Same old stadium, different ending this time

Old Jurong Stadium, 1500 Hrs

SUFI FC 5 Real Ale Madrid 0

(Vic, Rudee, Juf, AhCool, Yas)

A 5-star performance? Nah. A exhibition of free flowing football? Perhaps. The heading for the game probably should have read, 'A real team performance' I'm ecstatic that you guys responded to my calls for concentration and fight with a real hearts on our sleeve 80 minutes on the field today. Respect.

1-0: A freekick from around 30 odd yards from me found enough air time to have the keeper sufficiently confused. It eventually hit the bar and the rebound was bravely headed in from within the 6 yard box by the onrushing Vic who had both a huge lumbering defender and the keeper clamouring for his attention. A solid early goal to calm the nerves.

2-0: Xabi ws finally decides to stick to what he is good at with a peach of a through ball from inside our own half. It dissected our opponent's defensive line and eluded the desperate lunges of 2 RAMFC players to find our speedster, Rudee through on goal. Rolling back the months, he expertly lobbed the keeper who was caught in no man's land. Excellent assist and a finish to match.

3-0: A little insight to what goes on during match play. Juf whispered into my ear for a freekick to be delivered to the far post where he would be situated. Thank god my failing radar was working today as it found Juf's head just where he wanted. I must say that the man made the finish look easy as he nodded home to make it 3 without reply just before half time.

4-0: With the magical properties of the powerbalance restored to its rightful position on his wrist, AhCool wowed the crowd when a thumping long throw by Wong found him with a window of opportunity in the box. With the nonchalance of a man who scored in 8 or 9 out of our 10 pre-season friendly games, AhCool backflicked the ball into the back of the net leaving the keeper with no chance. A joy to watch. The man is back. Thank you powerbalance.

5-0: As the rain decided to revisit us in the last 15 minutes of the game, we finally added another goal to boost our goal difference when Rudee/law(?) placed a sumptuous inswinging cross that allowed fabreyas to sidefoot home. Once again, the finish was made to look easy. Fantastic work boys.

MOTM: Ronald. The entire team played well boys. Everyone played their roles to perfection but I would give the award on the day to his excellent marshaling throughout the game. Smashing no-nonsense defending. Well done!

The red card today was unfortunate and I did not argue with the ref as I knew it would have been pointless. I feel for you bro but like i said, come back stronger and hungrier! I have already lodged a complain to espzen anyway. And to the rest, 6 red cards and it is 1 point deducted. We know that the man in black can be sensitive creatures like the one today but let's avoid having an additional man be biased against us by criticising him during the game. Just concentrate on the game and leave the talking to me aite.

Back to the game, I would have named everyone as my MOTM as we all contributed to this result by defending stoutly, hassling well and scoring when it mattered. We could have had more but let this result restore some much needed confidence in ourselves. Well, we had 5 different goalscorers too! Thanks guys for heeding my calls for us to step up. Another thing is that we have played 5 official ESPZEN matches and we have kept clean sheets in 4 of them. That, is honestly an amazing stat. All positive results are built on a strong defense and today, all of us (not just our defense and keeper) defended hard and well from the start. Needless to say, Allan and Phileo have been pillars of strength at the back when it mattered too.

We take a break from footie next sat due to CNY and we resume it on the 12th of Feb against Dynamites at MJC. Have a good CNY and lets carry on this momentum into our next league game. See you peeps in 2 weeks. Cheers!

P.S: There's a reason why we got jerseys specially made for each and everyone. Wear them from our next game onwards as I do not want to see our hard earned points deducted for something as minor as not wearing the same jerseys. It could happen. So if the jerseys do not fit, do alter them aite. Thanks.

Players:

Allan

Jason, HG, Ronald, HuiJie, Alaric, SW

Rudee, Wong, AhCool, Law, Mok, Ws, Yas, LQ

Dinie, Juf

Adidas Adipure IV Review

Hi boys, just a little something for you guys to read about on your travels through the blog and to also further lighten up the recent tense mood in here. Apologies for my rather emotional posts recently.

Anyway, for the guys who are interested.. A review on the latest adipure boots! 4th version now but if any of you guys are interested, pro-direct are selling the 3rd version at crazy cheap prices. My last check with the website indicated that you could get the top grade adipure boots at S$120-140! However if there are any of you willing to splurge on the latest version, it is retailing for S$220. Here's are the necessary links. Enjoy a good read!

