Home held, Warriors fall

Uniform favourite Home United and SAFFC both failed to win their opening matches.

Home United drew 0-0 with Balestier Khalsa while SAFFC fall to Albirex Niigata 3-2.

The Warriors were a disaster at the back - despite 3 of their back 4 being former or current internationals - going down 3-0 within an hour with Musashi Okuyama and Soya Toshikazu, who notch a brace, scoring.

They got two goals back thanks to Mislav Karoglan and Shukor Zailan but they had just too much to do.

Home United
Lionel Lewis (GK), Jeremy Chiang, Kenji Arai, Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, Franklin Anzite, Firdaus Idros, Rhysh Roshan Rai, Masrezwan Masturi, Hafiz Nor (Shaheer Afiq), Shotaro Ihata, Frederic Mendy (C)

Balestier Khalsa
Joey Sim (GK), Paul Cunningham (C), Jaslee Hatta, Ridwan Jamil, Ruhaizad Ismail (Andrew Tan), Tengku Mushadad, Goran Subara, Park Kang Jin, Syed Thaha, Chang Jo Yoon (Patrick Paranjody), Zulkiffli Hassim (Hamqaamal Shah)

------------
SAFFC
Hassan Sunny (GK), Razaleigh Khalik, Noh Rahman, Bah Mamadou, Daniel Bennett (C), Tatsuro Inui, Shimpei Sakurada, Ruzaini Zainal, Shukor Zailan, Fazrul Nawaz, Marin Jonjic

Muda open their account

Harimau Muda have open their account in the S-league in their debut match against Gombak United.

They defeated the Bulls 2-0 with goals from  Thamil Arasu and Wan Zaharulnizam

In the other match Hougang United drew 1-1 with TPUFC

Jordan Webb (Hougang) and Takaya Kawanabe (TPUFC) got the goals.

Gombak United
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nurullah Hussein, Ismail Yunos, Obadin Aikhena (C), Shafuan Sutohmoh (Christopher Anderson), Adrian Dhanaraj (Samuel Benjamin), Mustaqim Manzur, K Vikraman, Fairoz Hasan, Fareez Farhan, Jung Hee Bong

------------
Hougang United
Ridzuan Hasan (GK), Hasree Zais, Lau Meng Meng (C), Stanislav Vidakovic, Ante Barac, Azhar Sairudin, Jordan Webb Fazli Jaffar (Basit Hamid), Faizal Amir, Nurhilmi Jasni, Sobrie Mazelan (Ignatius Ang)

TPUFC
Fajar Sarib (GK), Hafiz Osman, Delwinder Singh (C), Jonathan Xu, Zahid Ahmad (Nazri Jaffar), Asraf Rashid, Takaya Kawanabe, Azlan Alipah (Hanafi Salleh), Syed Karim, Jang Injun, Lee Joo Sang

Starhub League Cup - Group D

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Tampines Rovers 3-1 Woodlands Wellington

Scorer: Jamil Ali, Aleksandar Duric (2) / Aloysius Yap

Tampines Rovers

Sasa Dreven (GK), Anaz Hadee (Ahmed Fahmie), Jufri Taha, Ali Hudzaifi, Ismadi Mukhtar (Sazali Salleh), Ahmad Latiff (Hairulnazri Hanafi), Imran Sahib, Jamil Ali, Noh Alam Shah, Aleksandar Duric, Gligor Gligorov

Woodlands Wellington
Ang Bang Heng (GK), Danny Chew, Duncan Elias, Daniel Hammond (C), Zulkarnain Malik, Armanizam Dolah (Aloysius Yap), Guntur Djafril (Omar Ismail), Farizal Basri (Oswind Suriya), Moon Soon Ho, Hussein Akil, Neil Vanu

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Woodlands Wellington 1-1 Gombak United

Scorer: Daniel Hammond / Walid Lounis

Woodlands Wellington

Ang Bang Heng (GK), Danny Chew, Duncan Elias, Daniel Hammond (C), Zulkarnain Malik, Han Yiguang, Aloysius Yap (Oswind Suriya), Goh Swee Swee (Armanizam Dolah), Moon Soon Ho, Hussein Akil (Farizal Basri), Neil Vanu 

