Games 280 through 285 (WZ'99 Vexillium Cup), 01-21-300:

Game 280: Davenport - Islandia:
 
 The Technical Information:

Final score: DAVENPORT 6 - ISLANDIA 1
Played at: Henry Duraq Stadium, Eastharbor, Eastern Zartania
Attendance: 68,000
Referee: Brad Barkley (Lamb's Cove)
Goals: Rénard (DAV, 5th), Brasfort (DAV, 28th), Mohran (DAV, 33rd),
Eyjólgsson (ISL, 51st), Harbour (DAV, 68th), Rénard (DAV, 78th), Harbour
(DAV, 85th)
Yellow cards: None
Substitutions: Johannsson for Guðmundsson (ISL, 45th), Danielsson for
Jónsson (ISL, 45th)

DAVENPORT ADVANCES AS ISLANDIA EVAPORATES

Billed as one of the most important games of the VexCup, the turnout
tonight was amazing.  All 68,000 seats at Henry Duraq Stadium in
Eastharbor, KTZ, were filled as the Davenport Men In Royal took on the
Islandia Penguins to determine the winner of Group 1.  Davenport, coming
off of a 6-1 romp over the Tiger Confederacy, knew that they had the
easier mission of the two teams: simply keep the Penguins from winning.
Islandia, having tied the Tiger Confederacy 1-1 in a heartbreaker
Tuesday, knew that in order to clinch the group and advance they had to
defeat Davenport.  The stage was set for an awesome game!

Unfortunately, that game never materialized.  Instead, the fans at the
stadium and watching around the world were treated to basically a replay
of the opening game from this group: a 6-1 Davenport win.  From the very
beginning of the game, it was clear that the team from Davenport meant
to make their presence in the next round an indisputable fact.

In the 5th minute, Davenport's Jean-Paul Rénard took a long pass from
midfielder Claude Gaspé, and bolted down the left sideline with it,
weaving in and out of Islandia's defenders before knocking the ball past
goalie Fabiansson for the early lead.  Not to be outdone, Rénard's
fellow forward Stephane Brasfort picked up her third goal of the
tournament with a header off a corner kick in the 28th minute.  To round
out the Davenportian scoring spree in the first half, midfielder Hesham
Mohran knocked in a goal five minutes after Brasfort's with a borderline
high kick that the Islandian crowd obviously felt should have been
called by Covian referee Brad Barkley.  But Barkley signaled to play on,
and Mohran's goal stood.  Islandian fans made their anger felt on the
subject with general boos and harassing cat-calls from the lower seats.
Coach Sigurvinsson also made his displeasure known to one of the
side-judges, and could be seen several minutes later still shaking his
head angrily.

With the score 3-0 in Davenport's favor at halftime, Islandia made two
crucial changes on defense, bringing in Johannsson for the lackluster
Guðmundsson, and Danielsson for Jónsson.  Davenport's coach Bruce
Darena, understandably pleased with his squad's performance in the first
half, made no changes for the second half, just telling his starters to
"keep it up!  For Cruis' sake, keep it up!!"

In the second half, though, the Penguins struck first.  Forward
Petursson managed to steal the ball from a Davenportian midfielder, and
quickly dumped it off to Ólafsson on the right wing.  Ólafsson dribbled
the ball some, and then centered it in front of the net just as quickly
as he'd gotten the ball.  With precision timing, Eyjólfsson reached the
ball right as the goalie, Jeremiah Dooley, was coming out for it, and
booted it past him for the Penguins' only goal of the day.

The Islandian fans got back into the game after Eyjólfsson's goal, but
were quickly quieted when Davenport forward Jean Harbour found a gaping
hole in the Penguin defense and scored his first goal of the game.  Just
ten minutes later, on a direct kick for the Men In Royal, midfielder
Nigel Tzeng dumped the ball off to Rénard, who snuck in behind the
seemingly-sleeping Islandian defense, and netted his second goal of the
day.

With their win all but finalized, the Men In Royal moved back into a
defensive posture for the rest of the game, with only the occasional
burst of offense.  Such a burst got them their 6th and final goal, on a
penalty shot by Harbour resulting from a handball foul on an Islandian
defender.  The blood bath finally ended with an easy 6-1 Davenport
victory.

