Living in the Shadow of Mutu: Mucche Pazze 4 – Ellepi 1

Ecco JP's weekly articolo. This time hot off the press!

For the second time in a row I was late to arrive at the Mucche Pazze game. Yet while last week it was a matter of bad timing, this time there were actual physical obstacles on the way to Settignano, namely several hundreds of fully armed Carabinieri protecting Florence from the invasion of fascist Roman hordes dressed in celeste. It is quite telling that the guys’ games get postponed if Fiorentina play at the same time, whereas the girls’ games apparently don’t. This obviously means that the girls enjoy playing football more than the guys. Thinking of what I saw the night before when the Squadra Fantastica were playing a team of Florentine nutcases, this doesn’t came as much of a surprise: the girls just play football, whereas the guys have to put up with people who spend more time shouting abuse at their opponents and physically assaulting the referee than actually playing football. Not to speak of the verbal threats they uttered after the last encounter two years ago, when an anonymous blogger with the pseudonym of Alla Prossima promised a beating for the next time that the two sides would meet.
In other words: it was good to be back to the peaceful world of Florentine five-a-side female football. Mark, the Squadra’s playing manager, joined for the first time, obviously looking for some peace and quiet – and of course football – after exploring the fringes of human civilization the night before. He came just at the right time to substitute Capoultrà Marco, who could not come tonight, as he decided that watching Fiorentina play Lazio in Coppa Italia could be more rewarding than watching the Mad Cows taking on Ellepi. To be honest, after last week I cannot blame him. But I must say that I have no regrets either.
But let’s look at events one by one. While rushing to the pitch from the car park nearby (where tow truck drivers were eagerly dumping cars that had been left too close to the stadium by their unfortunate owners), we heard a big roar and Adrian Mutu’s 1-0 for Fiorentina announced by the stadium loudspeaker (which, incidentally, you can hear better in Settignano than in the very stadium). A few seconds later we reached the pitch and straightaway witnessed the 1-0 for the Mad Cows, which was a co-production of the Ellepi goalie and her defender. Autogol. Given that last week at the very same moment of my arrival the Mucche conceded a goal, we had good reasons to be more optimistic about tonight.
And rightly so! The Mucche had something like 80 percent ball possession and did not let their opponents do anything. Unfortunately, they were not very lucky with their finishes. First Sara squandered a great chance, then Amy hit the post with a spectacular shot from the right. Then it was again Sara who tanked her way through the Ellepi defense, but her shot went high. Eventually, Mi Ah said hello to the goalpost as well, hammering the ball against it with her strong left foot. Therefore, despite being absolutely dominant, the Mucche went into halftime with only a one-nil lead.
As we all know, football can be a staggeringly unfair game: if you are superior but don’t convert your chances, you will be punished. And the Mad Cows were. Even though the opponents were not able to play two straight passes in a row, they managed to put the ball across the line in a confusing scene that I did not fully witness, since Achille Mazzoni was passing us hot tea across the fence at the time. 1-1, for no good reason. Luckily, the Mucche were not discouraged by this undeserved equalizer and kept pushing. Sara drew two defenders onto her in front of the goal and then passed the ball with one of her classic colpi di tacco to Mi Ah, who however sent the ball just high. Then it was again Sara who got the ball in centre circle, dribbled her way through to the edge of the box and with a crisp shot put the Mucche Pazze back in front.
This 2-1 was more than deserved, and more was to follow. A little later, Amy, who was on fire already in the first half, had a great run down the right wing, overcame the defender and, while slipping, made it 3-1 with a beautiful diagonal shot that left the goalie no chance. Just a few seconds later, almost the same situation occurred, but this time she sent the ball high into the cloudy sky. Not that it mattered much, because the Mucche were even more firmly in control now than before. It was no coincidence then that Mi Ah made it 4-1 soon after. This goal was accompanied by another big roar, which presumably however was more directed towards Florence’s favourite Romanian, who simultaneously scored his second goal of the night. Never mind, it’s great to play at the same time with the pros and give in to the illusion that, in fact, people might be cheering for the same goals that you see. It’s a great life in the shadow of Mutu!
At the end of the night, there are a few things to say. First of all, Paolo apparently heeded last week’s call and actually trained his vocal cords. Well done, Mister! Then, the other Mister, Mark, was quite impressed with what he saw here and suggested to bring along the whole Squadra next time in order to “watch and learn” (quote-unquote!). And finally, tonight’s match made up for some of the really nasty impressions that some of us had got the night before in this basically lovely city. Or as Mister Mark put it: when the players here say “alla prossima” to each other after the game, they actually just mean “see you next time”. Amen to that.
Jannis
The squad: Elena – Sandra – Costy – Mi Ah (1) – Amy (1) – Sara (1)