Gombak United
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nurullah Hussein, Ismail Yunos, Obadin Aikhena (C), Walid Lounis, Iqbal Hamid Hussain, Adrian Dhanaraj, Hafiz Rahim (Christopher Anderson), Mustaqim Manzur (Jung Hee Bong), K Vikraman, Fairoz Hasan (Julien Durand)

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Gombak United 1-1 Tampines Rovers

Scorer: Julien Durand / OG

Gombak United
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nurullah Hussein, Ismail Yunos, Obadin Aikhena (C), Walid Lounis, Adrian Dhanaraj, Hafiz Rahim (Zulfadhli Emran), K Vikraman (Fuad Jufri), Christopher Anderson, Julien Durand, Samuel Benjamin (Jung Hee Bong)

Tampines Rovers

Sasa Dreven (GK), Jufri Taha, Ali Hudzaifi (Anaz Hadee), Fahrudin Mustafic, Sazali Salleh, Ahmad Latiff, Imran Sahib (Ahmed Fahmie), Jamil Ali (Fazil Zailani), Noh Alam Shah, Aleksandar Duric, Gligor Gligorov

Starhub League Cup - Group C

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Home United 1-0 Courts Young Lions

Scorer: Firdaus Idros

Home United

Lionel Lewis (GK) (C), Jeremy Chiang, Kenji Arai, Rosman Sulaiman (Shi Jia Yi), Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, Firdaus Idros (Rhysh Roshan Rai), Masrezwan Masturi (Franklin Anzite), Nor Azli, Shotaro Ihata, Qiu Li, Indra Sahdan

CYL

Syazwan Buhari (GK), Faritz Abdul Hameed, Sirina Camara, Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Fazli Ayob (Shahfiq Ghani), Hafiz Abu Sujad (C), Aqhari Abdullah, Zulfahmi Arifin, Benjamin Lee (Nazrul Nazari), Sherif El-Masri (Syafiq Zainal), Jonathan Toto

 Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Courts Young Lions 1-2 Hougang United

Scorer: Hafiz Abu Sujad / Mamadou Diallo, Azhar Sairudin 

CYL

Syazwan Buhari (GK), Faritz Abdul Hameed (Syafiq Zainal), Sirina Camara, Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Hafiz Abu Sujad (C), Aqhari Abdullah (Shamil Sharif), Zulfahmi Arifin (Fazli Ayob), Nazrul Nazari, Shahfiq Ghani, Sherif El-Masri, Jonathan Toto 

Hougang United
Ridzuan Hasan (GK), Hasree Zais, Syaqir Sulaiman, Lau Meng Meng (C), Ante Barac, Azhar Sairudin (Ridhwan Osman), Fazli Jaffar, Basit Hamid (Nurhilmi Jasni), Sobrie Mazelan, Fazly Hasan (Faizal Amir), Mamadou Diallo

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Hougang United 0-2 Home United

Scorer: Indra Sahdan (2) 

Hougang United
Ridzuan Hasan (GK), Syaqir Sulaiman, Lau Meng Meng (C), Azhar Sairudin (Mamadou Diallo), Ridhwan Osman, Jordan Webb, Faizal Amir, Nurhilmi Jasni, Sobrie Mazelan (Benedict Chua), Ignatius Ang, Farhan Rahmat (Hwang Kok Chang)

Home United

Lionel Lewis (GK) (C), Kenji Arai, Rosman Sulaiman, Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, Franklin Anzite (Jeremy Chiang), Shi Jia Yi, Firdaus Idros (Qiu Li), Masrezwan Masturi, Nor Azli, Shotaro Ihata (Indra Sahdan), Frederic Mendy

Starhub League Cup - Group B

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Albirex Niigata (S) 2-0 Balestier Khalsa

Scorer: Yamakoshi Yasuhiro (2) 

Balestier Khalsa

Zakariah Nerani (GK), Yusiskandar Yusop (Poh Yi Feng), Paul Cunningham (C), Jaslee Hatta,  Ruhaizad Ismail, Shafuan Sutohmoh, Goran Subara, Park Kang Jin, Syed Thaha (Hamqaamal Shah), Zdravko Dragicevic, Zulkiffli Hassim (Tengku Mushadad)

 Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Balestier Khalsa 1-3 Geylang United

Scorer: Kim Minho / Jozef Kaplan, Nurhazwan Norasikin, Michael King

Balestier Khalsa
Zakariah Nerani (GK), Yusiskandar Yusop (Poh Yi Feng), Hamqaamal Shah (Ruhaizad Ismail), Paul Cunningham (C), Jaslee Hatta, Tengku Mushadad (Shafuan Sutohmoh), Park Kang Jin, Syed Thaha, Zdravko Dragicevic, Zulkiffli Hassim, Kim Minho

Geylang United

Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Shahril Alias, Jala, Stefan Milojevic, Michael King (H Panuwat), Syed Fadhil (C), Shah Hirul, Ang Zhi Wei (Ishak Zainol), Jozef Kaplan, Nurhazwan Norasiki (Amy Recha), Fabian Kwok

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage
Geylang United 2-0 Albirex Niigata (S)

Scorer: Stefan Milojevic, Shah Hirul

Geylang United

Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Shahril Alias, Ishak Zainol, Stefan Milojevic (Hassan Aziz), Michael King (Amy Recha), Syed Fadhil (C), Shah Hirul, Ang Zhi Wei, Jozef Kaplan, Nurhazwan Norasiki, Fabian Kwok (Rizawan Abdullah)

Starhub League Cup - Group A

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

SAFFC 3-0 TPUFC

Scorer: Aliff Shafaein (2), Marin Jonjic 

SAFFC

Rezal Hassan (GK), Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Daniel Bennett (C), Marin Vidosevic, Tatsuro Inui, Shimpei Sakurada, Ruzaini Zainal (Eddie Chang), Shukor Zailan, Fazrul Nawaz (Matthew Abraham), Aliff Shafaein (Erwan Gunawan), Marin Jonjic

TPUFC

Fajar Sarib (GK), Anthony Aymard, Hafiz Osman, Delwinder Singh (C), Jonathan Xu, Hanafi Salleh, Zahid Ahmad (Hafiz Nor), Asraf Rashid, Carlos Delgado, Takaya Kawanabe, Gilbert Bayonne

Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

TPUFC 0-1 Brunei DPMM

Scorer: Subhi Abdilah 

TPUFC

Fajar Sarib (GK), Anthony Aymard, Hafiz Osman, Delwinder Singh (C), Azhar Ahmad (Syed Karim), Zahid Ahmad, Asraf Rashid, Hafiz Nor, Carlos Delgado, Takaya Kawanabe, Gilbert Bayonne

# Starhub League Cup

Group Stage 

Brunei DPMM 0-2 SAFFC

Scorer: Fazrul Nawaz, Aliff Shafaein

SAFFC

Rezal Hassan (GK), Zulfadli Zainal Abidin (Noh Rahman), Daniel Bennett (C), Marin Vidosevic, Eddie Chang (Razaleigh Khalik), Shimpei Sakurada, Ruzaini Zainal (Hafsyar Farkhan), Shukor Zailan, Fazrul Nawaz, Aliff Shafaein, Marin Jonjic

# : Neutral Ground

Philippines side march on

Philippines side Loyola Meralco Sparks have reached the semi-final of the RHB Singapore Cup after defeating Myanmar side KBZ 5-3 overall in the quarter-final.

Sparks goals in the first leg came from the Younghusband brothers, James and Philipps, who each got a goal, and Mark Andrew Hartmann.

Soe Min Oo got KBZ goal in the first leg.

In the second leg, James Younghusband grab another goal along with Jake Tabal Morallo

Samuel Agyeman Hanson and Khaing Zaw Tun reply for the Myanmar team.

Champions are knock out by Uniform rival

The Warriors emerged victors in the Uniform Derby in the RHB Singapore Cup.

They had almost not make it until the last 5 minutes of the second leg when Inui Tatsuro, the man who had score the winner in the first leg, scored yet another vital goal to make it 3-3 on the night and 5-4 overall.

