The return of the prodigal son

There were some disturbing rumours over summer. The most recurring one was that Giancarlo’s prolonged absence was due to the Club’s bold decision to sell him to competition.
The rationale was there: the Italian would always fetch fancy prices while his residual value, as being the oldest pitch serving FD, would sooner rather than later start declining. Besides, with part of the money raised, the Club would comfortably fund the new Stadium.
So when the crowd saw him approaching from the distance, his figure bending under the burden of the two goals, it erupted like the Vesuvius in 79 AD but luckily no casualties this time. That in turn prompted an above par performance by Giancarlo to reward the moving reception and the fans’ affection. No matter what.
While rubbishing these fake news as a subtle way for newspapers to sell few more millions copies, it is worth updating the Club’s financial situation which is in rude health: the ever growing Saturday’s tickets alone make the enterprise cashflow positive.
On top of that our two loyal sponsors, Gold Collagen and Londra Italia are tied in with long term inflation adjusted contracts and there is a long queue of candidates desperate to replace them.
Our costs structure is mean and lean: no coach, no agents, walk-in zero fee hiring policy and contracts spread over decades with minimal amortisation impact. Our ‘fine wine’ unique accounting system has successfully tested the strictest scrutiny as it is now accepted that FDs value goes up with age, unlike everyone else.
Also worth reminding that our games are a goldmine for many business participants: for example today with so many Italians on the pitch and their reputation as divers a massive amount of bets went in that the first injured players had to be Italian. When it happened to be Julien it was pain all over: it was estimated the 5% of the combined French-Italian GDP was lost in wagers!
Pitch fever time now. It started as a six a side, a tricky number with no fix roles where everyone is expected to contribute
with relentless run-ins not to let other teammates down.
Nizard was the pivotal figure for the Orange: from an offensive winger he adopted a much needed new role of playmaker protecting the ball to time his mates’ runs with measured assists. Orange defence was penalised by a lack of a role keeper while Colours could rely on ever dependable Alessandro. It was down to Thomas Breitner to break the ice with a timely incursion from his proprietary right flank to convert a penetrating assist from midfield and put the Colours in the lead.
It was though a short lived lead as Andrea planted a long range ball into the roof of the net and it was game on. Than a game changer occurred: Chetan arrived and joined the Colours after a brief spell with the Orange. The move brought solidity to Colour’s’ defence allowing Giancarlo and Bijian to offend more frequently: the latter restored his team lead and this time
for good.
Soon after Thomas Tassotti put in an inviting cross for Giancarlo Van Basten header, reminiscent of that scored by the ‘swan of Utrecht’ in the 1989 CL final against Steaua Bucharest. While the shot was helped by a deflection it must be stressed that the Orange defence is much tougher to score against than the Steaua one.
Further goals by Riccardo and Hossam put the score in the safe for the Colours despite two more by Andrea which settled the score to 6-3. The Orange were so keen to end the day with the golden goal that they attacked as one man and left prairie for the Colours’ counter: in one of them Hossam spurred from defence to a solo run to beat the keeper and seal the match for good.
The Man of the Match award typically goes to a member of the winning team: Hossam with his brace and Giancarlo only half an inch away from a hat-trick could have naturally claimed it but voters opted decisively for Andrea who could have been on a double hat-trick, had him not found on his way Alessandro with his recurring saves.
Andrea’s conversion from short and long distance shots has improved a lot and can further improve with time. Besides his natural greed is progressively tempered by tactical awareness and passing ability, much to the benefit of his team.
COLOURS-ORANGE 7-3
GOALS
COLOURS: Thomas, Riccardo, Bijan, Giancarlo (2), Hossam (2),
ORANGE: Andrea (3)
TEAMS
COLOURS: Alessandro, Hossam, Chetan, Thomas, Riccardo, Bijan, Giancarlo
ORANGE: Julien, Sara, Andre’ Francesco, Andrea, Nizzard