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Shanghai Lions Football Club

Lions advance in Hebiguchi Cup After penalty shootout

We don’t know what it is about cup games to make them different… but this one is probably to be forgotten. With only 11 regular players available and the president himself as the only substitute, we knew it was not going to be easy. With such a tiny squad, the objective was to settle the game as fast as we could to avoid a penalty shootout.

As they arrived, some of our players looked like “hanged over”… Very early into the game, it became obvious it was going to be a long day as we were not able to make 3 passes in a row. 3United took advantage when we failed to clear the ball and scored the 1-0 lead. Tomas got the best chance on our side with a one on one against 3United goalie… but his shot was too soft.

The half-time talk was not pleasant but no other choice as we wanted to turn around the game. We got the best chance when we got a penalty but Azzeddine missed the target. However, we got another penalty 15 minutes later for a handball… This time he putted the ball in the net. We looked for the winner but actually, 3United came closest with a free-kick. Thank god, Radouane stopped with a good reflex.

It stayed 1-1 and with a team not in good spirit, it was a big challenge for us to win on penalty shootout.

Penalty shootout

  1. Felix our youngster was brave enough to take the 1st and scored.
  2. Aga took the second but saw his ball bounce on the crossbar… Luckily the 3 united’s player copied Aga…
  3. Nicolas was next and scored
  4. Tomas did the same so the race was tight
  5. FL was our last take and he made a surprise move aiming left shooting right only to see his shot hit the post… If 3united would score the next one it was over… but Radouane saved it!
  6. Next up was Benji but he was not in good shape claiming to have eaten bad shrimps the day before… The eyes were on the president could he take the pressure at such advanced age? No hesitation the ball flew in the left corner while the 3United shot went wide.

Ok, no real celebrations for obvious reasons after playing so bad… At least, we did turn a negative game into a decent result. As the Captain said we need to get back at work! Back at the training indeed in order to prepare well for our next league game against Japan.

Cheers
Freek

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