Slembanan Invitational Cup - Everything thread

[Slembana]

This is back on!

The results for matchday 2 are up.
Group A: Slembana 1-0 Riyahda
Group B: Hojuki 2-1 United South Dominion
Group C: Anollasia 1-0 Swyftherth
Group D: The Royal Kingdom of Quebec 0-1 Boring Paradise

[Kingdom of Phoenixia]

Cheers are audible all over the Kingdom after the second matchday.
With a 1-0 Anollasia took their early ticked for the knockout stage as the group-champion.
On the other side both Teams, Phoenixia and Swyftherth are equal in points and goal-difference so the next match will bring the decision.
Despite the fact of lacking endurance in the last game Coach Raske doesn't change the team. " The starters are the best team we could get and we need the best team to have the best chance for the knockout stage. We couldn't allow us any luxury that could end in a defeat." Even a draw could be risky as both Teams would be under the judgement of the host Slembana with a not calculable ending.
So the parole for tomorrow could only be winning or dying, in a literate but also in a concrete way for the careers of both coaches.

[Slembana]

DBK Sports - Football - Slembana 1-0 Riyahda

Written by Aaron Dartmouth

We have recorded our first win in our very-own Slembanan Invitational Cup - beating Riyahda 1-0 in our second game of the tournament. Val Kylx, our star striker, netted the winner in the last minute, with his goal being our first of the tournament, and his 64th in 73 games. By the way, Riyahda start with 12 players when they play. Kylx volleyed home from a great chipped past from Jyvx Dagens.

The first half was equal, with Kylx seeing a good shot gobbled up by Riyahdan goalkeeper Gary Banx, who is one of their best players. This was our best first-half choice, and it came on 20 minutes. Riyahda had their best chance of the first half in the 35th minute, when THE LION, one of their strikers (and another one of their best players), had a great header palmed over the crossbar by Toby Gapman, our goalkeeper.

The second half began brightly for us, with Kylx and Eddie Barlow coming close for us, amongst others.

Riyahda were also threatening, with THE LION hitting the crossbar and Randy Burchdale, THE LION's strike partner, hitting the post with a thunderbolt shot.

The game looked like it would end in a draw until the last minute, when Kylx scored our winner. All three teams in this group (Group A) are in with a good chance of going through.

[Slembana]

Cut-off. I've graded all your work.

[Slembana]

Matchday 3 results:
Group A: Soviet Canuckistan 1-1 Riyahda
Group B: Free Swiss States 5-0 United South Dominion
Group C: Kingdom of Phoenixia 3-0 Swyftherth
Group D: Lunar Republic Islands 4-0 Boring Paradise

Group winners:
Group A: Soviet Canuckistan (4 points)
Group B: Free Swiss States (6 points)
Group C: Anollasia (6 points)
Group D: Lunar Republic Islands (6 points)

Group runners-up:
Group A: Slembana (3 points)
Group B: Hojuki (3 points)
Group C: Kingdom of Phoenixia (3 points)
Group D: Boring Paradise (3 points)

All the other teams are eliminated. Commiserations to them, and congrats to those who advanced into the quarter-finals.

Quarter-final ties:
QF1: Soviet Canuckistan vs Hojuki (in Bafilo (Royal Slembanan Stadium))
QF2: Anollasia vs Boring Paradise (in Bafilo (United Stadium))
QF3: Free Swiss States vs Slembana (in Chelsea)
QF4: Lunar Republic Islands vs Kingdom of Phoenixia (in Yavelsk)

[Soviet Canuckistan]

March On, Oh Canuckistan

BAFILO,SLEMBANA- The Soviet Canuckistani team today advanced to the quarterfinals with a tie against Riyahda in a 1-1 game. The Riyahda team started the scoring early on with a beautiful header off a corner at 10:55 into the game. The Canuckistanis tried to respond however the strong goaltending from the Riyahdans prevented them from any goals till the second half. However, the Canuckistanis caught a lucky break and managed to sneak in a goal in the 67th minute from Rolokiev, for his second of the tournament. Both teams battled to get ahead for those last 23 minutes however as the last whistle sounded, the Canuckistanis knew that they would advance.

