S-league Preview

Last week Preview - 0 right and 3 wrong with 1 undecided

Home United vs Geylang United
The Protectors have fallen once in their championship charge and it appear to have cost them dearly. The title is not in their hand once again just one week after it was in their hand when they defeated Etoile and Tampines falter against Young Lions. Now, they cannot do anything except do what they have been doing mostly for the last 14 matches - Win or burst. And the Eagles are no match for them. 3-1 to Home United.

Sengkang Punggol vs Albirex Niigata (S)
The Dolphins are enjoying some good form now and yet strangely enough I fancy the White Swans due to that. The reason is the White Swans like to play teams who are not as defensive-minded and with recent results, Aide will surely not be asking his team to pull back as their fans will hear none of it. Another reason is the White Swans do well against teams hovering around them in the league table with no defeat from their meeting with Woodlands Wellington, Sengkang Punggol or Beijing Gouan (S) and they collect 4 of their 5 wins this season from them. But since it is at Hougang, I will opt for the draw. 1-1 draw

Woodlands Wellington vs Tampines Rovers
No excuse. The Rams must fall and Tampines Rovers cannot hide if they fail this assignment. They do not even need Khariul Amri for the job as they already have the personals for it. Win or burst now. 3-0 to Tampines Rovers.

Etoile FC vs Balestier Khalsa
The start of the championship charge for Etoile. The Tigers are no easy prey this year but they can be taken down. Indeed once and if the French take the lead, one can see no way back for the Toa Poyah side. This is not underestimating the Tigers but they lacked the strength and abilities to challenge Etoile FC in such a situation. 1-0 to Etoile FC

Penalty miss give Stars top spot and surely the S-league title

It has been billed as the championship decider and I believed it was so.

That was why Korean defender Park Yo Seb penalty miss was so crucial for it has given not only top spot to Etoilr FC but a real shot at the S-league title.

But no blame can be attached to the former Korean international as the pressure he must have felt must been enormous as it was virtually the last kick of the game with no chance to make up for any error.

The only thing that can be said is Spanish side Deportivo de La Coruña had suffered a similar outcome in the championship race in the 93/94 season when Serbian defender Miroslav Đukić miss his spot-kick that cost the Spanish side their first ever title.

But it all came around 7 years down the road when Deportivo finally won and then 2 years later, Dukic found peace as he collected his first silverware with Valencia.

Yes, this may sound like consolation words and it is but few will have the courage to take a spotkick at that point like Park and Dukic did.

They had it and failed and that is life.

However, at the start it was not as exciting as the ending for both sides have too much to lose from losing this game as their year work could be gone in 90 minutes.

As a result, both sides were cautious in their approach and Mendy header onto the bar with Hassan Sunny totally beaten was the real chance of the first period.

The second period was adventurous thanks to a quick goal by Mendy as the S-league top scorer took advantage of a miss header by Stags defender Croissant to bring the ball down and push off Kaneko to fire the shot pass Hassan.

Left with no choice, Tampines Rovers have to attack and they did with waves after waves while the Stars took advantage of that to counterattack.

It was breathtaking pace and it was Etoile FC who broke first as 10 minutes after that opener, Aliff Shafaein fired in the equaliser.

It can be described as nothing but a messy affair as Etoile players could not clear the ball from the area and it was bouncing all about, the Stags skipper got to it and fired a shot pass a group of Stars and Stags player into the net.

Yohann Lacroix could not react to it at all although he will have his moment later on.

With the game tip at the balance, Etoile FC went to take the lead thanks to a brilliant moment from Michelini.

Just like the Stags goal, the Etoile FC midfielder got advantage of the Stags inablilty to clear the ball from the area although the difference was high up in the air when it came down to him. with little time, he improvise by slamming the ball in mid-air with a scissor kick and it went into the top corner with Hassan beaten all the way.

The Stags will have to come back again and they nearly did but Lacroix produce two excellent saves.

