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

[Equestrian States]

The Next Wave Cometh: Future Stars Emerging for Little Ponies
by Steve McNotapony

JHANNA, STARBLAYDIA - Ten years. That's all it's taken for the Equestrian States to evolve into an international hoofball powerhouse. Looking back at the national team's history, a pattern can be observed in the emergence of key Equestrian players on the international stage. Three waves of stars with names recognizable to any casual fan of the Ponies have powered the Equestrian States to greater heights than before, continually improving the team to where it is today.

Now, a fourth wave is becoming evident in the roster of the Little Ponies' squad for the 30th Di Bradini Cup. But before we examine the present, let us take a trip down good ol' memory lane to look at the three waves which preceded the newest generation of future stars.

Wave 1: The Pioneers
Top Players: Fire Dash, Starlight Sparkle, High Soarin', Rapid Dash, Subtle Trix

The "Pioneers" were among the first players fielded by the Equestrian States, and made their collective debut at the 45th Baptism of Fire, though with relatively little success. In the Market Cup, however, the Ponies would tear through their opponents on a high-scoring rampage that saw them claim their first (and to-date, only) winners' medals. The team would struggle in their first two qualifying attempts, and head coach Twilight Striker brought some much younger faces to the 60th World Cup qualifying campaign, ushering in the next generation.

Today, only a few of these players remain with the national team, though those who have continued to appear on the international stage have had a tremendous role in the development of their youthful counterparts. Fire Dash and Starlight Sparkle fill the roles of captain and vice-captain respectively, and still rank among the best the Equestrian States has to offer. Though High Soarin' and Subtle Trix have since been dropped out of the squad's starting XI, they are legends in their own rights from a time when their defensive talents were desperately needed by the Ponies.

Wave 2: The Underdogs
Top Players: Cloudchaser, Thunderlane, Flitter, Apple Jack

Joining the national team for World Cup 60, the second wave of stars for the Equestrian States quickly established themselves as leaders of the Ponies in helping guide the team to their first of three playoff appearances and narrowly missing out on the finals in a match with heavily-favored Astograth that took extra time to be decided. Thus, a trend of greatly exceeding expectations began, as the Ponies would pull upset after upset in qualifying to deny higher-ranked teams a place in the playoffs. However, despite the successes of these budding superstars, the Ponies remained unable to break into the World Cup finals, losing in all three of their playoff appearances by extremely narrow margins. A further nudge would be needed to seal the Equestrian States' place in the group stage.

Famous for spearheading countless upsets of higher-ranked teams, the "Underdogs" routinely defied the reasoning of pundits and remain a key part of the Equestrian team today. While some have fallen out of the senior team's ranks, others such as Andrea Molovi and Blackmane have become constants for the Ponies. The second wave of talent for the Equestrian States also boasts some of the first ponies to draw the attention of foreign clubs where they've continued to succeed. Today, the second generation superstars are nearing their best years and will likely remain with the Ponies for the foreseeable future.

Wave 3: The Challengers
Top Players: Rainbow Blitz, Krystal, Gentle Breeze, Pristina Shine, Stardust, Ironhide, Sonar

Wave 4: ???
Top Players: Apple Cobbler, Rumble, Krysia Bailey, Rosie Tyler, Orion Comet

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OOC: Still working on this RP, so expect some changes to be made as I make further progress.

[San Jose Guayabal]

OOC: Takes place during the "Guavas Revolution" in late November and beggining of December of 2013, OOC time is used in IC time in SJG, so this history use OOC calendar.

The dirty Job.... Part one: The start of the Revolution.

Somewhere in San Salvador. November 30th 2013

On November 30th, started one of the most important events in the history of San Jose Guayabal, on that day the beginning of the "Revolution of Guavas" where the Salvadoran ethnicity consolidated power, then execute a Coup d 'Etat to the tyranny imposed by the Finnish minority government, led by the fearsome Järvi Saarinen, for this chain of events, the communist-social movement called "Long live free Guayabal" was planning one of the events who marked the history of this nation of just over one billion people.

"We know that the social situation is hard, the people are rising against his authority, we Finns will not allow that, will suppress and will use brute force if necessary, we will not allow the nation to be taken by a lot of stupid......" said Saarinen in a TV speech.

Surprisingly, Luis Perla turned off the TV and started to scream with his comrades and Benji Sarabia, Marcos Oliveira began to drink beer and read the Communist Manifesto, written by Alejandro Aguete, while screaming.

- "Damn flea, not believed this, in case it wants to create an apartheid here?" Oliveira cried.

- "Turn that sh*t off, please, I hate that idiot, but sooner or later we will win!" Sarabia shouted angrily.

- "The people united will never be defeated, Memorize that Saarinen, the people will overcome!" said Perla in totally drunk way!.

During their total drunk timelapse, they started hallucinating with the communist victory over the Finns, or death of Saarinen caused by eggs and tomatoes. They were thinking some totally-freaking-stupid and illogical things, but after a short nap Perla heard some propaganda from Saarinen allies.

"Come straight to win, we must exterminate the Salvadorans, win for us!, Victory for the Finns!" an automatic propaganda vehicule started to shout his subliminal message.

Perla began screaming with all his might, then picked up a machine gun and stood in front of the vehicle.

- "Death to the oppressor! shut up you fuc*ing bandits!, Go home or I'll send you to the grave"

- "Hue hue hue hue hue, do not be stupid... monkey, we're going to hu......" (Bang bang bang bang) The cry of the Propaganda car driver was silent for a burst of bullets fired from the gun of Perla, who without words mercilessly killed the rider.

After that, Perla awoke to friends and invite them to see what happened.

"Great Comrade!" Sarabia said after kicking the propaganda car.

"This will not be accomplished until Saarinen death" Oliveira said cheerfully.

Perla said in inspired form.

"Good idea you gave me mate, we need to shut up once the voice of the pig!"

Sarabia and Oliveira called the members of the revolutionary movement to meet in the clubhouse, were glad of that idea, they now needed to orchestrate the coup plan and establish the country who dream.

[Starblaydia]

Matchday Two

Group A
Taijan 2-2 Starblaydia
Ko-oren 1-0 The Inevitable Syndicate

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Starblaydia                 2    1   1   0     5    3   +2     4
2 Taijan                      2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
3 Ko-oren                     2    1   0   1     2    3   −1     3
4 Jeckland                    1    0   0   1     0    1   −1     0
  The Inevitable Syndicate    1    0   0   1     0    1   −1     0

Group B
Angela Islands 1-0 Nassau-Hessen
Huelandia 3-2 Eura

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Huelandia               2    2   0   0     6    2   +4     6
2 Angela Islands          2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
3 The Licentian Isles     1    0   1   0     2    2    0     1
4 Eura                    1    0   0   1     2    3   −1     0
5 Nassau-Hessen           2    0   0   2     0    4   −4     0

Group C
Chiata 1-2 Ceni
Yttribia 3-2 Svengarda

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Yttribia                2    2   0   0     4    2   +2     6
2 Ceni                    2    1   0   1     2    2    0     3
3 Pasarga                 1    0   1   0     0    0    0     1
4 Chiata                  2    0   1   1     1    2   −1     1
5 Svengarda               1    0   0   1     2    3   −1     0

Group D
Felix 2-0 Scoutimont
Polar Islandstates 3-1 Dutzenderland

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Felix                   2    1   0   1     3    2   +1     3
2 Mangolana               1    1   0   0     2    1   +1     3
3 Polar Islandstates      2    1   0   1     3    3    0     3
4 Scoutimont              2    1   0   1     2    2    0     3
5 Dutzenderland           1    0   0   1     1    3   −2     0

Group E
Mizuyuki 2-3 Equestrian States
Taeshan 0-0 Vettrera

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Equestrian States           2    2   0   0     4    2   +2     6
2 Northern Sunrise Islands    1    1   0   0     1    0   +1     3
3 Vettrera                    1    0   1   0     0    0    0     1
4 Taeshan                     2    0   1   1     0    1   −1     1
5 Mizuyuki                    2    0   0   2     2    4   −2     0

Group F
Cassadaigua 1-2 New Sideburn
New North Aqmuland 1-2 Darmen

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 New Sideburn            2    1   1   0     4    3   +1     4
2 Farfadillis             1    1   0   0     2    0   +2     3
3 Darmen                  1    1   0   0     2    1   +1     3
4 New North Aqmuland      2    0   1   1     3    4   −1     1
5 Cassadaigua             2    0   0   2     1    4   −3     0

Group G
Super-Llamaland 1-0 Gregoryisgodistan
The Royal Barangay 0-0 Kinzar

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 The Royal Barangay      2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
2 Free Republics          1    1   0   0     1    0   +1     3
3 Super-Llamaland         2    1   0   1     1    1    0     3
4 Kinzar                  1    0   1   0     0    0    0     1
5 Gregoryisgodistan       2    0   0   2     2    4   −2     0

Group H
Mytannion 2-2 Kinitaria
HopNation 3-2 Gloriax

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 HopNation               2    2   0   0     6    2   +4     6
2 San Jose Guayabal       1    1   0   0     3    0   +3     3
3 Kinitaria               2    0   1   1     2    5   −3     1
  Mytannion               2    0   1   1     2    5   −3     1
5 Gloriax                 1    0   0   1     2    3   −1     0

[The Licentian Isles]

Licentian Under 21’s National Football Team

With the 30th edition of the Di Bradini Cup coming home to Starblaydia, and 40 teams once again fighting for that coveted prize, Charles Gray will be taking a very talented group of Licentian youngsters over, in the hopes of getting the new era of Licentian football started with a bang. The Under-21s will be hoping to improve on last time out in the Equestrian States, when they went out in the group stages behind Starblaydia and Felix.

