Joga Bonito vs Fish Keg United game review

El Periodico del Futbol
Chicago and Evanston
Monday March 7, 2010

Joga Bonito vs Fish Keg United game review


Hi there my fellow soccer lovers!

Time to talk about your favorite soccer team: Joga Bonito! Yesterday JB had an INTENSE game against Fish Keg United. I was not kidding when I said last week that Fish Keg was not the same team as last season. They now have better players that really gave JB a hard time.

From the very beginning, Fish Keg showed that they were not going to be pushed around like last season. They began attacking immediately with several scoring opportunities. JB needed to step up their game and they did with Carlos and Pablo taking some nice shots at the goal. At the 10th minute, Carlos received a pass and was holding the ball on the side while to defenders came at him. He saw Emily Lovejoy wide open in front of the goalie and was able to squeeze a pass through the middle of the two defenders. Lovejoy controlled the ball, shot and scored! JB leads 1-0. Fish Keg was not giving up. They tried hard to tie the game. However, at the 15th minute Rolando crushed their hopes by holding the ball and performing his signature turn and scoring! JB leads 2-0. Alicia and Keith were holding the defensive wall amazingly. However, almost at the end of the second half, it looked like JB slowed down a bit after their second goal. Perhaps they thought that they had this game in the bag. Fish Keg shocked them at the 20th minute when during a very crazy play where the ball was going all over the place someone shot and the ball was deflected by another player and it went in Mauricio’s net. JB 2 – Fish Keg 1. End of half time.

Rolando, Mauricio and Carlos gave the team encouraging instructions during half time and everyone was ready to fight for the win. Unfortunately for JB, Fish Keg pushed hard for the tie and they got it at the 5th minute of the second half. JB 2 – Fish Keg 2. The next 10 minutes became very intense. Both teams attacked and defended like if it was the YMCA final. Pablo, Tony and Ernie created some nice opportunities that sadly did not go in. Both teams wanted to win this game. Finally, at the 20th minute, JB’s top scorer Rolando grabbed the ball again and fooled Fish Keg’s center back and goalie giving JB the lead again! JB 3 – Fish Keg 2. I am sure that the next 5 minutes felt like 5 seconds for Fish Keg and 5 hours for JB. JB was able to hold their defense and they even had a couple of opportunities to kill the game since Fish Keg was mostly attacking to tie the game. JB wins 3-2!

Player of the match: Emily Lovejoy
I must say that I was very impressed with Lovejoy yesterday. The goal she scored at the beginning was extremely important in JB’s win. She made a smart move in standing at the open space in front of the goalie waiting for Carlos’ pass. At the same time she defended fearlessly during the entire second half.

Transfer Season and Injury Update
Joga Bonito’s manager has to make some changes in his squad for the next couple of games due to players absence and injuries. As most of you know, Colombian international Antonio Escalante still remains in the injury list. I am sure that he is extremely missed by the entire team. In his absence, manager Carlos was happy to receive Peruvian international Anthony Gamboa on a short term agreement with Barcelona FC. Lovejoy and Shand were not included in the squad list against YMCA 2 on March 20 and against Willard Warriors on March 27. The manager has requested a short term loan agreement for a new player. I am excited to announce that JB has come to an agreement with the Chicago Red Stars and US international Robin Stark will be helping JB for the next 2 games! Rumors say that Robin is the next Mia Hamm so watch her closely. I guarantee that her moves will blow your mind!

Next Game: Joga Bonito vs YMCA 2 (Sunday March 20 at 4pm)
JB’s next opponent is probably the weakest in the tournament as you can see from the standings below. However, I hope manager Carlos does not count them out automatically since I am sure they will play with all their might. I was able to catch up with manager Carlos for comments about yesterday’s game and about his next opponent.

“Yes, we had a rough game yesterday. I am very please with my entire squad’s performance. They fought for the win and they got it. Yes, we fell asleep at the end of the first half and at the beginning of the second. We need to make adjustments when we are on defensive mode. And I am not talking about the defenders only. I am talking about the entire team being on defensive mentality. YMCA 2 has lost all of their 5 games. I assume that this is an extra incentive for them to play even harder against us. We will not underestimate them. We respect all of the other opponents equally.”

And remember… love the game and the game will love you back!


Carlos Quintero
Journalist Wannabe
El Peridico del Futbol