Head Coach Ronald McLaughy had this to say, "We played hard both games and it rewarded us well, we'll play a good quarterfinal and hopefully advance further. Good luck to all the other teams, and we'd like to thank our hosts as they have been great to us so far." Soviet Canuckistan will play Hojuki tomorrow in the quarterfinal so be sure to catch it on our subsidiaries.

[Kingdom of Phoenixia]

Phoenixia is a whole fan mile today, after Matchday 2 the fans were cheering, now the jubilation knows now borders anymore, 3-0 against Swyftherth, caravans of autos were driving on the main streets, bars and restaurants would be fined if not every policemen would be cheering too, subways were captured by drunken fans who are singing the anthem all the way.
And that's only because we reached the quarterfinal. God knows what will happen if we beat the Team from Lunar Republic Islands, champion of group D with a 4-0 win against Boring Paradise. Police forces from all over the country has the order to stop cheering instantly and getting to work if needed, despite the fact that they are also crazy football fans deep in their hearths.

[Lunar Republic Isands]

From the Lunar Chronicle

TO THE QUARTER FINALS

The Lunar Republic Islands National Team defeated Boring Paradise 4-0 and claimed winners of Group D. They will advance to the Quarter-Finals and play Kingdom of Phoenixia, the team is built with momentum and set a new goal: "Win the Championship!" Coach Klingspony was very excited for the way the team debuted internationally. "It' fantastic, we came out and it felt like we won from the start." Sport scored 2 goals in the 4-0 win, with Lightning Martinez and Raindrops scoring 1 goal each. After the game the team celebrated at midfield as a big dogpile. Fans even ran out onto the field to celebrate. It was if they had won the championship. "It feels great, to get this far. But now, we want to get further. We can't get cocky, we gotta stay focused, it won't be as easy. I know teams like the Free Swiss States, Phoenixia, and Slembana are very good. We gotta continue to play hard and they understand, I'm really excited for our next game and let's go out there and win a championship!" Sport and the rest of the team have practicedeven more for the big game tomorrow against Phoenixia. Can the ponies win a championship? Will they catch fire? We will find out tomorrow.

[Free Swiss States]

Slembana is everywhere, man
Why do we keep playing Slembana? This blogger would like to point out that after recently beating them in the Copa Gaveo III, not only are we playing in their group in the 5th Friendly Cup we now we are also playing them in the "Slinvitational." Conspiracy? TV Ratings? What's behind all this? True, the thought of playing Slembana gets Swiss fans riled up more than usual, but is that really enough to warrant the kind of underground pooling which is no doubt happening... beneath our very noses???

Anyway, though we beat Slembana handily in the Copa Gaveo III, they're on home ground now. The result could be a toss up. Anything could happen. ANYTHING!

[Slembana]

Cut-off. Sorry it's late. As a result, the results will be late yet again. I've graded all your work, and the quarter-final results will be up soon.

[Slembana]

Quarter-final results

QF1: Soviet Canuckistan 1-0 Hojuki
QF2: Anollasia 1-4 Boring Paradise
QF3: Free Swiss States 0-0 Slembana (1-1 AET, Slembana win 4-2 on penalties)
QF4: Lunar Republic Islands 3-0 Kingdom of Phoenixia

Congrats to those who made it into the semi-finals, and commiserations to those who didn't.

The semi-final ties will be:
SF1: Soviet Canuckistan vs Boring Paradise (in Bafilo (United Stadium))
SF2: Slembana vs Lunar Republic Islands (in Chelsea)

[Soviet Canuckistan]

And they march on

BAFILO,SLEMBANA- The Canuckistanis advanced to the semifinals of the Slembana Invitational Cup with a 1-0 victory over Hojuki yesterday. The first half was not an exciting one with the play being mostly in mid-field with both teams battling it out for control. The second half proved different as a close call by Al-Beq started off the Canuckistani offensive. The Canuckistanis got their only goal of the game in the 71st minute with a beautiful shot by Peters to clinch victory.

Coach Ronald McLaughy commented, "It was a good game and I can't complain, hopefully we can play this well in the semis and hopefully the finals." Analysts currently can't interpret the result but they're saying they hope it to be a positive one. You can catch the game on our subsidiary SCSportNet or read about it in tomorrow's paper.

