3002 Sol League Cup

The 3002 Sol League Cup was the Sol League Cup tournament hosted in 3002 on Mercury. The tournament is most known for the special run of the Enceladean Football Team, getting their highest spot ever at third place. The tournament also cemented Mercury and Neptune's long-standing rivalry.

## The Tournament

### Player Awards

The top goal scorer of the 3002 Sol League Cup was Neptune's Vetle Hagen, a Norwegian striker who played for the best team in the world at the time, Thsandsfield Wanderers. His performance also got him the player of the tournament for his 11 goals and 5 assists. The goalkeeper of the tournament was Enceladus's goalkeeper Rahmi Askoy who can be credited for the spectacular run of the team. Over 179 goals were scored across the tournament. Neptune had only conceded one goal throughout the tournament, a feat unheard of at the time.

## The Tournament

### The Group Stages

Callisto would top Group A with 9 points, followed by Miranda with 6. Unfortunately, both Iapetus and Makemake would go down, Makemake in particular having zero points.

Group B had many upsets, Pluto was last with 0 points, a first in many years and Saturn was knocked out on 4 points. Both Venus and Titan would progress, Titan topping the group.

Europa topped Group C and Enceladus managed to get through in six points, beating the likes of Ceres and Titania. They managed to beat Ceres 1-0 in a match that was 87% Ceres and managed to only concede one against Europa, although still losing the match.

Haumea and Dione both topped Group D with 6 points, Haumea beating Eris 6-2 in the second biggest loss of the tournament. Both Eris and Oberon were knocked out on 3 points.

Group E was topped by Earth and Luna with 7 and 5 points respectively. Jupiter had the biggest upset and we're knocked out on just two points, losing to Earth 3-2, drawing to Luna 1-1 and drawing to Charon 0-0. The Cynthian-Earthian derby ended 2-2 in a tough match.

In Group F Neptune topped the group with 9 points and didn't concede a single goal. They scored 12 goals, 7 coming from Hagen. Sedna came second with 4 points whilst Tethys and Hygeia were knocked out on 1 and 2 points.

Group G had Uranus top the group with 7 points and Io followed up with 6 points. Ganymede went down with four points and in the biggest loss of the tournament, Uranus beat Mimas 6-0 with six different goal-scorers.

Group H has both Mercury and Mars finish on 7 points, Ariel being knocked out with 3 points and Rhea on 0 points, not scoring a single goal in the tournament.

### Knockout Stages

#### Round of 16

Venus would beat Callisto 1-0 to face off against Europa who dispatched Dione 5-0.

Earth would beat Sedna 1-0 to face off against Uranus who drew 2-2 to Mercury (4-5 on penalties)

Titan would beat Miranda 2-1 to face off against Enceladus who shocked everyone and beat Haumea 2-0.

Neptune made short work of Luna 4-0 whilst Mars had a last-minute winner against Io to win 3-2.

#### Quarter-Finals

Venus and Europa clashed in a 2-1 win for Europa whilst Mercury beat Earth 2-1.

Enceladus caused a major upset when they beat giants Titan 1-0, Askoy with other 23 saves. Neptune would also beat Mars 4-0.

#### Semi-Finals

Mercury beat Europa 2-0 to go to the finals on home ground. Meanwhile, Neptune beat Enceladus 1-0, a last-minute penalty that Hagen scored in the 90+3 minute. The final would be decided.

#### Third-Place Playoffs

Enceladus would play against Europa for third place and drew 0-0. Enceladus won on penalties 3-1 and made history.

#### The Final

Mercury would start the scoring, ruining Neptune's clean sheet. In the third minute, it was 1-0 to Mercury. Vetle Hagen managed to equalise in the 56th minute to make it 1-1 and after an intense back and forth it would be decided on penalties. Neptune let 18-year-old Carlos Berns take the penalty to keep them in the shootout. The Mercunian goalkeeper saved the shot and Mercury would lift the cup.