Ranking fifth last year, only five regular players were returning to Bangkok and already knew they would not make the same mistake than last year. Indeed, staying 5 minutes from the pitch, 10 kilometers from downtown would assure us to stay sober until the end of the tournament. Eventually, it indubitably paid off and everybody was 120% for the whole 2days (Justin would have been proud!).

There were there…

To make sure we have a strong squad, we requested the help of the best player of the SIFL with Saigon Raiders a few years ago: Dominic Schaufler. Scoring the equalizer in semi final and two goals in the final, he has been a key player in reaching the final. His mate Nam has also been a great addition to the team while Dao helped us to strengthen our defense on Sunday’s final stage.

Coming from Malaysia, Tahar, notably famous on the Island for being the main actor of a pretty well done commercial (google Snake+world cup+Malaysia to find the man) joined the team as a guest star. Recruited by Yorro a few months ago in one of Kuala Lumpur’s darkest club, he ended up keeping clean sheet on Saturday and even score a goal in the quarterfinal.

Saigon Hotshots’s recruitment network is undeniably pretty wide so watch out for this long arm guy with his crazy dancing skills. In this club, he is actually recruiting.

Only Vietnamese citizen, representing Sacombank (we indeed look for a sponsor), Trung was playing his first tournament abroad. The recent addition in the Hotshots squad barely said a word during the whole weekend. He was surely focus on not letting anybody score. As a matter of fact, he did it well.

The “bouche trou” man, also the one writing those lines played decently. Playing left back, right back, left midfield and a couple of minutes in the center, Charly made the best decision of his football career by not taking the penalty shootout in the semi final. He notably shot the ball as high as Laurent did last year in the quarterfinal. For my defense, it was not as important as the penalty Laurent missed last year.

Completing our defense, our veteran player: Loic still doesn’t want to play the master of the veteran tournament. We cannot tell his age publicly but nobody could even guess it. Running under the sun as he was still 20years old, he would make his young interns at BigC blushing if they had saw him. Playing together for the last 8 years, we finally won a trophy together, Thanks Loic for always following the team. Like Thierry Roland said “On peut mourir maintenant, le plus tard possible mais on peut”. Our English mates will understand when their national squad wins a world cup. Barz, Barz, Barz

Philippe, our young virgin soul played all the game of the weekend. Still facing stronger opponent than him, he has been strong and played well as he used to.

Nico so dep trai (deserved at least likes from 50 em oi on this picture) did not scored this time as he did outrageously in Manilla. Neither on the pitch nor on soi Cow Boy, our Franco-German mate stayed quiet. However, he now has a “pied a terre” in Bangkok and we all know what it means…

Ryan eventually got his Mac Book Pro and will rock Saigon with kick ass sound. The weekend mission is indeed accomplished and he actually now only has “twenty dollars in his pocket” and a Thai keyboard computer! This tune has been a pain in the ass for the whole weekend but it will stay as the Hotshots 2k13 anthem in Bangkok.

This weekend would not have been the same without Alexis. We had our Raph in Phnom Pen, we had Alexis in Bangkok. Obviously not the best scorer we could find, he certainly scared opponent with his style. Perfect tan, the perfect “meche” and proudly wearing Horacio Caine’s sun glasses while warming up, Alexis was not there to score goals, playing football is another concept for him. We wish you good luck in Paris, you will bring Laurent to the Parc des Prince and tell him that you bring back the cup from Bangkok!

Our guy from “Ivoirie” unfortunately could not play this weekend. However, his injured knee did not prevent him to dance like crazy on Sunday night and then waking me up to ask for painkiller. Nevertheless, Ivory Coast was represented and a killer he has been on the side. Managing the team and arguing with opponent coach, Yorro also took the best pictures of the tournament for us but also for Olympique that now had the most beautiful Facebook page they even had. Besides, thanks to us, they have trace of their missed penalty shooting.

Kevin, our captain, made an important decision this weekend. He did not drink more than 3 beers on Friday night. Consequently, he was in shape and played, as he is capable of when he is sober. It has definitely been such a long time we haven’t such a beautiful volley and a smashing header on top of everybody. Notably, Kevin shacked referee hand and seemingly pee on a Saints shirt after we found hair from a Saint’s ass on one of our shirt.

