2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Final:Alexandria vs Tellia
Head of Micras Futsal Federation
Commissioner of Napian Virtual Micras Football Association
Head of Alexandrian Futsal Association
Minister of Sport of Elwynn
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Citizenship:
North Antarctica - President Martin K.
Alexandria - Martijn Francois-Westenburg
Elwynn - Razhgan Emiri
New Saerig - Allan Eriksen
Haifa - Tamer Paladino
New Victoria - Micael Partridge
Commissioner of Napian Virtual Micras Football Association
Head of Alexandrian Futsal Association
Minister of Sport of Elwynn
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Citizenship:
North Antarctica - President Martin K.
Alexandria - Martijn Francois-Westenburg
Elwynn - Razhgan Emiri
New Saerig - Allan Eriksen
Haifa - Tamer Paladino
New Victoria - Micael Partridge
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Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Unless Antica park the bus againSenya wrote:Well, thats Alexandria into the Final then
Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Just realised, the semis are going to be
AEFA v CTFA
EMUFA v WMFA
Come on Antica!
AEFA v CTFA
EMUFA v WMFA
Come on Antica!
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Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Wow, this WC brings A LOT of surprises... Craitland LOST
Pavel' Abramovic:, the President of Interland
IRL just a random guy from Poland. Still learning English.
IRL just a random guy from Poland. Still learning English.
Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Hardly an upset. Cräiteland's squad changed so much compared to last year. Alexandria have historically been known to play possession football and Cräiteland knew going into the game that they couldn't let the Alexandrians control the midfield. Unfortunately they had an early setback and couldn't recover.vmsb123 wrote:Wth happened here!!!! Upset!!!! But our hopefully future buy scored twice!!!
Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
True true...
Head of Micras Futsal Federation
Commissioner of Napian Virtual Micras Football Association
Head of Alexandrian Futsal Association
Minister of Sport of Elwynn
------
Citizenship:
North Antarctica - President Martin K.
Alexandria - Martijn Francois-Westenburg
Elwynn - Razhgan Emiri
New Saerig - Allan Eriksen
Haifa - Tamer Paladino
New Victoria - Micael Partridge
Commissioner of Napian Virtual Micras Football Association
Head of Alexandrian Futsal Association
Minister of Sport of Elwynn
------
Citizenship:
North Antarctica - President Martin K.
Alexandria - Martijn Francois-Westenburg
Elwynn - Razhgan Emiri
New Saerig - Allan Eriksen
Haifa - Tamer Paladino
New Victoria - Micael Partridge
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- Contact:
Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
*Played 21st July*
Watch this match here!Spoiler!
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Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Semi-finals
Antica vs. Alexandria
Hamland vs. Tellia
Antica vs. Alexandria
Hamland vs. Tellia
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Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Following their elimination from this year's World Cup at the hands of Alexandria, Craitland called a press conference to answer any questions journalists may have about the four times champions' earliest elimination since 2006 and where the team goes from now. Manager Zyxveldt Pellegrino, captain Manta Pellegrino and forward Freddie Gaärsen were all on hand to give their views.
After being asked why the Craits only just advanced from the group stages, manager Pellegrino said, "Truthfully, we got the exact same results which we expected to get. Stormark was genuinely the only match we focused on definitely winning. We've played Mercury a few times now, and we drew with them earlier this year, so we knew a win was always going to be hard to come by there, with a draw more likely. As for Tellia, we were hoping for a draw against them, but they managed to exploit our defensive shortcomings and we never stood a chance. We would have hoped to have maybe scored more against them, but with the form they're in, they deserved it."
Manta added that "This is a team well and truly in transition. We've made a lot of changes from last year and many of the guys were completely new to the set-up, with very few caps. In fact, two of the newcomers still haven't been capped yet! Reaching the quarters was our main objective and anything after that would have been a phenomenal achievement, so we're actually rather happy with our performance. We can't win everything, but getting to the knock-outs will always be our target."
