Floria-Senya football rivalry
Federation logos of both nations | |
Teams |
Floria Senya |
---|---|
First meeting |
Floria 0–2 Senya (7 August 2018) |
Latest meeting |
Senya 1–3 Floria (28 July 2024) |
Statistics | |
Meetings total | 11 |
All-time series |
Floria wins: 4 Draws: 2 Senya wins: 5 |
Largest victory |
Senya 4–0 Floria (9 August 2019) |
The Floria-Senya rivalry is a highly competitive sporting rivalry between the national football teams of the nations of Floria and Senya, as well as between their two sets of fans. Games between the two are often fierce and highly competitive. Whilst Senya and Floria had traditionally viewed Gerenia and the Kingdom of Coria as their primary rivals respectively, the demise of both of those nations led to an increased rivalry between Senya and Floria directly. Whilst initially the rivalry was one-sided, with the fixture meaning more to Florian fans, the increased competitiveness of the fixture, coupled with cultural and political differences between the two countries, had led to increased passions and feelings surrounding the fixture causing the rivalry to intensify in both countries.
The two nations are both members of the AEFA confederation and as such compete for both the FMF World Cup and the Copa Apollonia against one another.
History
During the 2018 Copa Apollonia, supporters of both Floria and Senya clashed with each other in what became known as the Battle of Glasbridž, during which the ultras group of Senya (Naldas) fought the ultras of Gerenia (Marauders). Naldas were joined in the fight by the ultras of Coria (Zeleni), who were then attacked themselves by the Florian ultras (The Red Army). Many people in the ultras groups of Senya and Coria subscribed to the ultra-nationalistic notion of an Apollonian Brotherhood, in which fighting for one another's nations was to fight for the Apollonian continent, As such the Florian ultras who fought back against the Corians (and as a result, their Senyan counterparts), as they had fought against the Corians during the War of Lost Brothers. Whilst this incident did see direct fighting between the Naldas and the Red Army, many in Senya were concerned more pressing internal issues in the Senyan team's camp to care about a hooligan fight, and whilst Floria lost the respect of the Senyan ultras scene as a result of the battle, even by the next game, where the two teams played each other at the tournament, the fighting was much more limited, as a combination of general apathy from supporters and of increased security and police presence at the fixture, which Senya eventually won 2–0.
Senya won both the 2018 Copa Apollonia and the 2019 FMF World Cup, solidifying their status as the strongest national team on Micras at the time, including thrashing Floria 4–0 on their way to the World Cup final, however the Florian national team was on the up. Whilst Senyan fans disregarded the Florians at the time as an "annoying little brother that was punching above their weight", successive Florian titles at the 2020 Copa Apollonia and the 2021 FMF World Cup ensured their recognition as one of Micras' top teams, and in doing so saw the Senyan fan base take the rivalry more seriously. Floria's World Cup campaign also saw them enact revenge over Senya, winning the semi-final against their Apollonian rivals 2–1.
Fan bases
The two national teams have their own distinct fans groups, in The Red Army of Floria and Naldas of Senya. Senya's Naldas group are widely seen as having popularised the ultras scene on Micras, having formed in 2012 and gaining momentum from the success of the national team, especially from 2014. By the time Floria were admitted to the FMF, the Naldas were well established as Micras' leading ultras group, having inspired many other ultras groups across Micras. Whilst the ultras scene was much more of a natural fit in Krasnocoria, Florian fans, inspired by those in Senya and elsewhere, began to form their own ultras groups to provide an intimidating atmosphere for visiting teams and to increase the quality of their support for their own teams.
Cultural differences
In the football world, another aspect that makes this rivalry so fascinating is the almost polar opposite approaches to football in the two countries.
Results
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