Feisty Faustino and Friends

SO last night turned out to be a night of surprises and laughter amidst a group of veteran footballers who were here for the EPL Masters Football Tournament. I hadn't expected it at all when girlfriend Esther and I decided to have nothing more than a quiet drink at the Doubletree Kuala Lumpur. 

An hour into our chat, a group of four came in and occupied the next table. The ring leader, who looked pretty much like Seal, minus the scars (according to Esther), turned out to be former Newcastle and Parma striker Faustino Asprilla. A Colombian legend. Dressed in a fitted T-shirt and jeans, Faustino who was casually downing some brandy was the most vocal, although his English stood out  like the ill-fitting stones on an old cobblestone pathway - loose and broken. He spoke plenty of Colombian, or maybe Latin with his mates. To us, he uttered some keywords and phrases in English, with some animation. So we got what he said alright. When we didn't get him, Swiss Stephane Henchoz, former defender with clubs such as Blackburn Rovers, Liverpool and Celtic, who was seated next to me, took time to explain feisty Faustino's amusing point of speech.


Feisty Faustino

Apart from persuading us to join them at their table, the guys were figuring out their next hang-out spot in KL. There aren't many places on a Sunday night, so we gave them some suggestions. Faustino became more talkative as more of his friends arrived to join the table, and, at one point, he attempted to read the Tapas Menu on the wall (pic, right).

Smo-ked Bo-ard

Ma-ri-ana, Ka-ma-su-tra O-li-via

For the Trio, he gave a fine example, indicating a three-some. 

"It's like you, and your friend and me getting together," he said to Esther. Henchoz swiftly turned to me to say that it was just an example.

Henchoz

Over the night, we also learnt that Faustino had broken up with his girlfriend of five years. She was a journalist, and I understand it was not a recent break-up.

"We were making love when she asked me a question," he laughed, a laughter so loud, echoed by that of his mates.

"What question ?," I asked Henchoz.

"What question would keep a man away from a woman ?", replied Henchoz with another question, looking at me expectantly.

"She wanted to get married," I humoured him, and he reacted like a happy puppy.

We spoke about their trip here. Henchoz seemed genuinely surprised that people were wanting his signatures wherever he went to in KL. Apparently, back in his home country, people were more relaxed around him.

"Maybe here in Asia, people are not used to having visiting footballers," he concluded.

Well, that's true. And in Malaysia, we don't have consistent hopefuls to bet your money on too I guess. 

Brevett

More guys came over while the group was still deciding on where to go. We didn't have names to the faces, but one of them was Rufus Brevett, who has played for Fulham and West Ham. He was quite happy to see us, pulled a chair opposite us, exclusively focusing on Esther. At midnight, they decided to leave the place to move to the Sky Bar at the Trader's Hotel, but half of them wanted to check out Changkat Bukit Bintang instead. We were invited, but it was past midnight on a Sunday night, and the bars would be closing soon. So we bid farewell to our unexpected company for the night. It's not always that we get to hang out with people like the veteran footballers, and see their antics.