Manager- Charles Gray

Goalkeepers:

1 - Danny Christie - 20 years - Carrington United
12 - Baillie Graham - 18 years - St Bart’s United
13 - Aaron Crawford - 21 years - Blackheath

Full Backs:

2 - Jack Ferguson - 21 years - Gaelic Club
3 - Max Kennedy - 21 years - Glenmount Town
14 - Jonny Boyce - 19 years - Old Corinthians

Centre Backs:

4 - Sean Shaw - 21 years - Abingdon Celtic
5 - Bobby Sutherland - 20 years - St Bart's United
15 - Toby Morrison - 19 years - SC Montfort
16 - Ashton Reiss - 17 years - Gaelic Club

Holding Midfielders:

6 – Patrick Maclean - 21 years - Highmoor Academical
17 – Ed Johnstone - 18 years - AFC Farnworth

Centre Midfielders:

7 – Kai Wallace - 21 years - Abingdon Celtic
8 – Logan Smith - 20 years - Glenmount Town
18 - Marcus Kelly - 20 years - Montfort Wanderers
19 - Lewis Scott - 17 years - Montfort North End

Attacking Midfielders:

10 – Stewart Milne - 21 years - Abingdon Celtic
20 - Duncan Murray - 20 years - SC Montfort
21 - Rory McDonald - 18 years - Glenmount Town

Centre Forwards:

9 – Ruben Munro - 19 years - Metropolis Alligators (VLD)
11 - Cameron McCaleb - 20 years - Gaelic Club
22 - Elliot Gordon - 18 years - Garton Bay Pirates
23 - Darragh Alexander - 16 years - Highmoor Academical

Formation – 4-4-2 Diamond:
With Gethin Ramsay taking over the senior squad, he has given a new twist on the classic 4-4-2 that he used with New Sideburn. The standard wingers have been replaced by a holding and an attacking midfielder, to make the formation seem a lot more Licentian. For the sake of continuity, Charles Gray has carried the new formation over to the Young Eagles.

Starting Eleven - 1/3,4,5,2/6/7,8/10/9,11

Kits - Created by Kirola Sports:


Home Stadium – St Bart’s Oval – 45,500:
St Bart’s, St Bart’s Parish
As the name suggests, St Bart’s Oval was originally a cricket ground, but when St Bart’s Parish cricket team moved their base to picturesque Hessington Island, the stadium was expanded to host St Bart’s United, though the terraces and grassy banks typical of a cricket ground still remain in the stadium. The stadium, with its unique vibe, has been designated as the official stadium of the Licentian Under 21’s side.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:

Choose my goalscorers Y
Godmod scoring events N
RP injuries to my players Y, but nothing serious
Godmod injuries to my players N
Hand out yellow cards to my players Y
Hand out red cards to my players Y, 1 per game, if more, TG me
Godmod other events TG me

Skill Modifier- +1

All ages are correct on the first day of the tournament.

[Super-Llamaland]

Group G
Super-Llamaland 1-0 Gregoryisgodistan
The Royal Barangay 0-0 Kinzar

Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 The Royal Barangay      2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
2 Free Republics          1    1   0   0     1    0   +1     3
3 Super-Llamaland         2    1   0   1     1    1    0     3
4 Kinzar                  1    0   1   0     0    0    0     1
5 Gregoryisgodistan       2    0   0   2     2    4   −2     0

Who's the future of Super-Llamaland football?

Let's look, position by position, at how the national team has shaped up and who might be on it come next World Cup.

Goalkeeper

National Team: Tyson Richards (33), Nick DeJesus (31), Eric Matthews (25)
B Team candidates: Jared Finch (26), James Wagner (29)
U-21 candidates: Henry McNeal (21), Michael Grady (19)

Recap: There is about a 3% chance Tyson Richards and/or Nick DeJesus will be on the team next cycle with their combined age of 72 by then, so Eric Matthews will finally get to start, possibly, in his second-to-last cycle. Matthews debuted in WC 65 as the hot new phenom, seventeen years old, and then broke down. He didn't do the greatest job this cycle either, but there's no way Jared Carter will be considered (they don't want to repeat the Eric Matthews mistake). This leaves Finch, Wagner, McNeal, and Grady, and I think McNeal and Finch are easy frontrunners, although Grady can't be forgotten and Wagner will fit the Michael Kerraway mold by then.

Defender

National Team: Shawn Campbell (33), Cliff Palmer (31), Ryan Jefferson (33), Alejandro Mujica (35), reserves: Lou Hanson (25), Gordon Newmann (29), Joe Evans (31)
B-Team Candidates: Ryan Reagan (22), Justin Allen (25), Karl Benedict (30)
U-21 Candidates: Derrick Nelson (21), Curtis Appel (18), Gordon Beckett (19), Paul Peters (20)

Recap: Shawn Campbell, Cliff Palmer, Ryan Jefferson, Alejandro Mujica, and Joe Evans will all be 35 (Evans/Palmer) or older (Mujica will be 39) by next cycle, meaning that I'd probably take none of them by then. Besides, this D has never been our strong point, besides the attacking Mujica. With five spots wide-open, Derrick Nelson, Paul Peters, Justin Allen, and Ryan Reagan, all talented and young, will probably be starting, while the rest will claw with Hanson and Newmann for the backup spot.

Midfielder

National Team: Chris May (32), Chris Chapman (31), Trevor Duncan (33), Xavier Platona (30), BENCH: Jared Mullin (29), Robby Greene (21), James McGee (30)

B-Team Candidates: Cliff Arnold (28), Bennett Powell (29), Rick Draymond (24), Alex Cartwright (17)

U21 Team Candidates: Alex Ford (20), Kyle Sturgeon (19), Lou Canamic (21), Jake Wiggins (20), Carlos Guzman (19)

Recap: Much talent, many midfielders, so good; midfield is always a fight to get in. But we can peg captain Trevor Duncan, James McGee, Chris Chapman, and Chris May as doubtful, leaving four spots if you ignore the fact that Robby Greene and James McGee barely play. Mullin had a meh cycle, except for the CoH, while Ford, Sturgeon, Wiggins, and Cartwright should be watched very carefully.

Striker

National Team: Evan Powell (32), Bobby Crosby (29), BENCH Luis Alcanatra (30), Johnny Rushmore (30)

B-Team Candidates: Lars McHale (28), Jay Nixon (29), Ben Smith (26)

U-21 Candidates: Peter Masters (18), Jacob Brennaman (19), Angelo Raymond (18)

Recap: In four years, Crosby, Alcanatra, and Rushmore will all be in the uncomfortable region where they're not too old to dump, but they're pretty old. I don't see too much from the B-team or U-21 team, meaning we may be stuck with them. Jacob Brennaman and Peter Masters from the U-21 along with B-team's captain Lars McHale may have good shots.

In other news, Jacob Brennaman came off the bench in the seventy-third to score and Henry McNeal was dominant in a 1-0 shutout of Gregoryisgodistan.

[Starblaydia]

High, high above the Starblaydi city of Montepool, tucked away on the coastline on the northern shore that once was a part of Nova Britannicus, an airship floated. This was not an unusual occurrence; the people of Nova Britannicus' six city-states enjoyed a lifestyle that was taken at a much slower and low-tech pace than the rest of Starblaydia. Airships were just one symptom of the relaxed attitude, spending days, if not weeks, travelling between the six city-states of Widdrington, Tuncastle, Montepool, Hernsworth, Foxchester and Beverington. They were an occasional sight in the skies above the rest of Starblaydia, more of a strange Britannican curiosity than anything else.

Montepool Waves F.C's club crest.

But here, above the Montepool shoreline, the northern-most city in Starblaydia, there were plenty of them around. Montepool had earned itself a reputation as a tourist destination and a playground for the rich and famous to party in. The city relaxed during the day to the sounds of the surf crashing against the silken sands, then came alive at night to the glow of neon lights and revellers throughout the city. It was an easy place to get lost in, an easy place to watch a great game of football thanks to the local team of Montepool Waves, and a very easy city to hide in.

Or above.

The sun had set and the city was starting to come alive. It was time.

The airship had anchored itself to one of the many buildings in the city that could handle the sleek, modern airships. Usually the method of disembarking would be a ladder, lift or cradle, but this time it was simple gravity.

With the last of the evening's light slowly being crushed by the inky blackness of the night sky at the horizon, Viannor slid back the exterior door and breathed in the air, smelling the city below her. The breeze at this altitude, some thirty storeys up, whipping her hair around her face. She paid no mind to it and stepped over the lip of the door and into the night air.

Gravity immediately took over and her body began to accelerate at 9.8 metres per second (squared, of course). Had she been measured, however, it would have been noticed that her velocity suddenly slowed as she came to land on top of the building. Her mental powers, this one telekinesis, had kicked. Originally, around two hundred years ago, she had needed to concentrate on every moment, every movement, as she leapt across the rooftops of Assington, then Starblaydia. Now, however, it was second nature.

She needed to get a feel for the people. It had been generations since she was actually amongst ordinary Starblaydi and her plans could not proceed without finding out for herself what the culture of Starblaydia was like. Was it remarkably different from what had come before, what she was used to? She assumed - maybe even hoped - that the average Starblaydi had changed little over the years. Still the salt of the earth, still the rugged, no-nonsense, intelligent and ordered individual.

She wandered through the streets like a ghost, using her powers to suppress the thoughts of those around her, making herself less noticeable, less obvious - like when you only notice a friend who has been waving at you in the street when they're a yard or so way from you. It was a real effort, requiring significant concentration. So much so that, as she stepped past the shops and through the streets, she completely lost her bearings.

Viannor decided it was a good thing. Couples walked past, hand in hand. In the opposite direction a group of evidently single young men strolled along on their night out. She saw her idea spot: a sports bar on the other side of the road. It wasn't too busy, after all it was only the Di Bradini Cup that was of interest to any Starblaydi at this time of year. There were no matches being played now, either, and the large-screen TV that she could see through the window with her supernaturally sharp eyes was only showing highlights.

Crossing the road without looking, or even needing to, Viannor walked into the bar and sat down in a corner on her own. From here she could see almost everyone in the bar, along with the screen, while she waited for her server. A simple exchange later and within a minute she had a tall glass of Orca Cola and ice in front of her. Sipping it gently she sat back and opened her mind and tried to listen in to the conversations around her through a combination of her sharp ears and her telepathic powers. Quickly she tuned out everything happening outside the bar, or in the kitchens, and focused on what the people around her were talking about, what they were feeling as they spoke.

Most of it was absolute crap, or incomprehensible sports jargon. Down the line and in the box: squares and circles and crosses and triangles. It was like a whole other language of pace, technique, engine rooms and some mythical Row Z. Garbage, utter human garbage, spewed forth by armchair coaches and tactical ignoramuses, regurgitating what they'd heard from pundits and experts and other idiots.

But then, after a little while, something coalesced in the room. She realised it was coming from the screen, an actual news report relevant to the sports show. Two teams visiting the Di Bradini Cup had brought their hooligans with them and a minor riot had broken out, hospitalising around thirty people.

This was where it got interesting. The shadow of violence and hooliganism had never really inflicted itself upon Starblaydi football, for various cultural reasons. San Jose Guayabal and Mytannion, however, had brought it to the country, while the 'fans' of Gregoryisgodistan - Ha! How pathetic. - would surely devolve into animals any moment now. The murmurs went around the bar as everyone immediately started talking about it. It was hard to keep up, but Viannor had a sense of it. Police should move in, give all those foreigners a good kicking. Deport them, ban them from the country. Take them to the nearest pier and throw them off it. This wasn't the Starblaydi way, this wasn't the right way to show off the Di Bradini Cup, just imagine if it had happened at Foundation Road instead of the Albion! This wasn't order.

