12th Handball World Cup Everything Thread (IC)

[Super-Llamaland]

Da Preview: HWC 12

GROUP A: Let's take a look at who's in this group.

Royal Kingdom of Quebec (5): Dangerous, no doubt. Eliminated in the quarterfinals last time in a stunning result and fourth the year before, the perennial championship contenders will be looking to go deep this time around. No matter how well they do, they'll probably murder everybody else here, though. PREDICTION: FIRST
Equestrian States (21): They missed out barely on the playoffs last time around. At HWC 10? Same thing. I guess they'll be doing the same thing here. PREDICTION: THIRD.
The New Greek Republic (42): Losing out on tiebreakers in HWC10 sucked, but will they be rusty after failing to get into HWC11? Maybe so. I'm going to pencil them in for a surprise disappointment. PREDICTION: FOURTH.
Super-Llamaland (NR): We have a history of going into things unranked and coming out doing extremely well. International Basketball Championship (Ro16). World Baseball Classic (3rd in group). World Bowl (Ro32). I'm going to call that our accidentally named team of foodies will go deep. Somehow. PREDICTION: SECOND.
Jecatria (NR): Meh. Don't like them. They haven't done much. PREDICTION: FIFTH.

Below are our game-by-game predictions.

MD1: @ The New Greek Republic (42) NARROW LOSS 0-1. The Greeks begin their disappointing campaign in a nice way. I can't see us beating them on the road this early. We need to get into the swing of things (OOC: accumulate RP bonus) to really go head-to-head with teams on the road.
MD2: Bye Day!
MD3: v. Jecatria (UR): EASY WIN 1-1. The Jecatrians will fail miserably. We will roll in their blood and spit on their bodies! And laugh at them!
MD4: @ Royal Kingdom of Quebec (5) : BIG LOSS 1-2. On the road against the world number-five. Yeah.
MD5: v. Equestrian States (21): NARROW WIN 2-2. Finally, a first-half upset! I feel like at home, we'll be able to overcome the ponies and take an upset.
MD6: v. The New Greek Republic (42): BIG WIN 3-2. We'll lose on the road on MD1, but home on MD6 is a different story indeed.
MD7: Bye Day
MD8: @ Jecatria (UR): NARROW WIN 4-2. The Jecatrians will give us a run for our money, but we'll still come out ahead.
MD9: v. Royal Kingdom of Quebec (5): NARROW WIN 5-2. Yup. That will happen. Totally. I feel good about this team.
MD10: @ Equestrian States (21): NARROW LOSS 5-3. We go out on a win, but 5-3 is nothing to cry about.

[Sangti]

THE ROYAL BARANGAY NATIONAL HANDBALL TEAM
"THE GORILLAS"

Head Coach: Jencis Sumabat Age: 47

Starters
GK: Javier Tagarda (1) Age: 30
RB: Adonis Mancera (2) Age: 24
LB: Manuel Loja (3) Age: 23
C: Edrhum Cal (4) Age: 28
CR: Theodore Luzorata III (7) Age: 26
LW: Ninez Pamilara (6) Age: 33
RW: Daryl Juarez (5) Age: 28

Subs
GK: Charleston Dycoco (12) Age: 32
RB: Bon Baura (8) Age: 28
LB: Jervin Ampit (13) Age: 35
C: Hani Parone (14) Age: 33
CR: Jorriel Tindog (9) Age: 22
LW: Danniel Pera (10) Age: 21
RW: Jepta Aville (11) Age: 22

Home Stadium
Arena Nacional Sangti (ANS)
Capacity: 19000

RP Permissions:

If my opponent RPs first, I give him permission to:
Choose my goalscorers Y
Godmod scoring events Y
RP injuries to my players Y
Godmod injuries to my players N
Hand out yellow cards to my players Y
Hand out red cards to my players Y
Godmod other events Y

[Vettrera]

Prior to leaving for Gregoryisgodistan, the two coaches went out to discuss some matters. Terrica and Marsha had made it a habit of talking about the team over lunch. It was a good way to get to know each other, in a non-confrontational setting. And the PUSH offices had become a very confrontational atmosphere, especially for the two of them. Before Beatrice Parker had quit PUSH, after being fed-up with the atmosphere and the disrespect she was getting dealt, one of her last administrative duties was to vote on the hosting of the 12th handball competition. The choices: Gregoryisgodistan and Britonisea. Britonisea was out of the question from the jump. Beatrice and an official from Britonisea had gotten into an argument a few months prior to the voting over Britonisea's handling of a few other events. They agreed to disagree, but tensions between the two nations were definitely still high. The voting was extremely close, and Beatrice's vote tipped the scales in favor of Gregorisgodistan....a decision that neither Terrica nor Marsha were on board with.

Terrica: I mean, like, you have to think of the situation as it presents itself. It really isn't wise in the slightest to vote for Gregoryisgodistan for any bid. You're basically conding their actions and saying that you're on board with dictatorships. It's just something that I can't fathom. It's just beyond comprehension for me

Marsha: And then of course, we aren't able to send the official handball team out because we can't risk anything happening to them, so we send some of the better collegiate players out there, but that's not much better. We're playing with danger here by sending them to Gregoryisgodistan.

Terrica: I agree. This wasn't the debut I expected for Vettreran Handball. Honestly, she should have just re-opened bidding. Hell we could have hosted this tournament. *motioning to the waiter* Hello sir, we're ready to order. Umm, I'll have the lobster bisk.

Marsha: And I'll take a stab at...the...no...no. Actually Maurice, I'll just have the usual.

Maurice: As you wish *Maurice leaves*

Terrica: Oh, I just got the group draw emaled to me

Marsha: Oh really! Interesting. I really hope we don't get Gregoryisgodistan, it's just so depressing going against slaves. I told the girls to just throw the game if that happens.

Terrica: No, not Gregoryisgodistan. Actually, the opposite. Britonisea. And we've also got unranked Communist New Slifer. Thatius at number nine in the world, and then Nouvel Ecosse. I think we should be able to make it out with 2nd in this group. Thatius hasn't even released a profile for the team, so they can slip to 3rd. Nouvel Ecosse will probably take the group, but we may be able to catch them by surprise. Britonisea is well, Britonisea.

Marsha: We gotta make sure the girls don't hold back on that one. Rivalry match up.

Terrica: Right. And then Communist New Slifer should be a non-issue if things go according to plan.

Marsha: Then we should be good. We've got a talented core, and well disciplined girls. We just need to keep them all safe in Gregoryisgodistan, keep them under supervision, and then focus on winning. *eyes the waiter carrying her food* Well alright! That's enough business, now it's time to eat.

[Felix]

Toño Crespo's Diary
Entry #1

So my doctor told me to make a journal, or diary of my experiences. He is saying that I have suffered through a traumatic experience. And that in order for me to heal I must write. Personally? I believe this thing is utter bullcrap, I mean, how does typing away on what happened heal my mental scars? It sounds like I am about to post in flipping Swakker*. It is ridiculous... But alas, doctors orders, if I disobeyed I would be forced to relinquish my job as head coach of a multiversal championship team. And I don't want that. Nope, not at all.

