Came to class around 45 minutes late today... Overslept because I was watching soccer the night before. I was so eager to finish class because of the upcoming match. ICT Club was up against Sports Club.
I heard from my other team-mates that Sports Club players are fast. And mind you, they sure are. Just a few minutes into the first half, I had to make my first save, punching the ball up and over the bar. Then we started a few attacking plays, and were rewarded with 2 goals. 2-0. That was when the onslaught by Sports Club started. Suddenly they're attacking from all angles possible, and I had to be on form to stop it all, with a little help from my defenders.
The first one was a one-on-one. The striker had broken the offside trap and only I separated him and the goal. As he comes nearer, I moved forward to narrow his angle shot. And it worked. His shot went past the post. They had a couple of long range shots, most of which missed the bar by inches. Then, there was another attack. Another striker just broke the offside trap towards my left. As he dribbles closer, I wanted to close him down, but I saw one of my defenders trying to get the ball off him, so I stayed put near the post. Suddenly, around 3 metres away from me, he made a shot. Within the few miliseconds the ball took towards the goal, instinct just took over me. I let my body dropped and stretched my arm. Blocked! But the danger was not over yet. The ball bounced to another striker nearby. I picked myself up and quickly closed him down. I guess he panicked and just chipped the ball above me. And I just watched as the ball floated above me and towards the goal. "Shit," I thought. Out of the blue, my central defender raced to the goal line and headed it out! Incredible! Just at that moment, the referee blew for half-time. The guys were estatic by that last minute scrambled defending. As I walked back for a drink, they congratulated me on making that save and how good I was. Geez. "It's not over yet," was all I said to each one of them. Being an avid football fan, I know how some teams can be complacent about being in the lead in the first-half, just to lose the game in the second half. Little did I realized it happened that way for me. Well, ALMOST.
In the second half, Sports Club started with more intention. They were determined to cut down our lead. My right defence was not playing too well. He gave away too many corners. And we were made to paid for it. One of their corners was crossed in nicely and headed past me into the goal. 2-1. After scoring that goal, they became even more confident, and attacked all the time. My defence was under pressure and when the equaliser came, I was totally stunned. Winning the ball in midfield, one of their players dribbled until maybe 20 to 25 metres away from me, and he sent in a wicked curler. I dived, but it was out of my reach. The ball dipped nicely into the net. And that's when i fell awkwardly, wounding and spraining my right arm in the process. 2-2. It stayed till the final whistle, and the game went into extra time.
In extra time, the guys were playing defensive. Too defensive for my liking. There are like, 6 defenders ahead of me, and I could barely see where the ball was. That was when Sports Club took the opportunity to hit a long range shot, which I saw too late, but dived nevertheless in an effort to stop it, but it went in. Golden goal. Dang it.
The whole team was a bit disappointed at not winning the game, but we knew we had tried our best, so it wasn't a bad result for us. And I went home with my right arm wounded and sprained, left leg injured and right thigh almost numb.
Generally, playing in the MLS tournament and for ICT Club, it has developed me gradually to be a better goalkeeper overall. Though I could still use a couple more of games. But hey, I'm not complaining. I still have my assignments.
Oh darn! Assignment! Can't believe I forgot about them!
*Looks at the time*
Oh well.
*Zzzzz*