Arda Cup Football 2013

[Nogrod]

AC Beleriand vs. Real Valinor
By the AKM


Many eybrows were raised when it was told by Melkor’s press-secretary that the game between AC Beleriand and FC Valinor would be the afternoon-match and thus, in a way, the game between Hithulm and T-i-G had been promoted to a kind of the “main game on the day” –status. So while making concessions with the clearance of the ever-present smoke and darkness, and forcing off the trembling of the earth, Melkor was still able to humiliate the greatest heroes of the High-elves and the Ainur.

Even with the smoke and darkness gone the stadium under the pillars of Thangorodrim was imposing enough to make weaker mortals and even elves shudder with unnameable anquish. But despite that the stadium was filled to the brim for the first game – and with the rays of the afternoon sun finally reaching the plains and greeting the spectators to mark the beginning of the game the overall mood was actually lifted. And people were actually praising Morgoth for his benevolence – which was a real annoyance to some of the Valar present. “He just lifts a burden for a moment he has himself imposed in the first place” they complained, but enjoying the rays of the sun was enough to most lesser souls – and the feeling was high when the game began.


~*~

The name of the game was soon revealed to everyone. To counter – or to actually prevent AC Beleriand’s possession-play – FC Valinor was pressing heavily the AC Beleriand midfield and defenders forcing them into errors and creating nice opportunities from stealing the ball – but when AC Beleriand managed to get past the pressure and get the ball up to their famous “diamond” of brothers Angrond and Aegnor, Eöl and Fëanor, the FC Valinor defences were having hard times to keep their own goal safe. The result was a nightmare to any coach but extremely spectator-friendly play with great chances of scoring at both ends from the get-go.

Some analysts at Tar-Eldar Network had pointed out that it would be very important for FC Valinor to get the first goal, hopefully early on to the game, so that they could force AC Beleriand to play more openly. But that was exactly what did not happen.

On the contrary AC Beleriand scored the first goal of the game at the 22nd minute after a beautiful cross-passing by the “diamond” which totally ripped the FC Valinor defences apart and left Fëanor no problems finishing it off from close quarters.

After the goal it seemed for a while FC Valinor was too dumbfounded to actually do anything as their scenario had failed totally – and AC Beleriand took advantage of that by taking the possession of the ball and building up their attacks slowly but dangerously. But FC Valinor was not going to leave it at that, and little by little they started to get the hang of the game once more and started coming more aggressively towards the AC Beleriand players – it cost them a few yellow cards but it did change the spirit of the game and AC Beleriand was once again forced to fight an uphill struggle to bring the ball upwards and basically rendered them unable to make long possessions.

All that was cut off by the half-time whistle.


It was clear both teams hade been thinking about their best strategies during the half-time and came to the field both with some brand new ideas. FC Valinor had clearly decided to fall back with their pressure to both avoid more cards but also to contain AC Beleriand’s attacking quartet. The idea was simply to let the AC Beleriand to possess the ball and bring most of their team up to the attack and then by a quick steal let their strong forwards Celegorm and Curufin make their way through the field from the center of the fied where they would be waiting for the occasion – the speed of Yavanna and sharpeness of Argon’s long passes would be instrumental in that, of course. And they could deliver the ball up fast.

Sadly from FC Valinor’s point of view AC Beleriand had dropped the idea of possessing the ball away and was going for very straight and fast offence with a lots of players left downstairs to keep the lead secure instead.

Suddenly there was a total misbalance on the field. FC Valinor’s fastbreaks were futile as Celegorm and Curufin faced four to six defenders in front of them. And FC Valinor’s attempts at “containing of the diamond” were more or less pathetic compared to the speed especially Fëanor and Eöl went left and right and to and fro searching for room to be passed the ball to – totally breaking the diamond-formation the defneces were trying to defend against.

And so it was that Fëanor striked again before FC Valinor had had time enough to correct their tactics enough. It was a nice centering from close to the corner-flag Eöl gave and Fëanor just plain outmanouvered his son Maglor (whom he had always considered a kind of a sissy coming too much to his mom) and booted the ball in behind Huan with fierce force.

On top of other problems FC Valinor had it seemed not to be Huan’s day – it was two goals from four shots towards the goal. 50% is not exactly what one is used to from Huan.