First from Shahdan Sulaiman who chested the ball down and volley it into the top corner. It was going in until Lacroix matched Shahdan effort with an equally brilliant save. Second moment came when Croissant fired in a freekick that had goal screaming but again, Lacroix matches that effort as he flew to save it and push it away from danger.

The Stags must have believed it was all over until the penalty incident and then it was really over.

Etoile FC now has one hand on the championship crown as Tampines Rovers still have to face off against Home United and both sides could end up taking points off each other.

For the Queenstown side though, 4 of the 5 remaining matches looked like a banker if they play to their potential. Only former champions looked troublesome but it may not matter as their rivals could be dropping points themselves.

History beckon for the Queestown club.

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

Young Lions vs Beijing Gouan (S) match abandoned

The Young Lions vs Beijing Gouan (S) was match was abandoned after a fight broke out between the players 2 minutes from time.

I have no idea what happen thus have so no comments

Here is the report from S-league website and the Youtube video.

Protectors fail first championship test

It was the first time Home United faced the pressure of being a front runner and ultimately they failed the test.

A win against Sengkang Punggol will have given Home United top spot for the next 48 hours but they were fortunate to walk away with 1 point in the end.

At half-time, the Protectors were down 0-2 with goals from Mamadou Diallo and Jordan Webb.

Left with the chance their title hopes be left in tatters, the Protectors fought back to 2-2 within 20 minutes of the second period with goals from Choi Chul Woo and Shi Jia Yi.

But still with half an hour to go, the Protectors were unable to score again and they were left to ponder what might have been.

They have now climbed up to second but have played a game more than their two rivals, Tampines Rover and Etoile FC, who are meeting head on and this should have been the start of a championship charge.

But now, their rivals have been let off the hook.

Pressure got to their head? Only they know.

Home United
Lionel Lewis (GK), Juma'at Jantan, Shahril Alias, Valery Hiek, Rosman Sulaiman, Shi Jiayi, Choi Chul Woo, Chun Jae Woon, (Firdaus Idros) Firdaus Kasman, (Zulfadli Zainal Abidin) Jun Woo Keun, Shahril Ishak(C)

Sengkang Punggol
Fadhil Salim (GK), Ratna Suffian, Lau Meng Meng, Kenji Arai, Jordan Webb, Nor Azli Yusoff (C), (Shahir Hamzah) An Jae Cheul, (Jala) Farizal Basri, Duncan Elias, (Zul Nor Farahin ) Sobrie Mazelan, Mamadou Diallo

SAFFC move to fourth spot

SAFFC have moved to fourth spot after defeating Gombak United 2-0 at the Jurong West Stadium in the weekend.

Uruguayan forward Federico Martinez scored both goals including his first goal from open play in the league which was the first one.

It was also the 1000th S-league goals scored by the Warriors.

The next night, Geylang United failed to move back to fourth as they fell shockingly 0-1 to bottom-dweller Woodlands Wellington at the Bedok Stadium.

One time Eagles legend Noor Ali got the winner for his current employer.
Gombak United
Zakariah Nerani (GK), Hamqaamal Shah, Bah Mamadou (C), Obadin Aikhena, Jeremy Chiang, Goran Subara, (Zulkiffli Hassim) Shafuan Sutohmoh, Ridhwan Jamaludin, Park Kang Jin, Fazrul Nawaz, (Ruhaizad Ismail) Chang Jo Yoon

SAFFC
Shahril Jantan (GK) (C),
Ivan Lovric, (Razaleigh Khalik) Hafiz Osman, Daniel Bennett, Ivan Jerkovic, Ahmad Latiff, John Wilkinson, Noh Rahman, (Ruzaini Zainal) Mustaqim Manzur, Taisuke Akiyoshi, (Erwan Gunawan) Federico Martinez 
---------

Geylang United
 Yazid Yasin (GK), (Hafiz Rahim) Salim Rahim, (Masrezwan Masturi) Walid Lounis, Rastislav Belicak (C), Vasile Ghindaru, Kim Jae Hong, Adrian Dhanaraj, Shah Hirul, Syed Fadhil, (Yasir Hanap) Itimi Dickson, Peter Tomko

Woodlands Wellington 
Hafez Mawasi (GK), Kazuki Yoshino, Sahairi Ramri, Anaz Hadee, Luis Eduardo Hicks, Azlan Alipah, Syed Karim, Noor Ali (C), Asraf Rashid, (Guntur Djafri) Abdelhadi Laakkad, (Nigel Vanu) Rizawan Abdullah

Suzuki Cup official site is up and running

The official AFF Suzuki Cup site is up and running.

