Philip The Great

Nation: VolNation Ruler: Philip The Great Style: +4 Alliance: NOAH Link: http://www.cybernations.net/nation_drill_d...ation_ID=124673 This time, we are going all the way!

VolNation's singular goal, the goal that all our focus and concentration is on, the goal that we will not lose sight of, no matter what, is . . . . (ahem, what was it again... it seems to have slipped my mind... that person in the back of the room distracted me... it's a conspiracy, I'd say) Oh yes! Our goal is to take back the Liga Trophy and win the league again! Watch out! Here we come!!!!!

VolNation's plan is to totally dominate to competition ... MWAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!! Seriously, though, our midfield has always been old, and is seriously old now, and we might have a forward opening after this season as well, so we are looking hard at the youth leagues for these two areas, as econ is chronically low. I fear that the VolNation dominance will be ending soon, unless the youth talent pool gives us some quick winners. Fortunately, good coaching never goes out of style...

Looks like I need more wins! I've slipped to third...

Looks like an Ark Premier team is in each pool! Go Ark!

The Ark Premier League has moved to a NOAH sponsored league, meaning that membership is no longer a requirement (but is always welcome...) Please update the thread, and the Ark has set sail for Season 8!

Already one of the new managers have taken his team and shredded one of the established clubs 6-0 in a friendly! There are clubs open for you! Come apply today!

I concur. Who comes here specifically looking for sports and will go multiple pages to find it?

I'm in!

The doors to the Ark remain open for 4 more days! Hop on board the Ark Premier League

The Nations Of Ascended Honor (NOAH), which is one of the greatest football (soccer) alliances in CyberNations, is pleased to invite the strongest, the fastest, the best and the brightest of your nation's sports stars to come to the the Ark Premier League, the official football (soccer) league of NOAH and one of the sanctioned leagues in the FIFOB. For the first time ever, the doors of the Ark are being opened to the Friends of NOAH, which means that all are welcome to be a part of the rich tradition that is the Ark Premier League! The winner of the Champions Division earnes the right to forever hold this season's prestigious Ark Trophy of Glory. However, the competition will be stiff, as all have their eyes on the prize, so if you have what it takes, you and your nation will be known as one of the few, the best, the brightest in the annals of football! In addition, since the Ark Premier is one of the sanctioned leagues in the FIFOB, your results go toward improving your ranking in the FIFOB World Rankings. Applications for new nations to join are now being accepted! The Ark Premier League is a competitive league hosted on the Xpert Eleven site, which is free to all, so it is easy and quick to learn how to compete. No prior knowledge or ownership of any program is necessary to be competitive. In the league, you manage a team, both in the forming and training of the team, and also in the setting of rosters and tactics for every match. You even have the options of buying and selling talent, as well as developing new players from the youth league. And, of course, you get to match up against other players on the pitch and watch as the games are played out, to see how your carefully selected players compete on the world stage in their quest to win the coveted Ark Trophy of Glory! A unique opportunity is being offered this season, as two managers of teams that have been around since the first season have just retired, and their developed clubs are ready to have the reins taken by a new nation. This opportunity is a first come, first serve opportunity to take over Celtic and the Crusaders and make the legend that is their clubs part of your legend, as well. However, you also have the opportunity to start your team from the beginning to see if you can guide and develop your club all the way to the summit of the Ark. Whichever way is your preference, it is yours and all you need is to apply! To apply, follow the link and sign up for league 112665: Ark Premier League. Registration is open through Sunday, February 22, 2009, so join today! The Ark Premier League is hosted by NOAH, it is not a requirement to be a member of NOAH to join. However, if you currently do not belong to an alliance, or are looking for a new alliance, feel free to join NOAH and register for Season 6. Applications to join NOAH are found here, and the link for instructions to enter the Ark Premier League is in the Ministry of Sport. Join us as and discover what football is like on the open seas in the Ark, and be ready for a fun ride! For more information: Ark Premier League Wiki site NOAH Forums NOAH Wiki site

ARGH! I DO NOT LIKE this redoing of the boards. I've spent way too long looking for this thread and all the other important ones! High praise and congrats to ALDM for their title! The king is dead (just wait till next season... ), Long live the King!

