Florentine Frustrations: Mucche Pazze 4 – Eurocar Go Go 6

As the picture shows, some people will do anything to get some attention... Fortunately the team nurses Costy & Amy have taken charge of the situation and the patients are in the best of hands. Injuries notwithstanding, the show (read: CSEN tournament) must go on.

There can be no doubt that Florence is a nice city. Millions of tourists (and the odd Florentine) would agree with this statement. However, in this lovely city I have had some of the most frustrating football experiences of my life, each time against teams from the city of Milan. One of those was the Fiorentina-Milan match on February 24, where Fiorentina were leading 1-0 until ten minutes before the end, but then threw it all away due to tiredness and inexplicable blunders in defense. The other one was actually the highly praised 2-2 draw against Inter last Saturday. There, the Fiorentina survived an initial scare when Inter threatened to steamroll them in the first five minutes, went up, squandered a couple of good opportunities, then conceded two goals shortly before the end but eventually saved a more than deserved draw (which is why it was not as frustrating in the end).
Tonight’s Mucche Pazze match was a mix of both. The Mad Cows survived an initial scare (like Fiorentina against Inter), then fought back, seemed to have the upper hand (like the Fiorentina in both matches), but eventually they lost the match without anyone really knowing why (like the Fiorentina against Milan). In the first two minutes, the girls from Eurocar Go Go (whoever came up with this name?) threatened to steamroll the Mucche, taking three shots in goal in two minutes, without causing any damage however. That damage was caused on the other side, when Mimi irresistibly tanked her way through the defense and made it 1-0. The joy about this early lead was short lived, though, because immediately after the Mucche lost the ball in midfield (the first of a series of fatal errors tonight), and the opposing striker made it 1-1 with a powerful shot that left Francesca, who was her goal bravely most of the night, no chance to react.
The first-five-minute-madness however did not stop here. Again it was Mimi who got the ball in midfield and dribbled her way to the edge of the box. She took a shot with her left foot that was neither very powerful nor very precise, but it caught the goalie of guard and went in. 2-1, and more was to come. After a couple of chances on both sides, Mi Ah got the ball in a position very similar to Mimi’s before, went through, took the shot, the ball got deflected and… 3-1!
In the following minutes, the Go Go Girls (sorry, that one is a bit obvious I have to admit, but I didn’t come up with this silly name) gained control of the game and pushed for a goal, but the Mucche kept the defense tight while trying to construct the game themselves on occasion. At one of those occasions the opposition conquered the ball and finished the contropiede to make it 3-2. And not much later, they even managed to equalize. Given the way they were playing, this was certainly not undeserved at this point.
But the Mad Cows were up to the challenge and turned the tide yet again. One tremendous shot by Mimi was stopped by an equally tremendous save. Soon after, the Argentinean superstar played a beautiful vertical pass to Mi Ah, whose shot was blocked by the goalie at the expense of a corner kick. Christel, who made her comeback after a stint in New York City, moved up and in the most convincing Ruud van Nistelrooy-manner she put away the rebounding ball to make it 4-3 for the Mucche Pazze.
The remainder of the first half consisted of a great save of the Go Go goalie against Mi Ah, a cross bar and post for them within one minute, and two shots taken in the face by Sandra and Mi Ah, also within one minute (the difference being that Sandra had to be substituted, while Mi Ah did not even budge – Norvegesi brava gente!). A well deserved 4-3 lead was the outcome of an exciting first half.
Back in the second half, none of the teams managed to gain a decisive advantage in the beginning. There were some shots taken on each side, but no major danger was created. It was kind of logical then that the equalizer came only when Alessia deflected the ball into the own goal. We have to assume that this was just unlucky, since after the match she vehemently denied charges of betting against the Mucche. Most ridiculous however was the lady standing next to me, who was obviously supporting the opposition and commented on the own goal with a heartfelt “Brave, brave!” That’s Italian fair play (or football expertise, choose according to your preference) for you!
Anyhow, now it seemed that the genie was out of the bottle, never to go back in. Exhaustion started creeping in. Francesca managed to save a couple of shots, but at some point she was beaten as well and all of a sudden the 4-3 advantage had turned into a 4-5 deficit. A very Fiorentino thing to do, I have to say. Unfortunately the ladies were visibly tired by then, and a comeback became ever more unlikely the more time passed. The waning hopes completely disappeared then when once again an easy ball was lost in defense and the opposition’s striker only had to put the ball away to make it 4-6. This was precisely the scene that reminded me of the situation before Huntelaar’s equalizer for Milan against Fiorentina, only that in this case it was not the equalizer but just the ultimate blow.
Soon after the game was over and the fourth defeat in a row was fact. As I said in the beginning, I felt reminded of those Fiorentina games against the teams from Milan: the Mucche Pazze, like the Fiorentina, can face the big teams at level (Go Go, after all, are first in the league and were clearly superior in the way they constructed their game). In the end, however, they are left with “un pugno di mosche in mano” (a nice expression that I learnt the other day, from a Fiorentina supporters’ newspaper incidentally). This makes the losing streak all the more frustrating, since none of these losses was really necessary (save the last one perhaps, according to what I heard). But it also keeps the hope alive to see some better days in the near future.
Jannis
The squad: Francesca – Sandra – Alessia – Christel (1) – Mi Ah (1) – Amy – Mimi (2)