Five games were played this morning as the standings are beginning to take shape.

Fighting Ants made the biggest impact out of Group H when they won their third game, this time a 2-1 triumph in the return game against FC Trojans of FC. As with the first matchup between the two teams, this was another close contest. The game was tied 1-1 in the 2nd half when Lukasz Grabowska knocked in a corner kick in the 70th minute to give Ants all three points. Sitting at 3-0 and with 9 points, the two-time Champions look like they are going to advance barring a collapse. The Trojans, despite being 0-2, are very much alive.

kangaroo fc out of Group C has made it 2-for-2 when they beat FC Cackalacky 3-2 at home. Gabriele Abderhalden scored in his second straight game for Cackalacky in the 23rd minute but it was a mid-2nd half stretch of dominance for the roos that won the day. The Croatian team scored three times in an 18 minute stretch, highlighted by a pair of goals from Quain Bowne. Cackalacky's Uuno Mantyla did score right as regular time expired when roos goalie Nikita Shekhodanov muffed a save to make the score close and minimize the goal differential penalty.

Joe's Team Of a Thousand Corpses and Space Olympics played a very even statistical match out of Group D...even in every category except the scoreboard. Olympics was able to convert 5 of their 11 spots on goal whereas DEAD was only able to convert once. Ramzi Babham was able to score twice for the French side, including an unassisted effort in the 85th minute to finish off the scoring in the 5-1 Olympics victory. The DEAD's lone goal came early off the head of Trevond Simms, giving the zombie crowd of almost 42,000 something to cheer about.

The final two games this morning were both ties, including another 1-1 draw, which seems to be a popular scoreline this tournament. Brighton AFC and butterfiles united split the points in Group G. butterfiles scored its lone goal when Speedy Bell cleaned up the rebound off a corner to give the visitors a 1-0 halftime lead. Brighton then tied it up midway through the 2nd half when Lamont Wahl saw his own team's corner kick settle onto his feet where he made quick work of it to tie the game. The other draw was between Metropolitan Screaming Eagles and Swamp City Dragons, a 2-2 tie out of Group B. 104 year old forward...and the all-time goal scorer in Cup history, Arley Movsisyan scored in the 20th minute when he fired a rocket past Metro Eagles goalie Zapotocky Pustejovsky. The game went into halftime tied 2-2 and remained scoreless in the 2nd half, despite the Metro Eagles going a man down after Deontre Voss was red carded out of the game in the 64th minute after a hard foul. The Dragons couldn't take advantage and the game ended as it 2nd half had started.

A bunch more games this afternoon, which I'll update after 7pm.

With less a than a week for scheduling, here's a friendly reminder about the unscheduled game remaining. This info is also in the post right below the Golden Toe tracker.

Unscheduled Games - 11

Group A

Bad News - all three away games (Cotopaxi, Kingston and crutchanators send the challenges)

Group D

Joe's Team Of a Thousand Corpses home against Arsenal F.C. (DEAD sends the challenge)

Group F

VB Hibernian home against SwampDragons United (Hibernian sends the challenge.) There are currently two home games for Dragons on the 12th and 19th.

Group H

Merchiston FC - all 6 games.

Added three of the pm games to the standings from Groups A, B and C.

In Group A, well, what can you say. This happens on occasion to new teams to the Cup. Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi effectively assured themselves of an away goal tiebreaker by putting a beat down on Bad News 11-2. After falling behind 4-0, Bad News scored twice in as many minutes after Ignado Polo painted the corner in the 42nd minute, giving the home side some confidence heading into halftime. That didn't last long as Cotopaxi put up seven in the 2nd half. Three players scored twice for the Ecuadorian club, including Sceley Ballouchy, who scored his 3rd and 4th, temporarily lifting him into a tie for the Golden Toe lead.

Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. actually made a game of it against Kobelco United Football Club, drawing first blood in the 7th minute when 20 year old Jayvon Burch (the whole team is 20 or younger) found himself open inside the penalty area and put it home. The kids couldn't hang on as the veteran Japanese side equalized and then scored the winning goal when Varik Brome scored unassisted in the 37th minute to give Kobelco the 2-1 win.