Link to Pro-Direct adiPure boots: ( http://www.prodirectsoccer.com/speedshop.asp?DEPT=2&BRAND=1&SS=1&PROFILE=Heritage&ALT=adidas%20-%20adiPURE%20IV%20-%20World%20Cup%20-%20Copa%20Mundial )

Link to Boot Review: ( http://www.soccercleats101.com/2011/01/15/adidas-adipure-iv-review/ )

Time to set the record straight

Match Details: (29th Jan 2010, Saturday)

Time: Be at the field by 2pm SHARP

Opponents: Real Ale Madrid FC

[Link: http://www.espzen.com/teams.asp?teamno=10&leagueNo=83]

Venue: Old Jurong Stadium (Grass)

(Link to venue: http://www.espzen.com/pitches.asp?pitch=45)

Attire: Yellow Top, Black Shorts and Black socks (Shin pads too!)

I'm officially done talking. And I'm gonna be using actions to make it right come saturday. Hope to see you guys fighting alongside me.

Expected Personnel:

Allan

LQ, HG, Alaric, HuiJie, Ronald

Rudee, AhCool, ZL, Wong, Mok, Ws, Vic

Dinie, Juf

A tough defeat to stomach

*A sumptuous goal from our main man that was worth its weight in gold

Temasek Sec, 1500 hrs

SUFI FC 1 TeamCuzz FC 3

(Juf x1)

I'm pretty sure most of us if not at least some of us are eagerly awaiting what I have to say after this result. Knee-jerk reactions are the easy way out in my opinion and after taking some time to think about it, that is not the way I will go about doing things.

The truth more often than not hurts and I will stick to my policy of not naming names. However whilst you read this, please touch your heart and admit to yourself if you happen to fall under any of these mentioned. I will reiterate this one last time to all of the SUFI boys.

Yes, we are a social football team. And granted that we would love to enjoy our football sessions to the best that we can. But the main thing is, we enter a league for the sake of being competitive. NO ONE and Im referring even to the most uncompetitive person in the world would like to have to deal with the bitter taste of defeat. From the moment we got ourselves a sponsor, I knew that it would be both good and bad. We have been experiencing the good and soon-if-we-dont-pull-our-socks-up-high-enough, the bad. Put yourselves in the position of our boss, would you like to be the boss of a failing business? OR the proud boss of a successful one.

Now comes the tough part. The players are the crown jewels of this exciting project that we have. However, the moment these players turn complacent and stop giving their full 120% at games... The awesome machine that we YSOSRS and now SUFI were and are will start failing. We have fantastic individual talents within the team peeps. But that is no excuse for you to stop giving your full concentration and effort. Relying on 2-3 individuals to light up and win games with their individual brilliance will never prove as successful a formula as 11 players giving at least 100%. Unfortunately, that is what we are having to deal with now. The awesome players from when we started out are down on confidence and belief. If your goals and assists have dried up and tricks that used to come off but are failing you now, you are the ones who fall under this category. To these guys, the team needs you to step up. Clear your mind and I need you to stop wallowing in self pity. You guys have all the ability in the world, once you stop comparing yourselves with the players of the professional scene.

Commitment. Punctuality and informing me when you are not able to attend games IN ADVANCE and taking the initiative to do so instead of me having to go after you. Peeps, Im not gonna go chasing after you like you are 10. We are young adults now. Time to wake up.

Being serious when it matters. Team talks just before the game and at half time. When i seek the attention of the masses, it means that i genuinely have something important to say. So please give me the respect, just like how i would give to you when you are speaking.

Finally, winning as a team and losing as a team. We lost as individuals today. Alaric (apologies for naming you dude), may have made the vital slip which resulted in the sucker punch of a goal. Thing is, where was the support?? Where was the communication from the rest. Where was the covering?!

We can berate each other till the cows come home and that doesn't change a shit. Like i said after the game, a simple 'MAN ON' can actually do wonders. Our opponents were not technically more gifted than us today. They were just more of a team.

