Saturday, July 16, 2011
1991 AISS Inter-Class Football Tournament Flashback - 4K vs 4I
After the victory over 4H, it had once again created football buzz in our class. There were discussion about the upcoming football games & who would play. I've been promoting to our captain Ghazali about the specky boy nicknamed "Si Pang" (Square) who seated in front of me in the class whom I think probably packed the most powerful shot in our class. Very good for clearing ball as a defender. However, Ghazali feedback there were limited places in the team and I think (i might be wrong) there's an allocation of malay and chinese players in the team as to balance. So my recommendation of "Si Pang" to the football team did not work out but we became team-mates in the interclass badminton tournament, playing in the double.
Team captain Ghazali had asked me to play in defence in the upcoming games but I've informed him that the team did ok against 4H and I'm ok to be just backup and let the original team take to the field. Didn't expect to be much involved. The first game against 4I was scheduled at around 3pm but as the kickoff time approaches, there was still no sight of Mary Loh husband, who can play in defence or midfield. There's had been lots of attention & talk on the football games and added to the nervy win over 4H and the prospect of facing the tournament hot favourite 4A, I'm not sure if pressure is mounting for some of us. We had reminded him to turn up on that day but he never did. It had remain a mystery even till today on why Mary Loh husband did not turn up on that particular day. So I became a last minute back-up and would start in central defence against 4I. I can't remember who's my partner for that game, maybe Imran or maybe Eddy.
For the game against 4I, their notable players are two track & field athletes chinese players. One of them actually acted in the TV drama as a Japanese solider and he's football fanatic as well. He's dressed up like a professional footballer with boots and shin pads. During those days, many of us don't wear these gears & I can't remember if I played with double coin shoes or boots for the game. The other track & field athlete in the 4I team was a fellow nicknamed Bullet who is primarily a basketball player and x-country runner.
So the 4I game kickoff and in goal for 4K is once again Khaire. Our first choice goalie Ghazali wanted to play striker for this game. My main focus was to mark out the SBC TV actor who's playing as forward. Remember sticking to him closely and he didn't have much impact on the game. 4K was dominating the game and scored early. Think Ghazali scored first and Yongquan then got his first ever goal in the inter-class tournament. There were few high balls pumped in from 4I but I cleared them all apart of one which created confusion between me and goalie Khaire but it was cleared to safety. The other high ball incident, I practically stood there like a beanpole and let the ball drop on my head to complete the clearance. It drew laughter from the younger sec school girls & I enjoyed that moment.
4K ran out clear 4-0 winners over 4I with Ghazali and Yongquan, each scoring two goals. But we're not celebrating as we focus on the most important game of that day, against the favourite 4A. We're the underdogs for that game. I'm getting nervous.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
1991 AISS Inter-Class Football Tournament Flashback
Changes to the 4K team : Star defender Rudy & handsome Mohd Noor have swapped team & player-manager was no longer with our class. In came Mary Loh's husband, Sepak taraw/hockey player Khaire & military band player Eddy. Yongquan get to start as the first team striker for the 1st time after scoring goals in basketball court football & also good performance in last year tournament as a sub.
On the opposition team 4H, their star players include ex 1E/2E striker, the prefect Seenivasen, who taught me my goalkeeping skills. They also had my former 1D/2D top scorer team-mate, Lee Kim Gu (Jinyuan). Other than that, very little was ...known about their team. 4K start as favourite for this game and I took up the field on the far side as a linesman. Actually, my muscle strain isn't that bad but decided to opt out due to 1990 disappointment & also gave a chance to new team.
The game got underway and in less than 2 minutes, it was GOALLLLLLL!!!!Totally unexpected but it was 1-0 to 4H. Seenivasen had scored to gave them an early lead by nicking the ball past 4K goalie Khaire (or was it Ghazali). I think I remember it was Khaire in goal for this game.
The shock lead that 4H had make my heart sink a little as it bring back memories of last year exit. Nevertheless, the 4K lads on the field started to take charge of the game and I remember our school team player Peiqing made a double dummy dribble past the 4H defender on the right flank where I was the linesman. He make it look so simple to get past defenders.
Time was running out until 4K was awarded a freekick outside the 4H area. 4H line up the wall. Who's going to take the freekick for 4K? It was Peiqing. He curved it with a bit of acceleration and the 4H goalkeeper dive to palm it but it went into his goal. GOALLLLL!!!!! 4K has equalized...1-1.
