Eagles latest to fall in Brunei
Rano Iskandar
info@sleague.com
Geylang United found their names added to the list of teams to have been defeated in the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Brunei as DPMM FC ran out 3-0 winners on Wednesday evening.
It was the Bruneians’ sixth win in as many S.League matches on the ground, as they moved to within two points of league leaders Gombak United.
DPMM started the game the more brightly of the two teams with constant incisive attacks through the middle of the Eagles defence, but nothing materialised as Baihakki Khaizan and his teammates held firm.
One such move found wingback Sairol Sahari on the left, but his cross narrowly missed out on meeting the heads of both Abdel Hamid Berguiga and Oh Ddog Yi and the Eagles easily cleared their lines.
Hafiz Rahim came close for Geylang when he managed to find himself free on the right side, where his rasping shot clipped the top of the DPMM goal.
Halfway through the first half, DPMM got the goal that they were looking for when Azwan Salleh sent in a thunderbolt to the top corner from 30 yards out, leaving Eagles keeper Yazid Yasin clutching air.
The goal injected more urgency in Geylang’s play with both Miroslav Latiak and Rastislav Belicak bossing the midfield, but Geylang were not able to create any clearcut chances.
They did come close on the half-hour mark when a quick counter attack lead by Belicak found Noor Ali in the penalty area, but the Geylang captain’s shot was turned around the corner.
From the resulting corner, DPMM cleared the ball and found Berguiga on a one on one situation with G. Lenan, and he managed to get past him easily, but not the alert Yazid.
It was Geylang who started off the second half with more intent, and they caused pandemonium in the DPMM area with a well-worked free kick, but Rene Komar was able to clear eventually.
But that was as close as Geylang came as DPMM grew in confidence and slowly took hold of the game.
The ever-impressive Berguiga got the all-important second goal when he spotted Yazid off his line and chipped from all of 30 yards to noisy rapture from the crowd, numbering just below 6,000.
His strike partner Oh put the icing on a dominating DPMM performance, after he surged into the area and placed the ball into the corner four minutes from time.
Geylang coach Mike Wong was pragmatic about his team performance, saying that mistakes at this level cost his team a result.
“It was a good game and I thought we played well till the second goal went in. We lost focus after that and some individual errors cost us the game.
“DPMM on the other played well and they deserved to win. They showed that they had the desire to win and the final scoreline proved it.”
Vjeran Simunic on the other hand was his usual euphoric self after the game.
“It was a nice game. Geylang played well and we expected them to give us a run for our money.
“It is going to be like this from now on as every team will try to beat us. In the end we deserved victory for the way we played well.”
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
A brilliant view of Singapore Football
On Friday, Brunei DPMM FC took back with them the League Cup trophy and in doing so become the first foreign side to take home a piece of domestic silverware since the foundation of the S.League in 1996.
And just like the winners, the 2009 League Cup competition itself has also broken into a whole new world for the S.League with the first ever ‘Live’ airing of its matches on cable television. The whirlwind 19-day tournament had 13 of its 20 matches shown ‘Live’ on StarHub’s Football Channel and the broadcast of the matches produced by World Sport Group have given Singaporeans a brilliant view to its local football and have impressed many.
"My friends and I actually seldom watch local football but the recent League Cup on the Football Channel caught our attention,” said Polytechnic student Koh Weihuang.
“We first saw the SAFFC-Albirex game on TV and it was actually quite good. So we made it a point to be home to catch some of the other matches. I must say the action in the knockout stages were definitely better and comparable to a lot of matches in the EPL,” Koh added.
The Football Channel has been the source for Singaporeans to get their regular dose of English and European Football, but the telecast of the League Cup on the channel has not only won the S.League some new fans, but also quite a few converts from the EPL who have packed the pubs to catch some of the recent action.
"I am used to watching EPL, but based on what I’ve seen the standard of football in Singapore is certainly something I feel is worth catching live at a stadium", said Carlos del Castillo, who was watching the Final at Bobby’s at Chijmes.
The League Cup production also included a half time segment hosted by P J Roberts which profiled the teams in the competition. One of the many who enjoyed the features was Mervyn Lai, who has worked in the sports TV production industry for over a decade.
“The fact that there was a half-time show was a big plus and the features were well done and gave viewers an insight to the players’ lives,” said Lai.
Even some players were overheard raving about the standard of the coverage of the League Cup tournament and local commentator Shehzad Haque, “The replay angles in during this tournament really showed everything and commentator was really good. He really knew what he was talking about and gave really good insights on the players,” said SAFFC wing-back Shaiful Esah.
