Rilek1Corner

Category: Hiburan

  • Christian Cross Dropped From Official Real Madrid Badge To Appease Muslim Supporters In The UAE

    Christian Cross Dropped From Official Real Madrid Badge To Appease Muslim Supporters In The UAE

    Champions League holders Real Madrid have dropped the Christian cross on their official badge in what is reportedly a move to pacify Muslim supporters in the United Arab Emirates, a Spanish sports newspaper said.

    According to daily Marca.com, images of the amended “Los Blancos” badge could be seen on credit cards issued by the National Bank of Abu Dhabi after Real Madrid president Florentino Perez announced on September 12 a three-year partnership with the leading UAE bank.

    The cards, which also function as Real Madrid membership cards, feature the badge with the cross above the crown removed in order to avoid causing offence or discomfort among Muslim customers.

    “I know that the local people experience every match in a special way and that our links with the UAE are constantly growing stronger,” Perez was quoted as saying.

    “This agreement will help the club to keep conquering the hearts of followers in the United Arab Emirates.”

    Real Madrid players Toni Kroos, Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale and Dani Carvajal were present at the announcement of the partnership.

    The report added that the crest has not been altered outside the region. – December 1, 2014.

     

    Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

  • Lions Suzuki Cup Debacle: Replace Bernd Stange With Local Coach?

    Lions Suzuki Cup Debacle: Replace Bernd Stange With Local Coach?

    The Lions’ ignominious group-stage exit from the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup after Saturday’s 3-1 defeat to Malaysia has prompted fans and former national footballers to call for swift changes to local football and its management.

    The brickbats came fast and furious after the defending champions’ poor showing, with some calling for national head coach Bernd Stange to resign, while others pointed to issues within the sport that have seen Singapore’s world ranking slide to No 158 this month as well as the S-League’s recent brouhaha with the decision to reduce the number of clubs and implement age restrictions for players.

    Former national defender R Sasikumar and veteran footballer Aleksandar Duric have joined in the chorus for Mr Stange to quit. Mr Sasikumar told TODAY: “I don’t think the calls are premature as the coach is there to get a result. It is time for him to go and to let us rebuild with local coaches. Ninety per cent of the public would want V Sundramoorthy or Fandi Ahmad as national coach.”

    But Mr Sasikumar — who won the Tiger Cup with the team in 1998 — believes the root of the Lions’ problems lies much deeper. “There are fundamental issues that need to be addressed … The Germans did it after they were kicked out of Euro 2000. It is also time for us to take stock of how we play football and how we approach football and we need to fix it,” said Mr Sasikumar.

    “After the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup loss, what was done was aesthetic and we didn’t make changes to the philosophy of football. Right now, we talk about (the Football Association of Singapore) Strategic Plan, but where are the key performance indicators? Is it winning the Suzuki Cup consistently or qualifying for the AFC Cup?

    “If you are a private organisation, it’s natural that when you don’t give shareholders (what they want), they will look at the management. Football is no different, and that is accountability.”

    Added local football fan Navin Nambiar: “I’m not calling for Bernd Stange to be sacked as coaches need time. But looking at this, will a local coach do any worse? Some local flavour will be good and it would have been nice to see Fandi come up against Malaysian coach Dollah Salleh.”

    While players such as Hariss Harun, Shahril Ishak and Shakir Hamzah drew praise for their performances on the field, others came under fire. Former Lions player Rafi Ali attributed the poor performances to the lack of technical ability, saying: “My observation of teams such as Thailand, Vietnam and Myanmar is that their technical ability is good. Thailand are very comfortable with the ball, they move the ball nicely and are exciting to watch.

    “What is most glaring (about Singapore) is the lack of basic technique, such as passing and movement. We have to look at it and stop giving excuses. The most important thing is to grow the players technically, so the national coach has a lot of players to look at.”

    Aside from next year’s 2018 FIFA World Cup Asian qualifiers, the next big tournament will be the 2015 SEA Games to be held here from June 5 to 16. The gold medal is the target for the national Under-23 side, and former Singapore international Terry Pathmanathan said: “Players will be under tremendous pressure. They have to identify the players quickly and move them into regular training together.

    “I don’t know how much help it is for the Young Lions to play in the S-League as playing there and against Under-23 opponents is different.”

    Local fan Yusuf Kay, 39, is not hopeful of the team’s chances just yet, saying: “I don’t expect much for the SEA Games as a lot more needs to be done.”

     

    Source: www.todayonline.com

  • Better Atmosphere Needed at National Stadium

    Better Atmosphere Needed at National Stadium

    I have not always been a fan of the local football scene, be it the Prime or S.League but I do come down and support for home games that involve the Singapore National Football Team.

    Today on the 29th of November, Singapore loss to Malaysia with a score of 3-1 . I won’t rant on how the game was conducted by those awfull referees (Let’s face it, hands down – Malaysia did outplayed us and we did give our best.The ref’s decision making was totally not agreeable and that made the game more bitter than it ever should) but rather I would want to talk about SingaMania.

    For some of you who doesn’t know, “Singamania” is a group made up of smaller die hard football fan groups in Singapore. They can be said as the voice of Singapore Fans when it comes to National Games like how the Ultra Malaya are to Malaysia.

    What made me dissapointed was on a few factors:

    1) Game was played at home. We should have had bigger national flag than what the Ultras brought. It was disgusting to see how these Ultras had a huge Flag over their entire seat stand but SingaMania had two smaller national flags – nothing compared to half of what the Ultras had. Probably the Ultras had support from the Malaysian football federation for they could not have acquired a large flag if they were an independent group so does SingaMania has support from F.A.S?

