Orchid Park, Yishun - After 5 weeks of international break representing various unknown countries, TeamCuzz came back to play together for the first time to notch a hardly-fought 4-3 victory over Andrastos. The see-saw affair swayed in TeamCuzz's favour 5 minutes from the end, allowing them to record their 7th consecutive victory. This means that TeamCuzz has improved their all-time record of the number of consecutive victories.
TeamCuzz had plans to parade their newly-sponsored Adidas jerseys before the game, but unforseen circumstances caused it to be delayed. The jerseys will be officially paraded in 3 weeks time, when TeamCuzz face Blue Oysters in what seems like a top-of-the-table clash. It was perhaps a good time then that the new jerseys weren't worn for the Andrastos match as TeamCuzz were far from their footballing best.
TeamCuzz started the game a man short, but they were always in control in the opening minutes to use that as an excuse for the narrow scoreline. With a mind on scoring goals to improve TeamCuzz's flailing goal difference, the Manager compromised the defence by naming an attacking front 4 - pacey Haikal & Amirul on the wings and Joseph & Hafizuddin playing together for the first time. However, misplaced passes and missed gilt-edge chances were the order of the day as TeamCuzz found it tough to resume the form they had a month back. It could also have been influenced by TeamCuzz's mindset that they could easily wallop a team at the opposite end of the table.
The tempo of the match was largely determined by the central players, with midfield duo Hyder & Imran doing a scrappy-yet-effective-closing-down job to prevent their opposite numbers from spraying quality passes. The midfield battle kept the scoreline at bay for a large part of the half. The scoreline finally changed after Captain Shahrudin's introduction. With a touch of class, he put Haikal through and the winger did not dissappoint, finishing calmly into the bottom corner. The Captain then earned and scored the 2nd from the penalty spot, after he was unfairly fouled while running at full speed. TeamCuzz's healthy lead looked highly unlikely to be threatened, especially with Shahrudin putting up a MoTM display.
TeamCuzz continued where they left off, but an air of complacency seemed to be creeping into their play. Andrastos made them pay with a rather lucky goal, thanks to the official. Having clearly asked for a wall, the left winger then just struck the ball without the referee's whistle. It was deflected in via the right foot of TeamCuzz's left fullback. All appeals were refuted by the referee, claiming he knows the rules all too well (for you information, when you ask for a wall, play can ONLY be resumed after the refreee has blown his whistle; such circumstance warrants a Ceremonial Freekick, not a Quick Freekick, which the referee allowed).
Although some of TeamCuzz players were feeling the pressure, such an effect could not be said to have occurred on Shahrudin. From the corner flag, the attacking midfielder aimed and scored at the near post with sublime accuracy. It certainly caught all other players offguard, including those of TeamCuzz. Andrastos didn't back down and continued to push forward. In the very next attack, their menacing left winger threatened yet again, cutting in-field before letting fly from outside the area beyond the outstretched arms of TeamCuzz's custodian. They then scored again to level the score, with suspicions of offside.
Feeling the pressure of lost points, TeamCuzz became determined to secure another goal. They responded with their most attacking quartet yet, and that proved critical in changing the outcome of the game. Their pressure finally paid off 5 minutes from the end, when Shahrudin found Imran with a low cross corner-kick. The central midfielder, parading his new Nike boots, strike the ball cleanly with his left foot and it crept in below the goalie's body.
Upon being interviewed by TeamCuzz.com, an anonymous TeamCuzz player had this to say - "A hardly-fought match that was certainly worth watching, unless you are not a TeamCuzz fan. TeamCuzz should be very proud of their fighting spirit and their ability to notch goals when it really mattered. However, much needs to be learned from this match, especially how 'rusty' the players were and how easily broken down they could be. That aura of invincibility (if it ever existed) has vapourized into thin air. Complacency must also be quashed to ensure a more convincing win for a more comfortable title run-in. Most importantly, TeamCuzz needs to learn to regain their composure that has allowed them to be fully focused on football, rather than be distracted by unimportant portions of the game (i.e. the influence of the referee)."
The last point is certainly something which all TeamCuzz players need to pay particular attention to, considering that they will be facing the same team which saw them lose their match (and temper) rather disgracefully. It must be tackled in the next few days, to prove that TeamCuzz's change in footballing attitude is here to stay. For the sake of TeamCuzz's bruised pride. For the sake of TeamCuzz's precious points. For the sake of TeamCuzz's title shot. And most importantly, for the sake of bearing the "1919" figure on TeamCuzz's black polo-T on 17 October.
