Sony Ericsson is holding a contest where you blog about your football story, and stand a chance to win tickets to watch the FIFA World Cup 2010.

Contest ends today 31 March 2010, so I doubt I’ll stand a chance but I’d like to share a short story on my love of football anyway.

Kids living in Singapore in the early 90s could probably relate to this.

“B*t#h” was probably my first Malay vulgar word I learnt at 11yrs old, thanks and no thanks to the ear-splitting screaming fans in the stands at the Kedah vs Singapore quarter-finals match in 1993.

When I was just 11 years old, I was what Singaporeans call a “die-hard fan”, an avid supporter of the Singapore Lions, always donned in red and white while watching their matches on TV.

I could identify the players by their physique, skin colour, hair style and field position. Abbas Saad, Malik Awab, David Lee, Fandi Ahmad, Alistair Edwards. Name me a player and I could probably tell you how long their toenails were.

Photo credit: Wikipedia

Sad to say, at 11 yrs old, going to the Singapore Stadium in the midst of 50,000 passionate and potentially riotous predominantly male adults was not exactly the excursion my parents would be comfortable letting me go on. I did however get to watch one live match, together with my best friend and her parents. They probably thought the adult-child ratio was favourable, and we would be well taken care of.

After coming home that night and proudly sharing my extended Malay vocabulary to my mum, that was to be the first and last time I watched a live match as a kid.

Now at 27yrs old, I’d like to think I have the freedom to watch whatever match I like. With the FIFA World Cup just around the corner, I can just imagine the excitement for those who were lucky enough to get tickets to the event. Some friends of mine had to submit their name for the raffle draw in hopes to win chances to BUY them. I’m sure the atmosphere would be electrifying. Watching it at home is just not the same.

If only I had the chance to re-live those moments as a 11 yr old, but in a much bigger scale like the FIFA World Cup. And I promise I won’t cuss!