List of Senya national football team rivalries
The Senya national football team is commonly regarded as one of the strongest national football teams on Micras. Since joining the FMF in 2012, they have become renowned for their passionate fans, and are noted as popularising the Micrasian Ultras scene. This intense passionate fanbase, along with the relative strength of the national team, has seen the Senyan national team develop and engage in rivalries with many teams across Micras. Senyans typically view Gerenia as their biggest historical rivalry, though several other national teams have similarly heated encounters.
Rivalries have developed for a number of differing reasons, such as geographic proximity, competitiveness and political history.
Major rivalries
Gerenia
Senya's biggest rivalry was with Gerenia, which was hotly contested between 2012 and 2018. Dubbed the Apollonian Classico, it was arguably one of Micras' most heated footballing rivalries, with games between the two typically having very intense atmospheres and being competitively close. With both nations located in Northwestern Apollonia, the derby took off in 2014 after Gerenia eliminated Senya on penalties in the semi-final of the 2014 Copa Apollonia. Both sides had fostered ultras groups that supported their respective national teams, with the Marauders (Gerenia) and Naldas (Senya) seeing each other as their sworn enemies. The Naldas were typical of the Ultras style of support, known for their use of flares, vocal support in large groups and the displaying of banners and tifos at games, all of which are designed to create an atmosphere which encourages their own team and intimidates the opposing players and their supporters, where as the Marauders were a typical barra brava, and were noted for their constant, loud chanting, and their huge banners, which often had the names of the cities they come from.
The rivalry picked up as Senya and Gerenia become the dominating forces of AEFA football between 2014 and 2018, with the sides regularly meeting at the Copa Apollonia, with the two sides winning all three editions of that competition in that time frame (Gerenia in 2014 and Senya in both 2016 and 2018). During this time, games between the two were often noted for the large displays of the fans, with both sides typically setting off excessive amounts of pyrotechnics as well as larger displays. The most iconic of these included the Gerenian slaughterhouse tifo unfurled by the Naldas in the 2016 Copa Apollonia semi-final, which depicted a Senyan hooligan holding a knife, whilst the Gerenians, having inflicted Senya's largest ever defeat (4–0) in 2015, unfurled a massive banner during the 2016 clash that read "Er 4–0 'ster eosed ŷ[éer] nohag" (The 4–0 will never be forgotten), which subsequently became a mainstay feature of the Marauders displays, even when they were not playing Senya.
In the latter years of the rivalry, the derby often became violent, with the Marauders and Naldas often clashing both inside and outside the stadium. The most noteworthy of these incidents came following the Senya's 2–0 defeat of Gerenia at the 2018 Copa Apollonia, a result which eliminated Gerenia from the competition. The ensuing riot, sometimes referred to as the Battle of Glasbridž, also included fighters from The Red Army (Floria) and Zeleni (Kingdom of Coria), which aligned with the Marauders and Naldas respectively. The riot came after the Naldas voted to abandon their anti-hooligan policy following tip-offs that the Marauders and Red Army were planning to attack them during the game, and a massive fight broke out first in the stadium, before spilling out into the streets that evening, which saw dozens of people injured in clashes both between the groups and with Krasnocorian police.
In late 2018, the Gerenian state fell, consigning the derby to history.
Floria
Senya's rivalry with Floria is one that has been developing ever since Senya's last clash with Gerenia. With Floria seemingly taking Gerenia's status of the other Apollonian nation with a strong football team, matches between the two are much more competitive than some of the other rivalries. Floria's Red Army views Senya as one of its biggest rivals, however the Naldas have typically looked down on Florian fans as "wannabes" and "poseurs" who don't truly understand the ultras culture. Senya knocked the Florians out of two successive major competitions, beating them 2–0 in the semi-final of the 2018 Copa Apollonia and 4–0 in the quarter-final of the 2019 FMF World Cup. However, following Floria's 2–1 win over Senya in the semi-final of the 2021 FMF World Cup, there are some in Senya who wish to take the rivalry with Floria more seriously. Occasionally fights have broken out between the fans, though these have usually been initiated by the Florians.
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.
