Round 3 Begins (23 Jun 2006)
Round Three has begun! Krawk Island faces off against the Haunted Woods, while the Roo Island team tests their skills against the Darigan Citadel. Who will make it to the finals?! This weekend's Semifinal pairings have been announced, and it looks like Neopia's Yooyuball fans have got a fantastic set of games awaiting them. In one match, Krawk Island's scrappy swashbucklers will be squaring off against those dogged defenders from the Haunted Woods. In the other Semi, Roo Island's loveable longshots will face off against their greatest challenge yet ? the Darigan Citadel's roster of punishing players.
As far as storylines are concerned, one of the match-ups to watch will be between Roo Island's Lilo Blumario and the Darigan Citadel's Tormo "The Terror" Frein. Unlike Roo Island's previous opponents, who were forced to double and triple-team Blumario and leave his teammates with lots of wide-open scoring opportunities, the Citadel is relying on Frein (one of the game's top defenders) to be able to go one on one against Blumario. If Frein can successfully manage this assignment, you can all but expect Darigan to shut down Roo Island's other scorers, who aren't used to facing the kind of pressure the Citadel's going to try and put on them. On the other hand, if Frein is unequal to the task, it could be a long afternoon for Darigan's fans ? the last thing they want is for Blumario to run wild and light them up like a Christmas tree.
Taking a closer look at the other Semifinal, the big question seems to be whether Krawk Island's going to be able to score against the best defensive unit in the game today. During their Quarterfinal match against Mystery Island, Krawk Island managed to scrape by mostly on the strength of goalkeeper Garven Hale's top-notch netminding. However, "Dasher" Soley and company have yet to compete against a defence this stingy. Therefore, even though Zo Junior and the Haunted Woods usually struggle to score more than a handful of goals each game, the buccaneers from Krawk Island will probably have a hard time keeping pace unless they come up with an uncharacteristically strong offensive performance.