THE BAR THAT DISPELLED A MIRACLE

Cypriot Golden Codgers 13-EHL 14


Football moves in mysterious ways. It may happen that when you face a though and merciless opponent, you spend almost 70 minutes desperately trying to score a goal and watch all your effort being crushed by the keeper or by the defensive wall; it may happen that –no matter how disciplined and organized your defense is, no matter how feline and good the reflexes of your keeper are- you conceded 14 goals; it may happen that you lose a player (Will Dusty Spates) due to a very bad injury with ten minutes to play while trailing behind by four goals; it may happen, at that moment, that even your hard-core fans leave the stadium.
But it is then that almost sparkling from nowhere, when you are in despair, the duty of losing gets miraculously overturned and instead of shrinking back into the box begging for no more balls to hit your net, you went on attack: passion, spirit, childish irresponsibility and a strong belief in team-power. It is then that the Codgers did not start playing equal against equal, no –they played as the big guys against the little. The EHL were in flight and the Codgers in ecstasy. Amin, Ravi and Luca managed to fill the gap and at the very last minute Can saved a certain goal, Matthew cleared and Luca triggered Amin the Machine, who had almost nobody between him and the goal. The shot was powerful and accurate, the keeper beaten but the ball collapsed against the upper bar slipping away while the whistle was blown, leaving the Codgers wondering why they dared to sin against a secret spell that obliged them to lose.

FOUND THE DEFENSE...LOST THE OFFENSE

Golden Codgers 18-ELH 21

The goal is football’s essence. A miracle, an excitement getting he crowd going wild, a punishment for the sinner which obliges him to repent, a struck of inexorable fate making the players sing from the chest. Yesterday, however, the Codgers lost their scores (literally) and went almost mute. In their orchestra there has been only one real tenor, Can, who showed –once again- his prowess to repel the attacks raining as cavalry strikes to earn the medal of Man of the Match. The Codgers’ keeper sowed panic among the strikers, even saving a penalty and keeping our heroes afloat. But if the sinks of the Codgers’ boat were impermeable, the decks were so full of water to render the cannons unusable. The only way to score seemed to undress (literally as Ahmet proved) the footballs shoes and barefootly ask for forgiveness to the Gods of Football. Indeed, the 1-3-1 tactic proved to be a nice anchor to which hang on, but when the strikers are not doing their job (Will 3, Amin 7, Ahmet 6, Seyit 2) gloomy days lay ahead. Ravi proved to be an asset to which the Codgers cannot truly renounce without losing half of their offensive power: the leading goal scorer was too much of a miss for our heroes. Can he rescue the Codgers from their three-losses-in-a-raw series? Can the impeccable organization and devotion to rational tactics be paired with the fantasy and the genial touches which set the goals in motion? Can the Codgers shine again and ceasing to invoke the evil spirit of defeat? Next Thursday the ball will reveal his secret answer by rolling once again over the pitch of Sakarya.
Long Life to the Codgers!

Ravi-Amin: the non-lethal touch....

THE SUPER SHOT OF AMIN "THE MACHINE"

THE "CLOCKWORK WHITE"

At 1974 World Cup they called the Dutch Team the ‘Clockwork Orange’, due to the spectacular precision of their precise organization: ”Everyone attacked, and everyone defended, deploying and retreating in a vertiginous fan […] an orchestra keeping so many simultaneous notes on the pitch” . Blaspheme comparisons aside the first half of Codgers game reminded to their fans the well-oiled wheels of a clock: in the shadows of a wonderful mid-spring sunset at Sakarya, it looked like the silhouette of the tactful Mourinho had been cast upon the Codgers’ players. 1-3-1 was the key-code, the signal which Radio-Codgers send to the sky: the outcome proved too much for the young and rampant Can’s seven. Perfect combinations between Amin “Machine” (4 goals) and Ravi (7 goals), amazing sense of position showed by Michael Best (2 goals, one with a stunning voleè after having dribbled a couple of defenders), the diligence in orchestrating the maneuver by Luca (1 goal) , an outstanding performance as main defender by Matthew “The Wall” (man of the match, the sand of Egypt worked miracles out of him….) and the usual “shieldy” prowess of Erdal in goal left the opposition speechless and hopeless: 14-4 the score at half-time.
The second half was close to pure academia with Ahmet replacing Michael and allowing the Codgers to play in a more relaxed mood resulting in a spectacular and enjoying 15-12 final-score which left everybody tired but happy (apart from a small injury for Can).
So, the new tactic proved to be effective and it will be tested again next Friday against the EHL boys, in another episode of this never-ending saga of rivalry and football. Will the 1-3-1 be enough to the Codgers to emerge victorious after three defeats in a row? Will the “Clockwork White” signal be sent again in the air of Sakarya? The answer will be soon provided from this blog in a week or so….stay tuned…same Codgers Blog, same Codgers (finest) hou

Playing again on a wing and a prayer (for a better defense)

The Codgers are on the rampage...again. After two weeks of resting and collecting ideas for a better defensive organization, our heroes are due back in action on Friday at 18 o'clock in Sakarya against the Can's Seven, in a exciting rematch of the first game played by the Codgers back in March. Rumors are that the Codgers will adopt an unusual tactic borrowed from Mourinho's handbook of perfect style of playing: a revolutionary 1-3-1; starring Erdal "The Spider" Barkay back in goal (courtesy of Fenerbhace Academy...), Matthew "Custer" Harpster as the taking-no-prisoner defender, Michel "Best" Walsh as full (literally) right-back, Amin "the Machine" Momeni as left-back, Luca "The Sultan" Zavagno as Center Midfielder hopefully trying to detonate the power of Ravi "Catch-Me-if-you-can" Shankar playing as center-forward. On the bench but ready to fly, Ahmet "Che Balconi" Usta.

Looking forward to having a good game!!!!!

Can, showing his prowess

THE OPEN VEINS OF CODGERS’ DEFENSE

Golden Codgers 28- EHL 34

THE OPEN VEINS OF CODGERS’ DEFENSE
Golden Codgers 28- EHL 34

In his Comedy of Errors, Shakespeare turned to football to formulate a character’s complaint: “Am I so round with you, as you are,/ That like a football you do spurn me thus? You spurn me hence, and he will spurn me hither,/If I last in this service you must case me in leather”. Indeed, unfortunately for the Codgers, yesterday match mirrored into these Shakespearian words. The ball spurned them at least 34 times, and the defense was roundly abysmal in its performance; moreover if not the leather certainly the posts of the net cased our heroes denying at least 5 goals and pinning them down for the second defeat in a row. Indeed, the pillar of Codgerian back was missing (Matthew is in Egypt to cure his injured tendon), but this cannot explain the terrible performance of the people who was supposed to take his place. It is, indeed, true that in the early, heroic, days of football no one played a particular position in the field and everybody ran happily after the ball, each wherever he wanted, but –no Shakespearian as it may be- modern football requires less improvisation and more technocracy to keep people in line. In other words, more discipline and less dream-maneuvering. Oddly enough the Codgers showed the usual glowing and gliding splendor from the belt up (Ravi scoring 10, Amin and Ahmet 6 each, Will 2, Luca 4), and a goal-keeper (welcome back Can!!) who had fingers of steel and a bravery to be eternally graced; nevertheless their defense was very Italian, only because it resembled a colander for gnocchi.
In other human trades decline comes with old age, but in football decay comes with being grinded by an opposition which proves the effectiveness of shouting correct instructions and developing decipherable tactical schemes. We do not believe that football is a science and the field a laboratory, but without a decent display in defense the Codgers won’t need the genius of Einstein but the miracles of the Virgin of Fatima to win again.