Di Bradini Cup 38/U21WC59 (Everything Thread)

[Nephara]

THE BRINEMOUTH HERALD
IS BREWER REALLY UP TO THIS?
by Patricia Steinbren

It's a common belief that many assistant managers, especially at the top level, are in that position because they're very well suited to it. The implication being that they should stay there.

Erica Brewer has spent the best part of a decade trying to fight back against that perception and has, well... had a mixed record, yet to finish in the top half of the Premiership, unable to break the Rovers out of their unstable cycle of mediocrity. For this, she was rewarded with the job at Crisisbless on the outgoing Reinhard Shale's recommendation, signing a four-year contract she lasted one year of as she managed to finish in the bottom half in a year where Starling, Vermillion and Brookford were the top three. A Cup win forgives many sins. But Brewer was unsuccessful, unpopular with both fans and players - directly responsible, in fact, for Igrene Cantor's departure - and for this she has been rewarded with the U21 post. Shale pulling strings again.

Her maiden result is, as the tabloids have had two days to howl about by now, a defeat to Gadirya where the Magpies dominated but couldn't penetrate and then lost to a defensive error that stemmed from Danijel Brymora, a rightback by trade thrown into centre-half. Dominance without penetration, the story of her stint at Crisisbless.

There is no doubt that Brewer was and is a fantastic coach. She's clearly intelligent, too, with a strong idea of how the game will progress going forward in Nephara and abroad - more cultured, more technocratic. The same predictions made by Escher Speare, an iconic figure by Gethin Ramsey's side and now a successful manager at Premiership level.

There can also be no doubt that Shale's recommendation came entirely based off merit. Certain greasy national tabloids have been fond of totally baseless rumours of an affair between Shale and Brewer, and yet every witness from Maximum through Pajukas to Sabrefell has established their relationship as immaculately professional. She is regarded as one of the best assistant managers in the game, entirely working under Shale. Of course he would respect her highly.

It's not too late to turn this around, either. For Brewer, this is likely her last chance to keep her foot in the door as a Premiership-level manager. With Tomikosan, brave but little-fancied, up next, it is entirely conceivable that a convincing win would change the entire tone of Nephara's tournament. God knows the senior team has made something of a habit of slow starts lately, and it's hardly done them any harm. This is a strong side Brewer has and even managed competently should really be able to mark down a place for itself this tournament.

But should the Magpies fail? Then Brewer must walk, and she might never wear a suit in the technical area again.

[Mercedini]

Mercedini Sports Daily
Matchday 1: Qasden vs. Mercedini

The first match day of the Di Bradini Cup sees Mercedini's U21 play Qasden in Valanora at the group stage. Plenty of anticipation for both teams as they both try to start the tournament on the right foot. Mercedini have been preparing at their base in Valanora and have tried to read up on their opponent's playing style, but footage has been very hard to come by due to Qasden being a relatively new team the international footballing stage, will that help or hinder them today?
Mercedinian fans are out in full force as a sea of black and blue fills the stands to the left of me, while the Qasden fans fill up the stands to the right of me. The Mercedinian Big Band is playing in full force, playing a selection of Mercedinian, Valanoran and Qasdanian classics. I'm tucking in to a lovely burrito as we wait to find out who will come out on top in the first matchday, in the other match being held today, Azrea will be playing the Royal Kingdom of Quebec to decide who will open up the group in the right direction.
Mercedini will play a strong team in hopes to get three points on the board in the opening game. The teams have come out with Qasden in their Red and Blue striped kits, and Mercedini in their trademark Blue and Black kits, Ben Chillotov will lead out Mercedini, hoping to further his goal tally in this tournament. The teams are out and we're ready for the national anthems.

0' - A rousing rendition of 'ad augusta per angusta' coming from the Mercedinian crowd, and the Qasdenians weren't that bad either. Mercedini will be kicking off towards the Qasdanian fans. Chillotov passes back to the midfield and we're underway!

9' - (QAS 0-0 MRC) - Nine minutes in and there is already a striking difference between the action in the U21 and senior teams, plenty of energy being expended by both teams early on with chances being traded at either end. Chillotov with a 1-on-1 with the goalkeeper, he couldn't keep it on target and the ball whistled wide of the post. Meanwhile, a dangerous moment for Mercedini as Qasden's Valentijn Munson fashioned a shot on the edge of the box, but Hosset was equal to the shot and easily caught it. Play continues on the far side, it's still goalless.

17' - (QAS 0-0 MRC) - Mercedini forming some openings in the Qasden defence, not getting the clinical finishing we saw in the last cycle. Daniel Dostalok was found with a fizzing cross from Crasic, Dostalok flicked the ball on with a header. The ball went just wide, but the ball did clip the post on the way out. Still goalless, but Mercedini slightly on top.

30' - (QAS 0-0 MRC) - It's Qasden's turn to take the initiative as we enter the last fifteen minutes of the first half. Cassidy and Nosek combined down the middle to bamboozle the Mercedinian defence, before a fierce shot from Munson couldn't stay on target and it went high and wide of the mark. Qasden are beginning to find their footing in the match, Mercedini have to be careful they don't find themselves behind before the end of the first half. 0-0

40' - (QAS 0-0 MRC) - Play has slowed down in the last ten minutes after that Qasden chance. Play has been focused in the midfield, with neither team wanting to commit and leave themselves open to an attack or being unable to get past the midfield of the opposite team. Frustration from both managers as we enter the last five minutes of the half.

45+3' - (QAS 0-0 MRC) - The referee blows his whistle for the end of the first half. The match had a blistering start with both teams setting out their stalls early on, but the match eventually died out with little creative flair left to last stoppage time. I hope for a better half, but at the break it's Qasden 0, Mercedini 0.

HALF TIME: Qasden U21 0 - 0 Mercedini U21

The teams are back out for the second half, it seems like Mercedini will keep out the same team as in the first half. So, Trevansek trusts that his players can get the job done in the end. Qasden will kick off, kicking from right to left and towards their own fans. Expect fireworks, second half starting now!

52' - (QAS 0-0 MRC) - Much of the same from both teams. They have kicked off with pace and trickery and creating plenty of chances at either end, the two goalkeepers have had to make plenty of saves, but the best came from Qasden's Divna Grosser, who's flicked header from the corner went off the crossbar, Hosset couldn't get to the ball, but thankfully it flew out after that scare. Somehow, it's still 0-0.

63' - (QAS 0-0 MRC) - GOAL!!! Unbelievable stuff here, Qasden have taken the lead with a break-away goal from Valentijn Munson. The chance came from a Mercedini corner, which was swiftly headed out by the defence. Mercedini committed too many men forward with means Munson only had Alexander Ytandev to beat, a swift piece of trickery beat the last defender before he slotted the ball in the bottom corner, past Hosset before celebrating with the fans behind the goal. Qasden go ahead with only half-an-hour left in he game. Is that enough time for Mercedini to get back. 1-0 Qasden!

77' - (QAS 1-0 MRC) - Mercedini have pressed and pressed and pressed after going behind. Chance after chance is going begging from Mercedini, they cannot get the ball into the net for love nor money. Chillotov and Dostalok are combining well, but Pahlke is having the game of his life in the Qasden net. Time is running out for Mercedini, can they snatch a point as we approach the last ten minutes?

83' - (QAS 1-0 MRC) - Another shot past the post from Nymark, it's getting desparate for Mercedini as they try and get the goal they need. They have had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out for offside, to which a chorus of boos was heard from the black and blue portion of the crowd. Trevansek is getting more and more animated in the technical box. Seven minutes plus stoppage time remaining for the Eaglets. Tense doesn't even describe the feeling in this stadium

90+2' - (QAS 1-0 MRC) - Penalty to Qasden! They have a chance to seal the game with a handball from Pollson in the box in added time. It's Munson to try and grab his and Qasden's second of the game and finish Mercedini off at the death. The referee blows his whistle... Hosset saves!!!!! The ball goes wide, but it doesn't matter as the referee blows his whistle for the end of the match. Qasden have pulled off a famous victory in the Di Bradini Cup. Where do Mercedini go from here? Trevansek waves all the players back to the dressing room, elation from the Qasden fans, misery from the Mercedinans. At the end of the match, it's finished Qasden 1, Mercedini 0.

FULL TIME: Qasden U21 1 - 0 Mercedini U21
Munson 63'

After that disappointing defeat, Mercedini will play the Royal Kingdom of Quebec in their second match at the group stages. They beat Azrea by 4 goals to 2, but if they can come away with a win, then they will blow the group wide open with one game remaining. That's all from me, I'll see you at the next match and remember... drowning your sorrows in absinthe may result in hallucinations that shows Mercedini winning the Di Bradini Cup, so drink responsibly

[Abanhfleft]

Living With the Loggers, Part Ten

Loggers Park
Hunsen, Valeria, Anglatia

Bisera Haralampieva stood alone in the hallway of the office building beside Hunsen's training ground. The other players and the club's manager, Erik Hanokssen, were watching the conflagration from a television in Erik's office. The sirens of the firefighters and police were distant yet loud in Bisera's ears as Loggers Park was just a block or two away from the training ground.

Bisera leaned against the wall as she replayed the events of the past hour in her head. Running into Britt and Audra, who looked like they were out for blood after their fellow youth player DeAria was stabbed and left to bleed to death. Getting headlocked by Hanna Nylis and having a gun placed to her head just so the team's socialists could burn down the stadium in retaliation for Britt and her fellow monarchists burning down the Valerian Socialist Party building. Pissing herself in combined fear and shock after Audra had shot and killed Hanna with a shot that could have just as easily injured or killed Bisera as well. Bisera felt unclean, as if the events of the night had stained her very soul. All she wanted was to go back to her apartment and have a long shower and wash herself clean. But she couldn't move her feet. It was as if someone had poured quick-drying glue on her.

The door to Erik's office opened, and Britt stepped out of it. She looked around and saw Bisera leaning against the wall. Britt hesitated for a moment, and then she began walking towards Bisera. "What the hell do you want, Britt?" the Fleftic-born Pridnestrovian winger asked the manager's daughter.

"Look, Bisera, I'm sorry for all of this," Britt said as she ran both of her hands through her hair. "I really am. I'm sorry that I dragged you into my troubles and that you nearly got yourself killed because of me. If there's anything that I can do to help, just tell me."

"Sure," Bisera scoffed. "Do you know where I can find a mind eraser or some brain bleach so I can forget about everything that happened tonight?"

"Um, yeah, that I can't help you with. But look on the bright side. You've finally been threatened at gunpoint. You're a real north sider now."

"That's one hell of a bright spot," Bisera muttered. "And if this is the price I have to pay to be one of you, I'd rather not have paid it in the first place."

"Bisera, I can only be sorry that I couldn't keep you away from the shit I've been involved in."

"You don't have to apologize to me, Britt," Bisera said, raising her hand. "It was kind of inevitable anyway. I've been forcing my way into your life, your world so much that I ended up falling straight into the deep end. I need some time to think. I'm going back to my apartment, okay? If Erik asks, that's what you tell him." And Bisera finally felt new strength flow into her legs as she gained a new purpose and she pushed herself away from the wall, out of the team office, across the street, and into her apartment.

Bisera locked the door behind her, and then she undressed, leaving a trail of clothes leading to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and stood underneath the streams of hot water. The droplets were like tiny hands which massaged the muscles on her back, which had been tensed up since Hanna Nylis first grabbed her from behind. Her relaxing muscles gave Bisera more room in her mind to think about herself and her life.

I have to get out of here. Self-preservation, as always, trumped everything else, and Bisera was no exception. She had just gone through a life-threatening experience and she had no intention of staying in the place where she had almost died.

After self-preservation came the first stirrings of altruism. Britt and Erin are in danger, and they'll always be in danger unless I can get them and myself out of Anglatia. Bisera couldn't explain why she was being overwhelmed by a desire to save these two girls. Perhaps it was because she was the youngest of three siblings, and she was looking upon Erin and Britt, who were both younger than she was by a couple of years, like they were her younger sisters. She wasn't a psychologist; this wasn't her area.

Would they fit in in Abanhfleft? At first glance, it seemed as it they would fit right in in the Democratic Republic. Abanhfleft was multicultural and plurinational; many people from other nations were proud to call themselves Fleftics and call Abanhfleft their home. Erin and Britt's relationship wouldn't raise as many eyebrows as it would here in Valeria; same-sex relationships were commonplace in the Democratic Republic. But as Bisera thought more on it, the more she realized that integrating Britt and Erin into Fleftic society could be much harder than she first thought.

It had nothing to do with regular Fleftic society; Erin and Britt would fit right in, if not exactly immediately. It was Fleftic's other society, the underworld, that truly worried Bisera. Since no football clubs were willing to take a chance on the two girls, if Bisera had them forcibly brought into Abanhflett, they would have no source of income at all. And since Erin was a drug addict (that was an undeniable fact), she would eventually and inevitably try to buy drugs from the underworld, which controlled the supply of hard drugs (cocaine and methamphetamines, among others) in the country. And because she wouldn't be able to pay for her drugs, Erin would accrue debts with the underworld, and it would quickly turn ugly for her and Britt.

Bisera knew how ruthless the Fleftic underworld because she had seen it firsthand. Her uncle Kaloyan had been paying protection money to Conam, Abanhfleft's largest organized crime syndicate, until he had ended up deep in debt because he had been duped into investing in Matthew Koppelberg's Seaman Brothers scam. After Uncle Kaloyan had been unable to pay protection for three months, Conam had kidnapped Kaloyan Junior and Metodiy, Uncle Kaloyan's children and Bisera's cousins, and held them until he could pay his accrued protection debt. After the deal had been made, the police had found both kits outside of the Aeroflot Stadium with their hands and legs broken. Both Kaloyan Junior and Metodiy still bore the physical and mental scars of the experience ten years later.

The thought of Erin and Britt falling afoul of the massive shadow of Conam sent a shiver down Bisera's spine that cut through the hot water flowing down her back. She just wanted to save those two girls. But the more she tried to think about ways of saving them, the more it looked as if it was going to be an impossible task. The tears that flowed out of Bisera's eyes mixed with the hot water coming from the shower head.

---

CRESCENT NEWS NETWORK
SPORTS CHANNEL - OFFICIAL WEBSITE
ABANHFLEFT • PRIDNESTROVIA • OONTAZ DERT LI NG • COPPER CUPRUM • TRENDSTART • FHULGHAMOUS PENINSULA

DI BRADINI CUP 38: SCHOTTIA VS ABANHFLEFT
By Malik Qazizadah


Abanhfleft's Kareem Dagen waits for play to resume in the Young Revolutionaries' game against Schottia. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

RAYNOR CITY, VALANORA - Abanhfleft opened their 38th Di Bradini Cup campaign with a fine win against Schottia.

Both sides were initially kept scoreless by impressive defending and great goalkeeping, and the most notable chance in the first half was when Arsenal de Releinthi's Melanie Ünterhausen worked her way past two Fleftic defenders before launching a ferocious shot at goal which Orestes Katsouranis III was only able to tip over the crossbar.

But the feel of the game changed just five minutes into the second half when Abanhfleft finally made their pressure count by chesting down expertly a long ball from Ainsley Gibson before slotting past Nora Imrie.

Jeanine Stober scored Abanhfleft's second and game-winning goal when she nudged the ball into the net with the lightest of touches following Annamarie Sabado's free kick.

Camila Soria Luna and Estelle Conway both tried to give Schottia a way back into this game, but Conway's header from a Soria Luna corner was easily stopped by Katsouranis III.