The Men In Royal now move onto the next round of the Cup, where they'll
play the Westermarc Serpents, winners of Group 6, at the Shenhua Oval on
Tuesday.  For Islandia, though, today's defeat brings an unexpected and
disappointing early exit from the tournament, after a game where focus
just seemed to be lacking.  Good luck to Davenport in the next round,
and we hope to see both teams back at VexCup 300!

The Technical Information:

Final score: CHRISTIANA 2 - IWK 1
Played at: The Battleground, Nomar, Eastern Zartania
Attendance: 76,000
Referee: Piotr Klenk (West Uhlan)
Goals: Edwardson (CHR, 44th), Monaigh (CHR, 67th), Geigy (IWK, 78th)
Yellow cards: None
Substitutions: Christo for Carrara (IWK, 68th)

CHRISTIANA MOVES ON IN NAIL-BITER WITH IWK

With dignitaries in the crowd tonight, the Christiana Knights solidified
their place in the next round of the VexCup by hanging on to beat the
IWK Banana Warriors 2-1.

Fireworks were in the air even before the game started, as Eastern
Zartanian Royal Police arrested at least 14 people outside the
Battleground stadium who were attempting to bar referee Piotr Klenk from
entering.  Klenk is a West Uhlanian national, and those who were
arrested were protesting his presence in Eastern Zartania and his
capacity in the tournament since his government is an outspoken
supporter of the MCZ and the UBD, both of which Eastern Zartania is
currently fighting.

With the protesters cleared away, and the referee on the field, the game
got underway.  From the outset, both teams looked fairly evenly
matched.  The Knights obviously had some motivation on their side,
looking to clinch their second straight VexCup advancement by simply
avoiding a big loss.  The Banana Warriors, on the other hand, knew that
they could not be content with anything less than win.  IWK would have
to win by at least 3 points in order to take the group and advance on
goal differentials.  Both teams were motivated, and the sold-out crowd
waited in anticipation to see who would draw first blood.

The second half was a defender's dream come true.  Both teams' offenses
were denied more than a combined seven shots on goal in the first half.
Most of those shots were wide to either side of the goal, or up.  But
Knights' goalie Jorgensen earned his paycheck this week with a
tremendous save midway through the half.  Seeing a hard-charging
Huskvarna, forward for IWK, with no Christiana defenders to help,
Jorgensen reacted boldly, rushing out of the goal and toward the IWK
forward.  Jorgensen reached the edge of the box right as Huskvarna
booted the ball as hard as he could.  The diving goalie caught the shot
in his stomach, and dropped to the ground covering the ball and saving
the goal.  The force of the impact, though, knocked the wind out of
Jorgensen, and play stopped for a few minutes while he regained his
composure.

Blood was finally drawn by Christiana just before halftime.  With a
minute remaining, forward James completed a long pass upfield to a
driving Edwardson, who slipped past the goalie, Issel, for an easy score
against the open net.  So the Knights went to the locker room at
halftime with a one-point lead.  And the fans stayed glued to their
seats.  It was definitely anybody's game.

Neither coach made any changes during halftime, and the second half of
the game started off similarly to the first: a struggle between two
defenses to see which would dominate the game.  It wasn't until the 60th
minute that the Knights were able to get even a shot on the goal, and it
was easily handled by Issel.  But just a few minutes later, disaster
struck for the Banana Warriors.  On a goal kick that fell well short of
its intended target, Christiana forward Monaigh took control of the
ball, and drove toward the goal.  IWK defender Carrara moved to
intercept, but slipped and fell before reaching Monaigh.  Carrara
remained on the ground while Monaigh went one-on-one with Issel, and
won.  IWK trainors came onto the field to check Carrara, and had to
carry him off the field with a possible torn ACL (anterior cruciate
ligament) [TECH: the main ligament on the inside portion of your knee].
Christo was sent in off the bench to replace the injured Carrara.

Up 2-0 now, Christiana seemed to move to a strategy of holding onto
their precious lead.  The Banana Warriors, meanwhile, managed to turn up
the heat, taking the offensive and the initiative.  Within just a few
minutes of Christiana's second goal, IWK had fired four shots at
Jorgensen in the goal.  And in the 78th minute, one finally made it in.
Geigy, one of IWK's best forwards, took a throw-in from midfielder
Sturmann, and proceeded to outmaneuver two Christiana defenders and the
goalie!

