Orange put up a performance of a lifetime while Colours dig deep to rescue the day with golden goal. Orange-Colours 10-5
MIA: goalkeepers are still nowhere to be found.
The deepest post match worry anguishing Colours’ fans was neither the precarious situation of global geopolitics nor the ever deteriorating state of the British economy. Rather the professed inability to answer an oxymoron question: how could Colours performed so badly with so much talent in the squad'?’
Each and every of the seven Colours’ lads had proven many times over to be able to make or break games single handed while today as a team they looked vulnerable from every angle.
And how are they going to win back their fans? It is very easy for FDs supporters to be loyal as they get treated every Saturday to an unrestrained fall of emotions wrapping mind, heart and soul with eyes witnessing that is all real. Today’s dismal performance won’t shake the fundaments of their beliefs but is a call for action which demands a prompt and unambiguous response regardless status or track record.
How could that happen? The long story which cannot be cut short starts with the chronical lack of goalkeepers whose absence tend to produce unbalanced games as the deputing rusk keepers vary wildly in quality and reliability. None of our guardians has responded to the call of duty since the start of the year. Many different opinions have been forming ever since: are they just fair weather guys who will turn up only at the start of Spring? Are they indulging on their long term, fat contracts? Or rather the opposite: do they want to bank their scarcity value by auctioning their skills among competitors? Your guess is as good as mine but in fairness no sane FDs player would even entertain such thoughts but their prolonged absence is just self inflicting an escalating pressure which ought to be defuses asap. Not turning up next Saturday would equate to a war declaration while no mistake on the pitch would be tolerated in case of show up.
As for the match today, although the mix was similar with three Kids and four Dads per team, Orange hit the ground running with all three compartments firing on all cylinders, alternating solidity and fluency. Both from a tactical and physical standpoint Orange were far superior with Johannes and Julien linking effectively the back two with the strikers, Oriel and Diego, with Thomas was always available to create superiority with educated passes on the right corridor. A defence with Hannes and Hossam would hardly require extra personnel to get the job done.
On the opposite front the situation was very different: Colours had an attack-prone formation who couldn’t score and were relegated at the periphery of the pitch despite the hard work in midfield and also due to Hannes reiterated saves: that resulted in a exposed defence with Massimo often outnumbered by the more mobile Orange team. Giancarlo in Colours’ goal was bombarded from every angle, leaving the suspicion that strikers knew he was not the default choice.
Soon the score reached proportions of non return for the Colours but as the declining level of support by fans left room to open, rising criticism, that reminded Colours that is when the going gets tough that the tough get going. It was a watershed moment for the players who dropped the infighting, dug deep and took out whatever was left of their pride to score four goals with Oliviero, Gregorio and Federico with the latter delighting the fans with a treble dribble in the small box just before finding the winning narrow angle. Gregorio, yet again the heart and sould of his team, scored an impeccable first penalty but missed the second by an inch. A 50% hit ratio with such small goals is well above the average. Perhaps also Gregorio’s mother on the stands put extra pressure on him. She later commented: ‘Watching Gregorio to play live from the stands is just too emotional. I’ll just see the next matches on tv at home sipping camomile’.
She was instantly awarded the uncontested ’Mum of the Match’ award soon to be delivered in Ravenna as her presence was not announced and the trophy is being manufactured as we write.
‘Mum, I lost the match!’
With reference with the small goals, as past proposals were largely ignored, a new one has been presented to the Board. I remind you that FDs board decision are super FIFA and gain approval and legality the moment get ratified by the very same Board.
The new rule is as follows: as soon as a penalty is awarded two players will quickly eradicate the opposite goal and put it next to the one facing the penalty. The ball will be then moved back few yards so to recreate the same exact 1.5x distance/width ratio, which is in fact respectively 11mt for the penalty spot and 7.32mt for the goal of a normal pitch. This give penalties a new meaning as the stats so far have magnified the keepers’ saves at the expense of penalty takers. The new proposal will be put to test at the next available opportunity.
At 11.45 with a more honourable 10-4 score and with spirit soaring among Colours, it was evident that golden goal was not to be a one way street and immediately odds adjusted accordingly. The move allowed bookmakers to avoid colossal losses as Oliviero made a short job of the golden goal by scoring almost immediately with a clever move, thus regaining the Colours’ fans base who cheered loudly for the first time in the match to signify that the bond with the players was there to stay.
As for the Man of the Match trophy it was clear to everyone that he had to be picked from the winning team given the gulf in performance today. Each Orange player could creditably forward a case for a nomination. Oriel came back with a tally of three and even more assists but missed a few, not helped by the bumpy ground on some tap in. Others could claim that with a worse performance than today they had won the accolade in the past but truth was that no one came close to challenge the star of the show: Dario. He scored five despite not playing upfront, doing the running without ever losing coolness in front of goal. His trademark pinpointed curling in shot with that left foot of his, hit the net three times and none of such goals was even his best today. In fact the gem in the crown was when he dribbled the Colours midfield and defence nutmegging Federico and wrong footing Giancarlo to deliver the ball in the low right corner. While typically female fans do not get as excited as men for such fantastic goals, this time quite a few of them jumped up raising signs with ‘Dario marry me!’ written all over them. Along with the hat trick ball it was quite a load to carry home.
