“Oh goallie, where art thou?”
“Pond or Palace? That is the question” asked Victor minutes before kick-off.
Not much of a dilemma. The pestiferous Fox kids have been away for the past two weeks and with Easter almost upon us it was safe to expect they were not back. The Palace pitch welcomed the Football Dads in all its glory, under the light of a friendly April sun.
The answer to Victor’s question, it turned out, was irrelevant as he was caught up by family duties before he could put his boots on, and failed to show up to the pitch.
This could have been a problem for the Colours team, that Hossam had carefully designed reserving an attacking position for the Brazilian. But FDs are known, among other things, for their superhuman problem solving skills. The solution came in the shape of a young kid named Charlie, swiftly recruited after a negotiation with his father-manager. The youngster was placed in attack next to Adam. Hossam and Giancarlo provided the necessary support in the back, while Alessandro took place in goal.
The opposing Orange team lacked a professional goalkeeper (“Oh Paride, oh Tony, where art thou?”) but could count on seasoned veterans Hannes, Thomas and Francesco, with Diego and Andrea completing the squad.
A 5-side match played on a pitch ten times the side of a futsal court means three things: 1) plenty of space; 2) long runs; 3) lots of goal. And so it was.
The Colours took the lead quickly, with Hossam heading in goal a corner kick from Charlie, and swiftly doubled the advantage with Adam. The young Galal is well known as a formidable player, but today surprised even more. Moving the ball quickly with both feet, he was almost unstoppable, think Messi and Ronaldinho together.
Playing with the Oranges, Diego seemed to lack the usual focus, arriving late on the ball and missing easy pass. Perhaps the thought of moving to Spain was stealing his concentration. Francesco noticed it and took his team mate apart for a quick talk: “Amigo, forget los blancos, te necesitamos aquí, ahora!“. Diego nodded and went ahead with new motivation. As soon as he got the ball he shoot it in goal with so much power, precision and conviction that Alessandro could only see it going in. Madrid can wait.
Is it easier to play downhill or uphill? The jury is still out on this one. With the score on 5-5, Thomas suggested the teams switched side. Now playing downhill, the Oranges took a few minutes to adjust, with through-passes getting too fast for the attackers to get them. The Colours exploited the situation and scored a few more.
You know things get serious when two members of the team start talking in their native language. Frustrated with another mistake in defense, Hannes shouted in German to Thomas. Your reporter is not familiar with the teutonic language so doesn’t know what was said, you can use your imagination.
Determined to win the game, Hannes left defense to join the attacking front. First, he sent a delicious assist to Francesco, who put the ball in with a tap-in. Then he scored with a powerful shot from the right angle. Then he scored again completing a rare hat-trick and allowing the team to get even again.
As the Oranges grew in intensity, the Colours showed signs of slowing down their pace, perhaps disappointed in having wasted a lead maintained throughout the game. When Hossam told him to run back, Adam was heard whispering “I am tired“. The Colours smelt blood and seized the moment. It was Andrea to get them the victory by finding the right angle to score the Golden Goal.
Adam brought home the Man of The Match Award, for a stellar performance that included a Maradona-style goal, scored after dribbling four players within the space of a square meter.
Sensing a Shakespearean theme, Hossam enigmatically concluded his interview with a quote from the Twelfth Night ““Be not afraid of greatness. Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them.”.
Whether he was talking about himself, or Adam, or any other Football Dad, remains a mystery.