Letters from Bishan

All hands on deck. Letters from I-wont Bishan will definitely be on the minds of the Albirex Niigata boys after the beating they are likely to get when they visit the Protectors at their dragon lair in Bishan this week. Riding on their emphatic win over the their last three opponents, the odds are definitely against the Japanese visitors. Raise the red, white and blue flag ... the Japs are going down.

(another article from Sleague)

Syahrom Sulaiman
info@sleague.com

Early pacesetter Home United will host Albirex Niigata FC (S) at Bishan Stadium on Wednesday night in a bid to maintain their 100% record.

A home victory - pardon the pun - will earn the Protectors the right to be labeled as serious title contenders this early in the season.

Nevertheless, a match against the White Swans will be anything but easy.

They may be languishing near the foot of the table but once coach Hiroaki Hiraoka get all his players to click together into one cohesive unit, the White Swans will be a force to be reckoned with.

Rightback Eiichiro Ozaki is the team’s dead ball specialist and even though he has yet to open his account this season, it will only be a matter of time before the defenders starts to dazzle spectators with his lethal freekicks.

Protectors’ head coach Vincent Subramaniam knows that his team will be in for a tough time on Wednesday.

“Albirex (Niigata FC (S)) are currently not in a good league position at the moment and they will definitely come out fighting when we play against them,” he said.

Jerome Seow, a long-time Home United supporter, also foresees the danger posed by the White Swans’ front men, especially the club’s top scorer Tetsuya Okayama.

Jerome commented, “Albirex (Niigata FC (S)) use a lot of speed in their attacks and Home United’s defence may not have the pace to deal with their speedy strikers. Therefore, the back four will have to maintain their shape and display better technical ability in defence.”

“But I am confident that Home (United) should be able to get the three points nonetheless,” Jerome said.

A recent 4-0 victory over Gombak United will have done the Protectors a whole lot of good in terms of confidence, but coach Vincent still feels that his side is far from being the finished article.

Vincent said, “I am not impressed at all with the victory over Gombak (United). I think the players could have done much better in the game.

“The new players will be given opportunities to prove themselves and the good news is that all of them are keen and ready to play.”

Out of all the new players whom Home United have drafted into their roster at the beginning of the season, Jerome feels that Ivorian midfielder Diakite Fode Bangaly is the man to look out for.

Jerome said enthusiastically, “Diakite is a typical hard man in midfield who wins the ball and has a good range of passing.

“He (Diakite) is the type of player whom Home United have been missing in the past few seasons. Diakite protects the defence as well as contributes in attack.

“The goal he scored against Gombak (United) is proof of his offensive instincts. His height also makes him an asset during set plays,” Jerome added.

The Protectors will be without defender Kamarulariffin Abdul Karim who is carrying an injury but Vincent nevertheless has a good replacement in Shahril Alias.

The White Swans will have no major injury or suspension worries – the only thing that coach Hiroaki Hiraoka needs to be concerned about is to devise a strategy in stifling the in-form Protectors this Wednesday.

Lift your hands up in the air in the air.

Many would agree that the fans are as vital as the players. So what if a team have the best preview but there is no fans to suport them during the game. Our fan club are always there for every Home& Away game to create the atmosphere and excitement with their cheering and drum rhythm. I have managed to capture our fan club and cheerleaders in action as a showcase of their hard work. Instead of watching the live matches at home or seating by the grandstand why not come on down and support us by joinging the fan club!!

HUFC retreat

Greeting all fans. The team had a retreat at Sembawang's HomeTeamNS over last week end and we celebrated some of our players birthday. Below are the snapshot of the day. If you take a closer look at the cake it actually shows the4 nationality of the team: Singapore, China, Ivory Coast & Cameroonian. Can you also name our birthday boys?

birthday boy: (left to right) Joey Sim, Rosman, Indra Shadan,

TIme to perk up!

Just saw this nice collage in hufc.com. Thought it was nicely done, so share with all of you. Our team has a good start this Season which bores well for better things to come.

I have heard comments that we are not playing that well - to be honest. But the bottomline is the team is winning - even when we are not playing well. We will be a terror when the boys really buck up and put up their best performance for every game (and it's about time they do so leh!).

I am actually hoping that we quickly play the bigger teams - sometimes you need these challenges to bring you to greater heights! But in the mean time, keep up the winning momentum HUFC - WILL THIS BE OUR YEAR!

So excited! So exciting! HUFC Rocks!!!

I am so excited! I just wish I can type faster!

There seems to be many things happening now and I am just tripping over in my enthusiasm to share with all of you that... we may get to interview some HUFC players in near future! And post the interviews right here at our very own HUFC blog! Hooray!

