WC2010

World Cup 2010 is in fact shaping up similarly to WC 2006. Then, Italy was ridden by a matchfixing scandal and against all odds, they went on to lift the trophy. France was total outsiders at the start of the tournament following a poor qualifying campaign, but overcoming the slow start, they defeated Spain, Brazil and Portugal to the final, before losing a final they probably deserved to win. Both teams were hugely unfancied.

This time round, Italy are termed as 'too old'. France is suffering the same problem, with an even less convincing qualifying campaign that ended with a controversial goal, which I would choose not to mention. But more interestingly, Raymond Domenech, that eccentric astrologer-coach for France, is still in charge. And Marcello Lippi, who lifted the trophy 4 years ago, is back in the reins after a poor reign by Roberto Donadoni.

So it's hugely resemblant. But there are many things that have changed for the other nations.

Brazil has developed a defensive dimension under Dunga, and they have very good goalkeepers at their disposal (Julio Cesar of Inter, Heurelho Gomes of Tottenham). Compare that with Dida last time. Spain broke their underachievers tag to win the Euro 2008 and are rather irresistible at the moment. England hired a tactician in Fabio Capello and they looked to be more disciplined and cohesive and youthful already.

On the other hand, Argentina, who was a big favourite at the last World Cup due to their stirring group performances, are unfancied because of Diego Maradona. Ironic, but he has been unimpressive as coach, only managing to squeeze in to the WC by the narrowest of margins.

There is little attention on the Asian teams to surprise, as South Korea did as hosts in 2002. The attention shifts for Africa to replicate that success, with this edition in South Africa, in Africa for the first time ever.

African hopes lie with Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, the hosts and Algeria. After a 0-3 thumping by Ireland, Algeria looks increasing likely to be there to make the numbers having ousted bitter neighbours Egypt in the last stage of qualifying. My tip will not rest with South Africa, though they have a chance of making it past the group stage (Group A). Their group includes France, Uruguay and Mexico. Nigeria, if they make it past the group stage, will face a team from Group A. Their group includes Argentina, South Korea and Greece.

So in fact, if I am right, France may face Nigeria and South Africa face Argentina. Hardly easy to back the Africans. But it may well happen that the Africans match up and the giants too. But that's if we assume all 4 make it past the group stage...

Cote d'Ivoire are in a Group of Death with Portugal, Brazil and North Korea, and even if they make it past in 2nd, they most likely face Spain. Incredulously tough path to maneuver.

Ghana is also in a tough group, having to contend with the likes of Germany, Australia and Serbia. They have an outside chance of progressing, but they may face England next, and it's tough to see them moving to the quarters. And I doubt Algeria will edge out USA for 2nd, just like how I doubt Slovenia will do just that, behind clear favourites England.

Which leaves us with Cameroon. Cameroon is in Group E with Netherlands, Denmark and Japan. It's a very even group, with all 4 teams having the potential to progress. But if Cameroon does enough, they will face off against a team from Group F. That's Italy, Paraguay, Slovakia and New Zealand, probably the easiest group of all. Italy is not a totally impossible task to overcome despite Lippi's presence. But more than that, it is possible to avoid Italy and it will be actually a very easy match compared to what the other African teams have.

So I would probably stick with Cameroon to proceed furthest.


As for the contenders, it will be impossible to rule out either Brazil or Spain. England and Germany both have good chances, while I think France and Argentina, despite questionable coaches, can spring surprises given the vast qualities in both squads.

As a fan of France, I will be keeping my fingers crossed that France will avoid England, by finishing in a different position (ie 1 of them 1st and the other 2nd in their groups). That will mean France probably can face Germany instead in the q-finals. That's a preference, because I am interested to see how France and Germany fare against each other. It hasn't happened for a long while as I remember.

And I think England deserves at the least the semi-finals.

Okay that's all. To avoid the scenario where you blog readers want to read my posts other than the World Cup but cannot find it because of the World Cup cluttering, I will be thinking of a solution. A very likely one will be shifting all the WC posts to my other blog, while putting the main points on this blog still. Yup XD

Flat

S-League has been a little flat of late.

