This World Cup 84 qualifying campaign is remarkable for a number of reasons.
For the Sarzonian national football team, their away result in defeating Crystalline Caverns 2-1 behind goals from Mek'hi West and Clayton Wilson with five saves from Paolo Gomes checked off a few boxes. The unranked Stars saw their record improve to .500 with their fifth victory against six draws and five losses. It saw their goal differential reach zero.
Those facts saw a rare public display of levity for manager Kevin Connelly, who quipped that the .500 record and even goal differential were "the definition of mediocrity."
Perhaps they are. But for a Stars team that needed its 10th match to notch its second victory against four losses and four draws against fellow unranked side Atlantic Republic, it was merely another sign post for their progress as a side. Their record in the second half of qualifying improved to 3-1-2 with the lone blemish being at home to world No. 5 Banija.
Read that again. Only the fifth ranked team in the world were able to walk off the pitch as victors over the Stars in the seven matches since the team languished at 1-4-4. Their run of better form included a 2-2 away draw against Abanhfleft that severely damaged the 42nd ranked team in the world's prospects at qualifying. It included routs of 4-1 and 3-0 with the first away victory of the campaign.
And now, it includes the second away result. It includes winning both legs against the 66th ranked team in the world, the team these Stars defeated for their first victory of this qualifying campaign. Little did anyone know at the time it would be the first of several.
The Stars return to Woodstock to face Brigantii with the news that faulty wiring at Nottingham Pavilion has resulted in the match being moved to a venue the Stars haven't used in years: Bryan Marshall Memorial Stadium, seating 88,920. Connelly said he was told the Incorporated Football Federation, the sport's governing body in Sarzonia, were considering moving the match anyway because of the demand for tickets.
"Nottingham Pavilion can barely seat 18,000," Connelly said. "We were considering options including Franz Braddock Memorial Stadium and even Hendrix." Stadium authorities for Franz Braddock Memorial Stadium nixed the idea of a lacrosse venue being repurposed for football, but Hendrix Stadium is in line to host The Sherpa Empire for its final event in Matchday 21 before its planned demolishing.
However, protesters objected to the plans to tear down the stadium and called on Vice President for Internal Affairs Carletta Grayson to declare the stadium a national historic landmark, which would preclude its ever being torn down. The IFF already announced that maintenance for the dilapidated old stadium was "cost prohibitive." Declaring it a national historic landmark would turn the maintenance costs over to Internal Affairs, which can include it in its budget as opposed to spending dedicated funding on the stadium. A spokeswoman for Grayson declined to comment.
Bryan Marshall Stadium was the home field for the Stars until Dave Wilson Stadium was built with the largest capacity of any Sarzonian stadium. It's the only stadium in Woodstock available for football that's not part of the overall Dave Wilson Athletic Complex. It was recently renovated, although stadium officials noted that maintenance of that stadium was "a lot easier" than Hendrix Stadium.
Regardless of venue, the Stars, who now sit fifth in the table in Group 2, will be happy to see how far they've come since the beginnings of the World Cup qualifying campaign, both as a team on the pitch and as men and women off it. Above the din of grief and controversy, they've come together in a magical way that has seen them play to stronger form than even their record over the past eight matches, including an away draw against The Sherpa Empire in Matchday 10, would indicate. Including that match, Sarzonia's last eight matches have seen them play to a 4-3-1 record.
It's also led to some of the power structure within the IFF sending feelers to Connelly to ask him to reconsider his decision to step down.
"He's been a rock for this team. He's been exactly what we needed," said one source who asked to remain anonymous to allow for frank discussion of the thoughts within the IFF. "Even when the team was at 1-3-4, they were playing well. They were playing together. They were united. They became a cohesive unit under Connelly. That's worth something." The source added that they haven't received serious enquiries about the managerial position from foreign sides, and they've only put out tentative feelers among Sarzonian or Delaclav managers.
For his part, Connelly has remained firm about his decision to walk away.
"I made a decision that's best for me, my family, and my own mental health," he said. "I've had to shepherd this team through something that tested each player's mental health, and it's time I look out for my own." When he was asked if he simply needed a vacation and could come back after time off, he shook his head.
"Vacation? You don't take vacations as a national team manager. There's a lot of work that goes into managing a national team. It's why I only agreed to come back as an assistant manager. I didn't intend to take this job."
However, the source within the IFF would have likely said the job chose him.
