World Cup 76 - RP Thread

by **Krytenia** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 2:12 pm

Continued from here, here, here, and here.

HOLDING BACK THE SANDS
Part IV - Curieosity

It was an eerie sight.

For as far as the eye could see, charred wood and flattened buildings. The buildings, though, were not flattened as though demolished; rather, it appeared that something had crushed them utterly from above. Reddish-brown smears pockmarked the broken asphalt. Clearly, once, this had been a city; just as clearly, whatever happened here had left no survivors, material or organic.

"My God." Professor Blower's face was ashen. "It's...my God. I've never seen anything like this. It's...it's horrible."

"I have seen something like this, once. Only in pictures, though." Brigadier Carstairs' tone was sombre. "Did you hear of a place called Lopinka?"

"It rings a bell somewhere, Charles. Remind me though."

"It was a city in Vilita, many, many moons ago. It suffered a fate like this, thanks to a Xilean superweapon called LUCIFER. The satellite crashed to earth and was never recovered...though perhaps, now, we have discovered what happened to it. Ibex didn't exist when LUCIFER did. It's entirely possible that this was its resting place...but for it to still be active! That doesn't make sense, surely it burned up?"

Another voice piped up. "Not necessarily." Lucy Pascal, one of the university team, approached the two men. "It's entirely possible that the satellite entered at a favourable angle. It's certainly feasible that the shielding on the this was heatproofed, too. Sure, the impact may have deadened the force of the electromagnets inside somewhat, but with it working at close quarters...a stray spark or cable in the wrong place and CRUNCH. Explains the trees, too."

"What do you mean?" The Brigadier looked puzzled.

"Ah, you see, there's one sure-fire way to demagnetise something; heat it up. Every magnet has something called a Curie point, the temperature at which it loses its magnetism. They must've burned the trees to do it; also explains why LUCIFER would have been heatproofed. At least, though," Lucy pointed at a soldier holding up a twisted, melted, hunk of metal, "it won't be happening again. Professor, check the soil here, I'm curious."

"No need, Lucy. Look!" Professor Blower pointed to the remains of a building a few hundred yards away. There were wisps of grass growing through the cracks. "It's fertile!"

"I thought as much. When they burned the ground, the magnetised fragments demagnetised, allowing water to permeate. All we need to do, is do that on a large scale. Brigadier, sir, may I make a recommendation?"

"What would that be?"

"Get a fuckton of napalm and all the garbage trucks you can muster. We're going to have a barbecue."

by **Bonesea** » Sat Oct 22, 2016 2:54 pm

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Mon Oct 24, 2016 6:23 pm

World Cup 76 Preview: Mascot Death Fight Edition

Welcome to the World Cup 76 Preview, Mascot Death Fight Edition. In this preview, we predict the outcome of World Cup 76 based on the nicknames of the teams, and who who has the more impressive nickname. When teams don't have a nickname, or didn't let us know, we'll make one up for them. Let's get to it.

Group A:

Ficisia didn't bother to submit any team information. Losers. Whatever, we'll make one up for them. Ficisia reminds me of physical education, so their nickname can be The Gym Teachers. Ceni doesn't have a nickname that we can find, so we'll call them the celli, which is the plural of cello, so I'm told. Brenecia's nickname is The Patriots. Very Patriotic. Fire up the muskets, or something. Osarius is called The Firebirds. Sort of like The Phoenix only not as cool. That fact will haunt them later on, but we'll get to that.

Well, Firebirds are clearly top as the others are quite lame. Osarius will win Group A. As for the second place team, Gym Teachers can be intimidating, but generally don't carry muskets. We'll have to go with Brenecia.

Group B;

The Valanora team is called the Marauders. That's apparently another name for a raider. Eura apparently doesn't have a nickname, but their flag has stars so we'll call them the Stars. That's a cool nickname. The Holy Empire are apparently the Frosties. We're not sure whether that refers to the nation or the soccer team, or if they're one and the same, but we'll go with that. Flardania is nicknamed the Kitsunes. That's apparently the Japanese word for fox.

Well, I think the fox would eat the frosty, but that might upset his stomach. The star would shine brightly, but that just keeps us alive. So it's down to a fox with an upset stomach and a marauder to see who wins the group. If the fox didn't have an upset stomach, I'd pick him, but Valanora takes this with Flardania coming in second.

Group C:

San Jose Guayabal's nickname is the unhelpful La Selecta, which just means the select. As in, the team they selected. Most unhelpful. So they lose by default. Abanhfleft's nickname is the Lady Revolutionaries. Well, that's just like male Revolutionaries. So we'll go with that. Audioslavia is The Bulls, which is strange, because I thought that was an ox on their flag. Guess I was wrong, anyway. Port Christopher also doesn't have a nickname that we can find. What a lame group. Anyway, we'll call them the Ports.

So we've got San Jose Guayabal, who loses by default, we've got the Revolutionaries, the Bulls, and the Ports. Still a lame group. The opposite of a Group of Death. But Bulls are somewhat strong, and Revolutionaries beat Ports because that's just lame. Audioslavia wins, with Abanhfleft in second.

Group D:

Savalen is either The Savages or The Lynx. We'll go with Lynx since they're so much cooler. Barunia is The Suns. Cool. Suns are bright. Krytenia are The Dragons. They breathe fire, apparently. Valladares is called La Nacional, which is almost as useless as La Selecta. It means The National, as in The National Team. So they lose by default. That leaves us with Lynx, Suns, and Dragons.. Dragons win, obviously, they breathe fire. Sun bears down on kitty cat and makes him go inside, so Krytenia wins the group and Barunia comes in second.

Group E:

Finally, a nickname that isn't completely uninspired, as we have the Jungle Cats of Vilita. Sounds ferocious. Damukuni doesn't have a nickname that we can find, but we call them Dumbokuni and Dumbo's an elephant with big ears, so we'll call them The Elephants With Big Ears. Electrum is The Bolts. I don't know if that's real or fake, but we'll go with that. Semarland also doesn't have a nickname that we can find, so we'll call them the Symbiosis. Very lame, indeed.

Jungle cats. Fearsome, violent, ferocious. Vilita wins group. Dumbo may have big ears, but he's still an elephant. Damukuni comes in second.

Group F:

Chiata is also the Suns. Another Sun? Or almost a Sun? Well, they're The Suns too. Hopefully they don't play Barunia. Then we have the Eels of Turori. Clever. Weird. I like it. Then we have The Grim Reapers from Quebec. Unified Sunrise Islands is nicknamed The Samba Kids. Clever, a tad.

Well, I'm pretty sure The Grim Reaper only takes humans to their death, so he'll take care of The Samba Kids, but he's powerless over The Suns and The Eels. And The Eels are underwater so The Suns can't hurt them. They win the group, and The Suns come in second.

Group G:

Chromatika is nicknamed The Anomalies. Clever, but it doesn't really help them here. Nephara is The Cormorants. According to the Lord Almighty Gregory Dictionary, a Cormorant is "a large diving bird with a long neck, long hooked bill, short legs, and mainly dark plumage. It typically breeds on coastal cliffs and is noted for its voracious appetite."It looks kind of funny, and almost like a tropical penguin. It's cute, but not very useful. Fluvique are The White Foxes. That's a little better. And Pasarga are The Wanderers.

This is clearly the lamest group at the World Cup. Why do two of these teams have to advance? The White Foxes advance since they're by far the best of the worst, and then, oh, I don't know, the birds. Fluvique and Nephara, 1-2.

Group H:

Red Blackiland is the Dunkelöwe, which in English is Dark Lions. Then we have us, the Foot Slaves. Although we're the best team in the Multiverse, our nickname is not so much. Then we have the Dragons of Cosumar. More Dragons? With lions? Oh boy. We're screwed. But wait! We have a prayer! Farfadillis is la Vherderoja, or The Green and Red. A color! A frickin color! The only thing that would lose to a slave in a Death Fight! We're not in last! Dragons probably beat Lions though, seeing as they can breathe fire and all.

Round of 16:

Osarius Firebirds vs. Barunia Suns
Audioslavia Bulls vs. Flardania Kitsunes (Foxes)
Brenecia Patriots vs. Abanhfleft Revolutionaries
Krytenia Dragons vs. Valanora Marauders
Vilita Jungle Cats vs. Red Blackiland Dunkelöwe (Dark Lions)
Fluvique White Foxes vs. Chiata Suns
Damukuni Elephants With Big Ears vs. Cosumar Dragons
Nephara Cormorants vs. Turori Eels

We'll be back later with the preview of the Knockout Stages.

by **Red Blackiland** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 6:26 am

Red Blackiland Sports and Off-topic Chronicles

Prose and verse for eternal love

Players entrance in Matthewsiania

Author : Mathias Gërdorffen

He swore by all the saints that this was the woman of his life.
Cut his hair, trimmed beard, made manicure. Gargled malvona to get bad breath. He trained to speak without using dirty word.
But the first meeting was a disaster. Not remembered to open the door of the car to the goddess. He saw that piece had been hurt. He promised to mend.
The second meeting was better. Dolly loved the sheaf of white roses delivered as soon as he saw the little garden of pale yellow house.
The third meeting has not happened.
He fell in love with another, but that for all time, so blonde that blended with its tropical morning sun.
He had to wash the VW Beetle, sprayed scent to the cigarette smell disappear, made an effort to disguise the interior accent, carrying it strongly.
But he knew there would be a second date better than the first, when everything went well until errres slipped in and - was bad, very bad my plate!
Passion that lasts only a gas tank is not forever.
He met the woman of his torments soon to follow.
What he was turned prose poetry, broken foot, crap.
Fell four, drooled-all
made a goofball.
And she firmly, no, no and no.
He attended yard,
He did promise to matchmaker saints,
all in vain.
The VW Beetle broke, left the bus.
It was difficult, the woman of his life
He became a song.
A rock music, classical music,
one headbanger without harmony,
no melody and no chorus.
Left the rhyme,
lost horny.

Red Blackiland wins the playoffs and it's now in the World Cup for the first time ever

Teams repeated their kits used in the first leg

Matthewsiania 0-1 Red Blackiland - Leg 2 (Agg 0-2)

Red Blackiland won for the first time in history to qualify for a World Cup, with two tough games against Matthewsiania nevertheless, the team qualified without conceding goals. Carmona became the hero of the country, showed an unbelievable game variations for just two games. Matthewsiania bet your squad to play at speed against the slow Baszta, which operates the left of the defensive sector of Red Blackiland. Matthewsiania bet it at the beginning of the match, which started the game taking advantage of these spaces, and that was the escape team against Red Blackiland.
Despite the greater possession of Red Blackiland at first, it was exactly that "empty" space Werdickley came free to cross to Monomonoi, who scored 28 minutes - the bid was disallowed correctly for offside. On defense, Matthewsiania formed a line of five defenders, with indented Xowver to try to prevent the ball touch the Red Blackiland resulted in deep pass to someone free in the area. The unique opportunity that the training opened space, Edvan made great goalkeeping kick in first Beckenstander. In addition to these chances, two other good in the first step: to Red Blackiland, Baszta hit the post after a corner; on the other hand, Girardi received free after headed back from Defour, but hit crooked face to face with Hargreaves. Meluna missed another great chance to Matthewsiania: free in the area, killed chest drew the goal that put Matthewsiania full steam ahead in the confrontation. But instead of hitting the attacker produced a mixed kick with hat trial. The ball was poor out.
In the second stage, Schwartz. After two good plucked in the first half, the back of the range the ace right away lost great chance, on the back of Marcelinho Southerner, crossed close to beating Edvan beam. He knew he would have to call the responsibility in the attack to give the dream place in the World Cup to his country. But he could not immediately. The solution then was to repeat what Matthewsiania tried before: release to the area for a free striker. Ferreth that not Meluna killed in the chest. Ferreth unlike Meluna, hit hard, down. The ball went Edvan who enters the story coming off the bench. Ferreth had discrete performances in the tournament, became a starter in the first round, but lost the job. Valbuena was testing the other position, but Ferreth always got a chance, if only a few minutes, and was the last of these small chance that the player explained for what reason continued to receive them. Killed in the chest, she glared goalkeeper Edvan. In a game with no major individual highlights, the protagonist of the decisive bid is who will be remembered. Ferreth is the name.
Marcelinho Verdinho climbed his team the way he knows how to play: closing spaces to steal the ball and bet on the attacking trio formed by Meluna speed, Werdickley and Girardi. This was helped by two lesions: the Defour more to the middle of the match and the Shacker, which came out still in the first stage after head injury and was replaced by Ebehard. This made Valbuena had to act with rearmost Defour - that is, less a marker for Werdickley and company. The solution found by Valbuena to fight rival coach was typical: its reservations entered to change the game. Ferreth and Eberhard, showed that it is possible to play without center forward. Ferreth appeared in the middle and killed the decision in the playoffs.

