After last week’s solid win against Oranje, we were pitted against Shooters for the Championscup semifinal. Unfortunately for both teams the sky opened its floodgates from early in the morning. So while the first half was still somewhat decent football, the second half was more comparable to a match of water polo, minus the speedos, plus wagonloads of mud.

Our gameplay in the first half was far from what we have been showing for most of the season, letting Shooters get on the scoreboard twice. The first goal was a fine combination over their right side, while the second goal was a counterattack after we lost a high ball in midfield. We did create our chances too in first half, yet were unable to convert them.

After a short halftime break (or rather “warm-up”) we conceded a third goal, but managed to make one back through a penalty that Adam hammered into the net. Yet in the water worlds of Waigaoqiao we did not manage to get any further than that and conceded two more instead, leaving us in a state comparable to the weather that day.

We will battle out the last spot on the podium vs. Azzurri in a couple of weeks.