WC72 RP Thread

[Sandwich Territories]

*Once again, it's the Chaps in Suits, live here on SBC Sports Radio. Go ahead, blokes.*

*Well, we're off to the races once more here, as is the Sandwichian team in the World Cup after their break.*

*Yes, but unlike us, who are in absolute top form right now-*

*chuckling*

*- the Royals have to start running at pre-break pace if they want to remain in first. I mean, good God, that draw with Starlarknia...*

*Yeah...but they are in first with a four point lead after last night with the Royals beating Gonzalez Isle 2-1 and the Swordeans beating USI 1-0. I'm Stanislav Clark with Isingoma MacWilliam here along side me in the booth.*

*Hello everyone, and we have some good news for you: the Sandwichians, although needing to kickstart their efforts back up a bit, are in 1st place in Group 20 with a fairly good 4 point lead. However, these next two games are crucial for the Bhoys' qualifying chances. If the Sandwichians can come away with, even four points from Electrum and USI, I think from there it'll be a clear chance for the Sandwichians to advance once more. But, oh boy, would it be, almost glorious, if the Sandwichians can FINALLY qualify for the World Cup finals.*

*Absolutely, our nation has been involved in nine qualifying sessions and so far, our nation has made it as far as the play-offs for the finals, but we have not managed to get passed there.*

*Yep, if you're keeping track, Sandwich is 0-3 in those play-off games so far. Maybe, just maybe, we'll be able to go directly to the finals this time. It'll be, once again, the first in the SFA's history.*

*It will require the offense to step it up though. The game against Starlarknia was just piss poor in every sector from the Royals, but Gonzalez Isle...only 2 goals from that with very few shots even attempted on net. I mean, what's going on down there?*

*Well, chap, I think the Sandwichians are trying to go slow intentionally to conserve energy for these next two games, but they need to push themselves a little. They look almost out of form in sorts, and going easy on these players is not what they need directly after a break in action.*

*I agree somewhat, but it is correct, in my mind, to point out that Gonzalez Isle is simply not a threat to beat the Royals. I know they should've done better and tried more, but I don't see it as that they need to push themselves to get back into form against such a weak opponent. On that note though, they did need to try harder than that. These last two results are not the results you want to see when the Sandwichians are in first place playing against such inexperienced teams.*

*Exactly. But this team is not naive, as we well know. I have faith that these Sandwichians will be prepared to confirm their status as the first Royals squad to ever play in a World Cup finals match. That'll be something.*

*Indeed it will, but the Royals have to win here first before they get there. I suspect that, regardless, the Royals will snag at least a play-offs spot. But as a Sandwichian myself, the last thing, the last thing I want to hear about is the play-off spot. Absolutely no luck for the Royals there ever; I'd rather see this squad get wrecked in the group stages but at least make it there in the first place.*

*Technically I agree with that last sentiment, but of course, as you know, we wish for the absolute best for the Royals.*

*Absolutely. I think that if they do get to the group stages, they have a chance to get out of there into the knock-out rounds. They definitely can pull out three points in at least one of those matches.*

*I think it's about time, personally, that we can talk about this situation like this. It has always been things like, 'Sandwichians catch West Angola', or 'Royals give Kingdom of Quebec a challenge', but now, the Royals are no longer referred to as that plucky underdog squad causing a spot of bother here and there for their opponents. Now, the Royals are given a bit more of a 'fairly notable multiversal squad' status, if that makes any sense.*

*It does, and I agree completely with that last sentiment you had. It's important to note the 'fairly' in that title-*

*more chuckling*

*-but I think a decent amount of people can at least recognize that they've seen the name 'Sandwich Territories' in multiversal football before often enough.*

*Lets hope that this trend continues. It's been exciting to watch this Royals squad adapt and grow over each World Cup they've participated in.*

*Amen to that, good chap. Amen.*

[Barunia]

The National Herald

Suns on rocky pedestal as Kirisaki loom

It's the one problem with being first in a sporting competition: you're always looking over your shoulder, trying to see who's about to knock you off your perch. The Barunia Suns are currently topping their group in the qualifying round of World Cup 72, but their position is far from secure. Kirisaki have been chasing the Suns the entire way, but a shock loss to minnows Welcomzia meant the gap closes to just 1 point. The Suns were not able to shake Kirisaki when the two sides met earlier in the competition, both teams walking away from the encounter with a point after a 3-3 draw.

To add to the Suns' woes, Kirisaki remain undefeated, having drawn three of their games and won the remaining five. They've let in just nine goals from those eight games, but have scored twenty. That gives them a goal differential of +11, the same as Barunia and the highest in the group by a large margin.

Suns defender Taylor Blakefield told the National Herals that it was a situation the Suns were not taken lightly. "It's not where we wanted to be at this moment in the competition. But now, it's just a case of take every game as it comes, and wait for [Barunia or Kirisaki] to make a mistake and drop some points. There's six games left, and we face Kirisaki in the fifth. That's looming as the must win game, but we're trying not to focus on that, and just win each game, because it's not going to matter if we win against Kirisaki if we lose against everyone else."
Whichever team wins the group will receive automatic qualification to the World Cup, with the second place teams fighting it out in the play-offs. Kirisaki and Barunia are the most likely candidates for either of those spots, sitting on 19 and 18 points respectively, while there is some breathing room before third place Vermark, with 14 points. Emperor Pudu and Atrua could threaten for third place, but Welcomzia, Ceni and Ingla Terra have yet to break double figures and would need a miracle to qualify.

Elsewhere, the reigning world champions Osarius are looking solid with a seven-point lead over their nearest rivals, however the biggest margin is in group 15, where the undefeated Pasarga have opened up a ten point lead over a group where no other team has shined. Three other teams are also on full points: Audioslavia, Legalese and Nephara are all without a loss. In group 18, Farfadillis and Gregoryisgodistan are equal on points, but it's a three horse race with only third place Polkopia looking threatening (fourth pace Starblaydia have managed a single win). It's a different story in group 7, where only four points separates 1st place Mertagne from 6th place Augsticinia and no one has more than four wins. Group 8 is possibly the closest, with the three teams at the top only separated by a narrow goal differential.

[Greater Watford]

Chapter 8: Eastern League, Bushey Heath FC

Bushey Heath FC is a small team based in Bushey, who play at Heath Fields, a ground of just 1000 seats. The ground has a stand on 2 sides, it starts off at the South West corner, and loops around the South and East side of the pitch. Originally amateur, it made the step up to semi-pro in 3AU when it joined the Eastern Alliance. They won promotion to the then National League in Season 4, but Season 5 saw them come straight back down. The creation of the Eastern League saw them join 8 other teams who were promoted from the Eastern League, and now they’re firmly midtable.

The rapid change from amateur to pro has had many effects on the team. Long-time supporter aond former amateur player Joey Lizmodo talks to me about some of the changes. “When we were amateur, you would get tens of fans, now it’s hundreds and there’s the odd sell out. Name recognition as well, seeing Bushey Heath FC in the papers and on the sports channels, it does warm your heart.” The change has been profound. In Season 5, despite being officially professional, there was still a sense of amateurism about the club, famously turning up at Sarratt FC with the wrong kits for example, and printing the wrong names on programmes. Now, with a couple of seasons of Eastern League football, the team is turning into a well-oiled small professional side.

Bushey Heath FC is unique in being in the same division as the city’s main team, Bushey FC. An unusual quirk, especially given the old GWNFA rules on teams all being from separate cities, and one that brings a unique atmosphere to Bushey Heath FC. “You walk down streets, and you’ll see green and white and green and black, it’s interesting to see a city divided”. Although geographically the north of the city is Heath territory, the rest more Bushey FC territory, it’s not an aggressive rivalry, unlike the inter-city derbies. The general consensus is that, there is more to life here than football, and alienating those around you isn’t fun. Nevertheless, local derbies are always fun, especially as the Bushey 1 TV channel agreed a deal with the GWFA to broadcast both of them each year.

Of course the Eastern League is a league of opportunity for some. Man Hoerr, 37, is the manager of Bushey Heath FC, his first job in management after retiring from football a few years back. He played in the Challenge League predominately for Bury Lake Mariners FC and Apsley FC, so he’s seen it from both sides of the touchline. “Management can be cut-throat. Teams here are finely balanced in terms of ability, so you’ve got to prove yourself. Either ace your tactics, or ace the transfer market”. I asked Hoerr where he thought the side could progress to. “Well being in the same city as another Eastern League side doesn’t help,” he says, with a slight laugh, “But the playoffs aren’t out of reach, and then who knows? You could get the promotion to the Challenge League so many teams fight for”.

It’s not just managers who take up opportunities in this division. Luciano Critchlow, a youth reject from Sporting Tudor and Oxhey FC decided to come to Bushey Heath FC, to get first team football. Only 21, he is already a starting defender for the Heath. He is a microcosm of the footballers who end up here, but he’s insistent that he enjoys his football. Pay is respectable as well, he says, £1000-£1500 a week at this level, so it’s not as if the players are running on empty at this level. Finally, Critchlow, and other players say, this league is competitive, and making it here and getting promotion puts you on the radar for other Challenge League sides, and maybe the big break into the Super League could happen. Many players start off at Super League youth teams, and dream of returning to the top flight.

