Park 'set' to retire

In an interview with S-league website, Korean winger Park Tae Won talk about his decade with the S-league where he has played for Jurong FC, Balestier Khalsa, Woodlands Wellington and SAFFC.

Park credited the league for moulding his never-say-die character and turning him into a man with nerves of steel.

“You need tough mental strength to do well here,” he remarked.

“While the S.League standard is lower than back home, it is never an easy league to play in.”

The respect he has shown to Singapore football has led to his consistent willingness to do his best, and in turn, his reputation has steadily increased over time.

That is why local fans, regardless of club affiliation, have come to see him as one of their own as he became one of the most consistent and reliable foreign imports in the league’s 15-year history.

In 2008, he was finally rewarded as it saw him become the eighth player in S.League history to score 100 goals, the momentous feat coming in a league game late in the year against Gombak United at Jurong West Stadium.

In term of trophies, that moment of glory that had been particularly hard to come as he only lifted the inaugural League Cup with Woodlands Wellington and a League title with SAFFC in 2009.

His exploits were reported by the media in his home country.

But now, he may not be able to do this for much longer, though, as ten years of hard work and dedication have taken their toll on his 1.77m frame

His current two-year deal with SAFFC runs out at the end of the season, and the uniformed derby against Home United on 10 November might well be his swansong – if he is picked for the matchday squad.

Calling time on his career could be hard after all the highs he has enjoyed, but Singapore’s most famous Taeguk warrior was had no doubt what matters to him most.

“Sometimes I am tired, injured, especially a serious injury I suffered three years ago with Woodlands,” he recalled.

“My wife is concerned because now, I keep getting injured. As a player becomes older, his body is not so strong, and he cannot play after one big injury.

“My wife and family are my biggest considerations, and she has stayed by my side for the past seven years.

“10 years is a very long time to be here. Now I think, maybe I have played enough.”

Should he really stop now, though, what comes next?

“Playing football has been my only professional career in my life so far,” he reflected.

“Maybe I can only take up coaching here when I retire. But if I go back home, I have other options. I can do coaching, I can do football-related stuff there. I have many options and ideas, and I have been exploring and writing them down.

“But I like everything I have experienced here. Every year, every club, every moment, I have enjoyed. Every club I have played has been good to me.

“I work hard and score. Football has always been my dream. I work harder, that’s why I can score 100 goals!

“I am very happy with what I have achieved in my ten years here, and everyone I have met in Singapore has been very good to me,” concluded Park.

“When I go back to Korea, I will never forget my time in the S.League.”

Etoile FC invited to play in Vietnam BTV Cup

According to Vietnam football blog, Etoile FC have been invited to play in the BTV Cup that will start on 19/11.

The other teams in the Cup competition are Choburi (Thai), Express FC (Uganda) and Matsubara (Brazil). 

Group A                                     Group B

1. Becamex Binh Duong (Vietnam)   4.Dong Tam Long An (Vietnam)

2. Vicem Hai Phong (Vietnam)         5.Khatoco Khanh Hoa(Vietnam) 

3. Chonburi (Thailand)                   6. Etoile FC

4. Express F.C (Uganda)               7. Matsubara (Brazil)

AG: Cubs hold off Champions

The Singapore U23 managed to hold out against the Asian Games Champions Qatar as the Cubs seek to make it to the second round.

Up until the last quarter of the match, the Cubs managed to comfortably hold out against the Qatari with custodian Izwan Mahbud not having a single save to make.

From the last quarter onward though, Izwan Mahbud proved himself as he make 3 crucial save and when he needed help, his defenders and the upright came to his, and the Cubs, rescue.

In the end, Singapore nearly made full use of that when the Qatari keeper came rushing out of his goal to close down on substitute Erwan Gurnawan in injury time.

Erwan managed to get the better of the keeper and the covering defender and attempted a curling effort over the keeper from the left touchline, but the keeper was quick enough to get back to his goal to prevent the shot from floating in under his crossbar.

In another match, Kuwait U23 beat India U23 2-0.

