March 11, 2012

It wasn't the final result that we hoped for, but Compass did leave Kaohsiung as Plate Champions (represented in the form a midget-sized trophy) after a week of good football that saw us dominate what is undoubtedly the toughest tournament group we've ever encountered--as David called it, a virtual "Champions League" of teams.

Compass comfortably topped this large grouping of teams at the end of 6 undefeated Saturday-Sunday group-stage matches, as follows:
1-0 win over Tubbies
1-0 win over Tainan Phoenix
1-1 tie with Kaohsiung Massive
0-0 tie with Taipei Black Star
2-1 win over Taipei Super Eagles
0-0 tie with Taipei Animals

Hans and others can fill in some of the more interesting details, but Arnaud scored a winning header over Tubbies, which started the weekend on very bad note that was the beginning of the "tournament from hell" for them. In an aggressive defensive effort, Nat's head collided with teammate Tepei's face and badly fractured his skull (visibly caved in by the eye socket, according to reports). Marin was considerate enough to rush Tepei to the hospital and he's now heading to Japan for surgery. Dutch Dan also injured himself in that game, and they lost a number of players to various causes as the weekend continued, leaving Tubbies far down on the table by the end. In a nice gesture, a group of them stuck around Sunday afternoon to cheer for Compass in our semi-final and final.

For our second Saturday match, Gaetan followed his brother's lead, scoring a winning PK (awarded on a clear foul against Cesar) against the Phoenix. In the following game against a very impressive Massive side, Eugene was called on a foul in the box and they scored on the resulting PK. However, Compass equalized after Oscar fought his way through the Tainan defense to put a cross to Marin, who scored on a diving header.

Reportedly the strangest match of the weekend was on Sunday against Super Eagles, with Compass (which player?) scoring the winning goal after the defensive players ran up to argue with the referee and neglected to watch their own net. With a group victory assured, Compass pulled back to play a more relaxed, defensive match vs. the Animals.

Following barely 15 minutes of rest after that game, Compass was called into a 30-minute semi-final against Taipei Red Lions from the other group. Red Lions were surprisingly feisty and physical, against a flat-looking Compass, and were rewarded 9 minutes in when an indirect kick from just outside the left side of our box went over our wall and just under the crossbar through substitute keeper Clement's outstetched hands. Clement made up for it about 10 minutes later when the ref awarded the Lions a PK on a handball in our box. Denying the Lions' effort to lock up the match, Clement made a beautiful long dive to the his left to deflect the shot. Despite Compass pressure and several close efforts in the final minutes, we just couldn't put it in the net, resulting in our only loss of the tourney.

After another fairly short break, we went into the Plate final against tourney organizers and sometimes-nemesis Kaohsiung Pacers. Minus Cesar, who limped off injured after the semi-final, a now-relaxed Compass side went out more intent on enjoying some fun football. This more laid-back attitude generated an excellent first half that saw Ben score on a high spinning shot that rolled under the crossbar. The Pacers put us under some very tight pressure in the second 15-minute half, which saw substitute keeper David wow sideline spectators with a magnificent full-horizontal diving save across the net to deflect a hard Pacers shot that was heading in. In the end, Compass held on for the win and "Ze Plate".

The Cup final was played between the Massive and Red Lions, ending in 0-0 tie and a PK shoot-out that saw Massive emerge with what I believe is their first-ever cup trophy. In a testament to our good overall play, a number of northern and southern players told Hans and others that Compass was undoubtedly the best team at this tournament, and I believe it was clear that our play was generally of a higher level and style than most sides there.

I want to congratulate all of you who were a part of this weekend for doing Compass proud and upholding our reputation and tradition of playing excellent football. Several of you commented that the side we have right now is a top-notch one that we can build on and work with towards even better performances in the year ahead. I was struck by the way that every single Compass player present contributed to the team this weekend. I also want to thank all of you for your good team spirit, attitude and sportsmanship--another hallmark of our side.

I'm already looking forward to the next Cup Tournament, which is taking place in about 3 months in Tainan. In the meantime, I'll try get something for us this coming weekend, to prepare us for what should be a challenging Central League home match against cup champions Massive 2 weekends from now (March 25).

GO COMPASS!!

Doug