Congrats Traansvaal! Hard work pays off big dividends! I was pulling hard for you Tritonia! It would have been so sweet to have had you repeat as champion again! Go NOAH!

Sorry for the outage in posts, but I've been away, and trying to catch up with EVERYTHING. Will post on loss in coming days, but congrats to Tritonia! You guys put in a hard days work and got the win for it, and you deserve it! Best of luck to you and take it all!

It was truly a party atmosphere at Hollowpoints Stadium where the VolNation Mighty Volunteers and Connecticut met for the first round of the elimination round. The energy in the stadium and the boisterous fans wearing their respective orange and blue gave the feeling of another Women's Final Four matchup instead of the first matchup between these football powers. Yet there was no mistaking the seriousness of the faces of the players, as "lose-and-go-home" was clearly on their minds. With VolNation Power playing their final seasonal match against the division leaders today and Ian Robertson suspended for today's match for accumulating too many yellow cards, Coach Philip deployed a 4-3-3 squad featuring many of the well-rested Ark Premier players, with some Liga Mundo players filling in the gap. Getting the nod for the start in this elimination match was: GK: #15 Oscar Sørgård (Liga Mundo) LB: #3 Doug Breckin (Ark Premier), Captain CB: #13 Caleb Reichle (Ark Premier) SW: #5 Steve Meadows (Ark Premier) RB: #2 Red Moreno (Liga Mundo) LM: #8 Nathaniel Reichle (Ark Premier) CM: #7 Damon Abdon (Ark Premier), Playmaker RM: #6 Duncan Stamford (Ark Premier) LW: #11 James "Moneyman" Turner (Ark Premier) CF: #10 John-Henry Carey (Ark Premier) RW: #30 Chad Goodwin (Liga Mundo) With a complete Ark midfield, Coach Philip called for the Ark's "Rolling Midfield", where all the midfielders intersperse the playmaking duties, to keep the opposition off-guard. Breckin got to go back to his normal left fullback position as Meadows replaced Stewart in the sweeper role. With Robertson off on his yellow card vacation, Goodwin rotated into Robertson's right wing slot, keeping the VolNation speed on the flanks. Perhaps Connecticut was awed by the magnitude of this match, but the Mighty Vols were ready to attack, and they quickly took charge. Only 3 minutes into the match, Stamford found the Moneyman cutting toward the left pole, and the Moneyman flicked in the shot, eliciting calls of "Cha-Ching!" from the VolNation faithful, who were eager to see a Volunteer victory over Connecticut. Only three minutes later, Moreno lofted a deep shot that looked like it might go past the Connecticut goal line. Underestimating the speed of the Mighty Vols, the Connecticut right back pulled up, only to see N. Reichle blaze by him, track down the ball before it went over the line, pull off a slick retrograde move to get into position, and fake out the keeper while putting it into the upper corner for the 2-0 lead. Next, the Mighty Vols got the Connecticut defense to collapse onto the goal as the Moneyman looked to take it in from the wing. Respecting the Moneyman's skill, Connecticut left Abdon open at the top of the box. This was a mistake that Abdon would make Connecticut pay for as a 29 meter shot into the top left corner meant that the Mighty Vols were up 3-0. At the 25 minute mark, Connecticut was able to pull the score back to 3-1 when they generated a seeing-eye shot from 28 meters out. This was quickly answered in the 35th minute as Stamford responded with a ranged blast of his own that curled away from the keeper and into the net to restore the 3 goal lead. After the half, it was the Mighty Vols that applied the pressure as Stamford took a feed into the box and was promptly leveled by a Connecticut defender at the 50 minute mark. Tempers flew, especially from the Mighty Vol side when a red card was not forthcoming against the Connecticut defender, but only a yellow. However, since it was in the box, Stamford took his aggression out on the ball in his penalty kick and smoked a shot into the right sie of the net that the keeper simply had no chance for. Then in the 63rd minute, it was the Moneyman who came up big again off of a Moreno corner kick as he outjumped everyone in a pack in front of the goal and somehow snuck a header right past the Conecticut keeper, and now the Mighty Vols has amassed a 6-1 lead. Connecticut was able to find their way past Sørgård from 34 meters out later in the 85th minute, but it was simply too little, too late to stop the Mighty Vols from advancing to face Last Man Utd in the Round of 16. After the match, Coach Philip noted, "We are seeing a good number of teams with little experience making these later rounds. While they are green, they could more than easily make up for this disadvantage if they were able to hang close, and we have seen some top teams, like Arcadia, get knocked out because they let their opponent believe they belonged here. This is why we are attempting to overwhelm them early, and so far, the strategy seems to be working Congrats to Connecticut for making it this far, and best of luck to them for the future." It was announced today that Mark Lara has been named MVP in Division 6:43 in the Power league. This is the second time he has garnered this honor. In addition, he finished 1st in assists in the Division, which is the 4th time that this has happened. Applications for Season 8 in the Ark Premier League are now being accepted from any nation desiring to boost their FIFOB rankings, as the Ark Premier League is one of FIFOB's approved league on Xpert11! VolNation congratulates fellow NOAH and Ark Premier League member Tritonia for their 4-0 victory over Novaja Zemlja. Go Tritonia!!!

