- MANCHESTER UNITED ASIA TOUR 2009 -

  Let me share with you about this great and very very special tour... Months ago, they announced that they’ll be on Asia Tour around July. Immediately, the news brought happiness to me because I’m one of the Manchester United fan... At that point of time, I was in my class reading The Star newspaper at my place. When I came back home, I told my dad that I want to watch the match between Manchester United and Malaysia XI... Tickets and venue will be announced soon. Days later, they announced. Tickets prices from RM 58 to RM 308 and venue - National Stadium, Bukit Jalil… Yeehaa!! Again, I told my dad. My dad said, “You collect your money la.” “Ok!” I replied in a joy mood.

  When it came to July, I still haven’t buy the ticket as we were busy preparing for my mum to go on Carpal Tunnel Operation on July 7 - just 11 days before the match. July 11, everyone started counting down - the team to arrive here in KL and the match day. July 17, 11.30 am... The team landed safely at KLIA... Tickets still available but only for RM 58...

  As soon as I came back home, I called Ayah asked whether he wants to go or not and I’ll pay for the tickets… Ayah asked me to wait for him to come back… Aku dah melalak nak pergi… Lepas balik tuition baru ayah cakap ok boleh pergi… Call pula kawan - kawan aku tanya number ticket access. Lucky Dzafira gave me the number… I called the ticket access but no one answered. Called Azah pula tanya if ada kawan die nak jual ticket...Azah kata tak ada… That night Mama, Kak Hanim and Aiman came to my house… Tengok tv, chit - chatting diaorang pun balik… Aku tak cakap pun nak pergi tengok bola… Hehe… Yeah, Manchester United tak jadi ke Jakarta due to the bomb attack. In addition, one of the hotel yang kena bom, Ritz Carlton supposed to be tempat penginapan they all… Ohh ye, petang Jumaat few hours after they arrived, they had training session at Bukit Jalil… 30 000 people turned up during the training. They were staying at Mandarin Oriental near to KLCC...

  July 18, The Big Day… 8.30 am woke up terus call ticket access and again no one answered… I was like…Oh damn… Maybe tak dapat pergi… Message pula kawan - kawan if ada yang nak jual ticket, semua kata tak ada...12.30 pm Azah called, she was at Bukit Jalil… Kat sana ade jual ticket… Tickets were selling very fast… Asked ayah nak pegi tak?? Ayah cakap tak boleh pergi… Pergh… Geram… Semalam cakap ok, hari ni tak ok pula... Aku dah melalak lagi + memberontak… Last, last Ayah jerit pergi siap!! I was like “I don’t have mood to go now...” I was mumbling for almost ½ hour… Siapa tak bengang… Months away dah bagitahu nak pergi and ok je… Tiba - tiba tak boleh... Teruslah buat homework and 5.30 pm naik atas buka 811 - ada live match…

  Ok… Park Ji Sung balik Korea, Vidic baru recover from injuries and Antonio Valencia can’t join this tour because his visa got problem… Petang tu tengok tv je la… Yang datang ialah Edwin Van der Sar, Tomasz Kuszczak, Ben Foster, Johnny Evans, Evra, Rio Ferdinand, Nani, Gary Neville, Wes Brown, O Shea, Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs, Fabio, Zoran Tosic, Darren Fletcher, Anderson, Darron Gibson, Paul Scholes, Michael Owen, Berbatov, Federico Macheda and Michael Carrick… All the players are great! 80 000 people watching at the stadium… Too pack!! The whether is very hot… Azah told me yang die dah macam udang panggang kat sana… Time Manchester United scored goals, I screamed! I went crazily… Malaysia scored a goal… My parents were happy… They all supported Malaysia XI of course… I’m the only one yang support Manchester United… Hee… Match ended with results 3 - 2… 3 goals by Rooney, Nani and Owen… 2 goals by Amri Yahya… Ok la… Manchester United tak main macam diaorang lawan the other big clubs…

  Malam tu ada APM… Suddenly, Azah called asking kenapa tak jadi petang tadi… Cerita la… Tengok berita kat Awani… Oh yes!! Yes!! Manchester United had reorganized their schedule… They would stay longer in Malaysia due to the bomb attack in Jakarta… Second match will be held on Monday at 8.45 pm… Tickets still the same and were selling from 12 pm on July 19 at the National Stadium, Bukit Jalil… Told ayah… He said, “Biarlah… You got tuition…” Ruined my mood again huh… “Ada kawan lain tak nak pergi?”asked ayah. I called all my friends asking who wants to go… Semua tak nak pergi… Masing - masing ada hal and some of them tak minat bola… The next day pergi jalan…Malam tu, Aiman my cousin sms me. “Pergi tak tengok Manchester United esok??” I called him immediately and said “I want to go but nobody wants to accompany me and ayah said if ada orang follow ok lah…” Aiman: “Ok… Kak Hanim and I will follow you…Book the ticket for us…and Zakwan also going…” Haish Zakwan bukan nak bagitahu yang dia pergi semalam… Tanya ada ticket or tak cakap macam tak pergi je.