Indeed, it was that close as Home United, as defending champions, fought all the way by taking the lead twice after going behind to a Shimpei Sakurada strike.

First, Frederic Mendy got them back on level almost immediately and after that, before the break, the Protectors took the lead thanks to Franklin Anzite.

The Warriors came back thanks to last season top scorer Mislav Karoglan but Mendy, who was a competitor in the scoring chart last season and this, shot the Protectors back into the lead again.

However the Warriors had the final word on the night.

In the first leg, SAFFC had won 2-1 and, apart from Inu, the other goal was an own goal with the Protectors goal coming from Shi Jia Yi.

Home United
Nazri Sabri (GK), Kenji Arai, Rosman Sulaiman (Jeremy Chiang), Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, Franklin Anzite, Shi Jia Yi (C), John Wilkinson (Shotaro Ihata), Nor Azli Yusoff, Frederic Mendy, Qiu Li, Indra Sahdan (Firdaus Idros)

SAFFC
Shahril Jantan (GK), Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Razaleigh Khalik, Daniel Bennett (C), Marin Vidosevic, Tatsuro Inui, Shimpei Sakurada, Shukor Zailan, Aliff Shafaein (Ruzaini Zainal), Mislav Karoglan, Fazrul Nawaz

----------

SAFFC
Shahril Jantan (GK), Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Razaleigh Khalik (Noh Rahman), Daniel Bennett (C), Marin Vidosevic, Tatsuro Inui, Shimpei Sakurada, Shukor Zailan, Aliff Shafaein (Ruzaini Zainal), Mislav Karoglan (Erwan Gunawan), Fazrul Nawaz 

Home United

Nazri Sabri (GK), Kenji Arai, Rosman Sulaiman (Firdaus Idros), Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, Franklin Anzite, Shi  Jia Yi (C), Nor Azli Yusoff, Frederic Mendy, Qiu Li, Indra Sahdan (John Wilkinson), Song Ui Young

Bulls rally back in second leg to knock Hougang out

Gombak United reach the semi-final of the RHB Singapore Cup for the first time ever as they rally back to defeat Hougang United 3-2 overall.

Having last 1-2 in the first leg back at Jurong West, the Bulls faced elimination from the RHB Singapore Cup once again in the quarter-final stage but this time they did not let themselves down and let it happen.

The Bulls defeated Hougang 2-0 to stage a 3-2 win.

They now faced SAFFC in the semi-final match-up

Julien Pierre Durand had scored for them in both leg with Hafiz Rahim getting the goal in the second.

Jordan Webb and Ante Barac got Hougang goals.

Gombak United
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nurullah Hussein, Ismail Yunos, Obadin Aikhena (C), Walid Lounis, Adrian Dhanaraj, Hafiz Rahim (Fairoz Hasan), Mustaqim Manzur (Jung Hee Bong), K Vikraman,Christopher Anderson, Julien Pierre Durand (Iqbal Hamid Hussain) 

Hougang United

Ridzuan Hasan (GK), Syaqir Sulaiman, Lau Meng Meng (C), Stanislav Vidakovic, Ante Barac, Azhar Sairudin (Hasree Zais), Jordab Webb, Fazli Jaffar (Sobrie Mazelan), Faizal Amir (Basit Hamid), Fazly Hasan, Mamadou Diallo

----------

Hougang United
Fadhil Salim (GK), Hasree Zais, Syaqir Sulaiman, Lau Meng Meng (C), Stanislav Vidakovic, Ante Barac, Azhar Sairudin, Fazli Jaffar, Basit Hamid (Sobrie Mazelan), Fazly Hasan, Mamadou Diallo

Gombak United
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nurullah Hussein (Hafiz Rahim), Ismail Yunos, Obadin Aikhena (C), Walid Lounis, Iqbal Hamid Hussain (Jung Hee Bong), Adrian Dhanaraj (Amin Rossady), Mustaqim Manzur , K Vikraman,Christopher Anderson, Julien Pierre Durand

Stags knocked out White Swans

Tampines Rovers have knocked out 2011 Singapore Cup finalist Albirex Niigata (S) 4-1 on aggregate.

