Arda Cup Soccer 2008

[Nogrod]

The Arda Kicker Magazine is dealing it’s points for performances on the first round of the play-offs.

Five stars go to:

Miriel of Tuna
Tar Telperien of Armenelos
Elrond of Rivendell

Three stars go to:

Hurin of Hithlum
Fingon of Hithlum
The Mouth of Mordor
Glaurung of Nargothrond
Finrod of Nargothrond
Aragost of Fornost
Oropher of Mirkwood
Beor of Nargothrond

One star will go to:

Gothmog of Angband
Ancalagon of Angband
Maedhros of Formenos
Fëanor of Formenos
Ecthelion of Gondolin
Maeglin of Gondolin
Turin of Hithlum
Finwë of Túna
Carcaroth of Angband
Elros of Armenelos
Melkor of Angband



The top of the AKM stars after the first play-off round is over is the following:

13 stars
Miriel of Tuna
Elrond of Rivendell

11 stars
Hurin of Hithlum
Tar Telperien of Armenelos

8 stars
Elros of Armenelos

7 stars
Maeglin of Gondolin
Carcaroth of Angband

Bubbling under in six points: Eöl, Huor, Celeborn, Erestor, Gandalf, Gildor, Tar Atanamir, Tar Ciryiatan… and in five: Ar Adunakhor, The Barrow Wight, Finwë, Huan, Scatha, Tar Palantir… and a countless number of lesser stars.

Stay tuned with the channel... erm... buy the next issue of the AKM!

[Nilpaurion Felagund]

Bracket-Elf is here!

(I haven't information on hosts for the quarterfinals, so I wasn't able to make distinctions. )

EDIT: Hm, this is a better-looking bracket, I'll keep it.

[the phantom]

The quarterfinals are coming soon!

Two sites have been chosen to host the quarterfinals- Eithel Sirion and Romenna. These sites were chosen to host because they have good facilities and are accessible to fans of all four teams.

At Eithel Sirion-
Rivendell vs Tol-In-Gaurhoth
Angband vs Hithlum

At Romenna-
Formenos vs Tuna
Armenelos vs Gondolin

[the phantom]

The morning sun rose slowly above the sea and crept across the decks of the many boats anchored in the Romenna harbor. Shiploads of elves had been arriving from Valinor and Beleriand alike, knowing that they would be welcomed with open arms by the many elf-friends that populated Romenna.

But though the locals were cordial and polite, many of them could not bring themselves to actually sport the colors of the elf teams- not when a team from just down the road was still in the tournament. Whatever bad blood existed between Romenna and Armenelos was not enough to overlook the fact that Armenelos was still the capital of their homeland, and the players were royalty. And it felt especially awkward to root against Elros, the first king of Numenor.

And so it was that, though the elves were treated extremely well, the stadium was certain to provide a home-field advantage for the lads from Armenelos, who had yet to give up a goal throughout the tournament, and had scored as many goals as any other team. Gondolin would have their hands full in the night match.

But the first match of the day was between Formenos and Tuna. Newspapers approached the game from many sides. Some focused on Feanor, and whether he desired to "stick it to" the city he had been banished from. Others talked of old versus young, with the original kings Finwe and Ingwe playing against the later leaders Feanor, Maedhros, and Celebrimbor. But the angle most often focused upon was that of Feanor and his parents.

How would they feel playing against each other? Feanor missed his mother growing up, and developed a strong double bond with his father. Would he really feel like competing hard against them? Would they? Would they be distracted? Would not Feanor relish the chance to see his mother work up close, and see where he had inherited some of his prodigious skill from? And would not Miriel wish to look upon her son as he played, so very proud of his abilities?

With these questions weighing on their minds, the full capacity crowd waited anxiously for Formenos and Tuna to take the field.....

[the phantom]

The crowd applauded loudly for Formenos and Tuna as they jogged out of the tunnels. A few of the Gondolin fans supported Tuna, but most of them sided with Formenos as Aredhel was playing for them.