So, I must ask myself. What really happened on the 7th of April? Well something bad happened... Really bad, I feel weird writing about it, but again, doc's orders. So here it is. On April 7th of last year I was brutally attacked by some Nationalists. Yes, those guys. I was exiting a bar after a drink with a good friend when I was surrounded by the thugs. They said that I should resign, that I brought dishonour to my country despite my team winning our (as a country) multiversal championship.

I said no and tried to walk away but this one guy blocked my path. He was huge, 6'5 probably, should've played in the Felixian National Basketball team. Jesus he was big. Anyways, the bastard blocked my escape and soon enough I received a huge punch in the face. Boy did that hurt. Next thing you know I was being pummeled by the thugs and they called me many names. Names, I feel I just can't type here... It was that bad. And as I was being punched by these idiots I wonder if it was the...

Sorry, I can't continue this anymore... This is too tough.

End of Entry #1

[New North Aqmuland]

Group C
Uitbregen (7)
The seventh-ranked team in the world will likely pose a challenge to any team, and they remain at the top in our preview. The nation obviously has some sporting history, and it will be very interesting to see how they hold up against a largely unranked group. I would expect them to finish at the top or close to it, unless they completely collapse. I don't think that's likely, though.
Projected Finish: 1st

Sicoutimont (25)
Coming in next, we see Sicoutimont. The team, ranked twenty-fifth, is the other ranked team in this group of five, and therefore has a bit of an advantage in that they have rank points to go off of, while the rest of the teams coming after them must hope for things to swing their way. They seem to be a decent team, and could be an upset pick or be the team being upset. I would definitely follow our games against them.
Projected Finish: 2nd

Gloriax (NR)
As of of three unranked teams, Gloriax could make things interesting. We don't know much about this team at all, and so to make assumptions is the best we have to offer. At this point, they will probably sit in fourth or fifth, I think, with very little movement up, but a chance for a big upset.
Projected Finish: 4th

Seahold (NR)
The second of the three unranked, we know a little more about Seahold than we do Gloriax, but this rather new nation to the sporting scene will probably struggle a little early on, and, as with Gloriax, will likely sit near the bottom of the table for the majority of the competition.
Projected Finish: 5th

New North Aqmuland (NR)
And here we are. As the last team to be drawn, we may come in underrated, which we can only hope is changed during this tournament. I think that we will be the middle team, not really bad or good, but just there. Could be an upset pick in a couple of our matches, and can probably get a couple of easy wins, but I wouldn't count anyone out just yet.
Projected Finish: 3rd

Schedule
MD1: @ Sicoutimont
MD2: v. Gloriax
MD3: @ Seahold
MD4: Bye
MD5: v. Uitbregen
MD6: v. Sicoutimont
MD7: @ Gloriax
MD8: v. Seahold
MD9: Bye
MD10: @ Uitbregen

Match Day 1: @ Sicoutimont
For the first day, we take on the Sicoutians, with them holding home field advantage. With that and being the ranked team in this matchup, they have a definite edge over us, but we can hopefully get some good performances out of our second and third units, and that could possibly push us past them en route to a strong start.

In other action, Gloriax plays host to Seahold, a game that will spell out what exactly is to be expected of both these teams. Uitbregen remains on the sidelines with a bye for this first matchday.

[Nouvel Ecosse]

Davey Sandoza lead a double life. By day, he was just your average physics and maths undergraduate, slogging his way through equations on the diffraction of light around a hair and quantum mechanics, eating a poor lunch bought out a supermarket, watching a game of football down at the local, and generally slothing about. But by night, he was his University's equivalent of Batman, an equivalent to such heroes as Superman or Ironman. He was a masked man. He was a nobody, yet a somebody. His name was known around Hannibal University and beyond. He was a master of disguise, only the players and coaching staff knowing his true identity. He was 'Arniedillo', the mascot of the Hannibal University Handball Team, as well as the honorary mascot of the national side, who for some reason took the Hannibal nickname of "The Armadillos". Probably because it was the biggest counter possible to the football side's nickname of "the Rampant Walrus".

'Arniedillo' had a few features to him. He had an oversized head, a massive grin splayed across his foam face bearing a massive sticking out tongue, which for Davey could be a nuisance as it had fallen completely out a few times. The creature had the national strip on, apart from at the back, where the shell was more apparent and ripped out of the kit altogether. The two almost creepy clawed hands stuck out in front of the mascots body, hanging limply unless Davey felt like going for a hi-five, an action he undertook far too many times. Then there were the feet, with two cumbersome trainers on them. He never spoke as the mascot, only in the pre-match programmes where he was given gratuitous speech bubbles in his cartoon strip, warning of the dangers of poking ant nests and running into cacti. Why, in one of the most northern Astyrian countries with freezing temperatures and no desert to speak of these were considered important morales he didn't know, but they entertained the kids. He was personally responsible for the fan-mail, which at times could overload to the point where his studies took a genuine hit.

Hannibal University didn't pay him much for the job, but it was better than nothing, he supposed. And then he had received a phonecall asking him to accompany the national side to their qualification games, and he had gladly accepted. They were offering the chance to go national, and they were gonna pay him well for doing it. Excellent.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Here is the first cutoff of HWC 12, presented by Greglord Air, where Lord Almighty Gregory ensures that your flight is safe and blesses it with love. Now offering flights to destinations around Esportiva!

Edit: And results. Teams not shown in the standings had a bye today. Scorination tomorrow will be at around 8:30.

Group A
Equestrian States 30–21 Jecatria
New Greek Republic 28–21 Super-Llamaland

  Group A                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Equestrian States              1    1   0   0    30   21   +9     3
2 New Greek Republic             1    1   0   0    28   21   +7     3
3 Super-Llamaland                1    0   0   1    21   28   −7     0
4 Jecatria                       1    0   0   1    21   30   −9     0

Group B
Nouvel Ecosse 27–28 Communist New Slifer
Vettrera 27–28 Britonisea

  Group B                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Britonisea                     1    1   0   0    28   27   +1     3
  Communist New Slifer           1    1   0   0    28   27   +1     3
3 Nouvel Ecosse                  1    0   0   1    27   28   −1     0
  Vettrera                       1    0   0   1    27   28   −1     0

Group C
Sicoutimont 26–29 New North Aqmuland
Gloriax 24–27 Seahold

  Group C                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 New North Aqmuland             1    1   0   0    29   26   +3     3
2 Seahold                        1    1   0   0    27   24   +3     3
3 Sicoutimont                    1    0   0   1    26   29   −3     0
4 Gloriax                        1    0   0   1    24   27   −3     0

Group D
Polar Islandstates 23–22 Socialist Tibet
Patistan 27–27 York People

  Group D                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Polar Islandstates             1    1   0   0    23   22   +1     3
2 Patistan                       1    0   1   0    27   27    0     1
  York People                    1    0   1   0    27   27    0     1
4 Socialist Tibet                1    0   0   1    22   23   −1     0

