Samseong
The Board of Football Affairs
and
Albrecht FC
present
...
Tristar Songstress Stadium
The LENPY in brilliant C&M Blue
Name: oh comon, we just said it!
Location: Songstress, Albrecht, Candelaria
Capacity: 88,800
Open: Season XXXVIII, CMSC (Year 4723 of the Han Calendar)
Surface: Grass
Builder: Samseong Construction
Owner: Albrecht FC BFA Office (a branch of the Board of Football Affairs)
Operator: Albrecht FC
Uses: Home of two-time UICA World Champions, two-time Globe Cup Champions, ohgawdsomany CMS Cup Champions (5), ohgawdevenmore CMSC Champions Titles (11), and somuchwinningest club in all the Candelarias and the Marquezs Albrecht FC;
C&M international home matches;
random music concerts;
etc...[float=right]
glancing at the south stands and that nice new LED screen provided by Samseong...
[/float]History: In the wake of the Samseong take-over, there had been some anticipation over whether or not the old and beloved Millerman Shepard Stadium would be demolished and replaced with some snazzy new stadium that would put Solidarity to shame (not quite literally...). And while many of these rumors were quaffed, there was still the expectation of getting a brand new stadium to out-do all others in the Candelarias (until it would be inevitably outdone itself). And so the quest for TSS was born, in wake of two great international successes (GC5 and TQCC12), the BFA finally made the decision to build a new stadium.
And then they waited.
After some Albrechters complained about the lack of response, Samseong contacted ShinyStadiums in Kura-Pelland. And then they waited again. After Samseong grew tired of waiting, they thought to themselves that they themselves have their own wonderful stadium-building architects and engineers (after all, they built like half of the ones in the IFL), so after some good wishes and good riddances, Samseong turned to their little pet Samseong Construction to build up a spiffy new stadium for the Samseong Board of Football Affairs... or rather Albrecht FC.
And then they waited.
It so happened that around that time, some random terrorists blew up a nuclear device over the capital and sent a paralyzing EMP shock throughout the heart of the city, whilst spilling nuclear waste over the area. While the Han suffered for two years (the place has since been scrubbed for residual radioactivity - mind you, the blast was designed for an EMP shock, not lethal radiation), people in Songstress stared at a misshapen piece of steel and concrete, as if some freakishly insane avant-garde artist spilled his brains all over the quaint little suburb of Albrecht. You take your pick of which was worse to endure, not to mention they were forced to gaze upon this monstrosity for two-three years while heading to their old beloved MSS to watch the Scorpions sink down to 7th place (%$#&JETKU%*#!!!).
But no more.[float=right]
pesky little bird's eye view of the player's entrance; proly thinking to defile the top of the protection screen...
[/float]Tristar Songstress Stadium is the epitome of modern architecture for all of the Candelarias, especially in the field of football stadia. While it's seldom hard to screw up the pitch itself (after all, it's grass), Samseong has cooperated with biological conglomerate Dusan to create a biosynthetic turf that is more resistant to the wear and tear typically accustomed to a football pitch. This means less time and energy required to maintain the turf. Moreover, the grass is well prepared for eventual drainage problems (rain), icing (ice), and occasionally random feathered fiends (birds). Now, there's always the possibility that this grass turf will pick itself and walk away, but Samseong and Dusan have assured us that the chances of that happening in a million years is one in 1,427,186,233,201.
The stadium also boasts world-class seating that accommodates the user of the stadium, particularly with the spiffy seat covers. While most stadia have seat covers that are monochromatic (one color), TSS utilizes new pigments that are polychromatic (get a dictionary, Holmes). In the control panel, there's a lovely little box that says Seat Cover (guess what that does?). If one leaves the setting at "AFC", the seats stay a nice rosy dark red (not that the dark red is really a rosy color, or whatever). However, change the setting to "C&M", then the box sends an electric impulse to change the seat color almost instantaneously to a nice azure blue. Neat, eh? And maintenance is relatively easy too, as the seats are coated with a thick anti-random-fans-sitting-jumping-on-the-chair-during-exciting-matches-and-fixtures coat of polyurethane, designed primarily to protect the polychromatic pigment. As long as it stays maintained, the seats can have a long life-expectancy. But what about the electric impulse? If it fails, we will know immediately, since the pigment's natural color is a bright white color - any problems tend to stick out of the crowd, permitting easy repairs.