In Group C, The Shield of the Cow did not have a good follow-up game to its opening victory as it fell at The Cow Palace to Burnaby Hillbillies 4-1. The Cow had plenty of chances but only converted once when Kevin De Lucas nailed a shot in the 41st minute. Meanwhile, four different Burnaby players netted as they scored on half of their 8 shots on goal. It was a bad day for Cow goalie Luke Sengier as he mis-handled two balls that both found the back of the net, pretty much dooming his side's chances.

The other games will be updated this evening.

When I saw the scoreline from that 11-2 game I thought for sure Ballouchy had at least 5. He's gunning for the L'Orteil D'or after coming up 1 goal short last tournament.

Do any of you play Football Manager? If you dont, you should because it's everything you can possibly want in a football/soccer game management game.

In a game that could have major playoff implications, Aurea Cruce Aquilonis got a key road victory in Group G after the 1-0 final over North Polar Dragons FC. North Polar controlled the flow of the game but couldn't score, despite 28 opportunities. In dramatic fashion, Adilson Leite glanced a header towards the corner that got past Dragons goalie Aderet Schar in the 89th minute and the Polish club got out of the stadium with all three points in hand. Aquilonis now sits atop the table, although their goal differential is still underwater.

To wrap up the evening, a pair of games out of Group F tighten the standings. Group leader VB Hibernian was handed its first loss at the hands of Bordeaux Fighting Bovines. Another game that went right to the wire, the game was sitting at 2-2 and looking like a draw until Cattle forward Hassoun Hautcoeur drilled a shot from distance that found the back of the net as regular time expired for the 3-2 win. FC Not Very Athletic bounced back from its opening loss and handily beat SwampDragons United at home 5-2. Five different players scored for Athletic and the Swampsters really couldn't muster much offense other than a brilliant 10-minute stretch early in the 2nd half capped of my Ninian Brooks weaving his way through the Athletic defense to make the highlight reel.

A cool 13 games are on tap for tomorrow.

I'm going to have to break up today's games into pieces, maybe three at a time every three hours or so.

The first three morning games have been added and we have, perhaps, have our first glimpse as to which team is the one to beat. Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi played defending Champion FC Kingston in Group A and exacted some revenge for their semifinal loss from Cup XII by thrashing the Champs 5-0 in Ecuador. Kingston only managed two shots on goal as Cotopaxi dominated the game. Weyland Watkins scored twice and Sceley Ballouchy scored his tournament-leading 5th goal to help Cotopaxi stay undefeated at 3-0 and, with a +15 differential and 11 away goals, it's hard to see how they will not advance to the playoffs. The Champs have some regrouping to do.

Out of Group B, Metropolitan Screaming Eagles is now confirmed to be four goals better than Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V. After winning the first game between the clubs 4-0, the return game was this morning...and the score was another 4-0 Metro Eagles win. Unfortunately for Köln, they immediately went a man down after hothead defender Hector Rico showed off some of his MMA skills and was promptly red carded by the referee. As the game wore on, the German side tired and the Metro Eagles increasingly took advantage until, at the very end, Deontre Voss put two in the back of the net in the closing minutes. The Swedes are looking good for advancement and Köln is on the verge of elimination.

kangaroo fc and Burnaby Hillbillies played the one competitive game out of the three as they ended up drawing 2-2 in Group C action. Aluino Belenguer wasted no time getting the Hillbillies on the board after his rocket header in the 4th minute. But, Russian Evgeny Fokine answered back with a successful header of his own in the 26th minute to tie the game at 1-1 and the drawish nature of the contest was secured. Both teams added 2nd half goals, Burnaby's coming right before regular time expired, as the two clubs had to settle on splitting the points.

I'll do another update around 11am or so.

The other four am games have been added to the standings. Two-time Champion Fighting Ants have clinched a tiebreaker scenario as they extend their Group G record to 4-0 after crushing Real TK on the road 6-1. TK actually scored the only goal in the 1st half when Luigi Terlizzi connected on a corner cross to convert their only shot on goal but the 2nd half was one-sided. Vincente Ocampo scored twice in 7 minutes and the Ants poured it on all the way to the final whistle. Sitting at 12 points, the Ants only need a single point or a tie by TK and FC Trojans of SC to claim a Knockout Round spot.