Pos	Teams	Pts	GD
1	Kuwait U23	3	2
2	Qatar U23	1	0
3	Spore U23	1	0
4	India U23	0	-2

Singapore: Izwan Mahbud (GK); Faritz Abdul Hameed, Safuwan Baharudin, Afiq Yunos, Shakir Hamzah; Shahdan Sulaiman, Firdaus Kasman (Eddie Chang 77′), Hariss Harun (c), Izzdin Shafiq, Nazrul Ahmad Nazari (Fazly Hassan); Shahril Ishak (Erwan Gurnawan 90′ +2)  

Lions end second as they defeat Korea U23

Singapore concluded their VFF Cup participation in style as they finished second, behind World Cup team DPR.Korea, and defeated the Korean Under-23 team 2-0 thanks to a double by Aleksandar Duric at the My Dinh stadium, Hanoi.

The Lions started off brightly, stringing passes confidently in midfield looking for openings in the Korean defence.

Masrezwan Masturi and Isa Halim looked impressive as they dictated play but as the half wore won, the Koreans gained confidence and created numerous chances which Hassan Sunny was able to thwart.

Aleksandar Duric opened the scoring with an audacious shot a minute before the half time whistle. Seeing the goalkeeper off his line, he let fly from 30 meters to grab his second goal of the tournament and to give the Lions the lead.

Duric smashed in his second after latching on to a Fazrul Nawaz cross to give the Lions a well deserved two goal cushion.

Despite a red card to Daniel Bennett, the Lions held on to claim their first win of the VFF tournament.
Lions’ coach Radojko Avramovic was a happy man after the game.

“The performance of our team really surprised me. We beat, in my opinion, the best team in the tournament. We played extremely well. The players were disciplined and focused in their tasks and they fully deserved the win against the Koreans.

“The team gave it all today and I am very happy with some of their performances. Duric scored two goals today and Hassan (Sunny) played very well and this team has the belief that they can play and win against strong opponents,” concluded Avramovic.

VFF Cup

Singapore 2-0 Korea U23

Scorer: Aleksandar Duric 44’, 58’

Singapore: Hassan Sunny, Daniel Bennett, Adrian Dhanaraj, Irwan Shah, Juma'at Jantan (Shi Jiayi 90’), Shahril Alias (Tengku Mushadad 69’), Noh Rahman, Masrezwan Masturi (Ridhwan Jamaludin 80’), Isa Halim, Aleksandar Duric (C), Fazrul Nawaz

Malaysia lose defender Aidil

Malaysia has lost key defender Aidil Zafuan Abdul Razak who has been forced to pull out of the squad due to injury.

Aidil was one of the star performers for Malaysia as they stormed to the SEA Games gold medal in Laos last December and was named the country's best defender at the end of the league season award ceremony.

He has injured his anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and will also miss the Asian Games in Guangzhou.

Vietnam lose Nguyen Viet Thang to injury

According to Vietfootball blog, Vietnam is set to lose striker Nguyen Viet Thang for the upcoming AFF Suzuki Cup after he injured himself in the VFF Cup against, ironically, the Lions.

While not a prolific goalscorer, he is the main partner of Vietnam top forward Le Cong Vinh in the national setup and both of them played a significant part in the last AFF Suzuki Cup campaign which saw Vietnam emerged champions. 

Singapore is grouped with host Vietnam as well as Myanmar and Philippines in the AFF Suzuki Cup group stage.

Bangkok Glass knock Etoile out of RHB Singapore Cup

Bangkok Glass have knocked Etoile FC out of the RHB Singapore Cup after they defeated the French side 3-1 overall.

In the first leg, both side drew 1-1 with Julien Deletraz scoring for the French while one-time Home and Stags winger Sutee Suksomkit equalised for Bangkok Glass. 

In the second leg, Chatree Chimtale and Gbenga Ajayi scored for the Thai side to hand them a 2-0 victory.

Bangkok Glass will now meet Tampines Rovers in the RHB Singapore Cup Final. 

