ARDA CUP Football 2012

[Shastanis Althreduin]

Group F at Isengard

It's been known that Isengard would have the home team advantage when Group F came together to play, but repeated attempts to contact Saruman about the details of Isengard Stadium have been met with maddening secretiveness until now.

There's been a spot on the fields below Saruman's tower that's been under some sort of a cloaking spell for quite some time - no one could tell what was going on under the shifting haze. But as of yesterday, the haze has lifted, and Isengard Stadium stands revealed. It's made almost entirely of stone and rubble; this may be a ploy on the part of Saruman to discourage certain spectators (such as elves; orcs don't sit, and dwarves don't care) from coming to support their teams. Regardless, the men of Rohan are here in droves to support their home team, and Misty Mountains has drawn a cadre of supporters from the Golden Wood, thanks to their signing of Rumil and Orophin. Isengard, of course, has home-court advantage and the number of fans to match, while Imladris, unfortunately has only a small section of devoted supporters to take strength from.

Several members of the White Hand are running concessions, and it's possible (though unprovable) that those wearing Isengard colors are getting slightly better rates on food and drink, but that's a can of worms this reporter isn't quite willing to open just yet.


Game 1 - Imladris vs. Rohan (1:00 pm start time)

As the captains came together to decide on play order, it was decided that the Rohan and Imladris teams, not having as much night-sight capability as most members of the other two teams, would take the first slot rather than the second (which is occuring rather later in the evening than would be expected) - Saruman wasn't insistent on this, exactly, but it's clear that this is the result he wanted, so it's suspected there may be more to watch during the second game than previously thought. Regardless, there's one issue that several groups of people have been wondering about - how will Elladan and Elrohir fare against the horse-filled defense of Rohan? When asked to comment, the sons of Elrond were rather upfront about their chances.

"We'll run rings around them," Elrohir boasted confidently. "Horses are too big to turn on a dime; we're smaller, we have more agility. Besides that, they're horses!"

Elladan was more circumspect in his reply. "Shadowfax is the pinnacle of horsekind, of course, and Snowmane and Felarof are no less good at what they do. However, I feel like they'll be running into each other a lot, which ought to work in our favor."

On the Rohan side, this reporter only had limited time to speak with the horse-line of Rohan's defense to elicit a response to the Imladris forwards - and of course most of it was impossible to understand. However, there seemed to be a lot of snorting and pawing the ground going on - and Shadowfax had a particular glint in his eye that doesn't bode well for the brash Elrohir.


Game 2 - Isengard vs. Misty Mountains (7:00 pm start time)

The staggeringly long delay between Games 1 and 2 has been explained away as having to redo the pitch after Rohan's horses have gouged it with their hooves, but six hours seems a long time for such a short task. Regardless, it means that Isengard and Misty Mountains will be playing under the setting sun, and dusk will fall during the middle of the first half. Neither team should be too hampered by this, so it just remains to be seen - why did Saruman want such a late start time? When asked to comment, the wizard was slippery.

"Well, of course the pitch will have to be redone after Game 1. We can't have people tripping in holes the size of Caradhras left and right, can we? What's that? Oh, do excuse me, it seems something's come up that I'm going to have to deal with."

The "something" appeared to be Lurtz, holding two cones of spun sugar. One wonders what question Saruman was trying to avoid.

In any case, this reporter managed to catch up to Rumil of the Misty Mountains team, one of the most likely to be affected by the late start, in order to inquire about his team's chances.

"Oh, I'm sure we'll do fine. We can all see in the dark, for the most part, and it shouldn't be that lightless anyway. Some of us are a little concerned that Saruman might try something underhanded, though; no one trusts him after he -" and here, he glanced around to make sure no one else was listening, "- took our best goalie with him when he left. Try to keep that hush-hush, by the way; the Great Goblin is doing a fine job, but he's been known to go into a sulk when he thinks he's being compared to Caradhras and that's the last thing we need right now."

No worries. This reporter's lips are sealed. On with the matches!

[the phantom]

Group B at Weathertop

At long last, the games of the 2012 Arda Cup were under way!

Kickoff for the first game between Inter Beleriand and Gondolin was as good as could be hoped for- several thousand supporters filed in through midmorning, and the rest of the seats were filled slowly by locals. The stadium was perfectly designed to allow coming and going, with entry points in the lower portion of the stadium accessed via the east and west paths that rose to the saddle between the two hills, and with entries for the upper levels accessed by the hilltops.

The sky was entirely overcast, providing nice even lighting across the field with no worries of blind spots. Cool temperatures had pushed down from the north, making things nicely mild at 65 F (18 C), though it was certain to warm by the second match.

