As both teams filed onto the pitch of Delle Alpi (
see video here!http://www.hhsl.org/tempfifa/TorinoCareer/Season2-Game5-Intro-divx.avi), the capacity crowd knew tonight was special. The newly-installed lighting system was being utilized for the first time (hehe), and a light rain fell upon those in attendance. Torino came out on the attack right from the opening whistle. It appeared their strategy was to strike Dida fast and often, hoping for the best. This heavily-offensive approach backfired though, and after a questionable foul call (
see video here!http://www.hhsl.org/tempfifa/TorinoCareer/Season2-Game5-Penalty_Foul-divx.avi), AC Milan was awarded a penalty shot. Andrea Pirlo, with a chance to put his club up 1-0 early, struck his shot well high and wide of the net, giving Torino a goal kick (
see video here!http://www.hhsl.org/tempfifa/TorinoCareer/Season2-Game5-Penalty_Kick-divx.avi). On the ensuing attack, Torino earned a corner kick to the right of Dida. A new approach this week for Torino was to have Filippo Maniero take the corners, allowing Emile Heskey to take scoring chances in the box. This paid off in no time; Heskey was able to do something no other player had done this season, score against Dida! Emile seemed to be in just the right spot to receive the corner, and he drove it home to put Torino up 1-0 in the 13th minute (
see video here!http://www.hhsl.org/tempfifa/TorinoCareer/Season2-Game5-Heskey13th-divx.avi). Milan was able to generate a decent attack, but most efforts fell short before they were able to get a shot off. Even when they did, the likes of Inzaghi and Shevchenko often had poor luck at finding the net, and their shots sailed wide. In the 30th minute, however, Heskey had a huge stroke of luck. Creating a scoring chance all on his own, he was able to fight through the defense catch a lucky bounce to make it 2-0 (
see video here!http://www.hhsl.org/tempfifa/TorinoCareer/Season2-Game5-Heskey30th-divx.avi). With Torino well ahead already, Heskey was able to catch the keeper off-guard in the 41st minute for a first-half hat-trick, to put it at 3-0 going into the half (
see video here!http://www.hhsl.org/tempfifa/TorinoCareer/Season2-Game5-Heskey41st-divx.avi). Torino was able to put 8 of their 9 shots on net in the first half, while Milan managed to put just 2 on net in 5 attempts. With the game well in hand, Torino may have done a bit too much celebrating in the locker room. Milan came out firing, and Andreas Isaksson was backed up against a wall on several occasions in the second half. Each time he was able to deflect a shot off his fingertips, it seemed like another was heading right back at him. In all, Milan took
13 shots in the second half, 6 of which reached the keeper, but none that reached the back of the net! Torino managed just 4 shots in the second half, 1 of which made it to Dida, and 1 of which made it to the back of the net. Maniero, the game’s early star for his set piece prowess, was again involved in a scoring situation. Filippo sent a free kick toward the top corner of the net. While Dida was able to stop the initial shot, Heskey was sitting on the doorstep waiting for the rebound, and it put it in with no trouble to make it 4-0 (
see video here!http://www.hhsl.org/tempfifa/TorinoCareer/Season2-Game5-Heskey62nd-divx.avi). That’s how it ended, with Torino shutting out one of the finest clubs in the world. The players were ecstatic at the result, as were the fans, but Milan looked dejected as they left the pitch (
see video here!http://www.hhsl.org/tempfifa/TorinoCareer/Season2-Game5-Outro-divx.avi).
Torino improved to 4-0-1, while AC Milan fell to 3-1-1.
Note: As a result of this game (and previous ones), I’m going to make two dramatic changes to the game environment: First, I’m going to move the difficulty from Semi-Pro to Pro. Secondly, I’m going to reduce the half time from 10 minutes to 8 minutes. I suspect this will lead to MUCH more difficult matches for me, and more realistic results as far as scoring goes. I expect to lose quite a few games as I adjust, but I hope to be able to at least stay toward the middle of the table.
Btw, does anyone actually watch the videos? Since it takes a bit longer to put them together, I think I'll reserve them for particularly impressive plays in normal matches, as well as crucial plays in big matches such as this one (as opposed to every goal in every game).
... Appart from that, great story!
