True Grit

Football ace Mohd Khaleil bin Kamarul didn’t let a group of neighbourhood bullies stand in the way of his goal. 

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“I started playing football with the older kids in the neighbourhood when I was five. I got bullied a lot by these secondary school and polytechnic students. They were big and fast. Sometimes, they pushed me away or kicked the ball into my face.

But that didn’t stop me from playing because football has always been my passion. I knew if I wanted to get better at it, I would have to train harder. I played with the boys up to three hours a day, every day. At home, I practised my dribbles for a couple of hours. 

Those bullies are now my buddies. We play football once a month even though they’re already working.

Now, as captain of the school team I lead the boys and cheer them on at every match. I always tell my teammates to fight ’til the end. There’s always hope. 

When I was in Sweden for the 2015 Gothia Cup, the largest international youth football tournament, my team trailed 3-0 in the first half of the match. We equalised the score at the 90^th minute and scored one more goal right before the referee blew the final whistle. We made it work as a team.”

Music gets me going…
Before every competition. I listen to rock bands like Slipknot and Fall Out Boy.

My football idol is …
Zinedine Zidane. He’s one of the best players in the world. I like watching videos online to study his classic moves like the “hocus-pocus” and the “roulette”.

I train eight hours…
A week and play for the school team, Home United Under-13 and the Junior Centre of Excellence (Football Association of Singapore). 

Check out the rest of our sports series published every Tuesday and Friday from now until mid-May.