Order.

That was the way to do it. This could be the spark that would re-light the Starblaydi passion for order. All the pieces were there: jingoism, xenophobia, pride, culture... and then order. An order instigated by the Lord-Protector Julius Starblayde, but controlled by her. This would be it. She quickly left the bar and headed back to her airship. Julius would have to be persuaded to take measures immediately, but he would require some convincing that such harsh penalties were necessary. It would not be too difficult, she was his 'Chorus' after all. Viannor smiled, because everything was beginning again.

[Taijan]

Taijan 2-2 Starblaydia

Junior Ibexes Tie Hosts, Advance to Second in Group A
MONTEPOOL, STARBLAYDIA--Taijan's national U-21 squad, playing in its first Di Bradini Cup, drew the tournament's hosts 2-2 in its second match, advancing the team to second place in a Group A that includes the junior squads from World Cup contenders The Inevitable Syndicate and Ko-oren as well as Starblaydia and fellow minnows Jeckland. Taijan defeated Jeckland 1-0 off an early goal by striker Vishnu Corvallis of the newly-formed Maroons reserve team in Felix. Taijan's draw in the second match came with goals from Corvallis at 33' and sixteen year-old midfielder Tannis Kim from the reserves of the Capital Athletic Club of Coco Bay.

The tournament is being conducted with a pool of forty teams, divided into eight groups of five from which the top two in each group will qualify to a hard-bracketed round of sixteen. If Taijan is to advance, it must hold off its two toughest matches from Ko-oren and The Inevitable Syndicate before biding its time with a bye in matchday five to find out whether it has advanced.

The team has been performing largely as expected from a well-scouted, well-practiced team from a country that has always valued its young footballers. In the box, Leonard Xhang has been showing signs of the training that made Alex Kim a first-team goalkeeper pick at nineteen, but his youth is apparent, even in a field of U-21s, as at least one goal from Starblaydia came off a bad keeper decision. The other defenders have been solid but remarkably unremarkable, with the obvious exception of Tracy Davidson, whose tremendous speed has proven an asset to a team that often sees deep penetration thanks to a lack of width in its back four. Michael Reardan was subbed out in both matches, with eighteen year-old Balazs Kiss splitting his minutes and probably doing a better job.

The midfield is by far the most experienced segment of this team, with the notable exception of sixteen year-old spark plug Tannis Kim of Capital AC, whose speed and agility are unmatched but whose training is clearly far from finished. Kim was replaced partway through the Starblaydia match by thanks to a yellow card resulting from an ill-advised tackle from behind on Inga Koenig. His replacement, Capital teammate Bradley Traviss, proved to be more conservative, but not much wiser of a player. Nevertheless, Tannis Kim's impressive speed for his age is a complement to the slower, more methodical football of team captain Ryan van der Wall and Liam Renner protege Tory Brown and the no-holds-barred attack of Jordan Lovato.

Meanwhile up front, Vishnu Corvallis proves the Maroons' reputation as a "striker factory" is far from undeserved. A tremendous presence in the box, he has demonstrated an ability to place shots that is years ahead of his age and demonstrates a well above-average vision for someone so young. The second striker, Ryan, is more or less irrelevant unless Corvallis is able to deflect a ball off him to get a goal.

Capital Arena, Coco Bay, two years ago
"Are you understanding what you're signing? Take your time."

Tracy had shown up to the meeting without a lawyer because she knew the contract she was signing was probably illegal on several counts and she didn't want that wrinkle to get in the way of her playing for Capital. Child labor laws in Taijan were complex, but they made it very clear that children could not be signed to "binding contracts with bonuses or penalties associated with performance." She knew it was a vestige of the country's quasi-Communist past, where everyone had to be paid the same to do the same job regardless of performance, so employers used a system of bonuses and fines to, for one, hire better players for their football teams. The government turned a blind eye to this practice except in the case of children where, it was believed, such a circumstance could result in a family's food intake being threatened by their child not performing in football or dance, and so it was banned.

So it was probably an illegal contract, and probably she would get paid under the table if at all to play for Capital, but she didn't particularly care. She'd got here through more-or-less illegitimate means and she could stay here through them, too; they'd done right by her so far. After quitting the team at South in disgust and being expelled for "using foul language" to do so, she had posted a video to Greenr Pastrs showing some of her highlights. Some of the more radical social-justice blogs had picked it up and made a cause out of her, "challenging" a Green League team to sign her and taking the credit when the marketing manager for Capital, not anyone having to do with the football side of things, called her up.

He said that the time was rapidly approaching where a female would debut in the Green League, and that he wanted Capital to be the ones to do it, as part of the "new Taijan" rebranding that had come with the name change from Coco Bay Capitals. He was willing to kick some of the advertising budget in to cover her wages, which he said had been enough to convince the coach to sign her--apparently a free player was too good to pass up, even if she was a girl.

[Ceni]

Roster for the 30th Di Bradini Cup

Players

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POS   Number    Player Name (Age)                 Country of Origin
(Denotes Starter)

GK	6	Rubem Abílio Fonseca (14)         Costa de Ouro
GK	7	Goeph Balliv (19)                 Ceni
RB	9	Fernando Ricardo Lobo (13)        Costa de Ouro
RB	26	Dionísio Afonso Duarte (16)       Costa de Ouro
RB	11	Maleko Kalani Mikala Kaimana (16) Nui Hanai
CB	12	Dionísio Emilio Victore (16)	  Costa de Ouro
CB	27	Ral Paz (20)	                  Ceni
CB	34	Keanu Kimo Kaleo Petera (18)	  Nui Hanai
LB	33	Dudreir Valcahor (19)	          Aquitayne
LB	30	Klemas Cenno (17)	          Ceni
RM	18	Kale Kai Kalani Kekoa (15)        Nui Hanai
RM	20	Margul Ralric (19)	          Ceni
CM	21	Oard Tanid (16)	                  Ceni
CM	29	Silch Verpaz (18)	          Ceni
LM	17	Corian Chsil (16)	          Ceni
LM	31	Ekeph Noek (18)	                  Ceni
ST	14	Duder Akitani (19)	          Trellin
ST	3	César Mariano Silveira (15)	  Costa de Ouro
ST	4	Eutímio Gustavo Romão (19)	  Costa de Ouro
ST	15	Plínio Salomão Palmeiro (17)	  Costa de Ouro
ST   	24	David Jeremias Silveira (21)	  Costa de Ouro
ST	23	Pablo Xavier Noyola (14)          Costa de Ouro

Coaching Staff

---

Coach                   Specialty       Coach Name (Country of Origin)
Head Coach	        General	        Kormin Tenshar (Ceni)
Assistant Coach	        General	        Bethoo Likal (Ceni)
Assistant Coach	        Offense	        Akigil Dartess (Ceni)
Assistant Coach	        Defense	        Gualberto Gervásio Mateus (Costa de Ouro)
Assistant Coach	        Goalkeeping	Tane Petera Patariki Ikaia (Nui Hanai)
Chief Doctor	        General	        Yatri Ciary (Ceni)
Medical Consultant      General	        Bartessla Leidiolia (Ceni)
Medical Consultant      General         Feliciano Primo Belo (Costa de Ouro)

[HopNation]

Results
MD1: 3-0 v Kinitaria (A)
MD2: 3-2 v Gloriax (H)
MD3: bye
MD4: Mytannion (A)
MD5: San Jose Guayabal (H)

---

Win|Draw|Loss

NA Hops continue dominant play but let in a pair of goals. The squad had another good outing against Gloriax by putting in another three goals, however the Gloriax side proved a worthy opponent as they put in two goals of their own. The scoring got started in just the twelfth minute as Eisa Loostin brought the ball up the left touch line. He played a give and go with Pheir Droimpol as Droimpol moved out towards Loostin. Droimpols pass back angled directly at the corner flag gave Loostin plenty of room behind Pasquale Wickline. Loostin took one more touch, a touch pushing the ball near the edge of the eighteen yard box. It was a perfect cross that meet the head of Pech Schytaing as he jumped, almost over Edmund Hayek of Gloriax, and headed the ball to the back post where keeper Milford Simser had no chance of reaching it. For the next twenty five minutes it was mostly a possession game as each team struggled to mount an attack, but then in the thirty eighth minute Alva Manus tied things up off of a nice set piece. The free kick was awarded after an extremely hard tackle Theophil Raske put on the other Gloriax forward Shaun Mcguffin. After the half the NA Hops would strike first and break the tie as Pech Schytaing put in his second of the match. This goal was assisted by Pheir Droimpol as the ball was played forward from the backs by Finley Carran. Droimpol received the ball and turned, where he had open space to move forward before passing forward to Schytaing. Schytaing played his first touch back to Droimpol, as he had a man on his back, he then curled off and directly into the path of Droimpols second forward pass. This left Schytaing in a foot race with Norbert Palka, Palka was no match for Schytaings speed as he pulled away with the ball and was one on one with the keeper. As Simser came out Schytaing simply slotted the ball to his left and inside the post putting the NA Hops up 2-1 with thirty minutes to play. Pech Schytaing would get his hat trick in the eighty first minute, this goal was the from a penalty kick after an unfortunate handball was called on Milo Snover on a corner kick from Pheir Droimpol that was deflected across the top of the eighteen by HA Hops AM Freeway Tantrum. The Gloriaxian side could not believe the call as replay showed the ball grazing Snover’s arm, which was held tightly against his side. Nonetheless this put the NA Hops up 3-1 with roughly nine minutes to play. Gloriax would keep things close by notching a goal in the eighty seventh minute, this goal came from Alva Manus again and assisted by Shaun Mcguffin after a nice work up that started all the way back with keeper Simser and a throw out to Norberto Palka.

It seems some of the canter going on has settled down a bit, although it’s definitely clear that some Nations have little care for others in this Cup. In HopNation the ice rinks are getting a fresh paint layer before being iced over again as the Nation is getting set to announce its roster for the World Cup of Hockey very soon. The Hops, our senior squad, is enjoying some nice rest and two of the football leagues announced start dates in mid-February. It will be interesting to see which of the players on this NA Hops squad end up playing in those leagues and perhaps, if not already on it, make the next senior squad for World Cup 68.

Here we go, match preview time.

