S9 Theme Week

[KZBZ]

Theme Week - https://simsoccer.jcink.net/index.php?showtopic=3703

[Dragons Maw]

My extraordinary thing wasn't really the sim. But it's part of the league, and league history, and that seems to count, so here we go. I've been in five sim leagues now. One we just don't talk about. The WSBL, now the SSL, and a couple that really don't matter much. What I'd never done was WIN. I've been close. Runners up in the WSBL. Close to promotion my second season in Seoul. But never quite over that hump.

That finally changed, with some brilliant work from our players and manager last season. With 2 games to spare in season eight, Seoul, my only team in the SSL, likely for ever, managed the unthinkable. We finally broke my curse, we finally won. To be fair, there wasn't the fan fare one might expect in the winning room. But there was enough. On March the 22nd, Aenir officially announced London loss in our gameday room, which meant we could not be caught. We finished that day with a 3-0 win, just to put a rubber stamp on the victory. There was some trading of gifs, albeit mostly between myself and Aenir, who I joined this league specifically to play with. Liverpool victory celebrations just hit different when they are shared for something I was a part of!

I can honestly say, that winning a trophy in this league, has been a highlight of my admittedly short sim league career, and I will continue to dream big because of it. Bring on season 10 and a repeat!

(255 words)

[slothfacekilla]

If I am going to write about an extraordinary play that I have seen in the Simulation Soccer League, I think I am going to have to choose the clip from the Cairo City vs. Athênai F.C. Season 7 Matchday 5 game that always stuck out to me in the clips channel of the discord. It was utter madness on the pitch that day and not one that someone can forget easily!

Hlemyzd was taking the ball into the attacking half for Cairo, and Yoker was marking him closely. Yoker made a slide tackle, knocking the ball out for a corner kick, but it also appeared Yoker injured himself! Hlemyzd looked down to see that Yoker was on the ground in pain, and I guess he decided he too was hurt on the play because he quickly hit the deck grabbing his knee in pain. Both players stayed on the ground much to the confusion of the announcers, who also seemed to be amused by the situation as well. It looked like Yoker was taking the worst of it with Hlemyzd on top of him. Multiple medical personal ran out to attend to them, and it seemed like Yoker ended up BM-ing Hlemyzd at the end with some tactical crouches on the downed player. My favorite part of the whole thing was that Ask Jeeves was just staring at them waiting to take the corner kick.

Somehow both of them returned to the game too, what a beautiful game soccer is.

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[Sermokala]

The moment

I honestly wasn't expecting to win anything that year. I knew we had to go up but actually getting something for my profile was a dream that just didn't seem real. I had already written off Horvat as a mistake and was really frustrated by my failures in SSL so far. Everyone wants to believe that they had value but until this game I hadn't really believed that Horvat was really any better for a team then someone with half the TPE I had. I know a few people have so many that they hide some but its been a long hard road from my last title in a sim league (go crabs).

But this moment really sealed it for me and the rest of the LR. Roma had just scored one back and it did seem like they could isolate papa, horvat would go invisible, and somehow the title would be pulled out of reach. But this moment right here really gave me hope.

A long ball delivered somewhere deep from the goalie was met by Milan with a real purpose and delivered blind somehow right in the window for papa to take it and deliver on what would be a career defining game. It gave me a good glipse of what a pressing forward could be in the league, just a great vibe down the strech for the whole locker room.

[lore]

This may or may not be a highlight in the game itself, but there is a particular moment during a match between Tokyo S.C and União São Paulo that was so memorable for me that it became the catalyst for my joining the SSL to begin with. That more than counts as something extraordinary, I think. Let me take you back, if you would, to the long ago season 6 of the Simulation Soccer League. To be more specific, I'm talking match day #12. I have yet to fully understand how the game uh...minutes themselves work, so please forgive me, but I'm pretty sure it's in the second half. We are at around 68 minutes, and Tokyo and São Paulo are tied 1-1. Hayden has the ball just past center field (it's center field right? right?), and he passes it off (eventually) to Ryze, who says no thank you and kicks it right back. Hayden then sends it to Söderberg, who pretty much acts as a human pinball paddle as she trips and sends it flying to Inclan, who somehow manages to receive the "pass" and hits the back of HIS OWN net on his sleeping goalkeeper, making it 2-1 for Tokyo. That moment in itself was already hilariously awesome to watch, but what made it truly special for me was Val's reaction to the play, where she inexplicably turned into Santa. It's something I will never forget, and still makes me laugh a LOT every time I watch it.

