Price of a White Chicken Rice Set with Vegetables: $3.50
Price of valuable lessons in soccer: Priceless
It is true that there are some things that cannot be bought with money. What was supposed to be an exciting away game today turned out to be our 1st match to be abandoned in 30 matches. The day did not get off to a good start with 3 sets of teams waiting to play on the proposed field of our away game. After much debate and arguments, fate was sealed by a toss of a coin. Sometimes, losing a coin toss just means you do not get to kick off or do not get to play on the side of the field we like. For today, we learn that a coin toss can mean 45 mins of waiting on the sidelines.
Lesson 1: Never propose a coin toss if you cannot make heads and tails out of the situation.
It was late morning when the match got underway. The beating sun signalled what many thought would be another hot and sweaty game. As part of the negotiations, we agreed to play our 1st half for 30 mins and the time was kept by the next teams to be played. What ensued was a scrappy game of football on the pitch; both teams missing chances that would have broken the deadlock. 30 mins went by very quickly as we were told that we have a last attack before the half ended; too quickly in fact. As we dragged ourselves off the field, we took a look at our unofficial timekeeper. Total mins played: 27.
Lesson 2: Never let your opponents time the game for you, they always seem to be wearing a broken watch.
Another 40+ mins of waiting and more frustration builded within the team. Our opponents were practicing their ball skills on the pitch itself, which deemed too much for Gattuso Yan. He remarked it as "disrespectful" to the teams that were playing and promptly ticked off the offenders. As the time slowly ticked by, Songbo FC was beginning to feel restless and bored. Mindless chatting was all they could do. When the half finally ended, the first team was to resume their game; 40 additional minutes of waiting. At that moment, Captain Sparrow made his team talk. He decided on a tactical switch of taking off Ronaldo7 for Looney. As the teams took to the field, so did the clouds. What was a sunny morning began to turn into a potentially long shower.
Lesson 3: Never substitute Ronaldo7 if you want a good weather; he has never played in the rain.
As the game got underway, more clouds started to form and sure enough, light drizzle started to fall. Both Songbo FC and our opponents moved to a sheltered spot to protect our belongings. However, the drizzle started to turn into heavy rain and both teams have members scrambling to seek shelter under the void decks. Some of remaining members stood under trees to announce their presence in case the awaiting team jumped the queue on the field. Under the void decks, a sudden decision was made to head for the nearby coffeeshop for a quick meal. Many agreed as many have not eaten breakfast. It was also time for lunch and many were famished (around 12pm by the way). So the group under the void deck headed to the coffeeshop and the match status hanged in limbo; most were not sure whether the game would continue but the decision to go for a meal had seemed to signal the inevitable.
Arriving at the coffeeshop, most of the members expressed their hunger by ordering double sets of meat, set meals and additional dishes. However, one guy sat quietly as he could not satisfy his hunger; Gattuso Yan was still hungry for the match. He made his unsatisfaction known to Captain Sparrow, who then decided that we would continue the match after the meal as the rain has subsided. Those who ordered extra gobbled down their meal as there was not much time left before we have to leave for the field. Alas, we were too late. The awaiting team has already taken to the field and our opponents had some members who had already left. The ambiguity of the status of the match in addition to the long moments of waiting made almost everyone lost interest in finishing the game.
Lesson 4: Never leave a match at half-time to order what you will eat after full-time. If you can, don't eat at all unless it is very clear that the match is indeed, cancelled.
As members finished their meals, those who were initially waiting under the trees join the team. At this point, Gattuso Yan voiced out his feelings to the rest of the team. "As a team, we should have respected the game. We should not have taken off our boots midway through even if it was raining. Neither should we have went to enjoy a meal, which attributed to some of the opponents leaving, thinking that the decision was to abandon the match." A rough extract of what Gattuso Yan said, with some censorship on the vulgarities. In the end, everyone felt that today was a new experience for the team; unplanned delays, poor organisation and wasted fuel with only 27 mins of soccer to speak of. Captain Sparrow hopes for the team to learn from each and every experience; both the good and the bad ones. Songbo FC will take these lessons seriously and learn from them.
Final Lesson: Do not leave your car windows down, even if you think it will not rain.
Something to say? Thoughts you wish to voice out? Flame away in the Comments section.