Last year, Antoine injured himself for the first game. Changing position to goalkeeper to show off his jump skills (for the picture) and approximate ball catching, he already helped us to reach the final in Phnom Penh last year. This weekend, he is definitely the Hero who brought us to the final after an amazing save in the semi final penalty shootouts. Viet can worry for his position; Saigon Hotshots has two great goalkeepers that Olympique is still trying to recruit.

The last few words will be for our captain Fitzie and this cup is dedicated to him! He could have played the master cup and win it by himself. Fitter than anybody else in the team, our boot camp instructor did not have time to disgust our opponents with his skills. Probably the only way to stop our captain; a French asshole from Hanoi Drink Team headbutted our captain after 5minutes of our first game. We all remember the one from Zidane on Materrazzi during the world cup final, this was pretty much the same move but Fitzie ended up at the hospital for 12 stitches and sadly ended his tournament here.

An amazing weekend to conclude, we all had a great time and look forward for next year edition!

A small recap of our games:

Saigon Hotshots 1–0 Hanoi Drink Team

We have been pretty much disgusted the aggression on Fitzie has only be awarded a yellow card. We continue to play and finally scored 5minutes before the end of the game after a great cross from Yorro for Kevin’s volley.

Saigon Hotshots 1-0 German All Start Bangkok

A pretty good team that reach the final. Very physical, we could have conceded a goal on the numerous set pieces our opponent had in the second half. Nam scored from a nice shot 20meters on the left side of the box. It could have been a cross to Yorro but he missed it and masked the goalkeeper. The ball went in and we were pretty sure to qualify for the quarterfinal.

It was confirmed a few hours later after we learnt than Latini withdrew because they missed to many players. We could rest and prepare for the next day

Saigon Hotshots 4-2 Lunatics Shenzhen – Quarter Final

A disputed game although we were a much better team. Loic scored the first, Tahar the second while Kevin Fox scored the two last one. A great header and an easy one after a great work from Dominik.

Saigon Hotshots 1-1 (4-3 penalty) Finaxys – Semi Final

Probably the best team of the tournament, they eliminated Olympique in Quarter Final after penalty shootouts also. They opened the score with a header after a good run from their fast winger. We equalized soon after with a great movement between Kevin and Dominik. We suffered in the second half and hope that Antoine bring us to the Final. Dominik, Kevin, Tahar and Dao scored while Antoine saved the fourth one from Finaxys.

Saigon Hotshots 2-0 German All Star Bangkok – Final

We found this German team back in the final. Domink scored twice while we missed a couple of other opportunities. We did not play very well in this game but we also were not endangered. The semi final looked more difficult and we finally enjoyed the winning dance from Yorro with the dinner buffet.

All pictures are available on this facebook album.

The location is not defined yet but the date will be on September 28th-29th, 2013. Stay tunes for more information

We hope to welcome new Vietnamese players willing to join the club next season!

Here is a small interview of Trung:

How did you heard about the team?

A friend of my wife who played for a team in the SIFL knew that I was a big fan of football. He asked me to connect with the manager of his team as they were in need of new players, however he forgot to give me the phone number of the guy so I could not contact him right away. Then I browsed the SIFL website to get more information about the league and other teams. Through the “Contact Us” section, I curiously sent a message saying that I wished to join a team of the league. Charly was in charge of the website and he pretty soon warmly welcomed me to attend a trial with Saigon Hotshots to show if I was good enough to join the team! Later I knew he was the football-passionate pioneer who formed the team. Lucky me! That was how it started.

Why did you join?

Like any new players, I was offered to get in a training trial with other players. That night was actually not a training as usually. It was a friendly match against Olympique, one of the strong teams of the league. Our team won 1-0 and later I no doubt felt myself like a link in the chain of Saigon Hotshots. I think this offered me a very good chance to do training and enjoy playing football with foreign friends, thereby enhance my English skills and expand my cultural knowledge. I decided Saigon Hotshots would be a team that I wished to belong to.

What do you like in the team?

The team composes of a mixture of English, French and Vietnamese. Language barrier and cultural differences seem intangible to us since football connects all hearts not only on the yard but also outside in daily life.

