MiB FC Player Profile: Vana

4. saraVanan





Position on the Pitch: Defensive Midfield, Centre Back, Right Back

Nicknames: VanaBoy, TooGay, Abdullah

Player he Tries to Emulate: No one in particular I can think of but he is a Liverpool fan.

Memorable Quotes: “MMMM” (Dinesh will understand)
“Okay” (When Harish asked him for an unusual favour)

Will never be caught saying: “Call me Sara.”

Profile:

Vana brings a very unique flavor to MiB. Thanks to his roots growing up in Tampines and coming from St.Patrick’s Secondary School, it is easy to see the difference in the playing style that Vana has when compared to the rest of us. Composure on the ball, a good first touch, great vision and generally tough to beat are hallmarks of his game. With no offence to anyone, he brings along a very “Mat” flavor to MiB FC.

Vana first crossed paths with MiB in Catholic Junior College, where he was classmates with Pirakash and in the same Tamil class with Prak, SK, Chan and Sat, though Sat’s existence in the Tamil class is still being debated today. Because of his friendly and easy-going ways (look at Nicknames to see what I mean), he soon assimilated into MiB as one of our close friends and then as a vital cog in the team. Vana was extremely fit and has been one of the fittest players in the team for the past few years. However, by being one of the earliest members of the team to enter the working force and also because of his cravings for good desserts and lemak, plus you add the fact that he and his loving girlfriend love to try all sorts of new food joints, his fitness has dropped a little over time. Nevertheless, when the battle gets intense, you always want to have Vana by your side because you know “the boy can play”, and as mentioned with his younger days, he is one of our most “street-smart” footballers around.

Off the field, Vana really is one of the nicest people you can find. I can rarely remember him getting angry, and he has one virtue that many MiB members are still looking up in the dictionary for, and that is responsibility. Vana is a good son, brother, boyfriend, friend and I am sure he must be valuable to his employers too. Vana is very unique in the sense that he is Indian and he speaks Tamil, yet at the same time he is “well-versed” in the Malay sector, which translates to the fact that he gets along well with almost every member of MiB FC. He is one of a dying breed of MiB members who are present at almost every soccer session or movie outing, despite the fact that he manages work, studies, having a girlfriend and remaining committed to our friendships. For that Vana we salute you, and hope that it continues for a very long time to come.

Vana will always be remembered not for his spectacular goals (though he has scored some cracking beauties in his time!) or his amazing dribbling skills. Instead, many a time, it was his pass or his vital interception that makes all the difference for MiB. And that is perhaps the greatest compliment I can pay MiB FC. That we have a team of so many different individuals and flavours, but somehow these mixes are jumbled together and what you have is a deliciously assembled “rojak” that turns into a footballing juggernaut on the field and the courts. And without Vana, this recipe would just not taste the same.

NEXT WEEK: Anthony. (Short write-up because I really don’t have too much info about you dude sorry!!)