26 June 2012 READ MORE >
photo from zimbio.com
For Singapore futbol supporters, Lion City Cup is nothing new. In fact, this is an U-16 tournament, starring International teams, which has been around with 34 years of history. Lion City Cup started in year 1977 as the world first U-16 tournament and eventually helped with the creation of the World Youth U-17 Championship which was held in China in year 1985.
This annual U-16 tournament unearthed many futbol talents in Singapore, such as Fandi Ahmad in the 70s, Indra Shadan in the 90s and Adam Swandi in the current time zone. I was one of the supporters flocking to the old Jalan Besar Stadium in the 90s trying to witness the unearthing of futbol talents. Back then, other than our Singapore U-15 and U-16 teams, we played teams like AIK Stockholm U-16 (Sweden), Pahang U-16 (Malaysia), Perth U-16 (Australia), HongKong U-16 and even South Korea U-16.
As we announced the arrival of modern futbol in the new 21st century, teams like Juventus U-15 (Italy), Flamengo U-15 (Brazil), Newcastle and Everton U-15 (England) graced the tournament for the first time last year! All thanks to the main organizer, Red Card, we will be watching some of the world’s best U-15 players from Manchester City (England), Ajax Amsterdam (Netherlands), Boca Juniors (Argentina), Porto (Portugal) and of course our very own Singapore U-15 and U-16 teams!
Flamengo in training last year
How excited can that be! I was involved in the last episode of the Canon Lions City Cup as a coach trainee. Not only I was able to catch how the Singapore teams trained, I managed to learn from the Brazilian’s training too. By watching the youngsters’ play, it did motivate me to do more for futbol!
So guys, mark these dates down on your calendar, 23 June - 1 July 2012, Jalan Besar Stadium (Singapore). Do join us in Singapore to catch some of the world’s best youngsters in action! And you know what, some of them will be representing their countries at the highest level! Mark my word.
For more information, please log on to www.lioncitycup.com
21 April 2012 READ MORE >
Last month, I attended the AFC Cup 2012 Draw at AFC (Asia Football Confederation) House at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Due to my hectic schedule, I was not able to stay back further to catch the AFC Champions League Draw. To be honest, the attending of these Draws had given me a real insight of what’s going on at the draw scene in which normally, only concerned clubs’ officials and media were invited.
What welcomed me at the venue were banners and banners of our Asian futbol clubs, those which were qualified for the AFC Champions League 2012. Obviously I knew I am at the right place for the Draw!
Registering myself under Junpiter Futbol, media, I stood at the end of the room trying to catch the whole action at a glance. Probably due to my (full-time) work nature as an event manager, my focus switched to the Draw’s setup such as the type of seating arrangement, the position of the sound console, the lighting setup, the backdrop, how the Draw result was announced, the drawing equipment used and etc. The entire setup was exactly what I had expected but probably the flow of the programme was something new to me.
I could see that many clubs’ officials were anxiously waiting to know which group their respective club would been drawn into. Prior to my arrival at the venue, I was informed that there would not be any Singapore’s futbol official at the Draws so with all great respect, I am the only representative from Singapore at the Draw! And among this group of clubs’ officials, many came wearing official suite with their clubs logo embroidered on the chest. There were some even in their national costume! Well, considered myself a pure South East Asia and East Asia futbol follower, I’ve only seen the West Asian (futbol) on TV. That very day, its the first time I ever met West Asian futbol representatives in person! I thought that was quite cool!
I did not stay long but the exposure I gained from attending such an prestige Draw was amazing! For those who are interested in the upcoming AFC Cup 2012 and AFC Champions League 2012, you may click the below links for the respective schedule..
Click AFC Cup 2012 or AFC Champions League 2012
Unfortunately, Singapore’s futbol clubs are not eligible for the AFC Champions League, I would hope to see our only qualified teams, Home Utd and Tampines Rovers, in the AFC Cup, flying our Singapore’s flag high at the Asian level.
Before I end my writing here, another piece of interesting fact for you who are reading this, the overall highest top scorer for Singapore in this AFC Cup is our former Singapore’s striker, Indra Shadan at 10 goals! Followed by Egmar Goncalves at 8 goals and Aleksandar Duric at 7 goals. Base on the current status, 41yrs old Duric is definitely fit enough to slot in a few more goals to overtake SAFFC’s Indra Shadan! Do not let us down, Singapore’s boys, all the best!
