I read the report on the RTBF website (the Belgian public broadcaster). A match in Sweden. AIK Stockholm host Brommapojkarna. 0-0 at half-time.
I thought: now that is a match. Two sides that respect each other. Nobody chasing the camera. I would have put the paper down and gone to sleep.
I should have read on. Eleven goals in the second half. Simon Strand, a defender, in the 48th minute. AIK equalised in the 55th. Then four goals from Brommapojkarna in fifteen minutes. 5-1 in the 70th.
In 1980, at 5-1 in the 70th minute, you put your scarf back on and went home. The match was over. You knew it, and it was restful.
They didn’t go home. AIK scored four times late on. 5-5 in the 98th. The 98th minute. In my day, the 98th minute was the bus.
And from the next kick-off, Oliver Zanden crosses. Mads Hansen finishes. 5-6 in the 99th.
I’m not criticising. I’m comparing. A 5-6 scoreline is a handball half-time score. We had high-scoring matches at the Heysel (Brussels). Three goals, sometimes four. People talked about them until Wednesday.
Note that I have nothing against goals. I’m against eleven goals in the same half. There’s no time left to regret them. The 5-5 lived for one minute. A goal, once, you kept for a week.
Silly question, but if nobody scores in the first half and everybody scores in the second, couldn’t we just play the second?
I didn’t answer. The first half was the only one that looked like me.
Well. It’s the times.
It’s true, we checked: RTBF Sport.