While things have not been firmed up yet, it is a happy thought that we will get to know more about our favourite players! There are so many things that I want to find out from them, things that one would not usually read in the newspapers or magazines. And I hope that my trusty Nikon compact digital camera would be able to take super nice photographs of the players. EXCLUSIVE MANZ!

Imagine!!! Only at HUFC blog can our friends get up close and personal with the players. Oh man. I am just so happy thinking about it. *Grinz from ear to ear*

Tell me, peeps! WHOSE interview would you like to read and WHAT questions do you want to ask? Who knows? We may just be able to get them answered!

Leave your questions as comments to this post and we'll see! Also, I've got this VERY VERY STRONG VIBE that HUFC is going to have a good year this year! Wooohooo!!!!

*Cheers* Everywhere we go-oh, people want to know-oh, who we are-rh, so we tell them, Hom-e Unite-d... *sings happily to herself*

Local football boleh

Oh yeah, heard our boys were giving out free tickets for the opening match. Way to go, this is one good way to attract people to come for matches.

Trust me, despite what you say about S-League or local football - how many of those who bad-mouthed our local football standards actually attended local football matches. If they haven't, they are in no position to comment. Try going to one, especially HUFC ones, and I can assure you - YOU WILL GET HOOKED. The atmosphere is great, the crowd's funny, the music's catchy, the lads good-looking and the football is up to standard. There is a difference watching it live as opposed to watching it on TV. Can't travel to Anfield, Emirates, Old Trafford, Bernabeu - just go Bishan Stadium - Home of the Protectors. No regrets.

Ai, you think all English soccer teams good? In England, people still support their hometown teams despite them playing in some kuching kurak league ok. If you don't support your local teams, how you expect them to progress and shine in the world arena. It's a vicious cycle man.

(Lifted from hufc.com.sg)
(Photo from sleague.com - they got a cool article on the match too! Read it.)

HUFC 5 Korean Super Reds 1

Home United opened the twelfth S-League campaign with an impressive 5-1 victory over the new Korean Super Reds. Though the Protectors were not pushed to the full, if the team plays to its strengths all year round, it would be hard not to tip them as potential title winners based on the evidence during Sunday evening.

Home United began proceedings before the first match with a publicity event a day earlier at the nearby Junction8 shopping mall, with players and fan club members giving out free tickets and fixtures for the new season. The result? An encouraging attendance of more than 4,300 as the ground was packed to the brim. Team affairs on the other hand, looked pretty promising, as Vincent the coach opted for a rather unusual formation, with Diakite, a natural defender, screening the defence. Qiu Li and Ludovick were both among the substitutes. A youthful, exuberant and vibrant squad was on display, as Home attacked from the word go.

The crowd were treated to some interesting banter between the matchday hosts, as they roused and cajoled the crowd. Pre-match predictions of KSR winning big soon proved to be unfounded, as it was pretty clear for all to see, who was to come out on tops in this encounter.

Home slowly but surely clicked into gear, without breaking too much sweat. Barely three minutes had elapsed on the clock when Kone Hamed, one of numerous new signings made their competitive debuts, wrote his name not only into the scoresheet, but also into the hearts of the Protectors’ fans, as he struck a low left footer past a shell shocked KSR keeper, Kim Ji Soo. The crowd had been baying for a goal since the opening whistle and they were rewarded, as Kone troubled the visitor’s defence all night with his set pieces.

An unfortunate evening for Kim Ji Soo was confounded when he was rather unceremoniously replaced only after 10 minutes when fellow 19-year-old Im Su Wong came on, with the coaching staff apparently having enough of his butter fingers. But if you say Kim was poor in his handling, Im was not as good in his kicking either, which made for some heart-stopping stuff for the few Korean fans and compatriots present in Bishan Stadium. 19 minutes had passed when Indra made a welcome return to the first team fold, as he latch onto Jia Yi’s through ball to fire home. Then on 28 minutes, Shahril Ishak had the freedom of the 18-yard box to place his shot into the net, much to his bewilderment. The Koreans then proceeded to enjoy large amounts of possession, but apart from some faint touches and miscued shots, they never really looked like troubling the men in Red.

Swee Swee and Qiu Li were to come on for Shahril and Lenan during the middle of the second half, by the time which Home went 4-0 up, thanks to Shahril’s incision to turn past a defender after receiving Indra’s cross. The Koreans hung their heads from then on, as no one would have expected such a lop-sided scoreline, with the Koreans supposedly being one of Asia’s top teams. As a result, fouls and free kicks became more and more commonplace, with Qiu Li being shoved to the ground on numerous occasions. He picked himself up after yet another foul, and curled in a brilliant free kick for the fifth. Hugs and confetti ensued for the fans.