It might be unavoidable with conflicts or arguments among the team but sharing the same hobby which is football drag us even closer to each other after that. Having drinks together or hang-out on weekends are also such fun things I do enjoy with the team.

It is worth to add that I love the way Kevin Fox, the captain of the team, show his persistence and passion in trainings and in matches. He’s always put 100% with all of heart, that improves team’s spirit and makes us more confident and collaborative.

What do you think about the league and the team organization?

The league creates great opportunities for football teams to compete for win and to play for fun! We have Charly, Justin and Kevin Fox who have been putting their efforts to maintain such a professional football team. Team members are very passionate and supportive. We play even better when all team members discuss and share thoughts to improve the team performance for next times, then find the best position for each man and the best squad for each match.
Would you recommend your friend joining our team?

-Absolutely! I always want to introduce to the team new good players whom I’ve ever played with and actually I did refer a few players. If the new guy is a good fit, he is very much welcomed to the team.
Are you looking forward Thailand Tournament?

Of course! I hope that our team will have a great performance in Bangkok and get highest ranking. Walking around Bangkok and discovering the city are also what I am looking forward to doing with the team!

Trung with his ex team mates

Saigon Hotshots are always looking for new skillful players to join the squad and to compete in the league.

Contact us to join the team

GIA LOI JSC has been a pioneer and leader in making PE and PP woven fabric in Vietnam since 1998. From ready made tarpaulin to industrial grade jumbo bag fabric and geotextiles.
With their expertise and tight quality control, they are able to consistently export geotextiles and other erosion control fabric to North America.
In addition, they have developed speciality products such as UV9, for aquaculture (shrimp and fish farming), brick drying tarp (easy to use and economical), and green house tarp.

We are proud to have them as our sponsor and look forward to seeing them on new kits!

Friday saw the start of our journey west, and was far from uneventful as we approached the Cambodian border for our first real taste of the country. Once making it through boarder control, the energy of the team became visible and everyone who woke up at 6a.m. to catch the bus was excited about getting to the hotel and Captain’s meeting. We arrived at the Hotel to find a very supportive staff wearing our logo and showing a lot of love for our entire team. We quickly made our way to the rooftop pool where we began to talk strategy over a case of cold beer.

The Captain’s meeting proved to be a great meeting place for new and old friends as the teams talked and laughed about memories past, and who would walk away with the trophies at the end. Confident teams then participated in the draw, finding Hotshots seated 1^st again for the second straight tournament, we pulled the first game at 8:30am Saturday. No surprises there, we left the Captains meeting, and after a nice team dinner and a few drinks later, we got back to the hotel and went for another swim.

Saturday morning showed Hotshots were in fact the team to beat as we started the tournament in good form. This continued through Saturday and saw us ranked 1^st again, same as in Bangkok. Finishing the day 3-0-2 we had a small cushion with which to use if needed on Sunday to ensure a spot in the final. This would prove to once again be a bad thing for us, being a travel expat team of hooligans, feeling great most of us headed into town for a night of local experiences that can never be talked about.

As the night seemed to fade away into Sunday, we saw the team’s energy do the same. Sunday started out a bit different than Saturday with Saints not showing up for their first 2 games. Unfortunately for us, this meant that Hotshots would be forced to play all their games in a shorter time span over the day. This complicated things as we were also giving other teams players because they did not have enough. Ultimately this hurt us as a few key players found injuries late on Sunday, and after playing more games than any other team, we really needed a full and healthy squad to finish off the tour.

After playing another 5 games on Sunday in the group stage, we had done almost the opposite of our Saturday results. We never lost sight of the prize though, and found the strength to beat our rivals Saigon de Olympic in a game that would decide the final 2 teams. Immediately following, we took on a Bayon Wanderers team that had half of the country’s national team players. Hotshots played their hearts out and left everything on the pitch for this one, but it was not enough as the locals found a winner late in the half. Although we dominated the flow of the game, we were not able to slip one past to tie the score and it sadly ended with another local team taking the top spot.

