VICTORY!
Victory is sweet. It's the sweetest. There is nothing like total victory. We are champions. Champions. We are the best among those we compete with. And with conquering your opponents, you conquer your dreams and desires, and then the pure joy that flows out, the emotions, the passion, the sheer ecstasy is the best feeling anyone can have. A feeling that you are on top of the world, and nothing, nothing can stop you from feeling happy. The adrenalin is pumping, and you find this hidden energy within you, that comes bursting out. You reach the pinnacle of satisfaction, and at that moment, nothing seems better. You forget all other pleasures and woes. Sometimes it takes time for the victory to seep in, "shit we have actually won!". It seems like a dream, a dream you don't want to snap out of, and you don't snap out of it because that dream is now reality.
All the practices we had, during Ramadan, under Al Maktoum bridge, in Romit's play area where we endlessly tried to improve our volleys and touches, from grade 7 to now, that preparation, that hard-work, that commitment to the larger cause, that feeling that every time we played football, we played only to win that single tournament we take part in every year, for the biggest bang, the bang that is like a historic legacy in its own small way in the Dubai Modern High School for football, all the seemingly "years of preparation" has led us to a victory that we wanted the most. Screw the medals and the cups, what we wanted was the glory, the glory of victory, because it's that glory that makes everything seem worthwhile. We wanted it, we got it. Hell yeah!
As Captain, I have to specially thank a few people. I would like to thank my team, for their oneness, great spirit, great teamwork, great sportsmanship and for the respect they gave me. I respect you for that. Beyond all the glory-takers, i.e goal-scorers, a special thanks to an unsung hero - Neil Jonathan D'souza - our small Neil. He played with all his heart, and his determination, strength, speed and purposeful tackles played a major role in giving us that once-elusive victory. A special thanks also to Edwin Mathew for a gritty, strong and reliable role as Defensive Midfield. He was brilliant too.
On behalf of the team, I would like to thank all those students and teachers that supported us, from the frantic phone calls of Tejas and Govind, to the "good luck" comments on this blog, and on your MSN nicknames. Thank you - support is always good, and many a time, crucial. Lastly, we would like to thank our passionate and energetic coach - Mr Mahesh Sharma. Thank you sir - you got the best out of us, and made us believe in ourselves even more. Thanks for everything. A special thanks also goes out to Venu Sir, for attending every match, and giving us spurts of inspiration. Thank you sir!
Shit, it feels like the Oscars. I am going to stop. I didn't want this post to be too long, but hey, I really can't control myself at the moment!
More than winning, the whole campaign has been this enchanting and enriching experience of tackling people and emotions, literally and symbolically. Wow - it's been one hell of a roller-coaster, a roller-coaster that we have enjoyed so, so much.
P.S. The obvious song to listen too: "Queen - We Are The Champions"
Monotony?
Yes, the past posts have been a little monotonous - I'm sorry, we just can't stop winning. :P
No really, my posts have been monotonous - football, more football, more victories, more detailed goal explanations, more randomness, more Our-Own-Sharjah-Press-Reporter type posts.
The reason - these posts are for me, and to a certain extent our football team - to serve as pieces of memory, years down the line. The goal explanations are for me to visualize 10 years down the line, and chuckle away with sheer delight. Most of you haven't been able to read through all of them, and it's cool, I don't expect you too.
Selfish? Well this is my blog, so-
For those of you that have supported us, the football team, with your 'congratulations' and 'good luck' comments on this blog, along with your MSN nickname encouragements - RESPECT! Thank you, it is much appreciated - by me, and by the entire team, any support is.
P.S. For some reason, I loved writing this post.
Finals! – Finally…
Finals:
Modern: 4
Charan - 15'
Dusty - 20'
Anish - 33'
Charan - 40'
Indian High School, Dubai: 1
Some Dude - 50'
For the first time in 20 years, Modern High has won a senior inter-school football tournament. Actually, leave alone "won", for the first time in 20 years, Modern High has progressed to the next stage of an inter school senior football tournament, and boy, don't we feel proud having the honour of creating history.