For those who wish to re-live the 2008 AFF Suzuki Cup, there are goals and news from that edition on the site.

The draw for the 2010 version will be held on September 15 at Hanoi, Vietnam at 2 pm local time. (3 pm Singapore time)

S-league Preview

Last week Preview - Got 5 right with 2 perfect score and 3 wrong with 1 not yet decided

Geylang United vs Woodlands Wellington
The Eagles should win this one. The Rams have not won a game since June and during that period they have only drawn 2 games from 12 matches. The fact both were goalless show as long as the Eagles get a goal, they are pretty much assured of 3 points. That is not that hard, is it? 2-0 to Geylang United

Home United vs Sengkang Punggol
For the first time, Home United have the championship sights within their grasp. Until last week, they can only be considered third favourite as they needed their two main rival to slip up and now, both have done so. Indeed, this week scenario is even better for Home as no matter the outcome of Tampines Rovers vs Etoile FC tie, the Protectors will benefit as they will be minimum second at the end of it. This is as long as they defeat second-from-bottom Sengkang Punggol. They have no excuse. They must do it. 2-0 to Home United

Young Lions vs Beijing Gouan (S)
The Chinese side are a pretty inconsistent side while the Cubs relied heavily on their captain to show up. Out of the two weakness, who have the bigger weakness. I would say Beijing for as long as Hariss Harun turn up in a Cubs shirt, the Young Lions are capable of taking on any team; especially at the Cub Den. 2-1 to Young Lions

Tampines Rovers vs Etoile FC
The Stags have let a golden chance to open a 4-point gap slip and they have no choice, they have to win their matches and any slip up will be punished at this stage of the season. If they have won last week, a draw here will be acceptable but now, it is different for if Home win their game and this is the outcome, then the Stags will have to share top spot with them with Etoile still biting at them. A defeat will see Stags drop to third while only a victory can kill off Etoile FC chances - as the French will then be 5 points behind - and keep the Protectors at bay. What a tough situation to find themselves in. But this is when championship teams show up and they should forget about any celebration on Friday for if anything other than a win, then their entire year work could vanish. Win or bust. 3-2 to Tampines Rovers

Stags unable to take full advantage as they are held to 1-1 draw

Leaders Tampines Rovers have opened up a two-point gap between them and their main rivals - Home United and Etoile FC - but it should have been better.

With the Stags only able to secure a 1-1 draw, they were not able to open the full potential of a four-point gap and they were on their way to doing that with Aliff Shafaein putting them ahead in the first half.

They were doing that even up to the last five minutes of the game until Nazrul Ahmad Nazari struck and no matter what they claimed, it was a disappointing outcome as the Stags were not an inexperienced championship side with many members of their team having fought in championship battles and they should not have slip up at that moment.

But that what they did and they could paid the price as early as next Wednesday when they faced Etoile FC in the battle against top and second.

If they lose, they could end up as low as third place as Home United have a 'breather' against second from bottom Sengkang Punggol next week.

It will be a terrible price to pay at this point of the season as there are not that many games left to catch up back to top position.

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

Young Lions
Izwan Mahbud (GK), (Madhu Mohana) Eddie Affendy Chang, Irwan Shah (C), Safuwan Baharudin, (Nazrul Ahmad Nazari) Luka Savic, Izzdin Shafiq, Hariss Harun (C), Seo Su Jong, (Khairul Nizam) Khalili D'cruz, Fairoz Hasan, Eugene Luo

Van Dijk could be a formidable foe come Suzuki Cup

If Sergio van Dijk do get his Indonesian citizenship before the Suzuki Cup and get a call-up to the competition, then he is well-placed to be a contender for MVP of the 2010 version.

