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by Wight » Sat Feb 02, 2013 7:22 pm
by Vilita » Sat Feb 02, 2013 8:14 pm
Farfadillis | |
:: Goalscorers :: :: 71' Lita Adjei :: | :: Goalscorers :: :: 13' Friekder Dandalleion :: 61' Friekder Dandalleion |
:: Best Player: Ritopa Simafela :: Worst Player: Jomur Hulyer :: Shots on Target: 5 :: Corner Kicks: 6 | :: Best Player: Friekder Dandalleion :: Worst Player: Yung Chinsúa :: Shots on Target: 3 :: Corner Kicks: 11 |
by Turori » Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:15 pm
Eels Back, Perhaps Not Ready For It
Well, The Eels were certainly back to their old tricks at the World Cup on Matchday 2, playing over an hour scoreless with a very good Andossa Se Mitrin Vega squad. The local rivalry would eventually be won by the Sea Dragons, Bolexii Pol'age's goal just over 10 minutes from time was the difference in a decidedly defensive affair at the Cednia Beach Center.
There were over 100,000 at the Beach and the match went exactly as expected with Ematea Saenu and Mikael Gibbons employing their defensive formation to its perfection, nearly holding on to a much needed point for the Group A table. In the end, however, The Eels would be effectively eliminated from their home Cup with the 0-1 defeat following the 1-3 defeat against Sargossa on the opening matchday.
It was a bittersweet moment, of course. The Eels were so close. They could have beat Sargossa but the inexperienced coaching staff made a few errors that cost the team on the pitch. They could have held the Sea Dragons to a share of the spoils, but a very late goal derailed that dream. The Eels were *that* close to turning things around and kick-starting a path back to the glory days of the '20's of World Cup history. Instead, the Eels will be playing for pride against United Gordonopia hoping to avoid finishing without a point in front of their home fans.
That would be the bitter part, of course. The sweet part, barring a miracle... well, no, if there was a miracle Eels comeback, that would also be Sweet. But, if the Eels do go out as expected, it would open the door for me to get back into the officiating pool for the knockout phases. Getting to officiate the World Cup 62 final was of course, and will of course remain the great moment of the coaching career. However, officiating a World Cup Knockout Match on home soil right here in Turori would also be quite the memorable experience. So we'll see how the results pan out. Either way, I expect to be at one of the World Cup ound of 16 matches, preferably as a fan but as a referee ias I need to be.
by Valanora » Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:22 pm
by Aguazul » Sat Feb 02, 2013 9:32 pm
by Sargossa » Sun Feb 03, 2013 11:44 am
Group E Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sargossa 3 3 0 0 6 2 +4 9
2 United Gordonopia 3 1 0 2 7 8 −1 3
3 Andossa Se Mitrin Vega 3 1 0 2 5 6 −1 3
4 Turori 3 1 0 2 3 5 −2 3
by Valladares » Sun Feb 03, 2013 1:30 pm
by Aguazul » Sun Feb 03, 2013 4:28 pm
by Taeshan » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:05 am
by The Babbage Islands » Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:31 am
by Audioslavia » Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:03 am
by Farfadillis » Mon Feb 04, 2013 11:59 am
by Kiryu-shi » Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:20 pm
by Milchama » Mon Feb 04, 2013 12:51 pm
by The Archregimancy » Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:08 pm
by Yesopalitha » Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:28 pm
Nirdasil's Corner
Isn't it funny how the cookie crumbles? Sometimes, all you can do is grit your teeth and move on. You can obtain fifty-one points in the qualifying stage - a national record and one of the highest in World Cup history, I am certain - and then you can win two games in the group stage, convincingly, against those who are supposed to be your toughest opposition, but all you need is a team that's riding their own wave, a team that's also getting really hot... And there you are, left on the curb, licking your wounds and wondering just what happened, and trying to not get intimidated about the giant of an opponent that awaits in the next game.
I am talking, of course, about the loss to Farfadillis that bumped the Flames down to second place, relegating them to a match against the eternal giants of the World Cup, Valanora.
What are you worried about? One may ask. To recap, Yesopalitha did have to face three-time champions Aguazul the last cycle, and defeated them to reach the quarterfinals. But the situation was different back then. Then, we were a young team relishing World Cup Proper competition for the very first time. Then, we were playing with a do-or-die mentality that came from nobody expecting us to make any noise. Then... we were hungry.
Perhaps we've become complacent. Perhaps, the Flames began to think that they could just sleep on Farfadillis and wait for the Farfs to just hand the game to them on a dish. It sure looked that way when Nadya Dostoevich scored her third goal in two games, a easy one past the bewildered Farf goalkeeper.
For once, though, it was Yesopalitha that folded. For once, it was Calhoun that got his number taken. The usually reliable goalkeeper - who's been recently signed by Polarian club Northbrook Diamonds FK after the dissolving of the YPL - gave up two goals in the second half, against midfielders and defenders, all the less. Farfadillis had decided to play the game without any starting forwards, and it worked in the second half as they slowed the pace of the game down considerably, enough to stop the rapid counterattacking scheme of the Flames.
