We had the Vlis run and again perfect weather.
So there were lots of supporters out there.
The youngest ones being the most ardent, shouting 'go Flamenkos' and toiling around with the Belgium flag...
As a sign of protest with the referees they even dislodged a corner flag... young hooligans!

Now to the game... as expected Lions would be a tough cookie to crack. And so it came to be that we were 4-0 down.
The first half was difficult, because we were looking for our organization. We managed to break out a few times, but the lions were better organized and very very efficient in the first half.
Let's face it... if you give Michael a shot, he'll take it and most likely he'll score. Question is, how do you keep this rugby player from taking a shot?

The second half was better. That's a welcome change from last season when FC VLIS was also known as 'first half team'.
We found some organization and by putting Jorge in defense, we became more aggressive.
When the goalkeeper then released the ball on a free kick of ours, again Jorge was there to storm the ball in the goal.

We were launched from that moment and kept going forward. The Lions did their part as well and had a few very good chances, but fortunately for us they lost their killer instinct and all tries landed on the post or wide.
Alex of course had to score his usual goal and thus the end result was 4-2.

Not too bad if you play the Lions.
Next up are the Hawks who trashed the Galacticos last Sunday (10-1!).
Let's face them with no fear and try to at least contain and hopefully overcome them!

See you Sunday!

Your faithful (ahem) reporter arrived at the scene only after half-time.
By then most of the game was played, so I can't add much except hearsay.
Even with Gerd having to take a health break before mid-time Flamenkos managed to take a 3-1 lead, with goals of Alex (again) and Unai.
The bulls rampaged back to 3-1.

After mid time we recovered Gerd, but Bulls regained the initiative.
Our stand-in goalie did not have a very enjoyable second half. He had to concede 2 goals. The last of which only 15 minutes before end of game, a strong long distance strike.

The last 15 minutes were then still very nervous.
We did manage to get in front of the goal a few times, but neither Yuup nor Alex could finish it.
At the other side of the pitch we in turn were threatened by a few tries of the bulls, but our keeper prevented worse.

I have only seen one half of the game, but I saw a big improvement from last game. With Hans and Kurt in charge of defense, our midfield could come into play a little more and our offense got more passes.

Plus, this time the opponent did not have over 50 substitutes.

In conclusion we played a good game, things are looking up.

Next are the lions on October 25.
This is as usual a top game, so bring friends, bring family, bring all support our players can use!

When I arrived at the pitch I was happy to see many new faces.
Our team has grown and I am sure it has grown stronger.
Unfortunately I also didn't see many familiar faces. Some were out of Shanghai, some on their way back and we were lucky that Bart got back just in time that same morning...

Turning my gaze a bit further upfield, I noticed that the holiday had had no influence whatsoever on the turnout of the Japanese team.
I'm probably not far off when I say we were outnumbered at least 3 to 1.

This was going to be a difficult game.

For a while in the first half we managed to keep pace with the Green Tsunami. Even after they scored their first goal of the season, we kept on the pressure and managed to bring some offensive action too.

But wave after wave of Japanese pounded on our defense. And it seemed that they put their 'zeroes' in a higher gear as well.
We have to admit, by end first half we were overpowered, but also overclassed. Japan brought some real good one-touch football and we were running behind the facts and the ball most of the time.
So 3-0 down was actually a fair representation.

Second half started good enough when Alex netted our first goal of the season. Unfortunately that woke the Japanese up from their post half-time slumber, because not 2 minutes later they scored 4-1 with a good distance strike.

Whilst we were overpowered and overclassed, we did manage at times to set up good attacks. Especially Alex had a good day making quite a few good penetrations into the Japanese box. But the Japanese defense followed up close enough and neither Bart nor Brian could net any of the assists Alex put in there.

The Japanese on the other hand did find target 2 more times and so the game ended 6-1 defeat. But that's just the numbers. We all had good fun (that's if you didn't get injured - guess my knee took the 'nie pleuje' motto a bit too literal) and a few beers afterwards.

C U next week, same time!

Man of the match, I'd say Alex. For the first goal of the season. Although could also be Bart, for the first yellow card of the season :-)

A prize question to finish:
Q: Which is the only country in the whole world where you can be offside when a defender of the other team lands a header in your feet?
(OK, I admit, the defender made the header on a pass fm one of your team mates that was intended for you, but still...)

1 free Beck's for the first person to get the answer

The preparation for 09-10 season looks promising.
We had various training sessions that were both fun and challenging.
We lost last Saturday in a friendly against Etoile Rouge, but the game we played was good and our coach has learned much from the experience.

So we're ready to rock!

Hasta la victoria siempre! - Nie pleujen!