World Cup 67 - RP Thread

by **Brenecia** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 5:02 pm

THE ROZELLE OBSERVER
Patriots Still Strong Despite Defeat
by Derek Mackan

So Valanora, ranked eighth in the world, cut the Patriots down fairly comfortably. It was hardly unexpected, but we drew against them away, so we can't really complain about our record against them.

So the chips have fallen with Valanora through, and three sides wrestling for the playoff place. Sicoutimont was seeded to finish there, but they'll need to overtake both us and the Llamas if they wish to claim their place. They play Horusland and Valanora, so the odds are firmly against them.

Llamaland are currently second, and our strongest rivals for the place. And it has to be said, they'll likely clinch a victory over Kintratar at home. But it is the final fixture that the world will be watching with bated breath - Brenecia hosts them on the final matchday.

To keep in touch, of course, Brenecia will need to beat Horusland, or at least match Llamaland's result should they falter against the Tsunamis. Horusland have underperformed this cycle, but they're not to be taken lightly, either - after all, they're the ones who broke our clean sheet streak. Still, most predict Slatesaver's team will manage the victory, Brad Kuepper once more spearheading the attack and the defence as steadfast as ever.

There is nothing to gain by leaving people on the bench now - Slatesaver has confirmed he will bring forward his strongest squad for both matches. Horusland can expect an onslaught on the next match, and then it all comes down to the final match. A full preview, of course, will come before the match, when more is clear about the circumstances... but for now, just be assured it'll be something special.

by **Nova Anglicana** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 5:23 pm

Lions Score Second Surprising Success

Hayden Landers, Nova Anglicana Football Today

Just as I was lamenting the Lions' inability to score goals (their total ranking in the 160s of 171 teams), they go out and surprise me. Following a tough 1-0 defeat to the Blouman Empire, they would take on a Kalumba side that was playing for pride and probably looking to avoid a draw, something they'd already had six of. Kalumba had scored two goals in the first half in their first meeting, essentially putting the match to bed at halftime. The Lions were out for revenge after being truly outplayed at Kalumba, and the game would turn on one key moment.

In the 3rd minute, Lions striker Raphael Baptiste keenly avoided the offside trap set up by the Kalumban defense and found himself one-on-one with young goalkeeper Peter Franks, in for Ulusu Mtanda as manager George Davies looked to get him a little playing time since Kalumba was eliminated. Franks was caught off-guard, as he had expected the offside trap to work, and so was unprepared for Baptiste's sizzling shot that rocketed into the back of the net. Lions fans roared and Franks hung his head. 3 minutes in and his team already trailed 1-0. However, in the 25th minute, 6'9 Kalumban forward Kaneu Daima leaped high in the air and bashed a spectacular header into the net to tie the score at 1-all. Franks held his own for the rest of the half and the two teams played quite evenly, the Lions initial momentum blunted by Daima's goal.

At the beginning of the second half, in the 47th minute, Daima skied above the other players in the box and directed a header towards the lower left corner of the net, something that Neal was only just able to save. Manager Patrick Moran became notably animated on the sidelines and told 6'6 defender Barrett Brandt to start warming up. In the 50th minute, Brandt would come on for defender Devin Osborne and Daima would be more or less neutralized. The game looked like it was going into a tie, when, in the 88th minute, defender Derek Ward egregiously shoved Lions substitute Kyle Fleming as Fleming went up for a long ball. Ward made no attempt to challenge Fleming, but merely pushed him to the turf as he was in the air. For this, he was given a yellow card and Phillip Castillo set up for a free kick. Castillo's free kick sailed over the wall, and midfield mate Alex Robinson's foot made contact with it an instant before Franks' hand could, and the Lions were up 2-1. Solid and mature for his age Kalumban defender Vincent Mkure was seen speaking with an inconsolable Franks after the goal. We all wish the best for this young man, who truly has a bright future in international football.

This win over 82nd-ranked Kalumba now surpasses the Lions' win over 115th-ranked Albaie as their best international result, and represents a giant step forward for this new side. With only two matches to go, the Lions are tied with Albaie and Sameba for 3rd at 21 points. A third-place finish would be huge and might even merit an invitation to the Cup of Harmony, though it is unlikely. The Lions' final two matches are at Farfadillis, to whom they lost 1-0 last time, and home against Sameba, whom they drew 0-0 against in their first matchup and who just defeated Farfadillis 2-1. These will be two difficult matchups to close out qualifying, but I think that the Lions can earn a draw against Sameba to finish with 22 points, a most satisfactory result for their first time out.

Spotify · by **New North Aqmuland** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 5:39 pm

The New North Aqmuland football has two games remaining, and they could go as high as fifth in the table. Currently, they sit seventh, with two games remaining, against Crystal Empire first, and then the finish against Zwangzug. Though the boys were eliminated, the nation is very proud of them, as they managed to defeat 81st ranked Jedi8246, 112th ranked Crystal Empire, and 144th ranked Levivania, and tie 14-th ranked Ko-oren all in the same cycle, doing better than many people expected.

   Group 5                                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
 1 Svengarda                               13   10   2   1    32   15  +17    32
 2 Zwangzug                                13   10   1   2    19    8  +11    31
 3 Jedi8246                                14    7   4   3    26   13  +13    25
 4 Ko-oren                                 13    7   1   5    16    7   +9    22
 5 Crystal Empire                          14    5   2   7    19   14   +5    17
 6 New North Aqmuland                      14    4   4   6    24   30   −6    16
 7 Star United States                      13    4   2   7    20   29   −9    14
 8 Levivania                               13    4   1   8    19   29  −10    13
 9 Alba-Caledonia                          13    0   1  12    10   40  −30     1

For the second to last game of this cycle, the Maroon Lions take on Crystal Empire. Ranked 112th, they were expected to finish fifth, most likely. They currently sit in fifth, eliminated from competition. They have 17 points, compared to our 16. This game is shaping up to be a great one.

Prediction
Crystal Empire at New North Aqmuland

Final: New North Aqmuland 1-1 Crystal Empire.

The home crowd eggs the Lions to a draw against a strong foe. With luck, this can be a win for us, but a draw would be perfectly acceptable to everyone. No game is ever easy for any team, as evidenced by Alba-Caledonia's first win over Jedi8246.

Let's go, Lions!

by **Chiata** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:00 pm

"Rising up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive"

"So many times it happens too fast
You change your passion for glory
Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive"

"It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger..."

George Chriss was in the locker room and was getting ready for arguably the biggest match of his life. The Chiata Suns would have to play, and beat, Polar Islandstates, the number one nation in the World Cup standings.

"...Face to face, out in the heat
Hanging tough, staying hungry
They stack the odds 'til we take to the street
For the kill with the skill to survive..."

George always listen to his Chi Pod before every game. It was his way to gain inspiration and to get pumped up for the game. Number one was just a number. When it comes to the pitch, it all breaks down to instinct.

"...It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger..."

The Suns had to win. They HAD to. It was their last game in the World Cup 67 Qualifying. They wanted to go out with a bang. Not wanted, will go out with a bang.

"...Rising up, straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance, now I'm not going to stop
Just a man and his will to survive..."

Chiata would have to go the distance. George and everyone else would have to be prefect today. They would have to be brutal football playing machines. Never makings a mistake; calculating risks; taking action at the right moment. There would be no mistakes today. There couldn't be any.

"...It's the eye of the tiger
It's the thrill of the fight
Rising up to the challenge of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he's watching us all with the eye of the tiger..."

Chiata would have to rise up to the challange! They would have to be the survivor! They would have to play.... with the eye of the tiger.......

George clicked off his Chi Pod. It was time for the upset. George was no longer afraid for the Suns, he was afraid for the home crowd that would have to watch their team lose to a visitor that wasn't even in the top 100. Rank is but a number, afterall.

by **Lymantatia** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:11 pm

TeleSat and Stuff
The RP series "TeleSat and Stuff" is a channel surf which takes place in Monday, Dcember 16, 2013. This is the last part, then the last RP will feature the new football recruits.

LTN Radio 1 (9:40am/Long Ago...)
Man: After you.
Women: Why not?
LTN Radio 2 (9:45am/Reflection)
Mary: My winter break spot will be at Laurentia.
Anne: My winter break spot will be at Connorstown
LTN Radio 3 (10:00am/Comedy Jokes)
Announcer: What did the boy say to the man? "Oh, man."
Albaie 2–1 Lymantatia
Posted at 12:00pm 2013 January 03 by Edmund Diamond - I am back! Now to check on what happened while I was gone. Wait a second. We lost 0-1. I hate everything! I hate that our team is losing so many game that they have ruined Lymantatia's sports reputation! Are they getting more horrible? Man, last cup we got a third place out of six (50 percent) and we are getting a 7 out of 9 (77 percent)? Also, one time in WC63 we beat a famous sports team 3-2. Is the team falling apart? Yes. You know why? Because...I'm beginning to think that they really are lazy. The Lymantatian Association Football Federation is voting to replace the entire team with newer and smarter and better recruits. If they vote out everyone, we'll have a better
"Team That Is So Great It Can Easily Defeat All The Teams In World Cup History" team, not a "The Worst Team In The History of History Ever" team.
Here is what the Lymantatian football said yesterday to me in e-mail:
Jacques DeLamielleure: My son will not stand losing, and neither will I!
Edward Lowe: I hate football!
Jacques Volante: I hate football and being run over by forwards!
Jacques Martineau: I am never playing football ever!
Nicholas Baker: I refuse to play football from now on!
Nicholas Ivanov: This is outrageous! Football is painful!
Charles Garcia: Now would be a good time to bring back Lorenzo Martinez!
Jacques Villiers: I hate everything!
Christianus DeLamielleure: Worst...Cup...Ever!
Jacques Bressler: I live for football, not losing.
Sylvius Johnson: I don't like football from on...
Who is out and who is not out? Find out tomorrow!
Goalscorers
12 minutes - Jacques Bressler (Lymantatia)
86 minutes - Robert Tererent (Albaie)
89 minutes - Robert Tererent (Albaie)

by **Dutzenderland** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:33 pm

The RP series is a Pretty Cure fanmade series named "La Forêt Pretty Cure/ラフォレプリキュア". It will take place in Dutzenderland.
La Forêt Pretty Cure: Chapter 6: Together! We Fight the Enemies!/一緒に！我々は敵を戦う！/Issho ni! Wareware wa Teki o Tatakau!
Story
It is December 31 at 9:00pm, when Mika, Minami, Asami, Isami and Natsuko are invited to the Sakurabashi house to celebrate New Year's Eve. They meet Hina Sakurabashi, the student council president who is hated by lots of people for acting weird. Hina makes smoothies made of chocolate, caramel and orange. Also, she makes pizza with chocolate and vanilla and a cake that tastes like fish. The people are disgusted, except Asami, who thinks of her as a cool cook. Meanwhile, High-Speed Saint Panthera (高速聖パンテーラ, Kōsokusei Pantēra) targets Hina's Heart Crystal and creates a Vitabot with a balloon which will explode the house at midnight.
{Eyecatch: Dodecahedron dice rolled to show the numbers 12 (Hours in Half a Day) and 5 {Number of Cures}
Unable to disarm the bomb due to the wires all being green, They try to think of something. Natsuko fetches an idea. They suggest using the new Disquette. The Disquette combines the weapons into the Cure Dynamite which initiates the Pretty Cure Forêt Striker, thus purifying the Vitabot into just the Heart Crystal at 11:55pm. At the end, while Hina finds herself on the sofa, Mika and the other celebrate as the New Year initiates.
{Preview: Sports Match! Enter the Worldwide Tournament!/スポーツマッチ！世界大会に参加してください！/Supōtsu Matchi! Sekai Taikai ni Sanka shite kudasai!}
Quotes
Volcan: Vent, cut the green wire!
Vent: Wait, what?
Volcan: Your color which is on your uniform!
Vent: {checks wires} They're all green, you simpleton!
Volcan: Just pick a wire!
Vent: I don't know which one turns off the bomb!
Sypnosis
The cures celebrate New Year's Eve!
Notes

From now on, when a Vitabot is purified, there will usually be no Disquette.

Dutzenderland 2–0 Kinzar
Posted at 12:00pm 2013 January 3 by Yoshio Fujiwara - We won by 2-0. Because Masao Hoshida is getting a little better.
Goalscorers
41 minutes - Hiroto Koizumi (Dutzenderland)
65 minutes - Masao Hoshida (Dutzenderland)
Current Statistics
Average number of time of goals: 53 minutes
Average number of time of goals by other teams: 51 minutes
Most goals by person on Dutzenderland's team: Hiroto Koizumi (12)
Note: Own goals from Dutzenderland are counted as "other teams" and Own goals from the other team are counted as being in the Dutzenderland team.

by **Northern Sunrise Islands** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:35 pm

The Edenian Sunrise was beautiful. A small spark of brightness between two war-torn colonies, filled of rising buildings, cozy shops and industries. And then, to finish it off, a decent sized stadium, half based on the National Stadium of North Edenia, half based on the Deadpool Coliseum of South Edenia. Obviously, they were still being built, but the field was already up, guaranteeing enough of a place for the try-out. Ruby was, by far, not the sole prospect there. Everyone knew how the sports section was very valued at the Sunrise and a job there could give them enough to survive.