Not to say anything bad about the format, but after playing 11 games in 2 days, we were tired and with no thanks to the referees making absolutely as few calls as possible, almost everyone was drained before we made it into the last game. This could have been fixed in advance with a format change, but most players thought that the additional playing time would be a good thing for the teams. As we found out, it looks like 11 games is a couple too many in that short of a time, in the sun. I think most found the free lunch to be worth what it cost, and with limited options for hydration and shade, almost everyone’s face probably looks something like a snake right now. In addition, the medics supplied were basically not paying attention to the action and a few accidents took much longer than needed to be resolved. They did however do a good job of patching people up so that is the most important part.

After the tournament on Sunday night the team once again met for another nice dinner and then many went onto find love in local establishments. Not sure who won the Golden Hooker award this time around but I have a feeling at least a couple people on the team might be at the doctor’s office today.

Congratulations to Viet, who appears to be about to marry his new girlfriend as she travels to Vietnam today!

Super job by Antoine in goal all weekend, without him we would not have been in the final.

Thanks to Kevin for arranging the tournament and bus, and all the hard work on and off the field!

The entire defensive team – for working like a unit this weekend, the support and talking was the best it has ever been!!!

Midfield – Everyone played hard here, people got back, moved the ball well, and most were smart about substituting each game for at least a bit to ensure we had the freshest people on the field.

Forwards – Really good to see everyone working to win every ball!!! Even though we did not break any records for goals scored, the effort you guys put in helped propel us to the final!!!

All – great overall effort to fight out way into the final, with a little more work in the off season we will be winning all our tournaments for next season!!!

PROUD TO CALL HOTSHOTS HOME!!!

Once arriving at the hotel, we found that the hotel had no record of the booking, but this was quickly corrected by the staff and we were soon in our rooms. While most of us went to sleep, there were a few that most likely found their way into some good times that night… All of which i know nothing about.

Saturday morning!! We get to the pitch and everyone meets our joining squad and sees the new kits. Excitement is not enough to say what Kevin was feeling upon seeing the Purple Tottenham Away kits. As we take to the fields for our warm up, the announces notes to the rest of the tournament how organized and well disciplined we all are. As we laugh to ourselves, the other team all realize that we came to play!

The first game was not some of our best football but we push through and win 1-0 against the Tournament Hosts BKK German Allstars. Our second game,saw us play Farangutans FC, a bunch of hooligans who would prove to have drank too much the night before, and we ended the game 2-1 ( I think ).
The third game of the day saw us against rivals Olympique de Saigon, and as always they played well. Jordy somehow broke through our defense and was able to slide one past our keeper for our only goal against of the day…. In the second half we answered back, making it a 1-1 finish. Finally we played the German Allstars Singapore team, not much to write home about here, a nice way to end the day feeling good with a 3-0 win. This saw us at the top of our group, and going into Sunday as the top ranked team.

Saturday night like all things, started off so promising. We went and watched the Saigon Heat win against the BKK team, and went  to dinner in a couple groups. 1 of these groups went home after dinner, 1 did not. Im sure this worked out for everyone, including those who stayed in the lobby. But by the end of the night it was clear that we should have gone to bed earlier….

Sunday morning and Hotshots with a few less players than the day before, and some changes to the line up. These players were sorely missed. We started out the day playing the German Allstars team. They had qualified as the last team to stay in the cup competition by beating Raiders earlier in the morning. We played hard, but not good football really, and 1 kick from 35-40 yards was able to bounce and go over our goalie’s head. We were eliminated from a top finish just like that. Our second game saw us playing the Champions from both 2011 and 2010, we actually played football in this one, and ended up winning 3-1 against a team that also could have won again. Finally our last game and everyone had been well into drinking beers at this point. We played, went to penalty kicks and then ended up finishing 6th. Olympique ended up playing and beating the German Alsstars in the final 1-0, bringing the CUP to Saigon for what I believe is the first time ever!

That night we hit the town in style and I can say that I think we all had a good Sunday night and Monday morning. The team paid for dinner for the team, Kevin passed out in the taxi on the way there, and might be legally married to a “shexy lady boy” now. After dinner some of found Insomnia, and met with players from other teams, before meeting lots and lots more “shexy ladies”. McDonalds was key in helping hangovers, and lots of water was in order for most of us for at least the next 24 hours. Making the trip back is never as fun, and work was the last thing we all wanted to do on Tuesday, but I am sure we will be back next year. This truly is one of the best organized tournaments in Asia!

Thanks again to everyone that was able to join this tournament and team outing. I think everyone had a great time and hopefully next year we will take the Cup home!

