We had a lovely afternoon yesterday.
Sun was shining, lots of people turned up and by the end of the game we had quite a few supporters cheering us on (although none were cheering as hard as our own Bart).
The game started well, we played aggressively and before long, Allen scored the 1-0.
In all honesty we have to say Galacticos then took control of the game and as a result at the break we were 1-2 down.
But that was all tactics. For we used to be FC FIRST HALF, so now we decided not to play too well in first half.
Apparently our Goalie (Free) decided not too play too well for another 15 minutes, for when a high cross came in, Free came out of the goal to intercept. Unfortunately he came late and Galacticos offense could easily head the ball over our goalie and score. Quite unfortunate as Hans was still defending on the galacticos guy, so no need to come out really.
This being said, Free did save quite a few tries from the ennemy who was still pushing on.
But then came our minutes of glory.
Through a scramble Allen could score 2-3.
Just minutes later there was a magnificent attack.
Hans DR pushed up with the ball and made it well into ennemy territory. He played with Allen and then they crossed to the center to Hans DG who took control and sent the ball to the nets. 3-3.
After another contested referee decision we verbally fought to get a corner kick.
In the resulting scrimmage Bart shot the ball in one time and wham 4-3.
Everybode got just enough adrenaline from this goal to give us an extra boost.
But alas, there was the inevitable Ned. He charged on our right side defense and scored through Freds legs (remind me to close them next time!).
So 4-4.
The last minutes were very tense as most of us were almost completely spent.
But we held out and thus we did not loose!
Next game let's say we'll win?
We started great and took a 1-0 lead after a long goalkick to Bart that used his 'strong' body to knock over two Lions and get the ball to Brian that put the ball into the nets! After that we showed a strong performance where everybody was fighting for what they were worth and helped each other out! Unfortunately we had to conceed one goal after a nice play of the Lions. 1-1 after 45 minutes was the fair score!
Second half began not too bad but the efforts of the first half where starting to show some strangely familiar side-effects. Even the goalie started to have troubles focussing and didn't seem to be always sure where his own goal was....(probably the fake Whisky in Mao showing side-effects...) The rest is history.. 1-2 and 1-3 came slowly , 1-4,1-5,1-6,1-7 all together in the last 15 minutes..... This obviously started to frustrate some people and Bart believed it was time to rest so he gently poked one of our opponents to check if he was still alive... or was it revenge.... not sure :-) Unfortunately , for once the refs showed some guts and pulled the hong card!
anyhow, despite the usual end of game collapse ( WE NEED TO WORK ON THAT) we showed good spirit int the first hour and after good 'winterstop' transfers ( we will get the starplayer of the Lions) and good slimming christmas food I'm sure we will show a whole different face for the second part of the season starting against the HAWKS on the 11th of January.
We gave it away in the second half.
On a gold platter. On est trop sympa.
Really. I guess like half of us just thought 'what the heck, let these French friends win this game'...
But a nice game it was.
Much fun. Especially the first half.
That must have been on of our best halves ever.
One time I even saw 5 passes of uninterrupted one touch football.
Jonas was running in the open spaces, Phil had our defense locked up, everyone was enjoying. Easy passes, fantastic long crosses.
Brilliant!
Nice goals as well. All good, all good.
(except that one ball where I don't like it...)
As MVP in our divine power (ahum) we nominate Thys (Weemaes, that is). If for nothing else, then at least for the second goal. That was awesome.
Tom played a few games with VLIS (Summer 7 2007), but most of us know his father Adrian.
Seems Tom is now studying/playing at a football (soccer) prep school in USA.
You can read all about it here... (beware of the Qilin/Donny propaganda!)
... a lot happened this weekend. And I am not talking of the miserable 1-1 draw of Shenhua vs Guo An, nor am I talking of the 1-1 draw of the Buffalo's with Dender. And let's not speak of Anderlecht-Lokeren, shall we, Bart?
But let's do speak of SPL action. Yours truly was there and saw that things went to our advantage. Check the standings and you'll see the league is still wide open.
Galacticos vs Hawks : 0-5
When I had breakfast at our maybe new sponsor Blue Frog, I had a nice view of the going ons at Hawks-Galacticos. The view would be nicer if they cut down the trees, but let's think of the environment.
I did muse at why the second half started at 11.30 hrs. Turns out the whole game started at 11.00hrs only. Since the Yellow Submarines had showed up only then, they played 2 x 30 minutes. Of course Hawks also took advantage to demand a forfeit game and thus Galacticos 'lost' 5-0 again.
