Published in the November 4, 2015 edition
BRAVES keeper Jose Bisbe makes a great sliding save late in the second half to preserve the 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich. (Maureen Doherty Photo)
By MAUREEN DOHERTY
LYNNFIELD — As promised, the Boston Braves F.C. made history last weekend with their victory over the highly touted F.C. Bayern Munich veterans at Pioneer Stadium.
The 2-1 hard-fought victory on Halloween followed the 1-1 tie between the two teams in the opening game last Thursday night. Both teams remained competitive to the final whistle in their 90-minute matchups.
In Thursday’s game, Braves player Danny Matica gave the home team a 1-0 advantage in the first half before Bayern knotted the score.
F.C. BAYERN Munchen fan club members (l-r): Peter Manson, Dave Cannata and Armin Dzanic cheer on the German players at Pioneer Stadium. Saturday. (Maureen Doherty Photo)
In Saturday’s victory, Bayern scored the first goal on themselves when attempting to deflect a shot made by the Braves, inadvertently giving Boston a 1-0 lead. Andy Henderson put the Braves up 2-0 early in the second half with about 38 minutes left in the game on a shot that hit off the crossbar that he headed into the net. Bayern scored later in the second half, but Braves goalie Jose Bisbe held off many late-game threats to preserve the victory. He turned away 15 shots on net in the win.
F.C. Bayern Munich has won World, European and German championships and their reputation as a great soccer club is well-known on this side of the pond. Members of an American Bayern fan club active in the Boston area even traveled to Lynnfield to cheer on their heroes in both games.
Lynnfield resident Spiros Tourkakis, the president of the Boston Braves F.C., who arranged this exchange, noted that year after year Bayern “provides the skeleton for Germany’s national team.”
FRIENDSHIP GAMES. Danielie Balanini (left) of the Boston Braves and Michael Jordan, a 12-year member of Bayern Munich, socialize at the post-game party hosted by Braves President Spiros Tourkakis Saturday night. (Maureen Doherty Photo)
“This was the biggest success ever in senior soccer in North America!” an elated Tourkakis told his players after their victory on Saturday. “We have never beaten one of the world’s top clubs. …Not only the Braves, but no other senior soccer American team has ever beaten the veterans of the world’s top clubs.”
These games serve just as much a cultural exchange as they do an athletic endeavor. During visits to the host country, players from both teams involve the broader community in their pre-game practices and ceremonies, reaching out to players at both the youth and adult levels. After playing competitively on the field, they shake hands and socialize as the best of friends at a post-game party where they exchange gifts, such as autographed jerseys, flags, trophies and plaques.
For Thursday’s game, Lynnfield Youth Soccer Club players served as player escorts during the pre-game ceremony and Superintendent of Schools Jane Tremblay presided over flag exchange and coin toss, Tourkakis said. During Saturday’s game, a trio of singers from the German International School in Boston, Amanda Lucius, Lea Mannsbart and Emily Castle-Dunn, sang beautiful renditions of the national anthems of both Germany and the United States while German-born Boxford resident Margarita Rapti introduced the players. And the Boston Braves invited two adult guest players to play in the game with them, Marco Da Silva and Justin Neal.
The Braves had previously traveled to Munich to play Bayern and Saturday night about 80 guests enjoyed the hospitality of Spiros and his wife Anna at their Lynnfield home. At the post game party, F.C. Bayern coach Manfred Poppe told the Villager, “This was something we will never forget. The friendships, the open arms I get from this Boston Braves. Spiros is a special guy.” Poppe, who is an architect by trade and has led his team for 25 years, noted that his players are amateurs who live in an area that is famous for its soccer and have won many titles in Germany.
“We are very much honored because we play football with this fantastic team and we can go to America and represent our Bayern Munich. It is very important to us,” Poppe said. The club has about 150 veteran players and four teams. His team has won 13 titles in the past year alone.
Boston Braves left back Christos Liropoulos has been a member of the team for 10 years. Unable to play for the past year due to an injury, he’s also been working in England and decided to travel to Boston just to play in Saturday’s game before flying back to England. “Today was my first game back. I’m feeling the jet lag now!” he said.
The Braves have been coached for the past 10 years by Ged White, a player/coach and native of England. He was sidelined with a knee injury for this game. “I thought we played very well. We talked about keeping our shape and everybody did exactly what we talked about,” he said, adding he was impressed by the play of keeper Jose Bisbe. “Jose was big time for us. He played two of the best games I have seen him play. He showed a phenomenal concentration level,” White said.
This weekend’s friendship exchange marked the second time in just four months that Lynnfield has hosted a world-renowned international soccer club, thanks to the efforts of Tourkakis, who was very supportive of the new stadium and fields project built at LHS. While watching Saturday’s game from the sidelines, Fields Committee Chairman Arthur Bourque recalled that Tourkakis promised him if the town’s field of dreams ever came to fruition he would bring world class teams to the town. Consider this a promise fulfilled.
The Boston Braves are not done making history yet, however. Tourkakis told the Villager proudly: “Lynnfield’s Braves will be the first American team to be invited to and play in Cuba this January!”
The members of the Braves participating in one or both of the games, either on the field or in a supportive role if injured, also included: Shawn Day, Shawn Bleau, Daniele Baliani, Boris Volf, Taso Nikolakopoulos, Tomek Konopka, Ricardo Elias, Craig Bowers, Rob Lebel, John Moorman, Kostas Kambourakis, Bill Bostridge, Vlad Kravets, Ilya Bystryak, Michael Mullroy, Ilya Freytsis, John Papanastasiou, Andy Zecha, Demitris Savalas, Barry Doust, Gino Tzortzis, Doug Prouty, Demos Pirperis and Carlos Muniz.