His goals and performance against Sydney was 1 of the best individual performance seem as it showcased his individual abilities.

It totally reminded me of a younger Duric who has the pace, strength and technical ability (Duric has two left now)

A Youtube video of the game had only show part what he was capable of in that game as many times he was involved in Adelaide United attack that did not ended up in the net.

If he show up in the Suzuki Cup in such form then Indonesia will be a dangerous foe.

The issues against him is he may lacked understanding with his Indonesian teammates thus they do not make best use of him along with a lacked of communication (As I do not think he speak Indonesian fluently)

The Lions will still have to look out for him if we are drawn against Indonesia.

Etoile championship take blow as Home win 1-0 in crucial match-up

Home United has won a crucial match-up against fellow challengers Etoile FC that could have derail the hopes of their rival.

With the win, Home United are equal on point with Etoile FC in the table but remain third as the French side have a better goal difference.

However, the biggest winner was a team that was not even playing; Tampines Rovers.

The Eastern giant can now open up a 4-point gap between them and their rivals - before next week match-up against Etoile FC - when they play Young Lions tomorrow.

But Home United may be the hidden threat Tampines Rovers should fear.

The Protectors displayed great teamwork and motivation in a game without heroes as they closed down the French side and kept them at bay despite the pressure put forward by the French for much of the match.

And let not forget it is the fasting month so this make it a greater effort.

Shahril Ishak had scored the winner after 20 minutes to make it Home 11th win from their last 12 matches.

Home United
Lionel Lewis (GK),
Juma'at Jantan, Choi Chul Woo, Valery Hiek, Rosman Sulaiman, Shi Jiayi, (Sufian Anuar) Tengku Mushadad, Chun Jae Woon, (Isa Halim) Firdaus Kasman, (Firdaus Idros) Jun Woo Keun, Shahril Ishak(C)

The last word

This is not the last word on the blog but on the Duric goal tally as do not want any debate on it as disagreement over data is not an uncommon issue.

The focus should be on Duric achievement as judged by S-league but just want to say I stand by my data I have given as I have check it again and is satisfied.

After all, when Romário scored his 1000th goal, many media network question it tally from the type of games to whether such games were even played etc.

However, none of that matter in the end with the focus on Romário achievement.

Still hopefully one day, when they have the resource, S-league can start a Goal Panel.

The BPL, even with their love of data, had their share of controversy with goal tally before a Goal Panel was set up.

No point showed that more than Andy Cole 100th Premier League goal as a number of media network and statistic companies have different figures with a few of his goals considered own goal or have other claimant as BPL let each organisation have their own data.

Now, every goal has to be stamped by the Goal Panel before they are considered legitimate.

It saw Peter Crouch got a hat-trick in the BPL on a night when he was playing in the Club World Cup in Japan as the Goal Panel in UK stamp their approval by considering an 'own' goal as Peter Crouch.

Baihakki Khaizan join Perisb Bandung

Baihakki Khaizan has join Perisb Bandung for the upcoming ISL season.

Perisb Bandung is considered the main rival of his previous ISL employer Persija Jakarta and one wonder how his previous adoring fans will feel about this move.

But Baihakki has always consider himself a pragmatic person so he will tell them he needed the job as he has a family to feed.

Perisb Bandung finished 4th in the ISL last season.

SAFFC defeat Sengkang

In their first home game since May, SAFFC return back to winning way as they defeated Sengkang Punggol 2-1 at Choa Chu Kang.

John Wilkinson and Ivan Jerkovic for the Warriors while Jordan Webb reply for the Dolphins.

The Warriors climb to fifth after the win.