Singapore hold Vietnam to a draw at Hanoi

In a preview of the Suzuki Cup in a month time, as both Spore and Vietnam are drawn together, the Lions hold Vietnam to a 1-1 draw at the My Dinh stadium in Hanoi.
 
Following their formidable combination against DPR Korea, midfielder Shi Jiayi and forward Aleksander Duric were in the thick of the action once again, this time Duric turning provider for Jiayi to give Singapore a well deserved lead in the 24th minute.

The home side continued to press on after the break and were rewarded with the equaliser courtesy of Phan Van Tai Em in the 76th minute.

Singapore finished the game strong and came agonisingly close to grabbing a famous victory in the dying minutes after Fazrul Nawaz saw his headed attempt hit the upright in the 87th minute.

Coach Radojko Avramovic was content with the result and proud of his boys’ showing in the last two matches.

“As we expected, Vietnam played with a lot of movement and quick passing but in the end I feel we were unlucky not to win. We came very close with Masrezwan’s goal disallowed and Fazrul hitting the bar. Considering that some of these players are with the national team for the first time, I feel that they have done very well here.” said Avramovic.

Singapore will play against the Korea Republic Under-23 team on Saturday in their last match in Hanoi.

“The boys have done well in the last two games but I expect the next game to be the toughest. It has been physically demanding on the players in the last few days and in my opinion, the South Koreans are the best team in this tournament.” concluded Avramovic. 

VFF Cup

Vietnam 1-1 Singapore

Scorer - Shi Jia Yi

 

Singapore: Hassan Sunny, Daniel Bennett, Hamqaamal Shah (Irwan Shah 46’), Rosman Sulaiman, Razaleigh Khalik (Noh Rahman 65’), Ruzaini Zainal (Masrezwan Masturi 46’), Shi Jiayi, Tengku Mushadad (Isa Halim 64’), Adrian Dhanaraj, Aleksandar Duric (C) (Juma'at Jantan 82’), Fazrul Nawaz

Noh and Ridhuan club hit with rumors of non-payment again

What is new.

I mean their former coach Robert Albert had already jumped ship along with a few of the players and if Noh and Ridhuan believed things will be different this time round, it is clear it is not.

The Indonesian Liga champions reportedly have a debt of 7 billion rupiah (around S$1.2 million) and one wonder how much of that is player salaries as rumors of non-payments are surfacing.
 
If losing around $77k last year have not woken up Noh, maybe this year will as his footballing years are winding down and he is setting himself up for a horror movie if he keep making such 'brilliant' career move.

In the end, the only person who can take of himself after his football career is over is Noh himself and he should be asking if he is doing that

Indonesia call up new citizen

After all the talk by PSSI that they are going to call up 5 new citizens, it now seem they are 'less ambitous' as the infamous Indonesia bureaucracy slowed down any movement down that road.

Out of their 5 new citizen they announced, it seem none of them can make it to the Suzuki Cup as the Indonesia bureaucracy has yet to issue them their passports.

Indeed, 2 of the new citizen- John van Beukering and Sergio van Dyk - had been expected to make their international debut against Uruguay last month but in the end, they could not take to the field as FIFA told PSSI the match will not be considered an A international as they were not citizen yet.

Still the Uruguayan must have impressed much as they are getting their own with Christan Gonzales, now a former Uruguayan, call up to the Indonesia set-up.

The Persib Bandung forward have been playing in Indonesia since 2003 and have scored 166 goals in the league to date.

Warrriors secure fourth spot

SAFFC have secured 4th spot with a game to spare after they defeated Beijing Gouan (S) 4-2 at Choa Chu Kang.

Park Tae Won was the hero as he fire in a hat-trick and John Wilkinson added the other.Wang Hao and Jiang Tao scored for the Chinese side.

With this victory, the Warriors have a 6-point gap between their two rivals - Gombak United and Geylang United - and with only 3 points to play for, they cannot be caught.

