Novice

Zdravo. Sem Noflik, manager ekipe Niflheims Vikinger v nizozemski ligi V.196. To sezono bom vaš vodič skozi zanimive zgode in nezgode na Hattrick Mastersu!

V tokratni izvedbi bo pokal Hattrick Masters pozdravil kar 193 tekmovalcev, od tega 3 bivše zmagovalce: Beltxis, AC Ziky Team in Hapoel Nahariya. Bo katera od teh legendarnih ekip prva v zgodovini, ki ji bo uspelo dvakrat okusiti slast zmage na tem prestižnem turnirju? Njihova prva naloga je seveda uvrstitev v naslednji krog...

Med drugimi favoriti se bodo latvijski prvaki SX 200 pomerili z nizozemskim moštvom Ruckers Utd, ki so posebej za Masters nakupili celotno ekipo zvezd iz realnega življenja. Ekipa, ki stavi na močno sredino, MTigers iz Romunije, se bo spopadla z izjemno močnim prvakom Bundeslige, ekipo Tantris Shanghai. Tudi nekateri manjši in mlajši klubi imajo lepo priložnost, da se prebijejo v drugi krog. Eden od teh je Iraqi King Akre, ki bo proti zastopniku države Trinidad & Tobagon, Wes Side Connection, poskušal igrati za napredovanje. Poleg tega je tu še karibski derbi med prvakoma Jamajke in Barbadosa.

Nekatere ekipe bodo imele dokaj lahek prvi krog in nekaj favoritov bo moralo podpisati predajo že v začetnem delu, a po 1. krogu bomo vendarle korak bližje končnemu razpletu, kateri klub se bo tokrat vpisal v Hattrick zgodovino, ter se tako vpisal med nesmrtne.

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Prvi krog
Turnir se je končno začel! Prvi krog je bil usoden za kar nekaj močnih moštev, a glavni favoriti za naslov ostajajo v igri.

Romasz, klub, ki za plače med udeleženci Mastersa namenja največ denarja, se je moral zelo potruditi, da je prebil bunker hongkonškega Liverpool Football Cluba (1982). Odločilni sta bili poškodba in zmeda v gostujočih vrstah, ki ju je Romasz kaznoval v zadnjih 10 minutah. Kdor je videl le rezultat, je ob visoki zmagi Hapoela Nahariye s 6-2 morda pomislil, da so Izraelci imeli lahko delo, a temu ni bilo tako. -Alberto- se je namreč z mogočno sredino odlično upiral. Lastnik kluba Tantris Shanghai je pokazal zvrhano mero poguma z izbiro sistema 5-2-3, a nasprotnik iz Romunije, MTigers, je odigral izjemno in slavil s 4-0. Še ena ekipa, ki je pokazala odlično predstavo, je Stiinta United, ki je izločila osuple Belair Allstars.

Kar nekaj trenerjev je v boju proti na papirju močnejšemu nasprotniku vse stavilo na napad. Eden tistih, ki mu je uspelo nemogoče, je bil trener CA Santaneco Juniorsov iz El Salvadorja, ki je z zmago 5-0 napredovanje onemogočil angleškim prvakom, Potato Headsom.

V Tokiu so gledalci spremljali nepričakovano tesno tekmo med Kawasaki Tigersi in Nöibärnom. Domači so sicer imeli žogo v nogah večino časa, a vrata so bila zanje zakleta. Dolgo je kazalo, da bo zadostoval zadetek iz 4. minute, toda gostujoči napadalec Tubbing je v 76. minuti z na videz nenevarnim strelom izenačil. Tigri so po prejetem zadetku vršili hud pritisk na vrata honduraške enajsterice in nekaj minut pred koncem jim je dvoboj vendarle uspelo odločiti v svojo korist.

The 2nd Round already has some big games in store for us: MTigers will face former HT Masters Hapoel Nahariya, an “English” derby between Oceanic champions FC Sudtirol Alto Adige and English cup winners Holy Rollers. Estonian-side Lazybones will face Nordby, a team residing in the Norwegian Tippeligaen t’s 8th season in a row. And can the Canadian-based Thoroughbreds put a stop to the big spender from Poland, Romasz?

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2nd Round
The 2nd round proved to be a real warzone, leaving 36 players injured. The roughest match was between AC AS and Erster Im Länden where 3 players had to be brought off in stretchers. This round also had some close matches, a total of 4 games ended in 5-4 after extra time.