As the first match kicked off it was soon apparent that Inter had more fan support. Gondolin supporters were certainly out in force, but the lack of representatives from the royal house had undoubtedly affected things, while Inter had Turgon playing for them, perhaps leading to a few defectors. But the difference was primarily seen with the locals, who seemed keen to root for Turgon, Fingon, and Maedhros. Maeglin of Gondolin is a huge name in football of course, but Inter's stars were just as large, and the men of Arnor seemed hesitant to get behind Maeglin's co-star at the front- Gothmog, Lord of Balrogs.

The two squads battled evenly to start, Gondolin pushing the ball aggressively, Inter possessing carefully. Maedhros and Fingon gained an opportunity in the opening minutes, but Egalmoth assisted his keeper nicely and got in the way of Fingon's shot.

On the other end Inter's Balrog did his best to frustrate Gothmog one on one, leaving the rest of the defense more free to converge on Maeglin. The strategy worked for the most part, limiting Gondolin's shots to longer speculations.

Both defenses held the opposition at bay throughout the first half- until the final minutes. Breaking up what had been an extremely clean game, Galdor performed an ill-advised take-down of Fingon, giving Inter a ranged free kick. Fingon's friend Maedhros took it and struck a beautiful ball over the top of the wall but with slightly lowered pace and enough spin to bring it down and challenge Rog.

The ball was placed perfectly high and right and Rog barely deflected it upwards, where it rebounded off the bottom of the bar. First to it was Fingon, who had timed his run nicely, and with his speed and accurate toe it was over the moment the ball bounced out from the bar- Fingon volleyed it into the empty left side with ease to give Inter the lead going into halftime!

When Gondolin emerged from the tunnel after the half they changed tactics drastically, asking their midfielders Duilin and Elemmakil to make aggressive runs forward and feeding them. Already in the second minute a nice through ball from Meleth found Duilin in stride and he fired a laser between the posts, forcing Turgon to make a fantastic save.

Just minutes later Gondolin sprung a nearly identical play, only this time Inter was ready and converged swiftly- which was what Gondolin hoped for. Duilin immediately sent it over to the freed-up Maeglin dashing full speed towards the right post. The panicked defense scampered to recover and stop the fabled "keen-boot" of Gondolin, but he unexpectedly skipped it back over to the forgotten Duilin who couldn't fail to put it in from five yards. The score was tied!

Inter fans grew quiet as Gondolin pressed forward yet again, bringing their full force forward. Turgon's defense was hard-pressed, and he was forced to stop a couple shots himself. At minute 56 Gondolin earned a corner, but Maedhros gained position and rose up high and headed it downfield. Fingon was waiting to dash the opposite way, and Baragund and Forweg were also moving the same way from the far side of the box, starting their run the moment they guessed the ball was coming out from the near side of the goal.

Baragund was first to it, splitting Aranwe and Galdor, who didn't recover quickly enough. With Fingon on the left and Forweg the right Baragund took two touches to draw Egalmoth closer and sent it over to Forweg, who on the first touch sent it forward to Fingon, who outpaced Pengolodh to earn an unopposed attack on Rog.

Fingon dashed forward and deftly faked a shot, then moved to slot the ball home to the near post- or so it appeared to Rog. Instead Fingon sent it sideways into empty territory where it was met solidly by Baragund to give Inter the lead!

Inter fans exploded while Gondolin supporters sat down heavily in stunned silence. Football could turn quickly, and here was the proof.

Turgon organized his defense for the final push they would inevitably face, and Inter went into full time-wasting and possession mode. They would attempt to bog things down and hold on for the victory. Gondolin pushed forward for the draw with everything they had. Inter staved them off again and again and nearly gained a counter opportunity, but the score remained the same.

Finally as time neared 80 minutes Gondolin's persistence paid off. Gothmog finally got the better of his mark and headed in a spectacular cross from Elemmakil, and the score was level once more!

Now on even footing, both teams looked to gain the winning goal, but both somewhat tentatively, not wanting to make a mistake that would concede the winner. Maeglin earned Gondolin a good look with some nifty footwork in the closing seconds, but Turgon made the stop to preserve the draw. The locals applauded the game enthusiastically, not only because they'd witnessed some quality football, but because each team gaining but one point left things open for Arnor or Eriador to move forward.

