FC Irlande Men 4
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Send a match report4ths played away against 2nd placed Breu under difficult circumstances. A few late drop outs due to covid an injury but that didn’t stop us putting up a big fight. An early goal was conceded with a good shot from outside the box by Breu. We settled eventually and started to dominate possession throughout the rest of the game but unfortunately clear cut chances were hard to come by. Despite hitting the bar and a possible penalty turned down, we couldn’t quite find an equaliser for a deserved draw. We go again in 2 weeks!
Very frustrating last game of the year for the 4ths.
We lost 3/1 against a team which was just below us in the classification.
We outplayed them in the 1st half and had plenty of clear chances but could only score 1 goal from Costi after an assist from Draga.
Game then stayed 1-1 for a very long time and the God of football was against us at the very end of the game.
We conceded an incredible own goal 1 minute before the end of the game and another one in the extra time.
A lot of positive things in term of football played today, a good 4th place in the league at the end of this year.
But…losing like that hurts.
We will be back!
4ths won 3-1 today.
3 important points against a team who played for not going down.
That wasnt an easy game and despite leading 2-0 early in the game thanks to Manu and Michal, we conceded a free kick before HT.
Our opponent really tried to get a point during the 2nd half but we hold very well, fought a lot and werent really in danger.
3rd goal came late in the game thanks to a beautiful long shot from Giuseppe after a good pressing from costi to steal the ball.
3-1 final score.
Motm: Vicente
4ths are back on the winning trail after 3 weekends without this nice taste of victory.
The 1st half was very open with the 4ths leading twice thanks to 2 same nice goals scored by Mihai and Giuseppe. But the opponent came back twice in the game scoring a couple of mins after we took the lead. HT 2-2.
In the 2nd half Costi showed us how efficient he can be. He scored the 3rd goal after a long ball from our defense and closed the game with a second personal goal after a nice 1-2 with Fabian.
Not the nicest game to play or watch but its an important victory.
The entire team deserved to be motm due to the fighting spirit we showed today but it was deserved for costi to win it.
4-2 final score. Costi motm.
2nd loss in a row for the 4ths.
Our opponent was very efficient and deserved their 2-0 lead at HT.
2nd half was much better from us but the brits didn’t miss the opportunity to score the 3rd goal after another one of our mistake.
We kept fighting and scored by Fabian.
Disappointing game from us but…season is long.
Fourths had a tough game against close opponents. The 1st half was tight with 4ths playing ok but errors at the back cost us and we conceded. Nick managed to find the net towards the end of the 1st half with a nice free kick. 2nd half we conceded to a rare opportunity for the opposition. When chasing the game, we conceded again and couldn’t find a suitable opening unfortunately. Final score 3-1 loss
3rd win in a row for the 4ths today.
Game started quite bad when Benoit’s 1st touch of the game was to take back the ball from inside our goal after a mistake from our defense. 0-1 after 5mins.
But we kept our heads up and tried to come back in the game. Their very good keeper kept a clean sheet at half time after a couple of very nice saves vs Fabian and Costi.
Costi equalized 5mins after the start of the 2nd half.
We changed formation and went fully offensive with a 3-5-2 to try and get those 3 points.
A couple of minutes before the end of the game, Nick delivered a beautiful pass to Draga in the back of their defense. With a bit of luck Draga managed to put this ball in and score his goal number 10 of the season.
It was a real fight today and a very difficult game. But those wins are the best ones.
2-1 final score (goals: costi, Draga. Motm: Nick)
2nd win in a row for the 4ths.
Very even 1st half with a very few opportunities.
The only goal in the 1st half came from a penalty very well referreed (by myself as the official ref didnt show up 😁). Fabian scored it.
With the lead, 4ths became very confident in the 2nd half and added 3 more goals in only 10 minutes. Rest of the game was just keeping a cleansheet.
Final score: 4/0
3 points for the 4ths today.
Dominant all the 1st half but we lacked of efficiency in attack and conceded a goal before HT after a direct free-kick. 0-1 HT.
Subs were great today and changed the game. 2nd half was a pleasure and we finally ended up winning the game 4-1.