I feel like I'm on the slow boat on this one, but I'm in! ENTRY FORM NATION: VolNation RULER: Philip The Great NATION LINK: http://www.cybernations.net/message.asp?ID=34687993 NATIONALITY OF TEAM: (see list above) USA

With With two wins and promotion to the elimination stage in the pocket, the VolNation Mighty Volunteers last group match was against Kevodia in Old Dragonia Stadium. Kevodia was tied with the Mighty Vols with 6 points, and while nothing more than pride was being played for in this match, the Mighty Vols always feel like pride is worth playing for. With VolNation Power playing a critical match and Abdon and N. Reichle needed for reserve duty on a friendly being played in the Ark in matches today, Coach Philip found his midfield depleted and had to go with a a 4-2-4 lineup made up of the Liga Mundo and Ark Premier players. Getting the nod for the start in this pride match was: GK: #1 Jeff Gallagher (Ark Premier) LB: #23 Ross Stewart (Liga Mundo) CB: #3 Doug Breckin (Ark Premier), Captain CB: #13 Caleb Reichle (Ark Premier) RB: #2 Red Moreno (Liga Mundo) DM: #6 Duncan Stamford (Ark Premier) AM: #12 Joey Lehmann (Liga Mundo), Playmaker LW: #11 James "Moneyman" Turner (Ark Premier) CF: #10 John-Henry Carey (Ark Premier) CF: #30 Chad Goodwin (Liga Mundo) RW: #22 Ian Robertson (Liga Mundo) With Holcomb being held in reserve, the Mighty Vols started 4 fullbacks, as they had no other center backs availible. Breckin and Reichle were tabbed to play a hybrid "fullback-in-the-box", with Stamford tasked to fall back into the middle as well to further guard the center. Meanwhile, Lehmann was given the responsibility to run the offense, so he would shift forward as the Mighty Vol defenders lobbed balls over the top to their powerful forwards. To facilitate better play among the fowards, Coach Philip grouped the Ark forwards on the left and the Liga Mundo forwards on the right. While it was not sure if Kevodia would come to play or use the backups, the Mighty Vols didn't wait to see. Immediately attacking with the unusual 4-2-4, it was Robertson who broke through the Kevodian back line in the 2nd minute, taking the lob from Moreno in stride and blistering a shot in for a goal. Scarcely had the VolNation fans taken their seat when another VolNation lob resulted in a corner kick. Stewart lined up the shot and found the Moneyman right at the left pole, where he just beat the Kevodian keeper to the ball and cashed in the second VolNation goal at the 5 minute mark. Perhaps a bit shell-shocked, or perhaps not being used to defending forwards like Robertson and the Moneyman, the Kevodian defense struggled and tried to cover with some physical play. In the 11th minute, Robertson once again blew between two defenders looking to track down a long pass, but was tripped just inside the box. The referee was on it and Robertson was awarded a penalty kick. Very few things are as automatic as a Robertson penalty shot, and the cool Robertson predictably delivered into the upper right corner and the Mighty Vols were up 3-0. Perhaps remembering the near miscue from the last match where they kicked it too early into cruise control, the Mighty Vols did not let up the hammer. A chip into the box by Reichle looked like it might get cleared by Kevodia, but the ball ricocheted off the defender right to Carey. Carey took this entry pass from his cousin and put it in right at the post at the 25 minute mark. Then 8 minutes later, Goodwin showed off his speed as he took a clearing pass at the midline, left two defenders in the dust and gave the keeper no chance to bring the lead up to 5-0 After the half, both clubs kicked it into "friendly" mode as the Kevodians played no to get injured and the Mighty Vols played the possession game. While the Kevodians were able to generate some chances in the second, the presence of Stamford, who had essentially become part of the defensive center, limited what Kevodia was able to do. Reduced to long range potshots, Gallagher had a relatively easy time tracking down balls. In the 87th minute, the Mighty Vols got one more opportunity off a corner. Moreno put the ball in from the right corner and found the Moneyman at the left pole, where the Moneyman was right on the money with his header, which gave the Mighty Vols the 6-0 final score After the match, Coach Philip commented on the play, "Being able to successfully hit them hard and early was truly the key tonight. The last thing we wanted was for Kevodia to hang around, because they have been playing way too well. You must respect a 4 match win streak, as there has to be some real talent to achieve that. Taking them out of the game kept Kevodia from having the time to really deploy their forwards to take advantage of our weaknesses. Instead, they were rushing their shots, trying to get back into the game, and that only plays into our hands. Best of wishes to Kevodia in the elimination stage, and we hope that they will be able to grow from this." After seeing the bracket, the Mighty Vols were very disappointed to see that they could be matched up against the FIFOB Cup winners and other NOAH club Tritonia in the quarters. "Where's the justice! Assuming we both make it that far, this should be a finals match, not an entry into the Final Four?!?!?" exclaimed Coach Philip after seeing the draw. One final honor for two Ark Premier players were handed out right before the match, when it was announced that Doug Breckin and Damon Abdon had now recieved the coveted "Legend" status, joining Caleb Reichle and Duncan Stamford as the only VolNation players with that honor. Applications for Season 8 in the Ark Premier League are now being accepted from any nation desiring to boost their FIFOB rankings, as the Ark Premier League is one of FIFOB's approved league on Xpert11! VolNation congratulates fellow NOAH and Ark Premier League member Tritonia for their advancement to the Elimination round. Go Tritonia!!!