Match Day 3 Prediction

---

Gloriax 2-1 Mytannion - at Albion Arena in Hersch
Mytannion will continue to struggle, although they put in two goals against Kinitaria. Gloriax will rebound after the loss to HopNation and now that they have some experience under them they will take down Mytannion in their second game, this will move them up into the third position of the group.

---

Kinitaria 0-2 San Jose Guayabal – at Foundation Road in Jhanna
The second match in Group H is between Kinitaria and San Jose Guayabal. SJG will stay on track with HopNation as they move to 2-0, although they will score less goals they will be essentially tied at the top of the group after three match days.

---

NA Hops- Bye
The final team in Group H has a bye after winning on Match Day One 3-0 over Kinitaria and also winning on Match Day Two 3-2 over Gloriax. HopNation will take on Mytannion when they return to action on Match Day Four.

[Free Republics]

Gregoryisgodistan had now lost 2 consecutive matches to start the Di Bradini Cup. Rule Theriault had not been expecting to face a Gregoryisgodistani side that had not obtained a single point against The Royal Barangay or Super-Llamaland. Lord Gregory's Slaves just did not seem like all that tough of an opponent this year. Rule Theriault did not regard Super-Llamaland or The Royal Barangay as an especially difficult opponent. The one nation was from Esportiva, the region of minnows. Everybody knew that real champions came from regions like Atlantian Oceania, Rushmore and (especially) World Changers. Esportiva never won anything, although the Cup of Harmony often seemed like a glorified Campionato Esportiva, albeit with a few teams from superior regions to do the actual winning. Theriault was certain that an Esportivan nation would never win the World Cup or the Cup of Harmony and he was determined to reclaim the Di Bradini Cup from those Esportivan minnows who had only won last year because they ran into Polar Islandstates in the final, not the semis.

At the moment, Theriault could hardly get most of his players to turn off the RWC Network long enough to practice. While Theriault wasn't thrilled with that fact, he at least took comfort in the fact that they were watching the Republican Wrestling Conglomerate, not All Taiyou Pro Wrestling or the Sunrise Wrestling Federation. The RWC had announced that WrestleCade would be a 15-hour show this year, held in 5 cities. This would make it, by far, the largest event that the RWC had ever put on, but with the addition of the Network, they could expand the amount of programming that they offered. As long as it was profitable to run the arena or such a show could be justified for purposes of expansion, they could run it and put it on the network. This had already meant an end to the traditional non-televised events, which were now viewable in their entirety on the RWC Network and often aired live and commercial-free. What this meant was that the RWC kept signing up every wrestler they could find, trying to expand their roster and prepare to hold several shows on every night of the year. All this meant that the RWC's fans were staying glued to the new Network practically 24/7. This also meant that the Republican U-21s, this year, had no desire to hang out in any bars getting drunk and getting into questionable "hook ups" with the ladies.

However, with the Gregoryisgodistan game approaching, Theriault insisted that his team turn off the RWC Network and start practicing. They sat and watched footage of Gregoryisgodistan's losses. This was their chance to get a second victory and send the Slaves back home to be executed by Gregory for their poor performance in this competition. While the Free Republics had finished in the top 3 of the last 3 DBCs, they were still intent on equaling Cafundeu's mark of 4 consecutive top 3 finishes in the DBC. Just stepping onto the pitch to represent the Federation of Free Republics in the Di Bradini Cup brought an enormous amount of pressure. Having dominated the DBC over the past few years, Rule Theriault's team was expected to continue to play up to the standard that they had set for themselves. While the Republicans weren't yet this dominant at the U-15 or Senior level, they expected to win Di Bradini Cups and to win every Di Bradini Cup game which they played. Rule Theriault did not expect any different against Gregoryisgodistan.

---

News Magazine

As Economic Growth Slows, Party for National Greatness Gains in Polls
by: Alexander Ehrlichmann

The Party for National Greatness is now polling at upwards of 30 percent, according to a new poll conducted by News Magazine. The controversial political party, led by Samuel Izmailov, has had momentum on their side for the past few years, a momentum that only seems to grow stronger with each passing week. Now, polls indicate that they are likely to win around a third of the Assembly vote and, with it, a third of the seats in the Assembly. This will only complicate things further for Consuls Savard and Piazza. If this result holds, then the mainstream parties, which now includes Consul Piazza's Radicals in addition to the Moderates, Liberals and Conservatives, will likely have to form a coalition with either the National Greatness Party, the Christians and Holy Party or the Progressives and Greens just to be able to govern. Experts warn that such a result would be disastrous for good governance in our Federation.

Chantal Bourdette, a Professor of Political Science at The Amolotopia Republic University, warns about the dangers of casting so-called "protest" votes. "A vote for a political party is a vote for that political party, even if you are voting for them as a 'protest' or you are voting for them because you don't like the candidate your party nominated," Mrs. Bourdette told me earlier this week, "If you aren't happy with the state of our Federation, vote for a political party that offers solutions to our problems, not a party that offers resentment of foreigners or a party that does its best to stoke your fears about a group of people that they don't like. We are One Federation and we need to vote for parties and candidates that bring us together rather than tearing us apart. Our political system requires compromise and consensus. Those demagogues who would divide our Federation only undermine the consensus that keeps our Federation great and free." This reporter strongly endorses the warning from Mrs. Bourdette.

With Consul Piazza's approval ratings still extremely low, due to his image as an appeaser of our Federation's enemies, the Radical Alliance is especially struggling in the polls and may not even reach the 2% threshold required to obtain representation in the Assembly. Meanwhile, the Responsible Progress Party, founded by famed maverick Younes Danielsson is polling at around 10 percent, a remarkable accomplishment for such a new party. Also polling surprisingly well is the Prohibition Party, a party that is primarily famous for their desire to outlaw alcohol, tobacco and cannabis. They are currently polling at 3 percent. The Communist Party FFR is also polling better than usual, at 7 percent. Meanwhile, all of the mainstream parties appear to be set to lose seats and, probably the majority that permits the Grand Coalition to remain in control of the Assembly perpetually. The margin of error on this poll is 2 percentage points.

With the possibility of the National Greatness Party, the far-left parties and the theocratic parties holding a majority of the Assembly between them after the upcoming midterm election comes speculation from some quarters that these parties will be forming a Grand Coalition of their own. However, Father Dominik Kelly of the Holy Party has firmly rejected any plans to go into coalition with the National Greatness Party, telling me, "That is not God's Will. We are not going to go into coalition with a party that wants to spread our Federation's military too thin, undermining our ability to protect that shining City on a Hill to the North. While I pray every day for God to deliver us to victory, I will not take God's Party into coalition with the heretics or the wicked or the warmongers, for, as our lord Iesus has said, Blessed are the peacemakers and all who take up the sword shall die by the sword." It certainly doesn't appear that the Holy Party will be part of any government, but few would reasonably expect a party that is an obvious front for the Church of Saintland to be willing to compromise with a rival Christianist party or with the radical feminists that own the Progressive Party lock, stock and barrel. With several months still to go until the election, it is becoming increasingly likely that the Assembly will be gridlocked for the final 2 years of Consul Savard's term in office, potentially imperiling the government's ability to get anything done.

Alexander Ehrlichmann is a political campaign correspondent for News Magazine. As long as he can remember, Alexander has been fascinated by the news. As a boy, he insisted that his parents subscribe to News Magazine because he wanted to know what was happening in the world. In high school, Alexander started his own school newspaper, independent of his high school, which reported on serious issues that the school's approved newspaper would not touch. Attending the University of Amoltopia, Baseton campus, Alexander majored in journalism and graduated at the top of his class. He was hired by News Magazine straight out of college a few years ago to report on the news in his home Republic of Amolotopia. After impressing the editor, he was assigned to cover the most recent Consul election campaign.

[Ko-oren]

Who of these players will play for...?

Another group of 23 players is in Starblaydia, not too far away from here, to defend the Ko-orenite honor in a tournament we are traditionally bad at. Until last year, when the U-21 team came in fourth, albeit with a 22-year-old (but no one noticed). With this group of players all in their 20's, especially the starting 11, we can see a new national team emerging. The one that will take the place of the current national team to hopefully keep our nation in the 10's and 20's of the world ranking. But how likely are these players to get that far?

The AAA++ class players
Yao Liu, Ken Konno, Max Linderman, Tarl Rakoren, Miro Zhukov, Lester King
They will probably make the national team next cycle, or the cycle after that. They will keep improving and improving until they make a move like Storm Enshadilsa, to a quality league like the V-League. Destined to not stay in Ko-oren for much longer, or at least until they finished their education. Yao Liu is going to be a strong defender, a true wing back, and might even change the defensive parking the bus that we always to into a more daring approach, but still defensively stable. Ken Konno is the next Sobek Dehenat, despite the age gap (truth be told, with Dehenat already benched for the NT, we really need a new Sobek Dehenat before Konno makes the NT). Linderman should be a classy midfielder, either a playmaker or a dogfighter. Tarl Rakoren should fill the same position, so we should have a dynamic midfield in 5 years time. Zhukov is the next big thing up front, giving even Shiribeshi in his top years a run for his money. Lester King, the youngest in the team, is apparently good enough to make the DBC squad, so he should be good enough for this list.

The Globe Cup players
Stefan Blanke, Shigenobu Morioka, Heruligen Gargarithen, Gun Kaldirim, Johan Gravesen, Vasek Fjodorov, Michael King
Decent players all around. NT reserves, maybe, or if one of them has a good few years, one might grow out to a fun player to look at... but that could be it. With Fjodorov, the northern state of Vnoskjulung surely has a few nice attackers in store for us (Zhukov also being from there) and the Ko-orenite offense might turn Russian for a few years. And let's face it, as long as these players keep playing for KNL1 teams, teams from the Ko-orenite national league, they are destined to keep playing in the Globe Cup anyway.

The interesting trivia players
Keir Bryne, Ejik Ob, Mark Aumark, Merijn ter Hoek, 8-447219, Gokhan Tekeli, Zhang Xiaowen
These will probably end up in a football quiz for the true dedicated football know-it-alls. Questions like 'who defended the goal in the fourth group game of the DBC in Starblaydia?', or the 'which defender scored two at that and that tournament there and there?'. 8-447219 is good, but obviously he is just in here for the inevitable 'which non-Ko-orenite made the DBC team' question. And that leaves us asking, where are the Arhoreni, Irithorene, Zakhorenians, Neo-Ko-orenites and Talorenjin? We have the Thaulandians now.

