The world rankings are a curious thing. They often give a disjointed view of what a group will actually offer. Matchday fifteen offered up nineteenth ranked Sargossa against the eighty fifth placed Squornshelan Remnant States. The rankings suggested an easy win. The match did not. Nearly one hundred and nine thousand fans were packed into the Estadio Generalissimo Joaquín Delgado in the Sargossan capital, and they were watching a fixture between two well matched sides.
The Corsairs had the advantage in the attacking third (thirty six goals in fifteen matches, compared to the visitors seventeen) but the Black-and-Reds were terrifically well organised and were successfully soaking up everything the home side were currently throwing at them. They’d been breached once, Fabián Guzmán planting a header from an Alonzo Zevallos cross beyond the reach of Istaro Munib, but since then Munib and his defence had looked largely untroubled. They’d bagged themselves an equaliser too, captain Arlo Damot curling a twenty five yard freekick over the defensive wall and into the corner. Now, deep into the second half in Soluca, there was tension in the air. It wasn’t unusual for a Soluca crowd to be edgy, but with every pinpoint challenge and each clearance made by Dymek Raktsov and Tervi Oleb they got increasingly antsy. But there was to be a winner, and it came courtesy of a huge slice of luck.
Veteran forward Miguel Marí has been thrown into the mix, his mercurial talents introduced in an effort to break the deadlock. The Dínamo Maturín picked up a pass from César Goyoso and, from just outside the edge of the box, fired a low drive at the Confederate goal. Munib followed its passage up to the point it clipped the ankle of Dymek Raktsov, altering the trajectory and sending the ball skimming into the opposite corner.
It was a goal greeted by a huge roar from the Soluca crowd, their joy further increased by news that Pasarga weren’t having it their own way in their qualifier in North Prairie. Now it was the Black-and-Reds turn to come forward. But Bethany Donnell, the crafty Brenecian, had built this side to counter attack, they were much less comfortable on the front foot. As shown by their seventeen goals in the campaign, only Gutulia, unranked Fevhader and bottom side Najaf had scored fewer. And tonight wouldn’t be the night they added to their tally. Germán Montero and Luís Vazquez were added to the fray as Rodrigo Defederico switched his formation to a much more defensive 5-3-2, content to sit on the lead. And his charges rose to the occasion, holding out against the Squornshelan attack and greeting the final whistle with punches to the air.
Defederico too allowed himself a clenched fist, a gesture made towards the crowd. It was a victory that put a nine point gap between Sargossa and the Squornshelan Remnant States in third. And with just three games left to play it was a fine position to be in. Coupled with Pasarga’s shock loss in North Prairie, it meant that Sargossa could wrap up a place at the World Cup with a win in Torgos. And what better way to qualify than that.