With one win under their belt, the VolNation Mighty Volunteers next group match was against Victoria Avenis in Old Dragonia Stadium. Knowing that Victoria was looking to get on the board after a close 2-1 loss, the Mighty Vols expected a more offensive affair. With the Ark Premier players mostly comprising the last match and with their grueling season having just come to an end with another championship, Coach Philip let most of the Arkers have the match off to recover and went with a 3-5-2 lineup showcasing the Liga Mundo and VolNation Power players. This offensive geared lineup designed to try to take advantage of an offensive-minded opponent consisted of: GK: #15 Oscar Sørgård (Liga Mundo) LB: #4 Carson Prince (VolNation Power) CB: #5 Steve Meadows (Ark Premier) RB: #2 Red Moreno (Liga Mundo) LM: #18 Winston Woodward (VolNation Power) CM: #16 Gottfrid Karlson (VolNation Power), Playmaker AM: #9 Mark Lara (VolNation Power) CM: #26 Owen Gomez (VolNation Power) RM: #7 Damon Abdon (Ark Premier), Captain CF: #30 Lucas Magro (VolNation Power) RW: #22 Ian Robertson (Liga Mundo) With a plethora of midfielders to choose from, the Mighty Vols came out with their "Rolling Midfield" look, with the playmaker draw being passed around between Karlson and Woodward, even though Karlson had been tabbed as the point. This multi-faceted look seemed to throw the pressing Victoria club, and it paid quick dividends as in the 8th minute, Woodward lofted in a cross that found Gomez as he blew past his mark. Gomez delivered a delicious header that set the early tone for a quick VolNation score. It was clear that the Mighty Vols wanted goals quickly, and Lara, from his attacker mode kept driving for the box. Not having to worry about playmaking, he especially looked to take advantage of the tight game the referee was calling. While just missing Prince breaking off the wall on a free kick that Lara had obtained in the 14th minute, Lara kept going inside and got another free kick opportunity in the 22nd minute. From 28 yards out, he was deadly on his next attempt, catching the upper right corner to bring the score to 2-0. Barely two minutes later, Karlson dropped in a ball to Robertson, who blew past the defensive line and collected a breakaway goal for the 3-0 advantage. With the 3 goal lead, the Mighty Vols coasted into the half. However, coming out of the break, it looked as though they might have lost too much momentum to Victoria as Victoria started long-balling it past the massed VolNation midfield and started attacking the 3 defenders directly. A series of corner and free kicks needed the strong play of the two towers of the VolNation defensive line, Meadows and Prince, to avert potential goals. Finally, Victoria connected with a 25 yard blast to bring it up to 3-1. It looked like the game was beginning to get dicey when Moreno was called for a sneaky elbow in the box and Victoria was awarded a penalty shot. However, Sørgård lived up to his reputation as the "Penalty Killer" and absolutely smothered the shot that was headed for the right pole. That stop was quickly followed by a defensive substitution, as Coach Philip brought in Ross Stewart to give some fresh legs to the back line, lifting Woodward for the substitution. With the fresh legs and the more balanced 4-4-2 formation, the Victoria long ball strategy ceased being effective, and the Mighty Vols surrendered no more shots on goal to seal the win. After the match, Coach Philip commented on the play, "Victoria had some good halftime strategic changes, but our strategy of attacking early and hard really paid off as we got a lead that was just too much for Victoria to overcome. It is nice going into the last match with advancement locked up, but expect to see our Arkers back in the lineup as we want to enter the elimination phase as the 1 seed from our group." Honors for Ark Premier players were handed out following a successful close to Season 7, with Doug Breckin recieving league MVP honors, "Sir Godfrey" Shearer taking the Golden Boot with 27 points and 20 goals in 17 matches played, Damon Abdon being the leader in assists with 11, and Breckin, Caleb Reichle, Duncan Stamford, Abdon, "Moneyman" Turner and Shearer all being named first team All-Ark Premier League. Applications for Season 8 are now being accepted! VolNation congratulates fellow NOAH and Ark Premier League member Tritonia for their second win and Checors for their draw of Arcadia. Go Tritonia and Checors!!!

