Perfetto was honoured to captain the team in the last two friendlies. But with him and the other defenders being as weak as they are a clean sheet will be next to impossible, we'll just have to score more goals than we concede.
Hope you enjoy the first two games of our pre-season friendly cup!
Group game 1/3 - Tromso
For our first group game we had to play against the theoretically weakest of them all, Norwegian side Tromso IL. Never change a winning team, they say, but that's exactly what we did. Never stop rotating is the motto of Daily Destroyers, as this was our starting eleven for the first group game:
Spoiler
As explained above, Tromso is supposed to be the weakest team of our group and the tournament, and that was quickly proven. The game was only five minutes far as Wall found Washington in the box of our opponents, opening the score and making it 1-0 for Daily Destroyers! The American came close to a second goal only six minutes later, but a good save from the Tromso goalie denied him a second goal, and Sanchez an assist.
Tromso had no answer, but our engine also started having some problems. Nothing much happened for a long while, and the first small opportunity for the visitors came with a shot from distance, which was no problem for goalie Maes in minute 38. All of a sudden the Norwegians were playing like a mini Barcelona, and if it hadn't been for two one on one saves from Maes just before and after halftime, they would have equalized. Garner-Hammerling Junior reacted for us with a shot with his weak left foot, but it wasn't really the best shot of his career.
As the hour mark passed, Bobson, Callahan and Huber were brought in by coach Nemolito. The Tromso goalie seemed to be a bit confused after this trio coming in, as he simply gave away the ball to Washington from a goalkick just when they came in. Washington thanked him for the nicely wrapped gift, scoring a brace in minute 60, 2-0!
Just when we thought we had some room to breathe, Deez Nuts forgot to follow his man only six minutes later, which saw Tromso score their first goal of the evening. 2-1 with around 25 minutes to go. Funnily enough, the Tromso goal actually seemed to finally wake up the team again, as all of a sudden they started playing way better. Ten minutes before the final whistle everyone was able to enjoy some Swiss magic, as a stunning through pass from Huber to Martens led in a hattrick of striker Washington, as Martens decided to be very sweaty and pass it to the American instead of going for glory himself, 3-1! Link to the goal and build-up: https://youtu.be/...
The game started to look like a copy of our latest friendly against Aldosivi more and more, as deep in the extra time Tromso managed to make it 3-2. No worries though, as the referee ended the game immediately after. First three points in the friendly cup! Washington was given the match ball by the referees, as can be seen below. Highlights of the game also below.
We had three points in the bag, were we able to double that against a stronger opponent? This was our starting eleven:
Spoiler
Swiss magic in game one, Swiss magic in game two! Not a pre-assist by Sepp Huber this time, but a goal with his weak foot! It was another first chance first goal for Daily Destroyers, as Huber was given the ball by Callahan and made it 0-1 after only six minutes.
We simply dominated the first thirty minutes, with some big chances as well. Huber came close to a second goal, but so did Ottaviani with a shot from distance. Callahan even missed two one on one opportunities. Even though the score was still only 0-1, things were looking good.
Too good to be true, actually. A far from perfect tackle by Perfetto lead to a yellow card for our centre back as well as a penalty for Chicago Fire. It is extra painful if you look at the replay, as you can see Perfetto tackle his opponent after Santana had saved the ball already. Link to the penalty: https://youtu.be/...
Our other centre back, Nuts, was also awarded a yellow card just before halftime, after another badly timed tackle. It was nice to go into the changing rooms with a well deserved lead, but two yellow cards for your centre backs are never a nice thing to have so early in the game.
We started the second half quite well again, but both Torres and Wall missed the target with their respective shots. When Santana made a necessary save from a Chicago shot in minute 66, we had three guys coming in: Macduff, Brajkovic and Perun.
Chicago Fire really tried to find an opening and equalize, but they had trouble breaking our nicely cemented wall. Without the coach asking them to do so, Garner-Hammerling Jr. and Callahan suddenly switched side for a minute around the 78th minute. It really was a stroke of genius, as Garner-Hammerling Jr. moved away from his opponent brilliantly, saw a free Callahan and passed it to him, and with a cheeky tap-in the 0-2 was put on the scoreboard! Finally a goal for Callahan after many chances, let's hope he has now found his scoring ways for good.
This time we even evaded a late goal against us, also thanks to Santana keeping his corner closed after Chicago Fire did come close in the penultimate minute of the game. 6/6 for Daily Destroyers, let's see what that means in group A:
Spoiler
The game against Red Bull Salzburg will be decisive for the first and second place in our group. The winner will most likely play against Tottenham for the tournament win.
Great double win! Awesome hattrick and penalty safe as well! But I feel for the manager, it's really hard to find a reliable sidekick for Macduff at centre back
Not sure about tap-in, Callahan absolutely blasted that in for no reason Very nice to see him with an assist and a goal, good to be off the mark! And what a brilliant start to the tournament for the Destroyers, Washington with an awesome performance there!
24/02/21 - kandesbunzler said “I don't drink famous people."
15/08/22 - SotD said "Your [jandal's] humour is overrated"
11/06/24 - knockout said "Winning is fine I guess. Truth be told this felt completely unimportant." [ICL] Santos-Euskadi | [PT] Xero Racing
Great job delivered by Sepp in both games - but of course, even his performance pales beside Washington's great show! Now let's beat RB as well, and then fight for the first title in team history
Btw, FIFA's player animations have become really great - except for Santana's hair
Great to get two wins under our belt in the tournament to start off. All eyes on the match against Salzburg for the group win. Hopefully Torres can contribute more in the future...
