Despite the absence of several key players (or a single substitute for that matter), the valiant Sundays held the cohesive Armanis to a goalless draw in the first half, much of the credit due to impressive stand-in keeper Simon.

However, fatigue crept in and the team in red was made to pay for failing to take their chances and their defensive errors. All in all, it was a good final game in ESPZEN without much incident; and, of course, congratulations to Armanis for winning the championship!

To the many friends (and enemies? haha) we made in this season: Thank you for the memories, and all the best for the new year in advance!

Drawing the curtains on 2008

Opponent: Team AJC 08/09 & 2 other unknown teams
Venue: Anderson Junior College
Date: 27/12/2008 (Saturday)
Time: 8am
Jersey: WHITE

Players Available:

1. Kim
2. Han Ting
3. Wak
4. Zhong
5. Wei Lin
6. Wenxiong
7. Jason Chew
8. Sinting
9. Josh
10. Razee
11. Lionel

Unknown Status(Please contact Kim/Boon/Adib):

1. Guoxing
2. Darren
3. Ethan
4. Nathan
5. Nizar
6. Yen Hao
7. Ah Liang
   

Unavailable:

1. Adib ( Forever Injured)
2. Jason Ang (POP)
3. Boon (Injured)
4. Eugene (Overseas)
5. Ah Long (Duty)
   

The last match of Espzen Div 4 and Armanis FC require a win to finish the league as Champions. Can we stop them? Are you guys up for the fight? We lost to them last time round but all of us know that we can definitely match them in all departments. Can we finish 2008 with a bang?

Opponent: Armanis FC
Venue: First Toa Payoh Sec School
Date: 28/12/2008 (Sunday)
Time: 1pm
Jersey: RED

Players Available:

1. Kim
2. Han Ting
3. Wei Lin
4. Jason Ang
5. Josh
6. Jason Chew
   
7. Ah Long
   
8. Wenxiong
9. Ah Liang
10. Zhong
11. Yen Hao

Unknown Status(Please contact Kim/Boon/Adib):

1. Ethan
2. Nathan

Unavailable:

1. Adib ( Forever Injured)
2. Boon (Injured)
3. Jason Chew (NS)
4. Eugene (Overseas)
5. Darren (Overseas)
6. Ah Long (NS)
7. Nizar (Reservists)
8. Guoxing (Mole Test)
9. Sinting (Unknown)
10. Peng (Last minute Injured)
11. Lionel (Last minute abandoned)
    

AJC Reunion

Dear all,

There will be an 11-a-side kickabout at AJC this coming saturday, 27 Dec 09, at 0800H. Pls confirm your attendance by thurs morning latest. PLs sms/call/tag Adib or Kim or Boon. Thank you.

Alas, the first loss under Raddy's charge in the Suzuki Cup shows that foreign talents do not necessarily bring home the most coveted trophy of this region.

The line up was as follows:
Singapore: Lionel Lewis, Baikhakki, Noh Rahman(Ismail), Ridhuan, Shahril Ishak(shaiful), Noh Alam Shah
Foreign: Precious, Bennett, Mustafic, Shi Jiayi, Agu Casmir(Indra)

This time around, more Singaporeans were in the starting lineup, owing to the fact that John Wilkinson is injured. Nevertheless, Shahril Ishak played very well on the left flanks bearing in mind this was his first start in the competition. A round of applause to Singapore's sprinter Md Ridhuan as well. I think he was fantastic tonight. His runs were well timed and his crosses were accurate. As for Alam Shah, he was Singapore's mascot, the Lion. Always chasing for the ball and trying desperately to win 50-50 balls for singapore. Baihakki and Noh Rahman were great at the back, lest the lapse in concentration by Baihakki which led to the goal. Lionel Lewis had nothing to do at all the whole game except for the time he had to pick the ball out of his own net.

True enough, the goal was a mistake by the right sided players and the defence who were flat at the back. Ismail Yunos who just came in wasn't conditioned yet to the fast paced game and true enough, he was beaten by L C Vinh. Bennett tried to prevent the goal but to no avail.

As for the foreign talents, I felt that Bennett had a good game. He played well on the left flank. However, the same could not be said for Precious. At times, his positioning and his anticipation of the ball were rubbish.Mustafic was not his usual self. He couldn't control the midfield like in the previous games. Shi Jiayi was at best mediocre tonight, except for his shot which the keeper had to parry. Agu was RUBBISH tonight, which made me wonder why he wasn't substituted during half time.

Yes i know it's unfair to start blaming the foreign talents when we lost. As you can see, they played well during the group stages. Therefore, why am I still proposing Singapore to make use of born and bred Singaporeans? the reason is simple, you can see the hunger in their play. yes mustafic had a header punched away by the keeper and shi jiayi's crosses were fantastic. but for much of the game, can you really see the difference between the two teams? Vietnam playeers put their heart into every run, every tackle, every jump. For me, you can only see the hunger in the Singaporeans. yes shi jiayi was yellow carded for the high leg raise, but he could just head the ball, why use his leg?

