Through The Senses: World Architect Cup 2019
Who knew that architects can play football? That was exactly what these architects have shown. Khal and I were assigned as guest commentators for Blublack Arena for the semi-finals and finals of this tournament. This was in conjunction of the Kuala Lumpur Architectural Festival that ended on the same day as the tournament. But before we go through what went down in this one-day event, let’s explain the background and history of the World Architect Cup.
Background & History
It all started in 2002 when South Korea & Japan were the co-hosts of the World Cup. The tournament gave way for the Korea Institute of Registered Architects (KIRA) and the Japan Institute of Architects to organize a football competition of their own. And thus, the World Architect Cup was born.
In this edition, nine teams from five countries (Malaysia, Thailand, South Korea, Japan & China) competed to be crowned the 2019 World Architect Cup. Only Japan did not send a second team.
From Malaysia’s standpoint, they have competed since 2015. They finished 3rd place in 2017 and was so close to win it last year, only to lose to Japan in a penalty shoot-out. Looking at how Malaysia, specifically the PAM (Persatuan Akitek Malaysia) Tigers who was in that 2018 final, fared closely, it would be not be too far-fetched to suggest that they would finally win the whole thing, taking one step at a time since 2017.
A further note that group stage matches are played with 15 minutes-per-half, semi-finals 20 minutes-per-half and the finals 25 minutes-per-half.
The Semi-Final
Back to the event, once Khal and I have arrived, the semi-finalists have been determined after a grueling day of football under the sun. Didn’t expect to see and hear a group of fans bringing the drums to cheer on for the Malaysian teams, but I was definitely a pleasant surprise. The group stages saw Japan and Malaysia B (PAM All-Stars) finished first & second respectively in group A while Thailand B finished first of PAM Tigers due to goal difference in grup B
So the semis have been set: Japan Vs. PAM Tigers in a rematch from last year’s final and Thailand B Vs. PAM All-Stars in the other semi. These teams have been playing since morning and I wondered if the fatigue will play a factor. From the opening exchanges, it looked certainly so. Both sides played quite cagily and took some time to get it going in the entire first half. So it was unsurprising that it was 0-0 at half-time.
But it didn’t take long after the restart for the first goal. A long-range effort out of nothing gave PAM Tigers the lead much to their delight. And to their disbelief, PAM Tigers got their second goal three minutes later when their no. 20 (Who I nickname “The Architect Akhyar Rashid”) snuck behind a defender to win a cross and coolly lobbed the keeper.
It was only when the match reached its last ten minutes that Japan turned up and deservedly got a goal back. They had pretty much overrun PAM Tigers. Had it not been for two important blocks by PAM Tigers No. 13, Japan would’ve equalized. But PAM Tigers held on to win 2-1 and got some redemption knocking out the team that beat them in last year’s final. After the match, a sign of class was on display when Tigers bowing to their Japanese counterparts as a mark of respect and a photo op together.
The Final
It was PAM Tigers against Thailand B in the final. Thailand B advanced to the final after coming back from a goal down to beat Malaysia’s other representative, PAM All-Stars 2-1. The two finalists met in the group matches that ended in 0-0 so this will definitely be the ‘tie-break’ of some sorts. Like in the semi-finals, I expected the fatigue to play a factor and these teams start off slow. What I witnessed in the first half was beyond my expectations.
Malaysia took off like a whirlwind and scored four goals in the first half. There were barely any signs of tiredness and Thailand could not keep up with the energy. There was even a shocking error from the poor Thai goalkeeper to boot. That performance makes me wonder if PAM Tigers played the long game by conserving their stamina in the group stages because they only scored two goals and conceded none (Won 1-0 in both matches against China B & South Korea A.
The Thais pulled one back from a penalty in the second half conceded by the PAM Tigers No. 27 who I feel is lucky to still be on the pitch. Thailand played slightly better then and deserved that penalty after a nice spell. But the gap was far too big to mount any comeback at all. PAM Tigers shortly killed the game off with another goal.
The full-time whistle blew and what a time and way to win for Malaysia to win their first World Architect Cup as the PAM Tigers emerged 5-1 winners over Thailand B. PAM Tigers lift the cup with the same delight as someone buying an affordable quality house to their liking.
The Commentary
Khal became the play-by-play commentator and I as the color. It was pretty fun to relay my thoughts and my observations throughout the two matches. However, there were certain times that I stutter while trying to say what I was thinking. Because there may something I want to say, but just as I was about to say it, something notable might happen the next second. The second reason is that I kind of rushed my thoughts.
It was then that Khal relayed advice that was given to him by a local football commentator “Absorb, construct and say”. Meaning first, ‘absorb’ by what you see on the field, then you ‘construct’ in your mind on what you want to ‘say; and let it out with your mouth. After taking that advice to heart, I performed slightly better. But I felt I have come off as over-exciting. Thought that I would want to replicate that same energy from legendary commentators like Peter Drury, but given the nature of this event, I realized now that it was ill-advised.
I would love to commentate more, but I definitely still have a lot to learn to be concise when doing so.
Final Thoughts
Watching a few of these games, I have this similar vibes to the recreational football sessions that Padang Bola Speak is famous for organizing. These architects not only want to show what they’re capable of on that green field, but in the end, as long as they have fun and feeling great getting along with their peers from other countries, it’s enough to make a smile form on my face.
I feel that this competition has potential. What I would like to see in the future is more countries to get involved in this competition and that in turn will further strengthen ties between the countries’ architects like how football does. This may be a competition worth taking note. Here’s to more of these in the future. Before signing off, I would like to say congrats to PAM Tigers for being the 2019