Dulwich vs Lions : 3-4
Dulwich changed their name. They are now called Dulwich United, since the flying fox doesn't sponsor them any more.
It seems the Lions have found themselves again. This was a very nice match.
Lions took control of the game immediately and within 15 minutes they were up 3-0. The remainder of the first half they freewheeled to the break.
Dulwich meanwhile got a boost from the coffee and they started furiously in the second half. Concentration lapsed for some of the Lions defenders and the foxes could all too often easily cut through their opponents defense. 10 minutes from the end the score was back to level, when as so often the Lions pulled their weight on a corner. They are deadly in the box, as we know. And all in all the 3-4 was deserved.
ERS vs Bulls : 2-2
That's a result we can live with, of course. The more draws amongs our opponents, the better our chances get. If we'd learn to win a few games too.
But the French will have been disappointed. I saw the first half and the solid organisation of ERS just tore down the Bulls defense and offense all the time. This resulted in 2 nice goals. I left thinking that it was in the bag for les rouges. But apparently they have the same issue we have. When faced with chinese referees they react like - well like bulls to a red cloth.
Geoffrey scalped the bandana'd central defender and was sent of with a red card. After that ERS still handed 2 easy goals to the Bulls and game over.
In the end it was a good week for us. I learned that the lions are still a tough team, the Bulls are within our grasp and the Galacticos... well the 30 minutes I saw them play I was not overly impressed either.
We have a shot at this, friends!
I'm still undecided on the pro's and con's of a good night out before the game.
On the pro side, it usually gives you a nice rush of adrenaline, waking up not an hour before the start of the game and scrambling to get to the pitch in time. Also what with the pro-mille left in your blood, you sort of don't care about the physical strain you have your body subjected to.
On the con side I'd list only Monday morning. No further explanation required, I believe.
Well, what to say about this game then?
We lost again. And again we did not deserve to.
We deserved a goalless draw.
Both goals were scored from a penalty.
Where the second penalty was unnecessary but just, the first one definitely was not. In the scrimmage there might or might not have been a slight touch on the ball with a fingernail by on of our defenders.
On the other hand there certainly were several death-kicks and kong-fu style punches dished out by our ennemies that went by without so much as a whistle. In my honest and very biassed opinion the ennemy should have had at least 2 red cartons. Even if they did not mean to send us to the hospital, they still should have been booked.
Enough for the whining and onto the game.
Some key players were missing again, but all in all we played a good game. Our defense is really taking shape with everybody pulling his weight. For most of the time we kept the opponent pretty much locked up. Their major chances were on corners where in all honesty sometimes we are still a bit slack and there happen to be some of the attackants without guard.
Deep in the second half when we'd used up most of our fuel, they did make some more open chances where our defense was overrun somewhat.
But over all Nick had a rather quiet day.
Our main issue however is still getting the ball in front of the goal and netting it.
With the emphasis on getting the ball there. Too often still we lack the cool to keep passing the ball around, in the foot, patiently biding our time to build up a decent attack. Instead all too often we set up an individual action or we try to make an impossible pass. Sometimes it works, but usually we end up blocked or outrun by their defense.
We did have a few chances, but in all honesty we also did not deserve to win either. Let's work on that mates!
MVP : difficult choice this week. This week was a real team effort. But if I have to single out one player, perhaps 't would be Bart. He made a few passes and good combinations that brought at least some pressure on the Foxes defense.
We are bye for 2 weeks now, let's use this time to perfect our passing and scoring capabilities...
When I arrived 15 minutes late, the Japs had scored their goal already.
Thys stepped in when he thought the attacking Japanese player would pass the ball, but instead he turned and shot for goal.
This being said, we played a good game. A very good one, considering we were short of keepers and missing some key players like Rob, Julien and Antti. But our make-shift defense did a remarkable job.
He could use a bit more stamina, but when playing Kurt was really the deadlock on our gate. I truly hope we'll have him on our side more often. Pierre-yves, Raoul, Diego, Peter all made a solid effort in our defense. And of course Hans as well. And some other players. Actually positions shifted so often - espescially in second time - that I guess almost each player was a part of defense at some point or other.
I - the lucky bastard who got to keep again - had to make 4 saves only, none of them really testing. So that's to testify to our overall defense from the whole team.
Midfield and attack were also on the go. In special in second half, when Thys entered. We are really starting to make combinations and there were many a few good chances and nice assists. The main thing we still need to work on though is scoring goals. We had a plethora of chances and shots on goal. And we should have won by like 3-1. But alas, we didn't.
