2022 Confederations Cup
Re: 2022 Confederations Cup
*played 18th May*
Mercury and Craitland went toe-to-toe in the Freddie Mercury Memorial Arena, with the former still hoping to retain their Confederations Cup title from two years ago.
However both sides started quite slowly out of the blocks, with each side trying to out play each other in the middle of the pitch, with the resulting tactical face-off not providing much in the way of goalmouth action. The first chance of any note fell for the visitors, with Alexis Pellegrino swinging in a cross from the flank, but there proved to be too much pace on the ball for Will Zóma to do anything with, as he could only glance to ball well wide of the target. Mercury soon begun pressuring the Craitish goal too though, with Joe Foxon finding the game's first shot on target as his quick reaction to a loose ball in the box was guided straight into the hands of Francis Hjansen, before laying the ball off to Stephen Rydberg, but his shot took a deflection on its way to hitting the post.
The second half, however, started with much a higher tempo. Foxon had a goal ruled out for offside just 25 seconds after the restart, with Jack Partridge a little to quick in his attempt to take advantage of the Craitish defence's slow realisation that the second half had begun, much to the delight of the travelling fans. But despite having had the better chances, it was the visitors who took the lead, with İlker Keremov's strike from the edge of the box taking a deflection out to Will Zóma, who could easily tap the resulting ball into the net from just outside the six yard box in typical poacher fashion. But just a few minutes after falling behind, Mercury were given a way back into the match, with a ball over the backline from Samson Yatesby being chased by Partridge, Läns Däl, who had been caught ball watching, hauled his man down 25-yards from goal, and with no other covering defenders around, the referee had no choice but to send the Sverige Tiem man off. Whilst the resulting free-kick was smashed into the stands, Mercury now had the bit between their teeth, and equalised with 15 minutes left to go, with Joe Foxon holding up the ball in the penalty area well, before sliding the ball across for Stephen Rydberg to slot under the goalkeeper. Mercury had chances to win it in the 90, but Joe Foxon hit the bar with a header before a long distance strike from Samson Yatesby required a wonderful sprawling save from the goalkeeper in added time.
With the game going to extra time, Craitland sat in deep, with Mercury having the extra man advantage, but their resilient defending brought them to half time in extra time. In the second period, with tiring legs, Craitland started to play for penalties, with Joe Foxon obviously looking tired after a full season and an intense battle, and eventually, the referee's whilst blew for spot kicks to be taken.
The shoot-out provided a rather tense ending, but with both teams tiring, it was not a shoot-out filled with quality, with Joe Foxon blasting his attempt against the post before both keepers were able to save some pretty weak penalties. However, it was Samson Yatesby to take the decider, with his spot kick being saved to the bottom-right, putting his side out and their opponents into the final.
Spoiler!
However both sides started quite slowly out of the blocks, with each side trying to out play each other in the middle of the pitch, with the resulting tactical face-off not providing much in the way of goalmouth action. The first chance of any note fell for the visitors, with Alexis Pellegrino swinging in a cross from the flank, but there proved to be too much pace on the ball for Will Zóma to do anything with, as he could only glance to ball well wide of the target. Mercury soon begun pressuring the Craitish goal too though, with Joe Foxon finding the game's first shot on target as his quick reaction to a loose ball in the box was guided straight into the hands of Francis Hjansen, before laying the ball off to Stephen Rydberg, but his shot took a deflection on its way to hitting the post.
The second half, however, started with much a higher tempo. Foxon had a goal ruled out for offside just 25 seconds after the restart, with Jack Partridge a little to quick in his attempt to take advantage of the Craitish defence's slow realisation that the second half had begun, much to the delight of the travelling fans. But despite having had the better chances, it was the visitors who took the lead, with İlker Keremov's strike from the edge of the box taking a deflection out to Will Zóma, who could easily tap the resulting ball into the net from just outside the six yard box in typical poacher fashion. But just a few minutes after falling behind, Mercury were given a way back into the match, with a ball over the backline from Samson Yatesby being chased by Partridge, Läns Däl, who had been caught ball watching, hauled his man down 25-yards from goal, and with no other covering defenders around, the referee had no choice but to send the Sverige Tiem man off. Whilst the resulting free-kick was smashed into the stands, Mercury now had the bit between their teeth, and equalised with 15 minutes left to go, with Joe Foxon holding up the ball in the penalty area well, before sliding the ball across for Stephen Rydberg to slot under the goalkeeper. Mercury had chances to win it in the 90, but Joe Foxon hit the bar with a header before a long distance strike from Samson Yatesby required a wonderful sprawling save from the goalkeeper in added time.
