NOVEFA is proud to announce the results of the first ever international
match under our jurisdiction: the friendly game between Islandia
and
Westria at Sandur Giant Stadium in Snaeffellstadir ended in a 2-2 draw.
The technical information:
Final score: Islandia 2 - Westria 2
Played in: Snaeffellstadir (Sandur Giant Stadium), attendance 53,400
Referee: Nasser Al-Sudhin (Mauretanie)
Goals: Eyjolfsson (22.), Fang (41.), Theunissen (55.), Hjalmarsson
(86.)
Yellow cards: Alkentorff (Westria), 60.
Substitutions: Muriaghi for Waschbrecht (45.), Burk for Salamanta
(45.), Andersson for Liliansson (48.), Williamsson for Petursson (63.)
Match commentary:
After a short period of cautious passing play, both teams finally freed
up, and Eyjolfsson broke through the Westrian line of defense after
a
poor pass from Waschbrecht, which resulted in a turnover. Voyden
and
Marginot both could not stop the Islandic striker, who also fooled
goalie Hasenpfeffer into the wrong corner, and scored Islandia's first
ever goal in international competition.
Islandia had the field advantage from then on, encouraged by the lead
goal. Several attacks were thwarted by the superb Westrian goalie
Hasenpfeffer, and Petursson hit the crossbar once.
All looked as if Islandia would take their one goal advantage into
halftime, when suddenly Westrian star striker N. P Fang broke through
in
a fast turnaround, after a long pass by Yoghurt. Fang lobbed
the ball
over Islanian keeper Fabiansson, who got caught too far removed from
the
goal. Nothing much else happened until the break.
After halftime, Westria came out storming havily, and created a lot
of
pressure and momentum. After a corner ball caused by Danielsson,
and
corner kick by Voyden, Theunissen converted by head in the 55. minute
to
put Westria one ahead.
Westria continued to dominate the first part of the second half, until
a
foul by Alkentorff on Eyjolfsson resulted in a yellow card, and Islandia
brought in Williamsson for the exhausted Petursson, who had done a
lot
of legwork. Williamsson rejuvenated the Islandian offense, and
after a
free kick-standard situation (kick by Danielsson), Hjalmarsson (who
plays in the Westrian professional league by the way) unleashed a bomb
through the legs of Hasenpfeffer in the 86. minute, to the great delight
of the home fans! Hjalmarsson had another opportunity alone in
front of
the goal in injury time, but this time he dribbled the leather straight
into the Westrian goalie's arms (91. minute).
NOVEFA is very pleased with the success of this first ever game, which
encourages our efforts. We expect statements from the coaches
and
players regarding the match shortly, and the date for the second match
of the series, to be played at the Northway Colosseum in Westria will
be
announced shortly. Again, we thank all the fans for their support!!!
NOVEFA announces the result from the friendly international match
between Westria and Islandia, played wednesday, August 26, 298.
Final result: Westria 6 - Islandia 3
The technical information:
Final score: Westria 6, Islandia 3
Played in: Northway (Northway Colosseum), attendance: 87,322
Referee: Ulget Frohm (Ferratus)
Goals: Petursson (3.), Umsatz (11.), Salamanta (21.), Tordardsson (38.),
Fang (48.), Eiyolfsson (55.), Nischel (57.), Johannsson (self, 75.), Hasenpfeffer
(88., penalty).
Yellow cards: Foegelsangg (Westria, 33.), Liliansson (Islandia, 57.)
Substitutions: Duelingen for Yoghurt (36.), Andersson for Hallgrimsson
(39.), Nischel for Umsatz (50.), Williamsson for Johannsson (76.)
Match commentary:
This was a tremendously exciting game that saw a lot of quick action
and
turnarounds, good passing play, and plenty of goals:
Westria began playing extremely offensive right away, moving the
midfield far into the Islandian defense zone, but leaving their own
rear
wide open. Thus, after a long bounce off the Islandian defense,
Petursson, Hjalmarsson, and Eyjolfsson were three-against-two Westrian
defenders all of a sudden, and Petursson scored the shocking lead goal
to put Islandia one up in only the third minute.
