MASTER GAME 1 -> WHERE IT ALL BEGAN
DADS-KIDS 3-4 SCORERS: Giuseppe, Aidan, Johannes, Lukas (K) v Francesco, Giancarlo, Tony (D)
Never in the history of football was a game played with such passion and drama.
The Kids started off with a better organisation taking full advantage of superior resources deployed scientifically by Alberto. Him, Piero and Johannes provided the backbone of a sparkling team while Aidan and Giuseppe were constant thorns in the sides of Dads defence.
Precisely a one-two by them knocked down early resistance by the Dads unable to link effectively the different zone on the pitch. It was then that Francesco come to rescue with an opportunistic goal putting the Dads back into the game only for Johannes to restore distances with a low shot evading John.
Individual skills by Mattias, reminding us why he is called ‘the white Pele”, and Guillaume were not enough to put the game back to balance and at half time no bookmaker was taking bets on Dads, suffering from an identity crisis, recovering the two goals deficit.
Only one man could re-write the story of the match and Tony duly obliged scoring a vital 2-3. Today Guillaume could only be stopped with fouls: from one resulting free kick Giancarlo fired from 40 yards (probably more) a surface to air missile into the roof of the net, confirming his 100% conversion ratio. It was game on and from then on champagne football from the Dads: Stanton wouldn’t let anything past him, Hannes, Hossam, Sara and Chris built an insurmountable wall, Giancarlo linked defence with midfield, Francesco distributed finely for the devastating runs on the flanks by Guillaume and Osman as well as the eager forwards Tony and Paul.
Many chances were created with Kids on the ropes but the knock out never come due to a profligacy that defied belief for those used to the clinical and cynical finishing of our forwards.
The price to pay was presented to the Dads three minutes from the end, only after, and may be because, Hossam had to leave the pitch with a badly injured knee.
Lukas poached a ball in the small box to fire what turned out to be the winner.
What this meant to the Kids was very evidenced by the wild celebrations with them piling on top of each other as one Team.
Der Kaiser Hannes tried a late charge and Giancarlo shot from the long distance went agonisingly wide and there was only time for the whistle of the Referee who did and impeccable and whom both teams restricted the abuse to an acceptable level.
The emotions on the pitch were matched off it: entire families torn apart by contacting affection among sons, husbands, siblings and Dads.
An almost unbearable sight!
Well done the Kids but the image of the Dads saluting the fans with the chin up was probably the defining moment of the Master Game, if not the very essence.
A battle is lost but the fight goes on: the handover still far and away.
