No matter how you look at it, Kohnhead got an easy draw for the 11th IAC and are definitely favored to win their group and advance to the next round. Havynwilde are a good team sure and the last time we played them was a 2-1 win for us but that was a long time ago in our Baptism of Fire. However any time you as the pot two team get drawn with the hosts who are put into pot one just for being the hosts it's a win.
Our first match was against The Fortem a nation which had just competed in their first ever World Cup qualifiers and are ranked 183rd in the World. It should have been an easy win for us it really should have, instead we found ourselves trailing after 25 minutes by two and had to mount a comeback to get the win. Sure three points is three points but was it really necessary to give our fans a heart attack in the process?
As described before despite all the talk about how under Michael White we would stop playing down to every single nation we played against that we should be beating it still occurred. The Fortem would strike within the first 10 minutes specifically the 8th minute as Atkinson failed to properly clear a ball away and they headed it down to the striker for an easy goal. That is not a good way to start off the match but whatever it's only one goal.
They made it two just 17 minutes later with a goal in the 25th off of a corner. Corners have been a known weakness for us defensively and this one was no different as they just wanted it more sending a screaming header into the back of the net. This is definitely not how we wanted to start off this IAC but we would eventually come storming back, eventually.
Our best chance in the first half would come in the 38th minute when Ida Cogginter sent a long range curving shot at the keeper but he jumped and hit it over the bar for a corner that we failed to convert on. Heading into halftime down 2-0 was certainly not a sight any Kohnheadian wanted to see and we knew that not getting any points here would mean we'd have to play perfect for the rest of the Group Stage.
Fortunately we got bailed out by high end talent, this team has talent and they showed up in the second half giving us a glimpse of what this team can become if they put it all together. In the 52nd minute we would get one back as Nicholas Radison stole the ball in our territory, he passed it up to Charles Laker and the counter was on. Laker sent a brillant through ball to the speedy Linus Rallyton who scampered past multiple Fortem defenders before issuing a perfect cross to Korkson who put it away to make it a 2-1 game, we were back in it.
We would make it 2-2 in the 71st just two minutes after we made our first substitution bringing on Stratford for Aaron Korkson who appeared to injure his ankle a bit. Stratford wouldn't be involved in the goal though as Sophie Johnson scored her first goal as a starter. Ida Cogginter sent in a small cross that Laker and a defender went up for it and it went up in the air where it was retrieved by Johnson who settled it and fired a low strike at the bottom left corner completely fooling the keeper. We tied it at two goals with this one but wanted a third.
Erin Maltos would score the winner in the 84th minute with Charles Laker picking up his second assist of the match. Laker got around his defender and sent a nice cross to Maltos who scored the winner in between two defenders. Again it's a 3-2 win against an opponent we should not be needing a second half comeback against but three points is three points.
With the Ponyvillian Separtists winning their first match 2-0 they jump to first in the table tied with us on points.
Group A Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Ponyvillian Separatists of Twicetagrien Canterlotine Territories 1 1 0 0 2 0 +2 3
2 Kohnhead 1 1 0 0 3 2 +1 3
3 The Fortem 1 0 0 1 2 3 −1 0
4 Daehwi 1 0 0 1 0 2 −2 0
Our next match will be against the hosts Havynwilde who had a bye during the first set of matches. What's interesting to note as our team travels to Havynwilde is the destruction that has been done to it from a recent Civil War. While there was once a Civil War in Kohnhead, it was very brief and the Government that won over quickly erased all evidence of it, here there's still clearly evidence. And while you often pass bombed out craters, or graffiti filled walls you just as often pass a person in the straights with hope and optimism for a brighter future. Hosting the IAC is a big step forward as Havynwilde and their citizens try to move on from a war torn past.