Kozo Japan causes major meltdown in Barbarian defense as Japanese offensive tsunami sweeps in to score two late goals for 3-3 end result.

 On Saturday 28^th of May, at Lido park the Beijing Barbarians were scheduled to play Kozo Japan, with a victory for the Barbarians meaning an improvement of one position in the league table. Incidentally, this was also going to be star-player Dary Stone's last game for the team, after a blistering season with 'ueber'- dimensional performances throughout (13Games/10Goals). This game also saw the return of Captain Mo and French Tim back in the lineup who had been out due to injury.

The game started out well for the Barbars, when after a few minutes Henri managed to finish off a quality move with a crisp shot past the keeper to put the team into the lead.

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Only a couple minutes had passed before Henri struck again with a lethal shot into the back of the net to increase the score to 2-0.

That was the result at halftime. Even with the lead, Manager Bradbury was less then satisfied, suggesting in an explicit-laden rant that despite the result the players' performance was below par and had to improve in order to secure the 3 points. He saved his most scathing criticism for his defensive rock Keith who he urged to stop abusing the referee.

The second half quickly showed how appropriate the Manager's analysis had been, as the Japanese managed to cause a meltdown in the Barbarians defense. Somehow, after a scramble in the box a Japanese player got a foot on the ball and squeezed it over the line to reduce the gap to 2-1. This turn in events woke up the Barbars who almost immediately restored the 2 goal lead through another wonderful goal by Henri, who proved himself again as a valuable member of the squad, when well rested, on time and present.

Sadly, this lead was not preserved until the end as the Japanese scored two quick goals in succession in the dying moments of the game. Another two massive meltdowns of nuclear dimensions in the Barbarians goal mouth left the goalkeeper exposed and without a chance. 3-3 was the result at the whistle and the 1 point taken from the game felt like another missed opportunity and as just not enough.

A special mention needs to go to Pepe, Bolivian Edu and Ecuadorian David who have brought grit, determination and passion blended with some much needed Latin flair to the team. Also a massive thanks to the WAGs (Miss Chairman, Miss Kevin, Miss Tim) who came out to support their hubbies. Cheers also to Chairman Kenny and KungFu Alex, who although unavailable to play supported the team from the sidelines. Finally, thank you to Tomasz, our polish defensive block who came straight from playing 90 minutes with the Barbarian B team to help out with the A squad. Perhaps the couple of beers in-between games did the trick.

The Beijing Barbarians will be playing their final game of the season next week against the 'Blackshirts' Azzurri. Although the Azzurri FC do wear black kits and are of Italian descent, they should not be confused with Mussolini's Fascist paramilitary groups who used violence and intimidation to achieve their goals. Although none of the Azzurri FC players are probably, almost certainly, maybe, conceivably not Fascists, they will probably try to apply the same modus operandi of the Blackshirts onto the pitch, mixed with some skillful diving, whining and play acting.