SAFFC no longer seem capable of replicating their successes in the past few years, though they achieved history on the Asian level, defeating Henan Jianye for the first AFC Champions League win for any Singaporean team... which is of course the case since SAFFC has been the only Singaporean team in the competition (2nd time).

As for Singaporean national football, failure to qualify for the Asian Cup simply means there will be no excitement, no new excitement in the national football team. The only competition they will be looking forward to will be the ASEAN Football Championships, in whatever name that it is under this time round.

One opinion of concern is the lack of coverage given to Singapore sports. Even Singapore soccer, the most publicised sport in newspapers, can only be found on a regular basis on Today newspaper. The other sports are unlikely to be found most of the time. Except, of course, the constant off-field debate on athletics' problems.

Publicity needs to be given. Positive publicity, that is. And the performances need to match up.

The YOG publicity hasn't been raging that much (even more so for the World Cup, of course). More participation is required from Singaporeans in one way or another. It's the inaugural edition, and we need to grab the opportunity to make it a successful one, as a nation.

That's all, simply, for now.

Quietly Climbing

It's been a long time, and a few gameweeks have been played in the S-League.

A lot of attention is on Etoile FC, the newly-arrived French-based club that has taken Singapore football by storm, playing pretty attractive football and winning the League Cup convincingly. They currently have 8 points from 4 league games and are sitting prettily near the top of the table in 2nd place. They next play Tampines Rovers, who have a 5 point lead at the top over Etoile having played an extra game.

SAFFC hasn't been performing very well, and it can possibly be attributed to the shakeup of the team, with Duric moving to Tampines and Therdsak Chaiman leaving the club, and the arrival of 4 new and tall foreigners, as well as some other local players like Indra Sahdan. They currently have 8 points from 5 games and sit 3rd in the table.

This season indeed promises more excitement, as clubs, local and foreign alike, look to break the recent monopoly by Richard Bok's men (who won the last 4 league titles with a largely unchanged team).

Based on the performances so far, a couple of teams are in with a shout. SAFFC cannot be written off (especially since they have a bad record against Gombak and losing against them this season does not say much, though their performances to date are rather unconvincing).

Etoile, with their good start to life in the S-League, quite easily possibly the most exciting foreign side to date, is definitely in with a shout.

Tampines Rovers looked reinvigorated this season, with evergreen striker Duric joining their ranks, and Qiu Li topping the scoring charts with 5 goals in 5 games.

So will it be like the table at the moment, SAF, Etoile and Tampines competing for the title?

What about Home United, traditionally a strong side? For me, I will boldly predict them to be out of the title race running. Not just because they sit 3rd from bottom at the moment (the table says little because so many teams all have 5-8 points now), but they do not look to have any players capable of leading their charge, as evident in their match yesterday against Beijing Guoan.

In fact, Beijing Guoan showed huge potential in that very same match, and this is what I want to talk about at the start. Beijing, especially in the second half, came out stronger than Home United, and displayed some good teamwork and good shooting ability, and their clinical finishes and good positioning, in attack especially, will put them in good stead. I won't be too bold with this one, but I think they will have a good debut season, a significant change from the other forays by Chinese teams in the S-League.

I wanted to wait a couple of matches before coming up with this season's predictions, and here they are:

Tampines Rovers FC
Singapore Armed Forces FC
Etoile FC
Gombak United FC
Beijing Guoan Talent FC
Geylang United FC
Home United FC
Sengkang Punggol FC
Young Lions
Woodlands Wellington FC
Balestier Khalsa FC
Albirex Niigata FC (S)

I haven't decided my choice for the league champions, so the top 3 is essentially a toss-up. I believe SAFFC will be distracted by the AFC Champions League commitments and will have a slower start, while Tampines have an exciting strikeforce of Duric, Qiu Li and Khairul Amri and a reliable goalkeeper in Hassan Sunny. Their problems will come if the strikers sustain long-term injuries. Etoile look to be a good bet for the title, but I think more time has to be given before we make our conclusions. They are exciting to watch in the S-League, but their finishing is far from clinical and they can be too aggressive at times, and their defence cannot afford to be lazy against quick counter attacks.

It promises to be a very open title race and SAFFC will have their work cut out to win this season's league title. Good thing is, even if a foreign team wins the league title, the AFC Champions League qualifying spot will still go to the best-placed local team.