The Stags defeated White Swans 2-1 in the first leg in Jurong East and then went on to finish the job back at Tampines with another 2-0 win.

Jufri Taha and Ahmad Latiff net for the Stags in the first leg while Sead Hadzibulic and Jamil Ali got the goals in the return leg.

Yamakoshi Yasuhiro netted the only goal for Albirex Niigata (S).

Tampines Rovers

Sasa Dreven (GK), Jufri Taha, Anaz Hadee, Benoit Croissant, Ismadi Mukhtar, Ahmad Latiff, Sead Hadzibulic (Sazali Salleh), Imran Sahib, Ahmed Fahmie (Jamil Ali), Aleksandar Duric (C), Gligor Gligorov

------------
Tampines Rovers
Sasa Dreven (GK), Jufri Taha, Anaz Hadee, Benoit Croissant, Ismadi Mukhtar, Ahmad Latiff, Sead Hadzibulic (Hairulnazri Hanafi), Imran Sahib, Jamil Ali (Ahmed Fahmie), Aleksandar Duric (C) (Sazali Salleh), Gligor Gligorov

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 first round

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 Round One

SAFFC  (5) 1-1 (4) Balestier Khalsa

Scorer:  Mislav Karoglan / Kim Minho

SAFFC
Shahril Jantan (GK), Zulfadli Zainal Abidin, Razaleigh Khalik (Prakash Manikam), Bah Mamadou, Daniel Bennett (C), Tatsuro Inui, Shimpei Sakurada, Shukor Zailan, Mislav Karoglan, Fazrul Nawaz, Erwan Gunawan (Eddie Chang (Hafsyar Farkhan))

Balestier Khalsa
Zakariah Nerani (GK), Yusiskandar Yusop, Hamqaamal Shah, Paul Cunningham (C), Jaslee Hatta, Ruhaizad Ismail, Park Kang Jin, Syed Thaha, Zulkiffli Hassim, Kim Minho, Muhaymin Salim

----------

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 Round One
Tampines Rovers 4-3 Phnom Penh Crown

Scorer: Aleksandar Duric (2), Jamil Ali, Imran Sahib / Khim Borey, Kouch Sokumpheak (2)

Tampines Rovers
Sasa Dreven (GK), Anaz Hadee, Benoit Croissant, Ismadi Mukhtar, Fahrudin Mustafic, Ahmad Latiff, Imran Sahib, Ahmed Fahmie (Ali Hudzaifi), Aleksandar Duric (C), Gligor Gligorov, Jamil Ali (Sazali Salleh)

----------

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 Round One
Brunei DPMM 0-1 Home United

Scorer: John Wilkinson

Home United

Lionel Lewis (GK) (C), Jeremy Chiang, Kenji Arai, Rosman Sulaiman (Indra Sahdan), Sofiyan Abdul Hamid, John Wilkinson, Firdaus Idros (Hanafi Ghazali), Rhysh Roshan Rai, Masrezwan Masturi, Nor Azli Yusoff, Qiu Li

----------

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 Round One
Loyola Meralco Sparks 2-1 Geylang United

Scorer: Mark Andrew Hartmann, Min Ho Park / Michael King

Geylang United

Yazid Yasin (GK) (C), Mubarak Ahamad, Ishak Zainol (Khairulnizam Jumahat), Jala, Rhema Obed, Michael King, Syed Fadhil, Ang Zhiwei (Shah Hirul), Jozef Kaplan, Rizawan Abdullah (Amy Recha), Mun Seung Man

----------

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 Round One
KBZ FC 2-1 Woodlands Wellington

Scorer: Soe Min Oo, Tercio Nunes Machado / Moon Soon Ho 

Woodlands Wellington

Ahmadulhaq Che Omar (GK), Danny Chew, Duncan Elias, Fabien Larry Lewis, Daniel Hammond (C), Shamsurin Abd Rahman, Aloysius Yap, Farizal Basri (Han Yiguang), Goh Swe Swee (K Sathiaraj), Moon Soon Ho, Hussein Akil (Edward Tan)

----------

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 Round One
Gombak United 3-0 Harimau Muda B

