World Cup 70 - RP Thread

[Equestrian States]

Can can, can you beat the cutoff?

If you haven't posted yet: Apparently no.

MATCH DAY 2 RP CUTOFF FOR GROUPS E-H

RESULTS

[HopNation]

---

HopNation Sports

---

12-29-14

HDT|2014|v.363

---

---

WORLD CUP – PART 3

---

---

---

To say I’m thrilled today would be an understatement, perhaps the understatement of the millennium. I also know what your thinking and no my excitement is not entirely focused on the Hops win over Eura and a guaranteed spot in the knockout stage of the World Cup, although a large portion is definitely as a result of that match. My true feelings of joy are stemming from news I received just this morning relating to my career and writings. Not many of you know this, but I’ve been working on an extensive document, a sort of documentary series of biographies relating to sports and the individuals that have inspired this realm within HopNation. The series is nearly completed with 10 books making up the entire collection and this morning I received a call informing me that these works would be highlighted at this years Writers guild Awards Ceremony. From what I know so far it is books #4 and #5 which are receiving the highest honor at the event, which they cover the lives and extensive work done by Warren VonHopton and Warren Schmidt, but they are recognizing the entire collection. Due to the recognition I’m also up for the HopVorgson Award which is the highest award for this type of work, it also sounds like the HopNation Daily Tattler is going to extend my sports column contract for another few years as well.

I suppose that is enough about my exciting news, especially since this is a sports column and although my series does cover the sports world in HopNation it doesn’t have much to do with what’s going on right now in HopNation.

As you can expect from the results after our Hops last match there has been a number of celebrations going on around all of HopNation. Fans have been, to put it mildly, ecstatic that with our very first qualification into the World Cup Proper we have now placed ourselves in a spectacular position and will be moving onto the next round. I for one can only hope that the rest of the multiverse starts to consider our Hops a decent squad and that we can reproduce this accomplishment in the future. No one wants to see have a situation were we can’t qualify again either, well there are probably a few people or Nations out there that would want to see us crash and burn but what I mean is that this best not be a fluke. We need to maintain our composure, not just as a Nation and our support, but in regards to our team. They need to stay focused and not become complacent, they need to strive for continued improvement all of the time. This shouldn’t be to hard to accomplish especially when I think of my past conversations with Coach Schmidt, I know this is something he and his staff try to develop and instill in all of the players. I’m not entirely worried about this team or future teams under Coach Schmidt’s management which can be fully understood after reading book #5 in my series (I know, I know, shameless plug..). I do fear that this starts to place a rather large target on our backs. We will also start to see our oppositions use their best tactics against us no matter the situation, not that they haven’t in the past it will just be more apparent going forward. For now, however, continue to celebrate this team and show the multiverse what it means to be a Hops Supporter.

On a lighter note which is completely unrelated to football, the Winter Festival in full swing and there are a lot of things going on around HopNation. The annual broomball tournament is scheduled to start today and conclude at the end of the week. This years event has over 45 teams participating, and increase of 10 teams from last years broomball tournament. It is a completely amateur event but we still see some fantastic play from a few of the teams. There is also a new event in this year Winter Festival and it is sled slalom. Like it’s name participants will be attempting to slalom down one of the ski hills on the north face of the Hallertautops but what makes this so interesting is that it will all be done on recreational sleds, you know the kind your children use on snow days in the backyard. Interesting to say the least, it will be a wonder on how they steer those things between the gates. A staple of the festival will also get underway at the end of the week and that is the Ice Castle Building and Ice Carving event. This year there will be three castles constructed entirely out of ice, each will be open to the public (by reservation) once they are complete. One of them is going to be an Ice Bar, one is going to be an Ice Hotel (which I’m told will be open for at least one month after completion), and one will be a grand castle and placed in the center of the Winter Festival’s main pavilion.

Enjoy the Winter Festival and now the Hops’ match data.

---

Group C
Team			Plc	Pts	+/-	GF
HopNation (41)*		2	6	+2	3
Eura (18)		3	0	-2	3
The Holy Empire (3) *	1	6	+3	9
Valanora (16)		4	0	-3	4
* Qualified

Match Summary
Hops vs Eura @

(cap. 65,000)


Score
HopNation 1 – 0 Eura

Goals
68’ Pech Schytaing

Subs
15’ ▲ McKray ▼ Watson

Bookings
15’ █ Andrew Watson
15’ █ Eisa Loostin
74’ █ Craig Sinclair

Barely containing my excitement but until next time Brew On! Brew Well Hoptonians!
Ringwald Griffinsmith
HopNation Sports Writer

[Saintland]

Sister Polus's Thoughts

Hello, I am Sister Maria Polus of St. Hermione's Convent in Acedonia and I have chosen to join you once again to discuss current events. At present, the St. Hermione's School for Upstanding Young Ladies remains on a break for the Christmas holidays, so I have plenty of time to speak with you today. That is for the best, since there is much to speak about and much that needs to be said, for the benefit of all of those listening to the sound of my voice. Let us begin, briefly, with a discussion of the corruption on the World Baseball Classic Council.

Now, the efforts to clean up that corrupt tournament, efforts which I have always supported and advocated, have ended in failure. Recently, the President of the Council announced that the Saintland National Baseball Team would be barred from future World Baseball Classics, due to absolutely false rumors. I know for a fact that no player on the Saintland National Team during WBC 31 or any previous World Baseball Classic ever used any performance-enhancing drugs. These substances are illegal and there is no way that such substances would be allowed into the Kingdom of Saintland. Not even King Petrus the Half-Hearted would permit such disgusting substances to be imported into his Kingdom. These claims are absolutely false and, furthermore, are being spread for ulterior motives.

Recently, Sporting World Magazine, the respected Holy Republican publication that thoroughly covers the world of sports, uncovered evidence that the draw for the 32nd World Baseball Classic was rigged. The team from Hicaña was deliberately moved from Group D to Group F because the hosts decided that moving them to Group F would increase their ability to make money off of the low-life gamblers who are known to be close personal friends with most of the World Baseball Classic Umpires. While efforts were made, in the past, to eliminate gambling from the World Baseball Classic, the current hosts have brought it back with a vengeance. Therefore, I have decided that I will not speak of that event for the foreseeable future.

Next, I wish to turn to the current controversy over the results from the World Cup. As it turns out, the first 2 matchdays of the 70th World Cup have seen a number of "surprising" upsets. In fact, Vilita, Eura and Valanora have all been eliminated from this World Cup and there's still a matchday to play. 3 former World Cup champions, including the World Cup 66 and 68 champions have played a combined total of 6 matches and have lost all of them. This is not something that anybody would have predicted prior to the start of this World Cup. In fact, if the Group Stage ended with the tables as they are right now, the Round of 16 matches in the Round of 16 would see the Equestrian States face Brenecia, Nephara battle Legalese, The Heretical Empire face Super-Llamaland and the Saintland National Soccer Team face HopNation. Yes, HopNation, a team only famous for forcing the Holy Republicans into the Cup of Harmony. Most interestingly, however, is the final match between Ko-oren and Audioslavia. A Ko-oren victory would put the #1 and #2 teams in the KPB rankings into a Round of 16 match against one another, guaranteeing that one of them would be going out much earlier than they had hoped for.

Many around the multiverse are wondering what brought about this sequence of strange results. I can tell you the answer to that question. What you are witnessing in the World Cup is simply God's Will because everything that happens is part of God's Will. Even before He created you, God knew you and God knew every choice that you were ever going to make and everything that would ever happen to you. God foresees all and, through His enactment of His Will, He provides proof of His existence to those who are willing to open their eyes to what is happening right in front of them. I have told you, over and over again, that the Will of God will be done and now we can see God's Will being enacted. What has happened in the World Cup over the past few days was meant to be and what is to happen over the coming days is also meant to be. That is what the Will of God is all about.

The carrying out of the Will of God can be seen in Ceni, where the Alliance for Cenian Future has recently been formed to offer the people of Ceni an alternative to their horrific, hopeless present circumstances. It can be seen in the Holy Republican Empire, a nation that was once a fountain of iniquity, but which has now been placed firmly on the Path of Righteousness thanks to the election of a Man of God as their Consul. It can be seen here in Acedonia, where recently the Parliament prohibited the distribution of disgusting smut within our fine city. It can be seen in Hicaña, where the Godly people of Hicaña are fighting a bunch of foreign agents intent upon imposing their wicked beliefs upon that peaceful Christian nation. It can be seen around the multiverse in the celebrations of the birth of our Lord and Savior Iesus Christus to the Virgin Maria two thousand, one hundred and 14 years ago. Everywhere around the multiverse, the Will of God is clear. I believe that it will not be much longer before the advent of the Millennium, when Iesus Christus will return to rule over all of the multiverse for a thousand years before His final battle with that evil, conniving snake Satanas, a battle that will end in victory for Iesus and defeat for Satanas.

Sure, there are some setbacks. It is most unfortunate that the Equestrian States, a wicked land that worships false goddesses, is hosting the current edition of the World Cup and it is also unfortunate that they are currently the only bidder for the upcoming World Bowl. However, should they end up hosting the World Bowl, it will provide the Saintland National Gridirion Team with a golden opportunity to prove that they can still win the World Bowl without King Petrus the Weak playing the quarterback position. It will provide them with the opportunity to prove that they won because of God's Will, not because of their fence-sitter of a Quarterback. I believe that they will do exactly that. Elsewhere, the only bid for the next International Basketball Championships is by the same 2 nations that hosted the last one, but that merely provides the Saintland National Basketball Team with the perfect opportunity to win their unprecedented third consecutive IBC title, something that no team has ever accomplished before. I expect both of these events to come to pass and provide further proof of the Will of God.

But, there is some truly horrific news at the present time. I am not speaking of that handful of Satanas worshippers who made fools of themselves at WorldVision by pretending to represent a nation that no longer exists. I am referring to Feministvs Sanctvsterra! This profoundly evil terrorist organization has returned and they are intent upon wrecking more havoc the second time around. This time, they are not even bothering to hide their contempt for men or their desire to pervert nature by inverting the natural, just and wholesome gender roles under some pretense of advocating for equality. The new Feministvs Sanctvsterra is an organization that is openly anti-men and one which has openly announced their desire to overthrow King Petrus the Spineless and replace him with a Matriarchal Tribunal, in defiance of Nature.

Let me make this very clear: God did not create women to rule over men. Man was created to rule over woman. SInce I am certain that some Godless sinners will twist my words, let me be absolutely clear about this: Women have every right to hold authority over children, but it is contrary to nature and a sin for a woman to hold a position of authority over men. I say this, not out of any antipathy toward my fellow women, but out of my love for them and my desire for what is best for them. I respect the authority of the Patriarch and other Men of God and will do as they ask without question or argument, because that is what I am supposed to do and what is best for me and for everybody else. What Feministvs Sanctvsterra advocates is a rebellion against God and against our nature. If we follow Feministvs Sanctvsterra's preferred way of life, women and children will be the hardest hit, as children suffer from the absence of their mothers from their lives while women suffer from being taken advantage of by men and forced to do most of the work in the workplace and in the home. Other, less Godly, peoples have seen the harm caused by these wicked ideas firsthand, as have some of those viewing this video. We must not fall for the false promises and half-truths of Feministvs Sanctvsterra! Women throughout the multiverse must realize that the True Church of Iesus Christus is concerned about what is best for women and that is why we advocate the way of life that we do.

With the recent re-emergence of Feministvs Sanctvsterra and the emergence of a group of Satanas worshippers, there is reason for concern that either or both of those groups will attempt some sort of disruption at next week's Opening Ceremony for the Winter Olympics. However, I have spoken with the organizers for the Baseton Winter Olympics and they have ensured me that ample security will be provided to prevent any shenanigans at the Opening Ceremony, at the Closing Ceremony or at any of the Olympic events held in-between. This is especially necessary in light of the events that took place at the last Summer Olympics, where a Vakolicci monarch was murdered by assassins from a nation so wicked that I will not say its name (OOC: Gregoryisgodistan) and in light of the events that happened in what is now the Holy Republican Empire, due to the negligence of the previous regime, a negligence that cost the lives of King Paulus the Great and of Consul Kulseth's predecessor. All evidence indicates that they will not permit a repeat of the events that have happened in the past, at the upcoming Winter Olympic Games. For this, I applaud Consul Kulseth and the Holy Republican authorities. I am looking forward to attending the Winter Olympics and I appreciate the assurance that Baseton will be a safe space for the righteous. May all of you have a Happy New Year and may those of you who have not yet accepted Iesus Christus as your Savior do so for the sake of your eternal souls! I am Sister Maria Polus and I thank you for watching.

[Ko-oren]

[Polar Islandstates]

Well, that was certainly an interesting couple of matchdays, wasn't it? In theory, it also leaves us in charge of our fate for the last day against what is, on-paper, the weakest team in the group and possibly in the tournament. The only thing is, it is thanks entirely to them beating Valladares that we find ourselves in this position in the first place.

Lining up first against Valladares, we knew we were in for a tough battle. Sporting a handful of familiar faces in the likes of the Euran manager Dimitri Campbell at the helm, Ivan Coupet shoring things up at the back, and the ever-dangerous Pedrinho up front, we went out prepared for the worst those particular scoundrels had to throw at us... apparently at the cost of preparing fully for everyone else. Yes, for all Kolehmainen's inside knowledge on his SK-teammate Pedrinho, it was the talents of Gignac and Rosenthal who caused us the most trouble in the first half as they combined neatly to leave Lillehammer marking nobody and Nordenberg tracking a run from Pedrinho that led to nothing but a load of space for Gignac to exploit and rifle past Kirilaunen for the opener.

If that was bad, what came next was worse. One badly placed foot from Bjerregaard led to him slipping on the slick playing surface, and Valladares were ruthless as they exploited the space he inadvertently created. Morantes flew forwards onto the loose ball, whipped in the ball with an outswinger to the far post, and the space between Nordenberg and Kungas-Vaga was exploited for the second time in the first twenty minutes as Rosenthal flew in with a flying header to thump the ball powerfully into the bottom corner of Kirilaunen's goal from height. Two-nil at half time, and the Terns had barely turned up. Ahem.

We did a lot better in the second half though, I'll grant you that. Pedrinho must have drilled his own teammates just as well as Kolehmainen had his on the dangers of their SK strike partner because he had barely a sniff in the first half. In the second, however, Zeljeznicar came out with orders to get forwards more often than he had in the first - and it certainly put the cat amongst the pigeons. Bursting forwards with pace, the back three of Valladares were unprepared for such a direct route from the East Franz attacker, and he was able to clip the ball through for Kolehmainen to run around the back and chip the ball with his first touch over Fuentes and into the goal for number ninety in a Terns shirt.

The equaliser was just as rapid and uncharacteristic of the Terns' usual style when it came, with a swift counter-attack straight down the middle resulting in a free kick on the edge of the area. Konigstein was there on the scene promptly enough to ask the referee to take it early, and with the permission of the man in black he was able to simply roll it through the disorganised Valladares backline, where Gunnlaugsson was there to run on and perform a thunderbolt into the far top corner of the goal.

After a little moment of history - the substitution of one brother for another for the first time ever in the form of Torsten for younger brother and less attacking Mateusz - it was clear that Rasmussen was uncharacteristically trying to either protect the point we already had, or slip into an even more counter-attacking side. Larsen was brought on for Kolehmainen, being more suited to the 'lone striker' role, and the Terns played in an unfamiliar 4-3-2-1 fir tree formation. It wasn't to be enough however, and the winning goal came for Valladares through Pedrinho - who else - when he capitalised on yet another mistake by Nordenberg to run through and finish in the eighty-seventh minute.

