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Shanghai Lions Football Club

[SPL News] The end of the world? Not the end of the SPL

Amigo’s and Amiga’s,

Santa has arrived and he was kind enough to pick the teams for the Santa Cup ! As well he brought some cool weather as that’s what we want for the Cup / We have asked for snow and he said he will work on  it ! Last Sunday we had our last round of SPL League games, great matches with 40 goals in 5 games ! Unfortunately two SPL icons are leaving us at the end of this months:

  1. ladies first ! Danielle our all time leading female SPL Top scorer is moving to Holland (Great Country). Her passion for sports and especially football will be missed and its not for nothing that’s she scored a great goal in her last match for the Galacticos!
  2. As well Emerson of Gremio, the Brazilian super power man by far one of our best players in the League is moving back to Brazil, of course he couldn’t leave before scoring a Hat-trick in his last game !

We wish both good luck with the new chapters in their lives !

  • Galacticos 4-6 Super 48

Both teams desperate to clinch their first SPL point of the season. Galacticos were in the hangover mode (yes its Christmas party times !) and Super 48 were fresh as there is no Christmas in Japan. If you like numbers here is the score line, 1-0,1-1,1-2,2-2,2-3,2-4,2-5,3-5,3-6,4-6 ! Who said the SPL is boring…! Galacticos will come back strong next year and we hope that Super 48 will not take it easy now with their three points !

  • Gremio 7-0 Pistolera Bulls

Deep after midnight we received a text message from Bilgin from an obscure establishment on Tongren Lu. After his defeat he went straight to the bar to think over why they didn’t score but hit the post 4 times and why Emerson couldn’t be stopped as he was faster than a Chinese Bullet Train ! Yesterday the Pistolera’s went straight to Macau for a training camp as the Santa Cup is the last and only chance for them to win something this season. Gremio seems to be back on track after their two recent defeats.

Absolute SPL thriller played on the edge but always fair ! Only one yellow card each side. Lions started better and dominated the first half scoring with a header from a corner and receiving a early Christmas gift (own goal) from the Marlins. Second half the Marlins knew that they had to play more aggressive if they wanted to get a result out of this game. They got their reward when Kevin scored 1-2 but soon the Lions found the net again by 17 year old youngster Martin 1-3. The key turning point was a foul by the lions and the debate was “to Be in or Not to Be” in the Box ! All Marlins claimed it was in the box and all Lions claimed it was outside the box, kevin the referee had to make a decision and gave a penalty ! Marlins scored and the Lions lost focus on the game. At that time it was the fighting spirit of the Marlins that erupted as they smelled blood as so it happened they equalized and even scored the winner with a good cross and header ten minutes before the end.  We were pleased to see Peter Rosseli making his come back in the Marlins squad after a very long lasting shoulder injury !

  • Japan 2-7 Cowboys

Strong wind at Waigaoqiao very fair and fun game to watch, no cards ! With their win the Cowboys are back on top of the SPL.

  • Flamenkos 3-3 Shanghai 2000

Flamenkos manager Bart was in Sanya relaxing on the beach. Flamenkos tried to go for the record of most cards and came pretty close with several yellows and their goalie Gonzalo seeing red. In the end both parties were ok to share the points.

 

Now all we have left in 2012 is the Santa Cup just before the end of the world ! We are looking forward to see all the 11 SPL teams + 5 guest teams in action on Sunday. Please bring all your family and friends to Waigaoqiao because the Santa Cup is a fun tournament with lots of games all in the spirit of friendship and fair play !

 

Cheers
Freek – SPL President on behalf of the SPL Committee

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