Di Bradini Cup 35/U21WC56 (Everything Thread)

[Abanhfleft]

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35TH DI BRADINI CUP: KABOOMLANDIA VS ABANHFLEFT
By Malik Qazizadah


Lucjo Mihaelo Kleinmann prepares to go on an attacking run. His goal proved to be the deciding one in the contest between Abanhfleft and Kaboomlandia in the 35th Di Bradini Cup. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

VALANORA - Goals from Kareem Dagen and Lucjo Mihaelo Kleinmann ensured that Abanhfleft were able to get away with all three points from a Kaboomlandian side that saw fit to defend all day and barely threaten their opponents at goal.

Dagen, the highly touted youngster who led Abanhfleft in goals during their phenomenal run to second place in the Sporting World Cup, struggled to find his form after the move up to the under-21s. The first sign of Dagen's finishing troubles came when he shot straight at the side netting just six minutes into the game.

There was more misery in store for the Eikborg Club striker, as he had two shots denied by the posts, one denied by the crossbar, and three saved or parried by the Kaboomlandian keeper.

Dagen finally got his lucky break when he fired the ball across the mouth of goal, where it finally hit the right side of the bar and went into the back of the net.

Zsofia Dolan was also having problems with her finishing, with the 21-year-old forward from Ludogorets Markovsky missing a chance to double Abanhfleft's lead when she sent the ball into orbit from six yards and one-on-one with the keeper.

Coming into the second half, it looked as if Kaboomlandia was going to continue their ultra-defensive, "park the bus" strategy of barely nipping at Abanhfleft's half of the pitch and sending ten players behind the ball whenever it ventured into their own half.

Dagen's shooting troubles continued as he blasted a shot from 20 yards way over the bar and into the stands, the pressure beginning to weigh down on the 17-year-old's shoulders.

And then, out of nothing, Kaboomlandia managed to get back on level terms with Abanhfleft, but it wasn't a Kaboomlandian player that restored parity. Defending from a rare Kaboomlandian corner, Melisizwe Afolayan headed into his own net under pressure from the opposing center forward.

With their lead now gone, Abanhfleft pushed themselves harder against the Kaboomlandian wall, which never really looked ready to fall even under the increased sustained pressure.

However, it was to be the substitute with the sometimes-overly-complicated name of Lucjo Mihaelo Kleinmann that was to be the decisive factor in Abanhfleft finally winning the contest. The Malabon midfielder came on for Joe Warren deep into the second half and immediately made an impact in the game despite moving up to a more fully-central midfielder role. The telling goal came from a pass-around play that started with Kleinmann in his usual position in the middle of the pitch and ended with Kleinmann now just beside the penalty spot and unmarked by any defender. Despite his young and tender age, his composure was similar to that of a Premier League veteran striker, and he slotted the ball past the keeper calmly and, it could be said, deliberately.

The win against Kaboomlandia puts Abanhfleft second in Group A, just under Armeia, who triumphed over Farfadillis 4-1. While a draw against Farfadillis would secure advancement to the group stages for Abanhfleft, Celerino delos Reyes made it clear that he wants nothing more than a win.

       KABOOMLANDIA 1 - 2 ABANHFLEFT
AFOLAYAN (61') (og)       DAGEN (33')
                          KLEINMANN (84')

ABANHFLEFT
GK: 01 Qatintiki
RB: 02 Afolayan
RCB: 03 Pittmann
LCB: 04 Gibson
LB: 05 Fuller
RDM: 07 Pearson
CDM: 06 Warren (Kleinmann - 67')
LDM: 08 Cairo
CAM: 09 Finnemark
RS: 10 Dagen (Krantz - 79' █)
LS: 11 Dolan (Sabado - 53')

MATCH STATISTICS
Possession
Kaboomlandia: 30%
Abanhfleft: 70%
Shots
Kaboomlandia: 4 (1 on target)
Abanhfleft: 20 (9 on target)
Corners
Kaboomlandia: 1
Abanhfleft: 13
Fouls
Kaboomlandia: 10
Abanhfleft: 3

---

ROSENPFELBLATZ CITY MANAGER "CONCERNED" WITH KEEPER INJURY
By Malik Qazizadah


Rosenpfelblatz City manager Carlos Cuvimi. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Tomas Balajura)

VALANORA - Rosenpfelblatz City manager Carlos Cuvimi expressed his concern over keeper Isa Tangemen, who sustained an injury during the Di Bradini Cup.

Tangemen, who represents Armeia at the under-21 level, has become Rosenpfelblatz's backup keeper after Carly Joraske's deadline-day move to Ladies of Santos FC in Oontaz Dert Li Ng last season.

Tangemen took a kick to the head while trying to save the ball from Farfadillis player Séraphin Török, who was not expecting the keeper to come out of her line and attempt to intercept the ball.

Cuvimi reportedly made contact with the Armeian medical staff following the match between Armeia and Farfadillis to confirm the status of the goalkeeper, who may be expected to see action earlier than expected following a training injury to Rosenpfelblatz Ladies' starting goalkeeper Yannie Redborne, who is said to be out for an unknown number of weeks or months.

"Yes, I have talked with the Armeian staff," Cuvimi said. "They say that she has suffered a concussion, and that she will be rested for their next match [against Kaboomlandia]. It is a precautionary measure. We all hope to have her back on the field soon."

[Nephara]

A lot had gone right for them against Semarland, but more had gone wrong. So when the Magpies streaked to a 2-0 lead over Taeshan within five minutes, that felt good.
There's a certain feeling when you just get the rub of the green some games, and things decisively start going your way. The ball moves quickly along the grass, seamlessly hitting its targets. Belgrave was just spraying passes from midfield, and one found Voeller's chest. The West Brinemouth striker chested it down, beat his man and smashed past the goalkeeper. That would've been good in any minute, but in the third? Two minutes later, a string of passes saw Szalai clip the ball across the Taeshani back four - Amokachi dashed out and slashed the ball into the net.
Some respite for Taeshan, at least - it took until the 23rd minute for the next goal to arrive. This time, Belgrave took matters into his own hands, a free kick elegantly gliding past the goalkeeper from 24 yards. Someone knocked in a goal at the other end, but any hope was deflated as big Reinhard Armstrong knocked in a corner. 4-1, but who was counting?
Job done, having dismantled a Taeshani side notoriously tough at the back but blunt up front? Well, that kind of mentality wouldn't get you far in life, would it?
So enter Penumbra Amokachi, this time with a real axe to grind. She'd already hit a post in the 47th minute, a shot skimming off an upright as it flew wide, so why not go a few better?
Fine, fine. Hang off the shoulder of the last defender, Vesper clipped a ball over the top, Amokachi got there first and poked it past the 'keeper. 5-1. Monroe started to take off her best players to rest them - Vyntra and Szalai came off, Kresinger and Katsamantis on - Amokachi stared them down, unwilling to be next. She wanted her hat trick.
She got it soon afterwards. Katsamantis - one of the few First Division players in the squad - dashed into the box only to be collected brutally by the goalkeeper. He was sent off, and his replacement didn't look enthusiastic. For good reason! The side didn't really have a dedicated penalty taker, and it might as well be Amokachi. She was on a hattrick. Thumped into the top-left corner. She had a hat-trick, and at five goals was probably top scorer in the Cup right now.
But that wasn't enough, either.
Amokachi had done well in Farfadillis. The climate suited her, so did the people... and the football, dear God. She'd gotten used to getting the ball in the net, and wasn't looking forward to returning to face dour, dependable and physical Nepharim defenders next season. She glanced to the technical area. Evans was cracking his knuckles, stretching out. Oh, no. That was the applause substitution for Amokachi - and a rest, as well.
But fuck, she wanted four.
Time was running short. Belgrave to Vesper to- cross intercepted, ball rolled out of play. Kresinger sprinted forward to take the throw, and the substitution hadn't gone through yet. Amokachi breathed a sigh of relief. The leftback hurled it into the box, one of the Taeshani centre-halves rose with Voeller to head the ball into the sky, and as it fell...
Amokachi had all the time in the world to watch it fall, adjust her position, slip away from her marker, scissor-kick the ball past the beleaguered goalkeeper...
Voeller and Katsamantis nearby just looked astonished. But the crowd (anyone not wearing a purple shirt, anyway) cheered raucously as Amokachi made way, somewhat smugly, to the bench.
Six goals in two games. That's that, then, Amokachi thought to herself as she looked up at the scoreboard (7-1). I've arrived.

[Valanora]

Group A
Abanhfleft 3–4 Farfadillis
Armeia 5–0 Kaboomlandia

P Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Armeia                       3   2  1  0   10   2  +8    7
2 Farfadillis                  3   2  0  1   10  10   0    6
3 Abanhfleft                   3   1  1  1    6   6   0    4
4 Kaboomlandia                 3   0  0  3    4  12  −8    0

Group B
Patistan 0–3 San Llera
Krytenia 4–1 Flardania

P Group B                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 San Llera                    3   3  0  0    7   1  +6    9
2 Krytenia                     3   2  0  1    9   6  +3    6
3 Patistan                     3   0  1  2    4   8  −4    1
4 Flardania                    3   0  1  2    2   7  −5    1

Group C
Zenic 1–1 Lymantatia
Devonta 2–6 Ceni

P Group C                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ceni                         3   2  0  1   15  11  +4    6
2 Lymantatia                   3   1  1  1    6   6   0    4*
3 Zenic                        3   1  1  1    6   7  −1    4*
4 Devonta                      3   1  0  2    4   7  −3    3
*Lymantatia ahead on GD

Group D
Nassau-Hessen 2–2 Unified Sunrise Islands
Pasarga 1–1 Albaie

P Group D                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Unified Sunrise Islands      3   2  1  0    9   4  +5    7
2 Pasarga                      3   1  1  1    4   5  −1    4
3 Nassau-Hessen                3   0  2  1    3   4  −1    2
4 Albaie                       3   0  2  1    2   5  −3    2

Group E
Semarland 2–0 Taeshan
Nephara 1–0 Nova Anglicana

P Group E                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Semarland                    3   3  0  0    9   4  +5    9
2 Nephara                      3   2  0  1   11   5  +6    6
3 Taeshan                      3   1  0  2    5  11  −6    3
4 Nova Anglicana               3   0  0  3    3   8  −5    0

Group F
Kernansquillec 0–2 Cosumar
Eura 1–1 Valladares

P Group F                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                      3   3  0  0    8   3  +5    9
2 Valladares                   3   1  1  1    6   6   0    4*
3 Eura                         3   1  1  1    5   5   0    4*
4 Kernansquillec               3   0  0  3    3   8  −5    0
*Valladares ahead on GF

Group G
Royal Kingdom of Quebec 4–1 Kirisaki
Fluvique 1–1 Schottia

P Group G                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Schottia                     3   2  1  0    6   1  +5    7*
2 Fluvique                     3   2  1  0    6   2  +4    7*
3 Royal Kingdom of Quebec      3   1  0  2    5   4  +1    3
4 Kirisaki                     3   0  0  3    1  11 −10    0
*Schottia ahead on GD

Group H
Lee Islands 0–1 Polar Islandstates
The Sword Bloke 1–2 San Jose Guayabal

P Group H                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 San Jose Guayabal            3   2  1  0    6   4  +2    7
2 Polar Islandstates           3   1  1  1    3   3   0    4*
3 Lee Islands                  3   1  1  1    5   5   0    4*
4 The Sword Bloke              3   0  1  2    4   6  −2    1
*Polar Islandstates ahead on H2H

Round of Sixteen Fixtures
Armeia v Pasarga @ Lathal, Ianisle
San Llera v Lymantatia @ Metropolis, Ibini
Ceni v Krytenia @ Castle de Mot, Wexax
Unified Sunrise Islands v Farfadillis @ Aranfield Bridge, Everlin
Semarland v Polar Islandstates @ Hatire Memorial, Capri
Cosumar v Fluvique @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
Schottia v Valladares @ Angelotic Temple, Longview
San Jose Guayabal v Nephara @ The Battleground, Raynor City

[Armeia]

Boom Redman
During the match

"Coming off, number seventeen, Toure," announced the stadium PA system as the floodlights brightened to adjust with night falling. "Coming on, number nine... Schraeder."

As Bianka Schraeder runs on in minute number seventy five, the cheers from the upper deck are nearly deafening, as they've been all game. Our famous traveling fans really showed up today, with Atlas and Hawks United hooligans firm J-Sector bringing 4,000 traveling fans and various other groups bringing even more. I think it's safe to say that with our performance today, the trip was worthwhile.

We're up 4-0, and despite the midfield not playing that good, Katarina has been playing like she's possessed by something. She scored a perfect hat trick, with goals using her right and left feet in the first half and a header from my cross in the second half. The other scorer this half was Lenart Ross, who trapped the ball on a wide corner kick and used the confusion to take a shot that was deflected into goal.

But still, we have to get our midfield sorted, because even though we dominated, it didn't really play well. Reina Toure missed most of her passes and the chemistry between her, Tyra, and Denzel just wasn't there this time out.

There's no time to consider that now though. Gregor Borg just cleared the ball and it's coming my way. I leap, stopping it with my head and catching it on my foot, passing to Lenart and starting a run downfield. He sees what I'm doing and passes to Denzel, and when I cut inside, Denzel chips it to me and now I have the chance to set up a through ball for Draga.

I dish the pass through the line and Draga runs inside the box, winding up to take a shot before being tackled. The call is obviously a penalty, and the referee points to the spot. Brandon motions for me to step up to take the penalty, so I jog to the spot and consider my approach.

