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5254 KPFA League Review
Qichechumadia Zhabi - So, here it is! Your in-depth news report about the fates of the sixteen First Division clubs and the twenty-seven Second Division clubs! Did your club win the league? I hope your club is one of the Southwest Three if you're going to get your hopes up there! Maybe you're just hoping that your side escaped relegation? We'll give you a hint... if you've just come up, you're in for bad news! But maybe you want your Second Division boys to make it up to the First? The draw always plays a huge role in deciding that! Did your team get put in the mixed group? Everyone always said it's the hardest, but was that the case this season? Let's have a look!
KEY
Qualified for Champions' Cup
Qualified for Globe Cup
Promoted
Relegated
KPFA League First Division Table
----Team P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 FKM 30 24 3 3 71 18 +53 75 C, CC
2 Gimnasia 30 21 5 4 50 16 +34 68 CC
3 Vulkan 30 18 6 6 55 23 +32 60 GC
4 Juvapanam 30 16 5 9 38 29 +9 53 GC
5 Raktaghav Hathi 30 13 9 8 30 26 +4 48 GC, CYG
6 Yastrabi 30 13 8 9 52 34 +18 47
7 Angels 30 10 10 10 26 23 +3 40
8 Therakham 30 9 12 9 25 28 -3 39
9 Kileh Gulabhav 30 10 6 14 35 43 -8 36
10 Urajbina 30 9 8 13 22 26 -4 35
11 Iguani 30 10 5 15 28 41 -13 35
12 Urnabhi 30 7 12 11 27 41 -14 33
13 Zhevassi 30 9 4 17 40 50 -10 31
14 Šah 30 8 5 17 24 45 -21 29 R
15 Meteoriti 30 3 9 18 27 69 -42 18 R
16 Excelsior 30 4 5 21 22 60 -38 17 R
KPFA League First Division Results
KPFA League Second Division Tables
---Group K P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Yellowknife Yaks 32 21 6 5 66 31 +35 69 P
2 Krevetka 32 19 7 6 73 32 +41 64
3 Korichnevaya Luna 32 17 6 9 59 39 +20 57
4 Dynamo 32 17 5 10 53 47 +6 56
5 Xenon 32 12 6 14 50 49 +1 42
6 Seraya Lisitsa 32 12 6 14 41 39 +2 42
7 PYZ 32 8 8 16 34 53 -19 32
8 Luch 32 6 8 18 36 63 -27 26
9 Knoxhaven 32 4 4 24 24 83 -59 16 R
Group P P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Dhanish Chalal 32 16 11 5 56 37 +19 59 P
2 Bijji 32 17 8 7 57 34 +23 59
3 Pkethat Hevnaje 32 11 14 7 52 43 +9 47
4 Shadows 32 12 10 10 49 41 +8 46
5 Šešri’makaru 32 12 10 10 49 52 -3 46
6 Xoài Trục Xuất 32 12 9 11 51 51 +0 45
7 Qiše’šefaram 32 8 12 12 35 41 -6 36
8 K'arasi 32 7 7 18 37 57 -20 28
9 Nishoba Arctique 32 4 9 19 31 61 -30 21 R
Group M P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Sunaharaghav Thara 32 22 2 8 79 32 +47 68 P
2 BFZ 32 15 11 6 47 35 +12 56
3 Zholtyi Koala 32 14 8 10 40 37 +3 50
4 Iv 32 11 7 14 40 44 -4 40
5 Nekromanti 32 11 6 15 46 50 -4 39
6 Nautilus 32 10 8 14 36 49 -13 38
7 Akademia 32 9 10 13 36 56 -20 37
8 Begemoti 32 9 8 15 42 55 -13 35
9 Vezhidrupa 32 8 10 14 36 44 -8 34 R
KPFA League Second Division Results
KDZ Cup
Šenapatiam'ajat Vahavi
Analyzing the Best Teams
Third Trophy In Four Years For FKM, But Vahavi Eludes Them Still. More excellent news for Kagdazka's most popular club, as the Nemešiabhi Ja era rolls on to more glory. Ja must surely now be considered as the greatest coach in the history of Kagdazka and Pazhujebu. It's a shame, then, that he's publicly announced his lack of interest in the national team job. But we digress. As you might expect, the compact little central midfielder Eduard Winogradsky was the catalyst for the People's Club's rampaging dominance, using a mixture of enforcing tackles and cutting passes to proudly anoint himself the best player in the country yet again. But FKM's big surprise was Demyan Ilych's replacement: the Valladar Juan Pablo Reyes. The young attacking midfielder was brilliant in his first season in the FKM first team, leading the Orange and Silver in assists. And of course others shone... Olec Dasra, Natasha Klossovskaya, Aleksandr Onopko, Itzeder Unzueta, you know, the usual faces... it's FKM, remember?
No Trophies For Gypsies, But Champions' Cup Place Is Just Reward. Though Gimnasia had their struggles (crashing out of the Vahavi early and failing to catch FKM in the league), the introduction of Heydar Varenkov at left back was helpful, as it allowed Zivan Zagorinski to adopt a more conservative (and more practical) diamond 4-4-2 formation than his previous foray into suicidal attacking. It's just a shame that Lyonya Filipov's declining form has continued, as it's required other players to take on far too much responsibility. The club can, however, still boast superb form from Jimeno Arellano and Ole Berghaus, just as they could last year. The former, Gimnasia's goalkeeper, who hails from Aguazul, is undoubtedly the best keeper in the league. He conceded a remarkably low sixteen goals over thirty matches. And Berghaus was absolutely brilliant, a lightning-fast threat on the left who proved he was as likely to sprint outside and whip in a deadly cross as he was to cut inside and belt a screamer from range.
