Di Bradini Cup 30/U21WC51 RP/Roster/Scores Thread

[HopNation]

Results
MD1: 3-0 v Kinitaria (A)
MD2: 3-2 v Gloriax (H)
MD3: bye
MD4: 2-0 v Mytannion (A)
MD5: San Jose Guayabal (H)
MD6: 2-1 v Equestrian States (H)
MD7: Farfadillis (A)

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Win|Draw|Loss

That game was closer than we thought it would be, although we knew The Little Ponies would be a good side. If it weren’t for Droimpols late goal this game would have even went to extra time. The NA Hops even struck first, which I think caught The Little Ponies off guard. The play started from the left midfield where Loostin was back in after missing a game with an ankle injury. He took the ball wide and up into the attacking third of the field for HopNation, beating one player, Redtooth, while spinning under his wing pushed the ball a bit to the inside and then crossed the ball to the opposite touch line where Tantrum was waiting, hand raised waiving to get Loostins attention as hit make completely left him wide open. Tantrum collected the long cross and pushed the ball in towards the corner of the eighteen. With a blind pass he sent the ball inside to Droimpol, who first timed it forward to Schytaing. Schytaing laid the ball off to his left, as his back was to the goal; Droimpol quickly moved in and slotted the ball back to Tantrum who was now inside the eighteen. Tantrum took one touch and then let his shot fly, it bent, starting to the outside of the frame and then hooking back after passing Superb Stop. She tried her best, making a great dive to that side but it just wasn’t enough and NA Hops were up, one to nil. This was early; seventh minute early and as mentioned caught The Little Ponies a bit off kilter. However, they would bounce right back and actually maintain most of the possession for the rest of the first half. Though the ES side couldn’t put in an equalizer during the first half they came out with vigor in the second and played wonderfully to start. They managed their lone goal in the sixty third minute. It was a powerful goal kick that got this play moving, the long ball forward met the head of Youngheart who played the ball back and to the outside where Nightwing was. Nightwing carried the ball forward beating Stuber before playing the ball a little wide to Cloud Kicker. Kicker took the ball into the eighteen and then dropped the ball across the box to Pristina Shine who easily nocked it in to even the sides at one apiece. From here all the way up to the eighty seventh minute play was very balanced with neither side wanting to give up ground to the other and trying to maintain as much possession as possible. The game would actually come down to a questionable call in the eighty eight minute, when Schytaing was brought down just outside the box. Many of The Little Ponies swarmed the ref, as even on reply it didn’t look like Schytaing was touched by Young Gun, who had been subbed on only moments earlier, and it actually looked like his foot simply stuck to the ball and he tripped himself. Whatever it was or wasn’t the foul was called and nothing, not even one of the pleas from the ES side would be heard by the ref. This gave NA Hops a great opportunity and it wasn’t going to be missed. None other than Pheir Droimpol would be taking the kick and not a soul in the stands thought he would miss. He lined up, go the ref to resituate the wall as they crept a bit closer, he stepped up and stuck the ball sending it just to the left of Rumble’s head and wings, Superb Stop dove has high and wide as she could getting a glove on just the edge of the ball. The crowd silent seeing her glove make contact with the ball, the ball continued but on a slightly outward course. Everyone on the field watched as the ball slammed into the side of the right post then careened across the mouth of the goal straight at the other post. The ball had so much spin on it that the logo seemed to rotate in the opposite direction of its actual rotation. It hit the second post and then down to the ground where the spin was just too much and it rolled over the line. The linesman being in good position turned and ran along the touch line, flag down towards the half line signaling it was in. The center ref blew the whistle and indicated goal himself, with heads down The Little Ponies collected the ball and kicked it back to half field to be restarted. A moment after the restarting kickoff the ref whistled again to signal the end of the game. NA Hops are moving on and The Little Ponies are going home, overall a great match up which I’m sure the teams will meet again someday, perhaps not with the same players but nonetheless they will meet again.

Next up for NA Hops is the side from Farfadillis, a side that isn’t entirely focused on winning this tournament as much as it is focused on developing its young talents. They only have one senior team member listed with this squad as he is mainly there for leadership and the others are there to gain experience and show their talents. This will be the end for one of the two teams, which will it be the side form the somewhat unknown nation, the NA Hops, or will it be the side from a good football nation, LA Vherderoja. We’ll find out soon.