Even if their father was celebrating his second goal, it was not in the spirit of Fëanor’s sons to give up – even to their dad. To the amazement of all the spectators and even AC Beleriand players it seemed that Thorondor, Eönwe and Yavanna seemed to suddenly to grow in stature while all the three sons of Fëanor began to radiate some holy (or unholy) glow – and Huan was roaring wildly like giving a battle cry. Even many dark creatures on the stands were frightened by the show-off.

It was a kind of “put away tactical finesse, we come now for real” –moment. And FC Valinor really started to play like there was a fire in their back. They were on the skin of everyone trying to possess the ball and getting it themselves they came forwards like a hurricane aiming just towards one place, AC Beleriand goal.

Suddenly the cards were turned upside down and AC Beleriand which had more or less commanded the pace of the game thus far were forced to draw back towards their own goal under the pressure of the whirlwind called FC Valinor. Even Fëanor seemed helpless to turn the tide – and Fingolfin and the Balrog were having their hands and feet full, unable to strech everywhere when other defenders seemed to fall.

Eönwe led many of the attacks like a herald of Mänwe should in a time of trouble, and so awesome he was the orcs and goblins in the stands had to shut their eyes – only the Balrog in the defence could face him and keep him from scoring with ease. Yavanna had grown and turned into a fearsome white-green light swirling around the field making the rest of the Melkor’s minions at the stands to cry in pain – and only Rochallor and his master Fingolfin were steady enough to contain her – but sometimes it took both of them to do that.

Which left Fëanor to deal with his two mighty sons who were pressing towards the goal relentlessly.

And so it was in the end that Curufin, the son who it was said was most like his father, forced his way away from his dad while Celegorm held him at bay – and with the accurate pass from Argon received the ball around the penalty spot. Shooting from the bottom of his heart Curufin left Marach no chance whatsoever to pick the shot.

It was a one goal game again and there was about twenty minutes left. It was building up to be a great finale for the game. The spectators were all standing now.

FC Valinor didn’t ease up their game a bit and AC Beleriand was in great trouble.

On 73rd minute Eönwe broke free from the Balrog’s guard and fired a booming shot to the crossbar from the edge of the box making the crowds to let out a loud “Oooh!”.

Two minutes later Yavanna got Fingolfin and Rochallor to stumble on each other and got free only to be denied the ball by a last-second slide by Aegnor. From the ensuing corner Findis headed the ball just inches away from the post.

On 78th minute it was Curufin and Celegorm –show once again. Fooling their father they passed the ball between themselves and were getting open to shoot when Rochallor galloped to the scene at the last moment and kicked the ball off the field and high up to the stands.

Fëanor was yelling at his team – and so was Fingolfin, and the Balrog… They were gathering strength for the last ten minutes. And it seemed to ease their plight for a moment. For a long time AC Beleriand was able to go for an attack – and it was actually only a cool save by Huan that prevented AC Beleriand from taking the quite unassailable – and against-the-odds – lead 3-1 when Eöl was set free to run one-on-one with Huan.

With “all or nothing” game at hand FC Valinor was not taken back by AC Beleriand’s newly found spirits but pressed on with all they had to throw on attack.

On 83rd minute Thorondor winged the ball towards the upper-right corner of the goal from a great center by Yavanna but Marach tipped it away. Yea. Even Thorondor had come up at the last minutes and FC Valinor was leaving their defences to chance now. It was a goal or nothing.

On 86th minute Argon managed to dribble Denethor and was left open to give a perfect pass towards the middle from between Rochallor’s hooves – and Yavanna dashed to it leaving Fingolfin behind. Sliding to the ball she tipped it forwards… and Marach dived for the save… just missing the ball by an inch… and the ball rolled… to the post!

There was a great sigh from the audience. And then Imlach booted the ball far to the other side of the field forcing a host of FC Valinor players to run for their money to catch the ball before the AC Beleriand players could break through – which was in the end shot back to the AC Beleriand side of the field by Huan coming off from his goal to meet the ball.

There was only two minutes left of the game and FC Valinor was having the game stick on the AC Beleriand half of the pitch. With the exception of Huan who was impatiently strolling around the center-circle of the field all the players were deep in the AC Beleriand half.

The clock was ticking away the precious seconds.

