Fairy Tale
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By Gary Lim
School was over.
For a group of boys from the School of the Arts, it was watching a movie at Plaza Singapura that was topmost on their minds.
But for one of their classmates, 12-year-old Nishok, there was only one thing on his mind - to watch his favourite player, Anderson, in action at the National Stadium, where the Brazilian Olympic team was holding a public training session yesterday.
Despite the peer pressure, Nishok left them and made his way to the ground alone in the unrelenting drizzle.
Nishok would never imagine how his persistence was to pay off.
As the Brazilians were about to wind down their session, the Manchester United and Brazil fan suddenly broke into a song.
It went: 'Anderson-son-son, he's better than Kleberson...'
And it certainly caught the attention of the 20-year-old United midfielder.
First he waved at Nishok.
A while later, he pointed towards the boy while sitting down and talking to a team-mate.
Then came the unexpected as his team-mates trooped off the field.
Anderson stood up, and headed towards a stunned Nishok.
With a swing of his arm, he threw up a boot.
It was caught by someone next to Nishok, but Anderson signalled for it to be passed to him instead.
SING
Then, he threw the remaining boot.
It was enough for the Secondary 1 student to break into tears.
He said afterwards: 'I just felt that he should know that I'm his fan, so I started to sing.
'And the crowd was getting quiet, and I wanted to make it livelier.
'His gesture was something I least expected.
'I thought he was just going to come over and say 'hi'.'
But that wasn't all.
As Anderson warmed down at the side of the pitch, he signalled for the Brazilian media officer to invite Nishok down from the grandstand on to the field, to have a chat with him.
For the second time, Nishok was the envy of the 500 plus spectators, as he chatted with the player for close to five minutes.
At one point, Brazil coach Dunga even helped him to snap a photograph.
Nishok, who plays football with his friends once a week, said: 'His first words to me were, 'How are you, my friend?'.
'Then, he asked me to sing him the song again, so that he could hear the lyrics clearly.'
For good measure, Anderson also signed on the pair of boots.
When it was all over, Nishok suddenly found himself becoming the darling of the media, as journalists converged around him for an interview.
For the moment, he was the star.
For sure, he was glad to have made the trip to the National Stadium despite having no one willing to keep him company.
He said: 'They were laughing at me.
'They called me crazy to go to the stadium alone, and despite the rain.
'But I didn't care.'
Now, there's no doubt who's having the last laugh.
Added Nishok, as his eyes went moist once more: 'I will remember this for the rest of my life.'
Fairy tales do come true after all.
THE ANDERSON SONG:
Anderson-son-son, he's better than Kleberson.
Anderson-son-son, he's a midfield magician.
To the left, to the right, to the samba beat all night.
He is fast, he is class, and he s***s on Fabregas.
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Lucky little boy!
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woah cool ..no live telecast eh?
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haha funny last line !
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OT's version:
Anderson son son, He's better than Kleberson,
Anderson son son, He's our midfield magician,
To the left, To the right, To the samba beat tonight,
He is class with a brass And he shits on Fabregas.
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lucky boy!
i do envy him too!