Photo from data file
KUCHING: A thunderous roar greets the players as they exit the tunnel and troop into the fi eld.
The continuous stomping of feet and the chanting of themes songs from the spectators’ stands.
Every time a player commits a foul, his team’s fans will roar in displeasure.
LIVE ATMOSPHERE: The writer gives thumbs up for a great experience in watching a QPR home match against Wolverhampton on Feb 4 at Loftus Road.
WINNER TAKES ALL: A jubilant fan posing with (from right) Yuzrizal, Zakaria, QPR mascots Spark The Cat and Jude The Cat.
Each time the defender gets the ball to safety or a player makes a good try at goal, or the goalie makes a good save, the crowd applauds with approval all around.
Every time there is a miss, you would hear an OH….. in unison.
If a player scores, the whole stadium (the team’s fans) will burst into joy and celebration.
These are the reactions from footbal l crazy fans that you normally see from live telecast of English Premier League on Astro.
But on Feb 4, my colleague from See Hua Daily News and I had the rare opportunity to experience being a spectator of a EPL game between Queen Park Rangers and Wolverhampton at Loftus Road Stadium.
This memorable experience was made possible thanks to Malaysia Airline System (MAS) who invited us, the only two journalists from East Malaysia for a two-day familiarisation visit to London.
The Kuala Lumpur-London fl ight on a 747 Boeing plane took about 13 hours and we were well served by the fl ight stewards and stewardesses. Prior to the match, we visited the QPR souvenir store and had lunch at the member’s executive club.
I had the honour to watch the game from the VIP area together wi th MAS UK and Ireland area manager Yuzrizal Mohd Yousuf while Teo had to brave the cold taking photographs of the game from a designated area in the fi eld.
It was terribly cold as the temperature was about minus six degrees Celsius and I was wondering how the players on the fi eld would feel.
“They won’t be affected so much because they will sweat running up and down the fi eld,” Yuzrizal told me. The game started well for the homesters as Djibril Cisse and Bobby Zamora formed a good partnership up front and QPR soon scored a goal in the 16th minute via Zamora.
Cisse was then fl oored by Roger Johnson and feeling infuriated by the bad tackle, Cisse grabbed that player by the neck and this did not go unnoticed by the man in black.
The referee gave Cisse the marching orders and this was a big setback to QPR who struggled to keep the slim lead.
Barely a minute into the second half of the game, Matt Jarvis scored the equalising goal for the Wolves and substitute Kevin Doyle struck the winner in the 71st minute to give Mick MarCarthy’s side the points.