I'm going to shoot to the left. I make a quick run and fire the shot into that corner, slipping a little but still sending it into the back of the net for 5-0. I know it's a bit stupid to do a big celebration after scoring a PK, but I still run to the corner and do a spinning back kick on the corner flag.

The match ends 5-0, and I hi-five all my teammates as I head off the pitch. Everyone's super happy, we won the group that we were expected to finish second or third in and we did it in dominating fashion in the last two matches. Well, except for Reina. I don't know what's wrong with her, she's upset looking about something and she ignores all the reporters as we head into he tunnel. I'll talk to her later... For now it's time to check out the scores from the other games to see who our next opponent is.

---

"Hey! Reina! Wait up, what's wrong?" asked Samantha, as her friend was getting on the team bus. She sat down next to Reina, deciding to get to the bottom of why the winger had played terribly in the win.

"Huh? Oh, just family stuff," Reina blurted out. "You know how my family is... I couldn't get my head in the game because of some stuff with them."

"So that little talk you had with Tyra, that was about your family, not guys?"

"It's complicated, Sam," muttered Reina, pulling her headphones on and turning up the volume. "You wouldn't get it, no offense."

"You don't know that because you won't give me a chance," replied Sam, pulling Reina's headphones off. "And obviously what's going on affected you on the pitch, I just want to help you out."

"So you really want to know... Well, the conversation was about love... Kind of. I'll tell you later how my family ties into this. For now, you just need to know that..."

"That what?" asked Sam, interested now.

"I'm in love with a teammate and there's no way I can be with them. Partially because my family wouldn't approve," answered Reina. "Milan pretty much tore their hearts out when he signed for Atlas after they forbade him from going pro, and then I did the same thing, I don't want to give them any more reason for heartbreak."

Reina's parents were very conservative Catholics, the opposite of the more liberal Armeian Catholics from Barrier Island. They had originally told their children to not play football professionally, because athletics had too many temptations, but Milan Toure, Reina's brother and the best player on the senior national team, had announced at the beginning of his career that he was actually an atheist, and that he would be playing for R.C Atlas. Reina herself was non religious, but she didn't tell her parents that because she didn't want to break their hearts like Milan did.

Sam was silent for a bit, but she nodded. "And who's the one you're in love with, exactly?"

"I don't want to tell anyone yet," answered Reina, about to put her headphones back on.

"Look, Reina, you can hide it or whatever but I know all the couples on this team, even the secret ones," laughed Sam, stopping her. "You can tell me, I'm not going to leak your secrets to Sporternav or anything."

"Figure it out for yourself," muttered Reina, putting her headphones on again and staring out the window. She and Sam didn't speak anymore for the rest of the ride back to the hotel, and for the first time in forever, Sam was left not knowing what kind of advice or help to give to one of her best friends.

[Fluvique]

Fluvique: 1

GK: 1 Thomas Morris
DF: 6 Leander Smith
DF: 22 Juan Martin Benchamp
DF: 3 Julien Kaleshko
DF: 16 Martin Del Pino
MF: 15 Samuel McRuff (Ricky Bertens 48´ )
MF: 7 Ben Trills
MF: 19 Roger Worth (Ryan Koll 65´)
MF: 14 Tyler Lafayette
FW: 9 Bernard Pullian (Bob Duncan 54´)
FW: 20 Pierre Williams

Benchamp (26´), McRuff (45´), Lafayette (69´), Ricky Bertens (64´)
Ricky Bertens 69´



Schottia: 1

GK: Scott Torrance
DF: Oliver Scott (Thompson 68´)
DF: Gareth Souter
DF: Ben Ross
DF: Saskia Holden
MF: Erin Braden
MF: Caitlin L'Attue
MF: Mark Deleuze (Hunt 86´)
FW: Akiko
FW: Chloe Rudden
FW: John McCormack (Curren 56´)

Scott (38´), L'Attue (55´), Holden (74´)
John McCormack 37´

The promise of see one of the great matches of the first phase ended in a empate with a notable lack of emotions.

It was one of the most awaited matches of this Di Brandini Cup, but the early classification of both teams in the second match day, turned this game in a compromise to complete the schedule.

One of the favorites and the rookie team played in a competitive group, but none of them showed the spectacle they used to offer every match and the coaches took this match to put alternates and give rest to the stars looking to the Knockout stages.

In the first moments, the game was balanced, because both sides lacked of the boldness needed in this class of decisive matches. Schottia played offensive and aggressive, while Fluvique waited in his field to start a counter-attack and use the talents of Tyler Lafayette and Bernard Pullian. Despite that, when the minutes advanced Fluvique started to stand better on the pitch, leaded by Tyler Lafayette, creating the main offensive attacks. Schottia had the ball possession and control the game in the midfield, but the Fluviquean defense blocked every attack.

The first serious attack came after a long ball from Martin Del Pino, which reached Roger Worth near the corner. He quickly touched to Pierre Williams and then shoot to goal, but the ball passed near the post. Schottia responded in a similar way. Saskia Holden touched the ball to Chloe Rudden. Leander Smith recovered the ball, but when he tried to advance, he lost it again. Holden ran outside the area and shot, but Thomas Morris saved it with his left hand.

At 24´ minutes, Tyler Lafayette shot a corner kick directly to the goal, giving the chance to Scott Torrance of jump and throw the ball to another corner kick. Six minutes later, Lafayette shot a free kick, the ball was deflected by Ben Ross and banged the crossbar. Samuel McRuff lost the ball in the midfield and Erin Braden started the counterattack, touching to Akiko and then to Chloe Rudden, who shot again but the ball exceeded the crossbar. Five minutes later Caitlin L'Attue eluded all the Fluviquean defenders, and even the goalkeeper, but Julien Kaleshko appeared when the ball was almost entering the goal.

Schottia was playing better, and Fluvique lost all order and control. Braden advanced with the ball, touched to Rudden who made a great pass between the defence line leaving McCormack alone with Morris. The goalkeeper tried to block the shot, but the ball entered without opposition. At 37´ minutes of the first half, Schottia opened the score and went to the restrooms with the 1-0 advantage. After the goal, the coach Martin Comezzi send all the substitutes to warm-up. He wasn't happy with their players and we are sure that he shouted to the team in the halftime.

In the second half, the game was slower than the first and without clear goal opportunities for both teams. Ricky Bertens entered to the pitch replacing Samuel McRuff and Bob Duncan entered for Bernard Pullian. The tricolours, with Lafayette and Bertens, started to play in offensive and gained the ball control.

In the first chance of the second time, Lafayette received the ball of Bertens. He avoided two players, then advanced to the area and touched to Bertens again. The number 10 controlled the ball outside the area and made a cross shot. The ball touched the post and entered in the goal. The young player screamed and took off his shirt, throwing it to the fans on the stands, before reaching the substitutes and jumping in the middle of them.

The game were 1-1 now and with Bertens, Koll, Lafayette and Trills in one side and Hunt, Akiko, Rudden and Curren in the other, the fans expected for thrilling last minutes. But the game was bad and only sporadic shots made the supporters left their seats with emotion. The last minutes was dominated by the fans, who started to sang, jumping, wave their flags and, at the end of the match, clapped their players until the next round. Both teams shook hands in the center of the field and wished each other the best of lucks in the upcoming games.

For Fluvique, the group ended with seven points, the same as Schottia, two victories and one draw, six goals scored and two conceded.

Now is time to face Cosumar, traveling to Gladerial and to The White Fortress stadium. The rival is one of the best of the tournament, has won all the matches, and is a firmly candidate to the title. The coach will have all his figures at disposal and is expected a great match and a great test for our team.

In the press conference after the match, Ricky Bertens took the microphone and was interviewed by all the journalists there.

Q: Before asking you about the match, you scored your first goal and what a goal!. How do you feel?

Ricky Bertens: Is awesome. I am very happy. I was trying to score, but most important is the team. So, scoring and helping the team is a double prize.

Q: The match was boring for the neutral and local fans. How do you saw it?

RB: Yeah, both teams wanted to win but they both played without pressure. A victory will be nice, but be first or seconds is the same for us. We want to beat anybody to get the title.

Q: Do you think that the result is fair?

RB: Hum..yeah. As you said, is was a boring match, with a few opportunities. So, I think that both teams are happy and thinking about the next match.

Q: What is next? How do you see the next match?

RB: Hard. Every team now is here for a reason and are the best of their groups. We trust in our possibilities and we work hard to be in the knockout stage and will battle till the end.

[Schottia]

New Ways and Old Ways

After the Fluvique match

What a moment it was for young John McCormak, scoring the goal which meant Schottia topped their group, and progressed to the knockouts. The Schottic fans' man of the match in what was his first start for the team, some of the players weren't even old enough to receive the magnum of Champagne the SBC reporter had given him for the accolade. That may have been a factor in the broadcaster's decision.

'Nice one John, congrats!' Said Caitlin L'Attue as placing an arm gently round his shoulder. As she passed him, she cheekily grabbed the bottle of South Schottic bubbly from her teammate, taking a swig before passing the heavy and overflowing thing back to him. John wasn't a player who had grown up with all of this, he hadn't been an academy player, nor had he represented his county at youth level. He was still trying to work out where he sat amongst all this, and where his career would be headed next.

'Eh, oh hey. Thanks!' He replied, realising that he couldn't really be angry as he watched her strut of towards the dressing rooms. Progressing in this tournament was a bizarre feeling, amidst all the talented players here in Valanor, the best young players in the world. These were future World Cup winners, many of whom had already been eliminated by this stage. It was the strangest thing, how one little call up to the Di Bradini Cup could change him from a good club level player, into a hot prospect. He was the same guy, he was no better than he had been before. However a smattering of appearances, a couple of half chances tucked away, and it was all different.

'I'll take that, thank you very much Mr McCormack.' John turned as he heard the voice over his shoulder. Looking the wrong way the bottle was swiped from his hand by his assistant manager Andy Ryden. 'There will be plenty time for drinking later young man.' He said with a resolute smile. 'We have a tournament to win here.' Ryden followed Caitlin into the dressing room for the after match debrief; unfortunately that would likely be the last John saw of the booze.

He paused for a minute, taking a deep breath before pushing the door open.

'Done John!' 'Well done Jono!' 'Great goal, man!' Most of the team were already sat on the bench which fringed the wall. The room was vibrant mess of assorted items of clothing, deodorant cans, and drinks bottles; some players were in their tracksuits, while some were already half undressed. He puffed his chest out a little and tried to seem confident, like it was all in a day's work.

'Well done, John.' Said Nean calmly. 'Have a seat just now and we'll get started. There are just a couple of things I wanted to go through.' The manager was standing in the middle of the room with a note pad in his left hand, a pencil in his right. He seemed content, not pleased... just content.

'Okay.' He started loudly, getting the team's attention, while John grabbed a seat on the edge next to Bella Thompson. 'All in all, that was pretty good. I thought we fought hard in the first half, we didn't let our heads go down when they scored, and kept creating chances.' There looked like there was going to be a but. There was always a but. 'But... We were sloppy at the Fluvique equaliser. Ben, you really needed to get tighter to your man there, you let Bertens see way too much of the ball.' Ben Ross looked like he wanted to cry, this post match critique was the modern equivalent of being tarred and feathered, an afternoon in the stocks. 'Also Bella, you were lazy in getting back, time after time after you came on. That is unacceptable, could have cost us the match.' Bella did cry, or rather her eyes welled up it would perhaps be more accurate to say. John, looking over slid a comforting arm over her shoulder, however, one glance from the Nomad Brotherhood wingback told him he should remove it pronto. He pretended to whistle as he tucked his hand back down by his side.

Nean always finished on a positive, so the team were waiting to see who was going to receive his good graces; which of them would have to sit there and try not to look too smug.

'John you got the opener, and you worked hard all evening. The only thing I want you to work on is keeping a bit tighter in the midfield. I know you like to hang off the last defender, but we really need to press hard when we lose possession.' John nodded, to show he understood. 'Lucy, I thought you had your best game so far actually, once you came on.' It was Lucy Curren, a rough and tumble sort of centre-forward's turn to try and look magnanimous. 'Really good pressure on the back four, I think Kaleshko will be having nightmares about you tonight. The match was scrappy, there were no real chances, but you kept at it, and that's what I like to see.'

Nean held work rate above everything else, it was the sure fire way to get into his good graces. Even if you were having a bad game, running around like a headless chicken could often spare you an after match grilling. The man did his rounds, stopping at more or less everyone over the course of the next couple of minutes; his aim was undoubtedly to give each player something to mull over with respect to his or her game. That was one thing about the new manager, which John had noticed while working with him over the last couple of days; he was firm, but he was fair and straight down the line.

...

The bus ride home

What a difference a year could make in football - it was no cliché. (Well it was a cliché; but in this instance it was also true). It didn't seem all that long ago that Billy Cross' career was headed down the toilet at break neck speed, with the Gloriaxian League going bust. He owed so much to the gaffer Grant Nean, for if he hadn't given him the call up to the Under-18 squad, he would have never won the move to Arsenal de Releinthi. It was during the Sporting World Cup in the Free Republics, that he had caught his new club's attention while playing as a free agent. The Fleftic club were a thoroughly decent side, and it was a chance for him to rebuild his once promising career.