The success of the television coverage has also spilled over to the stadiums with the League Cup Final almost packing in more than 5,300 fans at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
“I have been following the matches on television and I knew DPMM and SAF would give a good game, so I thought I come and be part of the atmosphere at the stadium,” said Navy regular Ronnie Lim, who sat with the SAFFC fans during the finals.
The League Cup production has been quite a success for the S.League and when asked if there were future plans for such collaborations, they would only reveal that they have been in talks and would only reveal more at a later date.
And just like the winners, the 2009 League Cup competition itself has also broken into a whole new world for the S.League with the first ever ‘Live’ airing of its matches on cable television. The whirlwind 19-day tournament had 13 of its 20 matches shown ‘Live’ on StarHub’s Football Channel and the broadcast of the matches produced by World Sport Group have given Singaporeans a brilliant view to its local football and have impressed many.
"My friends and I actually seldom watch local football but the recent League Cup on the Football Channel caught our attention,” said Polytechnic student Koh Weihuang.
“We first saw the SAFFC-Albirex game on TV and it was actually quite good. So we made it a point to be home to catch some of the other matches. I must say the action in the knockout stages were definitely better and comparable to a lot of matches in the EPL,” Koh added.
The Football Channel has been the source for Singaporeans to get their regular dose of English and European Football, but the telecast of the League Cup on the channel has not only won the S.League some new fans, but also quite a few converts from the EPL who have packed the pubs to catch some of the recent action.
"I am used to watching EPL, but based on what I’ve seen the standard of football in Singapore is certainly something I feel is worth catching live at a stadium", said Carlos del Castillo, who was watching the Final at Bobby’s at Chijmes.
The League Cup production also included a half time segment hosted by P J Roberts which profiled the teams in the competition. One of the many who enjoyed the features was Mervyn Lai, who has worked in the sports TV production industry for over a decade.
“The fact that there was a half-time show was a big plus and the features were well done and gave viewers an insight to the players’ lives,” said Lai.
Even some players were overheard raving about the standard of the coverage of the League Cup tournament and local commentator Shehzad Haque, “The replay angles in during this tournament really showed everything and commentator was really good. He really knew what he was talking about and gave really good insights on the players,” said SAFFC wing-back Shaiful Esah.
The success of the television coverage has also spilled over to the stadiums with the League Cup Final almost packing in more than 5,300 fans at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
“I have been following the matches on television and I knew DPMM and SAF would give a good game, so I thought I come and be part of the atmosphere at the stadium,” said Navy regular Ronnie Lim, who sat with the SAFFC fans during the finals.
The League Cup production has been quite a success for the S.League and when asked if there were future plans for such collaborations, they would only reveal that they have been in talks and would only reveal more at a later date.
Sengkang Punggol vs Tampines Rovers
Faruk: League is our priority
Mohd Sham
info@sleague.com
Tampines Rovers will attempt to launch a fresh assault on the S.League title after a twelve-day hiatus when they travel to Hougang Stadium to face Sengkang Punggol on Thursday evening.
According to Tampines’ first team manager Syed Faruk, the Stags, who lost out on the League Cup after succumbing to SAFFC on penalties in the quarterfinals, are now keeping a firm eye on league proceedings as they sit in fourth spot, just six points behind leaders Gombak United.
“The twelve days has been a welcome rest for us to have a breather and it was good,” acknowledged Faruk.
“Our main priority has always been the league anyway and we had to readjust a few players in different positions.
“For example, Akihiro Nakamura is carrying a knee injury and will be out for at least a month, while Noh Alam Shah’s knee is still bothering him.”
Faruk, whose charges triumphed 2-0 against the Dolphins in March’s crazy encounter that was marred by the expulsion of two Sengkang custodians, is anticipating a tough assignment from the home side.
He explained, “Sengkang are an experienced team despite their current position and there have a core of experienced players in their line up, and we will not be taking the game lightly.
“We always look at what we can do and not whether our opponent is capable or not, but we always prepare ourselves in the best way we can.”
After kickstarting their campaign with a series of frustrating stalemates, Faruk admitted that Tampines have upped their game considerably, but dropped a hint of his side’s chink in their armour.
“We always believe we can win the league and we have the players capable of doing it, but Khairul Amri has been injured as well as Alam Shah, so scoring goals has been a problem for us,” he added.
“We have been getting the attacking midfielders to play up front but we don’t want to burden them too much as that’s not their natural position.
“We want to win the league of course, make no two ways about it, and we’ll be doing everything we can to win it.”
The Dolphins, currently languishing in tenth spot, are aiming to erase the memory of their disappointing group stage elimination from the League Cup.
They will have much to do if they are to claim their first victory in any competition since 22 May, when they managed a 1-0 victory against Albirex Niigata (Singapore).