So, not a perfect start by any means. But, the Terns have come back from tighter scrapes than this before, and that's just what we started to do against Farfadillis.

Ah, Farfadillis. We knew they'd beaten Nova Anglicana in their first match, as expected, although not as easily as we thought might happen., and we also knew that they'd know a win against us would put us out and put them through. What other motivation could they possibly need?

Well, aside from the fact they're managed by Rasmussen's former number two. Yep. Good ol' Steffan Pekarik. After years of loyal service to Rasmussen and the Terns, he left to become the man in the hot seat himself, and who could blame him or begrudge him that opportunity? Well, I reckon going into a World Cup group stage match knowing he could knock us out with his inside knowledge counts as an exception that that otherwise good humour and best wishes/golden handshake kinda thing. We may not have any first-teamers that play in Farfadillis, and certainly we could expect none of their Divisjon One-based cohort to be lining up against us when the referee blew his whistle, but we've played each other enough to have an idea of what needed to happen to thwart them. Plus, there was the whole 'we-know-you-Steffan-and-you-know-us' thing.

Rasmussen changed things up a bit before the match started, too. Olaf Strauss came in for Nordenberg, both as a way of relieving Nordenberg from a poor first match performance and as a way of filling the side with players Pekarik had no experience with in the first team. For similar reasons, Rauno Bickermann came in for Torsten Wolff, who had been ineffectual in the first match against Valladares. Lillehammer was complaining of a slight muscle tweak in the warmup as well, with Holzhauser becoming the third, late, change to the starting eleven.

Farfadillis have a side strewn with dangermen, and it was the most dangerous of all who opened the scoring for the within three minutes. Tuzzio controlled it well, lofted a lobbed pass over the head of Holzhauser, and Dandalleion's touch was simply too good for Otkupshchikov. One-nil, and Pekarik was already fighting the celebrations on the touchline.

Fortunately, we have a wily old fox in the form of Kolehmainen, and an earnest young striker willing to help in the form of Bickermann, and they soon started combing to devastating effect against a nation that, despite the attempts of Pekarik, simply refuse to play defensively. With Bjerregaard making plundering runs down the right, and Kungas-Vaga quietly mopping things up down the left flank, it was only a matter of time before the running of the two up front started to pick and tease some holes out of the Farfadillis defence. First, a delightful one-touch passing move led Konigstein to work his way around the box from one side to the other, before laying it off to Bickermann. Never one to be selfish, he wrong-footed the entire defence with a pullback for his strike partner, and Kolehmainen slammed the ball home. One-all, and number ninety-one.

One-all was to get much, much better before half-time though, when Kolehmainen grabbed number ninety-two from the penalty spot after Mata took Zeljeznicar but not the ball in the twenty-fifth minute. Kolehmainen then returned the favour for Bickermann when he held up the long ball from Holzhauser just enough for his strike partner to catch him up and rifle the lay-off into the bottom corner of the net. Three-one, and Terns were in a commanding position going into the half-time break.

Things are never that straight-forward when you're playing the Farves though, and in a blitz of irresistible attacking play soon after the second half started they would bring us back to level pegging. Without wanting to sing his praises too much, young(!) Pekarik appears to have learned well from Rasmussen, and with two plays that could have been the Terns just four years ago the devastating Dandalleion had scored one and set Roga up for the third goal, and we were all set for a lightning last half hour.

Chances went begging at both ends, with both Kirilaunen and Lisdiren coming to the rescue of their defences on several occasions. One particular mistake from Kungas-Vaga when he badly mis-kicked a clearance saw the ball bounce through at a perfect volleying height for Mêndêlöíndçêl. Kirilaunen spared his captain's blushes however, with some lightning reflexes resulting in him palming the ball over the bar for a corner that Kungas-Vaga made amends for by thumping away a hefty clearance for Zeljeznicar to run onto and ultimately force a corner at the other end almost single-handedly and relieve the heavy pressure the Terns had been under.

And with ten minutes to go, another corner was exactly how the Terns scored the winner. With the minutes running down on the clock, Moses Luc Bjerregaard whipped in yet another devilish outswinger from the left, and Willem Otkupshchikov was there to rise above the rabble and head home the goal that would ultimately prove to be the winner. A hard fought win, but a win is a win, and we celebrated with the knowledge we were still in the tournament.

And then, after the final whistle, some even better but unexpected news to go with our victory - the Valladars had fallen by four goals to two against Nova Anglicana. All four teams are now on three points, and our progress is entirely in our own hands! We know the opposition will be tricky to beat - they put up a good fight against Farfadillis and they've just beaten the team that beat us in our opening fixture - but we should realistically have enough in ourselves to beat them. Touch wood. It's all on us, now. Lillehammer will be back, Nordenberg is well rested, and Wolff will have something to prove. On top of which, Kolehmainen has taken his fine form from qualifying into the tournament itself by the looks of it, and that could be worth its weight in gold. Gold, I say!

As for the other match, well, Valladares and Farfadillis are going head to head for what will be one qualifying spot. If someone wins in that match, we can't rely on drawing against Nova Anglicana. We need to win. And then it'll be between the other two teams for the other spot. And let me tell you, I wouldn't want to pick a winner there.

Though, having said that, part of me hopes it is Pekarik and Farfadillis who get the points. It'd be nice for him, and for the rapidly falling star of Valhallan football, for another side managed by one of us to get into the knockout stages. Aside from Northbrook and East Franz, we've struggled in the international tournaments this year - with SK bottling it in both the CC and the GC, and not as many Divisjon One-based players as you'd hope appearing in the list of top players at the World Cup produced by the Buyan press. I know that's only one nation's opinion, but if we're not careful, there will be dark days ahead for the reputation of Valhallan football.

So, a good strong win over Nova Anglicana please Morten, and make sure the boys are up for it! I don't know about you, but I'm in no mood for a humbling and a shock defeat against a team ranked much lower than ourselves. Healthy respect, yes. Too much respect? No. We need a big, fat, juicy win. Go get 'em, boys.

Per Tenebras ad Lucem.

Heia Terns!

Eff

xx

[Nephara]

Hadrian Belfast liked the nighttime.
It was strange to think he'd always been afraid of it as a child. Or the dark, at least. But one night when he was eight years old, he'd accidentally broken his nightlight's bulb and been too embarrassed to ask his family to fix it. After a week of troubled and shortened sleep, he eventually just got used to it.
Footsteps from behind. "Hadi," said Michael Brandon's quiet, even voice.
"Evenin'."
"You made yourself pretty scarce after Markus started shooting his mouth off about how the failures of the past didn't mean shit anymore."
Hadi snorted. "He's just a kid. I didn't want to snap at him."
"Yeah, well. Fresh air never hurts."
They paused for a second, looking up at the stars.
"It still hurts, doesn't it?" said Belfast, quietly. "There were so many veterans there who'd done so much for the nation... Portia Thrift, Rook Harm, Lucia Oakwood. Cheney Rosewood. Baz Kearney, too. And Karelline Charmwell - christ, I was her teammate back then. All these people... they'd been the foundation of our early years, and this was their last chance to see a World Cup." He sighed. "Still feel like we failed them."
"Yeah, we were a good team. But Sargossa were better. Hopefully by now the tables have turned. ... But you're right. It does still stick with me. And christ, whenever I think about that hangover of a Cup of Harmony campaign I want to throw up."
"Mm. And to think it was the last campaign some of those players ever-"
"CUNT!" came a shout from behind them.
"... had."
Brandon and Belfast turned. Rook Cathar's face was like a stormcloud. "Can't believe that prick was shooting his mouth off, fuck does he think he knows?! Wasn't fucking there, was he?"
"Some people taking it rougher than others..." muttered Brandon.
"What?"
"Nothing. We were just talking about that campaign now, actually. Figure the only way to get it off our backs is to beat the Corsairs tomorrow." He shrugged. "Stands to reason."
"Yeah, I'll drink to that. Can't wait for tomorrow. Got a lot to prove out there."
"Feeling confident?"
"I'm always feeling confident," snorted Cathar. "No time for fear, is there?"
"Mm." Belfast seemed to raise himself out of a reverie. "Let's head back inside. Can't stand out here reminiscing all night, can we... ?"

Mortlock chewed a nail.
Nephara were playing defensively. She didn't like that. Neither side necessarily had the better chances, but Sargossa were keeping on the front foot. There was just that little bit missing from the Cormorants' pressing...
DeFederico to Noyola, a low cross cleared out by a well-placed Belfast. Close enough shave, but as Escobar came up for the ball, Murdoch made it a 50/50 challenge by smashing into him to get onto the end of it. It didn't stand, of course - and he looked sincerely surprised to get booked.
"Fuck," Auburn Bywater muttered behind her manager. "Got one last match, too... he'll be out next match."
"It's fine. We just need to win this one and we'll be fine."
Bywater looked grimly out to the field as DeFederico hit the indirect free-kick into the box - after a scuffle, Coleman came up to claim it. "Looking like a big ask at the moment, guv."
Still, from that point, the Cormorants finally started to press up. Damian was caught in possession by Stockinger, who started dashing down the left flank and played a neat one-two with Murdoch to foil Escobar. Her cross was desperately but weakly cleared by Lucena before Rowland could tap in, but it only went as far as Locke, who got into the box before pulling the trigger. Abad was beaten as it barely managed to creep inside the top corner... Nephara lead in the 57th! And Mortlock, normally so reserved, allowed herself a quietly satisfied fist-pump on the sidelines.
All they had to do was protect that lead. Ideally, hit Sargossa on the break once or twice more, too. This was bread-and-butter stuff for Nephara, and they looked rock-solid at the back as Sargossa kicked off again, Quinteros to Bustos down to Cifuentes, who suddenly had acres of space with Penrith seemingly day-dreaming...
"GET MOVING!" Mortlock bellowed. But Cifuentes was a speed demon, and Penrith simply couldn't catch up, Rhein was forced to cover but he was able to play the ball across for Noyola who crossed high, Bustos beat Marlowe to flick it on to the far post...
"No..." breathed Bywater.
Quinteros was just, perfectly, onside, and fired breezily into the net. They'd equalised within a minute.

That had taken the wind out of the Nepharim sails, though they'd defended solidly from that point. Until around the 85th minute, when they livened up going forward, it was a dire match for the neutral with Sargossa as the better side, but... Mortlock had had more than enough time to work up a head of steam going into the full-time talk.
"Mental weakness," she snarled. "MENTAL. FUCKING. WEAKNESS. That's what cost you. All you had to do was stay awake after scoring and, failing that, have the bravery to fight your way back to the front after that collapse. Mental weakness. That's all that fucking was."
She tried to let the rest of the useless anger ebb away. The rest of the dressing room was silent.
"A draw is still probably good enough," she conceded. "Anything other than defeat next match gets us through, even defeat might end up favouring us thanks to head-to-head. But I'm expecting a win. I demand a win. We're in this fucking tournament to win it, damn it! Any of this shit in the later rounds would've been the death of us - you think you could've won on fucking penalties in that state? Could've even held out through extra time? No, of fucking course not. Get your heads straightened by next match, or we're all fucked."
When she was finally done, she wondered if she'd been too harsh. The younger players were distraught, Catheline Stockinger (who'd been their best player by a distance throughout the bad patch) looked alienated.
Was she losing her touch with this squad?
She shook her head, trying to get the self-doubt out. That was useless to her. She was good enough to do this, this team was good enough to win matches. And if she couldn't believe that, then what was the point?

[Nova Anglicana]

Group F, Begin Again

Hayden Landers, Nova Anglican Football Today

After a thrilling but ultimately disappointing match against Farfadillis, not many were optimistic about the Lions' chances to pick up even a single point in World Cup 70's Group F. After all, they had just played their lowest-ranked opponent at 17, and were about to face the #7 and #4 overall nations, respectively. How could they hope to compete when their defense had been so utterly exposed by the Farves' attack? But there was a different narrative brewing in the Piedra Labrada Sports Complex.

The Lions were set to face a Valladar team that was extremely attacking in nature and that spread the field very effectively, generating a lot of chances via the speed of both Rubén Morantes and Juan Pablo Reyes on the wings. They bamboozled the mighty Polar Islandstates for a half, leading 2-0. The Terns eventually came back to tie it, but Valladares' number 10 Pedrinho, the star of the squad, broke the tie and gave La Nacional the victory. The Lions also seemed startled by the speed and power of the Valladar attack, as Morantes continually beat Bradley Lancaster down the wing, launching dangerous crosses into the box. One of these went home in the 11th minute, when Yoan Gignac's battering ram of a head pounded the ball past Tim Klein. The Lions had been quick to respond against Farfadillis, and they continued that trend. Emmanuel Moga, recently listed as the 56th best player at the World Cup by a Buyanese magazine, deked young Patrick Courtois just enough to get space to launch a rocket off his right foot past the veteran Fuentes in the 19th minute.

On the next Valladar goal, it would be Reyes sending a long cross through the box and Rozenthal's foot that corralled it and directed it past a scrambling Klein at 30 minutes in. The Lions could not respond until thirteen minutes later when, after a series of dangerous Valladar chances at the goal, Terrance Jordan knocked Pedrinho off the ball and started the counter. The Valladar ten shouted furiously at the referee, but he was already away down the pitch and no call was forthcoming. The Lions took advantage of the vast amount of empty space in the middle of the pitch to counterattack. Jordan got the ball out to Cesár Mártinez, who found Moga streaking down the pitch. In a perfectly timed maneuver from both players, Moga deftly passed it to Chris Hodges, who blasted it past Fuentes the keeper to tie the score. Six goals had been scored by the Lions in the World Cup, and all six of them had come off the boot or head of one of those two men.

The second half saw Valladares continue to press the wings, and Gignac missed his second goal by inches when his shot clipped off the crossbar and deflected into the crowd. The Nova Anglican broadcasters had questioned manager Sook Jin Lee's decision not to take off Bradley Lancaster, and it looked like he should have, as Lancaster's pace was quite slowed in the second half due to the relentless attacks of Rozenthal. Rozenthal beat him again in the 62nd minute, but Terrance Jordan came to his rescue and dispossessed Rozenthal before he could get anything off. Lancaster collected the loose ball and seemingly getting his second wind, sprinted down the wing like a madman. Iván Coupet attempted to cut him off, but nothing could stop the possessed Lions fullback. He blew past Coupet and when confronted with Freddy Edwards, served the ball into the box. It was more of a chip than a cross, but it was perfectly placed, and it floated across to Kyle Fleming, who unleashed a cannon of a shot off his boot in midair that slammed into the back of the net, giving the Lions the lead. Fleming broke the Hodges-Moga goal streak and Lancaster atoned for his mistake and showed a glimpse of why that Buyanese magazine ranked him 60th overall.

Lee then pulled Lancaster off for the veteran Dallas Page and he left to gracious applause from an appreciative Guayabalense crowd. Page's fresh legs helped the Lions stave off the Valladar attack, as did Barrett Brandt, who replaced 35 year old Devin Osborne in the 77th minute. But more than the strong defending, what helped the Lions ensure victory was Cesár Mártinez's 82nd minute free kick. Mártinez has a thunderous boot, but instead of firing a lightning bolt on goal, he curled it exquisitely into the box for the head of Felix Kelly, who claimed a rare goal. Up 4-2, the Lions pulled back into more of a 4-5-1 and although Pedrinho had two chances at a goal in injury time, he could convert neither of them thanks to Tim Klein's improved goalkeeping and the Lions finished the upset.

