Beijing’s best football club!

After several weeks where we could not catch a break, everything bounced our way in Week 6. Two solid victories, 3-1 against France and 4-0 against Devils, give us 16 points from 12 matches. With Tacataca at 3 points (and apparently not even showing up in the final weeks) and Devils at 9 points, we will avoid regulation and remain in Division 2 for the first season of 2009 next spring. Well done, boys! Let’s grab another 6 next week and finish the season on a high note.

Lineup: Andrey, Aubrey, Bujar, Dave, Dirk, Jemal, Keith

Week 4 was a disaster. First up was Afrika Reds. A fast-paced first half ended with the score tied 3-3, but we couldn’t keep up in the second half and let them run up the score for a final of 10-4. After that was Russia, and a similar scenario played out: tied 2-2 at halftime, but we were too tired to run back on defense in the second half. Final score was 8-2.

In Week 5 we were down to sixth place and faced the top two teams in division, Azzurri and Afrika Reds. In the Azzurri match we scored first and went in to halftime tied at 1-1, then pulled away in the second half and held on for the 4-2 victory. In our rematch against Afrika Reds, we played much better than in our previous meeting but simply couldn’t keep up with their fast pace. Final score 6-2, with most of the damage again coming in the second half.

After a tough two weeks we find ourselves at the top of the bottom half of the division, a good 11 points behind fourth-place Azzurri but just one point above sixth-place France. In our final four matches we will face all three teams below us in the table, so at least we control our own fate. And our lineup has gotten stronger every week, with Tony from the All-Stars’ 11s side debuting in Week 4 and Dirk returning after a six-month absence in Week 5. Let’s go Barbars!

Week 4 lineup: Adam, Andrey, Bujar, Dave, Jemal, Sean, Tony

Week 5 lineup: Andrey, Bujar, Dave, Jemal, Keith, Spiros, Dirk

Only one point in Week 3, after a 4-2 loss to Sporting de Mahou and a tough 2-2 tie against Russia, but it was our best performance of the season by far. If we keep playing at this level, the goals and the points will come. Keith was out for a week, and Spiros did a great job filling in as goalkeeper.

This week was notable for the diversity of players. We had seven men from seven different countries: Albania, England, Germany, Greece (by way of Belgium), Lybia, Russia, and the United States. The Beijing Barbarians–truly “The United Nations of Football” in Beijing!

Lineup: Adam, Andrey, Bujar, Dave, Jemal, Spiros, Tobias

In Week 1 our inability to field a full team led to two losses; in Week 2 we had plenty of players, and it was our opponents’ shortage of manpower that helped us cruise to two victories.

On the first chilly football evening of the fall, we faced the Devils, who only had four men for most of the first half. We quickly built up a 3-0 lead, then let down our guard and let them back into the match with two quick goals. In the final minutes both teams put up a goal, giving us the 4-3 win.

The second match of the night was a quite a bit easier–Tacataca didn’t show up, so we took the three points and played a friendly.

We head into this week at fifth in the division. With matches against Sporting de Mahou and Russia, currently third and fourth place respectively, we have a great opportunity to put ourselves right back among the division leaders.

Lineup: Adam, Andrey, Aubrey, Dave, Jemal, Keith, Michael, Nega, Spiros

It was a poor start for the Barbarians All-Stars in the first week of ClubFootball’s final 5-a-side tournament of 2008. With two key players pulling out at the last minute and one no-show (that would be you, Adam), we were left with just 4 players at kickoff. Fortunately, at the last minute we were able to get Nega (who plays 11s with Afrika Utd. but isn’t currently in the CF league) to come over from the Side Park 11s pitch and fill in at forward.

With the odds stacked against us, we put together two solid performances. In both matches, we kept the score low and created quite a few opportunities on goal but simply couldn’t get any breaks. In the end we lost 2-0 to France and 3-1 to Azzurri.

Lineup: Andrey, Bujar, Dave, Keith, Nega

This week we were without Keith in goals, and it showed. We made several silly defensive mistakes in the first half, putting ourselves in a 4-0 hole. Despite getting the attack going in the second half, the mistakes continued and we ended up losing 7-3 to Russia.

For the shortened season, we finished with 9 points, good for sixth place overall in Division 2. There are no matches this week due to the holidays, but the new season will start next Thursday, October 9. More details to follow soon.

Special thanks to Ben for showing up and helping out!

