Three of us + nurturing a global franchise
Oblivious of the torrential rain and loyal to the Club principle ‘wherever there are two FDs or FKs there is a match’ Johannes and Giancarlo started a 1 v 1 game best of five with small goals. This sets the new record as the least crowded match overtaking ‘a dog fight’ on a muddy pitch among Hannes, Giancarlo and Julien few years ago.
The players were fired up by fans chanting ‘Giancarlo, Johannes two of us’ and undisturbed by this Autumn weather. Giancarlo, well aware that the odds were stacked firmly against him, put the engine on a energy saving mode resorting to long accurate shots on the offensive and adopting catenaccio in defence. This tactics paid handsome dividend and led to a 5-3 surprise victory yet again proving this is the summer of Italians ??.
Just when Johannes was preparing for revenge the crowd spotted Chetan from the distance and changed the tune singing ‘Chetan, Giancarlo, Johannes three of us’. A new format had to be found but Johannes was adamant he could take on the Italian-Indian power house.
One man up can make the difference in an 11 a side match: it surely makes all the difference in 2 v 1 confrontation. Chetan showed all his versatility and scored 6 goals plus 1 in his own goal with Giancarlo adding the remaining 4 to get first to 10 ahead of Team Johannes at 5.
The golden goal was sorted out with an innovative formula: the three players each took a penalty in the unguarded two meters goal, each time with the ball placed two meters further out. At the third round Johannes exacted revenge by being the only one still in contention as both Giancarlo and Chetan fired just wide.
Chetan picked up the Man of the Match award for his all round performance proving he can be a killer in every part of the pitch. As the game was a bit shorter than usual fans were treated to private chats with the players and few foggy selfies. As some of them asked about past players not seen for a while on the pitch this gives the writer the opportunity to update the wider community about recent moves which, by the way, always happen not without the Club consent.
As a premise, our brand and franchise has long ago reached a global scale. Depending on countries it needs to be developed, nurtured or cooled down to prevent fanaticism or uncoordinated cults. Only FDs themselves can perform such delicate task.
You all know about Philipp moving back to Munich which is a very fertile ground for FDs. Another star player who has moved is
Khaled Alkindi the current holder of ‘goal of the season’. He is now in Abu Dhabi. Not coincidentally the next word cup is in the area and FIFA has asked the Club for help in exchange for a wild card for FDs in Qatar.
LATAM is another promising land: we have been blessed for a while with the presence of Chris H, Blas and Roberto from Paraguay: the latter two moved back to motherland while Chris is in Madrid in a coordinated move to spread the FDs gospel in South America with Diego, still very active on the pitch, helping from London along with Enrique and Pau, two very gifted players often dominating midfield back in the days.
On top of this the Founding Fathers relentlessly promote our mission 24/7 with no time left to show up on the pitch but as the saying goes “Once a FD forever a FD!”
Finally a touching note: the Club kindly offered today’s fans to be reimbursed owing to the exceptionally low numbers of players but they gently yet firmly refused as one: ‘today’s package was worth every penny’ they quipped. Principled, Passionate, Persistent: such are FDs fans.
TEAMS
Giancarlo v Johannes 5-3
Giancarlo + Chetan v Johannes 10-5
GOALS
Giancarlo (9), Johannes (7), Chetan (6), Chetan og (1)