[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