WEEK 1 RESULTS - October 7 (hallftime score in brackets)

Scottoria FC vs Nordland 2-1 (1-0)
Northern Reich vs The Scimitars 0-0 (0-0)
NVK Kaapstad Hornets vs Nordenstrom United 0-2 (0-1)
FC Noordrijk vs Italia 1-0 (0-0)

WEEK 2 SCHEDULE - October 14
The Scimitars vs NVK Kaapstad Hornets
Italia vs Northern Reich
FC Noordrijk vs Scottoria FC
Nordland vs Nordenstrom United

NORDREICH CUP QUARTERFINALS - October 10 and 17
NVK Kaapstad Hornets vs The Scimitars
Nordenstrom United vs Scottoria FC
Northern Reich vs Italia
Nordland vs FC Noordrijk

Herman Ólafsson of Nordenstorm United scored the first-ever league goal when Sven-Östein Haraldsson set him up for a shot in the penalty area against NVK Kaapstad Hornets goalkeeper Oskar Dietze just 1 minute ater the opening kick-off.

So which one are you again Botha?

Kaapstad Hornets. Team will require a lot of work to make it into a contender. A lot of problem players to sort through and no offense apart from Ricardo. My money is on Nordenstrom to run away with it, as him and me are the only ones with any X11 experience.

So 14 week season... is there a Cup?

Yes, the Nordreich Cup. If we have the time, then a second cup will probably be set up.

WEEK 2 RESULTS - October 14
The Scimitars vs NVK Kaapstad Hornets 1-2 (1-2)
Nordland vs Nordenstrom United 1-2 (0-0)
FC Noordrijk vs Scottoria FC 0-5 (0-3)
Italia vs Northern Reich 0-1 (0-1)

WEEK 3 SCHEDULE - October 21
Scottoria FC vs Italia
The Scimitars vs Nordland
NVK Kaapstad Hornets vs Northern Reich
Nordenstrom United vs FC Noordrijk

WEEK 3 RESULTS - October 21
Scottoria FC vs Italia 5-0 (5-0)
NVK Kaapstad Hornets vs Northern Reich 1-1 (1-1)
The Scimitars vs Nordland 2-0 (0-0)
Nordenstrom United vs FC Noordrijk 5-1 (3-1)

WEEK 4 SCHEDULE - October 28
NVK Kaapstad Hornets vs Italia
Scottoria FC vs Nordenstrom United
FC Noordrijk vs The Scimitars
Nordland vs Northern Reich

POINTS LEADERS
8 Rusty Meredith (F) - Scottoria FC
5 Doinel Noureanu (MF) - Nordenstrom United
4 Sven-Östein Haraldsson (MF) - Nordenstrom United
4 Gilberto Bresciano (MF) - Scottoria FC

GOALS LEADERS
8 Rusty Meredith (F) - Scottoria FC
3 Doinel Noureanu (MF) - Nordenstrom United
2 Sven-Östein Haraldsson (MF) - Nordenstrom United
2 Arved Lokko (F) - Northern Reich
2 Tiburtino Piçarra (MF) - The Scimitars
2 Adrie de Korte (F) - FC Noordrijk
2 Herman Ólafsson (F) - Nordenstrom United

X11 MVP LEADERS
3 Kristján Sigurdson (MF) - Nordenstrom United
3 Rusty Meredith (F) - Scottoria FC
3 Hillo Maalepp (GK) - Northern Reich

PLAYER RATINGS LEADERS
11 Hillo Maalepp (GK) - Northern Reich
10 Rusty Meredith (F) - Scottoria FC
10 Dakarai Baako (MF) - NVK Kaapstad Hornets
10 Kristján Sigurdson (MF) - Nordenstrom United

WEEK 4 RESULTS - October 28
NVK Kaapstad Hornets vs Italia 4-1 (3-1)
Scottoria FC vs Nordenstrom United 3-2 (2-0)
FC Noordrijk vs The Scimitars 2-3 (0-1)
Nordland vs Northern Reich 0-2 (0-0)

WEEK 5 SCHEDULE - November 4
NVK Kaapstad Hornets vs Nordland
Italia vs Nordenstrom United
Northern Reich vs FC Noordrijk
The Scimitars vs Scottoria FC

NORDREICH CUP FINALS - November 7 and 14
Nordenstrom United vs Scottoria FC

NORDREICH CUP FINALS

November 7 and November 14 – Nordenstrom United (Baron Zemo) vs Northern Reich (st6mm)

TEAM REVIEWS

GOALKEEPING: Edge to Northern Reich; keeper Hillo Maalepp is clearly the best keeper currently in the Nordreich Liga with a soild back-up in Oliver Miester who in his own right could be a starter for many clubs. Nordenstrom’s netminding is middle of the pack and relies solely on the heroics of Hélio Ferraz. The only other player likely capable of playing in net as an emergency back-up would be 18 year-old Arsi Ylén – who is also the least skilled player on the entire squad. An injury to Ferraz would spell disaster to Nord U and likely their fortunes for the season. Northern Reich currently has the highest form for keepers in the Liga while Nordenstrom down near the bottom. If Northern Reich wins the Cup, it will probably be the result of rock-solid goalkeeping from Maalepp.

