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Wild passes Pimentos, advance to semis
A crowd of nearly 80,000 supporters packed Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock in spite of escalating tensions between Sarzonia and longtime ally Roach-Busters. The crowd sure acted as if they didn't care what was happening in the rest of the world, cheering wildly as forward Brian Wilson scored two goals to lead the Wild to a 2-1 victory in the home leg of their quarterfinals series against Jokerit Kjellburg of Big Pimento. The victory clinched a 5-2 aggregate score for the Wild.
"We did just what we had to do against a very good team," Wild Coach David Bostwick said. "Brian played one of his best games in a Wild uniform and we're going to hope to ride that into a finals berth."
The Wild jumped out on top almost from the opening kickoff, with their first goal coming only 55 seconds into the match. Wilson took a pass from midfielder and team captain Bobby Convey and raced down the Jokerit end of the pitch, outmanuvering defenders and firing a laser shot past the goalkeeper for a 1-0 lead before some of the supporters had a chance to find their seats. That, along with the suddenness of the goal led to a muted reaction from the 78,937 in attendance.
They would have a chance to go full-throat just 29 minutes later. Convey sent a through ball that eluded the head of a Jokerit defender and Wilson slammed a header into the back of the net to give the Stars a 2-0 advantage they took into halftime. Only a penalty kick in the 73rd minute prevented a shutout by Horace Sandt.
The Wild faces Iskara Daii of regional rivals Starblaydia in a home and home series that begins at Hendrix Stadium. The team is encouraging fans to arrive early for security checks and to avoid traffic. The increased security is a reaction to the escalating cold war between Roach-Busters and Sarzonia, but Convey said the team wasn't going to focus on the political situation.
"Unless they've got Godrods raining down on Hendrix Stadium, we've got a job to do that has nothing to do with politics or war," he said. "The only war we're interested in is the kind that will be settled between the lines of a football pitch." |
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Sarzonia |
It's all about the Navy. |
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Tigers playing with passion for more than one reason
The Spraatan Tigers are playing at a high level in the AO Champions League. They have continued to play dominantly and continue on. Now, the Tigers hope to get a little revenge for the Capitol City football team, the Hariots, after the Strike FC from Vilita shut them down 7-1. Also, they want to make a statement for the Fmjphoenix Vikings, the nations pride, as they were unexpectidly knocked out of the Cup of Harmony after being a favorite for it with the extreme play they showed from World Cup 19.
Now, the Tigers are representing the the primary entertainment for Fmjphoenix. They plan on playing hard to try and show the region that football greatness is strong in Fmjphoenix. |
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Semi Finals Leg 1 Scores
Strike FC 1:1 Spraatan Tigers Woodstock Wild 2:1 Iskara Daii |
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Strike Search for More Foreign Magic
--------------------Lonngeylin, Vilita based Jungle Strike FC will be looking for more of the Away-From-Home magic that saw them overcome Starblaydian rivals Jhanna United in the Quarter Finals. The two rivals drew the first leg at the ampetheatre-like Shultis in Lonngeylin, before Strike FC outclassed Jhanna United in Starblaydia to advance to the Semi Final stage. Fmjphoenix based Spraatan Tigers have duplicated Jhanna's feat, earning a draw in one of the most exciting domestic stadiums in the world.
--------------------Strike, led by captain Santo Kecker, and still having Eauzian goalkeeper Michel Rousoi on contract after his good job for Eauz against Vilita in the World Cup Finals, will be looking to achieve a Semi-Final second leg result similar to that they achieved against Fmjphoenix's Capitol Harriots, when Strike came away 7-1 victors in the qualfying stage. |
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Wild takes first step to AO final
The Sarzonian national team has had a lot of trouble with Starblaydia's national team, losing five of eight all time meetings with their football rivals, with one of the matches being a draw. The Woodstock Wild took a step toward possibly restoring some national pride against a Starblaydi team, defeating Iskara Daii 2-1 in front of an overflow crowd of 80,215 at Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock in the first leg of their semifinal series.
The Wild can advance with a win or a draw in Starblaydia, and Coach David Bostwick said the team would play its normal style of football instead of possibly playing more defensive-minded.
