(Media Information from the Football Association of Singapore)
SINGAPORE, 26 November 2010: National Coach Radojko Avramovic (pictured above center) has called up his final 22 ahead of the AFF Suzuki Cup as the Lions gear up to reclaim the AFF Cup for an unprecedented fourth time, having won the region's most prestigious tournament in 1998, 2004 and 2007.

Managed by Manchester United and England legend Bryan Robson, the Thailand national soccer team has been long been a Southeast Asian power with ASEAN Football Championship (also known as the Tiger Cup and the AFF Suzuki Cup) titles in 2000 and 2002. The team was the runner-up in the 2007 and 2008 editions of the [.

The Vietnam Nike 2010/12 home kit didn't see the elaborate web unveiling as the other Nike Southeast Asian nation kit launches ahead of this month's ASEAN Football Championship (also known as the Tiger Cup and the AFF Suzuki Cup). However, it was used for the first time in the defending AFF Suzuki Cup champion's 7-1 [.

Malaysia have qualified for their first AFF Suzuki Cup final since 1996

Malaysia and Indonesia have qualified for the final of the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, the tournament for south east Asian nations, after both teams overcame defending champions Vietnam and the Philippines in their respective semi-finals.

Ahmad Latiff has turned down a chance to stay with SAFFC and decided to return to Tampines Rovers. Latiff has been in fine form this last 18 months and could be considered unfortunate not to have been considered for the national team who were crying out for some creativity during the recent AFF Cup.
Tampines, on the other hand, are in need of attacking options having lost Khairul Amri and Qiu Li.

Malaysia 3-0 Indonesia ( Mohd Safee Sali*2, Mohd Ashari) December 26, 2010- Bukit Jalil Stadium, Kuala Lumpur- AFF Cup 2010- First Leg. Three second half goals put Malaysia in command of the two legged AFF Suzuki Cup 2010 final. Malaysia won 3-0 in the first leg at the Bukit Jalil Stadium, meaning that it will [.

The Southeast Asian nation kit launches continue ahead of December's ASEAN Football Championship (also known as the Tiger Cup and the AFF Suzuki Cup). The latest release is the Singapore Nike 2010/12 home kit. The Lions' 10/12 Nike kit will be worn by the side as it seeks to win its fourth ASEAN Football Championship following [.

National team manager Eugene Loo (pictured above, third from the right) in his opening address to the experience sharing session between the Lions and the YOG Cubs.
Three YOG cubs - Ammirul Emmran, Dhukhilan Jeevamani and skipper Jeffrey Lightfoot got up close and personal with Lions stars - Aleksandar Duric, Baihakki Khaizan, Fazrul Nawaz, Ridhuan Muhamad in "BE THE NEXT" - another initiative by NIKE, the national jersey provider at the sporting giants' flagship outlet at Wisma Atria.

(Media Information from the Football Association of Singapore)
SINGAPORE, 24 November 2010: Singapore will take on Laos at the Jurong West Stadium on Friday 26 November at 7.30pm.

The Lions have been stepping up their preparation for the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup in Hanoi, Vietnam next month and Friday's match will be an ideal opportunity for coach Radojko Avramovic (pictured above) to put his players through their paces.

Nguyen Vu Phong was on target for Vietnam in their 1-0 win over Singapore

The semi-final line-up is now complete following the conclusion of Group B in the AFF Suzuki Cup, the tournament for south east Asian nations, today. Defending champions Vietnam squeezed into first place following a narrow win over Singapore.

The Philippines had a great opportunity to win Group B outright but succumbed to a 0-0 draw with Myanmar, a nation that had conceded 9 goals in just two games. Their draw coupled with Vietnam's win over Singapore means the PR Booters finish second in the group.

Nonetheless Neil Etheridge's nation still advances to the semifinals of the AFF Suzuki Cup for the first time ever.

The Philippines lost 1-0 to Indonesia in the first leg of the Suzuki Cup semifinal earlier today.

Despite the Philippines being the "home" team, the game was played in Indonesia. The AFF had initially ruled that the Philippines home match be played at a neutral venue because the nation does not have any suitable stadiums.

Just been watching a re run of Indonesia's first AFF Cup semi final against the Philippines and for a moment I couldn't believe my ears. One of the commentators was describing the hard work being put in by one of the Indonesian strikers. The pressure he was giving defenders, the tracking back, his movement.

