Games 91 and 92 (Christiana-Westermarc and Westria-Lexicon Islands) 11-20-298

Game 91: Christiana-Westermarc (Vexillium Cup CD'98) - SEMIFINALS

IVEFA announces the result from today's match played in the Vexillium
Cup CD'98, November 20, 298:

The Technical Information:

Final score: CHRISTIANA 2 - WESTERMARC 1
Played in: Port Celt, Christiana (Seaswept Stadium)
Attendance: 90,000
Referee: Piotr Klenk (Coceira)
Goals: Fang (WMC, 33.), Harrison (CHR, 61.), Monaigh (CHR, 90.)
Yellow cards: none
Substitutions: none

Match commentary:

All eyes were on Port Celt tonight, as in the second semifinal hosts
Christiana met the last remaining Westrian side, Westermarc for a berth
in the FINAL on sunday!  Seaswept Stadium was crammed full, and 90,000
enthusiastic fans saw another football thriller that could have hardly
had any more drama all the way to the end!

After the somewhat unexpected demise of Westria earlier today,
Westermarc came determined to carry on and get to the finals.  But the
home heroes Christiana, who once again enjoyed the total support of
their fanatical fans, as well as the King himself, were pushed to even
greater heights.

The game was fast and full of action all-around.  Christiana was trying
to employ their Super Sweep move, while Westermarc stuck to its familiar
snaking attack style.  Play was flowing and turned the ball over quickly
many times, one team would have a chance, then the other, then the first
again, then the other again, etc. etc.  It was a feast to watch for
every football enthusiast!  Nevertheless, none of the teams managed to
score early, despite the best efforts by both.  Padraig held the defense
strong for the Knights, and Singhraj and Nuur prevented the worst for
Westermarc.

Overall, the game was remarkably fair.  Both teams relied almost
completely on their technical skills, and there was very little physical
contact.  Another reason was that referee Klenk from Coceira, one of
IVEFA's best, had the game firmly under control, and showed a lot of
good judgement during  the game.

It was finally in the 33. minute, that the fans got to see a goal!
However, they would have preferred not to see it, since it was not the
Knights, but the Serpents who scored it!  Bulunghia was once again a key
figure in a goal scene, he had Padraig tied up in a man-to-man duel, and
won it, which freed him up to gage a pass to the center, where both Foit
and Fang were lurking.  Fang was closer, and took the pass by head, a
low bouncer that approached goalie Jorgensen from below, and he could
not cope.  Westermarc was up 1-0, and all now looked as if at least one
Westrian team was going to be in the finals.  And what better revenge
that Westermarc beating Lexicon in the Finals, Lexicon, who had
eliminated Westria today!!  But, it was to come completely different!

Westermarc seemed energized by the goal, and they had a good grip on the
rest of the second half, and more chances than Christiana.  However, the
score remained 1-0 until the break.

You can guess what happened at the beginning of the second half:  a
familiar figure showed up at the sidelines...!  HM The King was once
again just off the pitch, shouting encouragement, and at times runiing
up and down the sidelines, as well as gesticulating with Sir Coach
Snyder, who tonight wore his Order of the Crown Medal!  And as they had
done before, the Knights seemed to take heart, and began to slowly take
more control over the game.  The Super Sweep seemed to work better in
the second half, and Westermarc had their hands full.  Their style had
changed now, and althought they did not bring in any subs, they
obviously played more conservatively, with an eye on salvaging their
narrow lead until the end.  So this gave Christiana a chance to put on
some unanswered pressure.

In the 61. minute, Harrison had a breakthrough, after a long pass from
Nolan.  Singhraj had tumbled seconds before, as he was trying to cover
Andersen, and they collided slightly, sending Singhraj, the tree,
instead of 5'9" Andersen, to the ground!  By the time he got up again,
Harrison was past, and strock a hook left around Koon, and another,
right around Nuur, to score the equalizer, finally!

The stadium was wild again!  The King was jumping up and down, but they
had to score again to win!  Westermarc now came back out of its shell.
They needed a goal now themselves, and again we had a first-half-like
offensive exchange, with many alternating chances.  But the tension
mounted in the stadium.  The fans were really taking sides now, and the
few Westermarc supporters who had made the trip, were outnoised
considerably by the Christiana fans!  The King further incited cheers
and songs, 'directing' the fans from the sidelines like a cheerleader!
He was once again sporting his Christiana soccer shirt, with the "K" as
a number!  The Westrian bench was also at the lines, and that included
the Westrian players as much as both coaches, and the Westermarc subs as
well.  Everybody was full of anticipation and excitement.  However, both
teams, despite many very close chances, had some heartwrenching misses
on either side, and the YEEEEAAAHHH YEEEAAAAHH, UUUUUUUUUUHHHHH OOOH of
the crowd became a repetitive sound as chances appeared, and were
missed.