Robert Rainshaw

[United States of Devonta]

Devastating Lose, Big Upset
^{Devontans defeated by much lower ranked team in a very bad game}

United States of Devonta 0-2 Communicar

United States of Devonta (4-4-2 Diamond): Cooper, Brooks, Benton, Kindred, Liam, Russell, Abdullah, Edwards, Owens, Johansen, Adams

Quick Stats:
51% Possessions, 9 Shots, 5 on goal
[color=FF800]49% possessions, 9 Shots, 7 on goal[/color]

Scores:
----NONE----
[color=#FF800]Unknown (43'), Unknown (77')[/color]

CAUTIONED: Benton (77')
EJECTED: ----NONE----

Table:

P Group 6                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Polar Islandstates                   7    5   1   1    22   11  +11    16
2 Kandorith                            7    4   3   0    23   14   +9    15
3 United States of Devonta             7    4   1   2    15    9   +6    13
4 Communicar                           7    3   3   1     9    7   +2    12
5 Crystal Empire                       7    3   2   2    14   13   +1    11
6 Coreyo                               7    1   1   5     6   13   −7     4
7 Nizov                                7    1   0   6     4   14  −10     3
8 The Greater Vakolicci Haven          7    0   3   4     4   16  −12     3

---

Victory Returns
^{Devontans defeat unranked Nizovian team once again in a close game}

United States of Devonta 1-3 Nizov

United States of Devonta (4-4-2 Diamond): Cooper, Brooks, Benton, Kindred, Liam, Russell, Abdullah, Edwards, Owens, Johansen, Adams

Quick Stats:
58% Possessions, 12 Shots, 8 on goal
42% possessions, 8 Shots, 5 on goal

Scores:
Johansen (72'), Russel (87')
Unknown (81')

CAUTIONED: Adams (26')
EJECTED: ----NONE----

Table:

P Group 6                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Polar Islandstates                   8    6   1   1    26   11  +15    19
2 Kandorith                            8    5   3   0    28   16  +12    18
3 United States of Devonta             8    5   1   2    17   10   +7    16
4 Crystal Empire                       8    3   3   2    15   14   +1    12
5 Communicar                           8    3   3   2     9   11   −2    12
6 Coreyo                               8    1   1   6     8   18  −10     4
7 The Greater Vakolicci Haven          8    0   4   4     5   17  −12     4
8 Nizov                                8    1   0   7     5   16  −11     3

[Madesu]

Football || F1 || Tennis || Olympics

Matchday 8 World Cup Qualifiers FieldReport/Highlights

---

LARUE: "Hello everybody and welcome to this matchday 8 FieldReport coverage, I'm Yochanan Larue. Madesenes have been in a constant losing streak in the world cup qualifiers, and their streak continued today against an unranked team of The Isles of Azoria, in the Azorian capital of St. Michael. Overall the match was very intense, both teams were very dynamic and demonstrated a truly exacting game to the crowd. Madesenes had the kick-off to start the game off, and from that point on Madesenes and Azorians fought hard during this second encounter. On the 15th minute Madesene defender Mario Bullard clears the ball out of Madesene territory and turns clearing the ball into a long pass to attacker Delroy Gibson on the other side, but then the referee ruled that play was offside. In the 20th minute the Azorians were on the move when an Azorian midfielder pushed the ball up and attempted a longshot, but Madesene goalkeeper Amos Chapman was able to repel, catch, and clear it.

Statistic	Madesu	The Isles of Azoria
Possession (%)	50	50
Shots	24	19
Shots (on target)	18	12
Offsides	1	1
Yellow Cards	0	0
Red Cards	0	0

"The Azorians attempted another attack on Madesu again during the 20th minute when Chapman cleared and an Azorian midfielder took possession, attempting to bring the ball closer to the goal, but Madesene defenders were able to stop them and clear it. This back and forth action was very thrilling to see, especially for the crowd. This occurred all up until halftime. So far Madesu had a 51% possession rate and the Azorians 49%.

"After halftime Azorians and Madesenes continued their fight to determine who will walk off the field with goal(s). In the 57th minute Madesene attacker Levi Melende provided a corner kick after an Azorian defender committed a foul against another attacker Rosaire Richelieu. After Melende executed the kick defender Jerônimo Pressley almost headed a goal then the Azorian goalkeeper repelled it. This then caused a scramble for Madesu to score in any form or fashion, as the Azorian defender line kept on blocking every shot by Madesu. Eventually an Azorian defender cleared the ball from there and gave it to defender Mario Bullard who returned it back to the Azorian goal box. The Azorian goalkeeper managed to catch it and clear it.

"In the 61st minute the Azorians were on the move once again when a decent pass from a midfielder to one attacker happened. The attacker had another midfielder and attacker on his left side, making a cross possible. The attacker crossed it over to the Azorian midfielder and almost put in a goal, which is where the referee ruled it was offside.

"The time for the Azorians to shine approached during the 65th minute, when Madesene defender committed a foul to an Azorian attacker, which earned the Azorians a penalty kick. The Madesne team tried to back up what the saw, trying to overrule the ruling, but the referee refused. The Azorian attacker put in a goal for The Isles of Azoria which would make game very difficult for Madesu to continue playing.

"Madesu had 10 more shots on target after the Azorian goal, but all were very precise, but not accurate enough. The Azorians then celebrated their second victory in the qualifiers as the Madesenes suffered a 5th loss. This NSHQ Football FieldReport was brought to you by Yony, GameStation, Bisa, and Ecer. Madesu's next match will be in a few days, thank you for watching, and good night!"

[Valladares]

Prime Minister Jefferson Pratt and the Royal Cabinet looked at the current events in eastern Rushmore with a mixture of interest and concern. While they were happy to know from sources in Río Oscuro that the construction of Floriana Dam progressed as planned, the recent news from their neighbours were of great concern to regional stability, and of course, to Valladar influence in the region. Therefore, Pratt decided to summon William Wallace, Minister of Defense, Roland de Bedout, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Marcela Carrillo, Minister of Mines and Energy for a special meeting at the conference room of Rodham House, the residence of the Prime Minister of Valladares.

"Lady and gentlemen, welcome to this extraordinary meeting. The matters to be discussed are basically two: the recent news that Sameba somehow managed to go nuclear and the recent news of the rental of an air base in Electrum to Sargossa, although the next Electrumite election is also related to this issue. As you see, both issues are equally worrisome and the stance we take regarding each one will determine the next steps to follow. So, let's start with Sameba."

Pratt paused to take a sip of water and continued.

"As far as we know, thanks to information given to the DNS, the Samebans have now got operational nuclear weapons and means to produce nuclear energy. Furthermore, they have carried out their first nuclear test. We don't really know how that technology got to them but them having the capacity of developing such weapons is clearly not pleasing."

"Minister Pratt, may I ask about the source of this information? I mean, who told the DNS about it?"

"The Eurans, Minister Carrillo. Naturally they are the ones the most concerned about this, but there are enough reasons for concern on our side since we don't know exactly how they will be using them."

"Well, I don't see why we should have much qualms regarding them starting to use nuclear energy, after all, several countries around the multiverse use that."

"Clearly, minister Carrillo, we're more worried about their nukes. If they want to use nuclear energy, it's up to them."

"Fellow ministers, Sameba must not be underestimated. While they might not have reasons to engage in a military conflict with us (which would be a silly move if you ask me), we can't turn a blind eye on this. I suggest that we give the DNS permission to carry on some espionage operation on Sameba, just so we can accurately know how they got them and what they are going to use them for."

"I must concede the idea is interesting, minister Wallace. We could wait until they perform more tests, but it'd be best for us not to reveal publicly how much we know about this if we want to get as much information about their project. So, authorization given. Tell the DNS officers to start planning an operation on Sameba so we can know all the details on this."

"Understood, minister Pratt. I'll contact them and give them all the instructions to perform this operation."

"Now, going on to the next topic: Electrum. Looks like Mrs. Suarez's moves to oppose Floriana have all backfired on her and her government and as a consequence, she's now facing elections. Oh, accepting Sargossa's help was just so unfortunate for them..."

"We already made clear to them that the dam was going to be built whether they liked it or not, so they decided to resort to the Sargossans. Also, their claims that Río Oscuro is going to leave them without water while they're currently suffering a drought are plain stupid, since the river is still flowing to its full flow in this time of the year. Maybe when the dam is ready to be filled up they'll certainly reduce some of the Florián's flow but that's not going to happen soon."

"That's exactly what we think. With all those wrong moves, I think it's clear that Mrs. Suarez has done everything within her reach to lose all Valladar trust in her. The announcement of that agreement with Sargossa was the last straw. I watched the debate last night and she looked nervous but most of all, inaccurate: "They haven't heard a single peep from Valladares." Excuse me!? The Valladar government has expressed its stance several times, the fact that they have elected not to hear our thoughts is a whole different thing. I propose we don't support Mrs. Suarez should she manage to remain in office."

"I second that motion, minister Bedout. Besides, Eura is not willing to let Electrum rent that base to Sargossa, so why should we? I'd be willing to set some ICBM batteries in Junín if a single Sargossan plane lands in that base. Oh, and if Río Oscuro accepts, we'll be willing to set some of those there as well..."

The meeting ended with the conclusion that a possible new Electrumite government led by current Prime Minister Cynthia Suarez would not be worthy of Valladar support, given that Mrs. Suarez and her government had turned a blind eye to the Valladar interests in eastern Rushmore and were willing to bring a venomous snake to the fair shores of the Endemien, which was unacceptable to Valladar eyes. Furthermore, the irritation caused by her words at the debate was evident in the Valladar cabinet, so Prime Minister Pratt decided to phone the Electrumite leader one last time.

"Sarah?"

"Yes, Mr. Pratt?"

