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Match 61

Third Place Playoff

With these two teams devastated to be out of the final after coming so close I think we can safely expect a good match today with a chance at taking home the third place trophy, the golden turd!

Please note: This match couldn't be coded into the original database (not by the likes of me anyway) so this match is taken from the one and only time these two teams meet in the league system I set up to take place after this tournament… as it turns out it happened to be the final match of the season and was decisive so apologies for the spoilers contained in the match report lol





3 - 0

Heroic Skidmark Eyers DFC
- Humberto Suazo 10', 16'
- Andre Ayew 81'
- Koke
- Carles Puyol

NK GOŠK Dubrovnik
- Darijo Srna
- Ricardo Carvalho (Wasn't enough to come off with)
- Ronaldinho Gaucho (Wasn't enough to come off with)

Goals Goals Goals

Player of the Match: Humberto Suazo (HeSkEy)
Attendance: 32,790

1

The Final Countdown

"Good morning sports fans!

It is here at last, the final of the LoC, the match we have all be waiting for.

Two giants of the tournament will clash together in what will be the biggest sporting event of the year.

Let's take a look at how they got to the final, roll the VT."

Hurricanes stormed their way to the final, topping Group D after suffering only one loss and one drawn game out of the six matches played, coupled with the scoring talents of Samuel Eto'o they accrued a very healthy +6 goal difference.
The Huntsmen had a slight torrid time through Group C, with three draws the points were a lot closer. They still topped the group by a point but had an even goal difference by the end of the stage.

The Quarter Finals would prove to be less than guaranteed for both sides, Engham FC beating the Hunters in the first leg 1-0 and Hurricanes only managing a draw with Westend. A less than convincing 1-0 win in the second leg saw Hurricanes enter the semi final draw where they would be joined by a much more impressive Hunters after their 3-1 second leg victory put Engham on the plane home.

The Semi Finals were a different story again, the Hurricanes smashing Dubrovnik 4-1 in the first leg and The Huntsmen being held to a 2-2 draw versus tournament favourites Heroic Skidmark Eyers DFC. With one finalist pretty much already in the bag, all of the attention would be on The Huntsmen's second leg. It would prove to be a great match, not the most goal action but the midfield battle was a sight to behold as the Hunters emerged victorious 4-3 on aggregate. The Hurricanes finished their rout of Dubrovnik with a 3-0 victory, meaning the hosts would enter the final on the back of a 7-1 aggregate win!

"We tried to catch up with Hurricanes Chairman Lord Ziechael for an interview prior to tonight match but he was unavailable due to preparing for the final. He did however get one of his goons… errr I mean… people to send us the following statement.

"Sorry I can't be with you this morning, I simply have much much better things to do.
In expectation to the kind of inane questions you would no doubt be asking me I have prepared the following answers, feel free to do with them what you will.

1) Of course I expected to be in the Final, it's my f***ing tournament isn't it?
2) No, at no point were the players families threatened should they not make it this far.
3) We have a solid team and Carlo has performed fantastically, and yes, as he isn't a player I feel justified in having his family as my honoured guests until the end of the tournament. It has allowed him the time to dedicate to his match preparation.
4) Van Persie has assembled a good team, it will be a real shame to destroy them utterly, that being said it was satisfying ridiculing Dubrovnik in the semis so maybe it won't be such a shame after all.
5) And finally, your job will be secure even if we lost, I can't guarantee you'll be the one doing it but the job will certainly still exist.

Much love.

"As per usual… Wow
We go now to our roving reporter, Amanda Hugenkiss, who has caught up with The Huntsmen Chairman to get his thoughts on the upcoming final."



"Thanks Dick, always a pleasure to have a bit of one-on-one time with a successful business man… although I'm usually getting paid more for this… anyway, on with the interview."

Amanda
Van Persie

"How does it feel to be in the final?"
I am happy that we have made it here, with Fergie managing the team I was confident we could pull it off.

"What do you think your chances are?"
Messi brings a 3rd dimension to the team and with him leading the side I am sure we won't have a problem.