FC Valinor defenders were passing the ball around 40 meters away trying to find any free spaces to pass the ball forwards while being harrassed by AC Beleriand’s few forward disturbers (Angrod, Aegnor and Eöl who were really giving them a rough time). Itseemed totally deadlocked – until Angrod charged Maglor to the ankles and the referee called a free kick from 35 meters. There was one minute on the clock.

After a short discussion Thorondor and Eönwe stood behind the ball and all the others took their places around the edge of the box held closely by AC Beleriand players.

Thorondor took off towards the ball with one great swing of his wings but just as he was reaching the ball he actualy dived forwards and Eönwe dashed into a run. It took the defenders a moment to realise what was going on – and then it seemed late to move…

When Thorondor was just about to pass the defending line Eönwe’s hammer of a kick was flying forwards – and Thorondor turned a bit sideways mid-fly in the air to accommodate the onrushing ball and to… yes, wing it in!
Among the astonished players the Balrog was awake though and not only saw what was going on but was also able to act. With a flash of an eye he produced something totally controversial: his wings!

In a flash and clash of wings Thorondor tried to steer the ball into the net… and was denied by the Balrog’s wing sending the ball high up into the air and flying off the stadium’s walls.

After a short discussion between the referees it was judged as a throw-in for FC Valinor. The clock was already ticking overtime…

It was going to be the last chance.

Yavanna went to give in the throw. Curufin demanded the ball and so did Celegorm – while Eönwe was calling for the ball at the other side and Thorondor at third. Even Huan had come forwards and showed his eagerness to give the last shot.

Willing to try the last card Yavanna threw the ball to Huan who ran for it and gave it a shot of a lifetime – from the power of the shot the ball sped through the air with incredible speed and past the defenders… only to miss the post by half a meter.

With Marach getting the ball back from the stands and readying to kick the opening shot the referee finally blew his whistle. It was game over.



AC Beleriand had advanced to the final. But surely, not without a fight.


AC Beleriand 2-1 FC Valinor
on target 5-7
tot shots 14-17
GOALS:
*22, 1-0 Fëanor (Angrod)
*55, 2-0 Fëanor (Eöl)
*68, 2-1 Celegorm (Argon)
YELLOW CARDS:
*ACBel- Angrod
*FCVal- Celegorm, Thorondor

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Utumno Arena
Hithlum vs Tol-in-Gaurhoth

The second semifinal of the 2013 Arda Cup was to be held in the underground arena in Utumno, also known as ‘Hell’s Pit’ to the locals. The name came easily to those who saw the thousand torches and bonfires that illuminated the stadium. Smoke had started gathering in some stands, and had begun rolling towards the pitch itself; Hithlum fans suspected that this was no accident, that Morgoth and Angband, who had strong sympathy with the Wolves (two of their players had once played for Angband), were trying to recreate conditions similar to those in ‘the Den’, the Wolves’ home arena in Tol-in-Gaurhoth. Hithlum captain Hador had already approached the Avari referee, asking him to stop the game in case the smoke interfered with visibility on the pitch.

Three thousand denizens of the Barrow-Downs forums assembled to cheer for their team. While they were outnumbered by forty thousand Hithlum supporters who made their way into enemy territory, they were reinforced by the home crowd, who cheered for the lycan team as if they were their own.

However, it was no ordinary team they were up against, and no amount of intimidation would work on them. Many of the Hithlum players had died (or, in Húrin’s case, lived) within sight of Angband, and they knew well the terror of Morgoth’s stronghold. These players had nerves of mithril and could not be psyched out—they had to be outplayed.


[Hithlum in yellow and dark red; Tol-in-Gaurhoth in green and black.]

One of the biggest questions coming into the game was TiG’s formation—more specifically the number of central midfielders they would field. It turned out that they stuck to the 4-3-3 they beat Armenelos with, making everyone think that they would battle Hithlum for possession without conceding the flank. But NerWight, SallyWight, and LegateWight sat in their own half instead of pressing Hithlum’s midfielders, springing only into action when Aradan crossed the halfway line. Every recovered ball was sent quickly to the wings, where PhantomWolf or Thuringwethil stormed forward and combined with InzilWolf.