A few of the Tuna fans were somewhat rude to Formenos supporters, and some of them were inappropriate in turn, still bitter over the events surrounding the banishment of Feanor. But most of the fans got along decently, for many among them had been friends before Melkor's machinations had driven a wedge between them. They laid the blame for the unfortunate events at Morgoth's feet where it belonged and moved on, forgiving each other for anything that had happened with mercy surpassing that of the Valar who had enforced the banishment.

Before the match kicked off the teams shook hands quickly at midfield. Feanor and his parents hugged briefly, wished each other luck, and proceeded to their places.

The offensive prowess of both teams was quite clear from the start, with the players up front sending and fielding excellent passes and making fantastic moves, but the defense of Formenos seemed more up to the challenge. The sons of Feanor seemed determined to impress their mother and grandparents, and guarded them with great vigor and skill. Their crafty elders put a move on them now and again, but the athletic youngsters recovered quickly and used a few tricks of their own. Tuna gained more shots than Formenos, but their shots were constantly a bit more rushed than what they wanted.

After a couple of failed attempts by both teams, Formenos finally broke the game open in the 33rd minute as Aredhel curved a perfect pass from the right side to Maedhros running in from the left. That was all the scoring in the first half, though both had a good opportunity only to be stopped by the goalkeeper.

In the second half Formenos began to assume more control and holding the ball in the offensive zone. In minute 54 they worked their way aggressively forward and Amrod took a hard shot at the goal. The rebound came out hard and Maglor kicked it on the bounce right back at the goal, but it bounded off the crossbar and back, where it was met first by Feanor who headed it out of Orodreth's reach for the 2-0 lead.

Tuna, realizing time was running out, ramped up the attack. A couple of times they nearly got caught too far forward on a change of possession, but Formenos was called offsides. The second time the call was extremely questionable and the Formenos fans complained angrily, and they became even more enraged when Tuna's offense capitalized immediately as Nerdanel sent a perfect pass into Miriel who tripped up her defender with an ankle-breaking move and sent it expertly past the leaping Huan to cut the lead to a single goal.

But the players for Formenos remained controlled for the most part and began steadily working the clock down. They did a marvelous job at maintaining control for several minutes, but at minute 80 Amras made a rather ill advised pass and Finarfin pounced on it and sent it immediately forward to Mahtan. Mahtan crossed brilliantly to Finwe and he took it in past two of his grandsons and boomed a kick to the open net, but Huan reacted perfectly and smothered the shot and immediately boomed it back down the field. Maglor fought for control of it and poked it ahead to Aredhel who drew a defender or two and sent it over to Feanor, who seemed to decide that it was time to force the action. He ran forward against the three defenders that were back and worked his way through two of them. He collided hard with Elenwe right in front of the goal, but maintained control and got behind her. Orodreth leapt forward to snatch the ball away, but Feanor got his foot there first and poked the ball the only way he could before Orodreth crashed into him- sideways.

As the ball trickled towards the far post, running nearly parallel with the goal line, the crowd screamed as three players raced towards it. It was between Ingwe, Duilin, and Maedhros. The defenders were slightly ahead, but as they approached the ball Maedhros slid beautifully and managed to get his toe on the ball and nudge it across the line.

The Formenos section roared and the more neutral fans from Numenor applauded the effort loudly. With the way their defense had been playing, Formenos had likely sealed the game.

Tuna gave it their best effort till the end, but they couldn't crack the defense of Formenos. The game ended as a solid victory for Formenos, and though disappointed, the Noldor of Tuna congratulated them and wished them luck in the semis. Feanor and his parents walked off the field together, his parents offering tips on how to continue his team's success on the field.