Gaärsen, who failed to score in a World Cup for the first time in six years, praised the performances of some of the newer players. "Jon-Jan [Jónsen] has shown he can be deadly from the bench and Marc [Mortensen] gave us something else up-front despite not scoring... But then again, neither did I! As Manta said, we've undergone a lot of changes, after such a crazy season, and I think things look good for the future even though we didn't do great this time round. Playing in the EMU's and next year's qualifiers will be a good start for our younger generation and we should come into next year's finals better and more together."
With Craitland looking to get back into the swing of performing well again, the CrFA has already lined-up their first post-World Cup friendly against New Vaduz, in the Craitish territory on August 5th. On the run-up to the EMU's next month, the team will be using players who were not in favour for the World Cup more to allow for more variety in the team's future, and will start-off their preparation against a team they've only played once before. This match will be the Craits' 99th and it is believed the CrFA is hoping for their 100th to be against tougher opposition, but only time will tell. Whatever happens, we can be sure that the team will be looking to get back to winning ways as soon as they can!
After being asked why the Craits only just advanced from the group stages, manager Pellegrino said, "Truthfully, we got the exact same results which we expected to get. Stormark was genuinely the only match we focused on definitely winning. We've played Mercury a few times now, and we drew with them earlier this year, so we knew a win was always going to be hard to come by there, with a draw more likely. As for Tellia, we were hoping for a draw against them, but they managed to exploit our defensive shortcomings and we never stood a chance. We would have hoped to have maybe scored more against them, but with the form they're in, they deserved it."
Manta added that "This is a team well and truly in transition. We've made a lot of changes from last year and many of the guys were completely new to the set-up, with very few caps. In fact, two of the newcomers still haven't been capped yet! Reaching the quarters was our main objective and anything after that would have been a phenomenal achievement, so we're actually rather happy with our performance. We can't win everything, but getting to the knock-outs will always be our target."
Gaärsen, who failed to score in a World Cup for the first time in six years, praised the performances of some of the newer players. "Jon-Jan [Jónsen] has shown he can be deadly from the bench and Marc [Mortensen] gave us something else up-front despite not scoring... But then again, neither did I! As Manta said, we've undergone a lot of changes, after such a crazy season, and I think things look good for the future even though we didn't do great this time round. Playing in the EMU's and next year's qualifiers will be a good start for our younger generation and we should come into next year's finals better and more together."
With Craitland looking to get back into the swing of performing well again, the CrFA has already lined-up their first post-World Cup friendly against New Vaduz, in the Craitish territory on August 5th. On the run-up to the EMU's next month, the team will be using players who were not in favour for the World Cup more to allow for more variety in the team's future, and will start-off their preparation against a team they've only played once before. This match will be the Craits' 99th and it is believed the CrFA is hoping for their 100th to be against tougher opposition, but only time will tell. Whatever happens, we can be sure that the team will be looking to get back to winning ways as soon as they can!
Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Shirerithian manager quits role after World Cup Exit
Paolo Saint-Laurent has announced his resignation by stepping down as the head coach of the Shirerithian national team. Shireroth, who were knocked out by Ste. Laurent's native Tellia, managed to progress from the groups after going through on goal difference. However, unlike last year where they faced Tellia at the same stage when they hosted the World Cup, the Shirerithians failed to make history repeat itself, which Tellia proving their worth by putting 2 goals past last year's finalist.
Ste. Laurent, who was appointed head coach after the 2010 World Cup previously managed Gaia (the predecessor to Tellia) and Alexandria. Over the course of his managerial career, he has won the Cibotap tournament once in 2010, whilst finishing runner up 3 other times. He also managed to win the World Cup with the Alexandrian side in 2009 after reaching the final managing the Gaians in 2006 (he repeated the feat as Shirerithian coach in 2011).
Following his announcement of his resignation, it seems that Ste Laurent may not jobless for a long time at all, admitting that he's already had two offers he is seriously considering. Speaking to the press, the Tellian said, "I may have announced my resignation, but I am not done with coaching yet. Having managed three nations and having gone to successive World Cup tournaments, I would like to take the challenge of managing a club. I have spoke to two teams in two competitive leagues and I will look to continue talks with them before making any decision. I have achieved all I can at this stage, it's time for me to move on."
