24th Jan 2010
UCLUISOC FOOTBALL NEWS
Last week was the first week of Islamic Awareness Fortnight and, as such, I was giving strict instructions to NOT humiliate my opponents in this column in fear of painting a negative image of Islam and thus putting our dawah efforts in jeopardy. Author: Jamal Muse
I obeyed and did exactly as I was told.
But ALAS! I shall obey no more!
Last week we played RUMS ISOC and it was special game for many reasons. Not least because we it was an Islamic derby against our brothers on other side of Gower Street, but also Al Jazeera had come down to film our game for a news snippet they were having on the UCLU Islamic Society.
With the opportunity of being on TV, naturally, I made sure to look my best and wore my most dazzling football trainers.
Well actually I’ve only one pair but that’s irrelevant.
So the camera was set up, the crowds had gathered and tensions were high. Before the match RUMS ISOC showed great signs of testicular rigour despite an inevitable ass-whooping on TV. We in the UCL ISOC remained calm and composed and found their hardened exterior laughable.
The match kicked off and, surprisingly, RUMS got an early lead by sneaking in a cheeky, flukey goal against our keeper.
“Meh” we thought and allowed them to celebrate to what we thought would be their only goal of the game.
But no. They scored again. And again. And again. And this was ALL being filmed on TV.
We became agitated. Consternated. And every other nervous-conjuring word in the dictionary.
The referee blew for half-time and the score was 5-2 to RUMS ISOC.
Then one of my favourite speeches of Al Pacino in the film Any Given Sunday started resonating in my head.
“Either we heal as a TEAM or we WILL die as individuals.”
And that is precisely what we did. We in the UCL ISOC stopped trying to look good on camera and ceased all futile acts of showmanship.
The 2nd half kicked off and the following 15 minutes was a complete blur. Goals were being scored from all players in the ISOC and our play was nothing short of spectacular.
The final whistle was blown. Handshakes exchanged between teams. The final score...
8-5 to UCL ISOC! Takbeer! Allahu Akbar! Allahu Akbar!
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