MVP for the game must be Thys. For he valantly volunteerd to be goalie in the first half and he had more than half a foot in most every attack during the second.
On a gagne... on a gagne!
(Excuse me my French... I know it is not up to scratch...)
Yes, in our first game of this season, we did beat Etoile Rouge de Shanghai 2-0.
But to say it was an easy game, would be a lie.
First of all, we were happily surprised by the line-up. It seems after all, for most of us, football is still more fun than F1. Much appreciated.
The fact that so many showed up, also meant that some of us did not play. I would like to thank them anyway for coming and supporting the team. One of the next games you'll be needed for sure!
During the first half not much happened. ERS was not too dangerous (or our defense was just too good) and we were looking for the right combinations.
This was not helped by the many substitutions we had to make. I believe some of us now wished they did participate in the pre-season training sessions!
With Antti in defensive midfield, things improved in the second half. The midfield got posession of the ball, Yuup was running the lines, tiring the French defense.
Thys tried to make a repeat of his last year 'hand of god' goal, but apparently the rules have changed this year and you are no longer allowed to combine football with volleyball.
(MCP award - Most Comical Player - does go to Thys, though).
Some minutes later there came a pass through the center. Thys was poised to score, but in the confusion of his own mind - he thought he was off-side - he hit the outside of the post.
(Perhaps MCP should mean Most Confused Player :-)
VLIS kept in control of most of the game (in all honesty also part thanks to the fact that ERS could not field their best team) and that translated in a goal some 30 minutes into the second half. Lao Wu stifted the ball to the penalty point, where Antti made a short stop and put the ball against the nets.
Then followed some 10 very nervous minutes - at least from where I was standing - until 7 minutes before the end Hans made a nice long pass to Thys. Thys controlled and moved in to score. Which this time he did!
(So I guess MCP should then mean Most Cunning Player)
Thus 2-0 for VLIS. And we earned it.
Next week we face Japan FC... Banzai!
MVP for this match must be Antti. In spite of injury he played, made the connection between defense and offense and scored the first goal of the season. Unfortunately he's transferring to FC Singapore and will not be back until January. We'll miss you, Antti!
We had a very enjoyable 45 minutes last Saturday.
During the first half I saw some good combinations.
Seems our last midweek training paid of. We were able to make up to 15 passes without loosing the ball.
And towards the end we even managed to score. We had many chances before that though.
They also had many chances. Probably because our usual defense was not there. Frederik had to be the full stop, Diego the stop. And as we were only 9, we had to do with some full backs from the ennemy's team.
We kept the 1-0 for a while though, mainly thanks to our 'great wall of China'.
But just before the break, the wall was breached.
We will not mention the second half, for then the Great Wall was allowed to play in the field. Hey, Nick is also only human. He likes to score some goals as well.
He did not succeed though, but he did force his way to some good opportunities.
As MVPFH (Most Valuable Player First Half) I would therefore have to nominate our Great Wall, Nick. He kept the 1-1 in the first half for sure.
We lost. Again. But it was no trashing like last week. I actually feel like we have learned something.
Not so at the beginning of the game. Passes did not reach, we were not running in the right spaces. And thus not too far in the game CEIBS scored the first goal. A good action and their forward put the ball beyond Jan who could only stand and watch.
For most of the first half, they were the better team. But towards the end of this time our stamina showed. And we got the upper hand. A lot of chances, but unfortunately no goals. Goes to show that we are used to bigger goals.
The second half was better. Even though CEIBS made 2-0 early in that time, we got in the game. We tried to run in the empty spaces, we tried to keep the field wide and our passes reached target. Plus we started playing the easy balls, which is key to making good combinations. Given, at times we were too hasty to get up front, but nevertheless chances were set up.
So it is only natural that Jonas managed to get the ball past the ennemy's goalie after one of our better attacks.
Try as we could, we did not succeed in netting an equaliser. Jan even had to make a few saves on counterattacks.
So all in all it is sad we lost this 9 a side game. But I feel glad that we learned a lot. Everyone was able to play and I am sure everyone took something away from this game. Let's just say practice makes perfect.
MVP
While we were undoubtedly blessed to have Jan in the goal (the result would have been a lot worse without him), I believe you will all agree that I nominate Jonas as MVP for this game. Not only did he score our only goal, but he was very valuable on our right flank. Always running, always braking free, often creating space and giving good passes. Always trying to make the easy ball to construct something.
Please join me in giving Jonas a High 5...
Pictures here
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