WC76 Kit Collectanea for... Kit Collectors #1 - Group H: Red Blackiland's group in the World Cup

Group H Kits

Let's start with the group which Red Blackiland is inside, the group H. Rotschwarzland were drawn with Farfadillis, Cosumar and Gregoryisgodistan. In a tough and interesting group, a true experience to the Red Blackilandian team can improve and get better and better.
~~The Quarrelsome~~ Farfadillis came to this World Cup and its qualifiers with a kit tailored by the kitmaker Mons, with a different style from the last kits made by the Audioslavian kitmaker Kirola, features three black gradient diagonal stripes and a interesting colour scheme between red, light green more pulled to the lemon tone, a simple and good resfreshing style to the oldest Kirola kits, the details with more lemon green and black that follows all around the kit complete the primary details in the front of the shirt. Also, the modern of look of the Freisan Farf Freitball Francitian's logo also fits very good the kits and gives it a good touch, probably will be the kit to be used in the debut, against Red Blackiland. The team also qualified without scares or difficulties with a smooth group for them, with all their brave style of play with a strong priority on the markation, certainly they're one of the favorites and came to this World Cup with great chances of winning.
~~The Amicable~~ Cosumar is a long time Meski client and had their kits been made by the local Red Blackilandian kitmaker a few World Cups ago, all of them featuring a dragon style theme, uniting it with the Cosumarite Royal Family colours and details. Their home kit is a white kit with dragon theme in the sleeves and the side of the front and back of the jersey, a different style from the previous kits but also is simpler than them. A good way to resfresh the Cosumarite kit line, the media and the fans enjoyed the previous kits, more than the new ones, but certainly, they would enjoy all of them, isn't one of the most complex or beautiful Meski kits but it truly represent the Cosumar spyrit and culture in a modern way. Also, Cosumar is one of the most faithful Meski consumers, with a strong kit agreement between them and Meski that makes kits for few local clubs in the country. The Cosumarite team qualified for the World Cup directly, but had to do a bit of a struggle because lost important points to ~~The Sexual~~ Jeruselem, and saw them being the leader of the group for many features, a bit of surprise in this group, but in the second half of Qualifiers the Cosumarite teams brought the brave dragon spyrit and turned the game on their favour, rescuing the first position, qualifying directly and pushing Jeruselem to the playoffs, certainly, their princess only had the 'preliminaries'.
~~The Humored-Straggler~~ Gregoryisgodistan is the third team of the group to be drawn with Red Blackiland. The two countries had a little history in the past Cup of Harmony, as their...nothing speacial leader called The Lord Almighty Gregory called acts against Red Blackiland and its citizens, if their nation could have any power to fight us and our citizens, and certainly, their leader will do a speech about us again and we entered their enemy list. Let's talk about their kits, they were made by Sangti kitmaker Libertad Sportswear, the kitmaker are inactivated but the Gregoryisgodistani Federation maintain the production line of the kit made by them, the home kit features a simple red and black design, the kit have nothing special, and for us, isn't ugly or beautiful, just an average kit. However, the idea of the circular break between the red and black is good, but from our analysis, it's the only thing to be talked about in this kit, maybe the collar could be black following the upper part of it. Gregoryisgodistan had a little tough group, counting with Chiata, Eastfield Lodge and the Baptism of Fire 63 Champions, Gadirya. It wasn't easy, the team fell out of the first place few times, for example, before the final two matchdays, Chiata were first place of the group instead of the Lord Almighty Gregory's team, but they managed to make their results, including the hard win against Chiata at home by 1-0. Maybe the group was a good experience for the team can reach more prepared to the World Cup to avoid fatal mistakes. It's possible to see Red Blackiland make our revenge against them for the loss in the Cup of Harmony 67?
~~The Artistic Lieutenant~~ Red Blackiland (The Artistic Capo's are Krytenia and Northern Sunrise, for giving two examples and The Artistic Don/Boss is Audioslavia) is probably, the more passionate national team of the World Cup and it's also the debutant on the tournament. The kits features classic designs for a patriotic team like us, the kome kit featuring a simple horizontal striped design with a cool red touch in the bottom part of the sleeves, a creative way to mix a simple design with a cool, realistic style to symbolize the country colours. The back part of the shirt is also the best part of the kit, by the details in the upper part of it, in the back collar section, the circular line is a good way to produce a great quality seam. By the media and fans had a good debate about which combination of shorts and socks the team should wear in the home kit, if it could be white shorts and socks, or white shorts and black socks, anyway, the black shorts and socks were choosed and with the past of the times was seen by the most beautiful combination for the home kit. The team hadn't too scares in the Qualifiers, maybe lost important points to Kernansquillec, a team that didn't played well during the tournament, lost the only one chances to pick the first position from Audioslavia, but for what was pointed out for Red Blackiland this qualifiers, the team did it pretty well, went to the playoffs and qualified without suffering any goal, a great advance to symbolize all the work that were being made by the government, federation and the clubs, that is the evolution of Red Blackiland football.

~~The Extroverted~~ Gadirya deserves a honorable mention here as they were the Champions of the last tournament held in Red Blackiland (with Super-Llamaland) which was The Baptism of Fire 63. Their home kit features a classic vertical stripe with a hexagon gradient pattern inside using white, grey and black colours, the polo neck gives the shirt a nice touch and completes the design of the vertical stripe, all of it followed by little details on the bottom part of the sleeves and details in the upper part of the back of the shirts. The two-striped colour socks are also a very good detail. Gadirya is one of the newest Meski clients, the media and fans gave a great feedback about the kits, showing their gratitude on the kits are well-done by the Red Blackilandian kitmaker, and certainly, is a kit to be considered in our collection as well, a team where they already are champions and should improve even more in the near future, reaching in bigger goals and objectives. They did a godo campaign at the qualifiers but wasn't enough for the playoff spot, needing to face the strong Gregoryisgodistani team, and the organizated squad of Chiata.

Las Mafias I - Walkthrough

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Las Mafias I - Buy your game now!

Chapter/Mission 12 - Advertising is everything

Deliz receives a call from Ricardo Perrón about a big deal he's setting up and asks Deliz to meet him in Garra Blanca's Park if he's interested. At the park, Perrón explains that the only reason Cédric had Sanchez killed killed was because he was selling dope and was stealing Cédric's customers. The only person left standing in Cédric's way of becoming the main supplier of drugs to Vladivostok-Alianza was Ku-Sang Jeon, and he was planning to go after him next. Perrón believes that if Cédric can sell drugs, they can too.
Perrón explains that a kilo of heroin costs $3.650 and they can make a profit of $7.650 per kilo if they buy it from the Flards and sell it to the suppliers themselves. The plan is to buy ten kilos, which will make them a hefty $76.500 in profit. All they need to do is borrow $36,500 from a loan shark he knows. Deliz expresses concern about getting involved in the drug business, but Perrón and Tejeda convince him to go along with the plan because it's easy money.

Heroin from Flardanian Triads

They go to see Pedro Barreiro, a loan shark who has ties to the Mafia, to borrow the money they need to buy the drugs. However, Pedro decides the loan is high risk and wants an additional $25.000 in return by Friday, explaining that the debt will go up an additional $15.000 per week after that. Perrón agrees and Pedro lends them the money. The three leave Pedro's Office and drive the Seafood Company Co. in Flarditown, a large company that operates out of a warehouse in the city, it's run by the Flardanian Triads, who use it as a front for their operations.
Then, they meet Abushito Torikawa of the Triads to buy the heroin. The deal goes smoothly but as they leave they're approached by some men masquerading as police officers who try to take the drugs from them. Perrón realizes they're not cops and a gunfight erupts. After they finish off the gangsters at the warehouse, they leave only to be ambushed and chased through the streets by another group. After they finally lose them, they make their way to Blanco Street to begin selling the heroin. After spending the afternoon selling the drugs around Vladivostok-Alianza, the three head out for a night on the town.

Walkthrough - Mechanics and Turorials

After the phone call, get dressed and drive to Garra Blanca's Park to meet with Perrón and Tejeda. You will need a four-door vehicle so you can drive them both around later. Once Perrón is done explaining the deal, drive them to Pedro's office on Guaya Street to borrow the money. After that, drive to the Seafood Company Co. in Flarditown to buy the drugs from the Flardanian Triads. When you arrive at the warehouse, instead of following the man who greets you, walk straight ahead and you will find a magazine at the end of an alley behind a bin.

Money from the Flardanian Triads

As the three leave with the drugs, they will be approached by several men pretending to be police officers and a gunfight will break out. Head up the stairs and make your way into the warehouse. In the first hallway you will find another magazine on the floor to the right. Despite Perrón's instructions, you can stop and shoot the men in the parking lot from the windows here, which will make the fight in the warehouse easier.
Continue fighting your way through the warehouse and then into the parking lot. It's advisable not to shoot the cars full of men who drive in, as you will be needing one of them in good shape to make your escape later, as yours has been destroyed. Once you've killed all the gangsters there, head to the south side of the lot and you'll find another magazine on the ground behind a truck.
Once you're ready, get in one of the cars and leave. Just down the alleyway you will be ambushed by two more cars full of gangsters. You can either outrun them or stop and shoot it out now. Once they're dealt with, follow the map marker to Cuscatlán Valley, where a cutscene will take over showing the three selling the drugs around Vladivostok-Alianza, and then you will receive an achievement.

by **Port Christopher** » Tue Oct 25, 2016 12:06 pm

World Cup 76 :: Ceni & Electrum - Final twenty three
No. Pos.  Name              Age    Club                          Caps   Goals
01. GK.   Carus Laxium      33     Patria Poble [SAN]            61     0
02. RB.   Anderiz           26     New St Johns [PCR]            26     1
03. LB.   Liam Goncalves    20     Dundee [SCH]                  24     2
04. CB.   Robert Wessel     33     Unattached                    55     4
05. CB.   Lara Dixon        31     Willox Street Pirates [PCR]   11     1 
06. DM.   James Del Vertio  37     Sarrburgh Town [PCR]          38     5 
07. DM.   Diego Bandos      32     Lexington Victory [NGD] (c)   54     8
08. CM.   Maeve Bronte      22     Willox Street Pirates [PCR]   14     1
11. ACM.  Tim Maitfield     29     Polaris [CEN]                 50    11
10. ACM.  Rachel Del Arro   22     Samaj FC [COS]                26     9
09. CF.   Tony Uist         28     Marinos Thimpodopoulos [FPN]  49    27

12. GK.   Scott Torrance    26     Sarrburgh Town [PCR]           2     0
13. RB.   Elliot Thompson   27     New Dundee Star [PCR]          1     0 
14. LB.   Sanchia Diaz      17     New Belfast Warriors [SCH]     0     0 
15. CB.   Leon Marshall     35     Kelsey Merchants [PCR]         1     0 
16. RM.   Caroline Bensborg 18     Blue Coast 1981 [PCR]          6     0
17. C/LM. Aredhel Neil      28     La Gorlions [SCH]             43    12
18. CM.   Miller Icacic     31     Kelsy Merchants [PCR]         23     3
19. CM.   Gary Erwin        26     Tralend [PCR]                  2     0 
20. ACM.  Stella Watson     18     Willox Street Pirates [PCR]    0     0
21. CF.   Ross Jameson      29     New Dundee Star [PCR]         39    11
22. CF.   Jacques           24     Dundee [SCH]                  19     7
23. GK.   Donald Gordon     32     New St Johns [PCR]             4     0

Results didn't get any bigger than this one. It was hard to tell exactly what the overriding emotion was, as the squad - which injuries and suspensions had limited to only twenty-one - sat on the bus back from the airport. The mood amongst the players was a cross between shock and maybe even a tinge of guilt, but it certainly wasn't euphoria. How had that just happened? How had any of this happened? Three nil against a side who made Schottia look distinctly average, they were now twelve matches unbeaten. In fact, in fifteen matches, their only defeat had been away to Valanora by a single goal. Jim Reid wished he could have claimed a little more credit, but in truth, the success lay firmly at the door of the players. That had been fifteen matches now, on the bounce, in which they had played at the top of their game. Under extreme pressure, travelling to the far-flung corners of the Multiverse - they had performed above and beyond a standard Jim could have asked of them. None of them were superstars, none of them were twenty million dollar players, but there were points in those matches when it had looked like Port Christopher had been a top ranked side. Eliot Thompson, on four hundred quid a week at New Dundee Star, had even come on against Kandorith and done a job. Tony Uist was another, struggling to get a game for Marinos Thimpodopoulos, in a league, which doesn’t even have UICA football. His three goals in the play-offs had been key to their qualification. If this run to the finals helped the guy get his career back on track, then Jim would have been delighted for him. Tony was one of those player who'd had to work extra hard as a player, always needing to go that extra mile to get recognition. He was a phenomenal goal scorer with great pace to go with it; but a clumsy first touch and a low profile CV, meant that many turned their noises up at him.

