What You Don’t Kill Make You Stronger #KaranganBolaSepak
What You Don’t Kill Make You Stronger #KaranganBolaSepak by FTSNC
Football is more than just a game, it’s a journey a man can (or can’t) ask for.
Let me start by introducing myself. My name is AG, a regular guy in my thirties with a wife and two beautiful daughters. Football has always been my favorite since I was in primary school. We were playing football regularly at a small compound near my house in an old settlement area in Pahang. Me, my younger brother; Kimi, Pian, Mat, Hisham, Mizi, Mamat Kemboja, and Sapari were the regulars, busting our feet at those few ringgit rubber ball that we got from the sports shop in Segamat.
That was football for us back then; one hour of kicking and running and screaming ‘outside’ when the ball crossed the self-drawn line. Unlike the fake goalpost of ‘batu-bata’ or a pair of our sandals, the joy was pure at heart.
It was World Cup France 1998 that I first set my eyes on this beautiful game. We're on our way to Kelantan and Terengganu, a school trip organized to reward students who excel in last year's final exam and a live World Cup game was shown on the bus television.
Since then, it was always (and absolute always) about football.
The journey went beautifully from there. I went to a boarding school and was lucky enough to find another friend who like me, loves to love football more than anything else. Our prep sessions were spent in the library going through the back of the newspaper and talking about it for hours. It was Millenium, Arsenal and Manchester United were a rivalry worth talking, worth bantering. From Henry’s master-class finishes to Nistelrooy’s occasionally beating offside trap and find his way through, we got two sets of supporters fighting for remote control and waiting to jeer each other under the heat of hostel television room.
It was a World Cup year. I still remember watching Nigeria versus England in the school’s Media Room during the prep session. Afraid of getting caught, we set the volume to zero. Lucky for us, there was no celebration required as they ran out a boring nil-nil draw. But that night when Juventus host Real Madrid in the 2003 Champions League semi-final was really is one to forget. Not least we were a Real Madrid fans, more of a red note in my disciplinary book stating; ‘Pecah masuk bilik tv’ resulted in an yellow-wooded-ruler-ass-whipping to fifteen of us and a phone called to my mom.
She made sure my next trip home was a hell of a weekend.
My mom, she is a tough one, the head of my family. I lost my father when I was seven years old. Rushing home from school to get my football gears ready only to be welcomed with tears and a group of peoples consoling both my mom and my sister. ‘Abah dah meninggal.’ – a short message was lost in between of the surah Yassin recitation by my neighbors. I cried hard that night that my mom had to drop me those ‘yang menangis kuat ni lah yang cepat lupa abah, lupa mak nanti’ line.
I stopped crying immediately. I apologized to her and promised myself to never cry in front of her again.
Not for long tho.
Remember the Real Madrid 1999/2000 black jersey with Teka logo up front and France Adidas 1998 jersey rocking by both Zinedine Zidane and Emanuel Petit? I practically went tantruming and crying for the later as my mom wrongly handed it to my brother not knowing of my fondness to the newly crowned World Cup Champion squad.
She bought the jersey from one makcik we called as ‘orang junjung’, on installment. This makcik (she’s from Pattani if I'm not mistaken) came all the way from Pekan and will spend the few days in our area, going around from house to house, with the package on top of her head, showcasing her top-selling items of clothes, kitchen utensils and the famous asam gula thailand and satay ikan. You’d expect to see them at the end of every month with new items or to collect the pending payments.
I got away with the jersey as my younger brother decided to let me have it.
Unlike France's bad performance at the World Cup 2002, Arsene Wenger’s men went on for a They complete a double in the 2001/02 season with another FA Cup glory in the following season and famously went unbeaten throughout the whole 2003/04 season which earned them a gold Barclays Premier League trophy. A disappointing night at Stade de France was then followed by a nine years trophy drought.
Thierry Henry, Cesc Fabregas and Robin Van Persie were all saying goodbye.
Football, off course, is a mixture of emotions. The hunger for success, the joy of watching others failure (or success), the frustration of that late goal, the happy tears when your captain lifted up the trophy, the angst towards that silly mistake, the long range effort anticipation, the escapism from the reality, the senses of belonging to a club that might not even know your existence and many more.
As for me, if there’s one thing I learned from football, it is how it helps me get through my days. A boy, who was looking for something to hold on to when his surroundings were either sinking or failing. The tears, the joys, the sorrows, and the laughters, I share it all with my love; football.
And long may it continue.
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20th April 2018.
“Arsene Wenger will leave the club at the end of the season.”, read the Daily Mail headlines on my 9.7 inch Ipad 2 screen.
Arsene Wenger, the man who has been in charge of Arsenal for nearly 26 years, whom I pretty much looked up to since the first time I call myself an Arsenal fan, who legacies were slowly tainted by the modern football, finally decided to leave the club, on my birthday.
Note from padangbolasepak.com: During the Restriction Movement Order 2020 Malaysia to combat Covid19 - Padangbolasepak.com encourages you from home to write essays about our beloved game of football. Can be anything. Why you fell in love with it? Your first game watching or playing? Friendships forged? Etc. Stars the limit.
500-1,000 / more words.
The objective is simple. Sharing the joy of football. Challenge you to write about the joy you may want to share. As well as keep you occupied and encourage to write. Provided that you have nothing else to do. Email us your essay with a photo attached at contact@padangbolasepak.com & we’ll post on the website as well on social media.
Thank you and take care brothers and sisters.