2026-01-26, 09:58 AM - Word count:
(This post was last modified: 2026-01-28, 11:45 AM by TooDear. Edited 1 time in total.)
Part 1
First Game
East Europe's first game was against Norden. On paper, Norden was the top favorite to leave the group, followed by Central Europe, Eurasia and Eastern Europe in that order. In fact, Norden was quite possibly a dark horse for the whole tournament. But before they could realize any ambitions, they would need to pass the group stage. It looked like the random seeding blessed them with their group opponents, but as we would soon see, things went very different.
Eastern Europe came into this game with a 4-2-3-1, an aggressive and attacking formation. Something you might not expect from them considering they were the underdog. Norden set up in a 4-3-3. Perhaps more passive than you might want them to play.
Just in the first half, we could see the sheer difference in how these two teams approached the opening game. In the 29th minute, East Europe scored off of a counter attack where Predrag would carry the ball then pass it to Sukzuki who was excellently placed in the box. Despite getting a goal late into the half, East Europe had been by far the more dominant team. This would be confirmed again in the 46th minute of the first half as Predrag would deliver a great corner from the right side and Coin Flip would head it in for 2-0. 10 total shots for East Europe, 6 of which were on target, 2 of which were goals. Compared to Norden's total 2 shots, none of which were even on target, it was clear who was in charge of this game.
The second half was just more of the same. The final nail in the coffin was the 76th minute. A great built up from the back would find the ball eventually with Smalls, who'd send it across the pitch to Sowerwine. He would then line up and take a shot that would deflect off of a Norden defender and into the net. A complete and dominant performance. 17 shots to 3, 9 on target to 1, final score of 3-0.
Second Game
Now that Eastern Europe showed that they had bite, the other two teams in the group wouldn't take them lightly. Next up was Central Europe, the second hardest game on paper. Everyone predicted Norden to win the first game, so now that the predictions were overturned so quickly, nobody knew who was the actual favorite going into this match. Eastern Europe just beat Norden, the group favorite, with a clean and complete 3-0 performance, while Central Europe but Eurasia in the grave with a ridiculous 9-3 win.
And yet, both teams could gather data from these matches. It was clear that Norden and Eurasia both heavily underperformed, so any data from their side wasn't reliable. However, that didn't mean you couldn't gain information from their opponents. Eastern Europe stayed calm and collected, minimized the chances their opponents had while being clinical with their own. Central Europe dominated with sheer firepower, but were found lacking in defense a few times. A keen pundit would bet on this game being decided by inches, and it was.
Eastern Europe would try a new 4-3-3 with 3 DMs and 3 STs while Central Europe would stick with their asymmetric 4-2-4. In the first half, Leah Slothinson would open the scoring as already in the 4th minute as she played a great one two with Sukzuki, leading to her being open in the box. She'd slot it in past Satoshi for a very quick lead. A quick lead that was quickly equalized as in the 6th minute as Clarke would find an insane long pass from the outfield line to Hohenhahn to make it 1-1. Leah would then score in the 44th minute to get her second. A free kick from Predrag would be sent into the box where chaos would ensue. Pinkman would head it forward and Leah would get on the end of it to slot it past Satoshi again.
The second half would be completely different, as the slight edge Eastern Europe had over Central would be overturned. Immediately at the start of the second half in the 47th minute, Central Europe would equalize with a goal from Walker. Then again just a few minutes later in the 49th minute, Hohenhahn would find the 3rd goal for Central Europe, completing their comeback. A few more shots would be exchanged but the final result would read 3-2. 15 shots to 16, 10 on target to 6, 3 goals to 2. A 50/50 game.
Third Game
With how the other games played out, Eastern Europe still had a good chance to make it out of the group and they were facing the team that had performed the worst so far in the group, Eurasia. A decisive win against Norden, a 50/50 loss to Central Europe and now a game that they were actually going into as the favorite. The pre tournament friendlies really were fantastic prep. Though the chance was astronomically slim, Eurasia still technically could qualify with this game, so they needed to bring their A game.
Guys, gals and non-binary palls of the SSL, I'll cut the review of this game short. Because I want to show respect to our opponents. If I went into detail with this game like I did the previous 2, I'd double the length of this article. Instead I'll just give you the highlights. Eastern Europe win 3-0 against Eurasia. 24 shots to 2, 12 shots on target to none. The fact this was only 3-0 is a mercy. A fantastic performance by Smalls, 2 assists and a goal, Kupinas was also excellent with 2 goals.
With the third game ending, the final table looked like this:
1st Central Europe GD+7 Pts 7
2nd Eastern Europe GD+5 Pts 6
---------------------------------------
3rd Norden Union GD-2 Pts 4
4th Eurasia GD-10 Pts 0
Against all expectations, Eastern Europe make it through the group. Almost topping it if luck was a bit more in their favor. Now we were on to the knockouts, our last third of the journey.
This article was written by Predrag Dobrić and sponsored by A.C. Romana and East Europe.