Rumours suggest that the one of the clubs Ste Laurent is speaking to is Vecchiacittà Calcio, whilst further rumours also suggest that he may be on the short list of potential manager for Craitish side Cherry Trees FC. We may be able to speculate as much as we can; however the future of this manager will probably unfold in the near future.
Back in Shireroth, it is believed that the SAFL are in no rush in appointing a new manager. After hosting the World Cup, as well as reaching the final when hosting it and a quarter-final appearance in this year's World Cup, it is believed that the SAFL will be looking for a manager which can continue the work that Ste Laurent has started. The Shirerithians will look into appointing someone who can use the system that has been left and play football in the similar fashion.
Paolo Saint-Laurent has announced his resignation by stepping down as the head coach of the Shirerithian national team. Shireroth, who were knocked out by Ste. Laurent's native Tellia, managed to progress from the groups after going through on goal difference. However, unlike last year where they faced Tellia at the same stage when they hosted the World Cup, the Shirerithians failed to make history repeat itself, which Tellia proving their worth by putting 2 goals past last year's finalist.
Ste. Laurent, who was appointed head coach after the 2010 World Cup previously managed Gaia (the predecessor to Tellia) and Alexandria. Over the course of his managerial career, he has won the Cibotap tournament once in 2010, whilst finishing runner up 3 other times. He also managed to win the World Cup with the Alexandrian side in 2009 after reaching the final managing the Gaians in 2006 (he repeated the feat as Shirerithian coach in 2011).
Following his announcement of his resignation, it seems that Ste Laurent may not jobless for a long time at all, admitting that he's already had two offers he is seriously considering. Speaking to the press, the Tellian said, "I may have announced my resignation, but I am not done with coaching yet. Having managed three nations and having gone to successive World Cup tournaments, I would like to take the challenge of managing a club. I have spoke to two teams in two competitive leagues and I will look to continue talks with them before making any decision. I have achieved all I can at this stage, it's time for me to move on."
Rumours suggest that the one of the clubs Ste Laurent is speaking to is Vecchiacittà Calcio, whilst further rumours also suggest that he may be on the short list of potential manager for Craitish side Cherry Trees FC. We may be able to speculate as much as we can; however the future of this manager will probably unfold in the near future.
Back in Shireroth, it is believed that the SAFL are in no rush in appointing a new manager. After hosting the World Cup, as well as reaching the final when hosting it and a quarter-final appearance in this year's World Cup, it is believed that the SAFL will be looking for a manager which can continue the work that Ste Laurent has started. The Shirerithians will look into appointing someone who can use the system that has been left and play football in the similar fashion.
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Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Maybe Hamland can win their first World Cup, it'll be some interesting semi-finals
Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Analysing the Semi-Finalists - FMF World Cup Preview
So the semi-finals are nearing closer and closer and we now are down to the final four teams. This World Cup has sprung a few surprises. Following their all-time best performance last year, Interland failed to progress past the group stages. The Anticans as hosts have managed to hold their oppositions at bay and have yet to concede a goal, whilst the biggest upset is Cräiteland failing to advance to the final four, being rattled first by the Tellians in the groups, followed by the Alexandrians in the quarter finals. We now look ahead to the next two matches, of which we will determine which 2 will face each other in this year's FMF World Cup final. Let's look at each team by team to predict how they will fare.
Antica
The Anticans have undoubtedly been the surprise performers in this year World Cup. Although they may have home advantage by hosting the tournament, Antica have put themselves against the odds. 2 0-0 draws and a 1-0 victory against Batavia saw them progress to the groups by winning Group A. Interestingly, the Anticans only managed to score 1 goal in the group stages, the least scoring team in their group. However even up to now, they still haven't conceded a single goal.
Going into the quarter-finals, Antica were put up against Natopia - a nation who won Cibotap 2012 a few months ago and it appeared that the odds were firmly stacked against them. However, the Anticans yet again proved people wrong. Whilst the Antican manager calls it dominance, the rest of the intermicronational media claim it as "parking the bus". The Anticans may have had chances, but their defensive displays took the limelight, with some pundits dubbing their game play as "Anti-Football" - which some may argue as a fitting name for the nation. Another 0-0 result after 90 minutes meant that the both sides were forced onto extra time; and whilst it seemed inevitable that the match would go to penalties, a cross from Magnus College was met by the head of Curtis O'Toole, who sent the home fans into raptures after sealing the winner late on at extra time.
