Shanghai Lions FC

So, here we are, Les Bleus from Shanghai gathered again with two guest stars, as Damien from Paris and Olivier from Montreal made the trip to join the Phuket seven a side soccer tournament. Participants are: Vincent, Benjamin B., Benjamin G., Xavier, Andrzej, Maxime, Gregory, Damien, Olivier and Jerome. All ready to compete with the 24 teams coming from all over Asia. The first round of qualification split up the teams in 8 groups of 3. In our group, the Saigon Saints (Vietnam) and the Bayon Wanderers (Cambodia) are the opposition. Games will last two halves of 7 minutes.

The first game is against Saigon Saints. As the Saigon Saints kick off, Les Bleus apply a strong pressure. Olivier counters a ball, and it came back to Xavier. Xavier shoots a long pass to Olivier, waiting behind the defenders (the offside rule was not applied during the tournament). Under pressure, their last defender tries to head the ball: he is short and it deviates over the keeper! 1-0 Les Bleus, a good start. A few minutes later, as Les Bleus control the ball well, Damien has a good position and tries the shot: the keeper is on the ball, but releases it in Olivier’s feet who scores the second with opportunism! 2-0 at half time. Vincent, Benjamin B. and Jerome replace Damien, Andrzej and Olivier. Saigon Saints restart well, putting some pressure on the defense. And it pays as they quickly come back to 2-1. But Les Bleus show some spirit: Vincent dribbles his defender on the side and delivers a powerful low cross. Jerome springs up in front of the defender to deviate the ball: it’s in and it is 3-1, final score. A good first game, with good football and good spirit.

The second game would oppose us to the Bayon Wanderers. Vincent is the goalkeeper this time. As we player with the same spirit as in the first game, the Wanderers were no match for Les Bleus. Benjamin G. delivers a good through pass to Maxime who calmly scores the first. Then Maxime and Jerome apply the pressure, and Jerome sneaks in between the defenders to score in an empty goal. A few minutes, later, Maxime, as in his best days, breaks through the defense, and scores his second of the game. 3-0 Les Bleus at half time, an easy one. In the second half, the domination continues. Olivier hits the post; but a few minutes later Andrzej sends a good long ball. Olivier heads the ball slightly for Damien in front of the goal: everybody thinks he is going to shoot, but finally, he centers back to Olivier who shots for the fourth. 4-0 final score. Les Bleus finish first of their group with a 7 to 1 goal difference! But a shadow appears: Xavier had received a blow on the thigh, and seemed to suffer from it.

The next game opposes us to the second of another group: the Calcutta Tigers from India. A win could give us a later start on the next day, that would be much appreciated by all the team. With Xavier out and Vincent as a goalkeeper, Maxime comes back in defense, with Damien, Gregory, Jerome and Olivier turning between midfield and attack. The game starts with a slow pace, partly due to the very hot climate! The Indians have some good player, but play slowly and it seems like they put Les Bleus asleep. However, we still have some opportunities, but they’re missed. 0-0 at half time, the game was slightly dominated by Les Bleus, but no goals. Fortunately, the second half was Gregory’s one. He scores the first goal from a corner kick that Jerome delivers to the near post. The second one… 2-0 Les Bleus!

A very good first day, three wins, 9 goals for and only one against. Les Bleus deserved a good afternoon rest: getting some drinks at the bar’s swimming pool and a baking under the sun on the beach!!

The next day, our first game was a qualification game: the winner would directly go in quarter finals, while the loser would have one more chance later to qualify. It starts with a bad news: Xavier will not be able to play on that day… The opposing team are the Baya Beach, from Phuket. A good formation that finished second of the first Phuket tournament. In the first half, both teams shows a good soccer. Les Bleus had the first opportunity as Olivier shots a good ball from Damien, but it goes wide. However, Baya Beach plays well, and deservedly scores first, with a powerful shot on which Vincent couldn’t do anything. 1-0 at half-time. Les Bleus try to come back in the second half, but they seem to be a little disorganized. They push, but in the last minute of the game, they are countered. 2-0 at the end, the score reflected the game: it seemed that Les Bleus were not really awake.

We still had a chance to qualify for the quarter finals of the main cup. For that, we had to beat the Calcutta Tigers again, the loser would have to compete for the plate cup. Andrzej is the goalkeeper for that one. The first half is similar to the previous day: a slow pace, Les Bleus do not seem to have awaken yet, and the game is balanced, without many opportunities on either side. But this time, the second half was Damien’s one. He scores the first goal, picking up a good through pass, and calmly putting the ball out of reach of the keeper on the far post. However, the Indians came back: a shot from mid-range that does not seem frightening is unfortunately released by Andrzej. 1-1, the game becomes tenser. A few minutes later, Les Bleus obtain a good free kick on the edge of the box. Damien takes the shot and beautifully removes the spider web from the post corner! 2-1, Les Bleus, the game has been difficult, but we are in quarter finals.

The other team in quarter finals is the Singapore Lions. This time, Les Bleus warm up seriously before the game. And they are right! The first goal comes quickly : a long ball goes over the defense, and Olivier volleys it directly, surprising the keeper. Les Bleus dominate the game. In the last minutes of the first half, Andrzej gets a ball back, calmly passes it to Gregory. A quick exchange between Gregory and Damien, a good through pass to Jerome and he makes it 2-0 without problem! A nice collective goal from Les Bleus! The second half is still dominated by Les Bleus. Gregory scores the third, again from a corner kick volleyed on the near post. 3-0, certainly our best game of the tournament, and we are in semi-finals!

The opposing team in the semi-finals is a Chinese team from Shanghai. They have beaten a strong German team in quarter finals, 3-2, that included some former professional players! The winner would meet the Shanghai Shooter in the final game. They qualified luckily in the quarter finals, the only goal being scored on a throw-in that the keeper released in its own goal, and had beaten the Baya beach in the semi-finals. The semi final starts, and it is a much more physical game than the others. In the first minutes, the Chinese team scores with a powerful shot. But Les Bleus did not give up, and showed a good spirit. An ugly foul from the Chinese give us a good free kick on the edge of the box. Damien goes for it but hits the post; the ball bounces back to Andrzej who nicely volleys it in the net: 1-1! A minute later, Jerome receives a good ball from Damien and shots it directly: unhappily, the Chinese keeper makes a good save. 1-1 at half time, the game is tense and well balanced. In the second half, Les Bleus are still playing equal. Olivier tries a long shot that goes slightly on the left side of the goal. Then, another free kick is awarded for a hand ball (that could have deserved a card as it prevented Damien to be alone in front of the keeper), but the chance is missed. On a corner kick for the Chinese, one of their players scores a nice diving header on the near post. 2-1 for the Chinese, Les Bleus will not be in the final…

At the end of the day, Les Bleus were still satisfied with their performance. We played 7 games, scored 15 goals, and only conceived 5, without a real keeper (but Vincent performed well as a goalkeeper). Everybody had a good spirit and fought well for the team on the pitch, congratulations to the whole team. Also, a special thanks to the supporters who made the trip: Stephanie and Mila, Elodie, Jade, Amy, Jerome and Vianney. Another page of history was written for Les Bleus during the tournament. Let’s hope it is not the last one, and Allez Les Bleus!