Top Performers, Outstanding Goals, and Memorable Moments of Rounds Five and Six

Going into the third week of the One Future Football season, it has becoming apparent there is an early-season split between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’.

The six sides occupying their corresponding places at the top half of the table have all won at least one match. Those underneath are yet to really get their seasons underway, bar a handful of draws. But, as we know in football, things can change in a moment and by the end of Round 6 on Tuesday 18th July, there were some seismic shifts up and down the league.

The big winners from the week with winless Bondi FC and Club Sportivo Palermo both picking up back-to-back victories. The former beat Riyadh Stars with a brace from Charlie Baker-Jones before following that up with an impressive 1-0 performance against title-contending Paris St-Denis thanks to Ricardo Augusto’s first goal of the season. The result lifts The Blues from mid-table to third.

Argentinian side, Palermo, had to wait until deep into added time to beat fellow strugglers FC Angelenos, thanks to Izan Sabaté’s effort – cue jubilations. But Los Dioses weren’t done and just four days later they destroyed Naija United 4-0 with four different scorers hitting the back of the net, including skipper Salvador Broglia who scored his third penalty of the campaign (fourth if you include pre-season). 1FF’s most lethal spot-kick taker is a centre-back.

The only other side to win both matches this week were Manhattan FC who just don’t lose (or do 0-0 draws it seems). The Empire are now undefeated in six matches with an impressive goal difference of +7. That man again, Dale Ramos, bagged three goals in total across both rounds of fixtures. Whilst the 3-1 win away against bottom side Tokyo Youth Club was expected – even if Raphael Hauffe’s (above) opening goal wasn’t – it was the nail-biting, top-of-the-table clash between Manhattan and second place, Inter Nusantara, who had critics both purring and taking the Americans seriously as title contenders.

The back-and-forth contest saw the home team race into a 3-0 lead – via a brace from Ramos and another from starlet, Luca Johnson – before the Indonesian side almost came away with a draw thanks to efforts from Olle Mustafa and Juozas Butkus. It was not to be and the end result was probably still playing on The Garuda Warriors’ minds in Round Three as they could only draw against Brasil Amazônia in another exciting game which ended 3-3.

The other major talking points from the recent rounds centred around Bengaluru Phoenix and FC Angelenos. Both clubs ended their long waits for a win with the former’s coming first. The Rising Phoenix’s 4-1 drubbing of Tokyo Youth Club had Noah Drakenburg as the unquestionable hero. The 25-year-old Swede scored a hat trick to quadruple his season’s tally. However, what was won in Round Five was undone in Round Six as FC Angelenos got their season up and running with a victory of their own against the Bengalurans in Boyle Heights Stadium. Jae Jackson-Cook and Sushil Rao exchanged goals in a tight first 45, with winger Albin Dahlin sending the LA fans into raptures with the winner.

These are the three highest-rated players in our top games of Round 5/Round 6. Unsurprisingly, Bengaluru Phoenix striker Noah Drakenburg (below) takes the crown with a 97 after his scintillating hattrick. Bondi FC’s Charlie Baker-Jones (94) came close thanks to his aforementioned brace as well as his six key passes in Round Five vs Riyadh. Finally, Brasil Amazônia’s midfielder Dani Viana (90) appeared to be everywhere against Inter Nusantara during Round Six, contributing key passes, tackles, clearances and even a goal.

First one of the season and it was worth the wait for Manhattan FC’s golden boy Luca Johnson, as he smashed one in top corner against Inter Nusantara in Round Five.

Journalist, Fabio Rossi, latched onto the fact that Dominic Wallace is clearly unhappy with life at Inter Nusantara and could be hankering for a move away from the Indonesian club. It’s unclear at this stage whether head coach Le Jun-Ho has been made aware of his striker’s social media outburst but one thing’s for sure – Wallace won’t be going quietly.

Selection of interesting pieces, graphically represented that enhance the narrative around players and teams.