I have been harping on this for a few games now. In fact, ever since the BWB game. Thing is, we all do have limits peeps. And mine is wearing thin. There is pressure coming from everyone and everywhere. To the ones who know that they have to step up and start showing that they wana play for the team, i look forward to seeing that. I have sacrificed minutes to allow others to play cause I want everyone to enjoy at the same time. Thing is, no one is enjoying at the moment. Nothing will change for now boys. But if we continue to lack fight and show disinterest, understand that it wont be long before something like that happens. Cheers and see you at the next game.

And this is what Teamcuzz said in their match report about us:

STimes - 'TeamCuzz's teamwork & persistence pays off against Arsenal-like Sufi.''

Well, we can be awesome when we choose to. Think about it.

P.S: Appreciate the support of the girls who came down today. A pity the team wasn't able to put on a performance to match your enthusiasm.

Addition of Fake Madrid into Div 2

Hi boys, if you haven't heard about it, I would like you guys to know that an additional team known as Fake Madrid has joined our division. It is a team that has a huge reputation in the local football scene and I can safely say now without having seen them kick a ball as yet that they will be title contenders for sure. But that is not the main point for we always appreciate playing against the best and right now, that gives us even more incentive to step up our game. As such, this sudden change had initially caused our season to be pushed back to the point where it would clash with the exam weeks of NUS, NTU n SMU.

However, after some discussions with the espzen organiser, we have been able to come to a compromise whereby we will play on consecutive weeks from the 2nd week of february straight through to the 2nd last week of april. That would mean playing 11 straight games before we take a 3 weekend break and finally resuming with our last game against Fake Madrid on the 21st of May which would be the saturday where all exams would have ended. We are notoriously slow to regain any sort of rhythm after a long break and as such, I preach for you guys to try our best in this long run of matches and hopefully we can seal the deal before our final game.

We have 9 teams in our division now which would mean that we have 16 games to play. Judging by how tight the league could be, i would say 9 or 10 wins would be enough. However, if u guys wana make it absolutely sure, aim for 36 out of the 48 points. We have 4 points out of 6 now. Its time to put together a good run in our next 2 games starting from tomorrow which would put us in good stead when CNY is over and our long run of consecutive games begins.

Our failure in our 1st full season together continues to linger at times and it is time to put right the wrongs of last season whilst we fulfill the potential that the team possesses. Time to concentrate and give our all starting tomorrow against TeamCuzz. Hopefully this fires the sleeping giants in us up. Adios amigos.

And if u need more reason to be fired up, heres a link to teamcuzz's match preview for tmr:

(Link: http://team-cuzz.blogspot.com/2011/01/next-game-sufi-football-club.html)

Date	Day	Time	Venue	Opponent
Jan 22, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Temasek Sec School	TeamCuzz Football Club
Jan 29, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Jurong Stadium	Real Ale Madrid Football Club
Feb 12, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Meridian JC	Dynamites Football Club
Feb 19, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Henderson Sec School	Premier Football Club
Feb 26, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Jurong Stadium	Arizen Football Club
Mar 5, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Farrer Park Pitch One	Supernova Football Club
Mar 12, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Jurong Stadium	Fake Madrid FC
Mar 19, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Meridian JC	TeamCuzz Football Club
Mar 26, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Meridian JC	Real Ale Madrid Football Club
Apr 2, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Temasek Sec School	Dynamites Football Club
Apr 9, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Jurong Stadium	Redsaga II Football Club
Apr 16, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Temasek Sec School	Premier Football Club
Apr 23, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	Springfield Sec School	Arizen Football Club
May 21, 2011	Sat	3:00 PM	First Toa Payoh Sec School	Fake Madrid FC

Ligue Match Tres

Match Details: (22nd Jan 2010, Saturday)

Time: Be at the field by 2pm SHARP

[P.S: A 15-20 min allowance is fine. Same thing, if you are going to be late... Kindly inform me alright. Thanks]

Opponents: TeamCuzz FC

[Link: http://www.espzen.com/teams.asp?teamno=497&leagueNo=83]

Venue: Temasek Sec Sch (Astro)

(Link to venue: http://www.espzen.com/pitches.asp?pitch=98)

Attire: White Top, White Shorts, White Socks (Shin pads are a must!)