[Slembana]

DBK Sports News - Football - Free Swiss States 1-1 Slembana (AET, Slembana win 4-2 on penalties)

Written by Temi Temi Dagens

In the quarter-finals of our very-own Slembanan Invitational Cup, we have beaten Free Swiss States 4-2 on penalties. The final score in the game was 1-1 after extra time, and 0-0 after 90 minutes.

Both teams battled it out for dominance in the first half. We were the better side, with Val Kylx, our star striker, seeing a great volley palmed away by Nicholas Jayet in the 22nd minute. Eddie Barlow, our other striker, hit the bar with a dink in the 35th minute, which came four minutes after Jyvx Dagens, our playmaker, hit the post with one of his trademark free-kicks. Free Swiss States also had a few good chances of their own in the first half, with Daniel Artémis, their star striker, having the best chance for FSS in the first-half, hitting the crossbar with a toe-poke in the 44th minute.

Compared to the first half, the second half was very dull. Neither side seemed to create many chances during the second half. Kylx tried to break the deadlock late on the match, only to hit the post with a low shot in the dying seconds. Seconds later, the referee blew the final whistle, which meant that the game would go to 30 minutes of extra time.

Extra-time started brilliantly for the Swiss players, with A. Fonti, their other striker, chipping the ball over Toby Gapman, our goalkeeper, in the second minute of extra time. This broke the deadlock, and gave FSS a 1-0 lead. However, in the last minute of extra-time, Kylx smashed a curling left-foot volley into Jayet's top right-hand corner to save the game for us at 1-1, sending the game to a penalty-shootout, which we won 4-2, with Yuppë Tárnix scoring the winning penalty for us.

The team who we will be playing in the semi-finals are Lunar Republic Islands, which is a pony nation. As hosts, we are the slight favourites, but LRI have sprung shocks to get into the semi-finals, meaning we will have to watch out. However, we will try our best to get into the final.

[Lunar Republic Isands]

From the Lunar Chronicle

TO THE SEMIS

AMAZING! The Lunar Republic Islands National Soccer Team has defeated Phoenixia 3-0 and have advanced to the Semi-Finals! "It's amazing, it's like when you make it past pool play, anything happens." Coach Klingspony stated. "But, we gotta keep playing hard. There's only one winner, and we're playing the host country, Slembana, they have home-field advantage, but we can't have it eat us up." He also stated. "Coach is right, we gotta play are very best against Slembana, that game is our ticket to the Finals. We can do it, I know we can, we've been playing great, we have alot of fans behind our backs and I know we can win." Sport stated after scoring one goal in the game. This team has practiced alot, and they have made farther than expected, the question now is, can they upset the home team Slembana? They can, we shall find out tomorrow in the Semi-Finals game.

[Slembana]

Cut-off (late). I've graded all your work.

[Slembana]

(OOC: I apologize for the results being late yet again. Still, I think this is the earliest time I've posted the results. )

Semi-final results:
SF1: Soviet Canuckistan 5-0 Boring Paradise
SF2: Slembana 3-0 Lunar Republic Islands

This means that Boring Paradise and Lunar Republic Islands will contest the third place play-off at Chelsea's City of Chelsea Stadium, while Soviet Canuckistan and myself will battle it out to become the winners of the first-ever Slembanan Invitational Cup at the Royal Slembanan Stadium in Bafilo. Stay tuned for the results, which will be posted tomorrow.

[Lunar Republic Isands]

From the Lunar Chronicle

The Road has come short

The LRI national team came out pumped, excited and full of momentum. But it didn't turn out that way as they lost to the host, Slembana. They were hoping to get to the finals, but they will have to settle for 3rd or 4th place. "You know it sucks, but I'm very proud of this team its a great start for this team. To make it this far as a Pony Nation is just amazing, we will go out and settle for 3rd place. We have shown though, that we are a great soccer team." Coach Klingspony said after the game. "Sometimes you catch fire but you get stopped, it's ok. It was amazing though to go out and shock alot of teams. I can take a 3rd place any day. It's a great warm up to begin our road to World Cup 63. Let's go out there and beat Boring Paradise!" Sport said. "I tell you what it does wonders when you're the home team, but I'm certainly not gonna let that bring me down, I'm gonna make sure no one gets by me in the next game, and even into the future." GK Dashing Hooves said afterwards. Sure they lost to expectedly a great Slembanan team, but it sure won't stop the LRI National Team from beating Boring Paradise in the third place game.

