Monday, October 26, 2009

Post-Sunday

As I expected, Liverpool bounced back in normal fashion by proving sceptics wrong.


In truth, the stage was all set up for them to turn the corner around. A midweek home defeat to Lyon, coupled with Man Utd's win in Moscow, had further pushed punters on the Devils' side.

The media obviously went to town on Pool's terrible situation. Statistics of how far back they have not lost 5 games in a row, Rafa's possible successor & potential compensation package, problems between Hicks & Gillet, the protest march by fans.


But the most intriguing one would have to be the beach balls story and how MU fans will flood Anfield with it. They did and they paid a price for mocking their rivals in this manner.


What goes around come around. Perhaps Pool got lucky with Carra's incident, but think about the Manchester derby not too long ago.


In truth, the home team was the better side on the field. Once again, Devils lost a game which their Scottish hatchetman Darren Fletcher missed. He had missed the UCL final too.

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Woodlands Wellington FC 0-1 Geylang United FC
90+3” Kim Jae Hong
Date: 20 October 2009
Location: Woodlands Stadium

KIM KNIFES THE RAMS RIGHT AT THE DEATH

The Geylang Eagles made it a clean sweep against Woodlands Wellington in 2009 as they stole victory courtesy of the last kick of the game at the Rams’ cauldron up north with Korean Kim Jae Hong notching his third goal in four games.

It was also the Eagles’ third consecutive 1-0 away win in all competitions, having previously beaten Balestier and Albirex at Toa Payoh and Jurong East respectively.

Coach Mike Wong expressed post-match his disappointment with his side’s first half display as he felt his charges had sat too deep, allowing a Woodlands side, who were out for revenge after two losses against the Eagles this season, to dictate the early exchanges.

Wong felt that perhaps the two previous losses in the league had played on his charges’ mind as they exercised due caution in the opening period.

His half time pep talk probably worked wonders as the Eagles showed more enterprise in the second half and was rewarded right at the death.

The game was also the Rams’ last home game of the season and the home fans were determined to put on a good show off the pitch as well and this created a good atmosphere around the stadium.

Chances at a premium in the first period

In terms of the Geylang’s starting line-up, Shah Hirul, Faizal Senin and Hafiz Rahim were once again given the nod to start in the absence of the likes of Masrezwan Masturi, away on national duty after earning a well-deserved recall, and Miroslav Latiak, who was wrapped in wool as the Eagles’ No 9 had felt a minor twitch in his right hamstring during the build-up to this game.

Hafiz, in particular, was eager to impress the coach as he worked tirelessly along the forward line for a large part of the game.

Despite the Rams’ significant possession in the opening exchanges, it was at the other end of the pitch where the first piece of goalmouth action was conjured up.

A one-two between Hafiz and captain Noor Ali in the 18th minute set the former down the left touchline, where he whipped in a cross that narrowly just missed the head of the on-rushing Shah Hirul.

Two minutes later, the Geylang defence got sucked in to the ball, allowing the Rams’ forward Mojtaba Tehranizadeh to strike a fearsome shot which Yazid Yasin punched clear.

Geylang’s Tunisian-born defender Walid Lounis then got into the act in the next two pieces of action at either end. First, he almost profited from a deep free-kick swung in by Rastislav Belicak after the Rams’ keeper mistake misjudged the flight of the ball.

Then, immediately at the next possession, Walid put in a timely challenge to thwart the opposition a clear attempt at goal.

An alert Yazid then kept out Mojtaba again in the 32 minute as the Iranian took advantage of Belicak’s fluffed clearance and almost poked the ball home.

Enterprising second half

The stage was set right from start of the second half as Jonathan Xu headed a free-kick just over within the first minute of the restart.

In the 51st minute, Kim sizzled past a Woodlands defender and accelerated into the penalty box, where he tested the Rams’ keeper Ahmadulhaq Che Omar with a low shot which the custodian managed to divert out for a corner.

8 minutes later, Kim had a decent penalty appeal turned down by the referee after he was brought down by Daniel Hammond following a swift Eagles‘ counter which saw six quick passes strung together.

Mike Wong then brought on Ashrin Shariff in the 62 minute for his first appearance in months after recovering from an injury to add more bite to the attack.

Faizal Senin next produced a left-foot bullet from 30 metres out which again stung the palms of Ahmadulhaq in the 70th minute.

Three minutes later, a deft chip by Ashrin set up Kim, who sidestepped the keeper and laid the ball to Hafiz, who blasted unforgivingly high with the goal at his mercy.

National U-21 midfielder Ang Zhi Wei was then introduced in the 84th minute to add more pace down the Eagles’ right flank.

Geylang then produced a couple of more chances in the last few minutes of normal time, the best falling to Noor Ali who hesitated when set free down the left and the chance was gone.

At that time, the match had looked destined to end goalless. However, it was not to be.

Up stepped Kim deep in injury time as he volleyed home from close range after Ahmadulhaq had spilled a Noor Ali corner. The Eagles’ fans roared as Kim went about his usual goal celebration by falling on his knees with his hands cupped together.

