Contributed by Noor Arianti Osman
The Malaysian ladies soccer team had 11 players on the field, about 5 on the bench, 1 official coach and over 30 back seat coaches disguised as supporters risking sore throats telling the players where to kick the ball and asking the referee to issue red cards to the Singaporean players and to award free kicks to the Malaysian team. It almost worked; one Singaporean player was issued a yellow card.
The Malaysian ladies soccer team had 11 players on the field, about 5 on the bench, 1 official coach and over 30 back seat coaches disguised as supporters risking sore throats telling the players where to kick the ball and asking the referee to issue red cards to the Singaporean players and to award free kicks to the Malaysian team. It almost worked; one Singaporean player was issued a yellow card.
Despite having a brilliant start and greater possession of the ball throughout the game, Team Mas went down 2–1 to Team Singapore. The sole ray of light came from a newcomer to Team Mas, Nora Azrina Abd Rashid.
The (official) coach of Team Mas (unofficially) commended Team Singapore for being better prepared and for having a better ability to read the game.
We are proud of the Malaysian team for putting up a good fight and the perseverance showed by the team captain Shopna Rani Malakar for continuing to play despite being injured. We also appreciate the commitment of two of our players, M. Selvarasee from Kuantan and Teh Zauha from Ipoh who travelled to Kuala Lumpur every Saturday for training.
Right before premier soccer began, we received news that Malaysia had won cricket, which made the overall score to Singapore leading with one point. The last two deciding games were premier soccer and golf.
Despite water being so crucial to both teams, water somehow did not reach the Malaysian team. Despite this oversight, the Malaysian team survived thanks to the timely intervention of Singapore Veterans’ Football team skipper, Mr. Intekhab Khan and his personal supply of water.
It was a tough fight from the word go, with Singapore scoring 2 goals in the first 40 minutes. Malaysia had 6 attempts on goal but only managed to score once in the first half.
Team Mas succeeded in closing the gap during the second half. As is usually the case, there were a few welcomed and spirited skirmishes, and it was most unfortunate that a Singaporean player had to leave the field due to injury. The Malaysians revelled with the unusual wave of yellow cards in the air, which they must have thought was a party with yellow confetti.
Twenty minutes into the second half, Team Mas was playing hard and with a sense of urgency trying to score the winning goal. Team Singapore emulated the Italians, by packing their defence like a can of sardines.
With Team Mas marauding all over Team Singapore’s end of the field in search of that elusive goal, Team Mas’ goalkeeper was on the receiving end of some light hearted quips, most notably, that this was probably not the best time to take a nap.
The game ended with a 2–2 draw but was marred by controversy and a furious protest by the Malaysian coach/convenor. He was surprised that the game had ended a whole 5 minutes early and this not including time that had to be added on for stoppages. Team Mas has yet to receive a reasonable explanation for this abnormality.