The finals was interesting. The first 10 minutes saw Indian High dominate completely, and it seemed like they would score any minute. But a good counter-attack led to our first goal. Romit's cross from the right-flank was met by Charan, who slotted home another volley, this one involving less luck. It was taken really well, a great finish - thanks Charan!
The second goal was even better. I chipped in a ball for Dusty from the left flank, it rick-o-sheyed off a defender, and Dusty smacked (well volleyed) it home which was clearly the best goal of the game. The third goal came in the second half, where I outran the defence and push-passed it beyond the goal-keeper. The fourth goal was created by Dusty. He himself had an opportunity to score, but missed it. However he got hold of the rebound, and from the left flank, set up Charan. Charan thwarted it, and the ball went flying into the goal, after hitting a Indian High hand and experiencing several deflections. 4-0 to the good. Brilliant.
Ali got his second yellow card of the tournament, and it was yet another proud moment for him. However the resultant free kick resulted in a goal. So there, IHS got a consolation. Big deal. By the end of it all, we all seemed tired. "Seemed" because god knows where the energy came from for celebrating the way we did. We went officially bezerk. Hugs and kisses, and more hugs, and some uncomfortable handshakes, in addition to the victory lap and the jumping huddle, exemplified the pure ecstasy we were experiencing.
Personally, I would like to thank the 11ths and the 12ths that came and supported us today. It helps - it's encouraging - so thank you. Another thank you to Tejas and Govind for videotaping our match, hopefully they will give us edited copies. Yeah Tejas, I am hinting. Also, thanks to all the teachers that supported us through out.
Thanks everyone!
P.S. Right now I can't stop typing. We have frigging won! Brilliantly unbelievable!
Semifinals – HAH!
UPDATED: The Khaleej Times article on the semifinals...
Semifinals:
Modern: 1
Charan - 2'
NIMS, Sharjah: 0
We won, again. The match summary is simple. From the kick-off, within a couple of minutes, we raced into the lead. I received the ball on the right flank, went past a couple of defenders, and put in a cross. The ball got slightly deflected by one of the defenders, but it somehow reached Charan. The deflection obviously put him off a little, but he got his shin to the ball. The ball went towards the far post, struck it, and went in. It took time for us to actually realize that we scored, it was as if we were waiting for some kind of confirmation. I bet everyone asked themselves - 'did that actually go in?'. It did. One-nil to the good.
After that, however, we became Italy-like. We switched to defence mode, and our opponents switched to turbo attack mode. They struck the bar twice, and had an open goal to score into, but didn't convert any of their chances. Thank god. Luck was on our side, and I hope it stays with us for the finals too. And beyond the luck, our defence was pretty strong too. Our small Neil was simply brilliant. His pace, strength and determination underlines the fact that he is the best defender in our team. Hats off to him for a great display, not only today, but throughout the tournament. Attack-wise we had no real chances after our goal. The whole team was defending, and I guess that's a game of its own, a game lateral to the fast-flowing attacking that everyone likes to see. Anyway, it's the result that matters.
Our final is against Indian High School, Dubai. Now Indian High is one team that have been lucky throughout. They qualified from their group as the second place team without scoring any goals. 0 goals. How did they go through? They got a walk over and got 2 more points from 2 goalless draws. Their luck did not stop there. In the quarters, they faced arguably the best team of the tournament, Our Own, Al Warqaa. They beat them on penalties after playing out a 2-2 draw. It doesn't stop there either. In the semis, they faced Our Own Indian, Dubai. Indian High won on penalties, again. They had drawn 1-1 in normal time, and guess how they got their goal? The OOIS goalkeeper had the ball in his hand next to his goal. An IHS player nudged him, and the keeper dropped the ball into the goal. The referee did not see it. The goal stood. Unfair? Or plain lucky? Unbelievable, definitely.