Jason Biggles has applauded his team in "getting the job done" and expected Antica to continue in the same fashion. Following the match, the Antican coach said, "as long as we get the result, it doesn't matter how we do it as long as win."
This suggests that there will be no change to the way Antica are playing. One thing is to be noticed is their players that really make it happen. Defence aside, Alexander Kern and Mick Nick have been solid defensively and offensively, supporting both the defenders and attackers throughout the tournament. Magnus College has shown his worth by helping the team on their winner, although it can be said that the strikers themselves need to be more clinical with their finishing. Their World Cup ambitions will lie in the hands of the likes of Curtis O'Toole, Bob Ends and Malmentrop Zeteb finding the net. Alexandria will be a completely different challenge and whilst the Natopians also tried to contain any pressure when the Anticans went forward, it is believed that the Alexandrians will try to counter-attack and take the game to the hosts.
Another thing to point out is the way the Alexandrians play. Alexandria are known for retaining the ball for long periods of times and keeping possession whilst controlling the midfield. The Anticans will have to try to keep their gameplan by stopping attacks their usual way, but they will also need to try and disrupt the Alexandrians and break their rhythm if they stand any chance of winning this game.
Alexandria
Alexandria proved their worth in the tournament by well beating last year's champions Cräiteland 3-0. It comes almost as a revenge fixture following their exit on penalties against Cräiteland in the same stage last year after being tied at 1-1 at normal time. With their excellent possession play and their willingness to control the midfield, the Alexandrians are still unbeaten in this tournament, taking 3 wins at the group stage before proving their worth on the big stage against the Craits by hitting them with an early goal before controlling the game until the end, disrupting the Craitish wing play tactics.
Following the retirement of national hero Sébastien Focán, it was unknown whether Les Bleus could return to their former glory after triumphing when hosting in 2009. However, with the likes of Jean-Pierre D'Oliviera, Tamer Modrem and Florent Lassana-Traoré, the "Purple Empire" have managed to step up and take the performance in their own hands. FLT is the tournament's leading goalscorer with 5 goals to his name and could well extend it. Among these names are a few new names, such as Michel Simoneaux and Maxime Sion - two very young players who could well shape up the future of Alexandria's defence.
The captaincy has also moved on. With Cesc Xavi also retiring, the armband has now been taken by Cyril Kopaczewski. The Alexandrian of Interlandian descent will undoubtedly have no regrets of choosing his birth nation over his heritage, as they look to advance to the final for the second time in their nation's history. The 26 year old, who now plays in Tellia for Vecchiacittà has admitted that becoming skipper has gave him more of a desire to win the World Cup again and write his own name in history by leading the side to their second World Cup.
However, Alexandria's tournament has not been pretty. In the last game alone, they picked up 3 yellow cards. The likes of Javier Santos, Ibrahima Diarra and Khalid Mohamed will be relieved that Yellow Cards were wiped after the quarter-final stage. Their biggest problem is with injuries - with Alexis Carrasco ruled out of the tournament, and Edgard Alonzo and Jean-Pierre D'Oliviera now facing fitness problems ahead of the semi-final. The team already lost 2 players prior to the tournament, and now they face a real struggle of having numbers in their squad for the later stages of the tournament. Tamer Modrem has had to play up front with Lassana-Traoré, with Yannick Ancelin called up in midfield. It is believed that D'Oliviera may not start against Antica, with Didier Koné poised to make his first start of the tournament.
Antica have shown that they are a tough team to break down, and Alexandria will need to find a way to break them down. The Alexandrians will want to control the game, but they will also need goals and Les Bleus may need to be patient in their build up play. It will be interesting to see how the midfield battle will pan out, with Alexander Kern & Mick Nick being Antica's solid midfield duo in the centre of the pack.
