international match game

REPORTED BY AIDIL

Full Time: ODS 5 - 5 International School of Kuala Lumpur(1st third: 0 - 2, 2nd third: 2 - 4, final third: 5 - 5)
Scorers: Osman(x02), Liang Han(x02), Faizal(x01)
Man Of Match: Osman
Yellow Card: Osman

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The trip up to KL for the match was uneventful but the trip to our game was anything but. We left the hotel at 6.45pm to head for the International School of Kuala Lumpur and our first obstacle was an uncooperative car park barrier. 10 minutes passed before we could make our way to the streets of KL. We were then treated to a “grand tour” of KL with the bus driver unfamiliar with the location of the venue and proceeded to “U-turn” no less than 5 times until we reached the venue one hour and ten minutes later. We were greeted with a pitch that was bathed in glowing orange floodlights that was more suited for a romantic night out than the bright white lights that we were expecting.
The KLYS team was made up of some veteran footballers of considerable pedigree. In their ranks included former Dundee United, Kelantan and Penang striker Luis Pablo Pozzuto, their Number 10 was a former player who plied his trade in the Scottish League and two former S-League players in Mohammed Aidil B Mohammed Sulaiman and Bojan Hodak. The team even had a Martin Skrtel of Liverpool FC look-alike at leftback!
The game was to be played in 3 thirds of 30 minutes each. We quickly changed up and got the game under way.

1st Third
From the kick-off, the game was evenly matched with the teams sizing each other up. KLYS then signalled their intent with Argentinian star Pozzuto picking up the ball from outside the box and sent a rasping drive that was well palmed away by a diving Kumar. A few minutes later, Pozzuto was again unmarked outside the penalty area and sent a “grass-cutter” shot whistling just past Kumar’s left-hand post.
ODS should have taken the lead when on their first attack sent Osman clean through on goal and with only the keeper to beat, settled for a fancy chip which was closer to the corner flag than the goal when a straightforward shot either side of the keeper would suffice. A half chance then fell to Elango who drove a shot across goal that stung the hands of the opposing keeper.
ODS were then made to pay for their misses when a quickly taken free kick by Pozzuto inside ODS’s half found the right-winger who crossed for the unmarked and untracked Pozzuto to tap in from close range. 1-0 to KLYS.
Former Balestier striker Bojan Hodak then put his team two goals up with a tidy finish after uncertain defending by ODS. The ODS defence were really having difficulties coping with the bouncing ball and the orange lights of the stadium.

2nd Third
With renewed vigour and fresh legs, ODS started the 2nd 30 minutes brightly. Liang Han, who was giving his opposite number a torrid time from the first whistle, got the ball near the penalty spot and even with a crowd of defenders surrounding him, managed to turn and tuck the ball into goal.
ODS was rising to the task at hand, with the midfield promptings of Mark Teo in midfield, the attacking chemistry of Osman and Liang Han upfront and the bombing runs by Faizal, who was finding space effortlessly down the right flank, troubling KLYS.
However, the head of steam that ODS was building up was somewhat deflated when ISKL scored their third goal of the game. The defence allowed the ball to bounce over their heads and the ball fell to Bojan Hodak who held off Dennis to poke the ball past Kumar.
Osman then pulled a goal back for ODS by providing a crisp volley from a Faizal cross that beat the keeper at his near post.
Fortune then smiled on KLYS when the referee awarded them a soft penalty when Mark Penu was adjudged to have handled a cross in the penalty box. The arguments of the defenders fell on deaf ears as Pozzuto coolly sent Kumar the wrong way to put his team 4-2 up. The game was slipping away from ODS.

Last Third
If ODS thought that to get back into the game there was a mountain to climb, it became a veritable Mt. Everest when KLYS scored their fifth goal. Mohammed Aidil sprung the ODS offside trap and danced his way into the box where he despatched his vicious shot past Dennis with aplomb. 5-2. Three goals down, 25 minutes to go, it’s looking bleak for ODS.
ODS was in the valley of defeat, its towering sides seemingly impossible to climb. But this team didn’t give up. We lost the 1st third and drew the 2nd third. We wanted to win the last third, if only for pride.
There was a flicker of hope for ODS when Osman pinged the ball over to Faizal in space at the top left hand corner of the penalty box. With time on the ball and with the opponents slow to close him down, he had the time and space to place his well hit shot beyond the late dive of the keeper to the opposite bottom corner of the net. 5-3. Dare we believe?
That flicker of hope turned into a flame when ODS pulled another goal back. Liang Han was played into space behind the defence with a well-played ball over the flat opposition backline. Contending with a high bouncing ball and with the keeper closing him down, Liang Han managed a deft lob over the keeper from a tight angle that bounced a few times before it trickled across the line. 5-4. Can we believe?
KLYS was under the cosh and their backline was under incessant pressure. In the last five minutes, the ball was in the opponent’s penalty box with our attackers searching desperately for an equaliser. The ball fell to Osman and with a crowd of defenders surrounding him and drawing out the keeper, he managed to, as Faizal described it, “billiard chip” it into the bottom corner of the net. The comeback was complete!
The game could have ended with a victory for ODS when Osman found his partner in crime Liang Han with a through ball that sent him one-on-one with the keeper, only for the referee to pull back play for a dubious offside call. An incensed ODS team surrounded the referee to argue his decision but the Argentinian thought that the ODS team were angry with the youthful linesman (The Argentinian’s son) and started to launch a tirade about the linesman being a small boy and if we could do a better job why don’t we send someone to take over. The fact is that the linesman DID NOT flag for offside and it was the REFEREE’S decision to pull play back which prompted our angry reaction to the decision. That incident left a bitter aftertaste to what was an enthralling match and a classic football game that will long live on in the annals of ODS’s history.
I believe that Faizal summarised the match and “Spirit of Istanbul”-esque comeback aptly by quoting the enigmatic Maradona who was asked, “Why do you like to leave it so late?”
He quipped back, “Because we like it that way.”

P.S: Here is a link to our opponents’ match report of the game.
KLYS vs Singapore 5-5