It was obvious then that some of the team members didn't want to waste their time over a leisurely lunch and were more keen to polish (sic) their chat-up lines.
Man of the Match in this competition goes to RiCCCCCardo Gomes (pictured below) who (successfully) unveiled his red-rimmed glasses-look to the adoring Polish talent on show on a main square basking in sunshine.
Following a good night’s sleep (well, for most), it was time for the tournament to kick off. Ismail and Ivan attended the tournament draw during the managers’ meeting on the Friday morning. Sure enough, England ended up in a tough group, ie with Poland and the Czech Republic aka Eurostar. The two other groups pitted Spain, Switzerland and Hungary whilst the third group gathered Belgium, Italy and France.
Friday 17 May
Old Boys European Railways Tournament
Group C
Poland 1 vs England 0
ENGLAND LOSE THEIR TOURNAMENT OPENER
The game got off to a lively start – especially on the part of the Poles! They were dominating our midfield and gaps appeared in our midst right from the start.
On 6 minutes, their strong and fast number 13 ran down the wing, past Andy and his venomous shot bounced off the far post and as the ball looked like it was going to end up past the goal line Ismail made a miraculous goal line clearance.
During the half the Poles were menacing but our defence remained compact under Ismail and Ivan's central guidance.
We were not creating much though. However, on 17 minutes Adil lost his markers and found himself one on one vs their brilliant keeper, who he tried to chip, but the ball went over the bar.
With only 1 minute to go before half time, Adil (again) found himself one on one vs their keeper who stood his ground and saved our centre forward's meek shot to his right.
Half-time: Poland 0 vs England 0
After 10 minutes, Rodney came off and Kevin slotted in to the central defence whilst Andy moved to the right hand side of the back four.
The game was now fairly even and you could sense that anything could happen. And it did…
With 10 minutes on the clock, their number 13 - again - waltzed past Morris and Ivan on the edge of the box and made a sharp right turn into the box, leaving Andy in his trail, and crossed from the byeline only for Detlef who was tracking back to deflect into his own goal with his belly.
Poland 1 vs England 0
With only 5 minutes left, Terry got the ball in the middle of the park and went for a mazy run and crossed from the edge of the box to Adil and Ricardo but they could not connect with the ball. Too little too late...
Club Secretary Ivan said: “We never got into the game and our unfamiliar midfield formation meant big gaps in the middle of the park, which the Poles exploited throughout the game”
Man of the Match (public vote): IVAN who commandeered the defence well and was dominant in the air.
Line-up: John – Rodney (then Kevin, 26’), Ismail, Ivan, Andy (then Craig, 30’) – Morris, Detlef, Ricardo, Issam, Terry – Adil.
Saturday 18 May
Old Boys European Railways Tournament
Group C
Czech Republic aka Eurostar 2 vs England 0
CZECH MATE AND, SADLY, DESERVEDLY SO
Understandably, the players were really annoyed with this year’s crazy tournament format but possibly even more so for missing so many chances and not putting up a stronger fight against their Polish hosts.
Surely, the 3 Lions were now going to redeem themselves and put in a brilliant performance? Not so. A combination of nerves, sleepless nights and a few too many alcoholic drinks for some of the players the night before meant that our performance was not up to scratch.
The Czech team looked experienced and capitalised on it. Sure, Terry had an early chance but shot wide whilst the Czechs were pulling the strings in the middle of the park.
Following a throw-in on the right side of the pitch, ten yards from his goal, John had plenty of space and time to do what he’s enjoyed all season, namely kick the ball long and high into the centre of the pitch. However, on this occasion, his kick didn’t reach as far as usual and the ball ended up at the feet of their long-haired number 10 who, with John desperately running back to protect his goal, saw his chance and arrowed a long ball into the top right corner of our unguarded net.
Half time: Czech Republic aka Eurostar 1 vs England 0
In the second half, with only honour at stake, and Terry’s angry half time words ringing in the players' ears, there seemed to be better coordination amongst our players on the pitch and a few chances came our way.
Ricardo Gomes got kicked on the back of his ankles in their box but our call for a penalty was firmly turned down by the ref. Rodney came on for Kevin then Craig came on for Morris.
With 8 minutes on the clock, another cross from the left saw the whole defence get caught out of position and despite John getting his hand on the cross, their number 7 slotted the ball into the empty goal unimpeded.
Czech Republic aka Eurostar 2 vs England 0
Despair – and possible humiliation – was looming large on the horizon. Ricardo’s second call for a penalty when he went down in their box went unnoticed and the ref blew the final whistle a few minutes later.
Club Secretary Ivan said: “We were even worse than in our first game – no energy, no creativity, no hope – so much so that the whole team decided that there would be no man of the match for this one.”
Line-up: John – Morris (then Craig, 30’), Kevin (then Rodney, 21’), Ivan, Andy - Ismail, Detlef, Ricardo, Issam – Terry – Adil.