Those guys
Olivier Haun, Karilitun Pergaluithen, Kevin Summers
Never really inspiring, but still good players in teams that play low in KNL1, or high in KNL2. Or should they give up on football because another career pays better, they would still be a good player for any amateur side. Sorry, but there is a reason they are in the reserves. It might be early to put Summers in this category with his 18 years, but his substituting has raised some eyebrows.

[Svengarda]

Northern Rushmori Ocean
300 years ago

Mathias Lund stood looking from the window in his personal cabin, watching the wooden hull cut through the choppy grey waters. Svalbard was well behind them now, over the horizon. They were surrounded by endless miles of icy ocean.

Lund was a trader, a wealthy one. Born in Svalbard, son of a banker, Mathias owned several fishing vessels and had been on two trading expeditions before, but none as big or as daring as this one. In short, they had no concrete destination: it was just 'go east'. There was vague rumours and reports of a group of islands about 500 miles east which rich stores of diamonds and other precious stones, but no certain evidence. Traders in the know had coined these islands the 'Diamond Islands'

The flotilla consisted of 3 trading cogs, each with about 70 men and women on board. They had set sail from Longyearbyen four days ago, and since the islands had disappeared over the horizon two days ago, they'd had no sight of land. The weather, so often unpredictable in these parts, had been relatively graceful, with little wind and no rain. It had allowed the flotilla to make very quick progress across the sea. According to the charts, the flotilla would be in sight of the Diamond Islands in just 1 and a half days.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a voice from behind him. He turned quickly to see his Chief Navigator, Ivar.

"Ivar, you have news from the Helm?"

"Yes sir, and it's not good. There are storm clouds in the horizon. Bad ones. Jan is suggesting we divert our course, to avoid the storm."

"And how long will this diversion take?"

"Alas, sir, we do not know. These waters are currently uncharted. It could be anywhere from a day to a week. Possibly longer."

"No."

"I beg your pardon, sir"

"We cannot diverge our course. We do not have the time or resources. My associates are expecting results, we cannot change."

"But sir -"

"Do not cross me Ivar."

Ivar nodded and left the cabin, returning to the Helm. There was a calm breeze in the air, but he knew it would get a lot worse.

---

Scorers: Heikki 74', L. Steffansson 82'

[Farfadillis]

The life of a Farf defender is terrible. Salomón Cayfú was a victim of his job. Ever since he was a little kid in the streets of Ferdullaele, playing with his friends, he'd been the weird guy who would choose to play in the most hated position: defender. He never regretted it, and he was often an asset for his team (what with nobody being an actual defender among his group of friends except for him). He was very talented, however, and that was noticeable even though he was a defender.

Stamina, an eye for the attack, some honed defensive skills, determination. He was ideal for a Farf defender. But he had chosen the wrong position. Nobody knows what would've been of him if he had chosen a more respectable position among Farves - one in which Farfadillis specializes. He could've been a pacy striker, or a nightmare of an offensive midfielder, wreaking havoc. Maybe a player of characteristics similar to those of Dandalleion. Maybe he could've been a fantastic playmaker. But no, he'd chosen to be a defender.

He loved being a defender, he had always liked to make his everything different. His football was no different. Still, it was like a salad of different things. He had never liked to restrict himself to defending. Indeed, he was probably better at attacking, though he was a very good defender. He added some aggressiveness to his play, a taste for scoring goals and that was it. A very rare left back of sorts. He was ideal for a wingback, however. Eventually, that became his natural position.

Libertarian Ferdullaele, who had decided to start spending on their youth programs, quickly signed him and started polishing his skills. He was meant to be a big player. He was a defender like few Farves could be. They saw potential in him.

But being a defender in Farfadillis - and there's never enough of stressing this out - is a terrible job. It's tragic. Nobody likes you too much, and you're frequently seen as a nuisance to the game. You're there to be beaten by the talented attackers. You're there to just let the game be beautiful. You're there to allow the attackers make everybody enjoy what they're watching. Yet, from time to time, a good defender appears. One that makes football look a bit more boring for spectators. One that is good.

And still, Cayfú was not that guy. He was one that made football more beautiful. He was always there to defend, but his sliding tackles were awe-inspiring, and he could attack quite easily. He was a nuisance, yes, but to his opponents.

And yet he was not liked by many. He was a defender, he had to cope with it.

They were playing Cassadaigua now, Fuego had scored the opener in the tenth minute. He was told he would replace Fâizxý in the seventeenth minute. So he did. He added speed to La Vherderoja's game. Things were looking good. Still, everybody in Farfadillis was expecting a defender to make things just slightly less boring. After all, defending is boring.

Saying Cayfú is innocent of making things boring is an understatement, however. Soon, he got a through ball from Delafuente to break the Cassadagan defense once again. Facing the goalkeeper, he just chipped the ball. There was no way back, Farfadillis was inevitably going to win.

Apparently, defenders can entertain too.

[Dutzenderland]

Dutzenderlandisch Sportnews - Di Bradini Cup XXX Matchday 2
January 25, 2013 at Silverlands in Corinth, Starblaydia - The team has lost 3-1 to Polar Islandstates. While Tomokazu Nishimura scored the first goal, Halvard Jensen scored some goals in a small period of time.
Score: Polar Islandstates 3-1 Dutzenderland
Goalscorers
Polar Islandstates: Halvard Jensen (3)
Dutzenderland: Tomokazu Nishimura (1)
Current Goalscorer Statistics
Tomokazu Nishimura - 1

[San Jose Guayabal]

<-- Previous

The Dirty Job, Part: 2 ........ The plans.

Guayabalense Communist Party HQ, San Pedro Perulapán.

Suddenly a new day dawning in San Jose Guayabal, while starting a new month, December, besides certain winds of change were arriving to the nation. The people began to awaken from deep sleep status that had been imposed by the authoritarian regime of the Finns, a whole real plan was brewing in a small house located on the outskirts of San Pedro Perulapán, everything was planned meticulously, comrades they arrived at the house drunk club dresses to hide.

"Comrade Suárez"..... "Present".
"Comrade Lucas".... "Present for the motherland!".
"Comrade Juan"....... "Present". Sarabia wrote the names of the people who came to the meeting and later give some instructions to uprise against Saarinen.

Then they began to say hello and also hear some classical communist music, as The Internationale or The soviet anthem with Guayabalense lyrics. after that , they sat on the floor, on a huge red carpet and brochures of the Communist Manifesto of San Jose Guayabal were distributed , giving some precise instructions , suddenly Perla was up from the mat and his great talent he rose and began his speech.

- " Comrades, this month a big change is coming to our country , enough of this intolerant and abusive regime of human rights , and the people are waking up and we must fight , we must fight, we must succeed "

After a total analytical silence between these , there were screams.

- " Workers of the world, unite! "

- " Freedom or death, we shall overcome, long live socialism, Long live Free Guayabal."

- " Let us go, we will fight as did our colleagues in other nations as Taijan or Licentian The Isles , basemonos in examples of our comrades, let's fight ."

After they decided to take up arms to celebrate and then turn on the TV to see documentaries, but they met with an unpleasant surprise.

"We learned through intelligence forces about the death of a member of the national propaganda, something intolerable for us, those responsibles will be hue....

It turns out that Pearl decided off the TV, Saravia exclaimed loudly.

- "We must send to the grave that asshole"

Then the motion began to be seconded by the comrades who decided to take up a meeting.

- "Let's meet, we must devise a plan to kill Saarinen, that would lead us to overthrow socialism and implement the Community"

- "Great idea is to hit him in the neck to that idiot."

- "But we need a infiltrated the army or the government cabinet, that will help"

After these statements, people stood up and applauded, one of those present took a phone and contacted the right hand Saarinen, Luis Escobar, Vice Minister of Housing, which is actually Finnish but actually is Salvadoran and began to plan the coup.

- "Hi Luis, how are you?

- "Good and you"

- "Excellent, I wanted to let you know that it is time to begin the coup"

- "Well, the idea is .... I tell you the moment we met, I leave the bathroom and go to kill all of the presidential lounge, but me, I have a red shirt under my coat to be identified, give me a gun and take care of murdering Saarinen "

- "Excellent, I hope to get answers soon"

- "May I communicate to you the day before or at the moment, if emergency."

- "Ok, bye"

The conversation ended, already had a plan that was orchestrated literally infallible, everything was ready, but needed to know the time to mobilize people and to end the "Dirty Job" once and for all.

[Starblaydia]

Matchday Three

Group A
The Inevitable Syndicate 0-1 Taijan
Starblaydia 4-0 Jeckland

____________________________Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Starblaydia                 3    2   1   0     9    3   +6     7
2 Taijan                      3    2   1   0     4    2   +2     7
3 Ko-oren                     2    1   0   1     2    3   −1     3
4 The Inevitable Syndicate    2    0   0   2     0    2   −2     0
5 Jeckland                    2    0   0   2     0    5   −5     0

Group B
Eura 3-1 Angela Islands
Nassau-Hessen 1-2 The Licentian Isles

________________________Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Huelandia               2    2   0   0     6    2   +4     6
2 The Licentian Isles     2    1   1   0     4    3   +1     4
3 Angela Islands          3    1   1   1     4    5   −1     4
4 Eura                    2    1   0   1     5    4   +1     3
5 Nassau-Hessen           3    0   0   3     1    6   −5     0

Group C
Svengarda 3-0 Chiata
Ceni 0-3 Pasarga

________________________Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Yttribia                2    2   0   0     4    2   +2     6
2 Pasarga                 2    1   1   0     3    0   +3     4
3 Svengarda               2    1   0   1     5    3   +2     3
4 Ceni                    3    1   0   2     2    5   −3     3
5 Chiata                  3    0   1   2     1    5   −4     1

Group D
Dutzenderland 0-1 Felix
Scoutimont 1-1 Mangolana

________________________Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Felix                   3    2   0   1     4    2   +2     6
2 Mangolana               2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
3 Scoutimont              3    1   1   1     3    3    0     4
4 Polar Islandstates      2    1   0   1     3    3    0     3
5 Dutzenderland           2    0   0   2     1    4   −3     0

Group E
Vettrera 1-0 Mizuyuki
Equestrian States 3-3 Northern Sunrise Islands

____________________________Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Equestrian States           3    2   1   0     7    5   +2     7
2 Northern Sunrise Islands    2    1   1   0     4    3   +1     4
3 Vettrera                    2    1   1   0     1    0   +1     4
4 Taeshan                     2    0   1   1     0    1   −1     1
5 Mizuyuki                    3    0   0   3     2    5   −3     0