"I'd like to make a call to Electrum. To Cynthia Suarez. Once you dial the number, put me through."

"One moment, sir."

While he was waiting for the call to be made, Pratt thought to himself...

So they "haven't heard a single peep from Valladares", eh? Well, they're not going to hear a nice peep now...

[Bears Armed]

(OOC: Oops! Double post... and I'd edited the second copy before I noticed, so couldn't just delete this one...)

[Bears Armed]

The scene: Plumtrees Park, on the outskirts of Council Groves.
The time: approximately one-third of a ‘watch’ (OOC: which would be half-an-hour by RL clocks) after sun-rise, on the day before the Bear-Belles’ return match against Krytenia.

Two uniformed police-bears are gazing into an area, by the side of Long Lake, that had been closed-off by temporary wooden walls a few days earlier. One of them wears insignia that indicates her rank to be roughly equivalent to a ‘sergeant’ (OOC: by contemporary British police rank scales, anyway], whilst the other — from his lack of any emblems of rank whatsoever — is just as clearly just a ‘constable instead.
One panel of those walls has apparently been broken down, from the inside, and within the previously-enclosed area the still-smouldering remains of a fairly substantial fire are clearly visible: They are situated close to the middle of that patch of ground, in the centre of a complex pattern that looks as though it had been painted on the ground with whitewash, and slumped across the top of them are the blackened remains of a body… a Human body…

“And you’re absolutely certain that there was no evidence at all for a fire burning here, in sight or smell or sound, hwhen you made your rounds just under a watch back?” the sergeant asked the subordinate.

“No, sarrge,” he replied,“Not a clue, for true! He paused briefly, and then continued in a more worried tone.“But hwhy not? Fleas and fur-loss, a fire of that size should have been unmissable, for true, especially with that poor soul — hwhoever he was—being cooked, so to speak, on it… Downhrright spooky, I call it!”

“Ayyuh, ‘spooky’ it is, rrightly. I’m not doubting your word, for true: You’ve already proven rreliable enough since you came to urrs from the Academy last-but-two months ago and anyhows, apart from anything else, there were enough other people here in the park last night who would have noticed it if there had been any sign — that’s hwhy you were told to include this area in your patrol, after all — and I hope that at least one of them would have bothered to report a mysterious blaze if they had spotted this.
“So, ‘spooky’ would be the word even if those markings around the fire didn’t look to me as though they were meant to have some sort of occult significance. I’ll keep an eye on things here: You call back to the station and tell them that we’ll need not only the usual crew for a suspicious death, and a couple of fire-fighters in case this pyre blazes back up hwhen it’s disturbed, too, but a an Arcanist with their full ‘field’ kit — and maybeso they could even send out an Exorcist too, if one’s available — as well”.

“Hrright, sarrge: Can do, will do.”

“Hokay.
“Ur’rmm, was there any particular reason hwhy you referred to the victim as ‘he’, hrrather than by the neutral pronoun?’”

“Well, sarrge, I was just guessing that those clothes under that bush there were his. They don’t look as though they’ve been lying around for too long, to me, and they look as though they’re in a man’s style… to me, anyhows, not that I’m exactly an expert on human fashion…”

“Well-spotted, that bear. You’re hrright, they do look like males’-wear to me as well. Hr’rmm, though, and from hwhat I can see from over here they look as though they’re maybeso not in the local style, neither…”

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Gregoryisgodistan's Revenge

San Jose Guayabal had extracted an unfathomable toll on Gregoryisgodistan. Their EMP attack had sent Gregoryisgodistan back to the stone age, at least temporarily. Some high-grade military equipment had survived, but most if not all civilian equipment was fried, as was the power grid. All of Gregoryisgodistan, excluding those at war, were working full-time to get everything back up, but that would take months at least to get fully back to where it was, probably longer. But Gregoryisgodistan would have their revenge.

Unbeknownst to anyone else, especially the Guayabalense, Gregoryisgodistan had stationed nuclear weapons and ICBM's at their Overseas Slave Island Colonies, many thousands of miles away from the mainland. These weapons were unaffected by the attack, as they were not nearly close enough. For the EMP to impact them, it would have to be powerful enough to destroy all of Esportiva and parts of most other regions. Needless to say, San Jose Guayabal was not crazy enough to do such a thing, particularly since it would impact them as well. So the nukes on the Slave Colonies were safe.

Thus came the sweet revenge. Although it wouldn't serve as a direct counterstrike, Gregoryisgodistan decided to launch several nuclear weapons at several cities in San Jose Guayabal. For the safety of Gregoryisgodistanis, they decided to focus on cities in the west of the country - as much as they wanted to nuke San Salvador, it was simply too close to their own country. So they decided to launch three nuclear weapons each at El Roblar, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and Vladivostok Alianza. The last one was chosen due to its proximity to the Gloriax border - it was hoped that some of the fallout would carry over, but that wasn't absolutely necessary for the plan to work. They chose to launch three at each city instead of one due to the possibility of failure of ICBM's. This way most likely at least one would hit the target and ensure much death and destruction. Indeed, one of the ICBM's launched at each city failed, but two of each of them made their payload and delivered the nuclear blast. As a result, six mushroom clouds were seen over San Jose Guayabal nearly simultaneously, and hundreds of thousands of people were killed in the blasts. Countless more would surely later die from radiation poisoning, possibly including some in Gloriax near the border. It was a deadly attack, sweet revenge, and Gregoryisgodistanis were dancing in the street after hearing news of it. Gregoryisgodistan went from desolate to jubiant in just one single day. Yes, the nation was a long way from being back to where it was, but they had launched a decisive nuclear strike on San Jose Guayabal, something they never thought possible. Fortunately, the wind was mostly blowing out to sea, so there would be very little fallout reaching the Glorious and Holy Nation. This would likely wind up sparing Gloriax, however.

Meanwhile, Lord Almighty Gregory gave a speech.

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People

"Good afternoon, ladies, gentlemen, and slaves. A lot has happened in the last 24 hours. Most civilian technology as well as the power grid was recently destroyed by an attack by the Guaya Beans of Guayabal, those fools who launched an EMP attack. This is a horrific attack and it earned revenge, but more on that later. In any case, all our people are working as hard as possible to get everything back to normal, but it will be a while. Fortunately, a majority of our military equipment is safe, but there were still some destructions, a good number in fact. Rest assured, our military is not crippled severely, but I'm not going to lie and say there were no losses, because we did suffer some. We do expect to have at least some power back within 24 hours, though only enough to use for necessity purposes, such as lighting. Fortunately, it is the summer right now so we do not need to worry about heating. If you need cool, open a window, do not run high-powered air conditioning until things are close to normal. Fortunately, there is no need to cook like in other countries as we graciously provide prune juice and gruel rations. But we all are going to need to make sacrifices until things are back to normal. For that reason, all remaining home qualifiers of the World Cup are going to be moved up from 8:00 PM to 12:00 noon so they do not need to be played under artificial lights. They will be played in the daytime under the sun. I have half a mind to move them to a neutral site, but we need something to cheer for right now.

"And speaking of stuff to cheer for, we have had our revenge on the Guaya Beans. Earlier this afternoon, we launched a decisive nuclear strike on three Guayabalense cities with delivery by ICBM. Six nuclear bombs were delivered in all, for a success rate of 67 percent, approximately. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed, and countless more will die shortly from radiation sickness. We have had our revenge and it is unlikely the Guaya Beans will mess with us again. Many of them have perished, many of them have died, we have had our revenge. Now, we must focus on recovery. Thank you, and Me Bless Gregoryisgodistan."

[Augusticinia]

Augusticinia looses to Carialus 2-3



Last night in Munich International Stadium Augusticinia played their 2nd round game against Carialus. After loosing heavily in their first round against Carialus, Augusticinia is semming to do better. Both sides played aggressively. Augusticinia recieved 3 Yellow Cards, Carialus recieved 1 Red Card. The following Augusticinian players were booked: Louis Mendoza, Wilhelm Markov, Harry Aconi. Carialus's Bruno Gomes recieved a red card for injuring Augusticinian Player Charles MacBranian. Charles MacBranian will be unable to play in the next game and possibly the game after that. Carialus scored their first goal on a penalty kick in the 22nd minute. After Harry Aconi's foul inside the box William Frost took the penalty kick and placed the ball into the Lower-Left Corner. Carialus scored again in the 43rd minute after a Through Lob. Matyas Kraus got to the bouncing ball and struck the ball past the Augusticinian keeper and scored. Augusticinia started to come back in the 54th Minute when Harry Wu curved the ball into the net from outside of the box. Though in the 61st minute Carialus scored again. Barry de Brissa shot a ball from 10 yards outside of the box that found its way in while the Augusticinian Goalkeeper Stanic was off his line. Stanic stumbled before he could jump and reach the ball. Augusticinia scored in the 74th minute when after a corner kick Robert Michelakos put the ball into the net with a low shot.

[Stvoto Latoli]

Section: Home Page
Section: Local News
Section: Business
*** Section: Sport ***
Section: Entertainment
Section: Opinion

Depleted Stvoto Latoli Held Goalless By Stalwart Armada

27 December 4014 - It's four matches on the trot without a loss for the Maritime Empire, but Brendan al Tameer's side stalled on a chilly evening in Ostrava. Gregoryisgodistani referee Police Officer AKSH283 justifiably showed Norrehavn captain Jan Krodvík a straight red in the 70th minute (for a horror challenge that luckily did not result in any serious injury), and that gave the Gold-Whites a brief man advantage, but the hosts' stubborn defending and the visitors' drained lineup combined to result in a bore draw that will soon be forgotten by fans of both teams.

