NS World Cup of Masters II (35+ football) IC Thread

[Sarzonia]

Sixteen teams began this journey in the second edition of the NS World Cup of Masters. Eight teams will be Going Home after tonight. Eight teams will begin the next step toward a championship! Find out who moves on after this cutoff!

Group 1
Sarzonia 0-Abanhfleft 2
Mavinet 2-2 Rangers FC

Group 1                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 Sarzonia               6   4  0  2    9   6  +3  12
2 Rangers FC             6   2  3  1    9   9   0   9
3 Abanhfleft             6   2  1  3    7   9  -2   7
4 Mavinet                6   1  2  3    8   9  -1   5

Group 2
Megistos 4-1 Kohnhead
Hebitaka 2-1 Silvedania

- Group 1              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 Silvedania             6   3  1  2   15  11  +4  10
2 Megistos               6   2  2  2   13  11  +2   8
3 Kohnhead               6   2  2  2   11  12  -1   8
4 Hebitaka               6   2  1  3    6  11  -5   7

Megistos ahead of Kohnhead on head to head results (1-1-0)

Group 3
Kriegiersien 1-0 HUElavia
Rwekazaland 0-1 Kavagrad

- Group 1              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 Kriegiersien           6   4  2  0   15   6  +9  14
2 HUElavia               6   2  2  2   10   8  +2   8
3 Kavagrad               6   2  1  3    4   8  -4   7
4 Rwekazaland            6   1  1  4    6  13  -7   4

Group 4
Sylestone 3-2 Transvolcanic
Damukuni 2-0 Space

- Group 1              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 Sylestone              6   4  2  0   17   7 +10  14
2 Transvolcanic          6   2  1  3   10  11  -1   7
3 Damukuni               6   2  1  3    9  11  -2   7
4 Space                  6   2  0  4    7  14  -7   6

Transvolcanic ahead of Damukuni on goal differential in head to head results as head to head results are level.

[OOC HOST REMINDER: Tomorrow night is an off day.]

KNOCKOUT ROUND

Note: HUElavia and Transvolcanic will be switched to avoid a group stage rematch as per standard NS Sports protocol.

The seeds are as follows:
1. Sylestone (4-2-0, 14 points, +10 goal differential, Group 4 champions). Sylestone ahead of Kriegiersien on overall goal differential.
2. Kriegiersien (4-2-0, 14 points, +9 goal differential, Group 3 champions)
3. Sarzonia (4-0-2, 12 points, +3 goal differential, Group 1 champions)
4. Silvedania (3-1-2, 10 points, +4 goal differential, Group 2 champions)
5. Rangers FC (2-3-1, nine points, 0 goal differential, Group 2 runners up)
6. Megistos (2-2-2, eight points, +2 goal differential, 13 goals scored, Group 2 runners up), Megistos ahead of HUElavia on goals scored)
7. HUElavia (2-2-2, eight points, +2 goal differential, 10 goals scored, Group 3 runners up)
8. Transvolcanic (2-1-3, 7 points, -1 goal differential, Group 4 runners up)

The matchups will be as follows:
1 Sylestone v. 7 HUElavia at Shipyard Stadium in Wilmington
2 Kriegiersien v. 8 Transvolcanic at The Iron Bowl in Portland
3 Sarzonia v. 6 Megistos at Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock
4 Silvedania v. 5 Rangers FC at Mike Sarzo Stadium in Nicksia

[Sarzonia]

Fifty-two thousand souls sat in the expansive confines of Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock, getting one last chance to see the Sarzonian over 35 national team in the group stage of the World Cup of Masters.

They left the stadium disappointed as Abanhfleft finished with a clean sheet against the Senior Stars with a 2-0 victory. The result meant little to the Fleftics other than pride, as they could not overcome Rangers FC in the Group 1 table.

However the result kept Sarzonia out of the number one overall seed in the quarterfinals, giving Senior Stars manager Tyrone Manningham and company a tougher first knockout round opponent. The Senior Stars will take on Megistos, which destroyed Kohnhead 4-1 in their final match to push past the Olden Brains into the second berth from Group 2.

