Patana International School, Bangkok. May 31st~June 1st.
PHOTO GALLERY - thanks to Naomi Vaughan.
For the second year in a row, the Footy Japan select team bowed out in the semi-finals of the Tesco Lotus Bangkok 7's, this year at the hands of the All Star team.
An Ian Rush goal was all that separated the 2 teams after a tight match in which Lee Sharpe hit the upright and a shot from FJ's USAF pilot 'Juice', rolled agonizingly past the post.
No one would have pegged the FJ team to make it into the cup, let alone the semi-finals having seen their opening match on the Saturday. The matches were a straight 17 mins and scoring more than 3 goals earned your team an extra point.
Footy Japan faced a local ex-pat team 'iplay FC' and it soon became evident that the pre-match team talk had been totally fogotten. Instead of dropping back to our own half when we lost possession and keeping things tight, players were galloping all over the pitch chasing the ball, then not getting back into position. It was only a matter of time til iplay took advantage and with some crisp passing up the flanks, when the cross was cut back into the middle of the box, any one of 3 unmarked players could have scored. FJ tried to get back into it with Andrew Darton putting a shot just wide but to no avail, losing 1-0.
With 5 teams in the group and only 2 going into the cup, only 3 wins would guarantee a cup spot, but it also gave the FJ team a long break before their next match. Sid took out his Alex Furgeson's 'Managing for idiots' guide and used this time to give the team the 'hairdryer' treatment. The next match would be against ex-champions Cosmos FC from Bangkok and if FJ continued in the form of the first match, they would get absolutely hammered!
As predicted, Cosmos played great possession football, keeping the ball for long periods but low and behold, the FJ team didn't panic or chase the ball, everyone just sat back and held position. As soon as Cosmos crossed the half way line, Sean, Lenny or Chris were there to meet and pressure them. If anything got through to their forwards, Andy or Nick was there to sweep up, while all the while Juice was in space up front as a release when we won the ball. Time and time again Cosmos attacks just petered out and they only managed 1 decent effort on target during the whole match. At the other end, despite the lack of possession, Footy Japan actually created more chances on goal and it was one of these that Juice tucked away with his head that earned a 1-0 victory and 3 points - an amazing transformation.
There was only 1 game break before FJ's next match against Anatolia FC, an ex-pat Greek team. Everyone was starting to feel the effects of the 35°C heat & humidity so a slight change was made to add fresh legs up front, with Thorston (Shanghai) going in goal. This was another tight match but using the same tactics as employed against Cosmos, FJ just soaked up the pressure and hit on the counter. Lenny and Juice worked the wings well, creating some good chances, while at the other end the defence was kept pretty tight though Thorston made a couple of good blocks. The game was once again decided by 1 goal, Sean picking out Sid in space with a perfectly weighted ball. Sid took 1 touch to shield the ball from the defender, then knocked it into the bottom left corner past an onrushing keeper.
1-0 in the final game of the day, with just AFC Richmond to play against on Sunday morning to decide the group standings, FJ could end up 1st or 3rd, with Cosmos having completed their matches and securing 2nd place.
So, after a Saturday night on the town, a rather dishevelled FJ team arrived for a 9:40am kick off vs a club from London (whose captain actually played for the FJ team last year!) The winner of the match would win the group & go into the cup, the loser into the plate competition. It was Footy Japan who walked away with a 2-0 win, but the less said the better in this case! It meant however, that FJ would meet a tough, Dutch Boys United in the quarter-finals. This team had given the all-stars a run for their money in the group match only narrowly losing after having taken the lead.
Footy Japan didn't give them much time to shine in this match though and it all seemed to be 1-way traffic. We'd returned to our original starting line-up again, with Lenny and Juice causing all sorts of problems and the keeper had to pull off numerous saves.
On one of his mazy runs through the opposition box, Juice was brought down in what seemed a clear cut penalty. Whether he didn't see it, or was put off by Juice's screaming & rolling, the ref decided to award us a throw in near the corner flag, hmmmm. Juice having miraculously recovered from the life threatening tackle, nimbly received the throw and laid it back into the path of Andy Vaughan. A touch to steady himself and bang, sizzler inside the left post - pick that out! Juice came close to scoring a 2nd from a cross from Chris but it wasn't needed anyway as FJ went through to the semi-finals.
The team they would meet was the winner of Cosmos and the All-Stars and the All-Stars it was by a 2-0 magin.
Last year, Footy Japan met the All-Stars in the very first group game losing 2-0, Viv Anderson scoring the winner. This year the All-star team consisted of Ian Rush (ex Liverpool & Wales), Lee Sharpe (ex Man United & England), Clive Walker (ex Chelsea), Paul Masefield (ESPN Star Sports pundit & ex Birmingham), Shebby Singh (ex Malasian Captain), Darrell Duffy (Aston Villa & England U17) and a number of other ex-pros. Unfortunately both Peter Reid and Teddy Sherringham had to pull out at the last minute due to other commitments!
This was always going to be a tough game, as the all-star players were looking fit and working the ball round well belying some of their ages. Lee Sharpe is only 37 and still capable of playing at a very high level and Ian Rush hasn't lost his skill & poachers prowess. Lack of fitness and composure was always going to be the bane of the FJ team but they held the stars well for the first part of the game. Lee Sharpe came closest when he ricochetted a shot off the bar.
Nick Webb, who'd done a fine job in defence all tournament, almost caused some controversy when he slid in on Ian Rush sending the wiry, Welshman up in the air. The ref waved play on to the obvious bemusement of the all-stars.
FJ mounted attacks of their own and of course our Tongan/Kiwi winger, Lenny Tui had but one thing in mind when he first received the ball - Skin Ian Rush - which he did quite ably! We applied some good pressure but it was the resultant corner from one of these attacks that saw FJ's downfall.
The ball in from the corner was picked up and quickly played out by the all-stars to Paul Macefield. Looking much fitter than last year, the football pundit raced down the field with Ian Rush, Lee Sharpe and Clive Walker all breaking away with him. All but Nick had gone up for the corner but none had returned, so when Nick closed down the onrushing player, Rush was wide open to receive the ball and beat Sid with a well placed shot in the top right corner of the net.
Footy Japan fought back well, Sean & Andy linking well to set up Juice and then Chris, whose shot across goal just went wide of the far post. Another effort from Andrew D went over the bar and Phil tried to help things out by giving us an extra man, literally! He forgot to tell his replacement to come off & we had half a minute with 8 men but even that wasn't enough to beat the stalwart ex-pros.
So 1-0 it ended and the all-star team went on to win the final on penalties after a 1-1 draw with last years champions.
After a rocky start, the Footy Japan team did themselves proud in the end, proving worthy adversaries for the other teams. Coming away with a record of P6 W4 L2 F5 A2 it was a great weekends football for one and all.
Three of the players (Sid, Lenny & Phil) were also playing in a Joint Gold Coast Koalas/Footy Japan over 45's team in the Super Vets competition. The joint team, run by Glen Martin, won 2-0 in the Final against Jameson's Pattaya with Lenny & Sid scoring the goals.
For anyone interested in being part of these 7-a-side tournaments please click here. Next Tournament: 5th & 6th September 09 Shanghai Masters (O'40s)
Back Row: Andy Vaughan, Andrew Darton, Sid Lloyd, Phil Robertson, Chris Batterham
Front Row: Sean Lewis, Nick Webb, Lenny Tui, Peter 'Juice' Gbelia.