That was when Ruby noted that Red, the boy she dreamed about on her plans of freeing Edenia back was there too. Still carrying a baseball bat, even though that clearly was not the sport they were trying out for, both would end up being placed at the same team against a squad of Northern Edenians. That was the moment she remembered why she hated their neighbors from the north so much. The squad was as ignorant as was a believer that they were just flawless, before even the ball rolled. For them, having to share a territory with South Edenia was shameful, because in the end, they were all, simply, useless, flawed copies made by Kahn's first coming.

As the ball rolled, Ruby figured out something. That she wasn't that bad of a player. A natural dribbler, maybe of Huelandian category. But to be fair, all of the players were remarkably better than the Northern Edenians at that match, with Ruby playing the lead after scoring two goals. By that moment, she didn't even know the name of it was a goal, she just knew that was what she had to do. Had the Edenias never fall under the reign of the Sunrise, she could be looking for a spot at Carlton Sufferers, maybe... with chances of participating at the common bloodsheds of Tuesdays Night against the prisoners of that hated land.

After that afternoon, with a win of 5-0, Ruby and Red, along with many other prospects from both sides, made the cut to The Youth League's Draft.

"Now..." said Ruby to herself, "Next Step... to play with Red."

"What?" said a stranger nearby at the train she was taking to return home.

"Nothing."

by **Darmen** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:42 pm

OOC: Bear with me as I struggle through my writers block.

Darmen faces two must win games

The bad news, we absolutely must win the next two games. The good news, one of those matches is against Julain. The other bad news, the second match is against Antoletia. Darmen has struggled this qualifying campaign (despite being undefeated), scoring only 37 goals so far, slightly below average for the All Greens. The defense has been only slightly improved, but still allows more goals than is liked (although that can partly be attributed to Kimi Siesman playing his first cycle as full-time starter).

Tor Tong Lee has been just about the only bright spot this cycle, but we all expect that. He has scored 14 of Darmen's 37 goals, or the equivalent of one per game. His most spectacular goal came against Julain in the 2-2 draw on Matchday 7. Lee stepped up to take a direct free kick after a heavy tackle from Daniel Benson-Hodges, for which Benson-Hodges received a yellow card, and after Bryan Faulkner faked a shot of his own, Lee smashed the ball past a helpless Julian Cash. Lee will need to step up big in the next two matches, something he hasn't necessarily done in the past with any regularity.

Royal PFC set to name roster in coming days, Zach Preston set to make move to new club

Not many football fans in Darmen are excited about the new Multiversal Premier League, or Royal PFC for that matter. Lets be honest, the Government really don't have that great of marketing skills. We don't even have a logo to look at yet. The only piece of news we have is that Zach Preston is rumored to be the first big name player for the club, and the move from Scott City FC to Royal PFC could result in a huge increase in his salary. Preston, who was formerly the captain of the All Greens, and the star of the team before Tor Tong Lee, currently makes B. 200,000 per game. According to the rumors, it appears that Preston could make up to B.2,000,000 with Royal PFC, something the 32 year old probably couldn't pass up.

by **Kinitaria** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:49 pm

Expectation was high around the Kinitar camp. Following the 4-2 win over Chunnan, the national media had made a big show of reporting that, thanks to the qualification criteria, Kinitaria would automatically qualify for the World Cup if they could take so much as one point from their last two fixtures, or if the Licentian Isles failed to beat Aels. Some of the coaching staff didn't like it. They didn't want the players' heads to be turned. Indeed, they now saw the benefit of the ban on tabloids in the training camp that previous managers had enforced.

"A decade and a half of frustration could come to an end this week, as Kinitaria stand on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in their history." So ran the first sentence of an article in Sport Novari. The tabloids were constantly sniffing around the training camp - not an unusual activity for them, but this week more than usual - in an attempt to get interviews with the players who, they believed, were about to make history. Everyone believed it. This was their year, surely, after so many failed attempts?

It was all Melody Pond could do to keep her players calm. Tickets for the home game with Carialus had sold out in record time. Everyone wanted to be there, to be a part of history, and Melody knew that the squad had bought into the media hype. That's why she'd called an emergency squad meeting a few days before the game.

"We are not at the World Cup," she'd told them in a tone so stern, no-one dared to respond. "We have a game of football to play before we can even think about that. Carialus aren't a team we can take lightly, especially given that we very nearly dropped points to them last time around. That's why I'm going to be very strict about which media are allowed interviews. We haven't qualified, and anyone who acts as though we have won't be playing against Carialus. That game is the only thing that matters to us right now."

That's why they were ignoring the media scrum as they came into training now. But you can't stop your mind drifting at times like this. Even if it's for a moment, you have to entertain the possibility of playing football on the biggest stage of all. That's what the general attitude was, and it's one that was attracting the ire of the coaches to certain players, especially those who had recently joined the squad. Even the older, more experienced heads would allow themselves to think a few weeks into the future. Dalča Nurmanov, who had been a member of the squad that won the Baptism of Fire final in Cassadaigua way back when, could only imagine what it would be like to return with sixteen years' more experience behind him, to take on a vastly different prospect in the form of the World Cup.

It's fair to say the coaches had noticed. "Vilo, Navra, Dalča, you three in particular look like you've got your heads in the clouds," they had been berated by the first-team coach, Fiore Malači, a man who didn't have to shout and scream a lot. He earned plenty of respect just by means of his commanding personality. "You're just not with it today, you're already in the Finals in your own heads. Well, you're never going to get there if you don't keep your feet on the ground and focus on actually getting there this week."

Training was distinctly normal. That's the only word for it. Too normal, in fact. Of course, Melody had wanted to keep the squad grounded ahead of the crucial final two games, but more so than that, there were no petty squabbles, no isolated little funny incidents that would be the subject of throwaway anecdotes ten years down the line, everyone was just too disciplined. Part of that could be down to none of them wanting to blow their chances of featuring in what could be the most important game in the national team's history, but also that their minds were simply elsewhere. Try as you might, any attempt to get 23 grown men to stay calm ahead of their chance to become heroes for life is like herding cats.

Even though Melody wanted to keep all media attention away from her team, there were still mandatory press conferences to attend, and so that's what she did while Serinev and Malači temporarily handled the morning's training session. From the moment she sat down, she was besieged by questions, as she could only expect. She'd had many, many press conferences before, but none as frenzied as this.

"Kiri Pirmičina, Irisanti Mi'ato. Melody, what's it like to be on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup for the first ever time?"

"I'm going to tell you the same as I told my team," she responded in a weary tone, not even bothering to mention that she had been to the World Cup before, even if the Kinitars hadn't. "We have not qualified. I refuse to believe that we've qualified until I see it printed in black and white. We won't qualify unless we go out and put in a performance in our next couple of games. We're remaining firmly grounded until further notice, and I'm making sure that all of the players understand that."

"Matias Firuni, Sport Novari. There's a full house expected for the Carialus game, do you think the pressure of making history will affect the team at all?"

Melody fixed Firuni with a withering look. "If it does, they don't deserve to be called professional footballers. This team is lucky to have some of the best fans in the world behind them. We're used to playing in front of some fantastic support, and I don't expect our next game to be any different just because of what the group table says. We're treating it like any other game, because at present, that's exactly what it is."

"But surely," Firuni followed up, "taking this Kinitaria team to the finals would be this country's greatest sporting achievement?"

"I'm not going to deny that it would be incredible to return to the World Cup finals." For all that she was determined to do her job right, Melody could only hope against hope that this country's apparent fixation with the finals - especially that had cropped up in the past couple of weeks - wasn't going to lead to disaster. "These players have put in so much effort, and there's nothing they deserve more. I'll be delighted if it does happen, but that is not the case right now and I'm not making any further comment on the finals unless we get there."

The conference - interrogation might be a better word for it - went on for some time. Melody managed to escape from the press hordes just as the players were finishing up their morning session. "The press are rabid today," she grumbled to Malači just as the team and staff trailed inside.

"Can't blame them, though, can you? This country's had precious little to celebrate since we won the Baptism of Fire," he shot back in his distinctive rural accent. He would know, having been with the squad since just after that famous win. "Since then, it's just been one long string of near misses. Let them have their optimism, why don't you? Give them something to hope for. These lads all feel the same way. Most of them have been in the team long enough to have been hurt several times by these near misses. Those that haven't, will have grown up watching us just miss out or just not be good enough. You can hardly tell them to keep a lid on that. With all due respect, boss, you aren't from this country, but we're this close to becoming a laughing stock. We've already got a reputation for being perennial failures. And now, with these lads ninety minutes from changing all that, you think they'll act normal?"

Throughout his monologue, he'd been egged on by comments such as "go on, Fiore" and other similar remarks. When he'd finished talking, those members of the squad who had hung behind to watch applauded him. That's part of what gained the coach so much respect. For all he was determined to succeed, and would push his players ever harder to reach that goal, he understood them, and he understood the footballing culture of his country. He was one of the team, and it didn't matter that he wasn't a player.

"I... I see," started Melody, somewhat taken aback. She valued creative input from her staff, because she knew that there were some things she, as a foreigner, would never quite be able to grasp. She wasn't used to being directly challenged by her staff, though - or, as the case may be, indirectly challenged by her players. "I see what you're saying. Getting to the finals would mean a lot to anyone. I just want to make sure we don't get carried away. For all the tables may be in our favour right now, we've still got a job to do to make sure they stay that way."

"We know that, boss." This was Sergiu Vacarestič, a valuable member of the team for as long as it had existed. "I've personally missed out seven times in a row, every single time by a tiny margin, and it doesn't stop hurting. This is the last chance I'm ever going to get." Some of the older players nodded their heads in agreement. "This game means everything to us. We'd give anything to be out there playing. That's why we're going to go out there and make sure we do the business."

"Sergiu's right," shouted Karl Sala, another veteran whose experience made him invaluable. He was backed up by shouts of approval from his teammates. "We've been here enough times to know what it's like. It's just made us even more determined to get it right this time."

"Be that as it may," responded their manager with a wry smile, "we're still treating this like any other game. We'll be training and preparing as normal up until the day of the game. Depending on what happens afterwards, then we might be able to let our hair down a bit."

"We wouldn't expect it any other way," replied Navra Kulisev. With possibly a slightly better understanding of each other, the team and manager proceeded inside to continue preparing for their destiny.

by **Eura** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 7:56 pm

OOC: Warning, this is quite a sweary RP. Don't read if you can't stomach that sort of thing.

Natella Kalinina had no idea where she was when she woke up, but she had taken an instant disliking to the place. She was in a white room, a completely white room, massive in size and spherical in shape. The roof was 100 feet up, maybe 50, she couldn't really tell; all she could understand about it was that it was bright, annoyingly so. She was sat alone at a table in the middle of the room with a chair on the oth- wait, no. She wasn't alone. A man in a suit wearing tinted shades with some documents laid out in front of him was sat across from her. He had an odd smile on his face, like he'd just read an interesting bit of trivia or found a currency note in the street. A very odd smile indeed. 'Sleep well, Natella?' She hadn't slept in two days. The Euran's had deprived her of food and water as much as possible, pumped her full of some very stressful drugs for whatever reason and this fucking room was infuriating her. Why was it so bright?

'Hello, Natella.' He spoke to her in flawless Mytanar. She gave no response other than a half hearted smirk. 'You look under the weather.'
'I'm fine.'
'No, no you're not.' The former Mytanar dictator had straggled hair and was even more pale than she had been previously. She'd been almost quite attractive despite her terrible nature back in her heyday, but those days were gone now. She looked more like a drug addict off the backstreets of Esca than a powerful regional leader. 'I have some things to show you Natella.'
'I don't want to see them.'
'Well that's a shame, because you'll have to.' Two armed men appeared from seemingly nowhere behind her. One of them threw some sort of restraint round her neck; she struggled but could barely breathe when she did, and her legs and armed were already cuffed down. The other forced her shirt sleeve up, while the interrogator got up. She let out a scream while the interrogator took a gargantuan syringe and with the help of another appearing member of staff jabbed it into a vein in her arm. After a minute or so of blurring vision and colour she returned to having some sense of what was going on around her. The men were gone, except for the interrogator who had sat back down like nothing had happened. And those damned lights were still on.