"Which areas of the pitch are you most confident about?"
The whole team is ready and up for the challenge.

"How would it feel to win the tournament?"
It would mean that all of our hard work has paid off, as I said before we are all ready and cannot wait.

"Does it add extra pressure playing against a ruthless dictators team?"
Ha-ha… none whatsoever. Their team won't be dictating anything on the pitch.

"Back to you Dick."



"Thanks for that Amanda, remind me to ask for your rates.

So that's it for today folks, join us later for the live final of the Fantasia League of Champions!"

Match 62

The Final

So this is it, we have finally reached the last match of the tournament. The winner of this game will be forever immortalised in my signature alongside the Championship to Champions winners. Brace yourselves, this should be an epic clash!





5 - 3
(aet)

Hurricanes
- Samuel Eto'o 19', 39', 70', 112'
- Hatem Ben Arfa 102'
- Frank Lampard
- Samuel Eto'o
- Frank Lampard 80' (missed penalty)

The Huntsmen
- Lionel Messi 22'
- Ashley Williams 46' (own goal)
- Adriano 65'
- Nicolas Tagliafico
- Zakaria Labyad (Nothing serious)
- Christophe Jallet
- Lionel Messi (Torn hamstring, put down)
- Carlos Ascues
- Victor Wanyama
- Andrea Pirlo
- Victor Wanyama
- Galhardo

Goals Goals Goals

Player of the Match: Samuel Eto'o (Hurricanes)
Attendance: 50,000

Hurricanes Triumph In Battle Of The Beasts

In a sensational end to the World's greatest event the Hurricanes emerged victorious in what turned out to be the best match of the whole tournament.

A truly thrilling match which could have gone either way at any point was not able to be decided in normal time and took a further 30 minutes of gripping excitement to finally see a result, sparing us all the horror of a penalty shoot-out.

As hosts, and chaired by the ruthless dictator who set up the tournament, many have cried foul play but an independent panel of judges have been present throughout the entire process to ensure that there would be no interference at any point.

Present at the match were the top representatives of all major nations and even the delegates from the US were impressed with the level of football on display despite not really getting the concept.

Lord Ziechael was asked about his teams victory and gave the following statement:

"I would like to issue my thanks to all of the players, staff and fans who have made this tournament into the success that it turned out to be… especially for me, I mean 'us'.
It has been a great journey that I hope will continue year on year, we already have plans to expand the format for future tournaments.
All hostages, sorry 'guests', will now be released unharmed and the clones will be melted down for either animal food or candles, I haven't decided yet.
See you all next year suckers!"

The Final Review

The 2012 Fantasy League of Champions came to a thrilling end today with Hurricanes lifting the trophy, following their triumph in the Final.

Whilst Hurricanes were being hailed as the outstanding team of the League of Champions, it was a competition to forget for Engham United FC who will hope to quickly put this one behind them.

Hurricanes players topped the competition's statistics charts with Samuel Eto'o grabbing eleven goals and Hatem Ben Arfa managing five assists. Meanwhile, Lionel Messi was among the top performers of the competition, putting in consistently impressive performances for The Huntsmen.

Results

Player Records After Final

Team Records After Final

Following the cup there was a league structure in place, I hadn't the time or drive to report on it in the same way for the cup was but the format was that it would run from January to May to allow for full team recovery following the cup.

Each team would play each other once but with no lower leagues there would be no relegation. The aim is to perfect the database so that it could be done in the future with more teams which will be seeded into 2 leagues based on cup finish. They would then battle it out over the next two seasons which would provide the seeding for the next cup. Watch this space…

In the mean time, here is the league results.

Please note: The match between Dubrovnik and HeSkEy was used as the third place playoff already reported on. As it turned out it was also the final round of matches for the season and a win for Heroic Skidmark Eyers would put them in pole position should Norfolk'n Chance slip up… which they did, losing their last match and subsequently their 1 point lead.

League

Player Records

Team Records

If anyone wants to see more details I'll happily do requests.