It was a wet Sunday in Saigon…well after all it is rainy season. This didn’t stop the 17 hardy Raiders warriors warriors from kitting up to face the very professional looking Passion FC.
Sorry. Correction. Make that 16. One very tall Dutch goalkeeper lost his watch/phone (number 6 in 2019) and confused 7:30am Sunday with 7:30pm Saturday when he should have been preparing for next day’s game. No show, Arjen. How he dodged this week’s Turkey is an absolute mystery. Coach gets it for assuming the previous game was finished (20mins before we were due to start) and started to warm up the team. Baffling!
Anyway, we arrived early to a pretty wet pitch and watched our rivals rock up looking very professional in their club polos plus a camera crew plus entourage. They looked for our team lineup and the game would be live streamed. Big game for them it seemed. They laid out their cones for a comprehensive warm up and what seemed like a new kit. Very impressive. Coach Nick was heard whispering “Their number 10 looks quality. Like the guy on the driving range who’s shot sounds different to all the rest”
Having been around this block a few times before, coach gets the team lined out, warmed up (for the second time) and got ready for business as usual.
After a quiet chat, Stephan and Guido agreed to share goalkeeping duties in place of the ghost like giant from the northern flatlands.
Silky back four of Florian, Toby, James Q and Scott.
Midfield engine room of Sebastian, Guido and Nayan.
Chris playing 10 behind a potent attack force of Jonas and Glenn.
On the bench and coiled for action were Andres, James M, Nano, Sang and Sipho.
Battle stations!
The game started and the pre game threat of the professional Passionate FC proved to be unwarranted. Perhaps a change of name to Polite FC. Raiders immediately took charge and pinned them in their defensive third only allowing a very few counters when lack of communication allowed the ball to be turned over but then the very smooth Raiders back four simply extinguished their attack and started again.
Guido was in commanding form in the middle of the park and set up Jonas to break the deadlock after 22 minutes. Raiders kept up the pressure with Sebastian continually pressing down the right side. Eventually Raiders scores a well deserved second goal with Glenn finished from a good Scott cross. Well worth the 2:0 half time score. Guido and Stephan swapped places at half time
During the game Raiders continually changed the formation with all players involved. Despite the initial rhythm being disrupted by changes Raiders were always in control.
Sipho in his own immutable style directed traffic from the left and Andres and Sang strong on the left. Nano as always provided entertainment and passion when introduced. Despite weekly reminders about shin guards Nano decides to throw his off and they landed close to coach. Two minutes later he’s standing beside coach with a puzzled look on his face. Quick word about safety, slippery conditions and the fired up Nano is back on the pitch with shin guards attached. For the remainder of the game he never put a foot wrong. Amazing what a little focus can do!
Stephan (like Tam) is always looking to play further up the field and today he got some leeway to attack. Like Guido in the first half he controlled the midfield and after some great by Jonas finished off in style with 35 minutes gone in the second half. Just when we thought we had it wrapped up, James decided to provide a screamer. Positioned outside the box on an attacking corner he controlled a clearance and unleashed a missile that the keeper didn’t even see until it settled in the back of the net. With the last minute ticking down, Passion FC got a free on the left and the seemingly harmless shot skidded off the now very wet surface and hit two players before slipping passed Guido. A little consolation for a team of very decent guys who played the game in a very sporting manner.
Man of the match went to Chris who worked tirelessly for the whole game and showed some lovely touches and clever positioning.
Colin