ERMIS FC youth team enters the Man’s Championship and succeeds!
In a nutshell:
ERMIS FC’s Presidium, together with the coaches’ team, decided to enter the official Man’s Amateur Championship; but instead of doing it with a man’s team, they decided to participate with its youth team (writing headlines throughout Greece, as the only football academy to be daring such a feat).
The age range of Ermis FC’s youth team players varies between 14 to 16 years (the team’s average age is 15.5)!
That means that the youngsters will have to go up against experienced players that are 22, 28 or even 35 years old. Anyone who has, at least, the slightest idea of (European) football knows that the difference gap is enormous (i.e. the body of the youngsters is still growing).
Ermis FC’s first Official Game - Entering the Championship:
Pre-Game:
Today (October 08, 2017) the youngsters' team entered the Man’s Championship by playing their first game against the team of St. Theodore.
First, Ermis FC’s youth team had to travel for about one and a half hour (!) to get to St. Theodore.
Travel distances like that are considered the norm in a Man’s Championship (we will add: welcome to the Man’s World guys!)
Moreover, the football team of St. Theodore is considered one of the most experienced teams in the Amateur Championship.
Furthermore, St. Theodore’s “home” is known as one of the toughest “homes” in all of the Championships to crack; as a matter of fact, their home is the place were St. Theodore is winning (almost) all games!
Throw into it, the “parameter” of their fans and you pretty much entered the pits of football hell!
The Game:
With the exception of Ermis FC’s Football academies, everyone else that is involved in football affairs considered that it would not only be an easy win for St. Theodore’s team but also that St. Theodore would dominate all aspects of the game.
However (!!!) the exact opposite occurred inside the football field!
The youngsters of Ermis FC’s football team did not only step up to the occasion but they faced their opponents in a “mano o mano” style.
Before the game, anyone who would look at the teams would see (from the perspective of looks) on the one side men and on the other side some youngsters; giants versus hobbits.
But football is not about looks and heights (otherwise, we would not be privileged to witness the likes of a Messi, Marcelo, Xavi etc.).
The First half:
The youngsters of Ermis FC’s team did completely dominate the first half. Keeping the ball down, with an enormous passing game and the speed of executing everything, they literally destroyed their opponents.
What is more, even though the youngsters were (much) shorter, in contrast to their opponents, they went into every dual with all they had… and the youngsters won most of them as well!
An example that depicts this fact, is when one of Ermis FC’s player (just turned 14 years) took down his opponent like a possessed demon (a hobbit taking down a guy that is almost 2 meters tall!).
What is more, Ermis FC’s team was the team that had all the chances to score 2 or even 3 goals!
Finally, with a barrage of non-stop attacks the youngsters were able to score the opening goal…
Half-time: 0 – 1 for Ermis FC’s team.
The Second Half:
In the second half, the game moved from the area of football towards the area of Wrestling!
Here is the reason why: St. Theodore man’s team could not accept hobbits dominating their home… and topping everything of, the youngsters were practically teaching them what contemporary football stands for.
And at this point you may wonder: OK, but what about the referees?!
Well guys, usually when underdogs are facing the top teams of the championship, especially in their homes, the referees are “supporting them a bit” …
Additionally, the fans of St. George went ballistic against the youngsters of Ermis FC’s players!
Obviously, inexperience took the upper hand of Ermis FC’s players (that was their first official game in the Man’s Championship… enormous difference from youth championships), and for roughly 20 minutes they were trying to cope with the situation… enough time for the team of St. Theodore to take the upper hand and to score 2 goals.
So how did the youngsters react to all of that?
They did what they can do best… playing high calibre football and continued from where they left in the first half.
From minute 67 onwards, Ermis FC’s team regained the upper hand and ST. Theodore’s team was in serious trouble!
The only way for St. Theodore’s team to stop them was to foul Ermis FC’s youngsters… again, and again, and again…!
But Ermis FC’s football philosophy is to never give up, to never give in and to always push forward!
And that is exactly what Ermis FC’s youngsters did!
They attacked constantly, they retained ball possession, they speeded up their game play, they entered the duels harder… and they stopped giving a damn about St. Theodore’s fans.
Finally, at minute 88, in one of Ermis FC’s attacks, Ermis FC’s number 10 (located inside the 16 meters area), when he was about to shoot he was double-tackled by two of St. Theodore’s players… and still he managed to shoot!
The ball was intercepted by another player of St. Theodore's team with his hands!!!
So, we are confronted with a case of a double penalty kick (unfortunately, in football you get only one penalty kick)!
And how did the youngsters react when the team received the penalty kick?
By sending the ball to the upper right corner and leaving the goalkeeper unable to react!
Final score:
St. Theodore (Green/black colour) – Ermis FC 2 – 2 (Blue colour)
After the game:
Once the game ended, what surprised the youngsters was the fact that the opponent players came to them… congratulated them for their amazing football… and shook their hands, a sign showing that the youngsters managed to gain their respect!
To top that off, the fans of St. Theodore stood up and clapped their hands when our youngsters exited the field!
Overjoyed with emotions, the youngsters thanked St. Theodore’s team and their fans… and were proud to have entered the Man’s World in such a spectacular way!
On that day, the boys of Ermis FC… became respectful men!
Ermis FC’s Line up and Team:
ALPAKIS, MALAMOULIS, TSOGKAS, KAMMENOS, TSOUKALAS (88’ AFENTITSAS), AKRIVOPOULOS, POULIANAS, KANOUTAS, MAGALIOS (67’ MPOUKOROS), KIOURETIS (51’ PAPADOPOULOS), PINIARIS.
Ermis FC’s Scorers:
PINIARIS (44’) and AKRIVOPOULOS (89’).
Coach: Bratsos Dimitrios
Assistants: Bouboukis Dimitrios and Dakis Alexandros
Director of Ermis FC: Sapounas Chronis
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