… and some saw red
Chief Gardener Thomas’ efforts last week have not gone unnoticed. Humbled and struck in pride, the Royal Parks team spent the entire week returfing and leveling the pitch by the Pond, with very nice results. Football Dads were delighted to see a perfectly cut grass and approached the match with an exceptional level of focus. Not having to worry too much about the risk of putting their foot in a hole allowed them to channel all their physical and mental energy into the match.
An unusual number of player showed up with a Red shirt. Did they get a memo to do it or was it just a coincidence? We don’t know. True, the Gunners are having an incredible start of the season and that might explain the number of players sporting an Arsenal shirt (even without Ben), but red seemed to be the colour of choice for a lot of them. Inevitably, a full Red coloured team was assembled, with the Red captain Hannes employing some creative tactics to reinforce the team. Yassin had a blue shirt on, but below it he was wearing a red base layer. When Hannes saw it, he convinced Yassin to take the blue shirt off so he could be eligible to join the Red team. We are not sure what convincing argument was used, but it worked.
Playing with the Reds were also Hossam and his Washington-based friend Sameh, a regular visitor of the FDs (see picture below for a comparison of how well them and their sons have aged). Other than the love of football, the two men have a lot in common: both Egyptians, both studied at Harvard and ended up marrying a Portuguese woman. Que coincidência!
Unimpressed with their opponent’s monochromatic aesthetics, the non-Red players took a more pragmatic approach. First they secured Paride as goalkeeper, something that should be treated with a golf-like handicap. Then they snapped the extra man, when the total count was odd.
The two advantages proved decisive. The Colours team was impenetrable, with Massimo orchestrating defense as a new Karajan, and highly effective upfront. They scored one goal after the other, while the Reds saw their efforts frustrated and could only score one towards the end. Too bad your humbled reporter was so into the game that he just remembers how it ended (he does remember doing two assists and missing two headers, but that’s about it).
It was a match played at the highest intensity, for almost two hours, with the players fighting for every ball. Mohammed was forced to leave the match for a muscle injury. Both Massimo and Johannes saw red, literally, when blood started pouring from their nose, following an unintentional tough hit with an opponent. Overall, it was a fair and entertaining game and that’s what count.
Will Red be still the colour of choice next week? Hard to say.
Will Red Bull realise there is a much better opportunity for sponsoring an elite football team than what they are doing now with Salzburg and Leipzig? Highly likely.
Will Giancarlo (now in Nepal) be able to reach the Everest’s peak? We wish him so. Will the FD flag wave at 8,848 meters? Maybe.
Will there be football again next Saturday? Oh yes.