Developers World Championship: Match Report - France v Romania (Last 16)

FRANCE N.O.V.A. (Gameloft)

VS ROMANIA F.A.S.T. (Revo Solutions)

This was history in the making, or H.I.T.M. as we say in these parts.

For the first time at this prestigious Championship, two acronyms went toe-to-toe. Oh, and there was the small matter of two, no TWO, Gold Award winners going gong-to-gong in this, the opening Last 16 encounter.

What a way to kick-off the knockout stages!

From this point on the tournament was a sudden-death shootout. Lose a tie and you're out. No questions. No steward’s enquiry. And definitely no replays.

France and Romania were only too aware of this pressure-cooker scenario. Sensibly enough then, these two European stalwarts elected to field their most popular games from the group stages to potentially hand them that vital edge in the second half.

The first of the four-letter words, N.O.V.A. was an FFPS (French First Person Shooter), that certainly didn’t take any prisoners in its Group A survival game with Zombie Attack!, fragging the opposition goalie not once, but twice.

Meanwhile, landing perfectly on the Stadium’s dedicated running track this afternoon was F.A.S.T., Revo Solutions’ very own right-wing flying machine. Given that no less than four of the Romanian strikers air-to-sea missiles had hit home to wreck Estonia’s tilt at glory in Group B nine days ago, it seemed that a virtual goal-fest was on the cards.

But who would prevail in this clash of the iPhone app T.I.T.A.N.S?

Kick Off: 3pm, 26th June

The critical view: Unsurprisingly, given how high the stakes (and F.A.S.T.’s jet fighters) were, N.O.V.A.’s midfield man-marker was happy to simply play a covering game for the first 15 minutes.

Shadowing the Romanian wingers wherever they took flight, the French semi-retired marine with that lethal weapon of a left boot didn’t want to over commit in certain areas.

There was nothing the metallic marine could do about one moment of magic in the 22nd minute, though: Gameloft’s compatriot Zinedine Zidane may have popularised the Marseille turn in the late ‘90s, but it was Romania’s new golden boy who was now inventing moves.

Turning fully 360 degrees in mid-air, Revo Solutions’ flyer performed a perfect backflip, looping the looped diagonal ball off the underside of the crossbar and behind the line.

A period of sparring ensued, as France recovered its poise. Gold Award pendants were, most unusually, exchanged mid-game rather than at kick-off, providing two goals in as many minutes, both from sublime set-pieces.

With the tie really heating up now, tasty tackles were exchanged in the centre of the pitch and both medical teams were kept busy dealing with the collateral damage.

Not content with their 2-1 advantage, the Romanians were pushing on relentlessly and duly locked their sights onto the target via online wi-fi and Bluetooth. Gameloft's 'keeper stood firm under the assault though, getting firm hands on all the ordnance heading his way before launching a quick counter-attack with an overarm throw. France’s ultra-competitive three-man midfield did the rest, working the ball forward with some wonderful joined-up passing before local wi-fi dispatched the equaliser.

With honours even and just minutes left of the half, both sets of troops fell back to regroup.

Half time: France 2 – 2 Romania The Fans’ 45: France's geographical proximity to the iStadium should have offered a decisive tactical advantage. Yet it was Romania's jet-heeled captain, who gave the eastern European fans in attendance something to crow about in the second period.

F.A.S.T. was living up to its moniker, gliding through opposition challenges almost at will as they outpaced Gameloft's ground troops. The Romanians were almost untouchable at times, demonstrating uncanny AI, smooth accelerometer-based control of the Jubilani, and a delightful range of passing manoeuvres.

To their credit, the N.O.V.A. boys were defending well, bringing five of their alternative weapons off the bench to lay down a suppressing fire on the edge of the box. Ultimately, though, there was only one team who really looked like scoring and they duly did with ten minutes left on the clock.

Following the 'shoooooot' instruction of the vociferous support, the Romanian striker unleashed a 30 yard exocet that homed in on its target with pinpoint accuracy.

With fellow squad members Edge and Twin Blades along with countless fellow apps back home urging them on, Gameloft's charges made one last foray into enemy territory. Having forced a corner, they sent everyone forward. The 3D environments, customisable interface, 13 levels, and three control methods were all pushed forward, even the 'keeper came up to cause trouble in the box.

The delivery into the box looked dangerous and N.O.V.A.'s striker won the Death-match tussle to get to it first, but just couldn't quite find the accuracy required to ripple the net.

The ball flew wide of target and F.A.S.T. proved able to slow things right down as they kept possession to run out the remaining minutes.

A fatal wound for the French then, who had but one consolation - whilst the Romanians performed their victory roll, they could avoid any further contact with planes by taking the Eurostar back to Paris.

Full time: France 2 – 3 Romania Final Group Tables - Fixtures & Voting - Squads

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