A clean sheet was wiped away when Mani was rather unfortunate to be penalized by referee Shamsul for an infringement inside the box on 88 minutes, much to the amazement of much of the crowd. 5-1 the final score, with the Korean receiving scant consolation via the penalty spot. A good evening and a great result to savour. With the next match not arriving until twelve days later, Home had already proclaimed loudly and clearly: Write us off at your peril.

Coincidence or Prophecy

Every newspapers I have read over the last two days have pitched Home United as the top contender for the S-League title this year. Tonight's results seemed to confirm these results (and the fact that our reporters are sharp) - WE ARE BACK - with vengeance.

COINCIDENTALLY, Manchester United also trashed Fulham 5-1 in their Premiership opener at home. See where they are now - top of the Premier League and most likely to clinch the title this year! (Even MAS ads scoff Chelsea's chances of winning the title this year) If destiny has it, it's the YEAR OF THE PROTECTORS!

A chat with bro Daniel concluded that HUFC still seems edgy at times. Some Home U players may be too eager to prove themselves in the Season opener, and appeared rather individualistic. But given that the team is young and fresh, that may be a good problem to have. Look at C. Ronaldo (ok, ok Man U again) - playing in his own little world until even his own teammates were seething with anger and frustration. But he was soon enlightened (probably by Fergie) and reckoned that he had to cross to his mates earlier - which he does now with occasionally flashes of individual brilliance. He is now considered one of Man U's best buys (the rest of his cohort has all disappeared).

So, give the Protectors time to click and they will be a formidable force where everyone is a potential threat to the opposing team in his own rights. Subsequent clashes with the big guns such as Tampines, SAF etc. will give a clear indication of whether we are championship material or not.

HOME AND DRY – 5-1 OVER THE SUPER REDS

Posting on behalf of my bro Daniel. Man, I can almost see the match going on in front of me as I read his article. Way to go Daniel. I'm trying to upload some photos of the match!

Also see pre-match review "HUFC vs Korean Super Reads to Kick Start."

(Match review by Daniel)

Watching HUFC take on the Korean Super Reds from the gallery of the Bishan Stadium last night, one could not help but feel sorry for the inexperienced group of youngsters from north Asia. This would be the first foray into foreign soil and professional soccer for many of them, and what a hard introduction to reality it turned out to be – the 5-1 thrashing that the game produced.

If fans had been hoping to see the Super Reds produce some measure of the scintillating soccer that shot their national team to the dizzying heights of the 2002 World Cup semi-finals, how quickly their expectations would be grounded. The players looked out of sorts and shots and passes were wayward. If this team doesn’t find their feet fast, the next 32 games will be a painful eternity for them.

Perhaps the uncertainty in the squad was typified by the tentative handling of keeper Kim Ji Soo, who allowed Protectors midfielder Kone Hamed to rifle in a shot for the opener in the 3^rd min. More poor handling soon led to an early substitution with 1^st-choice keeper Im Su Dong restored to the lineup, but the damage to the confidence was done.

Through the Koreans tried to take the game to Home, their inexperience showed in the gaps that opened up in defence, and true enough, they were punished with Indra picked up a goal in the 18^th min. 10 minutes later, it was 3-0 after great footwork by Shahril Ishak saw him beat a defender before thumping the ball into the roof of the net.

The period after the interval saw a short moment of revival by the Super Reds as they played with more panache and drive. They did well till the 58^th min when Indra, marauding down the right flank, drew the attention of several defenders before slipping a pass for an unmarked Shahril to dispatch his second, and Home’s fourth of the evening.

Following that, the Protectors seemed contended to contain the Koreans, but the 67^th minute introduction of Chinese forward Qiu Li immediately upped HUFC’s attacking impetus. His aggressive display cranked up the pressure, and this eventually led to the fifth goal of the night after he curled in a sweetly-struck free-kick in the 75^th min.

But all credit to the Koreans, they never gave up the game, and the final 10 minutes belonged to them as they began stringing passes together and asking questions about the Home defence. Had they capitalized on some unexpectedly unconvincing defending by the Home backline, the score could have been much closer.

As it was, they opened their accounts with a Kim Hyun Jun penalty in the 90^th min after HUFC skipper Subramani was adjudged to have fouled a Korean player in goal. With the final whistle blown soon after that, the 5-1 score would serve as a most auspicious start to the 2007 season for the Protectors as they begin their long journey towards making amends for what had been a poor 2006 season by the club’s high standards.

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