It was an upbeat and optimistic group of young player whom he sat with on the team bus, heading back to the hotel. Grant Nean and his coaching staff sat just behind the driver, discussing some of the finer points in greater depth, and making initial plans for how they would approach the Valladares game. Elsewhere the complex network of social interaction was at work, as the players went about winding down from the game in their own ways. It was the usual five who sat along the back seats, with Ben Ross in the middle seat, legs outstretched in front of him. To his immediate right sat Gareth Souter, and to the far right, head pressed against the window, was Kevin Scougle. All three of them were in the Handon United youth team at the same time, so there was an obvious power dynamic there. Ross, the captain, was like the equivalent of the head-boy keeping an eye on the younger children, with his cronies by his side.

In the seat to his left sat vice captain Boris Hunt and to Hunt's left was Johannas Ünterhausen. Hunt was a senior cap, which rocketed him up the pecking order, and Ünterhausen three years his junior, played with him in the Taeshani League. That way, even at a glance, it was possible to see the command structure at work, the King sitting on high at the back of the bus, his courtiers by his side.

Next in the chain of command came the two pairs of seats, which were at the same height as the back seats. They were equally raised up above the bus engine, but not quite the "back of the bus." Here sat Melanie Ünterhausen, directly in front of her brother, obviously able to leech off of his standing, as he himself had done with Hunt. For sixteen-year-olds the Ünterhausen's were already outstanding players. Whenever Billy saw them on the pitch all he could think about was the fact that they were two whole years younger than him.

Next to Melanie sat Bella Thompson, who held a starting berth within the team and had been around for a couple of cycles. She didn't get on too well with her neighbour, who was a bit of a frosty character. This was perhaps why she always kept her body faced out into the gangway, and towards Caitlin L'Attue, who sat on the aisle seat at the other side. Caitlin, or Caitie as everyone called her, was a Di Bradini Cup winner, and that was what made her special. She was one of those people who had a kind as aura around them, and with most young Scots playing abroad, the fact that she still played for a small Schottic club made her seem all the cooler by contrast. She could play for almost any club in Schottia, but she turned out for a plucky little side, who were located in a town of three thousand people. Her and Bella normally talked by themselves, and although they were separated by one hundred and ten centimetres of gangway, it did nothing to impede them. They normally talked shop, conversing about football in a very matter-of-fact, and to the point sort of way.

On the window seat next to her was where Billy sat, and he was constantly trying not to look at look at Caitlin's legs. This never caused too many problems, as despite them sharing a double seat, she was there to talk to Bella, and he was there completing the loop back to the Handon United graduates on the right. Billy had of course started his career at United, and although he was a couple of years younger than the others, he was still permitted to sit near the back. The honour had been bestowed.

The rest of the players were positioned according to the same unspoken and intuitive formulaic principal, taking into account: Ability - number of call-ups - and who they knew. The only exceptions to this were Chloe Rudden and Saskia Holden, who were sat near the front watching youtube videos on Chloe's phone, and of course Sarah Dennis. Sarah, as always, was sat slouched in her seat with her knees against the chair in front, glasses perched on the tip of her nose, engrossed in a book. Joining them near the front of the bus was Akiko, the little Kelsy Merchants attacker, who was constantly on her iPad, with large headphones over here ears. Billy didn't even know what her name was; whether Akiko was her first name, second name, or just a nickname. These four were completely out of the pantomime, which was the seating hierarchy game. Either they didn't notice or just didn't care, but one way or another the managed to do their own thing.

This was the human zoo of the Schottia team bus, and despite all their miner differences they were required to get on somewhat, for periods of 90 minutes. It was a complicated politics, but having been in the Schottic national set-up since the age of ten, it was all Billy knew. It was a trade, and one that would be with him all his life. These connections would never go away, even as players came and went. In ten years time he might be Caitlin's assistant manager, or maybe even Chloe's (god help her players), and he would need to rely upon these links. It was much better, end of the day, to remain yet another cog.

[Krytenia]

It's Not What You Want...
By Rami Niblick in Ibini, Valanora

SIXTEEN down, sixteen remain. We're flying through the Di Bradini Cup as the group stage finishes and we head to the real meat and drink of the competition; the knockouts. It raises an interesting question: specifically, who needs it more?

The top four all sent teams, with varying degrees of success. Nephara bounced back from a slow start - their hammering of Taeshan one of the highlights of the tournament so far. Pasarga and the Valhallans both laboured - but at least advanced, after a fashion. Eura, meanwhile, failed their own mantra of "EURA STRONK" by dropping the points against Valladares that saw them eliminated. Do these teams need their Under-21s to be successful, though? Surely there are plenty of players coming through the ranks that a few bad eggs at this level can be forgiven. Then again, breed them on success early and it (hopefully) begets success later. Surprisingly, few teams in that immediate vicinity below them are represented here. No Osarius, no Young Bulls, no Vilita or Turori...we'll excuse the hosts, of course. Perhaps they are confident they already have the tools they need to make the jump; perhaps this is the reason they aren't at the top table.

But, let's be honest here, this isn't the group who needs success in this competition. That particular group is made up of the World Cup also-rans, and the Cup of Harmony perennials. Nations like San Llera, San Jose Guayabal, Cosumar, and ourselves. These are nations that lack that certain something in their senior side, be it a killer instinct, experience, or that game-changing player to anchor the play around. For them, these are players who could - and in several cases will - feature in the qualifiers as soon as the next World Cup. For these teams, winning is not about the silverware; it's about preparing the next generation. Preparing their charges for victories over the Holy Empires and Farfadillises (Farfadilli?) of this world. For these young men and women, it's about becoming great.

Two of these teams will meet tomorrow. On the one hand, the nation of Ceni, who have to struggle with making football grab the headlines above tennis and the like. On the other? Krytenia, a nation who have been almost to the mountaintop, and have begun the arduous climb anew. One shall rise, one shall fall, but both will give their all for the purpose of blooding their young charges.

Here's to the next generation. Onward!

[Valladares]

The National Kickoff
The Online Home of Valladar Football!

Young Tricolor in the next round: Evaluation Time

By: Alan Rosero

LONGVIEW, VALANORA (VP) - Yikes, it's been a long time since a Valladar U-21 team took part in the Di Bradini Cup for the last time. And what a return it has been, with the Valladars surviving the group stage thanks to them scoring one more goal than Eura. Despite that opening day 4-2 loss to Cosumar, the team's level has been on the rise with a clear 3-1 win over Kernansquillec and a 1-1 draw with Eura which should have ended in a Valladar win considering the number of chances the Valladars had to increase the score and win the match. With the young Valladar guns preparing to face Schottia in the Round of 16, I thought it would be appropriate to perform an evaluation on the Valladar squad considering what we have seen during the matches against Cosumar, Kernansquillec, and Eura: the good things and the things we must improve for that game against one of the best teams of the tournament so far (yes, this is my opinion).

Goalkeepers

• Paulo Gaviria - The team's captain. He was the goalkeeper for all 3 group stage matches played by the Valladars, and despite the six goals conceded in those three games (four of those against Cosumar in the opening match), his performance was just okay. He made some great saves in those three games against Cosumar, Kernansquillec, and Eura, however, for some moments it looked like he wasn't getting enough support from his defense. 7.5/10
• Freddy Lacouture - Due to Gaviria's continuous presence as the Valladar goalkeeper, the AS Vaud player wasn't given the chance to prove his worth. Not Rated
• Andrés Ospina - Same as above. Not Rated

Defenders

• Luciano Santos - The Pumas player was very important to the Valladar offensive effort, starting some great runs from the back into the opponents' box and then sending crosses aimed at either Christian Arango's or Bryan Sánchez's heads. However, this great display came at the expense of his skills at defending, and because of this, the Valladar right wing looked as the weakest point in most (if not all) games, especially against Cosumar. 6.5/10
• Anthony Mosquera - The centre-back tried its best to provide some coverage to the right wing when Santos went on offensive mode. He failed most times at doing the offside trap but he was, nevertheless, the best defender for the Valladars during the group stage. 8/10
• Anthony Becker - He had a bad day against Cosumar, looking overly nervous, losing most duels for the ball (one of those ending up as Cosumar's third goal), and with an own-goal adding more insult to the injury. However, his fortunes improved in the following two games, looking more confident and fulfilling his mission. 7/10
• Nathan Freire - It was six of one and half a dozen of the other for the Edmonton United player. He didn't have a nightmare of a game like his teammates at the defense against Cosumar, but he wouldn't stand up in the matches against Kernansquillec and Eura. He was partly responsible for the Euran equalizer in that last game. 7/10
• Diego Peralta - The 19-year old was given a chance in the second game against Kernansquillec. He didn't have to deal with a lot of problems given that by the time he was sent in, the game was pretty much wrapped up by the Valladars. 7.5/10
• Maurice Rouzet - Sent in by coach Claudio Londero to extinguish the fire caused by Becker's dismal game against Cosumar, but his carelessness ended up allowing the Cosumarites to score their fourth and last goal of the game. 5/10
• Henry Marsh and Jose Luis Vélez - Did not play a single game. Not Rated

Midfielders

• Mark Milligan - His best game was against Kernansquillec, dominating the right wing at pleasure and offering a much-needed coverage for Luciano Santos, while also trying to . Good at setpieces, one of his powerful 25-metre shots went into the net in that vital 3-1 win against fellow Rushmoris. 8/10
• Faustino Andrade - One of the most experienced players in the squad, the Real Campo Grande player was instrumental in securing midfield control for the Valladars in the games against Kernansquillec and Eura. He, along with Milligan and Bruno Carbonneau formed a strong barrier that prevented attacks through the center of the field, although they didn't look so synched against Cosumar. 7.5/10
• Bruno Carbonneau - Great at blocking attacks through the left wing from the rivals. He also provided a permanent supply of passes to Cristian Arango and Pietro Sangiovanni, although his efforts were constantly eclipsed by Luciano Santos' runs through the opposite wing. 7.7/10
• Cristian Arango - The Nacional player was clearly the beacon that guided the Valladar squad. He's got mobility, he's got creativity, but most and best of all, he's got firepower. Four of Valladares' six goals were scored by this outstanding guy, who keeps forging more prestige for the Guzmán-Cress Academy and will be expected to shine in a near future. 9.5/10
• Pietro Sangiovanni - Another player who has been showing some touches of quality so far. Although not as impressive as his teammate Arango, the Bohemians Metropolis player has been instrumental in Valladares' offensive performance, by creating lots of trouble to rival defenses with his assists to Arango or striker Bryan Sánchez or even by trying his luck with mid-range shots. He just needs to score a goal to round up his great tournament. 8.5/10
• Hubert Desjardins - The lone AS Bezieres player in the squad, Desjardins was given the chance to play the final 20 minutes of the match against Eura, which isn't enough for a proper evaluation. Not Rated
• Dennis Leon - He's still waiting for his chance to play. Not Rated
• Nicolás Morán - The Patriotas FC player came in to play the second half of the 1-1 draw against Eura. Morán showed some interesting things and had two shots on target, but was quickly cautioned. He should be more careful with fouls and also try to avoid provocations from the rivals. 7/10
• Rudy Chávez - Cristian Arango's superb tournament has prevented this Metropolis Alligators prospect from playing a single match. Not Rated
• Adrián Bassa - Bassa has become one of the Liga-1's revelation players in spite of his youth. With 18 years, he's been instrumental for Fontvielle Impact's recent Kings' Shield and Cygnus Cup successes, but he's struggled so far to show all the virtues he usually displays in the Liga-1. Maybe it's precisely his youth and consequent lack of experience the thing that stalls him the most, but he'll eventually improve. 7/10

Forwards

• Bryan Sánchez - The Caraure-born player became a key player for Slateport Bulls, scoring some important goals with them during the most recent Liga-1 season, and therefore he was one of those called to shine with the Valladar U-21 squad here in Valanora. Although he has already scored one goal (vs. Eura), he has had some trouble as the lone Valladar striker, being easily referenced by the opposing defenses and lacking support at some other times. He's a great player with lots of potential, but it seems the rivals found ways to counter him as much as possible. 7.5/10
• Mauricio Salgado - He's been brought to the pitch to serve as that much-needed supporting partner for Sánchez, but his own lack of experience plays against him. 6.5/10

Okay, so here we go. My conclusion is that our midfield is clearly the best line we've got, but it's precisely because of the players' own individual capacities, whilst the defense and forward lines have been just okay, with some flaws but currently on an improving trend, which we hope can help us in tomorrow's match against Schottia. They are still undefeated but their last match ended with them sharing the spoils with Fluvique, another promising team and also present at the Round of 16, where they will play Cosumar. That said, Onward, Valladares!

[Cosumar]

Cosumar surge into Knockouts with momentum after third group win

VALANORA - A Cosumarite U21 team has never advanced past the Round of 16 of the Di Bradini Cup.

But the Junior Dragons took a huge step towards overturning all that history with a 2-0 defeat of Kernansquillec in the third of final Matchday of Group F play last night, finishing at the top of the group with a 3-0 record and +5 goal differential.

Matt Branch emerged as the clear pace-setter of the team, fearlessly leading forward and setting up both goals by Ivo Jago and Alistair Redalen to put his team in firm control against a Kernansquillec side that held possession well but never truly tested Balbulus Grimwade. The win comes on the back of defeats of Eura and Valladares, and extends the U21 program's winning streak to five games going back to DBC 34.

Meanwhile, Coach Johannes Sulo tested the versatility of Morponte striker Alistair Redalen by deploying him in an attacking midfield role for the first time. It was interesting to watch Redalen grapple with the new position. The idea was to have someone with skill on the ball drop back to link up with the midfield and provide service to the brawny centre-forward prototype Ivo Jago. He looked a little lost at the beginning, but found his footing towards the end of the first half and thrived in the second - and was rewarded with a goal.