With the game going to extra time, Craitland sat in deep, with Mercury having the extra man advantage, but their resilient defending brought them to half time in extra time. In the second period, with tiring legs, Craitland started to play for penalties, with Joe Foxon obviously looking tired after a full season and an intense battle, and eventually, the referee's whilst blew for spot kicks to be taken.
The shoot-out provided a rather tense ending, but with both teams tiring, it was not a shoot-out filled with quality, with Joe Foxon blasting his attempt against the post before both keepers were able to save some pretty weak penalties. However, it was Samson Yatesby to take the decider, with his spot kick being saved to the bottom-right, putting his side out and their opponents into the final.
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Re: 2022 Confederations Cup
*Played 18th May*
Senya and Floria met one another in this semi-final in a repeat of last year's World Cup semi-final, albeit held in a very passionate Snakepit stadium in Svorgas this time around.Spoiler!
The hosts had a good start to proceedings, putting the Florian defence under pressure from the off, but it was ultimately the visitors who took the lead. Midway through the first 45, a penetrating Sam Butcher run was found by a Rhys Chase through ball and the striker's instinctive squared ball across the box was a perfect fit to evade the Senyan centre-back pair and drop right at the right boot of Alex Mound. The midfielder's calculated sidefoot towards the bottom corner did receive a touch from Bɏankarlënœ in goal, but his fingertips weren't enough to direct it past the upright and the ball ricocheted over the line. Before the break, the corresponding post down the opposite end of the pitch came to Floria's aid as it was rattled by a Danetskë half-volley as Senya continued their pressure without finding that decisive touch.
The home side's dominance failed to let-up after the break, with the fans in typical full voice and unravelling a multitude of banners throughout the game to spur the players on, and were denied two very good opportunities by the strong arms of Logan Shaw. The Florians, on the other hand, remained slightly more reserved, utilising the mature attitude that led them to World Cup glory before by seeing-out a number of narrow victories. Their best chance to extend their lead fell again to Mound, but his attempt was much more rash and flew over the bar from a similar distance out to his goal. It was only in the final stages of the game where the drama truly lay, and a Senyan corner just as the clock ticked over into injury time forged the moment this game will certainly be most remembered for. Jan Maytek won and subsequently took the corner, swinging it in deep towards Danetskë who rose for a header directed straight at Shaw. The 'keeper saved with his legs but could only rebound the ball straight to his opposite number Sileman Bɏankarlënœ, who had come up for the urgent set piece, and could only watch as the Senyan stopper poked home from close range for his second international goal.
The late, obscure equaliser kick-started another unusual series of events from the restart that will haunt Floria for some time. The kick-off was quickly worked back to Kylian Saint-Pierre who dawdled slightly as Ƨinkœ Zvet closed him down at pace and ended-up giving the ball to Barnaby Hands through a deflected pass. Hands teased his way forward, allowing for his teammates to join the unexpected immediate onslaught, and was offered Kiket Volinsk as an option, with the striker smashing the ball first time after receiving the pass, finding the top-left corner from outside the box to shell-shock the Florian back line and goalie. The following restart was given the treatment of an immediate full-time whistle to complete the game's frantic finale, and an astonished Senya celebrated reaching a third successive Confederations Cup final with their home fans. The Greens' only hope now is that they can break their duck in this competition and lift the trophy for the very first time in a fortnight.