"We wanted to play our regular starting 11 in an effort to maintain our focus and hopefully earn a better matchup in the knockouts," Manningham said. "Looks like you can start your usual players but you can't make them play."

The knockout rounds will see Sylestone and Kriegiersien as the top two seeds on 14 points each with Sylestone earning the top seed honours over the defending finalists on overall goal differential. The Senior Stars have the third seeds whilst newcomers Silvedania are the fourth seeds.

It all means the Senior Stars will play their first knockout round match at Dave Wilson Stadium since event organisers opted to attach the stadiums to the group winners rather than have the top seeds automatically play in Woodstock.

The bracket sets up a possible rematch of the previous edition's final if the Senior Stars and Kriegiersien win their respective matches. Manningham said he wasn't interested in looking any further than the team's contest against Megistos.

"We can't get caught up in all that," he said. "Megistos are too good to take them for granted."

[Kriegiersien]

Kriegiersien 1-0 HUElavia
Goals: Marky Mark (60.)

The Schoenwetter Herald

Sport – Football

Only just before the match, a list of players from HUElavia was handed to the Kriegiersien representation.
“That was very helpful to focus on some players…. Ah, we have to be honest, we just could adapt to beforehand remember which tricot colour the opponent has, to reduce the number of misdirected passes”, said Coach Haudels.

A goal from Marky Mark secured place one and the second place in the overall ranking after the group stage. 76.910 people watched the match in the stadium, giving the players a farewell to Sarzonia.
Portland, where they played the semifinal the last time, will be the location of the quarter-final against Transvolcanic.

+++


Marco Wimmer entered the hotel room sullen, throwing a bag on his bed.

Gert Lessels was sitting in chair, a pipe in his hand.

“I have expected you, Mr. Wimmer.”

“What? Why do you have pipe in your hand? You are not a smoker”, Marco said, then sneezing.

Gert belched some smoke.

“It gives me a rather distinguished look. And the herbs help against my cold”, he explained.
“Yeah, the cold you got because you shared some lines with a girl and what do I know other things with her. At least you only forwarded the cold to me.”
“Well, I had some fun”, Gert said, grinning, then sneezing.
“Yes and now everyone else has fun and we two are quarantined and probably missing the next match”, Wimmer grumbled and took some drips from the medicine he had brought along.

“I have another mystery solved in the meantime”, Lessels said smiling.

“You watched more of these crime science fiction? To let you alone with a TV.. Well I guess it is better than let you alone with any one else”, muttered Marco.
“Why do I have to be together with the one Superlunatic in the team?”, he thought.

“Indeed, I now found out your secret, Mr. Wimmer. You are 52 years old, you say?”

“Yes.”

“Then how is it you played 40 seasons before retirement? You started your first match with 20 years in the first league, before you retired. 12 years later you now suddenly start at the Masters. That means, you should be 72! It was a riddle for me I couldn’t find out, but our opponent now gave me the solution!”, Gert took another puff, smiling, then coughing.

“Aha?”

“Yes. See, your last match was against Doom FC, were you were substituted in the 20th minute. Then you left. Nobody heard of you after that, but witness say you had traveled to one of the vulcanoes in the near before. The locals believe that these volcanoes have magical powers.
And obviously you, by accident or willingly, entered one of the volcanoes. You fell through a time portal and thanks to the number you remembered when you were replaced on the field you returned 20 years later, soon after when Transvolcaniac had suddenly entered the internation Football scene. And now, when we play against them, the circle is complete”, he ended, taking another puff with a smile.

“Aha”, Marco nodded, while taking another drip of the medecine with some water.

“Have you every thought about the possibility, or as some call it, fact, that there was a time when multiple seasons were played in one year? Exactly two for some years. And that was, surprise, in my whole career. One in Summer, one in Winter. Two champions a year, two seasons. From first to lowest league. And so I played two seasons in a year. You can read this on the net. Or in old newspapers.”

