Beach Football
As soon as Ben approached the pitch with his summer attire (see pic) we knew we were in for some beach football. In fact everything conjured to such a set up: the sandy colours of the ground, the wavy pond next door, the posh lido not too far with her majesty the Serpentine inviting for a swim with its cristalline water making the Maldives ?? a mundane experience. If by now you do not feel an irresistible urge to quit your holiday location and rush back here to be a part of all this, well then some part of you needs some fixing…
Today the 9 players blessed with such an opportunity were nevertheless wary that it was up to them to put up a show that matched the expectations under the scorching sun and the ground so dry that putting up the white posts was weighed at 50% in the final score for the Man of the Match award.
A 5 v 4 will always require both stamina and passing skills. The ORANGE were one man down but each of them with the ability to decide a match with one touch and the physical exuberance to play for hours if not days. The BASTA Team responded with a mix of skilled youth in the Galal brothers, the perseverance and authority of Ben, the rapacity of Tony S and the safe pairs of hands of Alessandro.
You might now wonder why BASTA? Well, you must know that the hardest task for a writer-player is not to dribble or score but to remember who plays which team with. The ageing commentator has to resort to few tricks one of which is to make the acronym name of the teams with the initials of the players, hence today BASTA (enough in Italian) which magically blends together Ben, Alessandro, Sara, Tony, Adam. Had Piero replaced Ben we would have served PASTA, thought not ideal before a game…
Today we had an illustrious Spectator in Hannes who found on the spot a new lucrative job: he took few videos of the game and threatened to send them viral unless a rich ransom was met by the embarrassed players. These deals will stay classified until the turn of the century.
The BASTA guys started with a high tempo placing Tony as a terminator in front of the ORANGE goal with Ben directing the game and the young Galals creating havoc from midfield upward. They went upfront numerous times with Adam and Ben alternating goals but credit to them the ORANGE never gave up and even manage to be in the lead towards the end thanks to a very prolific Danny who was back with a bang after a prolonged absence due to injury. Johannes was par for the course with multiple goals and his perennial running across the pitch.
In the end there was little to separate the two teams other than the different number of players and it was felt that at 8-8 the golden goal would have done injustice to one team more than justice to the other.
http://www.footballdads.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/WhatsApp-Video-2022-07-09-at-7.54.28-PM.mp4
As for the Man of the Match Danny was the surprise candidate looking fresh and on the spot, while Johannes and Ben were the default options. But it was Adam who stole the show: he was a pleasure to see with his vast array of skills and a growing confidence to apply them against no matter whom. Besides he is still young to develop his left foot: if he can win the Man of the Match award one-footed well, the sky is the limit
ORANGE-BASTA 8-8
GOALS
ORANGE: Daniel (4), Johannes (3), Hossam
BASTA: Adam (4), Ben (3), Tony
TEAMS
B.A.S.T.A: Ben, Alessandro, Sara, Tony, Adam
ORANGE: Hossam, Giancarlo, Daniel, Johannes