Hamland
The Hammish may be breathing a sigh of relief after their extra-time victory against the Batavians, but they will be looking in anticipation of reaching their second World Cup final. Hamland, who finished runners-up hosting the tournament in 2010, followed their good performance with a third place finish last year. They continued this by comfortably going through by taking a maximum 9 points in the groups.
Despite their maximum points finish in their groups, they suffered a scare in the quarter finals. Going into half-time goal-less, the Batavians came back out and scored first before a unstoppable volley by Billy McVeigh took the game level and into extra-time. A sublime finish from Jules Scott from long range rescued Hamland to win 2-1 at extra-time, but it was a far from easy performance and a rather uncomfortable one to watch for many fans back home.
With the exit of Cräiteland, the Hammish public will be eyeing their chance of securing their first World Cup. Andrew Miller, Benjamin Craig and Jules Scott have all shown that they can prove their worth when it comes to finding the back of the net; however the stand out player so far has been Eric Heinhorn. The 25 year old midfielder returned to squad following their friendly loss against Incontinentia and has collected 2 of the 4 man of the match awards in the tournament so far.
Hamland, like their EMUFA rivals Cräiteland, tend to play a 3-5-2 formation. The likes of Ian O'Hara and Billy McVeigh have shown that they can dominate down the wings and really test the opposition. Defensively, the team appears to have their learnt their lesson from their shock defence, with the defensive trio playing alot more tighter along the back, making it much more difficult for teams against them to break through.
Their scare from Batavia may spur them on to do better in the semi-finals as they face an even tougher opposition on paper. Tellia have not yet conceded a goal either and have had a similar record to Hamland in this year's World Cup so far. The last time the two sides faced each other in the World Cup was in 2010 in the opening match of the tournament, where Hamland lost 2-0. However back then it was a group stage - Hamland went on to the final, Tellia crashed out in the groups.
This time round, Hamland will need to be aware that they need to come out of the blocks quick. The first goal will be vital and considering how Tellia haven't conceded yet, an early goal from Hamland may shake them and swing the fixture their way. Andrew Miller and Benjamin Craig will need to be on their best form, whilst the wings of O'Hara and McVeigh will need to find a way to get past a very sturdy defensive team.
Tellia
2-0 results seem to be the trend for Tellia right now as every result in the tournament so far has gone 2-0 in their favour. The Tellians have finally reached the semi-final stages for the first time as Tellia, having reached the final back in 2006 as Gaia. A new generation has now emerged since then and under the guidance of Angelo Perrotta, Tellia play a completely different philosophy to previously.
Roberto Vincenzo's team beat Hamland last time on Hammish soil back in 2010, but whilst the team still has some players from that squad, the way Tellia play is far from a shadow of the past. Vincenzo's all-attack total football style has been ditched for Perrotta's solid defensive approach. In a sense, the Tellian team now play very similar to the way Alexandria play, wanting to keep possession and dominate the match.
It is true to say that so far it has worked. A solid 2-0 win against Mercury was then matched with an impressive display against Cräiteland, where they stunned many pundits by winning 2-0 yet again, shunning the Craitish wing play by matching it with their own. This was seceded with two further 2-0 results - a victory against Stormark before getting their revenge against the Shirerithians who dumped them out of the tournament last year.
Interestingly, Tellia's team may spring a surprise to Hamland. Despite Sezer Özker spending a season at FC Garrak, they will not be used to seeing him play up front. Garrak may have used him as a midfielder/winger, but Perrotta has opted to use him as a striker, a position in which both the player & manager are familiar with back in the old Romero days. Elsewhere the 4-2-3-1 system has managed to work well, with Massimo Santoni being pivotal in the possession play. Isaac Mahler has also shown that he can be a very good attacking midfielder, netting two goals in the tournament.
The main threat for the Hammish will have to be the unconventional wing play. Unlike most teams, Tellia prefer to play their wingers on opposite sides, with the likes of Gianluca Salmoiraghi and Marko Zajc cutting in to open chances themselves, as well as the wide option to cross it into the box. The threat has been confirmed, with both Salmoiraghi and Zajc scoring in the tournament and Hamland will look to try to prevent the two from getting into the box and joining the attack.
