Match Review: FC Nippon vs Olympique Gaulois Singapore

• GK Takaki NAKAMURA
• DF Katsumi Oku
• DF Kotaro Hayashi
• DF Yuki Ichikawa
• MD Enrique Sanchez
• MD Hiroki NARABAYASHI
• MD Jaume Ferrer
• MD Ryuhei IKEDA
• MD Javier Calvo
• MD Seiji TACHIBANA
• -- Seito Yachimoto

• DF Tomonari Abe
• -- Satoshi Hiraku
• -- Seiya Yokoyama
• -- Jun Nishiyama

What a win

The Sat afternoon game was caught by heavy rain and lightning just after kick off and the two motivated teams were forced to wait for the restart for 20 minutes which made the game shorter than usual. The Japanese team (with a few shining Spanish talents who were previously with OG) started the game in a good mood but the French also had a good start. Both teams made some opportunities which almost resulted in goals, but the defenders were focused. The opening goal was borne by Kike in the 20th min of the first half. The goalkeeper’s feed accidently went to him and he easily put it into his previous team’s goal net. 1-0. With this goal, Nippon started to control the game and made a few opportunities in the first half, but OGS remained strong and didn’t allow further lead. The surprise came in the 2nd half when Takaki, the goalkeeper of Nippon was forced to run out of his penalty to clear the ball. The OG player managed to reach the ball slightly earlier and redirected it to the goal. The keeper couldn’t stop touching it with his hand which led the ref to give a red card and send him off. OG fired a clever free kick right after this and equalized. 1-1 With 10 men left on the pitch, Nippon had to work even harder, but the team didn’t put their face down and reacted very well. In 10 minutes or so, Nara delivered a lovely through pass to Kike and he buried it into the side net. 2-1 OG also showed their pride and created so many threats after this goal and one of them managed to go through in the 20 min. They broke through from the left side and sent a beautiful pass to the running forward in the right side who easily directed it into the net. 2-2 This was a tough situation for Nippon as they were very much tired after fighting with 10 men and OG leveraged their power and height to crack into the vital area. The 2nd keeper (who usually plays defender) was forced to deal with balls in the air and it was actually frightening to see all of this… However, Nippon never gave up to win the game and in the very last minute, Nara, made a lovely turn in the penalty area after receiving a direct pass from Satoshi and won the goalkeeper to score the 3rd goal. 3-2 The team felt the last few minutes endless, but in the end, the ref blew the whistle and that was it. Well done to the team and OG for the great game.

• Fauzy Johari GK
• Lucas Diermaye DF
• Andrey Akselrod DF
• Francois Bazin MD
• Wissam Adli MD
• Mohamad shafiq bin mahamad khalit MD
• Dante Marramiero MD
• Ghassen Chniti MD
• Jean-Baptiste (JB) Bois MD
• Dani Pardon ST
• Rodrigo Agundez ST

• Christophe Aprile GK
• Dimitri Janoray DF
• Victor Papin DF
• Baptiste Guichard ST
• Anatole Rousseau ST

Thunder and Lightnings!!!!

Like 2 boxers in the ring ready to fight, this 3pm fixture announced a challenging boxing game. Thunder and lightings delayed the kick off- and shortened the full game by a good 20 min. OGS started strong controlling the ball and creating 4 chances we couldn’t convert. As usual in this type of game, a tiny mistake leads to immediate consequences seeing Nippons punishing us straight away. 1-0 Nippon at half time!!!! OGS came back in the second half with a strong fighting spirit, ready to battle and equalize. A one-on-one situation saw Dante header stopped by the Nippon keeper outside the box. Red card and free kick!!!! Dani took his responsibilities and converted a nice ball on the bottom corner. To take advance of the situation, 4 changes were done straight from OGS side. Like a boxing game, both teams were striking blows at each other. The game became very tense after few litigious offside positions on both sides and a dangerous tackle from a Nippon player that could have seen a different decision. Nippon scored a second goal, shortly answered back by Dani’s equalizer after a great pass from JB. 2-2 and few minutes to play. At 10 vs 11, the valiant Nippon team kept composed and proceeded with counter attacks. They eventually managed to score the 3rd after a beautiful play. 3-2!!!! OGS kept pushing till the end putting pressure on Nippon defense. The final bell announced the end of the game and left OGS with frustration. Congratulations to Nippon for a well contested game. MOM Nippon: Kike MOM OGS: Dani