The MFL contains a number of oddities - players who don't age, every club playing in a stadium called "The Metastadium," and....days where a club plays two games. MFC Judge had the pleasure of experiencing all three oddities today, as they had not one, but two preseason tournament matchups. While neither match ended with a loss, neither ended in a win - with both ending in 1-1 draws.
In the day's morning matchup, MFC Judge faced off against Medellín Marauders. Despite giving up the first goal in the 19th minute to Czech striker Karel Kantor, MFC Judge would go into the halftime break with the score level thanks to a 33rd minute strike from Guy Sanderson. As is becoming the norm, that strike was assisted by Jean-Claude Schoeters. Unfortunately in the second half, the honors were once again even with both sides failing to score. MFC Judge had a number of good chances, but could not get the ball over the line.
The afternoon matchup was a battle between MFC Judge and Nigerian outfit Lagos MFC. It was a gritty affair, with keeper Matko Bralić being forced into several big saves for MFC Judge. Just before half, in the 43rd minute, winger Elmar Jacobs scored a stunner for MFC Judge to put good guys up 1-0 at the break.
A series of questionable referring decisions changed the flow of the match in the second half, however. Midfield maestro Jean Claude-Schoeters, who has been a key cog for the club throughout the pre-season tournament, was shown his first yellow for a challenge in the 60th minute. Just two minutes later Schoeters was shown his second yellow. The referee - who rumors say is the younger brother of Bozo the Clown - was reportedly upset by the fact that his wife planned on leaving him for Schoeters after the match. Just three minutes after Schoeters was unjustifiably sent off by a famed clown's relative, Lagos equalized when speedy Italian striker Aniello Torrisi knocked one in. As in the first half, Matko Bralić kept MFC Judge in the game with a series of amazing stops.
After the days' games were over, manager Pieter van der Linden had this to say:
"I have mixed emotions now. I am proud of the grit the boys displayed across both matches, but I am disappointed in the results. We were facing tough opponents, but we did not create enough chances. And we were not clinical enough with the chances we did create. We need to do better if we want to reach the heights DG Gavelers expect of us. We need to do more to reach our goal of bringing a trophy back to Deventer. That's what I told the boys after each match and that's what I expect to see the next time we're back on the pitch."
With the first three gaes of group play in the books, here's how things look for MFC Judge:
As is the case in the metaverse, MFC Judge has little time to dwell on today's results. Indeed, their journey through group play continues tomorrow afternoon against Canadian side Montréal Forest. While Forest sits at the bottom of Group 4 after losing their first two matches, tomorrow's clash is not one MFC Judge can look past. Indeed, Forest finished Alpha 0.2 firmly in fourth place in League 8 of the Bronze Division.
It promises to be an exciting battle, so make sure to tune in!
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