Jim was lying with his head flopped against the head rest, Nori Bouden to his right, was engrossed in a football management game which had taken up most of his attention on the flight back from Eshan as well. Jim wasn't much of gamer, he was just the wrong side of the generational line to have grown up with it, and he had never bothered to get into them since. Had his daughter Lou been here, she would have no doubt been interested, but as it was, Jim had now tuned out. On the plane he had walked Jim though his Bastion squad, which were some five years into the future; however it had held little interest for him given his very real-life problems. Besides, at the moment, his attention was on something else.

With his neck slightly craned, and his glasses perched on the tip of his nose, he was just about able to read into a text conversation Tony was having in the row on front. He wasn't a nosy man by nature, and in fact he hated people who invaded the privacy of others, but here he was making an exception. He felt a lot like his Mum's Aunty May, who used to babysit him as a child. The locals used to call her the 'mouth of the village' and should anyone want to know the latest gossip, all they needed to do was walk past the bottom of her garden, where she would be standing waiting to snare anyone walking by. He could remember her sanding on a stool in the middle of the kitchen with her ear cupped to the ceiling, telling Jim to be quiet, as she listened in on the arguing couple from the tenement above. But anyway, this was different... or so he had told himself. Tony was in the middle of a lengthy exchange with his former Blue Coast teammate Aredhel Neil, one of the players who had walked out on Jim at the start of the campaign. It had been going on for some time now, and from the speed of the replies, he could imagine she was sitting at home doing nothing else. It had started out with her congratulations, and a request that it be passed on to the other players, however, she had since moved on. Subsequently Aredhel had told him how much she had regretted her decision, and wondered if there was any way back.

'Do you think if I offered a public apology, it would be enough?'

This had been the last thing she had said, and Jim was watching now as Tony's fingers hovered over the screen, clearly unsure as to how to proceed. It gave Jim food for thought that was for sure. With essentially the same pool of players he had had since matchday three of qualifying, another player - another good player - wouldn't go a miss. He knew there must obviously be some of them regretting their decisions, with Port Christopher making the play-offs, and now that they had somehow qualified, more than a few of them would have been racked with envy. The problem was that Jim couldn't bend one inch if he was to take any of them back. So much of the strength this time round had been a result of their togetherness, and what they had achieved with the world against them. If Aredhel was coming back into the fold, it would have to be after eating a stomach rupturing amount of humble pie. Some players would stoop this low, either though desire to play in the World Cup, or less likely, out of sheer guilt.

'One more match before the window.' Nori put in, nudging Jim on the shoulder.

'Ssssh!' Jim placed a finger to his lips, cursing his timing. 'I'm trying to...' Eavesdrop? Pry? Read over Tony's shoulder? '...rest.' Not the most convincing lie, but he didn't have the concentration for anything better.

Tony tapped the side of his seat, drumming it with his fingertips, as he tried to think of the reply. Jim held his breath waiting for the words to appear on the screen. Tony wiggled his fingers over the characters, but put the phone on his lap. It was a difficult situation, and in all honesty, Jim wouldn't have known what to do either. The player was at a loss, and his manager was no further forward, he needed to take evasive action.

'Know what Nori?' Jim asked a little louder than was natural, drawing a "hmm?" from his assistant. 'I've been thinking a lot about this football malarkey, and I've realised life is just too short.'

'Oh aye?' He had Nori's attention now.

'Och, I dunno. I'm probably just being daft, getting overly sentimental and that.' Jim was a terrible actor. 'But if any of the players that left wanted to come back - and they offered a full public apology, ken - then I reckon we should welcome them back on board.'

'Eh?' Said Nori, placing his tablet computer in his lap for the first time in an hour, nearly dropping it out of pure shock. That this should be his manager's change in attitude, the young assistant was blown away. Jim had always had an "It's their loss" attitude, this lowering of the drawbridge was a big move.

'Mistakes have been made, we can't go around bearing grudges against those who are truly sorry.' Jim shrugged, but he kept his eyes on Tony's body language, for any signs of ears being pricked. 'Besides, with the squad of players we've got left at our disposal, we aren't even going to have twenty three left by the time we get there.' This genuinely was Jim's attitude, he had never wanted to fight in the first place and he was sick of it. Besides, his battle was with the FA, not the players.

'I agree.' Tim Maitfield shouted over from two rows back. 'I don't bear them any ill will either. I'll obviously take your lead on it Jim, but speaking as a player I don't have a problem playing with anyone who is big enough to apologise.'

As the conversation continued, Jim saw Tony go back to his phone, noticing that the player had stayed quiet. The views of the players on the bus seemed to be more or less unanimous that there could be a way back for the deserters, but most felt that some degree of apology was needed. Jim obviously had no way of telling how many would come back into the fold, and if he was betting, he wouldn't have guessed many. All the same, it would be another small victory for him. If he could get an apology from one or two of them, it would certainly strengthen the legitimacy of his claim that he and the players were the true FA of Port Christopher.

Realistically, there was only so much a player of Aredhel's ability could even help them, when they took on San José Guayabal in the first match, but maybe extending some good will could generate a little positivity. There was little doubt that Port Christopher were here simply to make up the numbers, but they had faced impossible situations before in this campaign and lived to tell the tale. There was nothing else for it but to buckle in, grit their teeth, and give it everything yet again.

Last.fm · by **Cosumar** » Wed Oct 26, 2016 3:19 am

All-Time Cosumar XI ::: Entry #11 ::: Anders Engström (ST)

199 caps (1st)
100 goals (2nd)
72 assists (2nd)
WC 68-76 (capt. 72-75)

PLAYING STYLE: A versatile attacking force, Engström is perhaps most effective as a dynamic second-striker who can drop deeper or float to the left to get on the ball and create chances for himself (and others). Over the course of his career, he also evolved into an inspirational leader on the pitch with his composure and unflagging effort, earning the nickname Captain Andy. He's small in stature at 5"8, but with lethal acceleration on his runs, filling space in the blink of an eye. A master of movement and clutch finishing in the final third. Nimble and opportunistic. He can also operate effectively as a solo striker, or an attacking midfielder or winger. Engström is an elite penalty taker, often liberal with his flair, but was never as great at free kicks. His technical skill is world class - he can do amazing things with the ball and those small feet of his that not many others can. His ability

and killer instinct are vital in setting up chances for others when he's not clinically burying shots himself. Though aging and losing straight-line pace, he still gets scary burst at the beginning of his runs. In his prime, Engström was named one of the Top 20 players in the world by multiple foreign media outlets.

EARLY LIFE: Anders Edwin Engström was born in Ramusok on April 13, 975 of English and Swedish descent, the son of well-known childrens' book author Heather Tomball and her Ramusok-based publisher Magnus Engström. Yes, Anders Engström is of the same Engström cloth as the semi-famous Lindsjo-Engström publishing company. His mother was 31 at the time of his birth and his father was 46. They married and lived as a family with infant Anders and Magnus' two teenage children (from a previous marriage) together for a time. But the couple separated after three years and, from that point, Anders was raised mostly by his mother as an only-child due to his father's constant business traveling and duty to his older kids. Soon after the divorce, Heather and Anders relocated from downtown Ramusok to the open spaces of Culmar Fief, near Samaj. With two successful parents contributing to his future financially, Anders had a picturesque early childhood. Even if only one parent was regularly there, he had a lovely house, sprawling green yard, piano lessons, fine-combed blonde hair, private tutor...the whole lot. However, disaster struck on the day before his 9th birthday in 984. His mother suddenly died of lupus at age 40. A hitherto bright and innocent child, confronted with the harsh realities of the real world...he shelled up. Anders went to live with his father and stepmother in Goldstaff, but they didn't really know what to do with this shellshocked, silent kid. When he hadn't improved a year later and started to act out, their sympathy turned to frustration and then to inadvertent neglect and misguided discipline. Magnus Engström, now a part-owner of Sekundar Ligan's Goldstaff City, was proud (and relieved) when his son started to show athletic ability at age 12, so he absolved himself of responsibility by paying Anders' way into Rocinante Prep School, Cosumar's most prestigious independent (not attached to any professional club) youth soccer academy & boarding school.

YOUTH CAREER: Anders showed an immediate aptitude for the game at Rocinante and performed well both in the classroom and on the pitch. However, despite his obvious gifts, he was dismissed from the program after only three years due to a few different incidents. It was an emotionally turbulent time for him, and he sometimes rebelled simply to spite (or seek attention from?) his father. First, he gave a fellow academy student two black-eyes and broken ribs. The kid had taken a picture book from Anders' locker, taunted him with it and then ripped the pages. It was a book by Anders' mother - one he kept with him out of sentiment. His rage was understandable. Later, at 14, stashes of forbidden drugs (primarily marijuana) and alcohol were found in Anders' dormitory space on multiple occasions. Then, the final nail in his coffin was being caught red-handed spray-painting the outside of the Rocinante training building with a giant phallic symbol one midnight. Much much later, it was revealed that Anders did not actually do any vandalizing himself, but had merely tagged along and watched two older peers who fled and left him to take the fall once caught. But Engström did not rat out his "friends" at the time and was expelled.

Magnus Engström was understandably furious with his son for squandering his talent (and his money). For many an aspiring footballer, being kicked out of Rocinante would end a career before it had begun. But Anders needed football. Playing the game was the only time he ever felt happy since losing his mother. Though he patched things up with his father and matured a lot in a subsequent transitional year back living with him, Anders did not agree with efforts to reroute his future into business and literature studies. When he turned 16 and became of Cosumarite legal age, Anders moved across the country to Gellano Fief by himself on a whim. He tried out for the Eastweald and Centus Serpents youth academies and impressed, but was ultimately barred after his dishonorable discharge from Rocinante was discovered. But nearby rival Mallox caught wind of this and offered him a place instead. U18 coach Isla Safarova took him under her wings, becoming the empathetic but firm mother figure he sorely lacked for the last eight years. Engström recalls a turning point in his outlook on life when Safarova took one of his bitter outbursts in stride and calmly asked him to picture the Anders Engström his mother would've wanted him to grow up to be and work everyday towards becoming that version of himself. Inspired and restored by his new

surroundings, Engström quickly rose through the ranks and became one of the top prospects in the entire Mallox system by the end of 991. Then, to start the 992 season, he scored or assisted on nine goals in the first eight games for Mallox II, playing mainly as an attacking midfielder or inverted winger. This led him to be called in to Mallox's first team at only 17 years old.

SENIOR CAREER - THE MALLOX YEARS: For his first senior appearance, Engström came on in the 70th minute against Cassandra City on MD11 of the 992 season. Thrown into the fire for 20 minutes, he turned the game on its head and eventually assisted Baltomer Izecson's equalizer. Now branded a wunderkind by the national media, the slight fair-headed teenager carved out a regular role as a late attacking sub as Mallox mounted a title challenge. The Orange Palace would quiver with anticipation whenever Engström was set to come on. He had growing pains, sure, but he delivered more often than not. Though he never started and only scored twice that year, the 17-year-old's aura played an important role as the Tigers went on to win their third Harlighet Ligan championship. The club then tried to bring him along slowly over the course of the 993 and 994 seasons, gradually starting him more and more often and blooding him as a true striker up top as well. As Anders' responsibilities exponentially increased, so too did his abilities. These two seasons, at 18 and 19, saw the majority of his development into the world-class player he is today. Mallox finished as runners-up in both seasons, held up by historically great OAS Royal and Ramusok United sides, but there was no competition for the Young Player of the Year awards. Around this time, the man that would become Captain Andy also made his international debut, making a few appearances off the bench in World Cup 68 Qualifying at age 18. Unfortunately, due to financial and administrative difficulties, there would be no 995 or 996 Harlighet Ligan season. To continue his development, Anders enrolled at Stoneshore College and dominated the collegiate league during this hiatus (two championships, two scoring titles) while earning an Associate's Degree in Digital Analytics. In 995, he would again serve a reserve role on the national team during World Cup 69 Qualifying - learning from the professionalism and work ethic of the likes of Sur Arora.

