After a month's hiatus, when the League Cup and the League Plate took centre stage, the real action
returned to Singapore last night with a couple of games.
Leaders Albirex Niigata were held 0-0 by Home United while Balestier Khalsa and Geylang United
emulated that score at Toa Payoh.
There's never a dull moment in Singapore. Last night we saw the champions Tampines Rovers defeated
at home by SAFFC while Home United were turned over by Tanjong Pagar 1-0. A Tanjong Pagar team it
will be remembered, possibly, who shipped five to Young Lions last time out.
Which all means the SLeague table remains its freshness albeit with a distinctly foreign feel to
it.
Balestier Khalsa v Geylang United 3-1 (Kim Kwang Young 2, OG; Amy Recha) 858Woodlands Wellington v
SAFFC 1-5 (Goh Swee Swee; OG, Mislav Kaoglan, Fazrul Nawaz 3) 681Home United v Tanjong Pagar 3-1
(Frederic Mendy2, Ashraf Rashid; Kim Jong Oh) 1,441
1 - Home United 16 11 2 3 40-15 352 - Tampines Rovers 14 10 3 1 30-11 333 - SAFFC 14 9 2 3 30-16
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Tonight sees Tampines play Tanjong Pagar with victory against the cellar dwellers taking them back
to the top of the SLeague.
SLeague Latest
Young Lions v Woodlands Wellington 1-2 (Fazli Ayob; Goh Swee Swee, Leonardo Alexio) 509Tampines
Rovers v Albirex Niigata 3-1 (OG, Shahdan Sulaiman, Aleksander Duric; Yosuke Saito) 1,304Home
United v Hougang United 4-2 (Qiu Li, Frederick Mendy, Firdaus Idros 2; Diallo Mamadou, OG)
1,531
I don't want to sound patronising but what's happening at the bottom of the SLeague is almost as
exciting as what is happening at the top.
AFC Champions League
Arema v Cerezo Osaka 0-4 4,000 AFC Cup
Hanoi T&T v Muang Thong United 0-0 2,000Tampines Rovers v Victory 4-0 (Shahdan Sulaiman, Ahmad
Latiff, Aleksander Duric 2) 836Persipura v South China 4-2 (Zah Rahan, Boas Solossa 2, Gerald
Pangkali;) 15,000Chonburi v East Bengal Malaysia Super League
Terengganu v PerlisJohor v KelantanNegeri Sembilan v PerakKL v SelangorPahang v Felda UnitedKedah v
Sabah
International Friendlies
Malaysia v Hong Kong 2-0 (Safiq Rahim, Amirulhadi Zainal)Hong Kong U23 v Indonesia U23 1-4 (;Yongki
Aribowo, Titus John Bonai 2, Johan) Indonesia Super League
Persib v Semen Padang 1-1 (Pablo Frances; David Ngabe)Sriwijaya v Pelita Jaya 2-1 (Ponaryo Astaman,
Arif Suyono; Joko Sasongko) 12,502 Singapore Charity Shield
Etoile v Tampines Rovers 1-2 (Belouet; Aleksander Duric, Park Yo Seb) 1,860
For as long as I have been living in these parts the term globalisation has been little more than a
buzz word, along with hub and leverage, used by persons of status and power to show what big long
words they know. Like wallpaper very flowery but largely irrelevant.
Perhaps the ASEAN Football Federation Cup is changing that.
OK so Aleksander Duric has managed 300 by himself in Singapore but no disrespect the league in
Indonesia is a tad more competitive and a tad more physical than the SLeague.
Tomorrow sees one of the fireiest games on the Indonesian football calender when Persija and Persib
go head to head at the Bung Karno Stadium.
Thai Premier League
BEC Tero v Muang Thong United 0-1Thai Port v TTM Phichit 1-1
Muang Thong United edged three points closer to back to back titles after a narrow win against BEC
Tero now coached by Peter Butler SLeague
Tampines Rovers v Geylang United 2-1 (Seiji Keneko, Aleksander Duric; Hafiz Rahim)
A vital win for the Stags but they are still a point behind Etoile who have a game in hand.
Has father time finally caught up with the ageless Aleksander Duric?
The striker who has netted 73.83 zillion goals during his 416 year Singapore career, he was having
a kick around on the beach when some toffee nosed English git on a boat sailed past and decided to
plant the Union flag where the penalty spot was, has been omitted from the 27 man squad that has
been called up to play against Hong Kong and Malaysia in June.
Results this week in the AFC Cup have cemented teams from this region good start to the
competition. Sriwijaya needed an injury time winner from Claudiano Do Santos to secure a win
against TSW Pegasus in Hong Kong, a win that sees them of the group after two games and goes some
way to easing the pain of a draw in their first game at home to a Maldives team.
Manchester City 3-3 Sunderland Premier League 31st March 2012
Faltering title hopefuls Manchester City had to rely on two late goals to salvage a draw at the
Etihad on Saturday, against a Sunderland side who produced a superb away performance.
