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Senya national football team

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Senya Senya
Logo of the Senya national football team
Nickname(s) The Green Army
Association FADESS
FMF member 2012–
Confederation AEFA
Head coach David Morter
Captain Barnaby Hands
Most caps Barnaby Hands (84)
Top scorer Barnaby Hands (37)
Home stadium The Snakepit
FMF code DES
First FMF intermicronational
Senya Senya 0–3 North Antarctica North Antarctica
Biggest win
Senya Senya 10–0 River Warriors River Warriors
Senya Senya 10–0 Lucerne Lucerne
Senya Senya 10–0 Ranentsi Ranentsi
Biggest defeat
Senya Senya 0–4 Gerenia Gerenia
FMF World Cup
Appearances 4 (first in 2014)
Best result Winners
Copa Apollonia
Appearances 4 (first in 2013)
Best result Winners

The Senya national football team is the football team which represents the micronation of Senya. It is a member of the AEFA, and is run by FADESS.

Having qualified for their first FMF World Cup in 2014, the team is seen as one of the strongest national sides on Micras, having since won the Copa Apollonia in 2016 and 2018, and the 2019 FMF World Cup.

History

The team was founded in mid-2012 after Senya's Micrasian claim was successful. Soon afterwards, the team competed in the inaugural Zeeburg Tournaments, where they finished sixth with four points. Later in the year, Senya organised and competed in the first Senyan School International Tournament, where they finished third with ten points.

In early 2013, the team competed in the second edition of the Four Nations Internationals, where they finished in second place after losing the final 2–1 to Safiria. The team had a successful first World Cup qualifying campaign, finishing second in their five-team group with 16 points; a position which would have also qualified the team for the 2013 Copa Apollonia if Senya had not been awarded an automatic place as the tournament's hosts. Shortly after qualifying, the team played in the second Senyan School International Tournament, where they topped their group and won their semi-final without conceding a goal, before beating Amokolia 3–2 in the final. In the Copa Apollonia, the team's success continued as they advanced from their group with four points, ahead of North Antarctica on goals scored, before losing their semi-final on penalties to Novatainia. However, the team managed to beat Gerenia 4–2 in the third-place play-off to seal third on home soil. In late 2013, the team also competed in the inaugural Tianan Challenge Cup, where they received a bye to the final, which they lost 1–0 to hosts Tiana.

The Senyans' success continued into 2014 as the team topped their qualifying group with 27 points to reach the 2014 FMF World Cup finals. The team also qualified for the 2014 Copa Apollonia, where they advanced from their group with four points, and lost their semi-final to hosts Gerenia, but beat Safiria 2–0 to finish third. In their début World Cup, the team performed well, advancing from a tough group in second with six points before beating Tellia on penalties in the quarter-finals. However, they lost 1–0 in extra time to Mercury in the semi-finals and 3–1 to Craitland to finish in fourth place.

In the following year's qualifiers, Senya went unbeaten as they topped their five-team group with 22 points to qualify for their second finals. In the World Cup, the team advanced from their group with seven points to reach the play-off round, where they were beaten by eventual champions Hamland on penalties after a 2–2 draw.

The qualifying rounds for the 2016 Copa Apollonia saw Senya win their group with eight wins from as many matches to comfortably qualify for the finals. In the finals, the team advanced from their group in second place with six points before beating Gerenia in the semi-finals and Flanders in the final, both 3–1, to secure their first ever major trophy.

Senya successfully bid to host the 2017 FMF World Cup and therefore received automatic qualification to the tournament. In the finals, the team performed well, as they topped their group with nine points, finishing ahead of Tellia on goals scored, to advance to the quarter-finals, where they beat Birgeshir 3–1. After overcoming Mercury on penalties after a 1–1 draw in the semi-finals, they narrowly lost 2–1 to fellow group members Tellia in their first final appearance to finish as runners-up.

