Hi! I'm Staleno, and I'm the manager of Fusa Farmers in Norwegian 4th division. I will try to guide you through this season's edition of the Hattrick Masters.
Round 1182 teams from 112 nations were qualified for the 3rd edition of the Hattrick Masters. The first time for some managers, others had been here before. After the draw was done, some drew a sigh of relief as they got a walkover directly into round 2, and some had to prepare for the hardest match of their entire career.
Nearly all teams fielded their best teams - of course some much better than others, but all with the same will to win. Some favourites, like legendary Xeq Matt from Brazil faltered, while most other favourites won easily.
Among all the teams that played in round one, one team was in a league of it's own - FC Meyriez from Switzerland. But with a salary level higher than they can manage, the Hattrick Football Association surely must take some actions soon? Those who wait will see.
Round 2This is where it really begins. No more walkovers, and all teams had to fight to get through to the next round. At this stage it became clear that several teams were taking a shot at the Masters Wreath.
One of them was Arezzo Galasocaray from Italy who thrashed poor Wanafunzi 11-0, and another was I L.S.F. from Russia. I L.S.F. is actually the team with most victories in the Masters ever, and have participated in all 3 tournaments!
Once again, brilliant teams were knocked out. These include Ekvilibristene from Denmark, Beltxis from Venezuela, Rigid Royalists from Norway, Otis' Looney Tunes from Wales and Cio Soon from Portugal to mention a few.
Once again one team was miles ahead of the others, but it was not FC Meyriez. It was Alberto Garcia from Guatemala. But like FC Meyriez they have severe economical problems, and risk bankruptcy.
Round 3At this stage no weak teams remained and every match would be a tough one. The most remarkable match was perhaps the match between Fc Pärtna and Fosforos Cassovia. FC Pärtna fielded a terrifying lineup, and was eventually victorious. And unlike FC Meyriez and Alberto Garcia, FC Pärtna has a healthy economy, and are able to pay their star players.
As the oldest country, Sweden has a brilliant history in the World Cups, but they have a dark history in Hattrick Masters. It seems now that the curse has been broken, and famous Fumpen made it through to round 4.
A few other teams that put up great performances was Alderwood Chiefs from Canada, F.C Haifa from Israel and Herron from Singapore.
Round 4The 32 remaining teams come mostly from the big leagues, but there are also teams from small Hattrick nations like Chinese Taipei, Guatemala, India, Thailand and Vietnam. The remaining 32 teams come from 30 different countries! Only USA and Singapore still has 2 teams in the cup, which truly makes the Hattrick Masters an international tournament.
All matches are of interest now, but here are some of the most interesting matches in round 4: Haifa - FC BARCELONA
(95597669), Alberto Garcia - tyz26
(95597671), FC Meyriez - Radio Flyers
(95597677) and last, but not least: Fc Pärtna - I L.S.F.
(95597679). The favourite, the money monster from Estonia versus the Masters veterans from Russia. Stay tuned!
Round 4 brought us no huge surprises, but some managers left the tournament more disappointed than others..
It was hardly a big surprise, but it's worth noting that one of the favourites - FC BARCELONA lost a close match
(95597669) against F.C Haifa. The remaining three previously announced matches all ended in favourite victories and a combined goal difference of 10-0! The two teams with the most total victories in the Masters, I L.S.F.
(178385) from Russia and FC Murikka
(21916) from Finland were both knocked out.
But not all teams had the same goals in the tournament. Dvorista United
(95112), as an example, was happy with the tournament despite losing by six goals. And Vitezovi
(393373) from Bosnia probably never expected to go through to round 5 before the tournament started.
But the game that caught everyone's attention today was this one
(95597671). Alberto Garcia fielded one of the strongest lineups in Hattrick's history. Can they be stopped? On Monday they meet FC Meyriez away; a formidable task, and the game to watch. But don't forget the other 7 matches!
Round 5Quite a few thrilling matches today, and the most entertaining one was perhaps F.C Haifa - Stiinta United
(95735452). The teams were leading two times each, but the home team scored two late goals to secure the 4-3 win. 4-3 was also the score in Vitezovi - C Blooming
(95735449), a game between two of the biggest surprises in the tournament. When will it stop for Vitezovi?
The thrashing of the round came in Sweden where Fumpen
(38794) won 6-0 against the strong Herron
(37558) from Singapore.
FC Meyriez’ super team was easily stopped by divine team Alberto Garcia – quite a team manager aglopez has put together in just one and a half year! The other favourite, FC Pärtna had more trouble, but eventually won 2-1 against Husum Dreamteam
(6791) from Germany.
Only 8 teams remain in the cup, and after the quarter finals on Thursday there will only be 4.
Quarter FinalsMany were hoping for a surprise or two, but the quarter finals gave us four favourite wins. F.C. Haifa had an almost impossible task against Alberto Garcia, but it turned out to be a hopeless battle. Even though Haifa lost 0-4, it’s been a great tournament for the champions of Israel.
In the second match, surprise team Nekro
(110040) from Argentina were finally stopped. They put up a good fight, but Italian Arezzo Galasocaray
(9101) were simply too strong. Arezzo is now only one win behind I L.S.F. on the marathon table for Hattrick Masters.
Fc Pärtna - Vitezovi
(95878508) was the closest of the four quarterfinals. Pärtna were huge favourites, but it was Vitezovi who took the lead. Pärtna equalized shortly after, but had to wait until 7 minutes before the final whistle before they scored the winning goal. I think it’s fair to say that Vitezovi from Bosnia and Hercegovina has the biggest surprise in the tournament. At least so far…
Manager karate and his team Fumpen are ready for the semi finals after beating NK batman
(117007) 2-0, and has definitely broken “the Swedish HM-curse”. But also their Slovenian opponent has good reason to be pleased with the tournament.
The semi finals look very exciting. The two outsiders are taking on one favourite each, and not many expect them to win. In Hattrick it doesn’t happen every day that the neutral fan will cheer for Sweden (and Italy), but on Monday that will probably be the case. The two favourites will go bankrupt after the tournament, and are not very popular outside the borders of their country.