Will Koscielny pocket another multi million pound striker?
When I say horror city, I don't mean Manchester City the team (although I won't be far off with
that). It is of course a return to the City of Manchester where our last visit there for a match
was one to be forgotten. Had this match be immediately after that one, I would be very worried.
Quick Reminder, Real Life This was the season when all of the money invested started to pay off in
a big way. Lots of shiny new objects came into the squad with the corresponding spare parts mostly
going out on loan. Some of them fit - Yaya Toure, David Silva - while some of them didn't - Jerome
Boateng - and the jury is still out on others - Edin Dzeko, Mario Balotelli, and Aleksander
As we near the January transfer window, it's interesting to view how the summer's big money moves
have settled in at their new clubs. The top five signings from the summer; David Silva, Mario
Balotelli, Ramires, Aleksander Kolarov and Asamoah Gyan have experienced mixed starts in their
debut Premier League seasons.
When Real Madrid, a bastion for unabashed, unfocused hyper-spending in the modern game, can't
keep up with the competition anymore then you know something's going slightly awry.
Real coach Jose Mourinho has publicly admitted that even he cannot compete with
Manchester City's imperious financial position anymore, after watching one of his choice summer
transfer targets disappear into the Eastlands ether from before his very eyes.
According to Sky Sports News, Manchester City boss Roberto
Mancini claimed that the club is finally done spending this month. The club has spent over
£100million to bring in players like Yaya Toure, DavidSilva, James Milner, Jerome Boateng,
Mario Balotelli, and Aleksander Kolarov.
News has surfaced that a deal will likely be closed within the next 24 hours that will send
Aston Villa midfielder James Milner to Manchester City in exchange for Stephen Ireland. TheÂ
BBC is also reporting the news that Milner is set to sign for City.
Although there has been no agreed upon fee at this time, City boss Roberto Mancini is confident
the details will be sorted out shortly.
The day after our vital 1-0 win over Manchester City last season, I interviewed Pete from the
City site Over The Blue Moon to find out how he was feeling, the morning after the night
before.
A summer has now passed and with Tottenham about to play host to City on the opening day of the
season, I've asked Pete to give us his thoughts on what has been a busy break for the visitors.
Can the title challengers actually put their talent to good use? Many pundits are calling this Man
City's year, saying that the side will go from 11 superstars who can't work together, relying on
moments of genius to win matches, to a team, gelling together and putting their obvious superiority
on paper into dominance on the [.
There has been a wonderful freshness to the SLeague in its opening weeks as teams like Hougang
United and Balestier Khalsa have flirted with the top positions but the weekend just gone has shown
the traditional big boys flexing their muscles and how.
Tampines won the title last year, confirming the triumph with a 5-0 rout of Balestier
Khalsa.
There has been a wonderful freshness to the SLeague in its opening weeks as teams like Hougang
United and Balestier Khalsa have flirted with the top positions but the weekend just gone has shown
the traditional big boys flexing their muscles and how.
Tampines won the title last year, confirming the triumph with a 5-0 rout of Balestier
Khalsa.
Indonesia Super League
Persib v PSM 1-2 ((Atep; Andi Oddang, OG) 18,000Semen Padang v PSPS 1-0 (David Ngan Pagbe)
10,000Pelita Jaya v Persija 0-1 (Bambang Pamungkas) 10,456
1 - Persipura 4 3 1 0 16-2 102 - Persija 4 3 1 0 7-2 103 - Arema 4 3 0 1 12-4 94 - PSM 4 3 0 1 5-3
9
6 - Boas Solossa (Persipura)5 - M Riduan (Arema)4 - Bambang Pamungkas (Persija), Edward Wilson
Junior (Semen Padang), Herman Dzumafo (PSPS) Malaysia Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg
Johor FC v Negeri Sembilan 0-2 (1-2 on aggregate)Kelantan v Kedah 1-0 (1-0)
Final between Negeri Sembilan October 30 at Bukit Jalil Stadium in KL.
This 13 year old Norwegian kid Helge Aleksander Selnes Nilsen sent us this cool video of him
training for his team the NorwegianFreeKickerz which we are delighted to share with you.
Sit back and enjoy and if anyone knows a company or individual who would like to sponsor a kit
or equipment for the FreeKickerz please get in touch and if you would or know of a team who would
like to feature on Attacking Soccer please feel free to like our facebook page and leave a message
with your video.
Australia v Malaysia 5-0 Match ReportIndonesia v Saudi Arabia 0-0 Match ReportSingapore v The
Philippines 2-0 (Shaiful Esah, Aleksander Duric)Thailand v Jordan 0-0 (Match Comments)
SINGAPORE, 7th October 2011: Singapore beat Philippines 2-0 in an International friendly
that was played at Jalan Besar Stadium on 7 October 2011.