Lineup: Adam, Aubrey, Ben, Bujar, Dave, Michael

Coming into this week’s games, we were in serious danger of relegation, after losing 4-2 to Afrika Reds and 6-2 to Napolimania in Week 2. Fatigue was a factor in both losses, as we started with just five men and, depsite a sixth player showing up in the middle of the first match, never really had the legs to keep up with our opponents. It could have been worse, but we got a lot of help up front from new guy Aubrey.

This Thursday we ended up playing France only; Sinocamps.com, who appear to have given up on this season, forfeited the second match. The French pressured us from the beginning, but we made the most of our opportunities and found ourselves up 2-1 at the half. In the second half, our defense fell apart somewhat, and we were saved many times by Keith’s efforts in goal, as well as by two France shots off the post. Having seven men (including new guy Michael) helped a lot, though, and in the end we held on for the 2-1 victory.

The 6 points we earned this week gives us 9 heading into the final week against Russia. With Oguzkhan below us at 3, we will definitely avoid relegation. There’s still plenty to play for, though: A win against Russia (currently at 9 points as well) will put us in fifth place for the season, and with France and Afrika Reds both at 10 points, some favorable results in the other matches could push us even higher.  

Week 2 lineup: Adam, Aubrey, Dave, Jemal, Keith, Spiros

Week 3 lineup: Adam, Aubrey, Bujar, Dave, Keith, Michael, Spiros

The early autumn season got started last Thursday. Because of the Olympics in August, this season has been shortened to just four weeks, and we’ll only get one chance at each team. In our first week we played two very familiar opponents: Oguzkhan and Dulwich Lions.

Oguzkhan was first, and they appeared to be missing some of the young, fast, and skilled players that have given us trouble in past encounters. A lucky deflection early on put us up 1-0, and we never looked back, cruising to a 5-2 victory that was never really in doubt.

Dulwich is one of the older 5s teams in the league, and we have faced them on many occassions, though not as much in 2008, when we sank to Division 3 and they rose to Division 1. This time we met in Division 2, and they were strong. We played well but didn’t have the lungs or the legs to keep up. After we went down 2-0 in the second half, we made a push to come back but only made things worse. Final score, 5-0, Dulwich.

Overall, a decent start for the Barbars. For the next week’s matches we should have a few more bodies, now that both 5s and 11s seasons are underway.

Lineup: Adam, Bujar, Dave, Keith, Sean, Spiros

There comes a time in every great club when a key decision needs to be made. As Chairman, I want to get everybody’s thoughts on this immediately, as it could alter our existence in a number of ways. The topic of discussion for this post is “Training vs 5-a-side“. Over the last couple of weeks we’ve had very enjoyable training sessions down at Xiaowuji on a Wednesday evening. The weather has been nice and at the beginning of the season numbers are always high. And there has been no 5-a-side. This week, however, ClubFootball is kicking off a new round of 5s which sees both the As and Bs compete…on different days.  So, the question is, do we want to have both training and 5s midweek? If yes, what day would be best for training? If no, do we drop training or do we kick 5s into touch? What are the benefits of regular training and how does that compare to the benefits of our club playing 5-a-side? What would happen if training became compulsory and we kept 5s alive through a combination of A and Bs?

These are all important questions and it’s something the management have discussed time and time again. I now open the floor to you all to share your thoughts on the idea. Training obviously has its benefits but are the benefits great enough to sacrifice 5s and are you guys committed enough to want to train when it’s minus 10 degrees outside?  Or simply put, do you just prefer playing 5s?

 I look forward to your comments.

Cheers,

the Chairman

I missed our matches last Thursday (July 31), so this week’s report comes courtesy of Keith: 

Having rained a bit earlier in the afternoon it made conditions difficult and we played alright with ever really finding our stride. 

In the first game we exerted most of the pressure, and whilst we did have some chances we didn’t carve out enough clear openings, nor did we get enough of the speculative shots on target. They got a break on one occasion just outside the area and we found ourselves chasing the game.

A second came through openings that we left in pressing forward and a third due to a slip at the death.

In the second game, we also went behind but even though we were not really firing we still emerged with the win - strength in depth being the key to that one, with the differences telling when they had to field their weaker players.

For the final game, it was a similar story to game #1 - the teams were well matched but our errors cost us and we couldn’t make enough openings or be clinical enough at the other end. Anyway, three tough teams and close matches - on another day and with a little more luck, things might’ve been different.

Overall, the Barbarians put in a pretty solid performance, finishing sixth out of 32 teams in tournament.

Other notes:

• Lineup: Andrew, Jemal, Keith, Marcus, Sean, Striker Dan, Will and Gordon (welcome, Gordon!)
• According to the ClubFootball site, the next season of matches won’t be in August like last year but will instead start on September 1.