Warriors FC win S.League title

Warriors FC win S.League title in nail-biting finish

Warriors FC have won the S.League title on the final day of the season in a nail-biting finish.

Both teams went into their final game on Friday (Oct 31) level on points, but Brunei DPMM had a vastly superior goal difference. The Warriors thus needed to better DPMM's result or the Bruneian team would win the title.

It was a cagey first half for both DPMM and the Warriors at their respective matches, but the title race sparked to life in the second half.

At the Choa Chu Kang Stadium, Hafiz Rahim scored what turned out to be the title-winning goal for the Warriors in the 47th minute against Albirex Niigata, as the match ended 1-0 to the Warriors.

DPMM - who were without midfielder Azwan Ali and 15-goal striker Roy O'Donovan - took on Tampines Rovers at the Jalan Besar Stadium. It was Tampines who drew first blood in the 64th minute through Jozef Kaplan, before Miljan Mrdakovic made it 2-0 in the 72nd minute.

Rodrigo Tosi clawed one back for DPMM in the 81st minute, but it was too little too late for the Bruneians as the Warriors clinched the S.League title.

This was also Aleksandar Duric's last match before retiring from professional football, as he ended his 16-year professional career in Singapore with a win. At the end of the match, he was presented with jerseys from Tampines Rovers Chairman Teo Hock Seng and Football Association of Singapore President Zainudin Nordin.



~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Pirlo at double as Juventus beat Singapore

Pirlo at double as Juventus beat Singapore

Andrea Pirlo's coolly taken first-half double led Juventus to a 5-0 win over Singapore Selection on Saturday (Aug 16) as the Italian champions completed their summer tour with a third straight win.

The elegant player-maker's free-kick and penalty sent Juventus on their way in front of 27,000 fans in what was the first football match at Singapore's new National Stadium.

Coach Massimiliano Allegri, who has recently taken over from newly appointed Italy boss Antonio Conte, said Pirlo had underlined his value to Juventus.

"He played well and I see him as a key player for next season," Allegri told reporters. "He performed well and so did the rest of the team. We have to keep following this direction. This is the last match before the start of the season so let's see what happens when we get back to Italy."

France midfielder Paul Pogba and Sebastian Giovinco both headed against the crossbar and Pirlo had a free-kick saved in the opening minutes as Juventus took immediate control. Their opener came courtesy of some typically quick thinking from Pirlo, who slid another free-kick low and under the leaping wall on 17 minutes.

A minute before half-time, Pirlo doubled Juventus's lead from the penalty spot after Shakir Hamzah's tug on Roberto Pereyra. Pogba had frequently been a threat and he got on the scoresheet on 48 minutes when he rifled Juve's third past busy Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny.

After Sunny's point-blank save from Pereyra, Giovinco hit the visitors' fourth from the resulting corner when he lashed home a fierce shot from the edge of the box. Half-time substitute Kwadwo Asamoah volleyed the fifth and final goal on 72 minutes after good work down the right by Jose Martin Caceres.

On a worn and sandy pitch in the plush new arena, it was a suitably emphatic tour finale for Juventus who earlier won 8-1 in Jakarta and beat Australia's A-League Allstars 3-2. They will now return to Italy before launching their bid for a fourth straight Serie A title away against Chievo on August 30.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Singapore footballers struggle against 10-man Laos

Singapore footballers struggle against 10-man Laos

Singapore failed to get their SEA Games campaign off to a winning start after they could only muster a 1-1 draw against 10-man Laos at the Zayarthiri Stadium in Naypyidaw, Myanmar on Sunday night.

Courts Young Lions forward Sahil Suhaimi gave Singapore the lead in the 27th minute but substitute Khuanta Sivongthong’s 86th-minute equaliser prevented Aide Iskandar’s men from securing all three points.

Laos were reduced to 10 men after just two minutes after defender Saychon Khunsamnarn was shown a straight red card for a late challenge on LionsXII forward Shahfiq Ghani.

The Lions dominated possession after that but were struggling to find any rhythm in attack and hardly troubled the Laos goalkeeper.

But they did manage to break the deadlock in the 27th minute when Zulfahmi Arifin’s lob over the Laos defence was well controlled by Sahil, who then volleyed the ball into the bottom right corner.

Singapore set up camp in the Laotian half in the second 45 minutes but poor passing in the final third of the pitch prevented them from extending their lead.

Laos never stopped running and were rewarded for their hard work in the 86th minute when Sivongthong rose the highest to head a free-kick past Singapore goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud.