    It’s Kallang Stadium not Bukit Jalil Stadium. We should have a flag as big as them, if not bigger.

    2) It is known that the match tickets sold out in a few hours so I presume 50,000+ people were present including me. The Ultras were louder even though they were only a handful. They were more organised in cheers and their rythm was as close to as a marching band.

    Singamania on the other hand couldn’t be clearly heard and the rythm was too fast paced and long. For God’s sake, if you want us to sing & shout with you, make it slower and repetitive so we could know what you guys are chanting. Even when we do get what we think you are saying, you guys just change to another cheer that will be faster than the previous.

    I have done my research after the match & I have watched almost all the ultras video that I could find on the net and youtube. It seems they have upload their own songs with lyrics in it. Songs that are easy to learn and sing. I could only found one Singamania cheer video but it wasn’t as catchy neither was it short. It wasn’t a cheer anymore, it was a song.  An uncatchy song.

    What I could suggest for Singamania: Rather than you guys keep and stay together at one spot like a flock of birds, why don’t you guys divide yourself into smaller groups and stand infront of each wing to teach and get us going. How to coordinate it? Simple, use walkies. Walkies that are sold in Giants or Challenger are affordable to say the least. Sure, it might be expensive but in the long run, Singapore Football Players could finally feel that they are playing at home and not away.  They would know that every single fan are standing behind them, cheering them on in every home games.

    Don’t forget to make videos on the cheers that you want us to sing. Please do include lyrics in it.  Make it short and catchy. Listen to some ultras cheers for inspiration but do not copy any of them. Let’s have our own cheer rather than we, Singaporeans be known as football fans who copy ideas from other Ultras. (I say this because I realised one of your cheer is exactly the same as a cheer made by the Ultras in Pahang, Malaysia)

    But hey, if this doesn’t come into effect as soon as possible, i wouldn’t be surprised either. Afterall the Football Association of Singapore doesn’t really encourage home fans to support the team since Horn Makers (such like the vuvuzelas and the Air Horn – all this info can be found on their website) are not allowed.

    F.A.S, please do change your policy. Please revived the old kampong spirit in every football fan. Please revived the Kallang Stadium into what it was before –  a Lion’s Den. A lion’s den that every away fan wouldn’t even dream of coming to cheer for their teams and be louder than us.

    Thank you.

    – From a Fan.

    TRS Contributor

     

    Source: www.therealsingapore.com

  • Lions Crash Out Of Suzuki Cup

    Lions Crash Out Of Suzuki Cup

    Defending champions Singapore are out of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) Suzuki Cup 2014 after a 3-1 loss to Malaysia at the National Stadium on Saturday (Nov 29).

    Both sides played out to a cagey first half, but Safee Sali put the Tigers ahead in the 61st minute after Hariss Harun fluffed clearance allowed the Malaysian striker slams the ball home from an angle.

    The Lions poured forward in search for an equaliser after that, and were rewarded in the 83rd minute.

    Safuwan Baharudin’s free kick is spilled by the Malaysian goalkeeper, and Khairul Amri was on hand to tap home.

    But the Lions’ joy was shortlived, as the referee pointed to the spot after Amri Yahyah went down in the penalty box in the dying stages.

    Safiq put the spot kick away to put the Malaysians 2-1 up.

    Indra Putra put the final nail in the coffin, passing the ball into an empty goal after Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny went up to the opposing penalty box in search of a goal for a corner as the Lions threw caution to the wind.

    The riot police were called in after the match, initially to deal with the the boisterous Malaysian fans, and later to handle the situation in front of the tunnel, where irate Singapore fans threw bottles at the referee.

    They were upset at the match officials for making several dubious calls against the Lions throughout the match.

     

    Source: www.tnp.sg

  • Bernd Stange: Penalty Hearthbreaking But Team Lack Backbone

    Bernd Stange: Penalty Hearthbreaking But Team Lack Backbone

    SINGAPORE: Lions coach Bernd Stange had called Omani referee Ahmed Abu Bakar Said Al Kaf’s decision to award Malaysia a penalty in the 90th minute a “heart-breaker”.

    In the post-match conference on Saturday night (Nov 29), Stange said: “From my view, it didn’t look like a penalty. I have to see the replay. It’s not my job to judge, it’s the referee’s.” He added that the players and him were “feeling empty” after the match.

    Hafiz Sujad was adjudged to have fouled a Malaysian player in the box at the stroke of full-time, and Safiq Rahman converted the resultant penalty. Striker Indra Putra put the gloss on the victory when he slid home the third goal into an empty net after Singapore goalkeeper Hassan Sunny failed to rush back in time from a free-kick at the other end of the field.

    Singapore striker Khairul Amri had earlier equalised, after Safee Sali put the Tigers ahead at the hour mark.

    The coach said “injury time stopped our dreams” and “we are all disappointed”. “Tomorrow we will open the newspaper and only see 3-1,” he said.

    Angry fans had thrown bottles on the pitch, in protest of the referee’s decision. The referees had to be escorted into the tunnel by riot police.

    “We feel very, very sorry for our fantastic fans,” Stange said. “But it’s a young team, and we have a bright future ahead. Six to eight players can still play in next year’s SEA Games and we’re looking forward to it.”

    That said, the coach admitted the team “lacked a little backbone” – something Singapore had two to three years ago, and these are areas the team have to improve on.

     

    Source: www.channelnewsasia.com