Games 87 and 88  (Westermarc-Islandia and Christiana-Whitlam) 11-17-298

Game 87: Westermarc-Islandia (Vexillium Cup CD'98) - QUARTERFINALS

IVEFA announces the result from today's match played in the Vexillium
Cup CD'98, November 17, 298:

The Technical Information:

Final score: WESTERMARC 4 - ISLANDIA 2
Played in: Aurora, Christiana (Borealis Stadium)
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: Richard Cordieira (Ordland)
Goals: Foit (WMC, 3.), Fang (WMC, 24.), Eyjolfsson (ISL, 39.), Fang
(WMC, 55.), Eyjolfsson (ISL, 64.), Bulunghia (WMC, 77.)
Yellow cards: none
Substitutions: Bulunghia for Saabah (WMC, 45.), Luiki for Koon (WMC,
45.), Steindorsson for Jonsson (ISL, 45.), Bardarsson for Gudmunsson
(ISL, 60.)

Match commentary:

Westermarc withstands second-half charge by Islandia to make the final
four!

Islandia is now known as the "Armatirion-Killers" around Vexillium,
after their sensational upset victory over the then-number-one ranked
team from the Old Continent, which ousted the heavy favorites for the
Vexillium Cup.  The Killers were still riding that wave as they came
into today's game with Westermarc, who in turn had a very long and tough
match against defense fortress Northern Gronk, and was therefore tipped
by many to be not as fresh and motivated as the Penguins/Killers.

However, that momentum changed as fast as the game began - only in the
third minute, K. K. Foit shocked the Islandic side with a sudden counter
goal, literally almost before the game had really started.  This was a
kick in the butt for Islandia, who with one swipe seemed to have lost
all the Elan that they had coming into the game.  Westermarc now took
advantage and kept their own momentum going, in fact fed on it, and not
much later, in the 24. minute, Fang was there to score by head the 2-0
for Westermarc, with the Serpents still pushing along.

Islandia needed to stop the bleeding, and they were able to, thanks to a
good effort lead by Tordarsson and Petursson.  Singhraj had a close eye
on Eyjolfsson, and the Islandic star striker was unable to produce much
at first.  However, in the 39. minute, even Singhraj, the tree, could
not contain the surging Eyjolfsson, and a good pass from Tordarsson
resulted in Islandia's first goal to close up to one.

After a few lineup changes during the break, it was again Westermarc in
control in the first moments of the second half.  Indeed, Fang, with his
impeccable scoring instinct, seems to pop up whenever there are chances
for a goal, or whenever the opposing defense makes a mistake.  Thus, he
cappitalized on a poor pass from Gudmunsson, and scored a very important
goal from close range in the 55. minute, to bring the serpents up 3-1.

Now it was again Islandia on the charge.  They were once again two down,
and needed to make it happen.  The battle between Eyjolfsson and
Singhraj continued, and it was a pleasure to watch one of the planet's
best attackers, a relatively small and agile player, compete with one of
the planet's best defenders, a huge and intimidating athlete!  One could
say that Eyjolfsson perhaps got the better of the duel today, because he
scored again in the 64. minute after another great pass, this time from
Hjalmarsson, to again close the gap to one.  However, had Singhraj not
done the good job he did today, who knows how many Eyjolfsson might have
scored!

Islandia kept pushing now.  They had brought in an additional striker in
Bardarsson earlier, and they were determined to fight back and beat the
Serpents.  This was the phase of the game where Singhraj's qualities
really came to the surface:  not only was he able to neutralize
Eyjolfsson, but he also directed the other defenders beautifully, and
seemed to be everywhere Islandia tried to attack.

The Penguin's attacking game became more intense as time passed on, and
inevitably, Westermarc now had a few chances to counter against the
Islandic team which moved up quite far into the Westermarc half at
times.  One such counter attack finally sealed the Penguins' fate, as
Bulunghia again was the one to score a critical and game-deciding goal,
in the 77. minute, to eradicate any doubts who was going to win.  From
there, Westermarc was able to protect well, and they managed to hold on
to their 2-goal victory over the Armatirion-killers!

For Islandia, sadly, the Cup is over.  But they are perhaps the one team
making the biggest (at least sports-related!) headlines in this Cup so
far, with their sensation against Armatirion.  For Westermarc, things
will get only tougher, as either hosts Christiana, or the magnificent
Dragons await them in the semifinals!

IVEFA announces the result from today's match played in the Vexillium
Cup CD'98, November 17, 298:

The Technical Information:

Final score: CHRISTIANA 3 - WHITLAM 1
Played in: Port Celt, Christiana (Seaswept Stadium)
Attendance: 90,100
Referee: Wilfried Astnehmer (Westria)
Goals: Walford (WHI, 40.), Monaigh (CHR, 51.), Harrison (CHR, 68.),
Padraig (CHR, 91.)
Yellow cards: O'Kenney (CHR, 15.), Westwood (WHI, 62.)
Substitutions: Ibanez for Ouagadougu (WHI, 72.)

