Tales from La Manga: “I met Nani at the airport!”

By Lee Hwee Cheng Cheng

La Manga, Spain, Wednesday-Saturday, June 6-9, 2007 – They travelled seven thousand miles across continents on a plane for hours with no entertainment on board and with a bunch of strangers whom they had met just the day before.  Getting to Madrid the next morning was not the end of the story because they then had to hop onto another flight before they would finally reach their destination six hours later.

Lest you might think that seemed like some horrid field trip you are glad you were not part of, the boys in the entourage would like to have you know that throughout the entire journey, they felt only an overwhelming sense of excitement and anticipation that threatened to burst out of their systems.  What was indeed a tiring journey did not seem so after all.

After all, the destination was none other than La Manga, a resort town in the city of Murcia, in sunny south-eastern Spain.

The mission? To challenge over 200 other ‘Predators’ and ‘F50s’ who would make the pilgrimage from 40 countries around the globe.

The final battleground?  A special mini-stadium perched on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea to which the challengers could only gain access by speed-boats.

The reward?  A chance to spar with world-famous footballers.

The boys who travelled that distance for that lucky break all the way from Singapore were Aslam Ismail Bin Yaakop, Fahmi Fitri Bin Jauhari, Muhd Ridhwan Bin Zainal and Brandon Chong.

The global adidas ‘Predator vs F50’ compaign that had began in 40 countries around the world culminated in a three-day finale where the best ‘Predators’ and ‘F50s’ congregated and sparred against one another, and most of all, rubbed shoulders and pitted their skills against some of the best professional footballers in the world.

The tournament had started with two six-a-side leagues – the ‘Predator’ league and the ‘F50’ league.  Twelve lucky boys from the winning teams of each league would eventually battle out in an eleven-a-side grand final together with the professional footballers.  The Predator FC finalist team was coached by Carlo Ancelotti and captained by Zinedine Zidane, while the F50 Club de Fútbol team was coached by Vicente Del Bosque and captained by Emmanuel Adebayor.

The grand final, definitely the highlight of the entire campaign, was a "World Cup Final" in its own right, complete with the grandiose cup trophies, the award ceremony and the Golden Boot award for the top scorer of the tournament.  The referee was Horacio Elizondo, best known for officiating the opening and final matches of the 2006 FIFA World Cup™.

If the journey had seemed short, the three days in sunny Spain indeed flew by in a flurry for the boys.  But as we found out, the excitement lingers on within the athletes and the memory of the trip will stay long in their minds.

The Red Sports Crew managed to catch up with three of the boys to find out what were the best memories.

Red Sports:  How did you like your trip to Spain?  Was it your first time to the country?

Brandon:  The trip was fun and definitely memorable, and yes it was my first time to Spain.

Aslam:  The trip there was boring because there’s no entertainment on the plane. And the shops were closed as we reached there very early. The meals on the plane were not appetizing. Yes, it was my first time to Spain.

Fahmi:  I like my trip to Spain because i made many friends from different countries (such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and the U.S.A).  There, I also learned different types of dribbling skills.  This was my first time to Spain.

Red Sports:  It seemed like you had to travel a long way to get to where the event was held (La Manga).  Was the long travel worth it when you got to La Manga?

Brandon:  Uh the only thing I remember is that the food that we ate at Madrid airport really sucked. And the long travel there was worth it of course; actually all of us were so excited that the trip there didn’t really seem long.

Aslam:  There was this unpleasant incident where we were hungry and had to eat this pasta which looked good. However, it tasted horrible. On the way to Madrid Airport, the plane was not full, so Brandon and I took a stretch of four seats, and laid down on the four seats. And we fell asleep.

Fahmi:  When we were on the plane to Madrid, the plane was not full and we acted as if the plane was ours. Brandon even occupied all the four seats behind me because he was tired and wanted to have a good sleep. i think the long travel was worth it because I wanted to see the place,  play some soccer and meet all the star players.

Red Sports:  Tell us about where you stayed.  Nice hotel?