1987 SEA Games Final
The local sports tabloid has had some interesting pieces ahead of the AFF Cup Final between the two Melayu speaking rivals.
Back in 1987 they met in the SEA Games Final in Jakarta with Indonesia winning 1-0 thanks to a Ribut Waidi goal in injury time, not much has changed eh, in front of 110,000 fans.

Irfan Bachdim has become the talk of Indonesia this last month. To be fair I think it's less to do with his ability and more to do with his looks but there you go. Anyway, enjoy it while it lasts girls because if he plays in tomorrow's AFF Cup Final 2nd Leg in Jakarta against Malaysia it could prove to be his last international appearance.

The AFF Suzuki Cup final, second leg, was held in Indonesia's capital of Djakarta today and for the hosts it proved to be too much of a difficult task to come back from the three goal deficit they had suffered in the first leg against Malaysia three days ago.

After a goalless first half there wasn't much hope left among the home fans of a fightback and the fears were confirmed just nine minutes into the second half when the tournament's top scorer, Mohd Safee Sali, opened the scoring getting his fifth goal of the competition and gave Malaysia a 4-0 aggregate lead.

Malaysia won its first AFF Suzuki Cup title on Wednesday despite losing 2-1 to Indonesia in the second leg of the competition's final at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta. Goalkeeper Khairul Fahmi Che Mat saved an early penalty while Safee Sali netted his fifth goal of the tournament to give the visitors a 4-2 [.

The one shame about last night's AFF Cup Final 2nd Leg in Jakarta was the absence of any Malaysian fans. There were a handful sprinkled round the stadium but they were anonymous and for good reason when you consider some of the hype that comes out of certain political elements here.
But something like 20,000 Indonesians were at the Bukit Jalil Stadium in Malaysia for the 1st leg and there were no brawls that I'm aware of.

Alfred Riedl is no stranger to South East Asia. The Austrian coach has spent much of the last 10/12 years coaching the Vietnam national squad and helped lay the groundwork for their 2008 AFF Cup success.
Last December he guided hosts Lao to respectablity in the SEA Games and now he has spend the last couple of days in Jakarta being interviewd by the FA about the vacant position of Under 23 coach.

Thai Port continued their preparation for Sunday's TPL match against Chonburi with a comprehensive 4-1 win over Thailand's Under 19 side in a practice match at PAT Stadium yesterday evening. The Thai Port goalscorers were Sarayoot Chaikamdee, Jakkrit Bunkham, Nirut Kamsawad and Hiroshi Morita. Thai U19's goal was scored by Satit Pomsayma.

If you remember Singapore had visions of "GOAL 2010" back in the late 1997 or 98 with the view of qualifying for the recently completed World Cup finals.

They actually set-up a separate "GOAL 2010" department consisting of national and staff coaches as well as the Technical Director. Unfortunately, they soon came to realise that their dream was unrealistic.

While the rest of the league adjourned for the YOG break, the national team players are not, as they are gearing up for the two main tournaments scheduled at the end of the year - The Asian Games in November and the AFF Suzuki Cup.
Just before they embark for their trip to Bangkok for the upcoming friendly against Thailand on the 11th of August, coach Raddy and the Lions undergo another session at their Geylang Field training base.

(Media Information from Football Association for Singapore)
Singapore drawn with Vietnam and Myanmar in AFF Suzuki Cup 2010
HANOI, 15 September 2010: Singapore has been drawn in Group B alongside Myanmar, defending champions and co-hosts, Vietnam and the qualifying round's runner-up for December's AFF Suzuki Cup 2010.

(The content of this entry is obtained via the transcript by Status Sports Pte Ltd, the exclusive distributors for Maximuscle in Asia)
(Image depicted in this entry was provided by Status Sports, unless stated )
Lionel Lewis, current Singapore Lion and Home United Goalkeeper joins a team of Singapore's top athletes with glory in their sights in becoming a Maximuscle Brand Ambassador.

Hosts Indonesia finished bottom of the 4 nation AFF Under 16s which they hosted in Solo in front of bumper crowds. In yesterdays final game they were beaten 2-0 by Timor Leste in front of 10,000.
Timor Leste has a population smaller than Bogor!

You gotta love football. The game is so simple yet excites such animosity and passion both on the field and off it.
The game is played for 90 minutes between two teams who at least start the game with 11 men on each side. At the highest level these players are paid small fortunes, way beyond anything most people who work for a living can earn in a lifetime, and in turn they are coached by people with many qualifications.

Following their 2-2 draw away to PSPS in their first game of the new season at the weekend Persija can now take a well earned rest. Until 16 October in fact! That's three weeks between their first and second games of the season.
There then follows a period of six games in two and a half weeks before a two month break for the AFF Cup.

