Tuesday 26 July 2011

Football's Coming Home

Despite the events I had written about in my previous blogpost, the Liverpool FC vs Malaysia XI match on July 16 was still one of the most memorable experiences I have ever had.

Over 34,800 fans turned up for the training session on Thurs, July 14. Audrey Q and I took half the day off to go to the National Stadium to watch Liverpool train. It was exciting for me to finally get to see my childhood heroes, Ian Rush and Kenny Dalglish, in the flesh.



Watching the training session on a sweltering Thursday evening. We made new friends, did the Mexican Wave, caused injury to others with our vuvuzelas and cheered ourselves hoarse.



Over 34,800 fans turned up just to watch Liverpool train.



Rushie waved at us!!!!



Even watching our team warm up was fun.



It's Phil Thompson AND Kenny Dalglish! What LEGENDS!!!

Saturday was the day of the match proper. I went to the SPCA in the morning to attend to some shelter work and have breakfast with Kitties-From-Sydney's Mama and left by afternoon to pick Audrey Q up. We loaded the Battletank with a cooler full of cold drinks and potato chips and went on our way to the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil.



A sea of red greeted us on the match day.



Two super excited fans. Audrey was tired and in some pain by then (see previous blogpost) but she is one tough cookie and mustered enough energy and enthusiasm to cheer and yell. Thankfully, she didn't have to stand much and didn't have to jostle for standing room, as we sat in the designated seating area for the differently-abled area. When the shoving and blocking got too much, we used our vuvuzelas to scare the able-bodied ruffians away. HONK!!!



Man on! Man on!



Liverpool FC vs Malaysian XI, July 16.



GOAAAAAL!!!!! I snapped this right before the ball went in!!!



Okay, he dribbled it through, so he's not offside, see?



6th goal from Liverpool, scored by Kuyt! Got this right after the ball went in! See how dejected the Malaysian team looks! The Malaysian goalie looked like he didn't want to get up off the ground anytime soon!




... and the crowd goes WIIIIIIILD!



Thanks for the memories! You'll never walk alone!



A sweaty, stinky and triumphant fan after the match.

10 comments:

Cat-from-Sydney said...

CO78,
I'd go if it's the Socceroo playing.... and bring my vuvuzela and my Socceroo scarf and my World Cup stuff. har har har *evil laughs*

Pat said...

Your cup runneth over with enthusiasm and love for this game, E. No need for words at all! You face, and your smile, says it all :)

*hugs*

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Kitties-from-Sydney,
The next World Cup isn't for another 3 years, and in the meantime, we must have something to occupy ourselves with, no? Vuvuzelas are great. My friend wants me to buy her one to scare away the big, aggressive macaques that have been stripping her garden and clotheslines bare with.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Thanks, Pat! It's good to distract ourselves from serious concerns from time to time. Football is the best distraction of all, for me at least! By the way, Snowy a.k.a. Rembrandt has been adopted on Saturday! A kind engineer came with his family to meet Rembrandt and bring him home!

Unknown said...

A truly memorable evening out with your friend and the fans. How deafening is the vuvuzela? Maybe I can use one too!

Pat said...

Great news about Rembrandt! He looks like such a happy, happy boy! They will surely enjoy having him around :)

Ellen Whyte said...

Glad you enjoyed it - but I think you're weird. The crowds, the noise, and to watch people kicking a ball about???? I don't get it. Looking forward to catching up soon.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Keats,
It was a great day for Malaysian Liverpool FC fans! A vuvuzela is great but doesn't last long. If you hit someone on the head with it, it breaks.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Pat,
Rembrandt only looks happy in the photo. He is really a very nervous doggie. He snaps when he is startled or anxious, but it is a fearful sort of snapping ("Ooh! Ooh! Why did you just touch me? Help! I don't know what you want to do to me and I am scared! Snap! Snap!") and not an aggressive kind of snapping ("Snarl! Growl! Scowl! Don't you dare touch my food bowl! I'll bite your hand off! Grrrr!"). Thankfully, his adopters understood this and were very patient and loving. I am so very grateful for people like them. The worst thing about adopters is having to manage their expectations. First-time dog adopters tend to think that all dogs are like movie dogs and can sit, shake hands, roll over, fetch your papers, fetch your slippers and bring you his leash on command without prior training.

~CovertOperations78~ said...

Dear Ellen, Au and Target,
It took you THIS long to realise I am weird?!?! Gosh, YOU'RE weird! My parents realised I was weird almost as soon as I could crawl!