Legends showed character against Japan FC
It was one of the big games of the season where you have to show character. Our legends were facing SPL Veteran league leader; the Japan FC so far unbeaten this season.
We had a good warming up and discussed our strategy and plan which was to try not to concede first and come out of the first 20 minutes 0-0.
But believe it or not, Japan FC scored after 30 seconds… While we tried to build-up from the back; we gifted them a ball in the midfield and gave them a free pass thru our defense. This was the end of our game plan! We tried to consolidate after the shock and got our composure back and got a couple of corners but we were not able to score.
In the second 20 minutes, Japan showed their class act breaking out wide by speed. The action ended-up with an automatic cross (without looking) for an unstoppable header giving Japan FC a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, we lost Sylvain our defensive mid with a hamstring injury & FL with a head injury. Guess we reached rock bottom at that point but Clement our goalie made a couple of super saves which gave us a boost.
We felt that if we could get a goal back the game would change. In the third 20 minutes, we were on top of Japan taking most possession and creating shooting opportunities… Just needed a bit more character or luck in the final passes & shots.
Our improved performance gave us power and we decided to go all out in the last 20 minutes of the game. Hiro-san had a super shot which came just went over the bar. As we were taking more risk going forward our defenders got more exposed. Ben was a bit too late with his tackle and instead of the ball he hit the Japanese winger. The penalty if scored would end the match but the Japanese player hit the post.
Soon after, we scored a well deserved beautiful goal when David made a low cross from the right followed by a superb step over from Bob and Pierre didn’t hesitate to blast the ball in the left corner.
We tried everything in the last few minutes but couldn’t equalize.
[ SPL V ] Shanghai Lions FC 1-2 Japan FC
Despite the misfortune and our 2-1 loss, we were happy with the character and spirit we showed in the game. The beers tasted good and we are ready for our sponsor event next Saturday at Senso.
Cheers
Freek