He has been the most prolific goalscorer in Indonesian football for the last five years. Now the barrel chested Uruguayan striker Christian Gonzales is applying for citizenship which could see him called up for the national team at the 2010 AFF Cup in December.
Whether it's PSM, Persik or Persib Gonzales has consistently been at the upper reaches of the goalscoring charts, missing out on top spot last season by one goal after a poor first half of the season.

The Malaysia 2010/12 Nike home and away kits were launched in Kuala Lampur earlier this week. They will be worn for the first time during next month's 2010 ASEAN Football Championship (also known as the Tiger Cup 2010 and the AFF Suzuki Cup 2010) to be held in Indonesia and Vietnam. Malaysia has had some success [.

There is concern among authorities that the ash spewing from the Merapi volcano could be used as an excuse to move the ASEAN Cup from Jakarta to another country.
A couple of years ago, at the last AFF Cup, Bangkok's airport was closed by nutters protesting about something but the group games were switched to Phuket so surely if people are grossed out by the thought of a bit of ash there is nothing stopping the group being moved to say Palembang?

(Media Information from the Football Association of Singapore)
Coach Raddy (in dark outfit) is gunning for his third regional title at the end of the year
SINGAPORE, 12 November 2010: National Coach Radojko Avramovic has called up a provisional squad of 26 players for the AFF Suzuki Cup in December.

Despite the various on going political tensions between Indonesia and Malaysia the two country share a long history together and indeed it was only the British and Dutch that led to them being divided.
Malaysia have recieved something like 5,000 tickets for the two group games that will be played at the Bung Karno Stadium, against Indonesia and Thailand, and will receive slightly more when they play Lao in Palembang in their final group game.

The 8th edition of the AFF Suzuki Cup will take place from December 1st-29th. The tournament is in its 14th year and is held, for the most part, every two years for nations in the South East Asia region. Record champions Thailand and Singapore, with three tournament wins each, have been kept apart in the group stage with matches being held jointly in Indonesia and Vietnam.

(The content of this entry is obtained via the transcript provided by Integrated Marketing Solutions Group [IMSG] - the PR agency for Nike Singapore)
(P.S: The copyrights of the video, images depicted in this blog entry belong to Nike, unless stated.)
Singapore (November 30, 2010) – For the first time, Nike allows football fans to be heard, loud and proud, at the Asean Football Federation Suzuki Cup 2010 games.

Thailand were held to a 2-2 draw by Laos in the opening fixture of the AFF Suzuki Cup. Both teams are coached by Englishmen, with David Booth gaining a moral victory over Bryan Robson. Booth's energetic Laos team stuck to their gameplan, rode their luck, and were just minutes away from taking all 3 points.

TLO reports suggest that Police United are set to clinch the signings of Thai Port defensive duo Rangsan Iam-Wiroj and Nontapan Jiensatawong. Rangsan (pictured below) has played consistently well over the last two years, earning the 2009 player of the season award for his efforts. His departure will be a huge blow to the club.

With both Thailand and Singapore, the ASEAN powerhouses who have three each of the AFF Cup's seven titles, being held by supposed minnows, Vietnam winning the last trophy on 2008 and Indonesia winning big time over highly fancied Malaysia are we seeing the dawn of a new era in ASEAN football?
Buggered if I know but obviously it is too early to tell after just one group stage game but interesting results early on suggests a fascinating competition ahead.

Let's turn our attention away from the vanity and avarice of yesterday's proceedings and focus on actual football.

You may not be aware, but young gun Neil Etheridge is currently in Vietnam goaltending for the Philippines in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup, formerly known as the ASEAN Cup. And yesterday he made several saves in the "RP Booters" 1-1 draw with local powerhouse Singapore.

Thailand failed to kick-start their faltering AFF Suzuki Cup campaign, drawing 0-0 against Malaysia in Indonesia. The Thais dominated proceedings on an absolute dog of a pitch, but did not have enough guile or cutting edge in the final third to force a winning goal.
The game started brightly enough for Bryan Robson's men who were looking to step up the intensity of their play after a weak performance against Laos.

This is beginning to get fun, no?

Behind several (more) clutch saves from Neil Etheridge, and goals through Chris Greatwich and Phil Younghusband (what names!) the Philippines pulled off the biggest upset of 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup as they defeated hosts Vietnam 2-0 today, or yesterday, or whatever time zone you're in.