My first game in charge came six days later, an away match in the Piauí State Championship against Oeiras. To compound my troubles, the youth team didn't contain a single player eligible to play in the game. Looks like I'm going to have to bring in an entire squad of players on loan. If the FA will let me.
In the meantine, I used the two fit professionals I had, the closest to full fitness of the injured players and made up the numbers with a group from the supporters club, who were just glad to be able to pull on their club's shirt in a real game. I'd have played myself and my coaches were we not all either over the hill or out of shape.
The first half started well, espescially for a team of largely amateur players. We even scored first after just 3 minutes, but it wouldn't last. The trouble with amateur players is that they play like amateurs, and it wasn't long before we found ourselves 4-1 down. I'd already resigned myself to defeat, there was no way back for us in this one. The two fully-fit players were coping well but Rogers, who wasn't anywhere near fit to begin with, was knocking on death's door by half time. I knew he wouldn't finish the game.
Half-Time Score: Oeiras 4-1 Parnahyba
In the second half things got worse. Goalkeeper Sergio, having been chipped by one of his own defenders' backpass, managed to chase it down just before it crossed the line. Then he put it over himself instead. And things went down hill from there. The final score of 6-1 didn't tell the full story of their dominance. After the sixth went in, they just gave up trying to score. It was a humiliating defeat, but it showed just how much work I had left to do.
Full-Time Score: Oeiras 6-1 Parnahyba | 