Group F
Darmen 2-1 Cassadaigua
New Sideburn 2-4 Farfadillis

________________________Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Farfadillis             2    2   0   0     6    2   +4     6
2 Darmen                  2    2   0   0     4    2   +2     6
3 New Sideburn            3    1   1   1     6    7   −1     4
4 New North Aqmuland      2    0   1   1     3    4   −1     1
5 Cassadaigua             3    0   0   3     2    6   −4     0

Group G
Kinzar 2-3 Super-Llamaland
Gregoryisgodistan 1-2 Free Republics

________________________Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Free Republics          2    2   0   0     3    1   +2     6
2 Super-Llamaland         3    2   0   1     4    3   +1     6
3 The Royal Barangay      2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
4 Kinzar                  2    0   1   1     2    3   −1     1
5 Gregoryisgodistan       3    0   0   3     3    6   −3     0

Group H
Gloriax 2-0 Mytannion
Kinitaria 2-3 San Jose Guayabal

________________________Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 HopNation               2    2   0   0     6    2   +4     6
  San Jose Guayabal       2    2   0   0     6    2   +4     6
3 Gloriax                 2    1   0   1     4    3   +1     3
4 Kinitaria               3    0   1   2     4    8   −4     1
5 Mytannion               3    0   1   2     2    7   −5     1

[Taijan]

Taijan Defeats The Inevitable Syndicate, Secures Advancement in Di Bradini Cup
With a single goal by Vishnu Corvallis at sixty-three minutes into their match against The Inevitable Syndicate, Taijan's U-21s have secured their advancement to the round of sixteen going into the fifth matchday, in which the Junior Ibexes will have a bye as Ko-oren faces Jeckland and The Inevitable Syndicate faces hosts Starblaydia.

The game's broadcast was well-viewed in Taijan, given the Syndicate's billing as World Cup qualifiers despite the fact that not one of the U-21s playing in Starblaydia was on the team that went to Equestrian States. An estimated fifteen thousand people turned up to watch the match on one of three screens projected onto the sides of Dynamo Stadium on the beach of Nova Tangiers, while auditoriums at all five of Taijan's universities were packed with fans watching a live stream of the match from Starblaydia.

The first half was slow as the defensive tactics of The Inevitable Syndicate clashed with the midfield-heavy Junior Ibexes. The Ibexes kept the ball forward of the midfield line for much of the match, but hardly took any shots, owing to being locked out of the eighteen-meter box. Oddly enough, it was Rakkim Ryan, not Corvallis, who finally took a shot, sending the ball rattling off the crossbar on the side of the goal opposite keeper Terry Scott. Despite several more attempts by both strikers, the teams went into their locker rooms scoreless at the half.

Ryan came off at the half in favor of Aaron Yates, meaning there were four players from the Felix Maroons playing for Taijan for the second half. Yates kept pressure on the goal, but it was Corvallis who finally scored, an artistic header to the opposite corner that sent Scott sprawling. The rest of the game was almost a retrograde effort by the Ibexes, keeping the Inevitables out of their goal but making few efforts to score a second. The whistle blew at ninety with the score one-nil, and the Taijanis left the field with big smiles, knowing they'd made it.

If Starblaydia defeats The Inevitable Syndicate tomorrow, Taijan will take second in the group and advance to face the winner of Group D, which is likely to be either Mangolana, Sicoutimont, or fellow Esportivans Felix. In the unlikely event of a Starblaydian loss to the Syndicate, Taijan will take first in Group A and advance to face the runner-up of Group B, which is likely to be the loser of the match between Huelandia and The Licentian Isles, or Huelandia in the event of a draw.

The success of the Taijani U-21s in the DBC has come as a surprise to many in the Taijani football community, but others claim it is the result of a robust academy system that is advanced for such a small football nation as Taijan.

"You look at Taijan, you look at Taijani football, and what do you see? You see a history of reserve leagues, academy leagues, kids getting picked up at ten or twelve and crafted into football players," said coach Leroy Chao, himself a graduate of the Nova Tunis Academy. Chao went on to credit the Maroons organization for "setting the standard" for youth football in Taijan, something which he says they've continued to do with the introduction of a new farm club in the Felixian Football League.

"People wonder why the Maroons are such a dynasty, but the answer is simple," said Vishnu Corvallis, "It's because we don't outsource our player development. I've been wearing maroon since I was thirteen, and when I get to Nova Algiers to play for the senior team, I'll know the system in and out, and I'll be loyal all the way. Not many teams have that."

[HopNation]

Results
MD1: 3-0 v Kinitaria (A)
MD2: 3-2 v Gloriax (H)
MD3: bye
MD4: Mytannion (A)
MD5: San Jose Guayabal (H)

---

Win|Draw|Loss

Well we’ve had some time off, both for the NA Hops and for any action back in HopNation as well. We are just about two weeks from the start of our major leagues so all has been quiet. Some moves have been made and stadiums updated in the off-season between the end of the HopNations Champions League (HCL) where Zorg FC was crowned champion of the HCLC. Zorg FC is part of the Liga de Copperwies, which is actually the last domestic league to kick off in HopNation, so the defending champions still have a bit of rest before they try and qualify for the HCL again. In other news around HopNation many of the Hoptonians have been taking part in many of the winter festivals through HopNation. Most cities celebrate the mid-point of winter by holding celebratory events. These events include human dog sled races, where people are the ones powering the sleds and traverse a course made on one of their city streets. There is also broomball tournaments, snowshoeing scavenger hunts, sledding, and much much more going on at each event and some cities hold week long events while others simply hold everything on one single day. It’s a fun way to remember that they are only half way though the snow and cold that comes with the winter season in HopNation.


Here we go, match preview time.

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

Mytannion Likely Starters
NA Hop Scouts
could not find
a set line-up

Match Day 4 Prediction

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San Jose Guayabal 2-2 Gloriax - at Albion Arena in Hersch

This game will see SJG, who is tied with NA Hops, take on the third place team of Gloriax. It will be a fight all the way down to the wire but will end in a draw. We see SJG getting out to an early lead, but will go into half time down a goal. They will come back to tie things up late in the second half and earn both Gloriax and themselves one point.

---

Mytannion 1-3 NA Hops – at Foundation Road in Jhanna

With much needed rest the NA Hops will be back in action and facing the side from Mytannion. A side that finds themselves struggling and sitting at the bottom of Group H. The NA Hops are sitting at the top of Group H along with the SJG squad. This should be a decent game but the NA Hops will control things and come out on top. Hopefully they will put in enough goals in, in order to put some distance between them and SJG, or better yet the NA Hops win and SJG loses. We also see this game as being a high possession game in favor of the NA Hops. They will control much of the action not allowing Mytannion more than 3 or 4 shots. Mytannion will however get one of those shots to ripple the netting keeping the NA Hops clean sheet hopes out of reach.

---

Kinitaria – Bye

Kinitaria gets a bye for Match Day 4, they expect to bounce back after having a rough start but keeping it close in their game against SJG. The day off will do them well and have them very ready for the final match day of group play.

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

It seemed like Alcouin finally got the hang of it. The Half-Vaporeon was now looking for a goal, using her special skills as she slashed through the defense, lifting the ball over the head of one of the Equestrian defenders with a small, nearly unseen burst of water, getting past Bailey'. With 3 goals by the Ponies over the sole 2 scored by the Vaporeons, thanks to the skills of her colleague Cleese, scoring two goals. As she quickly leaped into the air, suspended by a Water Pulse, preparing to do a quick backflip and somehow hit the net, something suddenly burst on her mind. Once again, it started to ask if she was, in fact, pondering if she should go and score that one goal. For whatever reason, after doing that way the entire Under-15 World Cup, the girl couldn't hit that shot. As she descended as quick as she rose to the air, the ball continued its way to the goal, with Super Stop easily doing exactly what says in the tin, hitting the ball hoof first outside.

Hannah started to cry. She clearly wasn't herself anymore, but couldn't figure out what made her become what she was now. Something suddenly made her turn her head to the bench, as she could note Ming, the anthropomorphic fox waiting to get subbed in under that Vaporeon-decorated yellow shirt and the referee lifting the board. Number 10 out, Number 21 in. Hannah started to walk her way out, being quickly followed by Cleese. "Hannah, what's the matter?" asked her teammate. "Shut up, Brittany." said Hannah, leaving the field as Ming joined the pitch, slapping her hand as another of those common moves done whenever people get substituted. The Under-15 World Cup winner sat on the bench, looking to the floor. It wouldn't take long for Ming to head the goal in and tie the score. While the fox celebrated with her teammates, Hannah heard something inside her mind. "You're not the only one, Hannah." The forward lifted her head up, seeing the coach Lynette Bourbon caressing her head with a nice smile.

---

"I can't believe you convinced me on doing this with you!" said Sarracena, following Cleese through the hotel's hall. "She's our teammate, Yupanqui. Plus, that would be a nice way to diverge you more from... you know, being the brother of Sankis." said Brittany Cleese, as they finally arrived at Alcouin's room door. "...I'm not a gimmick! Shut up!", Sarracena says as Cleese opened the door, listening to a shower-like noise at the bathroom. "Oh... dear lord." said Sarracena, closing his eyes. Cleese gave a light punch to his right arm, laughing as she dragged him to the bathroom. "Don't worry, this isn't Jeruselem!"

In the end, the shower noise was coming from Alcouin's right hand as she gave a bath to a small Teddiursa. "Here, little boy... now you can sleep all tidy and clean..." said Alcouin to the pokémon, before Cleese coughed. "I'm not a specialist on rights, but isn't you having a Pokémon slavery?" asked Sarracena. "I'm a half-Pokémon! Also... having a little pet doesn't kill. But, why are you here?" asked Hannah, putting her Teddiursa to sleep in a small, nice bed.

"We are worried about you. Ever since we arrived at Starblaydia, something has been making you miss easy shots without any justified reason. It's like you got an illness or something, Hannah. And I don't like it." said Cleese, looking at Alcouin. "Yeah... and even though you haven't been talking too much, it's nice to see you're not talking a lot... but we need all the help we can." Alcouin looked at them, sad. "I... I don't know why... Every time I get a great chance to score... my mind suddenly goes under a bunch of things and I can't find myself the chance to shoot. It's weird. It's always a voice asking me those stuff... and for some reason..."

The girl sobbed, looking at the other two inside the room. "...I think it's Madam Bourbon."

[Free Republics]

Sporting World

Letters to the Editor

Gregoryisgodistan 1-2 Free Republics

I enjoyed seeing Mr. Theriault's U-21s defeat the Gregoryisgodistanis. They deserve the DBC run they're getting after all of the nonsense that they have pulled during the World Bowl. The number of people murdered by them is beyond counting and I hope Sheriff Akram, the only lawman who would stand up to those criminals, chooses to seek the death penalty. Those "enemy crushers" deserve it.