Same stuff, different tournament
The last time that the two countries had met in the Under-21 World Cup was in the Round of 16 of Di Bradini 37, also hosted by Valanora, and Abanhfleft had come out of that contest triumphant by four goals to Schottia's two.

Many of the players involved in that contest reappeared to represent their nations once again, although there were a few notable departures which affected the feel of the game much.

Schottia's football association had instituted a new rule in which under-21 players who had appeared for Schottia's senior football team was no longer eligible to play for the under-21 team, at least in this edition of the tournament.

Billy Cross and Johannas Ünterhausen were some players whom Schottia sorely missed as they went into this Group G opener.

For Abanhfleft, Lemuel Fuller and Mabel Finnemark were also missed, but their replacements in the starting eleven, Georgine Baum and Marietta Toksvig respectively, filled their shoes well enough.

Baum impresses in under-21 debut
Georgine Baum had been included in the under-21 roster after she impressed in the 9th Under-15 World Cup held in Schottia, but no one expected to see her become part of the starting eleven just one year after making it into the side.

Both local and foreign pundits questioned Baum's inclusion in the starting eleven, and they chiefly wondered whether she had enough experience to already play at such a high level.

Baum quickly silenced her doubters with a composed display in Abanhfleft's defensive line as she quickly picked up on captain Ainsley Gibson's cues and followed the lead of her more experienced teammates.

But even though she picked up a late yellow card after a hard tackle on Estelle Conway, Baum has proven that she can play with the big boys and girls, but whether she can keep up this performance against Ceni and Flardania is still another matter.

Abanhfleft under-21 manager Celerino delos Reyes: "It's a great start to the tournament. The boys and girls played well, and they played with a great intensity. I'm proud of them all."

On Ceni, their next opponent: "Ceni will be a tough opponent. They scored seven goals against Flardania, which means that they have a great attacking unit. But then again, Flardania has shipped a lot of goals in this tournament's recent history. We only have to hold together defensively and score ourselves and we can make it through tomorrow's game."

SCHOTTIA 0 - 2 ABANHFLEFT
               DAGEN (50')
               STOBER (58')

ABANHFLEFT
GK: 01 Katsouranis III
RB: 02 Popov
RCB: 03 Hartin (Sullins - 86')
LCB: 04 Gibson
LB: 05 Baum █
RDM: 06 Levin (Castellano - 86')
CDM: 07 Kleinmann
LDM: 08 Stober
CAM: 10 Toksvig
RS: 09 Dagen
LS: 11 Sabado (Stephenson - 78')

SCHOTTIA
GK: 01 Imrie
RB: 02 Crendoa
RCB: 03 Grant
LCB: 04 Mk. Ünterhausen
LB: 05 Colgan (Koller - 69')
RCM: 06 Gerrish (Yamazaki - 77')
LCM: 07 Addison
RW: 08 Conjure
CAM: 10 Soria Luna
LW: 11 Rexmont
ST: 09 Me. Ünterhausen (Conway - 80')

STATISTICS
Possession
Schottia: 50%
Abanhfleft: 50%
Shots
Schottia: 13 (4 on target)
Abanhfleft: 9 (3 on target)
Corners
Schottia: 5
Abanhfleft: 5
Fouls
Schottia: 9
Abanhfleft: 13

[Dainer]

THE AMATEUR ERA

Football was a late arrival in Dainer, and the first teams were amateur, though the correct term in this case may be hobbyist. Playing football on one's own dime was simply not possible for many athletes of poor backgrounds, so many of the early teams actually repaid athletes for the time invested in a sort of semi-professional arrangement.
Records of this era are scant due to the scattered and casual nature of the competitions, and athletes weren't recognized at the national level yet. Ventia was the birthplace of Daineri football with the Crystal and Sibelius clubs, which played in neighboring pitches and formed the first lasting rivalry of Daineri football. Zill and Tommy-Atkins were also founded during this time, creating the first major inter-city derby. Some "clubs" were just informal associations of people who played in public fields. One of those was Estrela D'Alva, which literally started out as a bunch of kids from the same street and became one of the few to last to this day.
The first competitions to reach beyond regional level were between educational institutions. The burgeoning public transport system and investments in education left schools and universities with the resources to send their teams to play across the country. That was the beginning of football as a mass sport in Dainer rather than a hobby. Once some of those kids had graduated, they took their talents and know-how outside to found some of the first professional clubs, like Isper and University. As the professional teams dominated their respective areas, they started to look for each other for challenges, and soon the potential for a national competition has blossomed...

[Tomikosan]

Road to Victory: The New Beginning
Episode 2: The Win is Ours

Matchday 1: Held in Hatire Memorial, Capri, Valanora

---

*Tomikosan plays it's first game against Dunnes in their first ever tournament debut. Bassett and his gang are hoping to grab the first three points and the fans are getting wilder and wilder as they are exited to see them winning. Here they are, in the dressing room, everyone feels a bit nervous but they are ready to play the game.*

Bassett: This is our first game. Everybody's big game tonight. We never experience this before but now is the time. I know you are shy and everything but remember, keep your cool head and play to my plan. We want to show everyone, including the whole world, that we are capable of playing football well. Understand?

All the Players: (Nods)

Muriel: Alright then. Go out from the dressing room. The subsitutes will go out with Zavachi and Albert, while the rest of you wait outside with me and Johnny.

*As commanded, Zavachi and Brock-Madsen walk out with the substitutes to their football benches. Then, both Dunnes and Tomikosan's Full XI enter the field to line up in a uniformed way. After that, the national anthems of both countries begins to play with Dunnes first. Of course, the whole U-21 squad and the Tomikosanese fans sing proudly for their own anthem. Both sides shook hands and pose for team photos. Bassett and their home coach, Josue LeGarros, walk to each other and did the same as well, wishing him a great match. It is time to test who can get 3 points.*

To show the first match, we are now going to our live commentary with Tom Foster, the sports commentator, and here he is join by Clint Beckett.

Beginning of First Half

Tom Foster: (Referee blowing the whistle) The ref has blown the whistle to signal the beginning of the first half. Tomikosan has got their chance to play international football. They are hoping to grab a win for themselves.

Clint Beckett: Let us hope that we are seeing a great soccer match for these two teams.

05th Minute

TF: The ball goes to Young-Song. And he passes to Amestov. He's trying his to outrun the defenders now. Now a long ball to Kreis and he goes for the cross in. The defence is out of place and Connors goes for a GOAL..............BUT HE HIT'S THE CROSSBAR. HE HIT'S THE CROSSBAR. Laoi feels very lucky that it didn't go in. Unbelievable.

*Connors stands on the pitch, looking disappointed. Bassett looked almost excited that he has the best chance to score but is upset when it didn't go in. The fans shouted 'ooh' as they struck with disbelief.*

CB: That's an early attempt for the Tomikosanese side as Connors gives out a good oppotunity to score. Too bad he didn't get one today.

12th Minute

TF: Daniels. He is now dribbling past through the defenders before a pass to Rhodes. Rhodes to Tabaz. Tabaz goes easy on the defenders now. Now he passes back to Rhodes and the ball goes to Park. Park shoots. Aand the ball goes to the hands of Smith. Too easy for him.

CB: I got to tell you, Tom. The Dunnesian striker is trying to give his team a goal, but Smith is very tall to handle the situation like this. Easy for him. Hard for some strikers if they are not placing their shots right or if they are weak to even take one.

19th Minute: GOAL D. Henessey

TF: Marshall has the ball now, and he tries to find space for his teammate. The ball is intercepted by Amestov. He goes for the run and gives his ball to Kreis. His teammates creates the space for him to pass. Connors picks it up. He goes in the penalty area, what is he going to do now? He goes for goal. Laoi SAVES. THE BALL GOES LOOSE. HENESSEY HAS THE BALL. SHOOTS IN. HE SCORES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And Vin Ahrenhov just feels like they are going wild!

*Tomikosanese fans begins celebrating as Hennessey scores his first goal for his country. Bassett, his assistants, the substitutes and the away crowd feel absolutely excited considering that they witness their first goal of the debut. Henessey runs to Bassett and hugs him to complete his celebration.*

CB: Great goal by Hennessey. The midfielder has his ball taken by Amestov, then Kreis and later Connors who the keeper blocks his save attempt. Laoi, however, is unlucky that he didn't reach for the ball and that is how Henessey is the first to score for Tomikosan. And the first goal in Group E.

22nd Minute:

TF: Laoi goes with a long ball. It is going to Joe Rhodes. He uses his head very well. The ball goes to Marshall. The players are marking Tomikosan's defenders as they are trying to get the ball and find a chance to score. He passes to Verde. Verde goes in the penalty area. He goes for goal! Just off target! He couldn't find a place to score!

CB: Disbelief for him, Tom. His side went down 1-0, and that could have been an equaliser.

26th Minute: Yellow card: L. Comet

TF: It's Teresky with the ball. He goes through the defence, what is he going to do? Teresky passes the ball to Song-Young, and (ref blows whistle for foul) he is taken down by the defender. The ref did see it as a bad challenge and declares a foul. Leo Comet took down Song-Young via his legs touching the other leg. Not a good one at all. (Ref pulls out a yellow card to Comet for a booking) It's yellow for Comet. Oh dear, he has to be careful with that tackle next time he makes a point.

CB: He should be REALLY careful when he wants to prevent him from passing to his teammates. It's unfortunte that he got booked for that.

33th Minute:

TF: It goes for Daniels. Daniels has the ball and goes for a cross in. It goes to Park but is he attempting to shoot? Smith takes the ball and get's it done for Tomikosan. Again, too easy for his height and size.

CB: Again, Dunnes's striker didn't seem to get one, didn't have a chance to kick in. Smith is on great form today.

37th Minute:

TF: Hashimoto gets the ball and they seem to be playing a passing game between each other. The midfielders are looking clueless now, how are they supposed to do that? Hashimoto lobs in for Amestov. Amestov is looking for an oppotunity to find where he can get someone to pick up the ball. Kreis gets the ball from Amestov. The defenders are going to step up a little bit now, as he finds nobody to defend. Kreis goes for long kick, hoping it to score! Wasteful chance right there! Keeper finds it easy to see his ball going to the stands.

CB: Well, Kreis doesn't think he won't have a chance from this distance. Unless he is accurate enough for the ball to go in, he should have just pass to his teammates instead.

40th Minute:

TF: We got 5 minutes left until stoppage time. Dunnes needs to get a deadlock and get at least a draw. Parks has the ball now, he has possession. Goes for through ball to Daniels. Daniels runs down the field and goes to the winger area. He goes for a cross in. Is this the chance? Steward heads in and clears the ball from the danger area.

End of First Half

TF: (Ref blows whistle) The whistle has blown and the first half comes to an end.

CB: It is a great half we have seen today, especially Tomikosan's goal on the 17th minute thanks to their main striker Dwight Henessey. I have you know that the crowd has gone wild since he scored that.

TF: The second half will begin shortly and until then, the score is 1-0 to Tomikosan.

*The first half is over. Bassett and his gang are very happy with their results. They got what they need for a win and needed to maintain it to give them a win for his country. This could be a promising start of a new era of great youngsters.*

Bassett: Great job, everybody. Everything went well. That is what I like to see, especially you Henessey.

Henessey: Thanks, Johnny.

Bassett: However, we have two options. One: Maintain that result for the second half. Or two: If you like, go for another goal just for good measure. For now, defenders, let no one pass through you, got it?

Defenders: (Nods)

Bassett: Good, like to see that!

Muriel: I also wanted to make changes to the squad itself. Lee, you will be replaced by Ulrich Vettel. Vettel, you are in Lee's position.

Vettel: Will do, boss. I won't let you down.

Muriel: The rest of you, you know what to do. Now go out there and make us proud.

Beginning of Second Half

TF: Second half is here. It's everyone's game. Who goes home with three points?

47th Minute:

TF: Vettel has the ball now. The left back is progressing through the wing area. Dunnes's midfielders are having a hard time going trying to get their possessions back. He goes for a cross. Amestov reaches the ball and heads to Connors. He passes to Henessey and (linesman lifts flag up for offside) the linesman lifts his flag up. He's offside, too far from the home team's defence.

CB: Connors's timing is not very well. He passes to Henessey way too early before he receives it.

79th Minute: GOAL M. Wolf (subbing J. Park 43th min)

TF: The midfielders are up to something now. Marshall intercepted the pass from Song-Young. Marshall passes to Rhodes. Rhodes goes through the entire team's defence. He goes for a cross in. Smith tries to grab it, but Wolf takes in. Kicks it. AND IT'S IN THE BACK THE NET, ON THE RIGHT CORNER!! DUNNES HAD FINALLY GOT A GOAL FOR THEMSELVES!! MICHAEL WOLF HAD SAW THE CHANCE HE IS LOOKING FOR AND HE HAS IT NOW!! WHAT A SHOT THAT IS!!

CB: It is a shot indeed, Tom. I guess you can say that size doesn't really matter anyway not because of luck, but because of that well placed shot. This is how it get's it done.

87th Minute:

TF: Subsitution is on. Song-Young is out of the field and the fans see a glimpse of a debut of Hermanos Yukari. He is exeptionally young. Amestov has the ball now and the ball goes to Yukari. Yukari is doing his best to keep it simple and try to find a chance whatever he gets. A short pass back to Amestov. Amestov goes for a long ball to Connors. He is running for the ball. He attempts for a header......it's over the crossbar! Too high from the target!

CB: That could have break the deadlock if he heads in for a goal. It's just that he has to control where the ball has to be if he wants to use his head to score.

90th+1 Minute: GOAL E. Kreis (assisted by H. Yukari)

TF: Teresky with the ball now. The defenders are trying to mark the other teammates to intercept it. He passes to Amestov, and he dribbles around pitch to make good use of the space. Yukari calls in for the pass. He gets the ball and kicks it over Marquee. Turns around and what is he going to do here? Kreis comes in the penalty area quickly. Yukari passes to Kreis. HE GOES FOR GOAL!! STUNNER!! ABSOLUTE STUNNER!! THE DEADLOCK IS BROKEN IN THE LAST MINUTE OF THE GAME.!! YUKARI, WITH HIS SUPER BRAIN KNEW KREIS MAY HAVE A GOOD CHANCE OF SCORING AND THAT'S HOW IT ROLLS!! ETHAN KREIS AND HERMANOS YUKARI SUCCESSFULLY WORK TOGETHER TO SCORE!! THIS IS A GREAT DEBUT FOR A 16 YEAR OLD PLAYER!!

CB: And how do you ike that? Yukari's first debut and he bangs in with grace! Kreis has a chance to score, and with his well placed target, that's what the fans just witness! A great finish thanks to a debutant player!

End of Second Half

TF: The referee blows his whistle. Tomikosan has WON it's FIRST MATCH!! I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT YOU SEE RIGHT NOW!! IT'S A MIRACLE FOR THE CROWDS WATCHING THEM!! THEY THOUGHT THAT THE FULL XI IS GETTING ON THEIR NERVES BUT THEIR CONFIDENCE, BRAVERY AND CALMNESS MAKES EVERYONE INSPIRED TO DO THE SAME!!

CB: You have never seen anything like this, Tom! For football fans watching live, It's Tommy's 'shot heard 'round the world'. I am pretty sure they are joyful with their results. This deserves to be remembered for years to come.

TF: So it's now full time. Dunnes '1', Tomikosan '2'.