So fresh off their biggest win ever, what do the Lions have to look forward to? Why, the 4th-ranked Terns of the Polar Islandstates. They could not handle Valladares, but claimed a 4-3 win over Farfadillis to pull to .500. Now all teams are 1-0-1, with a chance to advance under their own power. If either match on the final day has a winner, that winner will advance. For the Lions, the situation is a little bit simpler: Don't lose. If the Lions win, they are through. If the Lions draw, they will be ahead of the Terns on goal differential and would advance if the other match has a winner. If the other match ends in a draw, then the Lions will have the best goal differential in the group, will be neutral H2H against PIS, hold the advantage vs. Valladares, and lose against Farfadillis. In that case, it looks like the Lions would be a solid bet to advance. However, if the Lions lose, they will not move on. It is the 4th-ranked team in the world, but as long as the Lions can keep the Terns from putting more in the back of the net than they do, they should move on.

As for who the two out of Group F might face, there are three possibilities. Hosts San José Guayabal and the nation of Pasarga lead the group at 1-1-0, while Buyan is 1-0-1 and Rüentenbach is eliminated at 0-0-2. Pasarga will play Rüentenbach and look to pick up a victory, which would ensure their passage to the knockout rounds. The SJG-Buyan matchup will be extremely exciting, as SJG can move on with a draw or a win, but Buyan needs a win to have a chance. I see Pasarga winning and SJG-Buyan ending in a draw, which would leave Pasarga to face Group F's second place team and SJG to play Group F's first place team. As for who those two teams will be, who knows? With all teams level, it's a whole new ballgame, as our neighbours to the south like to say. Each team has a fair shot to advance, and their destiny is completely in their hands. The Lions have a slim chance of advancement, but as Lumberjacks FC proved to us recently, anything is possible, and as long as the Lions are participating, they may as well try to win the whole darn thing.

[Brenecia]

THE ROZELLE OBSERVER
Heroic Fightback Sees Patriots Come Back To Win
by Derek Mackan
BRENECIA J Pence; F Berenger, O Faulkner, S Greig, M Portadown (C Bowyer 61'); C Purrington (R Stamper 72'), K Armstrong, E Camden (c); I Cullen, C Scherzer, M Spitfire (L Connolly 52')
Goals: Scherzer 9', Camden 32' pen
LEGALESE E Swales; K Stroud, G Masters, G Shoobridge (S Glowinski 67'), E Kaszinski; C Cloman; S Brahm, D Ester; C Damhan (S Nixa 52'); J Detzler, Q Oxboro (X Boyle 76')
Goals: Detzler 60', 87', Nixa 82'

Coming into a match as distinct underdogs, the Patriots had one plan - hit early, hit hard, and hit decisively. It almost worked.

When Bardsley had been interviewed about this match, she'd never been shy about her intentions. "We're going out there to hit them hard," she promised, "that's never changed." Defending was not mentioned in her list of goals. But from the very get-go of the match, it was easy to see what she meant. The Patriots simply swarmed forward in numbers, trying desperately to overwhelm the Legalites.

This paid immediate dividends. The Legalese back line simply seemed unable to deal with the pressure they were put under both in possession and out of it. Shoobridge's clearance, charged down by Cullen, provided Brenecia with their first 'shot' on target of many - but it went straight from Cullen's raised knee to Swales' grateful hands. But Cullen soon improved on this with a low, sweeping shot that Swales did well to tip out for a corner (which sailed over everyone en route to a Legalese throw-in), and Purrington caught out Swales with an ambitious strike from range that very narrowly went over the bar. Eventually, though, the Patriots managed to put their advantage on the scoreboard, easing the nerves of a clearly frustrated Bardsley. Bob's Towing midfielder Chance Cloman was caught out by Erin Camden, who picked his pocket before expertly picking out Miriam Portadown racing down the left. She made the diagonal run that actually put her in a respectable position to shoot, and she did, but Swales got a hand to it. Not enough, though - Scherzer easily beat everyone else for pace to swing a boot at it, swiping the ball into the net.

The Brenecians were 1-0 up, but that was never going to be enough. So the Brenecians pressed on. And that was built on the back of Camden pulling all the strings from midfield, the often-underrated Parrhesia United captain excelling. Of course, attacking midfielder Cyrus Damhan was one of the best players in the world, and always threatening. Except that whenever Damhan got the ball, Kurtis Armstrong kicked him. A second goal was coming, and there were shades of Camden both to start and end. She found the perfect angle for a chipped long ball, Isadora Cullen saw it well in advance and came in bearing down on it. Taking one touch on the ball, she was poised to chase it down for the shot until Gnaeus Shoobridge hauled her down. No room for argument, that was a clear penalty, though the referee refrained from more than a booking. There were no real calls for a red save from neutrals who wanted to see an even more open game, but Camden strode up to take the penalty. It was perfectly placed, though not strong, rolling just beyond Swales' reach and nestling into the bottom corner.

The Patriots only let up a little, but it was enough to allow Detzler a ferocious strike on goal from twenty yards that Pence nearly fumbled into her own net. But it was still the men and women in dark blue who had the better of the match, but poor finishing often betrayed them at the key moment. Even so, they went into the break two up, but they would come to regret those missed chances.

Soon after the interval, the cost of the intense Brenecian strategy was clear - almost universal exhaustion. The addition of the less kickable Scanlan Nixa for the veteran Damhan was a key change made in the 52nd minute, though Armstrong was at least initially able to keep up the pace. It didn't take long for Nixa to get into his stride - a ball down the right found Kaszinski, who caught out Portadown and hit in a high cross that Oxboro powerfully charged at the net from the near post. Pence got down well for it, but her save was clumsy, and an attempt to further claw the ball away from goal only found Detzler for the scrappiest of chances, and the scrappiest of goals. Bardsley's frustration was clear and understandable - Portadown had been set to come off for Sabrefell Athletic leftback Bowyer, and did in the aftermath of the goal she'd been partially at fault for.

But that one change, a fresh defensive fullback for a weary aggressive one, made little difference. The momentum had shifted. Nixa enjoyed a rare chance to shine as the Legalites put a clamp on possession, and while the Patriots tried to do the most with the scraps they got, they simply couldn't catch a break. Scherzer did fantastically well to get a rare chance on target, but pressure from substitute Glowinski stopped the shot from being a strong one. Most of the action was at Jayce Pence's end of the field, anyway - the Kingsgrove goalkeeper found herself besieged. She looked less than convincing personally, as well - flapping at a cross badly, she was fortunate Seth Greig was there to head it convincingly upfield.

But it was only in the last ten minutes that the breakthrough was made - just as the Patriots were beginning to think they could weather the storm. And it was Nixa himself who found himself given far too much space just outside the box after skipping over Armstrong's desperate sliding challenge, and his shot was low, curling and beautiful. Pence was fast, but not fast enough, and couldn't get more than fingertips to it - and the Legalites were level. Now it was pure defence on the line for Brenecia, and substitute Rowena Stamper blocked a goalbound shot with her face standing in the wall - the 45 seconds as she lay stunned on the turf were a welcome respite for the embattled Patriots. But they weren't enough.

It followed a sustained period of possession marked by several blocked shots and headers away, and it slowly picked the back five of Brenecia apart. It was Xavier Boyle who ultimately provided the clinical finishing pass, the veteran given too much space by Greig to find the perfect ball diagonally through the Brenecian defence. Detzler, who'd been in lethal form all match and was hanging wide, cut inside, put the ball onto his right foot and smashed over Pence. For all their solidity, Brenecia had been cut apart in two minutes of Legalese domination.

But ultimately, the Patriots cannot be too disappointed with the result - they went to one of the strongest teams in the multiverse and gave them a fight to remember. And they are still in with a more than respectable chance, as a victory over the Calanian Union will place them in the second round - though anything less will probably cost them a place in the next round. And, in all honesty, they have a lot of history to overcome with regards to that fixture. It was perhaps the laconic post-match interview for Erin Camden that summed the situation best amidst all the talk of 'brave fight', 'we're thinking about next match' and 'unlucky to let it slip'. "We dominated for 45 minutes," she told journalists, shrugging. "That's 45 more than anyone expected."

[Buyan]

The journalists of our magazine would like to thank the manifold of reactions they’ve received from subscribers throughout the multiverse. We’re still trying to process the mails complaining about glaring omissions and blatant faults, but we can already introduce you to the final ten!

10. Prince Andreas (Saintland)

His homeland is quite probably convinced that there is a zero too much amongst those digits, but here he is. Partially notorious due to his royal heritage and unbreakable confidence, but mainly feared over his extensive skillset. Prince Andreas barged into the multiversal football scene with the typical Sanctii swagger as a youngster at the Baptism of Fire 51 and despite the loss in the quarterfinals to eternal rival New Sideburn, Andreas attracted quite some attention with his splendid vision, natural leadership and blistering shots. With their easily-scoring captain at the wheel, Saintland first reached the World Cup proper at cycle 66 and have been a force to be reckoned – a thorn in the side of the greats - ever since. The fact that he manages the team whilst leading them on the field makes him only more impressive to the outside world. With one appearance in the round of 16 and a Copa Rushmori final, his list of achievements looks a bit chipper compared to the names above and that might have made the difference. But that he adds to his skill quite some cool under pressure - as evidenced by his hattrick previously against Vilita despite the warning by King Petrus XX that coming home without the cup will see him stripped of his captaincy – certainly has added to his popularity and leads him into the top ten.

9. Cyrus Damhan (Legalese)

The career of Cyrus Damhan, the International of Tyrellia halfback, has a certain degree of Cinderella story within. Damhan, born in the impoverished, rural town of Erodoeth, had to wade his way through a series of recreational teams with little means. At the age of nineteen – when most of these in this list were already assembling caps or at least featuring in DBC squads – he accidently got picked up when he appeared a lot better than the marker the Tyrellia talent scout had come for. His hard work got his selected for the WC65 and it was there that the audience first remarked his completeness. Not afraid of the midfield trenches and a ball-winner, but also capable of assists and scores. His transfer to Cathair 1830 brought his form to a new peak, but at the age of 33, this World Cup might be do or die for this quiet star. The way he steered them into the semi-finals last time around, demonstrates that his lawyers could peak even higher and reach out for the highest trophy. It would be a career reward to the man who has defined the Legalese national squad across the last decade.

8. Vliela Lianksa (Vilita)

Sixteen years of age, Lianksa first caught the attention as the junior midfielder of Kiiara-Torra, already making his debut for the Eel Cat Things near the end of the same season. Blessed with two skilled feet, he was a member of their AOCAF winning squad and quickly discovered what it took to appear at the highest level. He moved to Jlinal Cove where he had to linchpin the midfield and grew to the status of Jungle Cats sub at the WC67 – where Vilita made it to the quarterfinals. However, his personal star didn’t shine but after his transfer to Mliona-Lpaka, where he exchanged his position as talent for the role of lead midfielder. When the Jungle Cats lifted the World Cup 68 in the air, Lianksa was there. But somehow, a bitter taste of unfulfilled promise kept in the back of the mouth. That he is more than ‘a skilled player’ was clear but is he a superstar? This season, in which he lead Jungle Strike in an unseen fashion and displayed so much quality, might see him take that step to the greats. It’s at the World Cup that we look forward to a confirmation of this but his increased presence for the team in the qualifiers already holds a lot of promise.

7. Friekder Dandalleion (Farfadillis)

Swamp football. We’ve got stars out of every corner of the world, but swamp football? Either way, his exceptional speed and dedication caught the attention of Ferdullaele FC and that’s how the ball went rolling. A great WC qualifiers later, he was signed Cednia Beach and Dandalleion set his astonishing rise that led to his current position of most renowned Farf football player. Very versatile, we usually see him shine as number ten for Jungle Strike or left-wing striker for the Farfs. Excellent shot, magnificent dribbling and seemingly made out of rubber, he has a complete toolbox for the modern striker. His most notable still is his almost unnatural speed – which saw him pick up Olympic medals already – which gives him another way to stand out. Whilst receiving all sorts of accolades in club football, his record in international football so far holds a bronze Cup of Harmony medal and a ‘we-made-the-quarterfinals-and-all-I-got-was-this-lousy’ t-shirt. At the age of 32, Dandalleion receives a last opportunity to garnish his spot amongst the all-time greats with some silverware that is more bling than a AOCAF title. Well, in as far as seasons on end as star in the Stellar Division and on the international level haven’t assured that already.

6. Craig Sinclair (Eura)

Back in the days when doves still talked and Eura was known as the FSSO, a club named Arrowsmith made a short appearance in the highest tier of Euran football. A completely neglectable fact if it weren’t for their junior striker, Craig Sinclair, who was chosen as third-best striker of the league at the age of 16 – despite his team going down. Ulsa picked him up for a reasonable price and never regretted this as the versatile youngster not only scored, but also created a lot of assisting passes. These great stats would form a red line throughout the career of Sinclair. As swift as he became the face of Ulsa, as quickly did he find his spot in the Euran national team. An illustrious move to Dinamo Esca only boosted his career, although said was hardly necessary after leading Eura Victor to the World Cup 66. At the age of 22, he returned to Ulsa and led them to a new hegemony, larded with titles. A unique player, who evolved to a number ten but is versatile such as any great, combining great vision with the shooting, passing and dribbling package. The surprisingly quick elimination of the Eurans for this World Cup hampers a new rise to the podium – but we’re sure Sinclair will once again showcase his skills.

5. Tobias Möller (Pasarga)

Was Tobias Möller one of those exceptional Wünderkids who score and shine from age fourteen onwards? Actually not. Admittedly, he was the youngest one in the DBC23 selection of Pasarga and quickly made his way to the actual Wanderers but the CA Paulinthal striker was still a sympathetic bencher at age twenty-five, being barred by Ivett and Gunnarsdóttir. He might be a late blossomer, but did he blossom! Manager Hernádez subbed him in during a difficult encounter with the Corsairs at the Copa Rushmori 16 and it would be the start of his empire as he lead the Wanderers to their first CR medal. His talent for slotting home goals became the steering factor of the Pasargan rise since the World Cup 67 and has already resulted in a Cup of Harmony final and a spot amongst the best four at the WC68 and the best eight during the last cycle. Volleys, chips, long-distance shots… Even at the highest level his score ratio is through the roof. As he since recently brings the same for the Polarian Northbrook Diamonds on club level, we have no doubt that the story of Tobias Möller hasn’t reached its last chapter yet.

4. Toby Drummond (Osarius)

The first time the international audience heard of Toby Drummond was when the 22-year old offensive midfielder of Rockbridge FC was selected for the World Cup. A cycle later, he was the new Utica United star and took over the role as linchpin for the Firebirds from Estevez – a quality player but less creative. Quickly, Drummond became the spearhead of the Osarian national team, a squad that deserved a prolific number ten. The international transfer had to follow and SK Franz Josef City could fend off the other competitors and sign a new star. He’s a playmaker who can drift between the lines and break through defences with a one-touch pass. The multitude of stars over at the Polar Islandstates made him even more versatile and at important games, this guy can always do that bit more. The linchpin of the nation ranked number two in the multiverse is currently at his peak. If he wants to pick up the greatest trophy of them all in his career, now seems the appropriate time. At the decisive moments, his unique, Osarian, tactical view might make the difference and after the semis last year, he wants the big trophy. Their run so far shows they’re ready.

3. Laborious Hawk (Valanora)

We didn’t even try to find the root of Laborious Hawk – although there are rumours he originally was a modest holding midfielder, before acquiring his characteristic attacking flair due to his industrious midfield work. He’s like the sun, the moon or ice cream – an eternal force of nature. “His talent defines words,” is the catchy tagline of this attacking midfielder. Hawk has often been sited along the eternal greats of the game, such as an Alan Belmore, a Juan Tzimisces or a Simeone Di Bradini, but has one additional advantage over them as an elf. While stars tend to come and go, he still captains the Valanoran after already being named part of the all-time team back at the World Cup 50. After a career at the wheel for Petardos SA, larded with four World Cups, he starred for Urbanizia Wanderers and currently for the domestic Hondo FC. Captain who won’t stop till he reached perfection. Even if his nation – and as a consequence his star – has been fading a little since the WC61 title, there are two certainties in life. Trainers will get fired at some point and Laborious Hawk, the tall superstar, will rise again.