Inter Beleriand 2-2 Gondolin
on target 6-9
tot shots 14-22
GOALS:
*43, 1-0 Fingon (Maedhros)
*50, 1-1 Duilin (Maeglin)
*56, 2-1 Baragund (Fingon)
*77, 2-2 Gothmog (Elemmakil)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Inter- Forweg, Gorlim
*Gondolin- Galdor

The last remnants of cloud cover drifted away before the start of the late match, exposing the arena to the sun at last. When Arnor and Eriador trotted onto the field for warmups the grass was half in shadows, and the stadium was similarly split between the supporters of the squads, though Eriador probably had a few more thanks to the late-arriving Orcs, most of which sported Witch King replica jerseys.

And those same Orcs were riotous indeed when their hero rifled in the game's opening goal! The only thing they seemed to enjoy more than the goal was when Witch King got carded for a rough tackle on Valandur- almost to remind Arnor that though he was playing the part of good teammate on Eriador, he hadn't forgotten his old rivalry with the men of the North.

As the minutes moved along Eriador was controlling things nicely, and the defense of Arnor was kept running by their fine ball movement. And just before the end of the half, Eriador struck again- but this time the section of Gondolin Elves was given a special reason to cheer, as it was the beloved Glorfindel booting it past Arvedui.

In the second half Elrond ordered a full defensive lockdown, and Eriador went to it with model efficiency. Arnor managed to make Elrond move a couple times, but they were distance prayers with no real hope of getting past a keeper of his caliber. At minute 74 however things got interesting again. Araphor made a superb move past the defense and got to the end line to send a cross, but Gil-galad got in the way and deflected it out for a corner to Arnor.

Elendil sent in a pinpoint corner to his son and Isildur, after using his size to shield his defender, gained the header. Elrond shifted into position to make the save, but the header took an unfortunate deflection to the other side where Araphor made a heads-up reactionary play and kneed the ball into the netting to close the gap to one goal!

The newly energized Arnor faithful began chanting and stomping, but Eriador professionally bounced back from the setback and took full command of the ball and choked off all the action to preserve the margin of victory. The favorites had the early lead in Group B!

Arnor 1-2 Eriador
on target 5-6
tot shots 12-14
GOALS:
*24, 0-1 WitchKing (Arahael)
*41, 0-2 Glorfindel (Arveleg)
*74, 1-2 Araphor (Isildur)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Arnor- Malvegil
*Eriador- WitchKing

[Nogrod]

Group D at Armenelos, round 1


“The final of the 2012 Arda Cup today on the Armenelos Stadium at 18.00 hours! Gates open at noon.” screamed The Mittalmar Sun on it’s frontpage.

“Game Of Death today on Armenelos Stadium at 21.30 hours!” yelled Romenna Rumourer.

The more liberal and always so witty The Númenorian was taken by the frenzy as well: “Armenelos [our’men’no’los(s)] = the best footballing team of men ever, (-stadium) where everything happens, the place to be.”

Even the conservative The Armenelos Times had put football on it’s frontpage with the header: “The West shall see our determination this year!”

The whole city was living the games to the fullest. The Meneltarma Square had received two giant screens for the fans who couldn’t make a ticket to the Stadium and the square predictably started filling with people already before noontime. A bandstand had been brought in to the middle of the square where different bands, comedians, acrobats, wrestlers, poets, actors etc. from all over Arda performed the whole afternoon. When the Royal Citadel Choir finally performed the hymn “Númenor will never yield” it felt like a whole city had joined the chorus.

And like the last year, a game day meant a day out for all the Númenorians, and friends & families gathered together sharing their pic-nic meals with everyone. Inside and outside the Stadium the wineskins changed hands and the flagons were poured full one after another. The visitors to the city were treated well and politely, but it was clear the Númenorians were celebrating the games mainly with themselves.

But behind the jubilant mood the Númenorians delved into they knew the stakes were as high as possible from the very first game on. In the back of their heads the Númenorians knew their team had to win their first game to keep their dream of qualifying alive. And none dared to concentrate into a possibility they could lose. But it wasn’t any easier among the fans of the Valinor-based teams as it was more or less clear the victor would most probably be able to qualify, but the loser would have to fight for real to follow.


~*~


FC Valinor had beaten Real Valinor in the friendlies 2-1. That result and its meaning had been mulled over hundreds of times by different speculators. But whatever the exact contents of any individual speculations were one could say there were a few main categories of interpretations. According to one there was no way you could make any meaningful predictions based on a friendly game where neither team was playing in full force – and even their will to win in the first place could be questioned. According to the second line of thought Real Valinor had purposefully held their dashing forward-trio at bay not to let FC’s defences to accustom themselves to the different combinations they would be using when playing for real (some added to this interpretation that Real was willing to let the FC players feel confident of being better and thus underestimate Real, or to come to the game with not a full 100% energy, and then smash them down in the very beginning of the real game with devastating psychological effect). Third interpretation would say that the friendly proved both teams more or less equal as the second half – which was somewhat competitive in comparison to the first – ended 1-1. Yet a fourth line of thought put it blatantly that FC Valinor showed it was simply the better team of the two; and that Curufin and Celegorm supported by Yavanna were far more sharper and better able to kill games than the somewhat anemic Arien – Miriel – Nerdanel trio.