Both teams appeared concerned about allowing a late goal, as a flurry of negative substitutions emanated from the managers' dugouts. Ibrahim Lee could perhaps offer a better defense than al Tameer - his outfit was shorthanded and has struggled to obtain points with a strike force much maligned in local newspapers, and so collecting a point, even at home, was a reasonable reward for the day's efforts. The Golden Crows boss, however, deserves a harsher treatment - while a road point is still a road point, the match was there for the taking after Krodvík was given his marching orders. It would not have been hard to throw on attacking forward Chidi Ya (who, while being in poor form, has in the opinion of the Observer Online been tragically underused).

Instead, the Muzira'a Ba'aydi manager introduced defenders Thušabhi and Gheberihiq in the 78th and 84th minutes respectively and successfully killed the game. It is no secret that the Maritime Empire is far from the best team in the world - in fact, it's fair to say that we are among the worst teams (certainly among the teams in their second World Cup cycle). But surely with a tactful tactical change the Golden Crows could have mustered a shot or two on goal after Norrehavn went down to ten men! No such luck. The visitors failed to add to their paltry shots on goal tally of just three (still, shockingly, a full three shots on goal more than the Armada managed all game), all in the first half of play (mustered by the triad of Eji, Kourouma, and Athey).

With by far the most difficult stretch of the qualifying phase now set to begin, and with the Maritime Empire drifting five points back from the Group 10 playoff spot (an honor currently held by the Sarian), we at the Observer Online can confidently predict that Mr. al Tameer will look back on last night's result with regret. Perhaps it's a point preserved, but it's also two points dropped.

Leagh Gilmore, Usama O'Bearga, and Nataliaja Irmedheghi, all of whom have been quite good for the Golden Crows so far this year, will return for the midweek contest, their suspensions served. (Satatu Bei, who has had disciplinary issues not offset by his form, is not forecast to re-enter the starting eleven. Instead, Vezhidrupa veteran strongman Anwar Kyle will suit up alongside Jabbar al Amri, just as he did yesterday.) Having said that, Milchama are the Stvoto Latolisis' opposition, and they will present a drastically larger challenge for the Gold-Whites. A home loss is a perfectly plausible result.

0 - 0

Information

Venue: Hanus Nemecek, Ostrava, Czechia
Attendance: 74,000
Referee: Police Officer AKSH283 (Gregoryisgodistan)
Man/Woman of the Match: Adolfo Zuma (Norrehavn)

Managers

Norrehavn: Ibrahim Lee (Norrehavn)
Stvoto Latoli: Brendan al Tameer (Stvoto Latoli)

Squads

Norrehavn: Zuma; Krodvik, Rendulić (Kraft 63'), Nielsen, Del Bonte (Asperup 75'); Jorgenson, Višňovský, Čech, Eller; Konstantinov, Faksa
Stvoto Latoli: Lyu; Kourouma, Zowbowbyuthi, abd al Raziq; al Amri (Mha 52'), Kyle, Shegalo, Kerrigan (Gheberihiq 84'), Eji, al Ghalib; Athey (Thušabhi 78')

Goals

Norrehavn: -
Stvoto Latoli: -

Next Match

Opponent: v Milchama
Venue: Graha'ajat Stidiyama, Zhevassi, Pazhujeb Islands
Stvoto Latoli's Projected Starting XI: Lyu; Gilmore, Zowbowbyuthi, abd al Raziq; al Amri, Kyle, O'Bearga, Shegalo, Eji, Irmedheghi; Athey
Referee: Emaan Akhtar (Patistan)

[Kandorith]

Red Dragons Stay On The Win


Kandorith 5–2 Coreyo

P Group 6                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Polar Islandstates                   8    6   1   1    26   11  +15    19
2 Kandorith                            8    5   3   0    28   16  +12    18
3 United States of Devonta             8    5   1   2    17   10   +7    16
4 Crystal Empire                       8    3   3   2    15   14   +1    12
5 Communicar                           8    3   3   2     9   11   −2    12
6 Coreyo                               8    1   1   6     8   18  −10     4
7 The Greater Vakolicci Haven          8    0   4   4     5   17  −12     4
8 Nizov                                8    1   0   7     5   16  −11     3

The second match against Coreyo; Kandorith had beaten them before and were expected to beat them again. Kandorith did not disappoint with a five to two win in the home stadium, with a loud cheering crowd; still expecting Kandorith to directly qualify. With the gap on Polar Islandstates still on one point, and Devonta three points behind the group stage sure is an exiting one. Kandorith has been performing on or maybe even above their level in the last matches, surely above there level in a few, the crowd expect them to uphold this record and winning streak, as critics already place Kandorith in second place for the group. Here in Kandorith we don't know yet, anything can happen in the beautiful game.



The 5 - 2 victory against Coreyo puts Kandorith firmly in second place, hoping to gain on Polar Islandstates still. Kandorith has to keep winning to achieve their dream of qualifying directly, which also means they have to grab the win against The Greater Vakolicci Haven, which they failed to surpass in the last time they met. The last time was a home fixture, which brings some worries to the table for the Kandorese fans, but lately Kandorith has been performing really well on the away stage. There is a very real chance for Kandorith to grab the win and hopefully passing the Polar Islandstates.



It is the matches which follow the match against Greater Vakolicci Haven which interest the fans more, first Kandorith will have to face Communicar, after which they face Polar Islandstates again. Last time against Communicar was an away draw, bringing the match to the home front for the Red Dragons could see them pass this team also, which the fans are hoping. The match against Polar Islandstates is the most discussed one, the last result was a narrow 4 - 3 victory against them on the home grounds, which makes fans believe Kandorith could snatch at least a draw against the Polar Islandstates on the away, which would be the largest achievement in Kandorese football history. As the fans are looking forward to all the upcoming matches, the stats still don't speak for themselves; Kandorith has to keep working hard and stay confident to try and top the group and qualify directly, just as Xí-tiang had promised the fans.

[Farfadillis]

Usually, only a few players were late for it. But this time? Not even Nofzaleiné, one of the most energetic players he'd met, had come down. Furthermore, it was already fifteen minutes past. By that time, most were already down, having breakfast. But no, this time it was not like that. Things were now all the more suspicious. The previous night's unusual noises were probably related, Baek thought. The newspapers were already covering the whole situation, and he had one at arm's reach, but fortunately for the players, he was not interested in reading that particular day.

Finally and unsurprisingly, the Avenida Principal player showed up. Not with his usual vigour though. He wasn't a heavy drinker, but barely sleeping could take a toll on anyone's energy. Baek decided to let the player's unpunctuality slide, even without a scolding. He was usually exemplary, even if a bit annoying. Besides, there seemed to be a much, much bigger picture.

The most professional players, at least in Baek's mind, started arriving soon after. Dandalleion, Mêndêlöíndçêl, Alaminos, Delafuente then Ekvinter. They were late some times, anyway. As long as they worked hard in training, it was okay. But yes, there definitely was something up.

After them, a few lucky players also showed up. Those who'd fought against all their natural instincts telling them to stay in bed. Mata, Cornelio and Terán, then Bârr, Kâí, Fôx and Fuego.

Pekarik had had breakfast an hour before usual and had chosen to go for a long walk to have clearer ideas for the Polkopia match. Casper could only be thankful for that. He'd have to get everything sorted out before the manager arrived, though, so it was better if he started. He'd already noticed the players trying to sneak an eye in his direction. He chose to go to Mata, Terán and Cornelio's table. Getting answers from the bunch of misfits would be a better way to get to the problem.

"So, will any of you please tell me what's going on?" He asked upon getting to the table. No dancing around the point. Mata and Cornelio looked at each other with an expression a bit different from confusion. Terán, meanwhile, was his usual absent-minded self so it was likely he'd not even paid attention. "I'm waiting for an answer, and it better be quick cause I'm not sure Pekarik's still fit enough for those long walks of his. He could be here any moment."

'Pekarik' was like a magic word. Casper could use it to get his players to obey a lot more easily. The effect was no different this time.

"Uh... let's say we sort of... had some fun last night?" Cornelio finally answered. If anyone was gonna bite the bullet, it was him, the one behind everything.

"Had some fun. I see. Can you elaborate?" Casper insisted.

Terán grabbed a newspaper that was in a stack close to him and threw it in the assistant manager's direction. "It's best if you look at it yourself." Terán actually paying full, undivided attention to him was a bit uncomfortable.

The newspaper had managed to get a very rough summary of the story out by six in the morning, which was impressive, specially by Farf standards. It didn't have all the details, but that was probably for the best. Still, reading up on the events was all Baek needed.

"Wow. This time you really fucked up. We are lucky Steffan believed Farf newspapers are shit and thus he doesn't read them." Baek stopped for a moment. "But the match is basically lost."

"Yes, yes, we're truly deeply sorry." Cornelio said.

"You know I stopped taking your apologies seriously a long time ago." Baek frowned at Cornelio. "We need to figure something out and fast." He told them with a very serious tone.

"So you're helping us out?" Terán asked, perplexed.

"Yes. I know and you know Pekarik, and he won't take any of this well. He'll probably field a fully-rotated squad for the upcoming match, even though it's one of the most important ones."

"But what can we do, really? It'll be impossible to hide something this big." Mata finally joined in.