FULLBACKS: Nordenstrom possesses the second strongest defense (behind Kaapstad) while Northern Reich has the worst. Reich is bolstered however with high defensive form right now, whether it is enough to narrow down the talent gap is unknown.

MIDFIELD: Nordenstrom again is near the top for strongest midfield while Reich toils near the bottom. Both teams have very high form in their midfield lines, should Nordenstrom win this is probably where it will be done.

ATTACK: Northern Reich has a slight edge both in talent and in current player form.

A TALE OF TWO TEAMS: While Nordenstrom has gone the route of buying up talent, Northern Reich is going for a more longterm road in investing in player development. These two teams will quickly develop a hate-on rivalry on the pitch as they face each other an unprecedented four times in an 18 day span – two cup games which after the November 14 final then immediately leads into their back-to-back league series.

WEEK 5 RESULTS - November 4
NVK Kaapstad Hornets vs Nordland 2-0 (2-0)
Italia vs Nordenstrom United 0-4 (0-4)
Northern Reich vs FC Noordrijk 3-1 (3-0)
The Scimitars vs Scottoria FC 0-2 (0-1)

WEEK 6 SCHEDULE - NOVEMBER 11
Italia vs Nordland
FC Noordrijk vs NVK Kaapstad Hornets
Nordenstrom United vs The Scimitars
Northern Reich vs Scottoria FC

First leg of Final ends in 0-0 draw

Northern Reich and Nordenstrom United played to a 0-0 draw today in the first leg of the Nordreich Cup Finals - which sets up next week's second leg in Nordenstrom as a winner-takes-all barnburner.

Northern Reich played a stifling 4-5-1 defensive game in front of keeper Hillo Maalepp which shut down Nordenstrom's attack-minded 4-4-2 line-up and made life miserable for Nordenstrom playmaker Kristján Sigurdson. Goal-scoring opportunities were limited, with just 2 for Nordenstrom and 3 for Reich.

Overall, edge goes to Northern Reich in this match although Nordenstrom will enjoy the benefits of home advantage in what will be the decider. Form will be a factor and it will be interesting to see how the teams cope with that heading into the match as Northern Reich face a tough opponent in the guise of league-leading Scottoria in their league fixture this Wednesday while Nordenstrom will have a much easier time versus fifth-place Scimitars. Reich will have to train hard to recover should Scottoria defeat them as expected.

Hornets sign Namibian forward prospect

Kaapstad Hornets made a couple of unexpected roster changes this morning when injured veteran goalkeeper Tafadzwa Masamba was released so that Manager Bartnel Botha could sign promising junior prospect Desmond Nghaamwa.

“We lost Masamba to a nasty injury in our last cup match against Northern Reich and he would be out for our next four or five matches. While I would have kept him on, when Desmond Nghaamwa suddenly came on our scouting radar, he was just too good to pass up on despite us having a real glut of young forward prospects.”

“In the past month we have been most fortunate in acquiring two junior youngsters who will potentially evolve into quality players in two or three seasons. Last month we signed chippy speedster Sipho Griekwa, who we are grooming to take over freekicking duties when Izmir Jejaz is not available, and now comes Desmond, who hails from Namibia and very fast and adept at heading the ball. Combine these two with Harald Heidrich and Bernie Forbes acquired off the transfer wire and we now have the core future of attack for the next 10 or so seasons.”

WEEK 6 RESULTS - NOVEMBER 11
Italia vs Nordland 1-2 (1-1)
FC Noordrijk vs NVK Kaapstad Hornets 3-4 (0-1)
Nordenstrom United vs The Scimitars 4-1 (3-0)
Northern Reich vs Scottoria FC 1-0 (1-0)

WEEK 7 SCHEDULE - NOVEMBER 18
Nordenstrom United vs Northern Reich
Scottoria FC vs NVK Kaapstad Hornets
Nordland vs FC Noordrijk
The Scimitars vs Italia

NORDREICH CUP FINALS
Novmeber 7 - Northern Reich vs Nordenstrom 0-0
November 14 - Nordenstrom vs Northern Reich

Nordenstrom are Nordreich Cup victors

Nordenstrom United 1, Northern Reich 0

A capacity crowd at Martyrs Field in Nordenstrom were overjoyed as their hometown heroes walked away with the inaugural Nordreich Cup championship. Midfielder Kristján Sigurdson booted home a penalty kick in what would be the lone goal of the entire final series.