And just in case you thought that Samseong didn't care, they even brought in the grand ole LENPY stand, still on the west side (although it's now a double-tier section, simply because we couldn't fit all of the letters on one level... all the more merrier until someone decides to ignore the railing and fall to their presumably certain death on the fans on the ground level). In fact, the stadium's general design was built around balance, such that no two sections would blatantly contrast with one another. The octagonal section also highlights the eight sections of feng-shui (pung-su), such that the stadium's main entrance is built into the east-stand (to welcome the rising sun - although it serves a more practical purpose of avoiding getting the sun in the eyes of the more vociferous fans during sunset). The stadium is built upon three tiers, with their own local assortment of amenities (bathrooms, food, and even a local pub on the third level); and the reason for the lack of a fourth tier? Because they ran out of room (although why they ran out of room is debatable as well).[float=right]
The LENPY in brilliant AFC Dark Red
[/float]Back to the level of providing local amenities, the stadium ground level boasts a modest commercial district, filled with random offices, stores, and boutiques to solve any quibble about what to get when visiting the TSS. There is a food court, a mini-mall, an official Albrecht FC fan store, and rooms galore filled with clothes, memorabilia, office supplies, and construction material. Basically, when Albrecht FC isn't playing a match, the club can still have tourists come by and spend their whole day at the stadium. And the best thing is that all major proceeds (anything not belonging to the individual vendors) goes directly to the club's finances - not Samseong (Samseong isn't even a retailer!).
And there are many other amenities inside the stadium that could draw fans away from the match (when it's looking a bit down), but the stadium includes a wonderful park. Songstress Park is perhaps the biggest (although we're not saying that for sure) park in the Albrecht area, with many square kilometers surrounding serene floral (i.e. plants, not flowers) communities. The impression is to establish a natural community with which Albrechters can peaceably and safely interact. There are roughly 17.59 kilometers of walking paths, running routes, and other random excursions one could make. And for the family, there is a swimming pool, a little recreation area with swing-sets, and a kiddie football pitch. And of course, there is the community football pitches, three in all. Groups and individuals wishing to reserve these facilities must contact the AFC Directory of Publicity - Public Facilities Office. And you wonder with all of these spectacles, how does Samseong make any profit? Hehe...
Well, enough about the stadium; it's time for the result.
What result?
Well, you wouldn't expect for us to make this long little report about a brand new spiffy (we have got to find a new word for that) stadium in a thread designed for domestic soccer newswires, even through this isn't our domestic, and it isn't even a domestic result. Indeed, when Samseong got done finishing this stadium, they decided to celebrate in the best possible manner that they could. They got Albrecht FC a play-mate![float=right]
random bald-headed man sitting in the player's box; oh, wait, there's two of 'em...
[/float]Coming all of the way from Cafundéu, Cafundó do Juta comes with perhaps the highest distinction of honor among clubs from the football-tax-crazy country. Indeed, they're quite renowned for being the perennial second-place finishers in almost any competition (especially the Primeirona). And perhaps it was with that tradition in mind that the BFA arranged this inaugural friendly for Albrecht FC to celebrate.
Opening day was practically sold out as people filled the stands from the ground up to the sky. And as the sun had already fallen, there was no worry about the sun's glare - only the random shit that would be falling from the stands as people tested gravity (maybe we should build in some nets...). Who filled the stands, no one quite knows for certain. For certain a great number were the die-hard fans who would sooner commit suicide than to swear against their beloved (or perhaps magnanimous) club; but the greater majority of the fans seemed to be those random Turkish people who were willing to swallow in a bit of pride to help the visiting Cafundelense fans cheer on. And in the VIP boxes were seated those random Samseong executives, along with some of the local mayoral office in Albrecht (I believe President Morton was busily dealing with other problems... so no show for her - unless those Candelariasian agents managed to stick in a life-like dummy of her in the stands, no doubt voiced by the smallest non-unreal but not-quite-natural biological creature that they could find to voice for her (and it sang all freaking night! (good grief, there parenthetical statements really build on themselves))). Anyhow, it was quite the festive atmosphere as the players took the field for the first time.
