Arsenal Malaysia Logo

Arsenal Malaysia Logo

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Kejohanan Futsal Terbuka Piala Ketua Pemuda, 14th November 2010


Waiting for the VIP...

We were keeping it under wraps, but FA was supposed to be participating in this tournament, but he pulled out the night before. Injured after playing rugby. Azman was roped in as replacement.

Khai was part of the squad, but I was chosen to play instead. Good sport Khai. Not easy to find someone like him. As a fellow keeper, I feel for him and I'm backing him to come back stronger in future football/futsal events.





With the VIP...







Arsenal Malaysia failed to qualify for the 2nd round after winning only 1 group game and losing the other 2. It was disappointing of course, but personally, I'm reminded why I don't really look forward to playing in futsal tournaments. When you are playing only 5 minutes per half on a small pitch, most guys will become aggressive and rough play is very common. It will be worse if the referee is not up to mark, and that's putting it mildly. All 4 teams hated the ref that took charge of our group. A couple of guys even threatened to beat him up.

We didn't lose because of the referee though. The other teams were just better on that day.



Very hot!!!

Enjoyed the "lepak" session afterwards though. Very much. By the way, all the pics here are from the AFCSM facebook page. More photos there.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Futsal training/familiarization session...




Arsenal Malaysia was invited to participate in Kejohanan Futsal Terbuka Piala Ketua Pemuda on the 14th of November. An announcement was made and the squad was selected. This session, held a few days before the tournament, was basically a training kickabout. A few other guys who were not participating in the tournament also dropped by to join in the session.

Of the new guys, I was impressed with Pai and Din, who were not part of the tournament squad. Zulhelmi, who is part of the squad, is a decent player too. These guys are definitely in our future plans if they can show they can commit.

As always, it was fun.