By the time the Harlighet Ligan got its shit together and Anders returned to Mallox for the 997 season, he was ready to take the full mantle of superstardom. It would be his true breakout season - and one of the most dominant by a young player in Cosumarite history. A 22-year-old Engström scored 26 goals in 30 games to drag Mallox to 3rd place despite tragic goalkeeping and little attacking support. The first of three MVP and four Golden Boot awards in his Mallox career. International glory soon followed. Now arguably the most explosive player in the Cosumarite talent pool and a surefire starter, Engström led the Dragons in assists during the WC70 cycle and also chipped in seven goals. The ensuing 998 domestic season would be a trying one for Engström, however, as he struggled to carry Mallox with the title-winning old guard now finally all gone (Izecson departed over the offseason). He still ended up with a respectable 18 goals, but Mallox's 6th-place finish was the worst in club history. In retrospect, it was a very flawed team, but Engström nevertheless received the blame as club figurehead. The 999 season, fortunately, was a big rebound for both player and club. With the new Haruto Takahashi, a Felix international, feeding him, Engström won both the MVP and Golden Boot again with 24 goals. Nevertheless, Mallox's leaky defense kept them out of reach of the title (narrowly finishing 3rd). After leading Cosumar's failed WC71 Qualification attempt with 8 goals, Engström returned to domestic competition for the millennial 1000 season more determined than ever to prove that he could lead Mallox to a championship.

As brilliant as he had been, the fans in Mallox were spoiled by the club's early dominance just prior to Engström. Praise for him too often included a caveat. Despite a superhuman effort from Engström (29 goals - still a league record and his career best), Mallox once again settled for the Globe Cup as national team teammate Ace Newman's Cassandra City lifted the trophy instead. Transfer rumors swirled after a frustrated Engström anguished to reporters "I can't keep doing this!" during the season's final presser. Cosumar's most prolific attacking maestro was about to turn 26, after all,

and many figured he would want to spend his prime years somewhere he could really achieve. Critics had been calling for him to test himself in Apox, Farfadillis or Nephara for the last few years anyways. If 29 goals couldn't win him a title for Mallox, what would? As it turns out, another Felixian in midfield - silky transfer signing Ana Baptista. And an ultimatum. Engström publicly declared that 1001 would be his last season wearing orange before going abroad, and promised to deliver his beloved club the Harlighet Ligan trophy on his way out. He even promised to owe every season ticket holder $1000 and a chocolate pie to his face if the Tigers failed. Manager Alvin Burnsides was not happy with his captain for adding extra pressure on the team, but Andy was dead serious.

It worked. Engström scored a dazzling brace in the season opener and kept his foot on the pedal for the next 33 games, even fighting through injuries with barely a grimace along the way. Lo and behold, Mallox won the championship with flying colors for the first time since Engström's first season - almost a decade ago. A 70-point season, wrapped up with a few matches to spare, and 24 goals + 13 assists + MVP #3 for Captain Andy. A true Cosumarite sporting legend was cemented in history. He kept his promise. Well, except the final season part. To much criticism from non-Mallox NT fans, he ended up delaying his foreign move another year at the last minute to try to defend the title. When that didn't happen, it was truly time to move on. On the back of a decent WC72 cycle that saw him tally 6 goals and 7 assists on the way to winning the Cup of Harmony, Engström's stock in the transfer market reached a peak. Crisisbless, defending champions in the Nepharim Premiership, won the 27-year-old's services with a $16 million bid. Imagine the reactions at Rocinante Prep School if you had told them that the troublemaker with the rich father that they just kicked out would one day be more valuable than all their previous graduates combined!

SENIOR CAREER - THE CRISISBLESS YEARS: Walking into Reinhard Shale's starting eleven the year after Crisisbless dominated the Premiership with 103 points, expectations for Engström were astronomical. Press in Nephara listed him as an Iron Boot contender before he had even stepped foot on the pitch. Fortunately, Cosumar's finest export managed to get in the good graces of his new fanbase right away, putting away the 1-0 winner against Coret Hawks on his Godswatch debut. Also scoring in a pivotal early-season fixture against AFC Treason eased the local scrutiny on Engström and allowed him to loosen up and perform more freely. The presence of Cosumarite role model Sur Arora at Crisisbless also smoothed his acclimation to Premiership play and expectations. Oh yeah, and it also helped to have a legendary Crisisbless midfield linking up with him that included the likes of Knutsen and St. Cleer. His first Champions' Cup goal for Crisisbless came in the group stage, slotting a 1-0 winner past Tzâín of Mâ lâmëómë. Andy never reached Iron Boot levels of production in that 1003 season, but he did contribute a steady stream of goals (15 to the lead the team) and was particularly prolific in other competition (6 in CEdC, 4 in UICA). In short, he proved he could perform consistently at the highest club level. Individual highlights included scoring off an Arora assist in a rare start together (in the Crisisbless derby no less), sending Dwile Warriors home from the GC Quarterfinals with a stoppage-time winner and subsequently adding a brace in the Semifinals. The Final was played here at Leviathan Arena and Engström received a cacophonous hero's welcome, but Crisisbless failed to win the silverware in the end. The Heelers as a whole were never quite as convincing as the season prior, a few aging players losing steam, but they still ended up 5th and were just two points from the title at midseason. The year of his first

Premiership season also ended up being the year of Anders' first World Cup Finals. With 12 goals and 9 assists in the World Cup 73 cycle, Andy earned his nickname and helped Cosumar qualify for the first time in twenty years. Pundits credited his move to Nephara for upping his game that little bit more to pull us through. After being injured for most of the group stage, he scored his first World Cup Finals goal from the spot in that classic Round of 16 victory over Valanora.

Engström was a little more subdued in his sophomore Crisisbless season (1004) with 13 goals, failing to crack the top scorers chart (the same season uncapped veteran Coden Hari had 19, believe it or not). The club, bolstered by some new young breakthroughs, shifted to a successful but slightly grittier style of play and ended up improving to 3rd place despite scoring less. The goals finally started to come for Engström towards the end of the campaign though. He scored on a classy chip on the final matchday to secure 3rd for Crisisbless, and came through again a week later in the NFA Cup Final - converting the Heelers' only goal via Keast's flick as well as his shootout penalty to break the 1-1 tie. His nose for goal continued in international play, as he turned in a triumphant brace against Szavoda to kick off WC74 Qualifying a couple weeks later. He would end up with 11 goals and 7 assists in the cycle, highlighted by his late WC MD3 equalizer against Valladares that saw Cosumar through to the knockout rounds by the slimmest of margins.

He would pick up right where he left off once he returned for his third season in the Nepharim Premiership. Fans now point to that season (1005) as Anders Engström's finest in Nephara and arguably of his entire career. No coincidence that it was also Crisisbless as a whole's best season during his tenure. With a new strike partner up top in Brigit Sternberg, Engström thrived, feasting on the litany of chances created by lurking around the powerful center-forward. As Crisisbless soared to 2nd place with 99 points - normally enough to win the title - he was the shining star. His 21 goals were a quarter of the team total and set the mark for the most by a Cosumarite in a top-four league. There were some impressive ones in that tally, from his brace in a top-of-the-table clash with AFC Treason (a club he always managed to infuriate) to his simply stunning backheel finish on the final matchday. A key playmaking force in that fantastic side, he racked up a fair number of assists to boot - mostly to Sternberg. He also put his name on many a big-time UICA scoresheet in 1005, like vs. Spartangrad in the Champions' Cup and vs. Inter Tyrellia and Jansberg in the Globe Cup. But perhaps the finest moment of his career in international club competitions came in the grand final of the Cygnus Cup, as

he sent Nuremberg the wrong way on a crucial late penalty to lift the trophy for Crisisbless, 1-0 over favorites 1830 Cathair. Indeed, this was truly the year that cemented Engström's status as a Crisisbless icon and an elite striker on a Multiversal level. He was 29 years old that season and, in retrospect, we can say it was the apex of his career.

Another solid campaign followed in 1006 - now 30 but showing no signs of physical regression. Another new strike partnership, this time with Igrene Cantor, didn't quite harmonize right away despite the Otters starlet being basically a younger, better version of Sternberg on paper. They got in-sync eventually, but it was too late to mount a title challenge. Crisisbless ended up a solid but underwhelming 6th, with Engström matching the 15-goal tally and plentiful supply of assists of his debut season. Unlike in 1003, he made the bench of the Team of the Year this time (his second consecutive selection). Engström also had some of his best (and, to date, last) Champions' Cup performances, nailing winners against Directus and Spatula City Utensils. Unfortunately, that would mark the end of a stable period of sustained success for Crisisbless under Shale. Over the last two seasons (1007 and 1008), Engström's production has dropped off a bit along with the rest of the squad's under Erica Brewer and then Portia Thrift. Combined with another change in primary strike partner (welcoming Redmayne) and tasked with dropping deeper more often as a "9.5", his roughly one-goal-in-four ratios in these seasons (11 each) shouldn't be scorned.

In the midst of his tumultuous period for Crisisbless, Engström proved that his ability had not waned via international play. Despite being nearly 32 by then, Cosumar's golden-boy-turned-grizzled-captain turned in the most prolific cycle of his career for World Cup 75. He led the Vanquishers with 14 goals and captained them to a third straight World Cup Finals - and a second Quarterfinals in that span. With Engström now occupying a super-sub role in the present cycle, that ended up being a magnificent swansong for his time as a bona-fide starter. And though Crisisbless have endured a difficult last two seasons, their supporters foster no ill-will towards their favorite Cosumarite. He continued to pop up for goals in some of the biggest games, including a smashing winner in the 1007 Crisisbless derby. A recent fan-voted all-time XI for the club had Engström starting beside the vaunted Osric Keast up top. Perhaps a bit of recency bias, but nevertheless a remarkable achievement considering the club's history and status in Nephara. Amazingly, Engström has evolved to become the type of person who is instantly and universally liked and respected everywhere he goes, his reputation as a spoiled and unstable youth a long-forgotten memory. His Crisisbless career comes to a close with a fair number of matches captained (usually whenever St. Cleer was unavailable) and final stats of 86 goals in 264 appearances.

SENIOR CAREER - THE NEXT CHAPTER: That's right, the Great Engström is finally parting ways with Crisisbless after six strong years. The Heelers are at a crossroads - entering something of a rebuilding phase. So with Engström also entering his twilight years, it's the perfect time to bow out to mutual benefit and make another big transfer splash. The demand for the all-time Cosumarite great and Mallox/Crisisbless legend is expected to be high, with reports of strong interest already leaking out of Ceni, Electrum and Semarland. According to sources close to the 33-year-old, he wishes to continue playing for a UICA club in one of the world's elite leagues for 1-3 more years before returning to the Harlighet Ligan to close his career. He could push a title contender in any league to that next level with his experience, clinical finishing and technical ability. Available this transfer window! However, if Engström does not come to terms with a suitable foreign club, a litany of Harlighet Ligan managers (including Alvin Burnsides back at Mallox) have raced to publicly confirm that they would do anything it takes to facilitate the return of the former league poster-boy.

PERSONAL LIFE: Off the pitch, Anders outgrew his traumatized childhood and angsty teenagerhood, blossoming into the genuinely cheery and thoughtful man he seemed destined to become before watching his mother die. Thank you for getting him back on track, Isla Safarova and Mallox Academy! His father Magnus is still alive at 80 years old and recently entrusted the running of his book publishing empire to Anders' elder half-sister Helen Engström. But Anders has his own family now. He married gorgeous Cosumarite actress Autumn Ösblum, 35, just last year after dating for only five months. The happy couple welcomed their first child, daughter Agnes Engström, just before the start of Qualifying. She already looks like she will inherit her dad's eyes and her mom's luscious strawberry-blonde locks. Anders, Autumn & Agnes - the Fiefdom's celebrity family of the moment! Whichever club signs Engström after the World Cup can look forward to seeing cute-as-a-button Autumn and Agnes in matching Engström shirts at games. More privately, Anders has an extensively large film collection - preferring the somewhat outdated mode of discs. He once told the Mallox Post-Reporter that "he who has the most DVDs when you die wins". Pretty sure that's not the only metric by which he's winning at life, but okay. Engström has also converted his drunken teenage years into a more matured taste for fine spirits. His new house boasts an ice-bar stocked with an impressive array of high-end and exotic whiskeys. Asked recently about any post-retirement plans, Engström stated that his first priority will be to spend some time off with his family but that he is considering eventually pursuing management, broadcasting or maybe a left-field move into sport analytics.

And there you have it. Anders Engström completes the All-Time Cosumarite Dream Team... two years in the making. By the time the book closes on his Cosumar career, he will likely have 200 caps, 100 goals and 10 World Cup cycles. His legacy can not be questioned. No further justification for inclusion is needed. Any Luke Crisalus advocates should keep in mind that Rikki Varshney has already been inducted from that era. They were a great duo, but Varshney was clearly the better player, and the excellent Cosumarite teams of recent years have just been too successful not to have any representation in the striker corps. Agree? Disagree? Feel free to let us know how you feel about the final selection in the comments section or on social media with the hashtag #CosumarXI. Check out the image below to review the whole completed team.

