Game 94 (Christiana-Lexicon Islands) 11-22-298

Game 94: Christiana-Lexicon Islands (Vexillium Cup CD'98) - FINAL!!!

IVEFA welcomes you to the last statement for this year's CD'98 Vexillium
Cup, the FINAL between host nation Christiana, and the sensational team
from the tiny nation of the Lexicon Islands!

This is the biggest game in football on Vexillium, the game that will
decide, who is the bets football side of the planet this year!  The hype
that led up to this match was tremendous, especially in the Kingdom of
Christiana, where every citizen seems to have gone soccer-crazy over the
last few weeks, in a country where the game until now has enjoyed only
limited popularity!

In the Lexicon Islands, of course, Football is the number one game, and
the Lexicans are just as fanatic about it.  If the rise of Christiana to
the finals was a bit of a surprise, despite their home advantage, the
rise of Lexicon was an outright sensation, climaxing in their dramatic
overtime win over favorite Westria in the semis!

Both teams fortunately had no injury problems and entered the game at
full strength.  Both teams also agreed to stick to their previous
strategies, which have obviously worked very well for them!

Out of the starting gates, Lexicon tried to take the early control of
the game, and they had the better ball posession for the first 15
minutes or so.  Kilos Raxxon was given a starter position, and the
18-year old must have been thrilled to be playing in the VexCup FINALS
at such a young age.  Raxxon was a key figure early on in the game, as
he set many good offensive impulses, and showed very imopressive ball
control.  At his side, Fotonaro was having one of his better days as
well.  However, Christiana held steady, as once again Padraig, who is
tipped by many as a favorite for inclusion in the Cup All-Star Team, to
be voted on in a few days time, once again showed that he is one of the
best defenders of Vexillium, and Lexicon was initially unable to score,
as their chances never quite come close enough, or got a clear shot.
Joergensen, who was also tiptop today, did the rest for the Knights.

The King had not even bothered taking a seat in the Royal Box this
game,  Instead, he was on the bench with coach Sir Snyder, and the team,
from the very beginning!  You could see that His Majesty was very
nerveous, and he made an effort to keep his sideline antics to a
minimum, as he eagerly watched on, hoping the Lexicon offensive was
going to blow over.

The Vikings kept pushing for a little while longer, but slowly the
Knights caught up with them, not to a small part due to the
ever-increasing support of the home crowds, who, partially initiated by
the Cheerleader/King on the sidelines, broke into one chant after the
next!

So Christiana now began to put some pressure on, in the second quarter.
Nolan was superb today, and Monaigh, still buoyant from his game winning
goal at the last minute in the semifinals against Westermarc, seemed to
move like lightning.  But is was Andersen who had the best chances.
Once, he stood on the wrong foot, and did not catch the ball right, as
he was only yards from the goalline, with Munstasi saving, and the other
time, he launched a tremendous bomb from medium length - but again
Munstasi reacted, and deflected over the goal in a tremendous reflex!
Harrison then was about to launch an attack, but the whistle sounded to
end the first half, resulting in boo's from the crowd, who saw their
Knight's promising attack interrupted by the referee.  Kundur just
shrugged, and pointed at the watch.  The teams went into the break in a
scoreless tie!

Both teams came back onto the pitch after the break unchanged.  And that
is no surprise either - both had started with their strongest lineup,
and both had played well in the first half, and no reason to change.

Christiana was still slightly in charge.  The King had followed them to
the locker room once again, and no doubt, did his best to further spur
his men on!  Andersen once again had a couple good chances, but even
these two were saved by Munstasi!  This phase of the game seemed more
like Andersen versus Munstasi, instead of Christiana versus Lexicon!

Then, as the game lulled a bit after about 10 minutes, all of a sudden,
Monaigh, still with wings, Harrison, and Andersen launched a quick super
sweep, that caught Lexicon a little by surprise in this somewhat quiet
phase of the game.  All of a sudden all hell broke lose in the stadium,
as the three Christiana strikers swept forward, with the deafening roar
of the crowds!  The King jumped up, like stung by a bee, and frantically
ran to the sideline - for a while it almost looked like he was going to
run all the way into the field, trying to help, but at the last moment,
he stopped, and jumped excitedly.  The strikers managed to break
through, and Monaigh gave a precise pass to the middle, where Harrison
was, he in turn handed off immediately to the right, and Andersen passed
back over the heads of Lexican defenders, all the way to the left, to
Monaigh.  This move had drawn the defenders to the right, and now
Monaigh had a little room!  Not a good thing considering his speed
today!  He took a swift sprint, and shot (run-and-gun!) at the goal, and
Munstasi was without a chance from this close range, as Monaigh's shot
exactly fit into the far upper corner!

