Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Cardiff Cancel Malaysia Trip
After visiting Malaysian capital Kuala Lumper Cardiff City have decided to cancel their proposed tour for this year at least.
Cardiff team manager Dave Jones went on a recent inspection to KL and decided to postpone the trip.
Seems a bit harsh, KL ain't that bad. Then again maybe he had a meeting with the FA...
Anyway it also seems that Real Madrid backed out of a tour as well.
Never mind Malaysia...why not contact the English FA? They're feeling particularly unloved these days, a trip to KL could be just what they need!
Indonesia Cup Quarter Final Draw Dates
15/07 Pelita Jaya v Persipura16/07 Sriwijaya v Persebaya
17/07 Persija v Persik
18/07 Arema v Persib
19/07 Persipura v Pelita Jaya
20/07 Persebaya v Sriwijaya
21/07 Persik v Persija
22/07 Persib v Arema
WANTED! New Stadium for Jakarta...
It's not easy trying to follow local football in Jakarta. The local authorities don't seem to give a toss whether there is a football team in the capital city or not though you can be sure that if Persija do actually win a trophy they will come crawling out of the woodwork for the photo ops.
Fans of Persija often find home games are played behind closed doors or moved to a different city altogether as local security officials decide they can't handle the crowds.
The lack of a decent stadium is also a bugbear. Bung Karno holds 88,000 and is right in the middle of the city along a main road that is home to many head offices and hotels. Lebak Bulus is in South Jakarta and is a purpose built football stadium but only holds 12,500.
Jakarta is crying out for a mid sized stadium, capable of holding 40 or 50,000 fans but despite their being plans for such a stadium in Sunter, home to some wonderful traffic jams, little seems to get done about it.
Oh yeah, the point of this thread. Persija are concerned their Q/F against Persik may be moved outside the capital, possibly to Solo, because of the local apathy.
Meanwhile Surabaya is building it's own Bung Tomo Stadium holding a similar amount. Bandung hopes, one day, to have a new stadium. Samarinda has one of the best in the country. Jakabaring, across the river from Palembang, has a 40,000 stadium. Soreang, an hour south of Bandung as a 35,000 stadium.
And Jakarta? Jakarta gets more shopping malls!
Short Term Thinking Mars Arema Preparations
Having been drawn against Persib in the Quarter Finals of the Indonesia Cup, ISL champions Arema should be focused on a double season. But they're not. Instead players' contracts are lapsing and management are, apparently, only offering short term deals to keep players until the end of the Cup.
Naturally the players are none too happy with this short term thinking and are holding out for season long deals covering 2010-2011.
While this kind of thinking, save a few bob today and let tomorrow sort itself out, is common enough I do have a shred of sympathy with the club in this case. The powers that be that run the league know how clubs operate here and despite telling everyone to get proactive in their planning it just isn't happeneing.
But the organisers haven't helped matters by having the quarters/semis and final of the Indonesia Cup long after the season has ended. What kind of daft thinking is that? Contracts are ending and players are thinking of their futures, not some games added almost as an after thought to the season.
With a new season slated to start in September why the hell would players want to sign on for an extra month or two then come August, when the Cup is finally done and dusted, start thinking about finding a new club when most clubs will have already done their signings and be in pre season.
It's a nonsense schedule and one the League should have forseen.
New boys eye Singaporean
Metro FC, newly promoted to the Indonesia Premier League, have begun planning for their debut season and are reported to be close to signing a Singapore player. No idea who mind...
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Singapore eye Young Lions trip
SINGAPORE, 29 June 2010 The Singapore Asian Games team will be leaving on Wednesday 30 June for Yangon to play two friendly games against the Myanmar Senior Team on 2 and 4 July.
From 22 players named in the squad, 18 are from the Young Lions team who are currently fifth in the Great Eastern - YEO’S S.League and have been unbeaten for the past eight matches.
Defenders Hidhir Hasbiallah from Gombak United and Sengkang Punggol’s Shahir Hamzah have been included to bolster the team’s defence, with Woodlands Wellington’s forward, Rizawan Abdullah, making up the remaining players from the other S.League clubs.
Of the 22 named, three players namely, Zulfahmi Arifin, Hidhir and Rizawan have been called up to the Under -23 team for the first time.
The tour will provide the Asian Games team with valuable international experience, having played their last game against SEA Games Gold medallist, Malaysia in a 1-0 win back in April.