Right winger Lyyli Silvén also had a great game - her best yet in a Cosumarite uniform. She almost connected with her opposite winger Branch in the 22nd minute as she nutmegged the Kernansquillec left back and skipped past him before lofting a teasing cross to the far post, but the goalkeeper emerged to knuckle it away.

But Kernansquillec, a physical side strong in the midfield, tightened the screws after that for much of the first half. They held a stranglehold on possession and kept Cosumarites dangerous attacking players busy defending in their own half.

The dam finally broke in the 38th minute and the Cosumarites surged forward with pent-up energy. Tiffany Elam's hopeful cross/shot (impossible to tell which!) was miraculously deflected on target but was denied by the cross bar, and Jago fired just wide left on the rebound despite Redalen calling for the ball wide open at the penalty spot. Against the run of play from the previous half-hour, Cosumar broke through in the 39th minute when Jago made up for his miss just a minute earlier. He capped a gorgeous string of Cosumarite passing. Silvén's carved an incisive angled pass into the box and Branch's savvy back heel was dummied by Redalen, pulling wool over the eyes of the defense. Jago just had to step up and bury the open sitter.

It was Ivo Jago's second goal for Cosumar and second in as many games. The lad is still trying to break through at Taeshani club Mierton Manatees, but this breakout performance here in Valanora shows what he can do when given opportunity.

Players of the Match

1. Matt Branch - The surprise star of Cosumar's Di Bradini Cup, winger "Matty B" showed why his name is picking up steam as one of the most promising Cosumarite prospects. Vision, movement, and rare class on the ball.

2. Alistair Redalen - Tasked with trying a new role, Redalen learned quickly and orchestrated the attack, netting the crucial second goal.

3. Tiffany Elam - The well-rounded central midfielder shined against the country where she plays her club soccer. She quietly but ruthlessly put the clamps on Kernansquillec's midfield axis and kept the Dragons in the possession driver's seat in the second half.

Kernansquillec rallied immediately after the break, and had a wicked free kick that surely would've been a goal deflect out. On the ensuing corner, their forward looped a header over the back of Grimwade, but it landed on the roof of the net.

Further chances were rare for the remaining 40 minutes for Kernansquillec, who can thank their goalkeeper for making sure it was still a game with three great saves in the 65th-70th minutes. The last one was the most impressive. Their keeper leapt to the near post like a cat to get in front of Redalen's point-blank finish.

But the Morponte man got the last laugh in the 72nd minute. Beating a poorly-executed offside trap to latch onto Branch's excellent pass over the top, Redalen advanced on goal and stroked the ball underneath the keeper's slide with a painter's touch.

Cosumar had a few late chances to add to their GD by virtue of the fresh legs of substitute striker Lupa Na'Bengna, but the Kernansquillecans seemed determined to play for pride and not let another one in. They succeeded, admirably.

Na'Bengna, on a historic note, is the first female Vloo to play for Cosumar U21. No female Vloo has ever been capped by the senior team. People all over Cosumar will surely be rooting for Lupa to keep playing well in her career and become the first.

Cosumar - 2
Scorers: Jago (39'), Redalen (72')
Stats: 17 shots (7 on goal), 48% Possession, 18 fouls for 4 yellow cards (Lowry, Elam, Grimwade, Yilmaz)
Subs: Na'Bengna (74'), Yilmaz (80'), De Leon (81')

Kernansquillec - 0
No Scorers
Stats: 9 shots (2 on goal), 52% Possession, 11 fouls for 0 cards

Johannes Sulo has these kids on an absolute tear of good form right now. Who knows just how far they can go? Could it be possible to add a Di Bradini Cup to the Cup of Harmony that now resides in Kaldukosic?

The obstacle between our boys and girls and the sweet smell of the quarterfinals is not one of the usual suspects. Not Farfadillis, not Semarland or Polar Islandstates. It is instead Fluvique, a small nation in the West Pacific that has shocked Quebec and Kirisaki to advance out of Group G in its first ever competitive international tournament.

Apparently, they've been breeding great footballing talent over there in Fluvique for the past 20 years and have kept it hidden from the world until now! Whether Fluvique is destined to be a future force in world football, or whether they've just had great luck here in Valanora, our team can't afford to take them lightly. Fluvique have looked composed and creative with the ball, and fight relentlessly in defense.

Ted Apparicio is their primary danger man in midfield, but the play of guys like Ricky Bertens and Tyler Lafayette has been stellar as well - particularly against Schottia last night. Johannes Sulo has a lot of tactical wrinkles to figure out on the bus ride to Gladerial tonight.

Semarland and Polar Islandstates wait in the wings should the Dragons soar tomorrow - both teams known for exceptional youth talent.

Thank you for reading our exclusive coverage of Cosumar's future stars in Di Bradini Cup 35. Round of 16 against the upstart Fluviques takes place tomorrow at 5 p.m. Cosumar-time on CSBN. Be sure to watch as our young Dragons fight for their chance to advance!

Follow us on Twitter @TheCourier or subscribe to our website (thecourier.cos) to receive daily updates and analysis on the Cosumar's progress in the tournament.

Courtney Wallace
Staff Writer

[Nephara]

Penumbra Amokachi was free.
The ball at her feet, the grass underneath, Solomon Harm and Conan Lineker standing in her way in orange training bibs. Gideon Fletcher, tall, raven-haired and raw-boned, looking justifiably nervous. Amokachi's eyes went one way, her feet another. Lineker followed, and tried to pick the ball from her feet with a clumsy swing. It didn't work, and Amokachi dinked the ball over him, poked it between Harm's legs, and tried to run onto it. But it had taken her to a very narrow angle, and Fletcher was a reliable goalkeeper. No way a goal was coming from there.
She dropped her shoulder and nutmegged Harm again, turning to shoot-
Oh, fuck!
The tackle actually lifted her feet off the ground. The ball went clear, and relatively light and wiry as she was, Amokachi went sailing with it.
Harm, the perpetrator, trotted over. "Showboat like that again and it'll be harder the second time," he said, good-naturedly.
Amokachi groaned, and rubbed her calf. Yeah, this sure wasn't Farfadillis anymore...

Even so, it had all turned out for the best. Nova Anglicana did their best and tried to keep it tight at the back - and Thunder got a decent workout from the FC Virtus striker, Baptiste - but the simple fact was that in key areas of the pitch it was professionals against students, and they played like it. Ellis - one of the professionals - did well to save a good shot from Lienke Vesper, but Amokachi acted quickest to stretch out a leg and poke the ball in. Seven goals in three games now for the Brinemouth striker, a frankly terrifying record. It couldn't possibly last, right?
That was Adnan Szalai's thinking the next day as five of the Magpies sat around a coffee table at an upmarket cafe. They were the only humans there, and decidedly the coarsest. People were turning their noses up at them, but they had as much right to be there as anyone else, didn't they?
"Face it, Pen, you'll never keep it up."
"Who's next, San Jose? We'll twat 'em. I'll get another there."
Vyntra snorted. "Can't fault you for confidence, Pen. Let's hope you manage it, eh?"
Gareth Westmead - in an unfamiliar situation as the only Anglo at the table, and yet to make an appearance - drummed his fingers on the table. "Is it only a good game for you if you score?"
Amokachi considered it. "Personally? Yeah. It's only a good game if we win, and I'm only personally satisfied if I score."
Szalai and Vesper exchanged a glance. "I told you, Lienke, Farfadillis has ruined her."
"Yeah, yeah, you were right..."
"Ruined?" Amokachi looked mock-offended. "Nephara could learn a lot from the Farves."
"You're becoming obsessed, Pen. You're like the world's first Farvophile."
Westmead leaned back in his chair. "Hard not to when you watch 'em play football, to be fair."
"I'm just saying, maybe there could be a bit more focus on beautiful football and maybe a little less on kicking the shit out of people. Did you see what Sol did out on the training game a couple days ago?"
Szalai shrugged. "Well, you were showboating."
"Oh, so I nutmegged him a couple times. It worked, didn't it?"
Vesper licked her lips. "You really have been out of the country too long."
"Sol's an Apoxian citizen! He plays for Oldem bloody Mechanical or some other ANL yo-yo club!"
"C'mon, Pen," said Vyntra soothingly. "You know as well as I do that bigging yourself up like that-"
"I did it because it worked!"
"Fine, but it was still humiliating. Come on. Do it to an opponent, not on the training ground, yeah?"
Amokachi sighed, and poked at her coffee. "Yeah, I... I guess."
There was a short silence.
"It was really funny, though," Westmead said.
"Oh, God, yeah," said Vesper quickly. "Sol turned fuckin' purple!"
"Christ. Thought he was gonna kill you."
Amokachi smiled. "He damn well nearly did."
The conversation went on for over an hour, long after the dregs of coffee had turned cold. And, you know, they'd won twice in a row and looked good value to go further.
Maybe Nephara wasn't so bad after all, Amokachi reflected. Definitely not with her up front.

[Ceni]

Krytenia.

The name might as well be a foil to Ceni. Krytenia qualified for the World Cup on their first try after a long hiatus - and they were unranked. Ceni was jealous, jealous, jealous. They had never qualified, and they wouldn't qualify for the World Cup 72 - despite being ranked inside the top 50. To add insult to injury, Krytenia went past the group stage to the Round of 16, only falling to Valanora then. But they had a chance - a very good chance, especially for an unranked nation.

So the name Krytenia gave Corran Artis shudders. They were not only lucky, they had good footballing form. Great. It would be a tough test in Wixax.

However, Ceni was confident. They had finally purged their emotions holding them back, purged their emotions that Ceni was doomed to defeat. After the Zenic match, they thought so, but after the Devonta match, things had changed.

Devonta - nominally not the best team in the world - had surprised observers by defeating Zenic, something that a higher-quality team on Ceni had not been able to do. Ceni was, therefore, afraid that the Transitive Property would apply - Devonta defeats Zenic, Zenic defeats Ceni, therefore Devonta defeats Ceni!

This relationship, however, did not follow through. Ceni started a goal scoring extravaganza very quickly. Despite some good saves from Devonta's goalkeeper Danny Cake Buren, he could not have his cake and eat it too. And efforts from the highly touted Martin Paul Benton apparently did not find their mark, for Ceni scored right past him on an angle.

Ceni continued on its rampage as it took its anger out on Devonta. After Ryan Navir's previous poor goalkeeping, Corran Artis started Laura Oannes with the goalkeeper's gloves. The switch started to scare Devonta, as they had anticipated Navir. Oannes kept saving shots, some subpar. Meanwhile, Ceni kept scoring and scoring and scoring. Kira Koromin scored twice, courtesy of passes behind the Mr. Best Defender Ever Benton from Garcia and Tyro Solaris, who started in place of Javier DSL Olmo. Solaris scored two goals as well, juking Benton and sending a nice angle past Cake Buren. Eric Garcia and Nico Asturias also each sent a goal in, Garcia after dispossessing Benton. It was a happy ending for Ceni.

Zenic, on the other hand, disappointed, drawing with the perennial bogeyman Lymantatia.
It was a ha-ha moment for Ceni.

Krytenia now awaited in the Round of 16. Krytenia - the lucky team who qualified for the World Cup as an unranked team - ended their run in the Round of 16. They will likely do the same in this Di Bradini Cup.

Ceni learned that its midfield and defense were not up to the task in the Lymantatia and Zenic matches. Hopefully now they will have rectified their mistakes and started to practice man-to-man defense and focus on passing - interceptions and making them alike. Laura Oannes will now occupy the goalkeeper's slot - she has defter hands and fingers than Navir, and a better eye for the ball. Of course, the offense is one of Ceni's best parts, despite its nominally more moderate strategy. Kira Koromin and Tyro Solaris have dazzled throughout the tournament.

With the lessons of the Group Stage in mind and the catharsis of the painful emotions of the past, Ceni should go the distance in the Di Bradini Cup.

They will win against Krytenia.

[Semarland]

SPORTSAT
Semarland's greatest sports news

Preview – Semarland v Polar Islandstates
The lowdown on the Di Bradini Round of 16 clash

23rd July Last updated: 14:27 SST

by Yoann Livimbi

---

Three wins in a row for Devane Claro is great – particularly the latter two, convincing 3-1 and 2-0 victories over Nova Anglicana and Taeshan. To be fair, Nephara deserved to top the group, as we only narrowly beat them 4-3 and in the next two games they hammered Taeshan 7-1 and a narrow win over Nova Anglicana 1-0 – although it probably should’ve been a few more considering it was an excellent performance from the Nepharim U21 side.

Ever since they set foot on the international stage – long before the SFA could be bothered to enter Semarland into any UICA or WCC tournament – Semarland has held an obsession and has always had a large fanbase of Polar Islandstates. Never in the past thirty years or so have the two teams crossed paths at any international footballing level, and tomorrow night it will happen as the two teams face off against each other in the Di Bradini Round of 16 clash.

The strange admiration of the Rushmori giants started when a man named Erik Rasmus Jacobsen bought the rights to the 47th Baptism of Fire – with his café showing games from the tournament. The first one – which many turned up to see, involved Polar Islandstates and so the fanbase was born. Many have gone to great lengths to show their admiration for the Valhallans, such as one man claiming to own a home shirt of every team to play from Divisjon One to the Regional Premiers – and a 250-strong fan club of Hakke Vestoriko, captain of Resolute Storm for quite a while.