Saturday 18 May
Old Boys European Railways Tournament
Group C
England 3 vs Switzerland 1
SWISS AND SHOUT: ENGLAND ARE BACK!
Following our dismal performance in the previous game against the Czech team, it was vital we restored an element of pride. Shame it was for the questionable honour of winning the wooden spoon in the play-off group along with Switzerland and France.
To achieve just that – and following Ricardo’s protestations that he needed to play a more central role - Manager Terry decided to reshuffle the line-up with Ismail and Ricardo now playing a holding midfield role.
This change paid off handsomely right from the word go. England were now fluent and were passing the ball adeptly. The Swiss were finding it difficult to deal with the challenge as we launched attack after attack.
On 11 minutes, Terry picked the ball up in the middle of the park, ran through the middle and slotted the ball in the bottom corner to the right of the keeper.
England 1 vs Switzerland 0
On 15 minutes though, Dario - the Cristiano Ronaldo lookalike on the Swiss team – pounced as Ivan was dilly-dallying in his own box and nicked the ball off him and got awarded a penalty as Ivan held him back by the arm as he was shooting on goal. Their number 10 made no mistake and crucified John from the spotkick.
Half time: England 1 vs Switzerland 1
This setback didn’t destabilise England though as we kept playing brilliant football with Adil in particular causing panic in their defence and being well supported by Issam who was playing very well.
On 27 minutes, Adil took a free kick on the edge of the Swiss box but instead of shooting on goal, he made a short pass to Terry on the left who placed the ball in the keeper’s bottom right hand corner.
England 2 vs Switzerland 1
With only 5 minutes on the clock, Terry scored a beauty when he found himself one on one vs the Swiss goalie and calmly slotted it in the bottom left.
England 3 vs Switzerland 1
Club Secretary Ivan said: “What a difference a solid midfield makes. Our best game in the tournament so far!”
Man of the match (public vote): TERRY on account of his hat trick and dominant force in midfield
Line-up: John – Morris (then Craig 29’), Ivan, Ismail, Rodney (then Kevin, 26’) - Ismail, Ricardo, Issam, Detlef, Terry – Adil.
Saturday 19 May
Old Boys European Railways Tournament
Group C
England 4 vs France 0
FULL REDEMPTION IN CONSOLATION GAME
France are more often than not the whipping boys in the Old Boys Railways Tournament. In this instance, they were also doubling up as the Foreign Legion as half of their team was made up of local Polish players.
Again, England played very well in particular Ismail, Ricardo, Adil, Issam and Rodney who were in full control.
On 6 minutes, ADIL scored his first goal of the game when he found himself one on one on the right hand side of the box vs their excellent (Polish) keeper and casually placed it to the man’s right and into the empty net.
$ minutes later though, a cross from our right saw their number 12 lose his marker in the penalty box and score a “main de dieu” a la Diego Maradona. Cue loud protestations from the England team who could not believe that the usually fair-play French team would condone a goal scored with the blatant use of a hand. Credit to Les Bleus though who, after a few moments’ hesitation decided to own up to the ref who disallowed the goal.
Half time: England 1 vs France 0
With the French visibly tiring after their valiant first half, the second half was one way traffic.
Ricardo and Adil were on fire and were running the French ragged.
ADIL now came to life and how. He scored a second half hat trick with every goal seemingly a carbon copy as he shook off his marker on each occasion and chipped the keeper (goal number 2), scored to the left of the keeper (goal number 3) and then put it away to the goalie’s right (goal number 4).
Final score: England 4 vs France 0
Club Secretary Ivan said: “Our best performance of the tournament which means we finish top of the group… Shame we were not able to play like this right from the start – otherwise it could have been a very different tournament!!!”
Man of the match (public vote): The award goes to 3 players this time. ADIL (4 opportunisitic goals), RICARDO for bossing the midfield and ISMAIL for his impeccable holding midfield work.
Line-up: John – Rodney, Ivan, Kevin, Andy (then Craig 25’) - Ismail, Morris (then Kevin, 26’) - Ricardo, Issam, Detlef, Terry – Adil.
The tournament went to Italy (pictured below) who defeated Spain (2-0) and the Czech Republic 3-0 in the final.
As for us, we finished 7th out of 9, a very mediocre result which we definitely need to improve on next year in Spain!
Day 2 results
FINAL GROUP A
Spain 0 - 2 Italy
Czech Republic 0 - 0 Spain
Italy 3 - 0 Czech Republic
FINAL GROUP B
Hungary 0 - 1 Belgium
Belgium 0 - 0 Poland
Poland 2 - 1 Hungary
FINAL GROUP C
Switzerland 2 - 1 France
England 3 - 1 Switzerland
England 4 – 0 France
The gala dinner was a blast with excellent entertainment, players keen to have their picture taken with the local waitresses (see below) and dancing cocktail mixers (further below).
As is now the tradition, the players were asked to vote for player of the tournament and the award went to Terry who was the lucky recipient of a gigantic 3-litre magnum of Hungarian champagne!
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