Formenos 3-1 Tuna
shots 16-15
on target 8-6
GOALS:
*Formenos, 33 (Maedhros- Aredhel)
*Formenos, 54 (Feanor- Maglor)
*Tuna, 69 (Miriel- Nerdanel)
*Formenos, 81 (Maedhros- Feanor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Formenos- Amrod
*Tuna- Duilin, Ingwe, Egalmoth

[Nogrod]

Beside the fortress of Eithel Sirion, into the fields where Gelmir had been decapitated a long ago, a great stadium had been built. It was a place both good and evil teams would honour and as such the most suitable venue for the matches between Angband and Hithlum and also between Rivendell and Tol-In-Gaurhoth.

A host of elves from all nearby realms of Doriath, Nargothrond and Gondolin had turned around to the ancient battlegrounds of the Nirnaeth Arnoediad, the birthplace of all those unnumbered tears they had wept ever after. It had been a hard choice for many of the elven football fans as to whether to take the long road to Rómenna and see Gondolin and Formenos – and even Túna – to play with the fallen Armenelos, or to get the nearer and easier access to the games and go for cheering for the teams of Rivendell and Hithlum. Quite a crowd had chosen the latter option. And all the people from Hithlum and Brethil, who were able, had come as well to witness the occasion.

The fans of T-I-G came next to the venue and one could notice them coming. Even if the elves and men had made it a cheerful entrance bringing colour to this barren place it was the T-I-G fans that brought the place alive. Led by The Saucepanman, Anguirel and Kuruharan the crowds sang the songs of the Barrow-Downs and Mithalwen was carrying the flag with Kath and Fëanor of the Peredhil. Valier, Naria, Glirdan and Farael were the fore-singers and Rikae and Macalaure led the performance-team with Legate, Lommy, Greenie, Rune and Aganzir performing stupendous acrobatics. And the most telling fact is the following: even littlemanpoet and Folwren had come, even if they walked just at ease in the back of the parade.

Boromir 88 was singing the loudest but sometimes the low voices of Oddwen and Nerwen overtook his. Durelin, Kitanna and The Ka were performing belly-dancing as the procession draw nearer and Eönwe, Shastanis Althreduin and McCaber were hooliganising the surroundings. There clearly had been enough ale on their march to the venue. Brinniel came in the end of the parade together with Sally and Emily. The duck honked all the time and both Brinn and Sally imitated it as they went, sending out a noise that overtook the songs every now and then. And Nilp shouted “Go Lhuna, go!” as he went.

It was a mighty entrance.

But then the Angband supporters came…

The rhythmic thumps of the feet were heard first. It made many an elf and a human to draw their swords. So familiar was that voice for those who had witnessed the wars at their home soil. But it was peace now, and football…

Still it was about beyond belief they should just wait and let the roaming orcs, wargs and other creatures of Angband to just come forwards and pack around. But they did that – with wavering hearts – and the Angband supporters filled their side of the stadium rapidly and organisedly, even overcoming the noise of the T-I-G –supporters. The great new stadium of Eithel Sirion was packed, all 80 000 spectators it could handle.

So it was all set for the match between Rivendell and Tol-In-Gaurhoth. But what would come of the evening match between Angband and Hithlum? The tensions were high but so were the expectations… One could feel them in the air.

[Nogrod]

Even if the T-I-G fans made a lot of noise and kept the spirit up with Angband fans joining their chants every now and then, and while the elves and men were indeed supporting the Rivendell team, there was a clear feeling that the first match of the day was an hors d’oeuvre.

But what an appetizer it was!

Rivendell was renowned for its defence and especially the skills of their goalie Elrond. T-I-G had not been been known as the master defenders but to this game they came defending as solid as any of the best teams in the Middle-Earth. So it was a game of offence in the end… which team could outscore the defences of the other team? That made it an entertaining game.

The game was very much even. The first half indeed ended with 0-0. Both teams had their chances but especially the saves by Elrond kept the numbers. At the other goal Draugluin was relatively untested even if it made a few important saves.

