Team 4 Play-Season III (Practice and Formation)

(Continued from previous posts)
Is it not often said that the journey is better than the destination. This could be true,as in retrospect, the practice sessions seem more enjoyable and cherishable than the actual matches. Fresh with a new outlook, armed with new players, and empowered with invaluable experience of two seasons, 4 Play started its practice sessions, in search of that hitherto elusive victory.

The Advent of Napoleon.

The most precious acquisition of 4 Play was P.J.Joe Paul, who prefers to call himself the Napoleon. He was instrumental in forming a motley football team in his first year,which had performed quite well. Further, he was a good player, with good technique and requisite skills. Adding on to that was his unconditional loyalty for 4 Play, which he had made evident in his first year itself. Thus,for the first time, 4 Play had a genuine player in its ranks.

It has to be said that his infectious enthusiasm was pivotal in the crystallization of 4 Play III. That overwhelmed the lethargy that had afflicted many members, especially some fifth year members(specifically me). It was one of those moments when adolescent effervescence won over youthful indolence. Along with the Napoleon came his lieutenants too-Aniruddh Thakur, Nikhil Ranjan and Shaabaz-infusing 4Play with freshness of talent.

But there was another issue to be sorted out. Our incumbent goal keeper Himanshu Singhal's services were not available for the tournament. As per 4 Play tradition, the post had to devolve upon the next person with the longest limbs, which, unfortunately, happened to me.But I was not willing. It also didn't help that some one,in a very inopportune moment, recollected that I'd  bragged earlier(in another inopportune time) about being a star goalkeeper at the school level. Anyway, my protests notwithstanding, the goalkeepership was vested in me. No one had taken my hollow boastful comments seriously. So there was no question of proving anything;just the task of improving everything.

 Meet the Spartans

Our practice sessions involved playing friendly matches against fellow competitors. One of them was the 'Spartans', a team largely comprising third year students.Our first match against them was very memorable on many counts. Firstly, 4 Play scored its first ever goal; secondly 4 Play ,for the first time in its history, took lead.The first goal came in the form of a clinical shot from our Napoleon. It goes without saying that we were very ecstatic. But, like all ecstasies, this one was also short lived. They were quick in retaliating.

Our biggest weakness was the goal keeper. No, I wasn't the goal keeper in that match. On an experiment, George Mathew was deputed as the acting goal keeper.But he proved to be very ineffective as a goalie.Whenever the ball came towards the post, he, like an ever obliging nymphet, opened his legs widely. And the Spartans were virile enough to take good advantage of the ample gap between the legs. They scored twice and took the lead.

The match was about to get over and we had resigned to fate. Then another miracle occurred. Anuj Kapoor, very stylishly, scored an equalizer for us. The goal was scored from a very tight angle, almost 180 degrees with the post, like the way Maicon scored for Brazil against North Korea in Fifa 2010. Incredible! That was our expression. Whether it was a fortuitous fluke or an amazing display of skill would be a redundant academic debate. The significant fact was that the scores were equal(2-2).But, victory proved to be elusive. In the dying moments of the match, they scored again. One Spartan played a casual shot at the post; and our goalie did his leg-parting again, handing them victory. We lost the match(3-2).

After the match, it was decided that I would be the permanent goalie. One more problem became evident. Although we were creating chances, the killer instinct which converts them into goals was found  to be wanting.The  problem was with our main striker, Joe. He would advance to the goal post, breaking through the opponents' defense; but when the moment for shooting comes, he would pass the ball to some other player who may not be in a very advantageous position,thereby spoiling the chance  Joe was selfless, to a fault. Maybe he had read some mystic books or Buddhist teachings and his ego was  completely annihilated.

The Bong Connection

The solution to our problem came in the form of a Bengali duo-Neelanjan Pal Chaudhary and Siddharth Basu. It was our captain's enterprising skills that got these otherwise low-profile guys of our batch in our  team. Neel was an exceptional player-technically sound, fast, powerful and confident. We had another face-off with the Spartans. The reloaded 4Play team was like the Persian army to the Spartans. We comprehensively dominated them. The trio of Joe, Neel and Anuj raided their goal post. Their goal net was constantly disturbed with our powerful shots. They could offer no resistance. The defense played with utmost coordination and warded off all the Spartan advances. In short, we routed them with seven goal. Yes, 7-0. That was the final scoreline. 4 Play's first victory. That too a humongous one. Our confidence levels were elevated to a new height. That impelled us to invite Nemesis, one of the best teams in college, for a friendly match.

Fight Club

'Friendly match' would be misnomer to describe that match. It was a bloody match. Nemesis was a formidable team and had been consistently faring well in college tournaments.So we had no hopes of winning the match. We just wanted to put up a good fight. Indeed, the 'fight' happened .

For the first ten minutes, we played quite well. All their advances were effectively intercepted. We also managed to create some chances for ourselves. There was an exceptional shot by Joe Paul, which went above the post by a whisker.

Then came the nasty moment. It happened when one of their players, was faking an injury and was appealing for a penalty kick. His demands were completely unwarranted, as he had fallen down himself while advancing with the ball. I had jumped to catch the shot and he lost his balance and fell down. There was no physical contact at all. And the fellow was putting on all kinds of histrionics to get a penalty. This we could not agree. That led to an altercation. Our technical arguments were retorted with  personal abuses. We realized that reasoning with them would be pointless. Why to cast pearls at swines?

During this melee, one of them took exception to a junior member of our team arguing against him. Despite being in the final year, he was still carrying the shabby baggage of junior-senior divide, and could not appreciate a fourth year member refuting his arguments. With his flaccid ego hurt, he pounced upon the junior member and started to assault him physically. We intervened. There was a lot of pushing and shoving; names calling;  But tempers cooled after a while and game was resumed, largely due to the intervention of Neel who behaved like a perfect gentleman during the commotion. After a while, it happened again. While the game was in progress, the said member of Nemesis, without any provocation, physically overpowered the said junior member of our team. That led to further skirmishes. 

They were creating fights for no reason. Maybe like the Australians, they were artificially creating fights to psychologically subjugate the opponents or they were plainly obsessive, compulsive thugs. Maybe they enjoy the 'kick' they get from orchestrating fights. Most of their players were subscribers to a primitive school of machismo, who took  pride in physically overpowering weaker counterparts(and only the weaker ones) and abusing the harmless female family relations of the adversaries. They were like brawny bulls-full of raw power but having no discretion;and the only utility of their intellectual faculties was in churning out  vivid abuses which would refer either to anatomical impossibilities or sociological improbabilities.

Despite the lack of civilization and refinement, it has to be admitted that Nemesis was an exceptionally good team. They had gifted players who played with incredible coordination. They defeated us quite comprehensively. 14-0. Yes. It could be even more, as everyone stopped counting after a point. But does skill justify belligerence?Would talent warrant boorishness?Perhaps,one should take a look at Sachin Tendulkar or VVS Laxman. Anyway, after the match teams parted ways cordially, at least superficially. Shallow niceties were exchanged. Hollow apologies were submitted.

That was the end of it. The practice sessions were a good learning experience. As it is evident, there were good times;bad times and ugly times. Ya, life is like that-a potpourri of various feelings. Thus,emboldened with its new experiences, Team 4 Play III set out to face the real test.

(To be Continued)

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DISCLAIMER

THE STATEMENTS MADE ABOUT 'NEMESIS' PLAYERS ARE STRICTLY IN CONTEXT OF THE MATCH AND HAVE REFERENCE ONLY TO THEIR ON-FIELD BEHAVIOUR AND NOT TO THEIR OFF-FIELD CHARACTER.