So luck also seems to like IHS, but I guess it is less hypocritical towards them. To add to their luck, we have some sort of voodoo against them. In the past, we have always lost to them. 5-0 - when I was in 8th, 3-2 - when I was in 10th, 7-1 - when I was in 11th. This year, football wise, they are definitely not as good as they were in the past, and we are hungry for revenge. We want to kick their ass. That's it.
P.S. For those who don't know, the whole of 11th and 12th grade boys will get to see the finals on Sunday!
The Quarterfinals! YES!
Updated: The Khaleej Times article on the quarterfinals...
Quarterfinals:
Modern: 2
Anish - 32'
Charan - 58'
Delhi Private School, Jebel Ali: 1
The 'Captain' - 20'
Hypocritical luck was again hypocritical today. It didn't trip us, but it kicked Our Own, Al Warqaa out. Clearly the most dominating team, Our Own, Al Warqaa were devastated to be kicked out by the poor Indian High School team by the cruelest of settlers - the dreaded penalty shoot-out. A team that scored 10 goals in 3 matches lost to a team that scored 0 goals in their group matches. Unbelievable. Damn, I feel for them. Because of Our Own, Al Warqaa, we progressed through the group stages, and now we have progressed to the semis, while they have stumbled. So this bit is just a tribute to them. Well played guys, you were just unlucky.
Our match was different. A poor 1st half was capped by a 40 yard free-kick from the DPS, Sharjah captain that passed into the net over our goalkeeper. Annoyed and suppressed, we came out in the second half more pumped up then ever, almost as if to throw back the suppression on our opponents' face. And we did just that. A brilliant move, that involved a one-two between Aaron and me, led to our first goal. I won the ball in midfield, played it to Aaron, who supplied me a sublime, first-touch, backheeled pass, which I received on the run, I then glided past a couple of defenders and slotted home the equalizer. 2 minutes - that's all it took. From then on, the scenario changed completely. We dominated, winning more balls in midfield and by making less errors. Edwin put on a strong performance, anchoring the midfield and defence by not allowing any ball to seep through. The defence looked more solid, and Bharath made a couple of good reaction saves. On the other end, I hit the bar twice. The first instance was when Romit fed be lovely ball, and I tried to lift it over the goalkeeper, only to strike the bar. In the second instance, my pace beat the defence, but my finish could only hit the inside of the post. How that didn't go in? - I will never know! Charan also had a couple of brilliant chances. At one time, he was clean through with only the keeper to beat, but he stumbled under pressure. Aaron also came close with a volley. It seemed to be just one of those days.
Anyway, 2 minutes before the end, Dusty sweeped in a long ball from the right flank, and Charan pushed it into the goal with a left footed volley. Brilliant. A last minute stunner. We flipped. Nirmal, our young substitute, ran onto the field without the knowledge of the officials. Our coach flipped. Charan almost got squeezed to death. Everyone lost their voices, screaming - it was sheer jubilation, one of those moments where you feel like you cannot possibly be more happy and when you think that your lives truly rock.
However, what followed wasn't a merry sight. The referee put in 10 additional minutes. 10! Yes 10 whole minutes! Even professional matches don't add on so much time. Our coach was going insane on the touchline. All the passion and anger was oozing out. It almost seemed that the referees were against us. But we tried to derive as much pleasure as we could from the extra 10 minutes by employing all the possible time-wasting techniques. Aaron, Dusty and I took the ball to the corner flag and shielded it, annoying the hell out of the other team.
The final whistle was finally sounded, and we freaked out, like a bunch of teenage girls, hugging, kissing, laughing - and then we stretched - to warm down our worn out legs. We have our semi-finals tomorrow. Aaron has taken a knock, and almost everyone has some niggling pain or the other. But once we are on the field, the adrenalin rush is just too strong, all the pain seeps away, and we have this new 'josh' in ourselves.
Basically, I am really excited and cannot seem to stop typing. Let me just conclude by saying that we will try our best in the semis, and reaching the finals would be dream-like - so we'll give it our all. And guys, all of you, thank you so much for the support. It means a lot to us. I hope you guys can come to watch the match. Support is always good! But "you can't miss your classes". Obviously.
