When your team is named after the rowdiest section of any given European soccer stadium, playing hard and staying smart can be a tall order.

“We can get riled up on the sidelines sometimes, but that’s because we all want what’s best for the team,” explains captain John Bonacci, rationalizing the five-year-old-compete-or-die-childhood-friend-and-family-rollercoaster that is FC Curva.

This week, at least, cool heads prevailed as the Curva crew doubled up on Artemide FC 6-3 to take over third spot in the C4 Division ahead of next week’s crucial encounter against top dog FC Stinjs. While he’d probably agree that any last-minute dash for first is extremely unlikely at this juncture, Bonacci remains pleasantly surprised with his boys in general and midfielder Jonathan Mandracchia’s 20-goal season in particular.

“The goal for the playoffs is always the same: try and get the win. The most important thing is to keep our cool and always play with our heads.”

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