Altador Cup VI: The Team Files Part 3

• Lost Desert

Last year Team Lost Desert triumphed and lifted the Altador Cup for the first time, making them the fifth winners since the competition began. Ever confident, Lost Desert intend to bring home the trophy for the second consecutive time, breaking AC records as the first team to do so.

For three years running have the team been in the top three and they have been rewarded for their hard work. A very consistent team, with a substantial number of fans, supporters will be expecting a second gold for the team.

But Captain Leera Heggle is not feeling the pressure.

“We’re going to keep on doing what we have been doing for the past few years and Lost Desert supporters will not be let down by us! We’re going to break this so called Winner’s Curse, because this June you’ll be seeing us lift that trophy up for the second time.”

It’s not always been plain sailing for the team, though; after ACI, Left Defender Wyett Tuggins was dropped from the team and replaced by Luvea Trivon. With Team Lost Desert refusing to comment on the decision, it seems as though Tuggins was forced out of the team and according to some sources, played the scapegoat when Team Lost Desert lost to Roo Island in an aggressive battle.

Speaking of being aggressive, “Dirty” Navers, the original Right Defender retired unexpectedly shortly after he was accused of being too rough. His tackling has been borderline illegal and it seemed as though constant complaints made against him was too much and he quit Team Lost Desert soon after the end of ACII.

Yet it seems as though Team Lost Desert will be soLiD next season and as the whole of Neopia closely follow their games, the question is whether they will be suffering from the Winner’s Curse.

• Maraqua

Surprisingly last year, Maraqua matched their rank from ACIV. Under the captaincy of Elon “The Black Hole” Hughlis, Team Maraqua are now being considered as higher tier competitors, supported hugely across Neopia.

Though, Hughlis has caused scandals, notably during ACI, where on the pitch there was noticeable friction between himself and Left Forward Jair Tollet. Tollet claimed that Hughlis was an attention seeker and that he was claiming all the team’s praises as his own. Their rift continued through the whole season before Tollet left Team Maraqua to join rivals Team Roo Island. After the accusations against the Captain, supporters have called for a new team leader.

Perhaps this season will finally see Hughlis being stripped of his role, but he assures that there will be no changes to captaincy.

“The rumours are ridiculous, Team Maraqua are doing better than ever under my leadership and I – I mean – We will be strong competitors this season.”

I don’t know whether to believe him and before I can ask him about the Tollet/Hughlis scandal, he slips away quickly.

Generally loathed by teammates and fans alike, it looks as though Hughlis’ time with Team Maraqua is quickly running out. Will he be able to change his ways in time for ACVI?

Teammate Barit Jowes has been rumoured to be replacing Hughlis, but the young Right Defender is ignoring the gossip.

“So long as Hughlis is in the team, he’s the captain. I’ve no desire to take the captaincy away from him, but should I be the new leader, I will never let Team Maraqua down.”

Now I understand why Team Maraqua supporters are so desperate for Jowes to succeed Hughlis.

Under the controlling Hughlis’ orders, Team Maraqua will not be as good as they could be. Can Hughlis keep his grasp on his leadership or will the team mutiny against him?

• Meridell

Originally captained by Sir Pollonaire Freidl, the widely supported Team Meridell is now lead by Centre Forward “Wizard” Windelle, an extraordinary player with an incomparable passing ability. Their highest ranking was fifth place in the ACII and it seems as hard as they try, they cannot break into the higher tiers. Though a popular team, Team Meridell does have two big rivals in the competition, Darigan Citadel and Brightvale.

After the Meridell versus Darigan Citadel war, Meridell has maintained a frosty relationship with the Team Darigan Citadel and with King Skarl of Meridell’s brother being King Hagan of Brightvale, there was always bound to be sibling rivalry between the two royals and their lands.

However, Team Meridell did suffer their own battle within their team. The noble Sir Freidl had trouble controlling the talented Left Forward Vitri Sitol. Awarded the prize for being the Biggest Whiner, Sitol was known for picking fights and arguing against teammates, fans and of course, who could forget that infamous fight with the yooyu? Team Meridell were left with no choice but to drop Sitol from the team and replace him with Gregorgio Maille the following year.

Windelle made it clear during his statement that he didn’t want to discuss Sitol in loyalty to Freidl.

“Team Meridell have been considered lower tier contestants for many years now, but ACVI will be our best yet.”

Despite the talk, I doubt Team Meridell will be able to walk the walk and if anything, Team Meridell will crash out of the competition early on, but keep an eye out for star player Ilsa Ellits; it’s rumoured that it’ll be her last season.

• Moltara

ACV’s new comers, Team Moltara got off to a bad start, achieving last place with several consecutive losses. Well, it’s good news for Team Moltara, they can’t get any worse! Yet Aldric Beign is certain that ACVI will be a better season for the team.

“What can you expect? We had only come across the Altador Cup about half a year before ACV started; we had no time to prepare and it was just a big rush to find a team and enter. We were slightly inexperienced but now we’ve experienced the AC, we know where we are going wrong and when we return, our games will be explosive.”

We’ll hold you to that, Beign! After the discovery of Moltara, the team were flooded with publicity and were expected to be a strong contender to lift the Cup, but it’s fair to say Team Moltara flopped.

And so, part three draws to a close, but don’t forget to watch out for part four, due out very soon! Part four will include a small interview with Lilo Blumario from Team Roo Island and update with Team Mystery Island. Watch this space!