On the second half the T-I-G team just paced up and overran the Rivendell defences, and in the end Sauron headed in the ball passed by the phantom on the 61st minute. The T-I-G was leading and the roar of the T-I-G and Angband fans sent shivers to the elves and men in the audience…the evening was suddenly looking gloomy indeed.

But the stars wished it another way. Elladan and Elrohir came forwards playing it nice together as any skilled brothers would do and Lhuna was resorted to violence to stop their dribbling. It was a yellow card by the referee and a free kick from a dangerous position, about 35 meters from the goal.

Glorfindel and Valandil stood up to the free kick as the others took places around the box. Finally Glorfindel made the kick hammering it straight towards the T-I-G goal. The ball hit the rim of the goal and bounced back to Aragorn’s head. The game was even with only ten minutes to go. The son of Ararthorn had once again proved his qualities in a tight spot!

Even if T-I-G tried it’s best the last ten minutes the referee whistled the end of time and called for both teams to take a short rest before the overtime-play.

The overtime was quite one-sided as the Rivendell team just seemed to wait for the penalty shoot-out and trusted it all to Elrond. But meanwhile the T-I-G team ran on full offence.

And the offence brought results in the end. At the 27th minute of overtime Sauron got the ball near the end line by a pass by the phantom. He dribbled first Gandalf and then Erestor and was facing only Elrond who jumped forwards for the shot which never came. Sauron saw Elrond blink and waited the crucial second not to shoot but to pass the ball to Nogrod who had positioned himself in front of the goal. Nogrod had no trouble passing the ball into the empty goal and the T-I-G crowd just got wild.

The Angband crowds started to cheer as well and the tumult was all the louder after that. The men and elves in the audience felt themselves badly overscored in all the senses of the word.

The Tol-In-Gaurhoth –team, with all those odd players, had made it to the final four and the noteworthy elves and the heroes of Rivendell - namely the attackers like Aragorn, Boromir or Glorfindel who had not risen to their occasion this time - had been beaten. Only a few could believe it but that was the way it was. Also the best defence of the tournament – looking at it from the elvish point of view – was beaten, and that was not possible! But it was true. And real.

Rivendell was banished and the T-I-G would go forwards to the final four.


Rivendell 1-2 Tol-In-Gaurhoth (overtime)
shots 9-16
on target 3-8
GOALS:
*TIG, 61 (Sauron- the phantom)
*Rivendell, 80 (Aragorn- Glorfindel)
*TIG, OT 27 (Nogrod- Sauron)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Rivendell- Elrohir, Gildor
*TIG- Thuringwethil, Lhunardawen

[the phantom]

As the second match at Romenna prepared, the noise began to build. The elves from Gondolin joined by some of their brothers from Formenos and Tuna began singing lines praising Gondolin and its long-enduring beauty. But louder than these songs were those sung by the men of Numenor who made up the larger part of the crowd.

It started with pockets of hard-core Armenelos supporters singing various Numenorian anthems, and the less rabid men of Romenna slowly joined in, caught up in the spirit of the game, and soon all of the Numenoreans were united in support of the team from their land.

First out of the lockers was Gondolin, and the elves whistled and screamed wildly and the men clapped loudly. But then, out ran Ar Pharazon, Tar Minastir, Elros, and the rest of the Armenelos squad who had dominated the tournament so far, and the stadium shook from the yelling and stomping.

From the start it was obvious that Gondolin wanted to challenge the defense that had not yet surrendered a goal, and challenge it they did. Quick cuts, sudden runs, and precise passes the likes of which Armenelos had not seen in the tournament thus far caught them rather off guard, and their defense looked a bit panicky.

In only the 13th minute of the game Eol sent an excellent pass across the box and mighty Ecthelion drilled the ball past a helpless Elros and the elves of Gondolin blew horns and rang bells in celebration. The Armenelos defense could be cracked!