Match commentary:

Knights launch a great comeback in the second half - King ecstatic!

"Knights versus Dragons" sounds like a fairy tale, or even more like a
fantasy-roleplay game, but tonight, there was nothing imaginary about
the meeting of the Knights and Dragons, in one of the very key matches
of this Vexillium Cup!  This is one of these matches whose outcome
determines the face of the entire Cup!  Of course at this advanced
stage, every game seems to have that sort of impact on the football
Vexillium!

Christiana is swept away with football fever ever since the Knights
began winning, and their team has been swept along as well, reaching a
quality of play, and success heights like never before attained.  His
Majesty the King was of course present again, it seems he had spent more
time with the team than Coach Snyder!  And the largest stadium of
Christiana, the Seaswept in Port Celt, was fuller than physically
possible, as the gates counted 90,100 people entering, where the
capacity is only supposed to be 90,000!

In the beginning, the game was fast, and had a lot of quick exchanges.
The ball turned over many times, and both teams played a quick and
refreshing offensive style, that was most entertaining to watch.  The
crowds really got into this game, even more than the ones before, and
constantly, the Knights saw themselves being fired on by chants, songs,
waves, and rhytmic cheers.  The fans were clearly backing their home
team, but were very fair, and applauded every good play by Whitlam as
well.  Besides, a good lot of Dragon supporters were also present, in
their customary section of the stadium, and they did their best to voice
their support for their beloved Dragons!

Indeed, Whitlam slowly began to gain the upper hand, as gradually, their
possession time increased, their chances became more frequent than
Christiana's...  the "Terrible Trio" of Armstark, Walford, and Blacklock
once again did their thing, and eventually, in the 40. minute, Whitlam
broke through as Walford scored with a spectacular shot over his own
head, facing away from the goal!  The shot was such a surprise,
Christiana keeper Jorgensen was totally caught looking, although he may
have had a good chance to actually hold the ball, had he anticipated the
plans of Walford!

So now Christiana's campaign for the Cup did not look so good!  You
could tell they were in trouble, because, 'as usual', the King began to
show up at the sidelines once again, as in all critical game phases for
the Knights so far.  He left his Royal Box again, and was down there for
the last three minutes of the first half, before entering the locker
rooms with his team, for the halftime break.

One can only guess as to what the King had to tell his men in the locker
room, but without a doubt, they came back with a new resolve, and an
iron will to win!  From the beginnning of the second half, Christiana
began to take charge, taking on the famous Whitlam defensive team.  It
was again Monaigh, who enjoys somewhat of a renaissance at this Cup, who
scored an important goal, as he headed in a corner kicked by Padraig in
the 51. minute, to draw the score.  Monaigh again almost scored in the
68. minute, where his shot was deflected by Zaytseva to hit the
crossbar!  However, the rebounding ball ended up in front of Harrison,
and he SCORED from close range, as the Whitlam goalie was still
recovering from the fall he had taken during the previous save!

Christiana was now up by one, and everybody in the stadium was going
nuts, including HM The King!  Once again he was running and screaming up
and down the sidelines, even almost ran over the linesman, until referee
Astnehmer politely asked him to not interfere with the officials' job
anymore.  Then he seemed to settle down a little, and was seen sitting
on the bench most of the time.

Whitlam, famous for their defense as much as their Terrible Trio, now
had to encounter the defensive prowess of Christiana, led by Padraig and
O'Kenney.  The Trio was pushing until the end, but the last bit of luck
seemed to desert them today, and Whitlam was running out of time.  As
the game went into injury time, the noise in the stadium was so
enormous, it was hard for the TV broadcasters to transmit an audible
commentary!  In fact it was so loud, Whitlam defender Westwood 'thought'
he heard the final whistle, when in fact the game was still in progress
- Westwood's error led to another chance by Christiana, that saw
defender Padraig put the icing on his great performance tonight, as he
scored the 3-1 only moments before the actual whistle was blown, in a
remarkable solo that reminded more of Eyjolfsson, than of a defensive
player!  Then, the game was over, and the celebrations were tremedous!
The Christiana players were climbing the fences to encounter the fans
close-up, and threw their shirts and socks into the crowd.  The noise
was deafening for many minutes after the game, as the celebrations went
on.  The King went onto the field to congratulate the Dragons on a good
game, and they in turn paid their respects, and congratulated the King,
as well as the other Knights, and coach Snyder, who had joined them.

Christiana now goes against the next former Terramarc state, Westermarc,
who beat Islandia earlier today, with the winner of that match going on
to the FINALS!  For the Whitlam Dragons, the '98 Vexillium Cup has ended
after a most impressive campaign that firmly established them as a
top-ten team on the planet!  They will be back again, and they will
win.  A lot.