Not even a mid term test the next day was gonna stop me this time...
Early on Sunday morning, first thing I did was turn to the sports section not for the match review but for info on the rematch. And lucky me I found out that they were selling tickets on Sunday at all Ticketpro outlets. Sadly, those outlets were only in KL, JB and Penang. Apparently Melaka not big enough place for them to put up a booth. -.-''. Coincidentally, my mom was going to the bus station at 10am to pick up my sis's friend so obviously I took this chance to go back early. And lucky me ( 2nd time I be using this, wonder how many more) manage to get a 1030 bus back! Oh, tickets didn't go on sale until 12pm, so by the time I reached KL, it was only 1/2 hours since they started to sell.
Its my 1st time and her 2nd...
Half of me was expecting loads of people to go and grab the tickets cos I thought a lot of people might've missed the match or wanna watch the greatest team play again. The other half was not expecting that many people to turn up cos well, 24 hour notice is a bit too soon it has to be said. So when I reached the ticket counter in Sg Wang (yes, sg wang...), I was kinda surprised that there wasn't any queue, in fact, the shop was like totally empty. So easily I manage to get my hands on the tickets for the second time. This time however, Yong didn't wanna go cos he said he's scared bout the traffic and even watching United play again ain't gonna change his opinion.
Can see the vast difference in class even from the type of warm ups they did.
So come match day, I not expecting the massive number of people that turned out on Saturday but still expected a decent number. When we reached the stadium at around 6.30, I was surprised that less than half the stadium was filled! I thought to myself it was still early and that most people where still coming off work. But in the end, only about 58,000 people turned up, thats more than Anfield so I can't say much :P. We sat on the opposite side of the grandstand facing the subs bench (which coincidentally was where most of the crowd was). Saying that I was so excited is merely tipping the iceberg. I could only imagine what it was like when the stadium was packed to capacity.
Dumb Fuck who wore the Arse-anal jersey got what he deserved!
We were quite early for the match but we weren't bored to our seats as it turned out our Malaysian culture had their very own pre-match antics. Apparently, some people thought it would be cool or funny (either that or they are just plain stupid) to wear a club jersey other than Manchester United to a ManUtd match (national jerseys of any nation are acceptable). Some jokers/sohais dared to come in Liverpool, Chelsea, Aresenal and R. Madrid jerseys! But obviously they weren't spared! Once a United fan spotted any of them they would start pointing and jeering, and in true Malaysian culture, when that starts, the whole grandstand stood up and jeered together! There even came to a point when they started to yell 'BUKA! BUKA!' to them. There was this one time, an Ares-anal supporter walked down the aisle beside me, I didn't want to instigate anything so I just kept quite but the guy beside me just shouted 2 words : ' OI, ARSENAL!' and that was it!! Chorus of chants broke out! The guy can still smile like a dumb fool and walk down the stands before finally getting boo-ed out of there while flashing his ticket. So what? Obviously NO ONE was gonna give him a place to sit!
The players observing a minutes silence...
So when it was time for the teams to come out the crowd went wild of course, and of course more for the United team. But we did give a great reception to the local lads when they came out and a big cheer for that Amri Yahya guy. I suppose the fans responded well to what the national coach had to say bout us not giving the national team enough support. Well, there was a 1 minutes silence before the match as a respect for the events in Indo which if it weren't for them, I'd still be pissed :P. And as I expected, we are an uncivilized bunch, there were still the odd shouts and horn blowing during that 1 minute. Heck, was it too much to ask to keep your pie hole shut for just 1 min? After that the big kick off got under way!! There was the odd kompang group seated behind the goal that gave the match an added dimention. Sadly though, the only United song anyone knew was the Glory Glory one...
It really happened! I still can't believe my luck...
I still couldn't believe that I was watching my favorite team play right in front of my eyes in my own backyard at that moment. Even though this was just a friendly and its only their second match of the new season, I could already see the usual determination and hunger from each player as they chased down the ball. And after 11 mins, young Kiko Macheda found the back of the net due to some poor and often seen through out the match possession. MO7 made it 2 goals in as many games a minute later and boy oh boy did the crowd go bonkers!! Chants of OWEN! OWEN! can be heard by the supporters. Something I'm sure will be heard over and over again the coming season. Just this time it'll be United and NOT Liverpool who will do that! We continued to play well but evidently, the humidity was taking its toll on the players and it was clear to see. But some how it was the Malaysian team that was substituting people like nobody's business with a sub almost everytime the ball went out!
Owen~~!!!!! Something both the Red Devils and Liverpool fans gotta get used to...
Half time duly arrived and this time round there was no half time performance unlike the 1st match. The second half began pretty much the way the 1st half ended with United having most of the possession. But the national team did have several good chances on the attack but sadly, their greediness and lack of awareness took over and chance after chance was wasted. Typical, got great opportunity to pass first time which would've give Malaysia a better chance at goal, but no, the player decided it was better for him to go by himself, and of course, he was promptly taken care of by the United defense. And surprisingly, I found myself cheering every time the Malaysian team went forward and cursing in disgust when they missed the chance. See, who says we do not support our own country? Its just that they never give us anything to support!!
1 body check by Rooney and he was out cold.. How la wanna play in EPL?
Of course the player I really wanted to see was Wayne Rooney, never had a favorite United player until he came along and scored a hattrick on his debut. So when he finally did make a subs appearance, everyone including me went wild with chants of 'ROONEY! ROONEY!' echoing around the stadium. I really admired him during the warm up, when everyone else was busy stretching or passing to the teammates, he was on his own with the other trainer shooting long balls. And when it was time to go off before the match started, he was the last United player to leave the pitch... talk bout dedication...
Well, the match ended at around 1045 with the final score of 2-0. A much better performance from United and invaluable experience for the young Malaysian team. Lets just hope they put it into good use for the upcoming tournaments. As for me, my boyhood dream of watching United play live has been fulfilled abit half way cos it was a friendly and its in Malaysia. Like I said, a higher being must really like me (we'll save the conversation of GOD and religion some other time k). Next up, me going to Old Trafford and watching them at home! Who's with me!!!???