So – let’s see how each team should likely lineup:

SEMARLAND:
Polar Islandstates have always been quite a physically strong team – so Claro will probably “fight fire with fire” by selecting the most physical players there is. Jakob Lindegaard has a minor knock – so perhaps it’s Soren Redholm’s chance to shine in goal. Martin Eriksen’s international experience will give him a slight boost – despite him never playing against the Valhallans and the centre-backs should be Yohannes Simeone and Soren Boateng, the latter signing for Polarian giants Northbrook Diamonds. At right-back, it’ll be a tough choice. Both Parr and Annan are marauding full-backs, but Parr has the nod on physical strength but Annan on flair and creativity. We think Parr will get the nod however.

Moving onto the midfield, Claro confirmed he will be utilising the two 18 year old wingers, Dominick M’Bia and Amoah Boakye-Nzanzu for the first time, as they haven’t yet got their chance. In the centre of the park, Emmanuel Sambu, a player who can easily barge his way through midfield, will start alongside the creative spark Marc Lindstrom, who holds two goals to his name this tournament. Abadayu Abwelange will mirror the Polarian giant Erik Zhamaletdinov as the tall target man, and Per Mtiliga is the slightly shorter but quite faster partner.

In brief: Redholm, Eriksen, Simeone, Boateng, Parr, M’Bia, Lindstrom, Sambu, Boakye-Nzanzu, Abwelange, Mtiliga

POLAR ISLANDSTATES:
Jakub Strom is the man between the sticks for the Chicks, with the Jan Mayen Islanders goalkeeper predicted to be the club’s number one. For the national team however, he faces fierce competition with Gunnstein Moskowitz who had already stepped up to the national side, but it’s realistic that he could get in as a backup. The Polarians play a 3-3-2-2 formation, seeing Magnus Barishnikov, Brage Fellenbaum and Maciej Espeseth come up against the pairing of Abwelange and Mtiliga. Full-backs Ragnar Martinson and Felix Keskitalo are technically, well, wing-backs as Oscar Voss slots between them, the latter trio ahead of the former trio.

Moving onto attacking midfield, FC Solovetsky Monastery’s attacking midfielder Vitaliy Rasmussen and East Kulmsaar-born playmaker Federico Aalto are the team’s creative sparks, with the 21 year old Rasmussen having more experience than his 18 year old compatriot Aalto – but bear in mind all but one of the squad did not appear in the last Di Bradini Cup – but bear in mind the last one Polar Islandstates missed due to the big freeze. The one we talk about is the Chicks’ key player – striker Erik Zhamaletdinov. He’s already forced his way into FC1. Surtsey Island Gulls’ first team and it’s rumoured that soon, it’ll be the national team too. The first “target-man” striker since Patrick Ackermann-Finn, he is partnered by the 17 year old Eyvindur Zelic, who funnily enough, is pretty much half his size. From the bench, the powerful 20 year old Loic Pedersen is a good option too.

In brief: Strom, Martinson, Barishnikov, Fellenbaum, Espeseth, Keskitalo, Voss, Rasmussen, Aalto, Zhamaletdinov, Zelic

---

Goalscorers v Nova Anglicana (3-1): Lindstrom 6’, Abwelange 42’, Sambu 84’
Goalscorers v Taeshan (2-0): Kone 60’, Anyamele 68’

[Pasarga]

"Well that was a rather unexpected struggle just to get out of the group stage, it seems that even the youth squad is still in a state of shock after that defeat in the Copa Rushmori."

"Let me just stop you right there, that match shall never be spoken of again. It did not happen, that entire tournament is wiped from the record as far as I am concerned, what a laughable situation that it turned out to be. And those idiots saying our denonym wrong and we somehow used a four striker all male striker force? What a bunch of numskulls and nikumputes."

"Okay, I get it, you are still upset."

"Upset is putting it very mildly, so let us just drop the subject, you get me?"

"I get you, sorry that I even mentioned it, was just trying to explain why the Young Wanderers only picked up four out of the nine possible points in the group stage. Considering the quality of the competition in their group, you would have suspected they would have gotten six or seven, since the Sinrisians are tough but seemed to be in a state of transition."

"Maybe, that is football though, you can never take any game for granted nor get complacent about what accomplishments you might have. Someone is out there gunning for you and looking to knock you off your high horse should you let yourself get too full of yourself, the history of the World Cup is littered with those types of stories. At leas the side was able to pull itself enough together to get themselves into the knockouts, from there just about anything is possible."

"That's true, some of the champions of the World Cup had to scrap to get into the knockouts and then were able to put a few good games together to win it. There is nothing that is stopping the Young Wanderers from doing the same but they will have to get it together quickly as they are not looking like they can even beat the team ahead of them in the Round of Sixteen."

"Yes, this Armeia group seem to have a pretty good set amount of youth, I expect that they will give us quite a challenge. Shame that we're playing in Ianisle and not one of the more premier venues, since the organizers decided to give Valladares, Cosumar, and Nephara the better venues, even Semarland got the Hatire Memorial. Talk about some disrespect man."

"Maybe that was just how they had set up the venues even before the groups were drawn."

"Whatever, still seems like it is a slight to our new standing in the footballing world. Like we're not worth the good venues despite being the World Champions, that we are not on the same level as them."

"I think you are reading too much into a venue."

"Never!"

[Valanora]

Round of 16
Armeia 1–2 Pasarga
San Llera 3–1 Lymantatia
Ceni 3–2 Krytenia
Unified Sunrise Islands 2–2(2–2 AET)[5–3 PKs] Farfadillis
Semarland 1–1(1–1 AET)(5–4 PKs] Polar Islandstates
Cosumar 3–1 Fluvique
Schottia 6–3 Valladares
San Jose Guayabal 3–3(3–3 AET)[3–4 PKs] Nephara

Quarterfinal Fixtures
Pasarga v San Llera @ Hatire Memorial, Capri
Ceni v Unified Sunrise Islands @ Donna Cathedral, Mar Sara
Semarland v Cosumar @ Lathal, Ianisle
Schottia v Nephara @ Metropolis, Ibini

[Cosumar]

Semarland-based players Branch, Svensson, Bekant ready for familiar faces in Quarterfinals

Ianisle, VALANORA - Despite both nations being northeastern AO allies and having a rich footballing culture, Cosumar and Semarland have seldom met at any level of international competition. But three players on the Cosumar U21 roster play in the Semar league and have been busy giving coaches the run-down on their players.

Starting midfielder Matt Branch (Sporting Matrolvik), team captain defender Peter Svensson (FC Jansberg) and back-up defender Markus Bekant (Arkrau Club) were quick to give praise to their quarterfinals opponents, but also think their familiarity could give them an advantage. Here's what each of them had to say.

"I've been in Matrolvik for over four years now, since I was a 16 or 17-year old lad. In my opinion, I have developed unfathomably in Semarland as both a player and a person. It has become like a second home to me," Branch said. "I don't have any teammates on their roster, but I'm friends with Devane Annan from Krsthaven. He's a very good wingback and someone who helped me improve my game as a fellow wing player. I've made sure our guys are aware of his surprising pace."

"Oh yes, I know many of the Semar players. I probably as familiar with their squad as my own," Svensson said. "Christian Parr, Emmanuel Sambu, Per Mtiliga, ThankGod Anyamele and Innocent Kone are all my teammates at Jansberg, all great young players. All guys I have gotten to know well on and off the pitch over the last two years I have been there. But we are competitive - I have told the coaches everything about their tendencies, even the time Innocent joked that he's determined to score a bicycle-kick in the Cup. I look forward to beating them so I can rub it in when we get back to Jansberg!"

"There is a lot of young talent in Semarland, and looking at their squad list, they are definitely a quality side. I'm not surprised they beat Polar Islandstates," Bekant said. "Semarland called up two of my teammates from Arkrau, Deon [Barringham] and Martin [Sordensen], both midfielders that like to get forward for us a lot. I've only been there a year, but I think they're both solid selections to the team that play with the composure of someone older. I have defended against them in training, and I know that the only way to get them off their game is to be very physical and intimidate them - get in their head. Of course, I have played against a lot of their players in the league. Marc Lindstrom from Kangemark Sport is someone who really impressed me when we visited them. I'm looking forward to squaring off against him again, and I know our team will be ready."

The two sides had very different experiences in the Round of 16. Semarland was matched up with the Chicks of Polar Islandstates, one of the world's most feared youth sides, but proved their own strength by scraping by 5-4 on penalties. Cosumar, on the other hand, enjoyed a comfortable 3-1 win over the debutants from Fluvique. So the Cosumarites should be plenty confident heading into the big match, but will have to hit the ground running as Semarland's gears are already turning at a very high level after playing elite competition.

Against Fluvique, the Junior Dragons were up 3-0 within 55 minutes thanks to goals from Alistair Redalen (17'), Peter Svensson (42') and Lyyli Silvén (55'). They were able to rest key players like Svensson (sub: Bekant), Redalen (sub: Na'Koziol) and Li H'Sen Lang (sub: Tapp) early in the second half.

Svensson was absolutely massive in defense, closing all lanes towards goal for the creative Fluvique midfield and earning Man of the Match honors. Cosumar will lean on the captain's broad shoulders once again against Semarland to stifle the likes of his FC Jansberg compatriots Innocent Kone and Per Mtiliga.

Thank you for reading our exclusive coverage of Cosumar's future World Cup stars in Di Bradini Cup 35. Be sure to watch as our young Dragons fight for their place in the semifinals against Semarland this weekend on CSBN! The match will be played at Lathal, the infamous Vanorian stadium where Nellietopian Chance Cubes unleashed a horde of berserk umbrella-wielding donkeys last time Cosumar visisted.

Follow us on Twitter @TheCourier or subscribe to our website (thecourier.cos) to receive daily updates and analysis on the Cosumar's progress in the tournament.

Courtney Wallace
Staff Writer

[San Llera]

San Llera vs Pasarga

With San Llera about to take on one of the biggest soccer games in their history against the under-21s of defending world champs Pasarga, Viva Dicce are honored to bring to you a position-by-position preview of the match:

Coaching Staff
Head Coaches Gerra Duvale (San Llera) vs Jullian van Setten (San Llera)
In the first comparison of the day, the head coaches of both teams are matched up. In this case, both managers have similar coaching styles with intense training and sometimes risky lineup experimenting. However, van Setten, who led Pasarga's senior team to the win the World Cup, has the obvious advantage at using that strategy.

Assistant Coach(s) Marco Pine, Xavier Viola (San Llera) vs Viktoría Oddgeirsdóttir (Pasarga)
Considering the personalities of both head coaches, none of the assistants are going to have much responsibility. San Llera's outnumbering of Pasarga gives them a slight advantage, I guess.

Starting XI
Goalkeepers Vincent Alcalde (San Llera) vs Csikós Evelin (Pasarga)
Goalkeeping has been somewhat of an issue for Pasargan youth teams as of late, and Csikós Evelin has not performed as well as hoped in her starting spot. Meanwhile, the exact same could be said of Vincent Alcalde and San Llera. We'll call this one a draw.

Left Backs Octavio Virgili (San Llera) vs Dagbjört Baldursdóttir (Pasarga)
When Virgili of San Llera is feeling like it, he can be an excellent left back, a fluid combination of dangerous runs offensively and defensive discipline. Unfortunately for San Llera, that is only when he feels like it, and Virgili is prone to make reckless plays against either team when frustrated. This is compared to the always stoic demeanor of Baldursdóttir, who is not nearly as good at her peak but not nearly as bad at her low points. Another draw.

Center Backs Robert Rivello (San Llera) vs Jessica Weiss (Pasarga)
At the heart of two very similar teams in San Llera and Pasarga are their sturdy center backs, Robert Rivello and Jessica Weiss. Both were included in our ranking of top Di Bradini players, but Weiss has done nothing that Rivello hasn't thus far to make me change my mind in putting the latter 7 spots ahead of the former.

Center Backs Josep Belmont (San Llera) vs Christian Krüger (Pasarga)
Second-choice center backs Josep Belmont and Christian Krüger are very similar, which is becoming a trend with these two teams. Neither are going to be overpowered or outrun by any attacker, but they can be outsmarted. Krüger gets a close win based on having more experience.

Right Backs Amerigo (San Llera) vs Arnar Ívarsson (Pasarga)
Amerigo, a stocky right back with surprising touch, is a hard-working right back that can't ever seem to work hard enough to alleviate his natural unathleticism and incredibly slow metabolism. Ívarsson is another large human being, but one without much distribution skills but rather acute awareness and a general high soccer IQ. Slight advantage to San Llera for the more two-dimensional fullback.

Left Wings Adam Gasca (San Llera) vs Lavinia Araujo Pereira (Pasarga)
The most well-known player on the San Lleran squad, Gasca has already broken into the national team at the age of 17 due to his all-around proficiency and methodical approach. Pasargan Pereira, on the other hand, is nowhere near the national team. And even when adjusting for the massive gap in the skill level of the national teams, Gasca gives San Llera a better left winger.

Center Midfielders Franc Sires (San Llera) vs Roland Lebrun (Pasarga)
As with several other positions here, center midfielder comes down to who does the same thing better. San Llera's Sires and Pasarga's Lebrun are both veteran midfielders who can sufficiently orchestrate the attack. But it is the Wanderer, Lebrun, who veterans and orchestrates at a higher level.

Center Midfielders Enric Capella (San Llera) vs Charmaine Ménard (Pasarga)
At the other spot in the center of the midfield, we have two completely different players. Ménard is in no way content to stay back while Lebrun ventures forward, while Capella is with his respective attacking mid. They are both similar players in terms of talent level, but Capella's compatibility with his teammates gives him the edge.

