The attention of Sarzonian national team sporting fans is finally turning back to the sport that started it all.
Football.
A world championship that bucked the history of the World Baseball Classic kept many Sarzonian eyes from watching the adventures of their football heroes, but Stars supporters who had just finished celebrating their baseball team's triumphs soon had reason to cheer for their footballers.
Sarzonia may not have looked pretty in doing so, but they earned a 1-0 victory over Kulverint in front of a crowd of 89,142 at Dave Wilson Stadium, even though large numbers of that crowd were distracted by the remnants of the glow they were basking in from the baseball team's victory parade. A contingent of thousands of Delaclavs making the trip into Dave Wilson Stadium wasn't noticeable by the sound. They were cheering nearly as loudly as the loudest Sarzonians.
"With the Phoenixes automatically qualified for the finals, we felt as though we wanted to go to a football match and support someone," one fan said. "Sarzonia was the most logical choice."
Regardless of reason, the Cyanean supporters overwhelmed the small contingent of Kulverint supporters almost as easily as the Stars dominated their opponents on the pitch. Sarzonia maintained 56 percent of possession in their offensive end and fired 19 shots to Kulverint's 10. Cody Taylor only had to make two saves, while Sarzonian shooters forced seven saves from Kulverint's goalkeeper.
It was forward Matt Lynch who supplied Sarzonia's only goal, a 19th minute tally courtesy of a header of a cross from Ettore Salivani, Jr., who later left the match briefly with cramps. The Stars played with 10 men during that stretch, but one media observer wryly noted that only seemed to even the odds for the visitors.
"They play like they have 12 men on the pitch," the observer said of the Stars. "Going down one only seems to give their opponents a chance."
Regardless, some of Sarzonia's critics might challenge the team, saying they haven't really proven anything with unimpressive margins of victory and a loss to a relatively unfancied Mytannion, but manager Franz Braddock dismissed the talk.
"It's three points," he said. "We'll take them against whomever we face."