*Everyone in Tomikosan celebrates with joy. All of them, including the whole team itself, are singing winning chants and songs. Bassett and his coaching staff shakes hands to LeGarros, before joining in the players as they slide in to the crowd, much to the pleasing feelings. Back at the dressing room, the players start chanting.*

Rest of Players: (To the tune of 'Forever Young' by Alphaville) WE WON THE GAME!! BABY WE WON THIS BLOODY GAME!! AND WE GONNA KEEP REMEMBERING THIS!! FOREVER!! AND EVER!! (Repeats 4x)

Bassett: We did it! We won the match! It is our first game and my heart feels with happiness! We made it through, boys! I feel it, and so is everyone!

Rest of Players: YEAH!!!!!!!!!

Muriel: I feel like this is a new beginning of our history. This will be the most significant in football history!.

*The Vocaloid Army managed to seal their victory with two goals, thanks to Henessey and Kreis. Their first game has ended with such a delight for them. Bassett and his coaching staff's next opponent is against Nephara, who lost to Gardiya with a help from 16 year old striker named Pierre Louis Le Tonnelier. It could be a start of a golden era of youth national squads and certainly the whole team in the football community. Would Tomikosan do the same against the next opponent?*

[Tumbra]

A Blue Lion
Winner of the 2018 Best Sporting Blog Award
A footballing blog run by Tumbra's premier sports correspondent for fifteen years - Harry "Bad Hats" Norman

The Di Bradini Cup - Tumbra 1-1 Unified Sunrise Islands

The dust has settled, the games have begun, and Tumbra drew with the Unified Sunrise Islands, 1-1.

While the return of the players has simply been fantastic, with the core of the team being essentially unchanged (with the exception of Rhys-Stevens and Hartwidge), the team worked cohesively together to hold the Unified Sunrise Islands to a draw.

The match, which took place at the Aranfield Bridge, Everlin, started off relatively peacefully, with the ball being knocked about by both sides, with there being some very dangerous attacks from the Tumbran side, as a result of the new Takil system being put into place by Sook Jin Yi. Caipirinha from the Unified Sunrise Islands team got extremely close to scoring a goal, but Alexander Hudson denied him in spectacular fashion, proving why the goalkeeper is Goldlion Arsenal's number one choice.

The match continued until the half time break, where a distinct lack of goals was noticed by the fans, who started chanting unmentionables like "Where the F**k Have Our Goals Gone", and "Unified C**t Islands", and "Let Us Have Our F***ing Fun", all of which landed the supporters a very heavy reprimand from the Head of the Supporters' Association. I'd like to take this moment to remind everyone that chanting obscenities at other countries should never be a thing, regardless of whether they're beating us or we're beating them. Just don't, for fucks' sake.

The half-time break seemed to have re-invigorated players, with Ganson scoring one right after the break, with the high-pressing style characteristic of Takil showing, with the USI team being caught off-guard when the upfield trio of Hussein, Ganson and Richardson broke through and scored without nearly anyone noticing, making use of their speed and skill.

The team were constantly on the hunt for their second goal - something which I'd say eludes the senior team - but could not find it, with all their attempts being rebuked by USI defenders who were much more cautious by now.

Shock, however, ensured at the end of injury time as Caipirinha broke through the already tired defence and scored one past Hudson, whose view was blocked by Lawrence, who was trying to block the shot. While it was a commendable effort, Caipirinha curved the ball past Lawrence and past Husdon too, sending the ball flying into the back of the net. Who's fault is it then? We'll never know.

The team's next match is against Anglatia, who have made a huge hoo-ha with the hosts recently on whether the referees in this competition were impartial. Well, the whining won out, Anglatia didn't send a full strength squad and thus I say it'll be an easy win for Tumbra. If their full-strength squad can't even make it out of the group stages, what's to say a side of amateurs can?

But the team must still be composed and strong to face off against these Anglatians.

GO LIONS!

- Bad Hat

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

Winning a World Cup eased the shoulders of almost everyone involved with the Unified Sunrise side. If anything, suddenly sports didn't seem that much of an issue, now that they were one of the few with a major trophy. Lynette Bourbon knew her way was much easier to handle now that people wouldn't really worry as much as they used to with a new Di Bradini win since, after all, they just cracked in the biggest prize around.

So it wasn't a surprise when instead of rabid journalists, she got about a dozen of confused people asking her about the draw against Tumbra. "Our Di Bradini groups have been pretty harsh for the last couple of years. As is, however, with this team's changes, I think a draw against Tumbra was a favorable result." Other comments about the game were destined towards a bad day at the back, Axelsson not quite matching Romanov at the defense.

The fans were also subject of question. "A heated crowd is a fun crowd. Shame we couldn't quite score more than once against them, but they might chant whatever they wish if it amuses them enough." Caipirinha was pissed after listening that the foreign media confused her for a boy, though. "BLIND SONS OF B-" yelled Caipirinha after receiving said news.

[CoraSpia]

Vakolicci Haven and Celeria united team
(Note: The following team represents the regions of the Greater Vakolicci haven known as Vakolicci Haven and Celeria. This team does not represent Velstrania, West or East Saintland, or the provinces recently known as the Free Republics.)

The Greater Vakolicci Haven, being a nation of 13 billion individuals, generally prefers to compete inside itself for footballing glory. Their is enough football to be had, it is often believed, across 4 continents: why would the Haven wish to risk humiliating itself, should it perform badly? However, Havenssports new chairman of footballing operations, Reven Kdlanis, believed differently.
"This approach is not working," he stated in a press release. "The Haven occasionally comes out into the world arena, and fails. Dramatically fails. If we are to compete, we must spend time in that sort of environment. Get our players ready for the pressure of big events without someof the unique acts of Havenic football."

---

Vakolicci Haven and Celeria: official roster
Captain: Queen Laura of Celeria, age 21
Starters are marked with a *

Goalkeepers
Martillo Kera, age 19, Ultimaari II*
Gibril Pelvent, age 17, Defena
Grigory Telikgot, age 20, Force Roma
Defenders
Her Celari Majesty, queen Laura I McCabe, queen of Celeria, blessed of the gods, LB, 21, Eastern fire of Caldonaris*

Mertenio Popli, LB, age 19, S.C. United and Metropolitan
Sanjari Bellow, cb, age 16, Force Roma*
Bella Tik, cb, age 17, Beltin *
Ignasio Éclair, cb, age 20, Imierad-team
Igor Krumph, CB, age 15, Pride of Velstursgotland
Pavel Kepplir, RB, age 19, Eastern fire of Caldonaris *
Verio Kloise, RB, age 17, Polessi

Midfielders
Pattrick Jennings, aLW, age 17, S.C.United and Metropolitan *
Elizabeth Delly, LW, age 19, Imerad-team
Kerry Walsh, CM, age 17, Polessi *
Eian Kelso, CM, age 17, Defena
William Clayton, RW, age 16, Ultimari*
Emanuel Leberien, RW, age 20, Preind

Forwards
Henry Liger, age 19, S.C.United and Metropolitan*
Sarah Court, age 12, S.C.United and Metropolitan*
Ignus Cien, age 17, Garies*
Petul N'glaht, age 21, Defina
S
onia Philino, age 19, Razerbacks
Elias Brianton, age 20, Skava

[San Llera]

SanLeagueRank

40. Chingala
| Nationality: Banguela | Club: Llara Llera | Position: LW | Composite Rating: 8.01 |
Banguela national team player Chingala arrived in the San League a bit late in his career, and hence we never got to see him in his prime, but the winger/back was a crucial part of title-winning teams regardless. A very hard worker, Chingala always made himself an option offensively, and was constantly lifting crosses into the box. He earned his paycheck on defense, however, with constant tackling resemblant of a traditional no. 5. Now at 37, he has retired.

39. Croissant Lewis
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: Selvadores | Position: CB | Composite Rating: 8.03 |
One of the breakout stars of the last San League season was Croissant Lewis, center back for newly promoted Selvadores. His speed, height, and positioning were among the best in the league at his position, especially for his young age. Lewis's talent earned him interest from both the national team and from Dunnes, to which he moved on a free transfer over the offseason. Selvadores will dearly miss him.

38. Chem
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: San Llera University of Linguistics | Position: GK | Composite Rating: 8.23 |
20-year-old SLUL keeper Chem is currently representing San Llera at the 38th Di Bradini Cup, and it was a well-deserved call-up for the youngster, given his body of work domestically. The linguists conceded a reasonable 33 goals last season, and much was due to Chem's length and shot-stopping ability. His one flaw is that he is very reluctant to play the sweeper-keeper role.

37. Agustus Bensa
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: Cremando Llera | Position: CB | Composite Rating: 8.31 |
Agustus Bens is unique to Cremando Llera as he is a player with a lot of flair, constantly going forward and nutmegging opposing strikers. While this is explicitly against Plutarco Prado's style, Bensa makes up for it in grit. While not the largest or most athletic, he is constantly winning balls in the air, and doesn't seem to show signs of tiredness. And on the rare occasion when he does lose the ball, he seems to always win it back.

36. Carlo Hasando
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: Cremando Llera | Position: LW | Composite Rating: 8.46 |
Carlo Hasando is often seen as an emotional leader for Cremando Llera on the pitch. He leads by example, working tremendously hard on both offense and defense. While not incredibly skilled, he does have a mean cross in him, and uses it constantly. "He is the epitome of unselfishness, determination, and the will to win," said Plutarco Prado, a very proud manager.

35. Deric Porla
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: Porta Llora | Position: ST | Composite Rating: 8.58 |
Llerana SC castaway Deric Porla emerged in the second league of San League Soccer, scoring 17 goals as a 23-year-old. Since then, he's consistently been one of the best goalscorers in the league. It's worth mentioning that he's drawn a ton of interest, but always opted to stay at Porta Llora, where the cleverness of his runs and clinical finishing has earned him 96 league goals, sure to eclipse to 100 mark in the coming season.

34. Mateus Bertioga
| Nationality: Matthewsiania | Club: Chell SC | Position: GK | Composite Rating: 8.65 |
Matthewsiania reserve Mateus Bertioga travelled to the World Cup last summer, a deserved call-up after he became one of the top keepers in San League Soccer. Not only did Bertioga stop shots at an excellent rate, but he adapted to Chell SC's quick style and adjusted his distribution accordingly. He's now considered one of the best, if not the best, distributors for the goalkeeper position in the league.

33. Thanasis Xanthopoulos
| Nationality: Pravenna | Club: Amici Llano | Position: CB | Composite Rating: 8.77 |
After several solid seasons, last year was a breakout one for Thanasis Xanthopoulos, Amici Llano's Pravennan center back. He went from solid to nearly impenetrable, the unseen hero behind Amici Llano's goals conceded tally of 21, lowest in the league. Xanthopoulos is known for his ability to shut down opposing strikers, watching their every movement and not letting them get or keep possession.

32. Robert Rivello
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: Llara Llera | Position: CB | Composite Rating: 8.78 |
Robert Rivello is off to greener pastures (the Nepharim Premiership, to be precise), but he has still earned his spot on this list. A muscular center-half, Rivello is very aware of his size and throws his weight around. Constantly bodying, nudging, and even elbowing attackers, the most impressive thing about Rivello is that he usually gets away with it, making him one of the best in the league.

31. Amerigo
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: AS Mantegapa | Position: RB | Composite Rating: 8.78 |
An often stagnant AS Mantegapa offense is boosted by the presence of Amerigo, their adventurous young right back. His crosses are excellent, often finding the heads of Usnavy or Marco Boceria. There is a criticism of him that he runs up and down the flank too often, and gets caught out defensively. It's partly true - he isn't very fast, but chooses his times to go forward pretty well. He's a very good tackler when playing defense.

[Anglatia]

Perhe - Part Six

As soon as Britt and Erin arrived in Otavice, the City of Devils, they were shoved into an SUV that was waiting for them outside the airport. The SUV immediately pulled onto the main road and began heading towards the suburbs. “The Crows run this city, Britt. Don't do anything to make them upset, or anything that gets in the way of making a deal. I just want to get this done and get out, nothing good ever comes from spending too much time here,” Erin said, staring out the window. “And remember that you aren't Orthodox. They have no qualms about harming you, if push comes to shove.”

“I know that, I'm not stupid. Don't worry too much, we have Marija here to protect us. She's trustworthy. Or at least, she was when I knew her before.”

Britt looked over at Marija, who was sitting next to her. “Yeah. I'll do my best.”

“That's not very reassuring. Britt, you don't know how powerful and ruthless these guys are. They're literally the ones who kicked Islam out of their island, something that the military here couldn't do. Nobody takes on the Crows and wins. Will they have a crash eventually? Sure. But for the last two decades at least, they've been on the rise steadily. The police here aren't going to help us. Not just because they're in bed with the gang, but because they're too scared to do anything major against them,” Erin sighed. She leaned against the window, pressing the side of her face against it. “The reason why they call themselves Crows is because death follows them. I wish I had never gotten involved with them…”

“Erin, look at me. Look at me,” Britt said, running a hand through her hair to try to calm her nerves. “You said yourself that we've survived worse and that we’ll get through this. We’ll be fine. If they wanted us dead, they would have shot us in the parking lot back in Hunsen.”

“That was before we actually got here and before I realized how stupid and dangerous this is! I should never have agreed to come, I should have forgot my career and ran away to somewhere far away. Somewhere outside the Empire where they'll never find me,” Erin blurted out, a cold sweat trickling down her forehead. “I'm not even worried about death, at this point. I'm worried about them turning on us and ruining our lives. There's nothing stopping them from taking us to another location, where nobody will ever hear from us again.”

“I won't let them do that, to either of you,” Marija said. “You two saved my life. I'll make sure to return the favor.”

“Speaking of that, why did you come to us instead of running? Couldn't you go to somewhere like the Northern Free State and hide instead of getting us?” asked Britt. “I'm happy it was you who showed up instead of some random thug, though.”

“I wanted to run, but they know my family. I know I'm not especially close with my family, but I didn't want to put a death sentence on them by angering my superiors. The only ones who get to leave the Crows are either too new for the older members to care, or have enough power to make themselves a tough target for the gang… Unfortunately, I don't fall into either category.”

There was silence in the car, and Britt looked at the scenery around her. They were driving through the war torn section of the city, with some of the houses around them crumbling into dust. It was the distinct result of a long siege that had happened in the past, and of air raids and artillery strikes. Surprisingly, many still lived in this neighborhood, even though it was half falling apart. It was a miracle that there were numerous athletes who somehow came from this area. “At least we know that there's somewhere out there that's poorer than North Hunsen,” Britt whispered to Erin, making the other girl chuckle.

“That's reaching. This place is war torn, but at least jobs are reasonably easy to find, there's no homeless problem, and the police won't beat you down for minor crimes. And at least they don't have an entire abandoned neighborhood where the old mills used to be,” Erin stated. It was true that Otavice and Hunsen were closer than Britt would like to admit, albeit for different reasons. The former was the victim of brutal religious warfare, while the latter’s situation was the result of an economic crash.

“Hey, don't knock the mills. I used to play in those abandoned houses all the time when I was younger,” Britt laughed, thinking back to her childhood. That was a simpler time, when she was blissfully ignorant of her city’s situation. She didn't know back then that Hunsen was poor, because her own family was well off and she had never lived in a big city like Ross that showed her that the whole world wasn't like the place where she lived.

