Odin 11 vs FC Driebergen 5

The 11 went in to this game in very good form with 4 wins from the previous 5 games. However, if you were superstitious and believed in karma then maybe you could have predicted the result of this game if you noticed the 11’s bad luck. With Ids already missing because of corona, it was another blow to the 11 when his brother Joppie got injured in the warm up. Another team mate had an accident when he decided to switch sports from football to Formula 1, and unfortunately Red Bull scouts were not close by. When it started to rain on the 11 during warm up, maybe these were all signs of a tough day coming…
As soon as the game kicked off it was clear that the opponent had a very technically strong midfield. Many one-touch passes and triangles forced the 11 to sit very deep and to use a lot of energy running around, especially in midfield. Roel, Sunny and Antoni worked their bollocks off in the centre while Tim and Ruben did a lot of running to put pressure on the opponents’ wingers. Unfortunately this hard work was not enough as the opponent got behind the 11’s defence and took the lead. Erik came off his line very quickly and was unlucky not to save the shot. The ball-playing goalkeeper of Odin has been very effective with saving one-on-ones this season, but you can’t save them all.
The opponent kept applying pressure on the 11, with multiple shots from outside the box. Some good defensive headers from Krijn and Jan dealt well with the long diagonal balls, but unfortunately the second goal was not far away. A loose ball from a corner fell to the opponents’ striker, and it was 2-0. With the game slipping away from the 11, Mischa was swapped with Sunny in midfield in an attempt to change the game. However, the 11 took another hit when the opponent scored a well-placed penalty. Godverdomme.
At half time, various tactics were discussed. Although I couldn’t understand what was being said, I could tell from the tone of the conversation that we were all frustrated. One thing was for certain, we were really struggling to get the ball to our top scorer Mr Limoncello Comerford. The 11 went back on to the pitch determined to fight harder.
Hekkens came on in midfield and showed some nice passes and strong tackles. Tim and Antoni did not stop running. Even though the opponent scored again, Mischa also scored a lovely header from a corner at his favorite position – the front post. It was a great ball in by Antoni who has started his Odin career very positively.
Later in the second half Breur came on and displayed his signature crunching tackles/kicking of the opponent. Jaap and Bosma gave fresh legs to the 11 and Bosma nearly tested the keeper with a strong shot from outside the box. But this game was not meant to be for Odin... 4-1 the final score. Tough to take, but we win and lose together as a team. On to the next game!!!