And now... Valanora. Featuring a lineup of elves, immortal to time. Featuring one of the best players to ever grace a football field, Laborious Hawk. But wait, one might say... They've struggled in the group stage. Sure, they've won all three, but it's been by narrow margins! But it's not when a team blows out an opponent that their character is shown; in fact, it is when a team narrowly edges an opponent that their character and experience comes through. Valanora may have escaped group stage with three wins, but those are three wins none the less, and they are one of the most experienced, and respected, sides of the tournament.
I am not sure what Sir James Handel has up his sleeve, but he will need something to get some energy into this team. Farfadillis destroyed all the momentum the Flames had going forward. This may be only the second loss sustained this cycle for the Black and White, but it may correlate directly to the third, if they do not wake up from this stupor.
Does Yesopalitha have what it takes to topple one of the greatest giants of the World Cup, especially after such a devastating, momentum-crushing loss? After all, everyone was expecting to play Kiryu-shi or Gyatso-kai, not Valanora. Or will the Flames bow out after making some noise early, and then crashing out late? As I have said, history will not remember a fifty-one point qualifying stage; no, the only reason history might remember that is to note how Yesopalitha were pretenders, and how, when they finally met competition that were as hard as their own, they folded under pressure.
An entire nation watches with bated breath: Will the Flames take the next step that they need to move one step closer to being one of the elite teams of this generation? Or is there more time to be passed before that happens?
Coliseum of the Inuhratii, Inura Forest, Vilita. Round of 16. Valanora. Destiny awaits.
by Alasdair I Frosticus » Mon Feb 04, 2013 2:34 pm
Nor is it to be thought that the sentient creatures of the World Cup, whether man, ursine, elf, sondry folk or other, is either the oldest or the last of the multiverse's masters, or that the common bulk of life and substance walks alone. The Old Ones were, the Old Ones are, and the Old Ones shall be. Not in the spaces we know, but between them, they walk serene and primal, undimensioned and to us unseen. Yog-Sothoth knows the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the gate. Yog-Sothoth is the key and guardian of the gate. Past, present, future, all are one in Yog-Sothoth. He knows where the Old Ones broke through of old, and where They shall break through again. He knows where They had trod earth's fields, and where They still tread them, and why no one can behold Them as They tread. By Their smell can we sometimes know Them near, but of Their semblance no sentient creature know, saving only in the features of those They have begotten on the multiverse; and of those are there many sorts, differing in likeness from man's truest eidolon to that shape without sight or substance which is Them. They walk unseen and foul in lonely places where the Words have been spoken and the Rites howled through at their Seasons. The wind gibbers with Their voices, and the earth mutters with Their consciousness. They bend the forest and crush the city, yet may not forest or city behold the hand that smites. Wight in the cold waste hath known Them, and what man knows Wight? The ice desert of Polar Islandstates and the tropic isles of Turori hold stones whereon Their seal is engraver, but who bath seen the deep frozen city or the sealed tower long garlanded with seaweed and barnacles? Great Tzimisces is Their herald, yet can he spy Them only dimly. Iä! Shub-Niggurath! As a foulness shall ye know Them. Their hand is at your throats, yet ye see Them not; and Their habitation is even one with your guarded threshold. Yog-Sothoth is the key to the gate, whereby the spheres meet. The creatures of the multiverse rule now where They ruled once; They shall soon rule where man and elf and ursine rule now. After summer is winter, after winter summer. They wait patient and potent, for here shall They reign again.
by Osarius » Mon Feb 04, 2013 3:07 pm
"Not sure how we've come out on top there, but I'm not complaining. Any ideas? I bet Aman feels like a #Winnar now!"
@RedandGoldMage - "@academydropout Sahota won a game of Risk against the Valladares coach at a neutral location last night. #Winnar"
@AnythingForThreePoints - "@academydropout The team bus drivers played three games of chess to a draw at the Valladares team hotel. Osarius won because of away...er... points. #Winnar"
@ORickle - "@academydropout The WC obviously ranks by efficiency of possession. Osarius: 37.3 minutes of possession per goal; Valladares: 43.2 minutes. #Winnar"
@OldScholastic - "@academydropout the average age of the Osarius starting line up at the final whistle of the Osarius-Chenkorya game was 7777 days #Lucky #Winnar"
@IkuminatiObserva - "The WCC are fixing it so Polar Islandstates win the cup. This is some blatant #Ikuminati sh*t."
@JusticeJones - "@academydropout Firebirds at the World Cup => [F]irst [I]s [R]eally [E]xtremely ad [I]n [R]elation to [D]etermining [S]uccess (at the World Cup) #Winnar"
[b]@SuperSteve - "@academydropout wasn't it a coin flip? Something about goals scored not being fair or something #Winnar"
@HeadMundo - "@academydropout pretty sure there was a playoff game clause, but maybe they agreed not to play it and just flipped a coin instead #Winnar"
by Valanora » Mon Feb 04, 2013 5:01 pm
by Polar Islandstates » Mon Feb 04, 2013 6:19 pm
by United Gordonopia » Mon Feb 04, 2013 6:39 pm
by Aguazul » Mon Feb 04, 2013 9:30 pm
by The Bavaria States » Tue Feb 05, 2013 2:57 am
by The Archregimancy » Tue Feb 05, 2013 4:05 am
by Polar Islandstates » Tue Feb 05, 2013 5:59 pm
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