The first foe of the boys at this year’s edition of ISSL was EAR’s futsal team. As the sport demands, the game was extremely fast-paced and intense on both sides, having several goals and plays unraveling in the blink of an eye.
The first half did not look good for EABH. While the goalkeeper, Lucas Chen (2), managed to defend several shots, EAR opened the scoreboard with 0 - 3. Many of the goals happened after wrong passes or poor defense, which the coaches and players definitely realized soon enough.
But this is a game of two halves, and the many goals scored in the first one did not lower morale as expected. The Hawks returned after halftime wanting a comeback. Matheus Diniz (23) took the first step towards the win with beautiful one-two passing with Pedro Luis Santana (27), which had both the crowd and the team excited. Nevertheless, EAR maintained a strong defense and took advantage of a counterattack to score their fourth goal. The EABH team captain, João Vitor Quintão (8), followed with an absolute cracker of a goal. Eduardo Calixto also took his shot and succeeded in scoring, thus leaving the final scoreboard at 3 - 4.
EABH was unable to even things out in the end, but the team fought until the last second of the match. After the game, the captain commented on the performance, and said they need to work on their “early game,” reflecting on the first half. Nevertheless, he and many other players demonstrated excitement for the next games and seemed thirsty for wins.