April 4th, 4:00PM
For their first game this season of ISSL, the EABH futsal Hawks faced The British School of Rio de Janeiro’s Falcons and collected another defeat. It is difficult to say that the boys have had a history of not going too far with futsal, despite their talent and incredible dedication. This game was no surprise because this year, British took only one team for both of their campuses, Urca and Barra, and thus strengthened their opportunity by a lot. The Hawks played very well; however, the opposing team was rough, and the intimidation of the first day was definitely parent for both teams at play.
Beginning the first half of the game, Joshua Durchfort (1), Cauã Magalhães (10), João Lima (3), Pedro Almeida (11)---also known as PA---and Eduardo Calixto (7)---also known as Dudu---were the first players to step foot on the court. Within the first few seconds of the game, tensions were already high with PA rolling on the floor from abrupt ball steals and Cauã’s calf echoing the sound of the Hawk’s defense building up. However, soon enough the Falcons scored their first goal on goalkeeper Joshua, who was left tense from that immediate disadvantage. While the Falcons gained momentum, their player numbered 10 and dribbled past Cauã and PA but could not get past Joshua, who dove straight for the ball. Dudu nearly evened the score, but the Falcons dominated the ball possession right after, scoring their second point as a counter-attack. The ball possession wasn’t the only thing that allowed them to score: EABH’s goalkeeper accidentally fell for their sneaky deception and jumped towards the wrong end. A third goal went to the Falcons a mere minute after the last score, immediately weighing down the mood. Coach Cláudio called for a time-out to switch players, talk strategy, and allow the players to breathe.
Immediately after the time-out ended, PA took all that Coach said to heart and went straight to the upper-right corner of the goal with Dudu. A first score for the Hawks had the small supporting crowd roaring. The Lady Hawks had just finished their own game, and thus the audience in favor of EABH was very scarcely attended. Momentum was back, as proven by Joshua's immediate save with the ball right in front of his face. However, the difficulties of playing against a fast team were still apparent: Dudu tripped and his shoe flew through the air, and Joshua saved a ball doing the full splits. Cauã had nearly scored a goal, which left everyone on edge and desperate to score again. But once again, the Hawks were invited to a waltz as Pedro Jorge (2) was sent flying over the court and tripping on the other players who shoved and broke mid-run. What amazed the crowd even more was Dudu and PA sliding on the floor in synchronization in front of Joshua to interfere with a potential goal. The Falcons continuously pounded at the goal, sending Joshua to all sides as well, saving each attempt---until another score punctured the defense. The first half ended with the unmotivating score of 1-4.
The second half kickstarted with Edward Mason (8), Pedro Jorge, Dudu, PA, and Joshua on the court. With Ted joining the game, the Hawks were clearly stepping up to the challenge: the team's captain walked in with a bright yellow armband, proudly carrying his leadership. Despite all intimidation, the Falcons immediately scored. Due to the frustration of all the players, the ball began flying in the air a lot more. Benched players and spectators were getting hit by the ball, in clear testament to the aggressiveness of the competition. With penalties for the Hawks after various trips, the boys got to show off their well-choreographed fake penalties to deceive the opposing team and shift their placements. Ted almost scored a goal until the Falcons, once again, took our attempt as a threat to score another goal. The score then reached a frustrating 1-6, after a Falcon masterfully scored with his head. With a score with that big of a difference and only three minutes remaining, Coach Cláudio subbed in Rafael Tinti (17), Matheus Lima (4), Bernardo Temporão (6), and Mathieu Lessage (14), to ensure that some benched Hawks got to play. Bernardo came in strong, tipping back ball possession that had practically been handed straight to the Falcons due to an understandable dip in motivation. Matheus also made his presence known, nearly scoring a goal from what seemed to be halfway across the court, unfortunately hitting straight onto the top bar. Despite EABH’s hard work and endless efforts, the game ended 1-6. There were no tears of anger, solely focused gazes of dedication intent on improving for the next games.
Comments