Prior to the World Cup 64 Finals, The Jungle Cats had just completed their best Qualifying Campaign in history. 18 Matches. 17 Victories. Zero Defeats. Near Perfection.
Then, they opened up their World Cup 64 Group Stage campaign against Osarius. Ranked much lower than the Vilitans at the time, Osarius wasn't expected to be much of a challenge to the Jungle Cats.
They had never lost to Osarius, and weren't expected to start at that point. Two previous meetings during World Cup Qualifying, during World Cup 61, resulted in a pair of victories. 1-0 in Osarius and then 4-2 at home. A follow up meeting against Osarius saw the Vilita & Turori Eel-Cat things run out with a 3-2 victory during AOCAF 34.
Sure, the history wasn't deep, but it was unblemished.
That was, until the near-perfect Vilita Jungle Cats rolled into New Montreal States & Wight and had to square up against an Osarius team that would soon prove itself to punch far above its rank, and become one of the top teams in the multiverse.
It seemed to be an otherwise decent day in the New Montreal States but the Jungle Cats never could find their rhythm. Jungrii Canopii was in net and conceded just one goal on the day, a 26th minute strike by Ezio Grassi. However, the Jungle Cats couldn't get on the scoresheet themselves. The attacking duo of Erocka Lorei and Viji-mara Lawaai just couldn't get things done - and perhaps, such an incident would be the impetus for Calaesa Mitaroka's abandoning of the traditional Vilitan 3-(1-4)-2 formation.
The fluidity of the formations may have been at fault for some of the points lost during the Qualifying Campaign, with the Jungle Cats not familiar enough with their own system to play to their strengths and take care of teams ranked lower than them. However, it could be argued on the flip side, that having experience with the different formations allowed coach Mitaroka the flexibility to adapt the Vilitan look to what fits best to counter the strengths of the opposition.
It resulted in the Jungle Cats best World Cup Group Stage performance in almost 50 editions.
Their reward, perhaps harshly, is a date with an Osarius side that many consider over-rated at the #3 rank, but regardless, third-ranked they are which makes the Firebirds the second highest ranked team left in Saugeais and Pasarga.
Coach Mitaroka's side will certainly be out for vengence, feeling like the defeat to Osarius during the World Cup 64 Group Stage on Matchday 1 put the Jungle Cats too far behind the eight ball to compete and sent them packing to an early exit before they ever really got started.
The question of who will appear in goal for the Jungle Cats, always a hot topic, would seem to have been answered with Nycflala Kater's appearance in the second half of the Matchday 3 fixture against Mangolana, where he held on to the win for Vilita without conceding any goals in the process. Certainly it was an important confidence booster for the Kiiara-Torra goalkeeper who conceded 8 goals in the first two matches of the campaign.
The real question will be, however, how safe is the job of Calaesa Mitaroka at this point?
Of course, the real knock on Mitaroka had to be lack of performance in the Finals. Having strung together a record number of consecutive games unbeaten in the Qualifiers, no one was accusing Mitaroka of failing to do his job taking the Jungle Cats to the Finals. But getting the Jungle Cats back onto the World Cup Podium, not something Mitaroka has done.
Would a perfect group stage performance in the Finals followed by a Round of 16 defeat to Osarius be considered a success to the Vilitan Football Association?
Probably not. Especially with a hot young manager such as Mikala Abellan coming through the ranks at Strike FC.
But then again, the last hot young manager to come through the ranks at Strike FC, win a few titles there and then move on to the National Team setup, was Calaesa Mitaroka himself. Mitaroka was determined to put the question to rest, by leading his team back into the Quarter Finals for just the second time in the modern era.