#1: LB William Riley | #2: CM Irvinn Rincon | #3: ST Rikki Varshney | #4 ST Sur Arora | #5: DM Vareza Na'Noni | #6: CB Alexander Pearce | #7: RB Tae Woo Miyori | #8: CM Brian Emerson | #9: GK Jakk Winterfyll | #10: CBs Kennedy Kopenhaver & Thomas Hair | #11: ST Anders Engström

In honor of World Cup 75 being Cosumar's anniversary 25th World Cup cycle, The Cosumarite Courier began naming a "best eleven" of Cosumarite history for the first time ever. Nine players from the last 50 years were inducted, but with the excitement of our Quarterfinals run, the list was never concluded. For the two years since, readers have been demanding to know who the final two selections were. So with the quietness of the mid-qualifying break in effect, we will now honor our promise to finish the list and pick up where we left off. The overarching premise is this: if Cosumarite scientists unlocked time travel and could assemble any combination of Cosumarite players from the last 50 years, who should we select to win a World Cup? After a combination of public polling, statistical analysis and our own subjective insights, we came up with the eleven players listed above and reviewed each of their storied careers. This concludes our countdown. The Best XI finalized at long last and the series is complete (...or is it?)

by **Semarland** » Fri Oct 28, 2016 1:13 pm

THE STORY SO FAR
Before qualifying started the SFA announced the successor to Andreas Jansen – Osarian legend Azarai Robinson. Bringing in a mixture of several former colleagues, old friends and some of Osarius’ finest, he merged with a fraction of Jansen’s old team to create a large group of staff to work with the 42-man pool of players in qualifying. Assistant manager Reiss Ryerson and attacking coach Francesco Barzaglione were to take charge of the first game, home to Fluvique, but U21 manager Rene Brown took charge instead, with the previous interim manager naming a strong side that narrowly lost 1-0. Brown was openly frustrated after the game, mentioning that Semarland “were definitely not good enough”, with fans criticising Jakob Lindesfarne in particular who failed to hit the target despite being on the receiving end of many crosses from Tre Mukondo and Dequane Saint Etienne.

Azarai Robinson took charge for arguably one of the more tougher tests Semarland would face – away to Nova Anglicana. It ended in a narrow 5-4 win for the visitors, thanks to doubles from Kwame Nelson and Reiss Claro-Hunt and a well struck effort from Diego Snow, proving a point after being “relegated” to second choice right winger. 30-year-old Snow isn’t as fast as Mukondo or third choice Danny Boateng, that’s for sure, but of the three he is arguably the better at creating chances. With his age many would see him more suited to a more relaxed role, i.e an attacking midfielder, but the likes of Marc Strand and Rene Claro-Hunt will have that position nailed down for quite a while. Their next match, at home to Vekaiyu, was considerably better – a 1-0 thanks to Demba Traore’s low drive from the edge of the box.

Some suggested that team cohesion was a little off-balance, and whilst the results may not have been particularly pleasing on paper, the style of play the Semars were getting used to was. The incorporation of a more “Firebird” based tactic was notable, and fans and media alike were quick to praise the new style. It wasn’t a completely identical system though, with there being quite strong hints of the Andreas Jansen style of play which led it to it being a relatively more attacking style of play. However, they weren’t as clinical as could be – Semarland failed to hit the target several times, and there was another 1-0 win next away at Azrea, with the away side taking the three points thanks to a lovely finish from Rene Claro-Hunt.

The skilful attacking midfielder had tough competition in Marc Strand, and fans were disappointed that there wasn’t much of a way to utilise both at the same time. Strikers Kwame Nelson and Reiss Claro-Hunt were demonstrating their excellent linkup play – with fans calling for Robinson to favour Claro-Hunt over Lindesfarne, who wasn’t impressing in the early stages of qualifying. That would change though. The next matchday was the Semars’ “week off”, giving them extra time to prepare for the visit of Llanrhyddid. They were swiftly dispatched of, thanks to goals from Strand, Lindesfarne and Marcel Labonne resulting in a 3-1 victory to the home side. It was a much better performance from Lindesfarne, who seemed much more of a threat this time.

To round off the first half of the qualification campaign, it was a trip to the Vakolicci Haven and Celeria. That was a 5-2 win, courtesy of goals from Kwame Nelson twice, Emmanuel Sambu, Reiss Claro-Hunt and a last-minute header from Yannick Simeone. A much better all-around performance, with Robinson admitting that it was the best performance he’d seen from his new team so far – and not just because of the five goals. Defensively they appeared much more solid, considering both Vakolicci goals were free kicks. Although that slightly contradicts that statement, it showed that the defence did well to prevent goals from open play and corners – a weakness in the first part of qualifying.

The second half started well, away to Fluvique. A 2-0 win was much better than their last meeting (the 1-0 loss) and Robinson spent a lot of time with Tobias Mikkelsen and his performance analysis team to find out what went wrong. Goals from Kwame Nelson and Jakob Lindesfarne secured the three points, and Lindesfarne would be on target in the next game, a 3-2 home loss to Nova Anglicana, where midfielder Kwame Cole opened the scoring with a sweet right footed finish, low into the bottom left hand corner from outside the penalty area.

That loss spurred the Semars on, reminding them that that both Nova Anglicana and Fluvique were close and catching up and they would have to start being more consistent and more clinical if they wanted to qualify automatically – or qualify at all. A 3-2 away win over Vekaiyu followed, with goals from Marc Strand, Tre Mukondo and Jakob Lindesfarne then a 3-2 home win over Azrea, with oals from Rene Claro-Hunt, Reiss Claro-Hunt and then Kwame Nelson. And things were wrapped up with two 1-0 wins against Llanrhyddid and Vakolicci Haven and Celeria, with Dequane Saint Etienne and Demba Traore scoring in each game respectively.

And so with that, Azarai Robinson named his squad the day after the final qualifying match, as Semarland took top spot. Narrowly, though. The top three were all on the same points (the other two being Fluvique and Nova Anglicana), which proved how tough of a test it was. In theory the Semars were lucky to advance and were given a fairly strong group in Vilita, Damukuni and hosts Electrum.

FINAL SQUAD:
Goalkeepers: Marco Valbuena (CSKA Quebec, QUE), Blaise N’Zonzi (Utica United, OSR), Marc Lindholm (Alianza FC, SJG)
Defenders: Matur Eiriksson (St John’s Arsenal, QUE), Djair Claro-Hunt (Hastmead Diamante, OSR), Jakob Lunds (FC Kaldukosic, COS), Martell Chalobah (CA Paulinthal, PAS), Amani Chimbonda (Krsthaven), Nathaniel Oseni (CSKA Quebec, QUE), Johan Huxley (Galatica, PAS)
Midfielders: Marcel Labonne (AFC Treason, NPH), Dequane Saint Etienne (Firewood City, OSR), Marcel Mbonne (Krsthaven), Tunji Tunde (Eastal Lunar, VIL), Tunji Adebayo (Trothwands Evolution, OSR), Tremaine Mukondo (Firewood City, OSR), Diego Snow (La Nueva Avenida, FFD), Marc Strand (Telecontarë, STB), Rene Claro-Hunt (Hastmead Diamante, OSR)
Forwards: Jakob Lindesfarne, (Ulsa, EUR), Kwame Nelson (FC Jansberg), Reiss Claro-Hunt (Hastmead Diamante, OSR), Yannick Simeone (La Nuevida Avenida, FFD)

by **Brenecia** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 4:40 am

THE ROZELLE OBSERVER
Brenecia drawn into Group A: Immediately labelled 'Group of Life'
Laura Mulholland

Regional champions - again - and then instant qualification won at a decent buffer, and now this - the strongest side in the group. Not Pot 1, of course, but with a lower-ranked host as the Pot 1 side. Yes, the Patriots are somehow favourites to win a group that, with the weakest first, second and third seeds, has immediately been called the Group of Life.

In practice, rank is just a number. Osarius are probably the best team in the group on paper, and a lot of people are expecting them to break out of their slump and storm to the semifinals, but it's important to remember that momentum is on Brenecia's side and home advantage rests with Ceni.

The Patriots are not to be underestimated, of course - the bookies narrowly back them to come 3rd, because Brenecia's always easy to write off. But they have a plan, and a manager they believe in, and a high-quality starting XI to make it happen on paper. There is a fantastic goalkeeper, a defence that finally looks solid, fullbacks that finally click, a chronically underrated midfield and a stable of forwards that nobody would be eager to mess with.

This is the best Brenecia squad ever assembled. The entire Golden Generation is in their mid to late 20s. This is our moment. And if there's one thing Raven Cullen has proven time and time again in her tenure, it's that she knows how to seize a goddamn moment. Let's take a look at the competition.

CENI
Rank 21st
The Plan Sargossan manager Elias Carrasco has a fairly simple plan - attack! Attack! Attack! He has the players for it, too. The Cenian squad is an intriguing mixture of seasoned experience and fearless youth and the nation has a well-earned reputation for producing technically-gifted footballers.
Key Players Ceni's best players are their drifting veteran wingers - Jaime del Olmo's still going strong at 33, while Jacen Xasan is an excellent attacking midfielder in their own right. They will be a difficult challenge for the Patriots' defensively fragile fullbacks. Kaia Travaran, now 34, will be relied upon to keep things cool at the back in front of an inexperienced goalkeeper, while Thajan Jaros will have his hands full trying to win the midfield battle.
Prospects It would be a deeply disappointing tournament for Ceni if they failed to reach the knockout rounds, and home advantage looks likely to bring them there... but can they compete with the quality of Brenecia and Osarius?

OSARIUS
Rank 28th
The Plan The Firebirds are gonna be themselves. They counter-press high and back themselves to maintain possession, and then do things with that possession. They seize immediately on any mistakes. They will almost certainly dominate Brenecia in possession, and the often technically-sloppy Patriots might struggle, but can the Firebirds' defence hold out against Brenecia's high-throttle forwards? In any case, Osarius/Brenecia is up there as a candidate for the neutral's favourite of any group stage match.
Key Players The seasoned centre-halves Constantini and Bianchi are a well-drilled unit who will be relied upon to keep possession calmly and stand up to the pressure. The midfield battle between Trothwands teammates Skorupska and Zapata will be utterly fascinating. Up front, Aaliyah Johnson is a legitimately world-class striker and will be disappointed if she can't chalk up a goal against Patriots - if she gets half a chance, she will bury it.
Prospects Just like Brenecia and Ceni, they'll be backing themselves to sweep the group and come first.

Ficiscia cont. on page 2

Raven Cullen hurled the paper against the wall. "Group of life? Bullshit."
The players almost universally leaned back in surprise, a couple of them smacking the backs of their heads on their lockers. The exception was Cathy Purrington, who just snickered. Cullen had only read the headline and that was enough to make the focus of her speech.

"None of this ratshit 'group of life' that that gets peddled every two fucking years, every single one of those bastards from Ceni, Osarius, Ficiscia, they're all gonna back 'emselves to scrag us, so we're gonna scrag 'em first!
Now, Ceni, we've discussed this. Lots of fancy dans, yeah, they reckon that flash kid's got the world at his feet - kick the shit out of him. Del Olmo and the other bloke on the right need to get shut the fuck down, don't let 'em linger no matter the fuck what, make 'em make mistakes and then carpe the fucking diem, lads, 'cause they won't like it up 'em, that's for fucking sure!
"Woods in goal, Scrivs and Bradden at the back, Locksi and Czessa at fullbacks, the two Cathies and Aleksa in midfield, Squire, Ranks and Rosie at the front. Plan A. You know the drill." She swung open the door and pointed, firmly, out towards the pitch as the light streamed in. "You hear 'em chanting, lads? Yeah?! Let's go out there and ruin their fucking party!"
"YEAH!" Bradden boomed, loud enough to filter into the home dressing room. "KILL 'EM ALL!"

by **Krytenia** » Sat Oct 29, 2016 5:34 pm

Continued from here, here, here, and here.

HOLDING BACK THE SANDS
Epilogue - We're Going To Ibixa

Two years had passed since our intrepid explorers had discovered LUCIFER and the fate of the Ibexan cities. Fire had become the devil's friend, and the devil marched under a banner of sky blue as the earth was scorched to cinders. Cinders, though, could be swept away.

