Diego delivers a masterclass in an epic 8-7 win

Had we had a Referee today, he would have been the busiest on the pitch!
It was immediately evident from the very start that, owing to the very balanced nature of the game, even the tiniest of details could have been the difference between victory and defeat. And no one wanted to lose at any cost. There was one penalty, many free kicks inside and outside the box and a countless number of corners, especially for Colours, to the point that after taking the first few ones, Giancarlo decided to wait on the spot for the next ones.
With so much at stake every week the decision to buy a big drone projecting the images on a big screen in real time is now inevitable. This will cut down the time spent arguing fiercely every time there is a handball, a dubious tackle or a foul on the edge of the imaginary box line with the risk of the fighting spreading to the stands and the surrounding neighbourhoods.
Orange looked overloaded in defence and attack with not much midfield but Johannes playing in front of defence did the trick as its accurate passing was providing the required ammunitions to the strikers without the intermediation of other players in the middle of the pitch. Once the ball reached firing range there were plenty of educated feet to send it to the right address.
Talking of which, it was very clear that Diego F was destined for glory: from start to end he did everything you would expect to convince everybody that his name was not wasted on him. The full repertoire was on display: from dribbling, to scoring four from every angle, to beat Paride on penalty (not a mean feature), leading the team with instruction and direction, to arguing on everything not going his way.
It could have been a trashing of Colours also considering that Orange frontline was complemented by no less than Daoud (only one goal but many assists), Oliviero (brace) Ishan and the comeback of Jonathan D from Germany who celebrated the new debut with a goal.
Talking of German comebacks we also had Thomas making a brief but effective appearance after a break and with him Tom for a back to back presence: they patrolled the right lane with their commanding presence often forcing Orange to direct the game elsewhere. Inevitably there was also a rookie, Ghislain, a French friend of Giuseppe who strengthen the Colours’ contingent fighting bravely on the left side.
Colours needed a wake up call and that came from their young guns who strongly disagreed on the direction the match was taking and decided to test the Orange to the very limit. Alex, Dario and Giuseppe, whose position was advanced after the poor Colours’ start, put on a very energetic display and with their goals, 4-2-1 respectively, kept their team in the game and made sure they could go to the golden goal in a parity position.
Colours were very much hoping that Diego’s appetite was done for the day with his hat trick but sadly for the them the Maradona best proxy was on a ‘the winner takes it all’ mode and scored the decisive goal with a volley under the bar: the perfect way to end a perfect day!
In the interest of time it was decided to hand him the ‘Man of the Match’ trophy without waiting for the votes count. It is worth noting that on any other day most likely Alex, with four goals and a superb performance, would have easily won the accolade but today it was all about Diego.
To the point that after everyone left, Giancarlo, Dario, Andrea, Matej and another couple of player stayed behind to ask Diego for selfies. An interesting, long conversation followed with again Diego lecturing a keen audience on recent geopolitical situation with a debate ensuing. The group remarkably was very close to actually solving most of the current crisis but unfortunately there was not enough time as weekend commitments took over. Perhaps next time.
ORANGE-COLOURS 8-7
GOALS
ORANGE: Diego (4), Daoud, Oliviero (2), Jonathan D
COLOURS: Alex (4), Dario (2), Giuseppe
TEAMS
ORANGE: Alessandro, Johannes, Andrea M, Bijian, Diego F, Ishan, Daoud, Oliviero, Jonathan D,
COLOURS: Paride, Tom, Thomas (Gabbi),Matej, Hossam, Ghislain, Giuseppe, Dario, Alex, Giancarlo