The AFF Suzuki Cup last December was one of the highlights of 2010 for me. And I thought I didn’t like soccer? :D. Well, the world cup a few months before sprinkled a few interests in me, not just because of some good looking athletes :p but because it just felt good to see a festivity and to be supporting something, although I didn’t have the emotional connection with the team I was supporting. Everywhere we turned, everyone was always talking about it, either on TV or on the Internet or offline. I was even more excited when I happened to be in La Ramba, Barcelona when the Spanish team was playing in the semifinal and got to celebrate it with the Spaniard. I thought that was the closest I could feel to the excitement I felt towards college basketball back in the days.

Turned out, I was wrong. The AFF Suzuki Cup experience was even more intense on the emotional level because I was supporting the country’s national team and this is where it was happening!. Oki had been talking about the AFF Suzuki Cup before because he planned to take me and Jibran there. Little did we know that we would be involved with it even further because next thing we knew, The Daily Media were the one who handled AFF Suzuki Cup digital campaign and managed their Facebook and Twitter account.

So I and the rest of team, in order to understand more about hype, had to watch every game (And I did…I went to nine games…except for the final..sigh).

It was truly an amazing experience for me, both job wise as well as on the personal level. I was happy I could cheer for the country and support the national team till the very end. I was happy that Indonesia did well except for the one we played at Bukit Jalil. True the national team didn’t win the cup, but they did win and stole our hearts, united us, gained our utmost respect and succeeded in reminding everyone that there are still things to love about this country. I was also happy that the campaign we handled exceeded the target and expectation. I was also happy to get that feeling of enthusiasm about sports back and witnessed so many positivity. It was nice to see sea of reds everywhere. To be in GBK along with 80,000 other people who relentlessly sang the national anthem was quite an awesome you can’t get anywhere else. I was also happy that I was able to connect some people to their passion and gave them a new unforgettable experiences ☺.
-----------------
By the way, here are some clueless conversations between me and Vanya in GBK that I still remember. This took place on the first day where no one else was with us.

Vanya: Han, Laos yang mana Thailand yang mana yah? :D. Me: Cengar cengir (nggak ngerti juga soalnya):D
Me: Ehh Van, ternyata Malaysia udah score lho, kok kita nggak tau sih? (Gantian Vanya yang cengengesan)

Waktu Indonesia gol, kan ada petasan-petasan tuh. Kita yang terkagum-kagum karena mikir ‘wahh panitianya well prepared sekali ya’. Tapi trus kita mikir sendiri dan nanya ke orang sebelah, ‘Mas-mas, itu petasannya dari panitia apa pada penonton pawa sendiri ya?’. ‘Bawa sendiri’, kata si mas. Dan kita langsung ciut takut ada yang salah arah.

Vanya: Ya ampun han, tau nggak sih..gawangnya udah pindah ya?..Butuh 5 menit buat gue nyadar kalo gawangnya udah pindah :D.

Vanya: Han kalo wasit dikasih kartu merah gimana ya? . Me: Hah? Wasit kok dikasih kartu merah? Siapa yang ngasih? Vanya: Ehh maksud gue keepernya. Me: Ohh ganti cadangan kali (sok ngerti). Vanya: Lah kan kartu merah nggak boleh diganti? Me: Oh iya yaa? :p

See you again in 2012, AFF Suzuki Cup!