2. Ronda Judith Styrn (Audioslavia)

One of the youngest to reach this high level – but manages to do so without a nosebleed. Ronda Jude Styrn was part of the extremely talented Cazadores Cathair generation and still stood out as a gifted centre forward. Despite being the first female for the Bulls, she broke up prejudice as swiftly as defences and her energetic, terrier-like style makes her invincible, even despite only reaching five feet and five inches above the grass. Her ‘up-yours-you-bloody-bastard’ way of things makes her extremely popular but it would be an insult to her talent if we just focussed on her mental strength. Skills like coordination, impeccable passing and just being pretty good at getting the ball in the net make her the rising star of Audioslavia. Some will point out that her career so far – with a World Cup final and a title with her new employers, 1830 Cathair – doesn’t warrant this spot. And those might have a point, actually. But the heart and well… balls she puts into her game indicates a fresh wind through the halls of top football. Styrn is out there and she’s coming after you. Well, after she gets her hand around the trophy that slipped away in the last stretch last time around.

1. Gustaf Kolehmainen (Polar Islandstates)

But the top spot, the glory and the firm handshake by our magazine eventually go to Gustaf Kolehmainen. The tall striker managed to stay out of the public limelight for quite some time but burst into the world of promising talents when he had a breakthrough as FC1. Surtsey Island Gulls at the age of 21. A finisher with an impeccable right foot, he single-handedly pushed the Gulls up to title-winning level, whilst taking his first steps for the Terns. Steps that quickly demonstrated that he has the whole skillset: he’s fast, can score from both feet, adapts to any formation, strikes the leather from far out, uses his power in the air and can poach in the box. With him as a scorer, the Polarians took home a Copa Rushmori. The World Cup final 66 was a disappointment in terms of result, but at the WC67, Kolehmainen became top of the world. A succession of personal disasters pushed him of that cloud and forced him to make the move to SK Franz Josef City but it was in this personal moment of difficulties that he demonstrated to be greater than the game – a man who overcame his troubles, showed his hearth and came back at the highest level. Having matched talent to experience these days, he seems back at his best, goalscoring ways for both SK and the Terns. Even if the title went to the Diamonds this season, we see a mature striker who knows the game. 77 goals in 120 caps don’t lie, this 32-year old might very well be the best player in the multiverse at the moment. Will he put the cherry on the pie called ‘his return’ with a World Cup title?

---

One-hundred thousand voices.

What they were singing exactly was rather incomprehensible. But their message was clear enough and as the rhythm of their stampeding feet made the concrete walls tremble, the Buyanese – huddled in their dressing room like a piece of driftwood in a spinning blue sea – attempted to focus on their game. Rather futile, to be fair. This was a magnificent party to celebrate the qualification of San Jose Guayabal to the second round and they were the cousin who showed up uninvited.

After the defeat in the opening round, the pressure had strangely been off for the Blue Hedgehogs. They had held themselves well against the Wanderers and left the pitch with a jersey for the grandchildren and a pat on the back. ‘Well done, fellows, you’re not that shabby’. Somehow, this had worked into a whole new vibe against Ruentenbach. Papers had headlines such as ‘hey, we came in here as part of the lowest pot, what more can you expect?’ and suddenly things fell into place. The opening half had been tight – in hindsight – and the goal from Wippenbeck had sent a ripple through the Buyanese lines. But they kept on bringing their game with a lot of manpower into the attack and focus and organisation at the back. Most importantly, Sverre Devold got unleashed and, in the same effort, unleashed the team with a spectacular volley marking the equaliser. His sprint to reserve goalie Manuel Schmidt will make every New Year’s Eve overview, I’m sure. From that moment on, they transformed into a machine and Ruentenbach was glad to leave the field with only goals from Balnerii and Knutsen in the bag – or at least, that’s what we’ll advertise the game like in a few decades.

It weren’t the names of the opponents that brought sweat to the hands of the Buyanese. Zelaya, Passarelli, Pérez, … They knew them well enough. They knew how they ran, passed and shot. They had seen the tapes until they could recreate them with coloured glasses and a table tennis ball as the leather.

But there is one thing which you can’t recreate.

Reinhart Shale slammed the board one last time, trying to get his guys to focus, but the few raised eyebrows hardly masked that none was able to absorb any more information. All their senses had been cut short by the knowledge that there was only one road left, to beat the hosts, and that said road had been paved by a horde, an army of fans who knew only victory. One-hundred thousand voices. Right before the previous two games, he had shouted them out of that lethargy and brought them back to the world of winners. ”Who will beat them? We will! Who’ll win this bloody world cup? We will! Why? Cause we’re bloody better!” There’s nothing as sophisticated and effective as a Nepharim pep speech.

“Five more minutes,” the assistant referee warned and only the captain had the self-assurance to nod at that message.
“Ok,” Shale spoke, “let’s go home.”

A bomb of silence exploded in the dressing room and it took a few seconds before goalie Ulle Seber – despite five goals against quite on a roll – responded.

“But… We’re up in five minutes, the ref said,” he spoke rather sheepishly with his hands clamped around his gloves so tightly that his knuckles turned white.
“To receive a beating, or what?” the manager whispered, his eyes to the ground and seated in the corner like an old man.

If the players had been made out of glass, some would have shattered at this very moment.

“Ehm… Well,” Zemaitis started, but he couldn’t get a word across whilst fumbling with his laces.
“From San Jose Guayabal?” Devold spoke up with his moderately high voice.
“No reason to loath them,” Tufte answered. The defender and the star striker had risen to the top together and as old pals, they shared rooms for any international trip. Sigurd Tufte always had been the serving player, the lesser talent and despite making a splendid career for himself with clubs like Dinamo Esca and Bengtsmark IF, he never really made it out of the shadows of his mate - in footballing terms. When it came to the talking, Tufte had to stand up for Devold, despite the latter being the guy with the captain’s ribbon, “they’ve got quality, a system that fits them like a glove, the home advantage, the audience behind them, …” Tufte lifted his hands up in the air in despair.

Devold rose, looking his teammates in the eye.

“But we’ve got ourselves a bloody good goalie,” he grinned, chafing Seber on the head.
“That’s true,” Tufte riposted, “but still…”
“And two strikers who know what scoring on a World Cup scene takes,” Devold continued as he walked around in some sort of ecstatic tension, his eyes directed to the ceiling as he walked along the bench and high-fived the duo of sturdy forwards seated next to one another.
“Certainly, certainly, …” Tufte started to light up.

The remainder of the players still were mesmerised by the scene that developed in front of them, staring at it like sheep to the technical maps of a uranium plant.

“And our wingers are stronger than ever,” Devold almost yelled as he fake-headbutted Kazimieras Zemaitis whilst patting Smetona on the shoulder.
“Amen, brother!” Tufte joined in the screaming.
“Zermin,” Sverre Devold went on and on, like a messiah who had landed in the midst of a church group, “you’re the man!”

His exclamations made less and less sense and by the time he was sparring with Espen Knutsen, the right-footed midfielder who had been so prolific this cycle, it was more or less a bunch of vowels. The two were seemingly trying to beat one another up, playfully, cheered on by the remaining team members.

When the match official entered to guide the team to the kick-off, he opened the door into something that looked more like a drunken pub brawl than anything else. The whole group was piling up, shouting like a drunk Hop and swearing like a Brenecian.

“Ehm…” the poor match official asked because that was ordered as such by his book of guidelines, “are you ready?”
“Never been more ready,” Shale grinned whilst ogling to his squad. As they left the dressing room in some sort of line, Devold and Tufte – who had been the bottom of the pile – were the last to get on their feet. Shale took them aside and struggled to keep his laughing down.

“Great piece of performance art, guys, how long you’ve been preparing this,” he winked to his duo of Baptism of Fire veterans.
“Well,” Devold chuckled, “I had something in mind,” and he placed his arm over the shoulder of the manager and followed the line.

Only Sigurd Tufte left behind, trying to process what just had happened to him whilst tying his shoelace.

Prepared? Something in mind? I… Stuff just happened, right?

[Valanora]

"Third, what could they possibly mean third? That has to be a misprint, Laborious Hawk is most definitely the best player in the world right now. They had it all right until then, what is this madness?"

"Well, this Cup and the previous two have seen the Marauders completely falter from their typical winning ways. Maybe five world cup titles and being the captain for three of them doesn't mean as much when recent success is limited to Qualifying and an AOCAF championship?"

"Well, what has the Polarian done lately? Sure they have the more recent World Cup trophy but they haven't exactly been lighting it up in the most recent of World Cups either. This is clearly anti-Vanorian bias if I have ever seen any! And on top of that, how is there only two Vanorians on that list? Faeron Soldarian and Fresco definitely should have been included on that list as well. It is obvious this is a slight against elves, curse those speciest over in Buyan!!!"

"Well we could create our own list and put right these apparent slights, if you really wanted to."

"No, then they would just say that we were copying their ideas and that doesn't solve the problem that they have insulted us greatly! What's next, some backwater in Rushmore or Esportiva is going to win the World Cup? I mean those Polarians are nice chaps but most of those two regions still are but children when it comes to civilization and manners. It would just be a travesty."

"Well, Eura has won the World Cup..."

"Don't remind me of that and those... people! The Marauders have to play them tonight and if we want to retain any sense of top tier relevance we have to win that game, even if we are already eliminated. Geez, how did things become so bad and we get stuck in such awful group? It feels like quicksand, where the more you struggle, the more you get bogged down. We suffer upsets, we lose our ranking, we get thrown into a lower seed and harder groups, which causes more losses and more loss of ranking, and further down we go. Where does it stop, when we become some sort of mediocre obscurity that people say "Oh remember when those teams were actually good? Remember how they won World Cups and dominated the sporting scene? Lets go embarass them some more!" Where does it stop?"

"Not all are so cold hearted..."

"But it hurts, to watch everything that was once great begin to crumble before our very eyes..."

[Sargossa]

Angels and Demons


“Where have you two been? This enchilada is ruined beyond even my capacity to revive it. If you fell asleep listening to that ridiculous music of yours again I’ll . . .” The sentence died on her tongue as Angela Ángel saw the look on the faces of her husband and daughter. “What is it? What’s happened?”

Estevan kissed his wife on the cheek. “It’s been quite a night. Pop the kettle on, I think Alana and I have earned a coffee.”

“Actually, if it’s all the same to you, I think I need a lay down.” Alana edged passed her parents and headed towards the rear of the spacious apartment and her bedroom.

“Alana?” Her mother started to follow but stopped as Estevan’s hand gripped her shoulder.

“Let her go, let’s have that coffee and I’ll tell you all about it.”

* * * * * * * * * *

“You can’t stand up to the Garzas.” Angela Ángel starred aghast at her husband, the full story of the evening’s activities still sinking in.

“Why not?”

“Because . . . because they’re Garzas.”

“And they’re not above the law. I’m tired of the rich thinking they can get away with murder. Literally! Is that really the world you want Alana growing up in? They’ve got away with it for so long because people like us were scared to do anything about it. But they’ve gone too far this time.”

She shook her head at his words. “I just hope you know what you’re doing.”

“Have trust wife. And inject some life into that dinner, I’m starving. Alana too probably, I’ll look in on her.”

As he got up to check on his daughter there came a loud knock on the apartment door. He shouted to Angela that he would attend to it and moved into the hallway. His eye pressed to the spyhole, Estevan recognised Detective Vargas. There looked to be at least one other figure with him but the gloom of the stairwell made it hard to be certain. He opened the door.

“Ah, Señor Ángel.” Detective Vargas broke into a smile. “We meet again. I trust now is convenient to talk to you and your daughter?”

“Of course, please come in. Alana is asleep I think but I’ll get her. Please, go through to . . .” His voice trailed away as his eyes might the cold stare of Chucho Garza. At that point pure paternal instinct took over as a father turned and yelled a warning to his daughter. It was the last thing Estevan Ángel ever did as Garza, with barely a break in his stride, brought up his gun and put three bullets through the helpless middle aged man.

* * * * * * * * * *

“ALANA!”

Alana Ángel sat bolt upright, that hadn’t been a dream. Then three unmistakable sounds rang out in quick succession to snap Alana entirely out of her sleepy state. She leapt from the bed and sprinted around the corner, screeching to a halt at the sight before her. Most would have died right there but Alana had proven to be just that little bit quicker than most and that speed spared her life as she threw herself back around the corner she’d just turned. A bullet flattened itself into the wall behind her. Without stopping she clawed at the floor to keep her momentum going and moved swiftly towards the rear window and fire escape. With one heave it was open and Alana was outside, taking the stairs three at a time she half ran and half fell down them. There would be time to process what the hell was going on later, now was all about flight. A clang of metal above her reminding her of the closeness of the pursuit.

She dropped the last few yards to the ground and broke into a hard sprint. Or at least she tried to, the drop had jarred her ankle badly. One way lead to the main street, the other went to a maze of alleyways that came out by the river. It wasn’t a hard choice to make. Pure adrenaline had held them in check but now Alana’s vision blurred as the tears flowed freely down her cheeks. The pain was immense, and it wasn’t from her ankle. She ignored it all as she disappeared into the alleyway.

* * * * * * * * * *

“Fuck it!” Vargas roared in frustration as he pursued the vanishing figure. They’d meant to have secured the apartment and everyone in it before the dirty work started. Trust that cretin Chucho and his itchy trigger finger to fuck it up. It was the daughter, he had recognised her from earlier. Vargas’ first shot had missed, he was determined that the second wouldn’t. But boy was she quick. He rounded the corner and entered a bedroom. He saw the open window and the metal ladder beyond. Cursing again he sprinted to the window and fired off a shot. The metalwork blocked the round.

“Dammit!” He reached for his radio. “She’s on the fire escape. Cut her off. Stop her!” He started down the metal steps as the men he’d left at street level appeared at a run. “That way.” He gestured towards the alleyway. “Move.” He leapt the final few feet, landing just as heavily and with another curse followed in the footsteps of his men.

They moved quickly through the dank alleys, splashing through puddles and sending piles of garbage in all directions. Suddenly the alley ended and they were in an open space between buildings. The river was to their left and it was along that they spied Alana Ángel. She was limping heavily. Vargas felt the familiar heft of his pistol grip as he brought the sight up to eye level. He sucked in a small breath.

“Got you.”

* * * * * * * * * *

On any other day Alana would have been out of sight long ago but here, weighed down by both the pain in her ankle and the pain in her heart, she felt like she was wading knee deep through treacle. She could hear them behind her, they were close and there was nowhere to go. See glanced down at the fast rushing water to her left. Technically there was one way to go but it was a pleasant option. Gone was the time for careful consideration, instead she threw herself to the left just as her whole right side exploded in a level of pain she’d never before experienced. A gasp was all that could escape her lips as Alana Ángel’s whole world descended into utter blackness.

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ Wherever The Möller Goes

A simple line but one that speaks volumes of truth, as the captain turned talisman forges the side ahead through every obstacle. In this case, it was the rapid home support of San Jose Guayabal as the two dueled in decisive second matchday of the group stage. It was an affair billed up as the fight between favorites, the one with the victory securing their spot forward with the other clinging to hope going into their last match. Typically these are defensive affairs, as the intensity ratchets up and the drive to survive puts all the players on high alert. The Wanderers had faced these tough situations before though and have started making a habit of overcoming them with authority, as the trip to the knockouts these previous few Cups suggests. However the tenacity that the home side had in being host and those thousands of fans was ultimately a leveler of the playing field, which saw the sides ultimately end level on goals and points when the day was over.

