Hello MISN,
On Thursday September 20th we played game the QUARTER-FINALS of the Summer 2007 Lachine indoor league, vs. Atletico ME.
So despite Tevin’s efforts to reason with Bryan, our 0-5 default loss against Cyclone FC was maintained, as well as the 2-game suspensions for Imad and myself. If you ask me, a very unfair decision given the circumstances, but not much we could do it except shut up and swallow it.
So here are the Division 1 final league standings. You’ll notice that Trakia lost their last game, meaning we could have ended up tied with them and had a shot at the league champions title. No matter, we’ll just have to prove we’re the better team in the playoffs.
So because of our 2nd spot, this week we would be playing the 7th-ranked team, Atletico ME (the bottom 2 teams are eliminated). Our opponents for the day were a pretty good level team, which had ended the season with 74 goals scored and 58 conceded. On top of that the Atletico ME roster included many players from McGill (several of which we were friends with) as well as many teammates of the Ghouleh bros’ former team (Swift). So it was going to be a difficult & challenging match, but against friendly opposition!
Attendance-wise, we had a mini-emergency in defense due to the absence of Marco and Imad (suspended), as well as Bruno (away to Ottawa). We therefore called on the emergency services of Denis once again, and after an absence of over 1 month Zaid also returned to the starting lineup. Lastly, we finally got Güven back from his Turkish holiday!
| 1) Absent long-term: | Saad, Renaud, Can |
| 2) Injured long-term: | Amer, Tevin, Santi |
| 3) N/A this week: | Nafee, Abbes, Danny, Marco, Imad, Bruno, Simiso, Sami |
Here was our line-up:
| Keeper: | |||
| Defense: | |||
| Offense: |
So once again (and despite all the absences) we were able to field two full lines in defense/offense with 2 substitutes for each. As it would turn out, we would need each and every one of our players because the game at hand did not turn out to be easy.
Both teams started the game well-organized on the field, using the first couple of minutes to study their opponents and plan their tactical approach. The Atletico strikers were pressuring our defense very often, forcing them to get rid of the ball quickly, but that in turn created a lot of space in midfield which our own offensive players would then rapidly exploit. As a result, the first chance of the game would be for MISN‘s side.
As we obtained a corner-kick from the right, the ball was delivered into the box. Deflected up by the defender, it eventually reached Jonny on the 2nd post, prompting out French stirker to go for the powerful volley! Over the bar!! Near miss, but a good way to say we meant business!
About 10 minutes into the game, the ‘Boys in Blue’ went ahead. With MISN in possession, the ball was fed to Alex on the left wing and as our Greek left-back looked around for the pass, he took one step forward and decided to go for the shot. Alex’s powerful drive was parried away by the Atletico keeper, but only as far as Bardia who then attempted to go for the rebound. At this point I think the keeper parried again but struggled to get to the ball, allowing our Iranian playmaker to take possession and tap it in!! 1-0 MISN!
Unfortunately, it didn’t take Atletico very long to equalize. Through on our left wing, one of the Atletico strikers took the ball from midfield, and tried to feed the pass to his left. Our defense intercepted but had trouble clearing, so eventually the ball came back to the opposing striker, who despite some close marking by our defenders managed to place a hard shot onto the far post, where Jan couldn’t reach. 1-1.
It was a shame to have conceded the goal, because up to that point we had played better than our opponents. Before half-time, we had the chance to restore our lead when Jonny obtained a good pass and accelerated forward on the left wing. One-on-one with the keeper, our French striker tried a low shot to the opposite end but the Atletico nº1 kept his balance, and managed to deflect into corner.
1-1 the Half Time score. The game had been 50-50 for a good part of 1st period, but eventually MISN had taken control and scored. However, Atletico’s quick response had sort of broken our momentum, so the challenge for the 2nd half was to build it up again in order to regain the lead.
5 minutes after the restart, with MISN in possession Güven obtained the ball in the center. Taking a small step forward, he then tried to surprise the keeper from long-range, but was denied the goal as the opposing nº1 parried into corner. MISN kept pounding at Atletico’s goal for the ensuing minutes, and eventually got rewarded for their efforts.
From a kick-in on the right by Güven, the ball was quickly delivered to the center in front of the box. Waiting for the cross to drop, AC armed a rotating instepper which surprised the keeper and entered the net to the right!! A nice finish for the 2-1 MISN lead!!!
