Cup Game Preview
One of the more interesting seriesmates I had in III.3 was hrudey22 of the Jacksonville Tea Men (brief writeup in the III.3 series preview). He eventually would make it up to MLS and was the U20 coach for the US for a while. He suffered from an inordinate amount of luck in the series, always able to win close games that he had no business winning, a true beneficiary of the HTRF (HT Random Factor). Oh, and he seemed to hurt opposing players. A lot. Well, anyways, Inter Milan-NYC, this week's cup opponent is in his series, prompting this guestbook exchange.
(6:32)
Number 452 of 453 by sterlingice
That's just like you- not injuring players on teams in your series because I might have to play them a few rounds later in the cup. How selfish!
You know better. I certainly tried! The problem is, to kick a knee, you have to catch up to the player with the knee, and not only is that akin to defense, but it requires players with enough talent to know their ass from their elbow. Though, at least, it's not *pitchers* elbow we worry about.
Similar to the game with T Hills FC, it's going to be a lot closer than it could be because I'm splitting up some talent and this time I'll be PIC'ing, trying to build up team spirit for the next cup game. Remember, I held back Cyburt and Huenul at OCD so we'll get a midfield boost and Partridge will also be in at WTM. Treibahs will be subbing in for Angulo since he's hurt. I was going to play Little and Vickers in the midfield but I thought that might bring it down too far so I left Quijada instead of Little.
Did the gamble pay off?
Cup Game Box Score
Kits
Milan-NYC 1 – 2 Hippopotami (219474975)
3-5-2009 01.00
A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 64176 to
San Siro. Milan-NYC tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Elíasson - Hansson, Olszyna, Lupu, Ulyanitskiy - Frugier, Ampurias, Chi-Tam, Sabatini - Shurupov, Berns.
Hippopotami started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Månholt - Delcarte, Huenul, Cyburt - Partridge, Vickers, Thacker, Quijada, Regúlez - Treibahs, Tetlie.
Hippopotami decided to play creatively. Milan-NYC could have put themselves ahead after 8 minutes but
Andrey Shurupov missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. The left side created an opportunity for the visitors 16 minutes into the match, and
Tor Tetlie wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. The visitors added to their lead 25 minutes into the game, after a sensational penalty kick by Hippopotami's
Chema Delcarte slid just past the home keeper. 0 - 2. Many in the crowd felt the referee was being too lenient when he only showed Milan-NYC's
Tinguaro Ampurias a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 26 minutes into the game. The player down was
Erwin Vickers. The Hippopotami bench looked worried for a while, but in the end he managed to get up. 0 - 2 was the halftime score. The forty-five minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 57 percent possession of the ball.
A marvellous Milan-NYC effort on the right-hand side resulted in a goal after 55 minutes by
Andrey Shurupov, making the score 1 - 2.
Óli Elíasson got a fingertip on
Carlos Thacker's shot from the left 59 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. With 66 minutes played,
Tor Tetlie nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. With 78 minutes played, Hippopotami's
Erwin Vickers fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee booked
Erwin Vickers for diving. The fierce heat made it important to save breath, and after a few swift runs
Mar Chi-Tam found it hard to get back into position. This half belonged to Hippopotami, who controlled the ball 59 percent of the time.
Most important Milan-NYC player was
Per Hansson. However,
Óli Elíasson made a disastrous appearance. Hippopotami's best player was
Carlos Thacker. However,
Birger Månholt made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 2.
Rating details
| Inter Milan-NYC | Houston Hippopotami |
| Midfield | solid (very low) | excellent (very high) |
| Right Defence | brilliant (low) | excellent (low) |
| Central Defence | brilliant (low) | solid (high) |
| Left Defence | excellent (high) | weak (very low) |
| Right Attack | solid (low) | weak (very low) |
| Central Attack | weak (low) | excellent (very low) |
| Left Attack | weak (high) | solid (very high) |
| |
| Indirect set pieces |
| Defence | passable (low) | passable (low) |
| Attack | weak (high) | passable (high) |
| |
| Team Attitude | (Hidden) | Play it Cool |
| Tactic | Normal | Play creatively |
| Tactic skill | (no tactic) | - |
Highlights
Possession
43%
57%
41%
59%
Cup Game Recap
We kindof got lucky, as he out hatstat'd us but we had higher possession and 4 chances to 2. Also, I just can't emphasize enough how much playing creatively helps us as, again, one of our two goals came on a penalty kick. There were some tense moments there in the second half but it came out ok in the end.
Next up is an even bigger challenge in the cup. I thought I had been knocked out by this team in a previous cup but I guess I was thinking of someone else. Next week is going to be interesting strategy-wise. Maybe a PIC with some subs against the Wahoos will let Old Town Tavern's guard down and he'll lay up a little so we can take him by surprise when he gets our full squad and normal team spirit next cup game. Or maybe I'll just lose a pair next week and fans will be committing hari kari, dropping me back down below the level I was at before the win streak started in just a week...
Oh, and did I mention we got another injury, but it was only a "bruised", thankfully.
SI