2023-02-09, 12:09 PM - Word count:
Pre-season review S8
During this pre-season every team has once again played 2 matches. So let’s go through the teams and see how their pre-season went.
Hollywood FC:
Hollywood FC the champions of last season played 1 home match against Montréal United who last season where in third in division 2 missing out on promotion by 4 points, this match was confidently won by Hollywood FC winning 4-0. The other match Hollywood FC played was against division 2 2nd place (and thus newly promoted) side CA Buenos Aires winning 2-0. During these 2 matches Hollywood FC showed how defensively solid they still are being the only team to not concede any goals during their friendlies while still scoring 6.
Tokyo S.C.:
Last seasons 2nd place Tokyo S.C. had 2 low-scoring games with a 1-0 loss against last seasons 3rd place CF Catalunya and a 2-0 win over last seasons division 2 winner AS Paris. Tokyo S.C. is looking defensively strong and because of this they managed to be the team with the least amount of goals (for+against) during their friendly matches.
CF Catalunya:
Last seasons number 3 with equal points to Tokyo S.C. in 2nd has their home friendly against Tokyo S.C. this time Catalunya did get the upperhand winning 1-0. But their 2nd game might leave some cause of concern drawing 2-2 against União São Paulo, last season’s number 6, who were on equal points with the relegated Inter London.
Athênai F.C.:
Athênai had a strong start during the last season but eventually fell back to 4th place of the league. During this pre-season they had a strong showing in their homegame against division 2 winners AS Paris winning 4-0, and Athênai F.C. followed this result up with a away friendly at Cairo City drawing 2-2 against last season’s number 5, and being the highest scoring division 1 together with Cairo City over these 2 friendlies.
Cairo City:
Like said with the Athênai F.C. entry the last season 5th place Cairo City drew 2-2 at home to last season’s 4th place Athênai F.C. becoming the highest scorer of division 1 together with Athênai F.C. Cairo’s 2nd game was against F.C. Kaapstad who were relegated after an 8th place finish last season where Cairo won 4-1.
União São Paulo:
União São Paulo managed to avoid relegation by a hair last season having equal points to 7th place Inter London in season 7. During these friendlies they managed to make a good showing against CF Catalunya drawing 2-2 against last season’s 3th place team. But União São Paulo also lost 3-2 against CA Buenos Aires who came 2nd in division 2 last season.
AS Paris:
AS Paris won division 2 last season and so are 1 of the 2 teams being promoted to season 1, and during their friendlies Paris could see the massive difference between division 1 and 2 as they lost 2-0 to Tokyo S.C. and 4-0 to Athênai F.C. showing a worrying lack of goalscoring as they were the only team not to score a goal during the friendlies. On the bright side with Tokyo and Athênai, Paris did have last season number 2 and 4 for their friendlies so they did get some quick experience with some of division 1’s best teams.
CA Buenos Aires:
CA Buenos Aires finished 2nd in the 2nd division last season and so are promoted to division 1, and during their friendlies they had a great showing losing 2-0 to last season champions Hollywood FC, and winning 3-2 against the number 6 of last season in União São Paulo.
Inter London:
Inter London came in 7th in division 1 in season 7, being relegated while equal on points with União São Paulo. During their friendlies Inter London got to play against the number 6 and 8 of division 2 in Reykjavik and Laos. In Reykjavik Inter London managed to win 2-0 and in Laos they won 5-3 showing why they are most likely gonna be one of the favorites for division 2 this season.
F.C. Kaapstad:
After a disappointing last season in division 1 ending 8th with only 1 point F.C. Kaapstad got relegated to division 2, being predicted to fight for promotion F.C. Kaapstad got their first friendly against last season’s division 1 number 5 Cairo City and losing 1-4 to them. In their 2nd match F.C. Kaapstad where allowed to play against some division 2 opposition in Adowa Accra FC winning 2-0 against the division 2 number 7 of last season.
Montréal United:
Montréal United finished in 3rd during last season’s division 2 run being 1 place away from promotion to division 1. Despite this Montréal did play Hollywood FC in a friendly losing 4-0 against the champions of season 7. Their other friendly was in Reykjavik where they managed to win 2-1 against the number 6 of last season.
Seoul MFC:
Seoul MFC came 4th in division 2 last season. During this campaign Seoul MFC a crazy 12-3 win against Laos and they were allowed to try and replicate that during the pre-season but this time “only” coming to a 5-1 win. In their other friendly Seoul played against the other season 7 expansion team in A.C. Romana losing 2-1 to the 5th placed team in division 2 last season.
A.C. Romana:
A.C. Romana where a new team in season 7, and during their first ever season in the SSL they managed to go all the way up to 5th in division 2. During their pre-season friendlies they decided to continue showing their skill winning 2-1 against last season’s division 2 4th place team Seoul MFC, and winning 6-4 to the number 7 of last season in Adowa Accra, these results also made A.C. Romana the highest scoring team of the pre-season.
Reykjavik United:
After a move from Australia to Iceland last season Reykjavik United managed to finish 6th in division 2. During their pre-season they got to play last season’s division 2 number 3 team Montréal United losing 1-2, and newly relegated Inter London losing 0-2.
Adowa Accra FC:
Adowa Accra FC finished 7th during last seasons division 2 ranking, and this pre-season came up at home against the 8th placed team of division 1 F.C. Kaapstad losing that game 0-2. After this they played A.C. Romana away losing 4-6 against last season’s 5th placed team.
Red Star Laos:
The season 7 expansion team had a bad season 7 ending last with only 2 points in division 2. During this pre-season they had a friendly against last season’s 4th place Seoul MFC losing 5-1, and against last season’s division 1 7th placed Inter London losing 3-5. Red Star Laos is with these results showed a bad performance conceding the most goals of any team in the pre-season with 10 goals conceded.