Jorg Steinebrunner will be without the suspended Murphy Wiredu, but otherwise he has a full Sengkang squad to choose from.
Mohd Sham
info@sleague.com
Tampines Rovers will attempt to launch a fresh assault on the S.League title after a twelve-day hiatus when they travel to Hougang Stadium to face Sengkang Punggol on Thursday evening.
According to Tampines’ first team manager Syed Faruk, the Stags, who lost out on the League Cup after succumbing to SAFFC on penalties in the quarterfinals, are now keeping a firm eye on league proceedings as they sit in fourth spot, just six points behind leaders Gombak United.
“The twelve days has been a welcome rest for us to have a breather and it was good,” acknowledged Faruk.
“Our main priority has always been the league anyway and we had to readjust a few players in different positions.
“For example, Akihiro Nakamura is carrying a knee injury and will be out for at least a month, while Noh Alam Shah’s knee is still bothering him.”
Faruk, whose charges triumphed 2-0 against the Dolphins in March’s crazy encounter that was marred by the expulsion of two Sengkang custodians, is anticipating a tough assignment from the home side.
He explained, “Sengkang are an experienced team despite their current position and there have a core of experienced players in their line up, and we will not be taking the game lightly.
“We always look at what we can do and not whether our opponent is capable or not, but we always prepare ourselves in the best way we can.”
After kickstarting their campaign with a series of frustrating stalemates, Faruk admitted that Tampines have upped their game considerably, but dropped a hint of his side’s chink in their armour.
“We always believe we can win the league and we have the players capable of doing it, but Khairul Amri has been injured as well as Alam Shah, so scoring goals has been a problem for us,” he added.
“We have been getting the attacking midfielders to play up front but we don’t want to burden them too much as that’s not their natural position.
“We want to win the league of course, make no two ways about it, and we’ll be doing everything we can to win it.”
The Dolphins, currently languishing in tenth spot, are aiming to erase the memory of their disappointing group stage elimination from the League Cup.
They will have much to do if they are to claim their first victory in any competition since 22 May, when they managed a 1-0 victory against Albirex Niigata (Singapore).
Jorg Steinebrunner will be without the suspended Murphy Wiredu, but otherwise he has a full Sengkang squad to choose from.
South China 4-0 Home United - One of our best yet beams Kim
HONG KONG - Coach Kim Pan-gon hailed South China's performance as one of the best he has seen during his seven-month tenure after the Hong Kong side dismantled Home United 4-0 to reach the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup.
Two goals in two minutes in the first-half from Kwok Kin-pong and Li Haoqing provided the platform for the hosts to complete a comfortable victory at Hong Kong Stadium.
Caca made it three shortly after the break and Li then claimed his second of the game with an audacious penalty but in truth, only some superb last ditch defending from the Singaporeans prevented the defeat from being much heavier.
“It was one of our best performances,” enthused Kim.
“I have confidence in my players and I am proud of them, the performance was very good considering they hadn't played for three weeks. A lot of spectators came to watch and our players enjoyed the game.
“It is now our target to get into the final and we will do our best to achieve that.”
Along with Caca and midfielder Tales Schutz, Li was one of South China's most influential players and Kim admitted he was pleasantly surprised by his captain's display.
“Li's performance was great,” he added.
“In the league you don't get much time to play and I didn't expect such a good performance tonight, so I was very happy.”
Home United boss PN Sivaji admitted his side just could not live with the hosts and conceded they were comprehensively outclassed.
“It was a very good performance by South China, we couldn't cope with their aggression and their speed today,” he said.
“In most cases we were second best to the ball and we couldn't keep possession, especially in the final third. We needed to be much stronger, quicker and faster in the final third.”
However, Sivaji underlined Home did not help their own cause by conceding twice in such quick succession.
“The two first-half goals were our demise,” he added.
“We tried to come back in the second-half by making a couple of changes to the way we played but when you consider the third goal was a penalty early in the second-half, it was damage limitation after that.”
Two goals in two minutes in the first-half from Kwok Kin-pong and Li Haoqing provided the platform for the hosts to complete a comfortable victory at Hong Kong Stadium.
Caca made it three shortly after the break and Li then claimed his second of the game with an audacious penalty but in truth, only some superb last ditch defending from the Singaporeans prevented the defeat from being much heavier.
“It was one of our best performances,” enthused Kim.
“I have confidence in my players and I am proud of them, the performance was very good considering they hadn't played for three weeks. A lot of spectators came to watch and our players enjoyed the game.
“It is now our target to get into the final and we will do our best to achieve that.”
Along with Caca and midfielder Tales Schutz, Li was one of South China's most influential players and Kim admitted he was pleasantly surprised by his captain's display.