Alexandra Stewart
Republic of Iodara

I am relieved that Rule Theriault's U-21s seem as dominant as ever, even without Kyle Bolton and Koby Theodore. However, it would be nice if they would score more goals and win by bigger margins. These 1-nil to 2-1 matches make for boring television.

Leon Beich
Republic of Roxawa

Am I the only one who feels sorry for the Gregoryisgodistanis? Knowing that psychotic Lord Gregory, they're going to be killed as soon as they return home for performing so badly in this year's DBC. At least Mr. Theriault's team is just a win against Kinzar away from locking up a spot in the Round of 16.

Gerard Lachance
Republic of Keronama

Noburu Taiyou 2, Northern Sunrise Islands 0

This just goes to show what a fluke last year's performance by the Northern Sunrise Islands was. After winning both youth tournaments and qualifying for the World Cup, they opened up the championship of the Region of Minnows with a loss to the pathetic Taiyouese team. For all the talk about how Esportiva is this great sporting region and Northern Sunrise Islands is a rising team in the world of international soccer, to think that it is so easy to refute those ridiculous claims that the NSI aren't minnows.

Barbara Ozerova
Republic of Jolarus

Why is this shocking result? Taiyouese practice fundamentals. Fundamentals most important.

Kazuho Rin
Received via email

I am proud of my homeland today, for they have defeated a truly worthy opponent and shown that Taiyouese are not pushovers. What makes it even better is the way they played the game. Instead of showboating, committing crimes and insulting half the multiverse, they just went out and played soccer the way the game is meant to be played. The importance of fundamentals cannot be understated and that is where Taiyouese athletes are best.

Yoshimitsu Sanwa
Republic of Plymouth

World Bowl XXII

I'm picking Cassadaigua to win World Bowl XXII. They came so close last time, but this time around they have looked even better than last time. Besides, its about time that the ladies of Cassadaigua won another championship in football. Everybody knows that women are better athletes than men and the Cassadagans just prove it night after night.

Bogumila Kalinowska
Republic of Nejax

Personally, I'd like to see Saintland win the World Bowl. A victory for the Sanctii would be a victory for morality and a victory for morality is something that is badly needed in the wicked world we live in. Besides, a victory for the Kingdom of Saintland would bring more people to God and to His True Church. That means that more souls will get to spend eternity in Caelum instead of burning in the fires of Infernus for eternity, so I am praying to God every day for a Sanctii victory in the World Bowl.

Lexie MacDonald
Republic of Amolotopia

I'd like to see German Zerabithea win. I thought the video their kicker made with Feministvs Sanctvsterra was hilarious and I think they deserve to be the champions again.

Angela Calabrese
Republica District

My pick to win World Bowl XXII is the Allamunnic States. Sure, they have been down for the past 2 World Bowls and sure, they don't like King Paulus XV's emphasis on player safety very much, but they are still a very good team that has dominated the World Bowl in recent years. I think they'll win another championship.

Berjit Bjerkli
Republic of Plymouoth

I'd like to see the Royal Kingdom of Quebec win the World Bowl. The Quebecois have been a rising nation in the World Bowl in recent years and they've just eliminated the defending champions. I think they could be a worthy World Bowl champion.

Ambra Gauthier
Republic of Vorita

My heart tells me to go with West Guiana. They are undergoing some turmoil in their country at the moment, but I think they will rise above it and win World Bowl XXII. Maybe then they can start to heal from the chaos caused by their mishandling of World Bowl XVIII and Baptism of Iron XV.

Matthew Earnshaw
Republic of Keronama

My pick for World Bowl XXII champion is Darmen. They're experienced and, although they don't get as much media coverage as they deserve, they are still a capable team. I think they have what it takes to win the World Bowl.

Aston Miller
Republic of Kantana

I'm picking Stretta. The champions of the 13th Baptism of Iron have really come on strong this year and look to have all the pieces for a deep run. Yes, they might struggle to overcome the snow in Saintland, but I still think they can do it and I think they can win World Bowl XXII.

Seija Vuorela
Republic of Contoria

Personally, I don't care who wins the World Bowl. I wish we could just get it over with so we could get those foreigners out of our Federation. They don't belong here. This is Republica and it should be for Real Republicans only. I wish our leaders would grow a set and kick all of the illegal alien trash out. They sneak across our borders, break our laws, take our jobs and then expect us to give them handouts! I say we give them a 1-way ticket back to the ****holes they came from!

Sharlene Groenwold
Republic of Exastrium

World Cup of Hockey, World Baseball Classic set for return

Does anybody care about the World Cup of Hockey or the World Baseball Classic? Does anybody even watch ice hockey? Does anybody really care to see a bunch of foreigners play baseball? The only true world champion of baseball is the winner of the annual World Series. Why does Sporting World even cover this nonsense?

Alberto Ricci
Republic of Nejax

The Editor Responds: At Sporting World, we seek to cover all of the sporting action in the multiverse. While we are aware that our domestic coverage is most popular, we believe in trying to cover everything that we can. Random surveys of our readership in the past have determined that our international soccer, international football and foreign pro wrestling coverage are also very popular with readers. While I am personally surprised that a significant portion of our readership wants to read about the Sunrise Wrestling Federation and All Taiyou Pro Wrestling, that fact just proves why we need to strive to cover everything because you never know what your readers actually want to read about.

[Chiata]

Chiata World News

William Croft- Hello and welcome to CWN. Today is January 28th, 2014. I am William Croft and beside me is Rebecca Longford and Michael Rentaty.

William Croft- Sticking to tradition, it's time for you world in 89 seconds.

fade to videos

"Crisis in Deala!"

After the discovery of oil in Western Deala, war is looming. Carialus has threatened repeatably that they will seize the land in the name of manifest destiny. Deala has little military and will need extensive aid from the neighboring nation of Chiata.

"The Lightfoot Bandits Strike Again!"

On Saturday evening, last week, the group of criminals called the "Lightfoot Bandits" ,due to their knack of not leaving any evidence, were at it again and stole an estimated amount of
1.732 million chits. The money was stolen from one of the Chiata National Banks located in Delta City. As of now, the local police have found no leads.

"Drought Sweeps Across Eastern Chiata"

There has been little to no rain throughout most of Eastern Chiata for around 15 days. The continuing problems of desertification is now growing worse in the area due to the lack of water and poor irrigation. Major cities along the coast that are being affected are Wester and Pointe de Clu.

Rebecca Longford- With all of these troubling happenings, it's nice to have some light-hearted news, particularly sports. The Di Bradini Cup is now in its third matchday and for the first time, Chiata is playing in it. Chiata's team is called the Chiata Thunderstorm and is located in Nor' Del, which is known for its rough and unpredictable weather. In those three matchdays, the Thunderstorm have drawn once and lost two. Another big development for Chiata is the sports ruling that allowed women to play in international football. Carol Cherry, the starting left midlfielder for the Thunderstorm, put critics aside after she got an assist for the only goal scored by Chiata. After the game, Carol said, "I think national teams could all benefit from diversifying their teams and allowing women to play."

[Farfadillis]

Why was he playing for Farfadillis again? He was defending the shirt of a country he had yet to set foot on. Sure, his mother had told him a lot of... wonderful... ly weird things about her home country, but he was Astograthian. He had been born in Ituraitz. He had lived since he was three in Antiguoko. He had not even seen any photos of how Farfadillis looked like. Basically, he was far from being Farf.

He could speak Farf fluently, though. His mother had spoken to him in Farf whenever his father was not around, so he grew a native speaker. Weird to think his teammates at the Di Bradini Cup were the first native speakers he met, not counting his mother. They were all nice people. Understanding them was not difficult at all, maybe with the Rulandese players as an exception. They spoke perfect Farf, but they seemed to speak faster and in a more aggressive way. It was weird to see the Rulandese players talking to each other in Rulandese from time to time. He always wondered why they talked to each other in Farf some times and in Rulandese some other times. The same applied for the Farolerans. As soon as he got to know his team, he knew Farfadillis was a clusterfuck.

People speaking several different languages, though having one in common. They sometimes used it, sometimes they did not. Some had some very weird names. All of them were incredibly careless, and only seemed to care about football. Well, and other things, but football was always the main topic of discussion. Kind of expected from a football squad, though.

One of his teammates could speak to him in Astograthian, though not in perfect Astograthian. More than decent Astograthian though. He remembered him from when he played for Antiguoko. He had been loaned out from Urbizania Wanderers. Itxaso was fifteen back then, and naturally not part of the senior team. Just a young player in the youth academy and an avid fan. Risko Kâí was Antiguoko's best player back then, but he was nothing too extraordinary to save them from relegation. He was apparently good enough to get a starting spot for his national team and the Wanderers afterwards, however. He seemed like a pretty intelligent person, though always a bit alienated from what surrounded him. Conversations with him were very interesting, though. He was possibly one of the most experienced U-21s in the world. After all, how many U-21s can claim they've played two World Cups as a starter? And how many can say they've won the Astograthian league already starting for the Wanderers?

Conversations with Risko often disembogued in either discussions about Astograthian football and mostly Antiguoko... or conversations about Ruland.

Why had his mother never ever mentioned any details about Ruland? She had just mentioned it as another state, with the difference of having pretty weird naming customs. Never had she spoken a word about poverty in there. Ah well, did not sound so bad. No, wait, it sounded terrible. How could people live there? He told himself he'd find out more afterwards.

There were other two somewhat-but-not-completely Farves in the squad. All of them were more Farf than him, though. André Reneré, of Valladar parents, had lived in Farfadillis for sixteen years already, having lived just four years in Valladares when he was a kid. His Farf was no different from anyone else's. He didn't have much to talk about with him, though. Or, at least, nothing that he could not talk about with someone else. Then there was Mirogod Chernyshov, a Sunrisian who had had a very confusing life. Born in Northern Sunrise Islands, he moved to Farfadillis at the age of seven. There, he learned Farf perfectly. At the age of fifteen, he went back to Northern Sunrise Islands, to Pezcemá, a village with a majority of Farves. There he joined Pezcemá Golden Magikarps, a team recently promoted to the first division of Sunrisian football which gives priority to Farf teams when it comes to selling players. He was an interesting guy.

He had made some good friends already. But he did feel different. Well, for starters, he was defending the shirt of a team representing a country he had never ever visited.

