Where has the filling gone for Home United "sandwich" ??"Two pieces of toasts without fillings in the middle" as what it sums up Home United performance in their season curtain-raiser against defending S.League champions Tampines Rovers in the Charity Shield match at JBS.
The void left by Valery Hiek was clearly illustrated in the goal conceded in less than five minute how the once stout brick-like Protectors' defense was fully exploited by Stags' new signing Davor Piskor with not follow up from Lionel Lewis' narrowing of angle from near distance.

Today's the day football gets rediscovered in Singapore with the Daftly Named LionsX11 hosting Kelantan at the Jalan Besar Stadium and all 7,500 tickets sold out.
One round of SLeague games, six games, would never have accumulated that many fans yet they come crawling out the woodwork for this game.

It's not fair to tag him now with either one of the two colonial characters whom I opined the new S.League CEO would be and define the direction the league is heading to under his leadership.
The announcement of former ex-SAFFC chairman Lim Chin came as no surprise with talks of the former Chief of Artillery being named as the man on the hot seat following several news reports of him suggested he would.

Honestly speaking this hastily-arranged fixture came as a surprise to me when I was told the "Uniform Duo" (SAFFC and Home United)be playing against each other at Jalan Besar on the New Year's eve.
John Wilkinson (left) skippered Protectors against his old clubAfter all, not all the teams have started their pre-season training and let alone if DPMM's status is officially confirmed despite the earlier report on Asean Football Federation website (AFF).

HUFC's skipper Shi Jiayi hoisted the CupIt was indeed a hard fought triumph for Home United who with the win over Albirex Niigata (Singapore) had claimed the accolade being the most successful Singapore Cup side with their fifth record win.
Cautious play from both sides dominated much of the play with Albirex stroking the ball around the park with possessive tactics that failed to shackle the rock solid defence line of Rosman Sulaiman, Kenji Arai and man-of-the-match, Valery Hiek.

Tomorrow sees the Singapore Cup Final taking place at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Home United will look to complete the first leg of a domestic double when they take on League Cup winners Albirex Niigata.
Last year's affair saw Bangkok Glass defeat Tampines Rovers 1-0 (programme cover left) while I got shitfaced in an infamous bar district with persons unknown and returned home with just a toy bus for my son.

Picture tells a THOUSAND words....Decent first half defensive display by the Lions until the sucker punch that came in the 42nd minute to see the well placed grounder by Yu Hai (pictured below foreground) to give the Chinese the headstart before end of the first period.
As what they always said in football that conceding a goal at this juncture of any game would have a psychological demoralizing effect on team that conceded that goal.

(This entry is formulated from the media release issued by the Football Association of Singapore)
Much had been said about the revitalizing of the local football scene with talks of plans, ideas, etc. that kept coming from the pipeline which finally saw the first LEGO block laid in the foundation for such rebuilding.

(This entry is formulated from the media release issued by the Football Association of Singapore)
Much had been said about the revitalizing of the local football scene with talks of plans, ideas, etc. that kept coming from the pipeline which finally saw the first LEGO block laid in the foundation for such rebuilding.

(P.S: If you access this site via "come.to/matchpix", please click the "Facebook" icon after you click "HERE" when you want to view the album as that will redirect you to the album, thank you)

• 2011 Sultan of Selangor Cup - (Match Day and Balik Kampong)

Malay rock legend Amy Search (pictured above) wowed the 65,000 at the Shah Alam Stadium in this annual event initiated by the Sultan of Selangor with motive in fostering relationship between Singapore and Selangor whom both shared an unique rivalry in the Malayan football history.

(Media Information from the Football Association of Singapore)
Former Lion Rafi Ali (with cap) is instrumental behind the success of the junior StagsSINGAPORE, 27 October 2011: Tampines Rover Prime League side overcame a resolute Singapore Recreation Club 8-7 on penalties to win their third Singapore Pools FA Cup.

Long overshadowed by its more glamorous counterparts (i.e.: the S.League and the Singapore Cup), the FA Cup is the third major tournament organized by the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) since 1995.
From 1999 onwards, the tournament had become a chance for a silverware for the NFL clubs after a decision was made that S.

Isa Halim after the final whistle was blownThings just don't look that good when we conceded a goal within the first 15-minute slot that saw Abdallah Deeb scored to give the Jordanian the lead, when the Lions barely find the momentum upfront with some misguided balls that strayed away needlessly.
Safuwan's (extremely right in red) header almost levelled the scoresFew chances that came across following that setback with defender Safuwan Baharudin's "out-of-nowhere" header from close range nearly leveled the scores in the 35th minute or so, but the scores stayed that way at the end of the first 45 minutes.

