21 shades of goal: Andrea celebrates in style scoring with both teams
If you thought last week’s game was the pinnacle of Football Dads’ drama think again and keep reading.
With Giancarlo, Victor and Chetan on international duties, the number of players was perfect to field two solid teams without anyone of the bench. The forced absence of Paride was compensated by the return of our two professional goalkeepers, Alessandro and Tony L, determined to stop every ball (and you can sense that the competition to be in goal for the next Master Game has already started).
The Bibbed team started with an extra man and appeared stronger, being able to count on Player-of-the-Year Yassin and raising star Greg, back to play with us after a long absence. However, the first true chance was for the Unbibs, 10 minutes in the game.
Massimo was unable to stop Leo legally (never an easy task) and to avoid a certain goal he resorted to foul him in the box. An indisputable penalty, that VAR confirmed immediately, while Massimo was spared a red card. A confident Leo fired a terrific shot towards the upper corner that looked destined to end in goal and was so powerful that Alessandro didn’t even to try to stop it. Much to everyone surprise (and Leo’s disappointment) the ball went a few centimeters wide. The Bibs sighed with relief.
Slightly scared by the episodes, the Bibs team started pressing ahead but found themselves short of players when both Davide and Thomas were forced to leave the pitch due to injury. Swiftly, captain Massimo took a decisive action convincing Andrea to put on a bib and join the team for an undisclosed sum. A move destined to change the course of the game.
With Andrea now in midfield, the Bibs took superiority and started to create chance after chance, shooting from multiple directions, and sending dozen of cross in the box, where Francesco and Tony S awaited the ball like vultures seeking carrions.
Still recovering from the after-effects of a serious motorbike accident, Tony S might be mistakenly written off as harmless. After all, at a first glance, he is the exact opposite of what a football player should be. He is gigantic, slow, static, often misses easy passes, and is not at ease with tiki taka. But Tony has one thing: he is focused. He is focused on scoring. He might not move much, but he chooses his position carefully and rarely miss the decisive touch. Today he delivered not once but twice, finishing in style two intensive plays from his team despite fierce opposition from Hannes and his teammates.
For a good 30 minutes the match was one-way. The Unbibs struggled to create chances while the Bibs continued to press ahead, driven by impeccable playmaking by Ben in midfield. It was Andrea to score the third goal, followed by Yassin for the 4-0.
Despite the negative score, the Unbibs had never lost motivation and had previously rejected the suggestion to make changes to team. However when their own Johannes was forced to leave, they were given by the Club Fair Play Committee green light to get a player from their opponent. Unbibs captain Hannes had little doubts and pointed to Andrea (who else), launching a bid to get him back on the team. After a quick negotiation, Bibs captain Massimo reluctantly agreed to ‘let go’ their top player.
Now playing unbibbed, Andrea took very little time to leave an impact. First he scored with a beautiful shot from the distance, than he sent Julien in goal with a brilliant assist that the Frenchman duly converted. Suddenly the lead was reduced to only two goals. (4-2).
Bibs realised with a mix of horror and sadistic pleasure that the match was far from over and they needed to give it all until the end to avoid a remuntada.
The solution came with the most spectacular goal of the match. Ben launched Greg on the right wing, he passed over two men before crossing the ball towards the box. The ball was too high for Francesco and Tony, both lurking in front of goal, but not for Yassin, who had smartly positioned himself more externally. When the ball cross arrived in the box Yassin hit it with an acrobatic half volley, sending the ball in the net.
A match so beautiful deserved a Golden Goal. It was Leo, fresh winner of the Goal-Of-The-Season award, to score it for the Unbibs, shooting in goal from an impossible angle after avoiding Massimo’s desperate attempt to stop him.
Talking of awards, the jury took very little time to name the player of the match. The Award when to Andrea, for an amazing performance that saw him shine in both teams, on the day of his 21st birthday. A well-deserved accolade for a players that doesn’t cease to surprise us with his skills and vision for the game.
Andrea was 9 or 10 when he played his first match with the Club, immediately impressing the Founding Fathers. Since that day he has gone from strength to strength, developing in the fine player we know today. Andrea doesn’t simply play football, he lives it, loves it, breathes it. His joy in playing is matched only by our pleasure in watching him.
“I couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate my 21st birthday” said Andrea after the match “a classic match, two goals scored with both teams, and the MOTM award! I don’t even need a cake now, but I might well get a pint”
BIBS-UNBIBS 5-3
 | A guest post by
|