Equipment: I would hope to see all 4 sufi balls at the venue please. Thanks

Alright boys, back to league action this week. Hopefully we will carry along some momentum from our cup success last sunday over to the league this coming saturday. As per normal, let us meet and get ready early for the game by 2pm please! Perhaps a coincidence, but such an implementation has already shown its first signs of success in our cup game. Time to knuckle down and fight hard as Teamcuzz have already scored 8 goals in 2 games, chalking up 2 wins in the process. Please keep the sluggish monster at home and don't allow the manifestation of it in our performance alright! See you peeps..

Expected Personnel:

Allan, Phileo

Farhan, Kass, Jason, HG, Alaric, HuiJie, Ronald

Wong, Rudee, AhCool, ZL, Mok, Vic, Syafiq, Yas, LQ

Dinie, Juf

Cup joy for the debutants

Meridian Junior College, 1500 Hrs

SUFI FC 3 VNNTU FC 0

(Yasin x1, AhCool x1, Mahdi x1)

Hey all, I'm a little shag from the day's events even though i hardly played much of the game, sigh... Aging body indeed. Hopefully you guys are feeling much better than I am though.

Anyways, the scoreline does not say it all as it was a day of footie which wasn't pretty. And im assuming that this will not be the last of it. The sluggish monster in us threatened to make a cameo performance at times however this time round, we overcame it by being much more disciplined and spirited. Perhaps it was the added incentive of this being a competitive game that played with our minds or as unlikely as it could have been, it was the change in cheer at half time that spurred us on. *Let's be serious* It shall be from now on.

A couple of main events from the game were as such:

It was a largely uneventful 1st half although AhCool could have obtained a penalty after he was felled sometime during the 1st half hour. Our vietnamese friends hardly threatened though it must be said and we were relatively comfortable for most of the half. The closest we came to scoring though was when my floated freekick was palmed against the bar by the keeper and Dinietov narrowly headed wide from the resulting corner.

The 2nd half was where lady luck decided to hop on the SUFI bandwagon. However, luck was certainly not needed when Yasin who had been fighting hard to keep the boys in yellow afloat in the midfield battle throughout the game thus far pounced on a loose ball just outside the box. Taking a touch, he subsequently produced a peach of a shot that moved all over and beat the bewildered keeper all ends up. A stunning goal worthy of being a match winner on any day.

Our second came when a booming drop kick from phileo was unfortunately headed back by the VNNTU defender to his keeper. The unfortunate part being the fact that the power of the header back caught the keeper unaware and it lobbed over his despairing dive. AhCool who still seemed to be suffering from his power-balance melt down called upon the opportunist in him and showed astounding pace to catch up with the bouncing ball that was destined for the empty goal before slamming it in from 2 yards. A goal nonetheless and hopefully it gives the man much confidence. We are looking forward to him hitting the goal trail again during the league as it can only bode well for our title hopes. Credit though has to be given to Phileo for one hell of a kick. Boy did that fly!

The icing on the cake came when a swift counter attack down the left broke down but was revived when a lackluster clearance from our opponents gifted Ahcool with a chance to play Mahdi in on goal with a simple through pass. The finish was made to look easy by the man which is hopefully a sign of things to come from our pocket wizard. It has to be said that it is a true honour that we have seemingly got help from the magical world as well with a magician in dinietov and a pocket wizard in Mahdi. Kudos to you guys.

MOTM: Needless to say, fabreyas as he would love to be known as, covered every blade of astro turf at his old stomping ground. A top notch performance of will and skill capped off with a stunning goal. A class act in my eyes. Well done bro.

I would also like to laud the performances of our returning lucio and our magician dinietov who both showed much aggression in fighting for the cause of the team. Finally, to the guys who were part of this victory, do know that it is amazing what a win can do to team morale. After having seen a stagnation in recent weeks, today's result definitely was sweet. Well done for contributing to this result and with hope, we can carry this momentum into our next big clash on the coming saturday against TeamCuzz at Temasek Sec.

And also just so you know, for our victory in today's cup game, we have been rewarded with a big clash against FC Armanis in the next round who were 2-0 victors today as well. The game will be scheduled for the 27th of Feb so mark it down on your calendars! This is a game where we will definitely be underdogs and hopefully we will be able to prove that fairy tales do exist. Rest well peeps.

