MD2 of Löwenburg (IAC 26)
[align=center]Welcome to the Sports World of Großlöwenburg!
a proud germanic nation on the [url=https://www.nationstates.net/page=dispatch/id=1888203]RP Map of Valsora[/url] in [region]The East Pacific[/region]
See the roster here: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=43805500#p43805500
See the introduction here: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=43812759#p43812759
MD1: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?p=43817929#p43817929
[b][size=200]>[url=https://valsora.tep.wiki/wiki/Category:Lionsroar]Großlöwenburg[/url]<[/size][/b][/align]
[pre][align=center][u]MATCHDAY 2[/u]: "Die Erlösung (Salvation)"
Arklanda 0 - 3 Großlöwenburg[/align][/pre]
[hr][/hr][b]In Touve, Austrankank - PreMatch[/b]
Dulle looks around. Itzel staggers along behind him, with Alina to his left. She fans herself. "Well, that was great, wasn't it?" Dulle nods. He thinks back to the hours before, when they had set out in high spirits to explore the another aspect of the city. To see everything... or well, as much as possible. Touve is huge. Maybe not as big as Dulle’s hometown, but still huge. Löwenburg (City), the capital and primate city of Löwenburg, is simply monumental. And perhaps that’s partly why it feels even more like home. Itzel catches up, panting; his massive bulk really isn't built for distances like this. But as the saying goes in Löwenburg: "Where there are paths, there’s a wandering Löwenburger." And you certainly see quite a few Löwenburgers in the city today. Dulle has been in the capital of Edsmontik for just under four days, and the number of people in yellow and white keeps growing. Dulle has already run into several Legio fans, though fortunately, everything has remained very calm. Calm. That’s how Löwenburg’s last match went, too. They managed a draw against The Golden Harp, the team ranked 25th in the IAC. A... well, very boring match. Even Legio played better back when they were scraping the bottom of the table. But things did work out in the end; the defense was rock solid. You have to give credit to the "-3 tactic," then, it has already achieved its primary objective against a favorite.
Now, however, they are up against another underdog. Alina has her phone out. She quickly swipes through the photos of Dulle and Itzel taken a few hours ago at the Edsmontik Tank Museum. Even though no one in the small group is an expert on the subject, you can always have fun.
[spoiler][img]https://i.postimg.cc/L545VKzX/Dulle-and-Itzel-in-the-Tank-Museum.png[/img]
To the left, Dulle, to the right, Itzel. Both Ultras of Legio Löwenburg.
AI-modified real-life image. No credit taken. [/spoiler]
"Okay, let's take a look," she murmurs. Her browser is open now, searching for the route that will take her, slowly but surely, toward the stadium. Dulle turns away from the river and faces the massive skyline. From her small viewing platform, she has a fantastic view of the sprawling city, and of Touve’s Superarena. It is a gigantic structure. From a distance, it is slightly reminiscent of the King's Team’s King's Field in Löwenburg, though it outshines that venue completely thanks to the sheer brilliance of its blue LEDs. Standing in the middle of this vast park, the arena is truly impressive!
Today’s match is against none other than Arklanda. Like Löwenburg, the Green-White-Blues are currently unranked and competing in IAC 26. That might not sound particularly exciting at first, but it signifies one thing above all: passion, and a real battle on the pitch. Just like Löwenburg, this team, dating back to 1936, is making a comeback after a long hiatus from international play. And, as with Löwenburg, their opening performances are fascinating to watch. On a more serious note, however, the pressure is now on Löwenburg to deliver. Following their solid draw against Golden Harp, the national team needs to push on and, effectively, secure a win. This is their chance to pull away from the pack and keep their hopes of advancing to the next round alive. Yet Arklanda will be harboring similar ambitions. An incredible 3–3 draw against the formidable Edsmontik in their opening match might dampen expectations, but who knows? Perhaps the new tactical system can work wonders.
