Pelita Jaya have announced the signing of Yuthajak Konjan. The former national team player will be among familiar faces as he was part of the 2003 Thai SEA Games squad that also featured Kosin Hatairatkul (Persib) and Phaitoon Thiabma (Persijap).
In the 2009 Thai Premier League the midfielder played for PEA and was a part of their AFC Cup run. Click to continue reading...

Without doubt the highlight this weekend is the climax of the season in Malaysia with Kelantan taking on Negeri Sembilan in the Malaysia Cup final at Bukit Jalil. Earlier in the season some 40,000 fans from the north east descended on the nation's capital to see their heroes take on Selangor in the FA Cup Final only to go home broken hearted. Click to continue reading...

The Thai Port blog is reporting Thai Port, who recently ended a trophy drought of 16 years, are interested in signing PEA defender Rangsan Vivatchaichok. Which is interesting because I understand Indonesian side Persib may also be resurrecting their interest in the Thai international.
Persib will have to pull their finger out though as the final registration for players is tonight! Click to continue reading...

So to think, at the end of next week we'll be halfway through the season and then things will really start to get interesting. But in this short season, have Canberra United already left their run too late, despite notching up their first win in Round 4? And have the Mariners already secured their spot in the finals thanks to a rampaging 5-1 win over Newcastle? Click to continue reading...

" I once described Mani to a Lebanese newspaper as a virus! Once he got hold of you he was impossible to shake off. I dont know if they understood but the opposition players soon did.
We then progresed through to the AFC cup semi final, an incredible acheivment for such a small club captained by Mani. Click to continue reading...

Christ...where to begin.
Sunday morning I was down the Thai Port shop checking out a couple of things. Even at the relatively early time of 10 am there were people hanging around and buying things. They were due to play PEA that same day but I had to be elsewhere.
Muang Thong Thani is pretty new I think. Click to continue reading...

The second season of the Westfield W-League will be different, no questions about that. But how and why? And what will Westfield Matildas coach Tom Sermanni be looking out for?
Hear from the man himself, who told girlswithgame what he expects when the league kicks off this weekend, including more impact from international players, some of the players to watch and that the Number 1 goalkeeping role for the AFC Cup next year is wide open. Click to continue reading...

In a historic turn of events the Kuwaiti soccer club will be visiting Iraq for the first time since the first Gulf War to play in the AFC Cup's quarterfinals. Iraq's Irbil club have been pinned up against the Kuwait Sports Club in what looks like a battle to the finish. Iraq won the Aisia Cup last season and have proven themselves the stronger contenders.

Click to continue reading...

With four games to play in the Thai Premier League things couldn't be tighter in an epic title race between newly promoted Muang Thong United and Chonburi.
1 - Muang Thong 26 16 7 3 41-18 55
2 - Chonburi 26 16 6 4 44-26 54
Just one point between them and they go head to head at the Thunderdome this weekend. Click to continue reading...

It's been in the pipeline since June. Now, here we are in September, it is looking signed and sealed. At least it will be by the middle of next week.
And it's more bad news for fans of the SLeague as another one of its big names moves to Indonesia.
Singapore international Precious Emuejeraye, who presently plays for Woodlands Wellington, will be swapping mid table oblivion and 1,500 crowds for Sriwijaya, possible AFC Cup football and 25,000 fans per home game. Click to continue reading...

MSL in such a pathetic state it badly needs a revamp
ERIC SAMUEL
NO wonder the Super League is being labelled the Super Flop.
On May 23, only 11 fans paid to watch UPB-MyTeam FC play out a drab 0-0 draw with Police in a Super League match.
This is the pathetic state of affairs of the Malaysian Super League (MSL), which will be going into its seventh season next year. Click to continue reading...

(Picture) Coach Raddy (with cap) put his players through the pace.
Good thing was I managed to make it to the national team training session at Geylang Field after work, when initially I thought some stupid accidents along the PIE would derail my plan to catch the session.
(Picture) Fahrudin Mustafic doing some stretching on the sideline. Click to continue reading...

KUALA LUMPUR: Newly crowned Malaysian Super League champions Selangor have declared their determination to shine in next year's AFC Cup.
Team manager Zakaria Ab Rahim told the local media that Malaysia's most popular club would now strive to make an impression in continental competitions.
"It's time to move forward and be counted in Asia," said Zakaria. Click to continue reading...