Right Wings Ignasi Cornella (San Llera) vs Angelique Chrétien (Pasarga)
At the right wing position, San Llera's Cornella is a very similar player to Chrétien, but with some key aspects different. Both are very showy dribblers and attack-focused players, but is obviously the more unselfish of the two. While Cornella's strategy for attack centers around dribbling through everyone, Chrétien is an excellent passer, on who assists on many Pasargan goals. Because of this, she gets a clear win at her position.

Strikers Bellemurillo (San Llera) vs Štefica Zagorec (Pasarga)
In the first of two battles of the strikers, Bellemurillo tests his mettle against shock starter Zagorec. The Pasargan side of this position battle was a surprise to be on the team at all, much less the starter. She's not a bad soccer player... just not incredibly good. She certainly can't match the cleverness of Bellemurillo.

Strikers Sergi Bosch (San Llera) vs Stanislav Pokrovski (Pasarga)
And in Part Two of the strikers, it is another easy decision, this time the other way around. While Bosch can match up with Pokrovski shooting-wise and is a serviceable striker, he is well outmatched by the main prong of the Pasargan attack. Pokrovski, in addition to his shooting ability, is athletic and smart with the ball. He will be a menace for San Lleran defenders.

Bench
Marti Resso, Rafael Girgo, Cecili Pallares, Felip Solana, Joan Marines, Abelard Fonda, Pau Marqueque, Angel Tornes, Conrad Sargo, Conrad Novello, Ricard Rossello, Miquel Pinedo (San Llera) vs Patrik Horčička, Thorsten Gerber, Daniela Fridrichová, Þorvaldur Oddsson, Haylom Medhanie, Florian Neustadt, Shimah Hameeda Seif, Perpetuo Jiménez Amador, Peter Farber, Brice Aubé, Harcourt Émond, Lundy Lafrenière (Pasarga)
In the final category, the two benches square off. San Llera has many strong backups in the center of the attack, while they lack on the wing. Pasarga's situation is the other way around, and it all comes down to the defense. The presence of a defensive midfielder and the strength of Abelard Fonda mean that San Llera gets the slightly superior bench.

Final Verdict
Pasarga are a strong side, and this game will be an interesting one. I'm inclined to pick a 2-1 San Llera victory.

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

DI BRADINI CUP 35 / UNDER-21 WORLD CUP 56
An Unusual Barn of Football

Tonight, we'll give you a brief guide about Street Football in the Sunrise. Why? Because it's where some of the guys that got us to the Quarter-Finals started. And who knows? It might get us there more often.

Humble Beginnings
While association football's start on the Sunrise Islands has a clear start, the Mytannar Trio of travellers at Mardi on the late 60s/early 70s introduced it to the Northern Sunrisians while other dimension's Sunrises got word of the sport on the 70s from other foreigners, street football doesn't truly know its' start. Some believe that its' start was at Northern Sunrise and then via dimension travelling mastered by ninjas, the sport became a thing at the other Sunrises. On the other hand, some say that the whole creation of street football was a result of Martial Arts schools being heavily competitive on their insider tournaments, but with no certainty about what Sunrise started it and how it spread out. Anyhow, the existence of street teams was at least guaranteed on Northern Sunrise by the end of 1985, mostly formed out of high and elementary schools. Martial Artists also used to practice the sport, though they often avoided playing against teams that weren't composed of Martial Artists. Among the many early street football teams, some that would, later on, make part of the Street League on the future or be considered for expansion. That being said, street football quickly became a more unusual choice among leagues.

The Key Teams
While the latest season saw many quality teams from all the Sunrise Islands, two teams from Northern Sunrise caught the eye of the crowds thanks to their style and overall skill. The first of them, Mardi City International, became notorious because of their backers, the Mardi City International Airport.

Composed of the children of the workers back at the Airport, the team quickly rose to become one of the most competitive sides of Mardi's Street Circuit and, while many of their most storied players have since retired and after the re-agement still haven't gone back to street football, MCI plans to become a major feature of the Street League. However, their main threat just happens to be at the south side of Mardi Island. Known for their chants and martial skills, this team is also an icon of Sunrisian Culture.

Originally another Martial Arts school with a side street football team, the Wu Tang Academy rose to the top via television appearances. All sorts of media cameos caused the project to leap towards stardom, lasting all for at least twenty years until a rival school ordered and all-out attack against them and while there were still a couple of remaining students, they all but disbanded. Years later, after investigation and proper judgement, however, an ex-student revived the academy and soon, the football team was a thing again. This Di Bradini Cup has already a couple of alumni from the Wu, such as Genius, Prince and Ol' Baby Ash.

Professionalism
While street football sides remained active since the start of the sport, they were mostly amateurish, kept active mostly for fun and games themselves were free, affected by eventualities such as an active street filled with cars or just the mere complaints of neighbours. It wasn't until the 2010s for the concept of professional teams to be even considered by the major sides. It was all thanks to Namine Nagatomo. The first wonder girl of a Sunrisian national team got her start at Tokyoto, playing at the Courage Lions for a couple of seasons before offers arrived at her desk for a pro contract. Many players started to consider the whole possibility of becoming Unified Sunrise's next stars and as such, teams started to ponder on the possibility of going professional and earning something out of the eventual graduates. Teams were mostly picked out via their reputation inside their countries and the organization of the tournament would be handled by some of the ex-chairmen of the Patinsball League.

The First Season

   THE STREET LEAGUE               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
01 Mardi City International         46   25   8  13   185  142  +43    83
02 Wu World Order                   46   26   4  16   178  137  +41    82
03 Straight Jolteon Society         46   25   3  18   203  175  +28    78
04 Tochimoto Iron Boots             46   22   9  15   156  136  +20    75
05 Nightmare United                 46   22   9  15   161  142  +19    75
06 Edenian Bonebreakers             46   22   8  16   187  175  +12    74
07 Perestroika Soyedinennyye        46   23   5  18   162  150  +12    74
08 Pop Ploc AFC                     46   22   6  18   175  163  +12    72
09 Finalizadores de Frequência      46   22   3  21   160  153   +7    69
10 Morro do Garça                   46   20   7  19   174  158  +16    67
11 Rollers 98                       46   20   7  19   167  166   +1    67
12 Shibuya Tin Pins                 46   19   9  18   167  164   +3    66
13 River City Bob-Ombs              46   19   9  18   154  154    0    66
14 Dogenzaka DASH!                  46   20   6  20   150  167  −17    66
15 Dem Yard Boyz                    46   19   8  19   157  161   −4    65
16 Upper Side Kixx                  46   19   5  22   159  158   +1    62
17 Shibuya Gee-Gees                 46   17   7  22   150  174  −24    58
18 East Tokyoto Union               46   17   7  22   160  194  −34    58
19 Mac's Gym Knockouts              46   17   6  23   146  150   −4    57
20 TechnoWizards Mardi              46   16   8  22   110  125  −15    56
21 Franklin Badgers                 46   15   9  22   144  175  −31    54
22 Olho do Cunaré Hurricanes        46   14  10  22   146  167  −21    52
23 Floresta 42'                     46   14   9  23   170  191  −21    51
24 Lagoinha Wave                    46   12   8  26   145  189  −44    44

The first season of the Street League started at Shibuya, Central Sunrise as the Tin Pins played the Gee-Gees on a double feature match with a Patinsball game between the Gee-Gees' Patinsball squad and Sierra Hotel. While the attendance was, mostly, sold out for a good part of the season, the venues for street football are known for being pretty small. Coverage was done mostly via internet, supposedly to keep the feel of an indie ground over a corporative job. Mardi City International, led by an outstanding striker in Leona Bloomfield, edged out a reforming Wu World Order and many others.

Future Plans
The obvious word is expansions. 24 is still a notoriously small number for an All-Sunrisian tournament and many areas have not been represented properly to this point. The league's organization seems adamant about expansion, however. "As much as it sounds nice," stated the Street League's Chief Executive Michael Gillardino, "we, the league's executives do not want the tournament to become an overcrowded mess to the point where money could be an issue." That being said, several teams have applied for membership and a league expansion isn't out of the field. That being said, one thing is certain. The Street League is here to stay.

OTHER NEWS
> Night on Brentwood feels like Day on Mardi
- Air conditioner sale grows in 30% after the last two weeks on the capital of Solar
> Catalán festival starts on Sant Jordi
- The festival is meant to be the first of many measures towards endearing Sant Jordian culture
> "Great Shock", the biggest bomb of Sunrisian cinema
- Film made about the Great Pikachu, one of the best PokéActors of the country has too many explosions
> Red Hatesborough
- Terrorists sour about the prison of their leader come to face with Saints with lots of casualties at Hatesborough

[Armeia]

"WE DIDN'T COME HERE FOR THIS."

Playing hero. Something that every coach hates. And this time, it ended up costing the Nordiques the match and their hopes at a title run. They had went down in the first half, conceding in the fifth minute as Boom Redman made a defensive mistake and gave Roland Lebrun a free run on goal. Isa Tangemen had attempted to stop the shot, but it went off her glove and into the net, and Armeia never recovered. However in minute sixty, Viktor Holzer was able to get the ball in the box after a pinball sequence on a corner kick, and he finished with ease, taking advantage of bad goalkeeper positioning to tie the match.

The controversy came when Isa Tangemen made a tackle just outside of the box in minute 85. Despite major protests from the Armeian bench, she was given a straight red for the studs up tackle and penalty killer Pandora Reimfeller came on at goal to face the PK. She dove the wrong way, however, giving Pasarga the lead and eventually the win. In addition, Tyra Halloway and Gregor Borg both shoved the referee afterwards as they were heading back to center field for the kickoff, and were both sent off for dissent.

ARMEIAN U-21s Press Conference

Augustus Lenz: We didn't come here for this... I didn't come here for this. I'm going to come out and say that Isa Tangemen shouldn't have started, she's not a sweeper but she keeps trying to act like one. [After being asked about his future] I don't intend on leaving Lions. Any rumors you hear are just that, rumors. [When asked about his relationship with Bianka Schraeder] We aren't together anymore. It worked out well for a bit but apparently she likes girls more, I guess I should have been more observant.

Draga Schraeder: [Draga Schraeder refused to use English, but gave this short statement] Der Schiedsrichter Entscheidung war eine absolute Farce, Wenn diese in Cora City Er würde aus Angst sowohl seinen Job und seine Sicherheit.

Sam Leroux: It's the refs fault. We all know that. The fans know it, the players know it, Brandon and Mara know it. But it's not like we weren't having chemistry problems in our midfield. It could have gone either way, we would have won if the ref did his job.

Gregor Borg: I think Sam explained perfectly, so I won't talk about the game. However I have heard news that there is a transfer bid placed on me by a unknown foreign team. I haven't decided what to do yet, if it is true that Atlas has found my replacement, I'll be leaving of course. I want to stay close to Val, but there isn't much I can do if the Njal and the management grow tired of me.

[Fluvique]

Standing

How we can explain that in the best match of the team, Fluvique lost 1-3? Why, when key figures like Bertens, Koll, Lafayette, Castanginet and Kaleshko started to shine, the boys are coming home?

Inexperienced. If we have to explain the elimination of Fluvique, we use that word: inexperienced. And, perhaps, bad luck. Why? Fluvique played well, like in all the tournament. With more or less quality or good game, with order or not, the young foxes tried always to do what the know: play football. This is the cause of the final applauses of the fans and their chants in the defeat. The team, as always, tried to play. Even with the 0-3 down, the players never became nervous and started to make violent fouls.

In the first minutes, the eleven players with serenity and value, faced Cosumar with the feeling of be firm to scare any ghost linked to stage fright, a possible fear that can appear in a big scenario like a knockout stage of a Cup. And, in some moments, Fluvique shocked Cosumar and put them on their side, awaiting for a counterattack. Both Morgan and Smith jumped to attacks positions, Ted Apparicio was the chief of the midfield and Ricky Bertens was doing disasters with the hips of the rivals. But, doing that to an experienced team, can be dangerous. At 17 minutes, an error in a center, resulted in a fast answer of Cosumar and became in the first goal of the match. However, the players continued with their pressure over the defences, but the game was more balanced and both teams played well and they had many chances of goal.

When the first half was ending and the team was with the possession of the ball, again a mix of bad luck and the expertise of Cosumar players was translated into a second and deadly goal. From the stands we saw the faces of our tricolours players: they were a chant to disappointment.

In the second half, with the desperation and the entries of Williams, Duncan and McRuff, Fluvique tried to make a miracle, a heroic quest. But the destiny denied it again and a knockout punch at 55 minutes signed the defeat. A third goal, an excessive punishment to Fluvique. The same Fluvique who believed that the dream of reach the next round was possible. A Fluvique who showed his talents and future stars, who tried to play, fight and be a hard rival.

At 79 minutes, when the match was dead, Ricky Bertens took the ball, dribbled and shot. Was an impresive goal, the minimum deserved for him and for this team. The last minutes showed a show on the stands where the fans was. Confetti, flags and t-shirts waving on the airs, flares and red, white and yellow smoke bombs. The match was stopped for five minutes, until the smoke dissapeared and the fans stopped of climb the fences. None of them wanted to (like many times) hurt anyone. The fans tried to show their support and say goodbye to the beautiful country, our temporary home. We also salute you, Valanora, for a great tournament and the great welcome to all the Fluviqueans (sorry for the mess)

We criticize the players when lack of sportsmanship was shown at the game with Kirisaki. Now, when the referee ended the match, all the players congratulated their rivals and shook hands with sincere respect. Cosumar was best and totally deserves the victory. Our boys, tried and leave the Di Brandini Cup with heads held high. Of course, the travel to home will be quiet and sad but all of them has to know that the entire nation is applauding them because, above all, they tried to play. And died standing.