With a score of one to one, it on the surface fits the billing that had come up, defense ultimately ruling the day and styming the few great chances each side had to add to their tally. There was chances and while there also was good defending, it was honestly a game that could have seen more goals or even less, those moments of brilliance the defense in each. Ultimately it is what probably should have been expected from the tie, with so much on the line and the pandemonium that the crowd created. Neither side will likely be very happy with it though, with each now having to get at least some sort of result in their last match to ensure that they move on to the second round, though that path is considerably easier for the Wanderers who get to take on the already eliminated Rüntenbach.

Möller's greatness will be on display for at least one more match, though certain media outlets believe that the striker still has a few stories left in him. The same media who recently have claimed that the striker is one of the five best players currently playing a game, an honor no doubt for someone who came from such humble beginnings. Though they did get the part about the Wanderers taking a CR home incorrect, they merely finished third in that tournament after what had seemed a streak of impossible victories. All the same, that the name carries such weight and is thought of so highly in the rest of the world even outside of Rushmore speaks volumes to where the side and nation has come to since the beginning of their trek into international competition those many decades ago.

There is more to come though, the side can not simply be content with semifinal appearances in the Copa, a final appearance in the CoH, and quarterfinal appearances in the Finals themselves. Like Möller, the Wanderer program was a late bloomer, taking nearly two decades to establish a consistency of success to build upon, to achieve greater heights. That time is now upon them, to seize with both hands and launch themselves forward. Yes, Rüntenbach stands in the way, but so do all, and though that is a daunting thought and task to imagine, it is not one that is impossible. For success is a ladder, you have to climb that ladder to reach the top, each step bringing you closer to that goal. Here we sit at the last step, only needing to pull ourselves up to be at the pinnacle, with our talisman ready to lead us. For the dual islands, for Rushmore, for what it means to find value in yourself and capitalize upon it, that is what the side fights for on that pitch and why they shall emerge victorious and move on.

[The Sarian]

Can The Sarian's style mod please be changed to +5

. BREAKING: ..Lee and Shaw Injured, Ross Horn Called Up..

"And we have breaking news coming in from the Equestrian States. A small fire has occurred at the hotel stayed in by the Sarian National Team, concerning strikers Jordan Lee and Simon Shaw.

According to early reports, the blaze started because of an overheating laptop in the room shared by the two forwards, causing minor burns to both players.

The blaze was extinguished before it had a chance to progress throughout the hotel.

Both players are recovering in hospital, and will miss out on the Bustard's crucial World Cup game against Sargossa, although early reports indicate that both players will recover in time for the domestic season.

In a brief statement, The Sarian Football Federation has said that the incident was a "tragedy" and hoped that "both players return to playing as soon as possible." The Federation also confirmed that thirty seven year old striker, Ross Horn would be returning to the side.

Horn, who retired from international football four years ago, is retiring from football next month to take up the vacant Assistant Manager position at his former club, FC Chippenham.

We will bring you more on the story when it comes in."

---

T H E . B U S T A R D
FREE PRESS - FREE JOURNALISM - FREE SARIAN

ISLAND GOVERNOR FLEES ISLE OAKHURST

Heated protests in the Provincial Capital, Setter, have reached new heights this morning after it has emerged that the Island Governor, Kathryn Fry has been recalled from the island after the increased violence.

Ms. Fry, who was elected unopposed as the Island Governor in the autumn of 2188, reportedly fled the Island as the violence converged on the Provincial Assembly.

The violence, which has erupted throughout the outlying Islands, began in Darwin on Friday and has broken out across all major towns and cities in the Island, including the temporary liberation of Woodhenge.

While the Florican Security Forces have doubled numbers in the province, protests - lead by the self styled, Sarian Liberation Movement - have also snowballed in number, and it is estimated almost a quarter of the population St Issacs' turned out in protests in the town.

Spurred on by liberal gun laws in the Province, an estimated four hundred and nine Security Officers have been killed while the Liberation Movement has claimed that they have suffered approximately four hundred and fifty fatalities.

Unlikely to cease in the near future, rebel leaders have indicated the possibility of international aid for their cause, although no nation has of yet indicated that they will, as of yet.

The Liberation Movement has promised to hold elections for a new Island Governor once the violence has succeeded, while the Florican Government has yet to comment on the situation.

Violence continues across the island while violence in Ackland, Isle Wilterset , Isle Regio, Isle Falkland and Henrikson Island also continues.

GK: K. Lorde
DC: W. Peters
DC: R. Michaels
DC: J. Firmin
MC: M. Meeuwessen
MC: L. Nittenpepper
MC: M. Tunis
AM: H. Lopez
FC: J. Yap
FC: R. Horn
FC: T. Janssen

[San Jose Guayabal]

www.elnacional.gu/sjg/world_cup_fever_radio

You are in: El nacional > SJG > Radio Nacional 104.7 FM > World Cup Fever.

Host: Luis Armando Muñoz & María Benavides
Date: 29/12/2014, 20:50. San Salvador time

*Introduction song*

Hello and welcome to the program of World Cup Fever, this time we bring stuff "freshly baked" as to the parties of the national team of San José Guayabal, we also have with us María Benavides, representative of ticketing giveaways who we explain to us about a mega giveaway that we will cover live, participants shall be entered and then we will raffle ten entries for defining match between Buyan and San José Guayabal, a match that promises to be "hot" in terms of action and importance.

Now as the match of last night in El Roblar, San José Guayabal managed to rescue a valuable tie near the halftime against a challenging opponent as it is Pasarga through speed and strong defenses were not allowed to have more goals in the match, leaving a 1-1 draw which partially benefited both teams, who now depend on each other to advance to the next round. Regarding the goals, we bring you here a quick summary of them, then we will proceed to do a in-depth analysis of the game.

Minute 20: Onésimo Alicea infiltrates the defense of San José Guayabal, being in position to give a pass to Tobias Möller, who finished inside the box to the goal of Henry Hernández. (0-1)

Minute 43: Marcos Pérez took the ball from the defensive third of Pasarga through a cross from Rudy Valencia, Pérez went up from inside the area taking off two defenders brand, Rodolfo Zelaya found only for the finish off the ball above of Raghid Faysal Halabi. (1-1)

In this game played in the northern city of El Roblar could not miss some of the customs of the locals, known for its barbecue and festive attitude towards the sport, this time we decided to interview a small fan family, parents and son, who visiaron Stadium to see this good demonstration of football being Pasarga and San José Guayabal.

"Good evening dear family, we are here to interview them about what you think about the game and the national team."

"Good evening to you too, ask us what we want, finally, take time so that begins the game."

"It's all right, what do you think about the today's game?"

"I think it will be a game where it is convenient to play a little more defensive, Pasarga is possibly the strongest opponent of the group, of course without neglecting the other teams, but Pasarga it is because of its history in past World Cups, plus having players like Tobias Mölller or David Köhler, these two players can be a threat to the defense "

"Consider that this game can be key if you want to aspire to qualify for the Round of 16?"

"In my opinion all parties are key to achieve this, it is important to focus on getting at least one point in each game to do it, this game is important because it is the most historic rival in the group, get the point draw would be splendid to afronter next game with better chances. "

"That saying about Tobias Möller?"

"Another player again, this boy might score more goals than others but on the pitch is 11 vs 11, further I think he's not as destabilizing as it is Zelaya on the dribble."

"Hey child, what's your favorite player?"

"Rodolfo Zelaya."

"Why?"

"Because it's the best."

"How do you think will be the result?"

"Guayabal wins"

"How beautiful is the child"

"Well, you think that Guayabal will win?

"Knowing the quality of Pasarga, it would be unwise to say yes, I more think a 0-0 draw will be possible"

"Thanks for your time, enjoy the game"

"Thank You."

The match attracted the attention of many fans during the week, many already had booked their tickets while others sought sweepstakes to see if they were lucky enough to win tickets to the game, was more than the fans understood the vital match against Pasarga was important if SJG want to qualify for Round of 16 in the World Cup, taking advantage of playing at home and have the unconditional support of the fans, besides the ingredient of playing in a city between the mountains, over 3,600 meters above sea level, this would be an excellent opportunity to at least get a point.

Pasarga only made one change compared to the previous game, Timár Bendegúz did not played, but will instead play Lenka Randáková. While on the side of SJG, Sebastián Núñez did not play, but instead Marcos Pérez played the game, in order that Pérez took best tempo for the game against Buyan, which will be key to SJG.

After having performed the acts of protocol, the draw was made, favoring SJG, Captain Rodolfo Zelaya decided to start with the ball, defending the goal east, while Pasarga defend the West goal. The referee took his whistle and blew the start of the game, played SJG clearly more cautious than in the previous game, Pasarga is one of those rivals who if given the ball, look do with the attempts to score goals, knowing these capabilities the defense mainte a little space between them in order to avoid surprises, while the attackers of The Wanderers pressing ls players looked of the Selecta.

Just starting the second minute, Onésimo Alicea, of Pasarga took the ball to Pérez, who vainly tried to stop the advance of Alicea, this continued until the edge of the area, shooting powerfully but wide of the goal of Hernández. This was a sign that Pasarga seek to attack at all costs and impose their hierarchy in spite of environmental conditions and the fans against them.

A little leisurely game is what describes SJG during the first minutes, many thought Pasarga could have done the rounds at the time, while SJG remained dormant in the seventh minute, the star of Tobias Möller would his first glimpse through a dribble which left Moreira lying on the grass while Möller moved forward towards the goal of Hernández, until Daniel Coco swept cleanly, taking away the ball to Möller, who looked after short fuse that timely sweep.

SJG and seemed to be showing a better face, keeping the ball longer, but without generating opportunities towards goal, the goal was to calm the momentum after Pasarga to attack at will, but that was not achieved due to strong line of four players posed by the coach Aidé Hernández, a line that was working quite well, as contained attempts danger of Zelaya, while leaving a Faña without much pressure, something that was not drawing well, as Faña not received passes from around.

Pasarga was making consolidate like SJG in the first fifteen minutes, both seeking a goal to start mercilessly attack the opponent, something not yet succeeded. SJG had his first opportunity to score with Rodolfo Zelaya, who amid Randáková and Hébert could go to be alone against Raghid Faysal Halabi, Zelaya had everything in their hands to score the goal but the timely intervention prevented Halabi score the Unbelievable.

Minute seventeen, Pasarga was increasing pressure on SJG, Mezei Orbán took a defensive hole on the right side, centered a pass to Onésimo Alicea, who did not headed properly, failing a clear goalscoring opportunity for Pasarga. The Wanderers were imposing their hierarchy against less experienced national team, if this rate is maintained, the goals would soon appear in the game, because the game was intensifying.

We said that the goal was near, because it was. It all started in a play where SJG was conducting a corner, Saucedo executed the shot, Antonio Jukić managed to jump higher than Guayabalenses, the ball was loose so that later Onésimo Alicea took the ball on counterattack, very fast, reaching in question seconds until the midfield while infiltrating on some defenders, then he gave a long pass to Tobias Mölller, after the pass, Möller managed to dribble Moreira again, leaving it on the floor and then beat Hernández as comfortable with a low shot from the left side of Hernández, Möller managed to silence the Estadio Luis Barbosa on just twenty minutes of the game, Pasarga achieved something that seemed logical that happened, now SJG was with the pressure of at least get even the situation to avoid a problem in terms of points.

Mathias Paatelainen burst of rage, he asked to the players on bench to get up to warm muscles, while asked Moreira to stop falling to the ground, get up and press in more effective Möller way to avoid a defensive disaster, because that was what could happen if they continued having deconcentrations in defending SJG, the pressure of hosting forced them to seek improvement sooner or later in order to get points and get closer to the goal of qualifying for the Round of 16.

With all Pasarga pressure in the attack, SJG seemed to be struggling for ten minutes after the goal, it seemed that the momentum collapsed into pieces around, the fans began again to animate the party, Pasarga remained in the same tune and Pasarga fans started screaming loud chants, his team was being more aggressive the pitch, while SJG sought to rebuild their defense at that time. 27 minutes in, Orbán missed another powerful shot, this time Hernández managed to stop the shot with his left hand, sending it to a corner.

Valentina Mijatović made the corner, paying off a confused action where James Moreira managed to kick the ball away, about confusion, we mean a series of strange bounces the ball between the heads of the defenders and attackers. At least the danger had been away at the moment and defense of SJG could be sure without problem, yet.

Thirty minutes after reaching, SJG already showed slightly looser as to attack and less decimated after the goal, with the cautious possession by Rudy Valencia, who was distributing the ball forth controlling Pasarga anyone to be near the ball. Based on team play and not on individuals SJG got close again with danger, Jonathan Fana received a short pass from Valencia, to then Fraser entered the area and gave the pass to Rodolfo Zelaya, who could not get the ball properly on that play key thirty four minutes.

Pasarga was looking a little more relaxed, but keeping their energies in order to make a better second half, the concentration in the defense of Pasarga should be a priority in order to prevent a goal just before halftime, then SJG could find to do that in order to achieve a psychic momentum towards the second half of the game.

Already three minutes remaining before halftime, SJG managed to avoid a dangerous move by Pasarga, Möller was heading towards the area until Moreira managed to take payback and snatched the ball to the player of Pasarga, Moreira sent the ball to Rudy Valencia this would give a pass to Marcos Pérez, who managed to make a counterattack on the right of the field and then give a pass "on a golden platter" Zelaya, who was in front of the goal. Zelaya finished strong on the head of Halabi, placing the ball inside the goal. Draw right on time, forty-three minutes, SJG managed to tie a game that he was getting out of hand, that certainly tie was still significant, but still missing the second half, minutes later, Malcolm Stephenson, the referee of Super-Llamaland decreed the end of the first half, with a draw near the end of the first half, SJG was back in the game against Pasarga, we definitely wanted to impose their hierarchy.

At halftime, both teams sent their reserve players to warm up on the pitch while the coaches spoke with oncenas headlines about how to play in the second half, as the party was open for anything to happen.

Mathias Paatelainen stressed to his players the importance of focusing on defense and thus avoid any problem terms of goals that can be avoided if we talked about it, the goal of Möller could have been avoided if there had completely gone on the attack in the corner, but the goal after the tying goal, was adequate in terms of speed and definition. A change was made because Pérez left the field to take rest and Sebastián Núñez entered.

With regard to Pasarga, Aidé Hernández asked his players more concentration and a stronger attack. For if Pasarga managed to win, they would get the qualification for the Round of 16, while SJG would be complicated. No change was made by Pasarga.

After the halftime break, the players took the field, the action would continue the second half and everything was open for anyone to risk and seek victory.

The second half started, Pasarga was with the ball, with every intention of attacking as strong defenses SJG, because a draw was not what they wanted, Mezei Orbán, at forty seven minutes looking how dogged make a shot towards goal Hernández, was somewhat difficult because the defense received the message from a Mathias Paatelainen not very sociable, Moreira snatched the ball from Orbán, but curiously Möller managed to recover it after a hasty move by Moreira, with their experience, Möller approached towards the goal of Hernández later to finish, Hernández jumped and sent the ball out of the pitch, was excellent corner SJG was holding attack Pasarga, Mijatović took the ball to make the corner, which was an elaborate play, it gave the pass to Császár Mór, Mór took the ball for a focused but Rudy Valencia came in sharply ball and concedes a free kick in defense and receiving a yellow card, to prevent risks, Mathias Paatelainen made a substitution by entering Antonio Rosado instead of Valencia, knowing his temper, Valencia was able to receive a red card, a risk that was not good to deal.

Fifty-seven minutes, Pasarga maintained its momentum, this time through a collective move, David Köhler made a superb long distance shot, which bounced off the left goalpost, Möller finished on appeal but ordered the ball above the goal, wasting a golden opportunity to Pasarga.