“Only in Hunsen,” muttered Erin, staring back out the window. “Don't you want to… You know, go somewhere better, some day? You can't use your career as an excuse to stay. It looks like you're getting forced out of the club…”

“Maybe? I don't know. It might not be the best city, but it's my city. Both my parents are from there and it's where I fit in… You wouldn't get the connection because you're from the coast, not the area that I'm from. But I'm sure you feel the same way about Rastaka, even though it's not known as a good place to visit by anyone that isn't from there.”

Erin shook her head. “Nah. I have no real hometown. Rastaka brings back too many memories. I can't even go to the beach there without crying, because it makes me remember the two times that I woke up there, wishing that I'd drowned. And you've never met my psychotic mother in person. Next time we’re in town, I'll take you to meet her. You'll see why I have such bad memories of home.”

“You'll find home, some day,” Britt said as the SUV turned onto a street far outside the city center. It was in front of a massive mansion, the biggest one that Britt had ever seen in person. The luxurious building was surrounded by a black metal fence that went at least eight feet into the air, and the driver pulled the SUV up to the gate and inserted a key into the gate machine to make the gate rise out of the way. When they went through, they navigated a winding driveway into what looked like quite a large garage, with multiple sports cars already parked there.

“Your friend Audra would flip out if she saw these cars,” Erin laughed, as they parked and everyone climbed out. The driver went into the main building through a door at the back of the garage, and Marija motioned for Britt to follow. Before doing so, she pulled up her shirt and tossed Britt a revolver from a hidden holster on her waist, that had been covered by her long black tee shirt.

“In case of trouble,” she said, and Britt shoved it into her waistband and pulled her sweatshirt down over it. “If anything happens, run back to this room and take the truck. It's the only vehicle here that's strong enough to break through the fence. The windows and chassis are bulletproof, also.”

“I don't know how to hotwire it…” Britt said, wishing she had Audra here to help her.

“It's simple. You just touch the wires that complete the circuit, and then the starter. If I'm with you by the time you run, I'll do it for you. Now come on. The Crows don't like waiting.”

=====

Britt didn't know what she was expecting, but she knew that she wasn't expecting a party of sorts inside. The inside of the mansion was just as good looking as the outside, with modern decorations and furniture that looked brand new, and at the corner there was a large speaker that was blasting music that a number of people were dancing to. They weren't all thugs, either. Many of them looked like normal people, with no tattoos or anything else to affiliate them with the gang. Britt guessed that they were from the business wing, which brought in cash through legitimate business ventures.

As soon as the group walked in, they were greeted by a man dressed in all white, who had an array of gold chains hanging from his neck. The man looked Slavic and he looked to be in his mid thirties, or maybe he was in his early forties and looked younger. “Brittany, Erin, welcome! This isn't what you were expecting, was it? Well, you arrived at a good time. Here, I'm sure you want something to help you relax after the long trip,” the man said, handing Britt the blunt that was in his hand.

“Only Audra calls me Brittany, and um… I don't smoke,” Britt blurted out, and Marija elbowed her hard in the ribs.

“Just smoke the damn blunt,” she whispered into Britt’s ear, and Britt quickly realized that she had committed a faux pas. Apparently, if someone in Otavice offered drugs, it was rude to not accept.

“Who is Audra? Another lover of yours?” the man asked, making Britt blush and shake her head.

“No, she's my teammate and one of my friends…” she answered, before taking a slow drag from the blunt and immediately coughing. She quickly handed it to Erin, who would know how to smoke it without bursting into a fit of coughs.

“Shall I call for someone to bring her here? I want you two to be as comfortable as possible during your stay,” the man said, leading them into a quieter room, which looked like a dining room. There was a long table in the middle of the room, and hanging above it was a chandelier that looked like it was made from real crystals.

“No, sir. I'd rather not bring her into this,” Britt responded awkwardly, glancing back at the party in the other room. “Are they here because of us?”

“We were going to have some friends over either way, and since you were coming, it seemed like a good time to invite them. I want you both to get changed and I want you to go enjoy yourselves. Let me show you to your room.”

Britt and Erin followed the man upstairs, while Marija stayed in the dining room. They were both tense, as if they expected something bad to happen, but nothing did as they entered the large room and saw two outfits lying on the giant double bed. The smaller sized one was a pair of black denim shorts and a dark blue sleeveless blouse and flat shoes, while Erin’s was a short dress in the same shade of blue, along with a pair of black high heels. As the man left to let them change, Britt turned to Erin with a confused expression on her face. “Who is that? This guy has to be some kind of boss. He acts like he owns the place.”

“That's because he does… He's not just one boss, he's the boss. The big one. His name is Dmitri Vulovic and he's the one who inherited the Crows from the old guy who founded them, and he's the one responsible for their rise in the past twenty years,” Erin explained. “He has a lot of legit businesses too, which is how he pays for all of this. You know those hackers that went after Calovice? He's paying them, even though they kind of went rogue with the thing with Sami.”

“Damn, what does he want with us? And why is he being nice to us? Don't you still owe him money?”

“Like I said, they don't even care about that anymore. They only want to make sure that we leave them alone in court. And, as they say, you get more bees with honey than vinegar.”

Britt sighed, starting to change. “This is just too strange. It's hard to believe that they aren't going to do something to us when we don't expect it. What if they're going to kill us in our sleep? Or what if they're planning to poison us? That has to be it. Poison. There's apparently going to be some food later, but I don't trust them not to spike it.”

Erin rolled her eyes as she also began to change. “Britt, the weed is making you paranoid. You were right earlier when you said that they don't want us dead. They've already had plenty of chances to kill us.”

“Yeah, I guess that's right. I wonder when they’ll come to us with their offer… They haven't even mentioned it, yet.”

“That would be bad negotiating. They want us to get comfortable first. Then comes the deal making. You think it's a coincidence that half the people here are smoking weed? They want us to join in. High people are easier to bargain with, and I know that from firsthand experience,” Erin sighed. She walked over to the mirror in the corner and looked herself over, twirling around. The dress was short enough to draw attention to her long legs, but she decided not to complain, mainly because she didn't see anything else to wear and didn't know exactly who she should complain to. As embarrassing as it was, she didn't know how to walk in high heels, so she left those off and kept her feet bare.

“Nice feet,” Britt said, walking behind Erin to look at herself in the mirror.

“I see that even at times like this, you've still got a sense of humor,” Erin chuckled, turning around.

“Nah, I'm serious. Your feet have nice curves,” Britt replied before giggling. It was still the weed talking, Erin assumed. She ran towards Erin and threw her arms around her shoulders, still giggling. “I want to-”

“Not here. Come on, Dmitri is waiting for us downstairs. Let me do the talking, because you're high right now.”

“I only took one puff…”

“The stuff they grow here is a harder breed, that's all it takes,” Erin shrugged, helping her to walk without tripping now that she was feeling the full effects of the blunt. “You've never smoked before, have you?”

“I try to follow the Church, and they don't really like that,” Britt said, eventually slipping her arm around Erin’s waist for support. “Then again, maybe it doesn't matter. I'm sinning more and more each day, and that's not the worst thing I've done.”

“And the worst is…?”

“Forget it, let's go downstairs. I feel like dancing.”

Erin rolled her eyes again but nodded. “And here I was thinking that I was the druggie and you were the responsible one… Did we switch roles when we landed here?”

“Yeah. Something like that.”

---

The Underside, Your Trusted Tabloid
Northern Amateurs debut and win first DBC match

Despite the absence of the normal Imperial team, the Northern Amateurs are the Imperial presence in this edition of the U-21 World Cup, and they shocked Chromatika 4-1 in their opener. Nobody gave the amateurs a chance to get out of the group, stating that their experience doesn't extend beyond unprofessional leagues, but they came out strong in their first match and won behind counter attacking and braces from Jeremy Mac-Mailin and Abigail Papadiamantopolous, who both dominated physically, standing at 6'4 and 6'8 respectively. The striker known as 'Green Lightning' may not have experience, but his size and unusual speed are what make him a lethal poacher who doesn't require much time on the ball to score. On the other hand, the 'Greek Giant' used her size advantage to push aggressively through the midfield and reach the edge of the box, where both of her goals were scored in the thirty ninth and fiftieth minutes. Arcadius Matkovic also had a good game at left back and shut down that side of the pitch for the entire match, with the only opposition goal coming from the opposite side.

The Northern Amateurs did make some mistakes because of their lack of experience, like when Jack Blight made a bad clearance and sent the ball straight to Chromatika's striker for a far too easy goal, but a quick defense and good play from Jakub Simic cut down on the effects of these mistakes. Simic finished with seven saves, including one where he tipped a thirty yard long shot out of bounds for a corner. Most of these players, despite their amateur status, have been training like professionals for their Sunday League teams, and that preparation showed in the midfield and the attack. How they juggled all of their training and team responsibilities with jobs, we don't know. We suspect that they may be not just footballers, but magicians too.

"We don't take odds and estimations into account when we're gameplanning," said manager Wes Rener, in the postmatch press conference. "Many times, they are flat out wrong, such as when we made our youth football debut in the under-fifteen World Cup. We don't concern ourselves with what the others say. We'll focus on our own game and we'll show everyone when gametime comes that they've underestimated us. Maybe some day, we'll stop being underestimated, but that day doesn't look like it's coming any time soon. Our tactics are always changing and evolving, and we have a surprise for Tumbra and the [Unified Sunrise] Islands when we face them. It wouldn't be a surprise if you knew what it was, but I can say that it will be a classic Anglatian performance."

The Amateurs' next opponent is Tumbra, and the Amateurs will likely qualify with a win. Tumbra is mostly known by fans back home for being the place where Imperial dreams died during the Campionato Esportiva, in the second straight elimination at the hands of the Blue Demon, Brenecia. Hopefully the team can continue to upset the odds, and if they do, they'll almost certainly achieve another massive upset, in getting into the next stage of the competition.

Footballers by night? The day jobs of the Northern Amateurs

Most players currently on the squad work a job to support their career, as none of them play professionally. These are some of the most interesting of the jobs held by the players.

Jakub Simic, the current starting goalkeeper, works for a defense contractor in Bathgate that holds several contracts with the Imperial navy. Earlier pictures of Simic show him working on shipbuilding sites by the Port of Bathgate, doing work with computer systems in specific.

Arcadius Matkovic works as a freelance journalist and has done articles for sporting sites TheInsiders.an, in addition to Greater Anglatia Sports Network. The left back rarely sleeps and spends much time either training, playing, or working on his journalism job.

Abigail Papadiamantopolous is a full time law student at the College of Ross, and claims that she was pushed into it by her demanding parents. With her career becoming bigger, she's started doing her classes online so she can travel and train with the team.

Jeremy Mac-Mailin works as a traveling mechanic and drifts around Anglatia as he changes teams. Mac-Mailin currently works in Ballonstone, after winning a trial with the local lower league team there.

Carter Dashwood is somewhat of a young genius and has a prominent position at an upstart analytics firm in Lane, that works with large businesses to maximize profit through using statistics. Dashwood may be wanted by some teams when this is all over, but it's more likely that he'll be poached by a larger company and not by a larger football club.

[Qasden]

Qasden
Athletic News

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Di Bradini Cup 38 Report- Matchday 1

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The DBC has officially begun! And to start off the Vans' campaign is a match against the Mercedinian U21 squad in Lathal.

The stadium was packed with energetic fans of both countries, with the west side covered in a sea of black and blue and the right side flooded with red and navy. Both teams were ambitious, as 3 points from their 1st match would definitely put them up.

As soon as the whistle blew, both sides fought for the ball continuously. Forward, Valentijn Munson, had played greatly throughout the game, managing to bring the ball close to the goal several times. The Eaglets, however, fought back, and made it through our defenses on more than 1 occasion. 48 minutes after the game started, half time showed up, recharging the players after the intensity.

When the second half commenced, the Qads started strong as Divna Grosser gets a shot from a corner, which narrowly missed the goal. Just when the game seemed like it was going to be constant the entire 90 minutes, glory struck Qasden as Munson scored the first goal of the game at the 63rd minute, bringing the Vans to a 1-0 lead. Afterwards, it seemed to be tight, as neither side showed signs of fatigue. A desperate Mercedini team had narrowly missed a goal at the 83rd minute, while Munson's penalty kick in extra time was saved by the goalkeeper. Not so much later, the game ended, and the Qads walked away with a goal and 3 points in their pockets.

The win stuck Qasden in 2nd place, as the Québécois lead with a 4-2 victory over Azrea in Miner's Haven. The loss pitted Mercedini in 3rd, and will make their next 2 games even more stressful. Next, the Vans must face the Eagles, who stand in last after a brutal defeat to the Reapers. Despite the loss, Azrea does have experience, which allows them to have a bit of an upper hand over the Qads. However, should the Qads win, 6 points total would make advancing a bigger reality. As for Mercedini, their fate lies in their match against RK Quebec, a power team waiting for prey.

That's all for now. Can Qasden defeat Azrea to make their mark in Group D? Or will the Eagles endanger the Vans' chances with one swift kick? Stay tuned, stay updated, and stay alert for our MD2 report, only available from Miner's Haven in Valanora!

[Valanora]

Matchday 2

Group A
New West Guiana 3–3 San Jose Guayabal
Pasarga 0–1 San Llera

P Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 San Llera                    2   2  0  0    4   0  +4    6
2 Pasarga                      2   1  0  1    2   1  +1    3
3 New West Guiana              2   0  1  1    3   5  −2    1
4 San Jose Guayabal            2   0  1  1    3   6  −3    1

Group B
Chromatika 1–2 Unified Sunrise Islands
Anglatia 0–1 Tumbra

P Group B                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Unified Sunrise Islands      2   1  1  0    3   2  +1    4
2 Tumbra                       2   1  1  0    2   1  +1    4
3 Anglatia                     2   1  0  1    4   2  +2    3
4 Chromatika                   2   0  0  2    2   6  −4    0

Group C
Valladares 4–0 Starblaydia
Farfadillis 3–2 Hasznia

P Group C                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Valladares                   2   1  1  0    6   2  +4    4
2 Farfadillis                  2   1  1  0    5   4  +1    4
3 Hasznia                      2   1  0  1    5   4  +1    3
4 Starblaydia                  2   0  0  2    1   7  −6    0

Group D
Mercedini 3–3 Royal Kingdom of Quebec
Qasden 0–0 Azrea

P Group D                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Royal Kingdom of Quebec      2   1  1  0    7   5  +2    4
2 Qasden                       2   1  1  0    1   0  +1    4
3 Mercedini                    2   0  1  1    3   4  −1    1
4 Azrea                        2   0  1  1    2   4  −2    1

Group E
Nephara 2–2 Tomikosan
Gadirya 1–0 Dunnes

P Group E                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Gadirya                      2   2  0  0    2   0  +2    6
2 Tomikosan                    2   1  1  0    4   3  +1    4
3 Nephara                      2   0  1  1    2   3  −1    1
4 Dunnes                       2   0  0  2    1   3  −2    0

Group F
Dainer 0–1 Devonta
Kernansquillec 4–6 Khacia

P Group F                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Khacia                       2   2  0  0    7   4  +3    6
2 Devonta                      2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
3 Dainer                       2   0  1  1    3   4  −1    1
4 Kernansquillec               2   0  1  1    7   9  −2    1

Group G
Abanhfleft 0–2 Ceni
Schottia 3–2 Flardania

P Group G                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ceni                         2   2  0  0    9   1  +8    6
2 Abanhfleft                   2   1  0  1    2   2   0    3
3 Schottia                     2   1  0  1    3   4  −1    3
4 Flardania                    2   0  0  2    3  10  −7    0

Group H
Taeshan 2–4 Cosumar
Greater Vakolicci Haven 1–4 Prusy krolewskie

P Group H                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                      2   2  0  0    6   3  +3    6
2 Prusy krolewskie             2   1  0  1    5   3  +2    3
3 Taeshan                      2   1  0  1    3   4  −1    3
4 Greater Vakolicci Haven      2   0  0  2    1   5  −4    0

[Dainer]

NATIONAL PASSION

Football had quickly reached the level of national pastime in Dainer, though it would truly become a passion once the first professional teams began crossing the country to play each other, bringing crowds with them. Embroiled in the climate of integration of the time, it was one more excuse to bring all the different people together.

