Archive for December, 2009
Week 8
Division C
It’s been the coldest December in 28 years. January will be no different. Bad referees, handballs, illegal tackles, injuries, goal posts are part of the game. Short of players? Snow storms? It’s all part of the game now.
Ready to start 2010 and forget 2009. The Ringleaders are receptive, focused and determined. Our Captain Nick led the defense, backed up by Kevin and Paul 107. Jonas played in goal.
We played intense football, as MTL-FC was short of subs, their weary legs couldn’t hold up for the 2nd half. To their surprise, once again reunited, the Trepanier brothers (Jeremie and Joas) played a superb match.
After missing many chances to score, including a volley shot by Jano Arabaghian, Jeremie found Joas on 2 occasions which ended with a goal. With only 5 minutes left, The RFC brought home the 3 points needed and moved up on the league table.
Division B
Another tough fixture in week 8 as RFC 2 faced Sabbah, one of the form teams of Division B, and with a couple of key players still away on vacation. It was good to see that Joas made a quick recovery from last weeks injury scare and was back on the pitch.
Sabbah are a strong well organized team and it was always going to be difficult to break them down. Everyone worked hard in the first half putting in a good performance and this was rewarded by a magical Danny Pexis goal from nothing to keep us in the game. No-one on the whole pitch anticipated Danny’s over the shoulder volley into the far corner, it was beautiful.
Unfortunately, in the second half tiredness set in and cohesion waned, and Sabbah continued their relentless pressing game. The effort was there but we were unable to develop any quality possession with the ball and we lost another close game 2-1.
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This week’s match programme was designed by Luca. Since joining The Ringleaders, The one known as “Weird Beard” has blessed us with his wisdom in many ways. The latine quote on the graphic means “Out Of Many One”.
The quote explaining the meaning of the phrase was written on ancient stone in Mesopotamia 3,000 years ago: “Well, It’s because were ALL different… but were ONE team… with the SAME love for football…” Some say God entered Luca’s body while he made this epic masterpiece.
RFC 2-0 MTL FC (Joas (2))
Sabbah 2-1 RFC 2 (Danny)
Tags: Captain, handballs, Jano Arabaghian, Jeremie, Joas, Jonas, Kevin, Mtl-FC, Nick, Paul 107, Referees, RFC, Snow storms, The Ringleaders, Trepanier
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Dec 30th, 2009 | by admin
Merry Christmas
“May you have all the joy your heart can hold.
All the smiles a day can bring.
All the blessings a life can unfold.
May you have gods best in everything.”
-Our homies from Futbol Junkie are always on point. Happy Holidays fam!
Tags: Futbol Junkie
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Dec 25th, 2009 | by admin
Week 7
Division B
In Week 7 versus league B leaders (and undefeated) Moldova, the holidays take a toll on your body. Joas Trepanier hurt his knee during his first shift, one false movement and one bad push from behind, the boy was out of luck. We wish him a speedy recovery.
The Ringleaders were quite confident and focused. I don’t think Moldova saw us coming. We contained them well, with very little space for them to maneuver. It was 2-0 for them at half time, the second goal being a handball control that the referee failed to see.
An inspiring performance by our midfield saved us the match. Hassan Tounkara was brave today, exchanging the ball and executing precise plays between Dan Marrett, Ian Kenedy, Jeremy Patterson and Danny Pexis. The match ended 2-2, with a questionable action at the end of the 2nd half. Danny Pexis was clearly going on a break, while the last defender of Moldova touched it with his hand. He deserved a red card, but only got a yellow. I’m clearly frustrated tonight. I’ve seen teams behave better without referees on the pitch. Do we really need them in these amateur garage leagues?
Division C
I was about to write my report on this game when I received a group email from RFC’s Director of Football, Angelo Destounis, which summed up our performance and the game perfectly, so I’ll quote directly from his email:
‘With Vince and Joas injured, Team C had a big challenge. A very inspiring performance boys, we had them at 2-1, we only crumbled with 10 minutes left because of fatigue. And if Naz wouldn’t of hit the post, we had them at 2-2. For those who missed the game, Paul connected with Marrett on a crazy goal. It has now become a legend, you’ll hear about it 200 years from now, in some prophetic book found in ancient ruins.’
