THE LANGUAGE OF FOOTBALL PASSION

GOLDEN CODGERS 17- ELH 16

“Skill is the art of turning limitations into virtues”: this motto belonged today to the Codgers more than anybody else. Overwhelmed by an angry opposition, stubbornly willing to pay our heroes back after last week defeat, the Codgers found themselves 1-3 down after 15 minutes, when Matthew naively conceded a penalty hand-balling a cross from the right pretending to be Kobe Bryant. Lucky enough Erdal in goal resembled Yashin, stopping at least four thundering blasts from short distance and showing feline reflexes.
But the never-say-die spirit of the champions was there; maybe the brilliance of the first two games was gone, maybe the white, glimmering, shirts (the new outfit of the Codgers) were confusing more than helpful; maybe Amin was not the usual machine and Matthew not rocky as ever, but the game was turned around anyway by the Codgers who fought like underdogs and found in Michael the reincarnation of his compatriot George Best: 5 goals scored either with calm and precise shots from the right side of the area or with tenacious and unstoppable progressions from the left wing. Everyone attacked and everyone defended, moving like the arms of a vertiginous fan: this, inevitably, took its toll on the coolness of the players who squandered many chances to add more ticks to the scoreboard. Nevertheless, Ravi- who often acted as adjunct defender- managed to hit the net six times and Amin –who regained his robocopical confidence- scored an hat trick with three powerful projectiles fired from sidereal distance; Will, tireless as midfielder, imposed his stature, forcing the opposition to use any possible trick to stop him- including grabbing his lower parts a couple of times. No goals for Will but a marvelous cross for Luca who literally flied to head the ball in the back of the net for the first of his two goals; in time also Matthew recovered from the initial turnaround and became the usual reliable defender who takes no prisoner even managing to set in motion the counterattack that gives Erdal (replaced for a short while by Michael in goal) his deserved moment of glory.

The crowd (special mention here for Buket acting as a precise vice-manager and dictating the substitutions every ten minutes and for Ahmet who could not play today but came disguised as Trapattoni) went wild at the referee’s final whistle which left the Codgers tired to death but triumphant once again.

So, the Codgers have deservedly won their third match in a row and are now waiting for a very special Wednesday Night Game against the Tourism Department Team. One thing is for sure, though: seven lions are difficult to be beaten!