Quite late on the second half, SJG began to stabilize before the attacks of Pasarga against the Guayabalense defense. Sixty five minutes, Rodolfo Zelaya did a collective move in conjunction with Sean Fraser and Jonathan Faña, giving Fraser the opportunity to reach alone the area, giving a pass to Zelaya to give way suddenly to this Faña the ball, but Faña failed to make good contact with the ball, a good opportunity wasted by the Guayabalenses, this would have put them ahead in the outcome if they had availed as intended.

Just fifteen minutes to the end of the game, Pasarga maintained a good possession but were desperate to anoter the second goal, that desperation was dangerous for them in terms of making a mistake, imposing their experience was failing at the time before the despair and rapid time progress, the time had become the enemy of The Wanderers. While SJG time felt like an eternity, while waiting for a counterattack to find seal a good result in the pocket, they knew that if they managed a counterattack, would be an opportunity that should not be wasted, but should also be aware to the defense, as Pasarga was the insistence of scoring the goal that allowed them to win.

In the final ten minutes of the game, the actions were calming down on the side of SJG, now thought to keep the ball, they knew they snatch the ball Pasarga would be essential to be able to do therefore emphasized in search plays that allow them to gain control of the ball, Moreira had front facing Möller for the fifth time in the game, this confrontation had become a sort of rivalry between the two players, Moreira managed to get away with a sweep toward the ball, but he left Möller on the ground as happened to Moreira on previous occasions, the sweep was a key point for SJG, because from that point the insistence who did Pasarga on the attack with the ball was reduced, while SJG managed to control the game in their way.

Michael Müller came on for Mezei Orbán, in a last desperate attempt of Aidé Hernández in order to find the winning goal, something he could not achieve due to the strange defensive lock in which SJG finished the game. A tie flavored victory was what SJG scored late in the game. That timely goal Zelaya was key to securing that SJG still have strong chances to achieve the goal, but Buyan managed to win their respective game against Rüntenbach, SJG will depend on itself to achieve a draw that can be enough to qualify.

Match Stats


Score: San José Guayabal 1-1 Pasarga
Goals: (0-1) 20' Tobias Möller 
(1-1) 43' Rodolfo Zelaya
Possession: San José Guayabal 41% - Pasarga 59%
Shots (on target): San José Guayabal 8 (3) - Pasarga 13 (7)
Yellow Cards: Valencia (48')
Red Cards: - 
Man of the Match: Rodolfo Zelaya (SJG)

My squad plays a 4-4-2 diamond with no wings. In defense, the team choses for the tactic of 'lack of space', making the space between the lines as minimal as possible.

When making the change, the forwards try to alternate (one wide, one deep), keep good connection with the offensive midfields (Knutsen, Devold, Plovnarov) and have one of the wingbacks along. As Knutsen nor Plovnarov is a winger - more of an attacking but hard-working mid, as Devold is actually, but no number tens - either Smetona or Zemaitis joins in. As a result, the three remaining defenders sometimes take on a sort of three-defence position in that situation, although usually Zermin falls into the open position and Tufte takes a step forward, with Giertych covering his back.

Against a side like SJG, the press fears a bit we'll be trampled - those five goals against Pasarga and Ruentenbach didn't come out of nowhere. Knowing Shale and considering the status as underdogs, we'll probably let the initiative to you and hope that in the counterattack, there are chances. As such, the positioning and steering of Valencia vis-a-vis Devold might be vital.

Well, now we talk about the final duel in terms SJG hopes to achieve the goal of qualifying for the Round of 16, this is the game against Buyan at Estadio Tierra de Fuego, in the eastern city of Yucuaiquín a party that undoubtedly will not allow any errors both teams both a chance to qualify for the Round of 16 played.

With regard to SJG, a cautious team, looking to go on the attack but remaining defense during those times in order to avoid a surprise from Buyan, who will seek for the counterattacking is expected, because according to the press of Buyan "Against a side like SJG , the fans and us as press fears a bit we'll be trampled - those five goals Against Pasarga and Ruentenbach did not come out of nowhere Knowing Shale and Considering the status as underdogs, we'll probably let the initiative to San Jose. That Guayabal and hope in the Counterattack, there are chances. As such, the positioning and steering of Valencia vis-a-vis Devold Might be vital."

With regard to Buyan is known that they play as a 4-4-2 squad Their Diamond with no wings. In defense, the team choses for the tactic of 'lack of space', making the space between the lines as minimal as possible.

When making the change, the forwards try to alternate (one wide, one deep), keep good connection With The offensive midfields (Knutsen, Devold, Plovnarov) and have one of the wingbacks along. As Knutsen nor Plovnarov is a winger, but more of an attacking mid hard-working, as Devold is whos, but no number tens. Either Smetona or Zemaitis joins in. As a result, the three remaining defenders: sometimes take on a sort of three-defense position in That situation, usually Zermin, Although falls into the open position and Tufte takes a step forward, with Giertych covering his back.

Apparently, it suggests that SJG will certainly take care of their defensive lines, as we have seen Buyan possibly will seek a counterattack, if the defense of SJG is distracted, it is likely that they won't hesitate in dealing with their utmost to score a goal.

Well, as we've been doing the story and the game description of Buyan, our operators have been busy doing taking calls, we have already recorded more than 14,000 people in the draw, of those 14,000, only ten can win tickets the hour has arrived. Time to make the draw on our computer.

And we have the ten winners of double passes to the game against San José Guayabal Buyan, let's see who the lucky winners.

* Drumrolls *

And the winners are: José Castro, William Cervantes, Kelvin Chávez, Josimar Adánez, Mike Thompson-Wye, James Urquiza, Pedro Maradiaga, Luisa Valladares, Monique Johnson, Mikkel Sorensen.

Congratulations, now you can visit our offices located on Street La Piedad, N°259, Las Orquideas Neighborhood, San Salvador. You have until tomorrow at 15:00 hours to claim your entries.

Now we say goodbye, to you, hoping that in the game wins San José Guayabal, we hope for an excellent game display and that the goal of qualifying for the Round of 16 is achieved.

[Felix]

(OOC: This is more of a radio interview than it is a newspaper article btw.)

Unbiased Media In Felix

Interviewing Felixian Legends: Daniel Cardona
By: Steven Smith

He is viewed as the father of Felixian football. He guided the national team to an amazing second place finish in the Baptism of Fire. He even lead his team to a third place finish in their debut World Cup qualifiers campaign. He was viewed in a saintly manner in Felix, people all over country thought he was the chosen one, the one to bring Felix to the World Cup finals. And when World Cup 66 rolled by many thought Daniel Cardona would lead his youthful side to a World Cup berth in only two campaigns. A remarkable feat for a nation that has only just begun to embrace national team football. But alas, it wasn't meant to be, a disastrous campaign resulted in a 5th place finish out 6 teams and with that woeful finish the FFA forced Daniel Cardona to resign with his assistant Manuel Alessandri taking over as caretaker manager. He was a lost man. But something shone on him, a light, a chance. That chance was Yttribian National Team knocking on his door. Today, I'm interviewing the man that has been in the center of two growing footballing powers in the multiverse, Daniel Cardona via phone.

Steven Smith: "Hello Cardona, can you hear me?"

Daniel Cardona: "Yes, yes I can."

SS: "Alright, let's talk. First question, "The Incident" made quite the headline all over the multiverse, do you think you will move on from that moment in your coaching career?"

DC: "Of course, it was just another moment in my coaching life. At the time I was going through immense pressure from the Yttribian FF to make that goal of WC qualification and the team was underperforming. It didn't help that sensationalist Yttribian tabloids added even more unnecessary pressure with ridiculous articles. And I had it, you know? This reminded me a lot of what happened back when I coached Felix and we were in a tough bind. The media was relentless with criticism and if you remember, I exploded in front of the press with an emotional press conference."

SS: "Ah, I remember that. Speaking of Yttribian FA pressure, you're still the coach of Yttribian national team despite the disappointing end to the campaign. Do you think you can retain your job with a minimum quarterfinal finish?"

DC: "Yeah, the team I have is a talented. And sure they had a terrible run of form during the second half of qualifying but the WCQ and the Cup of Harmony are two different things. I believe that this Yttribian side can do wonders and a quarterfinal finish is a easily attainable goal."

SS: "I like that confidence." chuckles, "One last question about Yttribia before we move on, what you think of the country you're representing? Yttribia?"

DC: "I think it is a lovely country and is a nation many Felixians can relate to. Like us, they went through a period of fascism that ruined democracy in our two nations and repressed the values of many people in Felix and Yttribia. The only negative thing I have to say is that those Yttribian tabloids are pretty harsh. Then again, what nation doesn't have a tabloid that harasses you?" chuckles.

SS: "Alright let's talk about Felix. Do you harbor any grudges on the FFA or the press that covered your final days as coach of the national team?"

DC: "No, not really. I was given a set of goals and I didn't accomplish them. It's not good for me but it's what happened. Now as for the press... I really did not like how they treated my successor. I don't care what they said or did to me before I resigned but I found it disgraceful that they would put out rumours like that on my poor friend Manuel. They really hurt him. And I will never forgive the tabloids for that."

SS: "Yeah, that was quite terrible what they did to Manuel, but at least he is having a successful stint in Sieburg, right?"

DC: "Yes, he has been amazing for Sieburg, reviving that club to it's former glory. I'm really proud of my former assistant."

SS: Nods, "So Mikel Araboa retired from multiversal football making him the last striker of the BoF generation to retire. Bittersweet?"

DC: "A little bit, yes. He was a helluva of a player at his hayday and it's sad to see him leave but it's also good that he did. There is some developing talent at striker in Felix such as Luca Esser in Northern Sunrise Islands and Nicolas Costa in Felix that deserve to be called up. So his absence will be filled by good strikers, I can guarantee that."

SS: "Continuing on the subject of Felix, do you believe that this national team side can qualify for the Round of 16 with a win against Legalese?"

DC: "I do believe Felix can make it to the Round of 16. We dug ourselves a whole with that loss against Brenecia but Felix has the quality to beat Legalese a side that has proven to be one of the best in the multiverse. It will be a tough match for sure and Felix will need to play with everything they got if they want that Ro16 birth."

SS: "Now I am going to ask you some personal questions if you don't mind."

DC: "I don't."

SS: "Alright, so how's your family?"

DC: "It's good, my son, Victor Cardona is just about to finish college."

SS: "The Olympic water polo player?"

DC: Laughs, "Indeed. He quit water polo after he hurt himself playing for his college. So he continued with his major, Business Management. He's doing very well too, has high grades, gonna graduate from the Universidad de Santander."

SS: "Good for him. How's your wife?"

DC: "She's good, she is in Santander to see Victor."

SS: "Nice, I have one last question before we take off, if you were offered a chance to become coach of Felix would you take that opportunity?"

DC: Pauses, "Hmm... That's a tough question... To be honest? No. I feel like I did my job as coach of Felix and I won't be revisiting that post, even if I do get fired as coach of Yttribia and/or if Ishikawa Haruka gets fired. If anything I feel like Manuel should have another shot as head coach. He was unfairly fired. Although let's be realistic here, Ishikawa is great coach and she won't be fired, she has staying power."

SS: "Indeed she does. I hope she stays and I wish you luck Daniel. Hope you don't get fired. Bye, bye."

DC: Laughs, "Thanks, good bye."

[Super-Llamaland]

Alaric - Part Three

If anybody at the bars he frequented asked Captain Martin Nouveau what his occupation was, he’d say he was a soldier - this was true, for he’d spent three years in the Duke’s service as a sort of dangerously armed odd-jobs man. If they asked him if he liked the work, he would have laughed at them. Nobody chose to serve in the Royal Army of South Paleis.

This, of course, was why Martin had been given his latest job - to round up foreigners or the poor, kidnap them, and ship them off to act as human shields during the dangerous skirmishes with Paleis and Yves-Gascony. With his group of eight or nine men, they raided the countryside, sending the involuntarily enlisted newcomers through a complex series of old barns and other disused buildings until they reached the border.

Not the best job to have - but there was a certain sort of beauty to it, Martin had to admit despite his own protests, a complex puzzle that nobody else could play. They’d started slowly, but by now, Captain Nouveau’s riders, known throughout the nation as the Nouveaus, could find dozens of new conscripts in a single day. For his efforts, he’d been a sizable raise and a new rank.

Now, they were searching around on the border with Gutenbürg, the one border South Paleis had that wasn’t embroiled in conflict. Of course, part of it - affectionately dubbed the Jackpot Point for all of the side-stepping travellers they found - was also the border with Yves-Gascony, and most travellers chose it as a shortcut across the war-scarred region.

“Sir! We’ve found something,” somebody said from below. It was Bernard, one of the newer Nouveaus, and he appeared to be cradling something behind his back.

“What is it, Bernard?” Martin asked.

“Two travellers, boys really, no older than twenty. Both from Gutenbürg by the looks of them. We thought they were inexperienced and not worth it, but we found these in a travel-bag nearby,” Bernard chattered excitedly, pulling from behind his back a razor-sharp sword with plain handle.

“Interesting,” Martin said, taking the sword from Bernard. It wasn’t decorated, but it was well-kept and looked to be fairly new. It would be worth taking. The new conscripts could always find another sword for themselves.

“Well, bring them up here, Bernard,” Martin said bemusedly, and then added hastily: “tied up, of course.”

“Yes, sir,” Bernard said, and turned and walked down the hill again to show the legendary Captain Nouveau his discovery.

[Osarius]

Ezio stood on a pitch. The ball at his feet, with what seemed like acres of blank, green turf ahead of him. Far off in the distance, he could see the goal. Tiny. With a giant in front of it. 'I can beat you.' He said, without words.

He nudged the ball forward with his right foot, stepped with the left, and swung the right back to strike. As if struck by lightning he crumpled.

"AH!"

Ezio woke with a start, sitting bolt upright, still in the hospital bed, still in that clinical, white room. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, the sheets damp beneath him.

"Mister Grassi?" A nurse entered the room. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine. Fine." Ezio muttered. "Just need to use the bathroom."

"Are you certain, sir? One of the other nurses thought she heard a shout."

"I'm fine." Ezio reiterated, flinging the sheets off himself and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. He hesitated for a moment, glancing at the nurse.

She got the hint. Or at least, he thought she did. "Okay Mister Grassi. Remember, you can call us if you need anything. You have your alert, yes?"

"Yeah, I have it." Ezio grabbed it from the side of the bed and waved it vaguely in her direction.

"I'll leave you to your ah... business, then."

Ezio waited until the already faint clop-clop-clop of her footsteps had subsided enough to suggest she was far enough away that he could move.

Gingerly, he reached out to touch the floor with his right big toe. Solid. Slowly, he placed the ball of his foot down too. Still solid. He exhaled in relief, and let out a half-laugh, half-sigh. 'Idiot. What are you so afraid of?'

He got out of the bed and slowly walked over to the attached bathroom. His movements were still a little sluggish, and the doctors had told him this was "a normal response" because he needed to "recalibrate", whatever that meant.

On the way back to his bed, a spasm shook through his left leg and he stumbled. 'All in my head' he told himself, willing it to be true. With his hands out in front of himself, he scrambled back to the bedside, and clambered back under the sheets, noting that his heart rate and breathing had quickened. "Calma, Ezio. Calma." He whispered.

It took several minutes to return his heart rate to its normal speed, and from there, even longer to fall asleep again. The thought echoing in the back of his mind over and over again, 'I can't play football again like this'

* * * * *

Almost as if on cue, Toby Drummond turned in an outstanding performance last night against a solid Unified Sunrise Islands team. The Applegrass native was voted at number four in a Buyanese list of the top players at the World Cup this year, to his own surprise. "Honestly, I'd expected Ezio to get more votes." Drummond admitted. "I guess it's because I pass more." He added, jokingly, before steering conversation away from his currently-incapacitated friend.

