Cup Matches Round 2

[Kemal]

Snaken made it to round 3 , after beating their mirror image Snakemasters 3-2 in an absolute thriller:

quote:
The 32936 spectators at FC De Snaken Arena were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Snaken had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. Lineup: Mi#322;ek - Lucado, Balyon, Öztürk - Halling, Lavie, Hansson, Espinola - Billand, Kronskär, Catanã.

SnakeMasters had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Hartholt - Lozana, Joachems, Jongsma - Kleine, Fletcher, Käppeli, Heijltjes - Kreuk, La Rocca, Varnovskiy.

The referee showed Snaken's Ristea Catanã the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Per Kronskär seemed to be floating in the air at will as he elegantly headed in 1-0. The previous Snaken corner kick was executed by Gal Lavie. Visitors Gianfranco La Rocca was alert on a play coming in from the left, making the score a tie at 1 - 1 in the 24th minute. In the 27th minute the home side managed to get a 2 - 1 lead as Peter Billand flipped the ball after a cross pass from the right. SnakeMasters got a chance to level the score as Timothy Fletcher suddenly found himself free with the goaltender but the finishing shot hit the bar. Snaken's Gal Lavie got himself booked after a foul. SnakeMasters were forced to a substitution as Marc Kleine couldn´t continue playing due to the rough treatment, forcing Juuso Laasimo to come in from the sidelines. The referee showed Snaken's Boe Halling the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The teams went for a half-time break at 2 - 1. Snaken held the ball, with a clear 64 percent possession rate.

A bit later, a magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Snaken´s Jose Maria Espinola putting the lead up to 3 - 1. By now Snaken were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by Boe Halling rendered him his second booking of the match, and Snaken had to finish the game with a reduced squad. Florian Lucado got left behind when SnakeMasters´s Edward Kreuk made a sudden pull forward in the 80th minute, finishing off with a swift strike. 3-2! After 84 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges, followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by Per Kronskär might have resulted in another goal for Snaken. However, Ulf Hartholt made a spectacular save. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, SnakeMasters's Davide Käppeli got himself booked. Snaken´s Ristea Catanã had an excellent opportunity in the 87th minute, shooting on a through ball, but he missed the goal by miles! Snaken, bringing the final ball possession rate to 57 percent, dominated the battle.

Snaken's best player was Stanis#322;aw Mi#322;ek. Florian Lucado was a disappointment, however. The most dominating SnakeMasters player was without a doubt Ulf Hartholt. However, Juuso Laasimo made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 2.

This really was a scary match-up.... not only did our teamnames more or less match, we also:

- have very similar club logos
- have the same club colours
- used the same formation
- repositioned the same players on exactly the same positions
- both train forwards
- had more or less comparable ratings in the previous cup round

And to add to that, my midfielder Boe Halling was sent off, while a bit earlier his midfielder *on exactly the same location* was taken off and replaced by a 0* coach, in essence both of us lost the same player... wow, can it be a coincidence, one starts to wonder...

Fortunately, the score wasn't mirrored, nor was the ticket revenue: An almost full Snaken Arena (thank you ) saw an additional 157K flowing into the Snaken treasury.

[Kingreno]

Well done Snaken! Good stuff you could concentrate on the cup after last sundays WO. Next round could be tough though...

I trounced a 6th division team 1-7.

[Kemal]

Most definitely it will be tough, a 5th div team coming to the Snaken Arena, so I guess that's the end.

Ehmm... 1-7 against a *6th* div team??? All hail the mighty Aristocats!

Going to break your record run of last year then eh?

[Swingue]

I had a WO this cupgame:

quote:
13347 spectators had found their way to SwingStars Arena, despite the heavy rain. SwingStars had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Lagreca - Verhoef, Coulen, Heil - Veraar, Kuiper, Allach, Schwansee, Arkesteijn - Postuma, Sauter.

marshell tactics involved an interesting 0-0-0 combination. The following players had been chosen: - - - .

The game couldn´t be played and the referee had to declare the home side the winner with 5-0 due to a walk over. This was caused by the visitors not having 9 players fit for the game! The match ends 5 - 0.

Next week a Vth division team who scored 45 stars last match. Though my midfield is better, so i might try a MODS against him, with home advantage, who knows.

[Shabbaman]

I had a walkover. Next is a 6th division defense trainer playing 4-4-2. Doable, but I can't PIC.

[ProPain]

Won 3-2, I'm facing a 6th division team next. Thought that was quite lucky untill I saw his ratings. Solid midfield rest of his team is a bit better than mine, 39.5 stars total. Dunno what I'm gonna do, but PIC'ing comes to mind

[Kingreno]

I am playing a 6th div team again but one that relegated from the 5th. He has near passable midfield and a very decent 3-5-2 all round. Perhaps it is time to call in that World Clas Counter attack.

Odds are 40-60 in his favour.

@ Swingue: Don't Mots your cupgame! It is definately not worth the crappy TS you'll have for the next 10 matches!!

[Swingue]

quote:Originally posted by Kingreno

@ Swingue: Don't Mots your cupgame! It is definately not worth the crappy TS you'll have for the next 10 matches!!

Nah, I won't do it, but i definately considered. I still think i have a chance. HO! gives me a 60% chance of winning but all of his team (excluding my goalkeeper) is better than mine.

My midfield is weak (++), his is weak (--) (though he had a passable (-) midfield some games ago.
for the rest he is better.

My question is do I field my best goalkeeper in the league or in the cup?
And do i have a chance, if not I might as well PIC this game.

[akots]

I've lost like an idiot. Could have easily won. The guy I played has an extremely strong first squad but very weak second squad which he fielded for the cup. I also fielded my crippled second squad and pic'ed hence lost. That is very disappointing indeed.

But overall, this was a good week which brought me around 400K in ticket sales.

[socralynnek]

I piced and won 3-2 in overtime...maybe that guy should not have played CA.
Now I'm playing a guy which 2nd team is as strong as my first from 4th Division, so I hope for a sold out match and will PIC and use my mega Team spirit to win my league...we'll see.