P.S. The long detailed post is for memory, a few years down the line, for me, and for the team. So please forgive and ignore if you are bored. =)
India At Its Controversial Best! (starring Sharad Pawar, Ricky Ponting & Damien Martyn)
Australia wins the ICC Champions Trophy like real champions. They go forth to lift the trophy that is being given to them by the BCCI head, Sharad Pawar. They acknowledge the trophy, nudge Sharad Pawar out of the way, and celebrate their victory for the press.
2 days later the mob of India notices this. They notice that Damien Martyn 'nudges' Sharad Pawar away. Obviously, there is an uproar everywhere. All across the country, there are riots and peaceful (hopefully) campaigns against the Australians. Donkeys are painted in Australian colours, and have Damien Martyn written on them. The message is clear - A bunch of donkeys kicked the "mighty" India out of the ICC Champions trophy. Right.
AAJ TAK makes even a bigger issue of this. Hey, anything controversial is good news for news television. They replay the incident a hundred times, literally. And obviously, they then get a couple of people to explain how terrible the act was, and how disrespectful the Aussies were and how they should apologize and how they should be fined, punished and what not. Then you see scenes of the mob chanting ferociously against the Australians. Ozzie flags are burnt and there are banners all around saying 'Australians Is Bad'. Right. A heated debate continues to flair up even more.
The nudged victim, Mr Pawar, steps forward, and provides a twist in the tale by not joining the country in mourning "the great nudge". He says that the Australians were excited, they did not realize what they were doing and they did not intend to do it, so the chapter is closed. Thank you, Mr Pawar for making sense.
But then, our very own super cool Yuvraj Singh wants to be in the news too, so he butts in with an opinion of his own, which is so not needed. Right. India. Obviously.
What I think? - Fine, the 'nudging' was disrespectful. It was not required and should not have been done. But it was not intended. Even Pawar gets it. Why make such a big deal out of it? There are so many other issues that require repetitive coverage, not this miserly incident. Why the hell does India have to blow up everything into this big 'tamasha'? Do we enjoy it? What about the poverty? What about the over-population? Who is raising awareness for that? The press , and yes AAJ TAK especially, are at fault for making such a big deal out of something that could have been made done by a side-column newspaper article. They know that the remaining part of the mob who weren't aware of this earlier will follow them. It's like they want to create chaos. Idiots.
P.S. I bet the Australians are laughing their asses off, not at what they did, but at the uproar they created.
Qualification!
Updated: The Khaleej Times article on the match...
3rd Group Match:
Modern: 1
Anish - 35'
SIS, Sharjah: 2
No. 6 Red Boots - 44'
Random Dude - 47'
Today, we lost, again. We were leading 1-0, again, and the SIS came back to win 2-1 by scoring a couple of goals late in the second half, again. Unlucky? Well luck was hypocritical today, like it always is. Due to a bizarre state of circumstances, we still made it into the quarterfinals as the second team from our group, even when we lost 2 of our 3 matches. Brilliantly lucky!
Today's match wasn't as entertaining as the one against Al Warqaa. Both teams started slow, and we did not really get to dominate SIS, even though their defense was really week. Half way into the second half, I shot us into the lead. Big Neil (i.e. of Grade 12) gave me a pass on the edge of the area, and the ball found its way in the back of the net. We had a good lead, partly deserved and should have kept it. But then things did not go our way. In the last 5 minutes SIS scored 2 quick goals. The first goal was quite brilliant. Their best player, known to us as 'No. 6 Red Boots', dribbled his way past the defense from the corner area, and slotted in a neat left foot shot past our goalkeeper. Their next goal was a little haphazard, and it somehow found its way in the back of the net. The linesman flagged for an offside, but as soon as the referee looked at him, he put his flag down, very cheekily. Anyway, those things happen, but sometimes it's so annoying. What was more annoying was that in the last minute of injury time, I was through on goal, only to slip and miskick the ball. The rebound fell to Romit, but his shot was blocked, and then before Aaron could slot home a last-minute-Drogba-vs-Barcelona-type equalizer, the defense cleared. Immediately after that, the final whistle resonated in our ears.