The Prediction…

HopNation Likely Starters
GK – Boehler
RB – Raske
CB – Lesamnal
CB – Kranz
LB – Carran
DFM – Duerr
DFM – Stuber
AM – Loostin
AM – Droimpol
AM – Tantrum
F - Schytaing

Farfadillis Likely Starters
GK – Tzâín
LB – Fâizxý
CB – Bârr
RB – Rrhaolez
DM – Courtemanche
LM – Kâí
RM – Kühâx
OM – Delafuente
OM – Zuazubiskar
ST – Fuego
ST – Pfeiffauf

Match Day 7 Prediction

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La Vherderoja 2-2 (2-3 aet) NA Hops

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Jhanna City Recreational Ground, Jhanna, - Jhanna City (51,000)

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Farfadillis has a perfect record coming into this match, they have also outscored their opponents sixteen to four. So this will be an extreme test for the NA Hops defenders, although they have done an excellent job thus far in keeping opponents out of their net as they have only allowed a total of three goals. Will it be a battle of offenses or a defensive battle? We think it will be more of an equal battle where both teams have similar possession numbers, shots on target numbers, corners taken, cards received, well you get the idea an even match between two very good sides. It looks like the La Vherderoja’s will be led by midfielder Risko Kâí, their captain, while NA Hops will be led by Pheir Droimpol, their respective captain. No matter the outcome of this match, I’m sure neither team will be happy heading home. Especially not after the work they have put in and the great play they have shown. Both of these teams could be contenders to win the Di Bradini Cup. However, we see the game be won by HopNation but not until they have played through extra time.

[Farfadillis]

"It's a goddamn training match, Ivaktör, calm the fuck down!", he heard Delafuente shout, scolding him after he violently elbowed Fuego in the ribs.

He shrugged and turned around, heading towards his usual position when there's a free kick close to the box. Fuego promptly got up, talked to Delafuente, and trotted towards where he was.

Delafuente prepared to take the free kick. He crossed straight to the box. Fuego was prepared to overcome him in the struggle for the ball, as he had all day, but Bârr had had enough. He quickly jumped and elbowed him in the face, making him fall to the ground. This would've usually started a fight, but Fuego just got up, asked Ekvinter for the ball, as it had ended up being picked up by him, put it on the penalty spot, and took four steps without saying a word.

Fuego looked at all his teammates, who were kind of perplexed. They stared at him. "Won't you move?", he told them. Yeah, they were all inside the box. Some shrugged and moved, others took some more time to get out of the confusion, but they all left the box. Even him, who was now willing to kill Fuego if the opportunity arose.

Fuego quickly took the penalty and scored. Ekvinter just couldn't have done anything. Going back to the centre of the pitch, Fuego winked at him. Ok, he was now definitely going to kill him.

Rossizzo, however, was no dumbass. He just announced that he was going to "try out new tactics" and so switched Bârr and Crocé. Now Bârr couldn't do anything at all to hurt Fuego, at least not without putting the entire team against him. He took a few deep breaths.

Areleous dribbled Sol and started going towards him. He was no Fuego, though, so when he tried to side-step him, he just met Bârr's right foot. Stripping Mihail from the ball effortlessly, he started heading towards the goal, fueled by his anger. He dribbled Chernyshov, then faced Reneré, he dribbled him too by virtue of his physical fitness. He was almost two metres tall for f*ck's sake. Heading towards the goal, he looked up. "Oh my f*cking god damnit", he thought. There were only two options for him. One, Delafuente, who had confronted him, and he certainly did not want to pass the ball to... the other, well, predictably, Fuego. Fueled by anger, he just decided to go for the long-range effort. BAM, a 150 km/h shot came off his right foot. Poor Ekvinter dove and stopped it, ending up in the floor because the shot had been pretty precise. The rebound, expected from such a fast shot, ended up in the feet of - who else? - Fuego. With the empty goal at his will, he chipped the ball. Another goal for him. He winked at Bârr again.

"I guess I'll have to get used to this kind of sh*t", Bârr concluded.

---

Rossizzo gathered them after the training match. Everybody was looking at him, waiting for his final judgement or whatever he was going to say.

"Well, lots of things have come to my attention today.", Rossizzo started. "First and foremost, neither Fuego nor Bârr can ever be assigned the captain's armband.", he looked at both of them. Both were looking at him defiantly. "Yes, you heard that right.", he continued.

"But there were a few other things I noticed. Like, well, Bârr works really well under the effects of anger, provided he can channel it in the correct way. Fuego is always very serene, no matter the situation. He's likely going to bring the worst out of many defenders."

He paused and continued. "Areleous' vision could be polished, and Ekvinter seems to have gotten better when it comes to reflexes. Delafuente would make for a great vice-captain, and none of you can properly handle Risko's dribbling... which is something I expected. Chernyshov definitely should train his tackling. Reneré seemed to be pretty bad on the physical side. That's all I gathered from you in the last ten minutes or so. Before that, I've just been looking at your moving patterns and what you do with and without the ball and the like. Suffice to say, I've got tomorrow's formation more than planned in my head. So much that I'm going to show it to you right now."