Group E
San Jose Guayabal 23–20 Kolmya
Ko-oren 25–23 Maximland

  Group E                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 San Jose Guayabal              1    1   0   0    23   20   +3     3
2 Ko-oren                        1    1   0   0    25   23   +2     3
3 Maximland                      1    0   0   1    23   25   −2     0
4 Kolmya                         1    0   0   1    20   23   −3     0

Group F
Nassau-Hessen 35–28 Alparia
Jeckland 29–24 Western Cuba

  Group F                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Nassau-Hessen                  1    1   0   0    35   28   +7     3
2 Jeckland                       1    1   0   0    29   24   +5     3
3 Western Cuba                   1    0   0   1    24   29   −5     0
4 Alparia                        1    0   0   1    28   35   −7     0

Group G
Gregoryisgodistan 32–24 Tidal Wake
Menukten 28–25 Yttribia

  Group G                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Gregoryisgodistan              1    1   0   0    32   24   +8     3
2 Menukten                       1    1   0   0    28   25   +3     3
3 Yttribia                       1    0   0   1    25   28   −3     0
4 Tidal Wake                     1    0   0   1    24   32   −8     0

Group H
Costa de Ouro 29–22 Arenales
Darvale 30–27 Cotdelapoms

  Group H                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Costa de Ouro                  1    1   0   0    29   22   +7     3
2 Darvale                        1    1   0   0    30   27   +3     3
3 Cotdelapoms                    1    0   0   1    27   30   −3     0
4 Arenales                       1    0   0   1    22   29   −7     0

[Vettrera]

OOC: for real though?

Marsha: The only teams that did any real work going into this week, and they lose by 1 point each. There is some shady stuff going on in Gregoryisgodistan.Fill me up again!

Terrica pours Marsha another shot

Marsha: Like, it's just. It's just unbelievable how blatantly stupid that game was. And I mean, we lost to Britonisea. We told those girls to be on point for that game and they blew it. These college chicks, I just cannot deal with it. They are just too ditzy, busy focusing on other things. I just can't. And these refs. My god

Terrica: Think of it from their point of view though. They're scared out of their minds. This place is not a good atmosphere. Heck, they're just scared for their lives in general. They can look out their window and see people getting arrested for crimes that aren't even real crimes. That has to be off-putting.

Marsha: That wasn't off-putting for the Brits, they won that match up. I swear, these refs always try to screw us over. It's just ridiculous to me. We're basically starting this thing off down for the count. I'm telling you, if Beatrice had voted against the bid like we said, I bet we'd be dealing with a totally different situation.

Terrica now pours herself a drink and hides the bottle from Marsha, who has had almost too much

Terrica: Yeah, but this isn't the squad we had planned on taking. This isn't even our all-star collegiate squad, these are the best girls that were willing to do their nation a favor by going to this godforsaken country. Their heads aren't in the game, and I really can't blame them. Yes, the refs were unfair, and all the calls seemed to be going in the Brits direction, but the girls are flustered right now. And I understand that.

Marsha: I'm telling you sista. When -- no no. If we make it back to Vettrera, we need to find the new PUSH president and make sure Vettrera bids to host this next tournament. I'll be damned if I'm going to have international controversy mess up who I want to send to this cup.

[Nouvel Ecosse]

Imagine...of all the teams you could lose to and you lose to some backwards, unknown, unranked communist nation that didn't even have the resources or decency to put a pre-match team sheet. The two Ecossian commentators were left blind, although they did overhear the name of the number seven, or so they think. Radimarx, was that it? Na, it ended with ielny or inski or something like that. Probably Stan something. They are all called Stan in that area of the world. Not much is or was known about them. Their appearance was not what you would expect for professional athletes, massive hulking figures almost like bears yet surprisingly nimble on their feet and quick on the attack. It certainly surprised the Ecossians, who rested some of their key players for upcoming matches.

Davey had watched the game unfurl from his position on the sideline, strafing the squeaky floor as he commandeered his moves, shaking the hands of small kids gathered behind the advertising boards. It wasn't exactly the most exciting job in history, but he enjoyed it. The Ecossian fans who watched the match were disgusted by how their team had been taken off guard like this. It had been a home game, played in the handball arena at Martell University, and many of the fans after the match had said how they were unsure if they would ever go back. We looked sluggish, easily intercepted, easily spliced open. Even Davey had stopped his antics after half the match, afraid the crowd might turn ugly if he continued with his showboating.

There was one guy for the Communists, a man with this massive handlebar moustache like something out of a forties war movie, and he dominated the entire match. He threw players out his way, even threatened the referee at one point who was clearly out of the match and stuck in the Communists pocket, an ironic twist really. Well, Davey thought so anyway. Not that he had proof of his theories.

[New North Aqmuland]

Off To A Good Start
Yesterday's Results

Group C
Sicoutimont 26–29 New North Aqmuland
Gloriax 24–27 Seahold

  Group C                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 New North Aqmuland             1    1   0   0    29   26   +3     3
2 Seahold                        1    1   0   0    27   24   +3     3
3 Sicoutimont                    1    0   0   1    26   29   −3     0
4 Gloriax                        1    0   0   1    24   27   −3     0

Game Recap
We won in strong fashion yesterday, taking our first game against Sicoutimont by a score of 29-26. It was a well played game on all sides, with the primary unit coming out strong and the secondary and tertiary units providing valuable support when they were needed. Esden St. Îles remains the top player on the team, and he has made it obvious why he was chosen to be the first captain so early on. Tobaka, of the second unit, came through big for us, and on the third unit, Quipo has made a strong case for his advancement. Both of those youngsters can be expected to stay with this team for a long time to come if they continue this performance. In other group action, Seahold took down Gloriax in a match of the unranked teams, which bodes well for us, as we play Gloriax tonight. It will be interesting to see how well they play.

Matchday 2: v. Gloriax (NR/0-1/4th)
In this game, it will be very necessary to have all our men playing like they did with Sicoutimont. If we can jump out to a 2-0 start and hold the group lead, that could be the catalyst for a run into the later stages of the tournament, or at least the chance to surprise a few people. The starting lineup will remain the same for this game, because there is no reason to change something that works. I think we'll see a win tonight, and Gloriax will fall to 0-2.
In other action in Group C tonight, Seahold rests and Uitbregen, in their first game, plays host to Sicoutimont. Uitbregen and Sicoutimont will likely set the tone for the top teams of this group, and this game remains very important.

[Ko-oren]

Ko-orenite Rules Football

Table of Contents:
1. Rules
2. Strategy
3. League and Numbers

1. Rules

Field

A Dragonfly Rules Football (DRF) pitch is 70m long by 45m wide. At each end of the field is an end zone, which is 10m by 45m, so the entire pitch is 90m by 45m. Apart from side lines (signifying the width of the field, so these lines are 90m long and 45m apart from each other), end zone lines (signifying where the end zone starts) and the goal lines (signifying where the end zones end, so these are 90m apart from each other), no other lines are needed to play DRF. On the goal lines, so on each end of the field, are goals. These goals are exactly in the middle of the goal line, and the size of a goal is 2.14m high, and 3.66m wide, the exact same size as a field hockey goal.