Singapore will next play Vietnam - who trounced Brunei 7-0 earlier Sunday - on December 10.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Singapore lose 0-2 to Oman in Asian Cup qualifier

Singapore lose 0-2 to Oman in Asian Cup qualifier



Newly-appointed coach for Singapore football national team, Bernd Stange from Germany, poses with the team jersey after a press conference in Singapore. (AFP/STR)

It was the first big test for the new coach of the Singapore national football team Bernd Stange, as his charges took on Oman in an Asian Cup qualifier at Jalan Besar Stadium on Wednesday.

The Lions had hoped to pull off an upset against their higher-ranked opponents, but they were beaten 2-0.

Singapore had promised attacking football and that was how they started.

Despite the possession by the host, Oman opened the scoring in the 14th minute as Qasim Said sprinted past the back line to slot it home.

Singapore could have equalised after earning a free kick when Shahril Ishak was fouled.

Qiu Li's shot, though, was wide.

And it got worse for the host, as Eid Mohammed put the visitors 2-up just before the break.

Singapore pressed hard to get back into the game in the second half but to no avail.

The game ended 2-0, with Oman collecting all three points.

For Singapore, it was a second defeat in Group A, after losing 0-4 to Jordan in February.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

LionsXII extend MSL lead

LionsXII extend MSL lead

The LionsXII have extended their lead at the top of the Malaysian Super League to four points, after a hard-fought 3-1 win over 10-man PKNS at Jalan Besar Stadium on Monday night.

The home side came out fired up, but they couldn't find the net.

Instead, defensive rock Baihakki Khaizan saw a flash of yellow just at the end of the first half.

It's his 11th booking in total, meaning he will likely sit out the rest of the season.

The opener finally came in the second half when vice-captain Hariss Harun strolled in unmarked to head in a 54th-minute corner.

It was 2-0 just 3 minutes later - Nazrul Nazari's shot taking a wicked deflection for the goal.

It got worse for the visitors after Helmi Remeli was harshly sent sent off for a foul on Gabriel Quak.

With just a minute to go, Khairul Nizam came off the bench to make it 3-0.

Patrick Ronaldinho Wleh scored a minute later for the visitors, but it was not enough to stop an impressive Lions' win.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Philippines 1 Singapore 0

Football: Philippines 1 Singapore 0

The Philippines beat Singapore's Lions 1-0 in an international friendly match on Thursday.

Singapore started strongly, dominating the match in the first half.

But Shi Jiayi missed a chance to put the Lions ahead after fluffing his spot-kick.

The Philippines scored the lone winner in the 55th minute, with Marvin Angeles slotting home to give the hosts a 1-0 win.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

LionsXII crash out of Malaysia Cup

LionsXII crash out of Malaysia Cup

Singapore is out of the Malaysia Cup, after the LionsXII lost their nail-biting semi-final tie on Thursday.

The team lost to ATM FA 4-5 on penalties in their semi-final second-leg tie in Kuala Lumpur.

The match had ended at 1-1 (2-2 on aggregate) after extra time.

It was all square after the first tie in Singapore ended 1-1. And the LionsXII were on their way to victory in the return tie at the Selayang Stadium when Agu Casmir scored in the 27th minute.

But in the dying seconds of normal time, Marlon James equalised for ATM to send the match into extra time.

The match was still deadlocked after 30 minutes of extra time, before it went into penalty shootout.

Singapore was last in the Malaysia Cup in 1994 when it went on to lift the trophy.

This year's final will be on 20 October at the Shah Alam Stadium.

- CNA/ir

PKNS end LionsXII's unbeaten run

Football: PKNS end LionsXII's unbeaten run

League leaders LionsXII's 10-match unbeaten streak ended on Saturday night after a 1-0 defeat to PKNS.

The match was the LionsXII's 11th game in the last five weeks and, perhaps sensing that lethargy was creeping into the visitors' play, PKNS pressed forward from the kick-off.

Nevertheless, the Singapore side were superbly marshalled at the back, with Sevki Sha'ban and Safuwan Baharudin resolutely repelling everything the hosts threw at them. Sevki, in particular, was impressive, making several crucial goal mouth clearances to prevent a lively PKNS side from opening the scoring.

LionsXII captain Shahril Ishak was deployed as a lone striker and he hardly had a sniff at goal, with PKNS flooding the middle of the park to starve him of service.

The visitors were on the back foot for most of the first half as PKNS pressed incessantly, but the hosts just could not convert their chances.