After their decisive win in the qualifiers, the VolNation Mighty Volunteers started the group stage against Taecam in Old Dragonia Stadium. While the fans that comprised the VolNation Navy were hoping for a different venue, there was still much great football to be played. With no personnel issues due to club committments and with Duncan Stamford cleared to play by club doctors (though noticably not yet up to full form), the Mighty Vols had their full roster to choose from. Because of the defensive breakdowns in the previous match, Coach Philip opted for VolNation's standard 4-3-3 consisting of the A-team lineup GK: #1 Jeff Gallagher (Ark Premier) LB: #3 Doug Breckin (Ark Premier), Captain CB: #4 Carson Prince (VolNation Power) RB: #13 Caleb Reichle (Ark Premier) SW: #5 Steve Meadows (Ark Premier) RM: #6 Duncan Stamford (Ark Premier) CM: #9 Mark Lara (VolNation Power), Playmaker LM: #7 Damon Abdon (Ark Premier) LW: #11 James "Moneyman" Turner (Ark Premier) SS: #19 "Sir Godfrey" Shearer (Ark Premier) RW: #22 Ian Robertson (Liga Mundo) Even though this wasn't the first match for the Mighty Vols, this was the first time that the A-team had taken the field together, and Coach Philip commented that we had to look at this as a "scrimmage that counts". Accordingly, the Mighty Vols strategy looked to be defensive in nature, to prevent the odd goal and allow the players to adjust to one another. This was particularly true for the midfield, as Stamford was just getting his legs back under him and Lara was adjusting to being the primary playmaker, a role that he was usually not called upon to do in his VolNation Power club. It was clear from the outset that Taecam was not about to make the mistake of Establishmentism in playing a wide-open game, and they packed it in around their goal. Even though VolNation was starting its feared long-range bombers, they were just not given the space to work as Taecam pressed hard with its midfielders and forwards. On the other hand, the VolNation defense was clicking on all cylinders, as the Ark Premier triad of Breckin, C. Reichle and Meadows easily integrated the speedy Prince and ruthlessly snuffed out any attempts by Taecam to get remotely near the goal. Thus the score at the end of the first half remained 0-0. Lara, to his credit, kept trying to get the ball inside agaisnt the packed-out Taecam defense, but the unfamiliarity of playing with Turner, Shearer and Robertson clearly showed as the entry passes were just off enough for Taecam to swarm the ball, while the press prevented Stamford and Abdon from getting good shots on goal. However, heros always rise to the occasion, and after the 75 minute mark, Lara took it on his own shoulders. Rather than looking for the entry pass, Lara got aggressive and started to really take it in himself. This change of strategy seemed to catch Taecam offguard, and it wasn't long before Lara tood advantage of the overeager press to collect a free kick opportunity from 30 yards out. With no press to contest the shot, Lara did what he does best, sending in a shot that eluded both the wall and the Taecam keeper, giving VolNation the 1 goal lead Now behind, Taecam broke out of its pressure defense and went into an attacking gear, even creating a few opportunities. However, the back line held for the Mighty Vols, and the 22 year old Gallagher was more than up to the task for the few the got through. With the focus on defense, the Mighty Vols were content to take this 1-0 lead into the end of the game for the win. After the match, Coach Philip commented on the match, "Taecam had a great game plan, but credit goes to Lara for stepping it up when the Taecam mids were clearly wearing down from their constant press. Props also to our back line for holding down the fort while we were trying to sort out our front line. We've now had our one match to work out the kinks and get our timing down, but I expect more from our midfield. I'd like to get back to our preferred rolling strike midfield play were we have no designated playmaker, but Stamford has to be up to speed to run that. I might consider adding a 4th mid, either Karlson, Woodward or Lehmann as a playmaker if Stamford doesn't progress, but we'll make that call at gametime." VolNation congratulates fellow NOAH and Ark Premier League member Tritonia for their opening win. We're pulling for you Tritonia and Checors!!!