'You're a strong one, Natella. The sedative only put you out for twenty minutes. Well, sedative...and some other things.' He picked up a couple of folders from the files he had on his table, and stared at Natella once more. 'Do you know what the definition of strong is?'
'Not Patrick Zweig,' she riposted, 'that little shit of yours didn't last long did he? Fucking sock puppet.' The interrogator laughed. 'Ah, you say that like we were still on good terms with him. Your ignorance is quite adorable.'
'You're full of shit. I've always known he's been surrounded by enemies. I had enemies, I crushed them. What does that stupid fuck do? Fucks about, waving around his fake political power like its some sort of real authority. I had real authority.'
'That's an interesting viewpoint, coming from a vulnerable little girl who left behind a lot of blood she didn't even shed herself. You've proven quite easy to push over in the end. It is only a shame that the Mytanar people lack the slightest fortitude and couldn't manage to overthrow you sooner.' Though Natella didn't really know it so far, the interrogator was just turning the screw in a different way with each point, extrapolating from his little playbook he'd thought up of "things that will piss her off". The idea that her advisors were the power behind the throne? Check. An insult to the Mytanar people, which hurt her national pride however much she had burned her country? Check. And of course, referring to her as a girl rather than a woman. Check.

She realised that bit of the line was probably intended to wind her up, so she ignored it. 'Every Mytanar, even those who fucked with me, are worth a dozen Euran's.'
'It's a good job that there is three billion of us then, isn't it? Back on point, the definition of what it is to be 'strong', well, that's an interesting one. Personally I don't think you fit.'
'Yeah right, because you're such a tough guy aren't you, you pencil pushing Euran cunt?' The interrogator laughed. 'Let your vocal chords rest, Natella. You want to produce fire but you can only make hot air. Now, reading from the National Dictionary of Euran Scholars...the first definition, "Being able to perform feats of physical or mental strength." Well, you don't win there. You popped off a lot of dissenters didn't you, but you didn't have the balls to hang around and fight back when they overran you. After that, "Something that will withstand force, pressure, or wear". Once again, you did a royal job of ballsing that up. A bit of wear from popular dissent, a lot of pressure in a war of attrition, and then when force came around...you were already gone. Finally, "Something that possesses great intensity". A weak willed coward who failed to maintain her empire of dirt in the face of modest resistance? Well, you didn't put in a particularly intensive effort to stop it did you?' She simply scowled, resisting the urge to give him the satisfaction of getting angrier. 'I didn't lose my world, my armies did. Their incompetence did.'
'Well, you say that, but you were in complete control. As you said yourself, you dominated your advisors. Therefore it should be your fault, should it not? And let's not get started on the advisors loyalty. You weren't the most inspiring leader were you?'

Natella cackled in an almost deranged fashion. 'No, no, fuck you. They were in line. They were all in line and they still are, a reckoning is coming friend. I saw Esksobirsk. Your little puppet regime is doomed.'
'I'm afraid reality disagrees with you. Let's just look at your right hand men, shall we? Of the twelve 'aces high' designated by Euran military intelligence over the period of your reign in relation to analysis of your regime, seven defected from you. One didn't defect, but spilt the beans on you as soon as the war ended. Niedermayer is dead. You shot that old chap, can't remember his name...and two others committed suicide at some point. Which leaves that chap from Esksobirsk...also dead. Oh dear. Your two most loyal men have bit the dust. There is a thirteenth of course. Do you want to know what happened to him?'
'I hope you choke on your own Anglophonic breath you fucker. When do I get to meet your boss, huh? When do I get to meet someone who isn't getting paid minimum damned wage?' And turn off these fucking lights, she thought to herself.
'You think you're that important? Once again, how adorable. You might get some sympathy at this rate, a little girl in a big political world.' She tried to interject but another armed man appeared - one of them had clearly stayed behind her - and slammed her in the gut with a truncheon. 'Anyway, the thirteenth man.' He put his electronic tablet device on a little stand and presented it on the table so she could see. 'Vladimir Kacek, do you remember him?'
'Minister of Defence. Shagged a mistress for ages, tried to do the same with me. I sent him his own balls in the post while he was in a hospital bed recovering from losing them!' The interrogator simply laughed at this story. 'No, you ordered someone to. And they never did. You never visited him, and we have recordings of you confirming your fear that he might have defected. You assumed, for a while at least, that he was dead or pacified. Seems you were wrong.'
'Bullshit.'

The interrogator simply smiled as he pressed play on a video on the tablet. 'Oh, it isn't bullshit. If there was one thing he was loyal to, apart from his whores, it would be the concept of Mytannion as a nation yes, Natella?' For once, she agreed, nodding grudgingly. 'He never showed it in his work.'
'No he didn't, you're absolutely correct. In fact I'd argue he went to great lengths to show that wasn't the case. You've never seen it before, so I thought I may as well show you this video now.' It showed Kacek in Euran hands, pretty obviously - but not in duress, defending Natella or at the very least Mytannion to the core, not even turning on the new Mytannion. He was sat in an expensive suite with several Euran officials, in the heart of Bastion. Quite the opposite impression was coming from a man who, until the last days of her reign, at least seemed quite loyal.

"...and you're sure? You know what we will do if you've got it wrong."
"Spare me the hollow threat. When you win, I know you'll want Esca as the hub. Keep the institutions in play to keep the economy running. Typical Euran's, always thinking about the industrial targets."
"Haha, you don't seem to understand. We know you love Esca. We know you hate the Thessians, and we know your family live in Esca, even now. Let's put it this way, if you don't co-operate for our little settlement, post war Mytannion is going to have a new capital that you won't like. Esca will be rubble. Have you seen what our strategic bombing did in Sameba two decades ago? Don't worry, that'll be Esca soon."
"Okay. Okay I...I get it. I promise you the information is accurate."

There was a pause in the video as rage built up in Natella's head. This betrayal was unthinkable. Could it get worse?

"It's out of Dyka, right? Off the ring road. AA is semi-heavy."
"Yes. That is where you will find the bullion and everything else."
"Wonderful. A few JDAM's, Tomahawks and some Marine Commando boys should deal with it."

Natella's personal fund of gold bullion, a collection of personal favourite works of art and a relative or two were situated at one of her mansions outside of Dyka. She was boiling with range. 'Fuck you, that's set up.'
'Nope. Kacek will get a clean slate at his trial. Were thinking...Minister of Defence for the post-Zweig government? Another bit of your insignificant legacy converted to the modern, Euran orientated way.' Natella finally burst, snarling and loudly screaming at the interrogator, kicking at her restraints and virtually foaming at the mouth. 'I'm going to fucking rip him apart, and then you, you fucking limp dick shit, I'll fucking carve you up and your whole family! Come over here!'
'I don't think I'll bother.'
'Show me how "strong" you think you are then!' As she continued to struggle, he got up and sat on the desk, stopping the video on the touchpad and smiling at her sarcastically as her tantrum came towards its end. 'You know Natella, they say you never let anyone get the better of you. Let's see how you feel after a while here, eh?' As he got up to walk away and leave her alone to the guards to drag her to a confined cell within the room, he turned to her. 'By the way, your eyes look awfully bloodshot. Is it the room?' She looked at him with the glaring eyes of pure hatred. She thought she might convince him the room was having no effect like the rest of the physical torture she had endured without complaint. She hadn't judged his character well. 'Oh, I see what you're thinking. You want a bit more brightness in your dark little life. To cheer you up.'

'Max, put her back in the unit. And turn up the lights.'

by **Sangti** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:15 pm

Flashback, Part 1

October 2, 2016. Three days after Joel Manzano was re-appointed as the chief security officer of Sangti's Supremo, Mazda Senina. The match at the Estadio Olimpico will be a crucial one for their opponent, Eastfield Lodge, who is still in contention for the World Cup FInals. Sangti, on the other hand, were trying to salvage some pride after having a winless streak of seven matchdays that effectively killed any hopes of making it to the grand stage.

The presence of the Supremo surely lifted the spirits of the Sangtians there, as the Agilang Dilaw was focused heavily on their attacking and peppered the defense with shots everywhere. Blon however was adept enough to save most of the shots, except for one - Daren Corsiga's blistering roundabout of Blon just before half time ensued many cheers from the crowd and the Supremo himself. 1-0 Sangti.

When the referee blew his whistle for halftime, Joel approached Mazda at his seat. "Sir, we have an urgent matter to talk to. Come with me." He said. Mazda followed him, since he has trust in his chief security officer. Mazda asked while they were walking in the corridor, "What is it about that you needed to talk to me one on one?" Joel was silent for five minutes until he answered, "Sir, it's about the KPAK." They walked into a conference room at the second floor of the stadium.

Meanwhile, the Sangtian government at the Palacio de Sangtiano received a crucial intelligence report. "Mogya Hall under siege, Nomadia communication shut. Reports of possible assassination at Estadio Olimpico. Deploy units ASAP. Code Alpha Bravo." The policemen at the Mogya apartment found details of a possible assassination at the basement, just after relaying the message, the explosives on the basement were activated, causing the building to raze in flames before collapsing.

Troops were sent to Mogya and Estadio Olimpico to assess the situation. Those who were assigned to the Estadio Olimpico reached the stadium in just ten minutes, but with the match ongoing at around the seventieth minute, they were forced to wait the end of the match and let only two of their soldiers enter the facility. This caused panic among the 96,756 fans in the stadium, and combined with the three goals Eastfield Lodge scored, they quickly got out of the stadium. Upon getting out, they seemed to already know the situation, as they ran away from the stadium.

Meanwhile, after fifteen minutes of talking falsefully about the KPAK, Supremo Senina looked to Joel and said, "This isn't true, is it?" "Well, you know the drill, sir, and... I think we need to finish it." He drew his silenced pistol from his sleeve and shot three bullets to Senina, splattering blood all over the room. He shot his fourth - at the head to ensure that Senina is dead.

"That's what you get for making a grave mistake." Joel said.

However, the shots were heard by the roving soldiers, armed with machine guns. They ran towards the conference room, and saw Joel just getting out of the room.

"You, why are you here?" a patorller said.

"Well, I was just assisting Mazda, and... he is already in the hospital."

The radio of the soldiers received a transmission. "Joel Manzano is a traitor. Kill in sight. Code Kilo-India-Lima-Lima." As they received the instruction, Joel started to run away from the soldiers, but he was shot many times. Before he lost his life, Joel spoke meekly,

"Why, Antonio, why...?"

by **Mizuyuki** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:16 pm

Honda Midori

"Wow. This is certainly something else."

I couldn't help gasping in surprise at the sight that was in front of me after stepping off the connecting flight from Mardi to Beart. The difference was too much to even quantify - there were things like sentient ice-cones floating about unconcernedly, a couple of dragon-like beings knocking up a gale in the airport, some people with what appeared to be natural cat ears, and even a fire-breathing salamander. Except this one was sentient - it was helping a harassed-looking human being to bake his bread in a small, comfy bakery.

The rows upon rows of shops contained merchandise I had never set eyes upon; the departures hall filled with the same peculiar beings I had seen before.

My head was just starting to spin out of confusion when I spotted a man - a chauffeur - holding up a piece of cardboard with my name scrawled over it in big, black letters right near the entrance.

"Guess that's my welcoming committee right there. Better head over and say hi, then."

I fought against the masses of beings - for lack of a better term - that were being disgorged by the landing planes, in an effort to get close to the man. It took several minutes of struggling before I came to a halt in front of him, panting in exhaustion.

"I ... I'm Honda."

Upon hearing my name, the man gave me a gracious smile and relieved me of my luggage, loading it into the back of the sleek car parked beside him before courteously helping me into the car.

The chauffeur spoke to me in well-modulated tones, but I was barely even paying attention, attracted as I was to the sheer unusualness of the scenes in Beart. At one point I witnessed a ... something floating about serenely. It had a distinctly humanoid form, but upon closer inspection it definitely was not human. For one thing, it had no legs. Plus its hands were a shade of emerald green.

I ventured to question the chauffeur on this matter. Still keeping his eyes on the road, he merely sighed, before chuckling.

"That is a Gardevoir, a species of Sentient Pokémon."

Ehh! What on earth is a Pokémon anyway?! I mentally exclaimed. In my defence, I didn't know shit about Northern Sunrise Islands, much less its population of amazing sentient beings. I was completely speechless.

After a fashion, I regained my composure and again gave in to my inquisitive nature.

"Well, where are we again?" The chauffeur launched into a brief explanation - this was Beart, located on Lynder Islands. And the whole lot was somewhere in the vastness of the Northern Sunrise Islands. He didn't go into much detail, so I didn't know the precise locations. He also took the opportunity to comfort and assure me that things were going to be just fine and dandy.

I also noticed some people raising a flag on one flagpole in the city centre while removing one that had obviously seen much use - it was weather beaten and tattered, the colours fading away.

"New flag?" I inquired. The chauffeur responded in the affirmative, and we proceeded to share a short conversation as to the significance of the new flag, as well as the reasoning behind the change. I was somewhat relieved that I at least had someone to interact with upon my arrival in Beart - it didn't seem like an easy place to get accustomed to, and the chauffeur was helping me to settle into daily Sunrisian life with the minimum fuss.

For that, I silently thanked him.

After travelling for some time, the chauffeur turned on the radio, presumably to distract me from my worries over settling in and calm me down.

