New year, old habits as a goal is scored every 3'. Colours only prevail v Orange at golden goal with a 17-16 score!
Only 9 players were blessed with starting the first FDs match of the year held in the Palace pitch. The bright sun contrasted the frozen pitch. The brisk air made players indulging in a longer than usual warm up so that everyone was on his marks at the start of the game. With a 5 v 4 the match was more reliant on individual skills than elaborated strategy with the extra man supposedly a key advantage. But in sport, as in life, theory is not always matched by reality.
Credit to them, each and everyone of the 9 players was fit as a fiddle with no extra luggage from festivities: with so much at stake it would have been unforgivable to give opponents such an advantage and risking a fine from the CLUB. 10,000£ per extra-kilo was the last going rate.
On the stands some of the vintage fans’ faces were missing due to prolonged holidays but that simply gave their friends and relatives a once in a lifetime chance to happily fill their seats, incredulous to their stroke of luck. As one of them put it :’ today January 3rd I can already confidently state that this event is the highlight of my whole 2026. Whatever happens next it will never ever match the incommensurable joy of watching a live FDs match. A dream come true!’. The fan demanded anonymity as he already sold forward to his fiancée the exclusivity of his biggest emotion: his forthcoming 2026 wedding… Such attitude ties in with the mantra that you can change wife but not football club. With these kind of fans it’s no wonder FDs when they step into the pitch are possessed by an all consuming obsession to perform at their best sparing no energy and displaying their full set of skills. Fans expect no less.
Giancarlo was the extra man for the Orange but restricted to a pure goalkeeper role by his persistent tendinitis. The ranks were completed by Hossam in defence with Federico and Daniel roaming in midfield and Thomas patrolling his own familiar territory on the right flank. To make the game balanced Colours had to spend big and they did by deploying Andrea M, Johannes, Ross and Julien. Without a role goalkeeper and a single defender Colours made mobility and pass accuracy their competitive advantages on top of their clinical finishing, often from the distance.
Orange hit the ground running and despite going one goal down, the first of the year scored by Ross, they recovered quickly to overtake Colours and build a comfortable margin as Daniel (first hat trick of the year!) and Hossam scored like never before.
Daniel scored the first hat trick of the year while Ross the first goal!
While people in the street struggle to put aside any money, Giancarlo’s saving ratio hit 100% early in the game as he stopped the first two Colours shots and decided to seize the momentum and tap the market by offering himself to Colours to play their missing goalkeeper so to balance the game. But the offer was bluntly refused: everyone thought they were either mad or simply could not afford the Italian. Rather, they had a plan which become evident as the game progressed.
Spotting that the Italian goalkeeper was trying with one hand to save shots and with the other to update the score on his mobile to fulfil his commentator’s obligations,
Johannes made a meal of his pinpointed shooting by scoring few incredible goals from the distance, each caressing either the bar or the posts. Advertisers flocked to the CLUB (who, as you know, holds the image right of every single player) to buy the broadcasting rights for products where surgical precision was the differentiating element.
Fans smelled blood and sensed that from a one-direction game they were now witnessing a ‘remuntada’ of epic proportion and started cheering wildly Colours, truly adding the fifth man missing on the pitch. That was like fuel on fire: Julien in particular added to his trademark midfield workhorse role that of a ruthless striker including in his rich tally (5) a penalty of rare precision. Ross and Andrea rounded the score to put at 11.45am Colours in front at 16-15. But Orange were not done and soon levelled with the golden goal at 16 each. Any team would have happily wrapped up the game in parity given the fatigue and freezing cold but compromise is not what FDs are about: only another golden goal would have filled their sense of achievement and fans just vouched for that. No wonder the ABBA’s song ‘the winner takes it all’ was inspired by FDs! The fact that ABBA preceded FDs is an irrelevant detail…
Unfortunately it fell on probably the best man on the pitch till then to concede an own goal and deliver victory to the Orange who saw it far and away at the start, available at mid game, conquered soon after, vanished with first golden goal and snatched for good with the second. A rollercoaster of emotions which bodes well for the rest of the year.
The Man of the Match podium saw Johaness, Hossam and Daniel fighting for the top spot. Until his decisive own goal Hossam, other than showcasing his spotless defence, proved to be a goal-machine with seven to his credit. It was fair in the end to tribute the trophy to Johannes who scored as many goals, some unreal, leading his team onto a victory not many thought possible.
Few commentators remarked that players today seemed animated by a new fire: uncontrolled rumours started to spread. The most creditable one is that the CLUB is considering reinstating the ‘PLAYER OF THE YEAR’ award with a precious trophy to be given to the winner at the next Master Game.
How the winner is selected is a secret better kept than the Coca-Cola recipe but that won’t prevent any single player to try his very best to get it!
COLOURS-ORANGE 17-16
GOALS
COLOURS: Johannes (7), Julien (5), Ross (3), Andrea, Hossam (og)
ORANGE: Hossam (7), Daniel (5), Federico (3), Thomas
TEAMS
COLOURS: Johannes, Andrea M, Julien, Ross
ORANGE: Giancarlo, Hossam, Federico, Daniel, Thomas