During this pre-season every team has once again played 2 matches. So let’s go through the teams and see how their pre-season went.
Hollywood FC:
Hollywood FC the champions of last season played 1 home match against Montréal United who last season where in third in division 2 missing out on promotion by 4 points, this match was confidently won by Hollywood FC winning 4-0. The other match Hollywood FC played was against division 2 2nd place (and thus newly promoted) side CA Buenos Aires winning 2-0. During these 2 matches Hollywood FC showed how defensively solid they still are being the only team to not concede any goals during their friendlies while still scoring 6.
Tokyo S.C.:
Last seasons 2nd place Tokyo S.C. had 2 low-scoring games with a 1-0 loss against last seasons 3rd place CF Catalunya and a 2-0 win over last seasons division 2 winner AS Paris. Tokyo S.C. is looking defensively strong and because of this they managed to be the team with the least amount of goals (for+against) during their friendly matches.
CF Catalunya:
Last seasons number 3 with equal points to Tokyo S.C. in 2nd has their home friendly against Tokyo S.C. this time Catalunya did get the upperhand winning 1-0. But their 2nd game might leave some cause of concern drawing 2-2 against União São Paulo, last season’s number 6, who were on equal points with the relegated Inter London.
Athênai F.C.:
Athênai had a strong start during the last season but eventually fell back to 4th place of the league. During this pre-season they had a strong showing in their homegame against division 2 winners AS Paris winning 4-0, and Athênai F.C. followed this result up with a away friendly at Cairo City drawing 2-2 against last season’s number 5, and being the highest scoring division 1 together with Cairo City over these 2 friendlies.
Cairo City:
Like said with the Athênai F.C. entry the last season 5th place Cairo City drew 2-2 at home to last season’s 4th place Athênai F.C. becoming the highest scorer of division 1 together with Athênai F.C. Cairo’s 2nd game was against F.C. Kaapstad who were relegated after an 8th place finish last season where Cairo won 4-1.
União São Paulo:
União São Paulo managed to avoid relegation by a hair last season having equal points to 7th place Inter London in season 7. During these friendlies they managed to make a good showing against CF Catalunya drawing 2-2 against last season’s 3th place team. But União São Paulo also lost 3-2 against CA Buenos Aires who came 2nd in division 2 last season.
AS Paris:
AS Paris won division 2 last season and so are 1 of the 2 teams being promoted to season 1, and during their friendlies Paris could see the massive difference between division 1 and 2 as they lost 2-0 to Tokyo S.C. and 4-0 to Athênai F.C. showing a worrying lack of goalscoring as they were the only team not to score a goal during the friendlies. On the bright side with Tokyo and Athênai, Paris did have last season number 2 and 4 for their friendlies so they did get some quick experience with some of division 1’s best teams.
CA Buenos Aires:
CA Buenos Aires finished 2nd in the 2nd division last season and so are promoted to division 1, and during their friendlies they had a great showing losing 2-0 to last season champions Hollywood FC, and winning 3-2 against the number 6 of last season in União São Paulo.
Inter London:
Inter London came in 7th in division 1 in season 7, being relegated while equal on points with União São Paulo. During their friendlies Inter London got to play against the number 6 and 8 of division 2 in Reykjavik and Laos. In Reykjavik Inter London managed to win 2-0 and in Laos they won 5-3 showing why they are most likely gonna be one of the favorites for division 2 this season.
F.C. Kaapstad:
After a disappointing last season in division 1 ending 8th with only 1 point F.C. Kaapstad got relegated to division 2, being predicted to fight for promotion F.C. Kaapstad got their first friendly against last season’s division 1 number 5 Cairo City and losing 1-4 to them. In their 2nd match F.C. Kaapstad where allowed to play against some division 2 opposition in Adowa Accra FC winning 2-0 against the division 2 number 7 of last season.
Montréal United:
Montréal United finished in 3rd during last season’s division 2 run being 1 place away from promotion to division 1. Despite this Montréal did play Hollywood FC in a friendly losing 4-0 against the champions of season 7. Their other friendly was in Reykjavik where they managed to win 2-1 against the number 6 of last season.
Seoul MFC:
Seoul MFC came 4th in division 2 last season. During this campaign Seoul MFC a crazy 12-3 win against Laos and they were allowed to try and replicate that during the pre-season but this time “only” coming to a 5-1 win. In their other friendly Seoul played against the other season 7 expansion team in A.C. Romana losing 2-1 to the 5th placed team in division 2 last season.
A.C. Romana:
A.C. Romana where a new team in season 7, and during their first ever season in the SSL they managed to go all the way up to 5th in division 2. During their pre-season friendlies they decided to continue showing their skill winning 2-1 against last season’s division 2 4th place team Seoul MFC, and winning 6-4 to the number 7 of last season in Adowa Accra, these results also made A.C. Romana the highest scoring team of the pre-season.
Reykjavik United:
After a move from Australia to Iceland last season Reykjavik United managed to finish 6th in division 2. During their pre-season they got to play last season’s division 2 number 3 team Montréal United losing 1-2, and newly relegated Inter London losing 0-2.
Adowa Accra FC:
Adowa Accra FC finished 7th during last seasons division 2 ranking, and this pre-season came up at home against the 8th placed team of division 1 F.C. Kaapstad losing that game 0-2. After this they played A.C. Romana away losing 4-6 against last season’s 5th placed team.
Red Star Laos:
The season 7 expansion team had a bad season 7 ending last with only 2 points in division 2. During this pre-season they had a friendly against last season’s 4th place Seoul MFC losing 5-1, and against last season’s division 1 7th placed Inter London losing 3-5. Red Star Laos is with these results showed a bad performance conceding the most goals of any team in the pre-season with 10 goals conceded.
