by icedagger on Sat Jul 11, 2009 5:32 pm
Down Under United
1. Kirkland 26 100.0 Very Good
2. Corluka 22 100.0 Excellent
3. Skrtel 23 100.0 Excellent
4. McManus 26 100.0 Very Good
5. Arbeloa 25 100.0 Very Good
6. Bently 23 100.0 Very Good
7. Arshavin 27 100.0 World Class
8. Lampard 29 100.0 World Class
9. Alfonso Alves 27 100.0 Very Good
10. Drogba 30 100.0 World Class
11. Adebayor 24 100.0 World Class
Subs:
1. Nelson 30 100.0 Good
2. Laursen 30 100.0 Very Good
3. Richardson 23 100.0 Good
4. Nani 21 100.0 Excellent
5. Sneijder 24 100.0 World Class
6. Benjani 29 100.0 Very Good
7th Legion of Set
1. Van Der Sar 37 100.0 World Class
2. Sagna 25 100.0 Very Good
3. Terry 27 100.0 World Class
4. Toure 27 100.0 Excellent
5. Bocanegra 28 100.0 Very Good
6. Benayoun 27 100.0 Very Good
7. Flamini 24 100.0 Excellent
8. Deco 31 100.0 World Class
9. Joe Cole 26 100.0 Excellent
10. Aguero 20 100.0 World Class
11. Henry 31 100.0 World Class
Subs:
1. Hyypia 34 100.0 Very Good
2. N. Hunt 24 100.0 Good
3. Pederson 26 100.0 Very Good
4. Invincibile 29 100.0 Above Average
5. Saha 29 100.0 Very Good
6. Heskey 30 100.0 Good
After weeks of delay due to allegations surrounding the personal life of CCPL chairman P.M.C Hugh (the hooker settled out of court) pre-season could finally continue. With last seasonās also-rans the inexplicably initialled DDU up against the highly rated and bizarrely named 7th Legion of Set, a close match was on the cards. We join player, manager, and commentator extraordinaire icedagger as the match commences.
DDU kickoff on a fine day at the Vegemite Sandwichā¢ Arena and fashion the first chance almost immediately. Arshavin exchanges passes with Lampard and runs down the left, skipping past the challenges of Flamini and Sagna and delivers an inch perfect cross to the head of Drogba who rises above Toure and sends his header towards the top right corner of the goal, beyond the dive of Van Der Sar but also the net- it rattles off the crossbar! DDU manager Iliad has his head in his hands and as a result misses the ball falling to Adeybayor who has an empty goal to shoot at and surely canāt miss. He doesnāt. DDU 1-0 7th Legion DDU have scored in the first minute of the match.
7th legion are being played off the field by DDU at the moment, and Arshavin is at the centre of everything. In the fourth minute another clever little run sees him nutmeg Toure, dummy a shot and turn to beat Terry and only the backtracking Deco stands between him and the goal! With options to his left and right he opts instead to use his skill to beat the last man, but the Portuguese international slides in and with a horribly mistimed tackle takes out the Russianās leg! Freekick to DDU right on the edge of the box. Arshavin steps up to take it, and with everyone expecting the shot instead finds Lampard free at the far post with another inch-perfect ball. Lampard nods the ball down, but it lacks power and and Van Der Sar is able to get down just in time to claw the ball behind. A wasted opportunity.
Nearly being 2-0 down within 5 minutes seems to have rattled 7th Legion and they at last begin to get their share of the ball and string some passes together. However the service to their front two is poor and on twelve minutes a woefully misplaced pass from Benayoun leads to another DDU chance. The ball falls to Alves who looks up and sees Adeyabyor with space in the middle. The Togolese forward links up well with Drogba and after a series of passes finds himself at the edge of the penalty area. The 7th Legion defence are struggling to deal with the strength of the DDU forwards and Adeybayor shrugs off a Bocanegra tackle before playing a clever backpass to Arshavin. With everyone expecting another mazy run from the playmaker, Arshavin looks up and spots Van Der Sar off his line. Without a momentās hesitation he hits a delicious lob inches over the keeperās fingers, and the ball rolls into the back of the net. DDU 2-0 7th Legion
Ga7 is yelling at his players from the touchline, but they seem demotivated, and far from rallying only yield more possession to DDU. Down Under, by contrast, are content to hit the ball to eachother knowing there is no need to force anything with their two goal cushion. Manager Iliad is spotted smoking a cigar on the DDU bench. By the 39th minute frustration is growing in the 7th Legion ranks and another smooth seuquence of DDU passes ends with Lampard in a dangerous position. Lampard turns on the ball and is hacked down in a two-footed lunge by the usually calm Terry! The referee is lenient but DDU have another freekick in a very dangerous position, 30 yards out and slightly left of centre. Arshavin again opts not to shoot, and passes left to Bentley who rifles a shot in from five yards outside the penalty area. It is rocketing towards the bottom right corner when Van Der Sar gets a hand to it. However the shot has too much power and it edges across the line and into the net. Spectacular goal from Bentley. DDU 3-0 7th Legion
Rattled by the three goal deficit the 7th Legion players have lost all confidence. Just before half time Toure plays a horrific pass straight into the path of Lampard, who has Adeybayor to his right. It is two against one, and Lampard invites Toure onto him. At the last minute, Lampard hits the ball through the legs of Toure and Adeybayor is through! Van Der Sar rushes off his line, but Adeybayor is able to run past him and ends up with an empty net to aim at from a tight angle. The forward looks full of confidence and passes his shot towards the corner of the net, and is already celebrating as it crosses the line. This is turning into a rout. DDU 4-7th Legion 0
7th Legion look even more demoralised as they kick off having been given the hairdryer treatment by a furious ga7 during the interval. Their heads are down and they hardly get a touch of the ball. Itās training ground stuff from DDU as they practice their one touch passes, happy to keep the ball which isnāt particularly hard against a woeful 7th Legion. It is no surprise that the last chance of the game again falls to DDU. Adeybayor, who has looked the pick of Iliadās summer signings picks up the ball on the halfway line in the 89th minute and darts off, brushing off the challenges of Bocanegra and Flamini. He arrives outside the box with Drogba to his right and Arshavin to his left. He instead chooses to sprint past a harrased-looking Terry, bamboozle Toure with a feigned shot and fire a rocket into the roof of the net. An amazing solo goal, Van Der Sar never had a chance. DDU 5- 7th Legion 0. Manager Ga7 will have to turn things around at Legion quickly if he doesnāt want his team to become the Thunder Hawks of this season. DDU, meanwhile, have sent out a message of intent.
Final result: Down Under United 5-0 7th Legion of Set