The double T factor
When it comes to rules always expect the Germans to thrive! After yesterday’s email by the CLUB many players, terrified by the prospect to start from the bench, hit the pitch well before Giancarlo came in with the paraphernalia.
17 players turned out to be a good number for each one to have a fair share of the game and time to recharge.
The Bibbed core was moulded around the German block made by Hannes, Thomas, Philipp and Johannes complemented by the French/North African legion etrangere with Julien, Jeremy T, Yasin and Adam. Even with the full pool of FDs to cherry pick from, any selection would have had tough time to fight such a squad. ‘Impossible is nothing’ seemed to be the unifying mantra for the Unbibbed : Paride, Massimo, Lorenzo, Roberto, Enrique, Federico, Giancarlo, Francesco and Tony right from the start liked nothing more than upsetting the odds sending shivers down the spines of bookmakers who, confidently yet consensually, backed the Bibbed to win easy, a sort of walk in the park.
Remarkably there was not a single player from UK. As the saying goes: ‘ when the going gets tough, the Brits get…to watch rugby…
The Latinos made up for the slower pace with fluency and accurate passing. While the Unbibbed attack was not the most mobile somehow the team made it possible to put someone in front of goal to capitalise on first touch football on a day where the Unbibbed brains and feet worked in synch.
Few minutes into the game Enrique sent Giancarlo flying on the right: the Milanista made everyone, including himself, think that his corner was meant for a tap in while in fact the keeper could only deflect the cheeky shot into his own goal.
Galvanised by the lead, as early as unlikely, the Unbibbed piled on the pressure and made the most from set pieces.
On one of them Giancarlo called Federico in for the header with the young Italian obliging with grace and force doubling the lead for the Unbibbed.
Hit in their pride the Bibbed let hell break loose: Yasin had ‘catch me if you can’ written all over himself, Philipp alternated at will assists and shots while it took only few minutes for Johannes to put his left foot to good use and halve the gap to 1-2 for the Unbibbed.
Everyone on the stands feared that the gates had just opened for the flooding: Paride in the Unbibbed goal begged to differ and put up a performance that few commentators were quick to compare to that of Leonidas at the Thermopylae. The Bibbed could well have been 300 instead of 8: that would have made no difference as Paride decided to save every single shot with every part of the body, this time with a ‘young Buffon’ dive or a reaction save at point blank, the other with a sliding tackle or a body check.
It was a moment of heroic defending as Massimo and Lorenzo stood tall in the middle of defence while Francesco on the counter was constantly feeding Terminator Tony who sent terror waves among the Bibbed with his every move.
It was a sheer rollercoaster who saw Tony scoring a hat trick with Philipp doing the same on the opposite front. Also Enrique, Adam, Johannes added to the tally of their respective teams to bring the score to a 6-6 and a golden goal finale not seen in a while, for those who still had energy and emotion to spare.
Luckily for the Bibbed Adam decided to celebrate his birthday in style by bringing victory to his team who went in front for the first yet definitive time.
It was a bitter and perhaps undeserved end for the heroics Unbibbed who made sense of their defeat only when every single fan in the stands put the back of his hand under his chin and then up to suggest that everything was lost but pride with many victories to savour from next Saturday onward.
Many players could credibly have made a case for the Man of the Match award like Philipp, Yasin and Johannes among the Bibbed, Paride, Massimo and Enrique on the opposite front BUT there was only one name that was sung incessantly from start to end.
This is a player that it would be mean to compare to only one of the GOAT poachers like Dieter Müller, Paolo Rossi or Filippo Inzaghi but by putting them all together you get a fair testament to its rapacious abilities and Terminator instinct.
Fans were delighted to resume the customary habit of taking one layer off each time multilayered Tony scored: you can still hear them singing bare chested in the streets around Kensington Gardens with the windows of the Palace well open for a Royal treat.
The double T factor, Terminator Tony, filled the air today to leave everyone breathless.
See you Saturday
Ps while Philipp narrowly missed out on Man of the Match award, he was the deserved recipient of the Health & Safety trophy as he filled all the holes in the pitch with his bag of compote