Match report – RBBFC 4 – Brussels Ltc 4

Saturday 5 February 2022. A confident 4za received Brussels Ltc 4 at the holy home ground of Rosières. With the shitty feeling and smell of two points dropped during the first game (or was it something else?) against Brussels LTC 4 still lingering in the minds and noses of the 4za players, they were adamant to do better this time around.

Coach O’Connor choose to face the opponents with the following team in the trusted 4-2-3-1 formation.

Lubbe Bakker

Stoop Döring De Groot Gidron

Somers O’Connor (c)

Papas Jane-Aluja Sr. Von Heimendahl

Lambers

The defence was composed of Stoop, Döring, De Groot and Gidron and backed up by Lubbe Bakker in goal. Somers and O’Connor in midfield. Papas moved to the right flank and Von Heimendahl started on the left flank, where he usually operates. Jane-Aluja the Magnificent played in support of lone striker Lambers.

A very strong bench consisted of Pinkers, Selim, Van Hoorn and debut man Martens, while Lodge and Rouxhet were on loan for the day at the 1s and 3s respectively and did effectively help them secure the win. Rodriguez volunteered to délégué.

Despite not being there to witness, I have a good idea of how the pre-match team talk went down. Just a small selection of the O’Connor bingo card: "turns off the music Guys, I don’t need to remind you of the importance of today’s game”, "Pongky in goal pauses a second for applause”, "a back-line of 4, from left to right … ”, "Be clinical, boys, take your chances”, "We need to want this more than they do” and "Selim, for f*ck’s sake, no stupid [fill in a colour] card today”.

The team talk before the game did not miss its effects, as 4za got off to a flying start. A very mediocre clearance of Ltc’s goalkeeper landed in Jane-Aluja’s feet, who shot faster than his own shadow, lifting the ball over the opponents’ goalkeepers head. Exceptional finish. 1-0, 12 seconds into the game.

Whoever thought that getting off the mark this early would be the beginning of a 4za walkover, was mistaken. Ltc went looking for the equalizer rather relentlessly. Their constant pressure on the man in possession and good movement, made it hard for 4za to keep the ball in their ranks. Too many bad passes and sloppy controls were the result and prevented 4za from developing the Rosières tiki taka the team is so renowned for.

Despite shaking in their boots, 4za led 1-0 halfway the match, with a couple of good chances on both sides not converted during these very nervous, first 35 minutes.

One substitution early on in the second half: Pinkers came on for O’Connor, passing the captain’s band to myself, as well as a gentle reminder that it would not hurt to hit the gym from time to time to do some biceps curls.

Determined not to make the same mistake they made in the first half, the strategy was clear: keep the ball, kill the game and eventually rock Brussels Ltc 4 to sleep. Luckily, 4za has just the man for the job.

Enter Selim (subbed on for "Adama” Von Heimendahl, who ran out of baby oil).

All in the span of a few minutes, Selim secured 4za a – what at that time one could only imagine to be - safe two-goal cushion with a beautiful strike in the bottom left corner, then conceded a penalty and got a very harsh yellow card for it, only to squander his chance for redemption by passing the ball back to the opposing goalkeeper from the penalty spot, when a similar fault was committed on the other end of the pitch. 2-1 with twenty minutes to go.

Van Hoorn had replaced Gidron during these five crazy minutes. A couple of minutes later, debut man Martens, who was assigned burger duty after the game (author’s note- this should be a thing!), came on for Lambers. 4za switched to a more defensive 5-3-2 formation to get through the last 10 minutes of the game unharmed.

4za’s fortified defence withstood the overall feeble attempt to a final offensive of Brussels Ltc 4, aided by Rodriguez yelling "Push! Push!” from the sideline. As it turns out it is impossible not to listen to Rodriguez when he is yelling this fiercely, to the point that I’d like to have him near me in the delivery room in 4 months, to speed things up.

Final whistle: 2-1. A close but very important win against a good opponent that may cause our direct title contenders Breu United some problems next week.

The 4za players met up in an exclusive Brussels restaurant later that day to celebrate their unbeaten run since Christmas. As always, 4za’s gathering proved to be intellectually stimulating. In the interest of transparency, an appropriate amount of alcohol was consumed, but solely to free the minds and to intensify debate.

And so it was that one table dove into the fragmentation of health care competences and how it affected Covid policy in the Belgian federal State. Another table elaborated on Freudian philosophy, judging by Stoops wardrobe choices. Yet another table highlighted the resemblances between our Greek Gods dating history in the same fine establishment where our little gathering took place and the writings of English contemporary poet Craig David. And while things got a little tense when someone proposed to exchange ten phone numbers against that of a teammate’s mom, all present were proud and delighted to be part of this league of extraordinary gentlemen. A feeling shared by the owner of the restaurant, who was happy to notice that every single member kept his clothes on for pictures. And stuff.

This little teambuilding could not come at a better time. 4za will meet Omnisport Bierghes next Saturday for a very important encounter, as there is a promotion ticket at stake. A 45-minute car ride full of hardship for most of us, right into the belly of the beast. With three points ripe for the picking at the other end? We’ll find out next week.

Your reporter, Matthias ‘Ethos’ De Groot