A loss that earned pats on the back

"We didn't lose the game - it was a moral victory." This statement by Lebowski player Cesar Libanati summed well the confront between his team and table leaders Celtics for the sixth round of the Conejo Valley Fall Championship. Although the mighty Celtics beat the green-and-yellow squad by 5 x 2, Cesar and his mates earned pats on their backs for putting an outstanding fight - and came just short of a draw at the end of the game.

Although it's clear that the Celtics are head and shoulders above the other teams - both in terms of playing skills as well as in tactical excellence -, Lebowski upped the fight and managed two important feats. First, it is the team that conceded the least number of goals to Celtics - and this may well make a difference for the final classification at the end of the season. Second, Lebowski is the only team to score more goals than Celtics in a half-game, as it "won" the second half by 2 x 1, thanks to goals by Ogo Egbuna and Dan Litts.

The night, however, started in stinky manner - quite literally. The Borchard Community Park administration decided to make the best possible benefit of the previous week's rains - which had been so strong that caused the postponement of the previous round of the league - and applied a very generous layer of manure to the fields. Needless to say, five days after this shitty job the stench of partially decomposed fecal matter was still hovering above the pitch, making the appeal of playing soccer at the BCP a little less palatable than usual. Complains by the payers and drones of supporters that converged to the stadia turned into screams of horror in the very first minute of the preliminary game, when a FS Blue Lightning play fell face-first onto the ground - burying his eyes, nose and mouth in one and a half inch plaster of chicken and cow doo-doo.

Besides the unsanitary conditions of the field, Lebowski was further handicapped by starting the game with no replacements, but to everybody's relief Cesar and Ogo arrived just a few minutes after the kick-off. Regardless of such problems, Lebowski initiated the game in great form. With a well-structured formation - with four men in a compact, planted defense that was also supported by midfielders Ricardo Dent and Paul Klekotka - the Achievers managed to completely neutralize Celtics for the first ten minutes of the match. In fact, so good was the performance of the green-and-yellow army that Celtic attackers voiced his astonishment declaring "I didn't know these guys played this well!"

With time, though, the greater technical skills of the Celtics players - who were red jerseys in the match to distinguish themselves from the Lebowski colors - begun to prevail. In a brilliant attack by the right, a Celtics player passed by no less than three Lebowski men and finished with a strong kick to open the score. Lebowski continued to hold well for a few more minutes, but then fell over its own desires to push to the attack, and opened the midfield. This fragilized the team's positioning, and the Celtics came to a second goal when five of its players overcame a Lebowski defending line made up by only two men (who fell lonely and unloved in that moment).

Lebowski recomposed the midfield and was able to even the playing field again, but the final eight minutes of the first match were very unfortunate to the Achievers - as the team conceded two goals in rather unlucky circumstances. First, Sal saved a goal as the ball was zooming to the net, but the rebound hit the back of Cesar's neck and was left over to a Celtics female player to touch it and score. A similar unfortunate moment happened shortly later - when an opportunistic Celtics attacker kicked another rebound to the goal; he missed the aim, but the ball deviated in a Lebowski defender and brought the score to 4 x 0. This ended the first half, and such a dilated score by no means indicated how tightly fought the game had been; Celtics' superiority was marginal, and not as widen as these numbers may seem.

The last twenty-five minutes begun as the first had, with Lebowski able to dice face-to-face with the leading team in the league. But just as real scoring opportunities for Lebowski begun to follow one another - with Adam Shaywitz close to scoring at least two goals - once again bad luck struck the Achievers, and in a very unfortunate moment by Ogo the Celtics were able to get a fifth goal.

In spite of such undeserved score, the warring spirit of the brave men in green-and-yellow armor never ceased to fight - and the results began to appear. Sal, with a long pass, launched Dan Litts on the left of the field. The ball was quickly passed to Ogo, who finished it to the net: 5 x 1. Minutes later Dan infiltrated the Celtics defense after a play initiated by Ricardo Dent and scored Lebowski's second goal in the game.

Mr. Litts, in fact, was in a wonderful night - and would have registered the team's third goal with a beautiful header if the referee had not invalidated it, calling a foul by Cesar well off the play. The Celtics seemed stunned with Lebowski's ante and stamina, and were lucky not to have suffered goals from the feet of Brian Stone and Paul at the end of the game.

When the referee called the match to a close the score indicated Celtics 5 x 2 Lebowski - and, despite such negative numbers, the Achievers had several reasons to be happy. They had faced the best team of the league eye-to-eye and put a valiant fight, despite being unable to count with four key players due to injury or sickness. They had been, quite probably, the toughest opponent Celtics encountered, and in long stretches of the match managed to get the upper hand on it. They demonstrated tactical evolution, particularly with the tightening of the midfield and its connection to the defense. And, most importantly, they showed fighting spirit and dedication - not relenting a minute, no matter how much behind they were in a scoring table that would have been fairer if it were tightener. It may sound strange to say "congratulations" after a defeat, but is a very fitting word after what the Lebowskis showed on last Tuesday's game. Lebowski FC is in an upswing, and many greater things may be expected from it at the last four rounds of the season.

PS: Cesar's remark to a "moral victory" was a pull-of-leg on Sal. The 1978 World Cup, played in Argentina, was own by the home team. Brazil finished the competition in third place but the team's coach, the late Cláudio Coutinho, called the Canaries the "moral champions". That was a hint both to a supposed technical superiority of the Brazilian team as well as to allegations that the Argentineans had bribed the Peruvian team in the semi-finals. The expression "moral champion" has entered the soccer lexicon since, being used sometimes in praising manner, sometimes in sarcastic ways...