As the game began, it very soon started to look like the last line of thought was the right one as Yavanna scored 1-0 for FC Valinor after only six minutes into the game – and when Celegorm hammered the ball into the back of the net at twenty minutes making it already 2-0 it felt more or less evident that was the case.

There were many who said that Real had only started the game a bit sloppily and would come back, like it did the last time the teams met. It is hard to say whether FC Valinor’s dominance in the first twenty minutes was due to Real’s sloppyness or just their own goodness, but Real did come to fight back. And so after a lightning start for FC the game evened a lot and the crowds were served some real quality football.

Even if FC Valinor was leading by two goals to nil they were not settling into defence but brought consistent attacks towards Real’s side of the field. And those attacks also revealed a hidden weakness in Real Valinor’s defence, which is a certain lack of concentration. Everyone knows Caranthir has anger-management issues and many had guessed Tilion might have some problems with motivation being forced to play in the defence. Rúmil in turn seemed at times quite absent-minded, like lost in his letters, and Nienna and Elemmírë seemed to momentarily share more griefs past than awareness of what was going on around them. So with their defence in occasional disarray FC Valinor gained a host of chances to add to their lead.

But Real Valinor played back as well. Especially the dashing quickness of Nessa caused continuous problems to FC Valinor’s midfield and as the game grew older also the ladies up front started to find their magical touch at times making the defenders of FC Valinor look very slow and clumsy indeed. But what they were lacking was the accuracy. Miriel hit the post twice and Arien sent two absolute boomers just inches past the frame…

At 74th minute Curufin showed what accuracy means on the other end of the pitch. Caranthir got booked for a late tackle on his brother and Curufin took the shot from 35 meters himself. He sent a wild curveball flying first past the wall of defenders from the right and then bending astonishingly tightly sideways to the left again. When Tulkas realised where the ball was heading in the end it was already too late. The shot left Tulkas standing in the middle of the goal when the ball hit just inside the left corner of the crossbar and bounced inside the goal sweeping the net.

With 3-0 at the scoreboard both teams seemed to have had enough and just passed the ball to and fro for the last fifteen minutes saving energy for the next matches.

FC Valinor had really made a statement. It is hard to figure a team that could beat Real Valinor in two games in a row and to talk about an aggregate of 5-1 would just sound blasphemous. But that’s just what FC Valinor did!

FC Valinor 3-0 Real Valinor
on target 7-4
tot shots 15-14
GOALS:
*6, 1-0 Yavanna (Nahar)
*20, 2-0 Celegorm (Argon)
*74, 3-0 Curufin
YELLOW CARDS:
*FCVal- Curufin, Nahar
*Real- Caranthir



So the table was set for the match the Númenoreans were looking for. And many felt uneasy as it was now clear their number one target in this tournament would be Real Valinor: they would be the team Armenelos would have to beat. And even if they lost 0-3, they looked so dangerous! Maybe Caranthir and Nienna weren’t in their best form today and maybe Tilion was frustrated… but those were the players they would have to get past, and they were such great players even on a bad day – and the Armenelos team would have to stand their ground against the speed of Nessa, the virtuosity of Miriel and Nerdanel and the deadly finishing of Arien another day when they might be in just a bit sharper mood and their shots would go those few inches closer to the target... It was frighteningly clear to the home crowds after the first match.

But first they had to beat Tirion if they were to dream of qualifying and even that felt suddenly like a challenge they hadn’t quite anticipated how strong it was. Seeing the first game kind of made everything more concrete: this is the level of football played in group D. Would their own team stand to the challenge?

Armenelos had played somewhat sloppily in the friendlies but when the referee’s whistle blew the first half of the game opened everyone saw the team was playing with a totally different attitude. They fought for every ball and tackled hard, their game was present and concentrated; they were big, physical, aggressive and active. But especially Ingwë, Aredhel, Finwë and Eonwë showed some real skill and were able to make the Armenelos midfieldfield to run after them by moving and handling the ball brilliantly but getting themselves good scoring opportunities was hard indeed because of the excellence of the Armenelos defence positioning and relentless marking. The beginning then promised a real nail-biter – and some great football.