I know i've been beating around the bush. The point I want to make is the Vietnamese players know that they are playing for pride. Singapore meanwhile, plays because they are the champions and think they can win. Not that the foreign talents are to blame for the loss. It's just that, when you have foreign talents in the team, you are expected to be better than the the locals. And with the best bunch of locals playing together with the foreign talent,Singapore are expected to flourish. This was not the case tonight.

To sum it all up, let the locals play. Even if we lose, at least we know the standard of Singapore soccer.

New Kids & Pakcik on the Block

ESFC welcome the signing of 5 players to bolster the ranks in our relentless journey of the up-and-coming league. After many scouting trips to various countries, the coaches believe that our local boys would make greater difference than the foreign talents when the battle heats up. Similarily, this was reflected in the thesis written by Mr. Adibayoahyo on the number of foreigners playing in the Singapore national football team. Furthermore, most of the lads are already competing with foreign scholars in their respective universities and we do not want to deepen their hatred and animosity against these CAP spoilers.

First and foremost, let's welcome back the first AJC Captain of the current team - Ethan Loo


Fans would affectionately remember the Astroboy for his fearsome defending and comical tackles. Together with Wak, Weilin and Eugene, they formed the shortest backline ever seen in ESFC. Statistics have shown that, when played together with Wak, there is a 50% increase in the number of cards given to both the team and our opponents. Clearly, our very own Vinne Jones.

Secondly, say HELLO! to Hanting


Spotted by Adib in the bushes along KJE(We do not know why Adib was there), this fine gentleman was hunting for his next meal and possibly sniffing around for the whereabouts of Mas Selamat Kestari. The writer, hereby, warns our readers and possible opponents that looks can be deceiving. When on the football pitch, this 'hunter' would make full use of his strength from the jungle to turn into 'John Rambo' with career-threathening tackles. Remember Roy Keane on Haaland?

Thirdly, the one who first caught Kumar's eyes along with Yenhao - the diminutive Guoxing

Following the tradition of signing players who are approximately 1.55m, Guoxing has shown that height does not matter when you got balls in between your legs and feet. Being able to play anywhere across the midfield to being a striker, he gives a new dimension to the team with his trickery and tireless running. Let's all hope that he would not miss from an open goal, 2metres in front of the goalpost again. Only Kim deserves that accolade in ESFC. :)

Also, the brother of Ah Long, Ah Liang or call him Simon.


Our new goalie to lessen the workload of Nathan and though he has yet to show prowess on the pitch, our goalie coach, Massimo Taibi has said that this man has got great potential. Unlike his brother, Simon is not an unlicensed moneylender and does not go around writing O$P$ on the walls. He is, in fact, approved by the authority to lend people money and chase debts. What an upgrade!

Finally, the abang of Nizar, but more skillful in terms of girls and soccer - Razee(pronounced RAH-ZEE, not LOUSY)


Now, officially the oldest along with the impregnable Darren, Razee used to play football with the likes of Adib, Nizar and Kim back in their secondary school days. The classic example of school bullies on the soccer scene when the older students bully the younger ones. This Pakcik plays best on the wings with his speed and trickery on the football.

Fans have noted that with the addition of Razee and Guoxing to the team, there is an increase in the number of players who have moles aka antennas on their faces. Well, the England team got their WAGs. We also got our 'Mole Gang'.

With a month to shape up and for the new players to gel in our team before the new league, there would be a series of friendlies together with the last ESPZEN match.

Opponent: Unknown
Venue: Xinmin Secondary School @ Hougang Ave 8
Date: 20/12/2008 (Saturday)
Time: 3pm
Jersey: BLUE

Players Available:

1. Kim
2. Guoxing
3. Zhong
4. Wak
5. Darren
6. Wenxiong
7. Ethan
8. Wei Lin
9. Josh
10. Nathan
11. Jason Chew

Unknown Status(Please contact Kim/Boon/Adib):

1. Han Ting
2. Lionel

Unavailable:

1. Eugene (Injured)
2. Nizar (Injured)
3. Ah Long(Injured)
4. Adib ( Forever Injured)
5. Yen Hao (Injured)
6. Peng (Probably Injured)
   
7. Jason Ang (Camper)
8. Boon (Injured)
9. Sinting (Work)
10. Razee (Compassionate Leave)
    

Dear all, i've already called Mr Mohan regarding our friendly match. it will most probably be on a saturday morning. So we will be playing our first saturday game in more than a year. However, the date is yet to be confirmed. it will either be this week or next week. if next week, just play for fun la. the team for next week will most probably be the ajc school team. so play relax with them. hopefully the game is this sat as it will be quite tiring to play 2 games next week back to back. unless u guys are ok with it. He'll get back to be soon, he said. so just wait for his call. and i will confirm again on this blog. thank you.