"Actually, I do have an idea. Just make sure everyone's on the same page. I need you all away from here in the next thirty or so minutes." Baek sighed. "That includes those asleep in their rooms. Just get them far away from Steffan. Go have coffee, visit relatives or something. Just don't get anywhere near the coastline's avenue. You might bump into him."

"I'm not down for this. I won't forfeit the match because I'm afraid of Pekarik's punishments." Terán answered, dead-serious for once in his life.

"Don't worry about it, I've already got that approximately covered."

"Approximately?"

"Yes, but with you guys in this state it's our best bet. We won't win this match otherwise. Get going already, you've got to wake up half a national team, and pass the news to others."

The three nodded and got up. They went straight to where the others were and informed them of the situation. Kâí looked at him and gestured. Baek took it as meaning "Are these three for real?" He widened his eyes to indicate a state of alarm, then nodded. Kâí was trustworthy enough for his teammates to believe him, so he got up and made his way to a quieter place.

Monrazón had just woken up and was making his way down the stairs when he crossed eyes with him. Casper pointed him towards the breakfast area.

"Go there and you'll be informed." He told him. Monrazón, ever so curious, however, wasn't leaving without shooting questions at him.

"Just tell me."

Baek sighed. "Fine. You've got to wake up your teammates and leave as soon as possible. I'm gonna try to postpone the match."

"Postpone? How?" Monrazón asked, his eyes lighting up with his annoying curiosity. He was looking a lot more lively than some of his teammates, though, he had to give him that.

"I'll talk to the federation. I'm sure they can work something out. Just leave and keep it a secret."

"Wait, wait. Can you just move the match? Can you actually ask the FFFF to do something like that? Aren't they, you know, not ideal for quickly solving things?" Ruy spoke really fast sometimes.

"Yes, they can move the match, and they will. You know, sometimes it's hard to tell, but I've got this feeling there's people behind it that know what they're doing. Something of this importance could easily be covered up with the excuse of the FFFF being extra cuckoo, avoiding controversy."

"Huh. Fine by me, then. I'll get going."

He made the call and arranged everything. The FFFF sure could act fast sometimes. They moved the match back a few hours without even asking a single question. They probably knew everything, though.

Now he had to cross fingers and hope Pekarik hadn't found out about the incident yet.

[Volcanoc]

PLAYER PROFILE: PRIEST STADIN

Position: Goalkeeper

Height: 196cm

Weight: 95kg

Birthplace: Casablanca East, Volcanoc

Parents: Nun Stadin, Priest Stadin

Favourite Food: Volcanic Ash Hot Dog

Favourite Drink: Volcanic Cola

Former Clubs: N/A (1 Club Player)

Favourite Moment as a Volcanic player: Getting a clean sweep of our Baptism of Fire group mates.

Least Favourite moment as a Volcanic player: Losing to Hodife in the quarters of the BoF.

Favourite Volcanic Stadium: Alpha-Omega Stadium, Casablanca (holds 85,000)

Favourite Book: The Volcanic Bible.

Favourite Movie: Killing the Swordeans Part V.

Goal: Qualify for the World Cup & Win.

NEXT WEEK: PRIEST JOHNCOCK

[Polar Islandstates]

I Don't Know But I've Been Told...
...that Sigurdsson's feet are made of gold!

Sound off!

Eirikur!

I can't hear you!

SIGURDSSON!

I was there, chaps and chapettes and trans-chaps. I had courtesy tickets thanks purely to having been born into the same family as a cousin who works for one of the Terns' many and varied corporate partners - whilst they weren't good for a high-end clash, a nice home tie against lowly Communicar was easily available - and so I was there in the stands as our own Eirikur Sigurdsson gave his best display yet in a Terns shirt. We all know what he's capable of at the Rendahl, obviously, but to be able to be there and teach and lead the Twitchers in the chant we all have for him across the city... well, that was special.

And it was a special performance too, to be fair. One goal and two assists will certainly have given Rasmussen food for thought when it comes to the future of the left-back position now KKV has retired. I mean, Kruse is good an' all but, c'mon, is there an East Franz fan out there that doesn't think Sigurdsson is capable of making the number five jersey his own?

Thought not.

Anyway, onwards and upwards, for the Terns!

---

Tolgus Tregajorran

Now, I know I said I'd get round to Henning Blonqvist this time around, but, well... confession time. I ran the sim, and then I agreed to a software update without thinking - restarting my computer, and deleting the data before I'd had a chance to save it. Which makes me sad, because it was really exciting data. Like, World Cup wins and everything.

But anyway.

Without the time to run another simulation tonight, I instead turn to one that I've had in the bank for a few days and was planning on writing up when - as predicted - Apox gets voted into the position we are ourselves vacating at the helm of the WCC.

Now, Tolgus Tregajorran - or, Trejagorran if you're me and accidentally sent a typo through the CFM engine for fifty-two years - shouldn't be a name that needs any introduction to anyone reading this blog. An Apoxian hero, and feared by defenders all over the Multiverse, he was one player I always hoped to see the Spires getting linked with at the start of each transfer season. It never happened, or came even close to happening, of course, but that exact reason is why he was top of my list of international players to do when the time came.

With an interesting surname like Tregajorran though, I had to do a little bit of extensive research into the origins of the name, and the likely place he'd be from in the RLStates universe. It doesn't look like it based on his surname, but apparently the chances are good that he'd be from England. Yes, one of the nations in that Great Britain/United Kingdom clusterfuck is based loosely on a combination of real places, with Apox being one of them. One region of England with its own distinctive culture and references to real places is called Cornwall, and they're apparently a hotbed of these unusual surnames. So, he became Cornish.

As one of the few large teams in that corner of England, it came as little surprise to me to see him turn up in the youth team of Bristol City as he started his impressive and long-lasting career. Signing his first professional career for them, he was unusually not loaned out to any lower league teams during his time with Bristol, but was instead already deemed a strong enough presence on the pitch to more than hold his own in England's rough and tumble unpredictable second tier. A handful of goals over two seasons as he matured and grew into his career brought him to the attention of top flight Fulham, and he became one of the most expensive teenagers in English league history when he signed for $19m.

Immediately being loaned back to Bristol, he enjoyed a thoroughly fruitful season. Eighteen goals was enough to place him third in the top-scorers list for that year as Bristol challenged for playoff places right up until the end of the season - a feat he achieved despite only being a rarely used rotation option during the opening half of the campaign.

Big things, then, were expected of the man when he made his full debut for his parent club up in London. And, for the most part, it looked like he delivered.

Fulham were hardly a fantastic team on this simulation during the time he was there, but he nonetheless performed well enough to earn several call-ups into the English national team, and during five seasons actually at the club he scored forty-six precious goals for them. Goals without which it is almost certain the club would have been relegated. He may not have been prolific, but what chances were created by the struggling side, he put away.

Fulham couldn't keep a hold on him forever however, and his move to northern giants Manchester City was the catalyst for an explosion in his boots. Sixty-one goals in his five seasons at the club is impressive considering the wide attacking role he was utilised in as part of a devastating three-pronged attack that propelled City to three league titles, two FA Cups, a Champions League title and a Europa League win whilst he was with them. His performances for England during the same period were enough to help them along to a couple of semi-finals in the international tournaments during his tenure in his nation's number nine shirt, too.

All good things come to an end however, and with niggling injuries and City's voracious appetite for marquee signings proving to be limiting his playing time in Manchester, he moved to a Swansea side that was just one rung short of competing in the European tournaments at the time. His arrival changed that, and he became their record scorer in Europe in his second and final season there when he scored seven for them on their way to an unprecedented quarter-final appearance in the Europa League.

The final points of his long and impressive playing career came with a brief pause in Middlebrough, scoring ten goals in a return to England's second tier, and then in Scotland for Falkirk as he finished his career before injuries finished it for him.

So, perhaps not as prolific overall as you might have expected from looking at the real life Tregajorran, but the way the CFM simulation ran him as a wide attacker means this final goal tally is actually pretty impressive. And, sure, thirty-seven international goals might not look like a lot when you compare him to real life, but the RLStates universe runs the international competitions with far less frequency than actually occurs, so that accounts for that.

All in all, a fearsome striker who was just as happy out wide as he was down the middle, causing havoc for defenders and using his bulk to bully his way into both the box and the fans' hearts accordingly. Good for him.

Also, I don't know what his plans are in real life, but in the game he ends up being a scout for one of the biggest teams going - Bayern Munich. At least, that's what CFM reckons he'd be good at.

---

Next time, before I get round to simming Henning Blonqvist again, we'll stick with the category of "national heroes of places that RLStates' England is somewhat based on" - Lee Sharp of Eura.

Pip pip!

Henrik. x.


Part 1: Kohev Küngas-Vaga
Part 2: Alexsandr van Sorensen
Part 3: Felix Saarinen
Part 4: Jean-Eric Villeneuve
Part 5: Tolgus Tregajorran
Part 6: Lee Sharp
Part 7: Henning Blonqvist
Part 8: Steffan Pekarik
Part 9: Petter Bielsen
Part 10a+b: Niko Marek + Ernesto Farías
Part 11a+b: Zacharias Juul + Mateus Carvalho
Part 12a+b: Timo Skye + 'Laborious Hawk vs Valrauncion'

[The Saint James Islands]

(OOC: Fair warning, but I do not speak French at all. If I’ve made a mistake in the translation, please feel free to correct me.)

---

Ahead of Omerica’s home qualifier against San Llera, a young worker hung a sign outside the stadium, chuckling at San Llera’s famous and irrational hatred of the colour red as he gazed at the red header. The game was going to be a fun experience...