Through science and brute force, the Krytenians had brought fertility to these artificially barren lands. Xi'antler, once the capital of Ibex, had become a hive of activity as Krytenian military and Krytenian construction crews began to restore at least some semblance of glory to the city, now renamed simply Xian. It was here that a rudimentary authority had been set up, arranging logistics and building works all over the former colony.

The researchers, too, had their share of the action, but it was by this point clear that the goal was, and always had been, expansion. Still, Professor James Blower mused from his state of the art laborotary at the heart of the brand-new Desert Research Facility, at least the sand is answering to us.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

In his chambers at Colony House, Governor Charles Carstairs pored over documents and blueprints. Ibex was dead, long live ... how did they pronounce it? Eye-bee-cha. A Spanish - or was it Catalan? name was fitting, as many of the Hispanics of the mother nation had moved down here to make a new life for themselves, and he'd been given the box seat. He knew, of course, that sooner or later there'd be elections, and a democratic government, and his power would become simply that of a figurehead...but he'd be sure that until then, he'd keep this new country running, dammit.

He offered himself a wry smile as he watched the red, gold, and black flag fluttering out in the square. Fire, sand, and ash; the elements from which Xian, and Ibixa, had risen.

by **Nephara** » Sun Oct 30, 2016 7:51 pm

In the Parliament House of Sabrefell, Nephara, chaos reigns. Question Time has just been interrupted by the news that Iskandervale, a Oceanic territory of Nephara, has been invaded and almost completely swept clear by Sameban forces.
Through the chaos, four armed officers brushed their way to the Margravine and another two to the Deputy Minister (Anselm Shipwright) and the Minister for Defence (Ana Colpher), brushing them away through a side passage.
"What the fuck is going on?" someone shouted, just before the cameras cut off.

It was the same question that Margravine Alexa Mitroglou asked those officers as soon as they were away from prying eyes. Onstage, she'd maintained her cool, calm authority. Off it, she could seethe as much as she goddamn wanted.
"I don't know, Ms Mitroglou," said the officer through gritted teeth.
"We're secure here, right?"
"No reason why we shouldn't be, we've taken every precaution." The unspoken 'But...' hung in the air.
The three officials were guided/shunted into the Crisis Room - Nepharim were direct in their names. The heads of the Army and Air Force were attendant, with the aging Fleet Commander Ulrich Lansford bellowing orders through comms.
Mitroglou licked her lips, glanced around the room. Commander Petratos noticed her first, coughed at and nudged Horsfeld and saluted - the chastened Air Commander followed suit.
"No time for formality, people," said Mitroglou with the authority of a leader. "Let's face facts here - we're at war with Sameba, and if they didn't think that'd be the consequence of-"
Shipwright spoke up. "Just to play devil's advocate, it was an offshore territory, did it really constitute an attack on Nepharim soil?"
"It did. God knows we've had enough reason already. I want Iskandervale back, gents. I want Pravenna back, too. The people are gonna want the same, once this gets out to them." She hunched over the smooth marble table, planting her palms on the edges, and gave a grim smile. "So give me our options."

Forty minutes had passed - orders had been sent out, forces prepared for the agonising process of mobilisation as the off-balance Nepharim war machine lumbered into action. The channels with Eura had been opened and secondary officials had been sent to investigate whether Nephara's plague of PMC companies might be used for good, and if they couldn't facilitate their hiring off the record. But Petratos was losing patience with the Margravine and her grand talk of Nepharim military might. "If I might be honest, Alexa."
Mitroglou glanced up at him with the same feverish iron grey eyes that had beguiled the nation. "Yes?"
"You're talking about our forces like we could break the back of Sameba as soon as our boots hit the shore. With respect, that will not happen. We are not the glorious cavalry in the nick of time, we're likely not even the decisive straw on the camel's back. Our involvement - assuming we can muster one effectively-"
"We will," snapped Lansford, who took it as a slight (as ever).
"Right, but even then, that's nothing more than... Eura sneaking another bishop and rook onto the board while Sameba's looking the other way. If we commit to this, we will be grinding against a force that will stop at nothing for victory, in a war that isn't our war. We will not get the glory here."
"Those fucking dove Pro Dems and their endless military slashing." Lansford again, the old grey veteran shaking his head.
Mitroglou ignored the naval commander and addressed Petratos directly. "You talk about this like I have a choice," she said, with no small degree of bitterness. "This is our soil. I want our fleet brought to bear, and there will be boots on the ground - a vote will have to be called for appearance's sake but we both know it'll pass, so get them moving now."
"Who are we as a nation, eh?" Colpher gave a short, bitter laugh. "The kind that gives up without a fight?"
"Never." Mitroglou shook her head.
"Well, as long as we're clear on that." Petratos saluted. "I am glad for your fervour, Alexa. So let us go in... with both eyes open."

Months later, Electrum, June
"Meanwhile, in international news, Nepharim forces have reportedly seized the upper hand in Iskandervale. War correspondent Allan Broxton with more."
Gareth Westmead exhaled deeply as he closed his eyes and reshuffled a Rubik's Cube. "Couldn't you get a proper Nepharim station up, Tsatts?"
"It's probably doable, but you know me, I don't know shit about rigging these phones up, it was easier to go local- anyway, it's all the same news, so shush."
"- successful landing at Umbershore, Nepharim forces have reportedly won a foothold in the capital of Iskandabad." Tsattalios' tablet rang out with the tinny sound of gunfire as footage of Nepharim soldiers swarming the streets took over the screen. Claudia Cautcher inched closer on her top bunk, angling for a better view. "Military theorists suggest that Iskandervale was meant to be a quick win and staging area for Sameba and a serious attempt to retake it was an unexpected shock for an investment they are not desperate to defend. However, a number of skirmishes between the Nepharim fleet and Sameban strike-forces have been reported in Endemia, and the occupied island of Pravenna looks a likely target for a Nepharim assault. Back to you, Stella."
"Fuck me." Tsattalios shook his head, gently.
"Eh?"
"Pravenna. My grandfather was born there. Came here for a better life not long after the place declared independence - he was right, too, the place made a fucking hash of it well before the Samebans came. Still... it's so far from here. So close to them."
Silence.
"I'm sure," said Cautcher at last, "that it'll all turn out okay in the end."

Andrea Crowe settled into her seat with an exaggerated sigh. She'd been in a World Cup as a player, the breakthrough 68th - this was her first as a commentator. She'd risen steadily through the ranks - coaching wasn't really her thing, it turned out, and she'd balanced punditry with getting a Bachelor's degree in architecture (purely out of enjoyment) before making the step up to match commentary. Her clever insights and sharp tongue had made her the beloved and belated replacement for the legendary, retired Rowan Pendragon.
And it was always nice to call for your own nation, on home soil. She would try, and succeed, to sound impartial - she knew her colour commentator, the newer addition of Jess Leinster, would at least try and do the same. Between them... or, well, okay, mainly thanks to Leinster, they had around eighty caps in that little room.
The teamsheets came out, and after a brief preamble and the throw from the studio, Crowe got into it.
"Alright, thanks Janne - yeah, this should be a good game here, and looking at the teamsheets neither side's leaving anything to chance. Definitely looks like a first-choice lineup from Reinhard Shale who you'd imagine is hoping to stop Nephara's dry run in recent group stages, just ten points from their last nine World Cup group games... Hargrave gets the nod between the posts, that'll be a surprise to some, and a lot of pressure will fall on the shoulders of Gareth Westmead at rightback. But Scharner and Katskalidis, Vyntra at leftback, that's as you'd expect - the captain Ashdown and Rainsford rock-solid in the middle with Szalai and Vesper on the wings, Amokachi and Scafidis in the little-and-large partnership up front. About as you'd expected, Jess?"
"Yeah, pretty much. Even in goal - I think this World Cup's just a couple years too soon for Tsattalios, can't afford to be inconsistent in a tournament, and Hargrave's the sort who'll give you an eight out of ten day after day after day. And a clean bench, good to see the physio's table empty."
"And now Fluvique, 42nd in the world - Paribas between the posts, Varelovsky, de la Mesea, Castanginnet and the teenager Calmwater across the back, Henry Mhago anchoring behind di Angello and Lexington's Lucas Topolsky, experienced wingers in Fede and the captain Gonza while young Nick Auze will be looking to spring on any half-chance that falls to him. A tough side, well-drilled at the back."
"Yeah, it's a return to homefor a few of these players, Varelovsky, di Angello and Topolsky all play here in Electrum. It's a good side, a strong side, they've got dedicated fans, they're not gonna go down easy, that's for sure."
Wow. That was all one sentence. Crowe licked her lips. Truth be told, professional impartiality aside, she was worried. This was a group stage game. Nephara had been... weirdly terrible at those recently. They'd been left in Chromatika's wake last time around and had progressed essentially due to blind luck, and Pasarga had been knocked out early last time thanks to Nepharim group ineptitude and knockout invulnerability. Both nations would be eager to pounce on the top two slots, and Ricardo Carusso's squad would be looking to make a name for themselves as well.
But that wasn't a trend, that was just... a few blips in a row. They had to win this one. Surely? After all, some were calling this the strongest Nepharim side in history.
God, she hoped so.

by **Electrum** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 6:45 am

Discussions
Bang
Machination

Astray

If things weren't already fractious in the cabinet room before the Sameban-Euran war, then it was impossible to describe what it was like after the break-out of the war. Through a citizen initiated referendum, it was essentially mandated that the thirty-two person cabinet was to be comprised of all significant parties, in proportion to the amount of seats they won. As a result, the cabinet was a disparate combination of joke parties (which did surprisingly well in the last cabinet), far-right nationalists, centrists, greens, hard-hats and all else in between. The voices of minorities could no longer be ignored, and the traditional major parties, Labour and Conservative just had to listen to their beliefs and try and push their respective agendas -- not through parliament, but through the cabinet of thirty. Sixteen votes was all that was needed to approve things, and as a result, instead of increasing transparency, it reduced it -- the system lent itself well to politicking and alliances.

One of those cabinet members was one Jim Connors. The party leader of the Nationalists, he was predictably anti-immigration and anti-Euran. For years and years he had been satirised, mocked, laughed at, run out of town, protested against, but his support never dived -- he was in fact a mainstay of Electrumite politics. Connors was known for his country charm, bright white hair and white-rabbit-skinned akubra hat, but behind his country-bumpkin facade, was a very cunning and manipulative man. His goal to build a wall along the border with Eura was getting closer and closer, and after what seemed like years just trying to swim up quicksand, he had finally found the 'escape' he needed to finally build that wall. The momentum started growing after he was finally put on the cabinet because of that citizen referenda.

In a plan concocted by himself and his loyal comrade and deputy, Nationalist Alan Rickuss, they were going to finally build that wall. It all needed to start with a bang. A bang such as the bullet taken by Connors while he was doing his stump speeches in a town closed to the borderlands with Eura. Rickuss didn't know it, but Connors secretly hired an armed man to shoot Connors on purpose. This provocative action which predictably made front page news the next day, swayed public opinion not just towards Connors and his party but also towards building a wall. It was through a series of successive incidents, such as the shooting of Connors in public, an incident where two border guards were killed at a border checkpoint, and massive queues at the Euran border to get into Electrum which got people nervous and scared.

Electrumites are normally quite cosmopolitan and accepting -- but things were different. Through influential hard-right voices like columnist Miranda Lawrence, and Jim Connors, the right finally had a unified, articulate voice against immigration. The backdrop changed as well. Unemployment was steadily rising, Eura had been invaded, the Rushmori Union talks, and the voices of the Euran secessionists on the Electrum side of the border who think that some Electrum land was actually sovereign Euran land grew louder as well. Gone was the rational freethinking of Electrumites, they were now being led astray more than ever.

With all of these incidents at the border, and the recent killings of Euran civilians and Electrum border guards, understandably, cabinet discussion was getting more intense. There was some back and forth discussion about the border guards. It was very clear that Electrum's very long border with Eura couldn't be fully protected by the small, underfunded border guard force. After all, Electrum was a pacifist country - so what need did it have for a militaristic border force? Now the need was clear.

"This is a real opportunity," said treasurer and centrist leader Simeon Jones, "We can really kill two birds with one stone. Why don't we take some of those unemployed, and we start building weapons factories, and we also start using some of them to patrol the border."

"I don't think so Simeon. These people are unemployed hooligans. No offence, but I would not trust these fascists at the border," replied Marco Lombardi from the Greens, "The last thing we need is to disrespect the constitution that requires us to be pacifist. We don't support any guns."

"You're all missing the big idea you f***ing idiots," piped in Alan Rickuss, who was temporarily replacing his leader while he was in the hospital, "You hire the unemployed to build the wall. Keep those Eurans out now! We don't need this stupid mess."

