Home >> Results & Fixtures >> 4th February 2007
4th February 2007 (GM Monkeys 2 v Argentina 5)
Writen by Chat Chan
Hello everyone!
First, apologies to all our avid readers of the GM Monkeys feature (or maybe just Mr. Lau from Sidcup) for the non-submission of articles of late. Your dedication is appreciated no end, especially by this thankless wannabe-reporter!
A special big-up goes to Elaine from Manchester who had the temerity to question my age in the my player profile, and her insolence in insisting that the editors of Squat insist on seeing my birth certificate. Now as a reporter, I'm all for going through the process of verifying facts before committing them to print, but three words spring to mind in reply to Elaine, namely "You sore loser!".
Ahem. Now on to matters of football.
GM Monkeys vs Argentina (Round 2).
I'm afraid this news-hound was working the night-shift beforehand, so had gotten approximately two hours of sleep before the game. This reporter was also moonlighting as the the Monkey's goalie in the first half, while attempting to make extensive mental notes on the game, living proof if ever it was needed that men indeed are capable of multi-tasking when circumstances require.
Anyhow, Argentina were obviously smarting from their initial defeat to the Monkeys, and wanted a chance to settle the score with this re-match. Unfortunately, this game was a fairly unmemorable affair, except for the fact that the Monkeys conceded their goals far too easily and lost to Argentina 5-2, an exact reverse of the score of the previous meeting.
The game started off well, with the Monkeys taking the lead by getting the first goal and threatening to repeat another victory over their erstwhile rivals.
However, Argentina had other plans in mind, as evident by their consistent tenacity in chasing the ball and fighting for possession. Their first goal came when the Monkey's keeper (C.Chan) hesitated in smothering a loose ball within his area. Argentina's striker was able to capitalise on this with an effective, if inelegant, toe-poke, to slip the ball past the keeper and into the Monkey's goal to level the score at 1-1.
Things worsened for the Monkeys when their principal striker (D. Butterworth) had a re-occurrence of a persistent hamstring injury and had to limp off the pitch during the first half with no chance of making a reappearance in the second, leaving the Monkeys' scoring abilities severely curtailed for the majority of the game.
In terms of football, this game was frustratingly unmemorable, and it is difficult to ascertain whether or not the Monkeys have learnt their lessons after their flailing by Team Evolution. Indeed can old dogs, or even Monkeys, learn new tricks(?) to badly quote a famous aphorism.
The most striking thing about the match, apart from the hair-styles of Argentina's squad, was how closely this squad resembled their international namesakes in playing style. This BBC Argentina team are a youthful squad (judging from their Vicky Pollard-like cursing), which may excuse them from picking such an inflammatory team name; maybe only a team called "Kick the Pregnant" could be more shocking.
Like Argentina proper, BBC Argentina played with pace, deft touches on the ball and fluid movement. Unfortunately, they also seemed to have emulated Argentina's tendency of going down far too easily under challenges, calling incessantly for fouls and haranguing officials to get favourable decisions. Luckily for the Monkeys, this Argentina are also yet to produce their equivalent of Maradonna.
The Monkeys were punished in part by bad luck in sustaining injuries to critical players, and having (for various reasons) to field a depleted side with a lesser choice of talent. But they were also punished for not capitalising on their physical dominance over Argentina, and also by some highly dubious player positioning which saw pacey players being pushed closer to defence (rather than attack) and fringe players being put in prime attack positions with little possibility of converting chances into goals.
Nevertheless, much to their credit, the Monkeys dispatched themselves with commitment, playing with greater confidence and cohesion, but also enforcing discipline within the squad by keeping formation and stopping wayward players from running too far out from their designated positions.
Again, the Monkeys should take heart from this marginal defeat. There is a fine tradition in classical literature which underlines the idea that when a hero undertakes a great and fearful journey, they must endure much trial and tribulation before a (hopefully) triumphant homecoming, whether this be (for our classicists) the voyages of Ulysees, Orpheus or Jason of the Argo, through to their latter day counterparts of........ummm, Luke Skywalker or even Harry Potter.
As such, for the the Monkeys at least, the journey continues...
Back to previous back |