Scorer: Christopher Anderson, Fairoz Hasan, K Vikraman

Gombak United
Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nurullah Hussein, Ismail Yunos, Obadin Aikhena (C), Hafiz Rahim, Mustaqim Manzur (Jung Hee Bong), K Vikraman, Fairoz Hasan, Christopher Anderson, Fareez Farhan (Amin Rossady), Julien Durand (Fuad Jufri)

----------

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 Round One
TPUFC (4) 1-1 (3) Hougang United

Scorer: Hafiz Osman / Mamadou Diallo

TPUFC
Fajar Sarib (GK), Hafiz Osman, Delwinder Singh (C), Jonathan Xu, Azhar Ahmad, Hanafi Salleh, Zahid Ahmad, Takaya Kawanabe, Serge Souchon (Seah Si Hao(S Vikneshwaran)), Is Hafizuddin (Asraf Rashid), Jang Injun

Hougang United

Ridzuan Hasan (GK), Hasree Zais, Lau Meng Meng (C), Syaqir Sulaiman, Stanislav Vidakovic, Ante Barac, Azhar Sairudin (Faizal Amir), Jordan Webb (Faizal Amir), Fazli Jaffar (Basit Hamid), Fazly Hasan, Mamadou Diallo
----------

RHB Singapore Cup 2012 Round One

  Albirex Niigata (S) 1-0 Yotha FC

Scorer: Sato Masatake

Home fall at last 16 stage

Home United lost 0-3 in the last 16 against Syrian side Al-Shorta

The Protectors had to play away in the one-leg tie as they had finished second in their group behind Thai side Chonburi.

Home United
Lionel Lewis (GK) (C), Jeremy Chiang (Indra Sahdan Daud), Arai Kenji, Rosman Sulaiman, Franklin Anzite, John Wilkinson, Shotaro Ihata, Rhysh Roshan Rai (Firdaus Idros), Masrezwan Masturi, Nor Azli Yusoff, Frederic Mendy

Plate Cup created

There will be changes to the Starhub League Cup.

First of all the prize money has gone up with the winner now getting S$25k.

Next the group stage will make a return and the12 teams will be divide into 4 group of 3 and the top 2 teams reach the quarter-final stage. 

For the last-placed team, a 'new' competition will be created.

It will be known as the Plate Cup 

The winner of this 'new' competition will receive S$5k 

No direction from FAS - Goal commentators

Although Goal website flashed the header as a talk on match-fixing in ASEAN, it was much more as they also went into detail into about Singapore football.

Before all that, the talk on match-fixing with Duric asked about the chances of it happening in the S-league and Malaysia Super League (as our GRC president team is there) (MSL), he reply claiming he believed S-league is most likely the cleanest league in the region as it was pro-active against it.

For those who do not know, as such information have been revealed before, the players received a contract at the start of every season that informed them the Corruption Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) have a right to call them up if needed and they have to go through a lie-defector after matches.

After that, it was the turn of MSL with Neil Humphreys - ever the person who want a answer to such a question - quoting FIFA head of security which noted 60%-70% of MSL games may be fixed thus asking  Duric if it may be so.

Duric noted a few of the LIONXII games (although he gave no name, team or date as it is all only 'speculating' and they explain that) where he believed the Malaysian sides did not give their all - like the now-famous ex-Terengganu custodian done in his own game - and one of the other commentators had also burled out the Sabah game, may have a chance. 

With that part finished, it was onto the other part which I will be writing about and the header of this post.

They wanted to talk about the current state of Singapore football which was at a low after the Philippines result last week and they all generally agreed it was as a result of a lacked of direction from the top (in other words, our GRC man) at FAS at this moment.

Indeed, host Jason Dasey noted about GOAL 2010 and while it may have failed, it did give Singapore football direction and had prod FAS towards international football during that period.

He felt FAS should go back to that direction and make international football meaning the National Team as the mainstay of Singapore football.