Bienvenue à l’Arena la Rouge
The Crown Jewel of Philibiscostal, Omerica

---

Proud home of 14-time Omerican champions United Philibiscostal and the Turanga ʻAhipula ʻo ʻOmerika

---

---

PUBLIC NOTICE
Due to security concerns ahead of Omerica’s home qualifier against San Llera, all persons entering the Arena la Rouge for Omerican national team matches will be subject to full searches by security staff. All alcohol and potential weapons will be confiscated by security staff without restitution and security staff will have zero tolerance towards hooliganism.

Thank you for your cooperation.


AVIS PUBLIC
En raison de préoccupations de sécurité avant le match-retour de l’Omèrique contre Saint-Llére, toutes les personnes qui entrent dans l’Arena la Rouge pour les jeux de l’équipe nationale omèricaine seront soumis à des fouilles complètes par le personnel de sécurité. Tout de l’alcool et des armes potentielles seront confisqués par le personnel de sécurité sans restitution et le personnel de sécurité aura une tolérance zéro envers le hooliganisme.

Merci bien pour votre coopération.

[The Fallenmark Islands]

They'd argued a lot, at first. A lot. Like, loads.

Techniques, talks, tactics, even the beloved Orion of van Sorensen's creation, nothing was sacred according to Timo Skye and his almighty pile of opinions.

And yet, curiously, that was exactly why van Sorensen had given him the call. He needed a bit of arrogance in the side. He didn't need talent, tactical awareness, or more hard work. What he needed was spark. And there was no denying that Timo Skye had spark to spare. His Hall of Fame ceremony was still alternately talked about in hushed tones and hidden in suppressed memories all round the Valhallan Union. Still, he was here for a reason, and Alexsandr had to admit he was going to be good at it.

Quite why Alexsandr wasn't allowed to watch Skye's talk in the seminar room, he wasn't sure, but he wasn't exactly sure he liked the slightly stunned expressions on his players' faces when they were walking out. To be honest, he wasn't exactly certain that Aberdeen wasn't crying...

Still, two days later, as Beyer resisted calls to pass the ball on his way to scoring the only goal of the game against Nandezia, Skye folded his arms and nodded at van Sorensen from behind the dugout. The joy at his side having finally scored slowly dribbled away from Alexsandr's face as he considered the implications of a smugly satisfied Timo Skye who'd just been proved right, and the potential for twenty-three mini-versions of him.

"...oh, Thor's Beard. What have I done?"

[Schottia]

Cutting Out The Middleman

Part Three

Part One Part Two

'Never in all my years in football have I had to talk two players out of a tree.' Barry Gorman sat at his desk, his unsympathetic eyes bore deep into Gary and Chloe. For Chloe this was her first time in the manager’s office and you could tell she was rattled as a result. For Gary, it wasn't his first and you would bet good money on it not being his last.

'You know what?' He continued, without giving the defendants any room to speak. 'I feel like sending the two of you home right now. Corsie, we've been through this so many times before, with Schottia, at Port Sebastian, I'm about ready just to wash my hands of you to be honest.' He paused looking at Chloe, who had the expression of a naughty five-year-old. 'But Rudden I never expected this of you I must admit.'

'Mr Gorman, if I may interject...' Gary always called his managers Mr of Ms.

'No you may not Corsie, I'm not giving you the floor so as you can sit there and pedal your usual pack of lies.' He leaned over the table gathering his brows. 'It's bad enough that you don't have a blind bit of interest in football, but what's worse is you're now filling Rudden's head with nonsense.'

'Eh, with respect Gaffer.' Chloe meekly held her index finger aloft. 'I can make my own decisions. I'm not meaning to sound insubordinate, but I really don't like the insinuation that my partner does the thinking for me.' She approached this with a degree of trepidation, but it meant a lot to her and she wasn't going to let him get away with a comment like that. 'I mean if you want to suspend me, kick me out of the squad, I'll take it on the chin; but please don't reduce me the role of the impressionable little girlfriend.'

Chloe had undoubtedly saved Gary from a severe lambasting, with their being little reason for Gorman not to send him on the next train home. Make no mistake, Gorman did not enjoy being spoken to like that one bit, nor did he care for being accused of sexism. However for fear of having stepped firmly into that camp, he did decided to leave things be for now.

'Oh you're right Rudden, don't you worry about the last part.' He sat back and began suffering papers, just for want of something to do with his hands. 'For now the two of you can get out of my office, while I think about how do deal with the pair of you. We have a tough game ahead of us next and I strongly suggest you're attitude on the training ground over the next 24-hours reflects just how sorry you both are. Now get out of my sight!'

'Thank you Gaffer...'

'Mr Gorman...'

Gary and Chloe took their exit and walked back down the corridor of the training complex. Neither of them uttered a word, and had it not been for the pounding of Chloe's heart, one would have been able to hear a pin drop. She hated letting people down, and felt terrible when she knew she was in the wrong. Gary on the other hand was and old pro at this. Disappointing people was his speciality and he excelled at winding up managers, he could do it without even trying these days. Emery Lineker, could have no idea what was about to hit her at Chatswood. Everything about him seemed to just rasp at managers' patience, like grit in the toe of your sock. The beard and his reluctance to shave or even trim it, was a constant source of this vexation. The brown tangle which was now close to twenty centimetres long just seemed to taunt managers in team talks, to mock the very model of what the game stood for. In that way the beard was a microcosm of Gary Corsieness. How could a slightly overweight LARPing nerd, who didn't even like football, be one of Schottia's most talented young players? It would make you sick!

'What do you think will happen to us now?' Asked Chloe, obviously still rattled. She had a successful career, things were going well for her in Nephara, and being sent home from training would be one hell of a black mark against her name. 'Do you think we'll be kicked off the team?'

'No.' Answered Gary with a degree of certainty. 'Although I'll wager he would like rid of me.' He shrugged, he really didn't care anymore. 'He won't kick us out for three reasons: Number one, you are the best young player to come through the ranks here since Gaston. Number two, he would have to tell the media that we were up a tree; which is too surreal to be true. Number three, he is under pressure for his job in a stop start qualification campaign, and neither losing two key players nor negative press attention will help him.'

'I really hope your right.' Chloe chewed on her bottom lip a little, grasping Gary's hand in her fingers. 'I know the Gaffer said we need to get back to training, but I need to do something to get happy. Can we talk about tree houses again?'

Gary looked down at her and smiled, taking her hand tightly in his.

'Chlo... I'll take talking about tree houses over football any day of the week.'

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

Season 6, Chapter 20: Back at the Town

Sunrise: Uh... wh-where am I?

Sunrise stared up, finding a white ceiling. He then grunted, slightly tapping his own head only to feel some pain from it.

Sunrise: Please tell me I'm not back in the Other Realm.
Wight: I'm afraid you are.
Sunrise: Arceusdamn it! Not again... Do I have to fight another tournament to get out of here?
Wight: We sort of got rid of that. And it's not because you're injured, someone else brought you here.
Archregimancy: You!
Sunrise: Let me guess, time to berate me for fleeing. Sorry, but I had no choice.
Archregimancy: No... No, Sunrise. I actually needed you here.
Sunrise: But what about... you know, my body?
Archregimancy: It's on the hospital, as far as possible from any Astyrian. Look, it's just that... at your realm, things are under turmoil.
Sunrise: Prince Matthew smacked my head! I'm pretty sure turmoil isn't even half of it.
Wight: You complain too much for a protagonist.
Archregimancy: He was being possessed by the one you call Julia.
Wight: Turns out Julia is a subordinate of someone.
Sunrise: ...Dainer?
Archregimancy: Nope.
Sunrise: Damn.
Archregimancy: They call themselves the Council of Five. We don't truly know their intentions, but considering the ruckus happening lately, I can only assume it's not good.
Sunrise: That's all nice and dandy, but what about me? What can I even do?
Archregimancy: Well, see... I'm a busy person. So I was looking for someone that could be my... emissary.
Sunrise: ...Wouldn't it be easier to just place an ad?
Archregimancy: Yes. But I needed someone special. Someone that can endure a lot of pain. And someone that has already travelled here. Wight brought you up and I saw Prince Matthew beating you up... the perfect excuse to bring you here.
Sunrise: Love to be useful.
Archregimancy: You have the choice of either returning as my emissary and therefore be able to travel through your realm and the Other Realm regularly whenever you want and have your injuries healed in a matter of minutes or you could stay here and wait until your injuries heal normally while your lover has to deal with the Council of Five on her own.
Sunrise: M-Mikoto?
Archregimancy: They have targeted her, Sunrise. If you accepted the spot of Emissary, you could be with her again, helping.
Sunrise: ...Fine. But that's only because of her.
Archregimancy: Good enough, then. Take this.

Sunrise was handed a little yellow clock-like object.

Archregimancy: You can transport between dimensions with that. Now... wake up.

click

Sunrise: AHHH!?
Mikoto: ...Sunrise?
Sunrise: ...W-w-where are we?
Dainer: Hospital. Things gone wild fast.
Mikoto: Julia attacked many and we couldn't subdue her. She fled from our land, taking Prince Matthew with her.
Sarian: We don't have a clue about anything else... Besides, you know, someone getting beaten the hell out.
Sunrise: ...Jerk.
Sarian: I do what I can.
Sunrise: Well... I had a dream, maybe it can help you.
Ytt: ...That's a nice clock.
Sunrise: Huh?