"Uhh... yeah. Please, no comments on my calligraphy. And yeah, there's little changed to what we used last time around, but I want to make a few things clear. First, Tzâín should be given a break, so I want Bârr and Rrhaolez to try and help the defense almost full-time, while I want Cayfú to give the defense enough time for the opposing attack to not be overwhelming. I'm giving you a chance, Cayfú, don't waste it. I also want Courtemanche to free himself from so much work and start joining the attack more. You've been staying in the defense, which is nothing too bad, too much Basajaun. Having you in the attack could help us. Kâí, I want you to focus more on captaining the team. I know you've been performing really well, but I've seen you kind of absent in terms of giving directions and the like. Delafuente, just keep doing whatever you're doing, you're performing just great. Zuazubiskar, if I were you I'd just tell myself I can do it. You've got a wicked shot yet you rarely make anything out of it. Up front, Fuego, please just keep scoring. Areleous, I'm giving you one big chance, over Pfeiffauf who has been performing really well. This is noting against Vanessa, I just don't think this game is for someone stronger than her. Yeah, nature sucks, Vanessa. Mihail, I like your dribbling and all that, but I want you focusing on assisting Fuego as much as you can. If it's you and Fuego facing one, two, or three defenders, just pass the ball to Fuego and head for the goal. Naturally, you should also focus on scoring as usual, I just want you to be more selfless, specially with Torino next to you.". He paused.

"You may now break lines.", he said in a tongue-in-cheek tone.

[Sangti]

"One more hurdle, and we are guaranteed to play two more matches."

This thought came into the minds of the players after their narrow 2-1 over San Jose Guayabal. The prize? A meeting with the defending Di Bradini Cup champions Northern Sunrise Islands. They played 120 minutes of football, and had a nine-goal extragavanza against Darmen. This is a dangerous team that we are facing. A team that is expected to defend their title.

They do not want that thing to happen again... eliminating Mizuyuki at the Round of 16, then losing to Cassadaigua at the quarterfinals of the 28th edition in Wight. At least Wenefrido, Marco, Elmerei, Lezfer, Marion and the captain, Samuel still remembered what happened then. But they want to forget it. And this is the chance; to gain momentum to their title aspirations.

Before going to the match against NSI, Aldrich met the team once more. He told them to bring their old, yellow kits to the team meeting. As the players come one by one in a conference room of a hotel that they stayed in karak D'Ragh, Aldrich entered the room, carrying a large box along with Cush.

Utter silence. For a couple of minutes, no one dared to ask what the box was for. Maybe Aldrich planned to be a coward and suddenly pull out of the competition, collecting the kits that they had... but he started to talk to the team.

"Guys, this contains what you will be wearing should we make the semifinals."

He grabbed something in the box, and the players were astonished. A new yellow Kirola kit was shown to the players. The number was 9, but there was no name printed in the kits. Aldrich explained, "It was rushed, to be honest, but it's good.

Now the players have their motivation to beat NSI.

[Pasarga]

"All ahead full and moving ever forward, forward unto dawn and the progress that lies ahead for us!"

There was an awkward silence as the entire room turned and looked at the slender, jacketed man who spoke up above the crowd at the pub.

"What ever do you think is his problem? One too many brewskies or just simply nuts to begin with?"

"I am going to go with some combination there of. I mean, how do you string together so many random phrases and hope to make any sort of sense? Where do they think they are, some drunk philosophers club?"

"It is better not to disturb the insane, unless they turn violent."

There was a shriek from the table of the trio of older patrons, as the woman lost her nerve when the jacketed man placed his arm in the middle of the table and leaned forward into their conversation.

"You should also be aware that your voices are nowhere near as silent as you would believe yourselves to be. Nor should you discuss the stability, or instability in this instance, of a fellow patron's mind when they are still in a hearing distance. You may just find yourself in a very awkward and embarrassing situation when they stampede into your misdirected use of gossip."

Standing up and straightening his jacket, he gave the trio a crooked grin.

"My name is Eckabud Dumblin, the headmaster of the grand Majistar Academy. But never mind that, what you should know is that it is a most joyous time to be alive and in these grand lands! Why you ask, well, you only need to look in the right places and see little miracles at work. This is a time of greatness, you just watch, prosperity is coming over that hill rise and shall wash over the islands like a plentiful tide. All shall reap the grand rewards, from the smallest child to the oldest elder. Even now, our sportsmen are seeing those great rewards, in hills and rivers and seas near and far, where even immortals dwell. The crescent moon is rising!"

[Starblaydia]

Whoops, this should have been yesterday, Sorry. Semis on Saturday, Final/3PPO on Monday.

