Some things never change

Everyone knew that getting back on the pitch after more than three months was going to be tough. Uneasy. Different. But the moment the foot hit the ball, everything was forgotten. It was like that time had never passed. The passion, the magic, the skills, the comraderie. It was all there.
Some things never change. Kicking a ball with friends will always be a joy. And the spirit of the Football Dads, we are glad to report, is as high as ever.
Today the Welsh-like weather meant there wasn’t the usual crowd of summer sun-seekers. In fact, hardly anyone was around, a circumstance that allowed the players to setup a large pitch and move around freely.
At one point a police car drove past the pitch and as soon as they saw Tony S with that FD shirt with Gold Collagen written all over it they smiled and gave the thumb up as if the brand itself was as powerful as a Covid vaccine.
None of the players was fearing any action anyway as first touch football in its very essence doesn’t require tackling: in fact the ball moves with such precision and speed to make any interception or tackling a wasted effort or at least superfluous.
It was decided to play with the old white posts to make goals less conspicuous and easy to take away in case of a police raid. In fact if police will come it will probably be to watch the game and ask for selfie with the players.
The old posts did the job but far too many times they were sent flying by shots from either side raising endless partisan debates on whether it was a goal or not. One of those was a glorious diving header from Diego which arguably hit the outside post but such was its beauty that it was classified as a ‘merit goal’ without being registered as a goal.
The game started with the colour team imposing the law with Johannes scoring the first post-Covid goal.
The 5 v 4 was always going to produce a fast and furious match with same players seen at opposite ends within few seconds: such was the level of fitness despite the lockdown that players looked like they had just come from a cryogenic chamber.
The fluidity of the game was reflected in the ever changing score: the Colour team though always made sure that there was a couple of goals gap and, credit to them, the same was true after Sara joined the white team ranks.
Only the golden goal could have put a smile on the White Team and their fans. But it was not to be as Giancarlo, misfiring too often on the day, put the finishing touch from an inviting ball from Johannes the same way Gianni Rivera did in the Mexico 1970 sealing a memorable 4-3 victory for Italy v Germany.
The Man of the Match Award went unanimously to Hannes, not just for what he showed all over the pitch, but also for an outstanding cycling performance that saw him beat every record on the Wormwood Scrubs-Hyde Park. Others would have been upset to have ended on the wrong part of town but for our Kaiser it was hakuna matata.
Photo: Football Dads take a knee while maintaining social distancing