2 goals from Draga, 1 from Manu and 1 from Fabian.
Man of the match Costi with 4 assists in 25 minutes.
2-2 for the 4ths today.
We took the lead early in the game and we were 2-0 up at half time after 2 new goals from Draga finishing 2 nice collective plays.
Unfortunately we werent able to keep this score and the opposition came back early in the 2nd half.
We had a couple of clear opportunities to take the 3 points. We ll take them next weekend
1st defeat of the season for the 4ths today.
We were never really in the game except the 1sts 15 mins.
The opposition scored in the middle of the 1st half with a long free kick in the back of our defense. Their striker just had to win the 1vs1 with our keeper. We made it too easy for them…
4ths equalized during the 2nd half with a wonderful direct free-kick from Draga. The keeper didnt even try to move. 1-1.
We had the feeling that the game was now totally ours but opposition scored a very surprising lob from 25 meters 10 mins before the end of the game.
The game was very tough, with an opponent constantly talking to the ref, diving, provoking….
We should have been smarter. Hopefully the lesson will be learnt for the future games.
Thoughts for Kevin who left the pitch injured. Didn’t look good but lets hope its nothing too serious.
One last dance, many a missed chance, a rather unhappy circumstance
11 September 2021. 9/11. A date that will live in infamy for generations of FCI4. For this was the last dance of our prodigal son and recently appointed talisman, Alex Redmond.
No one embodies the spirit of the team more singly in their being than Redmond. His eyes maybe topaz blue, but his blood runs emerald green. And after encrusting himself in the core of the midfield and establishing himself as the soul of the team over the last two seasons, this year was to be his season. It was written in the stars – ‘Ireland’s favourite child leads his country to a famous promotion from the 4th division of the amateur Brussels League of Saturday Afternoon Ball Sports’. Alright…the title may need some work.
But alas, his time to shine has faded even before the fans could order the ‘Captain. Leader. Legend.’ Banner to be draped across the hallowed Nossegem arena – for the Irish diplomatic service came knocking…and that is too good an opportunity for any emerald-blooded man to turn down.
It was in this wistful context that the 15-man squad arrived at Nossegem on Saturday, 11 September 2021. Despite the rockin’ tunes in the changin’ room, the mood was one of solace. For we knew, just like MJ’s teammates for the Chicago Bulls in `93, that this dance would be Redmond’s last.
Gulping back the tears, an uncharacteristically emotional Santi barked out the team sheet in drill-sergeant fashion: ‘Matteo, Roberto, Santi, Roman, Fran at the back; Alex (cue whooping and cheering from FCI’s own class clown, Mario) and Tom in the middle; Draga, Fabian, Nick behind Costi up front’. Off went the troops to do battle, after an unusually moderated and well-balanced warm-up routine, in the ongoing absence of our wannabe drill sergeant, Benoit ‘The Butcher(ed)’.
After exchanges of pre-match niceties with the day’s adversary and a few final words of inspiration (the word of this day was ‘intensity’) from our outgoing captain, the peep of the referee’s whistle sounded to open the hostilities. Kicking downhill, FC Irlande immediately asserted themselves on proceedings and took a firm stranglehold of the game, setting up shop in the opposition’s territory.
It took only minutes for FCI’s first shot across the boughs of the opposition, with Dragastan, ever a livewire from the left, finding himself in front of goal no more than 5 metres out after a knockdown from his uncle Costi. Amid pleas of offside from the hapless defenders, Draga applied the finish – but the goalkeeper stuck out his leg to make the first of what would be a string of saves in his personal game of cat-and-mouse with Draga on this fated afternoon.
It didn’t take long for FCI to test the keeper again – with Fabian, who was dominant in the #10 role all day, getting in down the right and stinging the keeper’s palms with a curling effort from the right of the box.
Then, finally, the moment arose that would surely cement Alex’s place in the hall of fame. A ball over the top from left to right put Draga in behind the now-terrorised defenders (well, it was 9/11 after all). As he ran through on goal for a one-on-one chance that would surely bring the much-anticipated first goal of the match, he was felled by a flailing leg. Penalty.