First of all, thanks to all for the comments/activity so far. Now, let's head on to the second part of our pre-season tournament with games against Salzburg and ...?
Game 3/4 - Red Bull Salzburg
For our third and final group game we had to beat Red Bull Salzburg in order to win our group and play a gala match against the Spurs. This was our starting eleven:
Spoiler
Perun was quite present from the start. Four minutes in and he lost the ball, which luckily didn’t lead to a Salzburg goal, as the Austrians did not threaten goalie Maes with a badly aimed attempt. Perun could have made up for his mistake a couple of minutes later after a good assist from Torres, but the god of thunder missed as well.
Torres was feeling good though, as he gave us another early goal after twelve minutes! He was assisted by hattrick hero Washington, and left the Austrian goalie chanceless. 1-0 and the first place in the group was coming closer! An early goal sometimes leads to a very open game, but this was not the case against Salzburg. While our attack could not find an opening in the Salzburg defense, Macduff and Perfetto also ensured no Austrian was able to endanger our lead. 1-0 at halftime, 45 minutes away from glory!
Just as in the first half, both teams had a good opportunity of scoring quickly in the second half as well. Only five minutes played as an Austrian volley landed against our post, while Martens missed the chance to make it 2-0 in minute 57. Shortly after our three substitutes came on: Huber, Garner-Hammerling Junior and Ottaviani.
Salzburg knew the time was ticking, so they went for a more attacking approach. They were getting closer and closer to a goal, but Maes kept the score 1-0 with an incredible save in the 67th minute, whereas only one minute later the Austrians hit the post for the second time in the second half!
Huber proved to be an important player in our two first games, and he was not ready to give up on his role of deciding player yet! A counterattack saw the Swiss rush forwards with the ball at his feet starting on our half, to keep it with him all the way until the box of Salzburg, beating the goalie with his weaker left foot once again! 2-0 with 20 minutes to play! Tottenham, here we come?!
If you thought Huber was done with the Swiss magic for today, think again. He’s a big fan of counterattacking apparently, as he had a lot of space on the right side of the field once again only six minutes later. He saw Garner-Hammerling Junior running free, and our favourite Swede really decided the game with the 3-0! Salzburg went from incredibly close to equalizing to definitely losing very quickly.
The game was not over yet, as we scored yet another goal from a counterattack. This time it was speedster Washington who found substitute Garner-Hammerling Junior, as the Swede managed to score a brace as a sub. Nicely done. Sadly enough Maes was not able to have his first clean sheet, as a not so superb save from him in minute 92 lead to the Salzburg 4-1.
A great tournament for the men in black was awarded with a gala match against Tottenham Hotspur. How would Daily Destroyers cope with meeting some of their heroes, such as Kane, Son, and Lloris? As always, we kept on rotating and tried a new formation as well:
Spoiler
Just as in our last group game, Perun had a nice opportunity of opening the score after only five minutes. Lloris showed he wanted to win today’s game, and denied the Slovenian the opening goal. Six minutes later Macduff gave a terrible pass leading to a goal opportunity for the Spurs, but Santana saved the day. Both Huber and Son then missed a big chance before the twentieth minute, showing both teams were ready to play attacking and go for the tournament title without parking the bus.
Son might have missed one chance, he did not do so twice. The Spurs used their pace to their advantage in minute 26, as Son opened the score after an assist from the Brazilian Lucas Mauro. Macduff was too slow to follow the Brazilian, whereas Son was not guarded well enough by right back Brajkovic.
The Spurs did not hold back anymore, as they continued to pressure high and had several scoring opportunities before halftime. First we needed Santana to save two Dele Alli shots as well as an attempt from Son, then it was Kane time. In minute 38 the Brit scored the 2-0, but luckily for us he was offside and the goal did not count. Two minutes later his shot from distance hit the crossbar. We managed to go into the changing rooms losing 1 to 0, which was not too bad considering the final twenty minutes.
Tottenham did not go easy on us in the second half neither. Son tried to score his second goal of the game, but missed right after the ball was rolling again. Just as in the first half, Perun had an opportunity to equalize, but once again Lloris proved he is a superb goalkeeper. Even though Santana is also a superb goalie, he was unable to prevent Deli Alli scoring the 2-0 in the 65th minute, after Tottenham made us look like fools with some quick passing play. Sanchez, Torres and Washington were then substituted in.
Torres come close to an assist ten minutes later, but Garner-Hammerling Junior unbelievably missed a free goal. The Swede wanted revanche and came close to scoring in minute 82, but Llories kept the ball out of his cage with a world class save. One minute later it was once again Garner-Hammerling Junior who went for glory, but this time he missed the target. Deez Nuts tried scoring with a shot from distance as well just before the final whistle, but his attempt saw the ball landing in Stamford Bridge.
We gave everything we had, but unfortunately beating a team like Tottenham Hotspur is still a bit too much to ask from our boys. Nevertheless, a great tournament was awarded with a second place. All field players have 2 stat points to divide as they want. Could be 2 points to one stat or one point to two stats. The two goalies get awarded one stat point. Deadline is Monday evening 6PM CET. You can also vote for your player of the tournament. Nominees are Landon Washington, Joseph Huber and Robert Macduff.
Very nice to see him with an assist and a goal, good to be off the mark! And what a brilliant start to the tournament for the Destroyers, Washington with an awesome performance there!
