The San Diego Union"Always 1:20 credit hour"Batiquitos Lagoon, in southern Carlsbad, SD. CARLSBAD, San Diego County - The Swamp Soccer World Cup III detachment of the International Sporting Affairs Committee of the 16th Federal Assembly of the Communities and Economies of Free South Califas met last week in Los Angeles to debate the merits of various players, coaches and strategies. Yesterday, they reconvened at a San Diego County swamp, like the SSWC2 detachment before them, to announce the SSWC3 roster, change the team nickname to Swamp Rats, praise the meteoric rise of
7South Califas in the world swamp game and then promptly disband. Most former SSWC3D employees are seeking roles in other elected government delegations, but others said they planned to look for work or already had employment guarantees in industrial, agricultural, charitable, political, bureaucratic, cultural or artisanal collectives.
The Califans surprised the swamp soccer community in their inaugural campaign at World Cup II, going undefeated in the group stage and reaching the quarterfinals. Other than their 2-0 quarterfinal defeat to
4Wight, opponents only scored against the Rats in the first 1
1/
3 games of the group stage. Placed in the second-weakest out of four groups this time, with
2Mashiki and
11The Icemark in their sights along with the plucky newcomers from Slembana and new teams from Felix Terra and Licentiapacisterra, the Rats expect to do well but will have tougher sledding and more pressure than before.
Normally, teams using the traditional Califan electoral system, where some combination of players, coaches and fans vote on a manager every game or two, can struggle to find their identity as they give competing candidates the chance to demonstrate their tactics. The association football side broke new ground in Califan management selection by interviewing foreign candidates and ultimately hiring an esteemed club manager from Osarius. Yesterday, the swamp soccer team took a different but related approach, hiring successful player-manager Democritus Ewart, thus electing to leave nothing to chance. Ewart was the 7
th of 10 outfielders listed in the FSC roster for SSWC2, but saw no playing time. He won election for the first game, against eventual group runners-up TaQud, and made the most of his opportunity by defeating them 3-2 on a last minute goal by midfielder Jose María Ricardo, who also opened the day's scoring. It would be the only loss
5TaQud would suffer in the group stage before a 4-1 humiliation at the hands of
1Yesopalitha in the quarterfinals (current ranks used). Though Democritus' team lacked defensive stability, they prevailed over Rainious Allementos to the tune of 5-3, and RNA would be the last team in Group D to put a biscuit in the FSC basket. Their sixth-minute strike would mark the beginning of a 2
2/
3 game shutout streak and a change of goalkeeper to steward it. As a result, it comes as no surprise that Mildgyð Eustace of the two clean sheets got the nod for the starting role, even after allowing two Wightlinga scores in the Rats' lackluster quarterfinal.
Dermatologists and researchers from the Communications Detachment of the federal Public Health Committee have warned Califan fans to skip the rapidly-growing trend of smearing mud on their foreheads to show solidarity with the hard-working players. While praising the team's talent, skill, discipline and drive, and encouraging Califans to support the team with their attention and substantial donations, F/PHC-CD dermatologist Govinda Boracnic begged fans to end the practice for their own sake, in a short speech after the Dissolution Ceremony which officially decertified F/ISAC-SSWC3D. Dr. Boracnic shared frightening pictures of SSWC2 patients, summarized the research on detrimental health effects, and warned that knock-on effects ranging from painful cysts to poor focus may harm productivity and could jeopardize recent economic gains.
The Swamp Rats head to The Icemark with high hopes and higher expectations, as follows:
Manager: Democritus Ewart (4-0-1)
Starting Lineup: 2-2 Roam;
style -2.1GK Mildgyð Eustace: 3 caps, 2 GA, 2 CS (vs Vamprica/Krumbia, Vahvanti and 2 GA vs
4Wight)
LD Philippina Ardizzone: 3 caps ("")
RD Roxanne Forney: 3 caps ("")
LW Amnon Niemec: 3 caps, 2 GF (vs
5TaQud, Rainious Allementos and
5Wight)
RW Paula Yishai: 5 caps, 4 GF
OF (roaming) Jose María Ricardo: 5 caps, 5 GF
Backups: (in order of likeliness to appear)
D/M Ivo Karina: 3 caps, 1 GF
OF Ana Francisca Jimenez: 1 cap
M/F Alexandra Saveliy: 1 cap
M/F Herminius Sybille: 1 cap
D Tristan Sargossa: no WC experience
GK Hanne Audley: 2 caps, 5 GA
Notes:
- Yishai and María-Ricardo are the only players to appear in every World Cup game, and have a chance to continue this distinction throughout WC3.
- Francisca-Jimenez is not a free-range roaming OF like M-R; she just hasn't bombed at defense (yet?) like Saveliy and Sybille did against TaQud and Rainious Allementos.
- Humility is a common trait observed in FSC international sides; F/ISAC has historically had close ties with the WA General Assembly detachment and has "encouraged" its sundry teams, coaches and players to exhibit quiet dignity and respect except in goal/save celebrations or when discussing politics. The freewheeling Osarian football manager, Oswaldo "Oscar el Loco" Garabona is a notable exception, generating some tension when he enlisted bench players to help him mock visiting capitalist nations after goals in WCQ61 home games. (His strong resemblance to a shady used-car salesman did not go unnoticed in the foreign press, although his reliance on in-jokes prevented any significant rebuke from the international community.) The SSWC3 team may also display some dissonance with FSC behavioral expectations as their sudden success may have gotten to their heads a bit; time will tell. (OOC: Feel free to develop my players and manager in this direction.)
- It is customary for Califan fans to pass cannabis cigarettes and cigars at halfway or quarter-way points in each period of a game. Thus, games involving FSC can have something of a characteristic smell.
- OOC: None of these players, nor Ewart, have been assigned or RPed any particular personality, although certain things can be inferred about the starting lineup from their success and the words of Dr. Boracnic above. You are encouraged to RP them, and free to determine their personality if you wish. Just send me a TG first if you want to write something that would make them look bad (racism, flagrant fouls, criminality, unusual selfishness) or give them a serious mental health problem like addiction, that kind of thing. I'll probably be open to it, I just want to make sure I don't end up with 5 different kinds of sociopaths or something.