Up stepped our talisman, leading from the front. He picked up the ball and placed it purposefully on the spot. He watched on unflinchingly as the goalkeeper’s remonstrations with the referee earned him a yellow. Then, as the whistle peeped, he stared the keeper down imperviously with those chilling, ice-blue eyes. One-step, two-step, three-step…and strike…
…But no. The script was written, but the Breu Utd goalkeeper hadn’t read it. He dived to his left and saved Alex’s side-footed effort with his knee, with the spin sending the ball wide of the opposite post. An anguish-stricken Alex shot a timid glance towards the direction of his on-looking father…who had immortalised the incident on camera. Was it to be ‘one of those days’ for FCI?
Unperturbed (excepting, perhaps, Alex himself), Irlande continued the onslaught in their pursuit of the lead their play deserved. And then, finally, after countless efforts were knocked back by the keeper, who would surely be in with a shout of winning his own team’s Man of the Match vote with this display, the goal came. Draga again skipped away from one, two, three men on the left of the box, before reaching the byline and squaring the ball across, where Costi was arriving to apply the simplest of finishes. 1-0!
With the heavens opening on the pitch, the chances continued to rain down for Irlande – with Draga and Costi frustrated time and again by the in-form goalie, who seemed to be taunting the strikers by using only his feet to save their efforts. Then, after some lovely combination play that saw the ball out to Roberto on the right, a sumptuous cross to the middle found this author free in the box – but the looping header was (mis)guided wide of the far post. With half time approaching, it felt like a travesty that FCI would go in with only one goal advantage to show for their play. If that.
In a rare counter from Breu, a ball came to their left-winger, who it turned out would probably pip their keeper to their Man of the Match award. Picking up the ball, he drove past Roberto and shimmied past Santi, before firing a rasping curler beyond Matteo into the far post – a finish reminiscent of Thierry Henry. 1-1 was how the score would stand at half time. But how?
No time for interrogations, the captains encouraged the puzzled troops – this was our game if we just carry on. And barely minutes into the second half, Draga was in behind down the right again, and this time he made no mistake, striking the ball with enough venom that finally he saw the net bulge. 2-1, and screams of select Romanian vocabulary could be heard ringing out across the Arena. Could Irlande kick on now and bag the 3 points?
Not to be. Breu again turned to their own pacey, skillful left winger, who cut in off his flank and left defenders trailing in his wake, before unleashing a powerful shot from the edge of the box into the near post that wrong-footed Matteo. Great finish. 2-2.
Irlande continued to hunt for what they felt was theirs, and the opposition also seemed to acknowledge this, with the keeper only too happy to waste time at any opportunity, while their left back took a liking to holding the ball up at his own corner flag. Sensing the moment to send in the cavalry, délégué Martin, sporting this season’s green t-shirt (‘fuchsia is out according to Vogue’ he was later recorded as explaining), rang the changes, bringing on Michal for his FCI debut, along with Mario, Kevin and Roman in quick succession. Alas, none of the fresh blood could unpick the defence.
Then, with less than 5 minutes to go, disaster struck. That man again, on the right-hand side of the FCI defence got past his man… went to the byline… squared a ball across goal…and there was a striker, to apply the finish. 2-3. How can this be happening?!
The game wasn’t quite done there, though, with Draga now taking on all-comers with the ball, seemingly on a personal, one-man mission to avenge his nemesis in the opposition’s goal. Combining well with Michal and Mario, Draga found himself in the box, all-but ready to pull the trigger and bring FCI back to parity. But then a desperate lunge by a defender sent him flying – the referee pointed to the spot without hesitation, and produced a red card for the defender. Unbelievable scenes. With the pressure on, FCI needed a hero with balls of steel to step up and rescue a point. And a hero duly presented himself. Marching to the penalty spot, he took the ball while all others looked around for a savior, and without hesitation nor a second thought, he chose his spot, and rolled it with precision into the side netting. Two keepers wouldn’t have kept that one out. 3-3. Cometh the hour, cometh the man. And that man was Fabian, who was deservedly named FCI Man of the Match.
