Gary Koh

Editor, "ROAR: Football Legends of Singapore". #ROARSG Thoughts and views mine.

[Gary Koh @GaryKLH]

Massive 3 points for South Korea in their 2-1 comeback win over Czechia. Their first #FIFAWorldCup opening group win since 2010.

Preparation in altitude was key, together with their clinical finishing inside box and solid goalkeeping from Kim Seung-Gyu.

[Tom Byerトム•バイヤー @tomsan106]

One of the biggest myths in football development is that great players are created by coaching courses and facilities.

There are 211 FIFA nations, yet only a handful consistently produce world-class players.

Most people believe Europe has a monopoly on development and that countries like Japan succeed because of superior coaching.

After 40+ years working in Japan, I can tell you that's not the real reason.

The difference is culture.

The most successful football nations have cultural environments that naturally develop the habits, behaviors, discipline, competitiveness, creativity, and social learning that elite players need.

Culture is invisible. It's difficult to see and even harder to explain.

That's why many countries keep investing in coaching education and infrastructure but see limited results. They're trying to solve a cultural challenge with technical solutions.

My World Cup prediction remains the same as it has been for several tournaments: the champion will most likely come from the small group of nations that have already won one before, with a few emerging contenders on the fringe.

Football development is not primarily about coaching.

It's about culture.

[Craig Foster @Craig_Foster]

Let’s extend the @Pontifex’s timely metaphor:

A World Cup makes the world look up — to see the whole field, as we say in football, instead of head down, focused only on ourselves.

A player with head down kills team play, combinations, performance. Heads-down nations, of which there are many, kill the world.

Life should be collective, like football.

Nobody wins alone. But like a team, it depends how you define winning. If it’s exploitation, killing others, dehumanisation, extraction, crimes against humanity, we all lose. These are self-reinforcing patterns, and affect us all in the end.

These messages land because so few see the whole field.

They’re referees who only blow the whistle against one team. And a game where the rules apply to some but not others, isn’t football.

We’re killing each other — spending trillions on ever more innovative machines to do so — while our teammates don’t have enough to eat.

Destroying the only pitch we have. Hoarding possession. Playing the man, not the ball, scoring own goals against the planet.

Pass the ball. Protect your teammates. Achieve as a collective. All messages direct from the beautiful game.

A good time to be having these discussions.

And that’s the beauty of a World Cup, and of football.

They make us look up.

[Simon Kuper @KuperSimon]

How Infantino and Trump fit into the history of the World Cup and FIFA, going right back to Jules Rimet and Mussolini. And why people should watch and love the tournament regardless. Me rolling out the history and politics ahead of my 10th World Cup @FT https://t.co/3eezpEFMsZ

[Gary Koh @GaryKLH]

Arsenal became the first English club to break the Singapore jinx when they finally lifted the Premier League trophy in the just concluded season after coming to Kallang for preseason.

[Zhen Ming @zhenming6]

2015 Arsenal came to Singapore.. but they didn't play in the Champions league final in 2016..

Well they had to wait 10 years, because in 2025, they came to Singapore... and in 2026, they...

[Uri Levy @Levyninho]

75 out of the 1,248 players who will play in the upcoming World Cup were born in France, but will represent other national teams.

Together with France’s own squad, that’s almost 100 players in the tournament who were born in France. That’s about 8% of all World Cup players. Insane.

There is no other country that produces more national team players in this tournament than France. Most of them, by the way, come from Paris and its suburbs.

[Kachii @badasskachii]

We are officially in World Cup month. Please leave your xG charts, pressing percentages, and defensive metrics in the club season. International tournament football is strictly decided by pure vibes, individual brilliance, tactical survival, and a random goalkeeper turning into prime Lev Yashin for two weeks. Enjoy the entertainment and put the spreadsheets away.

[Gary Koh @GaryKLH]

Terima Kasih @theBOLABOLAshow and @SivanJohn_ for the invite. Do have a listen/view and look out for the finale where the viral video attempting to prevent irresponsible gambling went viral for correctly predicting the winner.

[theBOLABOLAshow @theBOLABOLAshow]

🎙️🇧🇷 The World Cup That Began with Samba and Ended with 7-1! Join us as we relive Brazil 2014 with special guest @GaryKLH, including his hilarious anti-gambling campaign story gone wrong!

🎧https://t.co/MlCJJeFcuj
📺 https://t.co/mBuqDtovDo
💻 https://t.co/ubyYbHdAhA

[theBOLABOLAshow @theBOLABOLAshow]

🎙️🇧🇷 The World Cup That Began with Samba and Ended with 7-1! Join us as we relive Brazil 2014 with special guest @GaryKLH, including his hilarious anti-gambling campaign story gone wrong!