  July 20, pergi sekolah… Azah tanya pergi tak?? Aku cakap. “Yes I’m going.” Azah cakap nak pergi gak… Aku pun ajaklah dia… Since dia dapat ticket lagi from a.s.T.S.r …. At last, dia cakap tak jadi pula… Laa pegi la kan…. Tak pe la… I don’t want to force you… Kat sekolah aku memang dah tak sabar nak balik rumah… Cuak gak kut - kut cousin aku tak jadi ke… Balik je terus call Zakwan… Thank, God… Jadi… Aiman tak pergi sekolah and Kak Hanim balik kerja kul 5 pm, ambil aku kat rumah… 4.30 pm aku siap - siap since diaorang dah cakap nak ambil aku dalam pukul 5 lebih cam tu… Tunggu punya tunggu 6 lebih baru diaorang sampai… Pergghh… Lama aku tunggu korang… Tapi tak pe for the sake of Manchester United kan. Hehe… Zakwan drove his car and aku tunjuk shortcut as kitaorang tak nak hadap jam. Time ni kan orang balik kerja. Sepanjang jalan gelak tak berhenti as usual Zakwan la buat lawak. And ada la one part yang agak serius sikit. What was it?? Tak payah la tahu. Akhirnya park kat Sri Petaling. Aku ajak diaorang jalan kaki because malas nak tunggu dan naik tren. After parking and got out of the car, bus player Manchester United lalu. Berlari aku and Aiman nak snap photo. Tapi malangnya tak clear gambar tu. Huh. It’s ok la… Then, kitaorang jalan kaki ke Bukit Jalil… Motor memang banyak petang tu tapi tak de lah pack sangat.

- THE OFFICIAL BUS -

- BARU SAMPAI -

  Seperti yang telah diberitahu oleh worker Bukit Jalil waktu aku call tadi, ticket kena beli dekat Green Gate… Zakwan told us Green Gate jauh lagi. Dkt dgn Stadium Putra. Hoho. Ni baru halfway kut. Jalan punya jalan, after 10 - 15 minutes, ada satu counter jual ticket and Zakwan asked the man boleh beli kat dia tak. Dia kata boleh! So, kitaorang beli ticket RM 58. Cukup la kan. As long as we get the chance to watch the match lives at the stadium!! Again, God tests us. Entrance written on the ticket is Yellow Gate and the gate that was near to us is Blue Gate. Zakwan asked the bro at the Blue Gate whether we can go in through that gate or we still have to go in through the Yellow Gate as written. The bro said, “Ok. You all can go in through this gate.” Thanks bro! Before masuk beg semua kena check takut la if ada yang bawa bom ke… Ye la Jakarta kan baru je kena bom. Grand stand dekat our side still got many empty places. We were free to choose anywhere we want to sit. Yeay! We chose to sit at the third row from the bottom. Thumbs up!![Ayat pinjaman - Azah pinjam ye=)] Tapi part yang tak best nya ialah people smoke everywhere. 360°! What else can I do?? This is public place. No big deal. I just need to kipas myself because if I inhale too much smoke I will hardly breathe. I glanced at my watch and it was 7.30 pm. “Game starts at 8.45 pm and we still have another 1 hour”, I told Kak Hanim. “Yup. Later we get some food and drinks ya!” replied her. After buying the drinks, the players were having their training session, the whole stadium screamed and we all snapped pictures. The flash of cameras was everywhere. Everyone did the American Waves and yeah I also did. Feels great! 8.35 pm - 10 minutes before the game players masuk balik.

