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Developers World Championship: Match Report - Finland v Sweden (Last 16)

Angry Birds (Finland) vs Labyrinth 2 (Sweden)

Developers World Championship: Match Report - Finland v Sweden (Last 16)
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FINLAND Angry Birds (Rovio Mobile)

VS SWEDEN Labyrinth 2 (Illusion Labs)

In Scandinavia, this slobberknocker of a Last 16 tie was described rather blandly as The Challenge of the Nordic Countries. We in Britain preferred to think of it as a Scandinavian Shootout.

However you look at it, Finland and Sweden were next-door neighbours so, as with all local derbies, a coveted place in the Pocket Gamer quarter finals wasn’t the only thing at stake here.

Bragging rights in the region wouldn’t come cheep, though, as 90 minutes of high-octane, bird-on-bearings action ought to guarantee neither party had it easy.

This was undoubtedly the toughest test hitherto for the Finns, who had not dropped a point in Group H. Indeed, qualifying for the second round with the best overall record, the Finns were now considered one of the favourites for the whole shebang.

By contrast, Sweden finished runners-up in its group on five points behind five-times world footballing champions, Brazil, yet did notably remain unbeaten from its three round-robin games.

Somewhat predictably, the respective coaches selected their clutch, go-to players for this European gala event.

Angry Birds by Rovio had swatted away the threat of Honduras in its maiden appearance, whilst Labyrinth 2 from Illusion Labs had protected the good name of its forebear with a straightforward 3-1 win over Portugal.

Something HAD to give...

Kick Off: 7.30pm, 29th June

The critical view: After a spate of high-profile officiating mistakes over these past two weeks, the president of the iPhone Game Developers World Championship saw fit to address the watching millions from the centre spot just prior to this, the final Last 16 match.

His message? Goal line technology would be introduced from this game onwards, as testing on the chip-in-the-app had been concluded successfully at a secret West country complex.

Straight from the off, Sweden made it their mission to test the tech from every conceivable angle, firing in laser-guided efforts and cannonballs from 30 yards plus.

The playing surface at iStadium was, as always, exemplary, and positively encouraged simple, intuitive gameplay from all twenty two men on the park.

It was the men in yellow who had the edge, though, blocking their opponents in midfield and tilting the ball out wide at every opportunity. It was from one of these custom-created moves that they duly took the lead.

Ghosting into a dangerous position at the back (balsa wood) stick, Labyrinth 2’s lanky frontman left his marker standing like a marble statue to bury the driven cross.

With wings well and truly clipped, Angry Birds’ coach propelled his team forward anxiously from the sidelines. His message was one of tighter teamwork and his Facebook, Twitter, and Crystal networks duly took the point on board, integrating nicely in the offensive third.

Both flying Finnish wingers were attracting a flock of defenders, leaving space into which overlapping full-backs could run. Angry Birds’ #7 ably demonstrated this, swooping on a mistake before slinging in an unopposed centre slap bang on his captain’s deadly bonce. 1-1.

Three minutes of injury time were signalled by the fourth official, who was promptly invited to indicate the two teams’ PG Awards on the neon scoreboard. While Finland had collected a creditable Silver gong last season, the Swedes had eclipsed their neighbours on this occasion and Labyrinth 2’s Gold Award ultimately tilted the psychological balance back in Sweden’s favour.

Lo and behold, with only seconds remaining in the half, leading goalscorer, Larsson, finished off a mazy dribble by deftly chipping the ‘keeper to complete his brace.

Half time: Finland 1 – 2 Sweden The Fans’ 45: Sweden certainly couldn't count its chickens when play resumed, since its opponent this evening had fans in excess of four million via the App Store.

Whilst Sweden's own support base was by no mean meagre, the sheer scale of the potential Finnish presence seemed to inhibit the Swedish team.

Instead of launching direct long distance balls over the air or on 3G, Labryinth 2 elected to play shorter, local wi-fi and Bluetooth passes for almost the duration of the second period.

Angry Birds preyed on this lack of ambition, exhorting its followers to increase the din. In a matter of seconds, Finland's 135 levels had combined with secret mini-games to deadly effect for the second equaliser via a long range looping shot.

The Finns' direct shoot-on-sight policy was yielding dividends, as Sweden couldn't get out of their own box to muster any sort of attack.

Finland's unorthodox decision to include a twitcher in their backroom staff paid dividends on 80 minutes, when he spotted the tweak of a Finnish hamstring from 70 yards. Dual substitutions were immediately triggered as a heavy-set midfielder and the awkward forward nicknamed 'Boomerang' were both called into action to replace the injured bird.

It proved to be a tactical masterstroke as the pair formed a dynamite partnership, quite literally.

With minutes left to play, the midfielder exploded on the edge of the Swedish box, splintering their defence and creating all sorts of space for the big-beaked forward. He needed no further invitation and catapulted a shot towards the right corner. At first the 'keeper looked to have it covered, but then some extraordinary swerve mid-flight wrong-footed him completely and left him stranded, face aghast at the ball swinging into the left hand side of his net.

The keeper must have wished he could disappear down a hole at that point, but ultimately it was only Sweden's trophy hopes that were lost as the remaining minutes played out without further incident.

Cursing the new, rounder Jubilani ball-bearing, the Labyrinth 2 side trounced off the pitch, oblivious to the exuberant Finnish celebrations on the terraces and beyond.

Whilst it was sad to see another great app departing the tournament, the prospect of the talented Finns flying into a quarter final match up against the Scots was a mouth-watering one.

Full time: Finland 3 – 2 Sweden Final Group Tables - Fixtures & Voting - Squads

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Richard Brown
Richard Brown
With a degree in German up his sleeve Richard squares up to the following three questions every morning: FIFA or Pro Evo? XBox 360 or PS3? McNulty or Bunk?