The closed windows of Buckingham Palace
It has never been a coincidence that the bad blood among Royals started the very moment FDs had to quit the pitch by the Palace and move beyond the Pond. William quickly claimed ownership of the only binoculars in the Palace: a move that Harry did not like and under Meghan’s pressure they decided to move to Frogrome house where too soon they learned there was no substitute for live FDs games.
At which point the move beyond the big Pond, that is to US, looked inevitable. The real victim here is Archie: every psychologist will vouch that Harry and Meghan’s offspring will most likely cope in life without a Royal title but no doubt being negated the prospect of becoming a FK and then a FD will scar him for life.
Also William’s victory turned out to be a pyrrhic one: he simply didn’t have an answer when Georgie asked ‘Dad, why is football not only not coming home but moving away from it?’ . Taking Georgie to the Wembley final last year also was unfortunate.
A move outside London was then on the cards: if you can’t beat them just move away from them…The closed windows of the south side of Kensington Palace were today a remembrance that happy days for the Royals have long gone.
As for today game it was a scintillating 3- a-side which went to the wire after a nail biting 9-9. The highlight was the return of our Us-Egyptian star Tarek who had to move recently back to the States to boost their chances for the next World Cup, in 2026 hosted by North America.
From is very first touch fans started singing ‘ yes baby he’s got it’meaning that Tarek touch has never deserted him. He teamed up with Adam and Francesco for a face-off against the Oranges represented by Hossam, Giancarlo and Al. Both teams had youth and experience in their ranks with the common feature of sublime skills performed at unreal speed: a fusion between Mbappe and Messi would probably be the best way to visualise what was on show today.
Both teams were forced to adopt a 1-1-1 format with a rush keeper but it was impossible to tell who was where as every player seemed to be animated by a full load of Duracell batteries granting perpetual motion. The goals were no bigger than two steps and strikers had to turn into snipers to be able to spot the narrowest of the gaps and score a goal. But goals came in aplenty: Adam was everywhere: his bag of tricks was deeper than Father Christmas bag of presents and his every move was a threat for the Orange Defence which nevertheless held up quite well as Giancarlo and Hossam combined experience could be counted in well over three digits in terms of years spent on the pitch.
It was a rollercoaster with everyone adding to the scoreline: Adam had the Lyon’s share with Francesco and Tarek bagging a brace each and feeding constantly the young Lyon. On the opposite from Al was also inspired to greatness by his vintage mates and had an excellent game.
Giancarlo was wearing the no 10 FD jersey to honour the Great Pele’: no tribute was more fitting when Giancarlo converted with an inside back heel in mid air hitting the far post and then in. It looked exactly like the famous one scored by Quagliarella (see below) with the notable difference that this time the goal size was a fraction of the normal one…
Such a game only deserved to go the golden goal: Hossam had a sure goal on his feet but stopped to check that one opponent was fine after a tackle: Colours didn’t not return the favour and Adam ruthlessly converted the counter. It was a tale of life: it takes a lifetime for older generations to built and transfer values which younger ones can snatch in seconds… It was only the festive mood that prevented the Orange fans from invading the pitch and force a replay of the golden goal but we hear petitions in the hundreds of thousands are asking for a re-match first thing in the new year!
Adam was a force to be reckon with and would have naturally won the Man of the Match award but voters went sentimental and decided to hand the trophy 🏆 to Tarek whose grace on the pitch has been sorely missed.
Finally a news that had got the Board of the CLUB holding an extraordinary meeting: 21 out of 30 Under 21 Cameroon players turned out to be older than the imposed limit! This was spotted by an MRI wrist test. At the opposite spectrum the CLUB is thinking of introducing a similar measure to make sure FDs are not younger than 50 ! Of course excluding Yassin…
A great 2023 to everyone and thanks for another fantastic year.
Giancarlo Castelli