some memories never fade.

they will always be remembered, be talked about even when me and my frens have progressed decades over, be laughed over, be pondered over in my mind over and over again as the beautiful childhood i had. and they will never fail to bring a smile on my face.

one such memory that always pops up on the dinner table is definitely the interclass soccer in sec4. it is beyond description why it struck me and my frens, my classmates so hard that its almost impossible to be erased or forgotten. perhaps, it was e jubilation, the excitement, the novelty and the beautiful game. for me, it was a time to become a zero to a hero, a hero that i wud never have expected, and so i will never forget to smile like i am now, relating this majestic story.
4e6, Zhonghua secondary school - favourites to at least reach the semi finals of the interclass tournament, our class's stature took a bad battering last year when we lost in the preliminary rounds and crashed out prematurely. this year, we were grouped with strong teams such as e4, e2(the strong fav for winners) and e class where most of my great frens belong - e7. it looked like another year of tough fight. the preliminaries kicked off with little support from our classmates and only a small crowd of spectators.
we started off by played e4, a game we cannot afford to lose. in the game, all of a sudden, eugene(e4) had the ball in a great position, turned and muscled nicholas to a great 1 on 1 position with me. i can tell u my heart dropped when i saw nicholas nudge eugene and he did not even waver and faced off with me. he shot, and all i know was i stretched fully to tip the ball wide. everyone stood up and had their mouths wide open on the stands, i screamed at the team who was shellstruck before they came over to tap my head, and concentrate for the resultant corner. i became the hero, the saviour, the creator of the turning point that motivated the team on to e finals. we went on to win 1-0 with a goal by our fabulous captain.
with the win in hand, we were on a high, as a draw with e2 would firmly put us into the driver seat to reach e semi finals. and we did. the game ended a 0-0 stalemate, with extremely strong attacking from e2 that did not materialise into any goals, apart from a terrible scramble for the ball at the sandy penalty box that i will always remember.
then e e7 game was all we needed to hold our nerves for our hard work. captain rested few players, and gave our others a chance to play. however, with e7 playing with nothing to lose, they strolled the ball around and made us panic since we had to still beat e7 to proceed to the finals. we were making no headway until captain samuel came on the 2nd half to slot in the winning goal. there was a mild controversy though, when i blocked weikeong(e7) shot but slipped on the mud and allowed e ball to bounce on e line. thankfully, it was ruled out and we went thru to the semifinals!
we had a week's break or some sort, and the mood in class was really into some world cup fever. day after day, we would stay back in recess to use e whiteboard for us to draw our strategies, some sort reminiscent of dressing room talks. I really miss the days we did tat! :( ok, e day finally dawned, and e entire class were talking about supporting us. when our class ended and we got changed, my heart pumping really hard now, not that i haven been part of the e7 team in sec1 and 2 to enter the semi finals but this was one that i have never seen such support tat strong from the class. i can still recall the moment i stepped into the field, passing the stand with kendrick, qiyuan, in one corner talking to me while e entire class were ready to lose their voice. the stand was roaring with activity, and it was not only my class, it was practically the entire level of students. its the closest thing to fame one can ever get!
we started the semi finals against 5n1, a strong side that still could not match our midfield's resilience and hardwork. we raced to a 2-0 lead easily, with goals from err, i kinda forgotten haha. butbut, i can remember the third goal. and this is the goal we always talk about. and this is the goal that i will never forget. we had a penalty kick due to a foul on our players, and i race upfield to ask to allow me to take the kick. samuel was already in position, and from what i heard later after the tournament, that guoxi also wanted to take. they allowed me in the end. i calmed my nerves and slotted in the third, which went straight, past the quite butterfingers of the keeper. samuel will never fail to complain that it was luck that i had and that the keeper was lousy! haha, but well, its still a goal, but i must admit i wanted the right hand bottom corner which i dunno why my leg din kick in that direction. the first thing when i scored was to run right, to the stand, smiling to the guys who were always behind me, and hugged by nicholas and few others.
finally, the final match was with 4t1, the strongest team around yet. we were definitely the underdogs. by now, the entire grand stand was roaring, with waves flowing everyside. our class had the support of almost the entire stretch of classes in express stream, and e cheering was simply undescribable. it was never my first time playing with 4t1, played them in sec1, and sec2, which ended in quite bad losses in both times. they started off ferociously, switching play and bombarding my goal. i had to make several saves, as the play was mainly stuck in our half. yet, even with the larger possession and shots, they failed to break my defence, as we headed into extra time. the day slowly took its toll on the players, many tiring out, losing the energy they started off with, as it was quite a sluggish extra time of 2 halves. i was still flying across the place shouting at the defenders, placing myself to save their shots. until this very very moment that froze everyone of us. nicholas raised his hand so suddenly just at the edge of the penalty box to quite an innocent ball that would have flown over his head. PENALTY. we had no time to put the blame or feel dejected and we did little to protest the natural decision. face to face with the notorious player in our year, zhenghui, we haf had bad blood over the years. it was a battle of pride. i cannot erase the image of him looking at me, running up to kick the ball leftwards. i stretched as i had predicted. i had my fingertips on the damn ball, but it ended up goalbound. I TOUCHED THE DAMN BALL! argh, they raised their arms in celebration as i had my face in the grass, keeping quiet for few seconds. it was not our year i guess after all. so nearly, we turned the tide against the strong favourites to secure a penalty shootout which would have been more interesting! sighs, dejected, we all made our way back to the stand to thank the class and supporters. it was a wonderful run, it would have been more wonderful. but to me, it was almost the perfect testimonial game to end my secondary school life. this few days would always go down as my most memorable period in secondary school life. it was made even more memorable in days to come when i received msgs to congratulate me, or msgs that were really encouraging and nice.

many a time we push on in life, struggling to find the happiness that we seek. yet, we fail to remember the times that we shared which is definitely worth a chuckle in times of depression. why not take time off in life to pause and ponder over what was really memorable in your life and flash through it in your mind? it may make you appreciate your current situation more, and ur frens more. and it will definitely make you reflect how have you led your life, a sad or a beautiful and eventful one. i have found my many memories to remember and cherish, have you? maybe its still not too late.