mrliioadin
Senior Squad
StevePitts;2314232 said:My son is a goalie too and he loves facing PKs because the keeper is in a 'no lose' situation where no one expects you to make the save but you can be the big hero if you do. He just picks his spot in advance rather than trying to react to the kick and has a couple of truly spectacular saves to his name, including one from three seasons or so ago that still gets talked about whenever a penalty is awarded.
That's absolutely the only thing you can do... Guess away. In College I was the backup and still faced two PK's. Guessed the right way on both, got my hands on both and didn't make the save. So guessing right is only half the game... Still gotta put enough behind it to keep it out.
Moving on -- I'm back to the second smallest and 6th strongest Confederation in the World. the Oceanic Football Confederation. I have a special place in my national team crazy heart for Oceanic football... I feel sorry for the teams that must deal with 20+ goal losses at the hands of the relatively Mighty All-Whites. But 3 days later these teams will often host American Samoa and return the favor.
These tiny island nations may not be expected to do much on the world stage, or anything for that matter. They love their sport, They play to win, they take their licks and they come right back for more. You rarely see an Oceanic team bowing out of a tournament... They want their players out there learning the game at the highest level possible. Hell, New Caledonia participated in qualifying before it was even a member. Other nations have been members for years and not played a single game (Comoros until recently, though probably due to unique financial issues).
My point is, you're looking at the bottom of the totem pole. You're looking at teams that would easily set record breaking goals conceeded records if they left their confederation. You're looking at teams that could probably be beaten by amatuer clubs. Yet they continue to show up, and get better. They develope their players, coaches, facilities, domestic leagues. And they keep plugging away when it would be so easy to thrown in the towel, save the money and not even worry about it.
Oceanic Football is getting better on a daily basis. 20-0 results are becomming 16-1... 16-1 turns to 8-1... 8-1 turns for 5-4... The gaps are being filled in and the region will offer us a surpise that will completely knock us on our ass. Who will it be?
Vanuatu -- with kits by Curswine.
Tahiti -- Fantasy Kits by Liioadin
My trial matches however were:
Vanuatu 2-2 Tahiti
Tahiti 0-5 Argentina
Argentina 11-0 Tahiti
It's fun winning 11-0 =-)