There were no more goals after this, it was 1-1 at full-time and once again, 4K had to contend with a penalty shoot-out in order to advance to the next round. I can't remember who and who take the penalties this time coz I'm not taking one.... All I know was 4K won the resulting penalty shoot-out and proceed to the next round. For the 4H goalkeeper , the guy with specs, he was in tears after the game. I think he felt that he's the one that caused them the game when he left Peiqing freekick flew into goal. For me, I think his performance was quite ok. He was quite new to our school, didn't really speak to him before but saw him playing soccer regularly on the school field but not basketball court. A 15 or 16 year year old football passion is unbelievable eventhough to many, it is just a inter-class game. 4K is through to the 2nd round.
Forget to mention during the penalty shoot-up, our team captain Ghazali, the malay boy with the rocket hairstyle became the goal-keeper, taking over from Khaire.
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Yesterday Once More: 1990 AISS Inter-class Football
AISS interclass 7-a-side soccer competition 2nd round, Sec 3G vs Sec 3K. There was unrest in the 3K camp as one senior who missed the 1st game voiced his opinion on the team selection against 3F. There was a reshuffle but I retain my place in the starting line-up. YQ came on as a sub for 3K... and came closest to scoring when his shot hit the crossbar. It ended 0-0 again. Penalty shootout.
That was the year where 3K soccer championship hopes were dashed. I can't remember who won the Sec 3 championship in 1990, maybe 3A? On a positive note, 3K may have found a striker for next year tournament in YQ who earned good review for performance as a sub. I remember he ever told me that though many of us may not agree with the senior player manager approach, it is him that enable him to have a chance to play.
Monday, July 26, 2010
3K Football Reunion on Sunday morning
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Burnley visit to Singapore football
Singapore started the game very well with Singaporean forward Khairul Amri being much the focal point in attack. Khairul did very well to threaten the Burnley defence in the opening exchange with his darting runs and crisp cutback, which in fact, set-up a goalscoring opportunity for the Singapore No.23. He put the ball into the net after a Khairul Amri sidepass but the effort was ruled out for offside. From the angle that we were seated, both Khairul and no.24 appeared to onside. Poor linesman decision but well played Khairul Amri. Sharil Ishak also looks good with his touches and penetrative passes. These two players are the key players if Singapore is to do well. Burnley too had their chances, with two clear almost one-one situations but Dean Marney placed his shot over the bar. Burnley didn't play the long-ball game and play it on the ground. They're fairly well organized but the lions were matching them stride for stride. Khairul Amri after a bright start, fizzle out. Shairul Ishak still show good touches for the whole of first half. The defenders including leftback Erwan Shah well too. The Singapore media rates highly of Singapore captain Haris Harun, who plays as a defensive midfielder. I observe this lad for some time now and still don't get why they rate him so high. I do not doubt his hard tackling enthusiasm but I do not see anything extra special about his football skills. He lost couple of balls in the first half by trying to do too much on his own where a simple pass would have work wonders. The players that impress me are the Singapore central defenders. The Singapore right midfielder Yasir Hanapi was impressive for me. He doesn't show too much respect for the big size English players and show good technique and ball sense. One of the bright spot for Singapore football if it is solely based on this game performance. Our foreign talent Shi Jiayi played as a rightback in this game and did ok. It ended 0-0 at the break.
2nd half resumes and Raddy made an expected change. Khairul Amri who has drifted out of the game in the latter stages of the first half, make way for Agu Casmir. Go go Agu! I think he's the team most dangerous striker due to his experience. Sharil Jantan the Singapore goalie also came onboard in the 2nd half. Burnley started to attack more in the 2nd half and got a freekick outside the box. In came Chris Eagles and he scored. For me, I feel Sharil Jantan could have done a bit better covering the angle. Nevertheless, it was 1-0 to Burnley. Singapore brought on a few other players which include Farul Nawaz and Joachim cheered very loud for him. I didn't agree because I observed him for a while, he doesn't really look one that could change the game for Singapore. Ordinary is the word. He went on to miss 2 clear chances in the later stage, one of which is a one-one with the Burnley keeper. He fluffed it. The crowd was also not happy with the referee Abdul Malek performance and chants of referee kayu could be heard throughout the game. I think the referee pay a bit too much respect to the Europeans. Some of the cheeky nudges by the Englishmen went un-noticed while the Singaporeans get penalised for the slightest of body contact. Final score: Singapore Selection 0 Burnley 1.