All looked as if it was another match to be decided in overtime!  The
clock was running out, the King was running around, and the fans were
running wild, and then, all of a sudden, there was Monaigh, with the
ball!  Monaigh in the Westermarc half, out of nowhere it seemed.  HE
began to run, and he ran, and he overran Fooey, and he kept going past
Deveng, and had outrun Zhensen, and was still going, and tricked Koon,
and now there was Singhraj, and Monaigh played the ball between the
treelike defender's legs!! And he was all alone with Nuur, who came
charging, and Monaigh was still going, and began to push left, and Nuur
followed, but Monaigh was still going, and Nuur threw himself at the
ball, but Monaih kept it rolling, and was still going, and kept going,
and went all the way, and YYEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!  GGGOOOOOOOOAAAALLL!
He had done it, all by himself, almost like on a mission, seemingly
unstoppable!  It was the 90. minute, and there was only one minute to go
in stoppage time!  It was later said, the roar around Christiana at this
time could be heard anywhere on the island, as every TV set was tuned
in!  And in the stadium, utter joy and celebration, even although the
game still had a minute left.  Westermarc rushed back to the center, and
quickly kicked off, but their last desperate attampts just did not make
it!  The noise was tremendous!  The fans were WILD!  Now, some of them
began to climb the 20' high fence, and tried to get onto the playing
field, and just as the final whistle sounded, the first fans jumped onto
the pitch, and tried to run towards some of the players with flags and
scarfs!  The players themselves, as well as the coach-Sir and King were
jumping and dancing, and it was a great scene of joy.  More and more
fans now came across the fence, and the field began to crowd a little.
Security forces moved in fast, and formed a barrier around the King, as
well as both soccer teams, which did not stop the Knights from
celebrating, though!  On advise of the security service, the King and
teams were then immediately escorted off the pitch, after one last wave
to the crowds, who desperately but futilely tried to get closer to their
national heroes, and their King!  So the celebrations for the Knights
were relatively short on the field, but in the security of the locker
room, they went on at full strength!

Meanwhile, the Westrian players had retreated, both teams mixed, with
words of consolation for each other, and after exchanging shirts with
some of the Christiana players.  For the Westrians, the Cup is
essentially over, despite the most interesting consolation final
tomorrow, between Westria and Westermarc, the first time these two teams
will ever meet!!

Christiana goes on to the final game on sunday, to play for the Premier
Sports Crown of the Planet, the Vexillium Cup, against another Island
nation, Lexicon, the huge surprise team!  IVEFA has requested additional
security, and fence inforcements at Royal Christiana Stadium for the
final game on Sunday, to prevent the security risk that was evident
today, with fanatical fans storming the field while the game was still
almost in progress, and putting the players and King in potential
danger!

Christiana and Lexicon have never met before, and predictions are
impossible to make.  IVEFA wishes both the best of luck.  We are eager
to crown the first ever Football Champion of Vexillium!

IVEFA announces the result from today's match played in the Vexillium
Cup CD'98, November 20, 298:

The Technical Information:

Final score: WESTRIA 1 - LEXICON ISLANDS 2, in overtime
Played in: Aurora, Christiana (Borealis Stadium)
Attendance: 70,000
Referee: Alexi Verbatim (Northern Gronk)
Goals: Filentoz (LEX, 51.), Theunissen (WES, 52.), Dibris (LEX, 102.),
Yellow cards: none
Substitutions: Eckin for Fotonaro (LEX, 45.), Hallsetter for Salamanta (WES, 45.)

Match commentary:

Lexicon Islands surprise again, as they overcome Westria in overtime!

These two teams met just before the Cup in a friendly, but they never imagined that they would meet again in the semifinals of the Vexillium Cup!
But this was how it should be, and both teams were looking forward
to playing each other again.

Every bookmaker considered Westria heavy favourites, and to be frank,
I think most of the people following CD'98 also did.

But that's football for you! Anything can happen, just like it did today.

Both started very nervously, being very cautious not to make any mistakes. It was 25 minutes into the game before the first chance appeared. Marginot cleared the ball from the Westrian defence zone, and Yoghurt played it upfield to Vraseydenhout, who, with a great first-time touch, played it into the penalty area to Alicanti. He merely had to give it brush to send it past the line, but he blasted it over the bar.

After the following goal kick, Raxxon was running clear of the Westrian defence, but the linesman flagged for off-side.

Nothing further happened before the half time whistle blew, and the crowd was certainly hoping for some action in the second half, to save this dull 0-0 game.

And already in the 6th minute of the second half, they got what they wanted. Estonarios was running down the right side of the field, and with a superb cross he finds completely unmarked Filentoz, who gives Hassenpfeffer no chance with a hard header. 1-0 Lexicon!

But the joy lasted only shortly. Just 1 minute after the Lexicon players were wildly celebrating, Westria equalized. This came straight form the kick-off, as Umsatz dribbled a couple of yards into the Lexicon half. Lexicon's defence was not at all paying attention to Theunissen, who had no problems scoring after a fantastically
precise pass from Umsatz. 1-1!

After that goal, both teams defended heavily, not wanting to leave this competetion. And the rest of the game was almost played only in and around the centre circle. Lots of ball losses, and bad passes are the keywords for the last half an hour.

Into extra time they went, and just before the half time, Dibris has the ball just outside the Westrian penalty box, and as he has nobody to pass the ball to, he gives it a shot. This surprises the Westrian goalkeeper, and he is way too late to get anywhere near the ball, which fires into the bottom right of the goal! This time Westria had nothing to fight back with, and the party on the Lexicon Islands could begin:
They had done the unthinkable, and will take on either Christiana or
Westermarc in the final!