The match
A match takes 50 minutes to complete, divided into two halves of 25 minutes each. Depending on the match/league format, a match can end in a draw, or be decided after extra time.

Players

Each team (two teams total) has 9 players. One goalkeeper, who has to stay within his team’s endzone, and eight field players. The goalkeeper’s jersey must be distinct from his team’s jersey, the opponent’s team’s jersey and the referee’s jersey (but may be the same as the opponent’s goalkeeper’s jersey).

Ball

The ball used for DRF has a diameter of 14cm. In comparison, a soccerball is 22cm.

Moving the ball

The sport works much like association football when the ball is not near the end zones. Players may strike the ball with anything but their hands and arms. However, once the ball is inside the end zone, the game changes significantly. Once the ball is in the end zone, players on the offensive team may catch the ball (for a capture goal, see next paragraph). Players on the defensive team may only strike the ball away (with a fist or their palm). The defensive team’s goalkeeper may catch the ball anywhere inside his team’s end zone.

Scoring

Scoring a point can happen in a few ways. First of all, there is a capture goal, hand goal, or ‘cap’: a player on the offensive team catches the ball in the opposing team’s end zone, and throws/presses it to the ground. Secondly, a player can score a point by getting the ball into the opposing team’s goal (a kick goal, or ‘goal’). Players may not use their hands or arms when scoring a kick goal. Both of these count as one point. There is a third way, which combines these two ways of scoring, and gives a team two points: one player on the offensive team catches the ball, but instead of dropping it, the player rolls or kicks the ball to another player. If any other player on the offensive team now scores a (kick) goal, without the ball leaving the end zone, that team is awarded two points. The player that catches/picks up the ball may not move from the point they caught/picked up the ball (and if they do, that player can always choose to drop the ball for a cap anyway).

Penalties

Penalties work much like in association football. However, instead of yellow and red cards, DRF has time penalties as in ice hockey. Minor offenses carry a 3 minute penalty, larger offenses a 5 minute penalty. Major offenses result in a player ejected from the game for the duration of the game (like a red card). The ball is brought back into play with a free kick for the team that was fouled, or, in the case of a foul committed in a team's own endzone, a penalty kick to be taken from the end zone line (10m from goal). Teams can decide to go straight for a kick goal, or try to force a capture goal.

Ball out of play

If the ball leaves the field across one of the sidelines, the team that did not touch the ball last before it left the field may kick the ball back in. If the ball leaves the field across the goal line, that side’s goalkeeper kicks the ball back into play. However, if a defensive player purposefully kicks the ball across his own goal line, this results in a free kick for the offensive team, taken from the corner of the sideline and the end zone line. After a goal, the game is resumed from the conceding team's goalkeeper. At the beginning of the game, the game is started from the home team's goalkeeper. The second half is started from the away team's goalkeeper.



2. Strategy

Eight players per team, so teams can decide to keep all players in one block: defend with eight, attack with eight. Otherwise, teams can play in 4-4 (or 3-5, 5-3, and even 2-6 and 6-2) formations, with two big blocks of players. A team can choose to play with designated defenders and attackers, with a group of fluid players in between (midfielders).

On defense, it is important to remember that points can be conceded in two ways. The goal needs to be defended to prevent kick goals, but the entire end zone (which is 40m wide) can also be used by the attacker to score a capture. The goal is defended by the goalkeeper, of course. However, the goalkeeper may also be used to prevent captures, leaving his goal unattended. This is particularly interesting when a team seeks to prevent 2-point goals. In any case, all nine players need to collaborate in defense, seeing as the end zone is fairly large.

On offense, it is important to remember that players may force their own captures: a player in possession can make his way past the defenders into the end zone, can fall onto the ball to immediately press it to the ground for a capture. Another thing is that attackers always need to know where his colleagues are, so that if an attacker captures, they immediately know if it is viable to force a 2-point goal.

Forcing goals can be done with long balls into the opponent's end zone: tall attackers benefit heavily from this. Otherwise, small, agile attackers can benefit from balls passed low into the end zone, where they can choose to go for a kick goal or a capture.

Lastly, seeing as there are usually around 15-30 points scored per game, it is important to capitalize on chances every time a team reaches the opponent's end zone: points are usually scored every 2-3 minutes.

3. League and Numbers

The Ko-orenite Rules Football League is played over a big number of small conferences and leagues, and with a large number of teams, players are used to playing two or three games a day. This resulted in the short 40-minute game. There tend to be two fields next to each other, so two games can be played simultaneously in one arena.

Statistics that are recorded per player (with, in brackets, some average numbers for defensive players and offensive players: 2/5 would be 2 for defensive players, 5 for offensive players)

Total number of points scored (0-1/3-6)
- Number of captures (0-1/1-3)
- Number of kick goals (0-1/1-3)

Total number of assists (1/3)
- Number of capture assists (1/2)
- Number of kick goal assists (0/1)

Total number of points attempted (2-5/8-12)
- Number of near-captures (captures defended by the opponent) (0-2/4-8)
- Number of shots on goal (0-4/2-8)

Games played
Minutes played

Pass completion (80%/70%)
- Passes attempted
- Passes successful

Total number of points defended (10/2)
- Number of captures struck away (in 90% of cases, this number is the same as the 'total number of points defended', unless we are talking about a goalkeeper) (9-10/2)
- Number of kick goal saves (0-1/0)

Total number of penalties:
- Number of 2:00 penalties (0-2/0-2)
- Number of 5:00 penalties (0-1/0-1)
- Number of ejections (0/0)

[Felix]

Toño Crespo's Diary
Entry #2

I am sorry I couldn't completely finish the first entry, I was just... It was just too much for me, you know? I guess I still not coping with the incident that happened a year ago... I don't know. Anyways, I decided to let my team rest when we landed here in Gregorygodistan. It is a really weird. I mean, it is quite... Scary here. It just terrible, everyone I see seems hypnotized by some mysterious force or something as if they are all ants and Gregory is the queen ant. Ugh, it is weird.

Anyways since we had those off days we say some matches in our group. It was... Alright, I guess. The players weren't as good as ours but they still had a talent for Handball a sport that hasn't received that much love. Sad really. Continuing on we saw the two matches and I took some notes on the teams. I feel like they can't compete against ours, they tire easy and they don't have that much skill. Except for maybe that Costa country, they seem a little bit talented. We should keep an eye on them.

Funnily enough we are facing them, Costa de Ouro, next. I can't wait to face them, I think we will win. Well that's that. I guess I'll make my third entry after our first match.

