Champions League.

To be honest, seeing South China participating in the AFC Champions League, even at the preliminary rounds, is still giving me goosebumps.

So I was in Singapore for the past couple of days for Chinese New Year, and to be able to catch South China in Singapore was something quite memorable as well.  The match between Tampines Rovers was never going to be easy because we are playing away on a plastic pitch, so I guess the lads had it the hard way.  On the terrace, there were probably about 20 South China fans (though most of them I have never seen before in my life), and we were up against about 1000 others locals.  Surprisingly, the Tampines side was so quiet that apparently my voice was the really outstanding one  in the stadium.  In a way, I guess the few of us turned this into our home ground!  Admittedly, without my usual comrades on the terraces (there were 2 who were there, so that made it 3), it was a bit hard.  There was no drum beats to follow, and since there were only those few of us who are used to singing and chanting during the match, when we got tired, we really were and there wasn’t anyone who could take over from us.  So I guess it’s very important to form a big team of supporters who would sing and chant, not just to increase the volume, but also to cover for one another!  It felt good that the few of us who made the trip to Singapore did make a little difference for the lads.

As far as the match was concerned, I think it was a fair result, though I did think the referee was a bit too much on the strict side as shown by those two red cards which I thought were not really necessary.  Having said that, I thought the South China lads played well enough, though they probably might want to practice more on their shooting because if some of those shots have turned into goals, we probably wouldn’t have to endure such a nervy time!  Having said that, I was confident that the lads would pull through.  I was certain that our lads are better than the lot from Tampines and given that we are in mid-season, our form should be better than them.  Some of those “fans” might not be happy with winning “just” 2-1, but for me, a win is a win and I’m not going to complain too much about it.  You don’t get upset or angry with your team winning matches.

As most of you would have known, South China won the game, and would be heading to Thailand to take on Chonburi in the second qualifying match.  I won’t be going to Thailand for the game, but if the lads could overcome the odds and beat Chonburi, the next stop would be Beijing, where Beijing Guo’an awaits.  If the lads do make it to Beijing, I’m gonna be there too!

 

Shield.

The Senior Shield Final is always a very important day in the local football calendar, but it hasn’t been a happy day for me for 3 years in a row.

In 2011, South China led 3-0 at half time, only for Citizen to come back to draw 3-3.  The match went to penalties, and Citizen came away with the win.

In 2012, South China managed to pull back from going behind to Sun Hei, only to lose out again on penalties.

In 2013, South China was knocked out in the semi-final, losing to Citizen again.  I didn’t bother to go to the stadium to watch the final, I went barbecue with my friends instead.

So yesterday’s final was something of a vindication for me.  It wasn’t an easy day, and I was feeling rather uneasy.  The opponent was Sun Pegasus, which was enjoying its season so far, but seemed to have been going through a bit of a blip in recent weeks.  As for South China, let’s just say that the season hasn’t been too spectacular for the lads in red.  They were not playing too badly, but I can’t say that they have been playing well too.  Of course, results are the only thing that mattered, and if someone were to ask me to be second in the table with a cup final looming at this stage of the season, I would have taken it.

The match in itself was quite a thrilling one, pretty much end-to-end stuff, if you ask me.  My friends in the cheers squad were feeling optimistic, but with me being always a pessimist, I was always preparing for the worst.  A counter attack down the right flank saw Sun Pegasus scoring the first goal through Jaimes McKee.  The goal was spectacular – a mid-air volley at that – though it does make me wonder why McKee can’t score simpler goals like one-on-ones.  Ultimately it was his failure to convert an one-on-one chance in the second half that proved pivotal in South China’s comeback.  The reds scored 2 within 5 minutes – both by new recruits who were playing donning the famous red shirt for the first time – and the final was won.  Both goals oozed of class, the first one from a neat build-up, and the second was utterly outrageous – a powerful lob-shot by Andrew Barisic from all of 30 yards.  Our section in the stand broke into raptures and I could still feel the sting inside me right now.  South China held on for the win, and recapturing the Shield was just great, especially because of the way that the finals were lost in 2011 and 2012.

Now for the league… it’s going to be hard, but Kitchee isn’t invincible.  All it takes are 2 bad games, and we will be straight back into it.  And of course, the pleasant disruption known as the AFC Champions League.  I’m sure even the most optimistic South China fan isn’t going to predict advancement into the group stages, but it’s good to dream.