With the lead now down to one, the Banana Warriors let loose at the
Knights, throwing every possible person into offensives.  At least
twelve more shots on goal were recorded, but the ever-amazing Jorgensen
handled them all with skill worthy of the reigning VexCup champs.  In
the end, though IWK held the initative, the ran out of time.  The final
gun sounded, and the Christiana Knights captured the Group 8 win, and
advanced to the next round.  On hand to witness the spectacular win was
Christiana's ambassador to Eastern Zartania, John Mullins, and Eastern
Zartania's own Crown Prince Raedvulf.  The IWK Banana Warriors will now
head home after a disappointing run, but knowing that they were able to
hold their own against the reigning champions, and hoping to improve for
VexCup 300.  The Christiana Knights, meanwhile, move on to the next
round to face Allacoa, the winners of Group 9, on Tuesday at Imperial
Navy Memorial Stadium in Claw Anchorage, Eastern Zartania.

The Technical Information:

Final score: NAMURIA 4 - WEST UHLAN 0
Played in: Municipal Field, Kasrall, Eastern Zartania
Attendance: 46,500
Referee: Valter Burschnwackl (IWK)
Goals: Salasarien (NAM, 2nd), Ebropa (NAM, 10th), Ebropa (NAM, 52nd), Vabasta (NAM, 77th)
Yellow cards: González (WUH, 33rd), Amalga (WUH, 41st), Santanelle (WUH, 60th), Nokgh (NAM, 62nd)
Substitutions: Aldai for Ebropa (NAM, 53rd), Gandarro for Jaar (NAM, 53rd), Gnomela for Alvarez (WUH, 65th), Snabello for Subicacleta (WUH, 72nd)

Playoffs: Eagles. Uhlan: Egress.

Namuria thoroughly beat West Uhlan in Kasrall today, and advance forward to the playoffs to face the rest of what the world has to offer.

Before the match the Namurians knew that they had to win it, a draw would not suffice for them to advance. And win it they did.

Two minutes in to the game the first shot was played by the Namurian captain Palkher Salasarien, a twenty-yard shot which hit the crossbar, hit the grass a good foot over the goal-line, and bounced back out of the goal because of the enormous back-spin it contained. Salasarien saw that it was a goal, along with all the other Namurian fans in the stadium, but referee Valter Burschnwackl did not see it the same way. Salasarien protested, by which time the West Uhlanian keeper Subicacleta was holding the ball. Burschnwackl denied him still, but then George Caplick, one of the linesmen from the United Territories, came along and confirmed what Salasarien knew. Burschnwackl accepted the correction, and signalled that it was a goal. Namuria, deservedly, went 1-0 up.

And only eight minutes after that, the hero of the game against Lamb's Cove, Owfo Ebropa, got his second goal of the tournament, another penalty. González did a reasonable tackle on Ebropa in the box, but Burschnwackl made another bad call for the game, according to a different set of fans. However, Ebropa didn't care, he took his own penalty and made his record two for two in the tournament.

And seven minutes after the half he struck again: his first non-penalty of the tournament, a magnificent goal that could qualify as one of the best goals of the VexCup: He lobbed the ball from the side of the 18 yard box, over Subicacleta, and off the opposite post to go into the goal. The height and the direction had to be timed perfectly, and they were. <TECH>See Deval Šuker's goal for Arsenal against Leicester City earlier this week.</TECH> Coach Wykiel Nezgolar subbed him off for Naphtare Aldai, and Ebropa went out to loud applause. At the same time, Naphtare took off Sagral Jaar and replaced him with Reius Gandarro.

But that wasn't the end of Namuria. Only five minutes after West Uhlanian Coach Tishonn took off his goal-keeper, Subicacleta, for the substitute goalie, Snabello, Namuria got their last goal of the game by Midre Vabasta. Reius Gandarro had the ball, and he spotted Vabasta in open space. Vabasta then took the ball down the field, and just chipped it over the sprawling Snabello to score Namuria's final goal of pool play. Four nil to Namuria, and after the match, the loyal members of the Pelé Church celebrated well into the night, eliciting many complaints from the residents of Kasrall.

