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.
Via: The
Electric New Paper
