Match Review: Swiss FC vs German-Swiss All Stars

• DF Matthias Bertl
• DF Cyrill Binder
• DF Nice De Mello
• MD Paul Le Helloco
• -- Basil Eberhard
• -- Gordon Cyr
• -- Lucas Mota Rodembusch
• -- Gabriel Nuessli
• -- Andrew Koechie
• -- Lennart von der Luhe
• -- Sebastian Kendrick

• DF Muhammad Fadhil
• -- Hassen Kared
• -- Talant Begaliev
• -- Hilo Fujimoto

Not quite

Always nice, intensive games against our neighbours ! This one no different especially after we have gotten 4 points from last 2 games. Swiss had a decent squad in terms of numbers but were missing 1 or 2 players in key positions, notably upfront & in goal, and this showed during the match, despite having good spells of possessions at times, we were unable to create many goal threatening situations. On the few times that we did, Andrew showed great composure in a tight angle, and Paul have a header from a corner in the 2nd half. Well done to young Lukas in goal standing in for Joe, definitely saved us a couple of scenarios. We could (and should) have been awarded a penalty at 0-1 but again, luck was not on our side. A push is a push regardless where on the pitch. Fair play to the ref, who apologized at half time, and mentioned he would have blown for a foul if it was anywhere outside the box. Appreciate the honesty from the ref – still, some luck once would be nice… Thanks Basil for joining us, and trying his best upfront. Not easy when you are all alone, and fighting the humidity compared to the temperatures in Switzerland. We will also bid farewell to Gabriel who has been a real plus for us so far in the middle of the park and a calming influence. He will now return to Switzerland after securing a full time job. Thank you ! We felt unlucky with a couple of goals, the little things adding up and as it has been this season costing us in terms of goals against. Positive for us was that we never gave up and cave in as it has happened before. We keep pushing now, and hopefully we are able to reach the 2 digit mark before the end of the season. We definitely feel we would deserve that !

• Robert Winkelmann DF
• Alex Baesel DF
• Quirin Regensburger MD
• Michael Klemm ST
• Fumiaki OGURO --
• Victor Walz --
• Bastian Wolff --
• Benny Sattelmaier --
• Desmond Huang --
• Phillip Von Pein --
• Florian Gädke --

• Diyar Mailepessov ST
• Mishel Knezovic --

Back to winning ways and up the table we go!

With what was originally a team of 14 on Friday, the coaches were left with 12.5 with Daniel pulling out due to a virus and me turning up after battling a fever for the entire day with an ice pack that has 3 cute little dinosaur stickers on it (Robert: my 2 year old would wear that). It serves its purpose. :P Dee and Mitch were due to arrive just before kickoff and with only 11 (or 10.5) to pick from, Micha deployed makeshift fullbacks in Viktor and Robert given the absence of Taka and Marius. The rest of the starting lineup fitted the 442 naturally. The Germans dominated the game from kickoff, with most of the first balls meeting the head of Benny, who was also very unfortuante to be called offside on a couple of occasions. The German defence was resolute, snuffing out attack after attack and every other through ball the Swiss attempted to put over the German defence ended up in the hands of Yours truly. In addition, Viktor and Ogu linked up well and dominated the left, Alex held the number 6 role as his own, Basti Wolff was his usual creative self, Benny dominated the aerial challenges, the tireless Micha was teleporting all over the Swiss half and Quirin was instrumental in bringing the ball forward, not forgetting Robert who contained the Swiss left winger very well. As the game went on, the Germans were a little unfortunate as some of our through balls were either collected by the onrushing Swiss keeper or called offside at the expense of Benny. Though we were dominating, we were not able to really threaten the Swiss, until... A perfectly weighted through ball down the right flank found Micha, who had cleverly lost his Swiss markers. Ogu, our fox in the box, sensed the opportunity and started his glorious run from the left towards the 6-yard box, bringing a Swiss defender along with him who was trying to keep up with his pace. Micha's pinpoint low cross connected with the run of Ogu, who thought he had scored but very unfortunately chipped both the keeper and the bar. In addition, the Swiss keeper, who had an amazing game, was called into action a few minutes later with a superb point blank save to keep Basti's header out. Unfortunate they were, we knew it was only a matter of time before we would get the opening goal we so throughly deserved. In other news, though I've barely did anything, I'm now drenched thanks to my fever. One can't sweat under this cold weather (Singaporeans' definition of cold). Viktor's freekick from 30 yards met the head of Quirin at the back post, who sent the ball back towards the near post and Basti Wolff diving header made it 1-0 from 2 yards. It did not take the Germans very long to make it 2-0. A goalmouth scramble took place in the Swiss 18 yard box. Eventually, the loose ball fell to the path of the onrushing wingback Viktor and he made no mistake, smashing the ball into the bottom corner. While the Germans celebrated away, Bertl began to lose his marbles. :'D Alas, towards the end of the 1st half, my moment of folly struck again. The football gods seem to have laid a curse on me: to make (at least :P) 1 horrible mistake each game. A piss poor pass/clearance by Yours truly (prior to this, a horrible decision making process too) found one of the Swiss players. The Swiss picked out Andrew on the left, brought the ball into the box, saw the gap I have left between the near post and my body and slotted away comfortably to give the Swiss a chance for revival. Gutted, I was. My apologies :( Halftime: GAS 2-1 Swiss Teamtalk from the coaches in general: win not just the 1st balls, but the 2nd balls too; put the game to bed with 3 more goals and not allow the Swiss any shots at all. The fantastic Ogu was sacrificed for Mitch at halftime. Without hesitation, Mitch made his presence known; showcasing his speed, agility, footwork, and it wasn't long before he got his name on the scoresheet. Another scintillating through ball from Basti put Mitch one-on-one with the onrushing keeper. What I saw next was just, purely magical. With the Swiss keeper just fingertips away from the ball, Mitch lifted the ball over the keeper while leaping like a gazelle at the same time. The execution was so smooth - the ball never left his feet, not even in midair. Eventually, the ball did leave his feet, that's how we went 3-1 up. By this time, I was beginning to feel cold again and there was a moment where I, for a split second, mistook a flying bird as the match ball. Didn't know fever messes with your mind! Both the 4th and 5th goals were scored by Micha. I don't quite remember how he scored his first, all i remember was him being one-on-one with the keeper and sending the poor lad the wrong way. The 2nd was a nice and accurate tap in towards the near post following a low cross from the right. The fever must have burnt my entire head before Micha scored his two goals, hence I don't remember much. The Swiss did pull back a consolation from a corner kick followed by a strong header. Somehwere towards the end of the game, the Swiss keeper proved that his save in the 1st half was no fluke; the exact same position, same header, same power, same direction, the keeper made the same exact save to deny Viktor a beautiful goal. Fulltime: GAS 5-2 Swiss Overall, a well deserved victory for the Germans and a great performance displayed by both teams. The Swiss has always been one of the nicest teams to play against, never backing out from a fight and always giving their 100%. Special mentions to Hilo and Andrew who had an amazing game in central midfield and left wing respectively in my opinion. Congratulations in securing your first points in your previous 2 games, a very timely boost indeed. Wishing you all the best in your remaining fixtures. Thanks GAS for always being very encouraging, guiding me in goal and correcting me whenever I do something stupid.