End of Entry #2

[The Tidal Wake]

Match Day 1 Is In The Books

---

Group G
Gregoryisgodistan 32–24 Tidal Wake
Menukten 28–25 Yttribia

---

A tough loss to the host country Gregoryisgodistan, is how your Breakers will start off this 12th Handball World Cup. But with 7 matches left, theres not much to worry about fellow Wakians!

"You could tell the guys we're nervous, both in the locker room and out of the court. Especially opening up against the host country, I saw a lot of good stuff out there today and will make sure to cover some points during our walk through before tomorrow's match against Menukten."
-Gerd Adler, Head Coach

"You have to think, this is our first World Cup, and for most of the guys on this squad, the first time they've even played out side of the Tidal Wake."
-Clyde Thornton, Team Captain

The Breakers looks nervous from the start giving up 4 quick scores in the first 5 minutes of the opening half, and by HT the team found themselves down 18-8. Only highlight of the 1st 30 was Dexter Maxwell's Two quick scores before the whistle. The two late scores seemed to settle down the wild home crowd at LAGNU Gymnasium.

"It was almost scary to play out there in that sort of environment. But lets face the facts, I played like crap, and its a shame too because I though the Defensive line today did marvelous."
-Sunny McAlliaster, Starting Keeper

After Halftime the Breakers looked like their nerves had calmed, and got back to actually playing the game, eventually ending up in winning the half 16-14 but dropping the game, 32-24. What an exciting start to the World Cup. Next Match is vs Menukten, whos coming off a 28-25 win against Yttribia.

-Highlights of the game-
Leading Goal Scorer-
Clyde Thornton with 9

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Matchday 2 cutoff presented by the Church of Gregoryisgodistan. Join or Die.

Edit: And results. Cutoff tomorrow will be around the same time as tonight, maybe a bit earlier. Also, note that I incorrectly entered "Royal Kingdom of Quebec" as "Quebec" on the last matchday. If I were to subsequently change the name, both teams would show up in the standings, as a test case in another file revealed (I didn't want to be running test cases with the real thing and then have to rescorinate.) So Royal Kingdom of Quebec is just Quebec for the remainder of the group stage. He can feel free to come up with some IC justification for this.

Group A
Jecatria 29–22 New Greek Republic
Quebec 27–24 Equestrian States

  Group A                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Equestrian States              2    1   0   1    54   48   +6     3
2 Quebec                         1    1   0   0    27   24   +3     3
3 New Greek Republic             2    1   0   1    50   50    0     3
4 Jecatria                       2    1   0   1    50   52   −2     3
5 Super-Llamaland                1    0   0   1    21   28   −7     0

Group B
Communist New Slifer 24–31 Vettrera
Thatius 28–24 Nouvel Ecosse

  Group B                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Vettrera                       2    1   0   1    58   52   +6     3
2 Thatius                        1    1   0   0    28   24   +4     3
3 Britonisea                     1    1   0   0    28   27   +1     3
4 Communist New Slifer           2    1   0   1    52   58   −6     3
5 Nouvel Ecosse                  2    0   0   2    51   56   −5     0

Group C
New North Aqmuland 24–22 Gloriax
Uitbregen 24–25 Sicoutimont

  Group C                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 New North Aqmuland             2    2   0   0    53   48   +5     6
2 Seahold                        1    1   0   0    27   24   +3     3
3 Sicoutimont                    2    1   0   1    51   53   −2     3
4 Uitbregen                      1    0   0   1    24   25   −1     0
5 Gloriax                        2    0   0   2    46   51   −5     0

Group D
Socialist Tibet 31–27 Patistan
Northern Sunrise Islands 24–23 Polar Islandstates

  Group D                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Socialist Tibet                2    1   0   1    53   50   +3     3
2 Northern Sunrise Islands       1    1   0   0    24   23   +1     3
3 Polar Islandstates             2    1   0   1    46   46    0     3
4 York People                    1    0   1   0    27   27    0     1
5 Patistan                       2    0   1   1    54   58   −4     1

Group E
Kolmya 25–33 Ko-oren
Saintland 28–29 San Jose Guayabal

  Group E                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                        2    2   0   0    58   48  +10     6
2 San Jose Guayabal              2    2   0   0    52   48   +4     6
3 Saintland                      1    0   0   1    28   29   −1     0
4 Maximland                      1    0   0   1    23   25   −2     0
5 Kolmya                         2    0   0   2    45   56  −11     0

Group F
Alparia 28–23 Jeckland
Royal Barangay 28–24 Nassau-Hessen

  Group F                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Royal Barangay                 1    1   0   0    28   24   +4     3
2 Nassau-Hessen                  2    1   0   1    59   56   +3     3
3 Jeckland                       2    1   0   1    52   52    0     3
4 Alparia                        2    1   0   1    56   58   −2     3
5 Western Cuba                   1    0   0   1    24   29   −5     0

Group G
Tidal Wake 30–22 Menukten
Darmen 22–21 Gregoryisgodistan

  Group G                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Gregoryisgodistan              2    1   0   1    53   46   +7     3
2 Darmen                         1    1   0   0    22   21   +1     3
3 Tidal Wake                     2    1   0   1    54   54    0     3
4 Menukten                       2    1   0   1    50   55   −5     3
5 Yttribia                       1    0   0   1    25   28   −3     0

Group H
Arenales 25–28 Darvale
Felix 31–23 Costa de Ouro

  Group H                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Darvale                        2    2   0   0    58   52   +6     6
2 Felix                          1    1   0   0    31   23   +8     3
3 Costa de Ouro                  2    1   0   1    52   53   −1     3
4 Cotdelapoms                    1    0   0   1    27   30   −3     0
5 Arenales                       2    0   0   2    47   57  −10     0

[Ko-oren]

Oligarchy in Gregoryisgodistan Group E

Only a handful of people two teams decide what happens in the country group. So far, one persontwo teams hasve all the powerints.

The Ko-orenite government forbade me to say anything about the situation in the host country of the Handball World Cup, fearing that anything might happen. This is the first time many people, fans, players, etcetera, are in Gregoryisgodistan. It is not exactly a hermit kingdom, but it's close. However, back to the HWC, I don't want to risk anything.

Ko-oren has won the second game, against Kolmya, 33-25. A big difference between two small teams. Saintland has joined the group with their first game (they had a bye round on day one), and they lost 28-29 to San Jose Guayabal. Meanwhile the hosts fell 22-21 to Darmen, I'm sure the Darmeni will be finein a good display.

Only eight more games and I'm out of here. Hopefully alive.I'm really enjoying my time here and the hosts are doing everything they can to make this HWC a success, after all, this is the first time they can show their country to so many different nations! Did anyone else notice that the Gregoryisgodistani census always shows 75 million despite hundreds of executions every day?The Gregoryisgodistanis are an industrious and happy people, with kids playing in the streets, and I just want to go home and I can't wait for the Dragonflies to make it to the second round so I can enjoy this country for a few more days.