Team:

Phileo

Farhan, HG, Jason, Huijie, Ronald, Alaric, Hizam

Rudee, AhCool, ZL, Mahdi, Mok, Yas, Vic, WS

Dinie, Juf

P.S: Thanks to our small entourage of fans for taking time off to come support the boys. And also to fadilah for the photos.

Espzen Fa Cup Round of 64

Match Details: (16th Jan 2010, Sunday)

Time: Be at the field by 2pm SHARP

[P.S: A 15-20 min allowance is fine. Other than that, you guys are old enough to know that if u are gonna be late, do at least text me to let me know. Appreciate it]

Opponents: VNNTU FC

[Link: http://www.espzen.com/teamsdiv.asp?leagueNo=82&teamno=487]

Venue: Meridian Junior College

(Link to venue: http://www.espzen.com/pitches.asp?pitch=17)

Attire: Yellow top, black shorts and black socks (Shin pads are a must!)

Equipment: I would hope to see all 5 sufi balls at the venue please. Thanks

Expected Personnel:

Phileo

Alan Teo, Jason, Farhan, HG, Huijie, Hizam, Alaric

Rudee, Ronald, AhCool, Mahdi, Law, Mok, Yas, Vic

Dinie, Juf

Hi guys, from now on, I will be placing our strongest possible 11 to start every game. After having gone through the ups and downs of the last 10 odd games to view and assess the team, I have come to the realisation of the need to start strongly in every game. I have also recognised the guys who want to win or try harder more than others. Truth is, higher authorities have been watching our results in recent weeks and I have had feedback that they aren't too happy with it. I try my best not to let the need to do well overwhelm the enjoyment aspect of the game, however if we honestly wana retain our sponsorship and to also have a crack at winning something this season. It is time to buck up. Cya peeps.

P.S: Just so you guys know, young alan will be linking up with our cup team to play on sundays as it will not clash with his commitments with the meridian team on sats.

Slide, slide, sliding into an awful habit

Tampines Safra, 1500 Hrs

Temasek Hall 1 SUFI FC 1

(Ronald x1 pen)

YSOSRS went through what turned out to be a fatal run of 3 consecutive defeats last season. And now, 6 months on... SUFI FC seems to be falling into that same cycle of a lack of confidence.

For the guys who were there for the game today, as farked up as the referee was and as tenacious as our opponents were... SUFI FC did not turn up for the game. Where is that group of players who may not be the best footballers in the world, but are definitely the best team in my heart? 1 month ago, we fought as a unit against St Andrews FC at the MBFP and the result showed. 1 month later, we are going through a barren patch of 3 games without a win. And in those 3 games, we have showed a lack of fight.

Lionel Messi may undoubtedly be the best player in the world, but one of the reasons why he has the perfect platform to showcase his talents is that the barcelona players around him work as a fluid unit that allows him to sparkle. You just have to watch Messi when in barce colours and compare it with the man when in argentine colours. A world of difference. Take some time out to catch one of Barcelona's recent games, and watch just how much hard work they put into winning the ball back during the odd times that they lose it.

To be honest, communication is terribly lacking in our team. I am not going to treat us like 5 year olds and to forbid laughing or joking at any point of time during our 2 hour sessions. However, when the time comes to play footie, please have the awareness to turn on your concentration to focus on the game. The equation is simple, it sucks to not win. Discipline boys.

There is a need to start every game not only seriously but also fast as it is no joke giving ourselves a handicap by being sluggish. The personnel in the team remains the same, but our performances are taking a tumble. It is time that we wake up before we go through another alarming sequence of poor performances in the games that matter. The choice is yours boys.

MOTM: Mahdi was a one man machine at times and he ran his heart out. It is no coincidence that he won the penalty which Ronald tucked away. And bro, if u are reading this... Lets work together to get you to gel with the team. Ala Messi and Barcelona, we can only achieve maximum results when we all synchronize onto the same frequency. It may be early days yet, but the sooner we work as a team, the better for all concerned.

SUFI, we will meet earlier next SUNDAY at 215 pm before our FA Cup game. How serious you wana be for the game, it is up to you to decide. And one last thing. We have 5 soccer balls that belongs to the team. If you are holding one of those, I would love to see it at our game next week. Much appreciated boys. Seeya