Super Eight Stage

Quarter Final Results
Starblaydia 3-2 Pasarga (AET, FT 2-2)
Svengarda 1-4 Taijan
Northern Sunrise Islands 3-3 The Royal Barangay (AET, FT 2-2), Northern Sunrise Islands wins 5-3 on penalties
Farfadillis 4-3 HopNation (AET, FT 3-3)

Semi Final Fixtures
Starblaydia v Taijan at Jader Barbahlo Stadium, Jhanna - Jhanna United (96,000)
Northern Sunrise Islands v Farfadillis at Iota "Big Eye" Arena, Penningworth - Penningworth United (82,000)

[Farfadillis]

The warm-up seemed like an eternity to him. While he was running, he couldn't help but constantly look at the match. Fuego had scored twice in the first half, and Kühâx had scored the equalizing goal close to the end, but he had been sent to warm up as soon as the first ninety minutes had finished. After that, it was all nervousness for him. HopNation and Farfadillis were both getting very good chances; the eventual winner was anyone's guess. He heard Rossizzo's voice.

"Mirogod, come here."

It was relieving. Finally, he was going to enter the pitch and stop the impotence.

"You're going to come on for Zuazubiskar. I want you to do whatever it is that you can do to make us win."

The ball went out, the assistant referee lifted the sign and so he replaced Itxaso. Now he was in the pitch, facing the Hops, who he had frankly never heard of. They sure were a tough opponent, though. Their defense was not the toughest, but they sure knew how to score (at least against Farfadillis).

He had to focus on the match now, though. Quarterfinals of the Di Bradini Cup, it was happening. He was bound to be called by a Farf team anytime soon. As a rule of thumb, if you play for Pezcemá and you're good, you're leaving for a Farf team. That obviously applied for Chernyshov. He'd heard Flying Jellyfish was interested in him. He wouldn't mind a move to a club like that.

Courtemanche stripped Droimpol from the ball. He passed to the left. Kâí received. He dribbled Duerr. He started running down the flank. He then dribbled Carran and entered the box. Mirogod was no dumbass, he just entered the box looking for Kâí's cross. The box wasn't quite as crowded as you would've expected. Kâí's was too high for the Hops (and, probably, all the teams in the Di Bradini Cup, including Farfadillis, which usually led to misunderstandings between him and the others), so he got to the box before they even knew it. Even Fuego failed to reach the box on time, so when Kâí crossed he failed to get the hat trick by heading in the goal that would make him the hero of the night. Pfeiffauf was blocked by Raske. The ball bounced and Jeikrom failed to clear it. It got to his feet. Without thinking it twice, he just volleyed it before even thinking of stopping it. It was a very low volley. It hit the floor and went all the way to the lower-left corner. It was lost case for the goalkeeper, Mirogod's shot had been too precise.

He was ecstatic, he tried to celebrate, but his teammates got to him before he could even think of what to do. His teammates almost suffocated him during the celebration. He didn't mind, he was happy.

There were two minutes left, but it would not be enough. Farfadillis had won the match fair and square. Rossizzo had made the move of the day with quite easily the most vague description of a player's mission on the pitch. "I want you to do whatever it is that you can do to make us win." was the winning phrase. How this man continued to not be a failure is beyond everybody. But, well, with footballer like Chernyshov in the bench, it's hardly difficult to not make a good move. If even the substitutes can score the important goals without hesitating...

But now Chernyshov found himself in an odyssey, two days later. It was the day before the match against Northern Sunrise Islands. Now, obviously, he was going to get some minutes, being Farf-Sunrisian and having scored such an important goal. However, he was undecided on whom he would support. On the one side, the place where he had been born, and where he had been given a chance. On the other, the country in which he had lived almost all his life, even if in a village greatly influenced by Farfadillis. Needless to say he was going to give it his all regardless of circumstances - he always put himself before all things bar his family. But defeating Northern Sunrise Islands would hurt. Losing would hurt even more. It was a lose-lose situation. Yet he had quite the bright future ahead. If he managed to nail a good performance in the following two matches - hopefully the second being a final and not a third place play-off - who could say he would not be considered for the national team in the future? Yes, strikers and offensive midfielders have it the hardest when it comes to reaching the Farf national team, but those who do end up being fantastic players. Who said he couldn't join that elite?

One thing was sure. He was wearing the red kit with the laser green cross.

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

It had been a stressful match for the Sunrise. Then again, only Taijan had an easy bout against Svengarda who seemed to be there just to proove that some teams really don't need to try to get themselves some attention. Regardless, the Vaporeons brought the game to something even more tiring than the common "rice and beans" of 90 minutes that all football matches tend to be, a penalty shootout against a considerable opposition on the shape of the Nation Formerly Known as Sangti, Now Known as The Royal Baranguay. Because that seems to roll off your tongue. Well, returning to main matters, this match was really a match of willpower. Both teams desired a spot on the Semi-Finals, on hopes to either continue the row of Esportivans winning the trophy or just repeating their feat at the fields of Starblaydia, like the Vaporeons.

