Preview
A new Cup dawns on the Hippos and this one finds us in the familiar role of favorite for roughly our first five games. Refreshing everyone's memory, last season we started the cup with a pair of 9-0 beatings of Div V teams on the road. Then we came home, upset a pair Div IV teams 6-0 and 6-1 before being subdued by Div II's The Minutemen. My prediction for this year: we have more of a focus on training, so, although we field a better team than last year and I will be playing more starters due to want of experience gain, I'm going to say we make it 6 rounds, one more than last year. I hope to get at least 3 PICs out of it, if not 4. We could use all the team spirit help we can get in this brutal series.
This year, we start out on the road against the computer controlled Montana Panthers. If we win by any less than 7, I'll be disappointed, even with the PIC. All the starters are playing since it's our only game this week. I would feel bad about the final except, well, it's a computer controlled team. I'm just hoping for no injuries or cards.
Game Summary
Date: 7/24/2003 at 01:00
MatchID: 9217074
Arena: Montana Lane
Crowd: 3669
Due to an all-day shower, 3669 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Montana Lane. Panthers had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Jagannathan - Bowling, Bernier, Soto, Flores - Dube, Trevelin, Klein, West - Whalen, Richards.
Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Kimber - Bush, Miquel, Romo - Starks, Meek, Benito, Connors, Newsom - Phelan, Houben.
Hippopotamis Edwin Phelan excelled in some fine tricks that completely confusedPaul Flores - and the finish was no less spectacular - 0 - 1! The away team´s Edwin Phelan took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 12th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 2. The away team´s Herschel Meek took advantage of a mistake to the home side´s right in the 24:th minute increasing Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 3. The visitors Edwin Phelan took advantage of an error due to a misunderstanding between the home side´s goalie and full backs in the 38:th minute. 0 - 4 for Hippopotami. By then Edwin Phelan was a three time scorer - a hat trick! Edwin Phelan increased the visitors lead by putting a volley shot away on a pass from the right. 0 - 5. By now Hippopotami were drawing the troops back in order to defend their lead. Halftime score was 0 - 5. The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 83 percent possession of the ball.
Some fine manouvering on the left lead to an 47:th minute Hippopotami goal, making it 0 - 6. Coskum Houben was noted down as the scorer. Hippopotami increased the lead to 0 - 7 as Herschel Meek scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. After 76 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for Edwin Phelan who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 8. After 81 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for José María Miquel who increased Hippopotami´s lead to 0 - 9. Marcel Romo was suffering from cramps and had big difficulties keeping up as the opponentes pushed forward. Franklin Bowling had no problems getting through and hit home the 1 - 9 goal. Hippopotami increased the lead to 1 - 10 as Herschel Meek scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. By then Herschel Meek was a three time scorer - a hat trick! The fortyfive minutes were dominated by Hippopotami, with an impressive 93 percent possession of the ball.
Panthers´s best player was Herbert Soto. However, Tim Richards made a disastrous appearance. Hippopotami´s best player was Mick Starks. Marcel Romo on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 10.
Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (C) after the names shows this is a cup game and the number scored in the cup
3. "xx" means the time of the goal was not specified
4. Most stats will only be for our team
Formations
HH: 3-5-2
MP: 4-4-2
Events Summary
1st Half
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (C1): 1-0
HH: 12: Edwin Phelan (C2): 2-0
HH: 24: Herschel Meek (C1): 3-0
HH: 38: Edwin Phelan (C3): 4-0
HH: xx: Edwin Phelan (C4): 5-0
HH: xx: *Pulling Back*
Halftime Score: 5-0
Possession: 83%
2nd Half
HH: 47: Coskum Houben (C1): 6-0
HH: xx: Herschel Meek (C2): 7-0
HH: 76: Edwin Phelan (C5): 8-0
HH: 81: Jose Maria Miguel (C1): 9-0
MP: xx: 9-1
HH: xx: Herschel Meek (C3): 10-1
Final Score: 10-1
Possession: 93%
Final Possession: 88%
Cards
None, yay!
Injuries
None: even better!
Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000
He only drew 3600 and change. My Hong Kong friendly last year got about a dozen less than this game!
Team Ratings
Montana Panthers
Midfield: disastrous (1)
Right Side Defence: weak (4)
Central Defence: inadequate (5)
Left Side Defence: weak (4)
Right Side Attack: poor (3)
Central Attack: weak (4)
Left Side Attack: weak (4)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 25/27
Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: inadequate (5)
Right Side Defence: solid (7)
Central Defence: solid (7)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: formidable (9)
Central Attack: solid (7)
Left Side Attack: inadequate (5)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 51/56
Not too bad. Especially for a PIC. There are some holes to mend, but I'm not going to worry too much about them this game. Besides that, I was doing some position experimenting and that is reflected here. Also, the PIC kept our midfield down.
Player Ratings
GK Tim Kimber ***~
DW Elmer Bush ***
DM José María Miquel (n) **~
DW Marcel Romo **
WI Mick Starks (o) ***~
MI Herschel Meek (d) ***~
MI Stephen Connors (x) ***
MI Carlos Alberto Benito (o) ***~
WI Donald Newsom (m) **
FO Coskum Houben **~
FO Edwin Phelan **~
Total Stars: 31.5
Total player experience: poor
Team Attitude: Play It Cool
Four at ***~ as Meek joined Benito, Starks, and Kimber! Houben continues his disappointing showing with only **~ at striker. I paid $150K for an upgrade not a horizontal step. The poor experience makes me happy!
Three Stars
Well, the first two were really easy
Bronze: Jose Maria Miguel
Acted as team captain with his vast experience and leadership and scored a goal
Silver: Herschel Meek
A ***~ rating at defensive middie and a hat trick for the new veteran
Gold: Edwin Phelan
Edwin shows that last week was just a fluke, scoring 5(!) times
Game Summary
Even the rain couldn't stop the offense this week. A complete obliteration. Oh that our first five cup games will be this easy. Not much to say about this game: it was domination over a completely inferior computer team.
Press Release
7/25/2003 at 05:17 Hippos Cup Offense Firing on All Cylinders
Season 19 scoring co-champ Edwin Phelan scored five goals and new Hippo Herschel Meek added a hat trick as Houston rolled 10-1 to open up the US Cup. Four Hippos got 3.5 stars and many others were trying out new positions in preparation for a new season. Due to the all day shower, the crowd was less than stellar in the game against the Montana Panthers from VI.514. Hopefully, next week's game against the Div VI Boston Knights will be better. Hippos open their first season in IV.21 Sunday.
Notes
We're off and running in the cup. Next up, our first ever Div IV game against one of the other Div V promotees. It's on the road and we can win this game to start the season off on the right foot.
SI