We're Getting Too Old For This Shit

MiB put ourselves on the podium of a tournament for the first time in 4 years as we finished 2nd in the NUS-ICS Futsal Tournament at Turf City Futsal Pitch today. It was quite a remarkable achievement considering we were the oldest team there, and most of us have seen fitter days. Vana was fasting too and there was a strong smell of Chivas emanating from Prak, Sat and Maran's mouth, all of which just add to the wonder of how we managed to come in 2nd and bag $200 in the process.

It was a weird tournament. We won 3 and lost 3, yet we finished 2nd. No wonder everyone was equally as puzzled. We kicked off the tournament against a team called Indian Boyz, who showed us a lot of respect and we dominated the early possession. But having watched too much World Cup, MiB decided to pass in front of goal instead of shooting. The highlight was an attempted overhead kick by Sat that ended up hitting his head. Try that at home, it's a lot harder than you think. The opponents grew in confidence, and MiB decided that Harvey was too clean so we let the opponents straight through and after a great save, the rebound was knocked in. 0-1. MiB then tried to rush the game, with Harvey being the biggest culprit. Off a counter, he decided to run out with the ball and instead of shooting, squared the ball to Vana. Unfortunately it was intercepted and despite Sat's heroics on the line, it duly finished 0-2.

Our next game was against Dorset Boys. They are good. Very good. Imagine 7 Chandras. MiB decided to play an organized, disciplined formation and it was working well, till a speculative shot from long range slipped through Harvey's hands ala Robert Green and it was 0-1. We tried to fight back, but to no avail. 2 defeats already.

But the way it panned out, all we needed to do was draw the last game and we were through. Don't blame us, it was the organizers brilliant planning. Prak decided to play after all, and he ended up putting MiB 2-0 up, before Navin KK and Maran finished the job. Maran was extremely pleased with his goal. The corner was looped over, the keeper flapped at the ball and even if Maran urined on the ball it would have gone in, but he disagreed and insisted it required a great degree of technique to sneeze the ball in from 0.25 yards. 4-0 and MiB into the 2nd round!

In the 2nd round, teams were divided into groups of 3 and the winner of each group would make it to the semi. MiB was up against 2 fit and strong teams and it seemed only a matter of time before the nearest swimming pool welcomed us. But somehow, somehow, the old spirit of MiB, the kind that used to see every team fear and envy us, from Toa Payoh to Bukit Batok, suddenly came back. We defended tenaciously, ran even when we had nothing left, and finally decided to play like men. The opponents started off well, and peppered Harvey's goal with shots, to which he dealt with fairly comfortably. MiB kept fighting and pushing, and quite against the run of play, Vana robbed their defense and squared for Prak to finish. 1-0! MiB then fought on and dug out the win, knowing one more win would see them finish in the Top 4.

Next game was against an old opponent, Safa and his NUS boys. They were much fitter than us and had to beat us, as they lost their opening game. Once again, MiB, marshalled by Satheeish at the back, dug in and refused to succumb to our younger and faster opponents. And once again, through sheer determination, Maran brilliantly robbed their winger, dribbled another opponent and squared unselfishly for SK to finish. A brilliant team goal. The opponents then threw everything at us, but we refused to budge, and even after Sat tripped Safa when he looked certain to score, the ref did not give them a penalty and MiB was through to the last 4!

Dorset boys were waiting for us, and so we needed a lucky draw to avoid them in the semi. Harvey was called up to draw lots, and in his most telling contribution of the afternoon, separated MiB and Dorset Boys. And in doing so, we picked, what seemed to be on paper, the easiest opponents left.

The semi was as predicted fast and frenetic, with MiB enjoying good possession, whilst the opponents always looking threatening on the break. But both teams seemed to be cancelling each other out and it looked like penalties were inevitable. But suddenly out of the blue, the opponents scored from an impossible angle, beating Harvey and 3 MiB defenders surrounding him. MiB was stunned and it looked like we were going to go back emptyhanded. But like I mentioned earlier, that never say die spirit that seems to be hibernating somewhere, came back to drag MiB back into the game. From a goal kick, Harvey drove the ball to Maran, who managed to get a shot on goal. The ball broke to Navin KK at the edge of the area and with a sweet left foot finish tied the scores! We were back in it. And we were not done yet. Not wanting to settle for penalties, we launched attack after attack. In one such move, Prak robbed the opponent defender with a sliding tackle, and then pinned him to the floor. Ball broke to Maran who rolled it across the keeper perfectly for Sat, who ran from last man position to tuck it in nicely at the near post, with a trademark WOO to boot. MiB was in the final, and whatever happened, were going to make a 200% profit!

The final was a none affair to be honest. Dorset Boys were a class above us and duly hammered us. They were fitter, technically better, and they are still at the stage of their lives where winning tournaments means everything to them. MiB has moved on from that stage, and with all of us holding jobs and thinking about marriage and the next pay cheque, it was almost impossible for us to match them.

All in all, we went home with money, trophies, and some of our pride restored. We had the biggest stomach, the slowest players, and the most reciding hairlines. But we also have the MiB spirit, that saw us somehow grind our way to 2nd.

Congrats Boys!

And special thanks to Riz for coming down to support and coach us. He is well on his way to emulating his idol, David Moyes.