National Coach Radojko Avramovic believes that the experience will give the players excellent exposure.
“At this age, players need to play more international games to help them grow. We believe that Myanmar will provide our young players with a good test. This is a good learning experience and they will have adjust and adapt to international opponents.
“Looking forward, we need to expose these players for more such games, in order to prepare them for future international tournaments like the Olympic Games qualifiers and SEA Games.”
The Asian Games team leaves for Yangon on 30 June and are due back on 5 July.
INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLY MATCHES
MYANMAR NATIONAL TEAM v SINGAPORE ASIAN GAMES TEAM
Match Details
Myanmar National Team v Singapore Asian Games Team
Date: 2 July 2010 (Friday)
Time: 1530 hrs (local time)
Venue: Youth Training Center
(No details for 2nd friendly given in original mail shot)
SINGAPORE ASIAN GAMES TEAM
| S/N | Name | Club | Position | DOB | |
| 1 | Hidhir Hasbiallah | Gombak United FC | DF | 25-Mar-1989 | |
| 2 | Shahfiq Ghani | National Football Academy - U18 | MF | 17-Mar-1992 | |
| 3 | Shahir Hamzah | Sengkang Punggol FC | DF | 7-Apr-1989 | |
| 4 | Rizawan Abdullah | Woodlands Wellington FC | FW | 4-Aug-1987 | |
| 5 | Jasper Chan | Young Lions | GK | 7-Nov-1988 | |
| 6 | Eddie Chang | Young Lions | DF | 10-May-1990 | |
| 7 | Eugene Luo | Young Lions | FW | 20-Jan-1991 | |
| 8 | Madhu M Mohana | Young Lions | DF | 6-Mar-1991 | |
| 9 | Izwan Mahbud | Young Lions | GK | 14-Jul-1990 | |
| 10 | Afiq Yunos | Young Lions | DF | 10-Dec-1990 | |
| 11 | Faritz Abdul Hameed | Young Lions | MF | 16-Jan-1990 | |
| 12 | Fadhil Noh | Young Lions | FW | 4-Mar-1989 | |
| 13 | Fairoz Hasan | Young Lions | Young Lions | FW | 26-Nov-1988 |
| 14 | Fazli Ayob | Young Lions | FW | 24-Jan-1990 | |
| 15 | Hafiz Abu Sujad | Young Lions | MF | 1-Nov-1990 | |
| 16 | Izzdin Shafiq | Young Lions | MF | 14-Dec-1990 | |
| 17 | Khairul Nizam | Young Lions | FW | 25-Jun-1991 | |
| 18 | Khalili D'cruz | Young Lions | FW | 14-Aug-1991 | |
| 19 | Nazrul Ahmad Nazari | Young Lions | MF | 11-Feb-1991 | |
| 20 | Safuwan Baharudin | Young Lions | DF | 22-Sep-1991 | |
| 21 | Zulfahmi Arifin | Young Lions | MF | 5-Oct-1991 | |
| 22 | Gabriel Quak Jun Yi | Young Lions | MF | 22-Dec-1990 | |
Movement at Persib
Persib have brought in somebody to do a job for them. Thing is I don't know if he is to be either Technical Director or Coach.
His name is Darko Janackovic and he is French. Or Serbian.
Until coming to Bandung he has spent the last two and a half years coaching in Algeria. In which case he should have been aiding and abetting Fabio Capello in South Africa but I surely digress.
A fuller profile can be found on the Persib fan site Simamaung.
Indonesia Cup Quarter Final Draw
Pelita Jaya v Persipura
Sriwijaya FC v Persebaya
Persija v Persik Arema v Persib
Ties to be played home and away from 15-22 July but actual dates to be decided. Overcome Pelita Jaya and runners' u[ in the last three years Persipura could well come up against holders Sriwijaya in a repeat of last year's final. Persija's reward if they beat Persik will be either Arema or Persib.
Semi finals to be a one off affair at a neutral venue.
The Golden Generation?
Built up by the media, destroyed by the media. That, as ever, sums up England's World Cup in 2010. But why oh why were the same old serial losers even selected?
In my Jakarta Globe column this week I jump on the ragging England bandwagon with an article called The Broken Generation...just kidding. I did write this in September, among others, and I stick by it.
Jakarta Casual