In other matches, Woodlands Wellington failed to close their season on a high as they were defeated 0-1 by Albirex Niigata (S) with a goal from Kazuki Kobayashi and Geylang beat Balestier Khalsa 1-0.

SAFFC
Hyrulnizam Juma'at (GK), Hafiz Osman, Ivan Lovric, (Azhar Ahmad) Daniel Bennett, John Wilkinson (C), Rhysh Roshan Rai, Noh Rahman, Park Tae Won, Mustaqim Manzur, (Dharham Aziz) Ruzaini Zainal, Federico Martinez

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Woodlands Wellington
Khairul Annuar (GK), Winston Yap, Kazuki Yoshino, Sahairi Ramri, Anaz Hadee, (Syed Karim) Luis Eduardo Hicks, (Asraf Rashid) Azlan Alipah, Noor Ali (C), Sazali Salleh, Abdelhadi Laakkad, (Nigel Vanu) Rizawan Abdullah

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Balestier Khalsa
Joey Sim (GK), Paul Cunningham (C), Mushthafa Kamal, (Goh Swee Swee) K Sathiaraj, Syaqir Sulaiman, (Aqhari Abdullah) Kamal Nasir, K Vikraman, Poh Yi Feng, (Nurhilmi Jasni) Andrew Tan, Rivaldo Costa, Vitor Borges

Geylang United
Siddiq Durimi (GK), Salim Rahim, Walid Lounis, Rastislav Belicak (C), Vasile Ghindaru, (Fabian Kwok) Kim Jae Hong, ( Hafiz Rahim) Syed Thaha, (Fazly Hasan) Shah Hirul, Syed Fadhil, (Yasir Hanap) Masrezwan Masturi, Peter Tomko

Lions go down 1-2 to World Cup team

Singapore went down 1-2 to DPR Korea, who had played in the June Wolrd Cup, in the VFF Cup match at My Dinh stadium, Hanoi.

The Lions had found their rhythm as the game wore on and were duly rewarded with Aleksander Duric’s 12th goal for Singapore. The veteran forward latched onto a defence splitting cross by Shi Jiayi in the 41st minute with a diving header to give Singapore the lead heading into the break.

DPR Korea found the equaliser courtesy of midfielder Ri Myoung Jun nine minutes before time. A lapse of concentration in the dying seconds of the game allowed the Koreans to creep in the winner. Striker Al Il Bom’s excellent first touch was just enough to get pass defender Daniel Bennett before smashing his effort through the roof of the net.

Coach Radojko Avramovic, who gave international debuts to four new players in tonight’s match, was satisfied with the result.

“I was happy that we managed to head into half time with the lead but in the end Korea DPR deserved their win. They dominated in the second half and physically had a better level of fitness than us. It was very good experience for some of the players, who are travelling here for the first time and now they have some international experience under their belt.” said Avramovic.

VFF Cup

Singapore 1-2 North Korea

Scorer - Aleksandar Duric

Singapore: Lionel Lewis, Daniel Bennett, Juma'at Jantan, Rosman Sulaiman (Hamqaamal Shah 90’), Isa Halim (Razaleigh Khalik 52’), Ruzaini Zainal (Masrezwan Masturi 46’), Shi Jiayi, Tengku Mushadad, Adrian Dhanaraj (Noh Rahman 55’), Aleksandar Duric (C), Sufian Anuar (Fazrul Nawaz 46’)

Singapore Asian Games Squad

Goalkeepers
Izwan Mahbud (Young Lions)
Siddiq Durimi (Geylang United)

Defenders
Shakir Hamzah (NFA Under-18)
Afiq Yunos (Young Lions)
Eddie Affendy Chang (Young Lions)
Safuwan Baharudin (Young Lions)

Midfielders
Faritz Abdul Hameed (Young Lions)
Hariss Harun (Young Lions)
Shahdan Sulaiman (Tampines Rovers)
Syafiq Zainal (Balestier Khalsa)
Fazly Hassan (Geylang United)
Nazrul Ahmad Nazari (Young Lions)
Zulfahmi Arifin (Young Lions)
Izzdin Shafiq (Young Lions)
Shahril Ishak (Persib Bandung, Indonesia)
Firdaus Kasman (Home United)
Erwan Gunawan (SAFFC)

