Ferragosto’s football is never dull
Ask an Italian which is the most sacred holiday in the calendar and the answer invariably will be the same: Ferragosto.
More than just a day off, for Italians Ferragosto (15th August) is a sacred event. A shameless and collective celebration of the ritual interruption of work activities, in the middle of the summer. A day to spend with family and friends in a vacation place, far from the cities, eating, drinking, doing everything except working.
Still, instead of indulging on such relaxing activities, Francesco spent this Ferragosto on the road and on the air, travelling back to London in order to appear at the football match the morning after. After more than a month in his native country, the desire to kick a ball with the FDs was simply too pressing to ignore it.
Another player clearly missing FD’s football since moving to the US, is Christian. So it’s no surprise that his direct flight from Boston to Tuscany was diverted to London for a few hours, just to allow him to get on the pitch. We don’t know what the other 259 passengers on the A330 think of the unexpected diversion.
The two returnees joined a robust all-German contingent including Hannes, Johannes and Thomas, composing a Colours team that exuded solidity and experience. On the opposite side was a relatively younger, multicultural Bibbed team with AndreaM, Bijan, Federico, Ishan and Adam. An ensemble that promised fireworks. Predicting the outcome of such a clash was anyone’s guess.
The Bibs had the better start. Led by a particularly inspired Federico, they moved the ball with superb creativity and non-linear geometry, causing the Colours’s German defence line to concede two goals in the first ten minutes. A third one arrive later, cementing a 3-0 lead that seemed to prematurely put the word ‘end’ to the contest. Still, only those unfamiliar with FD football could have such a thought. The regulars know that a match is never over until it’s over and drama is always just around the corner.
True to that spirit, the Colours got quickly back in the match. Like a diesel engine, they had started slow but once they reached their full power they became almost unstoppable. Impeccably assisted by Thomas, Johannes and Christian, Francesco scored three goals in succession to restore parity.
At half time, the two teams realised they had to get reinforcements in order to win the game.
The Colours strengthen their senior team with the addition of latecomer Chetan, another veteran of thousand battles. Staying true to their young spirit, the Bibs instead recruited rookie Omar, a young and skinny Emirati teenager that was passing by.
The fact that Omar wasn’t wearing football boots was not a problem. In fact, after few minutes playing with normal shoes, he decided to continue barefoot, as if he was still on a Dubai’s beach.
With the match now played as a 6-side, the intensity reached higher levels. More goals followed from both sides. The Bibs went ahead again only to see the Colours get even again, up until the score reached 6-6.
At that point, with minutes to go, some tension emerged on the Colours side. After yet another miss, Francesco was scolded by some of his teammates for excessive egoism, and for attempting spectacular (but often unsuccessful) plays rather than practical (but boring) ones.
Not one to take criticism easily, Francesco felt a drop in self-confidence and retreated in defence to start a much-needed self-reflection, while his team rearranged roles on the spot. But there was no time to see whether this would have worked or not, as AndreaM found the right corner to score the Golden Goal and bring the victory to the Bibs.
The Man of the Match award went to Federico, who showed great maturity and vision in his new playmaker role, while Christian’s daughters snapped a newly created “Sisters Of The Match” award.
After last week’s break, it was great to see football again. As we enter the second half of August, we can expect more and more players to come back to play. If you are reading this and you are still vacationing, whether on the Mediterranean or elsewhere, we salute you but we look forward to see you back!
Colours-Bibs 7-6
TEAMS
Colours: Hannes, Johannes, Thomas, Francesco, Christian, Chetan
Bibs: Federico, AndreaM, Bijan, Ishan, Adam, Omar