Thrashing.

Kitchee 1 (Wang Yang 89′)
South China 4 (Itaparica 40′ (Pen), Alessandro Celin 73′, Lee Hong Lim 81′, Dhiego Martins 90’+7′ (Pen))

Some days can’t get better than this. Even without all the pre-match hype, Kitchee vs South China is always one of the biggest games in the local football calendar. For this match, the build-up was just making this massive game even bigger. Kitchee was let off by the HKFA for fielding an illegal worker for 6 of its games in the league, which triggered a wave of lambasting from the local football scene. Both sets of fans were stirring up support and emotions among and between themselves, and all in all, it was just going to be a massive day. Of course, the title could well be decided today, as South China was leading the league table over Kitchee by just 2 points, so it was a game that neither team could well afford to lose.

As far as the match was concerned, the first 40 minutes saw chances few and far between. Both teams were cautious, with Kitchee having more of the possession and South China happy to soak in the pressure and hit the (soon-to-be-ex) champions on the break. The counter attacks from the Reds were giving Kitchee all sorts of problems, especially since the centreback pairing of (Fulham, QPR and Bradford reject) Zesh Rehman and Fernando Recio were not exactly the quickest of defenders. So the speed merchants like Lee Wai Lim and Dhiego Martins were always going to give them a lot of problems. However, it was Jack Sealy who forced Recio into making an elementary mistake by bringing down the right-back in the penalty box for a penalty. Looking at Recio claiming innocence when he chopped down Sealy clumsily was almost funny. When Itaparica stepped up to take the penalty, I couldn’t really bear to watch as he fluffed his last penalty against Yokohama FC (from the TV replays it turned out that even his teammate Ticao also didn’t bear to watch as he turned his back against the Kitchee goal). But he did hold his nerve and slotted the ball home. After the goal, Itaparica ran towards the South China fans in delight and it was just a great feeling.

The second half was played out at about same pace, with Kitchee still doing the possession without much threat at the South China goal – Yapp Hung Fai was almost a pedestrian in the game, but when he was called upon to stop Jordi Tarres’ shot, he did a great job. That’s the role of goalkeepers – you don’t need to see them for 89 minutes of the game, but in that one minute he’s needed, he’s there to pull a great save off. Kitchee decided to put on Lam Ka Wai and Chu Siu Kei a.k.a. the 720-degree man, who got the nickname because he is famous for doing 720-degree turns on the spot while holding the ball, before releasing the ball back to his defenders, in order to boost the attack. I was slightly worried for awhile because Lam Ka Wai actually has a good pass in him. But it turned out that it gave South China exactly what it needed – lack of midfield defensive punch. Before Lam Ka Wai and Chu Siu Kei came on, the midfield was held up by Matthew Lam who actually had a bit of defensive-mindedness in him. But both Lam and Chu were attack-minded players, so the defensive midfield duties were left to Wang Yang only. It also showed that Kitchee was probably going to do all-out attack at South China. That would be fine if Kitchee’s defense wasn’t as vulnerable. South China had a few real speedy players with them – in particular Alessandro Celin who came on for the injured Itaparica was constantly making a nuisance of himself against Recio and Rehman, and almost made Recio with an egg on his face after robbing him the ball and created an one-on-one chance moments after coming on.

The supposedly bolstered attack from Kitchee wasn’t showing much signs of improvement, and instead it was South China looking dangerous on the counter-attack. The sucker punch came when a Kitchee attack broke down and Lee Hong Lim, who replaced his brother Wai Lim earlier, flew down the right flank and threaded a nice pass to Celin. The Brazilian held the ball well and then unleashed a left-footed shot into the bottom corner with the Kitchee goalkeeper Wang Zhanpeng having no chance whatsoever. 2-0 up with a little over 15 minutes to play. Then in another counter-attack, Dhiego Martins was allowed to run the entire length of the Kitchee half with everyone left in his wake. He was completely unselfish and passed the ball to an onrushing Lee Hong Lim who coolly slotted the ball into an empty Kitchee net with Wang Zhanpeng completely stranded. 3-0 up, and there’s no way South China could crack up at this point. Kitchee did score a consolation goal – a nice goal – through Wang Yang, and even the South China fans were celebrating (sarcastically, of course). Then in a moment of madness, Wang Zhanpeng managed to get himself sent off in injury time, and giving away a penalty at the same time. Dhiego Martins rubbed more salt into the Kitchee wound by scoring the penalty and made the score 4-1.

