When no match is a great match
The grass was freshly cut and the lawn combed for the great occasions. The wet surface an extra incentive to score as the customary celebratory knee slides would come out longer and longer lasting, almost infinite in the slow motion version.
The 16 players needed no instructions on how to positioned themselves on the pitch for a match that had the ingredients of the mind game of a chess final and the speed of a PlayStation. The Colours team look fantastically balanced, strong and agile in every compartment: rock solid in defence, fluid in midfield and opportunistic upfront. A lethal mix. The Orange team, loyal to its principles, showed respect but no fear whatsoever.
People on the stands sensed that they were in for another weekly treat, privileged to be there. ‘Is there anything better than a FDs ticket that money can buy?’ was the recurring and redundant question in their mind.
When the whistle went the Colours showed an aggression that took the Orange by surprise: twice their defence was caught in possession with Andrea and Johannes cynically and clinically punching in a one-two that would have knocked down an elephant but not the Orange. They took time to reorder ideas and soon after some of their trademark moves started to play out almost automatically, one of which led to Hossam halving the gap and putting his team back in contention.
The problem was that Colours had every single player in top form: Paride the usual wall, the German axis Thomas- Hannes insurmountable, Romeo playing like Thiago Alcantara, Johannes ever un catchable, Andrea a young Pato, Francesco and Tony showing experience and opportunism at will. There was little any team could do against this team: Johannes added another two goals to complete his umpteen hat trick and refusing to bring the ball back home as there is no more room for it.
Alessandro in goal did miracles to limit damages for the Colours, including saving a penalty kick shot by Francesco with an ill-fated Jorginho move. Khaled who moved forward in an attempt to reduce the deficit scored with a deft touch inside the box to fix the score at 4-2 and give hope to the Orange. Unfortunately Giancarlo, back from Everest base camp, was perhaps confused by too much oxygen and was ineffective throughout the game leaving the burden of the last pass to his attacking mates with Al looking the part.
After two solid hours of uninterrupted game there was only time for the golden goal: and that was the time for the ‘Fox in the box’: Tony smelled blood and found himself in the right place at the right time to snatch a well deserved comprehensive victory, saluted by the the adoring fans, among whom Erling Haaland who later commented: “Tony is the only footballer I bother following. He would score the same amount of goals even he was blindfolded. His inner radar tells him in advance when and where the ball is going to be. I hope one day Man City will be able to afford him’.
The Man of the Match award was not short of candidates: Johannes was again a default choice for the known reasons.Thomas was back in great shape administering the law in his proprietary area of operation leaving little if any to opposition. Francesco was a thorn on the right side winning most of the on on ones and providing countless assists. Romeo (pictured above with Paride) was the heart beat of the Colours dictating the tempo and linking defence and attack. But today the heart and soul of the winners was Hannes who held up defence impeccably and came agonisingly close to score a screamer. Shame we’ll miss him from next week as he joins the German national team in Doha.
Italians instead, in an unprecedented act of loyalty, have decided to stick to FDs throughout the World Cup. A worthy sacrifice
COLOURS-ORANGE 5-2
GOALS
COLOURS: Johannes (3), Andrea, Tony,
ORANGE: Hossam, Khaled
TEAMS:
COLOURS: Paride, Hannes, Thomas, Romeo, Johannes, Andrea, Francesco, Tony
ORANGE: Alessandro, Chetan, Julien Hossam, Christian, Al, Khaled, Giancarlo