I am a football lover although I no longer identify myself as a supporter of certain clubs for the past few years. I have never been an Atletico Madrid fan, but I admire Diego Pablo Simeone. In 2014, I wrote a review of “Simeone’s Effect” (a book written by Simeone and a Spanish journalist, Santi Garcia Bustamante) in an online sports newspaper.
When I knew that Atletico Madrid would come to Singapore to play International Champions Cup, I made a vow to find a way to meet and take pictures with him (and his players). I realized this was not easy but kept trying.
Preparation: Information is Important
A few days before Atletico arrived in Singapore, I tried hard to track their hotel and flight. Straitstimes.com, a Singaporean online media, reported that los rojiblancos would stay at Mandarin Oriental. When it comes to the flight, the club announced it just one day before their arrival date. Thanks to social media, I was able to find out such information.
Based on that tweet, it was estimated that Atletico departed at 9 pm Jakarta time (or 3 pm Madrid time) on 24 July. The problem was, because they boarded private aircraft, I could not find their flight duration on Flightradar. Therefore, I calculated it by seeing the schedule of any commercial airplane that flew from the capital city of Spain to Singapore.
You might wonder what I was doing while waiting for them to arrive. On Wednesday morning, 25 July 2018, I left my friend’s house to go to Marina Square Mall, which is located very near the hotel. There, I ordered a glass of iced coffee in a coffee shop while monitoring social media. I spent my time there for two hours before walking around the mall. I found a chair located on the 3rd floor and sit there for more than three hours. I read a book, monitored Twitter, and waited.
Around 3:30 pm, As.com reported that Atletico had arrived in Singapore at 2 pm. Without thinking twice, I headed straight to the hotel. I met a Chinese journalist who also waited for the team. I talked about my plan and he said: “When you ask for Simeone’s autograph, I will take a photo”.
But the plan did not go smoothly. When I approached Simeone to get his autograph and said “Hola señor!”, he kept walking. Maybe he was tired after more than 16 hours of flight from Madrid to Singapore. Fortunately, I got Jan Oblak’s (Atletico’s goalkeeper) autograph and took a picture with him.
Left: Jan Oblak and Me. Right: Oblak’s autograph
Blessing in Disguise: Caught on Camera With Simeone
Although I failed to get Diego Simeone’s autograph and to ask him to take a picture with me, I appeared in a video official of Atletico (see 1.07 – 1.08)
A few days after returning to Jakarta, I found that I was caught again on camera with Simeone. Goal.com Indonesia displayed a picture of me and him.
Source : Goal.com Indonesia
At first, I thought this picture was taken by an Indonesian journalist (see above. The news was written by Eric Noveanto). I contacted him through Instagram, and he confirmed that it was taken by a photographer hired by the International Champions Cup organizer. Later, I found that the same picture was also used by other media outlets.
Source : FourFourTwo Indonesia
Source : BeSoccer.com
Source: Screenshot sent by my German friend
My first and last football adventure in Singapore was fun and my plan went pretty well. I can’t wait for another football pilgrimage.
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