“Li's performance was great,” he added.
“In the league you don't get much time to play and I didn't expect such a good performance tonight, so I was very happy.”
Home United boss PN Sivaji admitted his side just could not live with the hosts and conceded they were comprehensively outclassed.
“It was a very good performance by South China, we couldn't cope with their aggression and their speed today,” he said.
“In most cases we were second best to the ball and we couldn't keep possession, especially in the final third. We needed to be much stronger, quicker and faster in the final third.”
However, Sivaji underlined Home did not help their own cause by conceding twice in such quick succession.
“The two first-half goals were our demise,” he added.
“We tried to come back in the second-half by making a couple of changes to the way we played but when you consider the third goal was a penalty early in the second-half, it was damage limitation after that.”
South China 4-0 Home United
HONG KONG - Two goals in two first-half minutes set South China on their way to a comfortable 4-0 victory over Home United and a place in the quarter-finals of the AFC Cup.
Kwok Kin-pong and Li Haiqiang both struck early in the opening period before Caca extended the lead after the break and the South China captain claimed his second of the game from the spot to set the seal on a dominant performance in the last 16 clash at Hong Kong Stadium.
Tales Schutz was identified by Home boss PN Sivaji as South China's main threat before the game and the midfielder had a hand in the opening goal after 19 minutes when his exquisitely flighted ball from deep on the left flank was met by the onrushing Kwok at the far post and his header squeezed past keeper Lionel Lewis.
A boisterous home crowd were on their feet again two minutes later as South China doubled their lead. Caca's delightful ball over the top set Li free and the skipper slipped a low finish under the advancing Lewis.
The Hong Kong league champions continued to press and were inches away from a third goal soon after when Caca laid the ball back to Li and his whipped cross was met with a stooping header from Bai He that looped over Lewis but bounced off the top of the bar.
Left-back Poon Yiu-cheuk then saw a fierce left-foot shot from 20 yards smartly turned round the post by Lewis after 37 minutes as South China finished the half well on top.
The third goal came in the 52nd minute as Caca took advantage of an unfortunate slip by a Home defender to power into the box and beat an exposed Lewis with a low finish at his near post.
South China almost scored a fourth 10 minutes later when Schutz was played in but Lewis produced a good stop to deny the midfielder.
The ball broke to Caca and although his follow-up beat one defender, another on the line managed to clear to safety.
It proved a short-lived respite for the Singaporeans, however, as from the subsequent corner a push on the South China forward led to the referee pointing to the spot. Li stepped up and his insolent chip into the right corner sent the Home keeper the wrong way.
Home began to show more attacking threat and Valery Hiek flashed an effort narrowly wide from 25 yards before Caca almost added a fifth five minutes from time after a cutback found the forward in acres of space inside the box but he was brilliantly denied on the line twice by skipper S. Subramani.
Kwok Kin-pong and Li Haiqiang both struck early in the opening period before Caca extended the lead after the break and the South China captain claimed his second of the game from the spot to set the seal on a dominant performance in the last 16 clash at Hong Kong Stadium.
Tales Schutz was identified by Home boss PN Sivaji as South China's main threat before the game and the midfielder had a hand in the opening goal after 19 minutes when his exquisitely flighted ball from deep on the left flank was met by the onrushing Kwok at the far post and his header squeezed past keeper Lionel Lewis.
A boisterous home crowd were on their feet again two minutes later as South China doubled their lead. Caca's delightful ball over the top set Li free and the skipper slipped a low finish under the advancing Lewis.
The Hong Kong league champions continued to press and were inches away from a third goal soon after when Caca laid the ball back to Li and his whipped cross was met with a stooping header from Bai He that looped over Lewis but bounced off the top of the bar.
Left-back Poon Yiu-cheuk then saw a fierce left-foot shot from 20 yards smartly turned round the post by Lewis after 37 minutes as South China finished the half well on top.
The third goal came in the 52nd minute as Caca took advantage of an unfortunate slip by a Home defender to power into the box and beat an exposed Lewis with a low finish at his near post.
South China almost scored a fourth 10 minutes later when Schutz was played in but Lewis produced a good stop to deny the midfielder.
The ball broke to Caca and although his follow-up beat one defender, another on the line managed to clear to safety.
It proved a short-lived respite for the Singaporeans, however, as from the subsequent corner a push on the South China forward led to the referee pointing to the spot. Li stepped up and his insolent chip into the right corner sent the Home keeper the wrong way.
Home began to show more attacking threat and Valery Hiek flashed an effort narrowly wide from 25 yards before Caca almost added a fifth five minutes from time after a cutback found the forward in acres of space inside the box but he was brilliantly denied on the line twice by skipper S. Subramani.
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