And the discussions went on and on and on.... with nothing much being achieved yet again. The libertarians wanted people to pay up at the border. The Labour and the Greens wanted to welcome all of the refugees. The Conservatives were a bit more cagey and would only accept some of the refugees by a lottery. In the end, the three major parties, Labour, the Conservatives and the Centrists used their majority of twenty (out of thirty-two) to beef up the border force with imported weaponry and permitting the border force to hire many more border agents.

With the five hour meeting over with just one resolution, the far-right bloc (consisting of social conservatives and nationalists) were peeved. Their seven votes were overruled by everyone else, even though public opinion was with them to build the wall, and they hadn't done much except debate and waste time on a vote for five hours. This was a consequence of the citizen' referendum. Now that there were so many parties in the cabinet, to prevent time wastage, and going back on previous, controversial votes, resolutions could only be considered once -- if it was rejected by the cabinet, it had to be either passed manually in parliament or could only be reconsidered by the cabinet in after the next election.

Around the shredder, which was a room outside of the main cabinet room, used to shred documents after meetings (again, because things were so fractious, documents started to get leaked, so members had to either shred their documents or store all of them in a locker -- this of course didn't stop Rickuss once in a while leaking documents surreptitiously), the four hard right-wing leaders (of their respective parties) stayed behind and chatted.

Alan Rickuss - What a monumental waste of time really.

Laina Li (Country Living) - I know what you mean. But keep quiet about the wall would you? We don't want them passing a resolution banning the wall right away. If that happens we're not going to get the wall passed today.

Alan Rickuss - I see you've warmed up to our idea! What made you change your mind?

Laina Li - We go where the wind blows, and the wind is blowing towards the wall.

Alan Rickuss - Michael. I know your party is on board, but what about you Daniel?

Michael Lynton (Compassionate Workers) - Yup, long ago. You know our party base is blaming the Eurans for stealing their jobs. It's high time we do something about it.

Daniel Waters (Family Principles) - Yeah I guess I have to be on board too. An attack on our border force is unacceptable, and we shouldn't risk any more lives lost. The others just want to bring lambs to the slaughter. Anyways, what Laina said. Please don't talk about the wall too much. We only have one chance.

Michael Lynton - I know we discussed this at the hospital, so we know you're not joking, but the others think you are. Let's keep it that way before we spring them on.

Laina Li - Yeah I agree. So right now we're on seven votes. The next phase of the plan, Alan, was to.... make some of them not be in the cabinet so we have the upper hand?

Alan Rickuss - Yeah. The quorum for a cabinet meeting is 20. The Rushmori Union discussion/emergency talks is actually happening soon, so I know most of the Labour members will be at those talks and shirk their cabinet responsibilities. They'll probably ask the Greens, Centrists and some of the Conservatives to hold the fort while they're gone, because they're the 'traditional' parties I guess -- they have to support each other while we're on the fringes. If we can flip some of the Conservatives into a rebellion, and get some of the libertarians on side, we can get 4 more up to 11. This gives us a majority to build the wall, and they won't be able to reconsider it.

Daniel Waters - That sounds like a plan. Remember keep it a secret. If any word of it comes out, we deny everything.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:26 am

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

WORLD CUP 76 QUALIFYING PLAYOFFS: SUPER-LLAMALAND VS ABANHFLEFT
By Malik Qazizadah

Abanhfleft's players celebrate their victory over Super-Llamaland and their qualification to World Cup 76 Ceni & Electrum. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

VARGAS, SUPER-LLAMALAND - Chelsea Stuart's hat-trick sealed victory over Super-Llamaland and ensured that Abanhfleft will participate in their second consecutive World Cup.

Ansel Penbrooke and Miroslav Vorobyov struck for the Llamaleans either side of Stuart's clinically executed one-touch strike to keep up the home side's hopes of qualifying for the World Cup in Ceni and Electrum, but the visitors' resurgence coming into the second half would take the hosts by surprise.

Alexandra Rousseau, starting for the Lady Revolutionaries for the third time this qualifying cycle, was brought down roughly by Emily Ynoa inside the area, and Stuart converted the penalty coolly; this came after Stuart, Rousseau, and Allison Torres came close with strikes which struck the woodwork or tipped over and beyond the goalposts.

Stuart's penalty further reinvigorated an Abanhfleft side that was already pushing the hosts back following the restart, and the Lady Revolutionaries got their just rewards when Stuart headed in Lillian Prescott's corner to complete her hat-trick and hand Abanhfleft a deserved lead.

Rousseau then made sure of both the final and aggregate score with a fine strike to tip in the rebound from substitute Merida Vance's shot, which had been parried away unconvincingly by Lukas Bernholm.

Abanhfleft women's team manager Holly Jonasson: "All in all it was a complete performance from every player in the team. I can't be more proud of my players than right now. At 2-1 we could have rolled over and let the home side work their way to the World Cup but we did well after the break to recover and get back and secure our qualification. It's a great feeling to finally be in the World Cup. This is the first time that I've achieved this with any team, and I know it's going to be a very marvelous experience."

SUPER-LLAMALAND 2 - 4 ABANHFLEFT
PENBROOKE (12')       STUART (23', 58' pen, 79')
 VOROBYOV (36')       ROUSSEAU (89')

ABANHFLEFT
GK: 01 Carter
RB: 02 Osgood
CB: 04 Valentine (Samaniego - 85')
LB: 03 Jackson
RM: 05 Maynard █ (Vance - 67')
LM: 06 Choi
RW: 07 Prescott
CAM: 10 Torres (Mesbros - 85')
LW: 08 Singh
ST: 09 Stuart
ST: 11 Rousseau

SUPER-LLAMALAND
GK: 01 Bernholm
RB: 26 Sorenson
RCB: 13 Reichart
LCB: 06 Ynoa
LB: 02 Lindberg
RM: 11 Vorobyov
RCM: 08 Vesely (Adrian - 78')
LCM: 05 Candelario
LM: 45 Velasquez
ST: 10 Penbrooke
ST: 18 Rasmussen (Mandelbrot - 78')

STATISTICS
Possession
Super-Llamaland: 50%
Abanhfleft: 50%
Shots
Super-Llamaland: 9 (4 on target)
Abanhfleft: 12 (5 on target)
Corners
Super-Llamaland: 4
Abanhfleft: 4
Fouls
Super-Llamaland: 12
Abanhfleft: 24

AN ANALYSIS OF WORLD CUP 76 GROUP C
By Arnold Isaacs

REPORTING FROM RIUWIEE, ABANHFLEFT - Now that the World Cup is upon us once again, it's time for me to analyze our groupmates and our chances of advancing past the group stage. Let's get started.

San Jose Guayabal
Abanhfleft's fans and especially the team will have bittersweet memories of San Jose Guayabal from four years ago. The memories will be sweet because Chelsea Stuart scored the only goal in the first game of the World Cup 72 qualifiers (the first time that the women's team competed as a team and not as part of a mixed-gender side) to surprise the multiverse and put our nation on the map of possible World Cup contenders. And the memories will be bitter because on the return leg in San Jose Guayabal, Rodrigo Zelaya scored four goals to lead the Guayabalense to a 6-4 romp of the Lady Revolutionaries. Bella Maynard did well to motivate a comeback from Abanhfleft, but such a result eventually proved to be unlikely and we came up short. People always looked to that result as the moment when we lost our grip on first place, lost a bunch of games, and eventually had to settle for a Cup of Harmony invite. Almost everyone who played in both games is still part of the national team, and here's to hoping that Chelsea Stuart or someone else in our team will come up with a single moment of magic to overcome the Guayabalense in matchday two of the World Cup group stage. It could be the difference between advancing to the knockout stages or crashing out once again.
Prediction: 1-0 to Abanhfleft, but 2-1 to either team is more likely

Abanhfleft
This is us. This is our team. We are unbeaten in the current qualifying cycle. Seven wins and five draws in the group stage and two wins in qualifying say a lot for our current form. We should be able to get out of the group this time. At least, that's the hope of everyone in the Democratic Republic.
Prediction: Why am I going to predict a result between our team and our team? That's just ridiculous.

Audioslavia
Abanhfleft has never faced Audioslavia before. Like literally. There is literally no match between Abanhfleft and Audioslavia in history. This makes the job of predicting the outcome of this matchup much harder. I guess I'll just have to rely on good old guesswork to predict something out of this.
Prediction: 3-1 to Audioslavia because why not?

Port Christopher
We've met Port Christopher a few times now, specifically twice during the last World Cup's qualifiers. You would think that we won against this team both times but that just wouldn't be true. We drew both times against the Port Christopherans. 1-1 and 2-2. It would be tempting to predict a similar result this time, but I'm going to go out on a limb and predict that we will win. By the time we meet them in matchday three, we will probably need to win.
Prediction: 2-0 to Abanhfleft because we must

Now that I've finished reporting on the status of our country in rugby sevens, beach soccer, and analyzing our World Cup group, I think it's time that I returned to so-called normal programming, and that is football-related stuff. Right now, all we've got for us is transfer rumors, so I hope that should tide you all over for the foreseeable future, at least until I make my next post berating some Premier League team or even our national team when we do a bit shit.

First, let's start off with the biggest rumor of the day: Alisandra "Allie" Vacek to Sporting Ceneisis. Now, this rumor wouldn't have even been invented by anyone, not even the shite-mongers over in the Daily Mailman, but after Allie Vacek posted a video declaring that she wanted to take her talents to Ceneisis and play in front of Allison "Sonny" Torres, people are beginning to take this rumor seriously. Frankly, I think that there might be some truth in this rumor, but I don't see Vacek going to Ceneisis just like that, not when she's reportedly a "six-star prospect", whatever that means, and is one of the best young players to come out of Anglatia. I can't blame them, though, although seeing as Abanhfleft haven't been producing as much top quality young players, I can't say that I can see the same thing happening here. But enough about my opinions about the youth setup of our country. I'm here to talk about transfer rumors, and by God, that's what I'm going to do.

Let's look at this rumor from a purely factual standpoint: Sporting Ceneisis Ladies is not exactly lacking in talent in the attacking department. Aside from the aforementioned Sonny Torres, the Lady Blues also have Armeian-Anglatians Svenja Volksson and Samantha Leroux, and the latter has proven quite crucial in Ceneisis capturing fourth place in the Ladies' Premier League just last season. There is currently no place in the squad for Vacek except as a rotation option, although based from what I have gathered from my various contacts throughout the multiverse, Vacek may be content with a bench role as long as she gets a big contract and a chance to play with Sonny Torres. Ceneisis has not been shy to hand out big contracts ever since they got bought by Nikita Bellich. But those same contacts have also told me that Vacek is only doing this to keep Underfell interested in her, although that could end up backfiring if Ceneisis does indeed make a serious pursuit for her. Now, I'm not saying that it could happen, but if Ceneisis do seriously pursue Vacek and she signs for the Lady Blues, then she could prove to be the final piece of the puzzle that new manager Tullio Zorzalo needs to finally take Sporting Ceneisis to the top of the LPL.

Tony Uist of Marinos Thimpodopoulos is on his way out of the Fhulghamous Peninsula. At least that's what the Port Thimpodopoulos Chronicle says. I can't say that I blame Marinos. Uist has been very good ever since he arrived in Marinos' first season in the Premier League, but now that the Mariners have become Prem regulars, they look like they need something new if they want to finally challenge for an Antarctic Champions' League spot. This isn't to say Uist has become shit; hardly. Tony Uist is still a very great striker, but it looks as if he's no longer the striker that Marinos needs. Injuries that he sustained while on international duty for Port Christopher hadn't helped his cause either. After winning the Golden Boot in the 2014-15 season (just his second season in the Prem, mind) with his 25 goals for the Mariners, he hasn't been able to replicate his good form as much as he and the club would've liked, and his injuries during international duty has slowly relegated him to the bench at just the tender age of 28. He's still good for the occasional goal or hat trick, but with Alexis Katsouranis taking over the reins of the Fhulghamous-based club, it looks as if Uist is no longer in his long-term plans, and the Port Christopher international could be on the transfer list sometime soon, possibly in the January transfer window.

This brings us neatly to the next rumor: Hannes Schaepdryver of Racing Grawarden and Veldgouwen is going to Marinos to be Uist's replacement. Once again, all credit to this rumor goes to the Port Thim Chronicle, and this one sounds a lot more plausible than Allie Vacek to Ceneisis if I may say so. From what little we've seen of Schaepdryver this World Cup qualifying, he looks exactly like the kind of striker that Tony Uist was when he first arrived in the Premier League, and it's abundantly clear why the Mariners are gunning for him to join this transfer window. Apparently, my sources within the club tell me that the deal has been agreed to in principle; that Schaepdryver is already looking forward to going to the Arena Marinos, and that it's only a matter of negotiating the transfer fee that's keeping the deal from becoming official. This is courtesy of that indefatigable Twitter ITK known only as "The Ghost of John MacTavish".

