Fiffsa 5-a-Side Quarter-Finals Review

The quarter-finals proved to be a fairly subdued affair, with many of the top highly owned players failing to meet their expectations this week. This meant that the teams were relying on their differentials and defenses to do the business. As the dust settled, only four teams emerged victorious.

Quarter Finals Round Up

Egypt v Bosnia & H.

The Egyptians came into this match looking to cause another upset, while third seeds Bosnia & H. were determined to stop them. The beginning of the match looked good for Egypt as, not one but two of the Bosnian players had taken double hits. But it proved a masterstroke for the Bosnians, as they smashed Egypt by 281 to 229 points. Bosnia’s Zolakumara achieved an outstanding 80 points in the process. This was the highest score for team Bosnia in the competition and the highest score of the round.

Argentina v Seychelles

The Seychelles, who were the top scorers in the last round, took on Argentina, who defeated fellow South Americans Columbia to reach the quarter-finals. Both teams started out with a deficit of points, with Argentina having the most with three of their players taking hits. Nevertheless, Argentina powered their way to victory winning 235 to 218.

Belgium v Cuba

The Belgians looked to consolidate their form coming into this match but it would not be easy, as their opponents were ‘Los Cubanos’, a team made up of the finest quality and led by the mighty and fearless captain Jaffalito. The Cubans had halted Djibouti’s nine-match unbeaten streak last round to reach the quarter-finals and were full of confidence going into this match. Neither team had taken any hits so it would be a fair fight. However, the combination of strategic differentials such as Michail Antonio and Marko Arnautovic proved decisive and gave Cuba the vital win, beating the Belgians 239 to 220.

Zambia v Iceland

Both teams narrowly made it through to the quarter-finals, with Zambia beating Jamaica by a solitary point and Iceland ousting Portugal due to captaincy tiebreakers. Zambia were going into the match with a points deficit due to hits taken, whilst Iceland were seemingly unchanged. The Nordic Gods were not with Iceland today, though, as Zambia comfortably beat them by 230 to 186.

Match Awards

Team of the Week – Bosnia & H scoring 281 points.

Player of the Week – Zolakumara of Bosnia, who scored 80 points.

Unluckiest Team – Iceland, scoring the lowest with only one player breaking 40 points.

Worst benching decision – Team Belgium for benching Daniel the Special One, who scored more points than any of his teammates.

Semi-finals

The semifinals are shaping up nicely, with highest scorers Bosnia & H. taking on Argentina, whilst Zambia will have to try and stop the fury of ‘Los Cubanos’.

Remember, please keep up the pressers! It was great to see some new posters last week. We are down to the last four teams now so if you are still in, you have a great chance of winning this tournament. Let yourselves be heard and let the passion flow!

FURTHER INFORMATION

A quick reminder of the format. Each Gameweek, teams will pick a team of five players to go head to head with their opposite nation. The match will then be decided by the aggregate score of each team’s gameweek scores after hits have been accounted for.

As we are now in the knockout rounds, if there is a tie captains’ scores shall determine the winner, unless the captain is on the bench in which case it goes to 2nd on the teamsheet. If it is still a tie, the match shall be taken to standard FPL H2H tiebreakers.

Captains are required to submit their team sheets to fiffsa.exec@gmail.com by 1200 noon (GMT) on Tuesday March 1st, otherwise their sixth player will be automatically benched.

Live scorecards will be up shortly before the first kick-off on Saturday at the above spreadsheet.

Please see our Tournament Spreadsheet. All scores, player, fixture and tables information can be found here.

If you have any further queries, feel free to ask below in the comments or email us at:

fiffsa.exec@gmail.com

Enjoy the tournament; this is the FIFFSA 5-A-Side World Cup. Accept no imitations.

As a final request, please do try and keep FIFFSA 5-A-Side chat to the comment sections of our articles.

The FIFFSA Executive Committee – President Sepp Balders, VP BabyB, VP Jaffalicious!, VP Diva, VPBlue Lion and Secretary General Jerome Cheeseoid.