Brandon:  The hotel was quite nice, what else can you expect from a four or five star hotel? Haha. It had a nice swimming pool and our rooms were also quite spacious, so that’s good.

Aslam:  We stayed at a resort. It was not exactly a hotel. It had a living room, one basement room, and two rooms at the upper levels.

Fahmi:  The hotel was nice.

Red Sports:  Did you eat Spanish food everyday? 

Brandon:  I’m not sure if it was Spanish food but one thing which I hated about it was the bread. We had to eat sandwiches for almost all our lunches, and I got quite sick of it after a while.

Aslam:  No. It was mostly western, so it was not that bad.

Fahmi:  We ate sandwiches everyday for breakfast and lunch yet all of us were still hungry. We had to wait for dinner to make us all full. i don’t even know whether it was Spanish food!

Red Sports:  Ok, now tell us about the three-day event.

Brandon:  The three-day event was basically a tournament to decide which type of football would reign supreme. The Predator side represented the passing team game, while the F50 side represented the dribbling game. In the end, the Predator side won in a close finale, with a score of 11-9. The main reason why I went to Spain was to see the professional players in the flesh, which we did there. So of course we have many photos with the stars and had fun watching them play as well. They look even better than they do on television.

Aslam:  We had a coaching session and the tournament on the second day and the third day.

Red Sports:  What did you learn from the clinics? 

Brandon:  We learned some drills which we could practice on our own to improve our technique, as well as learning some dribbling skills from the coaches. Vincent Del Bosque, the legendary Real Madrid manager, talked to my group during our training session, and he emphasized the importance of technique at our age, and his advice gave me the deepest impression.

Aslam:  We gained new skills. Ancelotti gave us advice which had the deepest impact on me.

Red Sports:  Who did you meet?  Who gave you the best impression? 

Brandon:  I met many professional players, and some coaches as well. Cisse, Adebayor, Lahm, Defoe, Wright-Phillips, Wilhelmsson, Larsen, Vonlanthen, Barnetta, Bianchi, Sandor, Engin, Papadopolous, were all there. Carlo Ancelotti and Del Bosque were also there to “manage” the Predator and F50 teams respectively. Adebayor gave me the best impression, as he is an extremely friendly and down-to-earth guy. He is more than willing to give you an autograph or take a photo with you, and he was also interviewed by our Singaporean press.

Aslam:  We met Defoe, Wright-Phillips, Willhelmsson, Brown, shooting a video.

Fahmi:  I met a lot of players like Defoe, Wes Brown and many more. I even met Nani at the airport.

Red Sports:  How about the tournament?  How was the experience playing with footballers from other countries?

Brandon:  It was fun playing with youths from other countries, as we all spoke a different language and therefore couldn’t verbally communicate on the playing field. But football is universal, and everyone knew what to do with it. Italy gave me the best impression, as there were two Italians in my team, one of whom I admire because he is tough and tackles hard.

Aslam:  The tournament was not as fun as I expected.

Fahmi:  My team name was BAGOTA STYLISH SPIDER. One team consisted of six players (including one substitute). The tournement was fine. We won our first game and lost the other two games. i scored a hat-trick in my first game. The players from other countries were very skilled. I had a hard time tackling them.

Red Sports:  Any social activities with the other players (other than playing football)?  Made any new friends?

Brandon:  No, not really. Yeah my teammates were fun, and we talked to some of the best players of the tournament.

Red Sports:  What is the best experience you’ve gained from this whole trip? 

Brandon:  Meeting the stars and playing with a team of strangers. I would definitely remember these two things in years to come.

Fahmi:  The best experience was when i played in the tournament.  I will never forget when I scored a hat-trick on my first game.

Red Sports:  Tell us anything else we haven’t asked.

Fahmi:  i was very disappointed when i heard my favourite players Kaka and Robben did not come.

Red Sports:  Ok, last stupid question.  Were you homesick?

Brandon:  Nope, not at all.

Aslam:  No, not at all.

Fahmi:  No!

We bet the boys are still excitedly showing off their pictures and relating their stories of the trip to their friends right now…