On one day, 5-0 is a nice number.
On other days, 3-2 is equally great.
And on another day, a 5-4 finish guarantees goosebumps to your skins too.
But today, it's 1-0.
Pro Joga-Bonitians will disagree, given the apparent ugliness of win achieved. Nevertheless, 1-0 is a beautiful scoreline, because it reflects 3 things:
1) Ability to defend a lead
2) Ability to concentrate
3) Ability to win when it matters
And that's what happened today.
Currently, we are at the bottom of the El Salvador league table. Our match is up against the Golden Latino Boys (South American), being top of the table and having 'Messi', the top scorer with 5 goals already. Needless to say, playing against these Samba Ginja mob is an uphill task. But we believed that if we play it right, a favourable result is possible.
First halfFirst half started with a bang. The Latinos tried to dictate the game with their passes and pretty much attacked left, right and centre in search for an opening. We did well to put out a leg, a head and every other bodily parts to prevent them. Throughout the first half they did have 3-4 chances on goal and were slightly dominating the gameplay. We did have our chances, and despite not finishing well, everyone kept working hard to create more opportunities.
Pivotal momentWhat swung the pendulum in our favour though, was a red card awarded to their midfielder. They were attacking and the Latino guy was shaping up for a shot. I rushed up to block, but missed and accidentally body-checked him instead. He fell down, saw red and ran to swipe me from the back when I clearly didn't have the ball. Straightforward decision from the ref. The player? Unfortunately, he had to go home immediately for an early shower.
Second halfCarbon copy of the first. Spent lots of time absorbing pressure from their attacks, and using the odd possession scrapped to launch quick counter-attacks from the wing. They had chances, so did we. The pivotal moment finally came 2 minutes from time. After the Latinos lost possession,
Johan gave a beautiful through ball to
Apit who burst down the left wing, with a one-on-one sitch with the keeper. He squared the ball perfectly, with
Black rushing to tap-in from 3 metres. 1-0.
GOOOOOLLLLLLLLLL!!!!!!!!!!!! Horeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Spent the last 2 minutes weathering the storm, before the final whistle sealed a memorable victory for Queensland FC.
Highlights and moments:1) Kad merah memberikan kelebihan satu orang kepada Queensland FC
2)
Messi meng'ole' Sdr
Hezran dengan kemas. Hezran terpacak bagai disambar petir.
3) Messi mencipta 3 peluang untuk menghancurkan Queensland FC. Rembatan ke kanan bawah gol (saved), rembatan ke kiri bawah gol (saved) dan sebuah 'curling far post placement' (narrowly missing by inches)
4) Sdr
Wan merembat first time tinggi keluar susulan long ball yang empuk oleh Azhar.
5) Sdr
Lan menanduk off-target setelah diberi bola lintang yang lazat oleh Azhar, bermula daripada pergerakan pasukan yang tersusun.
6) 2 FK Latino yang hampir gol. Satu kena tiang & satu lagi di'save' oleh
Shaymi.
7) Quick corner yang melepasi semua defender and tiba kepada striker mereka, 5 meter dari gol. Namun, entah macam mana dia merembat tinggi keluar. Hairan bin ajaib.
8) Gol last minute yang berkualiti, dan bertahan bermati-matian hingga tamat.
Key players (Semua power and rajin, tapi ni yang noticeable):1) Johan - His rampaging runs kept creating nightmares for wing-backs. Good assist.
2) Azhar - Solid, beautiful long-balls and always overlaps to support.
3) Shy - Vital saves (5 or more) to keep our clean sheet intact.
Quotes:1) Haris - "20 saat je lagi! Aku tak tipu!" - Ah, Haris. Why would you ever lie to me....
2) Ansar - "Queensland!!!" - Mate, does that mean us or them?
3) Apit - "Mia kena masak." - Time to partayyyy!!!
Majulah sukan untuk negara.
