Inevitably, inexorably, the minutes ticked away until the referee raised his whistle to his lips. Faces disappeared behind hands, groans rang out, even the notoriously loud travelling Poafmer support were momentarily silenced. A place in the last sixteen would be decided by penalties. It’s a delightful spectacle for the watching neutrals but for anyone with a vested interest the next moments were going to be an ordeal.
Both sets of players gathered by their respective dugouts. Brian McAllister and Adnan Suliaha both took the opportunity to give their charges last minute instructions. As much as they could. There was only one instruction that really counted, place the ball on the spot twelve yards out and plant it very firmly between the sticks. The coaching staff and substitutes mingled with the players, sharing words of encroachment and silently thanking whatever deity that might be passing that they wouldn’t be the ones stepping forward in front of sixty thousand fans in Pesfield. The order of takers was confirmed, the coin tosses were made the officials took their position and the shootout would begin.
The end with a big block of dark blue clad Sargossan fans was selected. Poafmersia would take the first kick. It was the Red Panjias captain Joel Haodao who took the burden, but showed a coolness that belied the occasion with a drive into the top right corner that left Alejandro Martínez without a prayer. Substitute Diego Cazalla stepped up for Sargossa, something that seemed to cause some consternation on the bench. Corsairs coach Brian McAllister had suddenly become familiar with a quirk of Sargossan football, the inversion of the penalty taker line up. Assistant coach Miguel Marí and Elite Football Director Luís Molina were trying to explain the benefits of McAllister’s fifth choice penalty taker taking the opening Sargossan kick. Their point may have landed better had Cazalla not smacked his penalty against the post. The look McAllister gave Marí could only be described as withering.
The tension would ease somewhat when Martínez guessed right to deny Nero Wood, before Adrián Fonseca levelled the shootout. The Sargossan momentum continued when the trailing leg of Martínez blocked Whitney Rios’ effort. Tomas Murillo, a late substitution made with penalties in mind, put the Corsairs in front for the first time. Simone Gori equalised. Diego Alejandro Costa edged the Rushmoris ahead again.
With the score at three penalties to two in Sargossa’s favour up stepped Hansel Tang. The Advance Alara forward had to score, and she earned the loudest roar of the night from the Poafmer faithful as the ball ripped into the back of the net. Three penalties apiece. Poafmersia had taken their five, Sargossa were on four. And here’s where that little quirk comes into its own. With one kick to secure passage into the last sixteen it was the nation’s first choice penalty taker César Goyoso who placed the ball carefully on the spot. He took four large steps backwards, the referee blew his whistle and Goyoso struck his effort in off the inside of the post.
SSM | Sargossan State Media
International Edition - Sport
Poafmersia Pay The Penalty
Blanco Borrayo reports;
The decision to re-seed the Cup of Harmony field after the group stage had proven an excellent choice by the organising committee. For the excitement of the viewers at least. For the nation’s involved in had thrown up some intriguing and problematic encounters. Rightly it was the heavyweight clash between Sarzonia and Taeshan that garnered all the attention. But over in leafy Pesfield two more of the top seeds were butting heads. Fifth ranked Sargossa came into the match on the back of five straight wins that had seen the Corsairs top Group C. The seventh seeded Red Panjias had a rather bumpier journey. They had sat out the final round of matches, nervously waiting to see whether their eight points would be enough to see them scrap through in Group G. Vdara would overhaul them on that final day but Saltstead didn’t quite do enough. Poafmersia advanced by the narrowest of margins. But group stage form meant nothing now.
Although for forty five minutes it had appeared that group stage form meant everything. The men in dark blue were pinging the ball around with confidence, scything through their opponents seemingly at will. Mateo Manzanares continues to look like one of the finest striking prospects to emerge from the Sargossan Archipelago for quite some time, even garnering comparisons with the great Ernesto Farías. And he followed up his heroics against Flavovespia with another coolly taken finish, slotting into the bottom right corner after being teed up by Agustín Soria. Marcos Águila is another youngster earning rave reviews with his ability to break up opposition attacks before launching his teammates forward with a delicate range of passing. It was one of those passes that led to Sargossa’s second. He caught the Poafmer defence flatfooted with a slide rule ball that released Diego Alejandro Costa. The Ciudad Soluca forward cut in from the left and beat Sandi Jaliaha at his near post with sheer power to put the Corsairs in charge.
Four minutes into the second half the complexion changed entirely as Simone Gori rose highest to head in from Joel Haodao’s corner. Spurred on by the goal, and with Adnan Suliaha’s no doubt fiery halftime words still ringing in their ears, The Red Panjias galloped forward. Suddenly it was they in the ascendancy as Sargossa's finest seemed to wilt in the face of the unrelenting attack. An equaliser was coming, the loud Poafmer contingent in The Trees could sense it. And their noise reached a new decibel level when Haodao took advance of a mistake from Hugo Galán and beat Alejandro Martínez from close range to level the tie. But just as the drama reached its highest peak the whole tempo seem to flatline. It was as if the significance of the occasion suddenly dawned on both sets of players. They were one error away from being dumped out of the competition. The remainder of normal time became a timid affair. Extra time was even worse as both nations resigned themselves to the inevitable penalty shootout.
Different nations have different characteristics when it comes to their football. The Rejistanians and Yaforites admired defensive solidarity to an almost biblical degree. For the Bettians a clean sheet was anathema. The Starblaydis have their diamond, the Polarians had their Pythagorean. In Sargossa there’s no particularly wild footballing trait other than perhaps a fondness for a back three and fiddling about with penalty shootout line-ups.
Sargossa’s Shootout Record
P14 W10 L4
Something that big names elsewhere in the tournament could not say. We were always going to lose a favourite in this round and when in form Sarzonia clashed with entirely out of form Taeshan the result was an entirely predictable 1 – 0 win for the Taeshanis. Their reward is another heavyweight encounter, this time against second seeds HUElavia. World Cup veterans Jeruselem also failed to make the cut, alongside Rushmori heavy hitters Valladares, one half of the hosting effort Ethane and two hugely talented recent arrivals on the world sporty stage, Graintfjall and Tikariot.
But attention must now turn to those who remain and their prospects. Taeshan and HUElavia are the top two ranked sides so to see one of them depart is no shame. Krytenia and Electrum are two huge names going quietly about their business. Esportiva’s Xanneria are the tournament’s most in form side, while Atlantian Oceania’s Northwest Kalactin have found some serious momentum. But back home the tipsters are putting their hard earned dinaras on one of Rushmore’s finest. How nice of them to support their mighty Corsairs I hear you say. Yeah, they’re not doing that. The top tip from back home is to place your bets on Astograth.
For Sargossa though it’s a trip to one of the beautiful game’s more unique locations, Kirkham’s Sentient Oval, for a last sixteen clash with Vdara. Continuing this competition’s theme the Esportivans are brand new opponents for the Corsairs. The Vdarans were unlucky enough to be drawn in a World Cup qualification group with both Eura and Pasarga, two of Rushmore’s very best, and consequently finished some ways off the top two places. They finished second in their Cup of Harmony group, two places ahead of our last thirty two opponents Poafmersia, and dispatched TJUN-ia in the first knockout round to reach this stage. Ranked fiftieth in the sportiverse and boasting a curious duel managerial arrangement, they will prove the toughest test yet for Brian McAllister’s side. But to reach the last eight of a Cup of Harmony the tests do tend to be tough.