Gert look at him, then taking a puff. Taking out his smartphone, playing a bit with it. After a minute he put it away again.

He cleared his throat.

“Well, that explains...that explains some...what did you do after you last game?”, he asked.

“I worked in a Zoo in Scorpion City. 11 years with Elephants. Silent, nice, ok paid work. And I played in the Zooleague by the way", answered Marco, then sneezing.
“And the elephants were easier to work with than my most teammates”, he thought.

“Oh in this case….”, Lessels turned on the TV and sneezed.
“Let’s watch some crime movies.”

[Sarzonia]

We're going to find out which teams will go home and the four semifinalists with this cutoff!

Quarterfinals
(1) Sylestone 3-3 (4-5 AET) (7) HUElavia
At Shipyard Stadium in Wilmington

(2) Kriegiersien 1-0 (8) Transvolcanic
At The Iron Bowl in Portland

(3) Sarzonia 2-0 (6) Megistos (scorinated by Banija)
At Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock

(4) Silvedania 1-4 (5) Rangers FC
At Mike Sarzo Stadium in Nicksia

Semifinals
(2) Kriegiersien v. (7) HUElavia
at The Iron Bowl in Portland

(3) Sarzonia v. (5) Rangers FC
at Shipyard Stadium in Wilmington

[Sarzonia]

So far, the first two editions of the NS World Cup of Masters are poison for the top seeds as soon as the knockout round matches begin.

No. 1 Sylestone was the unfortunate victim this time as they fell to seventh seeded HUElavia 5-4 after the teams had battled to a 3-3 draw in regulation. Fourth seeded Silvedania also dropped their match against fifth seeds Rangers FC, getting shellacked 4-1.

The results set up what event organisers attempted to avoid in the first knockout round: Group stage rematches. No. 2 seeds Kriegiersien will battle HUElavia in one semifinal at the Iron Bowl in Portland and the third seeded Sarzonian over 35 national team will face Rangers FC.

The Senior Stars punched their tickets to Wilmington with a 2-0 victory over Megistos with Sarzonian national team manager Nicola Mentes, a native of Megistos, in attendance among a crowd of 79,836 at Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock. Kriegiersien defeated eighth seeded Transvolcanic 1-0 to set up their rematch against Los Armarillos.

For all of Senior Stars manager Tyrone Manningham's disappointment with his team's lacklustre effort in the group stage finale against Abanhfleft, he was just as heartened by the team's success in their match against Megistos. And in the energy of the crowd at Dave Wilson Stadium.

"I think these fans were waiting for the knockout rounds to show up with that kind of energy," Manningham said. "They want to see us win again."

Before fans can anticipate a potential finals rematch of the first NS World Cup of Masters final, in which Sarzonia defeated Kriegiersien 4-0, both teams will have to get there. That may be a major ask, as the Senior Stars lost their opening match of this World Cup of Masters to Rangers FC by a 3-1 scoreline. The Stars were the only team to defeat Rangers FC, dumping them 3-0 in the away leg.

As for Kriegiersien, they have a 1-1-0 mark against HUElavia, who are likely to be motivated to even their record against one of the best teams in the competition's early history.

All of that history is not going to matter much to Matt Lynch, who scored one goal and assisted on Zack Wilson's tally if the Senior Stars don't win.

"We have a job to do," he said.

[Kriegiersien]

Kriegiersien 1-0 Transvolcanic
Goal: Kai Alberz (80)



10 players of the team of Kriegiersien were sitting in a cooling chamber between beef halves. All were naked, freezing.

Likewise Dr. Jack Ill stood in the room, looking on his watch.
He was the psychological support for the team, but hadn’t been assigned until now. The only time he should have been deployed after the first match against HUElavia, he refused to leave his hotel room. But now he was there, in his wholeness.