Last season’s winner Beltxis have been defeated very early this time around, Traktorist proved to be a too strong opponent and managed to bring it on down after extra time: 2-1. MTigers were the first team to reach divine (very high) midfield this season, but it wasn’t enough to beat Hapoel Nahariya in a stunning match, the former champions left Romania with a 4-3 victory. Not all games were exciting however, the one between Saints Regia and Straikeris was one of defensive play. Both managers decided to play a 4-5-1 lineup, which resulted in only a handful of shots on goal. And if things weren’t bad enough for the home crowd, the away-team Straikeris left with a 1-0 victory.

AC Ziky Team had not a care in the world after they got up 2-0 at half time against Hlv86. In the 2nd half things turned around pretty rapidly, after just 17 minutes of play Hlv86 found themselves leading 3-2. How Hlv86 managed to stay ahead, no one knows, but somehow they did and the unlucky AC Ziky Team are out of the Masters. FC Café Ubåden are also out of the
Masters, after pounding SC Buochs with a recordbreaking 13-0 in the first round, GB Rovers were too strong: 2-4.

Lazybones seemed to have chosen their teamname carefully, against Nordby the players started very lazy and conceded 4 goals before half time. Only in the last 10 minutes they picked up the pace and scored 3 goals, creating a nervewrecking injury time. It didn’t come to extra time, because Nordby held up and won 4-3.

The 3rd round draws 2 nation-clashes already. The Norwegian forces Nordby and Trondheim Thunder, and the surprising Angolese teams AC Luanda and AC AS have to face eachother. But just like any round, some big games are coming up aswell: Belarussian champions FC Boars will meet Croatian cupwinners Viva Ludež in an Eastern European clash. Hapoel Nahariya has a tough draw once again, they must face Latvian FK Pirates this time, and Portuguese champions Teamaço has to visit the impressive Ukranian champions FC Granit.

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3rd Round

The 3rd round saw the fall of the last former champion that was still in the Masters, Hapoel Nahariya. FK Pirates did a good job in deregulating Nahariya’s play and managed to beat them in their own stadium with 2-1. The first penalty-decider in this seasons’ Masters also occured this round, FC Boars was on the lucky side here, they beat Viva Ludež after being dominated the entire 2nd half.

Iraqi King Akre is slowly but surely getting better. In the first rounds they were hardly impressive, now they managed to beat Club Atletico Santaneco Juniors with an inspiring 8-2. The Luandese derby between AC Luanda and AC AS showed the meaning of soul, these 2 squads with relatively low funds were going all out, and only in the 88th minute did the homeside AC Luanda score the winning 2-1 goal in this thriller. The victory didn’t come without a cost, 2 players from AC Luanda will be injured for a considerate time due to horribly misplaced tackles made by the AC AS players.

Another thriller was being played in Belgium, Spiroezie and Schlappekickerhausen both scored 4 goals in regular time, in which especially Spiroezie played very strong. In extra time it was Spiroezie who scored the golden goal, putting a 5-4 result on the scoreboard. The other golden goal decider was between Sport Latita and FC Sudtirol Alto Adige, Sport Latita showed some fierce counters but it was FC Sudtirol Alto Adige who managed to score the golden goal: 1-2.

The 4th round, with only 32 teams left, has some serious games coming up. The Belgian and Ukranian cupwinners Spiroezie and Traktorist will very likely create a great match. A western European clash between German Boca JBA and Belgian FC Goudenploeg, FC Boars from Belarus will visit Poland to face Romasz, and the only African team still in, AC Luanda has a decent shot at beating their Japanese opponents United Min.

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4th Round

We’re almost halfway, smaller teams are slowly but surely getting knocked out and teams are pulling out the big guns. Spiroezie and Traktorist played the, arguably, best game so far. Spiroezie lead almost the entire game, but won only 2-1 in this close match. This wasn’t a game for the leftbacks, all goals came from an attack on the right.

Romasz managed to win with 3-1 again, the 3rd time this tournament. This time, FC Boars was on the losing end. Sini Zverove may have put themselves in a favourites position after their incredible 7-2 victory over Deportivo Flecha. Vienna Warlords had a great track record so far, they scored 18 and conceded just 1 goal. Opponent Alderwood Chiefs couldn’t show these numbers, but they probably won’t mind that much after a sound 4-1 victory.

FK Pirates managed to kick out another high profile team, Kawasaki Tigers put up a good match. But FK Pirates showed great stamina, just like last round, and scored twice in the last minutes of the game, resulting in a 4-2 win for the Pirates.

The 5th round will be with teams from all around the world, no nation has 2 teams left. Noth America’s last hope, Alderwood Chiefs, will face FK Pirates in Latvia, and South America’s last contender Camiseta Blanqirroja will go to Portugal and play Fon Utd FC. As for the big games, FC Granit can take a Ukranian revenge against Belgian Spiroezie, and Sini Zverove from Bulgaria gets Kastelin from France as visitors.