During that time, the first effort to create a league-type championship was done, though it only had four newly-created teams and the format didn't appeal to the Daineri, who were always more about direct confrontation. As such, they eventually gravitated to a cup format, which also saved on transportation costs for the teams. At this point, the south was the focal point of Daineri football and it was proposed that the first national competition be only between the southern teams, widely thought to be the best. The idea ended up shot down in favor of letting teams from across the country participate equally, but with the best teams of each edition keeping their spot for the next one. And thus, the Dainer Cup format was born.

The first competition featured 24 teams from the four corners of Dainer, organized in eight groups of three. Estrela D'Alva, who had just profissionalized, were favorites to take the first trophy to Lem, but lost all their games and bowed out early. University, at this time the wealthiest club, reached the final stages but also didn't make it to the end. The first Dainer Cup final was a contest from across the bay as Zill and Tommy-Atkins put their city rivalries to the grand stage. The team from Genriysai was victorious and added a crown to their emblem that stays on to this day.

Zill looking very winning.

The following seasons were a spell of dominance for University as they established themselves as the uncontested dominant team of that first decade. Only Estrela D'Alva were capable of challenging them, and won after three finals in a row betwen them. By then a new club in all-black uniforms, unheralded at first, had begun an ascension that would kick off a new age in Daineri football.

The first "superteam".

Dainer Cup champions:

I	- Zill
II	- University
III	- Sibelius (title inherited by Crystal)
IV	- University
V	- University
VI	- University
VII	- University
VIII	- University
IX	- Estrela D'Alva
X	- Isper
XI	- Comantelevu (no longer extant)
XII	- Crystal (then Crystal-Sibelius)
XIII 	- Isper
XIV 	- Crystal
XV 	- Barbixxa (no longer extant)
XVI 	- Goya (no longer extant)
XVII	- Alterio (no longer extant)
XVIII 	- Crystal
XIX 	- Zill
XX 	- Xistrumbigonça

[Mercedini]

Mercedini Sports Daily
Matchday 2: Mercedini vs. Royal Kingdom of Quebec

Matchday Two has arrived, which means Mercedini are playing their second match in the Di Bradini Cup. Today, they are in Valanora for a match against the Royal Kingdom of Quebec, the titans of the group which means Mercedini will have to bounce back quickly after their narrow 1-0 defeat to Qasden. Qasden will be playing Azrea today, hoping to all but book their place to the knockout phase of the competition. We will be focusing on Mercedini vs. the Royal Kingdom of Quebec today. Trevansek has made one change since the defeat in the last match 17-year old Cody Graszeszak taking the place of Dostalok up-front, other than that, the team is the same with Ben Chillotov leading the team out once again. As for Quebec, they name a strong side with duo Celephindis and Aguste-Modeste Rashford-Blanchard up-front. I hope the latter doesn't score, because he is going to be a nightmare to commentate with. Anyway, the teams receive a large roar from both sets of fans as the enter the arena. Mercedini are in their blue and black kits, while Quebec are in their green kits with some sort of demon death thing on it, scary!

0' - The Mercedinian Big Band are playing loud and proud in the arena, and both sets of fans are having a sing off to see who is loudest, I'd give it to the Mercedinians, but I have a massive bias so don't listen to me. We're all set for kick off, Quebec will kick off from right to left, kicking towards their own fans. Mercedini wait patiently as Celephandis prepares himself...

3' - (MRC 0-0 QUE) - Fast start to the match with Quebec taking the initiative early on, they want to kill the game off quickly, that's how they beat Azrea in their first match, let's see if it pays off today. Only one chance worth of mention so far and it was a big one. Sauron had the ball down the wing and was blocked by Pollson and Ossun on the sideline. A tremendous cross found it's way to Celephandis on the edge of the six-yard box. He was inches away from making contact with the ball, but it rolled out for a throw in. Appeals for a penalty were waved away by the referee. Big chance, but it wasn't executed. Still 0-0.

12' - (MRC 0-0 QUE) - GOAL!! Quebec have opened the scoring with an absolute cracker of a goal! It's Sauron with the goal, he dribbled through the midfield and the defence, he had 4 players infront of him, he curled a beautiful shot into the top corner, goalkeeper never had a chance, although I do believe his view was blocked by his defenders. Quebec take the lead, 1-0 with only 12 minutes on the clock!

27' - (MRC 0-1 QUE) - Mercedini pressing but they aren't having any luck so f-OH!. Ossun loses the ball in the midfield and Quebec are on the break. Celephandis takes the ball and is bounding towards the goal with no one else in sight, he only has the goalie to beat, Hosset comes forward to narrow the angle, but Celephandis rounds the goalkeeper and slots the ball into the empty net! GOAL!! The Quebec fans go wild behind the goal, the Mercedinian players look distraught, they find themselves 2-0 down and there isn't even half-an-hour on the clock. Is there any way back from here?

34' - (MRC 0-2 QUE) - Mercedini are controlling the play as we enter the final ten minutes of the half. Chillotov has been relatively absent in this half, the rest of the team haven't been able to get the ball to him in the Quebec half, another frustrating game for Mercedini, they have ten minutes plus all of the second half left in the game, can they rescue the game and claim any valuable points from this game?

41' - (MRC 0-2 QUE) - The first half is drawing to a close and Mercedini are finally holding the Quebec attack back at the midfield. Quebec have been attempting to go down the wind but Trevansek has ordered the wingers to defend with the wide defenders, they are getting more and more capable of holding Quebec back and attacking. Still a long way to go in the match though. Still 2-0 Quebec

45+5' - (MRC 0-2 QUE) - The referee blows his whistle for the end of the first half. Quebec have stormed this first half and may have already put the match out of reach for Mercedini already. It's Sauron & Celephandis with the goals midway through the half, at the end the first half it's Mercedini 0, the Royal Kingdom of Quebec 2.

HALF TIME: Mercedini U21 0 - 2 Royal Kingdom of Quebec U21
Sauron 12', Celephandis 27'

Out the teams come for the second half, I wouldn't say that Trevansek looks happy with the performance of his players at this tournament so far. It looks like he has made one change at the break with Harry Ossun coming off after his error, with Issac Gustanetti coming on for the first time at the tournament. Let's see if that half time break was a platform that Mercedini can use to get the points(s) they need to get back into the group, it's still goalless in the other match being played today, so can Mercedini capitalise on dropped point by other teams? We will see in the next 45 minutes, they will have to go a long way to do that though!

48' - (MRC 0-2 QUE) - GOAL!!! Mercedini have found a way back into the match with a first international goal for Alexander Ytandev, the goal came from a corner whipped in by Crp. Tim Crasic on the far side, a flicked header from Gustanetti drove it towards goal before Ytandev tapped the ball into the net for the final touch and the goal! He immediately picked the ball from the net and ran back to the half way line, Quebec have slowed the pace since the kick-off. They still lead 2-1.

55' - (MRC 1-2 QUE) - Mercedini look like a new team after that goal. Pressing forward without any care for their defence, Gustanetti looks to have steadied the ship at the back as well, which is very promising for the manager and the fans in the stadium. Mercedini are currently ramping up the pace as we approach the hour mark of the match. We are seeing much more of the attackers in Chillotov and Dostalok, but Quebec are providing ample amounts of resistance at the moment. Still 2-1!

64' - (MRC 1-2 QUE) - Quebec on the attack now, this is dangerous! Rashford-Blanchard running forward down the wing on the near side, he cuts in and beat Ytandev, the Mercedinian defence are all over the place as more players enter the fray. R-B still has the ball and sprints to the by-line, pulls it back... GOAL!! Celephindis has smashed the ball into the open net, Hosset couldn't get back into place after the pass back and Celephindis guided the ball through the defenders on the line and into the net. The Quebec fans have gone wild and Mercedini are back to square one. 3-1 Quebec.

66' - (MRC 1-3 QUE) - WOW, GOAL!! Chillotov has his first of the tournament and brings the deficit back to a single goal with less than 25 minutes left to play in this match. the goal cam quickly after the kick-off with the wingers and strikers all running forward to receive the ball up the pitch. A long ball from Nymark bounced over the defenders, Chillotov ran past the defence, onto the ball and nutmegged the goalkeeper as he approached to narrow the angle. Mercedini have a chance in this game, all they need is another goal to snatch a point. 3-2!

79' - (MRC 2-3 QUE) - Quebec are controlling the game and frustrating the opposition as they try to get the ball back. The referee has had to dish out plenty of yellow cards to Mercedinian players as they rough up their opponents. Quebec are holding steady as they aim to keep all three points intact from this match. Still 3-2 to Quebec!

87' - (MRC 2-3 QUE) - My, my, my... what drama here! Mercedini have been awarded a penalty right at the death. It was Lahm who brought down Dostalok in the box as he tried to dribble past him, the outstuck leg was enough for Dostalok to take a tumble and the referee to award the penalty. The Quebec players are protesting but it's Chillotov who has picked up the ball and is walking to the spot. The ref has waved away the players and now we are set for the penalty to be taken. Here we go... Chillotov steps up... AND BLASTS IT HOME, GOAL!!! Chillltov takes off his shirt and runs to the Mercedinians who are going mental. They have snatched a point at the death with a last gasp penalty. 3-3, unbelievable!

90+1' - (MRC 3-3 QUE) - The referee blows his whistle for the end of the match, that was exhausting! The teams share the spoils after a fierce comeback from Mercedini in that second half. After being 2-0 and 3-1 down in the second half, they got out of jail thanks to a dubious penalty to say the least! Chillotov and co. are celebrating with the fans, although the job isn't done yet, they are hanging by their fingertips to a spot in the knockout stages, plenty of permutations will have to happen but they have clung onto faint hopes with that draw. It's finished Mercedini 3, Royal Kingdon of Quebec 3!

FULL TIME: Mercedini U21 3 - 3 Royal Kingdom of Quebec U21
Ytandev 48', Chillotov 66', 87' (P) // Sauron 12', Celephandis 27', 64'

After that last gasp draw against RK Quebec, Mercedini must win against Azrea and hope that there is a definitive winner in the other match against Qasden and Quebec, a draw in that latter game will see Mercedini and Azrea eliminated regardless of the final score in Mercedini's game. There is also the problem of goal difference. A win for Mercedini will put them on 4 points, the same as the loser between Qasden and Quebec, so Mercedini must win handsomely and hope someone gets thrashed at the other game. We will discuss more of this in the final matchday, for now, I bid you goodnight and don't forget to pray for a 7-0 victory in the next match!

[United States of Devonta]

United States of Devonta Under-21 National Team Roster

Head Coach: Garth Madrid (Intrim)
Assistant Coach: Florence Johnson (Intrim)
Demonym: Devontan
Trigram: USD
Venue: Leclerc Stadium (Cap. 65,000)

Formation: 4-4-2
Modifier: -1

Starting XI:

#1- Danny Cake Vanburen [Middleton F.C]
Height: 6’1 - Weight: 176 lbs - Age: 21 - Starter - GK

#6- AJ Gupta Styles [Astro F.C]
Height: 5'10 - Weight: 157 lbs - Age: 19 - Starter - LD

#4- Coby Lamar Rice [Real Langston F.C]
Height: 5’10 - Weight: 179 lbs - Age: 19 - Starter - CD

#2- Terry Scwarz [Lake Forest F.C]
Height: 5'10 - Weight: 179 lbs - Age: 19 - Starter - CD

#8- Mathew Alexander Creasmen [Carter Villa F.C]
Height: 6'1 - Weight: 174 - Age: 17 - Starter - RD

#12- Zahhere Amadeus Abdul [Riverton F.C.]
Height: 5’10 - Weight: 158 lbs - Age: 19 - Starter - DM

#13- Nicolas Xavier Fulton [Mandiana F.C.]
Height: 5’10 - Weight: 158 lbs - Age: 18 - Starter - LM

#14- Christopher Dogba [West Port United]
Height: 6’0 - Weight: 179 lbs - Age: 21 - Starter - RM

#17- Kyle Tallahassee Jr. [Riverton F.C.]
Height: 5’10 - Weight: 162 lbs - Age: 21 - Starter - OM

#20- Condor Jesse Madrid [Riverton F.C.]
Height: 5’10 - Weight: 158 lbs - Age: 20 - Starter - ST

#21- Lamar Samuel Adams [Danza F.C] C
Height: 5’9 - Weight: 157 lbs - Age: 18 - Starter - ST

Bench:

#3 GK Francisco Rodriguez
#7 LD Donny Simpson
#5 CD Fredrick Joe
#9 RD Philip Graham
#10 DM Danny Zusi
#11 LM Floyd Anderson
#15 RM Antonio Avila
#16 RM Zane Riverman
#18 OM DeMarie Burton
#19 ST Jeremy Creeds

RP Permissions:

I Give My Opponent Permission To:
=================================
Choose My Goalscorers: Yes
Godmod Goalscoring Events: Yes
Injure Players: Minor only
Godmod Injury Events: Yes
Red Card Players: No 
Yellow Card Players: Yes
Godmod Other Events: Yes
=================================

Uniforms

Home:

Away:

Goalkeeper:

[San Llera]

Starting XI: Chem, Sadornil, Mora, Tejada, Cabollini, Huertas (Gashi 63'), Sedono (Donalto 78'), Fuyets, Verino, Quitiella (Ceresola 63'), Jover
Goals: Verino 42'

SanLeagueRank

Today, we continue with numbers 30-21:h

30. Carus Laxium
| Nationality: Port Christopher | Club: Patria Poble | Position: GK | Composite Rating: 8.78 |
The national team starter for Port Christopher, Carus Laxium has been a reliably good keeper in his time in the San League. While not one to make highlight-reel saves, he also very rarely makes mistakes, even minor ones. Laxium is very strong in the air, constantly nabbing crosses. But what sets him apart is, once again, his reliability. He seemingly has not had a bad game in his five seasons here, even if he hasn't had many fantastic ones.

29. Lasse Sonde
| Nationality: Semarland | Club: Patria Poble | Position: ST | Composite Rating: 8.80 |
Speedy Patria Poble striker Lasse Sonde has really come into has own the past couple seasons, especially now with Yuri Makarov by his side. Makarov and Sonde complement each other perfectly; Makarov is a strong hold-up man, and Sonde a fast no. 9 who can stretch defenses. That is what he did last season, scoring 16 of Patria Poble's 40 goals with his speed and clinical finishing. Sonde's passing is also very good, and he sometimes drifted to the wing and put in crosses for Makarov, several of which were converted.

28. Ismail al-Said
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: San Llera University of Linguistics Soccer | Position: ST | Composite Rating: 8.83 |
Bursting onto the scene three years ago, Ismail al-Said, was just a student with a passion for soccer. Now, he is a star in San Llera, one of the best goalscorers in the league, and graduate of the U-21 national team. Fairly quick and strong, al-Said's true strength is his finishing, which he can do from anywhere on the pitch, with either foot. In just three seasons, he already has nearly eclipsed the 50-goal mark.