Referee Ian Hartman got the match underway at half past nine o’clock on what was a brisk but clear morning. The opening stages were fairly uneventful although Nordenstrom United – in their all-green kit – maintained command of the ball for the first nine minutes before Northern Reich – who were sporting blue sweaters and black shorts – finally gained some possession.

Four minutes later, the Reich coughed up the ball to their opponents which then set up midfielder Gláucio Espada for a lobbed header which was deftly tapped over the crossbar by Reich’s star keeper Hillo Maalepp.

Arved Lokko of Northern Reich was booked for elbowing in the 23rd minute and the two teams engaged in some frenzied, back-and-forth play to regain better control. Nordenstrom finally re-gained the upper hand and worked the ball around to set up fullback Harald Helgason for an attempt off a flicked head. Surprisingly enough for the air-ball pro, Helgason was not even close as Maalepp watched it safety sail up and over him.

In the dying seconds before Referee Ian Harman blew the half-time whistle, Nordenstrom picked up their first yellow card when Hélio Ferraz was booked for dangerous play when he injured Northern Reich’s forward Tommi Liik slightly. Henrik Kerem was substituted in his place.

A couple of minutes after the second stanza got underway, Nordenstrom midfielder Sven-Östein Haraldsson had a dangerous attempt against Maalepp when a freekick was lifted up and Haraldsson half-volleyed it at goal. Once again, the stalwart Hillo Maalepp took care of the ball and kept Northern Reich’s hopes alive against what was proving to be a tough opponent to crack.

Nordenstrom was booked again in the 52nd minute when Örlygur Harðarson received a yellow card from Referee Ian Hartman for unsportsmanlike conduct – however Reich was unable to capitalise from the resulting free kick.

Nordenstrom’s captain, the midfielder Kristján Sigurdson was then set up for a real dangerous free kick attempt on goal in the 66th minute but he lost some of his footing and the ball missed by around three or four feet.

Reich fullback Thomas Kaiser then received a yellow card for brutal play a couple of minutes later.

At the 77th minute, the match’s first and only goal was scored when Nordenstrom United were awarded a penalty kick. Kristján Sigurdson, as team captain, stepped up for the attempt on Hillo Maalepp and he expertly curved the ball past the Northern Reich keeper. The home crowd erupted in cheering and Martyrs Field was never quiet again as the incessant cheering and singing urged the Nordenstorm players onwards to victory.

The remainder of the match was anti-climatic and there would be no last-minute heroics from Northern Reich, Sigurdson’s goal seeming to take the wind out of their sails. In the 83rd minute, Reich finally saw their first possession of the ball in the second half but by then it was too late. Reich would be held to zero shots on net for the entire match.

In the dying minutes, Anton Kruuv was booked for handling the ball and during the three minutes of overtime, Sven-Östein Haraldsson left the match after picking up a slight injury. Then in the 93rd minute, Referee Ian Hartmen blew the final whistle and pandemonium broke out as Nordenstrom fans ran onto the pitch to congratulate their new heroes.

BARON ZEMO CUP

The Nordreich Liga is pleased to announce the commencement of its second cup tournament: the Baron Zemo Cup – a one-match-per-round tournament which will be played at neutral locations throughout Nordland to showcase the Nordreich Liga and build interest for future league expansion.

Unlike the Nordreich Cup which is the ‘annual’ league championship cup, the Baron Zemo Cup Competition will be the inaugural secondary tournament open for sponsorship. Instead of two seeded matches per round, the secondary tournament is a random-fixture, one-match winner-takes all format. Future secondary tournaments will feature different sponsorship opportunities to promote Nordreich Liga soccer football as well as Nordreich as a whole.

QUARTER-FINALS - NOVEMBER 21

Nordland vs FC Noordrijk
Nordenstrom United vs Northern Reich
Scottoria FC vs The Scimitars
Italia vs NVK Kaapstad Hornets

BARON ZEMO CUP - QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS

FC Noordrijk defeated Nordland 1-0 ET
Nordenstrom United defeated Northern Reich 1-0 ET
Scottoria FC defeated The Scimitars 4-0 (0-0 at half)
NVK Kaapstad Hornets defeated Italia 4-1 (2-1 at half)