[Slembana]

DBK Sports - Football - Slembana 3-0 Lunar Republic Islands

Written by Temi Temi Dagens

We are into the final of our very-own Slembanan Invitational Cup after beating Lunar Republic Islands, a pony nation, 3-0 in the semi-finals of the tournament. We will face Soviet Canuckistan - the same team we played in our first game of the tournament - in the final. By the way, LRI had just 10 players on the pitch, so they were at a slight disadvantage.

We took the lead early on, with the brilliant Val Kylx, who is our star striker, smashing a volley past LRI goalkeeper Dashing Hooves. This gave us a 1-0 lead with just 2 minutes gone. We were dominant after the goal, with Dashing Hooves being tested by Kylx, Eddie Barlow, Jyvx Dagens, and Finlay Yalnif, amongst others. This meant it was no surprise when Barlow, our other striker, propelled a header past Dashing Hooves in the 44th minute to give us a 2-0 lead going into half-time.

Lunar Republic Islands had their best chance of the first-half on 23 minutes, when star striker Lighnting Martinez saw a toe-poke palmed away by Toby Gapman, our goalkeeper. LRI had a great chance to score in the 47th minute, two minutes after the break, only for Sport, their other striker, to hit the bar with a curling beauty.

LRI were mainly dominant during the second half, with Martinez, Sport, Rainndrops, and even defender Pearlight Star coming close for them, amongst others. However, in the last minute, we won a free-kick 25 yards out. Dagens brilliantly curled it past Dashing Hooves to give us a 3-0 win, securing our spot in the final.

[Slembana]

Cut-off, but only for the nations in the third place play-off (Lunar Republic Islands & Boring Paradise). I have graded LRI's RP, and the result for the match will come soon. Soviet Canuckistan, who, alongside me, still has time to write his RP for his match in the semi-final.

The result for the third place play-off was Boring Paradise 0-4 Lunar Republic Islands.

Congrats to Lunar Republic Islands for gaining third place, and commiserations to Boring Paradise, who did so well for a nation who didn't even post a roster, never mind an RP.

The result of the final will hopefully be bang on time, barring yet another delay. Just as I said earlier, Soviet Canuckistan still has time to write an RP for his match in the semi-finals.

[Slembana]

Cut-off for the nations in the final.

The game will be scorinated by Apox, if he accepts.

[Apox]

Final score:

Slembana 3–3 Soviet Canuckistan, (AET 3-4)

Congratulations to Soviet Canuckistan and my commiserations to Slembana

[Slembana]

Final score:

Slembana 3–3 Soviet Canuckistan, (AET 3-4)

Congratulations to Soviet Canuckistan and my commiserations to Slembana

Thanks for scorinating, Apox!

We just ran short in an entertaining final.

Congrats to Soviet Canuckistan, commiserations to myself, and thank you to everyone who took part. It wasn't the most active tournament, but I still liked it. I hope this will tempt you to vote for me in bidding for future, larger tournaments.

A second edition might be coming up soon, but not now. World Cup 62 qualifying is coming up, and I think it would be good to hold the next edition during the off-season.

Once again, thank you. I hope you liked this tournament.

[Lunar Republic Isands]

Congrats Slembana, you had a great team, and you did and fantastic job. Thank you for hosting this event, LRI will be back for sure in the next one.

3RD PLACE! *fluttershy yay*

[Soviet Canuckistan]

Thanks for hosting! and thanks for scorinating that last game Apox!

[Slembana]

Thanks for hosting! and thanks for scorinating that last game Apox!

Congrats Slembana, you had a great team, and you did and fantastic job. Thank you for hosting this event, LRI will be back for sure in the next one.

3RD PLACE! *fluttershy yay*

Thanks, guys. You two did really well. I hope to see you two in the next edition!

An RP for the final will come soon. The final was the last game for manager Alex Gardina, and captain Gavin Stockwell. Gardina, as promised, resigned after the tournament (he said he would resign in Slembana's last game, whatever it was), while our last game in the tournament would be Stockwell's last-ever international game. He would go on to play club football for Bafilo United until the end of the season, when he officially retired.

Stockwell is the new manager, if you haven't read by roster for the World Cup yet.