Incredible noise in the stadium! Christiana was ahead 1-0!!!  The King
could not restrain himself anymore, and ran towards the celebrating
players on the field, to the great dismay of referee Kundur!  The ref
had to politely ask the jubilant King to leaave the pitch, so the game
may carry on!  It was quite a funny scne, as the King was so excited, he
first thought the ref was a Knight, and he began to congratulate him!
Thankfully, things calmed down, and His Majesty returned to the
sideline.  But he would not sit down anymore!

Ref Kundur had a quick word with Sir Snyder, abviously about the King
storming the field while the game was in progress, and Snyder in turn
had a few words with Edward II, who nodded repeatedly.  The noise had
never stopped after the goal, and now fans were breaking into wild
singing, and the 'wave' was continuously going around Royal Christiana
stadium!  Some fireworks were being set off in the stands, it was as if
Christiana had already won the game!  But there were still 34 minutes to
go in the game, and Lexicon now was more determined than ever!

After the kickoff, the Vikings visibly changed their game.  They were
now in shock, and had to respond to their falling behind.  They now
developed a lot of pressure on Christiana!  Raxxon had a solo chance,
but he stumbled it away.  Fotonaro missed high.  Dibris was saved by
Jorgensen in spectacular fashion.  Then the corner, kicked by
Filentoz... Dibris again saved by Jorgensen.  The pressure was now
mounting, and Lexicon more and more began to control the game, despite
the loud support from the home crowds for their team.  But the Knights'
fans really momentarily had not too much to cheer about - so they began
cheering loudly for each missed chance by Lexicon, every time a defender
cleared, every time Jorgensen held...

But the pressure was now getting too much.  Lexicon was going to score
anytime unless Christiana could do something.  In fact, after a long
cleared ball by Sullivan, and the return attack from Lexicon, a long
pass from Komp found Estonarios, who passed forward to FOTONARO, WHO WAS
ALONE BEFORE THE GOAL, AND HE SHOT, AND GOOOOOOOAAAL for Lexicon.  But
what is THIS?  The linesman's flag was UP, Fotonaro was OFFSIDES!  The
goal does not count after all!  Incredible turn of events!

The video replay showed clearly that the linesman's call was correct,
nevertheless there were some reclamations by the Lexicon players,
especially Estonarios!  But Kundur did not listen, and stuck with the
decision.  Well, after the exasperation of a goal scored, and then the
disappointment of it being taken away, Lexicon had lost a good bit of
steam now.  Christiana finally got back into the game, as they had
escaped from the Viking's ship that kept them firmly in their grip for
the entire middle period of the second half.  This disallowed goal
completely changed the momentum of the game, and now Christiana was back
on the move!  The King, who had been standing like frozen on the
sidelines, with grim expression, came back to life as well, and once
again did his part of rallying the crowds, who responded so well!  There
were 15 minutes to go!

Nevertheless, in the 79. minute, Lexicon had another great chance!
Raxxon and Dibris collaborated on this one, and it was Raxxon who got
himself into position to score, but just as he entered the penalty zone,
Bolton cleared away the ball, in what appeared to be to many as a
perfectly clean play.  Raxxon, however, put up quite the show,
theatrically falling to the ground, and referee Kundur seemed to buy it,
and he gave the penalty!!!  The video tape unfortunately did not show
anything conclusive, as from three different angles, unfortunately each
time the play was obscured by other nearby players!  Obviously, the
Knights protested vehemently, Bolton even drew a yellow for his
complaints, but the decision on the penalty was final!  Now, Lexicon had
to decide who was going to shoot it.  In a decision that was surely
controversial, they put up Raxxon to the task - he was the one fouled,
and he was going to take the shot!