So don't worry about not having a Singaporean team in the AFC Champions League :)

Gameweek 4

This will be the last gameweek of this prediction series, with a twist. There will be no scoreline predictions, just outcome predictions. Meaning, the team to progress. The scope will be the UEFA Europa League. Each correct outcome warrants 2 points, each wrong outcome deducts 1 point. From Round of 32, to 16, to the quarter-finals. All predictions must be made before the start of the Round of 32 matches. So the carry-over effect takes place.

This is the draw:
Hamburg/PSV v Bilbao/Anderlecht
Rubin/Hapoel v Villarreal/Wolfsburg
Atletico/Galatasaray v Everton/Sporting
Hertha/Benfica v Copenhagen/Marseille
Panathinaikos/Roma v Liege/Salzburg
Lille/Fenerbahce v Liverpool/Unirea
Ajax/Juventus v Fulham/Shakhtar
Brugge/Valencia v FC Twente/Werder Bremen

Here is the accumulated point totals for this Gameround:
Szeyuan: 9.75
Zebra: 5.5
EWal: 5.0
Shiping: 4.5
Chunqi: 3.5
Cyr: 1.75
Soo Wee: 0.0

The predictions will be made in this manner: Remove the predicted loser from each Round of 32 match, shown by ___/___. 16 teams will be left, and then in each Round of 16 draw, bold the winner that will progress into the quarter-finals.

EWal:
Hamburg v Bilbao
Rubin v Wolfsburg
Galatasaray v Sporting
Benfica v Marseille
Roma v Salzburg
Fenerbahce v Liverpool
Juventus v Fulham
Valencia v Werder Bremen

Cyr:
Hamburger SV v Aletico Bilbao
Rubin Kazan v Villareal
Atletico Madrid v Everton
Benfica v Copenhagen
AS Roma v Red Bull Salzburg
Fenerbahce v Liverpool
??? v Fulham
Valencia v Werder Bremen

Szeyuan:
PSV v Anderlecht
Rubin v Villarreal
Atletico v Sporting
Benfica v Marseille
Roma v Liege
Lille v Liverpool
Juventus v Shakhtar
Valencia v Werder Bremen

Future of S-League

It's coming. Oh wait... it has already started? Amazing... more publicity has to be done.

This season should be an improvement from the last at the very least. As for title contenders, don't expect much changes at all. SAFFC is of course favourite, but this is the season Richard Bok will be judged on more than any other following the release of veteran Warriors Aleksander Duric (now at Tampines) and Therdsak Chaiman. Most newspaper writers say Home United and Tampines follow behind, and then Gombak and Geylang. And Young Lions is in as a dark dark horse.

Well, anyone can say that. And they aren't wrong. The S-League cannot get more predictable than the past few seasons. Thus, I will back a plan for a promotion-relegation system in Singapore, a system which I had thought about since about 7 years ago. The problems would be infrastructural and financial. How do we ensure each team is sufficiently sponsored and can draw fans? After all, fan turnout is the biggest problem the previous season. The promotion/relegation system cannot materialise until there are solid match attendances and a solid level of interest in the S-League. Only then will the sponsors become more willing to invest in soccer clubs. And then can we be more assured that the lower division clubs can still survive.

With Singapore, despite soccer being our number 1 sport, it's glaring how our match turnouts fare against our regional rivals. Indonesia is famous for its atmosphere, but it isn't a good comparison because theirs is a very big country whose clubs represent big regions and is a symbol of loyalty. Ours is a small land, and allegiances can be easily switched. It isn't anywhere as easy to support our 'hometown' club. But nonetheless, we can do way better. Our stadiums can fit thousands. The comparatively bigger ones like Bishan Stadium can fit around 7000 spectators. But our average turnout last year was only slightly in excess of 2000. There is much space to be filled, clearly.

The fundamental problem here is the pace of life. Ours is a fast-moving society where every minute, if not second, counts. Many of us are simply unconvinced of travelling to the stadiums, even if its within walking distance, just to spend up to 2 hours watching a match with barely any atmosphere except for the beating of the drums. The quality of the football is also in question.