Okay, that might have been wishful thinking on my part. Nonetheless, I was curious as to the programmes that were broadcast in the Northern Sunrise Islands, and I proceeded to cock my ears and listen attentively to the voices emanating from the car radio.

FM Classica Beart wrote:As the track started to fade out, a female, serious voice started to talk.

"On a Sunrisian newsflash, the Sunrise conquered, by economical means, two new territories. In deep debt, Catalaterra and Euskaldunek, two common Emirates of Futurnia countries that were once considered rich and powerful, are now under Sunrisian rule. The Special Department for Colonies is going to be re-activated and the president, Tiago Souto will be picking a political party to rule those areas. Rumors have that the Batistan Party, an ultra-nationalist group has been talking very often with the president, asking if they could rule those new colonies and start a program regarding their biggest project, the Batista Bomb¹. I'm Luiza Diamante, with your Political News."

I glanced in the direction of the chauffeur, who was seemingly unconcerned by the announcement.

"Wait...your land annexes territories by debts?"

Upon hearing my peculiar question - peculiar to him, no doubt - he laughed out loud.

"And what other way would we do it? Using force? Killing our people just for land? We don't believe on those things."

I quickly turned my face away, sneaking a glimpse of the scenery that whizzed past us at speed, before further venturing a question.

"But won't they be angry about it?"

In response, the chauffeur proceeded to lecture me on the merits of living in Sunrisian society, where the rules were apparently better, and fairer, than the rules in some place he called Paradystopia, as well as something called the Corvidae, I have no idea what it is. Annexation by debt still wasn't something I'd heard of before, and I was still befuddled over how a country could carry out such a process, never mind getting the natives to go along with it.

I sighed. Clearly life in Northern Sunrise Islands wasn't going to be an easy ride for me.

The chauffeur continued. "Look, the only reason we have Armed Forces is to protect ourselves. If we have too much people to fit in one place, we make huge buildings or use Silphean architecture. Controlling other people's lands is just a way we make up for debts and that's about it. Esportivan countries know that we wouldn't shove a gun up their behinds, though we would like to switch their flag if they try to Hue their debts on us."

Hmm ... I see. Very unique indeed. Though I STILL don't have the slightest inkling what he's on about.

One phrase in particular did catch my attention, though. It was an expression I'd never heard before, and I resigned myself to the fact that several similar incidents would crop up before I was able to fully integrate into Sunrisian society.

"Hue their debts?"

"It's just an expression. Don't worry, after a while here, you'll understand everything." The chauffeur stopped the car at a red light and turned to give me a reassuring smile.

"Everything's gonna be fine. Just go with the flow, Honda."

Note - not exactly original, some parts, especially dialogue, taken from NSI's RP here. This is a collab of sorts, and played from different viewpoints, so there is going to be some overlap.

by **Felix** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:19 pm

Its Not Just A Football Term Folks

The elections rolled by soon enough, the 6 candidates campaigned for two months and then it was September 9th, election day. The top two finishing candidates make it to the second round the round that decides it all. In the first round it was the United Party that pulled through getting first with 40% of the vote in a close second was the Nationalist Party that won 35% then it was The New Majority coalition that pulled in 10% of the vote, then came in the Centre Party that pulled another 10% and the Independent, ex-Green Party, Candidate, Andrés Arechavaleta pulled in the last 4%. And who did the rest of the 1% of the nation vote for? Why Luis Garcia of course. That one percent vote was all write ins, a first in Felixian election history.

And now the final round was going to played out and by November 16th the elections would end and by December 28th a new President would be sworn in as the leader of the Federal Republic of Felix. So now what does the President do? Enjoy the benefits of having the job? Get some last minute work done? Or mope around the fact by Christmas the President must be leaving the highest office in the country? Luis decided to go with the second one and go out with a bang. He recently got a letter that it was Koby Theodore that did, in fact, commit the horrendous crime. Despite the flak coming to him about what was going on with the infamous, Inceptiongate going around thanks to the now identified, Eduardo Nieven, he was still going to go out to the national press and announce the rapist, although, not say his name. Cause the letter explicitly told him not to do that. Yet.

The President of Felix soon went to the Presidential Press Room and walked to the podium, reporters shouted out questions as the President waited for them to spot. Minutes later they did and he finally got the chance to speak, "Good morning." Luis started, "I am here to inform you that the I.D of the rapist has been discovered and we will bring swift justice to this pig as soon as the World Cup qualifying stage ends. For now, I request you reporters don't ask who he is as he certainly can't be revealed to the public as of now. Thank you." The President soon left the podium and walked back to his office despite the fury of questions asked by the reporters there asking about what was just told to them recently. The President took 4 minutes to get there and then sat down, took a breather and started to type his response to the Consul of the Free Republics.

TO: Venicio Piazza, Consul of the Federation of Free Republics
FROM: Luis Garcia, President of the Federal Republic of Felix
RE: DNA Evidence Test Results

I am truly thankful that you found the identity of the rapist and I am happy to inform you that the family of the victim and the boyfriend, Mr. Esser, thank you for your help in the case. I told the victim's family and the boyfriend's family the rapist's identity, don't worry, they won't say a word about this till the World Cup qualifiers are over, they gave me their word. And now we move on that request you talked to me about. I was thinking about that but after serious thought I believe Mr. Theodore must be tried on Felixian law and will be tried here if possible and will most likely go to a jail in Felix. Now the court can overrule my decision on this and send Mr. Theodore to those Saintland Reform Schools rather than where I think that boy should belong in, a jail.

Nonetheless the Felixian Superior Court will try him in absentia, should the court decide he be in a Felixian jail I would request Mr. Theodore to be moved to Felix after the World Cup qualifiers are over in the next 48 hours, not doing that will make the Felixian representatives of the WA go there and demand the Security Consul to move Mr. Theodore by force. I hope it doesn't come to that. But if the court does decide to go on your offer, I request that you move Mr. Theodore after the World Cup qualifying stage is over in 24 hours. Thanks for all your help in this case involving your citizen and mine, Mr. Piazza and I wish you luck in all your future endeavors.

by **San Jose Guayabal** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:22 pm

OOC: All chants are in Spanish, you can find his traslation in the spoiler at the bottom of this RP. And this is the second part of Rudy Valencia submission to World Cup XI Challenge.

San Miguel, SJG. January 2nd, 2014

It was a beautiful evening in San Miguel, the joy of the Carnival and New Year was over, but not the anger that causes football even more if it was a tour of the national soccer team, there were many people in the streets with Shirts selection, fake people selling promotional products, reselling tickets was at its apogee, but a married couple running towards the stadium, missing a couple of hours to start the game despite the weather, the crowd in San Jose Guayabal tends to cram the stadiums at least two hours before each game.

"Run, if we were not bareback"

"Wait for me, sweetie"

"Well okay, but quickly please"

"Now, we go"

After passing a crowd of hooligans arrived at the stadium, with no problems and sat without eating and talking about "La Selecta SJG"

"That is a delicious pizza!"

"I like that, at least Stadium pizzas are better than restaurant"

"Hahahahahaha"

"Hey, how do you think the end game today"

"No doubt, we will win 4-0"

"As sure?"

"Why?, Or you doubt that we will draw with a chicken (typical derogatory against a newbie)"

"Just in Mollary and won, just a 2-3, I call that a little"

"No, you'll see that we win 4-0"

Time passed and passed chatted while the tactical game.

"I imagine it will be a very close game tactically because the opponent has to avoid thrashing"

"Ugh, you're right but do not prevent the win"

"Why?"

"Experience is on our side and SJG system is 3-3-3-1, use 4-3-3 Mollary while less offensive than ours"

The match was near to start, the teams was practicing, meanwhile the hooligans start to chant.

1- ¡Oooooleeeeee, oleeeeee, oleeeeee, oleeeeeee, Guayabaaaal, Guayabaaaal!, Hoy tenemos que ganar, el rival va a salir corriendo como cagón, es un día especial y no te lo vas a perder, ¡Mollary va a huir! ¡Mollary va a huir!, porque son cagones que ni siquiera pueden tocar una put* pelota

The spouses enjoyed singing the chants, all the fans in the stadium Juan Francisco Barraza vibrated with joy and uproar, especially when the teams took the field as they shouted Guayabal!Guayabal!Guayabal!, And when the national anthem Mollary, everyone fell silent to the point of listening to a dead silence, but when the song started San Jose Guayabal, everything changed completely.

2- Saludemos a la patria orgullosos, que de hijos suyos podemos llamarnos y juremos la vida animosos sin descanso.......
¡Consagrar!.....¡Consagraaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar! and a storm of uproars invaded the stadium.

Minute 2: Rodolfo Zelaya fails a clear scoring chance in front of the goal.

Minute 5: It can not be! penalty in favor of Mollary.

Minute 6: Chaft shoots and scores, people fall in total silence, surprise. Mollary win 0-1.

Minute 10: Looks like San Jose Guayabal want to react, Valencia missed a good piece.

Minute 12: Goal! SJG, Rudy Valencia scores the equalizer through a long distance shot, the game is 1-1.

Minute 15: Goal of SJG, Valencia scores 2-1, again with a shot from long distance.

Minute 30: Great finish by SJG, Rudy Valencia scores hattrick in just thirty minutes, this time it was with a pass from Jairo Araujo, who gave chance to Valencia to head home, we are winning 3-1.

42 minutes Chaft red card, to give punch to James Moreira, who will be replaced by Augustine Jibrin.

Minute 45: Finish the first time, SJG 3-1 Mollary

The couple began shouting their support for SJG, with this song.

3- ¡Y bríndale alegría a mi corazón, ya vamos a ganar de nuevo.... Y ya vas a ver, no somos como los put*s de Mollry!, Hoy es tu día de suerte Mollary, esta será tu tumba por cagón, amargo.

Minute 46: The second half kicks, SJG is more offensive because they want to settle the game once and for all.

Minute 57: Mollary misses a clear opportunity, Quorff misses a volley shot could have been 3-2.

Minute 68: Goal of SJG, Faña opponent's defensive weakness Mollary and scores of 4-1, this match is already settled.

Minute 72: Sheldon Xaertha of Mollary misses a clear counterattacks udo have helped his team, which this failing almost everything.

Minute 85: And the cherry on the cake ..... Goal of SJG, Rudy Valencia completes a splendid night to make 4 goals, this time it was taking advantage of a rebound after a corner, now it is 5-1.

Minute 90: And the game ended in a display of Rudy Valencia, SJG wins 5-1 to a weak national team of Mollary.

The game ended, spouses went to home and talked:

"That's easier match, won comfortably"

"Very good"

"Against whom we play next?"

"Hutanjia"

"Let's hope we win them, we may have chance to go to the playoffs"

"Do not think that, that is almost impossible"

"Nothing is impossible".

3- And Give her a joy to my heart, and we will win again .... And we'll see, we are not like the motherfu**ers of Mollry!, Today is your lucky day Mollary, this will be your tomb wimp, bitter.

by **Equestrian States** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 8:28 pm

Cutoff Time!

Results

by **Jeruselem** » Fri Jan 03, 2014 10:24 pm

Princess Amy and Princess Melody in Kidlantis

Amy: Hello this is Princess Amy in Kidlantis, I'm with Jeruselem coach Princess Melody. Today was an important day for most concerned in qualifying.
Melody: Yes, and it was a very funny sort of day
Amy: In Group 1, Hicana drew with Osarius 2-2 who have already qualified for the cup
Melody: I guess they don't need to win anymore
Amy: Legalese drew 1–1 with Welsh Cowboy at home, which is good but we wish they lost
Melody: Yes, I guess they didn't win either which is good

Amy: And we drew 0-0 here with Kidlantis ...
Melody: A frustrating day
Amy: Remember we have a defender and goalkeep who can't play today
Melody: So we had to dig into the reserves
Amy: Sadly we didn't win and the other two didn't either
Melody: So nothing changed in effect

Amy: I'm sure I scored a goal today
Melody: Except someone called it offside
Amy: It was not offside and the ref got it all wrong
Melody: Yes, we don't get much luck that way
Amy: And then we got another one from a header except the ref blew his fucking whistle again
Melody: One of the defenders fell over so the ref assume one of us tripped him over

Amy: So last day, and we need win really. A draw isn't going do a lot for us
Melody: Legalese win will seal 2nd spot but we need them to lose
Amy: So its all down the last game for us
Melody: It's simple, we need win and we need Legalese to lose
Amy: Yes, good thing we don't play Osarius last
Melody: Legalese take on Osarius!

Amy: I guess we're not out of it at all
Melody: No, we need a bit of luck
Amy: Yes, this draw has been costly
Melody: All draws are costly, draws are wins that didn't happen
Amy: Group 8 and well Jeru FC have a bye now
Melody: Yes, they drew with Swyftlandre 1-1 and stay 2nd

Amy: Darmen drew 1-1 with Julain and can move into 1st or 2nd now since Jeru FC has a bye
Melody: Yes, Darmen have an advantage right there
Amy: Antoletia beat nextdrakko 3-0 and keep top spot
Melody: Antoletia can lose top spot still, but they will finish 1st or 2nd
Amy: So Jeru FC have to have to wait
Melody: Darmen play Antoletia in the last game!