[Nephara]

What was he doing here?
Orion Etzebeth fidgeted miserably in the light rain. Truth be told, he'd had a day to forget so far - brought on for a tiring Belgrave in the 66th minute to try and defend a 3-1 lead.
Well, the game had ended 3-3, which tells you how well that went. He'd not done well, not at all - not even him and Beresford together, two defensive midfielders by trade, could stem the tide of San Jose's three midfielders. That extra body meant so much.
And now it came to penalties.
Reinhard Armstrong shunted them all into a circle. Between him and Solomon Harm at the heart of defence - Lineker had lost his place through two-yellow-card suspension and not regained it - the Magpies had one of the most solid defensive pairings in the Cup. Not that it had shown against La Selecta. At all. In fact, Sol had practically murdered Morataya for the equalising penalty.
Sierra had dispatched that one, and he dispatched this one, too, lashing it past Carsten Thunder. Amokachi next. The bull-headed, single-minded striker had already scored in the game, taking her tally to a frankly ludicrous eight. Surely she'd just put hers right into the top corner, yeah? That's what she'd do. That was Pen's aesthetic.
She skied it.
Oh, fuck.
If Penumbra had missed, a striker who scored as easily as the one guy with social skills at a nerd convention, then what chance did the rest of them have?!
The substitute Avendanyo scored, sending Thunder the wrong way. Great, 2-0. All catch-up now. Well... 2-1, Szalai levelled the scores.
He hoped they weren't going to have to call him up. He wasn't a coward, but fuck, pressure got to him in a way it didn't seem to affect some of the other people in the squad, and the crowd was... intense, and the atmosphere was hard, and to make things worse they'd lost the toss and were taking penalties in front of San Jose's entirely partisan travelling fans.
Catalan put it past Thunder, Beresford past Schwidrowski.
Why were shootouts so slow? He hated just watching them on television, but experiencing them... ugh. The only people who liked shootouts were the goalkeepers, he reckoned - they couldn't lose. It was their chance to maybe be a hero...
Thunder was getting right up in the face of the next guy - another substitute, Bashenov - and eventually the referee had to come up and seperate the two. There was a hushed, hurried conversation nearby about who would be next for the Magpies, but Asher Voeller volunteered in his rough, rumbling way.
And then they fell silent, and watched intently.
Bashenov's penalty was terrible, and trickled into Thunder's chest.
All even! Well, if they scored, anyway. Cheers across the squad, Thunder pumping his fist and shouting more at Bashenov, the referees getting involved yet again to draw them apart. Schwidrowski, of course, wasn't going to start anything against Voeller. Voeller was massive.
The West Brinemouth striker blasted his strike into the top-right corner.
3-3.
Last set before sudden death - well, it was sudden death already, wasn't it? A quick debate saw Karena Braham, the Sabrefell Athletic left winger who'd come off the bench late in the second half, as the Magpies' next nominee. San Jose's own left winger, Morataya, took the ball, planted it on the ground and took a few steps back gingerly. Ohh, he did not look happy to be here anymore. Thunder was sledging a couple of the San Jose fans behind him before finally turning, almost leisurely, to face Morataya.
And then he saved it again, tipping it away with his fingertips. Bouncing to his feet, he made no secret of his celebrations. Was one of the San Jose fans lighting a flare? Were they going to leave here alive if Braham scored?
She was picking up her fair share of abuse as Vyntra tossed her the ball, but she ignored it. It was obvious she was going to curl it into the top-left corner with her left boot, even Etzebeth could see that. And yet, all the same... if she hit it with conviction and accuracy, nothing could stop her.
She stared the goalkeeper in the eyes. The goalkeeper stared back, both waiting for the whistle.
It came.
She breathed deeply, ran three long strides and hit it true.

[Schottia]

SBCNEWS Online...
Sports special

Schottia 6 - 3 Valladares - Di Bradini Cup
Goals: 14" 51"Rudden, 29" McCormack, 68" Curren, 87" Akiko, 90+1" L'Attue - Schottia | 34" 73" Arango, 42" Sánchez - Valladares

Line-up: Torrance 7, Thompson 6, Holden 7, Soutar 7, Ross 7, Braden 6 (45-Cross 7), Hunt 8, L'Attue 9, Rudden 10, McCormack 8 (80-Dennis 5), Curren 7 (71- Akiko 6 )

---

Schottia are through to the quarterfinals of the Di Bradini Cup with a thumping 6-3 win over Valladares. Although in the end it was a comfortable winning margin, the scoreline does nothing to reflect the ups and downs of this fascinating encounter. Grant Nean's boys and girls really had to be on their game at the Angelotic Temple, to defeat a resilient side, whose senior team are ranked 17th in the world.

Young Lammerton striker John McCormack kept his place in the side, after scoring the goal, which ensured his side topped their group in the game with Fluvique. Boris Hunt, Lucy Curren, and Bella Thompson all came back into the starting line up, after the manager choosing to rest some legs in the last group game. With the normal running order restored it was business as usual for Schottia, going into this important match.

Despite their phenomenal record at Under-21 level, there was no way Schottia were treating this match lightly, and they came out of the blocks with a real intensity. The advanced midfield pairing of Boris Hunt and Caitlin L'Attue once again looked impressive as they pressed Valladeres high up the pitch. It was during one of these moves, picking up a loose Anthony Becker pass, that L'Attue nearly played Chloe Rudden through for the opening goal. The D'Itille youngster turned quickly with the ball, dinking it over the defenders, syncing up with the run of Rudden in behind. The Spiders' winger was on the ball like a flash, but her initial touch to get past Luciano Santo took her too wide, and she could only blaze the ball into the side netting.

It was a warning shot across the bows for Valladeres, and one they really should have heeded, as a couple of minutes later Rudden opened the scoring.

After weathering an early storm, Saskia Holden was able to dispossess Cristian Arango with a well timed tackle, before hitting the ball forward, low and hard. The majority of the Valladar players were rushing forward to join the attack, and were caught out by the uncharacteristic piece of direct football from the Bayer Phoenix wingback. Hanging on the shoulder of the last defender Rudden timed her run to perfection, finding herself one-on-one with Paulo Gaviria. With Anthony Mosquera bearing down on her, she had the option to square the ball to John McCormack, but instead she kept her composure to slot the ball past the Nacional keeper, to score her second of the tournament.

If Schottia were going through, there was no way their opposition were going to make it easy for them, and Valladeres fought hard for an equaliser. Slateport Bulls forward Bryan Sánchez clipped the crossbar with an effort from twenty meters out, and that was closely followed by an Arango strike, which Torrance had to be at full stretch to fist clear. Despite having to endure some concerted pressure it was Schottia who extended their lead over their Rushmori rivals, this time thanks to John McCormack. By this stage in the game, the pace of Rudden, L'Attue, and McCormack in attack was causing the Valldar defence a lot of problems. A quick pass from Erin Braden allowed Hunt the room he needed to thread the ball past Anthony Mosquera, finding the intelligent run of L'Attue. The 18-year-old showed fantastic skill to hold off Faustino Andrade and get her shot in on goal. The ball took a wicked bounce however, and she saw her shot come back off of the keeper, luckily falling kindly for McCormack. The wingforward won't have believed his luck as he was left with a tap-in for his third goal of the tournament.

The fixture was beginning to echo the matchday one encounter with Kirisaki, where everything the team tried seemed to somehow come off for them. This side turned out to be a very different proposition however, and if Schottia thought they were going to get a free ticket through to the quarters, then they were very much mistaken.

Five minutes after the McCormack goal, Arango, who by all accounts has been his side's shining light this tournament, got Valladeres back into contention. Receiving a clever inside ball from Bruno Carbonneau he was able to get the better of Braden, and make his way to the edge of the 18-yard-box. There was still plenty for the 19-year-old to do, but he wasn't fazed, as he took the ball past Gareth Souter to score his fifth of the tournament.

Schottia were left reeling after this, and the half time whistle couldn't come quickly enough for the DBC 33 champions. Other than a long-range effort from Lucy Curren on 40 minutes, it was backs to the walls for Tyran side.

Valladeres continued to take the fight to the Schottians, and they finally got themselves back on level pegging just three minutes before half time. Arango again was involved, as the attacker was at the heart of everything good about his side. Outstripping Hunt for pace, he laid the ball off to Pietro Sangiovanni, who in turn slid it through to Sánchez. The 20-year-old, under intense pressure, was able to get enough behind his shot to tuck it away and send the teams up the tunnel all-square at half time.

Garnt Nean and Andy Ryden knew they had to switch something around during the interval, and as a result they brought on teenager Billy Cross in place of Erin Braden. The Arsenal de Releinthi player slotted in just behind Hunt and L'Attue, acting as more of a deep playmaker as his side attempted to retain more possession.

Schottia must have been grateful for the halftime break as it gave them some time to regroup, taking the sting out of the opposition. It didn't take too long for Schottia to capitalise on this, and they struck again six minutes after the restart, with Rudden doubling her tally for the evening. After receiving a long ball from Cross, McCormack was able to bring it down, and play a quick pass through to Curren on the edge of the box. When the entire Valladar side thought she was going to retain possession, she instead played a first time pass into the feet of Rudden on the left flank. Tearing past Santos, she skipped a challenge from Mosquera, which would have broken her leg had it connected. Once again the North Laithland star found herself through on goal, and true to form she buried the ball past the keeper to restore her side's lead.

The Schottic team weren't leaving anything to chance, and they searched hard to find a fourth goal, which would give them that all-important cushion. After a fast paced period of attack and counter-attack, Schottia got the rub of the green when the ball fell kindly to Curren on the edge of the D. Caitie L'Attue's in swinging corner, was a bit too strong for Ben Ross who could only skiff the ball on as he jumped with the defender. Valladeres will bemoan their inability to get the ball clear as the lurking Curren was able to pounce and get her second of the tournament, pinging her shot through the mass of legs, and in at the near post.

With the scoreline 4-2, Schottia were already in the grips of a six-goal-thriller, but incredibly there was still more to come. Once more, Cristian Arango was on hand to throw his side a lifeline, this time latching onto a loose ball to tuck away the seventh goal of the game. Roger Milligan's long-range effort was initially blocked by Gareth Souter, but fell into the path of the Nacional number ten, who scored his second of the game, and put his team within touching distance once more. Torrance may have felt like he could have done better, but it wasn't to be as the ball squirmed under him and into the net.

The goal set up a nervy last twenty minutes with Schottia aware that a single slip-up could mean extra time. However, if there is one thing shadow striker Akiko is famous for, it is her ability to conjure something out of nothing, and this was no different. Receiving the ball from Billy Cross, she quickly moved up through the gears ghosting past three defenders to score her first goal of the tournament with a net buster of a shot. Other than a few scuffed passes this was the Kelsy player's only involvement in the match, but it was an important one for her team.

After this Valladeres throw everything but the kitchen sink at the Schottic goal in a bid to keep their Di Bradini Cup dream alive. In doing so Claudio Londero side were inevitable caught out, as deep in stoppage time L'Attue rounded of a famous win for Schottia's young-guns. As the ball broke from a corner, the D'Itille midfielder had been left on the half way line, to give the Valladars something to think about. In the end there had been no one left back to track her run, and L'Attue scored her side's sixth of the game.

There will be no complaints from Grant Nean, as his side went through to the last eight in style. There had been some question marks against the players' names going into this tournament, with a new squad and a change in management. Many were dubious as to whether the current crop of players were up to the same standard as the side which won in Starblaydia two years ago. Gone were the likes of Kim Coultan, Eoin Killanen, Thio Crillin, and Craig O'Maramy, and there was no doubt they were big boots to fill. That said, the class of DBC-35 have played themselves into an excellent position, giving them the chance to go on and make their own bit of history.

Since Schottia began competing on the world stage, they have only actually ever lost twice, in the Di Bradini Cup. Unfortunately for them, one of those occasions was against their next opponents, when they were edges out by a Nephara side then captained by a young Elaine Ashdown. Both Chloe Rudden and Lucy Curren will know their opponents very well indeed, playing in the Nepharim Premiership. With the two attackers odds on to start, it will be a chance for them prove what they are capable of, as many of their fans back home will probably be tuning in. Schottia will have every right to feel confident, but the Magpies are no slouches and if the success their senior side is currently enjoying is anything to go by, then they may have their work cut out.

Man of the match: Chloe Rudden

[Ceni]

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5 LESSONS FROM CENI'S DI BRADINI CUP CAMPAIGN
Ceni through to quarterfinals after defeat of Krytenia

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1. Bogeymen continue to deny Ceni absolute progress
Lymantatia and Zenic both gave Ceni scares in the group stage - Zenic even more than that as they defeated Ceni by a score of five to four. Both these nations have had a bogeyman reputation in the past years of footballing competition, Zenic for Ceni in particular. Lymantatia was known for defeats of world powers Vilita with the help of a giant bird. Even though they did not have the help of said Giant Bird during their match in Valanora, or the help of Nacho Man, an army of flying ferrets, or something equally zany, they gave Ceni a very scary and tense match with the help of something a little bit more mundane, the wind, leading four-nil in the first half of the match. Zenic also had a bad reputation in the eyes of Ceni - in World Cup 71, Zenic's senior team thrashed Ceni during their first game and gave them a headache with a draw at home the second time around. This being said, Ceni's U-21 team was a bit apprehensive about the match with Zenic. Zenic continued to be a spoiler in Ceni's plans for sporting success as they scored just one goal more than Ceni in their group stage clash, leaving Ceni still desperate for a win against the team.