Wilhelm Freesinger was, like everyone from the legendary bunker team, used to be naked (as it was mandatory in Kriegiersien), but living in a hot desert zone, were the radiation and sunburn were the most danger to the naked skin. But he didn’t know that cold.

“Two questions. Why are we sitting here? And why are the new players and the coach not in here?”, he grumbled.

“Good questions. The answer to the second question: Someone has to stand guard outside and the four others know what it is to feel the cold grip of winter. But for you this is the best test for hardness. Here we will suffer and learn how to survive resistance”, said Dr. Ill, pinning two blueberries and a banana to a beef, so that they resembled, with much imagination, a face. It also had a jersey of HUElavia put over.

“Look! This is the enemy. HUElavia. They want to stop you from reaching the final again. To take revenge against Sarzonia for the loss last time. Will, give it to him!”

He pointed to the beef halve.

“What?”, asked Wilhelm shivering.

“Kick it! Show me your aggressions.”

Wilhelm stood up groaning, kicking the beef after a short pause.

“Harder. Think of something that makes you angry.”

Wilhelm sighed. Then he saw Gert Lessels sitting in front of him. He kicked the beef very hard. And again. To move was nice. Kick. Kick.

“Very good!”, the Dr. applauded.
“The next one. Sissy, you are the Goalkeeper, so use your hands. Think of something that makes you angry.”

Sissy stood up with clenched, chattering teeth. She starred at the doctor, while hitting the beef halves so hard, that it nearly flew away.

“Very good. Now..”, started the doctor, when the door opened. Coach Haudels stick his head in the door.

“Ah, sorry. But the owners need the room now.”

“Ok, then today's session is over. Think of what you felt today. Use it in the game. Give them nothing, show your will to beat them. Destroy them.”


Everyone who was able to stormed outside, to enjoy the privilege of wearing clothes.

[Sarzonia]

We started with four teams having a chance to hoist the World Cup of Masters trophy.

Find out which two will play for all the marbles and which two will play for bronze after this cutoff!

Semifinals
(2) Kriegiersien 2-1 (7) HUElavia
At The Iron Bowl, Portland

(3) Sarzonia 4-0 Rangers FC (scorinated by Banija)
At Shipyard Stadium in Wilmington

Therefore, tomorrow's Third Place Playoff will be
(5) Rangers FC v. (7) HUElavia
At Mike Sarzo Stadium, Nicksia

And Tuesday's final will be a rematch of the previous final:

(2) Kriegiersien v. (3) Sarzonia
At Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock

[Sarzonia]

The first time the Sarzonian over 35 national team met Rangers FC, the match took place in front of a sparse crowd at Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock and the visitors stunned the defending NS World Cup of Masters champion Senior Stars on the night they hung their championship banner.

They would get some measure of revenge in the away match against Rangers FC, but the fact that the derby between the two teams was level but for one more Sarzonian goal was still weighing on the minds of the team as they got ready to play at the gleaming Shipyard Stadium in Wilmington, a venue that garnered attention from Kriegiersien media outlets during the inaugural edition, played entirely in Sarzonia.

This time, however, the Senior Stars left no doubt which team was better over the course of 90 minutes and Sarzonia used dominating performances up and down the squad for a sweeping 4-0 victory that punched Sarzonia's ticket back to Dave Wilson Stadium for the final. They would gather in the dressing room after interviews, showers, and getting dressed and watched Kriegiersien mark their return to the final with a 2-1 victory over HUElavia in the other semifinal, which also featured a third meeting between two groupmates.

That would mean that Rangers FC and HUElavia, both runners up in their respective groups, would make the trip to Nicksia for the third place playoff at Mike Sarzo Stadium whilst the rematch of the inaugural World Cup of Masters final took place between Sarzonia and Kriegiersien at Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock. While Kriegiersien would earn the honour of using their "home" hits for the final as the higher seeded team, the crowd would likely strongly favour Sarzonia, as tickets sold out within moments of the final being announced. Stadium organisers acknowledged that "a good 30 percent" of online ticket sales hailed from Kriegiersien IP addresses, but also knew that a stadium that struggled to reach anything approaching half capacity during the group stages would be sold out for the final.