I think it was a positive team performance by Singapore team today especially in the first half. The players that caught my eyes are No. 4 (Yasif Hanapi) and No. 2 central defender (not sure if he call Yunos). The Singapore jersey No.2 central defender played extremely well and cut out many threats from the Burnley forwards. It is to Singapore advantage that Burnley did not choose to play the long ball game to their tall players and S'pore No.2 did well to contain the threats. Shahril Ishak though having a forgettable 2nd half performance, is definitely a key player for Singapore as he possess creative qualities. Both him and Khairul are important players for the current Singapore team. If any goalscoring chances is to come, it is likely to be through these two fellows. In summary, a good competitive match and I'm glad to see a good Singapore performance.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
My 2010 World Cup Diary : Germany secures 3rd place with exciting 3-2 victory over brave Uruguay
Saturday, July 10, 2010
My 2010 World Cup Diary: The forgettable 3rd/4th Placing Match
Italia 90 World Cup 3rd & 4th Placing Game: Italy 2 England 1
USA 94 World Cup 3rd & 4th Placing Match: Bulgaria 0 Sweden 4
France 98 World Cup 3rd & 4th Placing: Croatia 2 Holland 1
Korea/Japan 2002 World Cup 3rd & 4th Placing Match:
South Korea 2 Turkey 3
Germany 2006 World Cup 3rd & 4th Placing: Germany 3 Portugal 1
So what will happen tonight between Germany and Uruguay in South Africa 2010 World Cup 3rd & 4th placing game? My gut feeling is with the underdog Uruguay to clinch 3rd place. Has decided to catch the game on RTM1 @ 2.30am. Come on Uruguay!
Thursday, July 8, 2010
My 2010 World Cup Diary : The Exciting Semi-Final stage
As the game progress, it really looks like my prediction is going to be spot-on because both teams play a very tight game with very few openings. It was boredom at its best in the 1st half. The Spainards dominated possession without really threatening. Germany was hardworking as before with Bastian pulling the strings in midfield and nullifying any threat that the Spainards may pose. A stalemate looks on the card. It never came and Bastian in fact, was the German player that conceded the important corner kick of the game in the 70++ mins. When the corner was swing in, Spanish captain Puyol, one of the slowest defender in this world cup, came in and headed Spain into the lead. It was 1-0 Spain and around 15 more mins to go. The Germans didn't panic and continue to gradually up their pace in discrete steps like programming in order to achieve their equaliser goal. They didn't hit the big match tempo to create any excitement. By doing this, they weren't really exposed like what Argentina and England have done when going behind by a goal. Pedro do find a good chance towards the end to score a 2nd goal for Spain but his selfishness or fancy football mind got the better of him and the German defender cleared the danger. Finally, the whistle blown and my pain of watching a boring semi-final was over. Spain has made history by reaching the World Cup final for the very first time after playing one of the most dull semi-final. The German players was expressionless by the 1-0 defeat, consecutive defeat at the hands of Spain in a major tournament. The famous German Octopus Paul is spot-on again with his prediction of a Spain win over his country.
So this is it. The stage is set for a new World Cup holder this Sunday. Will it be the boring boring Dutch or the looks good but not as good Spainards? Holland vs Spain in South Africa FIFA 2010 World Cup Final. Hope they do some good for the game of football by playing exciting football this weekend. Time to get to work. QBR con-call in 45 minutes time.
Monday, September 7, 2009
F4 : Food, Football, Fans & Feline
I ended up with a peanut & cheese pancake with egg. No queue needed, great taste, a satisfied stomach and a happy customer.
The action on the field between the Young Lions and Geylang United. The Young Lions is made up of players from the Singapore U23 team whereas Geylang used to be big guns of local football a decade ago. Times has changed. They're now just a mid-table team, playing against the Young Lions who are 2nd in the S-league table, counting from the bottom that is. ^_^
The empty stands tells the story.
The S-league crowd filling up the lower section of the grandstand. There's a rule that the upper section of the grandstand will not be open to fans until the lower grandstands are completely filled. This is the 1st time I'm sitting in the lower stands. Small crowd for today game.
This malay uncle with the headwear is a very passionate local football fan. He used to be the cheerleader of the now defunct Sembawang Rangers at Yishun Stadium. Everytime I watch Sembawang Rangers play, he would be there to lead the crowd with the rhythmic clappings ending with the "RANGERS" shout. I dare say Rangers won some games due to his cheer antics. Credit to him to be ever passionate & loyal about local football.
Football and food do goes together for this young teenager fan.