Game 3 (ORD-CHR) 09-04-298

NOVEFA announces the results of the first ever international game held
in Ordland, between Ordland and Christiana, today, Friday, September 4,
298, to celebrate the Presidential elections in Ordland, and the
President's occupation of the Presidential Palace, which marks the
beginning of his term of rule.

The score was Ordland 2 - Christiana 0

The technical information:

Final score: ORDLAND 2, CHRISTIANA 0
Played in: Newton, Ordland (National Stadium), attendance: 52,450
Referee: Ulf-Ingar Kundur (Islandia)
Goals: Vinha (ORD, 35.), Oliveira (ORD, 66.)
Yellow cards: Larangeira (ORD, 44.), Stephens (CHR, 59.)
Substitutions: Dagama for Vinha (ORD, 65.), Michaels for Franklin (CHR, 66.)

Match commentary:

The celebrations in Ordland after the first ever presidential elections
reached a new high after befittingly the Ordlandian national team
disposed of a still sluggish Team Christiana (the players had just
recovered from a flu epidemic, and still lagged behind a bit in their
conditioning) after a bit shaky game for both sides.  The Odlandian
strategy of following the ball worked fairly well, and since they were
in better physical shape than Christiana, they were able to keep up with
the running game better overall.  About halfway through the second half,
though, the active strategy of Ordland clearly left its marks, as the
players began to visibly tire, and several chances thus opened up for
Christiana.  Christiana's weakness this time was a lack of final
execution - the numerous chances in the second half all went to waste,
as no one seemed to be able to finish off and convert the chances into
goals.  Overall it was a very entertaining and physically demanding
game, and the mostly Ordlandic crowd responded very well to the action,
and unabashed celebrations broke out after the game.

After an erratic beginning where both teams caused a lot of turnovers,
the Christiana defense tried to set up an offsides-trap as Ordland
stormed into the attack, but due to a misunderstanding in the defense,
the offsides was not successful, and Vinha ended up almost unchallenged
in front of the goal, where the Christiana keeper could do little to
prevent the 1-0 for Ordland.

After a foul by Larangeira right outside the penalty box, as a
Christiana striker was attacking alone (Larangeira received the yellow
card for this), Christiana had a great opportunity to go into the locker
room all tied, but after the free kick was given, the Christiana
attackers failed twice to make good contact with the ball, and Ordland
keeper Pinto threw himself onto the leather to save the day!

After the break, the match was fairly even, despite the sluggishness of
the Christiana team, because Ordland was beginning to tire considerably.
Christiana missed two good chances off corner kicks, once the ball went
well over the crossbar (51.), the other time, Pereira cleared it away by
head after outdueling a Christiana striker (60.).

As both teams got more tired, play became more erratic, and it somewhat
caught Christiana by surprise that a sudden burst of energy carried no
les than six Ordlandic players into the penalty box, where a quick
exchange of the ball followed.  Finally, Oliveira, after a triple-pass
(!) with Dagama, who had just entered the game, took heart, and bounced
the ball past the Christiana keeper to score the final decisive goal.
As the crowd got more excited, the players slowed down in exhaustion,
and the last part of the game, not much more happened.  Another
dangerous corner for Christiana yielded nothing - again, lack of
execution.

The game was a tremendous success for the fans in Ordland, who wanted
nothing more than their team win on this important day of national
pride, and celebrations now carry on into the night.  President Bolonha
was also present at the game, and met with the Christianan players
before, and the Ordlandic team after the game to offer his personal
congratulations.

NOVEFA was very pleased by the cooperation of the Ordlandic Football
Association in organizing this match.  Beating an internationally
acclaimed team, such as Christiana, although they were still weakened by
illness, is a feat any nation can be proud of.  We hope to see both
teams in competition soon again!  We believe the Christiana team is now
off to play in the WEHFFA competition next week, and we hope this
warm-up game helps them in their preparations.  We wish them the best.