Thanks for the translation FurryFury
Before Game
In the middle of June, Enlightened Agent Snegniy had an idea to hold a cross-faction soccer match for Moscow Ingress community: Enlightened team vs Resistance.
For the Resistance side, chromesearch took point, thus starting an active search for players and fans and a promotional campaign.
At that point, it was the height of World Cup 2018 tournament, and July 14 was selected as the date (a day before World Cup finale). They promptly created Telegram chat groups for the teams, the official channel (@ingressfootball), and a fan chat. Soccer was all over Moscow with the World Cup, and the atmosphere had a powerful effect on the process of preparation, driving up the enthusiasm for the game.
Teams and their fans spent around a month to get ready for the match which was set to start at 11 AM on Satuday, July 14, on an artificial turf field in Strogino district of Moscow. Players of both teams held a few practice games over the month and designed their own faction uniforms with name tags, while the fans brought flags, symbols, whistles and other faction swag.
Over the last pre-game week, the parties decided on the rules, which were adapted for the selected playground. The match was to be 6 vs 6, 5 field players and a goalkeeper, 2 30-minutes periods, no overtime, and a penalty series in case of a draw. Snegniy himself was the timekeeper, as unfortunately, an injury prevented him from featuring in his team’s lineup.
First Part
From 10 AM, the players from both teams started to arrive at the stadium to warm up. At 11 AM, almost 50 Agents of both factions were ready to cheer for their teams, with more coming every minute. The last preparations, group team photos, coin toss between team captains, live broadcast launch….
The starting whistle announced the beginning of the game. Right then, in the first minute, the Enlightened became the first to score (thanks to Beck1588). The Resistance didn’t expect such a strong start from their opponents (Resistance team captain: “I can’t say that listened to the pre-game reassurances than the Enlightened would fizzle out by the end of the first period and become tired of running, but fierce start was completely unexpected).
By the middle of the first period, the Resistance managed to push the Enlightened away from their gate, but overall, it finished with a small play advantage of the green team.
Meanwhile, the mood on the stadium was mind-blowing. Each successful action by the players was met with a standing ovation by the spectators. Occasionally, the fans shouted chants and slogans; there was even an interchange between the opposing stands. Resistance team had the support of actual cheer leaders (!) in blue-and-white uniforms.
Finally, the whistle signaled a ten minutes break, allowing the teams to rest a bit and change their playing setups.
By the way, both sides had unlimited substitutions and made an active use of this option to keep their players fresh and let all declared players take part in the game (the agreement was up to 15 players per team).
Second Part
The teams switched gates, and the second period started. The game became more equal and intense, as the players got used each other and learned what to expect.
The beginning of the period was marred by an unpleasant incident — a Resistance player got injured after falling down on his hand due to rough play of a rival. Fortunately, it turned to be minor enough, and after a trip to the trauma center, the player was able to return to the field during the penalty shootout.
As a resut of these heated 10 minutes, Resistance player @zlzl scored an equalizer after a shot from the right flank.
The game was drawing to a close, and the confrontations between the teams became more and more frequent. The players were becoming tired and making more mistakes. Finally, after a single mistake by the defense, Foscor powered in the ball into the Resistance gates just 5 minutes before the end. Victory seemed to be in the bag, and the Enlighened fans already started celebrating, lighting up the pyrotechnics.
But in soccer, the game only stops with the final whistle, and two minutes before it sounded, XBigSTARx, after a shot from the right flank by zlzl, evened the score — it’s 2:2!
In the remaining minutes and even seconds of the game, the players couldn’t create any scoring chances, as they seemed too tired and unwilling to take risks. The rules stated that the teams were to have a penalty shootout after a small break.
The die was cast, the captains decided on the 5 shooters, and the 7-meter mark for the ball was set. Resistance players were to shoot first. Run, hit… 1:0. The Enlightened evened the score to 1:1, but on that day, luck was not on their side, and after the first goal, they never managed to get the ball insite the net. The shootout ended with the score of 4:1 in favor of the Resistance team.
After the game, players and fans of both teams went for a swim to a nearby beach, chat, and watch the World Cup bronze medal match.
The organizers express their thanks to all who took part in the process: players, fans, photographers, and everybody else who helped to make this happen in any other way. The event was held on a very high level, the atmosphere was close to a professional soccer match, and the excitement exceeded most games of Russian Premier League. We hope that this example of an XF “near-Ingress” event which retains competition between factions may inspire others who want to arrange a similar activity but, for whatever reason, have any doubts about it. As the record shows, success is very possible, an there is a huge room for creativity.
And one other thing. Return game is on September, 15. All are welcome!
Total
Stay tuned. @ingressfootball.
Photos:
Match results:
Resistance 2 : 2 Enlightened (4:1 on penalties).
Goals:
0:1 — Beck1588
1:1 — zlzl
1:2 — Foscor
2:2 — xBigSTARx
Team roster:
Resistance:
Goalkeeper:
Redlook
Field players:
xBigSTARx
Cepruyc
zlzl
chromesearcher
svborn
Fly33
Pitecha
NightLeshiy
CatDisaster
damieneol
M0rf3u
fongerman
nkz1138
Enlightened:
Goalkeeper:
puzhater
Field players:
albloodless
Beck1588
bra1ss
Burzuruk
Foscor
irk911
Mazila
mikhm
olegkovalski30
rijiqq
rrunix
Ultiaj
ZaSonYaYa