[pre][b][size=130]Großlöwenburg[/size][/b]
[size=90](4-2-3-1)[/size]
unchanged from the match against The Golden Harp
==================================================
[9]
Ludwig v. d. Linden
(Johannes Anton Lab.)
[10]
Vincze v. Tibor
(Martin Balderu)
[15] [11]
Johannes Franzisk. Georg Christopher
(Jan Alcove) (Ludwig Western-Ho.)
[6] [18]
Willi Zanzokavic Stefan Ziegler
(Samuel v. Lerida-B.) (Norbert Wilhelm-Mar.)
[2] [3] [21] [17]
Moritz Heiß Victor v. Meine Harold v. W. Niklas Weise
(E. Ballester) (R. Dominik) (F. v. Singen) (L. v. Lautern)
[1]
Ingen-Liechtenstein
(Philipp von Glauben.)
==================================================[/pre]
[hr][/hr][b]In the stadium[/b]
[align=center][box]'1
The ball rolls.[/box]
[box]'10
Löwenburg early on strong in possession, trying to figure out the Arklandan defensive lines. Christopher on the right side, surging forward to the end line, then pulling back again. Passes back to Ziegler. Ziegler with a quick turn, passes the ball diagonally into the box. Ludwig, having waited for such a ball, sees the ball pass two defenders, surges forward and intercepts it before the goalkeeper. WIth a calm chip over the keeper, the ball lands in the goal. GOAL FOR LÖWENBURG![/box]
[box]'11
The celebration is hot. The first international goal after 19 years has been scored! And of course by noone else, but Ludwig von den Linden. The top scorer of the national team.[/box]
[box]'13
Now, the Löwenburg national team has found fodder. They increase their attack.[/box]
[box]'13
The Golden Harp stays unmoved, continuing their aggressive play style, trying to play out their superior team and player complexes.[/box]
[box]'22
Löwenburg with stronger ball possession. So far keeping the opposing attackers away as well.[/box]
[box]'31
Löwenburg tries again, this time quickly over the left side with Franziskus. A quick match in the middle, Ludwig shoots the header shortly above the crossbar. Unlucky![/box]
[box]'32
But as well as this attack was, Löwenburg gets pushed immediately into defense again. The team runs back and Meine manages to intercept the ball before any worse happens.[/box]
[box]'38
Now again, Löwenburg attacks. The ball is lost.[/box]
[box]'39
But Zanzokavic, a work horse of the team, fights the ball back. The team pushes forward once more.[/box]
[box]'45
Now with possession in the opposite half of the field. They play and play, but for now Arklandas defense stays consistent. No gap like for the first goal is found, the posession lost. The first half is over. Now its time to increase the pressure once more, making sure to actually keep one goal ahead. Or the opposite? Lock everything down in the deepest haram ball? We will see, what Peter von Neustein brings out next half.[/box]
HALFTIME
[box]'49
Four months into the second half. Löwenburg immediately has taken control of the posession again, trying to dominate.[/box]
[box]'53
And it seems to work well. Löwenburg continues with pressure on the opponents.[/box]
[box]'56
The ball lands near Ziegler. An elegant turn and he has opened himself room, he finds Ludwig and pressure passes. The ball connects and Ludwig immediately plays back, in the new formed gap after ripping open the defending line. Ziegler, who started to run after the pass, tricks the ball through the legs of a defender and with a clean shot in the bottom left corner, scores the second goal! GOAL FOR LÖWENBURG!!![/box]
[box]'62
Löwenburg takes the pressure a bit back.[/box]
[box]'68
Arkanda attacking, but the defensive line holds.[/box]
[box]'74
Löwenburg in swing again, having most of the posession.[/box]
[box]'83
The match slows down. Arkanda walking against the bulwark, Löwenburg confidently playing it down.[/box]
[box]'90 +3
Most fans having already contented themselves with a 2:0 win, incredible. But in a last surge of activity, Liechtenstein pushes the ball to Heiß, who, without stopping, runs and runs and runs parallel the line. He switches back and passes the ball in the middle who Zanzokavic. Zanzokavic, turning up, immediately passes the ball to uprunning Ludwig who, turning elegantly, decides to shoot and brings the ball in the top right corner. An amazing goal. The whistle is blown. The team played perfect!!![/box]
[hr][/hr][b]The Cabin[/b]
Ludwig von den Linden stands shirtless in front of the camera. Still slightly flushed, he grins broadly at the lens. "Yeaaah," he bellows loudly. The presenter, Laura Iseling, laughs. "So, Ludwig, a truly fantastic game tonight. What’s the mood like in the dressing room?" she asks, glancing toward the locker room, where more mobile phone footage is set to follow. Ludwig leans down and speaks into the camera. "Well, it’s just fantastic. The atmosphere is amazing, and we’re incredibly pumped. It’s... unique, almost historic. We’re celebrating tonight, and naturally, we hope you’re celebrating at home, too." The camera briefly cuts to Löwenburg, where a crowd has already gathered in front of the city's "Siegessäule" aka Victory Column.
