the joy of a goal: Malaysia nil vs Singapore three

cantik kan tarikh 12.12.12?

even if there's nothing to gain on this very date, it's not wrong either to be excited about it. i just don't understand why some people are being emotional about that. they just always will exist.

you know, how Harimau Malaya has arise these recent few years. and how all malaysians are being super supportive (and critical), apparently because of the triumphs they managed to brought home. since then, it was not quite rare for me to watch football matches for my family was never a fan of  any football club existed. that includes my father and my brother, too.

celebrating the school holidays, my cousins came down and stayed at our house for some time. of course, there are a lot of sightseeing to do. that morning, i had to do be tour guide since chief tour guide (that is my mom :) ) is going somewhere else.

at noon, after some nap and getting ready to go to the heart of kuala lumpur, eight of us went there by public transport. phew, because i'm suck at directions but i'm quite okay with lrts haha. so they were brought to the public places like low yat, times square and pavilion. it was tiring for them, i guess, because that is actually a lot of walking and by nearly dusk, they were all lurching. so enough sightseeing for the day.

my uncle parked his car at bukit jalil, the nearest station to my house. in the lrt, i could see like quite a number of harimau malaya fans, with the jerseys, hats and spirit. i spotted one even in times square and he was grinning with enthusiasm right before the door opens. and when the door opens, terus dengar there's one group booing from the other side of the platform. rupanya, the whole platform is crowded by indonesians (indo vs laos just ended) and they booed everyone arriving at the opposite platform. it was crazy, because it echoes. and my cousins and i had to stop outside for my uncle to distribute the blue coins to each of us. he collected it to avoid any unwanted scene like misplacing the coins. plus, cik kadir has two young kids. distributing takes quite some time and the train is soon starting to be on the move again. i had a feeling that we are so going to get it once the train clears the view of the people on the other side of the platform. 

and heck yes, my intuition was correct! we were the only ones left at the platform. the indonesians crowd booed at us immediately. they're just having good times and still high spirited so their actions are quite understandable though still freaking me out. 

i literally jumped in shock when i saw how many of them were there. and i got chills all over my neck, like they're an army who would defeat us by their number. padahal there's a railway and it's hardly possible for them to come anywhere near us. 
seriously, i shivered and ran towards the stairs before i could actually calm down a bit and turned back. only then, i chuckled at myself. i found the rest of my family were shocked too, and then we all grinned with our anxiety dissolving gradually. 

my sister tried to record the event. and when we played it back, the record was shaky! she admits her hand trembled so much of fear.
fuh. 

outside, we were thrilled to hear all the cheers from the stadium. so i asked cik kadir and cik dee, ' why not we got nearer? ala, just to get the spirit only'. they all agreed. and the cheers and roars we heard were in some sense calling us dearly to join them. 
and when we are right in front of the entrance gate, it was too much for us. we went excited, everyone's eyes were wide opened. i got that chilling sensation again, this time not from anxiety but from the spirits beaming from the audience when they sang the national anthem. it just echoes throughout the stadium and spreads to anyone in hearing distance. 

and at that moment, my uncle decided to get us all tickets and there, we are going to watch the match that night! of course i was more than excited, it was our first real match!
it felt very different than watching on tv because apparently you can't listen to the commentators. and you have to figure out the players by yourself. and i couldn't really see who is who from far, except for khairul fahmi (because who wouldn't? duhh) and safee sali. 

it was very much intriguing. 
ultras malaya was amazing, they sat together and cheered wholeheartedly for the national team. and few things you don't get to see on tv, like the substitute players warming up during the whole match ( i thought they just sit at the bench!), and players revising their strategies during first half break. and it's spectacular to see a really huge banner, coming from the ultras malaya side. there was a sketch of mokhtar dahari, i suppose, with very precise motto to lift the readers' spirits - Bangkit semua untuk negara! 

that was the best feeling. 
but 5 minutes later, that banner has to be rolled up because it obstructed the view of the audience below the banner (told ya it's huuuuugeeee)
sadly, malaysia lost three-nil to singapore. 
i was really hoping to 'feel' the joy of a goal but nope. all i could savour was the drama of singaporean players who play on international games but couldn't bear a brush in the leg. egh.

my cousin, dila and i, secretly think that this match would be remembered, because it'd be the last for khairul fahmi. ouch.

the guy who sit next to us in the same line is quiet and so focused from start till the end of game. tak ada perasaan langsung!

anyway it was fun, walaupun harimau tak mengaum. ( the next day, harimau menguap was on headlines lol the editor can be my friend)





and that night (and the following nights of the week), we couldn't stop talking every time the word football is mentioned. HAHA