When you wake up at 7:20 am for a State Cup game, its never a good thing. When you know there are a maximum of 11 players available, it’s a nervous morning. When you know you have an 75 minute drive and no public transport available, it’s a disaster waiting to happen.
And when the first call you get is of one of the players professing that they are “sick as a dog,” and there is no way he can make it and he may have “serious job issues”, then you know it’s going a calamity.
You make your way to the meeting point, 15 mins late, and you see only 3 other people there. By now, you know that at best you are 10 for the 75 min journey, but at least the car situation is solved !
You get a call from a guy who is running to arrive late and a car pulls up ! Hoorah now you are 6 ! One more and you can at least play and not pay a fine. Another call and 3 people have arranged to get there on their own. You are 9 !!
You go through the list, and it hits you – No Goalkeeper !!
You call a million times, no answer.
You wait until 75 mins before kick off time and that’s it, you must leave. 9 it is !
You load up, drive up the road, and take a weird route. You lose one of the cars. You make a left turn to get onto the bridge……and…vroooom….vroooom…your car stalls ! You try to restart it; it goes for 10 meters and stalls again ! Its dead ! You roll to the curb.
In a panic, you get your phone to check to call the other cars. You check for messages, and you open the first email from a player (not on this game’s list). You read the first couple of lines and it’s obvious it’s a serious matter. Our only dedicated supporter, his girlfriend, was suddenly taken to the emergency room, then to surgery, and after a serious operation on the small intestine, to ICU ! Thankfully she is projected to make a complete recovery.
Someone says “Today is not the date to tempt fate !”
A bit of luck, one of the cars was still following behind. You abandon the stalled car and continue. On the other side of the bridge, the cops have blocked the way to your route. But, as you approach the red-barrels, the policewoman starts to clear them out. Maybe your luck is changing. 500 meters later, the highway looks chocker-block, but you take the right lane, somehow cruise to the accident site, and pass it !
Momentum is shifting ! Still 45 mins to kick-off and you are 60 mins away to play 9 vs 11 and without a keeper.
You arrive, 15 min late, and the ref urges you to be quick. At least you made it !
Whomever said, “you got to be in it to win it” is a genius.
For the 9 Reserves the hardest part was behind them. The took the field with confidence and started very conservatively as the situation merited. It did not take long to realize that even with 9 they could battle through the match, even if the other team had 15.
15 mins in they took the lead. Giancarlo made a 50 yard dash on the off side and a cross field ball found him behind the opposing defense. He burst into the area and buried it to the far post: Reserve 9 1-0 !
On the half hour, it was 2. A neat 1-2 got Dixon free on the right side of the box, his cross/shot fooled the keeper and Reserve 9 2-0.
Jerome kept the clean sheet in the 1st half, and was switched to centre forward for the start of the 2nd. Giancarlo made a dribbling run, exchanged with Alfonzo and got a rebound. Calmly, he notched his 2nd, Reserve 9 3-0 !
Jerome continued his scoring streak heading in a perfectly hit corner in the 65th minute. Reserve 9 4-0.
And Shadi opened his yearly account from a Tai long ball in the 75th. Reserve 9 5-0 !
No, its not a joke !
The only blemish came late in the game with Alex II in goal when a missed marking assignment on a corner cost the Reserves the clean sheet. Reserve 9 5-1 !
The way home was much shorter.
Team: Jerome Albertini, Dixon Hayes, Brian Schmid, Tai Anderson, Giancarlo Cavallo, Stavros Zomopoulos, Alfonzo Nanclares, Alex Carabano, Shadi Shahrokhi.
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