Roberto Baggio: the legend lives on!
Roberto Baggio was without argument one of the finest players to ever grace the beautiful game. ‘Il Divin Codino’ (‘the Divin Ponytail’ ) is one of the very few Italians to have won the Balon d’Or together with Gianni Rivera, Paolo Rossi and Fabio Cannavaro. You might add Omar Sivori who, being a native Argentina, had the Italian citizenship when he won the accolade. Anyway a pretty short list if you consider that when it comes to football Italian are naturally equipped with flair and style…
Curiously such trophy has never been won by the likes of Pele’ (not our white one Mattias) and Maradona: did they not deserve it? rather they were not born in Europe before 1995 which is the year from which non European footballer were allowed to compete.
And how comes no FD has ever won it? Well, that’s a long story that boards on envy, unfair competition and ring-fencing. All subjects that should not be debated here.
Why do we talk about Baggio? Well, quite simply today his legend lived on on the Royal pitch in Kensington Gardens.
Johannes in fact not only was wearing Baggio’s shoes (see pic) but also produced a performance that would had il Codin Divino nodding in approval all the match long. Still despite this, as it turned out from the start, the Unbibbed had a mountain to climb in the shape of a scary Bibbed lineup with a rare combination of experience, skills and speed. The 5 a side format meant no rest whatsoever leaving at times players in need of a recharge but understandably none of the teams took advantage of the post covid allowance for up to five subs for each team…That would have left none on the pitch with a strong change that the score would have not changed from then.”
The pitch was a vivid green soft enough to accommodate gentle bounces, yet preventing slippery spurs powered by Fds steely muscles.
The pace was his usual hectic with a defining sense of urgency but orderly: pinpointed passes invariably reached their destination, regardless the number of them.
Ben decided early on to turn the game in his hand by scoring the starter. Proudly the UnBibbed retaliated soon after with the rookie Khaled G, a friend of Khaled A. A straightforward double act. The Bibbed would have none of it and again Ben left his mark on the game adding another couple of goals.
One of which was on an astute run in by Ben from Yasin’s corner. Talent is nothing without hard work: Ben and Yasin had cancelled their holiday to practice day in day out and indeed it did pay out embodying the concept so dear to CR7.
The game was a lot more balanced than the score suggested but the combination of Bibbed profligacy and Unbibbed stoic defending kept the latter ahead with a comfortable margin. Moreover Diego and Giancarlo chose the right day to score a countless number of almost-goals but bitterly they were not even accounted as one. At times football can be a cruel game.
Yasin was his usual self doing the running as well as the scoring with the same nonchalance people usually deploy when drinking an aperitif or smoking a cigar. Cherry on the cake he also obliged in sealing the game with the golden goal.
No one would have probably argued if he was yet again the recipient of the Match of the Day award but collectively voteers opted for Ben as his early goals were decisive in channeling the game in the direction it then went and the rest of his game was par for the course.
Bibbed v Unbibbed 9-3
Bibbed: Diego, Ben, Yasin, Giancarlo, Khaled A
Unbibbed: Johannes, Khaled G, Philipp, Francesco, Juan
Goals
Bibbed: Ben (4), Yasin (4), Khaled A (1)
Unbibbed: Johannes (2), Khaled (1)