Amy: All we want is, Antoletia to win. SIMPLE
Melody: If Darmen win or draw, I think Jeru FC are back to 3rd
Amy: So, COME ON Antoletia. You can win, and qualify for the cup direct.
Melody: Antoletia cannot let Darmen win or Darmen qualify automatically
Amy: Don't you hate your fate out of your hands
Melody: Yes, at least we have a fighting chance

Amy: Paradystopia beat Qazox 5-2 but it was too late, Qazox into a playoff
Melody: They did enough, just
Amy: Paradystopia were unlucky too
Melody: 3rd is nice but doesn't get one into a playoff
Amy: Yes, we've been 3rd a few too many times
Melody: At least we're still in with chance and Jeru FC is too

Amy: So, one more round. Jeru FC sweat it out and we need to win and hope Legalese lose.
Melody: It's all down to the last round as normal with us
Amy: Melody Pond's team can still directly make the cup or at worst get a playoff
Melody: Go direct, playoffs suck
Amy: Yes, we suck at the playoffs
Melody: Yes

by **Ko-oren** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 4:29 am

A bid to get the World Cup to Ko-oren

This nation has a small population, but a larger affinity with sports than many nations with more people. The three-tiered (semi-)professional football pyramid, along with seven or eight (semi-)professional leagues, all in different sports, with excellent infrastructure and facilities that each year host many international games in competitions like the Champions' Cup, BCCC, Seasogs, etc... And we even make the finals from time to time. Football's Maethoru has played in the Champions' Cup semifinal, our Rugby teams have won their international finals in two different codes, only our national teams leave room for improvement. WBC 4th place, endless Market Cup 2nd places, a 14th ranked football team (for now, at least)... But at least the facilities are not to blame.

Which brings us to the stadiums to be used for the World Cup. There are 20 in total, for the 20 group games that will be played each match day. There will be 40 teams in the World Cup group stage, that will play a Casaran system for three match days, after which the top 16 qualifies for the second round, and after that it's business as usual. With a small population and a large amount of relatively small cities, most stadiums do not have a capacity over 25.000, but then again, there are 20 stadiums total. And here they are, mapped out.

As you can see, each city has its language mapped as well. This is because Ko-oren is an interesting country if you like languages. There are 15 official ones, from Turkish (150.000 native speakers) to Dutch (1.900.000 speakers). Don't worry though, most people speak three or four languages, and there is a lot of variation in these three/four languages, so you should be able to find someone who speaks yours. And then there's always Ko-oran, the language that everyone learns at school, at least. People will be eager to help you out with something, as our 'top 5% compassionate citizens' awards show (actually, you might want to know that we've got the police force to keep you safe: top 10%. And you probably won't get sick: 1% highest lifespan awards, we have those too. And should you get sick, one of the world's top 5% health care systems will get you better, while you enjoy the top 5% weather, while you listen to the top 5% smartest populations riding the top 5% trains to wherever you need to go to enjoy one of the top 5% tourist destinations. And then we didn't even say our crime rates are with the lowest 1% in the world, our HDI is top of the region and top 1% globally, and we have experience with tourists, with top weather and tourist destinations, in addition to our top 1% environment). Even if we don't get the World Cup, you could still come here and see how good it is.

About the World Cup itself, there will be 40 teams coming to Ko-oren (well, 39, and one will be staying here). They will play a Casaran system. The first match day will be the first seeded team (#1) against the lowest seeded team (#40), #2 vs. #39, #3 vs. #38, and so on. After that, the Casaran system will take care of things: all teams with a 1-0-0 will play another team on 1-0-0, and the same goes for those on 0-1-0 and 0-0-1. The third round will feature 2-0-0's against each other, 1-1-0's, 1-0-1's, then 0-2-0's, 0-1-1's, and 0-0-2's. Each game will be 'seeded' for itself as well to determine where the game will be played:

On MD1, the #1-#40 is seeded first. That means they will play in the Wind Arena, in Tangku. If #1 wins, they will be 1-0-0 and let's even say they win by 6-0 or so, and they will be the highest seeded team in the second match round. They will be paired up with another strong opponent, and let's say their combined result is higher than any other combined result. That means they will be the highest seeded match on MD2. That means they will play in Ningabasa. If our #1 seeded team does another good job, gets paired up with another strong team, and is the highest seeded match another time, they will play in Sraltlur's Harbor Dome.
Another example: Ko-oren is #14. That means they will play #26 on MD1, in the Thunder Stadium in Esthauan. If we win, we'll be 1-0-0, and we'll play one of the stronger opponents. Let's say our combined result (Ko-oren + MD2 opponent) is the seventh best of all teams. Then the next destination is Egevea. If we draw that one, let's say we are 1-1-0 and up against another 1-1-0 opponent, and combined we will have 8 points and a positive GD, good enough to be the combined #10. The MD3 column says #10 - Egevea - River Yard, which means we will stay in one place.

For the second round, you can see which boxes are ticked to host a Ro16 game. All but the lowest 4 are knockout phase stadiums. Each final 16 team will play a random opponent, with the only condition that these two teams have not met in the tournament before. There will also be a random draw for the quarterfinal (Ro8), with no conditions whatsoever. The semifinals will be played in the Wind Arena and the Harbor Dome, in the nation's two largest cities. The 3PPO will be played in the Emperor's Arena, while the final will be in the National Stadium in Ko-oren, where our national team plays its home qualification games.

One last thing: if you wondered how the cities are ranked in the table above: the are ranked by population. In the map you can see each city's stadium capacity, and generally larger cities have larger stadiums. The exceptions are Mayara and Esthauan, which have relatively large stadiums (and therefore Mayara can afford to host the 3PPO).

Another last thing: we have said we would do demonstration events in a previous edition of the bid. This still stands: futsal, sepak takraw, beach football, 5-a-side and 7-a-side, but applications for these need to be done nationally (eg. one team per nation), and only if your national football team qualified for the World Cup in the first place. Women pop up in the World Cup as well, so there will be no separate women's tournament, and the youth have their own tournaments, which is why they are left out. Obviously, the list does not end with these 5 sports, so if you want to bring your Gaelic Football team, you obviously can (as long as you can find an opponent, but the Ko-orenite team is always happy to play).

by **New Sideburn** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 4:36 am

Gethin Ramsey is still New Sideburn's World XI submission.

This was it. This was what had been missing before.
Dutzenderland was not a poor side. Five wins from fourteen was a respectable tally, and 23 goals matched Kinzar's - though admittedly they had nowhere near the defensive skill. And they had shown what skill they had at the very start of the game, stunning the home crowd of 72,960 as Honda curled a ball into the top-left corner of the net in the second minute of the match.
The Cormorants responded with brutality. Not style, not class, but they ripped the ball from the Dragons at every opportunity, rushing upfield in numbers. Whenever someone got into the Sideburnese half in a good position, they would be routinely brought down and the high line would press further upfield, choking the visitors out of the game.
Dale Brightley smashed a ball past Matsuda in the 11th minute to level the scores, Cheney Bittencourt drifting in to take a Crowley cross on his chest, turn and volley into the net for the second in the 18th. He made his brace in the 30th minute with another long shot that angled past Matsuda, and Keith Rowland was played through on goal and made no mistake to plant the ball in the far corner of the net. All before the end of the half.
"Come on, my merry buckos!" roared Ramsey. "Keep findin' those gaps! Keep makin' those gaps! Tear through their goddamn lines-"
Michael Brandon made a rare error, smashing a long ball into no-man's-land; Bittencourt angled to challenge for it, but Izumino was better placed, and his header bombed the ball upfield. Dutzenderland began to see an opportunity, as the Cormorants' high, confident line finally worked against them. A long ball over the top was perfectly placed for Koizumi to run onto, just outside the box...
Riordan came out for it and nearly clattered into Koizumi, but the Dutzender striker got there first and chipped the ball into the empty net. 4-2.

The side walked into the tunnel soon afterwards, but they didn't seem deflated or depressed. Ramsey barely had to shout at them before they were raring to get back out there and run up the score.
They did, too - Dutzenderland were focused on defence, keeping the score down, but a canny bit of hold-up play from Bittencourt (who had been outstanding all game, and really did deserve more attention, Ramsey reflected) to draw defenders away. Rowland was mostly open, but Harper drifted into the side of the box, and a short lay-off to her let her loose for a terrific first-touch shot that left Matsuda sprawling and the score beyond doubt.

After the match was done and Ramsey was free to recline in his office, there was a surprisingly heavy rapping on the door.
"Come in!"
Gerhard Thunder opened the door and walked inside. "The physios reckon I'm up for the next match."
Ramsey raised an eyebrow. "... Yeah, uh, good fucking afternoon to you, too."
"Yeah, sure, that too. But the physios reckon I'm up for next match. Well... not fully fit. And not for ninety minutes, but definitely for sixty."
Ramsey leaned back heavily in his chair. "Well... do you think you're up for it?"
"Me? You're havin' a fuckin' laugh. Of course I'm up for it! I'll need the fitness for the playoffs, if we don't make the automatic spots."
"But who says we need you in the squad?"
The two men stared at each other, Thunder bordering on incredulity and Ramsey keeping disinterested as possible. After twelve seconds, it was the manager who gave in, and began to laugh. The striker followed soon after, at least partially out of relief.
"If you're fit, you're in the squad," said Ramsey, reaching for a bottle of whiskey. "And I reckon young Cheney's earnt his stripes, too. Now... I think this calls for a drink, don't you?"
Gerhard took the seat next to the desk. "Sure. Just like old times."

by **Buyan** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 5:20 am

Juha

Three weeks, five days and seventeen hours. There were few places where time could tick away so slowly as in the HJH, the Harseni Juvenile Hall, where some four-hundred-and-fifty boys were amassed. The official target was to ‘re-educate them in order to allow them to pick up a balanced and valuable role in society’. The truth had been that they were a cheap working force, one of the hidden supports for the so-called industrial rise of the Buyanese Empire. So far, they had been used to create pins, designed with the Wladica Olympic logo. With the honour going to Saugeais, it became unclear what their next task would be, but that it would be mind-numbing was a certainty.

“Four-eight-three-seven, rise!”

Damnit, I had missed the first signal. Although the sunbeams weren’t peeking through the rays that prevented the outer world a proper glance of the dark and small cell, none of the guards liked tardy customers. Somehow, I couldn’t help but look forward to the boring work as it was better than spending time in complete isolation. The sparse glances and smiles betwixt the boys were better than being in sole existence with my dark thoughts.

One more day and seven hours. By then, contact with parents and other family would be allowed, but only after the decision of the judge. The ministry had asked for two years...

Erkki

This was sheer madness. By the time I came home, the outlines had already been determined by father and... Well, I couldn’t figure out how to address him correctly. Halmiini? My hero? Or Eero, my long-lost brother? It seemed ridiculous to do the latter, but these were the facts. Somehow, he still was the man on the poster which dribbled through our dreams every night. Our dreams.

Damnit, from time to time I couldn’t deal with it anymore. It hurt to know that I had been the cause of Juha’s downfall. As hard as it was, it would’ve been a lot more relieving if dad had given me an appropriate beating over it all. But he had kept a silence and told me that they would work something out. The fire in his eyes reminded me from the shaky and speckled videos they had made when both Juha and I were still small kids. Waving to the camera whilst riding your new bike, that kind of stuff.

What had ignited this change? Meeting his long-lost son? Or finally finding a target in life?

Anke

The timing of the plan had been, in theory, perfect. The evening before the judge would decide upon Juha’s destiny, or his lack of it, the national team would pay a visit to Greater Watford. But right now, standing at the entrance of the Hornet’s Nest, I felt that this was a ridiculous plan. Despite my doubts and worries, I couldn’t help but smile. The enthusiasm of Arkko and Eero had been attractive and even contagious. It was rash and ridiculous but...

“T-shirts! Free t-shirts for all Buyanese fans!” I yelled. Much to my surprise, my business went well. There weren’t that many fans of our nation who had made the trip towards Atlantian Oceania, but they nonetheless were quite interested in the shirts. Or in free stuff. Probably the latter. Nonetheless, Erkki’s design had been both straightforward and classy. The back was covered with the Buyanese red and blue, resembling an updated, modern version of the flag. On the front, he had taken a page out of Juha’s notebook that always lay around at his bedside table. It was a rather simple text, comparing our national team to other ones, praising its defensive stubbornness and quality passing. Even a bit cheesy, to be fair, but who would mind?

This year, we’ll enjoy the internationaL stage for first tIme, that glorious festival of the most popular sport of all. Before this tournament, we’ve got nothing to show apart from a victory in thE Baptism of FiRe, the competition of minnows. But we’ve got heArt, we’ve got soul. Our backline will defend our pride, will wiThstand those big names lying ahEad.
So let us Jump up and down and cheer, as our midfield combines itself throUgh opponents, whatever tHeir record or reputation. United, we will stand fierce in the storm. BuyAn, I support you.

