Shanghai Lions FC

Saturday, December 6th 2003. Tianma soccer pitch.

After the loss against FC Vlis, people didn't give much chance for Les Bleus to shake the solid Krauts. Nobody except maybe Manue who gave them the strongest support they ever had! (Cheers!) But the game started like last week. Well positioned in the midfield, Les Bleus got the game in hand quickly. After a few minutes, a ball crossed from the left reached Damien, which converted it into a well placed shot out of reach of the German keeper... 1-0. And just a few minutes later, after a confused corner, David Y. shot it as it came, deceiving the keeper again. 2-0 Les Bleus... But then appeared the ghosts of Belgian. And all the French and the pitch gathered thmeselves. Germans were suffocated by the pressure, Les Bleus did not leave them any space. And they even had more opportunities, that were denied by a good German keeper.

Half time, the game against Belgian was in all heads. Same scenario, with the wind and all... But Les Bleus were back on the pitch with the same will as in the first half. The defence didn't leave any opportunity for German, midfield was everywhere, and attackers were launching dazzling counter-attacks. But Krauts didn't give up, they pushed with the wind. On a corner they got, a well placed header went in, 2-1. That was a stressful moment. And that's when Max decided to show he wanted the game. He got the ball back on the right side, pushed forward in the middle of the defender with fury, and delivered a superb cross to the second post. Oumarou was there, he knew he had missed others and had to get that one: a lightning diving header finished in the net. 3-1 Les Bleus, that was it. A fine victory!

Comments: It's incredible, nearly the same team as last week, but this week was so much better. Everybody played well, on the ball, and we had good movements. Congratulations to all the team!!!

Next Game: Saturday & Sunday, December 13-14, Guangzhou tournament.

Saturday, November 29th 2003. Tianma soccer pitch.

Ok, took some time to update you on that game. But you'll understand reading the report. In the first half, the strong wind pushed Les Bleus. They were hungry for the ball, and playing the last standing team, they knew they had to take all 3 points. It all started well when Damien escaped on the left, dribbled its way in the middle of 3 defenders, and pushed a nice ball to the center... Olivier was in a good position and didn't miss the opportunity, 1-0. Minutes later, the ball circulated all well in the middle,. On the right, a nice exchange between Christophe, Adrien, and Damien left the latter running on the right flank to deliver another wonderful cross to the second post, where David Y. pushed the ball in, 2-0. Most of the first half was dominated by Les Bleus, with lots of opportunities... The score could be higher, but... just before half, a foul in the box gave Belgian a penalty they did not miss, 2-1.

Second half started with Les Bleus on the attack. More opportunities missed. But then, the last 20 minutes were just terrible. Les Bleus lost their football, their focus, their everything. And FC Vlis came back into the game and the worst scenario happened! One, and two, Belgian took the lead for their very first victory of the season. 2-3 Final Score.

Comments: We feel ashamed. We played well for 70 minutes, missed lots of opportunities... and finally we lost the game by playing like children... One of the worst game of the season.

Next Game: Saturday, December 6th, Les Bleus - Krauts.

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.

Saturday, November 15th 2003. Tianma soccer pitch.

The weather was surprisingly good that morning when the referree whistled the start of the game. And that gives me something to write here since there is not much to say about the game. Well, first half was quite slow, with long balls on both sides. Oranje had a little advantage, and scored in the first 15 minutes. After that, well, nothing much...

In the second half, les Bleus were a little upset, and came back with better intentions. Dominating the game, they had several opportunities, Jerome missing one that seemed already in! Minutes later, another opportunity for Jerome, this time he didn't miss: 1-1. Note that Mat (Oranje Keeper) had a superb reflex on his line to save Santiago's header.

Comments: good point again, we came back in the game after a bad start. Bad point is... the Oranje scored their first point. And unhappily we had three players injured that will miss later games. But seeing the results of that week-end (Roodoodoo lost again Latin's, Italians beat the Germans, Vikings drew against United), it seems the league will be a pretty tough competition! And well, seeing how tired our supporters are at the end of the game (check Merry's picture), at least we give them some emotions!!

Saturday, November 8th 2003. Tianma soccer pitch.

Winter arrived in Shanghai that Saturday. Cold temperature, freezing wind, wet pitch due to small rain, that were not good conditions for a soccer game, ask the poor mascot. Add an early kick off (isn't it, Damien and Olivier?), and there is no wonder why the game started slowly. Balls was travelling back and forth, until after 15 minutes, and a corner for Les Bleus on the right side. Olivier C. went to kick it, and used his "italian" trick. Good effect, second post, little help from the wind, and the ball went into the net. Gaining some confidence, Les Bleus got several more opportunities, but unhappily they couldn't add one. On the contrary, Roodoodoos came back into the game, before half time. After a corner, they managed to push the ball pass the keeper. 1-1, half-time.

The second half started with Roodoodoo getting the ball in the midfield. Les Bleus played their game, kicking long high balls that they had no trouble catching in midfield. And after a period of domination, Roodoodoo took the lead 2-1. But that was not counting on Les Bleus spirit! After some changes in the team, and fighting hard to win the midfield battle, they started to play their game again, short passes on the ground. A ball from Max seemed to be a little too long, but Olivier C. managed to push the defender and keeper to the fault, the ball came back to David O. who pushed it neatly in the back of the net. The last minutes were an offensive show from Les Bleus. They could even have taken the three points, but Christophe and Gregory shots were denied by the keeper, helped by his post. Final score : 2-2

Comments: games against Dragons (former name of Roodoodoo) have always been tough. But this one has been played in a good spirit and the results is fair, even if we could have been a little more lucky in the last minutes. We played their game during most of the match, long balls. But the team again had a great finished and didn't collapse despite the opponent's second goal. Just a little more progress and we'll win our next one against Roodoodoos.