[Nouvel Ecosse]

"GODDAMMIT" shouted Davey when the final whistle was blown. The Ecossian fans looked pissed off. Once again, no team sheet could be found before the match, something you think would be a benefit to the Ecossians considering that there is no real structure to the other side but again it seemed to hinder the side, who were taken aback and by surprise by the attack of the ninth ranked side. But they were only three points behind all the others. There was still plenty of time for us to come back and do something different.

Yet there wasn't really. Time was only gonna run out. It was time for Nouvel Ecosse to pull the literal finger out. Sure, fingers could be pointed at the fact that many of the Ecossian players had faced major disruption due to the evacuation of Edinburgh, specifically the four Edinburgh University players now having to align themselves to different clubs, different playing styles, different training regimes and different friendships. Dan Bocanegra had set himself up with Hannibal University HC, Joe Dagger and Peter Benson with Martell University, and Lionel Rouz was away playing with Endeavour Eagles. But that shouldn't have mattered, not internationally.

Davey had found an unlikely friendship with the towering forward that is Bocanegra, hitting it off on a visit to the local pub with the team and the coaching staff. They had ended up in a gaming arcade, shooting up zombies and playing terrible dance games, all drink fuelled of course, otherwise they would never be found like that in a million years. But since the loss to Communist New Slifer the big guy had been unusually quiet and reclusive. Even Davey couldn't get through to him. He seemed brooding. He seemed concerned.

[Jeckland]

MIXED START FOR JECKLAND

Jeckland has sent a handball team to the 12th Handball World Cup in Gregoryisgodistan, a nation known for it's lethal solar bombs and equally lethal Lord Almighty Gregory. The team started off their campaign against Western Cuba, who were also at their first HWC, and it did not start well at all, with The Spuds 18-9 down at half-time. However, they came out in the second half and made a brilliant recovery to come back to a 29-24 victory. They went into their next match against Alparia confident, but were once again left reeling after a lightning strategy saw the rookie opposition go into a commanding 15-10 lead. Jeckland could not pull off another comeback this time and so lost 28-23, leaving the table as follows.

Group F                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Royal Barangay                 1    1   0   0    28   24   +4     3
2 Nassau-Hessen                  2    1   0   1    59   56   +3     3
3 Jeckland                       2    1   0   1    52   52    0     3
4 Alparia                        2    1   0   1    56   58   −2     3
5 Western Cuba                   1    0   0   1    24   29   −5     0

No big surprises so far, with top seeds TRB taking top spot despite having played half the games that the three below them have. Jeckland go up against the world #1 nation next, and will doubtless be looking to pull off an upset.

[Jecatria]

WE DO INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ON OUR OWN NOW

Despite the fact that Jecatria is in fact a part of Jeckland, we now participate in sports on our own. (OOC: Think how England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland aren't technically countries, but part of the UK.) Our first competition is The Handball World Cup, and we appear to be doing quite well for a new nation. Our first match was against Equestrian States, and we were doing ok at 15-11 at half time. However those sneaky ponies put the game to bed early on in the second half, and were soon celebrating a 30-21 victory. Next we faced an easier opponenet in New Greek Republic, who were still a tough match. At half time it was 14-14, but the opposition wilted and Jecatria claimed it's first ever international victory, with an impressive second half leading to a 29-22 scoreline. This left the table like this

Group A                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Equestrian States              2    1   0   1    54   48   +6     3
2 Quebec                         1    1   0   0    27   24   +3     3
3 New Greek Republic             2    1   0   1    50   50    0     3
4 Jecatria                       2    1   0   1    50   52   −2     3
5 Super-Llamaland                1    0   0   1    21   28   −7     0

Top seeds Royal Kingdom of Quebec are the only team to have won all games, and Super-Llamaland the only to have lost all, but both these teams have only played one game, meaning the group is still wide open. Jecatria next play Super-Llamaland, a game in which a win is possible and puts us in a good place in the group.

[Britonisea]

BRITANNUAL NEWS- The Talk

Day one and Day 2

Place: Gregoryisgodistan

Here is the first cutoff of HWC 12, presented by Greglord Air, where Lord Almighty Gregory ensures that your flight is safe and blesses it with love. Now offering flights to destinations around Esportiva!

Group B
Nouvel Ecosse 27–28 Communist New Slifer
Vettrera 27–28 Britonisea

  Group B                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Britonisea                     1    1   0   0    28   27   +1     3
  Communist New Slifer           1    1   0   0    28   27   +1     3
3 Nouvel Ecosse                  1    0   0   1    27   28   −1     0
  Vettrera                       1    0   0   1    27   28   −1     0

J=Jimmy
S=Sammy

J= Hello, Welcome to The 12th Handball World Cup, In the country Gregoryisgodistan. We are here today to tell you what has been happening over the past 2 days. But before that, Sam, can you tell us about Doportedas and The Handball World Cup?
S= Yeah, I could. Basically Doportedas was the first country to put an official bid forward and Gregoryisgodistan was our rival, putting a bid up a few days after that. San José Guayabal was considering to put a bid up, though they were too late! So it ended up as us VS Gregoryisgodistan. The verdict was not good for us as Gregoryisgodistan beat us by 5 votes.
J= We will try again soon. Anyway, Britonisea had a good shot as they played against know-country Vettrera as we beat them 28-27.
S= Yes, it was a good match. I was a very interesting match. The Britonisean Team struggled at first, obviously, but they got in to the grip of the game and at the last minute, they stepped a little further in the pit as they won 28-27.
J= Oh, interesting, must have been a very good match.
S= It was. But, the day after it was not good news as we did not play the next round.
J= What?
S= No we did not, although we will play Thatius tomorrow and see if we can get a victory there. This tournament is going well so far for Britonisea. We will see as the game progresses.

[New North Aqmuland]

The Not-So-Terrible Twos
Yesterday's Results

Group C
New North Aqmuland 24–22 Gloriax
Uitbregen 24–25 Sicoutimont

  Group C                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 New North Aqmuland             2    2   0   0    53   48   +5     6
2 Seahold                        1    1   0   0    27   24   +3     3
3 Sicoutimont                    2    1   0   1    51   53   −2     3
4 Uitbregen                      1    0   0   1    24   25   −1     0
5 Gloriax                        2    0   0   2    46   51   −5     0

Game Recap
Well, we did it again. Another win has put us on top of the group, with the only other undefeated team being tonight's opponent, Seahold. This time, it was unranked Gloriax who fell to us, as we played host to them in Gregoryisgodistan, 24-22. Behind strong play from Bruni and Dese on the offensive side of things, as well as great support and strong goalkeeping from Xiao and Sawad, we were able to ensure that we are making our name known. Sawad has been one of the rocks on this team, allowing our other players to focus on their parts of the game while he controls the net, which is a very good thing. In other group action, Seahold sat out while Sicoutimont upset Uitbregen, who, in their first game, fell 25-24, putting the Uitbregenians in fourth in the group, albeit with only one match played.