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. Click to continue reading...

Persisam are rapidly turning into the Manchester City of Indonesia. Flush with cash they are busy linking themselves with anyone and everyone.
This story links them with Thai pair Datsakorn and Teerasil even quoting one club official as suggesting paying Teerasil an unprecedented 500,000 USD a year. Click to continue reading...

It's been a while since PSMS players haven't lived out of a suitcase. Recent weeks have seen them take on Sriwijaya somewhere in East Java then head east to Persipura then south to Persiwa.
Next they head north again to Jayapura where they take on newly crowned champions Persipura in their Copa Indonesia quarter final 2nd leg which they trail 2-0. Click to continue reading...

Persipura are champions of course and deservedly so. Some celebration is planned today at their Mandala tadium in Jayapura when they host last season's champions Sriwijaya, coached by Rahmad Darmawan who of course guided the Black Pearls to their 2005 title.
Second place is up for grabs with just goal difference seperating Persib and Persiwa. Click to continue reading...

I was watching Bafana Coach Joel Santana speaking at a press conference on Thursday after he had announced his 23 man squad for next week's Fifa Confederations Cup and it was quite concerning hearing what the coach had to say when questioned about South Africa's opening match opponents, Iraq.

Click to continue reading...

So it goes down to the wire. Persib and Persiwa are neck and neck for second spot in the ISL with Persib having the slightly better goal difference. Wednesday sees the final round of fixtures and Persiwa are at home to PSMS as they seek to maintain their 100% home record. Sixteen games, 16 wins.
PSMS on the other hand need the points to crawl away from that dreaded relegation play off spot. Click to continue reading...

Singapore League Cup
Super Reds v Gombak United 1-0
Home United v Sengkang Punggol 3-1
SAF v DPMM 0-3
Tampines Rovers v Geylang United 3-0
With both Gombak United and SAF going down the point may be argued that they are concentrating on the league itself while finally Tampines found some goals comfortably defeating Geylang in the Eastern Derby. Click to continue reading...

Things have been quiet on the Semarang Dave front for a while. My one time PSIS correspondant used to bombard me with text messages and e mails when his heroes were doing well but things have been quiet of late.
Mathematically they're not down. They're guaranteed a bottom four finish which means they could end up in a play off spot against the 4th best team from the IPL. Click to continue reading...

Kuala Muda v Perak 3-1 (Akmal Rizal Ahmad Rakhli, Faderin Kadir, Anuar Jusoh; Sufi Saadi)
Selangor v Kedah 3-1 (Amri Yahyah, Rudie Ramli, Amirulhadi Zainal; Fauzi Shaari)
Negeri Sembilan v Penang 5-1
Johor v Pahang 4-0 (Saifuddin Riduan , Eddy Helmi Abdul Manan , Wan Rohaimi Wan Ismail, Nor Azlan Roya )
Perlis v Terengganu 0-2 (Ashaari Samsudin, Abd Manaf Mamat)
KL Plus v Kelantan 2-0 (S. Click to continue reading...

Today sees PSMS take on champions Persipura in the Copa Indonesia at their own stadium in Medan. With their side still active on three fronts, fighting relegation from the ISL, the Copa and the AFC Cup, expect PSMS fans to see some changes as they juggle their commitments. Undoubtedly ISL survival is priority but this is a rare chance to perform in front of their home support so PSMS will be keen to put on a show. Click to continue reading...

Indonesia Super League
Persijap v Persija 1-1 (Ilham Hasan; Greg Nwokolo) 7,000
PSM v PKT 2-1 (Julio Lopez 2; Josiah Setton) 10,00
Pelita Jaya v Persik 2-2 (Cristian Lopes, Rudi Wibowo, James KOko Lomel; M Roby, Saktiawan Sinaga) 100
PSIS v Arema 1-1 (Nnengue; Rony Firmansyah) 1,030
Deltras v Persiba 2-0 (Sergio Junior, Firdaus Nyong) 3,559
Persita v Persela 1-2 (Adolfo Souza; Carlos Sclucatti, Zainal Arifin) 500
With the ISL wrapped up all eyes are now on the battle to avoid relegation and Firmansyah sure broke a few hearts with his last minute equaliser for Arema in Semarang keeping the home side bottom of the table. Click to continue reading...