NilpWolf moved to central defence to provide strength against the on-form Túrin, while BoroWolf matched endurance with Húrin. GaladriWight tracked Beleg’s forward runs, but refrained from following the winger whenever he dropped deep. Draugluin was the spare defender and swept up behind them, occasionally barking orders about retaining shape.

Hithlum had lion’s share of possession in the opening spell of the game, but Hador and Morwen were repeatedly rebuffed when they attempted playing the ball to the final third. NerWight and SallyWight kept goalward of them, while LegateWight was quietly efficient in cutting off passing lanes to the Hithlum forwards. In the first fifteen minutes of the game, Hithlum may have had 57% of the ball, but the Wolves had already mustered three shots to Hithlum’s none—and, more importantly, they were a goal ahead.

LegateWight intercepted a Hador through ball for Húrin and sent the ball quickly to PhantomWolf on the right. The TiG number 10 ran at Galdor, and InzilWolf brilliantly faked a far post run, as if to meet a cross, before quickly changing direction and taking PhantomWolf’s lay off. He fired a snapshot that Huor did well to bat away. The lycan forward was also involved in the ensuing play. Thuringwethil met NerWight’s corner kick at the near post, but instead of trying for goal himself, she set InzilWolf up wonderfully for an unstoppable close-range volley that beat Huor.

Hithlum committed more players forward in search of an equaliser, leaving themselves vulnerable to the Wolves’ counterattacking strategy. Shortly past the half-hour mark, Draugluin cleared a Beleg cross, and SallyWight sent it long to PhantomWolf, who stormed forward with acres of space before him. Aradan was forced to bring him down at the edge of the area, conceding a free kick and receiving a yellow card in the process. PhantomWolf himself took the free kick. Again, InzilWolf was prominently involved in the subsequent play—displaying his brilliant change-of-direction play once more, he made a nuisance of himself at the far post, before spinning and dashing for the near post just as PhantomWolf took the kick. His booming header forced an outstanding reflex save from the Hithlum shotstopper, but the rebound spilled into SallyWight’s path, and she stabbed it home into an empty net.

‘Two-nil, and it’s not even half-time,’ the Wights and Wolves chanted, soon taken up by orcs, trolls, and other nameless creatures of the home crowd. Meanwhile, shortly before play restarted, Túrin conferred briefly with his captain Hador. ‘Keep the midfield back and just send the ball to me. I’ll win every header.’ It might have seemed a boast coming from any other player, but the Hithlum talisman’s eyes glinted with determination. He would turn this game around, or die trying.

After this change in tactic, Hithlum mustered two good chances before the half time whistle. Túrin did seem to win every header, although he often got too rough with NilpWolf in their duels—at one point, he got booked for elbowing the Wolves defender hard in the face. The lycan rolled on the ground and cried in pain, screaming, ‘The pain, the pain! Lynch me! For Eru’s sake, lynch me now!’ His performance might have influenced the referee into reaching for his card, because no one else was convinced the Werewolf was really hurt. But in other instances, the Hithlum forward headed the ball past the Tol-in-Gaurhoth defensive line for his father to run into; unfortunately, Húrin got the ball too close to the byline, and his shot from a very acute angle sailed wide of ShastaWolf’s left-hand post.

Shortly before half time, he chip-headed an effort at goal past ShastaWolf, only for his attempt to land on the roof of the net.

The Hithlum faithful were on tenterhooks during the break; they had once overturned a tactical difficulty against Nargothrond with an inspired formation change, but they feared that the Wolves were too cunning to be outthought like that. The second half soon began with no changes in either team’s strategy: Hithlum kept seven players behind the ball, sending long passes for Túrin, while Tol-in-Gaurhoth kept their shape, snapping into tackles only when Morwen or Hador tried to bring the ball into their half. Túrin kept winning an absurdly high number of aerial duels, but he found his space easily smothered by the two centre-backs, sometimes aided by LegateWight. His knockdown targets Húrin and Beleg were ably corralled by the TiG full-backs. If they were to break through the Wolves defence, they really needed the help of their midfield.