“Here, get a shirt!”

Arkko

It itched a little bit and I couldn’t recall the last time I wore this suit. Juha’s baptism? Probably. When we laid the plan on the table, it had been the dodgiest part of it all, but full of self-assurance, I had said that it wouldn’t be much of a problem. Everyone watched the game, didn’t he?

But unfortunately, this man seemed to be uninterested in the antics of Devold and his teammates. With the little time and resources I had in hand, I decided to do what any proper father would do. Solve it with alcohol.

The money lacked me to simply offer him a bribe and the fines on such an offense were too high to take the risk. Especially as Judge Rahilanen was known to be quite stubborn on the field. But nothing prevented him from having a drink, especially not with a man he had just run over by accident. It took me some study of his habits, but when he drove his Ulcan Gazelle down the Central Road, away from the court buildings in uptown Harseni as he did every day, I prepared myself. A soft touch, some wounds that were bloody enough to look in pain, not too harsh to avoid an ambulance but enough to guilt trip him into being me a few rounds in a conveniently nearby pub. One where the Greater Watford game could be seen on screen.

Eero

Nervously, with a twitching eye and wrenched hands I looked how the game unfolded. For more than three weeks, I had been living on ridiculously healthy food, splitting my time between exercises, strength training, shooting practise and clever rest. In order to avoid another food craze, an urge for unhealthy amounts of alcohol or simply fatigue, I had decided to spend those days in the national training centrum in Pajukas, straight underneath the nose from Sirius Hope. He hadn’t been able to look at my efforts without a certain amount of interest.

But to call on a player who hadn’t had any playing minutes in months, you needed to do more than just train. It took me a lot of buttering up Allersham, but the assistant fell for my charms when he noted me jogging at five thirty in the morning. I couldn’t feel my legs when I got home, but I knew that this might suffice.

But here I was, looking how both squads were tied at one each and still clanged to the bench. I needed playing minutes, even if just one...

“Halmiini! Moen! Get running!”

Finally. I fell one more time if my shirts were where they needed to be and started warming up while the rain poured down on our heads.

My presumptions became truth when Allersham pulled my soaking coat halfway through the second half.

“Sirius?”

I waited before responding a bit, the tension between the two of us hadn’t died down yet.

“Yes?”
“I... I know we need another win,” the aging assistant said. “One point,” and he pointed to the field, where a stalemate had developed, “won’t suffice. If we don’t want to put all eggs in one basket, a basket guarded by Gregoryisgodistan... We better get in attack.”

For a second, I hesitated. We. Not me. We need another win.

“Halmiini! Moen! Get running!”

A 4-1-3-2, at Buyanese norms, this was an incredible risky situation. Luckily, Devold made a perfect estimation of the situation and assisted Wreczius as oft as needed, the same way he balanced attack and defense for Barbury Town. Greater Watford, holding on to its three attackers, had been overrun in midfield. Attack after attack had rolled into the half of the red-and-yellow, only to break down at the goal from Hemsworth, whose top-class performance symbolised the growth Watford had made ever since the Baptism of Fire.

It’s Devold who has become the master of midfield lately, he keeps on sending forward the wingers, now he finds Halmiini unmarked. Halmiini picks it up and cuts in, he’s past one, past a second and oh! What a magnificent kick in the top right corner, no response from Hemsworth, it’s Halmiini who breaks the tie! The comeback kid does it, he slides towards the cameras and what’s that? He’s showing a shirt with ‘LIBERATE JUHA’, I haven’t got a clue what he means with that, but Eero is liberated for sure! And the stands, they cheer along and... What’s that? They’ve got the same shirts as Halmiini, it seems as if half their shirts has been washed out in the showering rain...

For the last game of the qualifiers and with the fifth place ensured, Sirius Hope decided to give his most preferred system, the 4-1-4-1 a chance against Gregoryisgodistan. It's unclear whether this is just an expirement or the direction he'll lead the team towards in the future. It is no surprise that it's inspired by the great form of Eero Halmiini, who was more than splendid in the last twenty minutes against Greater Watford. With the idea in mind that Gregoryisgodistan needs to win in order to hold a chance for the play-offs, Naess will be the sole defensive midfield directing Wreczius to the bench. On the left back, there's another chance for Zemaitis. With also Halmiini on the field, Wallenberg is the victim to avoid an overtly offensive line-up - they remain Buyan after all -. Quinten Zermin takes his spot.
Anders Bergh         6   Solid, without further remarks

Gabriel Refshauge    7   Clearly enjoys to keep a left attacker out of the game
Bronius Bartkus      6   Not always that good, but enjoyable performance
Sigurd Tufte         6   Too bad his header ended on the post, would be an extra
Alowysz Krupa        7   Just like Refshauge, he’s made to stop a wing attacker

Danilius Wreczius    6   Couldn’t respond well enough at the infiltrations of Tilder
Harald Naess         7   Classy game and managed to get the pace right for us
Marco Castell        7   Hoofball really made this man a stronger player
Sverre Devold        8   Unleashed and another goal to up his tally
Frederik Wallenberg  5   Spend too much time chasing Harris

Edvald Mattisson     7   Could celebrate a goal after a fine game against GW

Eero Halmiini        9   Seldom, we saw one player turn around a game like this
Quinten Zermin       7   Controlled Harris and made Watford unable to respond
Elmo Havelund        7   Gives a difficult campaign something more with a goal

by **Boring Paradise** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 6:04 am

Group 3

Saugeais (16)
Lethano (UR)
Polkopia (145)
Cosumar (74)
Apox (33)
Boring Paradise (46)
Greater Maritime Union (345)
Iturributa (92)
Nassau Hessen (270)

MD1: 1-3 Apox (A)
MD2: BYE
MD3: 3-0 Greater Maritime Union (H)
MD4: 6-2 Iturributa (A)
MD5: 4-2 Nassau Hessen (H)
MD6: 1-2 Saugeais (A)
MD7: 5-3 Lethano (H)
MD8: 2-2 Polkopia (A)
MD9: 3-4 Cosumar (H)
MID-QUAL
MD10: 6-4 Apox (H)
MD11: BYE
MD12: 3-3 Greater Maritime Union (A)
MD13: 6-1 Iturributa (H)
MD14: 3-2 Nassau Hessen (A)
MD15: 2-1 Saugeais (H)
MD16: 4-2 Lethano (A)
MD17: 5-1 Polkopia (H)
MD18: Cosumar (A)

Chapter 10

Ghostly Story|Chapter 11

When Lucas got to the station gate with Johno staying in the car. “So who am I looking for?”

“Just wait I am about to phone him to tell you that you are where you are standing right now and that you are waiting for him while I stay in the car being protected by the rain as you know I didn't bring a coat. Well anyways keep your eyes peeled.” Johno replied before closing himself off from the rest of the world in his car.

Johno got out his phone from his pocket and started dialing, but Lucas couldn't recognize it at all. Meanwhile in the car.

"What do you mean you brought two families with you we can't afford any space at all." Johno replied.

"I know, I know I had a friend over as well at mine and we are deciding to go together here, but the rest of two families are in a hotel getting ready to go to your house. I got to say I would not be surprised if you are really happy when you find out." the mysterious voice replied in a calm voice. "Okay I see Lucas right now and I am working towards him now, we should talk in the car okay?"

"Ok. Sure. See you soon." Johno dismissed the call.

"Lucas my old buddy remember me." It was a guy who has short black hair and then there was a person trailing behind him.

"Who are you?" Lucas replied. "Have I seen you before somewhere?"

"You gotta be kidding me."

"Only joking, welcome to my hometown Jakey Boy of the Jaklims, well mine and Johno's but yeah. I will keep it at mine." Lucas patting Jake's back noticed the figure. "And you must be errr. What is your name again? Oh yes it's, no it has gone from my mind."

"It's Yusef Ali. Remember me at all?" Yusef looking surprised...

"Of course, how's your brother I heard she is really ill and got a broken leg?" Lucas replied with a low voice.

"Yeah, he is recovering. He will be back up in no time."

"We should head back to the car now, Johno will get a shock of surprise." Lucas grabbed the bags and starting walking alongside Yusef and Jake.Then opened the car boot and put them in. "Get in the car now we got to show you a secret that hasn't been spread in mine or Johno's families."

Johno came out the car to help. "It is good to see you back Jake. Also I know who that is. It is my old pal, Yusef come here."

After all the welcoming they set off towards Paradisia Mountain while doing that he put the radio on to here stuff.

With the last matchday of the World Cup Qualifiers coming in soon we should look at thing that Boring Paradise has done during the competition. It was a pretty poor start for Boring Paradise as they lost 3-1 to Apox but they recovered in their next match against Greater Maritime Union with a 3-0 victory. But it didn't stop their, we beat Iturributa away 6-2 which showed that we had a bad start but we can recover.The winning streak got bigger with a 4-2 win at home against Nassau Hessen. But it was stopped by the first seed, Saugeais beat us 2-1 on the away match. Following by a win against Lethano then a tie against Polkopia then we lost to the fort seed, Cosumar who were leading the group at that stage. Ending the first half of qualifying with a record of 4 wins, 1 draw and 3 loses.

Then we won both of our mid-qual matches which were home and away against some very bad teams and won't bother explaining.

This came to the second half with with a new target to reach the playoffs. It was a good start as we got revenge on Apox and beat them in a very high scoring game of 6-4 at home. After our bye day we had our second draw which was against Greater Maritime Union away and the result was 3-3. This didn't ruin the paradisian's erge to win matches win loads of goals. In the 3rd game, we were facing Iturributa at home and we still demolished them again 6-1. We continues the winning streak with 3-2 victory over Nassau Hessen. This lead to a massive comeback into the running for the playoff/group winner spot and was also making a run for the best attack in the whole qualifying stage. On matchday 15 we were facing Saugeais again but this time it was at home, we won the very tough match 2-1. Then came matchdays 16 and 17 which were against Lethano an Polkopia we thrashed those puny players 4-2 and 5-1, this lead to Boring Paradise having the most goals scored so far by any on nation in this edition of the world cup.

With Apox's bye in the last matchday we must win against Cosumar to take the automatic qualifying spot from Apox and push them down to the playoff spot and hopefully they are one of top three runners-up as they are a fellow Esportivan Nation.

   Group 3                                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
 1 Apox                                    16   11   1   4    39   19  +20    34
 2 Boring Paradise                         15   10   2   3    54   32  +22    32
 3 Cosumar                                 15    8   3   4    36   30   +6    27
 4 Saugeais                                15    7   5   3    25   16   +9    26
 5 Iturributa                              15    7   2   6    25   26   −1    23
 6 Polkopia                                15    6   3   6    35   38   −3    21
 7 Greater Maritime Union                  15    4   2   9    15   38  −23    14
 8 Nassau Hessen                           15    4   0  11    25   34   −9    12
 9 Lethano                                 15    1   2  12    21   42  −21     5

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 9:20 am

Group 9
Gregoryisgodistan 4–1 The Archregimancy
Greater Watford 1–4 Buyan
Ossidiacqua 4–3 Alianza Albos
Sargossa 2–3 Hutt River

   Group 9                                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
 1 The Archregimancy                       15    9   5   1    32   19  +13    32
 2 Sargossa                                16    9   3   4    36   21  +15    30
 3 Ossidiacqua                             15    9   2   4    36   22  +14    29
 4 Gregoryisgodistan                       15    8   5   2    16    8   +8    29
 5 Buyan                                   15    7   2   6    16   18   −2    23
 6 Hutt River                              15    5   3   7    31   30   +1    18
 7 Greater Watford                         15    4   4   7    26   36  −10    16
 8 Alianza Albos                           15    3   2  10    25   34   −9    11
 9 Olastor                                 15    0   2  13    15   45  −30     2

Foot Slaves knock off Archregimancy, one win away from playoff

Gregoryisgodistan started the day knowing they needed to win their last two to have a chance of qualifying for the World Cup. Right before kickoff against The Archregimancy, the scoreboard announced the final score from Sargossa - Hutt River had won, 3-2. That was just the help the Foot Slaves needed. Now, all Gregoryisgodistan needed to do was win out and they would advance to the playoff (OOC: this is with the incorrect tiebreaker.) The tougher match would be today at home, against the previously undefeated monks from The Archregimancy.

As retaliation for forcing Gregoryisgodistan to listen to the complete Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, Gregoryisgodistan held an 8-hour Lord Almighty Gregory worshiping service in the stadium before the game. The visiting monks were required to attend and stand, but were otherwise not punished if they did not participate. However, seeing 8 hours of people praising Lord Almighty Gregory non-stop was quite intimidating to most visitors. Seeing all the Foot Slaves bow numerous times must have sent a message as well. Lord Almighty Gregory was truly God according to the service and these sinners would pay.