The team in green may seem defensively stable, but they will know that Hamland can pose a threat down the wings as well. An early goal is vital in order to take control of the game; however many people will expect a patient approach from the Tellians. They will not commit too many people unnecessarily when it comes to going forward, but looking at their opposition they will need to keep an eye on Jules Scott as well as the front two. As with the likes of Massimo Santoni, Jules Scott has proved himself as a threat from long range and the defenders as well as the defensive midfielders will need to keep their eyes opened on the Hammish no. 10 if they want to see their chances of progressing to the final.
Overall Review
It's nice to see that each of the four Micras confederations have been represented each by a nation; however this is where the World Cup is probably won and lost. Hamland and Tellia is too close to call and with both sides doing so well, I think a penalty shootout may be needed to separate the two.
Antica will try to hold on as much as they can and unlike the rest of the final 4 have not had a 100% winning record throughout the tournament. It will be tough for them, but they are definitely the underdogs of this tournament. You have to put your money on Alexandria to get to the final though. Didier Lozach has managed to do well in keeping his players level headed through all the injury problems they faced and he has managed to adapt a winning mentality and style in their football.
So the semi-finals are nearing closer and closer and we now are down to the final four teams. This World Cup has sprung a few surprises. Following their all-time best performance last year, Interland failed to progress past the group stages. The Anticans as hosts have managed to hold their oppositions at bay and have yet to concede a goal, whilst the biggest upset is Cräiteland failing to advance to the final four, being rattled first by the Tellians in the groups, followed by the Alexandrians in the quarter finals. We now look ahead to the next two matches, of which we will determine which 2 will face each other in this year's FMF World Cup final. Let's look at each team by team to predict how they will fare.
Antica
The Anticans have undoubtedly been the surprise performers in this year World Cup. Although they may have home advantage by hosting the tournament, Antica have put themselves against the odds. 2 0-0 draws and a 1-0 victory against Batavia saw them progress to the groups by winning Group A. Interestingly, the Anticans only managed to score 1 goal in the group stages, the least scoring team in their group. However even up to now, they still haven't conceded a single goal.
Going into the quarter-finals, Antica were put up against Natopia - a nation who won Cibotap 2012 a few months ago and it appeared that the odds were firmly stacked against them. However, the Anticans yet again proved people wrong. Whilst the Antican manager calls it dominance, the rest of the intermicronational media claim it as "parking the bus". The Anticans may have had chances, but their defensive displays took the limelight, with some pundits dubbing their game play as "Anti-Football" - which some may argue as a fitting name for the nation. Another 0-0 result after 90 minutes meant that the both sides were forced onto extra time; and whilst it seemed inevitable that the match would go to penalties, a cross from Magnus College was met by the head of Curtis O'Toole, who sent the home fans into raptures after sealing the winner late on at extra time.
Jason Biggles has applauded his team in "getting the job done" and expected Antica to continue in the same fashion. Following the match, the Antican coach said, "as long as we get the result, it doesn't matter how we do it as long as win."
This suggests that there will be no change to the way Antica are playing. One thing is to be noticed is their players that really make it happen. Defence aside, Alexander Kern and Mick Nick have been solid defensively and offensively, supporting both the defenders and attackers throughout the tournament. Magnus College has shown his worth by helping the team on their winner, although it can be said that the strikers themselves need to be more clinical with their finishing. Their World Cup ambitions will lie in the hands of the likes of Curtis O'Toole, Bob Ends and Malmentrop Zeteb finding the net. Alexandria will be a completely different challenge and whilst the Natopians also tried to contain any pressure when the Anticans went forward, it is believed that the Alexandrians will try to counter-attack and take the game to the hosts.
Another thing to point out is the way the Alexandrians play. Alexandria are known for retaining the ball for long periods of times and keeping possession whilst controlling the midfield. The Anticans will have to try to keep their gameplan by stopping attacks their usual way, but they will also need to try and disrupt the Alexandrians and break their rhythm if they stand any chance of winning this game.
