03/07/12 02:09
Footcall 2012 Day 19...
After 31 matches over three weeks, here we were at the final! Euro 2012 had been a fantastic spectacle of high quality exciting football and it was all culminating in the final showdown between Spain and Italy. Up until this point, Spain had shown their skill to win comfortably and also against the odds, they ground out draws here and there but always threatened victory. You know what, the same could almost be said for Italy. Maybe slightly less fancied on paper, for Christ's sake Hansen, will you put away your paper, but the Italians had proved to everyone they were not be taken for granted. They lined up in the tunnel ready to be called onto the field. I always like the tunnel banter, team mates and football buddies all giving each other cheeky little winks as they clasp the nervous hands of their mascots, whose importance often gets overlooked. The presence of these unsung hero infants is there to make sure the players behave themselves; we all remember the shenanigans Vinnie Jones and those Wimbledon boys got up to in the tunnel prior to the FA Cup in '88. So come on Footcallers, let's here it for the mascots! Maybe UEFA should award one lucky mascot the chance to actually play in the match!
Dum-de-dum-de-dum... let's get those national anthems out of the way and get on with it! Finally time for the toss up and then the two captains shake hands in centre circle to exchange tiny little team pennants! Whatsthatallabout? Maybe UEFA could bring in another rule insisting on the captains having to carry these pennants at all times throughout the match? Of course what was interesting about tonight's match was both captains were goalkeepers so seeing them effectively playing one handed whilst they held a little flag in the other could have livened things up somewhat! Anyway... enough of these rule changes, everything is fine just the way they are ;-) with the exception of goal line technology of course!
The whistle blew and Spain, who had been accused of being a bit slow out the blocks in previous matches, certainly looked in the mood to kick this one off as time and again the boy Jordi Alba made electric runs down the right flank to hook up with Fabregas or Iniesta. This was a promising start and it was clear that Italy certainly had their hands full just dealing with the tireless work rate of their opposition. It only took 14 minutes for Iniesta (he's only 28 you know!) to slot a perfectly weighted pass through to Fabregas as he darted into the box to cut back right on to the head of David Silva. Back of the net! as a certain Alan Partridge would say. The game progressed and a pattern started to emerge. Italy get the ball, Spain steal the ball, then Italy stand aside as Spain charge forward and in the 41st minute that's exactly what happened again. Xavi found himself in open space in the midfield whilst young Jordi burst through like he was bustin' for the toilet to latch on to a peach of through ball and slide it past the oncoming Buffon! Where does he get such pace? Spain were two nil up and cruising.
Half time came, thankfully for the Italians as they were looking ragged. On their return the Azzuri appeared to ready to show the defending champions just what they were made of. But try as they might to feed balls up to Balotelli, the Spaniards were there time and again to snuff em out. Di Natale did wake Casillas up from his slumber but he was quickly alive to it. As the pundits suspected, this war was won in the middle of the park as Spain intersected the sloppy Italian passing and in the 84th minute golden boy substitute Fernando Torres, who had barely been on long enough to adjust his Alice band, was gifted the golden chance to put the golden team another goal and securing the golden boot in the process! This was starting to look embarrassing for Italy now and manager Prandelli must have been wondering if he could get Paolo Maldini and Marco Tardelli on as the next subs! The problem he now faced was that his last (and final sub) who had only been on for four minutes pulled up with a hamstring injury and had to be stretchered off! Not only were Italy three goals down but they were down to ten men as well :-( In the closing few minutes gaps started to appear in the weakened side and Torres assisted Juan Mata to tuck away the ball for their fourth and final goal. The final whistle blew and Spain had defended their title. What a masterclass! Never has three major trophies been won consecutively, and whatever you think of their style of play, that's not too Xabi eh? Very few teams could have lived with the quality of the Spaniards this evening, maybe we'll see all teams play without strikers in the future?
And so to the final Footcall league...
This is it the moment you have all been waiting for... the Footcall 2012 champion is Nathaniel Ridley and his team Play Fight on the Sofa! with a magnificent 45 points. He collects £320 for his achievement along with £5 he received for coming joint 5th after the Group Stages, 10 Hall of Fame points and free entry to Footcall 2014 for winning the Hurst Division! What many of you probably won't know is that Nathaniel is just four (and a half) years old! I have been assured that his father James (There's your Salad Bryn!) Ridley only assisted him slightly and Nathaniel should take all the credit. No doubt James will be putting the prize fund into a special account for his son to enjoy a good piss up when he's old enough! So Nathaniel stands proudly top-o-table with his name in red looking down on the 137 below him. Surely his name on the trophy is the most important thing?