🎧https://t.co/MlCJJeFcuj
📺 https://t.co/mBuqDtovDo
💻 https://t.co/ubyYbHdAhA

[Romy Jarr @romyjarr]

So yesterday, Ali Olwan, Noor Rawabdeh, Yazan Al-Arab, and Mo Abualnadi all started the match vs Switzerland, battling against Granit Xhaka, Forest's Dan Ndoye, and Manuel Akanji, as well as Manzambi who played the full Europa final (vs Aston Villa) last week in Istanbul.

In 4 weeks' time, they'll all start the match against Enzo Fernandez, Alexis MacAllister, Julian Alvarez, and Messi.

What has Selangor benefited from them, and how have they benefited from Selangor over the last 4 years? That's the question.

[Deepanraj Ganesan @deeppaann]

Class truly is permanent.

What a game, what a goal.

[T. Avineshwaran @avineshW90]

Aide, a three-time AFF Cup winner and the seventh most-capped player in Singapore, has long been an influential figure in Aidil’s life and career.

Aidil, however, chose to keep details of their conversations private. https://t.co/WK55iUluAx

[Sid Lowe @sidlowe]

In 24 hours, Mikel Arteta took Arsenal to first league in 22 years, Andoni Iraola took Bournemouth to Europe for first time ever and Unai Emery took Aston Villa to first European trophy in 44 years, first of any kind in 33 years. All born within 30 miles of each other. Gipuzkoa.

[Romy Jarr @romyjarr]

I thought Selangor played exactly how they usually play in the Malaysia Super League...same style, same intensity, same threats, and typically looked dangerous throughout. But against Buriram, S'gor just couldn't get the ball into the net no matter how much it felt Buriram was penetrable at times.

Against every other team in the MSL (except against JDT), it usually feels like S'gor will eventually score somehow...there are always small gaps where S'gor will eventually exploit. But against Buriram, those little gaps just weren't there. All the small, tiny little gaps were covered.

That's why Buriram has managed to win the Thai league almost every year and consistently do well in the ACLE. They've mastered all the small details in defending and are very disciplined in covering all the small spaces from their midfield. Most teams in the MSL don't really do that properly..and only JDT has mastered it.

It also shows Buriram is a very well-coached squad, with much much better preparation, especially during preseason. They also rarely get their import signings wrong, and if certain imports don't gel, they move them on quickly where some of those players end up doing well elsewhere afterwards.

There's a lot we can learn from their whole operating model I think.

[Kristel 💙🧡 @kristelxo]

Being 43 is wild. People your age are living completely different lives.

Some are grandparents. Some are raising toddlers. Some are newly divorced. Some are newly engaged. Some haven’t slept in three years. Some are in St. Tropez posting Aperol spritzes from a yacht.

Some look 25.
Some look like they personally remember the invention of Tupperware.

Nobody got the same assignment.

[Gary Koh @GaryKLH]

@kapisanclub No wonder can give those 7 players passports lah...

[Gary Koh @GaryKLH]

@avineshW90 Unlikely to head to Brunei, given how strong Haimie Nyareng has been performing for DPMM FC especially in the second half of the season.

[Gary Koh @GaryKLH]

Previously Aidil Sharin had done wonders with financially-beleaguered Kedah, winning a domestic cup. Now with Kuching City, he has established them as the leading upstarts after JDT.

Won't be surprised if he eventually becomes the new head coach of Malaysia ahead of Singapore.

[Deepanraj Ganesan @deeppaann]

Meanwhile in Malaysia, Kuching City FC seal second spot to qualify for the ACL Two.

What a job by Singaporean coach Aidil Sharin. Club was in a relegation fight when he took over in August 2023.

📷: Kuching City Instagram

[J. Football Now @j_football_now]

Cristiano Ronaldo in 2025:

🗣️ “Saudi Pro League is better than the Portuguese league and better then Ligue 1, it's only PSG."

A reminder that Al Nassr have been knocked out of both the #ACLElite and #ACLTwo by J. League clubs 🇯🇵

▪️ Kawasaki 3-2 Al Nassr
▪️ Gamba Osaka 1-0 Al Nassr

[Anthony @AnthonyKyaw]

It’s incredible to see how strong Japanese clubs are.

All the best Japanese players leave for Europe, there are about 40/50 Japanese players in European leagues.

And Japanese clubs only have 4/5 foreign players in their squad. Still, Gamba beat Ronaldo’s Al Nassr in Saudi.