Beijing’s best football club!

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.

It was another successful week for the Barbs A team in ClubFootball’s Summer 5-a-side Cup, as we won our group for the second straight week!

This week we were pitted against Sinocamps.com, City Weekend, and Vikings. We got off to another rocky start. A controversial free kick just a few meters in front of our goal caused several minutes of arguing and scuffling. When one of the opponents put a running shoulder block against our wall, clearing the path for the goal, things only got worse. Andrew was sent off with a yellow card, as was the hothead on the other team, even though he ran after and shoved our players several times when play was stopped, shouted threats to our face, try to attack us with the water cooler, and had to be restrained multiple times by his teammates. Still, we’ve got no one to blame but ourselves for the 1-0 final result. We gave them few clean looks the rest of the game, and we wasted at least ten good goal opportunities. I’ve said it before and will say it again, guys–losing our cool and directing our anger toward the refs hurts no one but ourselves.

Fortunately, we regrouped in the second match, dominating City Weekend. After giving up a silly goal in the first minute, we regrouped, evened the scored, then piled on in the final third, as they wilted from the summer heat and the relentless Barbars attack. Final score: 5-1.

The last game was against the Vikings, who played their typical game, bringing the keeper into their attack and blasting lots of long shots. They put up a good fight, but our defense held strong, but Jemal put us ahead with a stunning goal–receiving the ball with his back to the goal about 12 yards out, breaking back and to his left to gain a sliver of space, and then blasting an off-balance shot right past their keeper. Although we had several more chances in the last few minutes, we couldn’t find the net again, but we were happy to take the 1-0 victory.

Our 6 points put us at the top of the table and into the final group of 8, which will compete for the top award next Thursday. Details available on the CF website.

Special thanks to George and Striker Dan, both of whom showed up for the first time in a while and were integral to the victory. Actually, everyone played well–no one had a perfect game, but everybody brought something to the table. I think the depth of our team is a big part of the reason we are winning these games–the opponents either have to put in weaker substitutes for part the game or let exhaust their strongest 5 by leaving them in the whole time.

Lineup: Andrew, Striker Dan, Dave, George, Jemal, Marcus, Sean, Will

The Barbs A team kicked off ClubFootball Summer 5-a-side Cup by winning its division last night. We started off poorly, though, seemingly flustered by the unfamiliar conditions at Xiaowuji: a much larger 5s pitch, poor lighting, a wet surface after the evening rain, and referee who was content to penalize us after every flop and faked cry of pain from the opponent. We scored first, but they kept the pressure on and ended up winning 2-1.

The next two games were must-wins, and that’s exactly what we did. We took care of business against the group’s weakest team with an 8-0 blowout but saved our best for the final match. We slowed down the pace, controlled the ball for long stretches, and covered well on defense. The reward came with a goal about halfway in, and we held on for the remainder and the 1-0 victory. At the end, we were one of three teams with two wins and one loss and won the group on goal difference.

According to the CF schedule, our matches next week should be on Thursday at 8pm.

Other notes:

• Three cheers for Andrew, who played in goal the last two matches and kept both opponents scoreless while remaining very active in our attack.
• Thanks to Sean for organizing the team when Dave was late to show up.
• A hearty Barbarian welcome to new player Will! Will is from the States and enjoys playing defense and midfield, wearing flats on slippery pitch, and taking long walks on the beach.
• Lineup: Andrew, Dave, Jemal, Luc, Marcus, Sean, Will

The Barbarians returned to the familiar pitches of Lido for the the first time in almost a year, having finally won promotion into the second division. The first match was a total disaster as we fell apart in the second half and ended up losing 6-0 to Napolimania. We found our rhythm in the second match, however, and trounced a clearly exhausted Sinocamps.com, 5-0. Our 3 points left us fifth out of eight teams after one week.

Lineup: Bujar, Dave, Jemal, Keith, Sean Christianos, Sean Collins

NEXT WEEK: vs. Oguzkhan and France; first match starts at 8pm.

(More photos at the bottom!)

After languishing in Division 3 for far too long, the A team’s 5s squad finally got its act together and won the division in the March/April season.  The team put in solid performances every single week, earning at least three points all seven weeks and winning both matches in Weeks 1, 2, 3, and 7. We finished with 33 points, well ahead of second-placed Oguzkhan (28 points).

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On a chilly, wet and windy day in the middle of April two teams came together looking for local bragging rights. The Strollers, a long established side in the IFFC who have experienced the highest highs over recent years, came up against the Barbarians A, a newish team that is working hard to find their feet in their inaugural season in the IFFC’s top flight. The form book suggested that the Strollers would hold the cards, but the Barbs were determined to make sure that in a good ol’ cliche kind a way the form book was nowhere to be seen! Turning up with both breakfast and beer in hand, the Barbs were clearly up for this game long before the whistle blew….

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The match report will follow shortly.  The joys of editing on line means I just lost the whole thing.  Will copy and paste from word next time. Please add a comment with your choice for man of the match.  I’d also like to know who got the assist for Daisuke’s goal.

The intention of the blog is to make the website more interactive, have all members and even externals participate to the content by posting articles and comments on articles. It’s very easy–you just have to sign up once and you’ll get a login and password sent to your email.

Where to sign up?
Click on “comment” underneath an article. If you are not logged in already then a blue box will appear, on the bottom if it you can click on “sign up”. This will only allow you to post comments.

How to post a comment?
After being logged in, click on “comment” underneath any article you want to give a reaction to, write your text in the white box and click “submit”.

If you are interested in writing articles (with news, for fun, to organize events, …) you can apply for one by sending an email to web@beijingbarbarians.com.

It is a possibility and it would be nice if we can discuss it here.  The idea is the following :

Now, with the 11-a-side B’s, Andrew mails everyone about the next match, then the ones who can come reply to him, Andy makes the selection and let’s everyone know by email.
With the 5-a-side B’s, JJ does +/- the same, though there some players use “reply all”, so that hundreds of email are sent back and forth to many…
Solution : on the blog the captain of each team posts an article about their “next natch” with all details, and sends everyone a very brief email with the link to that article. Then the players can post a comment, which can be seen by everyone, to say if they are IN or not.

This should make it more easy for captains and players. All information about that match will be found on one page instead of many emails. Etc …

It’s a question of making a habit of using it. The first weeks might be a bit difficult to have everyone participating, but once it’s going, this seems like a very interactive and practical way of organizing matches.

More information about how to use this Blog/Wordpress can be found here.

Please let us know what you think of this idea. The more responses the better!