SAFFC
Shahril Jantan (GK) (C), Ivan Lovric, Hafiz Osman, Daniel Bennett, Ivan Jerkovic, Ahmad Latiff, John Wilkinson, Noh Rahman, (Ruzaini Zainal) Mustaqim Manzur, Taisuke Akiyoshi, (Erwan Gunawan) Federico Martinez

Sengkang Punggol
Fadhil Salim (GK), (Farizal Basri) Shahir Hamzah, Ratna Suffian, Lau Meng Meng, Kenji Arai (C), (Jala) Faizal Amir, Jordan Webb, An Jae Cheul, Duncan Elias, (Azfar Zainal Abidin) Sobrie Mazelan, Mojtaba Tehranizadeh

Aleksandar Duric 300 goals tally

Here are a compile breakdown of Duric 300 goals

Year - Club - Goals / Games

1999 - TPUFC - 12 / 22

2000 - Home United - 11 / 16

2001-2004 - Geylang United - 113 /145

2005-2009 - SAFFC - 150 / 174

2010 - Tampines Rovers - 14 / 27

Total: 300 / 384 

Geylang United

Year	League App	Goal	Cup App	Goal
2001	33	32	5	2
2002	33	26	5	6
2003	33	27	5	5
2004	27	13	4	2
Total	126	98	19	15

Home United

Year	League App	Goal	Cup App	Goal
2000	10	6	6	5
Total	10	6	6	5

SAFFC

Year	League App	Goal	Cup App	Goal
2005	27	17	5	3
2006	28(2)	19	3	5
2007	31	37	6	7
2008	32	28	6	4
2009	30	28	6	2
Total	148(2)	129	26	21

Tampines Rovers

Year	League App	Goal	Cup App	Goal
2010	26	14	1	0
Total	26	14	1	0

TPUFC

Year	League App	Goal	Cup App	Goal
1999	22	12	-	-
Total	22	12	-	-

Duric hit 300 domestic goals

Singapore international Aleksandar Duric has got his 300th domestic (Not S-league goals which do not include League Cup goals) goals after he scored a brace against Beijing Gouan (S) which saw the Stags ran away 5-2 winners.

Nevertheless, the Stags were indebted to Duric double as they came at crucial period of the game.

Up until Duric first goal of the game, the match was deadlock at 1-1 with Wang Hao and and Aliff Shafaein scoring for their respective teams.

Beijing keeper Su Boyang was also set to be man-of-the-match up to that point as he pulled off great saves from Kariul and Duric.

However, the 39-year-old exposed the Chinese custodian lacked of experience when he took advantage of a quick free kick to fire into an open net as Su was still organising his defensive wall.

It gave the Stags a 2-1 lead which they went to build into a two-goal cushion as Shahdan Sulaiman combined brilliantly with one-two movement with Duirc to open up the Beijing defence.

The returning Shahdan then fired his shot into the top corner giving Su no chance.

By then, the Stags must have believed the game was over as they slowed the game down and started to make mistakes. Teng Bin took advantage of one of them to fire the Chinese back into the game.

After that, the Chinese started to pile on the pressure and they nearly make it 3-3 before Duric step up again as his second of the night, and his 300th domestic goals, kill off the Chinese.

It was one that showcased why Duric have been so successfully over the last decade in the S-league and Asia as the forward used his physical presence to hold off the Chinese defender and find space to fire a shot that went into the net even as the keeper got a hand to it.

After that, Duric had a chance for a hat-trick but he passed up that chance to pass the ball to his striking partner Khariul Amri to bag the Stags fifth goal of the night.

It was a great night for the Stags; especially Duric who is now the first ever player to bag 300th domestic goals.

And he did it in style as he had also showcased his other abilities by setting two of the Stags goals showing his is not just goals but has other attributes as well.

To round off his brilliant night, the 39-year-old have also snatched away the Man-of-the-match away from Su Boyang showing the kind of desire and abilities that have keep him in the game for so long.

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

SCC are NFL Div 1 champions again

SCC have won the National Football League Division 1 title again.

They were last season Double champions, having also won the Singapore Pools FA Cup, and will now be looking to defend their FA Cup crown as well.