There were about 10-15 minutes left in the game at this point, so the key was not to make any silly mistakes in defense, and keep our strikers acceleration-ready when a counter-attack would present itself. We obtained yet another chance to score & put the victory on ice as the ball was passed down the right for Güven, who then looked up and delivered a short pass to the edge of the box. Bardia armed his shot from close-range, but his delivery from a good position was over the bar! So close!
At this point, the Atletico players redoubled their efforts in our zone in order to obtain the equalizer. The MISN defense was under a lot of pressure, and we also had a line-up problem with regards to our strikers (which were either too far -producing a big gap in midfield- or too close, allowing our opponents to step deep into our zone). We managed to hold tight though.
With about 3-4 minutes to go, disaster happened. With our opponents in possession, the ball was passed to an Atletico striker to the right wing. With two of MISN‘s player marking him, the striker took one step towards the center and curled an amazing shot to the far post. Jan stretched as far as he could but couldn’t reach the ball. 2-2.
The equalizer was a pretty bad slap in the face for MISN, and Atletico had now the upper hand in terms of momentum. Pushing forward in numbers, they multiplied their attemps from mid-range but our defense was absolutely heroic in stepping in front of the shots. And whenever a shot managed to filter through, our keeper Jan was ready to parry away the danger.
In the last minute, with only 2 players up in offense our opponents obtained a kick-in. The cross somehow managed to reach the lone Atletico striker to the 2nd post!! His hard bouncing header is however parried away by an amazing save by our keeper Jan, in superman version for this game!!!
We almost had a heart attack on that last play, but the referee eventually called full time on the 2-2 scoreline, to send the game into a penalty shootout. Unlike outdoor soccer, the Lachine league’s shootouts have only 3 shooters, which have to be selected before it begins. We chose our shooters to be Jonny, Güven, and AC.
Atletico won the toss and decided to go first.
For their 1st shot, the Atletico player took a short run and blasted the ball hard below the bar. 0-1.
Jonny was first for MISN. Eyeing the keeper, he hit a hard shot low into the left bottom corner. Keeper dove the right way but couldn’t reach the ball. 1-1.
On came the 2nd Atletico shooter, who took a very long run from the spot. Everyone from our team whispered “he’s gonna blast it”, almost like a prophecy… which proved to be dead-on! The shot was an absolute howitzer, but our keeper Jan was ready! Staying in the middle, he was able to parry the hard shot away!! Still 1-1!!!
We now had the chance to go ahead!! Güven was up. He took a short run, and placed an accurate shot into the bottom right corner!! Bull’s eye!!! 2-1 for MISN!!!
For their 3rd shot, the Atletico player had a lot of pressure on his shoulders (because if he missed, MISN had won!) but he cooly sent Jan the wrong way to equalize the goalcount. 2-2.
3rd and last shot for MISN now, with the chance to end this game!!! So far, AC had never missed a P.K. shot for his new team… the opposing keeper tried to destabilize our Turkish striker by meeting him on the spot before the ball was placed… AC placed an accurate shot towards the bottom right corner, but… the keeper guessed right! Diving to his left he managed to block the shot!!! ARRRGHH!!! 2-2 still.
So we had to select another shooter. We chose Jon.
Before though, Atletico had to go first. The 4th shooter was a lefty, and much like their 2nd player he took a long run before his shot. This time it wasn’t central, but mid-height to the right… but once again our keeper Jan chose the right way!!! Extending his arms up he managed the save!!!!!! Still 2-2!!!!
This time, momentum and morale had shifted back to our side!!! Jon stepped up, as the rest of his teammates held their breath. Good shot to the right, keeper dove the wrong way, and… GOAL!!! 3-2!!!!!!!! MISN wins on penalties!!!
2-2 final score
(5-4 P.S.O.)
Scorers:
Bardia
AC
Shootout:
Jonny (GOAL)
Güven (GOAL)
AC (saved)
Jon (GOAL)
.
A very close shave guys, but overall I think we deserved the win. Our opponents fought valiantly and scored on two very good individual efforts. Their equalizer could have shattered our morale, but we held strong and managed to overcome the penalty shootout test. It’s a good omen for us, since whenever there’s a shootout involved during playoffs MISN ends up being the champion! Let’s hope it continues! 
Next game (SEMI-FINALS) will be Tuesday September 25th at either 8 or 9pm. Our opponents will either be Ukraina or Talafone.
Two more games to the CUP boys… MISN’s CUP!!!!
-Marco-
Posted in MISN Impossible |
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