27. Darren Walsh
| Nationality: Brenecia | Club: Pantans | Position: GK | Composite Rating: 9.00 |
Even with all of their offensive struggles, Pantans has kept an airtight defense the past few seasons, partly due to veteran keeper Darren Walsh. "Not only is Darren a great shot-stopper," exclaimed Seamus Torino, "he does a great job of organizing our defense. That's what makes him so valuable." Valuable indeed - when Walsh missed three games with an injury last season, Pantans recorded just a single point against mediocre competition.

26. Marc Roder
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: Cremando Llera | Position: CM | Composite Rating: 9.02 |
One reason Cremando Llera has been so successful with so little budget is the work of Marc Roder in the center of the midfield. The three-man midfield of Verd Mar seems more like four, with Roder acting as both a no. 5 and a no. 10. He will make a tackle in his own eighteen, surge forward, and then lead a counterattack. In a way, Roder is what makes Cremando Llera tick. It is his work that often goes unnoticed, but is priceless.

25. Luis Zeliza
| Nationality: San Llera | Club: Amici Llano | Position: LW | Composite Rating: 9.07 |
As far as midfielders go, Luis Zeliza is one of the most prolific scorers, often cutting into the wings and shooting, or making runs in behind and receiving well-weighted balls from his strikers. In five seasons of starting, Zeliza has scored 59 times, more so that all but a couple midfielders during that stretch. He can also pass, often finding the head or feet of striker Ricard Penn.

24. Karl Martinez
| Nationality: Semarland | Club: AS Mantegapa | Position: CB | Composite Rating: 9.09 |
Not much was thought of Karl Martinez when he joined the league - just another journeyman Semar youth, people said. However, Martinez proved the doubters wrong, and proved the quality of the Semar youth system. Along with his obvious traits - mainly his muscle mass - Martinez is technically skilled and very intelligent. Under his captainship of the last five years, AS Mantegapa has given up 162 goals in 140 games.

23. Alyaadcan Larraimyr
| Nationality: Valanora | Club: Llerana SC | Position: RB | Composite Rating: 9.18 |
After graduating from a Vanorian youth academy, Alyaadcan Larraimyr decided to test the waters of the San League, joining Llerana SC on a free. Since then, he has become one of the best defensive fullbacks in the league, the right side of the defense having become a black hole for wingers. Larraimyr plans to stay in Llerana for a while - he is an elf, so he does not age like humans.

22. Daniel Calderon
| Nationality: Cosumar | Club: Llerana SC | Position: CB | Composite Rating: 9.21 |
Daniel Calderon has played his final game in a Llerana SC uniform - or any uniform - but he did not retire without winning three titles in the process. He was as intelligent as center backs come, not only getting himself in all the right positions but doing the same for those around him. He was large, and could body out players, and very skilled with possession. Above all, his profuse sweating will be missed.

21. Gustav Karlsson
| Nationality: Royal Kingdom of Quebec | Club: Chell SC | Position: LB | Composite Rating: 9.24 |
According to this list, Gustav Karlsson is the best left back in the league. It is a title which Karlsson has earned through his smooth passing and defensive ability. He is not the fastest, but is very adept at getting up and down the flank, combining with Pelechamchas and both strikers. Like a true Quebecois, he is a bit dirty, but in a good way. Plus, he is constantly in tip-top form, smoking very little weed compared to his compatriots.

[Schottia]

SBCNEWS Online...
Sports special - Di Bradini Cup 38

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Schottia 3-2 Flardania
Line-up: Imrie, Crendo, Colgan (61-Yamazaki), Ma Ünterhausen, Grant, Gerrish, Addison, Conjure (61-Glendening), Rexmont, Soria Luna, Me Ünterhausen (82-Conway)
Scorers: 12" Rexmont, 72"Me Ünterhausen, 79" Addison

It's game on in Valanora, with the Schottia team breathing a huge sigh of relief, as they did just enough to sneak past Flardania. It has been an exceedingly difficult campaign for Kagami Ikeda's players so far; with opening day defeat to Abanhfleft, and now a less than convincing win over a side they put eight goals past last year. That said, the group is now evenly poised as they go into the final fixture with Ceni, and any two of the four sides are capable of going through. Ikeda made a bold call in going with an unchanged side for this match, following the disappointment earlier in the week. She was rewarded however, as Schottia survived a second half scare to take the game 3-2.

Everything seemed to be going to plan for the Tyranian side, as Steven Rexmont's opening goal after only twelve minutes, must have had them believing another big score was on the cards. Schottia started the game in confident fashion, and Mark Ünterhausen it was who got the move going, the teenager powering forward on the counter attack. After holding off several challenges, The Jansberg kid hammered the ball forward into the feet of Camila Soria Luna, who in turn played a neat first time pass into the path of the Port Sebastian winger Rexmont. The 20-year-old has been on excellent form in the SPL, and he showed Schottia fans exactly what they had to look forward to in a couple of years time, drilling the ball home at the far post.

As the second half wore on, Schottia looked much more in control. With the midfield trio of Luna, Jim Gerrish, and Lizzie Addison keeping possession well, while the back-four little tested. Schottia could have easily been 2-0 before the half time oranges too, if only Melanie Ünterhausen had connected better with a low Evee Conjure cross. As it was however, Rexmont's opening goal was all that separated the two sides, but on the balance of play, it would have been little cause for concern.

Schottia seemed little phased as the second half kicked off, but that was all about to change very quickly. After Conjure took too long to deal with a loose ball just inside her own half, the Coast midfielder was robbed of possession. Striding forward, Flardania were able to catch the Schottic defences desperately out of position, leaving Nora Imrie exposed as they equalised within seven minutes of the restart. Ben Crendoa it was, who gave his man too much space, as Schottia were left right back where they started with the score 1-1.

The Schottians pressed hard, but their sense or urgency was leaving them prone to mistakes, and the patient build up from earlier seemed to have gone. Soria Luna was struggling to make the passes stick, Jim Gerrish nearly hit the corner flag with an speculative effort from the edge of the area, and Addison put far too much pace on a through ball, when Mel Ünterhausen would have otherwise been in on goal.

As Schottia continued to commit men and women forward, their was always a risk of being caught out at the back, and that was indeed the case, when Flardania struck again on sixty minutes. This time there was little Imrie could have done, as Gerrish's stabbed attempt at a clearance landed right at the feet of an opposition midfielder, who pulled the trigger on a stunning strike into the top corner. Schottia were left utterly deflated for the second match running, as it would seem a little less haste and a little more speed might be the order of the day.

Ikeda, to her credit, seemed keen to switch things around, and immediately following the goal she made a double change. Mel Ünterhausen was given some help up front, when Conjure made way for Elspeth Glendening - the Port James girl making her first appearance at this level. Trixie Colgan was also taken off, with the Kirisakian manager reverting to three at the back, Robyn Yamazaki it was who took her place, slotting in on the right.

The shape seemed to suit the Schottian's much better, and substitute Glendening almost pulled them level immediately, after Rexmont's strike bounced into her path. Unfortunately however, the striker was in mid-stride and her shot went harmlessly into the arms of the keeper. As one would imagine, it didn't take long for Schottia to get themselves back into the match after this, with Mel Ünterhausen's seventy-two minute header doing just enough to keep their chances alive. After Yamazaki was upended at the angle of the box, it set up a position for Luna to swing in the freekick. With the Schottic players packing the box, it was the Arsenal de Releinthi striker who got there first, making amends for her ineffectiveness in the previous match.

With things all square once again, Ikeda and her team were roaring Schottia on from the sidelines, knowing that another goal would give the team a much needed boost against Ceni, even if at this stage, it didn't alter the maths overly much. One thing we can say about this tournament, if nothing else, is that Camila Soria Luna seems like a cracking find - and given that the girl is still a few weeks shy of her seventeenth birthday, she is only likely to improve. Amidst all the panic it was the Daineri Project +90 player who looked like the coolest head out there, even when players with more senior club experience like Rexmont and Gerrish began to struggle with Flardania's second half resurgence.

However, when Schottia did finally get the goal they needed to put this game to bed, it was to be Addison who claimed the credit. Yamazaki, who had actually looked pretty dangerous since coming on, went of on another blistering run down the right, slipping a pass infield to Gerrish. The Dundee player had the option of punting it to either striker, but instead picked out the run of Lizzie Addison beautifully, for the RDS:A to give Schottia a glimmer of hope going into the last match.

With Ceni defeating Abanhfleft in the other fixture, any celebrations their might have been, needed to be put on hold. The Ruchmori side's resounding victory over Flardania earlier in the competition meant that Schottia would need an enormous win to unseat them. The best chance was to beat Ceni, and hope that Flardania could do them a favour against the Felftics - however, based on what we have seen so far, the odds don't look particularly good.

[Nephara]

THE BRINEMOUTH HERALD
HAWKE AND STAVANGER THE SQUANDERED HIGHLIGHTS OF A FRACTURED SQUAD
by Gareth Vanstrattan

The Magpies were short on composure, class and ideas yesterday against a limited, spirited and worthy Tomikosan side. Fortunately, facing a mountain to climb in the second half, Plan B was enough.

No mistake, of course, it should have been a win. But an error from the all-too casual Leona Rafford at the back handed Hennessey an easy chance to make it 1-0, followed by a superb Connors header. Nephara's midfield struggled to gain traction, the left flank stalled as Komachi worked wonders at rightback... in the second half, there was just one solution.

In the 51st minute, Bereveskos slipped the ball past Tae-Ho to Rafford, who atoned for her earlier failings with a perfect hooked near-post cross. Steward thought he had it... he didn't. Estrelle Hawke came in like a wrecking ball, battering the ball into the net past a helpless Smith. And, eleven minutes later, exactly the same thing happened - only replace near- with far- and Hawke with Stavanger.

Now, Nephara's U21s only managed a draw despite all this. Chances of reaching the next round need a Nepharim win over Dunnes and Tomikosan defeat to Gadirya. Entirely possible, but still cagey. Who cares?

It mightn't be an opinion in vogue, but this is youth football. Nephara has almost always done poorly in the Di Bradini Cup - Riether's run to the final the sole exception, and admittedly her success there paved the way for her taking over the national team. No matter how many strings Shale pulls, Brewer was never going to follow in those footsteps.

The Cormorants have won a Baptism of Fire, a World Cup, a Cup of Harmony, four Campionati, an Eagle's Cup, even whatever the hell a Market Cup was meant to be. There's a hard-earned and well-deserved reputation as the model of a tournament team. All this talk of 'giving the lads tournament experience' evidently doesn't seem to make a bloody difference to how they perform in crunch time - 'crunch time', by the way, means the senior side.

So no matter what happens against Dunnes, unless someone ruptures a cruciate, it's not going to matter. What will matter? The flashes of brilliance from those who you sense have plenty to offer when the senior side comes calling. Nephara's proud tradition of gigantic, dynamic, goalscoring number 9s - not just 'a centre-forward', not a hold-up man like Kellard or an elegant, tall swan like Scafidis, but a brick of muscle and menace, Thunder, Cathar, Rowland... there's been a break for too long.

Is there anything more nationally uplifting then a perfectly executed header? A beautiful bit of wing play culminating in an ambulatory muscle-fridge floating in midair to stick it in the net. Hawke, Stavanger, the wonderfully tantalising Methuselah Tregajorran in the U18s... the good times are going to roll on.

To a lesser or greater extent, most of these players have cracked their first teams - Bereveskos was in the First Division Team of the Year! - and stood up to the pressure of the senior game. Hell, in general - who gives a damn about the errors, the results, at this stage of players' development? They're trying things, trying to make things happen. When these things start coming off later in their careers? That's the part that matters.

Don't expect Nephara to win a Di Bradini Cup anytime soon. Don't expect the likely failure in Valanora to take up too many column inches. The hunt for a second World Cup comes first - and always will.

[Tumbra]

A Blue Lion
Winner of the 2018 Best Sporting Blog Award
A footballing blog run by Tumbra's premier sports correspondent for fifteen years - Harry "Bad Hats" Norman

The Di Bradini Cup - Anglatia 0 - 1 Tumbra

As expected, the Young Lions managed to defeat the Anglatians 0-1, again at the Aranfield Bridge. This change of venue, or lack thereof, allowed for our boys to have a greater consistency when facing off against those amateurs.

But for amateurs, we should have done better, and they should have done worse. The same team that went on a rampage against Chromatika and won 4-1 were forced into defeat here, but we must have underestimated them. They came very close to scoring goals, but never provided the finishing touch that proved deadly against the Chromatikans.

Our sole goal was scored by Luke de Coubertin - a good indicator of what a good prospect he is. He hasn't been able to find a club yet - but I expect that an offer will come in after today's performance. He was simply exceptional in the midfield, controlling the game and making all the right passes. While he did give away possession from time to time with his long passes, he is young and I can see him blossoming into a good player in the future.

The Failure of Takil?

With crunch time coming up against Chromatika, Tumbra are currently favourites to progress, along with the Unified Sunrise Islands.

(Speaking of the USI, I must apologise to Caipirinha for mistaking his gender; his hairstyle led me to believe that he was instead a she)

I won't talk numbers - that used to turn me and about five million of you off my old program - but instead I'll analyse our new playing style, Takil. It's supposed to be a hyperattacking style, similar to the one used by the Royal Kingdom of Quebec.

But is it really working here? We've scored two goals in two games, and have let one pass. If anything, people would think we had a extremely defensive coach! It's a wonder we haven't scored more goals.

But we have to keep our faith in the system, and in Sook Jin-Yi.

The current favourites to go through are San Llera, who secured qualification with a 1-0 win against Pasarga, Pasarga themselves, winner of the last edition, the USI, us, Valladares, Farfadillis, the RKQ, Qasden, Gadirya, Nephara, Dainer, Khacia, Ceni, Schottia, Cosumar and the weirdly-named Prusy krolewskie. That should provide a very varied and interesting R16 - but we'd have to get through the group stages first!

GO LIONS!

- Bad Hat

[Tomikosan]

Road to Victory: The New Beginning
Episode 3: Nephara's draw needs Gadirya's loss ~ Winning as Priority.

Bassett: Next game is Nephara! One thing this squad has: Strong defenders willing to intercept any passes and tackling us whenever possible. If you are not quick enough, they get the ball by the time you have a chance. Luckily, we got Morgan who reacts to the ball very well. He is also pacey, dribbles smoothly and creates exceptional goals. Henessey and Connors, you better have cat-like reflexes or you might be missing a chance now. They are also going to move forward, but not nescesarily. Their strikers are not afraid to go for a header. As usual, Smith is are main man for today!

Muriel: This match is crucial to us if we want to get out of the group stage. If we win, this will seal us off and ensures that we advance through the knockout stages. We playing on the 4-3-3 Attack. You better win this one, okay?

All the Players: Yes!

Bassett: That's the spirit! Now get some rest and prepare yourselves for the next match.

