Down four-nil to Spain in FIFA 11, Kotaku commenter Three Stacks dug deep and delivered the kind of victory that should teach us all that winners never ragequit, and ragequitters never win.
Three Stacks, playing in just his fourth online game on FIFA 11, quickmatched and his opponent picked Spain - the defending World Cup and Euro 2008 champions. Three Stacks bravely chose Croatia, presently ranked No. 11 in the world.
Spain shot out to a 2-nil lead 16 minutes in, then superstar David Villa added a third goal at 38 minutes. Fernando Torres made it 4-nil before Croatia clawed back a goal on a soft penalty to trail 4-1 at the half. "As the menu popped up for half time, a lesser Xbox Live player may of quit back to the arena. But not me," Three Stacks says.
Three Stacks focused on controlling the tempo so he didn't get completely embarrassed, but it took a full 30 minutes for him to notch his second goal, drawing to 4-2 at 75 minutes. Subbing out a midfielder and striker, Croatia struck again at 85 minutes and then, in stoppage time, sent in a scrappy tap-in goal from the substitute striker to complete the astonishing fightback and send the match to extra time.
The second half started, the pressure was heavy. I tried my hardest to keep up and make sure my the game didn't turn in to a complete thrashing. My resilience meant that I regained control of the tempo of the game, but by 70 minutes it all seemed a bit too much, too late. Or was it? at 75 minutes, I slotted in a well earned goal to make it 4-2. With faint hope, I made two substitutions. Straight swaps for one midfielder and one striker. At 85 minutes..I struck again. Could it be? Could I send this game into extra time? As fate would have it, yes I would. At 90 minutes, my substitute striker netted a not-so-beautifully taken and more of a scrappy tap-in to make it an incredible 4-4. The game was going into extra time.
Seven minutes in the Vatreni banged home the eventual decider. Three Stacks clamped down, taking no chances through the rest of extra time, to prevail. "By far, the best and most incredible comeback I had made on any sports game ever," he writes.
And here's the Box Score!
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Now the Kotaku Sports open thread commences with the sports TV highlights for today and tomorrow. All times are U.S. Eastern.
- MLB Playoffs
Game 3 of both ALDS pairings are today, with both home teams already leading 2-0 and looking to close it out fast. Tampa Bay is at Texas at 5. Minnesota is at New York at 8. Both games are TBS.
Tomorrow is a potential quadrupleheader. Should the Rays win, Game 4 is at 1 p.m. Game 3 of the Atlanta-San Francisco NLDS matchup is at 4:30 p.m. If the Twins forced Game 4, they and the Yanks go at 8 p.m. Philadelphia visits Cincinnati for Game 3, either 7 or 8 p.m. depending on the Yankees situation; if both games are on you should expect to find this on an alternate network. - College Football
Major games this weekend include No. 1 Alabama at No. 19 South Carolina (3 p.m., CBS) in a matchup everyone wants to believe is a trap game for the Crimson Tide, but I'm not seeing it. The other biggie is No. 17 Michigan State at No. 18 Michigan; both are 5-0 and the Spartans have won two straight in the rivalry. No. 12 LSU is at No. 14 Florida on ESPN at 7:45; this is where Les Miles' dumb luck probably runs out of pixie dust. And No. 23 Florida State is at No. 13 Miami on ABC at 8. - NFL
Sunday's big games are the 3-0 Chiefs at Indianapolis (2-2), 1 p.m. on CBS; 3-1 Green Bay visits 2-2 Washington, 1 p.m on Fox. NBC's Sunday Night Game features Philadelphia, unbeaten on the road versus winless San Francisco. The Eagles might put a premature end to the Mike Singletary Magical Mystery Tour tonight.
Monday night, Brett Favre and his cock return to the scene of his alleged dong-shot crimes, as the Vikings face the Jets at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN. - NHL
The regular season is underway and Versus has Phoenix vs Boston from Prague, at noon. - Mixed Martial Arts
Showtime has Strikeforce San Jose at 10 p.m. Headline combatants are Nick Diaz vs. K.J. Noons.
- Motorsports
NASCAR's Pepsi Max 400 from Fontana, Calif runs at 3 p.m. on Sunday. Jimmie Johnson is the series leader, four races into the Chase for the Cup; Denny Hamlin is eight points back, followed by Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards.
Remember, you may send Game of the Week nominations to owenATkotakuDOTcom, and flag it "Box Scores" in the subject header. Please include your commenter handle for proper credit.