At the very least, the Inklings weren't down without a fight. Yes, they were about to play the 2 cupcake teams in the group, which was perhaps an insult to Frestovenia who had 6 wins on the campaign so far, but Icecliff hadn't won a game or got a point before the 6-1 beatdown the squids gave them at Icecliff's home field (Home turf? Home ice?), and hadn't won a game since. They were no Smosh Games, who had the worst goal differential so far out of the 0 point teams, but they were easily a 3 point team. You know how the saying goes in Squidroidia:
The fodder in Group 11 is:
IcEcliff
JabAl Akhdar
FreStovenia
YTornado Queendom
So far in World Cup qualification, with the Inklings having played Jabal Akhdar twice and the other 3 teams once each, the Inklings had a combined aggregate score... Of 23-8. For every goal Icecliff, Jabal Akhdar, Frestovenia and Tornado Queendom scored, Squidroidia would score almost 3. They were the teams that didn't need motivational team talks or risky football to beat, the starting eleven wearing white and blue could just eat their orange slices, get onto the pitch and win comfortably. Hell, they even scored 6 against Jabal Akhdar and Icecliff in the span of those 90 minute games in the first half of qualifying! These were easy teams that could be the difference between qualifying and not qualifying at the end of the day.
But at the end of the day, they have to make up an 11 point gap to even come close to qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in their history. They sure as hell can't catch Valanora, were they even going to catch Kelssek or even Darmen? Essentially, they had to win every single game from this point, a trip to the Asvard National Stadium in the capital of Frstovenia, and hope Kelssek slip up in fantastic fashion for them and Darmen to get back into the game. In all estimates, it would probably be a 5,000 to 1, heck even 20,000 to 1, chance of qualifying from this position, unable to beat Valanora and have to sneak into the playoffs by all means necessary. It seemed like all hope was lost... But hey, at the end of the day, not all hope is lost until there is no chance to qualify.
SeventeenThirtySix.sqr
Article borrowed by SBN
Just how bleak are Squidroidia's chances?
With 5 games to go and the Inklings 11 points behind Kelssek, the computers take control of Group 11 in World Cup Qualifying
It's almost certain that Squidroidia, Darmen, and basically everybody else in Group 11 of World Cup qualification, will miss out on the big show in Taeshan and Ethane due to a Valanora team that has shown no mercy and a Kelssek team who are 9 points ahead of 3rd place and 11 ahead of Squidroidia. Of course it isn't certain for sure, that's why you play the games. We here at SeventeenThirtySix are here to, once again, solve the problem with computers - Just who is going to make it to Taeshan and Ethane from this seemingly decided group?
We are conducting 3 simulations, each using a complicated program that analyzes football teams and their statures by a program named "Xkoranate". You may have noticed this program before - It's a computer's best friend when deciding who will win in any sport, from summer vigil fasting to, well, football. We will conduct this 3 times, one using the KPB rankings as is, and 2 with rankings evolving overtime - One based on wins from the games played and another that favors good strings of form from Matchday 14, where we will start, onwards. So then, what does the computer say?
Simulation 1 - Solely KPB
Group 11 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 18 18 0 0 57 22 +35 54 - Direct to World Cup
2 Kelssek 18 14 2 2 43 20 +23 44 - Playoffs or Direct to World Cup
3 Darmen 18 11 1 6 48 30 +18 34
4 Squidroidia 18 10 2 6 41 31 +10 32
5 Barunia 18 9 1 8 37 29 +8 28
6 Wreckeria 18 8 3 7 39 35 +4 27
7 Frestovenia 18 6 1 11 35 40 −5 19
8 Jabal Akhdar 18 4 2 12 26 48 −22 14
9 Tornado Queendom 18 2 3 13 24 54 −30 9
10 Icecliff 18 0 1 17 16 57 −41 1
Unsurprisingly here Kelssek and Valanora (The latter winning all their games and having a +35 goal differential) would stay in the top 2, with Darmen in 3rd and Squidroidia in 4th. Interestingly enough Icecliff would get a shock draw against Darmen on the final day of qualification to get their only point. The biggest result for the Inklings? A 1-1 draw at home to Kelssek when nothing even mattered anymore.
Simulation 2 - Wins = + KPB
Note: We have given each team 1 extra point for every win they had from matchdays 1 to 13, that means Valanora gained 13 points for this simulation based on the fact that they won all 13 games to this point.
Group 11 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 18 18 0 0 55 17 +38 54 - Direct to World Cup
2 Kelssek 18 14 1 3 46 21 +25 43 - Playoffs or Direct to World Cup
3 Squidroidia 18 11 2 5 46 31 +15 35
4 Darmen 18 11 1 6 42 34 +8 34
5 Wreckeria 18 9 3 6 37 32 +5 30
6 Barunia 18 8 0 10 33 30 +3 24
7 Frestovenia 18 7 1 10 38 33 +5 22
8 Jabal Akhdar 18 4 1 13 25 50 −25 13
9 Tornado Queendom 18 2 3 13 27 54 −27 9
10 Icecliff 18 0 0 18 16 63 −47 0
Once again Valanora and Kelssek get 2, but Kelssek are only 8 points behind 3rd place Squidroidia, who ended up getting a win against them in Inkopolis. Icecliff do end the campaign winless here, with Tornado Queendom 9 points ahead of them and Valanora once again comfortably winning the group.
Simulation 3 - Increase in Form
Note: We have given each team 1 extra point for every win they have from Matchdays 14 to 17.
Group 11 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 18 18 0 0 57 23 +34 54 - Direct to World Cup
2 Kelssek 18 15 0 3 46 24 +22 45 - Playoffs or Direct to World Cup
3 Darmen 18 12 0 6 40 30 +10 36
4 Barunia 18 10 1 7 39 30 +9 31
5 Squidroidia 18 10 1 7 45 34 +11 31
6 Wreckeria 18 8 4 6 36 35 +1 28
7 Frestovenia 18 6 1 11 37 35 +2 19
8 Jabal Akhdar 18 4 2 12 28 48 −20 14
9 Tornado Queendom 18 2 1 15 22 51 −29 7
10 Icecliff 18 0 0 18 15 55 −40 0
I think we get the message.
FINAL RESULTS
Valanora and Kelssek will get 1st and 2nd. Nobody can stop them now.