18-year old Raxxon now had the Vexillium Cup at his feet.  There were 10
minutes to go, his team was one goal down, and this was the penalty, a
godsent, that he himself provoked...  He took a short run, and firmly
kicked the ball, ... but too close to the goalie!  The ball went to the
left center, and Jorgensen had guessed the side, and was able to HOLD
the SHOT!!!  Raxxon collapsed at the line, Jorgensen laid still on the
ground, rolled up like a ball himself, with the ball in his arms, his
face buried in his hands, for about 10 seconds in emotion.  Meanwhile,
the Christiana players were going wild!  The King was stopped at the
last moment by Sir Snyder from storming the field again, and of course,
the Lexicon players sank to the ground at the incredible missed
opportunity.  Raxxon really did not take it very well, he seemed spent
now, and without spark.  So in the 82. minute, Eckin came in for him,
the first and only substitution of the game.

The noise level in the stadium now reached absurd levels.  Desport had
handed out free pneumatic sirens to the first 10,000 fans who entered
today, as a promotional item, and the sirens seemed never to go silent
in the last 8 minutes!  On the field, it was all Christiana now!
Lexicon just could not believe  their bad luck - first the disallowed
goal, and now a missed penalty!  It was just too much.

Christiana now felt unbeatable.  The King directed the crowds, and even
sported a siren himself now!  Lexicon's desperate attempts were thwarted
by the Knights, who now all had Monaigh-like wings, it seemed.  And to
top it all off, Andersen finally got his reward for the good game he
played, as two minutes before end, he scored another goal for
Christiana, leaving no doubt that it was OVER!  CHRISTIANA HAD WON THE
VEXILLIUM CUP!!!!  The final whistle finally blew, and the noise level
raised even more, which seemed hardly possible!  THE KNIGHTS HAD DONE
IT, AND ACHIEVED THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM!!!  All the players, the coach,
staff, and of course, the King now stormed the field!!!  A great
joydance had begun, and the King and coach were embracing all the
players, and each other!  The special safety reinforcements fortunately
held in the stadium, and prevented the fans from storming the field as
well, but the team, coach ,and King made their rounds in the stadium,
throwing their socks and shirts into the crowds, waving, and carrying
flags!  Meanwhile, the Lexicon team had congratulated them, and left the
field to the victors.

The celebrations went on for a while, and then it was time for the
presentation of the Cup!  First, the Vikings took the stage, and
received their silver medals.  Then, the entire Christiana team, coach,
and King all took to the podium, where IVEFA President Kickins was
waiting with the trophy!!  After a few words, which nobody could make
out due to the noise, he handed the Cup to Coach Sir Snyder, who hoisted
it high up in the air!  Then, the Cup went from player to player, each
of them kissing it and hoisting it triumphantly!  The King had stepped
back respectfully, after all this was the players' greatest moment of
glory, and he refused to touch the Cup until each player had had his
turn.  But finally, he got his chance too, and did as all the players
did before him.  In the TV closeup, it appeared that he had tears in his
eyes, but that may have just been a reflection of the floodlights.

Then, the Knights took back to the field, and made many more victorious
rounds around the stadium again!  It was partytime in Christiana.  The
Cup was won for King and country!

Christiana now earns the right to display the Cup prominently, and to
hold the trophy until the next Vexullium Cup!

This concludes the greatest sporting event of Vexillium for 298!  IVEFA
cordially congratulates the champions, Christiana, as well as the
runners-up, and we thank the host nation for their great hospitality and
collaboration in organizing the event.  We also congratulate all the
teams who participated, and thank them sincerely.  Your participation in
the Cup has made it what it is, the supreme trophy of football.  Thanks
also to the many volunteers who participated in the Cup through the
creation of rosters and uniforms, and thanks to the sponsors, whithout
which, there would be no Cup at all!

IVEFA looks forward to continuing to grow the game of football on the
planet, and we'll see you all at Vexillium Cup '99!!

Signing off,

Baldriarch K. "Gooooal" Kickins, President IVEFA

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 - LEXICON ISLANDS 0
Played in: Christianshaven, Christiana (Royal Christiana Stadium)
Attendance: 75,000
Referee: Ulf-Ingar Kundur (Islandia)
Goals: Monaigh (CHR, 56.), Andersen (CHR, 88.)
Yellow cards: Bolton (CHR, 79.)
Substitutions: Eckin for Raxxon (LEX, 82.)