hilmi_official™: June 2015

Saturday 20 June 2015

Malaysian Super League 2015 | LionsXII vs ATM [3-1] Match Highlights

Malaysian Super League Full Time:

LionsXII 3-1 ATM

39' Fazly Alias(OG)
51' Safuwan Baharudin
84' Shahdan Sulaiman

Safuwan played in three different position today, as a center back, central midfielder and also center forward! Scored one, and assist one.

Shahdan scores on his first touch after coming in from the bench!

Youtube Link

Thursday 18 June 2015

Japan looking ahead to gaining revenge on Singapore in the return fixture.

Japan striker Keisuke Honda gestures after missing a shot during the second half of Tuesday night’s 2016 World Cup Asian qualifying match against Singapore at Saitama Stadium.

By Sean Carroll / Special to The Japan News

SAITAMA — Being booed off the pitch under a steady downpour wasn’t how Japan’s World Cup qualifying campaign was supposed to start.

The Samurai Blue had been ruthless in Vahid Halilhodzic’s first three friendly games in charge, and was expected to saunter through its second-round Asian qualifying group for the 2018 competition in Russia.

Reality hit home with a thud at Saitama Stadium on Tuesday, though, as lowly Singapore held on for a historic 0-0 draw to leave the hosts shellshocked.

“After that kind of result it can’t be helped,” Keisuke Honda said of the team’s unfavorable reception as it trudged off. “It’s only to be expected.”

Maya Yoshida agreed.

“It is what it is,” the ashen-faced Southampton defender replied when asked about the jeering. “If you don’t win at home against a team that’s considered to be of a lower rank, then that’s bound to happen.”

“Of course it’s a shock, but we can turn things around,” Honda added. “We’ve only just started and this shows just how difficult the qualifiers for the World Cup are.

“These kind of things happen. Individually we had to convert our chances. We weren’t just taking easy shots, though, and they also defended well.”

That was especially true of Singapore goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud, who had a sensational 90 minutes between the posts, repelling strike after strike with a series of stunning saves.

“They were coming for 45 minutes, that was all I could see,” a beaming Mahbud told reporters of the second-half siege Japan laid on his goal. “I just tried my best to save every ball. I think it was my day.”

Japan goalkeeper Eiji Kawashima was impressed with his counterpart’s display, but suggested that the Samurai Blue need to address the age-old issue of profligacy in front of goal.

“I don’t think we can talk about luck,” the 32-year-old said. “We have to come to terms with the fact that while we were making plenty of chances, we weren’t able to score on any of them.

“We had a similar game aiming for the 2014 World Cup here against North Korea, where the ball just wouldn’t go in until Maya [Yoshida] finally scored right at the end. I want for us to be able to overcome those kind of games.”

Hiroki Sakai conceded that Japan’s end product left something to be desired, but insisted that the side doesn’t need to adjust the way it plays against compact teams that sit back and aim to soak up pressure.

“It’s not a case of just committing players forward,” the Hannover 96 defender said. “If we can change the final quality then things will be different. The important thing is to keep going and have that belief.”

Keeping the faith is not always easy when slip-ups prompt boos, and Tomoaki Makino — who hit the post with one of Japan’s clearest chances — admitted that the players are affected by the expectations heaped upon them.

“Of course we felt it,” the Urawa Reds defender said. “The game was a sellout and the atmosphere when we came out onto the pitch was incredible.

“We wanted to take three points from this game, to play the football the coach is aiming for with fast, direct passes. I think that was on display on the pitch, but the accuracy of the final shots wasn’t quite there.”

The self-proclaimed “mood-maker” was adamant, like Sakai, that the team was not despondent and still dedicated to playing its traditional style of patient, passing football when the next qualifier comes around on Sept. 3 against Cambodia — and already looking ahead to gaining revenge on Singapore in the return fixture.

“After the game the words flying around among the coach and players were that we have to carry this on into the next game and make sure that when we play Singapore away we bring back the three points,” he said.

“It’s not finished. We didn’t lose. Our heads aren’t down.”

Source: The Japan News

Tuesday 16 June 2015

Japan ranked 52nd held to scoreless draw by 154th-ranked Singapore

Singapore's Muhammad Zulfahmi Bin Mohd Arifin (left) and Japan's Shinji Okazaki vie for the ball during Tuesday's 2018 World Cup qualifier at Saitama Stadium. The match ended in a 0-0 draw. | AP

BY ANDREW MCKIRDY(JT)

JUN 16, 2015

SAITAMA – Japan got its 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign off to an embarrassing start after being held to a 0-0 home draw by Singapore on Tuesday.

A crowd of 57,533 arrived at Saitama Stadium expecting to see Japan, which is bidding to claim a place at a sixth straight World Cup, breeze past Singapore, which is ranked 154th in the world and has never qualified for the world’s top tournament.

But an inspired performance by Singapore goalkeeper Mohamad Izwan and some wasteful finishing by Japan meant that the game finished scoreless, giving the home side a reality check after winning its first three games under new manager Vahid Halilhodzic.

“I’ve never seen a situation like this before in my career,” said Halilhodzic. “We kept creating chances and the players gave everything to get the win. The only thing that was missing was a goal.