Our coach was understandably annoyed, and we were all disappointed in ourselves. Twice in two days - that's not good. We lacked aggression, and that 'no-fear' attitude. Skill-wise, we are good, but fitness and aggression wise, we are pretty poor. Our coach drilled that into us today in a long and intense after-match talk. I felt we were too defensive, and the after-match talk saw us all voicing our opinion and get everything cleared. It will only serve us good. There is nothing like talking everything out.
Anyway, Fate seemed to be teasing us. For us to qualify, Our Own Warqaa had to beat NIMS, Dubai, and they did, and we were through. We are through. Now the Warqaa team are like our brothers, but the fraternal love we share will all change if we end up facing them in the knock-out stages. Our principal spoke to us today and said that he wanted us to lose in the finals. Basically the goal is set - finals. Expectations are a little too high, and that's never good, but we will give it our all. Let's hope luck loses the hypocrisy and takes our side.
P.S. Hypocritical 'luck' or hypocritical 'fate' is an obvious example of how 'luck' and 'fate' don't really affect people, they just affect our mindset.
Football Update…
UPDATED: The Khaleej Times article on the match...
2nd Group Match:
Modern: 2
Aaron - 6'
Anish - 18'
Our Own English High School, Al Warqaa: 3
Isaq - 11'
Isaq - 27'
Naveed - 30'
Today, we lost. With a 2-1 lead at half time, we failed to hold on. Our 1st goal was a good finish from Aaron. I threaded a through ball, and Aaron took the goal quite brilliantly, like a true striker. They hit back with a typical cross-in-from-right-then-tap-in. We were then lucky to go up 2-1. I shot, frankly what was a shit shot, and it bounced off a rough patch in the goal area, and defied the goalkeeper. Then, we thought God had indeed blessed us.
But things changed in the second half. 2 quick goals in the from Al Warqaa settled the fray. However we went down fighting. While we were 3-2 down, we had numerous chances to equalize, however we lacked composure and luck when it came to the finishing. I missed 2 chances that I could have, should have taken. In one of the chances I was clean through, but I didn't completely realize that, and I shot feebly. But the best chance to equalize came in the last few seconds when I ran down the right flank, past a couple of defenders, and floated a ball into the center. Aaron came running forward, and jumped up for a header. His technique was perfect. He was 2 feet up in the air, in full momentum, ready to slot his header home. His head connected sweetly with the ball. The ball flew towards the goal, half of us thought it was in, and were on the brink of celebration, but it flew agonizingly off the bar. Damn. That was our story all morning. Our coach said we played poorly and lacked toughness. He said that we needed to make hard tackles, and prevent ourselves from making first-time tackles, for which I was personally to blame.
Anyway, all is not lost. We still have a very good chance of going through if we win tomorrow's match against SIS. NIMS, Dubai, who we beat 2-0, beat SIS 4-2. So technically we still have a very good chance of going through. And even if we fail to win tomorrow, we can move into the quarterfinals on a better goal difference depending on how other matches go. But we don't want to depend on anyone else. Let's hope we win convincingly tomorrow. We just have too.
Ms Dewey…
In the pits of adversity, when man has no hope, when there is absolutely no search engine in the world that will give you the required, relevant result for 'carenthopathiclamonist', it is then that Ms. Dewey will come to our rescue - www.msdewey.com.
Yes, it's a search engine, a search engine with a difference. I'm not saying you will get a required, relevant result for 'carenthopathiclamonist', actually I am sure you won't, but you will surely get entertained. Ms Dewey is this cyber-cleavage-showing babe who keeps knocking on your monitor-screen if you don't type anything in her search-bar. She is more of a man-eating-drool-creating chick who evades being annoying plainly because she is hot, and is a half-decent actor. And Ms Dewey, this new type of searh-engine, is apparently a Microsoft invention, so no illegal, explicit content here. Anyway I have to give this to Microsoft that 'she' is definitely an interesting concept, who has potential, but only in the future. A more user-friendly approach is better but when half the world doesn't have high speed internet, and a quarter of the world doesn't even have internet, this concept is definitely one not for today. Worth a visit though, in times of extreme boredom...