Still, he was playing for a team other than Antiguoko, that was pretty cool. Plus, that probably would mean being a key player for Antiguoko. I mean, they rarely bring up good players, and now they had someone playing in the Di Bradini Cup squad of a nation with a great footballing present.

Delafuente got the ball once again. They were winning three-two, but another goal to seal the match couldn't hurt. His experience with Delafuente beside him had been so far enjoyable, but a bit weird. Their playing styles were complete opposites. Still, upon seeing his teammate, who had already got a hat trick of assists that match, getting the final pass in Fuego's two goals and in Kâí's goal, he started running towards the box. It was natural for him to do it, a third striker couldn't be bad. Pffeifauf and Fuego were heavily marked, but the Sideburnese defense was not exactly prepared to take on Zuazubiskar joining them as a false striker. The pass was perfect.

He chested the ball down in the penalty spot. He then went on to volley it to the upper-right corner. It was an impossible shot for the goalkeeper. They'd won. Farfadillis had won. Or was it Farfadillis and one more player?

All he knew is upon looking at his jersey, he started liking the laser green cross more and more. He was getting used to it.

[Huelandia]

After realizing nobody was going to beat Nojapa at fake football anyway, they decided to switch games. This time, they went to a recent franchise that's been all the rage in Futurnia. Published by Daineri giants Triskelion Entertainment, but developed by an obscure Mangetsunian studio, the game posited a bad future where everyone is at war with each other with increasingly ludicrous superweapons and the hams are all impossibly large. The world of Futurnian Apocalypse.

Mixing real-time tactics with some role-playing and large-scale strategy elements, FA offers a large number of playable factions that start with somewhat similar units and branch out over time. Currently, it's possible to play as:

The Demonocracy of METAAALLL: An oddball army, full of cheap low-tech fare and generally considered a sort of joke character. Their basic unit is a zombie (which is slow and weak, but can convert the dead from any side into more zombies), but their most iconic is the dragon rider, who became a sort of Memetic Badass from the idea of a guy swooping down to hit tanks and battleships with a mace.

Space Dragonites: Futurnia's military superpower, of course, makes an appearance. Their style is simple and direct: power, and when that don't work, more power. They have little in the way of utility units, instead relying on overwhelming force, directed by large amounts of powerful units. That brings a problem for advanced players because they're very predictable, but experts love them because with good strategy they can just plow through anything the opponents have to offer. True to their real-life counterparts, their signature units are ships and they excel in battlefields with water.

Scrap Brain Zone: The Eggman Empire, obviously, had to have their own playable faction. Their strength lies on elite units, as their basic units are specialized and weak. As a result, they're hard to use effectively, but rewarding to people who can micromanage well. They can also recycle metal from destroyed craft into new units, which offsets the high cost in metal for everything they make.

Bisolandia: Bison's criminal dictatorship is represented by a mostly conventional army with a few units that can change the tide of battle. Mutants can tear through low-armor units like tissue paper, while the Martial Artists and Dolls are fast buggers with insane close-range damage. Upgrading normal units with Psycho Power make them pack an extra punch as well.

Wavericka: The robot supremacists, here, are taken to the extreme and given back Lord Wily as their leader (in a robot body, natch). Their army has an easily spammable base unit (Metools) coupled with very tough intermediate units and good superweapons, making them one of the most balanced factions. They can also recover metal, and use it to both repair and make new units.

Pays du Mal: A self-declared evil empire in real life, they have an unique mechanic called Terror. Some of their units (all very expensive) have the ability to induce Terror, paralyzing weaker units, and the effect increases with certain actions or if there are more of them around. As their army secures territory, a Terror effect spreads through the land itself, making sneak attacks more difficult.

Flock Nation Rebranded as a fascistic corporatocracy, this version of Flock Nation turns up the wolf-related imagery up to eleven and are easily recognizable in-game by their blocky, drab units and vehicles. Their unit setup is balanced, leaning on to the high power/high armor/low speed side of things. They're one of the best factions at generating money.

N.U.S.S.: Portrayed as one of the few "good guys" in the FA setting, the New Union of Socialist States has a number of units drawn from their diverse collection of nations - the Cold Sniper and the Attack Bear being two of the most recognizable - along with an assortment of reliable and well-armored vehicles. The key to winning with them is realizing that the oddball units are not novelties but essential to make a difference.

Mobian Nations: In the alternate reality of Futurnian Apocalypse, the furry rebels subsumed Knuckia and Proweric into them, giving them the research and punch to go with their military spirit. Still, like their namesake, they excel in guerrilla warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and infiltration. They have some of the fastest units around and the ability to move their bases around so the enemy will have to move more while they're being harassed.

Dainer: Even the normally pacifistic Daineri have become a militarized nation in this game. True to their real counterparts, their power lies in research. They start out weak and their resource gathering is one of the worst in the entire game, but their units can be upgraded further than anyone else's, quickly becoming extremely powerful. The larger and longer the game, the more powerful Dainer is. Plus, their superweapon is a mechanical dragon with turbines on their wings, what's not to love?

Arceusian Alliance: Northern Sunrise Islands and Mangetsujima appear in this game as allies and playing one of the "good guys". Their main speciality is the use of Pokémon as offensive weapons - which can be carried in Pokéballs for easy mass deploying in the battlefield. Apart from that, they got a number of conventional and easy to understand military units, plus are good at making money, making them a good choice for newbies. They're one of the factions that get two sets of menu graphics, letting players choose between Vaporeon and Zoroark.

Huelandia: The Hueland Empire, seeking to recover their old territories, is a playable faction in the game as well. Their collection of units is very conventional at first glance, but they have a special mechanic called Hue, which is similar to Pays du Mal's Terror. Every Hueland unit generates a certain amount of Hue, and once enough is gathered, they gain special abilities that disrupt the opponents' game. The high annoyance factor and perceived cheapness of said abilities have led to many servers banning people who choose them.

United faFfic: This faction unites faFfictania and Tuxedo Mark under the ugliest flag in existence. At first they look like another joke group, with oddball units like Wizards, Gay Saints and Recolor Ninjas. But once they break out the Gundams and the Mary-Sues - two of the most powerful units in the game, bar none - people quickly disabuse themselves of such a notion.

Laserna: A very unique army, they have no firearms, no vehicles and no armor. Instead, they have different types of martial artists that cover such functions. Ki-slinging fighters cause damage at a distance and destroy buildings, super-tough strongmen take the place of armor, and ninja-like brawlers are skirmishers and spies. They require a completely different skill set from the other factions, but are considered dangerous.

Megamania: Wavericka's enemies don't have hordes of Metools to throw at the enemy, and they have less of a focus on vehicles, but their basic Pantheon soldier is tough and very upgradable, and along with their companions form the best set of footsoldiers in the game. Their main weakness is being an expensive faction, metal recycling serving only to mitigate that.

Oropa Franca e Bahia: They, together with the NUSS and Arceusians, can be considered the protagonists of the game, fighting to counteract the multiple evil empires of the setting. Their flavorful units make them fan favorites as well, with their Cangaceiro footsoldier being one of the runaway mascots of the franchise. Along with that, they've got powerful units like the Trumpeteer of Hell, the Jaguar APC and the Saboteur, that make them a good choice for newbies and experts alike.

...

"Not so STRONK right now, are ya? Are ya?" taunted Zé Canalha to the Eura players just as the game ended. They were on a roll, and damn it if they weren't going to make the most of it.

[Super-Llamaland]

Group G
Kinzar 2-3 Super-Llamaland
Gregoryisgodistan 1-2 Free Republics

________________________Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Free Republics 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2 6
2 Super-Llamaland 3 2 0 1 4 3 +1 6
3 The Royal Barangay 2 1 1 0 3 2 +1 4
4 Kinzar 2 0 1 1 2 3 −1 1
5 Gregoryisgodistan 3 0 0 3 3 6 −3 0

Cheat Thrad #1992
Oops, did I misplace a letter?

George Jones: Hello
George Jones: Heck of a game
Jim Taylor: That's right
Jim Taylor: We barely made it out alive
Chris Duncan: Yeah, TRB lurks dangerously close by
John Smith: We better beat 'em
George Jones: JOHN
John Smith: GEORGE
Paul Allen: GOHRGEN
John Smith: PAUL!!! (accusing finger point)
Paul Allen: 3-2 win versus Kinzar
George Jones: I think we'll make it out alive
Jim Taylor: We better beat Sangti
George Jones: * The Royal Barangay
Jim Taylor: Who cares?
George Jones: * The Royal Barangay
John Smith: 
George Jones: BEST DOUBLE-POST EVER
Paul Allen: HAHAHA
Jim Taylor: Are you unemployed, George?
Paul Allen: Derrick Nelson did well with those tackles in the second half
John Smith: I didn't like McNeal today tho
George Jones: Lou Canamic was a Ball Hog but scored twice
John Smith: He had the ball too much
Paul Allen: He got potential
John Smith: To be a jerk?
Jim Taylor: Jacob Brennan didn't play today, but Angelo Raymond did. Coach statement?
Paul Allen: No, Brennan was injured
John Smith: Peter Masters scored in the eighty-eighth to win anyway
Paul Allen: Awesome game.
Paul Allen: G'night
<PAUL ALLEN HAS LOGGED OFF>
<JIM TAYLOR HAS LOGGED OFF>
<JOHN SMITH HAS LOGGED OFF>
<GEORGE JONES HAS LOGGED OFF>
Chris Duncan: Hello!
Icomeanon: GIVE ME ALL OF YOUR BITCOINS, OR I WILL HACK INTO YOUR EMAIL!
Chris Duncan: Wha, no, no!
Icomeanon: Your email password is 12345678!
Chris Duncan: Augh, how did you know? 
Icomeanon: So hand over your bitcoins!!!!!  
Chris Duncan: Okay, okay, the password is 12345678!
Icomeanon: I bet your password for EVERYTHING is 12345678, isn't it!
Chris Duncan: No, no!
Icomeanon: Ha! I just hacked onto your Real Life account!
Chris Duncan: Please, just take all my bitcoins!

<ICOMEANON HAS LOGGED OFF>

[Dutzenderland]

Dutzenderlandisch Sportnews - Di Bradini Cup XXX Matchday 3
January 27, 2013 at Silverlands in Corinth, Starblaydia - Once again, the team has lost, and this time, it was 0-1 to Felix. We may have lost all the games, we really have (I'm not kidding for real), but we can not give up, so we will not give up! The team can win even one game and will win one game!
Score: Dutzenderland 0-1 Felix
Goalscorers
Felix: Sabrina Köhler (1)
Current Goalscorer Statistics
Tomokazu Nishimura - 1