'Cheaper matches, more players and more bitches'

Dear all,

Like I have mentioned in the earlier post, next season we would be playing in another league and from what I have seen from the website, the league is properly managed with good teams plying their trade. So, hopefully there would not be another 'Casanova Malays/Minahs'

The unanimous decision to pull out of Espzen was made after various discussions within the North Korean management and the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party. We have also achieved full support from the players with them holding their 'little red book' and shouting 'cheaper matches, more players and more bitches'.

To compensate for the loss of some players due to their other commitments, we are pleased to announce that three or more new players would be joining our team in our quest for political, err.. football, dominance in the new league. For now, the identities of these new players would be kept secret just in case fringe players like Kim, Adib, Nizar and the impregnable Darren Sin engage assassins to kill them. Afterall, we're a communist team that purges rivals. :)

Also, if you have friends or siblings who could play as a Goalie of the standard better than Tan 'the Tentacles Man' Zhong Lun, please contact ahKim or ahNeh(Adib if you cannot distinguish). The perks and duty of playing as a goalie are simple and attractive. They are:

1) Concede goals
2) Pick the ball out from the net
3) Scold defenders and especially the impregnable Darren :P
4) Wear the prestigious no.1 jersey(one and only one)
5) The chance to claim that you're better than 'the tentacles man'

In the meantime, try to visit more clubs, pubs and get to know more sluts so as to bring them to our matches for collective sharing. Remember 'Cheaper matches, more players and more bitches'!

Singapore vs Cambodia

I was sad and disturbed when i saw the line up for the match :

singapore born: lionel lewis, baihakki, noh rahman, ridhuan
foreign born: precious, bennett, mustafic, wilkinson, shi jiayi, agu, duric

7 foreigners were in the starting 11. what does this show? Singapore lack talented players? to see players such as noh alam shah, indra and even shahril ishak all on the bench, i felt that these players are much more suitable to represent the nation. just look at the difference of the tempo and chances singapore created when the trio came in. 2 out of 3 substitutions were foreigners - precious and duric.

fair enough, we have many players who are out injured namely hariss harun and khairul amri. nevertheless, what does this show of the national team? are we turning into another badminton team filled with foreign talents? yes, duric and wilkinson gained citizenship on their own, the former after years of staying in singapore as a PR while the latter married a singaporean lady.

what i'm trying to point out is that singaporeans are not playing in the first 11 not because we don't have players to play for singapore. in fact we have many. just look at the amateur leagues available in singapore. true enough there are foreigners playing in the league but this certainly shows that singaporeans do have the talent.

then why can't we even fill a team made up of born and bred singaporeans who went thru National Service? the reason is simple.

1) We cannot live in singapore simply by playing soccer. Look at Fandi. he plied his trade overseas and came back only in his late twenties. most of his formative years were spent in the netherlands, indonesia and malaysia where he earned much more. and indra is a police officer who plays for home united. how much can a local earn as compared to a foreign player? a valuable member of the squad might be able to earn maximum 3-3.5k a months while and indispensable player earns up to 5k. a foreign player meanwhile has a starting pay of 5k. what does this show? singaporeans are not as good as foreign players plying their trade in singapore?

with this, singapore loses out on players who have certificates. an ITE graduate who has a NITEC in petrochemical can earn up to 2k as a starting pay. a poly grad might earn more. and what abt a singapore with a deg? his starting pay can vary but for sure there's no cap in salary if u're willing to work hard. a footballer can only earn up to 5k. how bad is that? very.

2) biasness. some coaches are just damn bias towards players. local coaches tend to stick to players who have played for them even though there are better new players in the team. this can be seen even in tertiary level. biasness will only push players out of the team as even if they train well, the coach chose to stick to his own players which i feel is absurd.

i feel that foreigners are good to have as they raise the game of the local league. however, the pay is causing potentially good players not to choose soccer as a profession. FAS might want to raise the bar on the pay for locals. maybe 15k or something? this might entice the majority of singaporeans so choose soccer as a profession in the early years and then start working in their other profession once the hunger to play isn't there anymore.

in this team itself, i believe that we have better crossers than ridhuan, better defenders than precious and of cos better scorers than agu. however, in order for us to reach our peak, we have to train daily. which means we have to turn pro. otherwise, we will nvr play to our utmost ability. at the moment, we are almost 60% developed. and i feel that we can play. many others can play too. it's just that with training, i'm absolutely sure one of us are able to don the singapore colours.

Anyone?

Friendly Match

Dear all,

MR Mohan is keen to organise a friendly match for us. it'll be on one of the sundays before 21st Dec. I hope many of you can make it. i'll confirm again the match details once i've received confirmation.

moreover, since it's after the exams, all of you uni geeks shld be able to play. as for the NSF, can la play awhile won't die. haha

ok peeps. that's all =)