Kamikaze Football Club travelled down to the East side for arguably the most important match of their history. The fact that they were playing against their brothers from different mothers under the name of Eastboyz just made this story that much more dramatic. Clash of the brothers, Clash of the table-toppers, Clash for the title, El Classico were just many monikers given to this match. However, in reality, this was one of the most mellowed down Eastboyz vs Kamikaze matches every to have been played, atleast in terms of the pre-match hype.
The match however lived up to its complete billing as an exciting clash between two of the best teams in the CFL Season 2. It took mere minutes for Eastboyz to draw the first blood as a floated corner, saw Hariboy clash with keeper Akbar with the ball ending up in the back of the net as a result. While conceding a goal like that might have dented the spirits of any other team, this was Kamikaze and they were not about to let such a setback affect them.
Within minutes, Hariboy redeemed himself, as he played in a wonderful throughball in the right channel for Cristiano Barathi, who had a redemption of his own, by keeping his composure and stroking the ball into the net.
The joy was to be short-lived though, as another corner proved to bite Kamikaze as Augustine, the Eastboyz star, scored with his first ever headed goal. The Wayne Rooney-like talisman for Eastboyz have now scored both times against Kamikaze.
But KKZ are not one to let statistics and sentiments affect them as they continued doing what they do best, which was to attack. Safar Torres, who with his second season in Kamikaze has won over all the doubters across the island, showed exactly what he was capable of, as he latched on to a loose ball, beat two defenders with his silky dribbling and then shimmied past the keeper before walking into the goalpost. And with that, KKZ headed down into the halftime with the score at 2-2. Both sides emerged out for the second half with equal optimism. But what happened next was to be too hard to for anyone to comprehend.
A routine tackle by Eastboyz stalwart Francis 25 yards out was penalised by the ref and a freekick was awarded. El Fazail, midfield maestro of Kamikaze stepped up to take it and he unleashed a curler that anybody will be proud of as it looped into the top left hand corner to give KKZ the lead. Yet another match-turning goal by this man who is fast becoming a legend.
Before, the blink of an eye, Hariboy who had been having a fantastic game made an excellent defence splitting pass to Safar who cheekily dummied and let the ball run to Barathi who once again kept his cool and made no mistake in doubling the lead. Excellent comeback by this wonderkid after his recent dip in form.
Within another few minutes, Safar Torres showed why Kamikaze paid the hefty transfer funds and wages to sign this superstar, as he latched on to a longfield punt from keeper Akbar, shrugged off the marking of the Eastboyz defender and unleashed a shot that the keeper had no chance of saving. 5-2 to Kamikaze.
As the match winded down to the closing minutes, Kamikaze found time to score another as a brilliant team effort saw Nayee producing the final pass to Yasin who grabbed yet another goal in what has been a fairytale season for him. 6-2 Kamikaze and that was how the match ended.
This was a match that Kamikaze dedicated to all that they stand for. Eastboyz are a very good team, had been one during the entire season so far and will continue to be so. But Kamikaze's ideals are far different. It is very hard to build a solid team of brothers, nurture new young talents, manage superstars, play attractive football and yet produce results. But that is exactly what Kamikaze has stood for and achieved this season. They have beaten every team in the league atleast once this season, scored the highest number of goals thus far, conceded the fewest and lead the league by 6 points with 5 games to play. Yet this is a team, that's still a product in the making. They still have lotsa mistakes to correct, and will only get better.
PS: In terms of footballing genius, he is a complete superstar. Yet, he can only get better with slight improvements to his finishing and killer instinct. But what he has brought to Kamikaze is more than his goals or assists. He has brought a winning a mentality. So hence, despite all his off-the-field controversies regarding his money saving schemes, on the field he still produces a fear amongst opponents. Bayam. Safarna Bayam. KAMIKAZE Safarna Bayam! Man of the match goes to Safar, though special credit has to be given to Thina, Suresh USPO, Hariboy Aerocratz, Lavanesh Valencia and Cristiano Barathi. Kamikaze has never been about any one man. We are a Team and will always be so!
KAMIKAZE!!!
Squad: Akbar Kuszczak, Suresh USPO, Thina Da Silva, Navin Da Silva, Anand Spaceship, El Fazail, Victor King, Lavanesh Valencia, Seelan Kong, Hariboy Aerocratz, Diego Haresh, Safar Torres, Cristiano Barathi, Yasin Scholes
Final score: Eastboyz 2 - Kamikaze FC 6
Goals: Cristiano Barathi (2), Safar Torres (2), El Fazail, Yasin Scholes
MOM: Safar Torres
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