I agree with Arcadia. We both got stiffed with the schedule. We had 8 matches with Arcadia and ALDM in 6 weeks, including three matches in a row against ALDM. I'm hoping we can rebound from that.

I agree with Botha: SiPS is a quality club, and I want Primera to be the best of the best, as it should. Gumbo has been a major disappointment, and I expect better of any club in Primera. SiPS should be there, if they can make it!

I call it "competitive advantage". 'Course I immediately go and blow it by posting it for all to read in every league I'm in, but I'm a big believer in "spreading the wealth" and helping everyone else, too. Then it's all about maximizing your strategy, which is what I love.

... BREAKING NEWS FROM VOLNATION ... VolNation National Team members Al Holcomb (DEF) and Freddy Bateman (GK) of VolNation Power in a press conference earlier today, just announced that they will both be hanging up their cleats at the conclusion of the Alliance Cup. With just three weeks left in the VolNation Power season, both concluded that this would be their last go-around. Al Holcomb: "With the development of our younger defensive talent, these old legs are ready to move on to a job with less stress. It has been a priveledge being one of the guides to VolNation Power as it has advanced in the ranks of the Power League. It has also been an honor to play a role in representing VolNation in the World Cup and now the Alliance Cup." Freddy Bateman: "Getting the cap in the Alliance Cup is truly an unexpected honor and ranks as one of the greatest honors I have recieved in this profession. I can think of no better way to bid this game and my beloved VolNation teams adieu that to leave at the top." Both will move on to positions within the VolNation Sports organization: Al as the Director of Recruitment for the National team and Freddy in the position of Goalkeeper Development within the VolNation Power team.

Trying to figure out which is the Group of Death... My eye is currently on Group 7, with top teams Arcadia and Checors both involved.

