U16 beat YKFC before Christmas
For this U16 last game of the year before Christmas, we had Julia and Alvaro missing versus YKFC… It meant that some of the players were asked to step up and lead the team in the right direction. In the first part of the game, we focused on defense first and good build-up from the back to the midfield players and create opportunities from the flanks. YKFC did have a strategy and game plan for us which was to sit deep and defend with the whole team… In other words “parking the bus”. It worked well for them however whenever they had a goal kick the coach asked them to build up from the back instead of the long balls and that was good for us as once they gave the first ball wide we pressured them in the corner with our attackers and midfield players. We scored the 1-0 with 15 minutes played by a free-kick from Daniel on the right side who found the head from David who with his new hair scored with a good header away from the keeper! We stayed compose and were waiting for our next chance which was scored by Matt after he was faster in reaction to surprise the YKFC keeper after a good pressing form our players! However two minutes later, they scored as we struggled to clear their high balls. In the last minute of the first half, we got a great combination in the midfield with Yuma-san giving the final pass to Daniel who didn’t hesitate to put the ball in the far corner!
We went in the dressing room 3-1 up but had some hard talks as we needed to improve in defense and we asked some players to step it up!
It was amazing to see the whole team transform into a superb teamwork display where all of the players stayed in their positions and executed the 1 or two touches which we have done at training week in and week out! We created several opportunities with great build-ups between 4-5 players and on both sides of the field and whenever YKFC did come close to the goal we had several midfielders and defenders to drop back to make sure no danger for Kokki-san! Our fourth goal was very nice with 3-4 quick combinations on the right side and Daniel blasting the ball in the net with his left foot from the middle of the box! Matt was unlucky to see his nice strike hit the crossbar and in the end, David got a second goal with a great strike as well to make the final score 5-1!
We went back to the dressing room after the match and gave compliments to all players today as it was a really good team performance and we were very happy with the way we played football!
Well done Lions and a good way to end 2019! However, we are not done yet as we will have our Christmas event on the 14th of December. No training next week but we see you all next Saturday! Also, it was Nick’s 31th birthday… So we took a video for him. Happy birthday, Nick!!!
Happy Christmas
Pat, Nick, Freek & Azz