Tuesday, March 15, 2011

..the Green Pigs got us..

It wasn't meant to be. After going through everything from getting the nod of all players, rushing to beat everyone to get the borang, we limped out of the tournament. Even from the start, things were a bit dodgy. I decided to let Hanhebat be the captain because as a final year student here, I thought maybe he can gain some final glory on the court. He rejected Toh's Saints team for ours, and there was a great difference. Saints bowed out without even getting a point in the group stage, while we, Angry Birds, could at least held our head up high by gaining a creditable point against the purple wearing Belacan M1 team.

We just had to be the first team to start the match. Our group stage isnt very fair to say the least. Theres another M1 team called Kaki Bangku and a group of MAI juniors team. First of all, that red Adidas Sala futsal ball sucks, and it bounced all over us. I honestly thought we could get a win over Belacan but all of us were not used to that fucking ball. We conceded our first goal unfortunately when I let Mok handle a long bouncing ball that just went over him and an opponent which then surprised our keeper Dinie. The ball then had an unfortunate deflection and went in. Determined, we attacked them. I even went in a one-on-one situation from a wonderful pass from Hadi, but I am a defender by trade, with no composure, thus I blasted it away. As the game progressed, Shazli got us a goal back and our pride were intact. From a Hadi knock down, I rushed to get to the ball. As the ball was bouncing awkwardly, I saw a Belacan guy was going for the ball and I thought, the fucker surely wants to use his foot to get this ball at this height, so I purposely threw my body forwards and got a light kick from him near my xyphoid process, as I clutched my chest and went down. It wasnt really hurtful because I knew the guy was taking back away his kick, and I appreciated that.

The second game was against an M1 all star team with their president Suzuan and some other guy who Hanhebat doesn't like :p We had some trouble containing their pace as they sprayed their passes around. We never really had possession as they kept on pressing, even their defenders went up high. I think I could contain Suzuan a bit well, what with his pace and creativity, I just restricted him to the flanks and accidentally kicked his ankle while clearing away a ball from him. But he seemed okay. I think as a nifty little player, he got used to such careful attention from defenders. Hadi got us a goal but we went down 2-1. Sad.

The final game was the final straw. I think most of us are all tired, even me. We couldn't match the MAI team's game-play. And for the first time that day, I was rested and Mok started the game alongside Hanhebat in defense. Catastrophe followed when MAI attacked us relentlessly and gained a 2-0 scoreline. They have the upper-hand. I tried to bring us back with helping the attack but in doing so, we were exposed at the back, which I already told Hanhebat when we started the second half. I wanted to go all out and help the guys, giving them options with my constant running and whatnot. This in turn gave Dinie and Hanhebat headaches with the quick pace of the MAI players. At time I had no choice but to foul some guys in the process. Hanhebat even had his own version of a futsal version of wrestling clothesline when he blocked 2 strikers in one move. Awesome. Then we were out of the tournament, this time losing 3-0.

The grouping stage was very tough, and I think those MAI and Kaki Bangku team that went through deserved to go further, because I felt our Angry Birds team was only at the standard of Romanian or Danish teams in the Europa League. Get it? They were not miles before us, its just that they had class. They're like the Atletico Madrid or Juventus compared to us. On the bright side, all of us had ample playing time, we got a creditable draw, and next team we could watch futsal while eating lots of food during the knock out stages, while they have to battle it out, heheheh.

So Angry Birds, I'm proud of you guys, stay angry, and slay those pigs! xD

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