The Hithlum front line did induce a moment of panic among the Wolves back four. An hour into the game, Balrog #5 sent a long ball, but this time not for Túrin but for his father. Húrin won the header, brought it down, and turned on Boro before the rest of the defence could reorient themselves. NilpWolf shifted right to contain him, and Draugluin switched on Túrin. Húrin sent a short cross to his son, who easily outleapt his marker and sent a goalbound effort from the penalty spot. Fortunately, Shasta was at hand to keep him out, and his clearance fell to GaladriWight, who sent it forward to Thuringwethil. The vampire tried to dribble infield, but Arroch shepherded him to the touchline, rebuffing all her attempts to link up with InzilWolf. The TiG centre forward jogged closer to Thuringwethil, dragging Balrog #5 with him. He had noticed PhantomWolf’s infield run from the opposite wing, and his movement left Gundor all alone to contain the Wolves playmaker. Thuringwethil sent a low cross, and Balrog #5 slid in to clear it, but the ball bounced awkwardly off his knee and into his arms. The referee whistled and pointed to the penalty spot, then brought out a yellow card for the Hithlum defender.

The Hithlum fans were outraged. Balrog #5 pleaded with the ref, telling him that the ball hit his arm, not the other way around. But the referee shook his head; the ball bounced into the byline instead of continuing on its path, meaning that he had controlled the ball with his arm. Balrog #5 spun away with a huff; Hador had to grab his shoulder to tell him to calm down, lest he get sent off.

And so it was a penalty to Tol-in-Gaurhoth. PhantomWolf stepped up to take it, lashing it into the top-left corner before Huor could react. The stadium exploded as the Angband crowd howled in delight. ‘Three-nil to the empty seats,’ they chanted, gleeful that the shoulders of the Hithlum supporters have dropped.

Hithlum players gritted their teeth. They were so close, throwing the Wolves off-guard when they sent the ball to Húrin instead of to Túrin, but their goalkeeper made an excellent save, and they immediately started a counter just as Hador and Morwen advanced to reinforce their attackers. The players of Hithlum were not ones to admit defeat easily, but most of them could see that overhauling a three-goal deficit in less than half an hour against an excellently defending side required nothing short of a miracle. Only Túrin and his father had any fight left in them, and Tol-in-Gaurhoth smartly shifted to 4-4-2, the same formation they used to shut Armenelos out in the closing stages of their quarterfinal tie.

Hithlum now had an extra player in the centre of the pitch, and they managed to pass their way past the Wolves’ midfield barrier. But with the front band of four just a few metres ahead of the back four, there was no space for the advancing midfielders to manoeuvre in, and they repeatedly lost the ball, prompting even more bare-bones counterattacking (‘Route One plays’) from Tol-in-Gaurhoth—a downfield hoof from a clearance to their two centre forwards who were fifty metres ahead of the midfield. Hithlum’s defenders were able to contain Inzilwolf and Thuringwethil, but with their movement they managed to occupy all four defenders, giving them second thoughts about advancing to help on the offensive.

There were ten minutes left in the game when PhantomWolf conceded a free kick to the left of the box after a clumsy challenge on Beleg. The Doriath march-warden took the free kick, and Húrin’s dummy header fooled half the TiG defenders in the box, leaving Túrin relatively free to take a shot. ‘Relatively free’ in his case meant that the head and feet of NilpWolf and Draugluin came at him from many directions, but, without jumping, he fired an overhead back-heel over NilpWolf’s shoulder with such ferocity that ShastaWolf was unable to contest the shot.

But that was the last time Hithlum would ever seriously threaten Tol-in-Gaurhoth. In the last nine minutes, the Wolves defended with ferocity, closing down anyone who came within five metres of their penalty area and rushing to intercept every through ball. Hithlum, like Armenelos before them, looked bereft of ideas how to break through that wall. Soon, the final whistle was blown, and one of the tournament’s best players was relegated to playing the consolation game. As for the Wolves, they were playing their second final in three years. Last time it took Melian’s super team to deny them the cup. This year, maybe they could finally get their paws on it.

Hithlum 1-3 Tol In Gaurhoth
GOALS:
15, 0-1 InzilWolf (Thuringwethil)
32, 0-2 SallyWight (InzilWolf)
66, 0-3 PhantomWolf
81, 1-3 Túrin (Beleg)

Total Shots
16-14

Shots On Target
4-7

YELLOW CARDS:
3-2
HTH: Túrin, Aradan, Balrog#5
TIG: Draugluin, PhantomWolf