"MINI MANILA"
I'm not sure how that sentiment started in the first place, but judging by the posting plastered online and heard from the grapevine, it seems that JBS would turn out become a "mini Manila" for the friendly fixture between Singapore and The Philippines.
True enough that majority turned out for the game were the expat Filipinos.

SINGAPORE, 29 September 2011: The Football Association of Singapore (FAS), with the support of the Singapore Sports Council (SSC), is seeking to increase the seating capacity of the Jalan Besar Stadium.

"FAS has issued a Request-For-Proposal to interested vendors on 27 September 2011.

SINGAPORE, 20 September 2011: Singapore will be taking on the Philippines on Friday, 7th October 2011, in an international friendly, prior to their 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Qualifying Round Three match against Jordan that will be played on Tuesday, 11th October 2011 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

Apparently the Iraqis did not play like as what suggested by some being "kids' footballers" following the remark on the artificial surface of the Jalan Besar Stadium by their coach, Zico prior to the match.
In fact, the visiting side looked fairly comfortable on the plastic surface with much of the attacking play by them in the first half.

Apparently the Iraqis did not play like as what suggested by some being "kids' footballers" following the remark on the artificial surface of the Jalan Besar Stadium by their coach, Zico prior to the match.
In fact, the visiting side looked fairly comfortable on the plastic surface with much of the attacking play by them in the first half.

The man they called the "White Pele" never failed to reiterate his opinion on having game to be played on artificial surface after made known to the media a day earlier.
"To me personally, I think good football should be played on natural grass and artificial surface shall be used by small children in training instead.

The man they called the "White Pele" never failed to reiterate his opinion on having game to be played on artificial surface after made known to the media a day earlier.
"To me personally, I think good football should be played on natural grass and artificial surface shall be used by small children in training instead.

Wasn't able to attend any of the Singapore Cup matches over the few days until today due to work commitments and ultimately saw the lack of update of the blog until this.
As the result of the concluding matches played over the past few days saw the emerging of the "FINAL FOUR" for one of the holy grails in Singapore football.

Mais um jogo amistoso, foi disputado no dia 07/07/2011, na cidade de Singapore, no Jalan Besar Stadium, onde jogaram as seleções de Cingapura (144º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção das Maldivas (148º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Eliminatórias Continentais
1996Singapore 07/07/1996 SIN5:2 (2:1)MDV Rodada preliminar1996Bangkok 29/06/1996 MDV0:2 (0:1)SIN Rodada preliminar
Amistosos
2003Singapore 04/03/2003 SIN4:1 (3:1)MDV 2001Singapore 09/04/2002 SIN2:0 (0:0)MDV
O árbitro desse jogo, não foi encontrado.

As I was filing my match report for the earlier 3rd-4th placing match between Home United and Tampines Rovers that I wasn't paying much attention during the League Cup final match between Hougang United and Albirex Niigata (Singapore).
But what I did realize was Canadian winger Jordan Webb was the man of the night for the wrong reason when he came so close to end the trophy drought of the under-achievers in the dying moments of the second half of the extra time, before agonizingly saw his spot-kick saved by White Swans' keeper Yoshito Matsushita that gifted the Japanese their first ever title since joining S.

SINGAPORE, 27 July 2011: The Singapore Under-23 side secured a 1-0 win over Myanmar Under-23 in an International Friendly match that was played this evening at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The match got off to a slow with both teams looking to put their game plan into place. The Singapore U-23 team got the first shot of the game but it was directed straight at Myanmar U-23's goalkeeper, Hein Kyaw Thu.

(The entry is formulated from the transcript obtained via Integrated Marketing Solutions Group -IMSG, the PR agency of Nike Singapore)
(P.S: The copyrights of the images and video depicted in this blog entry belong to Nike, unless stated on the images itself.)
With its "DRI-FIT" apparel and Tiempo Legend by Nike, Hariss is always at the top of his gameHis performance on the last Saturday night captivated those who were at the Jalan Besar Stadium and also the millions of those who watched the crucial World Cup Qualifier match between Singapore and Malaysia at home.

Been looking forward to this game ever since the World Cup Qualifiers were announced a few months back. OK, Malaysia had to overcome a tricky Chinese Taipei first but they did so and now we have it.
Singapore are one of the most successful teams in the history of Malaysian football, as Chairman Mao would have said the neighbours are like lips and teeth.

SINGAPORE, 18 July 2011: Singapore defeated Chinese-Taipei 3-2 at the Jalan Besar Stadium just days before they march back onto the very same pitch for the 2014 FIFA WORLD CUP BRAZIL™ ASIAN QUALIFIERS ROUND TWO Match against Malaysia.