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Re: 2022 Confederations Cup
Third-placed play-off fixture
1st June
PO: Mercury v Floria
Final fixture
1st June
F: Craitland v Senya
1st June
PO: Mercury v Floria
Final fixture
1st June
F: Craitland v Senya
Re: 2022 Confederations Cup
*Played 1st June*
Mercury and Floria met in Cherry Trees eager to bounce back following disappointing defeats in the semi-finals of the competition. But it was the Florians who started quick out of the block, with Alex Mound testing a strike from 30-yards out in the first minute of the games, which had Jonathan Foster sweating in the Mercury goal, but ultimately went over, before Sam Butcher stabbed a Nicholas Evans cross the wrong side of the post, after a good run from the wing back down the right. Mercury would grow into the game, as they started stringing some passes together, but they looked a bit lost in the final third, with Logan Shaw looking very assured in goal, claiming anything and everything that fell into his penalty box. Despite Mercury taking control of the ball, it was Floria who looked more dangerous, with their wing backs allowing them to counter quickly, and after a fast break down the right again, Rhys Chase found himself with acres of space on the edge of the box, controlling the ball, before slamming a strike into the top left corner of the goal, giving his side the advantage. Mercury looked a bit surprised, and Chase moments later headed over an Evans cross, but Mercury were able to get to the break with only a one goal defecit.Spoiler!
At the start of the second period, Mercury looked as if they had found their rhythm, with Stephen Rydberg fizzing a shot from the edge of the box just wide before Joe Foxon bundled the ball just wide of the post. Floria were now on the back foot, but Shaw continued to look confident in between the sticks, tipping over a Foxon header and getting down low to make a good save from Jack Partridge following a goal mouth scramble. But with the Florians still looking sharp and conserving their energy, they still had the pace to hit the Mercurians on the counter, and that's what they did when Evans broke once again down the right, before cutting the ball across to Kylian Saint-Pierre, whose initial shot was palmed away by Foster but straight into the feet of Alex Mound, who slotted calmly into the top left. Mercury once again had to find something out of nothing, and after making a few changes, they had their moment of luck, with Joe Foxon doing well to muscle Evans off the ball, before running into the box and cutting the ball back for Wilmont Fizeau-Blake to slot home and half the deficit. It all proved to be a bit too little too late though, as Floria were now happy to camp out, with the Mercurians looking to score with more luck than judgement, with a few hastily hit shots flying over Shaw's crossbar, rather than actually testing the Dragonmoor shot-stopper.
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Re: 2022 Confederations Cup
The Freddie Mercury Memorial Arena welcomed the finalists of the Confederations Cup for the second time, having previously hosted the 2018 showpiece. Craitland arrived in the final off the back of a penalty shoot-out win over their hosts, while the Senyans beat world champions Floria to reach their third consecutive final, hoping to break the duck and avoid yet another runners-up medal. Neither side really took the initiative in the opening exchanges of the game, although a speculative effort from Ƨinkœ Zvet forced Francis Hjansen to push the ball over the bar for a Senyan corner, which ultimately came to nothing. Craitland had a dangerous free kick to contend with shortly before half time, but Hands' delivery was swiftly cleared, and the half fizzled out to a disappointing close.Spoiler!
The second half saw Senya come out looking the more sprightly side, David Morter's team talk obviously working its magic, as Alesandrœ Danetskë found himself clean through on goal just two minutes in, with only a miraculous fingertip save denying him and Senya the opening goal of the game. They found themselves in front of Hjansen's net once again after a well-worked passing move fed Danetskë in, who opted to shoot when he could have rolled the ball to team-mate Zvet, who would have had an open goal. Ƨinkœ Zvet made way for Isaac Prelvinher to give a boost to Senya's front line, and he almost grabbed the headlines with a spectacular volleyed effort, but once again Hjansen was equal to it. Markœ Minyorletsken could have put the ball on a plate for Danetskë once again, but his errant pass only found Daniel Hjansen in a white shirt, whose intelligent pass to Ĵulian Ólsen gave Craitland their first meaningful chance of the game, but Jan-Morteņ Juliaĵsen's shot was well stopped by Bɏankarlënœ, trickling wide for a corner. The deadlock was finally broken as Will Zóma was able to break free of his marker and head home, putting his side on track for a first FMF trophy in 11 years. Senya pushed and pushed for an equaliser, and almost had it, but for yet another fantastic Hjansen stop, but Craitland were able to cling on to their slender advantage and take home the silverware.