Bad soccer day

It was a day of soccer in the morning, following by lazing and sleeping after the whole thing. I need to document this down because this incident piss me up so very much.

It never fails to piss me when anyone 'pilots' me. For those who have the least idea of what piloting is, that simply means not turning for an event when promised. It is very seldom that people actually do that to me but it was rather unbelievable when everyone does it at the same time. The timing was simply too insane and freakish. There was supposed to be a friendly game at NTU at 0845hrs. I gathered 15 players to go for the game. No one but two gave noticed that they might not be turning up for the game due to their leg injury. I hear, understand and made precaution by getting another one friend in that short time notice.

Disaster struck hard starting from 4am till the start of the game. 6 players messaged me stating that they cannot make it with various reasons. I never used the word excuses because I trust they were genuine answers and even if they were not, I won't know.

Reasons given was as follows not in their exact words:
1) I am sleeping late and won't be able to attend the game tomorrow
2) I am not feeling well
3) It's raining and my wife doesn't allow me to play.
4) I overslept.

In my humble opinion, here is what I think of them.If you know that there is a game you are going to play, you don't party till late night. And obviously, you should take care of yourself/your leg before the game. And if you have the passion for the game, why allow your wife to interfere. There is definitely no reason to oversleep. I definitely understand that all the situations are mostly due to unforeseen circumstances.

I am not entirely pissed for so many people not honoring their words. I am pissed because so many key players did not appear for the game. It was supposed to be a pre-season friendly and a trial of players. The game was supposed to gel up the team as well. It is great damage to the planner when this many players gave last minute notice that they are not turning up.

What might seem pretty insignificant to individual might actually turn out disastrous to the whole team. What they are spoiling is the game plan as well as the pre-season preparations. By not turning up and informing late, they gave the planner almost no time to make any reactions to the problem. The substituting members were drained up and the demoralized 11-players will have to last through the whole of 90 minutes which will heighten the risk of injuries. Late insertion of many new players into the team will cause the team not to function effectively.

Correct me if I am wrong on any of the observation and personal opinion given.

On the other hand, I am grateful to the players who attended the game as promised. They earned my respect and trust and I would like to thank them. I am also glad that we were able to find players so early in the morning and that one of the injured player appeared to play. This shows the commitment level although it is not highly-recommended. I pray and hope hard that such misfortune will never occur again.

We lost the game 2-0 but I felt that it was a good game. Given only eleven players to play, we lasted well. If I need to give excuses for the loss, I could have blamed it on the field, weather and the team not gelling well together. But I would like to give a pat on every player's back today. We did well and will avenge ourselves again.