- THE TICKET -

- BEN FOSTER WITH THE COACH -

--THE TRAINING SESSION --

   8.45 pm - Game starts! Minutes 10 Macheda - Jersey 41 scored a goal! Yeah!! 2 minutes later (Minutes 12) Owen - Jersey 7 scored another goal! Manchester United was leading with two goals. The Malaysian team tried to score one goal but unfortunately they don’t have the chance. Aha! Manchester United played like they normally play. The Malaysia XI trapped this time. Pak Cik sebelah kitaorang da jerit “Sapa tu? ***** eh? Harap gaya je! Rambut lawa! Kahwin dengan artis!” I laughed and agreed with him… Then si kembar pula… Pak Cik tu cakap lagi “Sapa ni? *****? Sama je… Gaya je lebih.” I laughed again. “Belajar passing lagi la!” he added. Kak Hanim pula “Hah naik lagi, naik lagi... haih...” The Indonesians at the back row sang “Ryan Giggs, Ryan Giggs, Ryan runaway…” “Glory, Glory United…” We followed them singing. They brought two manila cards written “MAYBE NOT NOW, BUT WE WILL ALWAYS WAIT FOR YOU - INDONESIA” Somebody else “ALEX SIGN ME! I’M WORTH ₤80 MILLION” “NANI GIVE ME YOUR SHIRT PANTS!” “UNITED 4 EVA!” When Owen got the ball, again the Indonesians shouted “Go Owen!! Go Owen!! Go!! Go!!” I joined them too. 45 minutes ended. Malaysia did not score even one goal. Masa berhenti tunggu second half, Zakwan and Aiman went out to buy some food for all of us. Thanks ya! Kak Hanim and I snapped pictures. The players were having training session. Pak Cik sebelah tu smoke sambil tanya dari mana, kerja apa dekat Kak Hanim. Kak Hanim was like “what the ****”. She did not feel comfortable and I asked her to sit closer to me as the Pak Cik’s hand touched her chair. I was “kipas” myself because I cannot stand with the cigarette smoke. I feel a bit hard to breathe and my asthma might datang balik.

- THE INDONESIAN SUPPORTERS -

- FABIO & TOSIC -

- FIRST HALF -

   Game starts. We waited for Rooney to play. Slowly, Sir Alex substituted his player one by one. Nani, Evra, Berbatov, Ferdinand. We shouted loudly calling all the names. Finally Rooney came out to warm up himself before entering the field. Rooney! Rooney! We shouted louder. Actually the whole stadium did. Everyone cheered. Many times Manchester United tried to score some goals but they did not get the chance because the Malaysian keeper, Farizal did his job quite well on the second half. Same goes to the Malaysian team. Ben Foster and the other players also did their job very, very well. The game almost finishes, Malaysia hampir - hampir score akhirnya tak juga. The Pak Cik again said, “nak bawa bola sampai depan tiang gol, baru nak gol!” “***” I shouted. Hehe. Sorry. Memang dah bengang tengok diaorang ni main walaupun I’m Manchester United supporter. I’ve been so crazy that night until my throat sakit balik. Haha padan muka. Nak pergi sangat. The game ended with results 2 - 0. The Manchester United fans cheering everywhere at the stadium. We could clearly hear that. And not to deny, I was one of them too. Ahah. Tak patriotik langsung kan. Datang pakai T - Shirt Nike Manchester United lagi. Ni la citizen yang tak tahu diri. Haha. We all made decision to wait for the players to go back first. People were lining up along the gate where some of us holding the camera and cheering. It was 11.15 pm… Ibu called “When are you come back? Ayah’s waiting.” “Ok. I’m going back. Game just finish.” 11.40 pm bas bertolak. The Manchester United players looked fresh not like the Malaysia XI players. They looked tired. Haih… Learn from the most experience one la guys. Hope the coach will do something after this. That night almost 40 000 people watching at the stadium.

- THE MANCHESTER UNITED’S PLAYERS -

   On Tuesday, they did some shopping in KL and played golf at the Kuala Lumpur Golf Club. Manchester United flew to South Korea on Wednesday, July 22. July 24, match between Korea and Manchester United. Park Ji Sung joined his teammates over there. Results 3 - 2. Rooney (minutes 31), Macheda (minutes 57) and Berbatov (minutes 65).

On July 25, they flew to Zheijiang, China. Match against the Greentown FC on July 26. They scored 8 - 2!! Weehoo!! Ryan Giggs (3 goals), Owen (3 goals), Tosic, Nani and Berbatov (1 goal each). So, total score on this preseason tour: Owen (4 goals), Giggs (3 goals), Nani (2 goals), Tosic, Macheda, Berbatov and Rooney (1 goal each). You guys performed very, very well. Sir Alex is absolutely proud with all of you. You all deserved the standing ovations! Manchester United Asia Tour 2009 ended.

  Next time, do come again ya! We’ll always wait for you. Oh but don’t come next year as I might not be able to watch you guys. I have to sit for SPM next year and preparation has to do as early as possible. I’ve to thank Kak Hanim, Zakwan and Aiman so much because they had taken me and accompanied me to the stadium and sent me back home that night although it was already 12 am. We had so much fun together, right?? I really enjoyed! THUMBS UP!! The new season has just started! Go Manchester United!! Glory, Glory United!! The Red Devils go marching on… on… on!! Manchester United will be the CHAMPION!!!!