Approaching his thirty-third birthday, Drummond knows his time as a professional footballer is coming to an end, and he might not get another chance to win "the big one", so he has every intention of making it count. "I know the boss doesn't much like picking us older guys, so there's a good chance I won't be around next time, so I have to leave it all out there on the pitch. I can't go home with any regrets, you know?"

His first assist of the night, a perfectly weighted through ball into the right channel for Marco Puntoriero, was one of his best ever. The pass, through a gap so narrow John Holcombe, commentating, exclaimed that Drummond had put the ball "through the eye of a needle", took out three defenders. Puntoriero eased fears that Grassi's lethal potency in front of goal will be sorely missed this campaign with an assured finish, chipped over the on-rushing Mellody Sioux.

Drummond's second assist came minutes into the second half, a no-look pass on his (supposedly) weaker left foot into the right channel again, splitting the fullback and centre back, and bamboozling his marker. This time Nathaniel Doherty finished the job, firing across goal.

The SK Franz Josef City playmaker capped a convincing performance from the favourites with a sublime free kick in the seventy-second minute, before leaving the pitch to applause three minutes later. His replacement, Sergio Mora, had impressed against Falcus before circumstances forced a substitution, but lacked the same degree of incisiveness here. The last fifteen minutes passed with only a couple of decent chances, with the game already effectively over, both sides could be forgiven for easing up a little.

The win puts Osarius into the next round as group winners regardless of their result against Blouman Empire in a few days, meaning Osarian attention will likely be focused on Group H. Ko-oren and Audioslavia face off to see who faces Osarius in the round of sixteen. While a match between the top two teams in the multiverse is certainly enticing, it's hard to say whether fans would be happy with it happening so early. Jermain Lewis doesn't mind, though. "I think if we're going to win this thing, we're going to have to beat them anyway. And those bloody birds [Polar Islandstates - Ed.]. So why not get it over with as soon as possible?" He said. "I don't expect any match to be easy, but we are where we are for a reason. We absolutely can beat both of them, we absolutely can go home as world champions."

When it was suggested that Lewis would prefer his team face their biggest rivals for the world championship early, as to avoid potentially crumbling under the pressure in the latter stages, as they have done multiple times in the past, the Osarius manager responded with more than a little anger in his tone. "Did we crumble in the AOCAF Cup?" That, combined with Lewis' more-than-a-little-intimidating presence silenced the room for a while. Perhaps Lewis' indignation will rub off on his team, and silence his critics once and for all in a few weeks' time.

[San Jose Guayabal]

www.elnacional.gu/sjg/general_elections_2014

You are in: El nacional > SJG > Politics > General Elections 2014: The gate to the future

Written by: Eyvindur Janssen.
Date: 30/12/2014, 19:57. San Salvador time

The general elections in the country have successfully completed according to representatives of the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, who gave it its discurson last night besides giving the official results.

The polls opened early, at 8:00 am, thousands of people visited these centers to cast their votes, which is a basic right for every citizen over 16 years, age where people can get the document voter ID (or known as DIE for its acronym in Spanish), major incidents were not reported during the day, but one related to the failure of twenty processing machines votes, which were repaired by accredited by the electoral authority technicians.

They no riots across the nation were reported, the police conducted a thorough survey around polling stations nationwide as well as in different strategic points of the city, this helped largely to avoid problems in terms of safety and law enforcement.

The polls were closed at 6:00 PM in each region at that time was only allowed the presence of technicians and members of the polling station voter subsequently performed auditor''ia tax results in order to avoid fraud of any kind that may occur such as hacking systems, etc.

The main candidates gave their speeches around 10:30 pm when San Salvador, where speeches in which the Social Democrats and the Patriotic Front self declared themselves as winners of the process.

The Parliament is composed by 560 seats, which are distributed on the following way:
217 Social Democrat Party. (Pink)
106 Green Alliance. (Light Green)
68 Moderate Alternative. (Cyan)
62 Nat. Coalition Party. (Blue)
42 Patriotic Front. (Purple)
29 Communist Party. (Ocher)
24 Independents. (Gray)
12 Pirate Party. (Black)

Around 11:45 pm in San Salvador, the final results occurred nationwide, resulting in an overwhelming victory of the Social Democratic Party, while the Patriotic Front was placed as the fifth most voted political party in the election. Undoubtedly, the big surprise was the Green Alliance, who won 106 seats after having been predicted just 26.

The new parliament will take office next February 1, at a ceremony in San Fernando Castle, located in the central square of San Salvador.

Regarding possible government coalitions, a possible alliance of the Social Democratic Party in conjunction with the Green Alliance and the Pirate Party, which reach 335 seats, still insufficient to be able to get the two-thirds majority, is rumored to be is obtainable by reaching the figure of 374 seats, which is far to get, unless you get support from parties which partially support the ideology of the coalition.

With regard to the main idea to be implemented according to the Social Democrats, a more flexible tributatio package, improving the education system and strengthening the welfare system are expected. Besides drastic as to the calendar in use today change.

The calendar change is expected to happen in a couple of months, this change in concsiste calendar on a more serious solution regarding the current crisis time, which arose because the former communist regime used the year 2047, while decided retorar to 2014, so that a good number of people had been declared "nonexistent" for not having a date "consistent" birth. Because of that you plan to use a calendar that is currently in use in countries like Audioslavia, Mertagne, Starblaydia, The Sarian and Yttribia. This would advance us toward the year 2194, keeping the age before the change of Calendar through legal action will last one year, when entering the year 2195, the age of people follow its normal course. This would be a huge national history according to some experts change, no doubt this is a very controversial measure, and many ask even a referendum to be subjected to public scrutiny.

As for months, would remain twelve months of different number of days between 30 and 31 days most months, while February will have 28 days, or 29 in the case of a leap year. Therefore the system will remain of 365 days per year. In addition to representing a huge change which some economists favor greatly to the nation, as trillions of dollars would be saved with the new change. Well you plan to reset ela workweek and working hours of employees daily. Options to work five days a week for forty hours divided by 8 hours of work are handled, or only work 35 hours per week, days five days a week for seven hours daily.

[Mizuyuki]

Put it this way - if you're not a masochist, there is really no good time to start inflicting pain on yourself.

Yet that was precisely what Mizuyukian fans all around the multiverse were doing; slowly, painstakingly, intensifying the mental and emotional pain that they had been suffering. That came with the job description. It seemed, for this author at least, that the Nova's entire World Cup campaign; moderately successful though it may have been, was leading right up to this very moment - the final, ultimate confirmation of the team's demonstrated inability to perform on the grandest stage of them all.

If one wanted to heap on the misery - not that the Nova's on field performance wasn't already enough of a punishment for their long-suffering fans - one could always point out the fact that the Sanctii were probably nowhere near their very best. Slightly anaemic in attack, perhaps a little loose in defence, and just the slightest hint of that infamous Sanctii arrogance in midfield - these factors all combined to produce a Sanctii side which was, perhaps, the most vulnerable that they would ever be in this World Cup cycle.

Oh, the Nova took full advantage. It would be churlish to deny that - for the first seventy-five minutes at least - they had run circles around the Saintland national team. Sensing blood in the air like a wolf, Shirakiin's starting XI tore out of the blocks at full speed, leaving the Sanctii bewildered at every turn. First, Isshiki's mazy run down the right flank caught Poenius unaware - and had the winger's well placed shot been just a few inches lower, it would have left Sanctii 'keeper Alessandro Seius with absolutely no chance. As it was, the ball just cleared the crossbar, and the Sanctii had their first reprieve.

The chances came quickly and furiously. Just a matter of seconds later, Saten wasted a glorious shooting opportunity, skying her shot from all of ten yards - and Kurugaya was perhaps unlucky to see her goalbound shot deflect off Tsuchimikado and bobble harmlessly wide for a goal kick. In many ways, though, the fact that the Nova would squander almost all of their quality chances was a testament to a singular mental block, as it were, their inability to push on from a position of strength, the lack of a killer instinct; for all their supremacy and dominance in the final third, Seius did not have a single save of note to make until the half-hour mark, when he easily caught a dipping Ishibashi half-volley from the edge of the area.

When the first goal finally arrived, as it had been threatening to for the past half-hour at the very least, it had more than a hint of fortuity to it. Shimmying past Prince Andreas with a quick burst of pace, Saten found herself with options - the most obvious being Tsuchimikado, twenty yards in front, who was even then gesturing wildly for the ball. Instead, Saten opted to ditch her usual, conservative method of distribution in favour of the spectacular, sending a raking cross-field pass over the Sanctii defence for Uryū to run on.

With Ioannes Poenius snapping at her heels, the fifteen-year-old did not look uncomfortable in the slightest; evading the right-back's clumsy challenge, she casually skipped into the area and, with a deft touch, curled the ball at goal. The winger's shot appeared to be floating wide, but a catastrophic intervention from Lucas Aufidius ensued; in his haste to defend, the centre back mistimed his clearance and could only watch on helplessly as the ball bobbled into goal off his outstretched shin.

One-nil. One-nil, and the breakthrough was here.

Aside from a wayward Karoki shot from just inside the area, the final minutes of the first half played out relatively devoid of incidents; the Nova were intent on slowing down the game instead of pressing their advantage, while the Sanctii, for their part, did not look too inclined to press their opponents. The teams would go into half-time with the score poised on a knife-edge.

It was a case of renewed dominance for the Nova after the resumption of play - perhaps a curious state of affairs, given the Sanctii's nominal lead in the KPB rankings and taking into account their magnificent performance against the Vilitan Jungle Cats just last matchday. At any rate, the Nova did not ease up on the gas, even if they did leave themselves slightly exposed at the back by doing so - a powerful Prince Andreas effort, well saved by the athletic Takanashi, was sandwiched between two credible long range attempts by Ishibashi and Isshiki.

The Sanctii briefly regained some semblance of a foothold in the match from the fifty-seventh minute, when Prince Andreas, desperate to salvage the situation, fired in a well-worked set piece - the ball was subsequently met powerfully by number nine Paulus Flaccus, requiring a timely intervention in the form of a goal-line clearance from Satō to keep the Sanctii midfielder off the scoresheet. From the resulting throw-in, Prince Andreas received a short, square pass - looking up and seeing his chance, he duly fired off a powerful grasscutter which would have left an inferior 'keeper with no chance at all - as it was, Takanashi was able to get the slightest of touches on the shot, managing to divert the goalbound attempt just wide.

Several minutes later, the Nova were another goal to the good - and it seemed ironically appropriate that the goal would effectively result from a lapse in Sanctii concentration. Prince Andreas swung in a threatening delivery from a corner, only to see Mikasa rise to clear the ball with a jumping volley. The ball initially seemed to be heading straight for Silvester Flaccus's feet; however, the Sanctii midfielder somehow contrived to misjudge the flight of the ball and allow Isshiki to steal in behind him, leaving himself in a precarious position - with his defenders going up for the corner, the Sanctii were left with all of three defenders against the Nova's vaunted attacking quadrumvirate.

Isshiki, running at Nicolaus Poenius with verve, looked to have gotten the better of the left-back with a dip of her shoulder; but a cynical Poenius pull on the diminutive winger's shirt saw the Nova granted an advantage by the match official. The winger duly regained possession of the loose ball, and in a heartbeat, sent the ball high into the area, where Kurugaya was on hand to outjump both Aufidius and Seius to nod the ball into an untended goal.

They were now two-nil up in the seventy-fifth minute of the match. Granted, the Nova were perhaps just a smidgen inferior in terms of absolute skill. Stamina and fitness were also a concern, for there were several Mizuyukian players evidently flagging out on the pitch; but surely, surely, no team worth their salt could blow a two goal lead in the final fifteen minutes of a match?

Apparently not.

The Sanctii, seemingly shocked into action by the addition of a second goal, hauled the Nova back with a well-worked goal almost immediately. Barely two minutes had passed when the Sanctii managed a quick break from a Mizuyukian corner. Andreas Inventius, with almost his first touch at goal, fired in a fine peach of a cross for Herakles Karoki. Weakness in the air has always been a well-documented deficiency of this Mizuyukian team, and this particular failing of theirs proved to be damaging. With their best defensive header of the ball, Ishio, some way up the pitch, both Ishibashi and Natsume were outmuscled by the Sanctii forward, who made no mistake in dispatching a powerful bullet header into the corner of the net.

Understandably somewhat shaken by this turn of events, Shirakiin looked to add some defensive solidity to her team, bringing the more defensively-minded Yamamoto on for Ishibashi while ordering Tsuchimikado to drop deeper. The Nova's manager was clearly intent on seeing the game out with her moves. However, her decision to substitute Ishibashi for Yamamoto backfired spectacularly in the eighty-fifth minute; the teenaged midfielder, who has been widely proclaimed as the next Mizuyukian midfield general, failed to anticipate the path of a Prince Andreas delivery; and to add insult to injury, clumsily brought down an onrushing Philippus Vagionius in the area. The match official, despite the cries and protests of the Mizuyukian players, was left with absolutely no chance other than to brandish the red card and award a penalty. Herakles Karoki made absolutely no mistake from the spot, sending Takanashi the wrong way with a dead-eye shot into the bottom left corner.

The wind went out of the Nova's sails then. From being in a position of virtually unassailable strength, the roaming predators were now the hunted, the ones on the run; and the Sanctii were the ones piling on the pressure. Reinvigorated by their two quick-fire goals to restore parity, they were now unquestionably on the front foot - and it seemed all too painfully obvious to this author that the Nova were hanging on by the skin of their teeth to salvage a point. Alas, that was not to be, for the Sanctii proved to be far better finishers than the Nova could ever hope to be; the fourth minute of injury time saw them finish the job in as efficient a manner as possible. Prince Andreas, who had been at the heart of the majority of Sanctii moves, once again showed off his talent by taking Satō out of the equation with a head-spinning dribble; his teammate, Silvester Flaccus, receiving the ball from the Prince fifteen yards from goal, duly made up for his earlier slip by firing an unstoppable angled drive past Takanashi's despairing dive.

You see how painful it is to be a Mizuyukian fan? No-one aside from the most hardened of masochists and fatalists could possibly comprehend the gut-wrenching feeling, the heartbreak and despair, that accompanies many a Mizuyuki match - from the ignominious failures of World Cups past to the devastation of the Saintland match - and all the more so when their frequent collapses occur on that prestigious stage, the World Cup finals itself.

... damn it all to hell. I may grind my teeth, I may hammer my head against the wall more frequently than is healthy - but they're still my team. And come hell or high water, I will still support them - for as long as the touch of life lingers. Make no mistake about that.

[Blouman Empire]

THE EMPIRE TIMES

Ancap To Miss Next Game

A spectacular long range goal late by Leo Wolk earned the 10 man Blouman Eagles a 1-1 draw against Flacus in the second game of the group stage. Falcus took an early lead and after Kane Ancap was shown a red for a late tackle it looked as though it might stay that way. The Eagles kept fighting before scoring the equaliser in the 88nd minute to keep their World Cup dream alive.

