Fifteen out of the eighteen chosen ones were ready to rumble already, and coach Nemolito had arranged German cult team Schalke 04 to come over to Italy for the first game ever of Daily Destroyers. No players of the Daily Destroyers have ever played a minute together, and it was still unsure what position every player would be capable of filling in. That is of course what pre-season friendlies are for, and this is the formation we started our first game in:



Oh, how I wish I could tell you everything went perfect and we destroyed our opponents... Sadly, this was not the case. Daily Destroyers was getting absolutely blown away by Schalke and was already 0-3 behind with only 15 minutes played. The defense was all over the place, the midfield was not connecting, and the attackers barely got a ball. Callahan's first touch was in minute 32, which explains it all.

We were unable to create any chance in the first half, but luckily goalie Maes saved some dangerous shots, limiting the score to 0-3 at half time. Was this the coach' fault for not starting with Deez Nuts?

We started the second half with some renewed motivation and good will, but only two minutes in Schalke 04 made it 0-4. You'd think they want to stop there as it would fit their name, but no, they kept on going and had a fun training against a disappointing Daily Destroyers. The passing play did go a bit better than in the first half, but Callahan inexplicably missed the only real chance of the Daily Destroyers after a perfect cross from winger Martens, that was actually aimed towards Torres.

Schalke scored two more goals, ending the game in 0-6. Tough pill to swallow, but what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, right? Down below you find the ten most important actions from the game in a video, which sadly means six Schalke goals and four Maes saves. One day, we'll rule the world. Just not today.

Recommended to watch the video on highest quality possible and full screen. One more friendly has been played and will be uploaded soon.

https://youtu.be/...

After the Schalke humiliation we decided to try and get an okay result against a weaker team. Arsenal was unavailable, but luckily the Australian Central Coast Mariners accepted our invitation. We went for another formation, and all players that started on the bench in our first game were now able to start.



Seems like the coach was not really paying a lot of attention, as CAM Sanchez was used a striker in the beginning of the match. That might explain why we once again started terrible, trailing 0-2 after fifteen minutes. It has to be said, we were quite unlucky, as they scored twice from two chances. The second goal was the unluckiest goal so far, as can be seen below in the video.

Anyway, we played quite well in the first half, being the better team actually. As Sanchez as a striker was a bit weird, our formation was changed to this.



We really put on a lot of pressure in the final ten minutes of the first half, but were unable to score our first goal ever. The stats were in our advantage however, with a 67-33 possession and shots at 8-6.

Once again, renewed motivation and a lot of good will as we left the changing rooms, and the unthinkable happened around minute 60! Perun passed the ball to Garner-Hammarling Jr., and as the Swede saw he was given a lot of space, he decided to go for it from outside of the box. Clearly the best decision of his life so far, as he scored the 1-2 and first goal ever of the team with an absolute screamer!

We really thought we were going to equalize rather sooner than later, but two more nice chances were not converted. We started to fade a little bit, and conceded yet another very unlucky goal. A corner was not converted well by our defense, the Mariners were able to get a shot, and a surprised Deez Nuts headed the ball into his own net.

We were not able to overcome this setback anymore, as the game ended in 1-3. We could have finished with a draw, considering the full ninety minutes, but football isn't about logic. Nevertheless, it's nice to see the team developing and finding each other better already. Tomorrow we will play another friendly, and a friendly cup should also follow soon. Meanwhile we are only awaiting the answer of one more player, as the start of the competition is coming very close.

Video of the ten most important actions: https://youtu.be/...