First Game
East Europe's first game was against Norden. On paper, Norden was the top favorite to leave the group, followed by Central Europe, Eurasia and Eastern Europe in that order. In fact, Norden was quite possibly a dark horse for the whole tournament. But before they could realize any ambitions, they would need to pass the group stage. It looked like the random seeding blessed them with their group opponents, but as we would soon see, things went very different.
Eastern Europe came into this game with a 4-2-3-1, an aggressive and attacking formation. Something you might not expect from them considering they were the underdog. Norden set up in a 4-3-3. Perhaps more passive than you might want them to play.
Just in the first half, we could see the sheer difference in how these two teams approached the opening game. In the 29th minute, East Europe scored off of a counter attack where Predrag would carry the ball then pass it to Sukzuki who was excellently placed in the box. Despite getting a goal late into the half, East Europe had been by far the more dominant team. This would be confirmed again in the 46th minute of the first half as Predrag would deliver a great corner from the right side and Coin Flip would head it in for 2-0. 10 total shots for East Europe, 6 of which were on target, 2 of which were goals. Compared to Norden's total 2 shots, none of which were even on target, it was clear who was in charge of this game.
The second half was just more of the same. The final nail in the coffin was the 76th minute. A great built up from the back would find the ball eventually with Smalls, who'd send it across the pitch to Sowerwine. He would then line up and take a shot that would deflect off of a Norden defender and into the net. A complete and dominant performance. 17 shots to 3, 9 on target to 1, final score of 3-0.
Second Game
Now that Eastern Europe showed that they had bite, the other two teams in the group wouldn't take them lightly. Next up was Central Europe, the second hardest game on paper. Everyone predicted Norden to win the first game, so now that the predictions were overturned so quickly, nobody knew who was the actual favorite going into this match. Eastern Europe just beat Norden, the group favorite, with a clean and complete 3-0 performance, while Central Europe but Eurasia in the grave with a ridiculous 9-3 win.
And yet, both teams could gather data from these matches. It was clear that Norden and Eurasia both heavily underperformed, so any data from their side wasn't reliable. However, that didn't mean you couldn't gain information from their opponents. Eastern Europe stayed calm and collected, minimized the chances their opponents had while being clinical with their own. Central Europe dominated with sheer firepower, but were found lacking in defense a few times. A keen pundit would bet on this game being decided by inches, and it was.
Eastern Europe would try a new 4-3-3 with 3 DMs and 3 STs while Central Europe would stick with their asymmetric 4-2-4. In the first half, Leah Slothinson would open the scoring as already in the 4th minute as she played a great one two with Sukzuki, leading to her being open in the box. She'd slot it in past Satoshi for a very quick lead. A quick lead that was quickly equalized as in the 6th minute as Clarke would find an insane long pass from the outfield line to Hohenhahn to make it 1-1. Leah would then score in the 44th minute to get her second. A free kick from Predrag would be sent into the box where chaos would ensue. Pinkman would head it forward and Leah would get on the end of it to slot it past Satoshi again.
The second half would be completely different, as the slight edge Eastern Europe had over Central would be overturned. Immediately at the start of the second half in the 47th minute, Central Europe would equalize with a goal from Walker. Then again just a few minutes later in the 49th minute, Hohenhahn would find the 3rd goal for Central Europe, completing their comeback. A few more shots would be exchanged but the final result would read 3-2. 15 shots to 16, 10 on target to 6, 3 goals to 2. A 50/50 game.
Third Game
With how the other games played out, Eastern Europe still had a good chance to make it out of the group and they were facing the team that had performed the worst so far in the group, Eurasia. A decisive win against Norden, a 50/50 loss to Central Europe and now a game that they were actually going into as the favorite. The pre tournament friendlies really were fantastic prep. Though the chance was astronomically slim, Eurasia still technically could qualify with this game, so they needed to bring their A game.
Guys, gals and non-binary palls of the SSL, I'll cut the review of this game short. Because I want to show respect to our opponents. If I went into detail with this game like I did the previous 2, I'd double the length of this article. Instead I'll just give you the highlights. Eastern Europe win 3-0 against Eurasia. 24 shots to 2, 12 shots on target to none. The fact this was only 3-0 is a mercy. A fantastic performance by Smalls, 2 assists and a goal, Kupinas was also excellent with 2 goals.
With the third game ending, the final table looked like this:
1st Central Europe GD+7 Pts 7
2nd Eastern Europe GD+5 Pts 6
---------------------------------------
3rd Norden Union GD-2 Pts 4
4th Eurasia GD-10 Pts 0
Against all expectations, Eastern Europe make it through the group. Almost topping it if luck was a bit more in their favor. Now we were on to the knockouts, our last third of the journey.
This article was written by Predrag Dobrić and sponsored by A.C. Romana and East Europe.
![[Image: GmuKJta.png]](https://i.imgur.com/GmuKJta.png)