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ Wanderers Close In On Qualification

After the first eight games of qualifying, the Wanderers remain perfect having collected victories in each and every one of their encounters. That success rate has seen them open up a ten point gap between them and the second place team of Mangolana, though Chiata is just a point behind them while a trio of other nations still lurk within striking distance of the playoff spot. Ultimately though, that seems to be what it is that the rest of the group is now playing for with the way that the Wanderers have taken this Qualifying with all the seriousness of the Finals or the Copa Rushmori. There have been no games where they thought that this match was nothing but a chore for them and that is why they are sitting pretty and likely to clinch their spot in the Finals with a few games to spare.

Normally you would single out a single person or two that has made the difference for this side as they have climbed atop the group and never looked back. Yet it is not just one or two players that have lifted the squad to this string of performances, it is the entire twenty-three man squad that has played exceptionally. One merely has to look at the goals for and goals conceded, thusly the goal difference, to see how this has been an all around team effort. I suppose that if you had to pick out a player, then it would be the captain Császár Mór for not letting the sense of complacency sink into the side that so easily could have happened with the way that they have controlled this group from the start. For years we celebrated the strikers in front of the midfielder but he has been the lynchpin in the middle and perhaps has been the most important piece in the swing of excellence that this Wanderer squad has had over the past eight or so years.

That means that the next few games are going to be even more high pressured though for their opponents as they look to scramble into that second spot and separate themselves from the rest of the group. That will begin this weekend when the second seeds of Chiata come to visit the Dominion at Stade de Torgos. The national stadium has become something of a fortress for the Wanderers, having won the last 22 matches there with the last non victory coming during World Cup 69 on the 9th matchday when they drew Nouvel Ecosse in a two all affair. They are on a 29 match unbeaten run in the national stadium, with a nil to one defeat on matchday twelve to Zenic was the last time the Wanderers have known defeat in their home ground, including two playoff matches during that run, the first of which secured the Wanderers advancement to the Finals in World Cup 68.

This is a team crafted through great scouting and made whole through the forging of great talent and determination. While the squad may yet fail to win all their qualifying matches or even remain undefeated but that matters little right now. This team is playing the way that Pasargans have hoped for since Pasarga wandered into the international arena all the way back in World Cup 46. It may have taken time but they have reached grand heights, riding high on the lorals of making the Final and taking home the Copa Rushmori last cycle. This is to enjoy right now my friends, the culmination of a design and hundred and thousands of hours of hard work bearing the fruit. It is the time of the Wanderers now.

[San Llera]

World Cup 72 Kit Contest

Welcome back to fourth round of the World Cup 72 Kit Contest, where we will be staging the sweet sixteen. Only the best of the best have made it this far, and eliminated are all of the subpar kits. Who will advance to the the Elite Eight. Let's find out...

Vermark


vs New Wolfopolis

It has become clear that I'm a sucker for striped socks, but they can only carry you so far.
Winner: New Wolfopolis

Frenline Delpha



vs Gloriax

Gloriax's tiger is amazing, and it has lifted them into the Sweet Sixteen, but the truth is that the rest of their kits isn't that good.
Winner: Frenline Delpha

Kernansquillec

vs Patistan




Patistan boast a better green home kit, a better gray-ish change kit, and also two more kits than Kernansquillec.
Winner: Patistan

Saintland

vs Eura

Saintland's outdated flag-based kit finally catches up to them, as Eura heads into the Elite Eight.
Winner: Eura

The Sarian

vs Valladares

In a matchup I could barely decide, it came down to The Sarian having two very good kits from two very good templates, as opposed to Valladares's one template.
Winner: The Sarian

Audioslavia

vs Lons

Lons has had a nice run, but they faced an Audioslavia team that was just on a different level.
Winner: Audioslavia

Brenecia

vs Flardania



This one was incredibly close, but I would argue that Brenecia has the best away kit in the tournament.
Winner: Brenecia

Paymina




vs Buyan

Paymina have very nice kits, but the chevron on their home kit is just so... shiny.
Winner: Buyan

And the Sweet Sixteen is over! The field has now been whittled down to eight. Stay tuned for the Elite Eight, which will feature the following matchups:

Audioslavia vs The Sarian
New Wolfopolis vs Frenline Delpha
Eura vs Buyan
Brenecia vs Patistan

[Star United States]

www.stariannews.sus
Welcome to
Starian News Channel

---

Home | In Today | Weather | Government | Health | Districtwide | Regional | World | Sports

BREAKING NEWS
Government orders Evacuation of Cities

Bomb!
The Fire Continues to Burn!
by Tatiana Gracia

CITY OF STAR, STARIX – The Starian Government announced issued a “Code Red” over the country. Code Red requires cities to take cautious procedures to secure themselves, including the stationing of troops around major cities. Many cities are reopening their underground bunkers. These bunkers have not been in use since the Great Storm that impacted the country years ago. These bunkers, however, have been refortified and modernized.

During a speech, the leader of Gregoryisgodistan claimed that if Star United States did not leave the war and give them ten percent of the Starian population, they would attack. Given the fact that the current population of the country sits at about 98 million people – meaning that 9,800,000 Starians is what the Gregoryisgodistani Government is requesting. The Government considered its options against the rising threat, however, accepting the proposal created the opposing power was not one of the options. In a short and brief message, President Avana stated the following:

“We will not be acquiesced to the proposed made by Gregoryisgodistan. We will not devalue of citizens and strip their freedoms for them as they have. It is needless to say that they will not be handed over as slaved into a foreign state. We will prepare ourselves for what Gregoryisgodistan has pending for us and we will reciprocate.”

According to certain sources, the fleets have been repositioned in the Southern Esportiva Sea. The positions of such fleets are currently unknown.

Preparing for such attack, many people have already made their way into the underground city bunkers. Shelfs in stores have been emptied as some prices increased in unimaginable ways. Major cities, however, are being protected by not only land troops, but as well as air patrol. With fleets stationed elsewhere, radars are on the lookout for any unauthorized objects entering Starian airspace. Quite frankly, unauthorized objects may not be able to enter the Starian airspace without entering the ones belonging to the neighbors of Star United States, which include Apox, Boring Paradise, Hessington Island, and The Licentian Isles. All of these states are not involved in the current conflict.

The Starian Government has identified three different fronts of the war, as well as other isolation attacks. The Trifront is located at the borders of San Jose Guayabal, Gloriax, and Gregoryisgodistan, whose armies are currently engaging in war along with support from Chiata and Coconut Isle. The Republican Front is currently being fought by the Holy Republican Empire, whose part of the Southern Esportiva Treaty Organization, against The Royal Kingdom of Quebec. The Starian Front is located in Star United States and is the Starian fight against Pastistan.

This same day, Gregoryisgodistani forces dropped a total of nine nuclear bombs in selective cities in San Jose Guayabal, however, only six of them functioned in the proper manner. El Robar, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, and Vladivostok Alizana were the cities are their radar. Thousands of innocent civilians murdered. The fallout, mostly, is to be carried into Gloriax and into the sea.
The Starian Government has announced that it will be sending aid to these cities in San Jose Guayabal and take cautious measures to keep Starian civilians safe at all cost.

More to come on this war as information becomes available.

[Nova Anglicana]

6th Place - East
5th Place - East
4th Place - East
3rd Place - East

Elizabeth Avenue

Sports, Politics, Pop Culture and a whole lot more

NABL Eastern Division Preview

In the following days, we're going to be doing extensive previews of the twelve teams of the NABL, division by division. We'll begin with the Eastern Division and our projected 2nd place finisher, the Mancunium Pilots. All of our numbers are produced in-house by our statistics team.

Starting Lineup
Order	Name	Bats	Slash Line	wRC+	PA
1	CF Lance Manning	S	.307/.360/.425	124	515
2	LF Travis Tyler	L	.289/.348/.415	115	502
3	3B Ken Morton	R	.266/.337/.474	117	500
4	RF Tony Barnes	R	.294/.362/.476	130	498
5	1B Cal Owens	L	.259/.335/.431	110	491
6	2B Bryan Butler	R	.277/.332/.382	98	480
7	SS Darrell Duncan	R	.250/.321/.388	95	471
8	C Kirk Morrison	R	.241/.321/.389	95	465

Starting Rotation
Order	Name	ERA	FIP	IP	K/9	BB/9
1	RHP Brandon Ashton	3.01	3.34	173	9.7	2.8
2	RHP Seth Banks	3.45	3.82	184	6.2	1.5
3	LHP Craig Moore	3.92	4.09	162	7.4	3.1
4	RHP Bobby Weaver	4.21	4.44	152	6.9	3.4
5	LHP Leo Mancini	4.43	4.61	160	7.1	2.9

Biggest Projected Hitter/Pitcher Improvement: Bryan Butler, 1.8 WAR/500 PA; Bobby Weaver 1.4 WAR/175 IP

Biggest Projected Hitter/Pitcher Decline: Kirk Morrison, minus-1.6 WAR/500 PA; Leo Mancini, minus-1.7 WAR/175 IP

Hitter With Most Projected Days Missed: Kirk Morrison, 20 days

Highest Projected Starting Pitcher DL Probability: Brandon Ashton, 21 percent

Best Offseason Move: Picking up Darrell Duncan for peanuts. The 33 year-old shortstop is worlds better on D than now-benched Jimmy Frazier, and he projects to be not too much worse than league average on offense. He can take a walk and knows about situational hitting, unlike the free-swinging Frazier. With Butler, he gives the Pilots one of the best keystone combinations in the league, and all he cost them was C+ pitching prospect Charlie Cook.