The Eagles were slow to start as Flacus placed them under early pressure putting in quick tackles and denying them any time on the ball. Flacus used this to their advantage giving the Blouman defence scares as Milton Tuneson was called into action saving a low shot from inside the area. This pressure gave Falcus the lead in the 12th minute thanks to a cross allowing the Falcus striker to rise above the pack to flick it on allowing his unmarked partner near the back post to head it expertly past Tuneson. Only a minute later and the same tactic nearly worked again, however, this time Tuneson was able to get his fingers to the ball and knock it over the bar. The Eagles attempted to move forward but were giving little trouble to the Flacus keeper, Blaine Cooperson had a pop after a low cross from Percy Baser but was comfortably caught. Kane Ancap also looked through on goal as he moved through two opponents and took his chance, the ball sailing inches wide of the post. It was Ancap's only contribution to the game as in the 35th minute he was shown the red card. His late tackle on the opponent forced the player to go down in agony and the referee wasted no time in sending him off. The Eagles now a man down responded well and had their best chance a few minutes later, Dylan Easton made a run down the left side putting in a cross for Cooperson who put in a powerful volley forcing the Flacus keeper to knock it around the post. The first half ended firmly in Falucs' favor with both a goal and man up.

Falcus looked to capitalise on their extra man creating the first shot of the second half in the 50th minute. The striker was picked out well in the box who turned beautifully but placed his shot right into Tuneson. They had another go only a few minutes later with a quick 1-2 as their striker ran towards goal but Jacob Kleeza had managed to get across in time to take back possession of the ball. Logan October made all three of his changes at once taking off Dominic Noble for Leo Wolk, Steven Mallard for Jakob Powell and Kane Harrison for Jake Green. With some new energy the Eagles began to press forward Baser put in a through ball for Cooperson who was one on one with the keeper who managed to parry it around the post. Easton hooked in the corner with Powell's header rattling the post. Falcus continued to try and put the game beyond all doubt as they continued to try and create chances but by now the Blouman defence had tightened up and was giving them very little opportunity to threaten Tuneson. In the 88th minute Wolk took back possession of the ball and made a run down the wing, managing to move through two opponents he took a low powerful shot from 30 yards out that found its way through a wall of players and into the back of the net leveling the score and ending the game a 1-1 draw.

October praised his players continued push to get something out of the game despite being behind for most of the game "The fight these players showed today was fantastic, I am disappointed that we didn't get the win as expected but we fought hard and recorded a valuable point". Kane Ancap refused to speak to the awaiting media after he emerged from the changeroom simply commenting that he will be cheering on his teammates in the next game and wishing them the best of luck. The draw puts the Eagles into second place with two points after Osarius beat USI 3-0 and earning themselves a spot in the round of 16. The Empire will leave Ramirez where they have played their past two matches at The 56 stadium and will fly to Neryungri for their final match against Osarius at Central Stadium. The Eagles have never beaten Osarius in the past two matches and will be needing to make history to ensure they progress to the round of 16, while a draw could still see them progress should neither side in the other game record a win. USI and Falcus will face each other in the other match of the group with both teams determined to secure a victory to move into second spot should the the Eagles expectedly fail to win.

[Equestrian States]

Equestrians Battle Sarian to a Draw, Edge Closer to Second Round
by Steve McNotapony

Equestrian States 1-1 The Sarian
at Grand Regal Stadium in Canterlot
Attendance: 87,251
Scoring:
Jacobo Yap '31 (M. Meeuwessen)
Wither '76 (Pristina Shine)

CANTERLOT - Following the Ponies' huge 3-0 win over Sargossa in the Equestrian States' return to World Cup action, supporters might have wondered if the Equestrians could sustain their momentum heading into a crucial fixture against The Sarian. Although the match would end in a draw, fans' worries that the Ponies would immediately regress back to the inconsistent form which saw them fail to qualify for the two previous World Cups were quieted as the Equestrians overcame a poor first half to emerge with a share of the points.

With the day's earlier Group A match between Nephara and Sargossa ending in an unexpected tie, the importance of the Ponies-Bustards result was increased dramatically, as an Equestrian victory would see them qualify for the second round and not have to worry about their final match against the Nepharim as much. A draw would also keep the Ponies in first in the group and in command of their own destiny, but a Sarian win would then mean that the Equestrians would need at least a point against Nephara whilst also relying on the Sargossans to steal at least a point, and preferably all three from their own final game. As a result, both sides took the pitch determined to win; no punches would be held and the crowd knew it, roaring as the Ponies warmed up.

When the match finally got underway, it was the Sarians that went on the offensive first. After a disappointing loss to the Cormorants in their opening game, the Bustards were determined to not let themselves be overrun early again, battering the Equestrian defense hoping to draw first blood. However, Pearly White had apparently anticipated the Sarians' early aggression, lining up her players in a 4-2-3-1 which gave the Ponies more protection on the wings, Brix Hamilton and Krysia Bailey each stopping Bustard crosses dead in their tracks. As the minutes ticked by, The Sarian was showing no signs of relenting, making a handful of reckless tackles in the midfield to deny the Ponies a chance to relax and slow the pace of play down.

Then, in the 31st minute, the Bustards finally made a breakthrough after a tackle by Andrea Molovi gave The Sarian a free kick just outside the box. North Spire midfielder Methuselah Meeuwessen took the kick, but instead of going for the goal as expected, passed the ball over to striker Jacobo Yap who launched an arching shot that only barely cleared a header from Flitter before dropping into the corner of the goal just beyond the diving Gentle Breeze. It was a fantastic goal for the visitors, who celebrated as the dismayed crowd grew quiet. The Bustards would remain in control for the rest of the half, snuffing out the Equestrians' counterattacks while searching for a second goal to put the Ponies in a deep hole before the break. Only a pair of splendid saves by Gentle Breeze denied The Sarian a multiple-score advantage prior to the halftime whistle.

Though the Equestrians had gone into their locker room clearly disappointed with themselves, they emerged re-energized and ready to go, clearly inspired by Pearly White's pep talk, the content of which she kept to herself when asked about it at her press conference while grinning. The Bustards also came out of the break rejuvenated and, as the second half began, redoubled their efforts to score another goal; but this time the Ponies' defense held firm. By the 60th minute, the once-explosive Sarian attack had faltered, its players visibly tiring against the Equestrians' determined defenders. Pearly White brought on Krystal, Aarón Aiza, and Wither with her three substitutions in a 7 minute span, to reform her players into a 4-4-2 diamond to counter the Sarians' own, and the move had an immediate impact. The fresh legs gave the Ponies the advantage over their tired opposition, surging onto the offensive at last.

In the 10 minutes which followed, Sarian boss Daniel Bauer made his own substitutions, but the Bustards had lost their momentum and the Equestrian States began to besiege their opponent's net. Finally, with under 14 minutes left, the Ponies found their equalizer when a quick exchange of passes between Rainbow Blitz and Pristina Shine was interrupted by a bolt-from-the-blue off Wither's hoof that slapped into the back of the net with an audible crack. As the crowd celebrated, the Ponies raced back to restart the game, determined to finish the job with a win. Though the Equestrians would have to settle for a draw in the end, thanks largely to a wonderful final effort by Sarian goalkeeper Kasper Lorde, the result was one which the Ponies were content with.

  GROUP A                       Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts        MD2 Results:
1  Equestrian States           2   1  1  0    4   1  +3    4         Sargossa 1-1 Nephara 
2  Nephara                     2   1  1  0    3   2  +1    4        @ Star Stadium in Canterlot
3  The Sarian                  2   0  1  1    2   3  -1    1         Equestrian States 1-1 The Sarian 
4  Sargossa                    2   0  1  1    1   4  −3    1        @ Grand Regal Stadium in Canterlot

And so the stage is set for the final act of the Equestrian States' group stage campaign: a meeting with Nephara to decide the Ponies' fate. All that's needed by the Equestrians now is a draw, which would not only let them advance to the second round, but do so as group winners for the first time ever in the World Cup finals. Even a defeat would not immediately eliminate the Ponies, as they hold a significant advantage over The Sarian on goal difference which would need to be reversed entirely for the Bustards to overtake the Equestrians. Now on the cusp of equaling their previous best-ever performance at a World Cup after a two year absence, supporters can almost taste a return to glory, and it's delicious.

---

Match Report :: Match Day 2

 EQUESTRIAN STATES 1-1 THE SARIAN 
Grand Regal Stadium (cap. 81,955) in Canterlot, Equestrian States

Scoring:
 Jacobo Yap '31 (M. Meeuwessen)
 Wither '76 (Pristina Shine)

Starting XI:
GK - Gentle Breeze
LB - Brix Hamilton
CB - Flitter
CB - Andrea Molovi
RB - Krysia Bailey
CM - Apple Jack
CM - Cloudchaser
LW - Rosie Tyler
CAM - Rainbow Blitz
RW - Stardust
ST - Pristina Shine

Substitutions:
 Krystal in for Apple Jack '58
 Aarón Aiza in for Stardust '65
 Wither in for Flitter '65

[San Jose Guayabal]

The decisive day has arrived, we are now on Match Day three and just 16 nations (overall) will go to next round, some nations may feel anxious or nervous but don't worry, you are near to know the scores, why not taking some chop suey while you wait.

MATCHDAY 3 RP CUTOFF FOR GROUPS A-D

[Farfadillis]

Of course it couldn't be easy. It could never be easy. Of course they would never reach the final matchday without that sensation that it's either all or it's nothing. Farfadillis just never managed to do convincingly well in World Cup group stages. They were always a terrible struggle. After getting out of them thrice, the most points they'd been able to garner had been six. Now they had to get six points to have a realistic chance of going through. Even though Nova Anglicana certainly surprised everyone, it was unlikely that they'd manage that again, this time against the Polar Islandstates. Nonetheless, a win would definitely suffice and that was what they all had to strive for. But against Valladares, that meant no simple task.

The match promised to be a goal fest, or at least have a few goals scored for both teams, as none would be happy with a tie - as that could easily lead to the Polar Islandstates and Nova Anglicana 'agreeing' to tie, too. And that would prove tragic for both teams. They'd have to go for the win, and both teams were already known as offensive teams anyway.

In past occasions, Farfadillis had managed to do what was needed in the last matchday three out of four times, but in two of them they had to beat Vilita and that can't really count. The other one they had to at least tie with Yesopalitha, and they won. They'd failed to beat the Sylvanaes Queendom by two goals in World Cup 65, tying four-four (going out with style, certainly).

As far as direct precedents, Farfadillis and Valladares shared a group during the World Cup 64 qualifiers. The Valladars certainly did better that time around, as they'd get to the quarterfinals in that edition, while the Farves wouldn't even get there.

The Farves had the entire team healthy, thankfully. Lisdiren had performed well in the previous two matches (despite coneding nine goals), the defense hadn't been playing too badly by Farf standards, the midfield had been doing really well, and the offense had proven lethal against a team as renowned as the Polar Islandstates. So, no red flags could really be raised. At least not those that were not permanently raised. Yes, the defense was a constant red waving flag.

In the end, they'd just give it their all. And if that didn't prove enough, they'd know they just didn't deserve it. Still, nothing would stop them from vigorously trying again the following cycle.

[Equestrian States]

This is your singing cutoff post, I hope it finds you well...

MATCH DAY 3 RP CUTOFF FOR GROUPS E-H

RESULTS

[HopNation]

---

HopNation Sports

---

12-31-14

HDT|2014|v.365

---

---

WORLD CUP – PART 4

---

---

---

WOW there was some splendid play yesterday in the start of the knockout stages of the Winter Festival’s Broomball Tournament. With the largest number of participants in this years event it’s no wonder there was some great action going on out on the ice. There were some highs for teams advancing and some lows for those teams getting knocked out of the event, but probably none as low as the defending champions losing to a no name team. Literally they were called the No Names, go figure right, but we will have a new champion this year at the Winter Festival’s Broomball Tournament. What? You thought I might be referring to the Hops and making some kind of pun of their recent World Cup victory… Perhaps you’re right, but our Hops did not knock anyone out yet they have merely, surprisingly, and spectacularly won their group and are moving onto the knockout stages of that event. More on that in a bit though. There was one more extremely low or rather sad moment at the Broomball Tournament. One spectator was taken to a local hospital in what was told to me in critical condition. Now you might be thinking, how on earth did a spectator get injured especially seriously injured at a Broomball Tournament, and for good reason since they aren’t known for their rowdy nature. Well it happened after the No Names won against the defending champion team, the Sweepsters. The fan was so excited she ran, well tried to run, out onto the ice to celebrate with the team. Half way out onto the ice she slipped, rather spectacularly I might add (sort of a summersaulting double spinning backflip), and landed extremely hard on her upper spine and head. She was knocked cold by the ice and did not regain conciseness yet. My thoughts and prayers go out to her family, friends, and the No Names as their celebration was chillingly cut short. I am happy to report that her vital signs are stable and doctors expect her to be away sometime today if everything continues to go well for her.

Now onto bigger, better, and more exciting news from around the multiverse. As I mentioned earlier, but rather briefly, our Hops pulled off another major upset by defeating the defending World Cup Champions in the final group stage match. No jumping beans found this time on the pitch but rather just an ‘ordinary’ squad, which is perhaps where their faults came from. In all of their holiness, Jesus couldn’t save them this time, figuratively and literally, as it was a splendid strike from Droimpol that put the Hops up 1-0 in the 77th minute. Then it was our defense that came through stopping the opposition on each onslaught for the next 13+ minutes of play. Subanos did excellent and showed why should have made that top 70 list put out earlier by Buyan as he made Jesús inspired saves after Jesús inspired save in the final minutes to stop Taronities and Phocaso’s dual threat. Our defense also showed they are some of the best as they stopped a few of the best teams from scoring and this comes in our first ever World Cup adventure, also looking across all of the groups we posted the best goals against statistic (one other squad was equal to ours – that was Equestrian States). Sure we didn’t score the most but isn’t it the team that concedes the least that ultimately comes out on top. There were also only two teams with better goal differentials and they were the number 1 and number 2 teams in the entire World Cup, sure a few others equaled our +3 but I would have never in my wildest dreams though we were statistically equal to some of the big names. I still fully support our Hops and fully believe they are just as good as these so called sporting Nations and we are now showing them we belong here this cycle. A small note in regards to Ike Myers injury that forced Coach Schmidt to sub Worfworf in. He will be find and is expected to play in the next match it was a rather minor hand injury that occurred when he collided with Manuel Gabraso, and to my surprise neither player was carded. When I spoke with Schmidt he just said it was only precautionary to replace Ike at that time, plus it was a needed spark that Worfworf brought to the match.

Up next we will be kicking off against Super-Llamaland who finished second in Group D behind Saintland, who wrongly predicted they would be playing us instead of the Llamas facing us. Granted Saintland, rather Sister Polus of Saintland said if the group stage ended right now in reference to the standings after the second match. So it wasn’t really a prediction in the true sense, but rather just looking at the facts at that time. Either way, no matter who we face this is not going to be any easier than the last three matches even though the Llamanean side is ranked just two spots ahead of our own Hops and we’ve show we can topple much higher ranking teams leading up to this point. Then again so have they so we need to be on our toes going forward and we can definitely not back down from any challenger ahead of us. We will have to watch out for this ‘The Llamanean Classic’ formation, or double diamond as it could be called that the side from Super-Llamaland will bring out against our Hops. But only time will tell if we have what it takes to move forward with our grand World Cup adventure or if we will be on our way back home.

Good luck to those teams still striving to achieve greatness and win the World Cup and my condolences to those that have been eliminated at this point.

---

Group C
Team			Plc	Pts	+/-	GF
HopNation (41)*		1	9	+3	4
Eura (18)		3	1	-2	4
The Holy Empire (3) *	2	6	+2	9
Valanora (16)		4	1	-3	5
* Qualified

Match Summary
The Holy Empire vs Hops @

(cap. 47,100)

Score
The Holy Empire 0 – 1 HopNation

Goals
77’ Pheir Droimpol

Subs
65’ ▲ Worfworf ▼ Myer

Bookings
None

Happy New Year as well and Brew On! Brew Well Hoptonians!
Ringwald Griffinsmith
HopNation Sports Writer