"It's a rematch of the previous final," manager Tyrone Manningham told the assembled media. "It's two teams that have developed a fierce rivalry in this segment of the sport. Of course it's going to have a lot of intrigue. We want to beat them to make sure we're the only champions of this competition and they want to beat us to earn revenge against us for beating them last time out." The Senior Stars walloped Kriegiersien 4-0 in the final, providing a consolation prize for many of Sarzonia's World Cup 57 veterans after that edition's team failed to advance past the group stage in the World Cup proper.

This time, the spectre of that previous failure will no longer hang over this team. Sarzonia hold a trophy that may not carry the cachet of a World Cup, or even a Mike Sarzo Memorial Trophy, but one that event organisers hope to establish its own legacy soon enough.

"We'd like to see this tournament be talked about with some of the other competitions like the Under 21 World Cup or the Under 18 World Cup," said Brenda Allison, the manager of the Sarzonian women's national team. "We don't know if it's going to get there or not, but we'd love to see it do that eventually."

[Sarzonia]

Four teams remain with a chance to earn medals in the World Cup of Masters. Tonight, we find out who captures the bronze and who settles for that Cyanean invention: The pewter medal after this cutoff!

Third Place Playoff at Mike Sarzo Stadium in Nicksia
(5) Rangers FC 1-4 HUElavia

Congratulations to HUElavia on capturing bronze! Commiserations to Rangers FC on having to settle for pewter!

Note: Delaclava will be scorinating tomorrow night's final between (2) Kriegiersien and (3) Sarzonia at Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock. Thus tonight is my last scorination for the tournament.

Thank you all for taking part!

[Kriegiersien]

Kriegiersien 2-1 HUElavia
Goals: Kai Alberz (28.) Janis Ghiani (75.)


Ok, other issues?”, the Kriegiersien president grumbled, still angry that his beloved Teddy bear had been stabbed, shot and chopped by his crazy generals to make a point. His secretary shook his head.


“No, we are done. Have you watched sports lately?”
“I really wished I had time. Couldn’t watch the hockey champions league, no Stock car races, not even local Rugby or Killerwaterball games.”
“Then I have amusing news. Our Football team beat HUElavia and made it to the final of the Masters.”
“You mean Soccer?”
“Yes.”
“So, we can finally win the IAC. Great.”
“No. No. The Masters. For players over 35. In Sarzonia.”
“Oh. Well, that is something, too. I guess. How are the odds to win it?”

“They lost the last final against the host. 4-0. And Sarzonia won their semifinal 4-0. We won our semi-final against HUElavia 2-1. Who ended third place.”
“4-0. That is decisively. So, can we better our chances?”
“How do you mean?”
“Threaten the opponent?”
“You may mistake this with a local tournament. This is not Brancaland or Blackacre, you can’t frighten them.”
“Maybe the referees?”
“They are probably from Banija or Delaclava, but no, the same problem.”
“What about bribing?”
“Of course we could send them shiny things, but if they take them and still win what should we do? Openly state that they didn’t hold the bargain of being bribed by us?”

“Ok. Then… what is our idea here?”
“Just that our team does it this time.”
“Wasn’t that the team with the drunken mutant Vaultdwellers?”
“They prefer to be called ‘Ravished by radiation thanks to the actions of the presidents’. Former Bunker residents, that are lead by one of your relatives. Timon Haudels.”
“Oh. Then we can really only hope the best.”
“At least a lot of fans have travelled to Sarzonia. Even some who watched our team in the IAC in Havynwilde before. So there will be some to support the team.”

[Sarzonia]

OOC: Sorry for the delay, but I just got the result from Delaclava of the final.

Kriegersien 2-2 Sarzonia (2-2 AET) (5-3 pen.)

Match played in front of a sold out crowd of 105,900 at Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock

[Kriegiersien]

The last penalty missed. The title was won. No luck involved.