TeamCuzz had plans to parade their newly-sponsored Adidas jerseys before the game, but unforseen circumstances caused it to be delayed. The jerseys will be officially paraded in 3 weeks time, when TeamCuzz face Blue Oysters in what seems like a top-of-the-table clash. It was perhaps a good time then that the new jerseys weren't worn for the Andrastos match as TeamCuzz were far from their footballing best.
TeamCuzz started the game a man short, but they were always in control in the opening minutes to use that as an excuse for the narrow scoreline. With a mind on scoring goals to improve TeamCuzz's flailing goal difference, the Manager compromised the defence by naming an attacking front 4 - pacey Haikal & Amirul on the wings and Joseph & Hafizuddin playing together for the first time. However, misplaced passes and missed gilt-edge chances were the order of the day as TeamCuzz found it tough to resume the form they had a month back. It could also have been influenced by TeamCuzz's mindset that they could easily wallop a team at the opposite end of the table.
The tempo of the match was largely determined by the central players, with midfield duo Hyder & Imran doing a scrappy-yet-effective-closing-down job to prevent their opposite numbers from spraying quality passes. The midfield battle kept the scoreline at bay for a large part of the half. The scoreline finally changed after Captain Shahrudin's introduction. With a touch of class, he put Haikal through and the winger did not dissappoint, finishing calmly into the bottom corner. The Captain then earned and scored the 2nd from the penalty spot, after he was unfairly fouled while running at full speed. TeamCuzz's healthy lead looked highly unlikely to be threatened, especially with Shahrudin putting up a MoTM display.
TeamCuzz continued where they left off, but an air of complacency seemed to be creeping into their play. Andrastos made them pay with a rather lucky goal, thanks to the official. Having clearly asked for a wall, the left winger then just struck the ball without the referee's whistle. It was deflected in via the right foot of TeamCuzz's left fullback. All appeals were refuted by the referee, claiming he knows the rules all too well (for you information, when you ask for a wall, play can ONLY be resumed after the refreee has blown his whistle; such circumstance warrants a Ceremonial Freekick, not a Quick Freekick, which the referee allowed).
Although some of TeamCuzz players were feeling the pressure, such an effect could not be said to have occurred on Shahrudin. From the corner flag, the attacking midfielder aimed and scored at the near post with sublime accuracy. It certainly caught all other players offguard, including those of TeamCuzz. Andrastos didn't back down and continued to push forward. In the very next attack, their menacing left winger threatened yet again, cutting in-field before letting fly from outside the area beyond the outstretched arms of TeamCuzz's custodian. They then scored again to level the score, with suspicions of offside.
Feeling the pressure of lost points, TeamCuzz became determined to secure another goal. They responded with their most attacking quartet yet, and that proved critical in changing the outcome of the game. Their pressure finally paid off 5 minutes from the end, when Shahrudin found Imran with a low cross corner-kick. The central midfielder, parading his new Nike boots, strike the ball cleanly with his left foot and it crept in below the goalie's body.
Upon being interviewed by TeamCuzz.com, an anonymous TeamCuzz player had this to say - "A hardly-fought match that was certainly worth watching, unless you are not a TeamCuzz fan. TeamCuzz should be very proud of their fighting spirit and their ability to notch goals when it really mattered. However, much needs to be learned from this match, especially how 'rusty' the players were and how easily broken down they could be. That aura of invincibility (if it ever existed) has vapourized into thin air. Complacency must also be quashed to ensure a more convincing win for a more comfortable title run-in. Most importantly, TeamCuzz needs to learn to regain their composure that has allowed them to be fully focused on football, rather than be distracted by unimportant portions of the game (i.e. the influence of the referee)."
The last point is certainly something which all TeamCuzz players need to pay particular attention to, considering that they will be facing the same team which saw them lose their match (and temper) rather disgracefully. It must be tackled in the next few days, to prove that TeamCuzz's change in footballing attitude is here to stay. For the sake of TeamCuzz's bruised pride. For the sake of TeamCuzz's precious points. For the sake of TeamCuzz's title shot. And most importantly, for the sake of bearing the "1919" figure on TeamCuzz's black polo-T on 17 October.
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