Alexandria
Alexandria proved their worth in the tournament by well beating last year's champions Cräiteland 3-0. It comes almost as a revenge fixture following their exit on penalties against Cräiteland in the same stage last year after being tied at 1-1 at normal time. With their excellent possession play and their willingness to control the midfield, the Alexandrians are still unbeaten in this tournament, taking 3 wins at the group stage before proving their worth on the big stage against the Craits by hitting them with an early goal before controlling the game until the end, disrupting the Craitish wing play tactics.
Following the retirement of national hero Sébastien Focán, it was unknown whether Les Bleus could return to their former glory after triumphing when hosting in 2009. However, with the likes of Jean-Pierre D'Oliviera, Tamer Modrem and Florent Lassana-Traoré, the "Purple Empire" have managed to step up and take the performance in their own hands. FLT is the tournament's leading goalscorer with 5 goals to his name and could well extend it. Among these names are a few new names, such as Michel Simoneaux and Maxime Sion - two very young players who could well shape up the future of Alexandria's defence.
The captaincy has also moved on. With Cesc Xavi also retiring, the armband has now been taken by Cyril Kopaczewski. The Alexandrian of Interlandian descent will undoubtedly have no regrets of choosing his birth nation over his heritage, as they look to advance to the final for the second time in their nation's history. The 26 year old, who now plays in Tellia for Vecchiacittà has admitted that becoming skipper has gave him more of a desire to win the World Cup again and write his own name in history by leading the side to their second World Cup.
However, Alexandria's tournament has not been pretty. In the last game alone, they picked up 3 yellow cards. The likes of Javier Santos, Ibrahima Diarra and Khalid Mohamed will be relieved that Yellow Cards were wiped after the quarter-final stage. Their biggest problem is with injuries - with Alexis Carrasco ruled out of the tournament, and Edgard Alonzo and Jean-Pierre D'Oliviera now facing fitness problems ahead of the semi-final. The team already lost 2 players prior to the tournament, and now they face a real struggle of having numbers in their squad for the later stages of the tournament. Tamer Modrem has had to play up front with Lassana-Traoré, with Yannick Ancelin called up in midfield. It is believed that D'Oliviera may not start against Antica, with Didier Koné poised to make his first start of the tournament.
Antica have shown that they are a tough team to break down, and Alexandria will need to find a way to break them down. The Alexandrians will want to control the game, but they will also need goals and Les Bleus may need to be patient in their build up play. It will be interesting to see how the midfield battle will pan out, with Alexander Kern & Mick Nick being Antica's solid midfield duo in the centre of the pack.
Hamland
The Hammish may be breathing a sigh of relief after their extra-time victory against the Batavians, but they will be looking in anticipation of reaching their second World Cup final. Hamland, who finished runners-up hosting the tournament in 2010, followed their good performance with a third place finish last year. They continued this by comfortably going through by taking a maximum 9 points in the groups.
Despite their maximum points finish in their groups, they suffered a scare in the quarter finals. Going into half-time goal-less, the Batavians came back out and scored first before a unstoppable volley by Billy McVeigh took the game level and into extra-time. A sublime finish from Jules Scott from long range rescued Hamland to win 2-1 at extra-time, but it was a far from easy performance and a rather uncomfortable one to watch for many fans back home.
With the exit of Cräiteland, the Hammish public will be eyeing their chance of securing their first World Cup. Andrew Miller, Benjamin Craig and Jules Scott have all shown that they can prove their worth when it comes to finding the back of the net; however the stand out player so far has been Eric Heinhorn. The 25 year old midfielder returned to squad following their friendly loss against Incontinentia and has collected 2 of the 4 man of the match awards in the tournament so far.
Hamland, like their EMUFA rivals Cräiteland, tend to play a 3-5-2 formation. The likes of Ian O'Hara and Billy McVeigh have shown that they can dominate down the wings and really test the opposition. Defensively, the team appears to have their learnt their lesson from their shock defence, with the defensive trio playing alot more tighter along the back, making it much more difficult for teams against them to break through.