For the South China fans, it was really just a great day out. The cheering, the gloating, and the banter against the Kitchee fans were just part of the things that made this night a great one. You don’t go to Tseung Kwan O everyday and beat Kitchee 4-1 and made them look so freaking amateur. If this was in England, you’d probably hear chants of “Easy, easy” from the South China fans – and that was how it was like. Now South China just need a point to seal the title, or if Kitchee doesn’t win on Friday against a relegation-threatened Sun Pegasus, then South China would be champions without kicking a ball. For a Red like me, that prospect is mouth-watering. Whatever it is, the title is well within the Reds’ grasp, and I’m sure the players would not be daft enough to throw it away.

4-1 in your cup final! Three in a row, you’re having a laugh!

Because.

For the past 4 days, I was on holiday. The Mid-Autumn Festival and the Chinese National Day were on the same days so we got a somewhat extended break. For the 4 days, I went for a football game (a crazy one, may I add), went for a movie, played some computer games and besides those things, I was basically just lazing around to catch up on some much needed-rest – the recent trip to Korea was a rest from work, but these four days were basically rest from everything!

Would be going for my Korean class after work today, and strangely, I am looking forward to the class. The class may be three hours long, but when I am in the class, it doesn’t feel that long. When I learned Korean at FTU, the 90-minute classes were always a difficult time to endure. I mean, I enjoyed the classes, but somehow I just didn’t feel comfortable. Maybe because the lessons at FTU really aren’t that serious comparatively – I mean, we have homework, tests and exams here in HKU SPACE, and during the class, our teacher would really drill us with the vocabulary and grammar, which I think are definitely useful.

I mentioned that the football game on Saturday was a crazy one earlier, and this was the reason for the craziness:

It was 7 and a half minutes into injury time for this early-season blockbuster match between South China and Kitchee (scum), and Dhiego Martins hit the winner with almost the last kick of the game. Scoring an injury time winner to beat Kitchee (scum) was crazy enough, but what was even crazier was Dhiego took off his shirt, ran towards the lot of us and before we knew it, he leaped into the crowd to celebrate the goal – I was the one he crashed into! So if you see that fat arm in the picture above – that was my arm! After he leaped into the crowd, I suddenly felt a lot of bodies around me, players and fans alike, all screaming and hugging one another. Everyone was ecstatic and the feeling is simply out of this world. I mean, the South China players are now developing a knack of running towards the fans after they score, but that was really the most outrageous of all player-fan celebrations.

For your information, Dhiego was subsequently given a second yellow card and was sent off. Not for leaping into the crowd, but for taking off his shirt in celebration – which until now I still think is about the most stupid rule in football.

Goals.

Watched two football games yesterday and saw a total of 12 goals, of which 8 were great and 4 of them were not-so-great. Well, at least I still had some fun winding up the Pegasus team yesterday at the stadium, and after winding up Kitchee a few weeks back, it was great to be able to dish out the same dirt on another title challenger whose fight for the league title suddenly went so pear-shaped. And since South China probably aren’t in the title race any more (mathematically it’s still possible, but I’m not betting on it), the best bit of entertainment we can have ourselves is probably to wind up the two teams who are in it but can’t seem to do enough to secure the title! But again, some righteous “fans” are again slagging us off, but I don’t have time for them. If they can’t understand the culture in football, I can’t really help them. As I’ve said a million times, winding up the opposition is part of supporting a team, and if these lot still remains in their 70s mentality, I think they should continue staying in their caves and not let people know how ignorant they are.

As for Manchester United… let’s say that I’m still gutted by how they shipped 2 goals in 3 minutes. I sure wouldn’t want to be in the United dressing room after the game yesterday. I won’t complain – after all these years rooting for United, I’m getting used to such bumpy rides. That said, even if City were to win the league, I wouldn’t say that they deserve it anyway because when you are spending that kind of money, buying all kinds of players, you shouldn’t be just winning the league. As I always said, if it’s Sir Alex managing that bunch of idiots at Manchester City, they would have wrapped up the title in February. Of course, Sir Alex would never have gotten Mario Balotelli in the first place.

