Team FATA

Team FATA

Team FATA had their debut match on the 19th of May 08, Vesak Day. 15 Fatarians turned up for the friendly against an unknown team arranged through an online forum.

I have to admit that our opponent was not really strong; in fact some of their players seems to be called up last minute to fill up the numbers. Hence, a 3 nil scoreline was not really something to be proud of.

As some of the players do not know one another, there was not much strategy and tactics given. The objective was to really give them a run-out and analyse the individual's skills and game-play.

The match started off well with Team FATA having more of the possessions. Few players were playing in unfamiliar positions, particular Zhen Hui as left-back, Kenneth as forward and Jin Hao as right-wing. Unfortunately, Kenneth and Jin Hao seems to be out of sort in the first half whereas Zhen Hui gave us an encouraging display. First half was ended with Siong Wei scoring the only goal with a close range shot.

Significant events happened in the second half. First, Jason was booked for a sliding tackle which should not warrant a yellow card for me. It was a 50-50 and he went for the ball. It was a good defensive play by Jason, the slow-motion Defensive Midfielder who just seems to be able to control the midfield well yesterday.

Next is the yellow card for Sean who lost his cool after some nonsensical tackles by the opponent. To me, it was a thumbs up for the opponent who managed to force an opponent to blow his top without getting booked himself. This happens a lot of things in football. How often do you all notice Man Utd's opponent trying to force Rooney into blowing his top? "Beautiful" football does not exist anymore. Managers just want to win the game, irregardless of tactics used. But I have to agree that our opponents yesterday was kind of abusive with their choice of words used. I do not encourage Fatarians to take things with their own hands when the game is still in play. Let the referee do the job. If he fails to spot accurately, so be it; thats part and parcel of the game. End of 90min, its still a game and we are all playing football for the fun of it.

Second half ended with 2 more goals added, courtesy from William, our goalkeeper who took the penalty and Sean who did a half-volley from a cross from Jason.

An encouraging start for Team FATA and hopefully we would extend the win this Sunday against SKC.