Aurea Cruce Aquilonis and Brighton AFC played an entertaining game in Poland that Aquilonis eventually ended up winning 6-4. Brighton scord first in the 5th minute, followed by Gabe de La Macorra scoring the first of his two goals in the game a few minutes later that started a scoring barrage by Aquilonis that saw their lead swell to 4-1. Before things could get completely out of hand, Irishman Quinlan Turley struck back for Brighton, scoring a pair of goals to make it 4-3, including a grass-burner that he unleashed after beating the offside trap. The momentum swung back to Aquilonis as they finished off the American club late with a running shot by Cason Knowings that sealed the deal.

Another Group G game saw North Polar Dragons FC and butterfiles united play to a 2-2 draw, a result that helped neither club. The stat lines were almost exactly the same as both teams struggled to get the upper hand. Zakary Walls scored twice for North Polar and Vance Lewis, a young scoring phenom for butterfiles, scored just before halftime. Aquilonis leads the group with 9 points and the other three teams are bunched within a couple of points of each other. These teams keep tying games and wins are what is needed to secure a spot in the next round.

To round out the morning action, Arsenal F.C. hit the road and shut out Space Olympics in France by a score of 2-0. Arsenal forward Teague Guildford was the only one to score as Group D is another one where ties are more common than wins. Fianna AFC sits on top of the group with only 5 points and this morning's result has both Olympics and Arsenal now sitting at 4 points. Joe's Team Of a Thousand Corpses has only played one game, so it's anybody's guess as to where this is headed.

There are a bunch of noon and 6pm games that I'll capture this evening.

I am updating the pm games now but there are six of them so it might take me a bit.

Rushmore FC played a pair of games this afternoon and came away winning one of them. On the road against Southeast Indiana Football Club, they looked like world beaters, controlling the game and winning 5-0 on the strength of two goals by Cannavaro Maccarone. Against Futbol Club Oviedo at home, they looked fairly pedestrian, getting only 5 shots on goal and avoiding a shutout only when Dougal Ridgewell knocked one in in the 81st minute. Oviedo remains atop the Group E standings with 7 points and Rushmore sits currently in the 2nd transfer spot, although Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack, which is not thought to have enough strength to keep pace, has only played one game, which was a draw.

Perennial powerhouse The Shield of the Cow looks very vulnerable this Cup as they dropped a 2-1 decision to FC Cackalacky, giving Cackalacky their first win in Group C out of four games. The Cow completely owned the stat sheet, having 28 shots to Cackalacky's 10 but converting only one of the 28 won't get it done...and that conversion by Halbert Labazares was literally the last play of the game right before the ref blew the whistle. Visa Taipale, hailing from one of the great soccer families in Finland, scored what proved to be the game winner in the 74th minute.

Kobelco United Football Club and Swamp City Dragons played a quality match in Group B with the Dragons coming back to grab all three points on the road, winning 3-2. The ageless wonder Arley Movsisyan scored his 2nd of the tournament and Jeraldo Marechal netted the game winner in the 74th minute when he connected from distance to wrap up the scoring. Kobelco had jumped to a 2-1 lead after Ring Klein and Rolfe Reinhard scored within the first 20 minutes but they were unable to hold on.

VB Hibernian improves their Group F record to 3-1 as they shutout SwampDragons United 3-0 on the road. Leonardo Sarmiento scored a pair of goals as Hibernian erased a 0-0 halftime score to pull away in the 2nd half. Hibernian is in command of the group and is looking to clinch one of the transfer spots if everything breaks their way in the next game.

Finally to wrap up this day, FC Trojans of SC dropped another Group H game where they put up a big number of goals, this time 6-4 to Real TK. Scoring is not the Trojans problem as they have scored 10 goals in three games. Defense is a problem where they have yielded 15. Real TK got a hat trick from 20 year old forward Luigi Terlizzi and two more from makeup-wearing Italian Flavio Mascara. The Trojans were led by Stephon Gray, who scored twice in the losing effort.

That might have been the single largest number of games ever played on one Cup day in tournament history. See you in the morning.

Thank you for the hard work and thoroughly entertaining match recaps! Easily the best part of an otherwise dull FC Dynasty experience. Frankly, the FC Dynasty Cup is the only reason I play the game.