As holders of the Copa Apollonia, Senya automatically qualified for the 2018 edition, and instead participated in the 2018 FMF Confederations Cup, where they topped their group with eleven points. After beating the Kingdom of Coria 3–0 in the semi-finals, they lost to Birgeshir 2–1 in the final to finish second. At the Copa Apollonia, the team advanced from their four-team group with four points after a poor start, but overcame the Florian Republic 2–0 in the semi-finals and Stormark 1–0 in the final to secure successive AEFA titles.

Senya continued their success into the 2019 World Cup qualifiers, where they won all eight of their matches to finish top of their five-team group with 24 points and advance to their fourth finals. In the finals, the team's good form continued as they topped their group unbeaten with ten points to advance directly to the quarter-finals. After convincing victories over the Florian Republic and the Kingdom of Coria, 4–0 in the quarter-finals and 3–0 in the semi-finals, respectively, the team overcame Mercury 1–0 in the final to secure their first ever World Cup title.

Chronological competitive participation

Kit

Senya's traditional home colours are those used on the nation's flag, and the home strip is usually green with a white trim, along with white shorts and green socks. The away kit is usually white, although on some previous occasions the away strip has been yellow, whilst goalkeepers tend to wear either dark brown or maroon.

Past kits

Used during:
2019 FMF World Cup

Managerial history

Appointed Dismissed Manager P W D L Win %
25 June 2012 25 July 2012 Senya Alan Gozling 9 1 2 6 11.1%
30 July 2012 17 September 2013 Senya Kris Hɏöten 38 23 6 9 60.5%
17 September 2013 20 August 2015 Senya Ëker Kasëana 57 36 13 8 63.2%
12 September 2015 1 August 2018 Senya Draco Sanchez 57 41 8 8 71.9%
1 August 2018 Present Senya David Morter 6 6 0 0 100%

Rivalries

Senyan fans largely viewed Gerenia as their biggest rivals. Although initially a wide variety of teams, including North Antarctica, Safiria, Tiana and Zeeburg were considered rivals, either due to proximity or due to them playing Senya reguarly in early competitive fixtures. However, as North Antarctica switched confederation and the others left Micras, the rivalry with Gerenia took hold, eventually being dubbed as the Apollonian Classico. Between 2014 and 2018, this rivalry was seen as one of the most, if not the most, heated rivalry in Micras, with regular riots, pyroshows and tifos during games, as well as the two sides becoming the two dominant forces and competing for the Copa Apollonia title. However, Gerenia left Micras in late 2018.

Whilst other rivalries have existed with other nations in recent years, many of these are the results of political differences between nations, such as the rivalries with Jingdao and the River Warriors, though these games have been largely uncompetitive. Mercury are sometimes labelled as rivals, due to them contest several World Cup clashes against one another, but this rivalry is entirely sporting.

Conversely, the Senyan ultras enjoy a strong friendship with the fans of the Kingdom of Coria, who are seen as Senya's "brothers". The Senyan and Corian hooligans jointly fought during the infamous Battle of Glasbridž during the 2018 Copa Apollonia.

Fans

Naldas supporters during a World Cup qualifier against rivals North Antartcica in 2013.
Naldas supporters setting off smoke bombs during the 2016 Copa Apollonia semi-final against rivals Gerenia.

Senyan fans are considered some of the loudest, yet least aggressive, football supporters on Micras. During tournaments such as the World Cup qualifiers and the Copa Apollonia, the supporters are known to become very vocal on match days, and it is not unusual for fans to stand for the duration of games, except in areas where standing is prohibited. Senyan fans are divided into two main groups, the Komovoren, who generally wear the national team's shirt and casual clothing, and sometimes chant, and the more numerous Naldas, who wear green "morphsuits", occasionally with the team's shirt over the top, continuously chant in Senyan and let-off flares. These fans can make football matches in Senya intimidating places to visit. However, after matches, Senyan fans, even the Naldas, will be happy to socialise with opposing fans. Rival supporters are treated less hospitably, but even during rival matches there is usually little violence between the fans.

Additionally, there are two further supporter groups, DIS Senya, which is for disabled supporters, and Young Greens, for families and children.

Honours

Flag

Senya has used the following flag during the entirety of its FMF affiliation:

2012–
Senya

See also