The Armenelos forwards, who had barely been within yards of the ball, berated the defenders and shouted at them to wake up and show some pride. For the next several minutes the defense tightened up and forced Gondolin to stay mostly in the midfield, and it was during this lull that the crowd for the first time had a chance to see what the forwards for Armenelos had been doing since the beginning of the game- crashing the defenders.

It was obvious that the Numenoreans believed they could use their great size and strength to bang up the players for Gondolin, and they were doing everything they could to create hard contact between them and their opposition. A couple of times in particular it appeared that an Armenelos player purposefully turned his head so he couldn't see where he was going and charged full speed towards a place where he thought a Gondolin player might be found. But of course the players would act surprised when the contact happened, as if they were not actually seeking it, and they got away with quite a bit that perhaps another ref would have carded.

But as it was Gondolin withstood the assault for the time being and kept trying to press the attack. Towards the end of the half however their offensive players seemed to be worn out by their constant runs (which Armenelos had been defending better after the first goal), and Armenelos began to control the ball.

Finally just minutes before the half Armenelos had their shot and converted as Tar Ancalimon headed a pass from Ar Adunakhor, not into the goal, but across to Tar Minastir who put it in with a head bump of his own. Halftime came and the score was tied at 1-1.

During the half the fans from Gondolin seemed confident that their players had displayed the greater skill and would be rewarded during the second half, but the Numenoreans believed that they had weathered the storm and would come out strong in the second half.

But it was the fans of Gondolin that proved correct. As the second half started the players for Gondolin looked refreshed and extra quick, and Armenelos was forced back onto their heels. Eleven minutes into play, Idril sent a long pass to Maeglin, and he beat his defender and sent a lovely shot just inside the post for the 2-1 lead.

For the next ten minutes the defense of Armenelos continued to look ragged and pushed to the brink, but they did just enough to keep Gondolin from widening the lead and continued being extremely physical with them, even drawing a couple of yellow cards.

As time began running down Armenelos seemed to recover fully and began pressing the defense of Gondolin. At minute 79 the stadium erupted as Ar Pharazon forced in a corner from Ar Adunakhor and the score was tied! As the end of the game approached, Armenelos started to look a bit quicker than Gondolin over most of the field, and Gondolin tried desperately to score quickly and end the game. The crowd was against them and momentum had turned, and physically the rough play seemed to be taking its toll on many of them.

But the Armenelos defense held easily and overtime began after a break that, to the players from Gondolin, seemed all too short. But nevertheless the break did energize them, and they got off a couple of good shots early on in overtime, but Elros was equal to them and denied the hidden city the victory it craved. As the minutes ticked by Gondolin began slowing down again, and Armenelos pressed forward, smelling blood.

In the 21st minute of overtime the hammer fell- Ar Gimilzor sent it forward to Tar Minastir who spun round his defender and swiftly delivered a screaming kick to the top corner of the goal. The stadium exploded with sound as the fans of Numenor pounded drums and hammered their armored chests as they let loose with triumphant yells.

Gondolin still had eight minutes in which to score, but they never came close, as Armenelos closed in with more fire and energy than ever and suffocated Gondolin's attack.

Armenelos was through to the semis!

Armenelos 3-2 Gondolin (overtime)
shots 15-13
on target 7-5
GOALS:
*Gondolin, 13 (Ecthelion- Eol)
*Armenelos, 42 (Tar Minastir- Tar Ancalimon)
*Gondolin, 56 (Maeglin- Idril)
*Armenelos, 79 (Ar Pharazon- Ar Adunakhor)
*Armenelos, OT 21 (Tar Minastir- Ar Gimilzor)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- Tar Gimilzor, Tar Atanamir, Tar Minastir, Ar Zimrathan
*Gondolin- Meleth, Rog, Turgon

[Mithalwen]

Originally Posted by Nogrod

Mithalwen was carrying the flag with Kath and Fëanor of the Peredhil. .

Or that was an impostor... Mithalwen hates Association Football with a violent passion and would sooner rip off her own arm and beat herself to death with the wet end.