'It's team victory, not personal honour that I'm after!'. This quote best sums up FDs spirit in yet another battle going to the wire: Orange-Colours 7-6

Assembling balanced teams is a difficult art but when you do it time and time again you can call it predictable science. It was yet again Hannes who selected one by one the Orange and Colours’ team to form to squads who needed after 105’ of non stop play a golden goal to separate them. Players have now assimilated the process and seem to be moving autonomously like pieces on a chessboard. Matches going to the wire it is now part of the package included in the ticket price, though it cannot be ever taken for granted. As general can turn the course of a war, any FD can change the course of a game.

Fans on the stands were not less exhausted than players as the emotional rollercoaster drained everyone’s every energy. It is expected that in games like these players throw in everything they have to emerge winners and a no mercy attitude is deployed by default across the pitch.

It’s no surprise that today spirits and tackles were running high, in turn fuelling hot debates (understatement). Whatever the argument, the unwritten rule is that everything is over with a hand shake (kisses also allowed) the moment the Ref blows the final whistle and contestants become best friends.

We can therefore safely assume that today’s heated contenders spent the rest of the weekend planning the next holiday together…Often best friendships start with different opinions.

The game started as a11 v 10: Colours took advantage of the extra man by showing organisation and grit with Massimo back at the centre of defence, Edo (who had a great game) and Andre’ on the flanks. Gregorio filled the customary playmaker role with licence to score and together with Yuness and JR was in charge of feeding the two expert strikers, Jonathan and Francesco.

Colours were cruising fairly comfortably but never really establishing an unassailable lead until a game changer occurred: Bijian, despite arriving late, was allowed to join the Orange team: the exception was granted by an EGM due to his previous consistent contribution to the game and an impeccable CV.
Orange immediately took advantage of the new blood and raised the centre of gravity: Johannes took the command of operations and scored a brace putting Orange in front but the dividing line was so fine that no team could claim advantage for too long.
Thomas, Federico and Adam on one side, Gregorio, Matteo, JR and Francesco on the other would each score but none of the goals allowed supremacy when the clock hit 11.45am.

The dust had not settled yet on his last week MOTM trophy that Ross reminded everyone why he is often a contender by emphatically scoring the golden goal of one of the most uncertain matches in FDs history sending players under the showers.

In game likes this, so uncertain to the last kick of the ball, voters of the Man of the Match tend to not discriminate between winners and losers when allocating the much coveted award. It was therefore no surprise that the winner emerged form the Colours’ side. Throughout the game Yuness showed all the skills that make a complete player: scored a brace, assisted team mates, passed the ball with vision and anticipation and was hardly ever dispossessed. All of these with a smile and head held high to best assess all options.
With him, Yassin and Mohammad joining the national team my money are on Morocco to win the next World Cup after clinching fourth place in 2022 without our three stars! At the risk of injuring our key players, the CLUB is happy to let them play for any of our 72 Nations in the next World Cup as we want to nurture their own roots rather than cut them.

Curiously, at the end of the match there was a bunch of journalists queuing up to interview Matej. And they all seem to have thw same question! Matej, in fact, in the 35 games played for the CLUB, included MGs, averaged two handballs per match, half of which resulting in penalties, probably a world record. Why is he doing that? Has he mistaken the pitch for volleyball court?
It’s more complicated than that and actually there is a nobler side to it.
Matej is a thinking defender: before hitting any ball he positions himself so to have enough time to ponder the best course of action: whenever he goes for the handball, including the resulting penalty, is just because he has scientifically assess that this is the best course of action for the team, factoring in also the low statistical probability of the penalty being converted.
’Don’t you feel embarrassed to hand the ball so often?’ finally asked a journalist. ‘ Frankly, my dear, I don’t give a damn!’ quipped a cynical yet relaxed Matej to then stun the audience with a Churchill-like quote: ‘It victory for the team, not personal honour that I’m after!’.
Hardly the beautiful game has witnessed an act of such disguised altruism.

ORANGE-COLOURS 7-6

GOALS
ORANGE: Federico, Johannes (2), Thomas, Adam, Ross,
COLOURS: Youness (2), Jonathan R, Francesco, Matteo, Gregorio

TEAMS
ORANGE: Paride, Chetan, Matej, Bijan, Federico, Hannes, Andrea M, Dario, Johannes, Adam, Ross.
COLOURS: Alessandro, Massimo, Andre’, Edoardo, Giancarlo, Gregorio, Youness, Jonathan R (JR), Jonathan L, Francesco, Matteo