Minor rivalries
Jingdao
After playing each other once in 2013, in a low key affair which saw Senya run out 1–0 victors in Zijincheng, Senyan-Jingdao relations sowered following the River Warrior War of 2014, which saw the Apollonian Republic invade Senya and annex the River Warriors. Despite not playing a fixture until 2018, relations between the two countries hit a low and public opinion of Jingdao and the Jing people plummeted in Senya. In 2017, several Jingdao football fans were attacked by hooligans in Moroni during the 2017 World Cup. Despite a warming of diplomatic relations in 2018, the first post-war fixture between the two as part of the 2018 Copa Apollonia, was marred by violence between fans, as Jingdao ran out surprise 2–0 winners. However, tempers have largely cooled since then, and whilst occasional mistrust that led to anti-Jing sentiment has come across in subsequent fixtures, the games are no longer violent.
Lamantia
Whilst Lamantia are somewhat natural rivals for Senya as an autonomous region, and games between the two attract spectacular displays by both sets of supporters, the level of quality between the teams has dampened this rivalry, despite the Lamantians viewing Senya as their biggest rivals. Senya have won all ten fixtures between the two, although 8 of these have occurred either in friendlies or friendly competitions. Despite the animosity sometimes shown during games, Senya view Lamantia as brothers and Lamantian groups sometimes join the Naldas in fights with other nations.
Mercury
Senya' have faced Mercury more than they have any other national team, despite being in different confederations. The rivalry is keenly felt on both sides, with the two teams having faced off in four World Cups. Mercury grabbed a 120th minute winner in the semi-final clash during the 2014 FMF World Cup, which sparked the rivalry as Mercury went on to win the tournament, before defeating them again 1–0 in the group stage in 2015. In 2017, Senya enacted revenge, defeating Mercury on penalties in the semi-final, before Senya beat Mercury 1–0 in the final in 2019 to clinch their first ever World Cup.
The rivalry has also continued off the field, with the Mercurians banning flares from their stadiums, which has led to issues between Senyan fans and staff at the Freddie Mercury Memorial Arena, and saw a subsequent protest by the Naldas in a fixture against Craitland during the 2020 FMF Confederations Cup, where the Naldas threw flares onto the pitch, causing the match to be temporarily suspended, before holding up banners criticising the Mercury FA.
North Antarctica
During the early years of the national team, Senya were often drawn in competitions against North Antarctica, with the two playing out very competitive matches. A level of animosity grew between supporters with early fixtures in FMF World Cup qualification and the Copa Apollonia being intense affairs, though the fixture has not been played since 2015. North Antarctica were succeeded by Castilona in 2020, however many fans see the rivalry as long dead and hold no animosity to Castilona.
River Warriors
Like the rivalry with Jingdao, Senya's rivalry with the River Warriors stems entirely from the River Warrior War, as the River Warrior's footballing status as a minnow has led to pretty one-sided results during most of their meetings. During their 2016 meeting, Senyan defender Jake Colchester was hit in the head by a flare thrown by a River Warrior supporter, whilst the Naldas clashed with local police and Rivorian fans. It is normal for some Rivorian fans to boo the Senyan national anthem and vice versa.
Tellia
Senya and Tellia's rivalry has mainly came in the form of World Cup encounters that the two have shared over the years. On their World Cup debut, Senya eliminated the Tellians on penalties in 2014, before coming back from 3–1 down to win 4–3 on home soil in 2017, only to lose the final of that competition at the hands of the Benacian side 2–1 that year. Although there is no explicit hatred between the two, Tellia's role as the genesis of the ultras scene in Micras often means that the Naldas try to be even crazier than usual to try and show their "superior" ultras scene in games between the two. Both nation's ultras groups are both well known across Micras for their behaviour and fixtures between the two can be both colourful and intimidating. However, Senyans hold the Tellian ultras in high regard and show a lot of respect for their opponents.
Zeeburg
Senya briefly had a competitive rivalry with the Benacian island of Zeeburg, during 2012. The sides met each other three times, during the Zeeburg and Senyan School International tournaments of 2012, and the 2013 Four Nations Internationals. Along with Gerenia, Senya and Zeeburg were viewed as potential future footballing powerhouses in these days, however Zeeburg failed to develop in the same way as Senya did, and the rivalry quickly fell off, with the teams having not played each other since 2013.
