Blowin’ with the wind

How many games must a man play before you call him a Football Dad?
The answer today was blowing in the wind. A forceful, continuous wind, determined to assert its mischievous presence like a spiteful ghost in a haunted house.
Blowing from the north, the fast wind intercepted every pass and shot, leading the heavy-pumped ball in unpredictable directions. Cross from the wings ended up on the other side of the pitch bypassing all players. Goal kicks bent in the air, stopped for a second or two, before taking an unexpected turn, like a boomerang thrown by a drunk Australian.
The 14 players present for the match took little time to adjust to the annoying atmospheric agent, adapting their play and trying to use it to their advantage. As soon as they received the ball they would quickly run complex physics calculations to estimate the wind effect before hitting the ball accordingly. Some succeeded more than others.
The Bibs could count on the only professional goalkeeper available, AlessandroC, spotting a new blue shirt. Diego and Ulrico in defense, AlessandroR, Christian and Giacomo in midfield and Francesco lone striker completed the team. The Unbibbed opponents could count on Yassin, Ben, Julien, Marco, Thomas, TonyS and Alex but had to play with rotating goalkeeper. Overall the two teams appeared balanced. The match started with strong intensity and within 15 minutes both teams had already found the net once.
Things changed dramatically when AlessandroR was forced to leave the match due to back pain leaving the Bibs one man down. The Unbibs realised they had to seize the opportunity and started to push hard.
In front of the Bibs now was not just an unpleasant wind, but a full tornado, in the unlikely semblance of Yassin, Marco and Julien, who all scored. In the matter of twenty minutes the Unbibs were able to secure a three goal lead (4-1).
At half time, the Unbibs graciously offered the Bibs one of their player to rebalance the game, in the name of fair play. While the elders were considering the proposal, young Giacomo stood up and blatantly refused it, speaking as a true captain.
“We don’t need another player. We can still win this game” he said, with the charisma of a new Ceasar, “but we want to switch side“.
Reenergised by Giacomo’s speech, now playing with the wind on their left side, the Bibs went ahead with impressive confidence. The breakthrough arrived after few minutes.
Francesco received a ball just outside the box, adjusted it quickly and realising none of the defenders have bothered to come towards him, took the shot. Hit with impressive precision and strength, and with a slight bend, the ball went on the far goal corner making it impossible for TonyS to save it.
Dreams of a remuntada were quickly interrupted by Yassin, scoring again for the Unbibs, only for Diego to revive them by finding the net with a nice tap-in on a corner kick. The Bibs didn’t want to give up, but time was up.
On the 5-3 the Golden Goal was called. The Gods of Football, watching from above, decided the Bibs deserved at least a partial win but they didn’t have the time to cast any spell, as Giacomo quickly scored it. A fitting ending for a stormy and glorious match.
Collecting the Man of the Match award Giacomo stopped to answer questions from the press. Asked if he regretted not getting the extra player at half time he smiled and spoke with the wisdom of a Zen master. “Obstacles don’t block the path. They are the path“. When another journalist asked if he blamed the wind for not scoring enough goals, Giacomo gently shook his head. “A mountain never yields to the wind” he said “no matter how strong it is“. What a new leader the Kids have.