securely in their grasp, Tampines now sit atop the S.League table once again with 23 points after nine games played, while the Young Lions find themselves still mired in the bottom three.

The home side were quick to settle in midfield, with Duric being the first to test the Young Lions goalkeeper in the fifth minute after being sent clean through, only to see his charge halted by an onrushing Izwan.

The Young Lions defence got overrun way too easily throughout the game, though, first by Shahdan Sulaiman’s excellent work down the right which saw him thread a good pass past four static defenders, followed by snap shots by Duric and Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin on 15 and 19 minutes respectively.

If not for the fine reflexes of an alert Izwan, who had a night his opposite number Hassan Sunny could be proud of, the boys in white and dark blue could have found themselves behind far earlier than they actually did.

They again had their goalkeeper to thank on 27 minutes when Tampines were boring holes through the Young Lions rearguard at will, with potshots by Aliff Shafaein, Duric and Latiff in quick succession all repelled.

Towards the end of the first half, the Young Lions finally found their footing in central midfield courtesy of some good play by Hariss Harun and Izzdin Shafiq.

A pass stemming from some fine work between the two found Faritz Abdul Hameed, whose cross-shot was diverted by the outstretched arms of Hassan to keep the half-time score at 0-0.

Continuing their positive play into the second half, the Young Lions were almost rewarded when Izzdin saw himself free on 50 minutes, but his volley agonisingly grazed the crossbar.

Soon enough, though, the action switched over to the other end as Tampines resumed their bombardment on the visitors’ goal.

Izwan again had to be called into action to tip over a speculative shot by Shahdan, after some slick passing in a counterattacking move.

He was almost beaten on 65 minutes after being caught outside his goal with Duric bearing down on him, but having rounded the goalkeeper, the Tampines captain saw his tame shot cleared off the line by Afiq Yunos, who had managed to retreat and position himself in time.

There was not much Izwan could do with ten minutes remaining, however, when the Singapore international finally ended the stalemate in near-comical circumstances.

It all started from an error from the back of the Tampines defence, when Park Yo Seb’s misdirected clearance fortuitously found teammate Ismadi Mukhtar down the left channel. A quick charge down the left by substitute Jamil Ali then left several Young Lions defenders trailing in his wake, before he fed a return ball back to Ismadi.

The 27-year-old then laid the ball to Duric, who held off his marker and saw his initial shot saved by Izwan, but this time he followed through to bundle the ball over the line.

It was a cruel way to end Izwan’s fine string of saves, but he had one last piece of action in injury time to avert a heavier defeat.

Right at the death, the 20-year-old tipped Ismadi’s header over the bar to cap a fine performance for his side despite the defeat.

Young Lions coach Robin Chitrakar certainly deemed it right to highlight the positives for his charges even as he looked back at the all-deciding goal.

“It was quite a scrappy one for us to concede, but a goal is a goal, and not taking anything away from Duric, he still managed to put the ball in the net,” he told sleague.com.

“We had a lot of players at the back still (in that situation), being able to recover. But I thought the boys did their best to come back and try to defend.

“Let’s not take anything away from the boys, as they did very well in terms of overall performance.”

Doing well was not enough to save at least a point, though, and Tampines coach Steven Tan highlighted the good fortune his players had in clinching full points.

“In football we need a bit of luck (to gain results),” he noted.

“If not for luck we could have seen more clearances off the line and even more saves in the game. Still, it was important that we get the three points.”

The match was also a tactical victory for Tan, whose team played a slow game in the first half but managed to produce the goods in the end.

“In the first half, we were not actually playing a relaxed game,” remarked the 40-year-old.

“We had to make sure that we did not play to the Young Lions’ pace, as we knew they would run a lot throughout.

“If we had played to their pace, we would have tired ourselves out. We knew that at the rate they were going, they would have been fatigued by the second half.

“In the end, their players went down with cramp, but we finished the game without any such problems. If our players went down with cramp, it means I am not doing my job preparing them fitness-wise, and I would have made them run a few more rounds on Monday to make up for that!”

Tan also touched on his decision to take an off-colour Aliff off early in the second half, as well as omitting Seiji Kaneko, who had a bruise above his knee, from the matchday squad.

“Aliff had a rib injury in Hanoi, it was affecting his performances slightly in this game, so we had to replace him midway through,” he reported.

“As for Seiji, with his bruise I thought it was more important to rest him today and have him free to play more games later. We’re targeting our AFC Cup game as the time to bring him back.”