Shahril wasted the LionsXII's best chance of the match right after the restart when he shot just wide of the PKNS goal.

The home side's French striker Michael Nicoise was a constant threat with his powerful bursts into the penalty area and he made sure LionsXII goalkeeper Hyrulnizam Juma'at had a busy night.

The Frenchman finally broke the deadlock in the 79th minute when he headed home from a corner, with Hyrulnizam furiously protesting the goal, claiming that he was impeded by Mohd Helmi.

The LionsXII came agonisingly close to equalising in the 84th minute, Agu Casmir charging into the penalty area only to collide with the PKNS goalkeeper who dived at his feet. Agu got hold of the ball following the collision but his shot was deflected wide by a PKNS defender.

The LionsXII will not have to wait long to gain a measure of revenge for this defeat: Their next MSL fixture pits them against PKNS again on April 17 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

LionsXII and Selangor draw 1-1

LionsXII and Selangor draw 1-1

Selangor and Singapore's LionsXII drew 1-1 in a Malaysian Super League match at Bukit Jalil Stadium on Wednesday.

Only some 200 Singapore fans made the trip to Malaysia to watch the away match.

They were rewarded when Shahril Ishak's solo effort in the 43rd minute gave the visitors the lead.

But the advantage was not for long, as the home team's G Gurusamy equalised two minutes later.

The second half was devoid of any goals and the match ended at 1-1, with both sides sharing a point.

LionsXII next host Negeri Sembilan at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore on Saturday(11 February). The match would be telecast live on Channel 5.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Kelantan beat LionsXII 2-1

Football: Kelantan beat LionsXII 2-1 in opening Malaysia Super League

SINGAPORE: It was a long wait but Singapore fans finally got to witness Singapore's return to the Malaysia Cup after a 17-year absence.

The LionsXII kicked off the Malaysia Super League campaign against Kelantan on Tuesday evening at Jalan Besar Stadium, but much to the disappointment of the local fans, the Malaysian side won 2-1.

It was a sea of red at the stadium as Singapore football fans packed the 7,500-capacity stadium.

On the field, the action got off to an explosive start, and Singapore could have gone ahead had Hariss Harun's header ended at the back of the net.

After repeated attempts, defender Baihakki Khaizan's glancing header from a free kick gave the Lions the first goal on the half-hour mark.

Just before the break, the visitors equalised through Norshahrul Idlan Talaha, to make it 1-1.

In the second half, Kelantan's Muhamad Ghaddar won a penalty after Singapore's custodian Izwan Mahbud brought him down in the 79th minute.

Ghaddar converted the spot-kick to give the visitors a 2-1 advantage, which ended as the final score.

LionsXII head coach V Sundramoorthy said: "I badly wanted at least a draw or a win tonight especially [when] the fans are here to support, and I hope the boys [have] done enough to bring them back for the next game.

"We are playing against the M League champions, so they are very experienced and you can see they have many good players.

"As for our boys it's after a long time -- 17 years coming back, playing against an experienced team. They definitely learn a few things out there."

Singapore next play Kedah away in Alor Star on Saturday.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

FT LionsXII 1-2 Kelantan

FT Singapore 1-2 Kelantan

Under-23s go down in Sydney

Football: Avramovic angry as under-23s go down in Sydney

The Republic's under-23 football team were blitzed 6-0 by the Australian Olympic side in a friendly match in Sydney on Tuesday.

The match took place 48 hours later than initially scheduled due to a waterlogged pitch.

Singapore national coach Radojko Avramovic was angry after the game, and not because of the scoreline.

The young Lions were outplayed in every department by their bigger and more skilful opponents, who led 2-0 at half-time.

Speaking to MediaCorp via telephone, Avramovic gave his men a rating of five out of 10, and said: "Yes, they were physically stronger and they just came from a training camp in Europe preparing for their Olympic qualifier against Yemen, but our players have to ignore that and just go out and play.

"It's no problem to lose a game if you give 100 per cent and you try to play, but it upsets me to see them not trying."

Singapore's under-23 team have been set the target of reaching the final at November's SEA Games in Indonesia, and skipper Hariss Harun felt the game would be a good lesson.

"We could have done better but we made mistakes by not being calm and lacking experience," said Hariss. "Our team is still a work in progress. I'd love to play more teams of this calibre as we need the exposure and opportunities to gain more experience."

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Qiu sparks rout as Singapore beat Maldives

Football: Qiu sparks rout as Singapore beat Maldives

There were no long balls punted hopefully into the box, no defensive lapses, no toothlessness in front of a goal.

