Right, so it was a Friday and it was the day before Halloween 09. The game was against BPMC aka Berakas Power Management Company.
It was also Julian's testimonial before he went off to finally figure out how to fly an aeroplane. Really, it was an excuse for all of us to minta belanja from Julian Hassan Kamaluddin, our indefatigable right-back and full-time kitman.
Here was the line-up:
Goalie: Zul-Afiq
Defenders: Shukrimin, Hafizh, Julian, Zul-Amali
Midfielders: Aziri, Aiman, Akip, Aziim Na.
Strikers: Sofian & Syazwi S.
Subs: Amir, Ismail, Dzulfadli, Alan Rosberg.
Kick-off:
The usual 4-4-2 formation was used because that was what we usually set up when we play Winning Eleven or PES. The first five minutes wasn't too bad. We were passing well but because of the make-shift defence our team couldn't cope with the fast wingers of our opponents. Shuk who is usually the midfield winger/creator was in the heart of the defence as was Hafizh.
Aziri who usually controls the midfield like the way he controls his HiLux was having an off-day. Aiman, our newest midfield maestro could only dribble so far but the defence had put 2 man-markers on him everytime he had the ball. Methinks rivals have been spying on our games because they seem to know our strategy. they came well prepared.
Basically, the midfield was out of shape, the strikers were blunt and our wingers couldn't get any crosses in. Their strikers were hungrier, their midfield faster and their defenders taller.
The only person that stood in the way of a first-half massacre was our first-choice goalie, Zul-Afiq.
He stood firm when the ground was shaky, he parried off all the 5 point-blank shots that were aimed at him like he was Neo from the Matrix and basically he was in 'the Zone'. Even when he was beaten by the opposing striker, his friend the cross-bar stood in the way from the ball entering the net. From a distance his performance made him look like Peter Schmeichel, sometimes he looked like Van Der Sar but what was undeniable was he was ZUL-AFIQ!!!!!!
Half-Time: FLYBOYS 0 - BPMC 0
So we were lucky to still be level in the first half and that was exactly what their player-coach, Amir told them in the dressing-room. He said with his Scottish Govan accent ala Ferguson:
"Aye lads, werr lockie in der first harf. If Zul-Afiq hadn't showed oop terrday, we wudda bin massakered by dose laddies."
Using the highly advanced coaching tool known as CRM or popularly known as 'ask the other guy if he has any suggestions', the coaching staff devised a plan that would nullify their opponents. Yes, they decided to play like Bolton Wanderers.
So 4-5-1 was the plan. Crowd the midfield and put in our secret weapon, the tallest player in the team, Alan Rosberg as lone striker. He was gigantic in height ,such that when we speak to him, the first thing we ask him is how's the weather up there.
Dzul-fadli was placed with Aiman & Aziri in midfield ala Chelsea's diamond and Ismail on the left wing. Aziim Na & Akip were taken off to have a breather and probably a fag as well. Juliana was moved to right-back and Zul-Amali was shifted to the left. Player-coach Amir was moved to the right wing where no-one could hear his rants. Hafizh & Shuks stayed put in defence.
2nd Half:
After the harsh words and the hairdryer treatment given by Sir Amir, the players felt more determined to shut his mouth and prove that no, we were not as shit as you said we were and we can do it. Flyboys kali ah.
The whistle blew and Flyboys took off. This was a different team, they wanted to win for Julian. Actually no, they wanted the kebabs Julian promised them after the game. The war cry was Kebabs! And it was working. They were running and salivating at the same time. Imagine that, the men were multi-tasking.
Aziri was controlling the midfield as was Aiman who used his dribbling skills in the last third of the pitch. Ismail was causing havoc in the defence and Dzul was stroking the ball like he stroked his......oh waittaminit, wrong report. Dzul was stroking and spraying the ball ala Xabi Alonso.
Alan was causing havoc with the now very short opposing defenders. Hah! Rasa-in kamu.
Even Julian was determined to make sure his kebab money wasn't put to waste. One thing that he wanted badly as much as he wanted his ATPL was an official FlyBoys goal. He had missed a golden opportunity a few games ago(an incident now dubbed: I'm Not Hj Fendy-Gate)and this time he wanted to make amends. So he ran all the way upfield down the wing only for that dragon-breather Amir to waste a pass to him.
At the heart of defence, they were coping well. They were now covering their markers although a lapse in concentration had an opposing striker run through on goal only for yes, you got it, ZUL-nothings-gonna-get-through-me-today-AFIQ to save it with his right hand whilst his other hand was busy sms-ing Aainaa.
Then there was the turning point of the match.
Zul-Afiq who was now thinking of signing up for DPMM FC(subject to approval from FIFA) kicked a high probing ball to the right side of the half-way line. Amir managed to deceive the balding left-back and was scot-free when he set TOGA on his run.
He ran clear the right side and started to run in-field with his marker eating his dust. He looked up, saw a running midfeilder and it was Aiman and squared the pass to him. With only his second touch on the ball and outside the penalty box, Aiman struck the ball with his right foot on whilst on the run and the ball dipped into the bottom-left corner of the net.
GOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLLL!!!!!!! FLYBOYS 1 - BPMC 0
Debut goal for Aiman. What a great kick from Zul-Afiq, good run from the ever-green Amir and finally a great goal from Aiman.
BPMC were shocked. They had controlled the game in the first half and deserved to be leading the game 5-0 but now they were a goal down. How quick things change in football.
FlyBoys were now on top and could smell blood. In their minds, they could hear the famous mantra,
"Finish Him".
And that they did.
A corner from Ismail had the ball cleared by BPMC only as far as Shuk.
Shuks you ask? What the heck was he doing up there? Isn't he the defender?
We don't know either but we're glad he was up there because he did one of his Zidane-esque tricks and this time he flicked the ball at an angle of 125 degrees. It landed at a rate of 80 feet per minute on Aiman's right foot and was intentionally passed to the penalty box onto Alan's foot. With one-touch of his right foot it went to the space in front of Amir and with also his first touch, Amir placed it into the bottom of the net and had the keeper floundering. GOOOOOOAAAAAALLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!
FLYBOYS 2 - BPMC 0
Minutes later, the whistle blew and FLYBOYS had won.Yayyyy, now we can eat our kebabs in London.
It was a game of two halves with Flyboys struggling in their OPC but shining in their LPC which resulted in a B- grade from the sim instructor.
Well done guys and see you on Tuesday 10th November at 4pm. Thank you Julie for being our official kitman. Hafizh has now taken over your post and also thanks for the kebabs. Pictures can be found on my FaceBook album.
Man of the Match: Zul-Afiq. Awesome performance.
Moment of the Match: the one touch football that led to the 2nd goal.
All the best to you Julian and also to Zulkhair, Aslam and Hanif. Remember, it's only 13 months. Give it your all because when you guys get back, we expect to eat at a better eatery than London Casbah. Somewhere like Excapade.
Remember, Attitude = Altitude. FlyBoys signing out. Apakan.
- Match Reporter, Ameeeeeeer.
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