An Open Letter to Khairul Fahmi

Dear Khairul Fahmi,

If you ever read this, please know for a fact that I don't really watch football, unless it's the World Cup finals. I don't really have a favorite team (like Arsenal, Chelsea, Kelantan or Negeri Sembilan). Well, I thought I was a fan of MU, but I figured out I only liked them because Beckham was there back in those years. I only know the faces of famous players whom I think look cute (like Kaka, Michael Owen and Cristiano Ronaldo), but I know of some too, who are not quite as good-looking, like Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, and Carlos Tevez. And I only know 2 coaches: Alex Ferguson and Jose Mourinho, and that's only because the newspapers kept putting their pictures in the sports articles at the last page, with a jacket/coat/blazer and sporting a grim/snarling/serious-looking face.

My definition of a good footballer is being able to score goals from a long distance, making a "free-header", tackling a ball from an opponent with ease, and expertly catching a very fast-moving ball, for a goalie. Unless the ball comes anywhere near the goal posts, you can count on me to be somewhere else not watching the game. I thought watching 11 individuals running after one ball, kicking it towards a big erected net at the end of the pitch, well, darn taxing. It's such a wide expanse of grass-covered land, why would you tire yourself scrambling all over it, trying to outrun each other to get the ball? And I don't get it why people (especially the male species) would be willing to hang out at those crowded mamaks, watching the game projected onto the big white screen oh-so-conveniently brought out during football seasons (blurry, much?), when they can comfortably watch at home with friends and family, without the extra charges of overpriced teh tarik and mee goreng mamak?

But my perspective on football might have changed a little (for the better, in a way) with the Malaysia v. Indonesia final match for the Suzuki Cup. I was visiting my cousin in the hospital, your teammates' glorious goals in the first leg made me shout out in glee in the ward, forgetting I was in a hospital. I don't remember seeing you in action much in that match, but I sure got a whole lot of glimpses of you in the final leg. Boy, were you marvelous. You jumped, crawled, rolled over and stretched to the max to prevent our neighbor from scoring. You put out your neck and left the goal area to try and catch the ball. That was brave. And you did catch it, most of the time! I think it's safe to say that we Malaysians gratefully thank you for those saves. If it wasn't for you, we'd be toast right now. (Psst, between you and me, from a non-football fan of view, I think our defenders could use a bit more training. I felt pity for you last night, because it looked like you were the only one working to stop the opponents)

Initially, I wanted to write a longer letter, but with my limited knowledge on football playing techniques and skills and strategies, that would be a big and daunting task for me.
Just know that you made me believe that Malaysian football can soar to greater heights with you as the goalie. And that you made me watch a football match involving the Malaysian team. Your performance was GOLD. You really deserved being one of Twitter's trending topics!

p/s: Harimau Malaya rocks!
p/p/s: Did you know that Kim Kardashian tweeted about you last night?
p/p/p/s: Is Safee still single and available? If he is, please ask him to Facebook me ;)