Tonight sees PSMS play their final AFC Cup group stage match in Malaysia against Johor and you can see where their priorities lie. With qualification and a game against Chonburi assured they have decided to leave behind players like Markus Horison, Elie Aiboy and Zada. On the domestic front they are still fighting against relegation. Click to continue reading...

VS
PREVIEW
Home United's fate in the AFC Cup will be determined by the outcome of this fixture after their away defeat to Vietnamese club Binh Duong.
However, Mr PN Sivaji's men should take some comfort for the fact they had not lost their last two games since that lost in Vietnam, but there's no room for complacency as the club jolly well know that further participation in this continental tournament means a victory at all costs against this Thai side. Click to continue reading...

3rd Round
13 May: Leg 2 Persitara vs Persebaya
Quarter Finals
14 May: Sriwijaya FC vs Persibo
23 May: PSMS vs Persipura
30 May: Persitara vs Persijap (if Persitara beat Persebaya)
2 June: Persebaya vs Persijap (if Persebaya beat Persitara), Persija vs Deltras
13 June: Persipura vs PSMS, Persijap vs Persebaya/Persitara
14 June: Deltras vs Persija
15 June: Persibo vs Sriwijaya FC
Semi final
19 June: PSMS/Persipura vs Persija/Deltras
20 June: Persebaya/Persitara/Persijap vs Sriwijaya FC/Persibo
23 June: Persija/Deltras vs PSMS*/Persipura
24 June: Sriwijaya FC/Persibo vs Persebaya/Persitara/Persijap
Final
28 June: 3/4 Place Play Off/Copa Indonesia Final
* This is an example of the lack of forward thinking prevelant in Indonesian football. Click to continue reading...

DPMM from Brunei are leading the SLeague. Both Phnom Penh Crown and Bangkok Glass have defeated SLeague opposition in the Singapore Cup this season with TTM Samut Sakhorn having a go tomorrow. Add DPMM and we could have four teams in the quarter finals from outside Singapore.
Oh and last December saw the national team get beaten by Vietnam in the AFF Cup semi final. Click to continue reading...

After qualifying for the knock out stage of the AFC Cup PSMS face a more mundane challenge as they fight to keep their ISL status when they take on PKT at Gelora Sriwijaya in Palembang today. And they go into the game after a mammoth 24 hour journey home from the Maldives where they defeated VB 2-1 to ensure qualification. Click to continue reading...

Obviously congratulations are in order to PSMS as they have successfully navigated their way through the group stage of the AFC Cup but what does this say about the standard of football in some of our neighbouring countries?
The Medan side ended the last domestic season runner's up to Sriwijaya but back then they boasted a side brimming with quality. Click to continue reading...

The Final Score
TWITTER UPDATE
The "Twitter" box had been removed from this blog entry and you can trace whatever I "tweeted" on the right of the page (under the "BoLASEPaKO" on twitter menu).
PICTURES OF THE DAY & THE SHORT TAKE of THE GAME
Banner boys getting ready
It was indeed a tame affair as compared to ACL, as the crowds were much lesser than expected. Click to continue reading...

Sunday September 28, 2008
Football: Axe to fall on five
By ERIC SAMUEL
PETALING JAYA: At least five players will be axed following the national football team's dismal outing in the playing tour of Slovakia recently.
Malaysia lost three matches and drew one in the tour.
National material: Kedah striker Mohd Khyril Muhymeen (right) has been picked by national coach B. Click to continue reading...

Home United suffered a blow as they were down 4-3 by Dempo at Jalan Besar stadium.The first half ended in a thrill 3-3 scoreline.Home United goalscorer were Indra Sahdan,who scored twice,and Peres De Oliviera.The defeat sent Home out of the tournament. Meanwhile,Al Nahda thrash the warriors 3-0 to book a place in the semi-final. Click to continue reading...

If it's true that football is emotion then Home United and their supporters experienced the full circle earlier this evening as they took on Dempo in the AFC Cup quarter final second leg at Jalan Besar. 1-1 from the first leg the Protectors appeared to have the advantage of a crucial away goal with coach Sivaji promising all out attack. Click to continue reading...

Tonight sees the second leg of the AFC Cup quarter finals with all four local sides facing tough challenges.
The two Singapore sides are marginally better off. SAF carry a narrow 2-1 lead to Al Nadha in Oman but Datoma Yedibahoma's late penalty will have the hosts feeling confident knowing one goal would be enough to put them in the semis. Click to continue reading...