Manoj (check me out Tat) Gupta, one of the half way leaders, did tremendously well on his first Footcall outing to secure second place and he takes £190 total prize money plus has a free go in 2014 for winning the Wilson Division. With the reward for predicting the winner bringing many players into the frame and also the money bracket. Steve (Andy thanks for telling me about Footcall) Russell takes £90 and can come back for free for winning the Banks Division. Keith (I dun ya, Paul) Firmston claimed fourth and 80 sterling in his back pocket. In fact the last three players all had 38 points and were only separated by the accurate scores they picked up in the Group Stages. Brother Paul (Damn you Keith!) Firmston takes 5th and a few vital HoF points, he really can tell his better half that Footcall is most certainly not luck! He also picked up a fiver for fifth in the Groups.
Nick (Where did I come from) Stacey will receive sixty quid so he can gloat in front of all of his work colleagues with the honour of being top of the Peters Division. Unbelievably even with four sets of scoring criteria, seventh place could not separated and so David (buckin ell) Frost, Jack (Han, my experience paid off I'm afraid) Wakefield and Spencer (Ooh I've won some fresh nappy money) Collins all scoop £40 for their efforts, well done guys. The final money spot was closely contested by Leanne (only 123 places above Sean) Maloney, Hannah (Jack I'm gonna get you in 2014) Wakefield and Robert (I was down and out a week ago) McNamara. All finished on 37 points (in fact 8 players finished on 37), but despite having the same number of accurate scores, it was Robert who can claim the twenty pounds as he scored more points in the Knockout Stages than Hannah.
Let's give special praise to both Leanne and Robert as they both collected a perfect 24 points in the Knockout Stages and saw them boosted towards the top of page one after only having scored 13 points in the Group Stages. Not only that they both won their respective Divisions. Let's also credit, Russell (you see Sam, it's where you finish, that counts) Morris winner of the CharltonJ Division, Oliver (who's the daddy?) Whitfield winner of the Cohen Division, Matthew (JT and DK I clearly know more about football than yous two) Green winner of the Moore Division. But without question my player of the day has to go to Joanna (No! Surely not! Really? You're winding me up right? OMG, I can't believe it!) Mackenzie who has romped home to top the Hunt Division. Jo, surely this has to be right up there with your wedding day? Its OK you can tell me, I'm sure Dan will understand!
There are two awards still to come and it is with great pleasure (should I be happy about this?) to give my brother Simon the vuvuzela award for the second Footcall running! Who would have thought nil nil would bring so much reward? I think Simon (or Syd as he is known to his friends) summed it rather nicely in his feedback form said, "I'm damn good at coming last!" please note that the word damn has replaced a rather more gratuitous word ;-) Finally we ran a competition for you the Footcallers to vote for your favourite team name for 2012. We had a terrific response and I can reveal with 12.67% of the votes, Emma Wakefield and her team Ukraine Bolt has received the most support. She narrowly edged Nick Simmonds and his team Obi Wan Kenobi Nil into second place. Thank you to all those who voted, both Simon and Emma will receive a box of chocolates for their moments of inspiration.
Well that's it for another two years, we'd like to thank you for all your support and wonderful feedback, it's been a great tournament on the field and a fantastic Footcall competition to match. we only hope you have enjoyed it enough to want to give it a go again in 2014. I'd like to thank my brother Simon for his help on change over day, my good friend Spencer for all things backstage, this tournament would be unmanageable without his expertise, good luck for the future for you, Domi and baby Cecily. And last but by no means least, Mrs Christine Jenner, who year on year has lives with a man who barely has any interest in football until Footcall comes around. Thank you for your support, as you are the football fan in the household, I know how much it bothers you to see me above you in the league and I'm sorry about that. Thank you for letting me stay up late to write these silly little reports!
We've all got stories of what could have been, that's the beauty of Footcall, I know a few of you had run the numbers and figured out they might be in for a prize if Italy had been victorious tonight, but like me, you're gonna have to wait about 700 days until Footcall 2014 rolls into town, then it will be your time to shine!
Until then... Adiós!
David