The win puts Namuria up to the top of the Group 2 table at the end of pool play, so they progress to the playoffs. In the first round, they will most likely meet Eastern Zartania on Wednesday evening, although there is a chance of them taking on Phoenix Town or Wang Chung. The winner of that will go on to play either Westermarc or Davenport, but possibly also South Bay, Kalesthesia or Islandia.

The Technical Information:

Final score: WESTERMARC 5 - KALESTHESIA 0
Played in: Bank of Keating Stadium, Keating, Whitlam
Attendance: 52,000
Referee: Al Greene (Begral)
Goals: Daihatcheng (WMC, 3rd, pen), Fang (WMC, 43rd), Fang (WMC, 48th), Nikkei (WMC, 65th), Fang (WMC, 83rd)
Yellow cards: Kattsi (KAL, 3rd), Ovind IX (KAL, 30th), Mechzal (KAL, 50th), Koon (WMC, 70th)
Substitutions: Koon for Rzuhai (WMC, 61st), Agundes for Kefir (KAL, 61st), Malin for Kattsi (KAL, 65th), Foit for Daihatcheng (WMC, 72nd)

Serpents From Surina Suffocate Stars Straightforwardly So Serpants Say "Sionara, Suckers!", Stars' Shocking Spiel Supports Serpants With Shookspearian Slapstick!

A Comedy Of Errors sent Kalesthesia out of this tournament with a laugh today in Keating, as the Westermarc fans from south of the border, who were pretty much the majority in the Bank of Keating Stadium.

The stadium was filled with blue, and after the match Kalesthesia were feeling blue but seeing red, through their stupid mistakes.

Such as in the third minute, when Mario Kattsi did the most stupid tackle from behind on Nikkei, and he was extremely lucky that Al Greene went soft on him and only gave him a yellow. Daihatcheng was then told to take the penalty, and he wrapped that up. Westermarc took an early lead.

In the rest of the first half their mistakes weren't very costly, although they definitely did make some. Like leaving only one defender back and while two others went on an attacking run, and then Fang stealing the ball and taking it down himself, although lucky for the Stars Fang's shot went wide.

The Serpents finished off the half with Fang scoring his first of the tournament, to put them 2-0 up.

And from there the Stars got worse and worse, and the Serpents got better and better. Directly after the break Fang followed up his first goal with a second, a definite nice volley after hurdling over a sliding defender attempting a tackle in the box. By then there was little doubt that the Serpents would win, and win comfortably.

Then another of Kalesthesia's stupid mistakes got them. When defending a corner from Nikkei in the 65th minute, they made the cardinal sin of defending corners: leaving the near post open. So Nikkei got credited with a goal when he was taking the corner kick.

And seven minutes from time Fang rounded out his hatrick with another corner goal, but this time it was a header, he got a touch among a mesh of heads, feet, and goalie gloves, the ball reaching his head's small space among the plethora of body parts, and being redirected into the goal. Five nil to the Serpents, and they go through.

The Serpents will most likely meet Davenport in the first round of the playoffs, however it is also possible that they will meet Islandia if the Penguins win their game against Davenport.

The Technical Information:

Final score: DRACONIA 4 - ORDLAND 1
Played in: Imperial Navy Memorial Stadium, Claw Anchorage, Eastern Zartania
Attendance: 78,000
Referee: Les Charrose (Rosardan)
Goals: Arbusto (ORD, 1st), Offram (DRA, 55th), Offram (DRA, 57th), Reversi (DRA, 70th), Reversi (DRA, 88th)
Yellow cards: Monserrat (DRA, 43rd)
Substitutions: Leite for Vinha (ORD, 45th), Folha for Sobreiro (ORD, 45th), Offram for Prentar (DRA, 45th), Heimanzos for Beancoche (DRA, 76th)

Argh, Me Maties, We Be Goin' Through To The Playoffs!

Ordland was beaten today by the Draconians, who for the second game in a row don't seem to be firing on all cylinders.

Directly after the first whistle, Ordland struck. Charles Arbusto scored a goal before the Pirates had even settled in. And that sure shocked the Draconians there.

For the rest of the first half the Pirates made few attempts on goal, they used a lot of back-passing, not wanting to exert themselves any more than necessary. They figured that a goal would come sooner or later. The Ordlandians also had very few breakaway goal chances from stealing the ball from the defenders, because, in simple words, the Draconian defence cancelled out the Ordlandian offence, and then some. The Draconians didn't even need to win, they could even let through three goals, score none, and they would go through to the playoffs.

