Always the Beautiful Game!

The manager of Fairfax Arsenal sent me an email on Saturday at 10:31 am. to cancel the game.  The other team is supposed to cancel before noon on Friday, otherwise they still may have to pay the referee. That is if they really scheduled one.

I sent the email to cancel at 4 pm. Although there was a bit of confusion  for the most part the word got out there. This reminds me that I still don’t have a good list of everyone’s cell phone numbers. I’ll be collecting those once again...then I can send out a txt message when these last minute details pop up.

But more if we have enough time to cancel properly, we probably have enough time to reschedule with another team. Or we have time to better prepare for a practice session, since the field will be open, as it was last night.

So, the field was ours, and per my request, some of us still gathered to play. For those of you who wanted to preserve your Saturday nights for other pursuits, big mistake. Those of us who showed up had an awesome time. We had 10 players in all and we divided up and set up a small field at the center line with two cones marking the goals on either end line. With the blue lines marking the width of our field at 40 yards.

Mooch, Karl, Gene, Maurico (from Arsenal), and Ronald (a walk on) played on one side with Tedd, Emile, John (Tedd’s friend), Greg Z, and another walk-on who plays in the grey league lining up against us.

The play was end to end. We had enough space for wide open passing as well as close touches in the final third to perfect a fancy finish. This is the way I was forced to play soccer for three years in Florida. We rarely played full field, albeit we had upwards of 15 players a side at some points. These smaller touch games are fun, with low numbers they are grueling.

It was great practice for all of us as we each had the ball over and over again...many times all five players touched the ball on each possession.

Emile worked on bringing the ball down with his back to goal, then turning on it and beating the first defender with his speed and long legs.

Gene, who I’ve never seen play the field before, was spectacular. He was always making the right charge to break-up and attack, and then, would bring the ball out of the back sometime dribbling to midfield, tough to do without beating at least two of the opposition on his advance.

Greg Z showed why when I played with him in Florida, he carried the nickname, Gorilla Greg. Playing his tight man marking and not being afraid to get physical, although one wonders why in a friendly pick-up match. Turns out Greg is a competitor...he’s all in, all day, everyday. Occasionally when we were playing in Florida at lunch, and no one showed up to play, Greg and I would go one on one. He was just as competitive. Imagine a lunch-time one-on-one where you have to ice your body after the game. Greg was close to the action when I found myself on the ground at least twice...although it’s hard to pin anything on him other than elevating the level of play.

Karl was playing his signature defense, which included his impeccable timing, as he stepped in to break up a pass. But also, he was not satisfied to play defense. He made countless runs forward and had multiple shots on goal, for which he was rewarded, I think more than once.

Tedd was manning the midfield for his side, reaching in with his long legs to break up passes and bringing the ball down for distribution to the flanks. He was also seen juggling the ball, and reversing direction by looping the ball over his head, something he rarely will do during an actual game. Tedd was also responsible, if memory serves, for passing the ball into Gene’s gonads, and on another pass, for pasting my junk to my abdomen. It was an aggressive game.

John, who Tedd brought this evening to try out for the Orangemen, was a favorite target. We gave him the nickname, “Cow Bell”, because it sounded like he had a can full of marbles in his pocket as he ran. John hasn't played in a while but showed real skill on the field.

Mooch was very happy with his game last night...he had enough time on the ball to practice some of his ball handling he rarely uses during a game, and worked on his pinpoint passing to strikers breaking toward goal...in fact he put the ball on the foot of these runners too many times to count.

The other players last night were walk-ons. However, Mauricio expressed interest in continuing with the Orangemen. He has wonderful field presence and will be a welcome addition to our team if he chooses to come out with us.

To all those who didn't come out or didn't stay, let that be a lesson to you. If you love the beautiful game, a formal fixture is never necessary. Where there is a ball there is a match. Sandlots, dirt fields, grassy parks, beaches, parking lots, or an immaculate abandoned turf fields under the lights in Springfield Virginia. It was a wonderful time to play and it is always the beautiful game!