As of now he does not feel it is so and Duric agreed as he noted

1. The National team are not training and playing together as much now 
2. They are facing the same team too many times and not enough of them are tough teams
3. The next generation cannot step up as they lacked the experience as there is not enough games (Want to say yesterday POV - How about aiming your gun at your boss, the culprit, for once, Raddy,  I noted our entire batch of youngsters from Under-17 until Under-23 have no aim at all and this period they should have been gaining all those experience Duric desire)

With that they moved to LIONXII as Jason commented this may be a result because FAS has focused too much on that project and asked Duric if it was so.

Duric admitted at the start, naively, he thought LIONXII will boast Singapore football as claimed by our GRC man but now he know it is not so as indeed too many focus is on that team and it is killing the rest of Singapore football. (I just to say to Duric, it was expected as I never trusted them)   

Thus the Tampines man believed next season FAS will have to make a decision for the good of the S-league as it is too late to save this season. (In other words, choose but lucky or not it will be a new man and having lived through such a PAP man, I am not sure I can trust another)

It is at this point the talk go into what FAS want and the header you see now.

They all generally agreed FAS has no direction as it seem to want everything but it has achieved nothing as it does not have the resources to achieve that

Neil noted FAS was still struck in the mindset of 60s to 70s like it was back in Scotland where beating England was all it matter and he quoted an example that after beating England in 67, Scotland asked for the World Cup as they have achieved world standard.

But it was not so as the Scots have never reached the knockout stage of a major competition.

He does not want Singapore to be like that anymore and Malaysia no longer matter in world football as nobody noticed them. (or even us as some want to believe)

That why he asked FAS to make a decision and it should be the national team.

I want to say something before going on because Neil will give an example later about taxi-drivers, who after a certain age, across both causeway that still watch Singapore and Malaysia football and for me, that is important as it is after a certain age and people should note the younger generation across both sides has indeed forgotten even the Malaysia Cup TNP loved so much.

Indeed, earlier this year even although SPH and MediaCorp worked so hard to promote LIONXII, it is not difficult to find out most who are following are after a certain age as noted by Neil and that is why just after Chinese New Year, only a month later after the good start, LIONXII attendances started falling.

Sooner or later, if FAS is only focused on LIONXII then England problem will surface as MSL will never have the same lure as international football.

Indeed so for the commentators agreed the standard is not there and that is why Malaysian Super League themselves faced a falling attendances from their own fans as the taxi-drivers example was quoted.



Thus that was why Duric was asked what was his answer to help S-league and the 42-year-old feel A-league was a good example to look at as before that the National Soccer League was facing the type S-league was facing but now it is much better under the new league structure.

Is this the solution?

I do not know but I know next year is pivot because after 4 years of leaderless leadership we may have a leader as leader as there is now totally no direction from FAS as noted by the Goal commentators and until there is, the standard will keep falling as they say.

Duric want to be Tampines fitness coach

Aleksandar Duric has revealed his plans for next year in a podcast with Goal website.

There will be no international football anymore for the 42-year-old with the end-year Suzuki Cup his swansong but the S-league may see him for another year as a part-time player.

The job he really want is to be Tampines Rovers fitness coach and he has pass the word to the club management.

The club, up to now, have not given him any direction yet if they will agreed.

However, it will be good for all concern as readers will know I still support the Beep Test because many players are still not taking care of their fitness and if they want it gone then they need to take care of it as good as Duric (which many are not)

Indeed, the host, Jason Dasey, noted Duric is still amazing fit at his age and if the next generation of players at Tampines come under his charge, they will 'suffer' (it benefit as he was making a joke) for it.

Response to Raddy comments from Shahril Jantan

Here is a GOAL report which has SAFFC custodian Shahril Jantan responding to National coach Raddy comments to the Straits Times.

The former international expressed shock at the Serbian's comment as he told Goal.com: "As a professional footballer that has seen the S.League since its inception in 96 and making my debut in 2000, I was taken aback by his statement.”

“I have seen and played with many talented young local players and several of them have gone on to become full internationals. But having said that, many more has been left unnoticed and were not given a chance to prove their worth and potential.”

 “We never know if those that have been ignored would have gone on to become an important player in the national set up. We never lack potential players, it’s just that these players lack the opportunity to shine.”

Former Member of Parliament, Maidin Packer also expressed his view in the article.