Indeed, there was no need for the Lions to even get out of second gear at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday night, where they beat the Maldives 4-0.

This was the first international fixture for Singapore since December's ill-fated AFF Suzuki Cup campaign that prompted a revamp of Radojko Avramovic's squad. And despite the gulf in standards between the sides last night, the signs were promising.

Led by Qiu Li, Shahdan Sulaiman and Shi Jiayi, the Lions got their pass-and-move groove on, at least in the first half, which saw three goals before Avramovic rung the changes.

Qiu (13th minute penalty, 19th), Shi (30th) and the evergreen Aleksandar Duric (48th) found the net for Singapore, but there were good showings all over the park.

Skipper Hariss Harun, who normally plays in midfield, was sturdy in central defence, Isa Halim and Ismail Yunos turned in assured performances, while the nine substitutes sent on gave decent accounts of themselves.

Said a pleased Avramovic after the game: "We have tried to play like this for a long time... but sometimes players forget what we want to do when we go on the field. This is the first game after six months and you can't expect everything, but I was happy with the first half performance. We saw many of the good football elements that we are trying to build in this team, there was good passing, good movement and a lot of chances created that way."

Avramovic singled out Shi and Shahdan for their inventive attacking play, along with the 30-year-old Qiu, whom the coach said can turn a game with a moment of brilliance.

Maldives coach Diego Andres Cruciani shared the Serb's sentiments, saying: "(Qiu) is a fantastic player… he can be a playmaker, striker and even played very well without the ball. It's not easy to find a player like him."

It could be easy to get carried away with such a victory, but Avramovic is aware that the Lions are still a work in progress, especially with the likes of Khairul Amri and Shahril Ishak still missing from the lineup, and about a month away from July's second round World Cup qualifiers.

"At the moment we need to build our team, our way of playing, if you have a tougher opponent, they won't give you the opportunity to try to do what you are preparing to do. Gradually when players are more familiar with their duties, you will look for quality opponents to improve your way of playing," said Avramovic.

The Lions' second half performance, which allowed the Maldives to attack significantly more than in the first period, illustrated the fact that they are indeed a work in progress.

But on Tuesday, the revamp was not only seen on the Jalan Besar green. The stands saw only 2,166 fans, with a group of about 20 diehards attempting to change the way they supported their team.

Jumping up and down, they started singing 20 minutes before kickoff and did not stop.

Equipped with chants, taunts and songs for their team, the fans won the hearts of the Lions.

Said 20-year-old Hariss: "It's very nice, gives a full feeling for a player. Even though (the stadium) was not full, I think it's the beginning of something new."

Avramovic was also full of praise for the fans, saying: "It's the first time I'm seeing people trying to cheer and help the team - it's a good sign."

The players and the football they played was also a good sign for the Serb.

"This group of players can play for a long period of time for the national team. I just hope we have enough time to sort out a few things before the World Cup qualifiers," he said.

~News courtesy of Channel Newsasia~

Tanjong Pagar 0 - 5 Hougang

Tg Pagar 0:5 Hougang
25 Apr 2011 @ Clementi Stadium

Hurray for Hougang!!

BPL May Day 2011

FT Birmingham C. 1 - 1 Wolverhampton W.
FT Liverpool 3 - 0 Newcastle U.
FT Arsenal 1 - 0 Manchester U.
FT Manchester C. 2 - 1 West Ham U.

Hougang hope!

18 Apr 2011
Hougang 1:0 Albirex

BPL 423

FT Manchester U. 1 - 0 Everton
FT Aston Villa 1 - 1 Stoke C.
FT Blackpool 1 - 1 Newcastle U.
FT Liverpool 5 - 0 Birmingham C.
FT Sunderland 4 - 2 Wigan Athletic
FT Tottenham H. 2 - 2 West Bromwich A.
FT Wolverhampton W. 1 - 1 Fulham

Blackpool 1 - 3 Arsenal

FT Blackpool 1 - 3 Arsenal

Yes! 加油！加油！加油！

BPL 409 Results

FT Wolverhampton W. 0 - 3 Everton
FT Blackburn R. 1 - 1 Birmingham C.
FT Bolton W. 3 - 0 West Ham U.
FT Chelsea 1 - 0 Wigan Athletic
FT Manchester U. 2 - 0 Fulham
FT Sunderland 2 - 3 West Bromwich A.
FT Tottenham H. 3 - 2 Stoke C.

Gombak 0-1 Hougang

FT Gombak 0-1 Hougang

Yes, Hougang you can do it!!!!