Ever since coming back to Hong Kong from Manchester, I think I’m having quite a bad time trying to sleep well. Last week has been hectic (which is an understatement), and hopefully I could get to have a good few hours of sleep in the train when I’m heading over to Beijing this weekend.

And yes, the Manchester travelogue is still nowhere in sight yet. Patience is a virtue, my friend.

MCFC Fact of the Day: If Manchester City wins the Premiership on 13 May, they will finally be able to justify having the 3 stars on their crest, one star for each of their league title win (the other two being 1937 and 1968).

Banter.

I always like a banter, especially in a football game. I mean, what’s football without one set of supporters winding up the other side with chants and abuses? I think as long as there is no physical violence is involved, such banters should be fine.

I was in the Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground last night to watch Kitchee hosting South China in a crunch match. The atmosphere is obviously intense as this is a matchup between two title contenders and any slip up will almost gift TSW Pegasus the title. The match finished 2-2, with South China rallying in the last 20 minutes to tie the game up. After the game ended, a group of South China fans starting chanting “TSW Pegasus”, apparently signalling the likelihood that the league title will head towards Tin Shui Wai. Some Kitchee fans took offence to that and think that us South China fans are a bunch of shameless twats. Even some of the local newspapers got onto the bandwagon and condemned the South China fans. I mean, aren’t these people a tad too sensitive? I mean, I can understand that you are feeling sore after dropping 2 points that you shouldn’t have (South China equalized at the 87th minute, so there). But just because you are feeling sore and we decide to rub it in further, does that mean that you have to go round and complain like a spoilt child? Everyone tend to look only at the link between South China and TSW Pegasus, but I can assure you, if the South China fans are willing TSW Pegasus to win the league title, it’s really because (1) we are not in the title race and (2) we freaking hate Kitchee. Just because the two teams have a strong link at the management level doesn’t mean that we South China fans love them. I for one, couldn’t care less if that bunch in Tin Shui Wai gets the league title or gets relegated. And let’s get real, whenever South China loses, you lot are having field days with your abuse at us, aren’t you? So why are you behaving like a crybaby when we dish the same things out to you?

Yes, some righteous people out there will continue to label South China fans as shameless twats, but if I could wind up you lot at Kitchee by chanting “TSW Pegasus”, I will gladly do it. Besides, there are too many “ABSC” (Anyone but South China”) out there, so whatever we do, they’ll have something to say. If our existence provides them with their sole purpose of living, why not?

We sing when we want, we sing what we want, we sing for who we want!
You got a problem with that?

Plan.

I think I have been going around telling people that I’ll be going to Manchester next week. That’s one problem of me as far as my travels are concerned – they are never secrets!

Anyway as this is my first ever trip to the UK, I really do not know what to expect. The only good thing is that people speak English, so I think I could communicate without too much trouble. But I do have a bit of a concern – I haven’t really sorted out my itinerary yet! I mean, I know I’ll be going for a stadium tour at Old Trafford on Thursday, and then to see United vs QPR on Sunday, but basically everything in between – I have no idea whatsoever. I think I’d do well to research a bit more on Manchester in the next few days.

I would be heading out to Tseung Kwan O Sports Ground after work to watch South China taking on Kitchee (who?) in the Hong Kong Football League later. To be honest, I am always a pessimistic fan and in matches like these, I always go into the stadium thinking that South China is going to lose. No difference this time round – I guess when you have little expectation, you can’t get too disappointed when things don’t go your way. But for me, seeing your team lose is part and parcel of being a fan. If you can’t tolerate a team losing, then you can’t really call yourself a fan. A fan sticks with the team no matter what results they churn out, and gives his/her support no matter how low the team is. Too bad, Hong Kong is a place full of fairweather friends who seem to love the team only when they win. (That explained why there was suddenly an increase of Chelsea fans a few years ago, and now you also see more Manchester City fans). They hurl abuse at their own players game in, game out, and think that their team are only worthy of their support only when it wins. Sad low-life forms, if you ask me.

"You only sing when you're winning..."