And great news! No one died stepping onto the pitch! After all, we'd mentioned that there was considerable fear that the pitch would step up and walk away once trampled by some 23 pairs of shoes (25 if you include those chaps who run on the fancy white lines on the edge). And just for this occasion, we'd brought in a Sargossan referee to officiate the match; simply because we didn't think that Sargossans had any emotional attachment to either club.[float=right]
ooh, how quaint! there's a little mouse-shaped pattern in the field!...
[/float]With little else to celebrate, the match began and almost immediately, Albrecht found themselves on the defensive. The pressing attack style by the visitors left the home side a bit uncomfortable for long stretches of the match. But after leaving the possession game to Cafundó, AFC found some time to break down the short, neat passing game of their visitors and starting making some challenges with the ball. It was left to William, St. Louis, and Go to round up the defense, while Nakatsuru took up his spot as the leading attacking midfielder, ably assisted by the young Kouakou Kouamé and Fahmi Hamizi. And it was this combination that helped Torreabla's tots go out and win the CMSC this past season, and it proved deadly for the visitors, who stumbled on a free kick opportunity to hand the initiative to Sarzonian George Morrison. Pouncing on the ball, he found his way into the box and placed his header just perfectly into the top corner, beyond Montes's reach. Two minutes later, Hamizi seemed to put the result beyond all doubt. However, Veiga proved his resilience by pressuring his players to get their heads into the game - to get the ball and practice good attacking possession. And with enough patience and discipline, Luisinho helped reduce the deficit just before the break with a well-placed shot that Rosalia failed the parry.
Both Torrealba and Veiga were aware of the "friendly" nature of the match, however, and they took the opportunity after the break to bring on some of their lesser-known players; practically for in-field practice and to give the star players some time to recuperate for more off-season training. After all, both clubs had their early exits from the UICA competitions, so having this match was not simply a luxury of time but a matter of preparation. For Samseong, it was a win-win-win-lose (they have to pay those SLANI taxes, y'know), as the match brought out some of the brightest stars in the world onto one pitch. And so the second half began with two great teams, having a great time out on the field. And though Albrecht FC would go on to cruise to a 4-2 victory, nothing really could dampen the celebratory nature of this occasion.[float=right]
you're probably tired of looking at these pics...
[/float]In the end, everyone was a winner (except those dejected Turkish fans who wasted two hours of their evening watching their hated rivals win a friendly contest). And with the close of the match, the stadium announcers gave a brief eulogy, to thank the old stadium for the many memories, the many triumphs held therein, the many tragedies it witnessed, the many events that changed its times, and that though they would never quite forget the legacy of the Millerman Shepard Stadium, they would always keep a special place in their hearts just in case. Indeed, there were a few tearful persons on the field, players new and ancient standing. For some, they lived and died in that stadium; for others, it was a nurturing (well, as nurturing as a footie stadium can be...) environment where they had breakthroughs and experiences that molded for a lifetime. For all, it was Millerman Shepard Stadium. It still stands there today.
But now, there is also Tristar Songstress Stadium, and no doubt it will not take long for this new stadium to take its rightful place into the hierarchy of great stadia in Candelaria And Marquez. And at this point, there really is only one thing to say...
TAKE THAT TURKISH!
Indeed.
ooc: match was scorinated using latest (but not yet published UICA coefficients on NSFS; tabulated by Daehanjeiguk, scorinated by Vephrall - thanks to both Cafundeu and Candelaria And Marquez for permitting the postage of this long but arbitrarily unnecessary post.
