"Crouchy, when I look at you, everything tells me that you should be rubbish at football, and yet you're brilliant."

There were two playoff games for my Winnipeg Rec League teams tonight, The Ducharmes and the Yellow Dogs. They were both placed in the top bracket of four teams, so the same result in each game would have made each team play each other for the third time this season.

In the first game, The Ducharmes played the top seed, Red Bull. We went down 3-0, but I had pulled one back by halftime. I had intercepted a pass with a quick turn hitting the ball with the inside of my left foot, then behind me (which was the direction of their net) with my right. I turned in the process. This got one mark off me, but another came in from the left. I roulette'd him as well, in order to get around him. This put me at a tight angle with a defender on either side of me, but slightly behind. I used my arms to get some space, then fired a low shot into the inside side netting. A fantastic solo effort, it was. There would be no way to find anything like it on youtube, so I won't even try.

After a half-time resurrgency, my team pulled three goals back, and won the game.

The Yellow Dogs came into the gym with two men, and a boatload of ladies, so I sensed it would be a long game. I was not far off, sitting off maybe three minutes, and playing goalie for 5. In the first half, we had gone down a couple, but I showed signs of life with another fantastic goal that looked something like the next two goals mixed together, taking elements of Gus Poyet's actual strike and Rooney's placement in the net. The ball was bouncing towards their net, so I ran, got under it, and unleashed a fierce volley that almost sent the world in retrograde motion. I'm normally not one to brag, but man, did I ever hit that thing.

Wayne Rooney's goal.

Gus Poyet's goal.

One of the fellows on my team had a couple long spells out, and we began to slip. We eventually went down boatloads, because we were committing too much up front and not enough players were getting back, myself included. Things looked bleak, and they were. There was no chance we could win or tie it up, as they were up 13-2 (or so I thought). Somehow, my team showed signs of life, and we managed to score a handful of goals, two of them mine, in five minutes, making the score 13-7. I chipped one in when the goalie was on the ground flapping at it (my first chip goal, too, I enjoyed it), and then passed one into a corner thanks to a great pass to me in a 2-on-1.

Turns out I had thought correctly, and we ended up losing 13-7.

Though it was a great night, I ended up playing a lot, scoring a few fantastic goals, and doing a few tricks, some of which I didn't even think about.

In accordance to yesterday's post, I wonder, what should I try? Thinking more, or thinking less and just having automated responses? I'll have to try some things out, but I think thinking is a bad idea when trying to beat an opponent that is waiting for you. One that isn't though, is another question.

Also, have a gander at this, a fantastic summary of and solutions to the England national team's problems.