Worst Offseason Move: Sitting pat on the bullpen. GM Todd Mullins flat-out refuses to spend much money on his 'pen, but this is going to backfire on them when they can't trust three-sevenths of their relievers.

Greatest Team Strength: Dat lineup doe. Five regulars projected to have a wRC+ of 110 or better, with the three other regulars not more than five percent below league average. Tony Barnes shows no signs of slowing down at age 33, Lance Manning is coming into his prime, and Ken Morton's just a couple years away from hitting his. The 3-4-5 combination of Morton, Barnes, and Owens is projected to hit more than 75 home runs. These are some mashers.

Greatest Team Weakness: The bullpen. The hitters will build some big leads, and the starters will be able to maintain it for the most part, but there are legitimate concerns about the bullpen's ability to hold those leads. You don't have to go out and spend great wads of cash to build a great relief corps, but penny-pinching can only get you so far. The Pilots' projected relief staff features two rookies, a retread starter as the long guy, an overrated LOOGY, a minor league veteran, a solid setup man, and an aging but still hard-throwing Trent Burkhardt at closer. Not exactly the fire brigade.

Player We Can’t Wait to Watch: Lance Manning. They say speed thrills, and Manning is no exception. He led the league with 67 steals last year and says that he plans to be even more aggressive this year. In a world where the stolen base is becoming increasingly less valued, Manning's a throwback of the most exciting kind.

Noteworthy Miscellaneous Stat: DL time. Pilots players spent a whopping 494 days on the DL last year, a big reason why they finished fifth. If they can avoid so many injuries this year (freak ones like Owens tripping over his dog or Morrison slipping on a banana peel - no kidding - nothwithstanding), they will contend.

Off-Field Story Line: Owner Greg Huff's push for a new stadium. Memorial Stadium is over fifty years old, and the drab gray aesthetics do little to distract you from the crumbling infrastructure. He and the city are wrapped up in a dispute over cost sharing issues, with Huff pushing for a stadium overwhelmingly financed by public money and the city wanting closer to a 50/50 split. On the city's side: their tax base isn't as lucrative as other cities and there isn't exactly a ready-made place for Huff to move the Pilots to another city. On Huff's side: fans have complained about the poor quality of the stadium and Mancunium isn't the most interesting place around even without losing a professional sports team.

Projected Record and Over/Under: 68-60 — OVER. Behind the strong lineup and Brandon Ashton at the top of the rotation, this is a team that should make a huge leap. Bryan Butler gave them A+ defense last year with a D- bat; he's projected to improve to almost league average. His value would skyrocket if he could give them top-tier D, a solid if not amazing bat, and the good speed he showed last year. Behind Ashton and Banks, there isn't a whole lot of pitching, but Bobby Weaver has to improve on that 4.96 ERA he gave them last year, and if the others can chew up some innings, the Pilots have a shot.

[San Jose Guayabal]

National Defence Committee Headquarters - San Salvador - 16:25

Again, the committee met to talk and discuss the details excellent attack made against Gregoryisgodistan on that day, which was basically sent to the Stone Age due to the effects of electromagnetic pulse launched against them, a risky decision but excellent in terms of their level of performance and it was this abrupt decision, no matter that, but the success was the perfect and showed that San José Guayabal has the ability to perform ingenious ideas for war, despite not being a State that seeks to initiate wars for fun, but attacks after being attacked.

"Well, Your Majesty, our plan has worked as expected, to be honest, I'm surprised how everything happened, flawless execution and an enviable launch." Pereira said to the queen, who showed euphoric, took a glass of water and spoke. "I think it's necessary for us to provide a press conference about what happened and the actions we will take to settle the war in our favor, it is necessary to do that." Said the Queen, but Saavedra spoke suddenly, looking very worried, "Messages from our spies indicate that Gregoryisgodistan sent ICBM's going to Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, El Roblar and Vladivostok, six ICBM's." At that moment, panic seized those present at the table of the directive, concern was evident and therefore declared national alert so that people emptied the cities as fast as possible, two bombs were addressed to each city and that was worrying.

A transmission chain by the Government in all media appeared suddenly, the Queen appeared on the screen and without hesitation he said. "Dear citizens, the enemy has released a sudden attack on our nation, they have released six ICBM's to Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, El Roblar and Vladivostok, we suggest that all residents in those cities leave and seek shelter as quickly as possible, we do not know what accurate are Their weapons, but we recommend evacuate these three cities for their safety, I also promise that our army will attack the enemy again more and more pain, because we will not allow to be attacked in a vile and miserable. "The Queen retired the balcony of the palace where she provides messages, it was now a matter of avoiding the drop those bombs and macabre expect anything to happen.

El Roblar, Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, Vladivostok (Simultaneously) - 17:25 San Salvador time (15:25 El Roblar, 16:25 Yuzhno Sakhalinsk)

In all three cities, people evacuated with the support of the military in every city, different units were advancing towards the center of the three cities, they headed ABM units in order to find repel missiles launched from the outer islands of Gregoryisgodistan, were estimated twenty minutes to impact, Sakhalin and the Roblar, they fired five ABM's, three in Sakhalin and two in El Roblar, it was time to see if the military equipment would work, the time of impact with the ICBM would be in five minutes, five minutes were eternal for all military command. The time came and missiles Sakhalinsk to bring down both ICBM's and therefore eliminated the threat, while in El Roblar only one was shot down, Vladivostok held the threat they had not decided to launch the ABM, after a quick conversation decided to do it but it was too late, the bombs were just five minutes away and an impact at low altitude would be lethal, therefore annulled the decision to repel.

The critical hour arrived, the soldiers searched their special shelters in the barracks, at least, in Sakhalin, the situation returned to normal, but in the Roblar not the first bombs hit Vladivostok, one missed its target and fell in twenty minutes Gloriax the costs of being wrong than 70 kilometers to the original point, but not the second pump failed and its impact was strong, to the point of causing 2,048 dead and 1,580 wounded in the "Alliance" of Vladivostok area, destroying the area 45%, the effects of radiation could be eliminated after a year, due to scientific advances in San Jose Guayabal. Meanwhile in El Roblar, everything was different, survived the bomb attack ABM fell two kilometers from Lago Roblar without causing an explosion due to mechanical failure, according to the provisions of officials who inspected the pump, if it caused was a damaged three buildings and five houses in the area including condominium twelve floors, the damage would be subsidized by the state as soon as possible so as not to impede the development of the daily life of citizens in the area The pump was then turned off and transferred to the weapons laboratories for research and exhaustive to find that things can be improved for the atomic arsenal of San Jose Guayabal in the near future analysis.

Again, the committee returned to its meeting to seek a response to attacks by Gregoryisgodistan, "This is unforgivable, that we will never forget, this July 27, 2200 will never be erased from our history, now is the time to strike up cap Gregoryisgodistan those unfortunate rats. "said the Queen in a tone of outrage about what happened, Camargo spoke and said" because we're not repeating what happened recently, an attack in height but with a different rhetoric, not just Gregoryisgodistan, but all possible islands and territories, it is time for us to follow. "All the persons were against, so it was rejected.

[Krytenia]

Heaton High, Pan Fried
By Rubio Sanchéz in Stanton

HARMONY. It's a word with many connotations in the world of football, from the singing of the crowds to nations being brought together by the very sport itself and the spirit of honour and competition. For those in Krytenia who subscribe to the realist outlook, "harmony" would have brought up images of the Cup of Harmony, a competition that Krytenia have thrown their hat in to potentially co-host with the Royal Kingdom of Quebec and one that we all assumed the Aces would be playing in come the summer. That last assumption, though, should not be taken for granted though - whisper it quietly on the wind, cross your fingers, engage and indulge whatever superstitions you hold, because maybe, just maybe, Krytenia might just be on their way back to the World Cup after an absence of forty years.

It would, of course, be foolish to make this statement in haste. Take Panem, for instance. The side who came perilously close to spoiling Krytenia's welcome back party before the deejay had warmed up made the journey to the picturesque Harbour Stadium, on the banks of the Beck, and brought their usual mix of energy, threatening attacking play, and all-around passion. If it weren't for the oxblood and amber shirts, you'd swear they were the Aces. Vinny Frenz and Joel Scott had to have their wits about them in the central defence; nevertheless, Silvia Cardew and Alder Hallowood still found space far too often, and David Heaton had to be on top form to keep things at nil-nil. Rumours abound of a transfer to the Vanorian league in the near future for the Emberton Reds stopper; on this display, there might be a few strikers in the EPL about to start cursing his name.

As in the first game between the two sides, the air slowly went out of Panem's thunderous bluster as the second half wore on. Krytenia managed to see more of the balls, win more fifty-fifties, and actually create chances of their own. When Ronnie van Rijn (of Avenida Victoria, but you knew that already) managed to outmanoeuvre a tiring Aspen Hagerdraw, the twenty-nine year old had all the time and space to pick his spot and leave poor Durant zero chance of getting to the ball. The goal, if we're honest, broke the visitors' resistance, and it was all they could do to prevent a second, the final whistle coming as blessed relief for a side that, though not out-fought, were out-matched.

But que sera sera, whatever will be will be, we're going to Wimbley for the next game, and a Bears Armed side looking both to resurrect their shattered qualifying campaign and gain vengeance for their defeat by the odd goal in seven in Ashton. Can the Aces keep their nerve and get a seventh win in qualifying? There's a growing number of fans who seem to think that they can. Onward!

KRYTENIA - 1
van Rijn 79

PANEM - 0
no scorers