HUElavia's B-Team holds out in a scoreless draw to win Group E and set up a historic match against Drawkland.
Holtin Kash Stadium, Holhot, Poafmersia
Entering Matchday 3, HUElavia had already clinched their spot into the Round-of-16 for the 6th consecutive time. Only for the 3rd time in the team's history did the team clinch their place with a game left in hand (The other two times has been in IAC 9 and 12). Thus, for this final Group Stage match against Sajnur, Coach Conavacio opted to give the whole B-Team playing time in order to rest the starters and give experience to the more novice players, although it was notable that Wentz got her first start in the tournament for this match, showing that Conavacio lost faith in her with the blunder against Srednjaci in the Qualifying Round. The Home Special was worn with Marquez starting in goal and Torrisi was the Captain, in a sold out Holtin Kash Stadium (37,250), in Holhot once again, with a very strong HUElavian crowd present in the stadium.
The match was another pretty dull one, with HUElavia not giving much care to the play. Some fans were booing, so some of the players would take turns doing tricks with the ball to tease Sajnur and give a bit of eye candy to the people and the photographers. Players like Naulo and Nazar tried to get some shots in throughout the match in an attempt to pull an upset, but Marquez made saves with ease, earning applause from the crowd. Some shots from Nascimento, Yamane and Girault were taken, but would just narrowly go out wide. At the end, the referee blew his whistle a few seconds after 90 minutes, ending the match. Some fans looked disappointed in seeing the match go scoreless, while some fans applauded the team's advance as Group E winners. The Sajnurians looked frustrated at ending their tournament with a single point, while the HUElavians congratulated each other for doing the bare minimum and getting past the Group Stage, making it the second objective the team had accomplished in this tournament so far.
HUElavia wins Group E with 7 Points (2-1-0), while Indusse defeated Garbelia 3-1 to take 2nd Place with 6 Points (2-0-1), leaving Garbelia out with 3 Points (1-0-2), and Sajnur in 4th with 1 Point (0-1-2). Notably, HUElavia advances as the least scoring team in the tournament so far, with only 2 goals to their name, both coming from Substitutes. There has been calls by the press and fans for the team to adopt a more attacking system for the remaining matches, and some claiming there should have been more young players with motivation in the roster. Conavacio still gives his confidence and support to his players, stating that he is "Happy with the results from the team, while there is room for improvement, they are showing maturity and are really showing their desire to allow very few mistakes." Some notable surprises from this Group Stage includes the very notable eliminations of former IAC Champions of Reçueçn and New Lusitania, along with stronger teams like Juvencus, Kriegiersien, Trolleborg and Adab.
Now comes the "Match of the Round" for the Round-of-16: HUElavia vs Drawkland. For the second consecutive edition of the IAC, the two teams with the most appearances in the tournament's Final will meet once again. These two "cursed" teams account for 8 Finals combined and only one title between them (Drawkland winning IAC 6), and they will face each other in what the press around the multiverse calls "The best match in the knockouts." Four years ago, HUElavia won on a very late penalty kick by Navarro, 2-1 in Makarov, Muralos. Now, they meet again, with similar teams, at Dreamers Park (60,000), in Fiskadaha City, the capital of Poafmersia and where HUElavia played 3 of their Qualifying Matches at. The Home Uniform will be worn by both teams, and the A-Team will start, but Resendes starts over Wentz, and Yamane over Savedra. The stadium is expected to be filled with thousands of HUElavians, looking to take up one of the endzones as they normally do. It's moments like this that are do or die, and both teams look to give it their all to make the Quarter-Finals. Here's to hoping Los Amarillos/Os Amarelos advances to the Quarter-Finals and to keep this dream alive.
FORÇA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!