Of Football & I

I suck at football, but I love the game. However, things are changing.

Last night was the international football night. The world cup qualifier for Europe has started and the first games were played. Before this it would have made me so excited and I would be staying up watching as many games as I can. But I didn’t watch any match last night, not a single match. Thinking about it now, I can’t remember the last time I watch an international match (apart from Euro 08 of course, and even then I only watched Spain because of Torres). What has happened to me?

When I was a kid football was one of my favorite pastime. Playing bare-footed with my friends, we will use the hockey field near my house to play football and we will play until Maghrib. We even play football at the mosque at its parking lot (the mosque had its own mini ‘kebun’, so after we done playing it was makan time for us). And often when we play it was just about kicking the ball around, having fun without a care for the score or who actually won the game.

When I was in boarding school, I will pray that the end of month weekend will coincide with a football game at Paroi Stadium. It was because the school let us go home once a month, usually at the last weekend and if there was a football match being played at that time I will go with my friends to the stadium. It was a real fun going to the stadium. Cheering for our team until we lost our voice, eating over-priced and taste-like-dirt stadium’s burger, the deafening noise when our team scores and the curses when our team concedes a goal; that was what football meant to me then.

I don’t go to the stadium anymore. It has been years since I last watched a game at a stadium.

It’s understandable I think. As time passes by changes happened. I’m no longer staying at Rembau, which means instead of Paroi Stadium, the closest stadium from where I’m living now is Shah Alam stadium, the home of the team I hated the most. And no, I won’t even consider paying to watch them play! And also, I don’t have the friends to watch football with anymore. Watching football at the stadium without your friends won’t mean as much.

As I said changes happened with time so I’m ok with it. I no longer watch local football. Bribery scandals ruined everything for me. Furthermore, going to the stadium has been replaced by Astro football telecast. And my focus in football has changed, from supporting N9 to supporting Liverpool. And with that my interest in football also widen. I used to follow games from 5 leagues in Europe. At that time I can name the first eleven of most Europe’s major teams. In my mind I have my own world’s best 11, I knew the best players for every position.

That was also the time when I started to learn about the insides of football. The tactics, the inner working of football clubs, the history, the politics involved and every details (good and bad) of the game. With that, football became so much more complex to me. It was no longer just 22 players kicking the ball around trying to score a goal.

I think that somehow made me less of a football fan and more of a Liverpool fan. I will get excited days before Liverpool play their games. I watch Liverpool’s game no matter at what time. It won’t be the same with international games. I will watch it but only to see how Liverpool players were doing.

And now it has gotten worse, I have completely turned a blind eye to it. Like I said I didn’t watch a single match last night because I couldn’t care less. I dislike international games. They disrupt Liverpool’s season. Because of them there were no game for Liverpool yesterday. International games means risking injuries to Liverpool players, risking their fitness with the traveling they had to do to play for their country. Before I would be really proud if Liverpool players did well for their country but now I wish they won’t even play.

That was what happened to me. I just love Liverpool so much more than football itself. I don’t know if this is how other guys feel but I don’t think it will ever change. I’m not saying I hate football, but this is how it is. Liverpool rules over football!