Posted by EJP on 11/12/2023 9:03:00 PM (view original):
Thank you for the hard work and thoroughly entertaining match recaps! Easily the best part of an otherwise dull FC Dynasty experience. Frankly, the FC Dynasty Cup is the only reason I play the game.

You're welcome. Some of the player names this tournament are out of sight!

There were 8 morning games and the first two Knockout Round spots were secured from the results. The standings have been updated and I'll start working on the summaries after I have a cup or two of coffee.

Metropolitan Screaming Eagles get the coveted blue highlighting as they clinch a Group B playoff spot after their 3-1 win over Kobelco United Football Club. Filip Lonnqvist knocked in two goals for the Swedish side and, at 11 points, assured that Kobelco can't catch them in the standings. Kobelco's only chance of advancing now is to outpoint Swamp City Dragons. The Dragons also won their morning game, a 4-0 win over my inept Fußball-Club Köln 01/07 e. V., which has the infamous honor of being the first team mathematically eliminated from the tournament. Centenarian Arley Movsisyan scored his 3rd goal when his 104 year old frame displayed a fine vertical leap as he rose above the Köln defenders to head in a cross in the 74th minute. Kobelco is in a must-win situation its next game out.

Fighting Ants also clinched a transfer bid from Group H with their entertaining 4-4 tie against Merchiston FC, who finally opened up their tournament play. The game went back and forth and was close the entire contest. Burhford Sigismund scored a pair for the Ants and Rocky Wynne did the same for Merchiston. The tie gives the Ants 13 points and assured themselves that they can only be caught by Merchiston, who still has five games to play.

In some of the other games, Southeast Indiana Football Club picked up its first win in Group E with a 3-0 beatdown of Der Kaiserlich-Österreichische Hodensack. The Indiana defense ruled the day and allowed The Crown Jewels only one shot on goal. Meanwhile, Indiana's offense scored three goals in 14 minutes, aided greatly by some sloppy play from Hodensack goalie Volney Stryker, who mishandled two of the tallies. Indiana has drawn level with Rushmore FC for the final transfer spot, although Rushmore has a game in hand.

FC Not Very Athletic jumped ahead of Bordeaux Fighting Bovines in the Group F standings thanks to their 2-1 road win. Midfielder Zackary Illescas scored twice as the 2-1 halftime lead held up to the end. Brighton AFC also leapfrogged North Polar Dragons FC in the Group G standings after their 4-1 win at the Dragons home pitch. Veteran American forward Hardwin Rogers scored a hat trick to lead Brighton. There are still a bunch of games remaining for each of these teams so the panic button doesn't need to be pushed quite yet.

In the last two games this morning Fianna AFC soundly beat Joe's Team Of a Thousand Corpses to distance themselves from the rest of the Group D pack. Five different Fianna players scored but what was most impressive was the 10 minute stretch between minutes 63 and 73 when DEAD, who had been leading 2-1 at that point, got blitzed by the Fianna offense. Delon Ray got it started with a quick shot from the middle of the box that painted the upper corner. That opened up the floodgates and Fianna scored three more times in quick succession to turn the 2-1 deficit into a 5-2 win. To round it out, FC Cackalacky and Burnaby Hillbillies played to a 2-2 draw. All four goals were scored in the first half, including a score by both teams in the 45th minute when Hernandez Corralero knocked one home for the Hillbillies followed by Omar Rostholder getting the equalizer in added time moments later. The Group C standings have three teams within two points of each other, so ties are not the outcome that will be needed to advance.

More games this afternoon.

I received a message from Merchiston FC that I want to share with the rest of the tournament. Two Fighting Ants home games were scheduled, one from 11/13am and another on 11/14am. The game of record is supposed to be the game that happens tomorrow morning (6am.) The game that was THIS morning, a 4-4 tie, was supposed to be ignored. Since both coaches agreed to this arrangement, I will honor it.

Therefore, I am going to remove the 4-4 draw from the Group H standings and the 11/14am game will be the one that counts. The biggest impact this decision has is that the Ants will lose their blue highlighting since 12 points does not guarantee a playoff spot but 13 points did. Considering their record is 4-0, they are virtually assured of clinching anyway.

This is a good time to remind everyone that if two home or two away games are scheduled between teams, unless I hear otherwise, the first game will always be the one that counts.