Cervantes, a common human with astonishing skills continued to prove he wasn't to be taken lightly. Scoring two of the three goals of the Sunrise, he had been unstoppable the entire day, raising hell over the defenders and poor goalie Celebrado. The Royal Baranguay had, however, the trio of Inocencio, Escuro and Castro to keep everything in a tie. However, at the last minutes, Cervantes wasn't feeling well. A small pain in his left leg forced him to be subbed out by Ming.

"Well, hell." said Alfrendique, as the group circled near the middle of the field. "I don't want to discount us out, but I don't trust our chances against Sangti." "It's Royal Baranguay, dude." said Granada, laughing. "Does it sound like I give a damn?" asked Alfrendique, getting angrier. "Look... Madam Bourbon, Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll do my best defending, but you guys need to score!" said Dark'ness, as Cleese facepalmed and Magalhães answered, "It's good to see Captain Obvious has arrived to the party!" Betty Sue started to sob, as Sarracena tried to calm her down. "Look, we all know how this is going to be, these guys got to be more tense than us at this! Remember, our country won this once, for Arceus' sake!" said Alcouin, acting like a captain, only for Middleford to look up a bit and see the players from the Nation Formerly Known As Sangti Now Known As The Royal Baranguay laughing and chatting normally. "Uh, Hannah... I think these guys aren't really that tense. I'd say this is their Happy Hour..."

And so the Penalty Shootout started. They kicked and results varied. Ming scored, Castro scored, Cleese scored, Magsombol scored, Sarracena scored, Oliva scored, Miller scored... and Leron's shot was blocked by Dark'ness, at last. Now, it was all on the feet of Alcouin to finish this one out early and without a risk of taking a goal from the opposition to tie it all up. A powerful half-Vaporeon with the ball of the game on her feet. Now, she wasn't worried about laws. She knew she was allowed to do anythuing. And thus, with a small burst of water following her foot, she shot... outside. The bench went nuts... until the referee pointed out that the goalie had moved early, jumping on the offensive to catch the ball. Alcouin was forced to kick again and finally scored. Her first goal at the Second Round of a Di Bradini Cup and that goal qualified the Sunrise.

All they knew was that Farfadillis was in for a fight the next day.

[Starblaydia]

Fantastic Four

Semi Final Results
Starblaydia 0-3 Taijan
Northern Sunrise Islands 0-1 Farfadillis

Third-Place Play-Off
Starblaydia vs Northern Sunrise Islands at Stadii di Quercus, Farça - FC Farça (99,000)

DBC30 Final
Taijan vs Farfadillis at Stadii Di Bradini, Jhanna - National Stadium (196,754)

[Taijan]

Junior Ibexes to Face Farfadillis in DBC Final
Following a resounding 3-0 win by the Junior Ibexes over hosts and groupmates Starblaydia in the semifinals, Taijan will face a powerful Farfadillian squad to contest first place in the thirtieth Di Bradini Cup. Both teams enter the final undefeated, though only Farfadillis has had all wins in the cup, while Taijan drew Starblaydia 2-2 in the second matchday of the tournament. Farfadillis defeated Northern Sunrise Islands 1-0 in the semis to advance.

The win over Starblaydia was a testament to the fast-paced, tenacious football that Taijan is ever so slowly becoming known for. Vishnu Corvallis put the ball away at twenty-five to put Taijan up over the hosts, but his would be the last score in the first half. Starblaydia came out stronger after halftime, landing several shots on target, all of which were blocked by Xhang. On the comeback from one such shot, team captain Ryan van der Wall bested the Starblaydian back line and buried the second goal of the game.

The final goal came in the last few minutes as the clock wound down. Corvallis put away his second of the game off a corner kick by van der Wall, heading it into the opposite corner despite the score being essentially decided. Despite the impressive win, many back home wonder whether the Ibexes have the defensive chops to contain Farfadillis's all-out offensive style of play. Football critics point at the centerbacks Davidson and Reardan as potential weak points in the Taijani backline.

Farfadillis comes into the final with twenty-one goals for, compared to fifteen by Taijan, and having defeated stiff competition from Northern Sunrise Islands and Super-Llamaland. The match is likely to be a striker's duel between Farfadillian José Torino Fuego and Taijani Vishnu Corvallis for dominance in the eighteen-meter box, though it may well be won by the respective backlines in a show of who can prevent the most goals.

Taijan's rise to the finals of its first-ever DBC mirrors the similarly surprising success of its senior counterpart in the Campionato Esportiva. The Senior Ibexes will face The Licentian Isles in the semifinals of the ninth Campionato. Mutual support has already been expressed by both teams via Twitter, with Maroons striker Paul Yamamoto saying he expects to see Vishnu Corvallis on the senior team next year at Nova Algiers.

[Farfadillis]

Chernyshov dribbled Middleford. He found Magalhães and Alfrendique, Fuego was heavily marked. Same for Areleous. Chernyshov knew Miller well, and he knew she would not let Fuego go under any circumstances. After a second of hesitation, he turned around and connected a through pass to Cayfú. The centre was certainly not the way to break that defense.

