Oh Captain, my Captain!

A fiesty weekend awaits TeamCuzz despite heading for a one week break away from their beloved sport. The weekend marks a special occassion for TeamCuzz as their maiden Captain, Shahrudin Salleh, will be tying the knot with his "teen"hood sweetheart Ruziana Zakaria. The wedding will be held at a secret place in Bedok, with rumours suggesting that special Police coverage will be done for the event courtesy of existing ties from within.

Shahrudin did not have the best of starts to his soccer career. If Kevin Phillips had to wash other players' boots before rising to prominence, the Captain had to wash his own, if he did it at all. He was discouraged early by his arch enemy, a dude only known as Sim. This Sim person impacted the Captain's life in a large way, with his shoe-throwing antics and refusal to release the young prodigy from his badminton team for soccer. However, his desire to play never wavered.

The versatile player has the ability to play almost anywhere on the pitch, as he showed during his teen years with many different teams that he represented. Having been voted as TeamCuzz's Captain in 2007, he has since led the team to many victories and inspired the younger members. TeamCuzz's often vacant striker's role in recent seasons has seen the Captain being thrusted there. He hasn't disappointed at all, with a goal-game ratio of 0.8. He now sits firmly at the top of TeamCuzz's scoring charts with 49 goals.

It will be interesting to see how the Captain's commitment will be as he settles down into a somewhat different lifestyle. One thing's for sure, TeamCuzz hopes that he will continue to lead the team for many more years, and handover to the mercurial Akmal Juhari once the youngster is old enough. We, at TeamCuzz, wish a blissful marriage to the couple, and simultaneously welcome Ms Ruziana as the latest member of TeamCuzz's WACs. As a tribute to the Captain, here's a compilation of his 10 best TeamCuzz goals.


10
vs ISA @ Westwood Sec
Showing no respect to Nat Naplah, the Captain robbed the ball from the ex S-League player, before using his upper body strength to put off the covering central defender. He then coolly slotted home past the young goalie for TeamCuzz's consolation goal.

9
vs Team Hummel @ Marina Pitch
Kicking-off the second half, Shahrudin saw the opposing goalie off his line and did what Xabi Alonso would – attempt a shot from the centre line. It did go in, after a bounce deceived the goalie (who made a rather comical & vain attempt at tracking back).

8
vs Team NIE @ Teachers’ Network
A neat one-two in midfield saw the Captain running full steam at a couple of huge opposing defenders. He saw a gap in between and took his chances to squeeze through. There was no doubt that his pace would take him there ahead of anyone else, and the rest was a foregone conclusion. A classic, Shahrudin goal.

7
vs Blue Oysters @ Orchid Park
In the final game of the season, and in a game billed as ‘must-win’ for TeamCuzz, Shahrudin found the composure to convert from his favourite freekick spot. Showcasing the right technique, the skipper got the ball above the wall and into the bottom corner, with the goalkeeper being nothing more than a helpless by-stander. No goalie in the world (except Petr Cech & Ross Turnbull) could have saved that.

6
vs Kamikaze @ Woodlands Sec
Good exchanges on the left saw Joint-Man-of-the-Match Haslam slicing open Kamikaze's defence with ease. His low cross found Shahrudin, who took a touch to bring the ball down before "kung-fuing" it in just like Cantona and the Crystal Palace fan eons ago.

5
vs Andrastos @ Orchid Park
Via a through ball from Imran, Shahrudin raced clear towards goal only to find 2 irritating defenders hot on his heels. He shrugged both off with his strength & trickery, before unleashing a shot which went in at the near post. That gave TeamCuzz the lead after succumbing to an early 2-0 deficit.

4
vs Fityan @ Tadpole Pitch
Imran dispossessed an opposing defender and raced clear on the right before delivering a deep cross to the middle. As he was charging in, Shahrudin had the ability to cushion the ball using his chest before slotting home into the bottom corner.

3
vs Kamikaze @ Woodlands Sec
Good work at winning the ball by Fazlon at left-back resulted in a pass to Shahrudin, who had acres of space and time to look up and lob over the goalie from range. His celebration, oh you guessed it, Cantona-like. That made the game safe at 6-4.

2
vs MBOG @ Compassvale Sec
A poor goal-kick by the opposing custodian saw the ball ending up with Shahrudin somewhere near the middle circle. The striker took minimal time to control the ball, and while noticing the goalie was slow to get back into his rightful position, lobbed it towards the other side of the goal where it went in via the top corner. It was a bitter-sweet moment as the opposing goalkeeper was the striker’s friend, Fattah, who coincidentally had represented TeamCuzz once before.

1
vs Dynamo @ Bedok North Sec
After being rudely slapped across the face by a huge defender, the Captain took his time to pick himself up, dusted himself clean and restore his composure. Looking up at the direction of the opposition’s goalpost, he only had one thought in mind. With that, he aimed for the top corner from 24.3560976 yards out and it went in sublimely. A perfect freekick, a perfect goal, a perfect time to turn the match and kick-start TeamCuzz’s confidence that led to a resounding victory.