Matchday 2: Held in Hatire Memorial, Capri, Valanora

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*The last game is a massive success, considering their first win is more than just a win. However, everyone says that it's not done yet because they have a work to complete. Nephara has young defenders capable of prevanting the strikers to go through them, something like the Iron Curtain would do. The opponent's manager, Erica Brewer, also needed a win and so does Bassett and his crew. It might seem to tricky but in the end, it is a draw! Two excellent goals by Henessey and Connors, and two other goals from Nephara's Estrella Hawk and Dragan Stavanger. Both teams have pushed their efforts to the limit, but a draw would mean that one of them has to win the last group stage match if they want to be in the Knockout Stage.*

*Back at the training ground, Bassett and his group are discussing about the next match, Gadirya. His side needed a win to advance to the Knockout Round. This is what we got for Matchday 3.*

Bassett: Boys, this is our last game. It is very crucial to us because if we win, our side will be in the Round of 16. This is an opponent that we are hoping to get three points. This is Gadirya and they have excellent players and great tactics. They played defensively so we need to be very careful with our strikers.

Muriel: I heard they also play 'slow pragmatic football', which means if our defenders break down they have a chance to score in. I suggest the midfielders helping the defenders to stop players from getting in the penalty area. The defenders themselves have to stay in position. 5-3-2 will be our formation.

Zavachi: Did you see this young striker named Pierre Louis Le Tonnelier? I heard that he is an outstanding, especially that last two matches. He is great teenager, so we need to take precautions as well as other great strikers.

Brock-Madsen: We got young starlets back in the subs, why can't they be in the starting squad? Our young players are promising and got skills, mate! We have Fernankas Aldemir (GK), Iroha ven Holden (CB), Hermanos Yukari (CM) and our backup strikers Daniel Fairclough and Kumi Munschell (ST). All are willing to fight against Gadirya. Their strong presence of faith mean that all of our young players are capable of bringing it down.

Starting XI for MD3

GK: Fernankas Aldemir
LB: Lee Tae-ho
CB: Booker Steward
CB: Iroha ven Holden
CB: Jun Komachi
RB: Keiji Hashimoto
CM: David Morgan
CM: Kyon Amestov
CM: Hermanos Yukari
ST: Stanley Connors
ST: Dwight Henessey

Subs

GK: Zhou Fuyuan
DF: Asmir ven Hayala
DF: Ulrich Vettel
MF: Pareta Xalheminotu
MF: Ethan Kreis
ST: Daniel Fairclough
ST: Kumi Munschell

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Top 6 Youth Footballers with Excellent Skill

There may be young players looking forward to the future but their traits and skills is what that makes them a potential player. Here are the youngest players in this squad that got something extraordinary.

#1: Fernankas Aldemir (17)

Traits: Fast and agile. Has great reflexes and excellent vision and reactions. Very athletic when making saves.

#2: Iroha ven Holden (16)

Traits: Tough player as she can't be pushed off the ball, despite her young age. Produces a great tackle and marks player efficently. Her strong will means she cannot easily give up, no matter the situaiton.

#3: Jun Komachi (16)

Traits: Immensely pacey. Dribbles the ball well, especially in tight situations. His skill moves are impressive to watch.

#4: David Morgan (17)

Traits: Just like ven Holden, he is really strong. Very aggressive and often blocks player to prevent from getting the ball. Interceptions and tackles are very high for him.

#5: Kyon Amestov (17)

Traits: Same as Komachi, but he is great at shooting, passing and spriting. All rounder with a head of a genius as he knows where to pass or where to shoot.

#6: Stanley Connors (19)

Traits: The most promising of the squad, Connors's attacking skills are unstoppable. His weak foot, combined with his finishing, jumping and volley skills, makes him the deadliest of the group.

#7: Kumi Munschell (15) and Daniel Fairclough (16) (Honourable Mentions)

Traits: Regardless of their age, Munschell and Fairclough desired to play football while possessing natural talent since they both come from families who support football. Once they are on the field, their powerful shot power, agility, aggressiveness and tactical awareness would make the player seem useless.

Bassett: In fact, I can sub off both Connors and Henessey for these two suckers in case if we want to score desperately!

Munschell: Yeah, indeed. I can even take penalties as well. I did this all the time and there is 90% chance that I will score goals. My ball control is also a plus.

Fairclough: Our attributes come from off-pitch. Some of our players sacrifice all their social life to football. We wanted to come out as being strong and beat our opponents. That's what makes us powerful, so does the football fans of Gadirya.

Munschell: We hope that both of us would have a fair match possibly in the future!

[Abanhfleft]

Living With the Loggers, Part Eleven

Underfell Bank Arena
Underfell, Anglatia

The next few weeks after the fire at Loggers Park and Hanna Nylis' shooting were a blur in Bisera's memory. She was like an automaton during those few weeks, going through the motions of her days with robotic regularity. She knew that she attended training camp and watched game footage of their next opponents, Lusila, but nothing that she had heard and learned during those days were retained in her memory. She knew that she had started against Lusila, had played the whole ninety minutes, and that Hunsen had won that game, but she couldn't remember the score or who had scored.

And then, to her great surprise, it was the final matchday of the current Valerian First Tier season. Hunsen was in pole position to win the title for the first time in seventy years, but they needed to win their game against Rastaka if they were to lift the trophy. Not lose, not draw. Win. Three points or nothing.

At first, the task looked simple and easy. Hunsen were playing at home, and they had a good record playing in Loggers Park. But today, they weren't home, technically. After Reka and Hanna and Hunsen's other socialists had set fire to Loggers Park, the team had had to play their final game in Valeria IK's home stadium, Underfell Bank Arena, because the only other football stadium in Hunsen was a college field that had a small capacity. Getting a win here suddenly became a much more daunting task.

Bisera slipped into her kit automatically and followed her teammates out onto the pitch, standing in line with them and with their opponents, FC Rastaka. Physically, she was present, but her mind was back in that dark cold night in Hunsen, standing on that nearly deserted parking lot where she had nearly died because of some political shit that she didn't understand.

The fans were in fine singing form, but their words never really registered in her mind. Something about blowing bubbles and watching butterflies. Bisera had never seen a game in Abanhfleft's third tier league that had such massive and loud support from the fans.

Bisera walked numbly to her spot on the field on the left wing, and then she happened to look up at the stands where she saw, to her great surprise, the familiar bearded chubby face of Matthew Cave. He was wearing a bright green Hunsen Loggers scarf around his neck. But it was the person standing beside Matt who really surprised Bisera. It was her older brother Chris Haralampiev. Bisera hadn't heard anything from her family about Chris coming to Anglatia to watch her play, but she was happy to see her eldest brother just the same.

The sight of Matt Cave and Chris Haralampiev on the stands of the stadium lifted a weight on Bisera's shoulders, along with a veil on her eyes. She looked around the arena like she was seeing it for the first time, and she listened to the fans' songs and understood what they meant. For the first time in two weeks, Bisera felt like herself once again. She was itching to play football once again.

The referee blew his whistle, and Bisera was on the move almost immediately, running down the left wing in preparation for a Hunsen attack and sometimes running into the center and acting as an extra striker, which was how she had played back in Rosenpfelblatz City's youth academy. She knew that this was a do or die game for Hunsen, and she was going to do anything and everything that she could to make sure that her team won.

But just a few minutes into the game, it looked as if the hill that they had to climb had become a mountain. Shae Victoria, a defender from the Piranha region of Anglatia, was not playing at the top of her game. It had to be the combination of the pressure of the game and the fact that she still had some unresolved issues with Lily Cress, Hunsen's main striker. Bisera had heard that Shae had still not gotten over the fact that Lily was going to Ross United next season after she had been bought by the aforementioned team to restore a little balance in Isa Tangemen's life, which had been rocked very considerably by the goalkeeper's less-than-amicable departure from Rosenpfelblatz the season prior. Matt had told Bisera that Ross had approached them for Karen Villegas, but when the club had asked 50 million NS bucks for Karen, Ross had backed off and gone for Lily instead because they were reluctant to pay that much for a single player.

Bisera watched silently as Shae received an earful from Indah Nystrom, Hunsen's captain, after the latter had bailed out the whole team when the former had allowed the ball to roll past her. Shae pounded the ground in a surprising, for Bisera at least, display of emotion. Bisera wasn't surprised at Shae's frustration, but then again, the Fleftic school of thought was that emotional displays should be kept to a minimum, and that the emotions should be channeled into becoming a better player. Bisera wanted to run to Shae and tell her to focus her emotions into defending better, but Rastaka had already taken their throw-in, and she had to keep an eye on her marker in case she slipped up.

Ten minutes into the game, the inevitable Rastaka goal came. Rastaka's striker passed through Hunsen's midfield like a knife through butter before passing the ball to the right winger, who ran right to the corner flag. Bisera chased after the winger in an attempt to either get the ball or stop him from doing anything productive with the ball altogether, but by the time she had reached the winger, he had already crossed the ball into the box. Shae should have been in position to block the ball, but she was too slow to respond and the ball sailed right to the head of the Rastaka striker, who nodded the ball past Jesse Kantore and into the back of the net.

Bisera watched from the corner as Britt had a conversation with Shae that was much calmer than the one that Shae had had with Indah. She could see Shae looking longingly at the bench, and Bisera could tell that she wanted to get out of this game and collect herself. But, barring injury, Bisera knew that she had the same chances of spontaneously sprouting wings on her back as Shae had of being subbed off this early into the game.

Hunsen racked up the pressure now that they were a goal down. Everyone knew how much was at stake from the final result of this game, and no one wanted to be the girl that had ultimately cost the team the title. And, half an hour into the game, the pressure finally paid off. Bisera found herself being left alone as Rastaka's defenders focused on Britt, who was looking to thread the ball through to a waiting player. Britt looked up and saw Bisera in empty space, and she lifted the ball over the heads of the rushing defenders and launched it towards the Pridnestrovian. Bisera chested it down, took two steps to get a better look at the goal, and then she fired the ball. The ball flew in an arcing path, and the keeper leaped up to palm the ball away. But the ball was curling to the left tighter than the keeper thought, and the ball struck the underside of the crossbar before bouncing into the goal.

Bisera lifted her arms into the air in celebration as she ran towards the north stand, where Matt and Chris were watching. As her teammates mobbed her, Bisera pointed at her brother and her mentor, and they pumped their fists into the air in celebration as well.

Bisera's goal gave Hunsen a second wind, and just before the end of the first half, Lily scored Hunsen's second after she prodded the cross from Audra Jaakola past the Rastaka keeper. Everyone was in high spirits as they walked back to the locker room for the half-time break. All they needed was to defend and possibly score a third goal and the title would be theirs.

They had no idea that there were still to be a few twists in the story of the Loggers.

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CRESCENT NEWS NETWORK
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DI BRADINI CUP 38: ABANHFLEFT VS CENI
By Malik Qazizadah


Abanhfleft national under-21 team players on the ground after their loss against Ceni. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

RAYNOR CITY, VALANORA - Two penalties from Andrew Arrowsword consigned Abanhfleft to defeat and second place in Group G and also turned their final match against Flardania into a must-win contest.

Both of Arrowsword's spot kicks came as a result of wild and flying tackles from young Georgine Baum, who had once showed composure beyond her age during Abanhfleft's first game against Schottia.

The first penalty came as a result of Baum's studs-up tackle on Ben Lorennion, and Arrowsword calmly converted from the spot as he sent Orestes Katsouranis III the wrong way, and the fourteen-year-old left back was duly written into the referee's notebook.

A yellow card wasn't enough to dissuade young Baum from committing too much into her tackles, and when she toppled Arrowsword inside the box once again, Celerino delos Reyes knew that he was going to go into half-time and the rest of the game a player down.

For his second penalty, Arrowsword chipped the ball over Katsouranis III in a well-executed Panenka.

What happened to the old Georgine Baum?
Just days after shutting up her doubters, Georgine Baum has added fuel to the fire over the discussion on whether she should have been included in the current starting eleven of the Young Revolutionaries.

Gone was the calm and composed Baum that had bossed the Schottian attack, replaced by a young girl who seemed completely out of her depth.

From her first tackle to her eventual dismissal, Baum was all over the place, sending her feet and studs into places where they should not be sent.

"It's a disappointing development," Celerino delos Reyes told CNN Sports after the game. "She looked really good in the game against Schottia, but Georgine was a shadow of herself when we played against Ceni. I can't explain it. She was so good before. Where did that Georgine Baum go?"

Arrowsword stabs the Young Revolutionaries twice
Although both of his goals may have come from the spot, there is no denying that Ceni's Andrew Arrowsword is a force to be reckoned with.

He was omnipresent and omnipotent throughout the game, always getting into positions from where he could score or lay off the ball to a teammate in a better shooting position, and it was only because of Katsouranis III's maniacal focus that kept the scoreline respectable for the Young Revolutionaries.

Abanhfleft's offense, while also potent in itself, was rendered quiet by the need to always keep defending against the rampant and overloading Cenian side.

The Fleftics' best chance came in the 80th minute when Margarita Stephenson had a decent claim to a penalty of her own when she was brought down by Sendoa, but the referee waved it away.

Abanhfleft under-21 manager Celerino delos Reyes: "Of course, it's disappointing to lose a game in this way, having conceded two penalties and losing a player to a red card. But it can't be helped. That's the nature of football."

On Flardania, their next opponent: "We have to give two hundred percent tomorrow. This group is finely poised; anyone could qualify from it. We have to give our all against Flardania, and we must win if we want to advance."

    ABANHFLEFT 0 - 2 CENI
BAUM (█ █ 39')       ARROWSWORD (16' pen, 40' pen)

CENI
GK: 01 Morales
RB: 02 Torabi
CB: 03 Lorechian
LB: 04 Solis Vela
RCM: 05 Valles
LCM: 06 Valaran
RW: 07 Onasi (Sendoa - 67')
LW: 08 del Toro
RS: 10 Brahe-Antilles
CF: 09 Arrowsword
LF: 11 Lorennion (Longstar - 80')

ABANHFLEFT
GK: 01 Katsouranis III
RB: 02 Popov
RCB: 03 Hartin (Datta - 76')
LCB: 04 Gibson
LB: 05 Baum █ █
RDM: 06 Levin (Castellano - 60')
CDM: 07 Kleinmann
LDM: 08 Stober
CAM: 10 Toksvig
RS: 09 Dagen
LS: 11 Sabado (Stephenson - 60')

STATISTICS
Possession
Abanhfleft: 52%
Ceni: 48%
Shots
Abanhfleft: 13 (4 on target)
Ceni: 20 (8 on target)
Corners
Abanhfleft: 7
Ceni: 8
Fouls
Abanhfleft: 25
Ceni: 9

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

Lassie Alcouin didn't pretend a thing.
She was excited with the idea of a duel against her biggest rival.
Hell, some would say the only reason Lassie was on the team had to be the needs of a demoralizing factor against the always rough Chromatika side.
If only because of her unfinished business with a specific Chromatikan.

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The Unified Sunrise Islands Football Confederation had managed to create an environment that could, if nature and Arceus willed it, generate another fine class to match the many youngsters that brought the World Cup home.
Ideally, four leagues would join for a moment that seemed like bragging rights but would instead result on a tournament that would show the federation and its' teams the hottest commodities as far as Sunrisian youth football was involved.
Besides, the healthy prize at stake (a spot on the UICA Youth Cup) seemed too tasty for them not to dig in.
At last, the UICA Sunrisian Youth Qualifiers, nicknamed Final Four, was scheduled at the end of the season.
Belle Epoquenne, a traditional high school at the sports scene, backed by Chromatika-born goalkeeper Mia Ria, talented forward Anne Redwing and narcissistic midfielder Michel Agustín, entered as clear favorites after trailing over the Academics League.
Ajén Athletique, representing the small-numbered All-Species Sunrisian League but by no means weaker with Lassie Alcouin standing up to the level of her older sister Hannah and players such as Justin Silverstone and Alexei Mihjalov doing the team's heritage justice.
Furagato, oddities after surviving the Major League Youth Soccer ranks in one piece, clawed themselves in.
Finally, the Mardi Bunearies were up now to show both the good and the bad side of playing at the Hatcher League, their team losing most of their starters to the Mardi Lopunnies as soon as they had the chance.