***
Dr. Football inspired by Eric Castel.
Moldova 2-2 RFC 2 (Hassan, Danny)
RFC 1-5 Blues Brothers (Dan)
Tags: Dan Marrett, Danny Pexis, Eric Castel, handball, Hassan Tounkara, Ian Kenedy, Jeremy Patterson, Joas Trepanier, Moldova, The Ringleaders, Week 7
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Dec 22nd, 2009 | by admin
World Cup’94
As a kid, World Cup 1994 is one of my earliest memories of football. FIFA decided to host the World Cup in the USA, over Brazil and Morocco. This was pretty remarkable, because the United-States never really embraced football in their culture; the sport was mostly reserved for kids or girls.
Surprisingly, the final set the record for the most attendance in World Cup history. Ever since then, interest in football in the Untied-States has been on the rise. Brazil beat Italy 3-2 in penalties and took the cup, but what really marked the 94 world cup was the suspension of Argentinean legend Diego Maradona, after failing a drug test that, unfortunately, marked the end of his World Cup career.
The US has recently been bidding to host the world cup once again in 2018 or 2022. They will have to bid against the Netherlands-Belgium and Portugal-Spain who have also it, along with Australia, England, Indonesia, Japan and Russia. Qatar and South Korea have applied bids to host the cup as well, but in 2022. If chosen, the United-States plans to make $5 billion and expects the cup to lead to the creation of 65,000 to 100,000 new jobs. This would be a great opportunity for the United-States to promote soccer and to stimulate their economy.
The USA biding committee has attracted alot of attention from people like Robert A.Iger, president of the Walt Disney Company and none other than President Obama, who was quoted as saying: “Hosting another successful World Cup is important for the continued growth of the sport in the United States. And it is important to me personally. As a child, I played soccer on a dirt road in Jakarta, and the game brought the children of my neighborhood together. Soccer is truly the world’s sport, and the World Cup promotes camaraderie and friendly competition across the globe. That is why this bid is about much more than a game. It is about the United States of America inviting the world to gather all across our great country in celebration of our common hopes and dreams.”
Tags: Diego Maradona, World Cup 1994
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Dec 22nd, 2009 | by Luca
Week 6 images
photos by Dan M
Filed under Club Updates, RFC : Comments (0) : Dec 21st, 2009 | by Patterson
Mr. Gil Orriols Jansana
The Montreal Impact signed football specialist Gil Orriols Jansana on the 24th of November 2009. This will bring the club to the next level. I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Jansana this summer during his stay in Montreal. After only a few words his passion for the game was evident. I have a feeling he will do so much for football in Quebec. Good luck Sir. To be continued…
Dr. Football “Promoting Football Science” P.F.S.
Tags: Gil Orriols Jansana, Montreal Impact
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Dec 21st, 2009 | by thanasi
Hans van der Meer Awesomeness!
Hans van der Meer is a 54-year-old photographer living in Amsterdam.
Ten years ago he shot lower league soccer matches in fields across Europe.
The photographs are ridiculous. The site, not so much.
Spend an hour screen-shooting his site here.
Read his bio here.
Buy his books here and here.
And send them to me here.
Tags: football, futbol, Hans van der Meer, photos, soccer, whatever
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Dec 17th, 2009 | by Jessica
Week 6
Division B
You can’t win them all. Week 6 versus Atlas Lions was a good game. We played strong. The referee failed to see the handball on their second goal, with only five minutes left to play. Referees can do that; take away points. One thing they can’t do; take away that beautiful goal we scored. Angelo Destounis sent a nice curling ball from midfield, pass 2 defender’s heads. Jeremy Patterson then stepped back with a diving header pass to Danny Pexis, that half volleyed the ball into the net. We lost 2-1.
Is it that lock we have for the locker room? Injuries are a serious issue this season. So far we lost Jesse Bowden, Julien Roussin-Cote, Thanasi Destounis. However is reading this out there, please be careful when you square off against people that don’t know how to play. Try to anticipate their foul movements, read their temper and calculate their actions.