Matchday 3: @ Seahold (NR/1-0/2nd)
In a game that contains two teams where very few sane people expected them to be, we see two unranked sides, both undefeated and filling out the top two spots in their group coming together to duel. Playing home side is unranked Seahold, who sat out yesterday in their turn for a bye, due to the odd number of teams in the group. We will "visit" them tonight, as the current leader of Group 2. This may be something to note, because a loss tonight would likely end that for the time being. However, I don't think that is very likely, because even though we are both unranked, wee have shown ourselves to be the much stronger team in general. Expect a win to night, even if it is close. In other group action, the two defeated teams play, with bottom team Gloriax hosting Uitbregen tonight. I would expect Uitbregen to come out on top, while Sicoutimont does remain idle with a bye. However, if there is anything this has taught us so far, it is that nothing is guaranteed. We're a good example of that.

[Vettrera]

(OOC: Sorry. Kinda burned out)

Terrica: So...next on the docket is Thatius? Correct

Marsha: Yeah, but there's literally no information about them for this edition. That's ridiculously lazy on their point, unless they just want to use the element of surprise on us. The girls have reviewed all of the footage about them from the 11th edition, but you know, it's not the same.

Terrica: True, but I mean, I think the girls' heads are finally in the game. They said that you talked over everything with them and that everything finally clicked for them. What'd you say?

Marsha: Well, I basically told them how it was. I don't coach babies, I don't coach teenagers, and I don't coach college kids. I coach for the professional league, and if they think that they're ever going to make the professional league, then they'll need to learn how to suck it up and actually fight through the pain. They live in Vettrera. They don't know true pain. This is the first time for them to experience true pain, to see how people in other countries live every day of their lives. If these girls are getting queasy just being INSIDE this country, just think about how the people that actually live here feel every day. If these people can find the strength to go on with their lives, then I'm pretty damn sure that they can find the strength to win a simple game of handball.

Terrica: That's the truth. I'm sure they'll bring it against Thatius.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Cutoff for MD3, presented by The Lord's Word - the best newspaper in Gregoryisgodistan, and most certainly not propaganda.

Edit: And results.

Group A
New Greek Republic 22–29 Quebec
Super-Llamaland 31–20 Jecatria

  Group A                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Quebec                         2    2   0   0    56   46  +10     6
2 Equestrian States              2    1   0   1    54   48   +6     3
3 Super-Llamaland                2    1   0   1    52   48   +4     3
4 New Greek Republic             3    1   0   2    72   79   −7     3
5 Jecatria                       3    1   0   2    70   83  −13     3

Group B
Vettrera 19–23 Thatius
Britonisea 29–28 Communist New Slifer

  Group B                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Thatius                        2    2   0   0    51   43   +8     6
2 Britonisea                     2    2   0   0    57   55   +2     6
3 Vettrera                       3    1   0   2    77   75   +2     3
4 Communist New Slifer           3    1   0   2    80   87   −7     3
5 Nouvel Ecosse                  2    0   0   2    51   56   −5     0

Group C
Gloriax 20–29 Uitbregen
Seahold 27–23 New North Aqmuland

  Group C                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Seahold                        2    2   0   0    54   47   +7     6
2 New North Aqmuland             3    2   0   1    76   75   +1     6
3 Uitbregen                      2    1   0   1    53   45   +8     3
4 Sicoutimont                    2    1   0   1    51   53   −2     3
5 Gloriax                        3    0   0   3    66   80  −14     0

Group D
Patistan 24–32 Northern Sunrise Islands
York People 35–29 Socialist Tibet

  Group D                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Northern Sunrise Islands       2    2   0   0    56   47   +9     6
2 York People                    2    1   1   0    62   56   +6     4
3 Polar Islandstates             2    1   0   1    46   46    0     3
4 Socialist Tibet                3    1   0   2    82   85   −3     3
5 Patistan                       3    0   1   2    78   90  −12     1

Group E
Ko-oren 29–33 Saintland
Maximland 27–27 Kolmya

  Group E                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                        3    2   0   1    87   81   +6     6
2 San Jose Guayabal              2    2   0   0    52   48   +4     6
3 Saintland                      2    1   0   1    61   58   +3     3
4 Maximland                      2    0   1   1    50   52   −2     1
5 Kolmya                         3    0   1   2    72   83  −11     1

Group F
Jeckland 21–32 Royal Barangay
Western Cuba 25–31 Alparia

  Group F                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Royal Barangay                 2    2   0   0    60   45  +15     6
2 Alparia                        3    2   0   1    87   83   +4     6
3 Nassau-Hessen                  2    1   0   1    59   56   +3     3
4 Jeckland                       3    1   0   2    73   84  −11     3
5 Western Cuba                   2    0   0   2    49   60  −11     0

Group G
Menukten 29–26 Darmen
Yttribia 31–21 Tidal Wake

  Group G                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Menukten                       3    2   0   1    79   81   −2     6
2 Yttribia                       2    1   0   1    56   49   +7     3
3 Gregoryisgodistan              2    1   0   1    53   46   +7     3
4 Darmen                         2    1   0   1    48   50   −2     3
5 Tidal Wake                     3    1   0   2    75   85  −10     3

Group H
Darvale 32–26 Felix
Cotdelapoms 36–21 Arenales

  Group H                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Darvale                        3    3   0   0    90   78  +12     9
2 Cotdelapoms                    2    1   0   1    63   51  +12     3
3 Felix                          2    1   0   1    57   55   +2     3
4 Costa de Ouro                  2    1   0   1    52   53   −1     3
5 Arenales                       3    0   0   3    68   93  −25     0

[Alparia]

Group F                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Royal Barangay                 2    2   0   0    60   45  +15     6
2 Alparia                        3    2   0   1    87   83   +4     6
3 Nassau-Hessen                  2    1   0   1    59   56   +3     3
4 Jeckland                       3    1   0   2    73   84  −11     3
5 Western Cuba                   2    0   0   2    49   60  −11     0

"We did it gentlemen. We are now second in our group, when many people back home thought we wouldn't even win a game. I'm glad you guys were able to come out here, after that hard fought game yesterday and bring in another 3 points. I love it," says Coach Martin Domond in the locker room after Alparia's
second straight win earlier today. Captain Jeffrey Clarke led the way in terms of scoring with 8 "goals", and also had the most assists, with 7. Here is hwat he had to say at the press conference;

"It was a well fought win out there today. Guys were passing the ball tremendously around the court, awesome goal scoring, especially that monstrous finish by Thomas; yea that was a beauty. The better thing is, we have a chance to practice and work harder in tomorrows Bye. If we want to stay in the second spot in our group, we are going to have to be determined and focused."

Back home in Linley, Alparia thousands of people gathered at Mosley Square to watch the game at local bars, on their phones, or even at the large television screens all over the city. Many jumped up and down every time the announcer would yell "GOOOOAL!" and then go back to biting their fingernails, in nervous anticipation. After the game people formed a large group and started to yell out the Alparian Song (National Anthem)
in glee of the team's progress.

Can they get another win on Sunday? We will see, as the national team looks to prove everyone around the world wrong.