Nevertheless, Westria kept playing with great abandon for their own
defense, and under the immense pressure, Umsatz scored the equalizer,
poking the ball through two defenders in a shuffle before the Islandian
goal. Ten minutes later, Salamanta scored the 2-1 in a beautiful
back-and-forth passing play with Fang, who handed the ball off at the
last second, fooling the Islandian keeper. Westria then toned
their
offense down slightly, but again left their rear unprotected in an
attack not long before the break, and Islandia launched another quick
counter-attack, which resulted in a beautiful long-range power shot
goal
by Tordarsson, that left Westrian keeper Hasenpfeffer without chance.
The Westrian coach was visibly unsettled as the teams went to halftime
break, and were tied at 2 each, despite the heavy offensive play by
Westria.
Despite that, the Westrians came to start the second half with the same
strategy, and star striker Fang managed to hieve the ball into the
far
corner, off the fingertips of Islandian goalie Fabiansson, who just
deflected the ball, but not enough. Again, Westria was in the
lead,
3-2, in the 48. minute.
After a foul by Marginot on the midfield line, and a free kick for
Islandia, a technically sophisticated combination play between
Tordarsson, Hjalmarsson, and Petursson resulted in a good opportunity
before the Westrian goal, but keeper Hasenpfeffer was able to fist
the
ball away. Unfortunately for the Westrian team, the deflected
ball came
directly to Eiyolfsson, who stopped it by head, laid up on his chest,
and fired away the leather on the fly, into the near corner, where
Hasenpfeffer could not reach after haven fallen down from his previous
save. Again Islandia had closed the gap, and the match was all
tied in
the 55. minute.
Westrian striker Nischel, who had come in as a substiute for Umsatz,
who
twisted his ankle (49.), received a long pass from his defense, after
which he outran two defenders, and hit the crossbar. Nischel,
in an
incredible reflex, headed the rebounding ball into the goal, to the
great delight of the home crowd.
After Nischel's miracle goal, the Islandian team seemed a little
shaken. Their equalizing goal had only lasted for two minutes,
and now
again they had to struggle to catch up. Instead, their play became
more
erratic and disorganized, and from then on, it was all Westria.
Under
the ongoing pressure, Johannsson, who had been exhausted after thwarting
four consecutive attacks, attempted a back-pass to goalie Fabiansson
-
however, the unfortunate Johannsson miscalculated the angle of the
ball,
and inadvertently lobbed it straight over the aghast goalie to put
Westria ahead by two goals in a most unfortunate manner.
Johannsson was then immediately substituted by another striker,
Williamsson, who had rejuvenated his team in the previous match in
Islandia, and raised their hopes of perhaps scoring again to close
the
gap and perhaps catch Westria. However, the Islanders were unable
to
execute another goal, as Westria now played freely, and did a good
job
of keeping the ball in possession. Finally, on a standard attack
by
salamanta, and an attempted shot on goal, Islandian defender Liliansson,
who had received a yellow card earlier, was hit by the ball on his
hand
in the penalty zone. The referee called for a penalty kick, and
Westrian goalkeeper (!) Hasenpfeffer was chosen to do the honors, to
the
great applause of the roaring crowds. In the duel of the keepers,
Hasenpfeffer pretended left, but kicked into the right corner, to give
Westria an incredible total of six goals in the 88. minute, with the
fans going wild.
The Westrian team celebrated by running several laps around the stadium,
draped in national flags, and high-fiving fans reaching through the
fences. It was a great scene, that ended in a fireworks display.
The
Islandian team players were honored after the match with special
friendship medals provided by the WFF to commemorate the first ever
series of international soccer matches for both countries. Westria
wins
the overall series with an aggregate score of 8-5.
NOVEFA is very happy with the conduct of this game. This spectacular
display of sport is what our organization and the game of soccer are
all
about, and we hope to be involved in many more matches between nations
in the very near future!
We once again thank all the fans for their support, and especially the
teams of Islandia and Westria for being our first participants!
May
many others follow!