2. Ceni's midfield and defense are still vulnerable while the offense shines
A look at Ceni's goal statistics during this tournament shows the entirety of this story. Ceni has allowed 13 goals while scoring 18. Both of those are the highest respective totals in the tournament - despite the fact that Ceni has tried to play with a moderate style, focusing more on the midfield. Obviously more effort needs to be placed into this focus, as the midfield has been proven woefully inefficient in stopping and sweeping the ball in from the defense area. Apparently, zonal defense does not work all that well either - if a striker goes right through the zone and the defender's in the wrong place, too bad, so sad - SOL. Goal. That being said, there are still some bright spots in Ceni's midfield and defense - Allison Swan serves as an excellent center midfielder, playmaker, and coordinator, and shows excellent promise. In contrast to the embattled defensive side of the pitch, the offense shines. Tomás Fierro, the offensive midfielder, proves to be an excellent passer and "scissors" to cut into the opposition's midfield, while the striking team has proven to be an excellent goal-scoring machine. Tyro Solaris acts as an intelligent ball-striker, confident under pressure, while Kira Koromin, touted as the best player in this Di Bradini Cup, has reaped the fruits of her excellent ability to move around the pitch in surprising ways. Eric Garcia adds to the team with his ability to poach off of defenders, and Nico Asturias's agility and shooting skills have also marked him as a valuable member of the team.

3. Solaris and Oannes excel in starting and substitute appearances
Ryan Navir, unfortunately, disappointed in his first two appearances for Ceni's Di Bradini Cup side, letting in a good total of nine goals, albeit some of that was fostered by the defense's partial incompetence. In contrast, Laura Oannes, who subbed in for Navir in the second half of the Lymantatia match, performed well, not getting nervy, directing the defense excellently, and making several excellent saves. After the poor result of the Zenic match, coach Corran Artis decided to start Oannes for the Devonta and Krytenia matches. She excelled in both of those fixtures, cutting down the goals conceded from four or five goals to only two goals in each of those matches, an excellent result. If she can improve her performance on reading the ball - already good - and reduce her goals conceded against the Sunrise Islands, then Ceni would be even better off. On the entirely other side of the pitch, Tyro Solaris has also excelled. Subbed in place of the unexpectedly lackluster Javier del Olmo in the Lymantatia match, Solaris proved that he could be a force to reckon with, with an intelligent and excellent control of the ball, as mentioned above. His performance continued to improve as Solaris scored in both the Devonta and the Krytenia matches.

4. The mental game is almost as important as the physical one
In their game with Zenic, Ceni was haunted with ghosts of it past games against Zenic. Those ghosts helped to contribute to that side's win over Ceni, as Ceni's players lacked confidence and self-assurance against Zenic. They doubted that they could defeat the side that had caused so much trouble for Ceni in World Cup 71, and they didn't have much of a chance because they thought they didn't have a chance. In contrast, against Devonta, their catharsis of emotions brought about by manager Corran Artis helped them to win. The emotions of disappointment and sadness that had so much plagued Ceni's team - and held them back - were gone, and this allowed for a new game of confidence played against Devonta. The same confidence came against Krytenia, a side that could have easily defeated Ceni, considering they shot up above Ceni's ranking in one cycle what Ceni had labored to accomplish in six. But they didn't let that hold them back against Krytenia. They didn't let Krytenia run them around, and they didn't let their jealousy get the better of them. Instead, they played with aplomb, confidence, and didn't let their jitters run them around. This played an important part in their victory.

5. A good campaign could mark a turning point in Cenian football
Ceni has been lacking a strong World Cup qualification team for the past six cycles. Even though it has produced some good players, including Jaime del Olmo, instrumental in bringing 1830 Cathair a Champion's Cup title, Ceni has never had much cohesion or midfielding ability. Its defense is still a problem spot. Even though the Di Bradini Cup's defense is among its weakest aspects, Ceni certainly has some potential stars-in-the-making in the defense, and the midfield in this Di Bradini Cup - also traditionally one of Ceni's weak spots - also has some budding talent, including Fierro and Swan. Likely the best results from a good run in this Di Bradini Cup, however, would be the confidence boost - out in the quarterfinals or semifinals, or even further, Ceni's national team will know that they will have some good talent coming along in the line. And most importantly of all, they will know that they can win. A catharsis of emotions brought victories over Devonta and Krytenia for the junior side in this tournament - so a catharsis of emotions for the senior side should impel the senior side to do well as well.

[Pasarga]

"You see what I mean, we win the DBC, we win the Copa Rushmori, we even win the blasted World Cup and not a single nation gives us the respect that we deserve. Everyone fears Starblaydia even if they are just also rans at this point, everyone thinks of Valanora and THE as great giants of the game, even blasted Nephara get more respect and recognition than us. It's a blasted shame given everything that we've accomplished over our time, especially the last few years as we've become legends in our own right."

"I know what you mean though that match that shall not be named certainly did put a small dent into our reputation it seems when it comes to the international community. Even that though should not be seeing the sort of disrespect that the likes of San Llera, Taeshan, and Armeia have been completely out of control and just wrong."

"Do you think that perhaps it is because we are nothing extraordinary, just a normal nation with normal people and normal footballers? No divine entities here, no extraordinary creatures, no tyrannical governments or military hell bent on causing turmoil across the region like some of our regional rivals. Even the Polarians and Eurans are more respected by the world than our Wanderers are despite that fact that their titles are over a decade in the past."

"I definitely think that might be the case, Pasarga just doesn't seem to strike world beaters for a lot of people."

"Speaking of San Llera, that's who our Young Wanderers have in their upcoming match, with their media seemingly saying that they have the better of the youth products and should be walking away with the victory, though they at least say that it will be a close match."

"To be fair, our own media has been saying that this current crop of players is not quite up to the standard of the ones that were here just four tournaments ago. That being said, there were quite a few spectacular players in those groups and they are the reason that the Wanderers made it to back to back World Cup and Copa Rushmori Finals. While these players may not be world class, what's to say that a few of them wont bloom into that in the coming years? One need to merely looking at Tobias Möller, he never really came into his own until he was 25 and then he took the world by storm. To dismiss the current crop of players so whimsically is risking incurring a huge amount of hubris, even if it is years later when it comes."

"True true, though for this match, they probably wont have enough, though I wont be surprised if they can pull the game into extra time or even penalties. Spot kicks are really tricky and after three sets of them during the round of sixteen, with a result that raised eyebrows, you have to be sure that San Llera will want to try and see our side off before that risky skill challenge comes. Jessica Weiss can really show that she demands a place on the full national team with a solid performance here and don't be surprised if Stanislav Pokrovski comes out aggressive either. There is a rumor that there will be a spot on the next World Cup for a new striker and some new, young blood like Pokrovski could definitely push the current strikers even more."

"So what you're saying is that there is a chance."

"There's always a chance."

[Valanora]

Quarterfinals
Pasarga 1–1(1–1 AET)[4–5 PKs] San Llera
Ceni 2–2(2–2 AET)[4–3 PKs] Unified Sunrise Islands
Semarland 0–2 Cosumar
Schottia 2–0 Nephara

Semifinals
San Llera v Ceni @ Artani, Mar Sara
Cosumar v Schottia @ The White Fortress, Gladerial

[Schottia]

SBCNEWS Online...
Sports special

Schottia 2 - 0 Nephara - Di Bradini Cup
Goals: 40" Curren, 52" McCormack- Schottia |

Line-up: Torrance 7, Thompson 8, Holden 7, Soutar 9, Ross 8, Braden 8 (87-Deleuze 4) , Hunt 8, L'Attue 7, Rudden 8, McCormack 7 (73-M.Ünterhausen 6), Curren 7 (59- J.Ünterhausen 7)

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Its now semi-finals time, as Schottia battled through a tough last eight fixture, defeating a very good Nephara side. It took a big performance, and the Schottians had to dig very deep in order to beat the Esportivans, who will be gutted to have gone out at this stage. The whole way through this tournament Grant Nean's side had been living in the vast shadow of the DBC-33 Champions, having had to withstand constant comparisons. Now with wins over big-hitters such as Kirisaki, Quebec, Valladeres, and Nephara, this set of youngsters have proven themselves just as capable of getting results.

It was the same starting line-up for Schottia as the one, which made the cut for the win over Valladeres. Despite Akiko scoring in the 6-3 victory, she didn't do enough to force herself into the manager's reckoning, as Nean once again opted for the less glamorous option of John McCormack, to partner Lucy Curren in attack. McCormack has won rave reviews here in Valanor (not least from his manager), for his no nonsense, hard-graft approach to the game.

It was a nervy opening period, with both sides struggling to make anything stick. Erin Branden was given the unenviable task of trying to keep Cardinal Belgrave quiet, but it was one she stuck to throughout the opening half. Despite being charged with holding the midfield, Kings Park star Braden was arguably having her best game of the tournament so far. So important to the side for her businesslike attitude and backs to the wall approach, the manager has stuck by her this tournament when others might not have.

Other than a stinging left footed effort from Chloe Rudden, which clipped the outside of the post, Schottia had very little to show for their exploits early on. In all their matches so far, the Schottians have largely had the run of things in the midfield, however Claire Beresford and co. were doing everything possible to frustrate them. This was evident in Boris Hunt's frustration, as the teenager was booked for a cynical foul on Belgrave. This combined with the task of keeping Lienke Vesper, and Penumbra Amokachi under check, meant there was little room for Schottia's midfield to get forward.

There was much curiosity as to how centre-backs Ben Ross and Gareth Souter would deal with the pace of Amokachi, and the duo had to be alert throughout the opening forty-five to keep the Brinemouth player at bay. The 20-year-old nearly gave her side the lead in fact, when on the half hour mark, she got goal side of Saskia Holden. Pinking up a Belgrave pass, she did superbly to get a sight on goal, however, there was a huge sigh of relief amongst the Schottic fans as Scott Torrance was able to match her shot, somehow deflecting it from danger.

Schottia got the unexpected breakthrough five minutes from half time, when Caitlin L'Attue, holding of Claire Beresford, finally managed to spring a meaningful attack. The D'Itille midfielder, who has been her side's most consistent player over the five matches, came up with the goods once more as she timed a great ball in behind Everard Tawney. The heavy pass gave Rudden the chance to use her pace to good effect, and it was the first time she was really able to open out and test the Magpies defence. The North Laithland winger managed to catch the ball before it went out for a goal-kick, somehow scooping it back to Lucy Curren just inside the box. At 177 centimetres, it took everything the little striker had to hold of Reinhard Armstrong and club mate Conan Lineker, but she showed some real tenacity to connect with the ball, and fire in her third of the tournament. Dumped hard on the turf during her efforts, the Maximum Rovers youngster was mobbed by her teammates, elated that they now had at least something to defend.

There would have been no one happier to hear the half time whistle sound than Grant Nean, who had been on his feet since the kick off, and probably covered as much ground as some of his players. His team had stuck to the task, and taken their chance in an otherwise frustrating half of football. Nephara had really cranked things up following the goal, but defending high up the park, Schottia had managed to keep them out.

Nean had options on the bench, and it must have been tempting for him to bring on some fresh legs at half time. However, it was the same eleven who re-emerged from the tunnel, looking fired-up, if not a little drained. Tiredness to one side, it didn't take Schottia long to get settled back into the match, as the goal which settled the tie came quickly after the restart.

Picking up the ball just inside her own half, Braden played a quick pass to L'Attue on the right hand side. Under pressure from Vesper, she quickly switched things back to Hunt in the centre, after the Laketown Rangers man did well to shake the attentions of Beresford. The midfielder then drove forward with the ball, taking it past Adnan Szalai, before disguising his pass to set up John McCormack just on the 6-yard-line. The Lammerton forward's run seemed to catch everyone by surprise, as he found himself in an excellent position to dispatch his shot beyond Carsten Thunder, to double his side's lead.

The two-goal cushion gave the team from Tyran some much needed breathing space, as the game entered the final stages. True to form, there was no way Nephara were going to go down without a fight, and at points it was all hands to the pump in defence. Souter and Ross had to be at the top of their game, as the talented Nepharim midfield tested them time after time, desperately seeking the goal, which would get them back into the game.

As the half went on Schottia were defending deeper and deeper, reverting to a counter attacking style of play. Curren made way for Johannas Ünterhausen, who formed a central midfield three with Braden and Hunt, sitting almost on top of their own centre-backs. Whenever a Nephara attack broke down it was a long punt up the pitch for Rudden, McCormack and L'Attue to chase. Rudden in particular came close to killing of the match, when her 75th minute strike was well saved by Thunder; the North Laitland winger will be kicking herself for not taking another touch before shooting.

It was a case of holding on and in the end that's what Schottia did, to extend their unbeaten run in the Di Bradini Cup to fourteen games. Next up for the White and Greens are Cosumar, after the Azure Dragons defeated Semarland by an identical scoreline. This should be a very close match, and another one which could go either way. With right-back Bella Thompson playing for Cosumarite side Nomad Brotherhood, the manager will have a source of inside knowledge to tap into. That said many of the player will need no introduction, and already play for some of the top teams in the world. Cosumar's under-21s have looked really strong for a couple of cycles now, and they, like Schottia, may be beginning to sense that this is their year.

Man of the match: Gareth Souter