Cayfú took the ball. Instead of stopping it, he just hit it with his left foot and started a frenetic sprint, dribbling Rosso. He looked up and saw Miller, and Magalhães taking care of Fuego now. Delafuente was heavily marked, and Chernyshov was not in a position where a pass could be safely delivered. Facing Miller was pretty much the only option. He feinted going to the left, then went for the right. Miller guessed correctly, but he changed directions once again, managing to dribble her and started running down the end of the flank. With a few a metres left, crossing would've been the most reasonable option. Certainly not for him, though. Neither Areleous nor Fuego were true aerial threats. He was much better off trying to enter the box the old Farf way so, with a metre or so left, he just stopped the ball, falling to the floor. He promptly recovered and entered the box with the ball. However, Miller had caught up. He elbowed her out of the fight for the ball, though. PFFFT, fair play you say? PFFFT. Facing the goalkeeper, he just decided to go for the shot. BAM, violent missile straight to the left post.

But Cayfú was not in luck, as the ball just bounced off the post at a stunning speed. The shot had been so powerful the rebound even went out of the box. Quickly picked up by Chernyshov once again and dispatched to Kühâx with a one-touch through pass, Farfadillis was not going to stop the attack just then, in the eighty-fifth minute.

Kühâx reached the ball, he stopped it with his right foot. Looking up, he saw potential in the whole thing. Miller was out of position, Alfrendique was still surprised by the shot, Granada was flat-footed, Fuego had freed himself from the heavy marking. Wait, what? Fuego had freed himself? "Ok, winning time.", he told himself. Quickly, he dribbled Granada taking advantage of his positioning, and followed to run down the flank. A good metre from the box, he went for the cross, going straight for Fuego, naturally. He'd done his work, now Fuego had to do his.

He looked at the ball heading towards him. "Heh, easy job." was the first thought that sprang up. He dove forward and headed it to the upper-right corner. It was acutely precise. It was powerful. Betty Sue Dark'ness only watched it go in amazed. A wonderful goal. They had finally managed to destroy the Sunrisian defense, for the very first time in the match, despite Kâí having to go out. Truth is, Rossizzo risked himself a lot with that move. Sure, he didn't want to lose Kâí in case they got to the final, but surely they needed him to get there? Turns out they did not.

But there were five minutes left!

But nothing happened!

And so Farfadillis got through to another Di Bradini Cup final. The first had been a loss, but accepting that defeat was not what anyone was willing to do. From that team, only Kâí and Rrhaolez were left. They were likely to be the ones seeking the win the most. Despite the loss to Free Republics being a big disappointment, they could win it now, though Taijan was left. They had beaten Polar Islandstates thrashed Svengarda and thrashed Starblaydia on their way to the final. They were going to be a tough challenge, probably the toughest.

But something bugged Rossizzo. With such a good Di Bradini squad, what would be of the national team? He had already built a rather stationary national team, and now there was this onslaught of wonderful players. How was he supposed to make space for Delafuente, Zuazubiskar and Chernyshov with players like Terán and Tuzzio in their positions? Or, well, space for José Torino Fuego with players like Dandalleion, Dragãozý, Roga and Tenian competing with him? Or, well, space for Tzâín with Lisdiren taking care of the goal? And how was he supposed to make space for Cayfú, who had turned out to be worthy of an AOCAF Cup inclusion? The new generation looked exciting, but it also looked like a future headache for him.

Still, first things first. Taijan was his closest headache right now, he had to think about them.

[Starblaydia]

The fallout from the San Jose Guayabal/Mytannion match had swiftly gone all the way to the top of Starblaydi society - specifically the Lord-Protector himself. Julius Starblayde seemed to take the small riot, quickly and intentionally overblown in the press as a destructive whirlwind of foreign hooligan scum, as a personal affront and immediately tightened the rules on immigration, foreign visitors and the associated police powers. These even applied retrospectively to the fans involved in the disturbance, who were promptly ejected and banned from the country, while most likely receiving a good kicking from the authorities on the way. It was now the perfect time for the long-awaited plan to be put into action.

It began with an Honourable Representative of the Starblaydi Liberal Party - so long the butt of many political jokes - who mentioned Human Rights for the hooligans. This was perfectly in line with the Liberal's view on the world, and a good portion of Starblaydi society even agreed with him. Like clockwork, the response was timed and released to the public for maximum impact.

Starblaydi politics, you see, is somewhat different to the rest of the world. Instead of ambitious and noble young people striving to change the world for the better according to their own leanings by entering politics, the political process was a sham, with every party in on it together. The whole point was - and had been since its conception - that the entire system was there to keep the people in line. Of course, the people voted for their Honourable Representatives in the Sjarondai, but every candidate from every party already represented the real government, the Lord-Protector. Even the Starblaydi Communist Party, much maligned as it was; the antithesis of traditional Starblaydi values, was ultimately controlled from the Lord-Protector's office. If a large enough section of the public had a new political leaning, a new party would be created and then monitored, influenced and ultimately controlled from the government in Jhanna.

