Kids prevail on MG7 after emotional battle on Chelsea’s perfect pitch
There was not a single empty seat on the stands. In fact there were no stands. Nor needed be. Fans wanted to smell the grass and the players’ sweat by the touchline to fill their ‘I was there!’ tale with intimate details. Such proximity sent adrenaline flowing like a river after heavy rain. Tension was so dense it could have been sliced. One Kid was heard whispering his mates: ‘I was less nervous when I was doing my A level exams’
The day that would turn players’ life into a dream or nightmare had come in a majestic venue fit for the King of Europe, both new (that is Chelsea) and everlasting (no prize for guessing). A feast arranged by the one and only André.
When the lions and their cubs were unleashed in the arena a wild roar went out in anticipation. The bitter memory of the last unjust defeat at MG6 only served to fire up Dads’ desire for revenge. At 3 each, the MG7 was for the second time a decider to edge up in this intergenerational cruel fight where love and affection had to be instantly turned into hate and aggression no matter what.
Players were masks of concentration hardly betraying the inner storm. The referee’s whistle came as a liberation and by magic football was capturing everyone around like a symphony played by two orchestras competing for one collective majestic show.
The feeling was amazing: players were walking the walk of John Terry, Frank Lampard and N’Golo Kante. The pitch was like a billiard table: a thick, lush, perfectly even green pitch as soft as silk. Unbelievable to their eyes, players saw the ball bouncing as predicted and Dads and Kids could focus on dribbling opponents instead of the holes in the ground. The bags of soil were safely left in the car boots.
You could tell Kids had a plan right from the start: Federico and Johannes dictated the tempo in midfield, Antonio, Andrea and Giuseppe provided the crosses from the flanks to the two terminators, Marco and Leo. The latter decided to take matters in his feet when with the outside of his right shoe he lobbed the keeper to open the MG7 with a screamer. His partner in crime Marco followed suit by curling a shot above Alessandro. The whole Kids team showed dynamism and discipline in equal measure and looked unstoppable.
Dads were frantically trying to organise a reaction but they lost Victor to injury while Kids’ exuberance and luck knew no boundaries. Leo tried a long distance cross which instead ended its run in the opposite end of the goal. At 3-0 the result looked beyond reach but Dads were not having it: Ben hit the bar from the long distance and Paride made a couple of fine savings with Alessandro also denying Marco twice on the opposing front. The match never stopped vibrating for one second and only the half whistle persuaded players to have a rest.
When the match resumed 15’ later, the Dads appeared rejuvenated and more structured: they put their pride in their feet and subjected Kids to an unbearable pressure. Yassin then decided to show the world why people trying to find the next Messi should look no further. In the space of five minutes he scored two similar goals, collecting the ball just behind the offside, running at an illegal speed and beating Paride with angled shots, putting the game back in contention at 3-2.
Dads came a whisker away from a glorious remuntada when Yassin, who else?, put himself again in front of goal only to be denied by a miraculous save by the Kids guardian. Some fans had to leave the game as they could not take it anymore and regretted not to have followed their doctor advice to avoid strong, unprecedented emotions.
With still 20’ to spare Dads engaged in substitutions and ever changing tactics with a clear target: score the equaliser and tire Kids into extra time, at which point Dads’ superior freshness and athleticism would have made all the difference. It was not to be as Kids capitalised on a rare mistake by the Dads’s defence with Giacomo accepting the gift with a fine shot to put the score beyond reach at 4-2. This remained the final score and only the second Master Game out of seven to finish with one more goal difference.
In the interest of time it was decided that The Man of the Match online votes would stop at the first million: a recount was necessary as the score of the first two players was as close at the Al Gore v Bush one. In the end, and rightly so, youth prevailed and Yassin had to settle for second best while Leo was handed the Club cup with both the Kids and Dads Crest on it.
Now the inevitable question: is the clock ticking too fast for FDs? As one fine commentator put it: ‘ to question If FDs
game is peaking at 60 is like suggesting Ronaldo and Messi should have retired at 30!’ The legend goes on.
Ps As Covid restrictions prevented them to be there, Chelsea players sent the congratulations to the Kids. They know full well that loyalty to the Club is a prime virtue of FKs but just in case…
MASTER GAME 7 – DADS v KIDS 2-4
GOALS
KIDS: Leo (2), Marco, Giacomo
DADS: Yassin (2)
TEAMS:
KIDS: Paride, Marcello, Riccardo, Daniel, Johannes, Zac, Federico T, George, Louis, Giuseppe M, Andrea, Antonio, Giacomo, Leo, Marco, Khaled Al-G, Daniele
DADS: Alessandro, Tony L, Chetan,Andre’, Hannes, Federico F, Christian, Ben, Diego, Jeremy T, Francesco, Victor, Yassin, Jeremy G, Mohammed, Giuseppe R, Giancarlo, Khaled Alk, Tony S., Jamal
THE OFFICIAL VIDEO OF THE MATCH
THE OFFICIAL TRAILER