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Sunday, January 28, 2007

Engitex '06 Futsal Tournament...7 Jan 2006





Decided to post the pics and report on the above tourney here, for archiving purposes...




Dear fellow gooners...

Pls find my report on our participation in the Engitex '06 Futsal Tournament...

Sat, 7 Jan 2006
Matches were played on an outdoor handball court (which meant it was closer to Street Soccer than Futsal) and it rained pretty much the whole day. So that's two things that we weren't used to. Virtually everyone was afraid of falling, especially face first.

Group Matches

1. South Korea 0 - 4 Togo
Have to admit, as a whole, we played badly. The disappearance of one of our players just before the match didn't help (he had a valid reason anyway, so that's okay). However, I feel there is no shame in losing to a team comprising of taller, fitter students from the Middle East (Iran, I think, based on their jerseys) who in all probability, plays everyday. They did beat France 7-0 and eventually finished top of our group with maximum points and no goals conceded. Besides, one of their goals were scored by one of us....hihi....

2. South Korea 1 - 1 France
France was represented by one of AC Milan Fan Club's teams. They also lost their first match so this was a pretty much a do-or-die match for both teams. We played much better, especially in the second half. They stole a goal in the first half, but we replied well and our goal in the second half was well taken by Yus. However, a draw was not what we were looking for.
After the match, we realised we still had a chance to go to the knockout stages but we had to see what happens in the match between Togo and France before we knew needed to be done in our final game against Switzerland. Some of us were saying if Togo lost (which was a possibility since they had already qualified), then we might as well go home because then it would go down to goal difference where we would be at a disadvantage because of our earlier big loss. As it turned out, Togo thrashed France. Maybe they listened to Moe who wished them luck just before their match...hihi...

3. South Korea 0 - 0 Switzerland
The final match of the group. Togo were already Group G Champions and France were out. South Korea needed to win, by any margin, to overtake Switzerland (comprised of Malaysian UIA students) as group runnersup. Switzerland just needed a draw. So from the outset, our strategy was to attack and theirs was to defend. And that was pretty much what happened. We were the ones making all the attacking moves and they were content in soaking the pressure and try counter-attacks. Except for one fluke attempt that was deflected onto our crossbar early in the game and another long range shot that went wide in the second half, they did nothing else. However, despite our superior possesion, we just could not score.
This was definitely our best game considering the number of chances we had, but the slippery pitch and plain bad luck meant it was not to be our day.

Finished 3rd in Group G with 2 points, behind Togo (9 points) and Switzerland (4 points). Overall, we played ok, considering that we were playing outdoors on cement, on a wet day, and the limited practice we had. We could have gone on to play in the second day, all we needed was 1 goal....I believe all the players feel the same way. But what we all definitely agree on is that 1, we had fun and 2, this was a good start for us. Not a single one of us regretted volunteering for this Futsal tournament.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the players, namely Alex, Azman, Kavi, Moe, Shairul, Shahril (who replaced Fadzli), Vinod, and Yus. Thanks for making this a memorable event and thanks for your cooperation. I hope you all were satisfied with your playing time and my own performance as the goalkeeper.

To Faizal, I'm sorry, I only read your email this morning. At any rate, we already had a full squad. Next time, bro. This goes out to Fadzli as well.

Football Friendly, 27 Jan 2007






Friendly against the Newcastle fan club (NUFC).

Personally, I was annoyed at how often changes were made...first it was either the 27 or 28 of jan, 5 pm, venue UM. Less then a week before the game it was finally confirmed to be 27 Jan, 5 pm, at UM, just not sure which pitch A,B or C. Then on Thursday nite, Sham of NUFC called me and said that the ref just informed him that the venue has been changed to PULAPOL and the fee per team is now RM160! Aiyo...

Then on Friday, he called again to say that we had 2 options, either the venue remains PULAPOL but the time is 4pm or the time remains 5pm but play at Setiawangsa. I chose PULAPOL at 4pm.

Tot dat was ok oredi, and i was damn fed up of calling/smsing everyone but there still time for another change when Sham called me on Sat afternoon itself and said the ref just informed him dat PULAPOL's fields were being used. Wat the...WAT IS THE POINT OF BOOKING THEN IF THEY CAN JUST CANCEL BOOKINGS LIKE DAT????

Sham said the new venue is Setiawangsa after all, 5.30 pm. We agreed to meet at PULAPOL anyway, so dat i didn't have to call/sms everyone again. I broke the news to everyone as they arrived and am very glad dat everyone was ok with the change. A bit angry laa, but still looking forward to play. Thanks a lot guys.

Anyway, on to the match. When it started, there were only 2 officials, so they took charge like it was a hockey or futsal game, with 1 ref taking care of each half. hehehe..the 3rd guy came later. I was supposed to play first, but just before the kick-off, i realised my damn expensive boots "koyak"! wat the.... so i left and someone else replaced me. I finally did come in midway thru the 2nd period (got 3 periods), borrowing someone else's smaller boots.

Neways we won 2-1, with the goals coming from our twin terrors of Azman and Wayu. And it was obvious dat we have a decent side. Also glad we have depth in the goalkeeping department, so i don't have to bring my gloves anymore...hehehe..

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Football Friendly, 20 Jan 2007


First real activity of 2007 for AFCSM was this football frenly game against Sunday Cowboys (it was a Saturday). Their keeper, Alex is a fellow Gooner. Game played at Kg Pandan Sports Complex. Originally, the game was supposed to be at UM.

Result, we lost 1-3. Mazlan scored our consolation goal. No worries though. We didn't know each other's names, while our opponents played every week.

Because of the heavy rain, I really couldn't take any photos of the players after the game. Mebbe next time.