Now imagine two hundred thousand people cheering (about 70 000 inside the stadium and the rest outside on the great square). Then imagine doubling the sound as it is not mere seventh age humans but Númenorians yelling for joy. Then double it once more as with that outburst a lot of pressure was relieved, like a ton of weight lifted up from their shoulders. The team was answering the call – and in which way!

Tar Telperien cut a pass in the defence and sent it forwards all the way to Ar Adunakhôr who was immediately surrounded by Lalwende and Elenwë. But he made a quick turn and passed the ball backwards to up-running Tar Miriel who passed the ball diagonally forwards to the other side of the field with a one touch pass – and straight in front of Ar Pharazôn who beat Thorondor to the ball and hammered it in from the corner of the goal. Armenelos was in the lead after 22 minutes of the game and the fans were just going wild!

When Tar Ancalimon headed a second goal just before the break from Tar Telemmaïte’s corner one could call the feeling of the homecrowds purely euphoric. The game was tight and even on many fronts, but Armenelos was scoring, and scoring beautifully.

The second half started with a cold shower for the homeside fans when the Grand-grandfather Finwë hammered the ball in from a nice break-in to-the-box pass by his grand-daughter Aredhel. Tar Atanamir had no chance there. After the 2-1 goal Tirion got more energy and started pressing, but Armenelos defences didn’t give them in even an inch. It tells a lot about team Armenelos’ attitude that even Ar Adunakhôr and Ar Pharazôn were seen aiding the defences every once in a while – when they were not building their counter-attacks.

At 70th minute the stadium (and the square beside it) just exploded. Ar Gimilzôr forced a turnover in the midfield and sent the ball sideways to Ar Pharazôn who ran forwards, dribbled Mahtan out of the game and centered the ball just before rushing into Thorondor – and from between the two women running for defence Ar Adunakhôr jumped forwards and headed the ball in behind Finarfin who was totally unexpecting such a quick action. It was 3-1 with twenty minutes to go, but Tirion seemed to unleash the last extra-energy they had tapped in them. It sure was a game of death to them as well as losing to Armenelos would most probably mean being left into the group phase, unless they beat both Valinor teams which seemed quite a task to put it mildly.

So Tirion was charging with all they had – and the attack of the mighty elves shook the defences of the proud Númenorians even if they fought back heroically and with as much gusto you can imagine a great human to have against such a pressure. Time after time the Númenorians forced the attacks back, and when able built their own forcing Tirion to run back to their own half every now and then. But there seemed to be nothing to prevent the determination of the great elves prevailing – even if the goal was actually not made by an elf but Manwë’s herald, the great Eönwë himself. Númenorians are strong and physical, but Eönwë just forced himself through the Númenorian defences and hammered the ball in to the net with sheer power, both physical and mental.

There was ten minutes left of the game and the hosts were leading 3-2. So it was a nail-biter in the end even if the home team had enjoyed 2-0 and 3-1 leads earlier in the game.

And what an ending it was. Armenelos was not keen to fall into defence but started yet again pressing forwards when Tirion did their best to attack as well with all they could bring forward. But both goaltenders made a few spectacular saves in the end kept their sheets clean during the last minutes of maybe the most exciting football seen at Armenelos Stadium.

The crowds lived the last ten extaticly with the game and when the referee blew his whistle to end the game the roar of them could probably have been heard even in the mainland ME. The home team had won 3-2 in a game they had to win. Tirion’s road towards the play-offs on the other hand turned just a little bit rockier. And there and then the people realised the cruelty of the group-system. A team of that excellence was practically out of the games with just this one loss.

During the night the Tirion supporters found a lot of sympathy in the pubs and tavernas and received all the hospitality the island of Númenor could offer. Although, and to be honest, not all the wishes for Tirion to win at least a game, well exactly to beat at least Real Valinor, were purely unselfish by nature.

Armenelos 3-2 Tirion
on target 7-8
tot shots 17-19
GOALS:
*22, 1-0 Ar Pharazon (Tar Miriel)
*44, 2-0 Tar Ancalimon (Tar Telemmaite)
*53, 2-1 Finwe (Aredhel)
*70, 3-1 Ar Adunakhor (Ar Pharazon)
*80, 3-2 Eonwe (Mahtan)
YELLOW CARDS:
*Armenelos- Ar Gimilzor
*Tirion- Eonwe, Thorondor

[Nogrod]

Hunter U. Nogson has returned from the dead!

Well almost. But he is now in Armenelos and has continued blogging after some trouble not too unlike him. You can visit his latest blog-entry Númenoreans are jerks by clicking the link.


Official disclaimer by The AKM:
Hunter U. Nogson is no family friendly writer so little puppies should stay away from the blog. Also The AKM is not responsible for Mr. Nogson's language or any views he holds or witholds.