Can You Be Disappointed With Three Straight Finishes In The Top Three? You can if you're Vulkan. Despite being very much on the skill level of FKM and Gimnasia, the Volcano are cursing their luck yet again. Šudhan Chahachim has the complete faith of the board, but the fans are getting irritated. If their burgundy-clad side are going to be considered as part of the so-called "Southwest Three," why can't they challenge for the title? Perhaps they need to overhaul the defense. Jenson Paulson's getting on in years and nobody's ever had tremendous faith in either of their center backs. But there's sure plenty of firepower in Vulkan's attack. Najazhghu Zeqhur, the Pazhujebi attacking midfielder, was without doubt the side's best player yet again. The former Kuratmad Angel will surely start to attract offers from foreign clubs soon. The side's other saving grace was a return to 5252 form for the striker Lucifer Andrea. The Erathi was great in front of goal, and is working as hard as he can to stay in La Furia Azule.
Invincibles Hail New Savior; Šeruthuvu Prevents Juvapanam Relegation. One would want to avoid the appearance of bias in the world of journalism, but we at the Herald applaud what happened to the Sky and Silver this season. Dangling precariously right above the relegation spots for several seasons, Juvapanam were struggling with a world of debt accumulated over the course of their Golden Age about nine or ten years ago. But the sale of Sartelli a few seasons back filled their coffers a bit and the retirements of Iamaxiro, Lomi, and Tnetennba have loosened the wage commitments, making it possible to bring in the promising striker Thavjiv Šeruthuvu from Therakham. Seen as a transfer coup by those who thought Juvapanam's glory days were over, Šeruthuvu led the club (which will now return to international competition after a fourth-place finish) in goals scored. Other standouts? How about Šidibruvu Dhivadha, who returned to form this year and might just make his way back into the Urchins side.
Now They've Hit The Big Time: Red Elephants Crowned Vahavi Winners. Who'd bet against this plucky little side in the Globe Cup? Sure, they could only acquire fifth place, technically a downgrade from last season. And sure, they were rubbish in their first foray into international competition. But Raktaghav Hathi have proven over the course of the last few years that they fear no one, and why should they, when they have such a cold-blooded goalkeeper as Ignatiy Voropaev? Honestly, this boy is for real. He didn't concede a single goal in the Vahavi this year as his club won that cup. A note of trivia: the lad's actually on loan from Gimnasia, and we could see a spectacular, protracted transfer battle over him when Arellano, the Gypsies' current keeper, retires. Speaking of protracted transfer battles, it took a while for the side to obtain Kazim Ghazali of the Baptism of Fire 43-winning nation Azrael, but they finally did it, and the lad was worth the trouble, leading the club in both goals scored and assists.
Awards
Player of the Year
1. Eduard Winogradsky (FKM)
2. Jimeno Arellano (GIMNASIA)
3. Juan Pablo Reyes (FKM)
4. Itzeder Unzueta (FKM)
5. Patel Zev (KILEH GULABHAV)
Foreign Player of the Year
1. Jimeno Arellano (GIMNASIA)
2. Juan Pablo Reyes (FKM)
3. Itzeder Unzueta (FKM)
4. Ole Berghaus (GIMNASIA)
5. Lucifer Andrea (VULKAN)
Signing of the Year
1. Thavjiv Šeruthuvu (JUVAPANAM)
2. Kazim Ghazali (RAKTAGHAV HATHI)
3. Hridayaja Durai (ANGELS)
4. Sampura Siriko (ZHEVASSI)
5. Heydar Varenkov (GIMNASIA)
Top Goalscorers
20 - Patel Zev (KILEH GULABHAV)
16 - Lucifer Andrea (VULKAN), Thavjiv Šeruthuvu (JUVAPANAM)
15 - Olec Dasra (FKM)
13 - Hridayaja Durai (ANGELS), Kazim Ghazali (RAKTAGHAV HATHI), Maksim Voroshilov (YASTRABI)
12 - Chalia Sajid (GIMNASIA), Zhivi'ejethi Zhu (ANGELS)
UICA Competition Entrants
CC - FKM, Gimnasia
Globe Cup - Vulkan, Juvapanam, Raktaghav Hathi
Cygnus Cup Entrants
Raktaghav Hathi
Stadium Bid
CC - FKM Arena, Murmansk, Kagdazka (69,000)
The cities of Chadan, Murmansk, and Zanduznyy are often lumped together into one single metropolitan area, in no small part because of the towns' uniform support for the left-wing club FKM. This club believes that positive football is as much political as it is tactical; that attacking play is equivalent to the poor farmer's quest for social justice and that cynical defending is equivalent to the evil businessman's lust for money. Seem like an oversimplification to you? Yeah... those FKM fans are a bit nuts, and you can tell when you visit their round concrete stadium, a veritable industrialist workers' temple, adorned with socialist slogans, chain-link fences, hammer-and-sickle-labeled beverages, et cetera. The stadium has played host to the Champions' Cup final previously: three seasons ago when FKM won it all on their home pitch.
