4ZA did it again !!!

11/09

• RBBFC 4ZA Did it again!!!

With a massive 4 – 0 victory over String Penelope 2 at Ottignies-Louvain-la-Neuve, 4ZA claimed the pole position in the division without any goals against bringing terror and fear to the opponents’ hearts! (Or so I like to think).

Going into the 2nd game of the season, with the strong spirit and ethos that 4ZA have engraved in their hearts and souls, our good ol’captiano, Gavin O’Connor had to put his deep thoughts in choosing the setup, formation, tactics and players that he wants to bring to our first away game, with such a luxury and many options, the team line-up was:

Goalkeeper: Pongky Lubbe Bakker

Defenders: Remy Rouxhet, Pablo Rodriguez, Peter Somers, Julian Pavis

Midfielders: Selim Marem, Francois Brancaleone, Gavin O’Connor, Jeremy Pinkers, Sebastien Jane-Aluja

Attacker: Nikolaas Lambers.

Subs: Victor Van Hoorn, Bastian Voell, Aviv Gidron.

With their strong will and ethos, as well as beliefs of being able to win the league and aiming to be unbeaten in the process, 4ZA started to warm up after receiving "the uplifting” pep talk and relaxing music in the changing room – some likened it to peak Woodstock. With high spirits and 100% focus on the game, the whole team got together in the centre of the pitch to scream "4ZA!!!” right before the kick-off.

When the first pass of the ball was made by the opponent to start the game, our attackers and midfielders coordinated fantastically in putting pressure and went to chase after the ball, within less than 20 seconds, possession was with 4ZA. With lots of short passes and movements, 4ZA was able to pull the game into their favour and controlled the flow of the game putting pressure on the opponent team without giving them a second to catch a breath. Endless switching attacking sides from the left side and the right side of the pitch, the coordinated attack from the midfielders and the attackers from 4ZA gave the defenders and keepers headache and heart attack moments. It didn’t take too long before the first opening and chance to come for 4ZA to take the lead but it was not executed effectively. As the game continued and the pressure kept building from 4ZA on the String Penelope defence, our midfielder, Sebastien Jane-Aluja found the back of the net with the assist from Nikolaas Lambers! 0-1 for 4ZA!!!

After the first goal event, unfortunately, this lifted String Penelope spirit and they started to create pressure on 4ZA’s defensive line. With a couple of over passes and short passes, the attackers from the home team were able to surpass the defensive line of 4ZA but were not able to finish the attack effectively due to the great coordination and communication between the keeper and the defenders. Lots of clearances and a fantastic recovering for one of the balls that went into the bush next to the field by Victor Van Hoorn and Aviv Gidron (Thanks guys!).

The first half ended with score of 0-1.

Captain O’Connor stepping in for some editorial review: The first half ended 2-0. Jeremy came off injured for Victor

2nd half started with now having the advantage of the pitch to 4ZA with a slight incline and a dryer grass pitch, the through passes were more manageable and predictable then in the first half. Soon after the first whistle, the attacking players from 4ZA went into action again causing headache, pressure and emotion draining situation for the String Penelope defenders that soon after, it was our attacker turn, Nikolaas Flambers, to put the ball into the back of the net after receiving a pass from Jeremy Pinkers. 0-2 for the away team!!!.

Changes were made soon after

In:

Victor Van Hoorn*(subbed on for injured Pinkers during 1st half)

Bastian Voell

Aviv Gidron

Out :

Julian Pavis

Gavin O’Connor

Jeremy Pinkers* subbed off during 1sthalf (injured)

After the changes were made at several different points in the game, with a beautiful setup through pass from Peter Somers to Nikolaas Flambers, the String Penelope keeper had to pick up the ball from his net for the third time, 0-3!!! for 4ZA. However, unfortunately, this goal comes with a consequence as 4ZA experienced striker suffered a pulled muscle, he was forced to stop and 4ZA were down to 10 men. Down to the last 10 minutes, the home team started to lift-up their spirit and constantly attack 4ZA’s defence, even-though all was deflected, cleared and caught. There were few shots and plays from the opponent attackers that caused 4ZA’s defensive side to grind their teeth situation, but all were on their toes with even Bastian Voell made a fantastic goal line block from a situation that was pretty much 100% goal guarantee for the opponent.

As the opponent did not give up on attacking, the 4ZA defence suffered some pressures that ends up in the opponent getting freekicks from dangerous position. Having experiences in blocking long range shots from outside the box, this was not much of a problem for 4ZA’s goalkeeper as he could comfortably save and catch all the shots coming in from the freekicks.

Just when the opponent thought that the 4ZA energy was depleted and tired, a counterattack in the last minutes of the game caught their defences off guard and resulted in a premier league standard beautiful goal. A top class cross from Remy Rouxhet from right hand side of the pitch was converted into a fantastic header goal by Bastian Voell into the left corner side of the goal with no chance from the goalkeeper to save that. 0-4!!! For 4ZA!!

Overall, even though, we came out with a massive victory over our opponent, 4ZA team was put under unnecessary pressure situation and gave way too many goal scoring chances to the opposite team. Other than that, communication was great amongst the 4ZA players and fantastic step in from the subs from the beginning. We were lucky in many situations of the game where the opponent could not finish off their attacking, this cannot happen again in the future games if we want to go for our goal, to be the undefeated champions of division 4B! We have to improve and work together more effectively in defending and attacking between every line.

Let’s use this game as a reminder that we need every line to work as hard as each other for every situation we are in (attacking, defending, possession) that none of us can switch off during the game and show to the other teams in our division that they should be scared and afraid of 4ZA!! Let our names and stories be told all the way in the other divisions above us that we are to be afraid of and that we are here to win games! On to the next game: La Lunette FC 2, 18th of September at 12.30hrs! Lets kick their arses too!!!

WATOTL!!!! WATOTL!!!!

Greetings.

Pongky Lubbe Bakker

Reporter & MOTM.