Evidently at the half Barry Haze was one fiery bastard to his players. It was embarrassing to him that his team was behind at the break against virtual amateurs. He took off a player that seemed to be under-performing, Jonathan M. Prentar, striker extraordinaire, and put on James Offram, who had a jour extraordinaire in the second half. Coach William Oliveira for Ordland took off a midfielder and a forward, Andrew Sobreiro coming off in favour of Charles Folha in the middle, and George Leite on for John Vinha up front.

The teams came out again and any untrained amateur could spot that Draconia was definitely playing more attackingly. And their breakthrough came ten minutes in, when the substitute forward, James Offram, scored two goals in quick succession past David Pinto. Draconia were 2-1 up, and fully intended to keep it that way.

So, they went back to being a bunch of stinges that worshipped fútbol bovino, but George Reversi wanted it differently. He started taking runs up field, and in the 70th minute, he scored the Pirates' third goal of the game.

Six minutes after that, Archibald Castanheira, the Ordlandic captain, did a bad tackle on Andrew Beancoche. The referee spotted it, but Les Charrose only made it worthy of a free kick, no cards. The Draconians were outraged, and rightfully so, because any other referee would give a yellow in the smae situation, and a few would give a red. Barry Haze brought on Con Heimanzos to replace the injured player.

And two minutes before the end George Reversi struck again on another of his runs, scoring his third goal of the tournament, and putting Draconia up by three goals. End of game. As the final whistle went, a cascade of vehicles brought out a portable stage, and on the stage was no less than, Smudge! Singing Yeehah!, the Pirates' motivational song, they whipped the Draconian fans into a frenzy which lasted the whole night.

Draconia gets put through to the top of the table for Group 3 here, and advance to the playoffs. In the first round they will meet the winner of Pool 15, which could be any of the three of Eastern Delgamia, Ulanova and Begral. That will be decided by Eastern Delgamia vs Ulanova

The Technical Information:

Final score: SAN PATRICIO 2 - SOLELHADA 1
Played in: Erste Communications Stadium, Beazley, Whitlam
Attendance: 54,000
Referee: Chow-Lee Deng (Wang Chung)
Goals: Lavalada (RES, 9th), O'Gorman (SPA, 89th), Fernández (SPA, 90th)
Yellow cards: None
Substitutions: Rodríguez for Ben-Barek (SPA, 45th), Almirante for García (SPA, 60th), De La Mar for Kékkúti (RES, 60th)

Tight To The Very End: Reported Heart Attacks of San Patrician Fans

San Patricio today pulled a victory out of a magician's hat today, as the Saints triumphed over the Red Devils, in what was billed "The Battle Of The Religious Figures".

And early on, the supposedly impassable Juan Francisco O'Doul wasn't so impassible, when Nicolau Lavalada scored the first goal of the match. And that pretty much shocked the hell out of the San Pats.

For the next 80 minutes, which contained two San Patrician substitutions, and one Solelhadan, the San Pats totally out-played the Red Devils. But, their finishing was, how do I say it... crap.

José Luís Fernández, Julio McGillicuddy, Juan Pablo O'Gorman, and the adventurous midfielders were always losing their footing, or putting it wide, or putting it over the top, or hitting the post and the crossbar, or finding Antòni Delmàs way too easily. That was the way it was for nearly the entire game, despite the cajoling, persuading, threatening, and bribing of Doble O'D to get his Saints to play better.

That was until the 89th minute, when Juan Pablo O'Gorman finally managed to reach for national depression so he could crush it at his feet, with a goal, that combined exactly what the game was about. It hit the hands of Antòni Delmàs. Unfortunately, Delmàs didn't get enough hand on it, so it flew to the post, ricocheted off it, and into the opposite side of the net. A draw for San Patricio, and the game was saved.

But no, not a draw. José Luís Fernández put the icing on the celebratory cake by actually winning the game, which was exactly what the Flying Saints deserved, although the forwards didn't entirely.

Thanks to San Patricio's win, they now advance to the playoffs, where they will probably meet the Lexicon Islands. That will be known tomorrow.