Steps have been done for this season, and hopefully, our footballers can deliver better soccer for us. There, however, remains no strong initiative to attract the fans. Currently, our league boasts 12 teams which compete 3 times with each other each season. The 12-team system is similar to that of the Scottish league. And the Scottish league has at least 3 divisions. So a promotion/relegation system isn't that difficult.

If each team has 30 players in the first team, there are 360 footballers required. It's not like there are only so few footballers out there. Other than quality of football, we Singaporeans are also concerned about our local footballers. With more foreign footballers, we really do expect more of our local-born footballers. And the standard must improve. Both local and foreign.

What I suggest is to use the Prime League and convert it into Division 2. It needs lots of work, of course, but in a way, it's like raising the profile of Prime League. No potential footballer's eyes will light at the thought of playing in the Prime League. Barely anyone knows about the existence of the Prime League or any of the Prime League players. So why not convert it into a Division 2?

But the problem is, the Prime League consists of the very same teams playing in the S-League. The Prime League is essentially a reserve league for the local teams at the moment. So if it is just converted to Division Two, it will not work out at all. The current match attendances for Prime League matches are 2-digits. So why don't we open up more slots?

Currently, all existing local clubs are hogging the local players. Apart from their first team, they possess 15-20 players, their reserves, to play in the Prime League. England has this system of a Reserve League as well. But playing in the Prime League doesn't provide much experience. Matches are played between reserve players in front of barely any spectators. So these players can be released and taken up by new clubs. There must be more people standing up willing to form professional management teams. And this could even be part of a government initiative by the MCYS, to promote soccer and soccer management as a career, and setting up these management courses in the universities and polytechnics. We must be able to convince people that soccer is in fact, really a feasible career path that provides solid income. And then parents will be more willing to let their children play soccer, more talents will be spotted and developed and in turn the fans will come and income will rise from match tickets and sponsorship, leading to greater wages and thus fuel the feasibility of soccer as a career. It works in a loop, and it has to start somewhere.

If our top footballers cannot warrant a monthly pay of $10000, with the S-League average wage at around $3000, then Prime League players who play in front of crowds of perhaps 50 probably get wages in just hundreds. Compared to all other sectors, soccer is currently not a choice at all for many people. It's education or nothing. Non-education sectors like soccer is severely underdeveloped to attract people as players, managers, coaches as well as spectators.

Thus, I will suggest only allowing some of the clubs to keep their reserve team. These clubs should be the one with no financial problems. These teams could start by playing in Division 2. For example SAFFC B. Clubs like the Yishun Super Reds should not just vapourise just because they missed out. They should retain their rights to exist. With the Division 2 in place, these clubs get to work out and potentially work their way up to the top of Singapore football. A Division 1 of 12 teams and a Division 2 of 12 teams.

Our current S-League lineup is made of 9 local and 3 foreign teams. If foreign teams finish in the bottom 2 or 3 of the league, they either get relegated or they can remove their team from our league, freeing up space for new teams. It could work on a 2 promoted/2 relegated system like the Scottish Premier League.

Foreign clubs must meet certain expectations because they are here to boost our standards and not make up the numbers. When they fail to meet expectations they will have to give way naturally. Help must be given to the clubs in terms of the scouting network and trials, etc. to allow sufficient players to fill the clubs.

When there are more clubs there can be room for more competition and with the pressure of an up/down sustem will allow for clubs to take things more seriously and for non-title contenders to feel more enthusiasm and excitement for the seasons. It's a thought too complex for me but I believe it can be worked out by FAS in the near future.

The foreign clubs in the league must always be limited to 25%, meaning 3 clubs out of 12, as it has been these few seasons. The persisting problem remains to be match attendance, and it must be improved to an average of 3000+ before any such plans can be considered. This is a pre-requisite, a condition for the expansion of the S-League into a more exciting and more competitive brand. Even then, management must be properly done.

If such a plan materialises and proves to be a hit, I will look back with a smile and really be happy that S-League has really bounced back from poor football with a bang. And we could really be sending our best players to Europe. That will make us proud.

To change public opinion, we must start now and develop a long-term plan and concrete goals to iron out all problems and counter them. There are plenty of possible solutions to every problem.