The retribution came almost immediately after kickoff, though it wasn't from the divine as much as from Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Robert Possibe. In the 4th minute, Soccer Jester CLOWNPIREPIE crossed it into the box. Soccer Captain Laredo Potato put a header right at the feet of Loyal Friend of Lord Almighty Gregory Robert Possibe, who sent it past a diving Fr. Eustathius the Ruthless for the first goal of the match. The Foot Slaves had the lead. "LORD ALMIGHTY GREGORY MADE YOU PAY" came the chants from the stands. "SINNING MONKS WILL LOSE TODAY" they continued.

The Foot Slaves would make it 2-0 in the 19th minute, when Soccer Captain Laredo Potato converted a direct free kick, sending it to the top rigth hand corner. The fans were really cheering now, especially in light of the Sargossa loss. If they held on, all they would have to do was beat Buyan the next day to advance to the playoff.

The Archregimancy had a chance in the 28th minute but Prune Farmer 3818F deflected a Hypatius the Fierce shot and then held the redirect from Daniel the Remorseless to keep the visitors off the board.

In the 39th minute, Soccer Captain Laredo Potato took another direct free kick and sent it into the box. Soccer Jester CLOWNPIREPIE headed it off the right post, but Pervert Chaser NZQID9 redirected it into the net. 3-0 Foot Slaves. It looked like Gregoryisgodistan would roll to victory.

At halftime, the Foot Slaves still led 3-0.

The Archregimancy's next few chances were all smothered by the goalkeeper. In the 71st minute, Soccer Captain Laredo Potato took it away from Fr. Theodore the Severe and dribbled it into the box. It was just him and the keeper and he scored easily. 4-0 Foot Slaves. This was pretty much over.

One minute into stoppage, it looked like the Foot Slaves were going to win in a shut out, but Government Advisor Lordborn Godsam committed a silly handball in the box, earning him a yellow card and the visitors a penalty kick. Fr. Hypatius the Fierce converted the penalty kick to finally put the visitors on the board, but the whistle blew a minute later and the Foot Slaves won by three goals.

If Gregoryisgodistan wins at Buyan today, they will advance to the qualification playoff, a two-legged home-and-home against a team to be determined. They will actually win the group if The Archregimancy loses to Olastor and Ossidiacqua doesn't defeat Hutt River, but since Olastor has no wins this tournament, that seems unlikely to happen.

Right now, the Foot Slaves are focusing on what may be the biggest sporting event in national history. A win will probably not advance the Foot Slaves to the World Cup, but it will put them within 180 minutes of doing so. The game will air on Sports TV live at 10 PM local. The 11 PM curfew will be extended until one hour after the game ends to allow commoners to watch this very exciting match.

by **Qazox** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 9:21 am

"What the fuck, Lewis?" Reggie raged, blowing past the security guard.

"It's okay, Dave, Reggie can stay." Lewis said, waving the security guard away, aa he locked the doors behind him.

"Seriously? What the fuck are you doing, Lewis?" Reggie said, standing against the wall.

"I'm doing what is right, Reggie. The synthoid technology is too dangerous for any one company to control. I can't stop the technology, but by giving it away to as many people as I can, perhaps someone will find away to make it less dangerous." Lewis said, while pouring himself a scotch.

"Dangerous? We spent over a decade to ensure they aren't dangerous. You know how many versions we went through to get to where we are now? How many we had to destroy? You weren't there for the versions in which we just started integrating emotions into them. To see a child-like expression on a synthoid face as you send it to the recycling center. I WAS THERE! I've been there since the fucking beginning, Lewis! If the synthoids were dangerous at all, do you think that I would've allowed them to play soccer?" Reggie replied, getting louder and louder each sentence.

"I know that, Reggie. And I'm sorry. You and Helen are getting generous compensation..." Lewis started.

"Just like you to make this about money, you weasel. I don't care how many Zaq you throw at me and Helen. You have no right giving our patent away. Next time I want to see you is in a courtroom, squirming as my lawyers nail you to the wall." Reggie fumed, throwing open the door. "You're going to regret screwing me over Lewis."

by **Saintland** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 9:36 am

Somewhere in Dutciberg

The Feministvs Sanctvsterra Soccer Team had arrived for the decisive conclusion to World Cup 67 qualifying. Just as the Free Republics needed to win to get into the World Cup, so did Feministvs Sanctvsterra need a win to ensure their spot in the World Cup. Otherwise, they would need to hope that Vilita put up the same result against Luzvimindia as they put up against Dutciberg. Then, they would, almost certainly, have to take their chances in the playoffs. With the Holy Empire ranked as one of the lowest seeded second place sides, that was not something they wanted to do. One of the only constants in the World Cup was the participation of those Patriarchs from that misogynistic Dreamed Realm. The last thing a Goddess-worshipping feminist wanted to do was have to travel to some magical theocracy, a theocracy that would probably not hesitate to take Simeone Di Bradini, the best player in the history of the World Cup, off of their bench if Feministvs Sanctvsterra actually threatened to defeat them. You simply don't beat the Holy Empire in the playoffs, so there were quite a few nations at the moment praying for a Mangolana victory against Hopnation, which would put those misogynists at the mercy of the elves of Valanora. If Ossidiacqua defeated Hutt River, Gregoryisgodistan, that bastion of freedom and equality, defeated Buyan and the Archregimancy was defeated by Olastor, Gregoryisgodistan would hold the tiebreaker for the playoff spot thanks to their glorious 4 to 1 win over the misogynist monks and the Archregimancy would also be out of the World Cup. Feministvs Sanctvsterra also had a rooting interest for Sandwich Territories and Taeshan today, as a Taeshani win and a Sandwich Territories win or draw would deny those Quebecois allies of the Puppet King a spot in the World Cup.

Indeed, it looked like World Cup qualifying may very well be one of the most decisive victories yet over the Patriarchy and its enablers. Thus far, ever since the glorious decision by the WCC to award the World Cup to Cassadaigua and Equestrian States, the Patriarchy had been crumbling matchday by matchday. Yes, the Baptism of Fire champions were a "Holy Empire" called Buyan, but they weren't going to the World Cup, nor were they going to be hosting the Winter Olympics. The past few weeks had been the most successful for Feministvs Sanctvsterra yet. Yes, it was great to win 2 World Korfball Classics, but qualifying for the World Cup would be an even greater accomplishment. For that, they would be able to thank Cassadaigua and the Equestrian States, 2 of their favorite nations, for giving them the opportunity. It was against this optimistic backdrop that the woman known as Satana S spoke, in her role as the first among equals.

Satana S - We've come a long way. At the beginning of this journey, they said that we didn't stand a chance. Many misogynists said that we don't belong in the World Cup and that we'll never perform as well as those misogynistic men did. Well, we're 90 minutes away from qualifying for the World Cup in our first try. If you remember, it took them 3 tries to do that. I remember the pitch invasions and all of the humorous actions that we have utilized over the past year to promote our cause. However, qualifying for the World Cup would do more to promote our cause than all of the hacking, blockading streets and hijacking television stations combined. If we qualify, we will have a global television audience watching us. We will be able to tell our story to the world and make sure everybody knows all about the way we are treated back home. It is an outrage that they expect us to hide our beautiful bodies and be some man's appliance. We are woman. We are people too. In fact, we can do anything that those men can do and we can do it better! By defeating Dutciberg tonight, we will prove this and we will eliminate the 10th ranked nation in the world from the World Cup.

Maria F - That is exactly what we need to do. While protesting is great fun, winning is even more fun, especially when we can stick it in the face of the Patriarchy.

Lia R - Exactly. If we win today, that means that we will do something that nobody has accomplished in a long time. We will qualify for the World Cup in our first attempt.

Ursula E - Unfortunately, that won't be official, Lia. The official records have us ranked 30th in the KPBs and we're likely going to be climbing higher, if we win today.

Eva F - If we lose today, we'll be at 23.12 in the KPBs, just a slight drop-off from where we were. A draw puts us at 23.37 and a win at 23.87. We could be ranked as high as 24th.

Satana S - How do you know all of this, Eva?

Eva F - I was always good at math. It was probably just my way of sticking it to the Patriarchy before I found others who felt the same way that I did.

Maria F - But, will we get to benefit from our hard work?

Satana S - We're only assured of that if we win. There's no way the Puppet King will send his son to Cassadaigua or the Equestrian States. If Valanora offers a spot in the Cup of Harmony, they may very well return.

Claudia T - What about next World Cup?

Satana S - We probably won't be back because Gregoryisgodistan is, unfortunately, not going to win the rights to the World Cup. Whoever wins the host vote won't be somebody that the Puppet King hates.

Iulietta N - Are you sure? What about a bid by the Licentian Isles and New Sideburn?

Camilla J - I'd love to see that, but New Sideburn has never hosted anything. Surely, they'd be more likely to bid for Cup of Harmony 60?

Satana S - But, where's the evidence that New Sideburn is considering a bid with the Licentians? Yes, they're both Esportivan countries and they are the 2 leading soccer countries in Esportiva.

Eva F - They've won the last 3 Campionato Esportivas. Throw in Apox and those 3 nations have won the last 6 between them.

Satana S - Esportiva probably wants to hold the first all-Esportivan World Cup sometime soon. At this point, its all wild speculation.

Claudia D - Maybe Esportiva might have a better shot of hosting their first World Cup if they co-hosted with a non-Esportivan nation.

Satana S - Probably, but the Esportivans come across to me as the type to roll the dice and take great risks. Look at Buyan. They came so close to winning the rights to the Winter Olympics.

Rebecca I - Will we be at the Winter Olympics?

Satana S - We won't be competing. The last few months have taken a toll on us and haven't had enough time to train our athletes properly. But, we'll be in Arçon for the Olympics and we'll make our presence felt there.

Ursula E - Yeah! If you thought competing in the Olympics was great, just wait until we can focus solely on bringing an end to the Patriarchy.

Satana S - Yes, it will be great to stand up to the Patriarchy, but the Olympics are still nearly 2 months away.

Lucia A - But, the World Bowl is scheduled to start in a week. What are we going to do to make our presence felt there?

Satana S - Nothing. Its best if we lay low during the World Bowl. Our homeland will be turned into even more of a police state than usual and we don't need to get on the bad side of our Republican hosts. Remember, they can deport any non-citizen, at any time and with or without any reason, under the Alien Control Act.

Maria F - We certainly don't want to get deported! If they deport us, we'll spend the rest of our lives in the Puppet King's dungeon, being beaten by his henchmen every day for daring to defy the Patriarchy.

Satana S - That's true, until they break you. If they completely break you so that you sincerely "repent" of all of your "sins," they'll "compassionately" allow you to join a convent.

Claudia T - I'd rather die.

Most of the others vocally stated their agreement. It was clear, from the facial expressions of the rest, that they also agreed.

Satana S - But, today we are in Dutciberg and we have a match against the 192nd ranked team in the world. A spot in the World Cup is on the line. This needs to be your sole focus right now. We'll have plenty of time to protest the Patriarchy once we arrive in Cassadaigua or the Equestrian States.

A determined Feministvs Sanctvsterra took the pitch. 90 minutes against Dutciberg. Dutciberg finished 3rd in the BoF, but they had just won 4 out of 15 matches in World Cup qualifying thus far. In a World Cup qualifying campaign that saw no BoF nations seriously contend for a spot in the World Cup, the fate of the 10th ranked nation in the world depended upon the 3rd place team from the BoF. While there were usually several respectable performances from BoF nations, this time only Buyan and The Sarian had won around as often as they had lost. There was no Saintland, no Barunia, no Felix, no Monozygotia in this BoF class, but although Dutciberg's only victory against a halfway respectable opponent was their victory over Quakmybush, Feministvs Sanctvsterra could still not afford to discount them on the final day of qualifying. There was simply too much at stake. The woman called Satana S hoped that the inexperience of Feministvs Sanctvsterra would not cost them in this most critical of matches...

by **Vilita** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 10:00 am

Jungle Cats Dominate Evraim

No Help from Opposition as Vilita on Brink of Elimination

Despite a 5-1 thrashing of Group 7 bottom dwellers, Evraim, Calaesa Mitaroka's Vilita Jungle Cats inched closer to elimination from contention for a place in the World Cup Finals after Astograth's 2-1 victory over Luzvimindia ensured that the Jungle Cats would not be able to finish atop the Group 7 table.

The Astograth-Luzvimindia match was the last realistic opportunity for the Jungle Cats World Cup qualification rivals to drop any points that could allow the Jungle Cats back into the fray, as both the terrorist women representing Saintland and Astograth will be contesting virtual-walkover matches on World Cup 67 Qualifying's final matchday.

The Jungle Cats did all they could do - win and win convincingly - although the reality of the situation is, the 'convincingly' part doesn't mean all that much under the unique tie-breaking criteria employed for the World Cup 67 qualifiers.