P.S. 'Carenthopathiclamonist' isn't really a word. So Shri, chill, don't panic, it doesn't exist. And also, credit to Deepali for introducing Ms. Dewey to me - visit her blog here.
Football Jerseys!
UPDATED - 4/11/2006
See the Khaleej Times article on the football tournament we are taking part in.
P.S. My middle name is Kishore.
*****
UPDATED - 3/11/2006
1st Group Match:
Modern: 2
Aaron - 6'
Anish - 26
NIMS, Dubai: 0'
A decent start to the campaign, but we played the easiest team in our group. Our coach gave us a 4/10, but we still won. I guess the most we got out of this match is the confidence and morale boost which is highly important and required. Anyway, the next 2 teams we will face (Our Own, Al Warqaa & SIS) are both tough, but hey, we need only one win to go through - and we want this too much.
Thanks guys, for your support.
*****
UPDATED - 1/11/2006 (not really, but we got our jerseys then)
Cool huh?
That's what our jersey will look like, but without the logos and 'Nakheel'. It will have the school logo and "MODERN' printed on it instead.
Cool huh?
*****
If you are a part of the the Dubai Modern High School's Football team for 2006-2007, you are one lucky man, and it's confirmed - at the price of Dhs. 80/- only.
Yes, the school team, for the first time in twenty years, will have a non-Ajax, non-Man-Utd, non-blue, actual school jersey, with the players' names and numbers on the flipside. The front will bear a handsome, but simple school logo, along with the word 'M O D E R N'. It was previously going to be 'DMHS', but our principal put it right - 'DMHS' sounds rubbish. All over the world, it is 'Eton', 'Winchester' - so, we will have 'Modern'. And yes sir, I totally agree. 'Modern' does sound better.
That's what our jersey will look like, but without the logos and 'Nakheel'. It will have the school logo and "MODERN' printed on it instead.We placed in an order for the jerseys today, and they should be ready on the eve of our first match, that is on the 1st of November. We'll look cool, proud and dignified, andthese jerseys will also serve as a piece of memory of the year that was (yeah it's still to get over, but hey...let's hope it's one to remember). So enjoy them. I'm bloody excited to get mine!
Shifting to Indian inter-school football in Dubai - it's pathetic. Every year there is only one, week-long, tournament to ta
ke part in. Only one. It's so sad. The Indian sporting infrastructure is poor, and that poorness is even pervading out to places like Dubai. Anyway we love the game, and it's for this reason that when this tournament does knock on the door, we all come rushing out. The excitement levels are immense. Anticipation and nervousness, along with the hunger to prove the discouraging claims of our school of 'we suck' wrong. However, year after year, we turn out to be the losers. With shameful defeats where goal differences reach double figures, to heart-breaking losses, over the years Modern has seen the worst of the Indian football scene in Dubai.
But there have been moments of pure bliss and amazement, like when the junior team of 2004, against all odds, came back winners of the U-16 Al Diyafah Inter School Football tournament for Indian schools. That junior team is today's senior team. It's our last year in school. This is our last tournament. However shit the Indian football scene in Dubai is, this tournament means a lot to us. We want to do well. We have to do well. Let us hope that we will do well. As captain, I would like to wish the entire team good luck, and remember - we play for the love of the game. So enjoy the football, and the result, whatever it is, will take care of itself. Modern High is not known for football. In fact, majority of our school ridicules it's own school football. Damn, it'll feel good to prove them wrong.
P.S. This post is dedicated to Mr. Biswas, our ex-coach, who I want to thank for moulding our football team into one cohesive unit. He coached us to our historic and unexpeceted U-16 Al Diyafah Inter School Football Tourney victory. Thank you sir.