CODE

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Behold!

[Pandar]

Theme Week Pass

[Otrebor13]

I would say something extraordinary that happened in a game was probably during my rookie season. In Season 6 I joined Sydney on a rebuilding team to try and help them get good players and replace some of the talent that was lost that offseason. Obviously a rookie CB isn’t going to do too much in terms of replacing the top talent that was on the team a season earlier, but I did what I could.

While that seems perfectly normal, what was extraordinary was towards the end of the season. We were getting out played most games but I was trying, and I finally surpassed 300 clearances in D1 that season, a feat that had only been accomplished by 2 others before me, and I was a rookie! However, it seemingly went unnoticed. There were no stories about the accomplishment, no questions in the post game, no comments about it even in the commentary during the game! I found this quite shocking. To top it all off, later in the offseason while I was completing a PT there was a question that asked something along the lines of: “Name the only 2 players to have recorded 300+ clearances in a single season”. I felt like it was being done on purpose to spite me, but no hard feelings!

[Merchant]

You know it may not have been a spectacular volley, or a monstrously commanding header, but something special happened for Paul Penshaw recently. His first goal in the big leagues in the SSL. He opened his account for Reykjavik against Accra in Division 2 Matchday 6. He's kept his stats fairly healthy throughout his rookie season, playing as a super sub for the Icelandic based club, but that first goal will always be special regardless.

The match itself was a great back and forth game, culminating in a 2-1 win against Accra. The fact it was a victory by 1 makes opening his account all the sweeter, and with his rapidly honing skill set, hopefully it's by far the last we see of Penshaw on the score sheet. He still has a lot of skills to work on, and has openly stated he intends to work on aerial superiority in the offseason, which will bring another dimension of threat to his finishing.

The young big man in the box is progressing well, and this will hopefully be looked back upon as a definining moment in the young mans career. Whether he eventually sees full time minutes for Reykjavik seems to no longer be a question, and instead we are asking ourselves when he will begin to lead the strike force of the team, who are having a stellar season. Certainly a lucky landing spot for Paul Penshaw, and hopefully one he can contribute to even more in whats to come.

Word count: 250 words

[Duilio05]

The most remarkable thing i have seen in this league was completed by my team mates in the 3rd game of this season. We weren't feeling too excited about this season as management made really difficult choice to trade away one of our top players for a few extra draft picks. So the first couple games were important to reset the team chemistry and see who would step up to fill the void left by the absence of a team veteran. It took a couple games, but the third game we showed we shouldn't be under estimated. We nearly allowed a goal, but immediately turned it into a long break away to score our own goal with only 3 passes. It felt very magical and surreal. We all had a over whelming feeling that we had connected on another level, knowing exactly where the ball would and need to be passed to and the necessary roll we each need to play on the pitch to make the fast break happen to put us up a goal. All three touches during this fast break were made by young newly acquired players on the team showing that they are ready and wanting to fill the rolls left vacant by the previous trade.

[trella]

My favorite and most memorable moment in an SSL match happened in S7 Matchday 5 in a match between Cairo City FC and Athenai FC. Deedee Yoker got stuck in with a slide tackle against Arnost Hlemyzd and injures himself in the process. Hlemyzd, who seemed okay at first, then falls to the pitch, practically on top of Yoker. The two roll around on the ground for an uncomfortable amount of time as Cairo City’s left back Ask Jeeves stands awkwardly in the corner waiting to take the kick. After a truly awkward amount of time, the two “injured” players go off the pitch and wait on the sideline while the corner kick is finally taken. Then, after all of the drama and theatrics, Hlemyzd and Yoker come back on the pitch like nothing happened.

This is my favorite moment in an SSL match because its the most absurd and random thing I’ve ever seen the game pump out. The whole sequence was like nothing i had ever seen, I really thought the game was glitched and that they were gonna roll around forever. Its the random hilarious moments like these that make sim leagues fun and this is one that always stuck out to me.