When the ball goes for a date + the 50th Nation!

So much for Autumn thinning the ranks! An all time high number of 30 players turned up and the Club organisational response was just superb.

The chips embedded in the bibs sent automatically each player data to the central IT system and in no time one by one, FDs and FKs (9 of them!) knew exactly whom team to play with and where to position himself/herself on the pitch.

That’s why is so important for you to bring your own BIB! All players’ data (minutes played, passes, mileage, off the ball moves etc) must be stored in the Club database so that end of season performance assessment is fair and also your remuneration package fairly reflects your output. And we are not talking peanuts here.

The format was also straightforward and apt to the challenge. Three teams of 10 players faced themselves, two at a time, every 15’ on a rotational basis for 6 games of flowing adrenaline.

In the interest of time it would be quicker to mention FDs who were not on the pitch today, so widespread was the representation.

It was a feast of records as we had with Richard, a friend of Paul from Bratislava, the 50th NATION with SLOVAKIA! Such feat will stay in the Club history book but comes with a warning. While there is no doubt for the rookie involved about the commercial value of such an achievement, equally its exploitation is always subject to the Club approval and money is not at the top of the list of our Club values.

Also remarkably our second rookie of the day was Candy, Adam’s friend, a young woman from Rio de Janeiro, our third female player after Sara and Nadine.
As soon as She touched the ball there was no mistaking her provenience to the point that the ball itself asked Cindy for a date and from there on it was ongoing romance to the end of the game.

The first Bibbed team exuded domination right from the start and went on a serial scoring with Julien, Yasin and Jeremy T while never conceding in the back where Johannes deputised impeccably in the absence of his Dad.

The 10 stars Bibbed squad was restrained to dry powder by the second Unbibbed team which managed somehow to frustrate their action thanks to ‘catenaccio’ which no Bibbed player managed to unlock. Paride in goal firmly held the keys and proved unbeatable on the day.

It would be too much of a strain to the old commentator’s memory to timeline each game but there were players and moments which would be criminal not to report to the wider audience. For example Ben in midfield fought like a gladiator and few players today out of the shower will find his signature tackle mark somewhere on their legs.

El Capitan Roberto kept changing position on the pitch making himself available for the final touch and scoring a brace with a header and a deadly shot. Kids were a pleasure to watch with Marco, Diego, Dario D and Andrea playing text book football with short passes and continuous overlaps that made defenders dizzy with Sara and Federico feeding them with pinpointed penetrating balls.

Only Lorenzo among Millenials opted to play in defence standing tall in front of adversities while in goal Chris H and Tony L excelled on the day. The former was flying like Nembo Kid punching balls among the trees and throwing balls at the opposite end with his bionic arm.

Tony L made a miracle save on Khaled acrobatic overheard kick, a constant feature in his repertoire, but at one point slipped a ball and was punished by the incredulous forward. The Club data team confirmed that was the first and last mistake of Tony L glittering career as a keeper, suddenly forgotten and condoned by fans as few minutes later he made amendment by denying no less than his eponymous Tony S who surely must have had an identity crisis.

But you cannot keep a good striker down for too long! In fact when the golden goal was played Tony S elevated himself from the ground like a butterfly to head in the winner and seal the first ever multi game FDs Saturday.

The Man of the (six) Matches was also a first timer. The winner has been dubbed as the young Messi but Yasin shouldn’t feel too humbled about it as the Argentinian always had to face a softer opposition. While waiting for a proper benchmark it is no surprise to anyone while he sticks to FDs football every on a Saturday.

See you in a week time.