Their scare from Batavia may spur them on to do better in the semi-finals as they face an even tougher opposition on paper. Tellia have not yet conceded a goal either and have had a similar record to Hamland in this year's World Cup so far. The last time the two sides faced each other in the World Cup was in 2010 in the opening match of the tournament, where Hamland lost 2-0. However back then it was a group stage - Hamland went on to the final, Tellia crashed out in the groups.
This time round, Hamland will need to be aware that they need to come out of the blocks quick. The first goal will be vital and considering how Tellia haven't conceded yet, an early goal from Hamland may shake them and swing the fixture their way. Andrew Miller and Benjamin Craig will need to be on their best form, whilst the wings of O'Hara and McVeigh will need to find a way to get past a very sturdy defensive team.
Tellia
2-0 results seem to be the trend for Tellia right now as every result in the tournament so far has gone 2-0 in their favour. The Tellians have finally reached the semi-final stages for the first time as Tellia, having reached the final back in 2006 as Gaia. A new generation has now emerged since then and under the guidance of Angelo Perrotta, Tellia play a completely different philosophy to previously.
Roberto Vincenzo's team beat Hamland last time on Hammish soil back in 2010, but whilst the team still has some players from that squad, the way Tellia play is far from a shadow of the past. Vincenzo's all-attack total football style has been ditched for Perrotta's solid defensive approach. In a sense, the Tellian team now play very similar to the way Alexandria play, wanting to keep possession and dominate the match.
It is true to say that so far it has worked. A solid 2-0 win against Mercury was then matched with an impressive display against Cräiteland, where they stunned many pundits by winning 2-0 yet again, shunning the Craitish wing play by matching it with their own. This was seceded with two further 2-0 results - a victory against Stormark before getting their revenge against the Shirerithians who dumped them out of the tournament last year.
Interestingly, Tellia's team may spring a surprise to Hamland. Despite Sezer Özker spending a season at FC Garrak, they will not be used to seeing him play up front. Garrak may have used him as a midfielder/winger, but Perrotta has opted to use him as a striker, a position in which both the player & manager are familiar with back in the old Romero days. Elsewhere the 4-2-3-1 system has managed to work well, with Massimo Santoni being pivotal in the possession play. Isaac Mahler has also shown that he can be a very good attacking midfielder, netting two goals in the tournament.
The main threat for the Hammish will have to be the unconventional wing play. Unlike most teams, Tellia prefer to play their wingers on opposite sides, with the likes of Gianluca Salmoiraghi and Marko Zajc cutting in to open chances themselves, as well as the wide option to cross it into the box. The threat has been confirmed, with both Salmoiraghi and Zajc scoring in the tournament and Hamland will look to try to prevent the two from getting into the box and joining the attack.
The team in green may seem defensively stable, but they will know that Hamland can pose a threat down the wings as well. An early goal is vital in order to take control of the game; however many people will expect a patient approach from the Tellians. They will not commit too many people unnecessarily when it comes to going forward, but looking at their opposition they will need to keep an eye on Jules Scott as well as the front two. As with the likes of Massimo Santoni, Jules Scott has proved himself as a threat from long range and the defenders as well as the defensive midfielders will need to keep their eyes opened on the Hammish no. 10 if they want to see their chances of progressing to the final.
Overall Review
It's nice to see that each of the four Micras confederations have been represented each by a nation; however this is where the World Cup is probably won and lost. Hamland and Tellia is too close to call and with both sides doing so well, I think a penalty shootout may be needed to separate the two.
Antica will try to hold on as much as they can and unlike the rest of the final 4 have not had a 100% winning record throughout the tournament. It will be tough for them, but they are definitely the underdogs of this tournament. You have to put your money on Alexandria to get to the final though. Didier Lozach has managed to do well in keeping his players level headed through all the injury problems they faced and he has managed to adapt a winning mentality and style in their football.
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Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
*Played today!*
Watch this match here!Spoiler!
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Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
great preview
and unrestrainable Alexandria.
and unrestrainable Alexandria.
Deniz Yürük, Tsaloj of Birgeshir
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Re: 2012 FMF World Cup Videos/Reports - OFFICIAL THREAD
Looks like Anti-Football can only get you so far