Friday, April 22, 2005
1:41 PM
ive been too tired to blog for the past few days so i shall talk bout my week now..lets start with monday..the game against sa:
i was damn hyped from the moment i woke up..even more so after watching the waterpolo presentation and chapel..couldnt concentrate during lessons after that..only had the game on my mind..and then it started pouring just as we got dismissed..and i got word that the sa pitch was waterlogged..we thought that the game might be cancelled..but it wasnt to be..anw..our spirits were still on a high..we had a banana skin war at the void deck..it was really cool..we werent to any extent a wreck of nerves..rested in the lt for awhile..then nas and is gave us a pre match briefing..isthiqlals analogy of the battle for singapore was pretty apt..we had conquered the north where innova was..todays battle was for the south..
"close them down once they get the ball..pressure them and if they get past you, bring them down" the words that somehow didnt stick in my head.
we got to sa and saw the horrible pitch..our fields much better u know..seriously..no offence..not that i care anw haha..we warmed up..the team was announced and i wore my armband..by then the bulk of our supporters led by the councillors had arrived..the atmosphere was just overwhelming..the sa crowd that lined one flank..and the ac faithful that dominated the other..honestly..i dont think that we were the least bit intimidated as we went into the game and at any point during the game itself..seeing the lone ac flag flying and the voices of our crowd dispelled any form of fear..so..the usual customaries..shake hand, flip coin, and game on....
it was one heck of a messy game..much due to the pitch..the first half was all about both sides shutting out each others attack..tackles flew at every part of the pitch..for me, i think i was overhyped..i flew in at every oppourtunity and should have gotten booked..i didnt apply anything that nas and is had drilled into us b4 the game..murali and syed had already picked up bookings by the end of the half..and then..the chance of a lifetime that i spurned....we won a corner..i decided to go up for it for the first time in a long time..i stationed myself in the middle of the box..the corner was swung in..my marker left me to challenge for the ball..and it was somehow flicked nicely to me..then came the unthinkable..from 6 yards out..i headed the ball over the bar..%#!@.. seriously it was just rahhhhhh..and i already knew then that it would be one of the costliest misses in the long sad history of costly misses..we were blasted at half time..by which were already covered with mud and sa filth..we went back in..and the game carried on with the ferocity that it had left off..no mercy with the tackles from either side..we played better i reckon..but never created any real oppourtunities..to be honest..sa werent much better..every ball that they played down the centre was met by chong, syed or majun with conviction and authority..the game looked to be headed towards a draw..
and then..it happened..
sa earned a throw on the left..one of them got to the byline and managed to squeeze a cross in..and their striker headed home..it wasnt anyones error..but ultimately the whole team was made to pay for it..from then we were just chasing the game and sa was content to pump the balls up front..we brought on subs..adam steve ian and kai..but nothing could be done to salvage the situation..we were fighting a losing battle..but for that matter..we fought bloody hard and pushed them to the death..
the whistle was blown..the sa crowd roared..and we could only sink to the ground..i didnt even have the mood to lead a cheer for them..it was just the terrible feeling of knowing that u gave ur heart and guts but it still fell short of the standard that we had to meet..we did stop sa from playing their usual game, thats for sure..but in the end..one goal meant three points down the drain..reflecting back..we didnt play our usual game either..but the effort the team put in on a whole was really insurpassable..for that alone i was proud..
right now, when i think back to the game..certain glorious images come to my mind..lifeng and the councillors shouting their hearts out, as well as the rest of the ac gang who came out of their passion for the red blue and gold..majun rising up to head clear the high balls..chong u outmuscling and outrunning the sa players who were huge..murali flying in for a tackle, getting up and flying in again, enghao running at the defence and showing that size doesnt matter..me going in for a 50-50 challenge with the sa captain and coming out tops..and of course..the other images still haunt me..that miss..that goal..my mistakes during the game..the tears..picking each other up after the game..
this is everything that football is about..the passion that makes u proud of being part of the team that ur in..the drive that makes you give ur all on the field..the tears that drive u in the future so that u never have to feel the same sorrow again..
as the supporters put it: "on that day on sa soil..i was proud to be an acsian"
hell yeah.