Defender Sipaao Vereaoao got things started for Vilita with his second career international goal - his first since heading in the winner for the Jungle Cats against Asteran on Matchday 14 of World Cup 63 Qualifying.

It was the second start of the campaign for Jaqe Planst in goal for the Jungle Cats - coach Mitaroka seeming to have abandoned the idea both of putting the experienced Nycflala Kater or the young prodigy Zelkki Milake in the net with another youngster, Marine Coast United's Cilamara Issah on the bench.

Planst made the most of his opportunity, helping the Jungle Cats double their lead in the 16th minute, finding Jian Lejsrma expertly with the placed kick and the Morata Valley midfielder raced in from the angle before firing beyond the reach of Evraim goalkeeper Sermend Darsha.

Many wondered if, for Planst, the long time Cednia Beach AFC goalkeeper, the end was near. An early career rivalry with Arcticala Inlet goalkeeper Aranora Jaded both in the Stellar Division and for the National Team goalkeeping position likely ended up hurting both players careers, as they at times seemed more worried about whether or not they were better than their rival than whether they were the best goalkeeper they could be.

Now, with young protege's such as Milake, Issah and Kalek Intafel - chances for Planst and Jaded could be limited at best, especially should the inevitable failure of the Jungle Cats to qualify for the World Cup 67 finals result in a 'cleaning of the house' of the old-guard Vilitan players.

Just as it looked like the match would play out the 2-0 scoreline until the halfway mark, it was a real Vilitan success story, former amateur player from Kirota Beach - Dalian Magagula netting his third career international goal and second of the campaign.

Magagula's performances at the 41st AOCAF tournament as an Amateur player opened eyes not only to the staff of Calaesa Mitaroka and the Vilitan National team but also domestically as Magagula earned a high-profile transfer to Kiiarana City - clearly making the most of his time in the limelight.

Makosile United Striker Xcnaio Bansoa didn't want to let the game get to the half-way point without adding his own name to the scoresheet. Bansoa's 6th goal of the campaign would give him the lead amongst all Jungle Cats - surpassing once again the 5 goals scored by Kiroki Mitaroka. With his 6th goal of the campaign, Bansoa had doubled his personal best qualification total, having scored 3 goals in both the World Cup 66 and 65 Qualifying campaigns, and ensured that the Makosile United player would have his name in the World XI discussions, being the top scorer for one of the most prolific offenses in the competition.

Mitaroka was given his chance to match Bansoa's scoring mark, coming on as a half-time sub while Bansoa took a seat on the bench - but the second half, with the game already out of reach, was a much more even affair. In fact, it was Viji-mara Lawaai who netted his 5th of the campaign, pulling within one of Bansoa in the goalscoring charts, while Evraim netted a consolation goal through defender Eliron Szirmay on a 64th minute corner kick.

While the 5-1 result proved the early-campaign draw against Evraim was only a fluke, the damage from the points dropped was certainly done, as the sequence of earlier draws including the one against Evraim have left the unbeaten Jungle Cats out-of-control of their own fate, needing instead to rely now on Dutciberg, the only club in Group 7 without any draws, to steal at least a point from the System-Karela like Defense-minded Feministvs Sanctvsterra on the final matchday.

	Evraim
:: Goalscorers :: :: 9' Sipaao Vereaoao :: 16' Jian Lejsrma :: 39' Dalian Magagula :: 43' Xcnaio Bansoa :: 55' Viji-mara Lawaai	:: Goalscorers :: :: 64' Eliron Szirmay
:: Best Player: Viliaka Morasita :: Worst Player: Riksa Valjariia :: Shots on Target: 9 :: Corner Kicks: 13	:: Best Player: Yaakov Zamorski :: Worst Player: Hisyar Aznagu :: Shots on Target: 4 :: Corner Kicks: 2

Vilita Jungle Cats ::
[GK] Jaqe Planst, [D.] Kadi Molali, [D.] Sipaao Vereaoao, [D.] Amarini Baracelv, [D.] Arocka Tadalek, [ML] Dalian Magagula, [MC] Jian Lejsrma, [MC] Riksa Valjariia, [MR] Viliaka Morasita, [FC] Viji-mara Lawaai, [FC] Xcnaio Bansoa
BENCH::
[FC] Yves Gadois, [FC] Kristofer Kilpter, [M] Kiroki Mitaroka, [M] Purapal Eskiiy, [U] Nili Ylimaiina, [D] Endur Rotropii, [GK] Cilamara Issah

Vilita Substitutions::
(45) - Dalian Magagula >>> Kiroki Mitaroka
(45) - Xcnaio Bansoa >>> Yves Gadois
(74) - Amarini Baracelv >>> Nili Ylimaiina

by **Free Republics** » Sat Jan 04, 2014 11:15 am

Consul Piazza received the response from the President of Felix and found that his settlement had been rejected. Now, he had the President of Felix insisting that he deport Koby Theodore for a crime that wasn't a crime under the laws of the Free Republics. While he still sought to avoid war, Rule Theriault's words were beginning to have an effect on the Republican Junior Consul. He was beginning to wonder if he had, indeed, been too much of an appeaser and if he might be better served to give up on his desire for peace in our time and just wage war until the nation's enemies were beaten into submission.

He also noticed that the President of Felix specifically mentioned "after the World Cup qualifiers," seemingly assuming that his country's National Team would not participate in the playoffs. Yet, the Consul had promised Rule Theriault that his rising star would be able to play for the team through the conclusion of the playoffs. After that message had been sent, Felix's team had been defeated by Pasarga. The Free Republics now needed just a victory over Pasarga to reach the playoffs. Consul Piazza wasn't going to do anything to jeopardize his team and, as far as he was concerned, any deal was off if Theodore's name was revealed publicly prior to the conclusion of the playoffs, by the President of Felix, any "anonymous source" from his government or anybody that may have discovered that information. If it was leaked, then Theodore would remain on the Republican National Team and the Consul was prepared to provide the National Team with a military escort to and from their matches, if necessary. He decided to wait and see what the Felixian courts decided before he made his final decision on whether to permit Theodore to be deported to Felix...

The previous night, the Republican offense had finally shown up, for the first time in qualifying. Against KungYo in a football stadium that was about to be used for the upcoming World Bowl XXII, they had put up the kind of score that one might see in a (low-scoring) football game. Rule Theriault decided to go with a 2-1-2-1-4 formation for this game, playing Koby Theodore instead of Miroslav Bozek. Bozek had suffered a minor injury in practice, but Theriault decided to keep him out as a precautionary measure and go with a more attacking approach. The Republican National Team was facing KungYo, so it wasn't like it mattered if they went with a formation reminiscent of the Republican domestic leagues. KungYo simply wasn't very good and, even if they gave up some easy scoring chances, an aggressive all-out attack would still benefit the home side. They weren't going to be losing to KungYo regardless, but if they attacked relentlessly and recklessly, they had the opportunity to run up a large number of goals and send a message to all who doubted the Republican attack.

The attack began early when Joseph Poole quickly took the ball away from a KungYo striker. Looking down the pitch, he targeted a rocket in the direction of Faredin Pozenel. The striker of Iradian descent quickly executed a pass to Koby Theodore and the young striker put it into the net, seemingly with ease as the crowd cheered. Before the match, Theriault had informed Theodore that he was going to send him to Saintland for some training prior to the World Cup finals or Cup of Harmony and encouraging him to play his best in the next few games. Theodore was excited, but somewhat worried, about visiting Saintland for a lengthy period of time, but relieved that he could get away until all of the nonsense about rape stopped. This was obvious from his play, even less than a minute into the match.

The frenetic pace of play only continued and it seemed like either KungYo or the Republicans were consistently shooting at goal. While KungYo seemed to actually care about playing defense, Theriault's team was not. They wanted to excite the home crowd by playing the match Republican-style. Yes, the offsides rule was still in effect and the restrictions on the number of defenders in the back were not in effect, but the Republicans still tried to impose their style of play on their opponents, for the first time. While the National Team had never played this way before, every player on the team had learned this style of play at a young age. That was simply the way that players were taught to play in the Free Republics. Rule Theriault's regular system was considered an extremely cautious system in the Free Republics and many Republicans considered the National Team to be boring on the pitch. The exploits of the Republican National Team and their feuds with the rest of the world were their main source of popularity. Republicans considered their country better and freer than every other country and the more Theriault rubbed his team's opponents the wrong way, the more popular he became in the Free Republics.

At halftime, the score was 2 goals to 2. Several Republican scoring opportunities were wasted as players passed the ball offsides. These wasted opportunities had, almost certainly, cost the Republicans several goals. Meanwhile, KungYo had scored off of a corner kick and they had also scored when Marius Christofferson went to kick a ball deep and accidentally kicked it right to a KungYo striker, who scored practically uncontested. Despite those mistakes, Kyle Bolton would tie the match right before halftime after Koby Theodore was fouled by a KungYo defender in the penalty area. The referee awarded a red card and the Republican captain chose to take the penalty himself, putting it into the net. Rule Theriault was furious that his team was only tied at the half.

Rule Theriault - What in the **** was that? I didn't send you out there in the 2-1-2-1-4 formation just so you could TIE KungYo, of all teams. Look at your shirt. You are playing for the Federation of Free Republics, the freest nation in the entire multiverse. You are playing for a shot at going to the World Cup. You are playing the style of game that you know better than anybody else. Yet, somehow, you have managed to come into halftime TIED against the 358th ranked team. 2-2 might be a respectable scoreline against one of the best teams in the world, but against ****ing KungYo, it is a ****ing disgrace. You're making too many mistakes out there. These are basic mistakes, ones that you shouldn't be making. You're from the country that invented the Relentless Aggression scheme. While we're certainly not going to use this scheme on a regular basis, you should at least know how to ****ing use it when we're using it in the God-**** World Cup. I expect you to play better in the next half. In the meantime, I don't want to hear anything out of you. You can speak when you bring me my 3 points.

It was eerily silent for the remainder of halftime. However, the Republicans responded quickly. It didn't take long for Leo Cremonesi to score off of a Koby Theodore assist. It wouldn't be much longer before Theodore would force a corner and Faredin Pozenel would head it in for the goal to put the FFR up 4 goals to 2. They had scored 2 goals in the first 5 minutes of the second half. The goal-scoring frenzy would only continue. By the 70th minute, the Free Republics had 8 goals and had only conceded a 3rd goal. At this point, Theriault brought in 3 defenders to replace strikers and went with a defensive-minded system for the final minutes of this match. He had proven his point and now, Theriault just wanted his team to enjoy the final minutes of their victory over KungYo. That was exactly what they would do. The final would remain the FFR 8, KungYo 3.

When Rule Theriault looked at the score from Felix and saw that Pasarga had defeated the Felix Trolls 3 goals to 2, he informed his team and they began celebrating. However, the Republican coach quickly warned them that it wasn't time to celebrate, just yet:

Rule Theriault - Why are you celebrating? Unless we defeat Preiva tomorrow, on the road I might add, we will not be going anywhere. Preiva, a team that has 3 draws and 12 defeats, stands between us and our spot in the playoffs. Yes, Preiva has never won a game. However, they drew KungYo and then they drew the Trolls and Pasarga back-to-back. We may have defeated them 3 goals to 1 at home, but going on the road, we are facing a must-win match. All of the pressure is on us now, just like in all of those Di Bradini Cups we've been in. Remember, it was just several months ago when we defeated Wight 1 goal to nil in the Equestrian States, advancing out of a previous Group of Death. This defeat was so devastating for Wight that they have apparently disbanded their National Team and disappeared without a trace. Now, we can deliver an equally devastating blow to the Felix Trolls. We've hated them, ever since they debuted at the same Di Bradini Cup and we defeated them twice. We took care of them last year in the Cup of Harmony. Now, we can do the same, once again. Not only are we playing for a playoff berth. We are playing to prevent those damn Trolls, the same Trolls who accused one of your teammates of "rape" for having consensual sex while drunk. If anything, the so-called "victim" is the actual rapist, since she consensually slept with a 17-year-old. As some of you may or may not be aware, that is a crime in some Republics, although most have a lower age of consent than that. Regardless, that is not the point. The point is that the Felix Trolls are a malignancy on the body of the World Cup. We can eliminate them if we win our final match and that is exactly what I expect you to do. Keeping the Trolls out of the World Cup is more important to me than qualifying for the World Cup ourselves. Fortunately, those 2 objectives are, for once, related. Whatever you do, do not blow this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to deny the Felix Trolls a spot in the World Cup. We are better than them, we have always been better than them and we will always be better than them. Against Preiva, we will prove exactly that.

Rule Theriault hoped that his speech motivated his team. Yes, they were facing an unranked opponent, who was poised to finish last in the group, but Rule Theriault wanted his team to treat them as if they were the hated "Trolls" of Felix. He felt that putting them in that mindset would give his National Team the best chance to win and that was what mattered, at this point. Indeed, Rule Theriault had never wanted to win a match more in his life than the upcoming match against Preiva.

World Cup 67 - RP Thread

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