"We didn't get this far by playing conservative football," Coach David Bostwick said. "We did it by playing attack-minded football and by maintaining possession. We've won some matches on the road and we expect to be able to go through to the next round if we can play our brand of football effectively."
The national team combination of forward Brian Wilson and midfielder Bobby Convey struck again for the Wild when Wilson found Convey with a through ball as Convey streaked past a Daii defender and looped a shot over the goalkeeper in the 42nd minute to send the Wild into the locker room ahead 1-0.
Iskara Daii came right back, silencing the loud Woodstock supporters with a free kick that eluded goalkeeper Horace Sandt and into the upper left corner of the net in the 72nd minute. Iskara Daii then made a defensive substitution, seemingly content to settle for a 1-1 draw, but defender Trevor Crenshaw made the team pay with a well-timed counter and he deked the goalkeeper to tap the ball into the net in the 86th minute to provide the winning margin. Iskara Daii tried playing desperate football to score the equaliser, but couldn't get a shot on Sandt before the final whistle.
"We still have work to do before we can accomplish what we want to," Convey said. "This is only the first step of hopefully a long road to the championship." |
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Sarzonia |
It's all about the Navy. |
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Posts: 577 |
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Tigers earn draw with Strike, finals in view
Drezan Vogel scored the Tigers lone goal against the Strike FC in route to a 1-1 draw. This next match is going to be the most important match played by the Tigers to date. Not only does a win solidify a finals apperance in the first AO Champions League, but it would give a little revenge for Fmjphoenix as they wish to get some sort of reprive for the Strike FC routing the Capitol Hariots 7-1. This will no doubt be a tough match for both teams and will way to the possible champions. |
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Semi Finals Leg 2 Scores
Spraatan Tigers (2)1:1(2) Strike FC AET (Strike FC win 4-1 on Penalties) Iskara Daii (1)0:1(3) Woodstock Wild
Final:
Woodstock Wild vs. Strike FC
TPPO:
Iskara Daii vs. Spraatan Tigers |
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Club team earns national revenge
With Starblaydia's success against Sarzonia in national team play playing in the back of their minds, the Woodstock Wild were playing for more than a trip to the AO Champions League finals. They were playing for a bit of national pride after a devastating World Cup loss to Crystilakere and some salve during a cold war against former allies Roach-Busters. The Wild got all of that and more, getting the only goal of the match from defender Trevor Crenshaw and a 1-0 victory.
Goalkeeper Horace Sandt was the other star for the Wild, turning aside six Daii shots to post a clean sheet and advance his team and earn him some consideration for a berth on the national team.
"We had a lot to play for, no question," Sandt said. "This isn't the national team beating Starblaydia, but at least we're in the finals in our first go. It took five tries to get to the finals in the AOCAF."
The Wild continued to flash the form that earned them victories in 13 of their 17 matches against international club teams. Their only loss so far came at the Palestra in Woodstock to Calista Flock of Big Pimento. They earned draws against the Jamaica Giants of Bedistan and Strike FC, who will face the Wild in the finals of the AO Champions League. Woodstock defeated Strike FC away 2-1 in Matchday 3 of the group stages and earned a draw in the second leg. Coach David Bostwick said that would make things tougher for his team.
"They're familiar with us now," Bostwick said. "Not only that, but they'll be motivated for revenge. We're going to have to be prepared to give it everything we've got. They certainly will." Fortunately for Bostwick, the first leg will take place at Hendrix Stadium in Woodstock, where over 80,000 Wild supporters are expected to brave a cold war to attend the match.
"It's going to be great," midfielder Valentin Kienzl said.
[OOC: We're still doing a two leg final home and away, right?]
This post has been edited by Sarzonia on Dec 27 2004, 01:34 PM |
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Sarzonia |
It's all about the Navy. |
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Posts: 577 |
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No, the final and the TPPO are one-legged affairs.