Forwards
Eugene Luo (Young Lions)
Khalili D’cruz (Young Lions)
Rizawan Abdullah (Woodlands Wellington)

Singapore Schedule

Singapore vs Qatar
7 November, Sunday, 7.00pm, Yingdong Stadium

Singapore vs Kuwait
9 November, Tuesday, 7.00pm, Yingdong Stadium

Singapore vs India
11 November, Thursday, 7.00pm, Huadu Stadium

Hariss Harun and Shahril Ishak make it to Asian Games

After weeks of uncertainty, news has finally emerged both Hariss Harun and Shahril Ishak will make it to Asian Games.

At first, both players were not expected to make it as Hariss Harun had studies commitment while FAS could not forced Shahril Ishak Indonesian club, Persib Bandung, release him as the Asian Games is not on FIFA list of international competition.

However, matter have changed now with Hariss Harun allowed to play in the first two group stage matches as his school have make allowance for the Young Lions midfielder to catch up on his studies later while Persib Bandung has agreed to release the ex-Home United player as they have no commitment during the Asian Games period which Singapore have matches.

Still, it was not all good news as FAS could not get all the players they wanted as the other two overage players - Khariul Amri and Mustafic Fahrudin - were not released by their Indonesian clubs.

It further showcased how bad the management under Zainudin have been as they should have expected it as Indonesia did not send a team to the Asian Games and the Indonesian Super Liga have commitment during that period.

International U21 football tournament/Youth Newspaper Cup 2010 Results

Singapore U21 Results
23/10 Singapore U21 0-0 Malaysia U21
25/10 Singapore U21 1-2 Vietnam B

Stags reach RHB Singapore Cup Final after 3-year absence

Tampines Rovers have reach the RHB Singapore Cup Final for the first time since 2007 after they defeated Young Lions 3-0 in the two-legged semi-final

S-league top scorer, with Etoile FC Frederic Mendy, Aleksandar Duric got two of the goals with Shahdan Sulaiman chipping in with the other.

The Stags will meet the winner of the Bangkok Glass-Etoile FC match with the loser facing Young Lions for the third-place match.

The Singapore Cup winner will get $80k.

Tampines Rovers
Hassan Sunny (GK), Benoit Croissant, Seiji Kaneko, Akihiro Nakamura, (Edward Tan) Imran Sahib, Park Yo Seb, Shukor Zailan, (Jamil Ali) Aliff Shafaein (C), Ismadi Mukhtar, Shahdan Sulaiman, (Zahid Ahmad) Aleksandar Duric

Young Lions
Izwan Mahbud (GK), Afiq Yunos, Irwan Shah, (Eddie Affendy Chang) Safuwan Baharudin, Shakir Hamzah, Faritz Abdul Hameed, Luka Savic, Zulfahmi Arifin, Hariss Harun (C), (Ignatius Ang) Nazrul Ahmad Nazari, (Shahfiq Ghani) Khalili D'cruz 

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Young Lions
Izwan Mahbud (GK), Afiq Yunos, Irwan Shah, (Nazrul Ahmad Nazari) Safuwan Baharudin, Shakir Hamzah, (Kim Seong Kyu) Hafiz Abu Sujad, Luka Savic, (Eddie Affendy Chang) Izzdin Shafiq, Hariss Harun (C), Seo Su Jong, Eugene Luo

Tampines Rovers
Hassan Sunny (GK), (Imran Sahib) Zahid Ahmad, Benoit Croissant, Seiji Kaneko, Akihiro Nakamura, (Zulkarnaen Zainal) Park Yo Seb, Shukor Zailan, (Fathi Yunus) Aliff Shafaein (C), Ismadi Mukhtar, Shahdan Sulaiman, (Zahid Ahmad) Aleksandar Duric