It was the week that the lads and I was looking forward to..
The VI competition..
We've been preparing for the tournament since the start of the year and Saturday training was always complusary to everyone. We've been training and placing all our efforts in seeking our weak points and trying to overcome it as well as identifiying the most capable solutions to the problems. Despite the interruptions like extra school-day, Cuccuriculum activities, or any other things which makes us involve in school, we still managed to train as hard as well as enjoy ourselves during the process.
I told to the team earlier that if we would be drawn into a match against a team, i was hoping to get either VI, Dato Lokman or MBS as the opponents. It was clear that i had a vision and I wanted to achieve what ever was on my mind.
When we got the invitation form from VI through Choon Liong, he just placed the names he thought would be appropriate and my mistake was letting him to do so without me actually consulting the list of players that would actually be playing. And so the players that were named are as follows.
Eko Juniardi
Hafiz Wahidduzzaman
Chan Choon Liong
Fong Kheng Wai
Ku Wei Xiong
Ho Kar Fei
Mogan Kalimuthu
Lee Sin Ken
Looi Kah Shien
Loh Win Sung
Calvin Yong
Saw Xian Ling
Nazim Amin
Remon Melchizedek
Aliff Hakim
The problem here was Aliff couldn't make it due to a relative function he had to attend and the other problem was there were too many defenders and less attackers. We had to make or better said 'force' defenders to play in midfield areas. We had to suddenly depend on the players that we had and no others. Luckily Acap (Asraff) was still around, so we brought him in to balance up the tactical formations.
Well, Naz, Loh, Eko, Fiz, Acap and I met up on the at Rejababe at 8pm and from there we went to school to see get Calvin. We all took the bus to Pudu, inwhere Looi will meet us a Dynamic Bookstore. Oh yea, by the way today was the first time Nazim travelled on a Public Bus!! So highlight this day please, its very important that everyone knows whats happening. Well, im not so suprised by this cause Isfahan and Kheng Wai's first time on Public Buses was with me as well. Not to say i forced them to take it but I wanted them to experience how it felt like.
Personally, i would rather take the bus than to ask my parents to send me somewhere or to be carpooled by someone. Well not that i wanna cover macho say i cool or stuff, but rather give my parents a break. I mean i don't want to like force my parents to send me somewhere, why burden them? Well for those who still car pool or ask their parents to drive them around, I understand (Theft cases).
EH, off topic. Now, that we stopped infront of the Times Square and near Penjara Pudu, we walked till VI. Naz said he really enjoyed walking, he liked the adventure ^^. Yea so did I. We were listening to Hitz FM radio station on our players and they interviewed one of the DJ on how he spend his holiday. He replied by saying he was eaten by a shark o.O"
Well, VI wasn't really far and I remembered we all steped in with our RIGHT FOOT, kinda the indian tradition thingy. So we didn't waste anytime and we did warm ups. Now that all the members were present, we played a small training match as well as some tactical training. By the time all our training was done, one of the referees called us.
The game was bout to start and believe me, it was a time of pure pressure for us. When it started, our main plan was to hit VI on the break, but it seemed that the opponents were just too strong. They came from every corner and well we kinda pushed them off. We tried so hard not to allow them to have a opening. We were too busy defending that we didn't really attack at all. VI finally netted one in from a long distance shot. This was really disturbing for the rest of the team.
Well, we did attack 3 times in the first half. Nazim took a shot which deflected off the lefthand post, I attacked from the right wing and tried to shoot but the defender closed me down and I attacked again from the right wing but this time the keeper saved my shot. Though we were trying very hard to attack, the VI defenders was just too fast to close us down. The score line was 1-0 at half time.
Everyone was 'dying' during half time, exhausted, painful, stressed out and more exhausted. We just can't do anything but continue playing the way we played and hoped that we could make a comeback. Well, one of our biggest weakness though was that the all of us depended so much on Saw Xian Ling that when he got injured during the second half period, we just couldn't play properly. 2 more goals went in for VI from long range shots. VI managed to find our weak point; Long Range affords. We failed to close them down in time that when the shots went in, it went straight into the goal.
We just couldn't continue. The faces on the lads were really dissapointing. They knew what was upon them.
Saw Xian Ling out, We were losing to 3-0, We only managed to hit 3 shots so far, We had several of our players really exhausted.
But there was one moment of magic for us. We hit VI on the counter attack. Acap played the ball to me from the midfield area and it was a one-on-two situation. I managed to scoop the ball past the first defender and went up against the second defender. My only option left was the only thing i'm good at, run. I used my pace against the second defender and fought my way to the penalty area. I heard Loh screamin "SHOOT IT REMON" and being in a tight angle i just took a shot from the right side of the goal and SCORED!. 3-1. Well, after the shot i had a short term cram.
The game grew intense and eventually VI scored again. 4-1 the score line and I asked the referee about the time. He told me there was 5 minutes left. Knowing that it was imposible for us to match such a "well prepared" VI, i told the lads to stop trying too hard. Just relax and avoid injuries. VI scored again and we time was up. For some reason the Referee didn't blow the whistle and again VI scored. I was like Wad?? 6-1 the score line.
Yea, Team Hawk was trashed by the best team in Kuala Lumpur. After the final whistle, i took a look at the lads on one side of the field. I went up to everyone of my players and congratulated and thank them for their hard work and achievement. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to the players as I was personally disappointed with myself for letting the whole team down. My speed, my stamina, all i depended on failed me on the day of the tournament. I went to a side and didn't want to be disturbed.
For all i know, I am proud of the guys, No, Im proud of my team. Team Hawk. Everyone of them didn't gave up till the final whistle, especially the hardworking defenders. I have never been so proud of anything more then this. This has been one of the most, wait, THE MOST (it topped the list) tiring event of my life. I never felt so exhausted in my life. It felt like dying. Worst then any CrossCountry race i ever took part in.
And after some time, i realize that i couldn't run like how i used to after that bitter defeat.
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