Final match-day, Ajéan could win the league if they were capable of beating Belle Epoquenne.
A draw would only suffice the Madjorie Island school, as both teams had the same amount of points, Goal Difference giving the title to Belle Epoquenne.
Belle Epoquenne themselves had something to prove, however, after their first encounter had Mia Ria sitting out and Lassie Alcouin giving the Ajéan team a 1-0 win.

Lassie was on fire.
The defenders had trouble tracking the small half-Vaporeon down as she pranced around them.
Only problem was that right there, they had a rock solid keeper. Mia Ria.
She knew a couple of things about the young Alcouin.
She had been unpredictable at the already unpredictable All-Species Sunrisian League.
Instead of playing that game, Mia simply decided to stick to what she was capable at.
Catching the ball.
And she was great at that as well.
Alcouin lost her temper, trying to blast shot after shot until she couldn't even understand where she didn't try to hit yet.
Among twists, swerves, power shots and whatnot; stood a triumphant Mia Ria.
It was only a matter of time until Belle Epoquenne scored.

---

Alcouin would get her revenge at the Final Four later, when a new format ended up gracing Ajéan as they qualified to play on the UICA Youth Cup.
Alas, nothing seemed to take her mind off from what happened that one time.
Not that she was furious about it, but she never felt revenge.
This time, Lassie knew that she'd be able to outlast the Chromatikan side and their impressive keeper.

---

...She wasn't there.
Ria simply wasn't their chosen keeper.
Alcouin was pissed.
She still scored twice, though.
All left now was Anglatia, another tough team.
Maybe next time, Lassie.
Maybe next time.

[Anglatia]

(Note: All players on this team are amateurs who are available for free transfers. Get your offers in by telegram. I'll have something up later that goes into detail about their specific skills)

The Northern Amateurs were on the brink of what they wanted, getting through to the next round, but Tumbra stood in their way. It was an emotional match, for everyone on the Imperial side. For weeks before the tournament, the local media had bashed them and told them that they weren't good enough to represent the Empire. Now they had shocked Chromatika, and they were now in the locker room during half time during their match with Tumbra. A win, and they'd certainly be through. A loss, and they would be on the ropes on the final matchday. Hell, they were already on the ropes. The locker room was on edge. It was like the moments before a storm. Everyone could tell that the storm was coming, even though things were relatively calm.

They expected the storm to come from the manager, Wes Rener, but it didn't. It came from the team's fulcrum/midfield destroyer, Abigail Papadiamantopolous. "What the fuck is everyone doing out there!?" she screamed, getting into the faces of the forwards. "Where is the finishing? Do any of you even want to win, or am I the only one out there who cares about that? Where is the team that played Chromatika and dominated them? I know they're around here somewhere! But I'm having a hard as hell time believing that you guys are the same team... Every one of you, except Jakub, need to get your heads out of your arses and play Anglatian football! This isn't how we play back home!"

Indeed, they were missing the thing that was trained into Anglatian players from a young age: being clinical. Anglatian forwards were trained that being lethal in front of goal was the most important attribute that they could have, and they certainly weren't playing that way today. Mac Mailin had hit the post twice, while Christos missed an almost completely open goal with a slow rolling shot. Jeremy's second miss off the post was the best chance they'd had all game, and Abigail didn't think they would get another chance that was anywhere near as good as that one, when he'd been standing at the edge of the box and waiting for the ball to be deflected his way. "Jesus, Abigail... It's not like we aren't trying," snapped Elaine Makris, and this set Abigail off. The 6'8 midfielder grabbed the smaller girl by her collar and shoved her into the wall, getting into her face.

"You aren't fucking trying enough," Abigail stated, before Jeremy separated the two. "I don't give a shit about trying! Trying doesn't mean anything! I tried to become a pro footballer instead of going to law school, but just trying to do something without actually doing it means nothing at all! What I give a shit about is doing, and we haven't done jack. The only thing that matters in the end is the scoreboard, not 'trying'. Gimme a break. Who do you think I am, your fucking kindergarten teacher? Do you want a gold star for trying?"

By the time Wes Rener walked in to see what the commotion was about, both Jeremy and Elaine had tears in their eyes. They were amateurs, after all. They'd never been subjected to brutal half time talks like this. "Is there a problem?" asked Wes, folding his arms and looking around at the different players who were seated or standing around their lockers. "I was about to call all of you to come look at the tactical adjustment, but it seems that we have some tempers flaring right now..."

"Hell yes, there is a problem! These pansies are going to be the reason why we don't make it out of the group, for the second year in a row! Apparently they didn't listen hard enough to the pregame talk about the stakes here," Abigail said, before sighing and pulling her jersey back on. "I'm done here. I'm headed back to the pitch before I snap and hit someone. I'll get the tactical instructions from Jeremy when we warm up."

Everyone watched as the tall midfielder stormed out and slammed the door behind her. She was right in a way. They weren't playing Anglatian football. But then again, they were trying to adapt the tactics of the senior national team to a youth team composed of amateurs. It made sense that it wouldn't have the same success. Wes still knew that his bosses would expect success though, and that was why he was taking a risk by moving Abigail to striker and playing Jeremy as a false nine. Or at least, that was the plan before she stormed out. It was clear that she didn't currently have the composure to handle playing up front as a lone striker. "Alright, everyone. Start stretching for the second half. I'm headed back to the drawing board with our gameplan."

When Wes left, Jakub Simic finally stood and spoke. The keeper who had six saves was the reason why they were still in this match. "Okay, fam. I have some things to say. Abigail was right. Trying doesn't do jack shit for us. We need to execute. We need to play like we did earlier. We won against Chromatika because we executed. We aren't doing that right now. Remember what's at stake. You lose, the media is going to hound us unless we can pull off an upset of USI. We win, and we're going to be fucking legends when we get home. We'll all get contracts with real clubs and get rich, and we'll practically be drowning in girls... Er, guys, if that's your thing. But only if we win."

With that, the vice captain stood up and ran out of the locker room to warm up on the pitch, and left everyone to consider his words. It was do or die time, for sure.

[Ceni]

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ARROWSWORD'S PANENKA
What this, and other DBC developments, means for Ceni's youth team

---

Panenkas on the penalty kick are always pretty cheesy when they go in, and the crowd roars with excitement. But it's a hard skill to master, and if it goes wrong at a crucial moment during a penalty shootout, then the player who attempted one will be the butt of derision for several years - maybe for the rest of his career - for throwing away the penalty at such a crucial opportunity to progress. Therefore, the type of player who executes a panenka must be self-confident and of a high-enough profile that a failed panenka will not totally ruin his career going forward. Now, the Di Bradini Cup is not the most likely place for you to see a panenka, which is a skill usually reserved for the most skilled of players at occasions that aren't all that important - say, a penalty for a 7-1 lead against a horrible side that isn't going to vie for top spot in the group with you. Here's the kicker, though - Andrew Arrowsword scored successfully on the panenka kick to give his side a two-nil lead over Abanhfleft - a side expected to contend with Ceni for the top spot in Group G of the Di Bradini Cup. That goal totally doesn't fit the standard situation for a panenka - so how did Arrowsword manage to attempt the panenka, and actually get away with it?

Arrowsword has been one of the most self-confident, and most technically proficient, footballers that Ceni has produced. Not many youngsters make their national team debut in the World Cup finals, but Arrowsword did, after national team manager Elias Carrasco decided to inject more spark into the forward line. Not many youngsters score against one of the world's best teams, Pasarga, but Arrowsword did. So Arrowsword has been injected with a lot of self-confidence about himself - despite three draws in the World Cup final, that big match experience against two top-10 teams has shown that Arrowsword can play with the best and beat the rest. He seemingly ran circles around Abanhfleft's defense, always seeming to be there where his team needed him, passing and shooting and being all too cold and clinical on the penalty shots. Not many youngsters can score a panenka, but Arrowsword did. He did because he was utterly self-confident - he knew he could hit a panenka - and because he has a great amount of talent and skill in the first place. Despite the situation - the fortieth minute, with a whole other half coming up in which the celebrated Fleftic offense could score against a Cenian defense, and the lead only 1-0, tenuous at best against a truly gifted side that was in contention with Ceni to be the best in the group - Arrowsword took a big risk, which, had it failed, would have been a game-changer for the team in their game against Abanhfleft. Despite Petrossian reprimanding the star for his stunt after the game, and what could have happened had his cheeky move failed, the panenka attests to something that the Di Bradini Cup has in droves: confidence.

Besides the panenka, which was a product of confidence, the Di Bradini Cup also has showcased a creator of confidence, a 7-1 drubbing of Flardania. Ceni's offense ran rampant over an obviously overmatched Flardania side, with the rapacious striking team making scoring goals look fundamentally easy. Arrowsword scored two goals that game against an easy defense and helped, in some form or fashion, to set up the other 5, one from Ben Lorennion and two each from Adrián del Toro and Marc-André Onasi. While a 7-1 thrashing of a highly-rated team would have been more desirable, a 7-1 thrashing of a team with such a poor record in the DBC as Flardania will still be a big confidence booster because it shows that the Cenian offense is extremely capable, and it started this Di Bradini Cup campaign in the "group of death" out with a win. Several studies have demonstrated that success breeds further success as the confidence level of people boosts from earlier success, so this early success in the Di Bradini Cup is helping Ceni out by boosting their confidence level and giving them a bit of a boost against Abanhfleft. Schottia might not have this confidence against Ceni in their upcoming game because it lost to the Fleftic side the first day of competition - sowing the seeds of doubt in their minds, and the skill and capacity of the Cenian offense so far has likely also sown more seeds of doubt. If anything, confidence will be a crucial factor in the game against Schottia.

Additionally, interestingly enough, Ceni's defense has been fairly stalwart over the past few matches, too, with Juan Pablo Morales giving up just one goal. This has been a surprising aspect of Ceni's Di Bradini Cup group stages so far, because Ceni has had a reputation for a leaky defense at the youth level. Even the "Dream Team" that made it to the final in DBC 35 had quite a bit of defensive problems - they gave up 11 goals in the group stage (although managing to score 15), and gave up 4 goals in their semifinal against San Llera. The only reason why that Cenian team reached such a high level was because the offense was super stacked, with names the likes of Kira Koromin, Tomás Fierro, Eric Garcia, and Nico Asturias, now for the most part stalwarts of the national team offense, and that stacked offense was able to quickly rebound from Ceni's inability to defend its own goal all that well. This Di Bradini Cup, the defense has been a lot more consistent with its efforts, allowing Ceni to be a little bit more aggressive without worrying about a leaky back end on the defense. Juan Pablo Morales anchors the defense capably, and the trio of Solis Vela, Lorechian, and Torabi have seemed to work well together to hold their own on the defense, especially against an offensive Abanhfleft. Not only has this defense blocked a great offense and given some jitters to opponents, it has also allowed the striking team to take a few more risks and act with more confidence. A lot of football is about trust; if the midfield doesn't trust the defense, it can't be confident about where it wants to send the ball. But now that we can trust the defense, we can be more confident in the midfield and the offense, which will help the game as well.

So Ceni's Di Bradini Cup team has a lot of confidence. Can the senior team learn some lessons from this confidence and perhaps use lessons learned here to advance further into the World Cup? First, though, let's compare some situations. Ceni had the highest goal tally in qualification before both World Cups 75 and 76 - yet both World Cup campaigns were lackluster at best, with some disappointing failures blocking their advance into the octofinals for the first time. Obviously, the Cenian national team had confidence from the qualification stages, which should have carried over to the World Cup - so why didn't it help them that much? Perhaps Ceni's footballers were simply tired from exerting themselves during qualifiers. Here's where the confidence of the Di Bradini Cup team comes in - Ceni's national team can make use of talent that has shown itself here at the DBC at the qualifiers, as well as some other senior players with less experience. Many more players get match experience, and Ceni's key players are rested for the World Cup finals themselves. (That is, if Ceni doesn't end up bidding to host sometime in the future - which will ensure that the national team is nice and rested.) Additionally, Ceni's national team can learn more confidence from the Di Bradini Team by talking with psychologist Anya Katherion, whom the players credit with an increase in their confidence, and staying away from negativity - something which Andrew Arrowsword says helped him execute his panenka. He didn't have any doubts about it, and the possibility of failure never entered his mind for one second, he told me. That mentality can help a Cenian national team which focuses on negativity. Positive results can help focus the Cenian national team, just like the game against Flardania focused the Di Bradini Cup team.

Earlier this week, before the first of the group stage matches in this Group of Death, I wrote that Ceni would probably have a problem with nerves and confidence against the other three sides in this group. But it appears that I've been wrong - it's the other teams that have been having trouble with nerves, with Abanhfleft's offense looking a bit silent against Ceni because of some mental issues, and Georgine Baum apparently losing it because of Ceni's rampant offense. Schottia's media has also been downplaying their team's chances a lot - talking about their leaky defense and the possibility for a large number of goals from the Cenian offense. One can imagine how Kagami Ikeda's side is feeling as well before the match; they quite probably have a lot of nerves and lack of confidence before their match against Ceni. Conversely, the thrashing of Flardania and the panenka against Abanhfleft have both created and showed, respectively, Ceni's confidence. Ceni's confidence - and the other countries' nerves - now mean that it is probably an advantage for the Cenian side, not a disadvantage like I originally thought. I originally thought that Ceni would lose a game or two because of nerves; I'm happy to be wrong, though.

[Qasden]

Qasden
Athletic News

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Di Bradini Cup 38 Report- Matchday 2

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It's the second day in Valanora, and the U21 Vans are in need of a win to better their chances of advancing. In Miner's Haven, the Qads took on Azrea, a team left fatigued after a slaughtering defeat to Quebec.

The game started, and both nations cheered on their respective teams, with Azrea getting the first shot on target. As the game went on, Munsen, Cassidy, even Namba had shots near or on target. The first 45+3 minutes ended with a scoreless score of 0-0.

Neither side wanted to lose, as chances of advancing would be significantly decreased. Valentijn had gotten 3 more opportunities to score, but no dice. The remaining time was counting down fast. The ball kept going back and forth. Azrea. Qasden. Azrea. Qasden. Azrea..... the whistle blew. 0 to 0. A goose egg match splitting 2 points between each other.

After the disappointing draw, Qasden still stands at 2nd in the group with 4 points, while Mercedini and Azrea add a point to their scores (as Mercedini drew with Quebec). Next for the Vans are the Reapers, a team who dominated the Eagles and drew 3-3 with the Eaglets. Should a Qad win or draw occur, the Vans will advance to the next stage. If a defeat and a Mercedinian/Azrean win occurs, we better cross our fingers for luck. If either match ends with a draw, the Qads could progress. But, considering our luck, we might end up getting destroyed by the Québécois, with a simple win from Azrea or Mercedini allowing them to stomp on top of us.

That's all for now. Can the Qads survive Matchday 3 at Miner's Haven? Or will the Québécois help Azrea/Mercedini slip right past us? Stay tuned stay updated, and stay alert for our MD3 report, straight from Goldsan, Valanora!