It was monstrously expensive, of course. Keeping the entire show on the road and everyone in character all the time took an army of PR and advertising executives, acting coaches and script writers - more even than would be required for a 'real' democratic process. This one, however, generally told the people what they wanted, before giving it to them at varying lengths between instant and delayed gratification. The 'foreign hooligan menace' was of the instant type.

So, when the HR from the Liberals mentioned 'Human Rights', it was the cue for a whole host of pre-programmed responses. Almost every other party responded to it with a message of their own flavour, but essentially the same substance: there can be no Human Rights without Human Responsibilities. From the Praetorans to the Greens to the Social Democrats, across the entire political spectrum, the voices were, relatively, united. The machine saved those moments for the really important, historic moments in Starblaydi public opinion-making that came along so very rarely. This was one of those moments.

The feedback loop was a phenomenon like no-one had ever seen, this was a national outpouring equivalent to all of the trophy-winning tournaments Starblaydia had competed in at once. The more the politicians said it, the more the public fed it back to them as their wishes until, finally, the time was ripe for Lord-Protector Julius Starblayde to make his position known. It would have been better and had more impact if Starblaydia had made it to the Final of the Di Bradini Cup that had kickstarted this whole mess off, but that couldn't be helped one way or another.

The message was clear: if you want rights, we must have order. Take on the responsibilities of nationhood, and you will receive rights. And there will be order, above all. Order.



This is your RP Cutoff, also.

[Starblaydia]

Awesome Twosomes

Third-Place Play-Off
Starblaydia 2-1 Northern Sunrise Islands

DBC30 Final
Taijan 1-2 Farfadillis (AET, FT 1-1)

Congrats to Farf, commiserations to, well, everyone else. See you all after World Cup 68 for the 31st Di Bradini Cup, where we'll have no cap on the number of entries, but may have some totally unfair qualification competition to get them down to a regular 32-team competition. See you then!

[Farfadillis]

WOOO... WAHOOO... WOOOOOOOOOO

And that's a fantastic wrap-up. We're under-21 champions for the first time ever. Losing that final four years ago may have hurt, but we sure got up and one-upped that performance. We're world champions in the category. Finally. It tastes good. Nobody can deny we were the best team - we won all the games we played. Yes, we went through extra time twice, but we never had to go through penalty shoot-outs, which one could argue can be pretty unfair. We managed to win all games within a hundred and twenty minutes. How cool is that?

The final against Taijan was maybe the toughest match (as anyone could've expected from the final), but I could argue the semifinal against Northern Sunrise Islands was even harder. But still, the final game always matters that much more. It's when both teams are put under the ultimate pressure, and they have to show they can stay stoic. I must say, most players (including Taijan's) managed to cope with the pressure really well, but a few stood out.

First.

First and foremost, Risko Kâí. Captaining the side, he was easily the most experienced player taking the pitch. It showed. His experience playing for arguably Astograth's best team and a top 10 side in the KPB rankings became very evident during the match. Dribbling here and there, getting the ball more than once, testing the goalkeeper from afar, getting all his passes right. I have no doubts, he was the man of the match.

Second, well, José Torino Fuego. One cannot deny this guy has proved to be one of the hottest prospects in the world. I mean, at just seventeen years of age he did no mistakes in a Di Bradini Cup final and even scored to win the tournament. Did not play a game as good as Kâí's, but he did more than just well without a doubt.

Third, quite surprisingly, Ivaktör Bârr. This defender certainly surprised me in the final. One of the best in the pitch without a doubt, he managed to almost single-handedly control the Taijanis throughout the match.

But let's talk about the match. The beginning was not the best possible, as anyone who watched the match can confirm. The Junior Ibexes started moving the ball around and keeping possession. We did not have Courtemanche in his best day, and so we started failing to recover the ball. Credit should go to the opposing team though, it would've been hard even for Mêndêlöíndçêl to control them. In five minutes, it became evident that Taijan was in the thing to win it, as they... scored. Yeah, it looked like we were in for another disappointment.

Lovato to Kim, Kim dribbled Courtemanche and passed to van der Wall. van der Wall started heading forward. He then looked up and saw Ryan barely marked by Rrhaolez. He quickly passed it to him. Ryan stopped the ball, turned around and, before Rrhaolez could get there, connected a fantastic through pass to Corvallis, the star of the Taijani team. Corvallis got to the ball before Bârr could, leaving behind Cayfú. Without hesitating, he feinted going to the right, went to the left and finally got rid of Bârr by feinting a shot and going to the right once again. Nobody can blame Bârr for being dribbled there, really. It was a spark of talent in just the worst moment possible. Naturally, Corvallis did not doubt when facing Tzâín and shot to the lower-right post from close-range, which rendered Rôhj completely unable of reacting in time. Taijan held the lead five minutes in.

