The Franklin Match: First Half Delight

Three hours later, you stand ready in your half, eagerly awaiting the ref’s whistle for kickoff. Your opponents start in possession. They pass the ball fluidly in their half, taking short and accurate passes. Their players hardly move, almost like it’s a warm-up drill. But as Jack and Daphne run up, ready to contest the ball, their whole team lurches into motion, pressing forward.

You quickly move to mark an attacking midfielder, still getting a feel for their formation. They continue pushing up as a unit. Katie and Khloe’s attempts to dispossess them are countered by passes back—but they’re not far passes back. Their back line has pushed up with the rest of the team, allowing this short passing strategy to remain surprisingly nimble. With practically all players crowded into your half now, it’s a game of defense.

But though they dominate possession in the early minutes of the game, keeping you hemmed into your half of the pitch, you’re not flustered. Just the opposite, in fact. This is exactly the formation you saw in the tapes you reviewed with Daphne. This team likes to play a certain style, and you’ve practiced how to beat them at their game.

The big chance comes about halfway into the first half. Jason wins a ball with some fancy footwork, but seeing his forward options closed off by their midfield, he passes the ball backwards to you. You watch as their entire team pushes up more, seizing space where they can take it, and that’s when you launch the ball long. Daphne and Jack are both ready for it. They sprint ahead, beating out the surprised defenders who struggle to pivot and chase after them. With a deft move from her ample chest, Daphne controls the ball, taking two touches before she’s almost at the box, the keeper sprinting out in a last ditch attempt at defense. He’s large, low to the ground, ready to dive whichever way the ball goes. Daphne chips the ball high, and you struggle to hold in laughter as you watch the goalie throw his hands up in desperation. He’s tall, but not ten feet tall. The ball arcs neatly over him and rolls into the goal.

“Dude, what a magnificent pass,” Charlie says, giving you a hard thump on the back.

“Just like we practiced,” you grin, clapping him back on the shoulder.

You and Daphne share a quick hug, the smile on your Japanese captain’s face proving infectious. 1-0 up, this is already going better than you could have planned.

But there’s not much time to celebrate. The match starts up again. Already, your opponents are playing with more caution. Having been tricked once, their back three sit further back, no longer taking every chance possible to press forward. But this comes at a cost. With more space to play with, it becomes easier for your team to attack. A pass out from Keegan gets to Valentine, who dribbles past a midfielder to find a nice pass to Khloe. Jack makes a run out to the left, close to the touchline, wide open. Another pass puts the ball to his feet. From out here, the question becomes how to get the ball back into space where somebody can take a shot, but it turns out to be irrelevant. As one of the defenders approaches, Jack fires a hard shot towards goal. It probably wasn’t on target, but that doesn’t matter—the defender reacts on instinct, sticking a leg out to block it, and it goes out for a corner.

You jog up just past the halfway line, watching as the rest of your team gets into the positions that you drilled for this corner. Daphne’s at the near post, with Katie, Khloe, and Jason scattered around the box. Javier and Jack are both in the thick of it, jostling for prime position with their center-back, while Mars is at the corner. She’s eyeing Valentine, which in turn draws attention to her; she makes a quick run in as soon as Mars kicks the ball, distracting some of your opponents, but in a split second, it becomes clear that the ball’s headed for the center of the box. Their center-back is frozen, unable to react in time, but Javier’s on it instantly. A quick flick of his head and the ball ends up in the net.

2-0, and with ten minutes left to play in the half, things are looking good. Both sides make a decent attempt at goal before half-time, but when the whistle blows, the score remains, and now it’s time for a well deserved break.