The VolNation Mighty Volunteers started the Alliance Cup under very strange circumstances. The first round match against Establishmentism looked to be a challenging offensive matchup, as Establishmentism had won their first round match 3-0. However, this playin match was scheduled just hours before critical Ark Premier and Power League matches. Thus many of the VolNation players were unavailible for the matchup. In addition, midfielders Duncan Stamford and Nathaniel Reichle were on the shelf with injuries, further depleting their lineup. Thus the Mighty Vols had to take the field with a Liga-dominated lineup that seemed very patched up. Their impromptu 4-2-4 was: GK: Oscar "The Penalty Killer" Sorgard (Liga Mundo) LB: Ross Stewart (Liga Mundo) CB: Al Holcomb (VolNation Power) RB: Red Moreno (Liga Mundo) SW: Freddy Batemen (VolNation Power) (normally GK) RM: Joey Lehmann (Liga Mundo), Playmaker LM: Gottfrid Karlson (VolNation Power) LW: James "Moneyman" Turner (Ark Premier) CF: Chad Goodwin (Liga Mundo) SS: Leo van Pelt (Liga Mundo) RW: Ian Robertson (Liga Mundo), Captain With a shortage of players, the versatile Freddie Batemen was drafted from his reserve goalkeeper position into the backline as a sweeper. Since this left a "hole" in a critical position in the defense against an offensive team, it was decided that the VolNation strategy would be to ignite the jets and long-ball at every opportunity, allowing the blazing speed of Karlson, Robertson, Goodwin and van Pelt to catch up and hopefully get in behind the drawn-up Establishmentism back line. Right away, this looked like this might be the right decision, as quickly the experienced Mighty Vols took advantage of the over-anxious Establishmentism back line with two quick strike breakaway goals by Goodwin and van Pelt. However, Establishmentism soon corrected this overeager tendency, clogging up the middle and playing a more ball-control match that took advantage of the lack of Mighty Vol midfielders in the 4-2-4 and singled out Bateman with crossing shots that soon brought Establishmentism even at 2 goals apiece. The nervous VolNation fans, who did not expect such a display from Establishmentism, were finally set at ease near the end of the first as the stars of VolNation took command. First it was the Moneyman, who had asked his Ark Premier club to release him to play in this match and not start him in their regular league match, who took advantage of Establishmentism crowding the center to come off the left side with a brilliant header off a Lehmann feed to get the chant of "Show Me The Money!" coming from the VolNation faithful and break the 2-2 deadlock in the 43rd minute. In typical VolNation fashion, a minute later the Mighty Vols struck again, this time with Robertson artfully redirecting a Lehmann ball to the right post past an overshifted Establishmentism keeper and within seconds, the Mighty Vols were up by 2 going into the half. That late flurry right before the half seemed to take the wind out of the sails of the Establishmentism club, and they just didn't have that same fire in the second half as they had in the first. An early breakaway goal by Karlson set the tone of the second half, and VolNation continued to give Establishmentism a steady diet of long balls to force the defensive line to stay home and not assist in scoring chances. Given the 5-2 deficit, Establishmentism kept trying to push to get back into the game, which ultimately gave the Mighty Vols more chances on goal. This resulted in another two goals before the end of the match, with the Moneyman slipping in a header off a corner kick and later Robertson capitalizing on yet another breakaway to give the Mighty Vols a 7-2 win and advancement into the group round. In Group 3, the Mighty Vols were paired with three other clubs that are virtual unknowns to VolNation. While this could be a blessing, as the next highest ranking club seems to be 45th, the lack of familiarity of the opposition does concern the team. With the world #2 ranking, the Mighty Vols know that they are the target and anything less that the A-game could result in an unwanted loss. The key will be maintaining the intensity for each game. It is noted that Kevodia was picked by Dragonia United manager Dragono Vipertooth Sr. as the upset winner of the Cup, so VolNation will pay extra attention to them as someone has obviously scouted them and seen high talent in the team. VolNation congratulates fellow NOAH and Ark Premier League members Tritonia and Checors on their advancement into the group stage. Best of luck in the group stage and here's to all of us advancing!