However, somehow, we started playing better after that. At first, Taijan used the momentum to their favour, but soon, led by Risko, Farfadillis started to overturn things. Courtemanche started playing better, and Bârr started not letting anyone get through. We started looking like a defensive wall, and we're Farfadillis. It did feel kinda good.

Soon, Cayfú started joining the attack, Kâí started tearing apart defenses, Kühâx started running down the flank and causing danger, Fuego started worrying the entire opposing defense. Pfeiffauf started looking for empty spaces. Delafuente started playmaking and Zuazubiskar started threatening from afar. Taijan was starting to be overwhelmed following their early goal.

Ivaktör Bârr, rumoured to be moving out of
Northern Sunrise Islands following his very
astonishing performances this Di Bradini Cup.

However, we failed to score in the first half. Taijan did a more than decent job when defending their goal, and I should definitely congratulate them, rarely have I seen Farfadillis attack so well and fail to score.

In the second half, Taijan started playing a lot better, and actually started causing us a lot of problems. Rrhaolez and Cayfú started to fail, and so Corvallis started threatening once again. The Felixian-based striker sure caused us more than a few problems, but Bârr did a great job taking care of him. He stripped him from the ball twice before he managed to go one-on-one, and then managed to clear the ball from the goal line when Tzâín stopped a long-range effort which ended up bouncing and slowly heading towards the goal. Many hearts stopped for a moment there. It was in the sixtieth minute.
But soon, Kâí started leading the team forward once again, and there was little Taijan could do. Soon, everybody noticed Kâí was sort of in the middle of a stroke of footballing brilliance. The attack started revolving around him. Courtemanche, Cayfú, Bârr and even Delafuente started to almost exclusively pass the ball to him. He started creating many chances for us. Poor Brown and Bronson started being sort of humiliated by the left midfielder. He dribbled and dribbled and went down the flank and crossed. And crossed, and got into the box and shot. All chances ended in the same way, however: a corner. Nothing seemed to be working until, with just five minutes of regular time to go, we finally equalized.

Taijan was attacking, looking to secure the win, when Bârr stripped Ryan from the ball, soon, he connected a through pass towards Kâí, who started sprinting at a stunning speed. He soon got to the ball. He started heading towards the Taijani goal, and there really was nothing to be done. He ran all across the pitch, though obviously the Taijanis managed to get to him. However, he dribbled one of them and started heading towards the goal once again. He faced another one and started trying to outspeed him. However, upon reaching the goal, it was obvious that the long run had been tiring to Risko, and he simply had failed to outspeed the Taijani, so he just went for a through pass to Fuego, who was all alone. Fuego, who was still running, just fulminated to the lower-right corner, with Xhang having absolutely nothing to do to prevent the goal. We had managed to equalize in the eighty-fifth minute. Everybody was ecstatic.

And we managed to do no more for the rest of the first ninety minutes. Two more minutes were added, but nothing happened. We were heading for extra time.

In extra time - please excuse me Taijanis reading this blog - we just put an end to the whole thing by finally dominating the match. Courtemanche started making his endurance prevail, and Kâí's fighting spirit coupled with the stamina of Kühâx and the substitution of Zuazubiskar with Chernyshov just meant we had players almost unaffected (or simply unaffected) from the first ninety minutes of the match. The length of the match was taking its toll on the opposing team, though, and it showed. Soon, we started getting chance after chance. Taijan only got one chance in extra time (granted, Corvallis hit the crossbar from afar, but that was it). Xhang was starting to becoem Farfadillis' nightmare.

However, Risko grabbed the game by the balls in the minute a hundred and seventeen.

Picture of Kâí's goal taken from a SportsTube
video of the highlights of the match. I'm
sorry for the terrible quality of the picture.

He received a through pass from Delafuente, outsped Kim (who was trying to take care of him) and dribbled Bronson with one touch. However, the ball sort of escaped him after that. Following that dribbling with an inhumane attempt to prevent the ball from going out, he managed to heel the ball back a metre before it went out (I still don't know how he did that) and, probably going against the laws of physics, followed that by going back and shooting to the lower-right corner before a Taijani managed to get to the ball. I was surprised because he probably should've failed to get to there so fast, but he did. The precise shot went between the feet of Fuego, who avoided touching it probably accidentally. This probably fooled Xhang. There was a Taijani on the goal line who tried to stop the shot, but it was too fast and he couldn't react in time. BAM, now we were holding the lead.

And it would stay like that, no matter what Taijan threw at us, we knew how to hold the lead, and managed to finally celebrate something of note.

Farfadillis has finally won something.