With that, the Eagles are now on 39 points in the revised league standings with two games remaining. They next take on the resurgent Young Lions in their final home game on 28th October at the Bedok Stadium.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Sgp Football Outlook

This post was done commenting on another article done titled' FAS’ five-year plan for the S-League: a case of closing the stable door after the horse has bolted' @ http://singaporesportsfan.wordpress.com/2009/10/19/fas-five-year-plan-for-the-s-league-a-case-of-closing-the-stable-door-after-the-horse-has-bolted/

**********************************************************************************
Couldnt agree with more with you. U really strike my instinct to comment on it after reading it first on ST last Sunday.

Yeah it seems that authorities have neglected the administrative part of the league. Could it be due to the Lions success in 2005 & 2007? Tampines victory in the ASEAN club championship & SAF's debut in ACL. Or they sat comfortably thinking that it is Asia’s top 10 league already.

FAS: If the quality is good, the fans will do free promotion for you. U do not need to tell people u are good.

Actually I thought the league was still pretty decent up till 2006 n 2007 where players like Mirko, Peres, HU's Ivorian duo Kone Hamed & Diakite can still light up the league.

Since then we seemed to have satisfy ourselves with some sub-standard foreigners like Brazilian flops, an Egyptian & Frenchman who dun seem tat good as he should be). Even Sengkang’s foreigners of previous seasons have been decent, Ekollo, McKenzie.

Perhaps can point it to lack of funds, be it subsidies, club's scouting or club chairman (who could be pissed off by referring standards and become less enthusiasic abt it). However there are still bright spots in the league currently with players like Latiak, Aboulaye Diallo, Obatola.

I know FAS is using their contacts to bring in players. To a certain extent it has worked, Murphy Wiredu had been decent, though Bahadur not too much. We had a Lenadro at Young Lions not too long ago too. But the thing is, sometimes these players which come thru the contacts are too young to make a credible impact.

On another note, I was going through some past news articles of 2002 the other day n i realise that at the point of time, ST still had at least a decent section on S-league with stuff like Team of the month, etc. now u only see a tiny corner where the score is published. WE NEED IMPROVEMENT HERE!

Basically it’s true that the league has stagnated over the past 2-3 years and although this kick up the butt has been late, it is better now than never.

FAS & the league administrators should bloody wake up their idea and address areas of key issues, some of which NAS has addressed:

1) refereeing

2) club seeding --> standard of foreigners ( or using the constant $, employ less foreigners but better quality ones, dun just use their so-called foreign contacts who normally bring in foreigners too young, I suppose there should b a mix)

3) MEDIA COVERAGE !!!

Why is the ISL now and M-league in previous yrs able to attract good calibre players, mostly due to funding. Be it club or from the league.

There are many factors which are linked, but basically $ is always the root:

$ -> player quality ->excitement -> media coverage -> returning fans -> more clubs/league sponsors & $


Other Attributes needed:
1) good pitches
2) decent referees
3) league administration

I agree that 96-2002 was the golden period. I just hope that the league can return to where it should be, not harping on it being one of the best in Asia and then stagnating.

We always say ‘Football is the no1 sport in Sgp, therefore the local league should always be something we should be proud about’. U get it FAS? Mr Zainudin & Winston Lee, its time to show your worth.

Do catch interview with Dez Corkhill on his take on Sgp football at http://jakartacasualtv.blogspot.com/. U can skip Sasikumar's though :D

Saturday, October 17, 2009

Indo & Sgp - Friendly neighbours

Was reading a ST article about Indonesian maids, recruitment fee and their welfare.

It just occurred to me some sort of relationship between these maids & local footballers.

Maids go from Indonesia to Sgp, footballers move the other way round. In both instances, wages is the reason. Both are seeking greener pastures.

Some sort of irony i suppose. Just a thought..

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Why blog?

The past months of following some soccer blogs have played a part in the decision.

I have never been keen to start cause i dun think my typing skill is up to standard. haha. but people around me has encouraged me to start blogs to express my views on soccer issues.

I probably wunt post tat often. Only when i have burning issues or opinions. Hope those reading would enjoy what I have to share!

"I did what i loved, and I did what i was pretty good at and I suppose what I was born for. I enjoyed my career. It was wonderful" (Sir Bobby, 2005)

Why Dream Team Steam?

If anyone remembers, its the title of the song the Malaysian Cup team of 1993 did ard the knock out stages of the competition. It was just a random thought for a title appealing enough.

It was around the time where Kallang roared to Sundram's dazzle down the by-line as he cut the ball back for Fandi's winner against Pahang in a memorable 3-2 victory. Goalscorers among the day included a 1st min strike from Mickey Patterson, Jose Iriarte and Razali Saad. Cant remember who scored our first goal though. Ok, tats pretty random. Just a sudden thought.

And of course we lost tat final to Kedah via goals from Lee Kin Hong and Rahim Mat Din. Alistair had a penalty saved by Ahmad Sobri towards the end. It probably was also a time where i learned about Nigerians with white handkerchiefs (Nieketien & Adigun) and the current Arema Malang's coach Robert Alberts.

Yup so this is the beginning of this blog.