“If we had been able to get a goal, then it would have turned out to be a different game. It’s difficult to accept but there is no need to be despondent.”

Japan, which is ranked 52nd, has also been grouped with Afghanistan, Cambodia and Syria in its opening qualifying round, but Singapore now holds the early upper hand after beating Cambodia 4-0 in its first match.

“At home, in front of great support like this, we have to win,” said captain Makoto Hasebe. “When you play against a team that is well organized like tonight, you have to play faster than we did. We’ve only just started and we need to take the frustration from tonight and use it to our advantage.”

Japan began the match with only one change from the lineup that beat Iraq 4-0 in a friendly last Thursday, with FC Tokyo’s Kosuke Ota replacing the injured Yuto Nagatomo at left back.

Shinji Kagawa forced a flying save out of Izwan in the 12th minute as Japan quickly settled into an attacking rhythm, before Shinji Okazaki shot wide after a surge forward from Hasebe.

Kagawa tried again in the 23rd minute before Okazaki failed to finish off a flowing passing move soon after, and Tomoaki Makino headed a corner wide as Japan began to approach halftime with the game still scoreless.

Kagawa almost threaded the ball into the net despite close attention from the Singapore defense as the second half got underway, but Japan still could not find the target as Takashi Usami wasted a series of chances to break the deadlock.

The home side’s task was made even more difficult by Izwan’s heroics in the Singapore goal, and the ‘keeper pulled off a fantastic save to claw Okazaki’s header off the line in the 55th minute.

Halilhodzic threw on another striker when he replaced Kagawa with Yuya Osako six minutes later, but Izwan again denied Japan with another brilliant save from a Keisuke Honda header.

Photo: Japan Times

Honda then hit the crossbar from a free kick before the ‘keeper smothered Usami’s rebound shot, and although Japan proceeded to throw everything at the visitors in a grandstand finish, Singapore held firm to claim a point that few saw coming at the start of the evening.

“If you don’t take your chances, then this is the kind of result that you get,” said Okazaki. “We defended well but we just couldn’t put the ball in the net.”

Group E Standings:

Photo: FIFA

Source: Japan Times

World Cup Qualifiers & AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers | Japan vs Singapore LIVE STREAMING

Photo: Straits Times

Irfan Fandi scores again Japan U22

Japan vs Singapore LIVE STREAMING -
Links will be updated nearer to the time of the match.

Link 1 Link 2 Link 3

Saturday 13 June 2015

28th SEA Games 2015 | Thailand U23 vs Indonesia U23 LIVE STREAMING

13th June 2015, Saturday

Semifinal 2:

Thailand

Indonesia

Kick Off: 8.30PM(Singapore Time, +8GMT)

Venue:

National Stadium, Kallang

FINAL:
Myanmar U23 vs Thailand U23[0-3]

3rd/4th Play Off:
Vietnam U23 vs Indonesia U23[5-0]

Friday 12 June 2015

Safuwan brace drives Singapore to opening AFC WC Qualifiers win

By ESPN Staff

Safuwan Baharudin's brace helped Singapore to a 4-0 away win against Cambodia in their opening Group E World Cup qualifier. Photo credit: Melbourne City

Utility player Safuwan Baharudin scored two first half goals to inspire Singapore to a thumping 4-0 away victory over Cambodia in their AFC second round 2018 World Cup qualifier at the Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh.

It was the opening match of Group E, which also contains 2011 Asian champions Japan, Syria and Afghanistan.

After striker Khairul Amri had given the Lions a 1-0 lead in the first 10 minutes, Safuwan struck in the 21st and 35th minutes to put Bernd Stange's side in firm control before half time.

The LionsXII enforcer -- who became his nation's first import to the A-League after a successful spell with Melbourne City earlier this year -- followed his goals with a yellow card as Singapore went into half time with a 3-0 lead. Earlier in the half, he had been stretchered off the pitch after receiving a knock.

The visitors extended their advantage when Warriors FC forward Fazrul Nawaz turned in a chest-down from midfielder Hariss Harun to put Singapore ahead 4-0 in the 54th minute.

They almost made it 5-0 in the 65th minute when a free kick from Shaiful Esah cannoned off the bar.

Veteran forward Shahril Ishak came on for Khairul Amri in the 79th minute, earning his 124th cap making him the most capped international in Singapore history.

At 154th in the FIFA rankings, Singapore are 24 places above Cambodia, who had lost 4-2 to the island nation in a pre-AFF Suzuki Cup friendly last November.

In their next World Cup qualifiers on June 16, Singapore will play Japan in Saitama while Cambodia host Afghanistan.

Singapore starting lineup: Izwan Mahbud (GK), Shaiful Esah, Madhu Mohana, Hafiz Sujad, Safuwan Baharudin, Zulfahmi Arifin, Nazrul Nazari, Hariss Harun (C), Izzdin Yacob, Fazrul Nawaz, Khairul Amri

Catch the Cambodia vs Singapore all four goals here! -> http://hilmiofficial.blogspot.sg/2015/06/2018-fifa-world-cup-qualifiers-cambodia.html?m=1

Source: ESPN