Men In Black Football Club: November 2010

Lionel Messi. Wayne Rooney. Steven Gerrard. Zinedine Zidane. Luis Figo. All great players who have made "playing in the hole", behind the striker, a form of art. Well you can add one more player to that list now, and it's none other than our MRJ, ala Rizvi. With talent and a stomach bursting at the seams of his jersey, he led the attack brilliantly as MiB overcame a dogged team at Greendale Sec.

The weather threatened to ruin the game even before it started. Riz was praying for rain so that God could spare MiB's dying reputation. But as usual no one listens to Riz, and despite the dark clouds looking so black that at one point Harvey started building a wooden boat and collecting animals in pairs, the game went on and there was even bright sunshine in the middle of the match. Like they say, it never rains on Rizvi...

Harvey started in goal. Right back was bionic-leg Harish, Faizal fresh from Old Trafford and Vana started as centre backs, while SK was at his "favourite" left back position. Navin KK was in front of him, while Sat and Chan were in the centre. Maran right wing, and Riz the man in the hole. It was literally a hole because MiB started the match with only ten men, but Riz was so effective he kept heading on and playing one-twos with hantu.

The opponents also had only 11 men, but they looked fitter than MiB. To be honest the Old Folks Home veterans team looks fitter than MiB at this moment, but oh wells thats another story for another day. They started well, a few long range shots not troubling MiB. Chan and Sat were trying to orchestrate some moves up front, and from a couple of corners MiB did threaten.

Shyam came in halfway through the first half and played right wing, while Maran moved forward to partner Riz. Navin KK had a good run which brought a smart save from the keeper, while Shyam's left leg was not working so he couldn't score when presented with a good opportunity. Half time ended goalless, with Sat moving to centre back and Zal moving up to partner Chan in midfield. Chan did have one free kick that he kicked so far wide that it almost deflected off the corner flag. But he was only practising for a second half blockbuster to come.

Second half started with MiB upping the tempo and creating good chances. It needed some creativity to break the deadlock and that's what happened. The opponent striker was caught offside, SK quickly put the ball down and Harvey rushed a goal kick. Ball fell for Riz who cushioned it for Chan, who played Maran through on goal. Maran ran with the ball as though he was running barefoot on broken glass, such was his confidence, and tried his best to miss. Unfortunately for him, the keeper dived when the ball came straight to him, and the ball rolled in for 1-0!

Navin KK then had a great chance to finish the game. Again Chan put him through. He broke the offside trap, had enough time to stop, do a forward roll, comb his hair and walk the ball in. But the gentleman that he is, he decided to pass it straight into the keeper's arms.

The opponents then tried to launch a few attacks at MiB's goal, but the defence and Harvey were relatively untroubled. Vana tried a new form of defence that ultimately proved very effective. If the ball is played to you and you know the striker is behind you waiting to tap the ball into the empty net, immediately swerve your body so you miss the ball, shout "HARVEY" loudly so you panic him and the striker, so that the goalie can just about scramble the ball away and create excitement in the game. FIFA is checking whether we can patent it results will be out soon.

Man of the match Riz then made some lung bursting runs (some even claiming he actually did burst his lungs), trying his best to score but to no avail. His best moment came when he slipped in behind the defence and in a 50-50 battle with the keeper, stretched out his boot with his laces untied, just reaching the ball before the keeper. The ball trickled into the empty net but the defender just managed to hook the ball clear. Another cross by Maran flew agonizingly past his head and it looked like it was not going to be his day.

About 15 mins from the end, a throw from Shyam into the box brought a graceful dive from Chan. As he was diving to the ground he quickly flashed his IC and when the ref saw the magical name, he had no hesitancy in pointing to the spot. Rizvi's moment had come! But like all wonderful and magical strikers, Riz then clasped his hands together, and decided he had left his balls at Bishan MRT station. Some reports say that they were last seen in Phillippines. We have made the police report and they said they will hunt for the black hairy pair after they clamp down on the gangster situation in Singapore. He started running away from the penalty spot. Up stepped SK, confidently. He shimmied to the left, shimmied to the right, looked one way and the other, then totally miskicked straight down the centre. The keeper by now had adopted a praying mantis stance and so could not save. Unbelievable penalty. Unbelievably bad. But it was 2-0!

By now MiB was in cruise control. Maran was having some good runs and the defenders were struggling to keep up with him. In one tackle, the opponents best player, the centre back built like Heskey, threatened to perform a magic trick. He wanted to kick Maran and split his body in half. Unfortunately for him, Maran did not know it was a trick and so felt the full force of his knee in his hip. After that Maran did not know whether to dance or play soccer, so he was effectively out.

There was enough time for Navin KK to repeat his earlier trick. Again through on goal, he felt that one good turn deserved another. This time he had even more time. The opponents had given up and started to shower already, but he decided to again kick it early and pass it to the keeper. Not to mention Shyam did his best to miss on 2 glorious openings.

All in all a good performance. It has been a long time since we played field soccer, and it was good to get a win. Riz came out of the match saying he could not hear anything anymore. Don't know if he was tired or if Chan's shouting had made him deaf.

Man of the match was definitely Riz. For his determination, heart, courage and never say die attitude. And I am only describing him waking up from his bed that morning.

Date: Sunday 28 November 2010

Time: 3pm kickoff. You are all adults so be there with enough time to spare to at least stretch your mouth.

Venue: Greendale Secondary School. Edgedale Plains Block 172 (In Punggol)
For exact location click here: http://www.greendalesec.edu.sg/contactus.html

Attire: White top, black shorts, black socks. Bring black just in case.

Line Up:

1. Harvey
2. SK
3. Harish
4. Prak
5. Riz
6. Sat
7. Chan
8. Faizal
9. Navin KK
10. Maran
11. Shyam
12. Vana

Doubtful:

1. Bert (no sms)
2. Kumaran (no sms)
3. Navin PP (work)
4. Puvan (overseas)

Teamtalk:
This is our first game in a long time, and probably our last for 2010. I arranged the game with a friend of mine from reservist. Their team is similar to us, friends hanging out to play. You might see a couple of familiar faces from CJC.