The TPPO will take place on the 30th December in the Ekranas Stadium. The Final will take place on 31st December in the Ts'khinvali Stadium. |
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Tigers prepare for TPPO
After losing AET 4-1 to Vilita's Strike FC, the Spraatan Tigers prepare for the Iskara Daii in hopes of claiming third in the First AO Champions League. |
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Wild aims to Strike first
With a spot in the championship final of the first Atlantian Oceania Champions League secured, Coach David Bostwick had his team travel to South Osettia to train for their match against Strike FC of the Vilitan league and become familiar with the sights and sounds of their new AO neighboring country. Bostwick is hoping that early trip will give them the advantage they enjoyed when the team stayed in Big Pimento after winning the second leg of one match and starting the first leg of another match.
"The best thing we can do is to make sure we have the logistics ironed out," Bostwick said. "We're going to need every advantage we can get against Strike FC."
The Wild earned a victory and a draw against Strike FC in the NS Champions League group stage as they won Group 6 with a 3-2-1 record and 11 points. While they will use their familiarity with Strike FC to help them prepare, they are also concerned that Strike FC will use their 0-1-1 record against Woodstock as motivation.
"They're going to be gunning for us," midfielder and captain Bobby Convey said. "We can't just show up and expect to win, that's for sure."
Woodstock has enjoyed tremendous success in football matches against foreign club competition, going 13-3-1, with the lone loss coming against Calista Flock in the first match of the group stages of the NS Champions League. Including Portland's 3-3-5 record, Sarzonian Football Confederation teams have gone a combined 16-6-6 in club competitions.
"I don't think that's going to be a huge statement about SFC football," forward Brian Wilson said. "The teams playing are the class of our league. I think any league's best teams can stand up with anyone else's best teams. We haven't seen the Nicksia Knights play anyone or the Saugerties Snakes play anyone yet."
This post has been edited by Sarzonia on Dec 29 2004, 01:13 PM |
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Sarzonia |
It's all about the Navy. |
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Posts: 577 |
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Iskara Daii Line-up for 3PPO
CODE | 1. GK, Rodriguez Da Silva, Starblaydia 2. RB, Ceri Salisbury, Starblaydia 3. LB, Rastian Salaam, Starblaydia 4. DM, Ki-Jana Carter, Starblaydia 5. SW, Jean-Pierre Durand, Starblaydia 6. CB, Jaime Majeed, Starblaydia 7. RM, Tuade Lue (Captain), Rejistania 8. DM, Wilbert Willis, Nova Britannicus 9. AM/CF, Marco Del Blanco, Starblaydia 10. SC, Andrew Winters, The Belmore Family 11. LM, Thanh Madray, Starblaydia |
CODE | 1 Da Silva
5 6 2 Durand Majeed 3 Salisbury Salaam
4 8 *7* Carter Willis 11 Lue Madray
10 9 Winters Del Blanco |
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TTPO Result:
Iskara Daii 2:1 Spraatan Tigers AET |
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Strike Look for First Regional Title
--------------------Jungle Strike FC head coach R.L. Cruisin has prepared his team well ahead of the first-ever Atlantian Oceania Regional Club Championship final, where his Vilitan-based team will square off against Sarzonia's Woodstock Wild in a rematch of the teams group stage clashes in the World Champions League. The Wild came out the better of the two in those matches, do to the errors in the goal-scoring calculators that had given Strike FC the defensive ratings of Calista Flock, and not of their own very impressive defensive lineup.
--------------------The Strike FC defense is full of international talent, including budding central defender Ricky Ezis, and the experienced D-L duo of Danilo Liguori and David Leacock. Cruisin is boosted by the news that starting goalkeeper Michel Rousoi will have no distractions ahead of the final matchup, with his national team, Eauz, knocked out of the World Cup finals at the second round stage. Only Turorian forward Jualiar Vumaou remains in the World Cup, after the Vilitan team was knocked out in the group stage, but Vumaou will be forgoing the Turorian Quarter final clash with Audioslavia in favor of the Club Championship in South Osettia.
ooc: Don't forget to remove any home bonus in the scorinator prior to the final. |
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AO Champions' League Final Result:
Woodstock Wild 3-1 Strike FC
Therefore, the first ever winners of the AO Champions' League are...
Woodstock Wild!!!!
This post has been edited by South Osettia on Dec 31 2004, 08:20 AM |
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