Shanghai Lions FC

Saturday, November 22th 2003. Tianma soccer pitch.

Cool but sunny saturday. The game started quickly, with a good pressure from Les Bleus. They took control of the ball in the midfield, and it circulated smoothly. After a few minutes, Damien slipped a nice ball between two defenders, Olivier ran and quickly shot, the ball hit the crossbar. And that was the first incident of the day. The line referee indicated that the ball crossed the line. It wasn't easy to see, but finally the goal was granted. The remaining of the first half was then a game of opportunities. United tried to catch up with the score, but Les Bleus didn't let them play. Damien hit the crossbar again with a nice free-kick from the edge of the box. Willy had a few saves on his side too. Half time approached, with the second incident of the game. The small russian dwarf that was playing defender had a gesture to kick one of the French players. Followed a kind of scramble and the referee showed the Russian the red card.

But at the start of the second half, this guy Marat was still on the pitch. Of course, Les Bleus couldn't accept that. Following a long discussion, the game finally restarted. The little Marat went out of the pitch, telling your reporter "I'll see you in the next game." with his eyes frowned. It was scary, I mean thinking how Vodka is able to wreak havock in the brain, I'd better stop drinking now. Or maybe he was not equiped in the first place?... Anyway the game restarted. United pushed, and there was some tension on the pitch. United equalized. But Les Bleus, with an advantage of one player, were able to keep the ball and move it to the front. They missed several opportunities, but finally Olivier took advantage of a small mistake from United's defence to calmly push the ball for its second of the day. After that, Les Bleus could have killed the game with opportunities for Christophe and David. Unhappily, they did not score. On the other side, United pushed in the last minutes and they got their second goal, which seemed to be not valid, the player crossing the ball seemed to be offside.

Comments: another draw for Les Bleus. We played a steady game, the ball circulated better than before. However, we must be more efficient to convert our opportunities. And we lost another player for injury. Let's hope our four injured players will be able to come back soon.

Next Game: Saturday, November 29th, Les Bleus - FC Vlis.