[Britonisea]

Britannual News

Going good for Britonisea

Place: Gregoryisgodistan

So far, Britonisea is 2nd as The Britonish men won all their games. Yesterday, a reporter said we will be playing Thatius, but that was a lie. Instead the Brito Men played a country that we have never heard off. Communist New Slifer. This country, like Vettrera gave us a run for our money as we got the last point right at the end of the match. "It was a very exciting match which kept you at the edge of your seat to the point where you fall off!" Said Jimmy the news presenter. All we need now, is a good match, next time, to hopefully increase our chances of getting through.

We cannot just put the limelight just on us, I was a fun match between Vettrera and Thatius as one of the players fell right down on the rear! Although the stadium laughed, the person got back up and was the next one to score. He was a very good sport and we interviewed him after the match.

Group B
Vettrera 19–23 Thatius
Britonisea 29–28 Communist New Slifer

  Group B                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Thatius                        2    2   0   0    51   43   +8     6
2 Britonisea                     2    2   0   0    57   55   +2     6
3 Vettrera                       3    1   0   2    77   75   +2     3
4 Communist New Slifer           3    1   0   2    80   87   −7     3
5 Nouvel Ecosse                  2    0   0   2    51   56   −5     0

[Ko-oren]

Ko-orenite Rules Football

Table of Contents:
4. History

4. History

Origin

We need to take a look at the map of Ko-oren for this one. You should understand that thousands of years ago, the West was not a very friendly place and people could only cross that part of the country via the eastern coast (aka the part that is right on the Bay). The Eastern islands were pretending they were separate countries, had some trade relations but otherwise kept to themselves, and only the South and the North had significant populations. The South developed a ball game that resembles present-day Handball, where players could only strike the ball from their hand with a fist, and they needed to get teammates in the opponent's endzone to catch the ball for points. In the North, they developed a game that is more like present-day Association Football, only it was played on entire meadows with up to 40 people on one team. Each team had a few goals to defend.

When trade relations between the North and South became more important, and ships sailed between Kolkath and Manerneun daily, and some sailors were in their non-native port... they eventually found out about the sports played in that other area. In 1316, a group of northern and southern sailors decided on rules for a game that had elements of both games, and they would play that combined rules game twice a year: once in Kolkath, once in Manerneun. This game resembled present-day Ko-orenite Football a lot, and over the years, only details of the game changed. By 1319, the sport spread to other harbors in the eastern part of the Bay. Every harbor eventually had its own team and they were challenged by teams from other harbors that happened to sail by their city. One year later, in 1320, the East Bay League was founded: the six major ports of the eastern part of the Bay decided to play a set number of games. Here is where the short duration of a Ko-orenite Football game comes from. With games of 50 minutes, players could take about 3 games a day. Because games could only be played when a team was on duty on a ship that sailed to a specific harbor, they needed to efficiently use any opportunity to play that they could get. The winner of the league was the team that won most games. In this sense, ties counted as losses. The six participating harbors were Sraltlur and Manerneun, as the original two, joined by northern Sraltlur and Enkl, and southern Virarta and Hibjnova.

By 1323, these cities started their own municipal leagues, in which the harbor teams would also play to hone their skills. The winners of the six municipal leagues (which often proved to be the harbor teams) played in the EBL, which now turned into a smaller tournament, much like playoffs of modern sports.

In 1331, the western Bay cities did a similar thing. Six cities joined together to make a counterpart to the East Bay League: the WBL/West Bay League. Alara, Ko-oren City, Wastan, Mayara, Minato-shi (near Mayara) and Jattulnar (near Ko-oren City) were in this. The WBL worked exactly like the EBL: six municipal leagues sent their best team to the WBL.

In 1339, the EBL took the WBL seriously enough to create a national final: the EBL-WBL classic. This game has been played since 1339, and is still the first game of the playoffs of the modern league structure!

Development

After this, the game spread to all corners of Ko-oren. The state of Arelothun set up a league in 1412 that worked exactly like the EBL and WBL, the Arelothun League (AL). Lirad, the only city in the northern state of Othushun that did not have its own league yet, created one for itself. They had no opponents other than their municipal teams (unlike the WBL, EBL and AL, which have municipal teams and a bigger multi-municipal final). In 1492, the Western cities created their leagues (WL, Western League). These cities were smaller, and their municipal leagues contained less teams, but they showed they could play on a high level. By 1512, the southeastern state of Engbrothun created its own league (you guessed it, the EL) with two separate municipals: Branvun and Kastundun. In 1515, all leagues came together to make a larger national final system. This system is still in use!

Foreign influences

You might remember that Ko-oren has 15 official languages. Ko-oran is the native language, the rest are foreign influences. The remaining 14 languages arrived in Ko-oren between 1517 and 1648. Portuguese arrived first, followed by English and Welsh between 1525 and 1539, and so on. This diverted attention away from sports for a while: the first contact with other humans.

Soon, though, the Ko-orenites adopted the foreigners' languages and let them stay in Ko-oren for a while. As Ko-oren has no ores, minerals or other valuables other than environment and nature, the foreigners did not feel like colonisation (the fact that Ko-orenite society was very developed helped). By 1530, people started welcoming wave after wave of foreign ships, until 1648, when the 15th Ko-orenite language arrived (German). In 1530, Ko-orenite football started spreading again, to the northeastern states. Jeknolr has a 5-city league, Rabth a 3-city league and Vnoskjulung a 3-island league. These three leagues joined the league structure, and the nine total leagues (EBL, WBL, AL, EL, WL, Lirad, VL, RL and JL) played national finals in a specific way: the WBL-EBL playoff would always stay, for instance.

Division

In 1650, after the arrival of the last language, something remarkable happened. Traveling was significantly easier since the first time the sport was developed, and teams could cover more ground, so it was not necessary to have small municipal leagues anymore. While the original leagues stayed as they were, a group of smaller remote cities got together to make a league of their own. They refused to set it up like the already existing leagues, and so they decided to make a completely separate conference. At the time, all nine original leagues founded the Original Conference, and the new leagues made the National Conference. National, because teams from all over the nation could play in one single competition without many problems.

The four eastern islands were the first to join the National Conference. Kangutsu, Uzhotu, Hogone and Sishinova did, however, strucutre their leagues much like the original leagues. Teams would only play other teams from their own island for a while: the KL, UL, HL and SL.

The National Conference did attract some more national teams, and made four large leagues for them: the Flying Insects, the Athletics, the Flowers and the Towers. All because of the names of the teams that would play in them. The Flying Insects are for all of the teams named Dragonflies, Butterflies and so on. The Flowers are self-explanatory. The Towers would be for all the teams named after the Tower of Babel (remember this is after Ko-oren had all 15 languages), and the Athletics are for all teams that were founded for the sake of playing at a high level. In 1719, these four large national leagues joined the eastern island leagues and created their own playoff schedule, and the NC winner played the OC winner for one big national final. It has been the same ever since, with some minor name changes.