Game two – Hapilopper vs. Orestea
As members of the Hapilopper National Football Team came back to the locker room following their final practice session the day of their match against the team from Orestea, they found a three-word phrase scrawled on the chalkboard. The phrase, “SHOCK AND AWE,” filled the board. Standing next to it was Thom Perkins, the manager of the club. He had an intense look on his face. He had seen what the Hapiloppians had done in practice, and similarly, his staff had seen what the Oresteans had done. If there was any opportunity to do something huge, it was now.
“Shock and awe, huh?” asked midfielder Pancakes Taggart. “What does that mean?”
“It means we’re capable of putting up some huge numbers today,” Thom replied. “This is a team that can put up those numbers, and we can do it really early on in the match, too. Let’s not just focus on possession or shots on goal, let’s actually score some goals in numbers!”
Thom looked over at Ernie Stevenson and John Cornett, the team’s top two forwards. Both of them had huge smiles on their faces. This was the kind of match they were looking for. This was the kind of challenge they were wanting. Come out of the starting gate on fire and leave the other team in the dust, their orders were. Both players looked around at their teammates, who were smiling just as heavily. They knew today would not be a normal football match. They knew this one would be a special one.
As the players, led by Cooter Harris and Thom Perkins, walked through the tunnel, they were met by Venerable Television’s Robert Skippers, wanting an interview from someone.
“We’re gonna put on a show today,” Thom said with a smile.
“I’m getting a hat trick today,” Ernie said. “I guaran-damn-tee it.”
It was the second match in a row that Ernie had guaranteed something bold before a match on live TV, and like the previous match, he followed through on that guarantee. More to the point, he did it in a matter of three minutes, the 2nd, the 3rd and the 4th minutes. In less than 90 minutes of play, Ernie Stevenson had scored five goals in two matches against two other teams. After scoring the hat trick, he ran over to John Cornett and shouted “TOP THAT.”
“Oh, I will, trust me!” Cornett shouted back. A friendly rivalry was starting to develop between the two players, and it was something the team was making note of.
In the 17th minute, a goal from Steve Erickson made the score 4-0. Seeing that Ernie had been tied up with an Orestean defender, Steve just raced through traffic and shot the ball from the left, making the Orestean goalkeeper look foolish as the midfielder ran past him.
Murray Hunnisett made it 5-0 in the 26th as, with ease, it appeared, he ran past every single Orestean defender in the process of sending the ball into the back of the net from right down the middle, even after faking the goaltender into believing he would make a move left.
When the teams went to the locker room for a brief halftime respite, Thom had a huge smile on his face. Ernie had scored a hat trick, as promised, in the first five minutes of the match. Two of his midfielders had found the back of the net. This was a damned strong team, he knew it, and the team knew it. He looked over at Steve and Ernie and decided they had earned their rest.
“You guys want to sit for the second half?” Thom asked. “I’m putting Sweet Stan and Cornett in.”
“Sure, why not?” Ernie said. “I’d like to see John try to top what I was able to do. I bet it’ll be awesome.”
Sure enough, taking the pitch for the second half was the entire Midnight Express trio of John Cornett, Beautiful Bobby East and Sweet Stan Long on the offensive side of the pitch. That was a smart move. The three had worked together for several years, and they knew what moves to make and how to elude defenders in their own special way. The rest of the team was advised that, if you don’t mind, once Beautiful Bobby or Sweet Stan gets the ball, let them do their own thing and stay out of the way, and no, you won’t regret it.
Nobody regretted it. Mere seconds after the half got going, Cornett, with assists from his midfielders, put the ball in the back of the net from 20 yards. Two minutes later, in the 47th, another goal from Cornett, with an assist from East. In the 51st, Cornett put the ball in the back of the net again with an assist from Long. It was now 8-0 in favor of the Hapiloppians.
In the 65th minute, Cooter Harris, having done virtually nothing the whole match, was subbed off in favor of Colt Delaney, who was given the order to just “be cool, and don’t give up too much, but if you give up a goal or two, not the end of the world.”
Sure enough, by the time the match ended, two Orestean goals had found the back of the net, one in the 72nd and one in the third minute of injury stoppage time. These goals were largely considered consolation goals, and nobody really judged Delaney for allowing them.
After all, Hapilopper now led the group with six points, to Terre Septentrionale’s and Amuaplye’s four, and with a +8 goal differential. They would need that goal differential going into those matches against those very tough sides.
The first of those two tough matches would be coming next. Hapilopper couldn’t just act as if they would blow out the Northern Land National Soccer Team, because they might have been just as good as the Hapiloppians. Afterwards, Thom told reporters that the mindset would have to be wildly different.
“Yeah, we’ve had this date marked on our calendars since we got here,” Thom said. “Terre Septentrionale will be one of our two biggest tests in this entire group phase. They’ve got some fantastic players, and we can’t just treat them the way we treated the Coalison and Orestea.”
Thom explained the team has been watching footage of Terre Septentrionale’s matches against Lashnakia and Amuaplye to study for the upcoming match.
“In that first match, one of their players got a hat trick. I’m not going to try to pronounce that player’s name, I think it was Fridericka or Fryderyka or something, but we’re keeping an eye on her. She looks like a real threat in multiple forms. If we want to be victorious, we have to stop her attacking threat in one form or another.”
Thom was also asked about the team’s rather arrogant, yet bold, guarantees that have come before both of their matches.
“None before this one,” he said grimly. “We’re not going to guarantee anything before this match, except that you’re going to see a hell of a great football match and it’ll probably be one of the must-watch matches of this entire tournament. We’re a pretty good team, but so is Terre Septentrionale, and we’re going to have to be at our best if we’re going to beat them. If we play anything less than our absolute best, we’ll get beat. Period.”
That mindset was obvious going into training the next morning. There was no lightheartedness. There was no joking around. Every single member of the HNFT carried a deadly serious demeanor going into training against what would be their biggest challenge to date. They just couldn’t take Terre Septentrionale lightly like they had taken the other teams. This was a tough team, and they had to prepare for a tough match.
Your headlines from this match!
Venerable Television: HAPILOPPER ROLLS OVER ORESTEA | Hapilopper Television Network: DOUBLE HAT TRICK LEADS HAPILOPPER TO EASY VICTORY | Hapilopper City Herald: PERKINS: NEXT MATCH WILL BE MUST-SEE TV | The Hapiloppian Crier: NOW FOR THE HARD PART: HAPILOPPER TO TAKE ON TERRE SEPTENTRIONALE | The Buckridge Morning Sentinel: PREVIEW: HAPS/TERRE MATCHUP A TOSS-UP
