Preview
It's kindof an international friendly. We head to exotic, foreign... Canada. We'll be facing the #1 team in IV.19 called the Thoroughbreds and owned by Kinghaven. I know I'm giving away the first 120 minutes of the game, but we've never been in a shootout before this week
Game Summary
Date: 9/24/2003 at 23:00
MatchID: 9699582
Arena: Thoroughbreds Arena
Crowd: 3109
3109 spectators had come to Thoroughbreds Arena this cloudy day. Thoroughbreds started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Tinham - Murray, Rinfret, Amyot, Bowman, Bax - Baker, Darroze, Forcier, Hjortvall - Aubin.
Hippopotami had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Sánchez - Schrader, Miquel, Bush - Teepen, Tryggvesson, Storm, Little, Wellens - Solomon, Tizón.
Hippopotami seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Hippopotami had a good opportunity to score the lead goal but the home team goaltender Charles Tinham saved Derrick Solomon´s shot headed for the top corner. Aurèle Forcier of Thoroughbreds received a yellow card in the 16:th minute for unsportsmanlike behaviour. This was a good period for the visitors with several opportunities to take the lead, in particular when Robert Tryggvesson slipped through the defense to come up alone with Charles Tinham - but the home side´s keeper showed some lightning reflex 0 - 0 was the half-time score. Hippopotami held the ball, with a clear 58 percent possession rate.
What ever got into Aurèle Forcier, the crowd mumbled, as he suddenly struck a cross pass through the own defense - ending up right in front of Hippopotami´s Juan Miguel Tizón, who easily put the ball away for 0-1. After 48 minutes of play Denis Aubin equalised for Thoroughbreds after an elegant attack from the right. Thoroughbreds tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but kept getting stuck on the visitors defenders. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, Thoroughbreds´s Yannick Rinfret got himself booked. Several players now looked tired, especially Alfons Bax who quite horribly caused the 1 - 2 goal as he lost the ball to Clement Schrader of Hippopotami, who seemed to have some energy left. With a shot floated in from just outside the penalty area in the 72nd minute, Denis Aubin of Thoroughbreds evened the score to 2 - 2. Thoroughbreds held the ball, with a clear 60 percent possession rate.
After the regular 90 minutes, the agony of overtime followed. Thoroughbreds made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in from the right hand side left Denis Aubin completely alone with keeper Ignacio Sánchez, who made a spectacular block. There was still no winner after 30 minutes of extra time so the teams had to select a lineup for a penalty contest to settle the result. Thoroughbreds´s David Darroze cooly put the ball past Ignacio Sánchez. 3 - 2. Hippopotami´s Derrick Solomon had nerves of steel at the penalty, changing the score to 3 - 3. Thoroughbreds´s Gregory Murray looked insecure all the way from laying the ball down to clipping the ball miles wide of the crossbar. No goal. Hippopotami´s José María Miquel seemed nervous, putting the ball to the centre of the goal. Charles Tinham however, made an early dive to the right, the ball passing him. 3 - 4. Thoroughbreds´s Peter Hjortvall cooly put the ball past Ignacio Sánchez. 4 - 4. Hippopotami´s Clement Schrader cooly put the ball past Charles Tinham. 4 - 5. Thoroughbreds´s Charles Tinham made no mistake. Ignacio Sánchez didn´t have a chance. 5 - 5. Hippopotami´s Koos Teepen made no mistake. Charles Tinham didn´t have a chance. 5 - 6. Thoroughbreds´s Yannick Rinfret cooly put the ball past Ignacio Sánchez. 6 - 6. Hippopotami´s Pierre Wellens made no mistake. Charles Tinham didn´t have a chance. 6 - 7. The most dominating Thoroughbreds player was without a doubt Dave Amyot. However, Peter Hjortvall made a disastrous appearance. Hippopotami´s best player was José María Miquel. Clement Schrader was a disappointment, however. The match ends 6 - 7.