The game got off to a slow start and steadily picked up pace with both teams looking to break the deadlock.

The Singapore team bench before the kick-offI did something I seldom do during a football match - switch side ... in order to get some shots from stocking my archive.
We were told to confine ourselves to a small white perimeter box located at the far corner of the field that to our dismay with much of action taken place on the opposite flank.

SINGAPORE, 16 July 2011: All tickets for the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Qualifying Round Two first-leg match between Singapore and Malaysia have been sold out on the first day of sales at the Jalan Besar Stadium South Gate.

With a queue forming at around 10.

SINGAPORE, 08 July 2011: Singapore will be taking on Malaysia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Brazil™ Qualifying Round Two match that will be played on Saturday 23 July 2011 at the Jalan Besar stadium.

Due to the heavy demand for tickets to this match, fans are advised to purchase their tickets early.

(Media Information from the Football Association of Singapore)
Could this herald a new era under Coach Raddy? (File Picture)
SINGAPORE, 5th July 2011: Singapore National Team coach, Radojko Avramovic has selected a list of 25 players for the upcoming FIFA World Cup Brazil Qualifying Round Two matches against Malaysia to be played on 23rd July and 28th July 2011.

JUVENTUS FC 0-4 NFA U15
The juniors from the Italian "Grand Ol' Lady" - Juventus were simply outclassed by the NFA U15 in the 3rd/4th placing match of the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup.
NFA U15's skipper Adam Swandi's somersault celebration wowed the JBS crowd.Back the partisan crowds at the Jalan Besar Stadium, the Baby Cubs (as I nicknamed them as) wowed their fans with a much calm and composed display as compared to their opener against Newcastle United.

JUVENTUS FC 0-4 NFA U15
The juniors from the Italian "Grand Ol' Lady" - Juventus were simply outclassed by the NFA U15 in the 3rd/4th placing match of the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup.
NFA U15's skipper Adam Swandi's somersault celebration wowed the JBS crowd.Back the partisan crowds at the Jalan Besar Stadium, the Baby Cubs (as I nicknamed them as) wowed their fans with a much calm and composed display as compared to their opener against Newcastle United.

Everton (in blue) took the lead first in the game through Calum Dyson's header.
The fact remain is playing this kind of three-team group round-robin sort of group fixture is NEVER TO LOSE and you are guarantee to be SAFE to the next stage.
With that in mind, the NFA U16 did just that by ensuring two draw results against Flamengo and Everton to progress to the next phrase of 23rd Canon Lion City Cup in the expense of the Merseysiders.

NFA U15 4-3 NEWCASTLE UNITED
Epic finish till the end of the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup opener that saw the match drawn by yours truly had the NFA U15 came from the jaws of defeat to see them beat the replacement side Newcastle United 4-3.
The epic finishing by Faridzuan Faud rocked the JBSBut the Baby Cubs got to watch their backline that was caught flat to allow baby Magpies to score in the first place.

I guess South Melbourne (in white) must be absolutely frustrated by the passing-holding game deployed by Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in their RHB Singapore Cup encounter at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
For a moment, the way the White Swans played was almost identical the way Super Reds made SAFFC looked jaded years ago on the same ground.

Last season, blogger Paul Mavroudis sent me his preview on his beloved South Melbourne FC's maiden Singapore Cup campaign and this time round he took the initiative to pen his thoughts before the Hellas are due to meet Albirex Niigata (Singapore) this coming Sunday at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Many thanks to Paul for his contribution.

"Here's the 'Crazy Horse'!!" said former Singapore captain Fandi Ahmad prior to the kick-off of the veteran match of the 2009 Sultan of Selangor Cup at the Jalan Besar Stadium, as stood beside him (pictured below) was none other than Nasir Jalil (pictured below left in dark-coloured attire) popularly known by that nickname.

(This entry is formulated based on and partly extracted from the press release issued by and pictures credited to Integrated Marketing Solutions Group [IMSG] - the PR agency for Nike Singapore)
With the 23rd Lion City Cup scheduled to kick off in less than a month away, it's not doubt that again that Hanafi Akbar (pictured below) and the rest of the National U-16 team will be carrying the hope of the country to repeat that kind of performance that captured the heart of the nation last August.

(Many thanks to a friend who Whatsapp the attached images that depicted the national provisional squad.)
The much awaited national provisional squad list was made know just a hour ago at the Jalan Besar Stadium (as pictured below).
(Pictured above) The "senior" 23 players of the provisional squad.