Nike Cup Final

It was like something out of a football commercial.

You see an urban landscape – dull, concrete gray, listless, but it promised more. It was the perfect foil for something to happen – something magical, spectacular. Two teams of five boys, one team in red, the other in blue, step into the rectangular court, as a solitary ball rests stationary in its middle. The rock soundtrack in the background turns up the tempo.

A player in red kicks off. A cheeky backheel finds a teammate. With a deft flick, the latter evades one tackle. An elegant, Zidane-worthy 360-degree spin allows him to evade another. Free of his markers, the player unselfishly releases his Captain down the right wing with an intelligent through ball. The Captain releases a powerful shot…

Goal!

You half-expect this sequence to cut to the logo of the brand behind the commercial, but all that fills your vision next are scenes of celebration and dejection (for those in blue). Further behind, a large statue of global football’s biggest superstar Cristiano Ronaldo looks down at proceedings, while a black Nike-themed stage, backed by a graffiti mural designed by street artists from Skope, stands in stylish contrast to the historic Kallang Stadium that looms large in the background.

No, this is no televsion commercial. This is the very real, very exhilarating finals of the Nike Cup 2010.


A very bad statue of Cristiano Ronaldo. With cameltoe. Eww.



(From L-R) Samad, Ramly, Albert, Gilberto Nagini and Ali.



And their friends, Osman, Sidek and Stan Jallalabad. I really have no idea who they are.



As the kids played, Tabular rocked with Muse's Starlight, and Kings of Leon's Use Somebody and Sex on Fire.



And after that, The Great Spy Experiment took to the stage.



This shot's for Zat. She's 6 years old.



Ada proves what we all have known for a long while: she can't play soccer.



While I assure TLFC that I haven't lost my touch.



The best striker to ever play for Singapore, and Fandi Ahmad.



Later, Fandi put to good use what I taught him in an exhibition game. Indra Sahdan, Aide Iskandar, David Lee and Fazrul Nawwaz were also in attendance.