Events and Stats
A few notes:
1. Our score will always be first, whether we are ahead or behind
2. The (F) after the names shows this is a friendly game
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
TB: 5-4-1
Events Summary
1st Half
Halftime Score: 0-0
Possession: 58%
2nd Half
HH: xx: Juan Miguel Tizon (F): 1-0
TB: 48: 1-1
HH: xx: Clement Schrader (F): 2-1
TB: 72: 2-2
Score (end of regulation): 2-2
Possession: 40%
Overtime
Score (end of overtime): 2-2
Penalty Shots
TB: 1/5: make: 2-3
HH: 1/5: make: Derrick Solomon (F): 3-3
TB: 2/5: miss: 3-3
HH: 2/5: make: Jose Maria Miguel (F): 4-3
TB: 3/5: make: 4-4
HH: 3/5: make: Clement Schrader (F): 5-4
TB: 4/5: make: 5-5
HH: 4/5: make: Koos Teepen (F): 6-5
TB: 5/5: make: 6-6
HH: 5/5: make: Pierre Wellens (F): 7-6
Final Score: 7-6
Final Possession: 49%
Cards
None
Injuries
None
Stadium
Terraces: 0/20000
Basic seats: 0/8000
Seats under roof: 0/3200
VIP seats: 0/800
Total: 0/32000
Our second highest attendance ever for a friendly as 3109 Canadians watched. Our previous high was when we went to Hong Kong.
Team Ratings
Thoroughbreds
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: excellent (8)
Central Defence: magnificent (12)
Left Side Defence: brilliant (11)
Right Side Attack: weak (4)
Central Attack: wretched (2)
Left Side Attack: poor (3)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 46/49
Houston Hippopotami
Midfield: poor (3)
Right Side Defence: inadequate (5)
Central Defence: passable (6)
Left Side Defence: passable (6)
Right Side Attack: passable (6)
Central Attack: passable (6)
Left Side Attack: excellent (8)
DataKing/Nevstar Index: 43/46
Hopefully our last friendly of poor midfield. This week is stamina training week.
Player Ratings
GK Ignacio Sanchez **~
DW Clement Schrader *~
DM Jose Maria Miguel ***
DW Elmer Bush **~
WI Koos Teepen ***
MI Daniel Storm **~
MI Robert Tryggvesson (x) **~
MI Thomas Little (o) **~
WI Pierre Wellens (o) ***
FO Derrick Solomon **
FO Juan Miguel Tizon **~
Total Stars: 27.5
Total player experience: wretched
Team Attitude: Friendly
Another total star high for a friendly. Ignacio Sanchez only put up **~ in his second game but he came up huge! Our three middies all got **~ tonight.
Three Stars
Sanchez definitely showing his worth
Bronze: Pierre Wellens
17yo UberTrainee(TM) with first game winning goal
Silver: Clement Schrader
He scored a goal in regulation and in the shootout
Gold: Ignacio Sanchez
Makes a save in OT and saves a goal in the shootout for the win
Game Summary
Our first ever shootout and it was fun. Sure it was a friendly against a random Canadian team, but it was cool. Then again, we have awesome set pieces (well, for a team not named Beckys Babes) as Solomon, Schrader, Miguel, and Teepen are all solid or excellent. Wellens, who scored the game winner, has an inadequate. Looks like I made a good choice with our new backup keeper, too. For all the scoring we did, he made a huge save in overtime and then another in the shootout. For the Thoroughbreds, Denis Aubin had an awesome game (see below).
Press Release
9/28/2003 at 01:56 Hippos Win First Ever Shootout in Canadian Friendly
Ninety minutes were not long enough to decide the match between the Thoroughbreds and Hippos. At the end of regulation, the score was tied 2-2. Denis Aubin, author of the previous Thoroughbreds goals, missed on the only chance in OT so the game went to PKs. Houston won 5-4 after Solomon, Miguel, Schrader, Teepen and Wellens all scored. The difference was a miss by Gregory Murray which went clear past the goal and keeper Ignacio Sánchez. Tizon and Schrader scored Houston's regulation goals.
Notes
Thanks to our neighbors to the north for a nice international friendly. Next up, we head to Oceania. I tried to get a friendly in someplace more off the beaten path such as the Far East or Baltic States but the accepted friendly didn't go through. Still, I'm sure we'll enjoy our trip to Oceania. Inbetween stops on the Hippo World Tour, we will PIC zfan this week in a walkover.
SI