And that is how it finished. A profligate display that felt like 2 points dropped, but ultimately could have been a lot worse. Not the goodbye display we would have wished for our dearly loved captain Redmond. And that missed penalty will surely haunt his dreams for at least a couple of nights. All the best Alex. You will be sorely missed, even if not for set piece duties.
Score : 3-3
Goals : Costi ; Draga ; Fabian
Assists : Draga ; Costi
MotM : Fabian
The first day of the new season. During the trials and tribulations of multiple lockdowns and the heartache of last year’s aborted campaign, it felt at times as though this day would never come. And so the spirits were understandably high amongst the Fourths as, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, we merrily made our way to the sun-soaked Nossegem arena. Determined to start the ball rolling towards (inevitable) promotion, the boys in green were to produce an impressive performance, outrunning and outplaying the somewhat lacklustre opposition on their way to a commanding 4-1 win that was rarely in doubt.
Starting in our tried-and-tested 4-2-3-1 formation, Irlande controlled the game from the off. In possession, we spread the play well and stretched the opposition defence, with wingers Mihai and Draga wreaking particular havoc down the flanks. Out of possession, we showed a tenacity and desire to win the ball back such as to warm the hearts of the captains. It was this tenacity that led to Irlande’s early breakthrough, as Thomas battled to win the ball in midfield before laying it off to Fabian. The latter proceeded to feed a delectable pass down the left to Draga, who slotted it in from a tight angle for the first of what would prove to be numerous debut goals. 1-0.
Irlande’s second came from a set piece. Alex attempted to place the ball in the bottom corner from a free kick just outside the box. His (admittedly rather tentative) effort was spilled by the opposition keeper into the feet of the onrushing Draga, who smashed it into the roof of the net. 2-0.
While Irlande’s back line of Diego, Roberto, Santi, and Felix was rarely troubled, dealing with any opposition threats seemingly with relative ease, Nivellois did manage to pull one back against the run of play. A pass through the middle saw their striker one-on-one with Matteo, who made a characteristically incredible save down to his left only to see the follow-up knocked past him. 2-1.
If Nivellous felt they managed to turn the tide and get a foothold in the match, they were rapidly disabused of that notion, as Irlande regained the two-goal cushion only moments later. The unstoppable attacking force of Fabian and Draga once again combined, and the latter blasted a daisy-cutter of a shot past the flailing Nivellois keeper to complete a spectacular debut hat-trick and send the adoring crowd (consisting primarily of uncle Costi) into rapture. 3-1.
The second half proceeded in much the same manner, with Irlande so dominant that Matteo confessed to feeling rather bored in goal. It seemed as though the fixture would be put beyond doubt when Irlande were awarded a penalty and Manu, showing the confidence and maturity of his years of ABSSA experience, stepped up to take it. Alas, he was to see his effort clip the side of the upright, as he let out a roar of untold anguish.
Never fear, however, for Manu was to redeem himself in style shortly thereafter. Receiving the ball with his back to goal, he performed his signature turn before threading the sexiest of through balls behind the opposition defence and into the path of Fabian, who nonchalantly rounded the keeper to finish. 4-1.
All in all, a marvelous start to the season for the Fourths, and an extremely solid platform on which to build over the coming months. A special mention also to Diego and Goncalo who (while not quite scoring a debut hat-trick) put in extremely solid performances in their first competitive game for the Fourths.
Satisfying though it was, the day was tinged with more than a hint of sadness, as we said goodbye to our favourite frogs, Fugo (or Helix depending on your inclination). Hugo and Felix have been beloved and valued members of the Fourths, both on the pitch and, perhaps even more importantly, in Funky. They will be sorely missed <3
Goals: Draga x3; Fabian
MoTM: Draga
All fixtures and results
Team links
FC Irlande Men 4
- Coach / Captain : Thomas Steiner
- Coach / Captain : Martin Stobbs
- Coach / Captain : Santi Vanni
Top goals scorers
- Florin Dragastan 5
- Fabian Figueroa 2
- Constantin Ifrim 1
Top goals assists
- Fabian Figueroa 2
- Constantin Ifrim 1
- Antonio 'Manu' Cabral 1
- Florin Dragastan 1
- Alex Redmond 1