Laura turns back around. "You heard it. The atmosphere is electric. Löwenburg is buzzing with excitement; the tactics seem to be paying off, right? Back to the studio." She remains on screen for a moment longer before the feed returns to the Sport11 studio. A modern studio desk sits in a sunken area; this is the smaller secondary studio of the sports channel Sport11. The presenter, Karla Weiße, smiles, her teeth gleaming. "Thanks, Laura. Now, moving on to the rest of the program..." She turns at the desk toward the man standing to her right. It is Petr Anders, a Sport11 pundit and passionate football fan. "Petr, what do you have to say?"
"Thanks, Karla. Well, quite a bit. I hardly know where to start," he laughs. "It... worked out perfectly. We put in an incredibly strong performance, so composed and assured. We dominated our opponents for the entire match and handled any other chances that came our way with total confidence. I was already pleasantly surprised by our new defensive setup in the first game, and yeah, I think Peter von Neustein has really started something good there. The initial friendlies were pretty mixed, especially considering we weren't exactly playing against the elite of world football. We played against other unranked teams and still took a beating a few times. We heard... well, a lot of criticism along the lines of: 'Why doesn't he rotate the squad? Why aren't there any substitutions?' but it really seems to be paying off, slowly but surely. You could say that sticking to a routine and a fixed lineup is helping immensely. What’s also really crazy is that we haven't made a single substitution during a match yet. Granted, we’ve only played 90-minute games so far, but it’s still impressive. I mean, there’s always a relatively high risk of injury involved. Of course, it helps that our players have been on their winter break from Löwenburg for a while now—so they’re practically free this June, and, above all, that we have a competent team. And a willing team; the squad is really fired up. Every player can easily handle the full 90 minutes and, honestly, has consistently impressed throughout the tournament so far. Personally, I wouldn't even know which positions to rotate. That was one of the biggest points of criticism right at the start, but the squad is genuinely strong, even if I still think it could theoretically be made even stronger. In any case, the atmosphere is fantastic."
"Yes, thanks Petr for that atmosphere. Now, perhaps, what lies ahead?" "Well, really, the highlight of the group stage is still to come. It might sound surprising, but we’re playing for first place. Mind you, it’s against a massive team, a strong, successful side. We’re up against the hosts, Edsmontik. But I don’t think we need to hide. We’re definitely going into the match as clear underdogs, yet our last two results have shown what we’re capable of. We beat Arklanda, whereas Edsmontik only managed a draw. On the flip side, they beat The Golden Harp, while we only drew. I think it’ll be an exciting match, though the odds clearly favor Edsmontik. We need to defend cleanly and carefully, and then make good use of our absolute dream striker, Ludwig von den Linden. If we do that, we’ll get a result."
And with this momentary capture, we end the broadcast!
[pre]Group A Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Lionsroar 2 1 1 0 3 0 +3 4
2 Edsmontik 2 1 1 0 6 4 +2 4
3 The Golden Harp 2 0 1 1 1 3 −2 1
4 Arklanda 2 0 1 1 3 6 −3 1[/pre]