Anyway, some of you might know about my flight from Australia to Qatar, which i have arranged to have a 1 day transit so i can attend the Masters Football Malaysia Cup 2008. This is a tournament between the "Master's team", comprising of English league players who have retired and some of them considered legends to their respective teams.
Anyway, after visiting a local sports shop to look at some jerseys and getting the new Malaysian team shirt, i headed straight to Stadium Melawati, to get some tickets from a forumer, Keith. He's working for Digi so he managed to get us the RM38 tickets for only RM10. what a bargain!
So after meeting him, a few others arrived, and handed them the tickets, do some business (buying and selling jerseys) etc. That's when the surprise starts.
Apparently, Keith managed to grab a few VVIP tickets for us. Since the number available is very limited, this news is kept secret and only the forum admins know about it. But 1 of them cannot make it, so they decided to give it to me, since i was there already! I was surprised, yet excited as well as anticipating what i might get in the backstage.
After letting the organizers see our tickets, Aaron, Steven and I entered through a series of tunnels and stairs until we reached a room full of people. This must be where all the big guns of the organizers and the football masters mingled around...
I looked around, and that's when i saw him: Bryan Robson.
Captain Marvel is the longest serving captain of Manchester United, winning 2 Premier League titles and 3 F.A. Cups with Man Utd, playing a total of 345 games in 13 years and scoring 74 goals in the process. If this is not legend material, then what is?
When he saw me, he smiled, looked down ( i assume my shirt, nothing more below) and winked. Hhmm....
Anyway, i got a marker pen from Aaron, walked towards him, wait till he finished his conversation with a lady, then politely asked him for his signature. Normally, he probably wouldn't even give much of a damn if someone were to approach him on the street like that. But when i asked, he never hesitated and signed on the shirt i was wearing, which is the same as the one he used to wear during his last season with Man Utd. After that, i asked him for a picture.
Not to mention the cup that the players are playing for being displayed there. Not sure if i can touch it or not, but i took a picture none the less.
After the thingy at the backstage, we exited the venue and meet our other forum members discreetly. i even had to change shirt, or else they will ask question and the truth will be out. Feel bad, but what to do, if the rest found out, they might not be too happy about not being able to join due to limited tickets.
At 5pm, we watched the match. Unfortunately, the Man Utd masters team lost to Liverpool Masters' team, which is captained by Ian Rush.
The man who played for Liverpool for a total of 16 years in two seperate spells, playing a total of 469 games and scoring 229 goals, winning numerous awards as well. Although i'm not so keen on Liverpool, admiration is still there for someone so devoted to his club.
After the match, i caught a taxi to the airport, where i boarded the Qatar Airways flight to Doha, Qatar. In that flight, i cant help but noticing a man. Seems familiar. I turned back to look at him a few times, but i am not sure who i think he is.
After the flight, i entered the shuttle for the trip to the terminal from the plane. That man was seating in there, with an empty seat next to him. I sat down, and looked at his boarding pass. It reads "RUSH, IAN.......". That's all i can see, but that's enough for me. I asked him whether he is Ian Rush, and he confirmed it. We chat a while, about the Masters Football thingy, about him rushing back to Manchester, and he also asked me where am i from. I told him about my journey from Australia to Qatar and the transit just for the match, and he seemed impressed!
He is in transit, so we parted ways when I get down the bus to the immigration booths.
Meeting two legends that were so vital for 2 top teams in the English League, the 2 person that are part of the team that shaped the Man Utd and Liverpool that we all know so much about now, and also the 2 captains of the MU and Liverpool Masters team, that was definitely my lucky day! If only i met Ray Parlour, but i cant be too unsatisfied ;)
