LET’S TALK ABOUT CHELSEA'S LAST GAME

LET’S TALK ABOUT CHELSEA'S LAST GAME

‘Can you guess the reason I left work very early on Tuesday, October 31^st’? I left before the stipulated closing time because I needed to get home early enough for the UEFA Champions League return match between AS Roma and Chelsea. I missed the first leg two weeks ago in Stamford Bridge because I closed very late and I had to watch the actions on YouTube. I could not forgive myself for the poor result because I believe my team cannot go 1-goal behind from 2-goals ahead if I had watched the match live. "They can never disappoint me to my face!" I thought.

Moving swiftly on, I got home at some minutes pass 7 and I had to rush over dinner, my team will be playing any minute from now and I must see the starting 11, my team's formation, our first goal and so on. I was rushing to Mayowa's viewing center because I prefer to watch this type of match in public viewing centers; it is more fun. You have fans/supporters of your rival clubs present to mock you in case things go awry. I do not like Man U and Arsenal fans, I hate Liverpool fans too. I remember the humiliations I suffered when we lost to Manchester City, Burnley and Crystal Palace earlier in the season. It was hell. “Another reason I prefer to watch the game in Mayowa's Viewing center”? you have like-minds in the same place.

In consequence, I was seriously rushing to my favorite location when I bumped into Mayowa - my primary school friend who doubles as the Viewing Center's CEO. He told me that the time has been postponed by an hour and it is 8:45pm Nigerian time and I had to rush back home to answer the call of nature which I had previously neglected because I was rushing to the viewing center.

So, I got there about 8 minutes after the kick-off and I noticed Chelsea was trailing by 1-0. It must be a defensive error, a penalty or whatever. "My team will fight to the end" - I told myself. As time went by, I noticed that the other team were more organised and better determined but who can I complain to? the next guy is an Arsenal fan, I cannot wash my dirty laundry in public, so I decided to keep it to myself. The second goal came, and I was like; “who say make I come here today?” I started thinking of Abiodun (A Liverpool fan in my office), Mr. Moses (a Man U fan in my office) and my other colleagues that will be glad of my team's downfall. "God, please help my team o" I started praying silently. The crazy thing about defeat is; the defeat is not as painful and disheartening as the mockery, inhumane treatments and other derogatory comments of other football club's fans. One other thing, Man U was leading.

Conclusively, it ended 3-nill in favour of AS Roma and I ended the night in pain. "How will I face these guys tomorrow? I boasted that we will crush them like Manchester City crushed Liverpool and they have crushed us like Liverpool crushed Arsenal. God, why have you forsaken me and my team? I thought you were a Chelsea fan". I was thinking as I was dragging my feets home, they felt so heavy. "Truth be told, Chelsea met a better team and they wanted victory more than we did". I must be honest. I got to work the next day and the first person I saw was Mr. Moses (that Man United fan I do not like) "Good Morning Mr. Moses, please can we not talk about football? Okay, we can talk about football, but we cannot talk about what happened last night" I demanded.

God Bless Chelsea, God Bless Chelsea Fans

Olusanya, Oluwole Sheriff