When Alexander Frei, Borussia Dortmund’s Swiss striker, was once asked in which way German football differed from Swiss football, he answered that the main difference was that German reporters had the amazing ability to make even the most dreadful match appear exciting and interesting. And indeed, if you have ever had the chance to listen to a Swiss commentator who would summarize a Champions League (!) match with the remarkable line “the first half was awful, and the second half was even worse”, you know what he was referring to.
I will try my best now to be a good German football reporter and make this match report sound really exciting. That is why I will talk about those four minutes in the first half when the Mucche had four chances to score in a row, first through a free kick by Sandra, then through a shot by Sara after she managed to beautifully control a high ball she received from the midfield, and then twice through Mi Ah. Sounds great, wasn’t it for the fact that those were the last four minutes of the first half, and those were the first shots on goal by the Mucche in the entire match.
The twenty minutes before that, however, we saw a game called “everybody against Valeria”, as the Mucche defense was unable to stop the physically strong San Lorenzo attackers. But this would be too Swiss a description, so let’s put it the German way: With several spectacular saves the marvelous Valeria in goals, who had come from Rome especially for this match, kept the score even until the 17th minute, when a San Lorenzo striker overcame her with a beautiful shot into the top corner of the goal, after she had saved two difficult shots from a close distance. The Mucche had several chance to equalize after that (see above), but did not manage to score. So the match went into half time with a close 0-1, which promised a very tight and entertaining second half.
Accompanied by the sound of a cowbell that Capoultrà Marco had brought along and that certainly would have pleased our Swiss friend Alex Frei, the two teams, incidentally both dressed in green, entered the pitch for the second half, which indeed turned out to be more interesting than the first one. But not the way the numerous Emmepì supporters had hoped for. After three minutes, Karl Marx’ famous quotation from The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon that “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce” was confirmed once again when Valeria again managed to save two shots from close-up, but in a joint effort the San Lorenzo girls managed to put the ball across the line in their third attempt, which gave them a two-nil lead. And when two minutes later one of their strikers hammered the ball under the cross bar after a corner to make it three-nil, I got the awful feeling that this might be going the same way it did for my other favourite team, Eintracht Frankfurt, on Wednesday night (for those of you who don’t follow the German Bundesliga closely: they conceded four goals in twelve minutes in the beginning of the second half against Werder Bremen and eventually got thrashed 0-5, at home mind you!).
To keep up some suspense, a German reporter would now say something like “in football the strangest things have happened”, and of course we all recall how Liverpool turned a 0-3 deficit into a 3-3 and finally into a glorious victory on penalties over AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final. But unfortunately the Mad Cows are not the glorious FC Liverpool (even though Valeria was a better keeper tonight than Jerzy Dudek ever was in his whole career), and that is why they conceded two strikingly similar goals after corners, one after about 15 minutes, the other one shortly before the end. 0-5, that’s a scoreline which forces even German rhetoric to give in to reality. At least the match closed on a positive note when in the very last minute of injury time Sara made it 1-5 with a real golazo, a crisp volley shot after a corner. But that came a bit too late, and immediately after that the match was over.
So, in the end San Lorenzo successfully turned around the score of the first match between these two teams and successfully took revenge for the 1-5 defeat they had suffered against the Mucche Pazze in April. Unnecessary to mention that the cronista was not present then, just like most of the times when the EmmepÌ score convincing victories. I might be a jinx after all.
I will try my best now to be a good German football reporter and make this match report sound really exciting. That is why I will talk about those four minutes in the first half when the Mucche had four chances to score in a row, first through a free kick by Sandra, then through a shot by Sara after she managed to beautifully control a high ball she received from the midfield, and then twice through Mi Ah. Sounds great, wasn’t it for the fact that those were the last four minutes of the first half, and those were the first shots on goal by the Mucche in the entire match.
The twenty minutes before that, however, we saw a game called “everybody against Valeria”, as the Mucche defense was unable to stop the physically strong San Lorenzo attackers. But this would be too Swiss a description, so let’s put it the German way: With several spectacular saves the marvelous Valeria in goals, who had come from Rome especially for this match, kept the score even until the 17th minute, when a San Lorenzo striker overcame her with a beautiful shot into the top corner of the goal, after she had saved two difficult shots from a close distance. The Mucche had several chance to equalize after that (see above), but did not manage to score. So the match went into half time with a close 0-1, which promised a very tight and entertaining second half.
Accompanied by the sound of a cowbell that Capoultrà Marco had brought along and that certainly would have pleased our Swiss friend Alex Frei, the two teams, incidentally both dressed in green, entered the pitch for the second half, which indeed turned out to be more interesting than the first one. But not the way the numerous Emmepì supporters had hoped for. After three minutes, Karl Marx’ famous quotation from The Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Napoleon that “history repeats itself, first as tragedy, then as farce” was confirmed once again when Valeria again managed to save two shots from close-up, but in a joint effort the San Lorenzo girls managed to put the ball across the line in their third attempt, which gave them a two-nil lead. And when two minutes later one of their strikers hammered the ball under the cross bar after a corner to make it three-nil, I got the awful feeling that this might be going the same way it did for my other favourite team, Eintracht Frankfurt, on Wednesday night (for those of you who don’t follow the German Bundesliga closely: they conceded four goals in twelve minutes in the beginning of the second half against Werder Bremen and eventually got thrashed 0-5, at home mind you!).
To keep up some suspense, a German reporter would now say something like “in football the strangest things have happened”, and of course we all recall how Liverpool turned a 0-3 deficit into a 3-3 and finally into a glorious victory on penalties over AC Milan in the 2005 Champions League final. But unfortunately the Mad Cows are not the glorious FC Liverpool (even though Valeria was a better keeper tonight than Jerzy Dudek ever was in his whole career), and that is why they conceded two strikingly similar goals after corners, one after about 15 minutes, the other one shortly before the end. 0-5, that’s a scoreline which forces even German rhetoric to give in to reality. At least the match closed on a positive note when in the very last minute of injury time Sara made it 1-5 with a real golazo, a crisp volley shot after a corner. But that came a bit too late, and immediately after that the match was over.
So, in the end San Lorenzo successfully turned around the score of the first match between these two teams and successfully took revenge for the 1-5 defeat they had suffered against the Mucche Pazze in April. Unnecessary to mention that the cronista was not present then, just like most of the times when the EmmepÌ score convincing victories. I might be a jinx after all.
Jannis
The squad: Valeria – Costy – Sandra – Amy – Mi Ah – Sara (1) – Ale
UFF.. it's always more difficult event to write few words after the Janni's great report. Feel like unable to write easiest things...
ReplyDeleteWell, as far as the match I, of course, regret of the result, primarily cause I stil lbelieve that levels in the field were not different.
Jannis wrote "they turned around the score..." primarily this turn hapened in our mood, their was increasing goal by goal and our ..dropping down.
That's hao I saw it.
On the contrary I have to say that there has been an attempt and emotive reaction, maybe a little too late.
Ladies, this might sounds as a negative judge, but it is not.
Sincerely I moreover believe that Paolo and all you made a great job this year. I repeat, just think at how you was playing few mnths ago.
I'm really proud of all the team!!
Now, let's keep on improving and as ususlly to have great fun toghether.
Un grosso abbraccio a tutti.
Giovanni
P.S. I will be beck in Italy the second week of June, so... Forza Mucche, always!!!