A few special mentions to:

Kevin – took Goal Scorer of the Tournament, 4 goals.
Ryan – Fell through the bleachers and busted up his ankle.
Philipe – Scored a nice bender!
Laurent – Will be practicing penalties for a bit
Paul – Did a great job in D all weekend!
Loic – Is the most in shape person for his age on our team!
Raph – Eats more food than anyone I know.
Antoine – Is the most in shape person to hurt himself in the first game.

All in all a great time, and great effort by all players on and off the pitch!!! Really good work for our first tournament!!!

Our Sponsor and Anatolia BKK for helping make it happen.

Looking forward to seeing our full team in Cambodia at the beginning of June for the Bayon Tournament!

I also have not have a chance yet, but I should have some footage from the tournament. I will try to do a little editing this weekend, time permitting.

See everyone Sunday!!!

NTV scored first after a nice pass through from the Japanese Midfielder who was awarded player of the year last season. The second goal from NTV, scored by the same number 9 was obviously offside but it was a warning for Saigon Hotshots that the offside trap would not work with those referees.

Despite being led 2-0 after just 15 minutes, Saigon Hotshots continued playing their passing game. We were also better in all challenges and more physical than our opponent.

Jordy scored his first of his three goal from a 20meter shot with an assist from Fred Martin. A few minutes later after a nice cross from Kevin, our younger player, Philippe smartly passed to Jordy who equalized before half time.

With 2-2 at half time, we were glad we came back and also had a couple of opportunities. NTV could also scored on free kicks as our defense did not let opponent any chances by playing deep and tackling though. Viet, our goalie, was also granted a great performance saving a powerful header of NTV’s japanese striker and numerous other saves staying concentrated all match long.

Our third goal came after a deviated shot from Miroslav. Jordy was following and scored a hat trick and reaching the 2nd rank in the best scorer ranking of the league with a total of 9 goals in 8 matches. Kevin Fox is the third in this ranking. Nice statistics behind the NTV’s Japanese striker who count the amazing 23 goals in 11 matches.

Leading the match 3-2, we were afraid conceding a goal so we did not produce good football anymore. It was mostly challenges and the referee needed to show some yellow cards on both side. However, Saigon Hotshots team spirit and eager to win this game had the most of our opponent and The Haou, Haou, Haou (should ask Yorro how to spell it?) sound of the victory could resonate in the whole district 9!

This victory brings us third in the league, 4 points behind the leader, NTV but with one game in hand.

HOTSHOTS ROCKS!!!!

The team probably played the best football they ever played since the beginning of the season. We almost did not see any technical mistakes except the one of Charly, repositioned center back, giving the first goal to Faustin Bartoli after 20minutes in the first half. Fitzie, Jordy and Kevin were controlling the midfield while Antoine brought some speed both offensively and defensively on the right wing.

As a matter of fact, the whole team including Philippe, Loic and Miroslav gave 200% for this match and nobody was ever tired of running. We had a couple of opportunities with some long shots from Jordy and Kevin but we finished the first half 1-0 down.

We started the second half with the same hunger than the first half. After a free kick on the left side from Jordy, Miroslav scored by a header for his first appearance and his first ball. The Chilean has been dangerous 2 or 3 other times.

This equalization gave us faith in winning this game. We fell like a draw was not enough at this moment of the game. Ten minutes later, Antoine passed the ball after a throw-in on a left side. With only 3 touches, Jordy gave space to himself for a long shot in the top corner of the net. Beautiful deserved goal and the sixth goal in six matches for the omnipresent midfielder.

The key moment of the match has been the two consecutive yellow cards for Kevin Fox who let us finish the game with only 10 players. Despite playing with 5 defenders the last 10 minutes, Olympique pushed and had 3 or 4 opportunities to score. Charly and Viet saved it but this is Thomas Thiebault who equalized by a header 5 minutes before the final whistle higher than anybody else after a corner kick.

Olympique even had the opportunity the win the game in the last minutes of the game but our goalie Viet was solid until the end which valued him the Man of The match award from our opponent.

The numerous spectators who attended the game enjoyed a lot the show as both team elevated their level of football pretty high. Finally a fair draw for both team who deserved to win.