Division C
For the second week in a row RFC were up against an unbeaten team. This week it was our old rivals, the Ballkickers, who were standing intimidatingly on top of the Division C table.
Despite having a number of players out for this fixture we knew we could still steal the win. From the beginning, no-one gave less than 100%, and even when we went a goal down no-one stopped trying. And with our efforts, deservedly we went level with Kevin scoring his first goal of the season.
The final twenty minutes of the game were definitely good for the neutrals but pure anxiety for anyone on the sidelines. With chances at both ends (and a superb goal stopping challenge by Paul 107) we were finally undone by a really tidy piece of play, which consisted of a pin point through ball and a very neat finish.
With three minutes left of the game we attacked with everything we had, but their keeper was exceptional and clawed a sensational volley from bart out of the top corner. So after some intense pressure and a few goal mouth scrambles the Ballkickers held on and claimed their first victory against RFC. Overall a very satisfactory team performance with the Captain holding things together superbly at the back.
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This might be a vision Johnny had. Perhaps his perception of a referee. Matchday 6 is a new day, so let’s start fresh again. The quote “Fail to prepare, Prepare to fail” comes from Roy Keane.
RFC 1-2 Ballkickers (Kevin)
Atlas Lions 2-1 RFC 2 (Danny)
Tags: "Fail to prepare, Angelo Destounis, Atlas Lions, Ballkickers, Captain, Danny Pexis, Division C, Jeremy Patterson, Jesse Bowden, Johnny F. Kim, Julien Roussin-Cote, Kevin, Matchday 6, Paul 107, Prepare to fail", Referees, RFC, Roy Keane, Thanasi Destounis, Week 6
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Dec 14th, 2009 | by admin
Week 5 images
photos by Maura I
Filed under Club Updates, RFC : Comments (0) : Dec 14th, 2009 | by admin
Week 5
Division B
The snow storm couldn’t happen at a worst time! Right when people plan to leave their house and attend the venue. That left both us The Ringleaders and adversaries FC Pharaohs with few players to substitute with. Most showed up before half time though, that was quite relieving.
It was a solid game which I believe both teams played well. The referee made many mistakes numerous times especially with throw inns and corner kicks. For some reason he wouldn’t whistle after the whole ball would cross over the side line and all… real confusing.
We played very well together, our transition balls between the midfield and forwards were well executed. We were also tight defensively, and Rodrigo Riffo brought much confidence to us. Some player from the other squad released a canon side volley early on in the 1st half, but Rod “punched” it nice and clean over the crossbar. That kept us in the game for real.
RFC 2 won the match 4-1.
Division C
A difficult fixture against FC Alianza who were yet to lose. But following our solid performance last week we were looking to make a push up the table.
After going down to an early goal we were making a valiant effort to get back in the game and were putting some good moves together. That was when disaster struck.
Thanassi made a surging run into the opposition half and easily rounded one of the FC Alianza players, unfortunately the player made a dangerous lunging tackle completely missing the ball and making heavy contact with Thanassi’s knee.
It was immediately evident that this was a very serious injury and Thannasi would play no further part in the game. We now know that Thanasi’s out for the rest of the season, which is a tragic blow for him and the Ringleaders, something that has put a severe dampener on the whole season.
Losing such an influential player undoubtedly had a great impact on the team and we were never able to fully focus on the game thereafter. We lost 4-0, with the only highlight being an amazing penalty save by the always outstanding Giancarlo Talarico.
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Mark Regimbal on “Brigade”. To understand this individual, please put his blog in your favorites, www.swallowmykids.com.
FC Pharaohs 1-4 RFC 2 (—)
RFC 0-4 FC Alianza (—)
Tags: Brigade, FC Alianza, FC Pharaohs, Giancarlo Talarico, Mark Regimbal, RFC 2, Rod, Rodrigo Riffo, Thanassi, The Ringleaders, www.swallowmykids.com
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Dec 13th, 2009 | by admin