The Ghost of John MacTavish is also the one who gave us this delectable rumor that Marfa Kirilenko is on her way to Ross United in a deal that also involves Jenna or Zahara Santana (I always confuse those two) going to Energie Masloka and Natalia Grekov to Rosenpfelblatz City Ladies. Some young keeper named Demi Simonides might also be involved in this deal. Don't understand who's going to where? Don't worry, neither do I, although I'll try to provide a good and simple explanation. If that fails, I can always provide a flow chart.

Ross United wants Rosenpfelblatz City's Marfa Kirilenko to cheer up Isa Tangemen, whom Ross had also bought from Rosen for a supposed club record fee of 10 million Anglatian marks (I also don't know how much that is in NSD). Tangemen had reportedly broken up with her old girlfriend Katarina Dana Bonner, who is now playing for All-Inclusive Haranguer after falling out of favor with Ross' management, and after some soul-searching back in Abanhfleft, Tangemen and Pridnestrovian international Kirilenko were reportedly seen together over in Anglatia (I think that's a subtle way of saying that they're together now). Rosen demanded 10 million for Kirilenko because Joseph Churchill wants to make Kirilenko the ladies' team's new goalkeeper in place of the old-but-still-reliable Yannie Redborne. Ross balked at the amount, saying that they'll never be allowed by the fans to pay that much after the supposed flop of the last goalie that they signed for that much, the aforementioned Tangemen. Ross countered with 5 million and poor Demi Simonides, who hasn't been the most consistent keepers ever. My good friend Matthew Cave, who is currently the youth manager of Rosen, himself balked at the thought of selling another goalkeeper to Ross, but since he's not as close with Churchill as he was with Carlos Cuvimi, his opinion was ignored and Churchill has supposedly given the green light to the deal. And somehow Jenna Santana will end up in Nordskania and Rosen will get another goalkeeper. One would think that they've got quite a lot of goalkeepers now (Yannie Redborne, Blaze Chrzanowska, Demi Simonides, and Natalia Grekov), and one would be right. But remember that a curse hangs over Rosen's keepers, so it's probably a good idea that they're stocking up on goalkeepers.

And that's it for me today. Always remember that we lost against Chiata one-nil and that keeping them to such a low scoreline is not the same as winning against them. Stay classy, and watch out for my next post. Oh, and if every transfer rumor listed here is true, I will eat a copy of the Daily Mailman.

by **Northern Sunrise Islands** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 12:52 pm

SnoGa presents...

For the fans of The Last Blade and most of our World Cup related memoralia...

1576. The many lands are on turmoil: a War of Succession follows at the Esportivan Commonwealth, the Samebóise Revolution heats the Rushmori Kingdom and a power struggle between the Atlantian Union and the Northeastern People keeps unrest at the last bastion of peace. Amongst this chaos, the fabled sword of former conquerors, Gaiatheia appears at the heart of it all. Gaiatheia offers ultimate power to those who wield it, though it does not answer well to those of weak minds, often causing chaos when finding one.
Ambitious swordsmen and swordswomen travel in search of the historied sword, eventually clashing. Who won posession of the Gaiatheia?
That's quite a story, children... Sit down as I tell you.
- Ainin, from the Last Sword (tm) series

GROUP A

Fisciscia Sabrina - Margaret
A traveler from far away lands, backed by her impressive luck and a trusty short sword gifted by her father on the way out. Her quest after Gaiatheia is not after ultimate power, but rather ultimate riches, as she plans to sell the powerful sword as soon as she manages to obtain it.
Ceni Broadsword - Arrowsword
A promising young swordsman from the Academy of Avon turned one of the few survivors after an attack from the Samebóise faction rampaged the Academy. Out of grief, he wishes to obtain Gaiatheia and finish the conflicts over his homeland.
Brenecia Hooksword - Crosser
Sister of one of the famed Lions of Esportiva, Brenecia was groomed to take her sister's place for years only to find her quicky improving up to the top of her potential. Tired, she started to reconsider until rumors of a powerful sword arrived. She'd be surely capable of surpass her sister with that fabled sword.
Osarius Battle Axe - Granada
Former member of the Northeastern People, fled from the group after disagreements over their leader. Gaiatheia would be useful at least on a quest for revenge against the fellow Northeasterners.

GROUP B

Valanora Bow and Lhang - Alune and Laborium
A powerful archer from the past, she has been heavily involved in the Atlantian conflict in favor of the Union even if the effort has been a failing one. Gaiatheia could help the Union turn the tide on the Northeastern People.
Eura Broadsword and Pistol sword - Peacekeeper and Peacedragger
The current leader of the Rushmori Kingdom, albeit in bad times. His rule has been since questioned by the Samebóise Revolution and he's currently at disadvantage. His quest for Gaiatheia is based out of the belief he'd be capable of wielding the sword without giving into its' madness.
The Holy Empire Xiphos - Cronos
He with no true identity, past and future remains unknown. Evidence points to him being older than time, though little aside from that has ever been discovered. The reason for his quest is also unknown, though its' most likely he wants entertainment.
Flardania Katana - Kirishima
Working as a mercenary out of his troubled lands at the Atlas Islands, he's regularly doing odd jobs at cities but business took a nose dive as soon as rumors about Gaiatheia rose. Flardania's quest is to destroy the sword, no more or less.

GROUP C

San Jose Guayabal Nandao - Salvación
One of the three remaining Lions of Esportiva, nicknamed San Jose of the Thunder, now disgruntled over the new overlord of the Esportivan Commonwealth. After failing to beat the overlord, he's on the run from the Esportivan Guard while also looking for Gaiatheia in order to obtain a swift revenge.
Abanhfleft Broadsword - Blunt
A person from another realm, supposedly having fled from a place called London through a magic hole. Supposedly, the sword could take them back to their former home.
Audioslavia Schiavona - Cathairne
The leader of the Northeastern People, who has since been fighting for independence for his group against the Atlantian Union. Reports of a powerful sword capable of giving the wielder ultimate power make him leave his home for an opportunity to, at last, obtain independence.
Port Christopher Slingshot and Common Sword - Pride and Hope
Another swordbearer from the Esportivan Kingdom, trying out for the privilege of becoming a Lion. At his teacher's behest, he's being tasked with obtaining the Gaiatheia in secret from the Lions.

GROUP D

Savalen Urumi - Lion's Paw
Living at lands currently under dispute, his desire of living in a rather peaceful place have been torn apart by consecutive tyrants. Optimistically, he believes the situation will be peaced out as soon as he manages to get a hold of Gaiatheia.
Barunia Common Sword - Red Sun
Member of the Order of the Sun, he has been assigned to find a promising child that left their ranks a while ago on his own. Rumors of the powerful sword caused him to believe he'd find the kid on the way of that as well.
Krytenia Bladed Tambourine - Boy Regal
A pacificist who somehow found himself among the Northeastern People's ranks. His quest for the sword is actually false, as he's actually running for a ticket to the paradisiac Futurnian Islands, far away from conflict.
Valladares Scythe - Morte
A man driven by chaos, the rumors of Gaiatheia's ruthlessness upon finding a lesser host enticed his thoughts. His wish of creating even more chaos among the lands would be granted by Gaiatheia either way.

GROUP E

Vilita Shepherd's Axe - Warlord
Actual leader of the Atlantian Union, having puppeted Turori for the spot after finding some sort of illness related to a light-green liquid, he's now tasked with crushing the Northeastern People Rebellion for whatever time is left on his clock. His quest for Gaiatheia is actually based out of fear his opposition obtains the actual sword instead.
Damukuni Kaiken - Naruto
Having settled down at the Esportivan Commonwealth, this cheerful boy was forced into admission at the Guard's Academy. He was tasked, by his teacher, to obtain the Gaiatheia on secret from the powerful Lions of the Commonwealth.
Electrum Tonfa - Blue Devil
Currently serving as a Duke near the border of the Rushmori Kingdom, he's enraged that his region has been flung into despair since the start of the Samebóise Revolution. He wishes to obtain the Gaiatheia so that he can take down the Revolution and the current leader, whom he believes to be not capable.
Semarland Harpoon - Fiskare
A former fisher, forced to enroll at the Northeastern People's Army, only to find out to be an impressive swordsman. His quest for Gaiatheia is based after the belief that it will make him the ultimate warrior of all the lands.

GROUP F

Chiata Kampilan - Kenshi
A blind young boy found and adopted by the court of the Esportivan Commonwealth, he's again on the run after the former leader disappeared in the middle of the night. His goal is to obtain the Gaiatheia and find where the actual leader of the Commonwealth is.
Turori Misericorde - Leader Maiden
The recently promoted leader of the Atlantian Union, Turori was clearly overwhelmed with the job, causing the Northeasterners wish of independence. She's now after Gaiatheia to prove to her subjects to be a strong leader.
Royal Kingdom of Quebec Épée - Mirajane
A burlesque and thoroughly bored ladies' man with a passion for his weapon of choice, an Épée called Mirajane. His interest on Gaiatheia is actually to destroy it and prove his sword to be the finest weapon in all the lands.
Unified Sunrise Islands Three-section staff - Sunshine Overdrive
One of the remaining Lions of Esportiva, finally rising to proeminence until the Northeastern Campaigns of years ago, Sunrise of the Sky has been currently living as a middleman between the other two Lions about their new leader. Sunrise's quest for the Gaiatheia is actually based out of fear of maniacs controlling the sword and another tale he can tell to his children one day.

GROUP G

Chromatika Hyup Do - Storm
A possessed man travelling through the lands, originally from the Atlantian Union, wishing peace from the demons inhabiting his body. He believes they will go away once approaching contact with Gaiatheia's incredible power.
Nephara Iron Club - Zarock
Another Lion of Esportiva, considered the leader among the three and a supporter of the new Commonwealth's regime, Nephara of the Sea is now devoted to keep said leader afloat. Her quest for the sword wishes to obtain the sword in order to help the new leader out.
Fluvique Shield and Sword - Lady Luck
A plucky commoner that sneaked his way through the masses, looking for gold and gold alone. Obtaining the Gaiatheia would surely end up in more gold.
Pasarga Dagger - Bedilizik
Self-proclaimed "The Finest Thief of the Rushmori Kingdom", his latest escapades ended up short. Going through a rough patch economically, he's sent by a rich merchant after the sword.

GROUP H

Red Blackiland Zwëihander - Zeichnungblut
A graduate from the Esportivan School of Long Swords, he was promoted right as the new leader took place. He quickly joined the plight of one of the Lions against said leader. There's no true certainty on what he'd do once he got a hold of the legendary sword.
Gregoryisgodistan Manrikigusari - Prune Weight
A low-ranked soldier trying to lead a Cult of Personality-esque rebellion only to be squished twice by both the new Commonwealth's leaders and the less content knights of Esportiva. Being released again from the prison, he soon catches the rumors, believing he's capable of wielding the sword.
Cosumar Staff - Dragoncaller
One of the Northeastern People's members, a descendant of the short-lived Dragon Clan that spread fear across the lands until being almost erased. There's some part of him that wants to get the sword in order to revive the Clan.
Farfadillis Slungshot - Císplâtínâ
Rivaling Pasarga as a thief, he's been operating under the Atlantian Union's banner against the Northeastern People. He's actually going after the Northeasterns, trying to destroy their quest, with no interest on the actual Gaiatheia.

Thirty-two people. Dreams. Wishes. Anger. Hope.
Another SnoGa title, like always...

by **Alasdair I Frosticus** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 3:19 pm

Tales of the Fog-Thing

What was this benighted land? Ceni, it seemed to be called - another insignificant ant-like speck to the Fog-Thing's gaze, centered as it was on the magnificence of the Overcosm.

Somehow, against its better judgement, the Fog-Thing had allowed itself to be lured to this place, an 88th-minute equaliser against San Llera sending the fuliginous deity through to these 'World Cup Finals' after some frantic explanation by the Tzimisces over the meaning of something called 'away goals'. The latter seemed to be some curious sacrificial ritual involving the dread World Cup Committee, the one entity in its recent ventures that the Fog-Thing was yet to fully understand, but which seemed powerful beyond all mortal ken. It alone seemed worthy of the nebulous one's respect.

And yet the Tzimisces had warned the Fog-Thing not to underestimate this Hawk creature, who played for the Vanors. And in truth, the clouded god could sense a ... presence here. There were mortals who transcended their limitations, much like the Tzimisces' Di Bradini minion had managed to do, and if they did not precisely command the respect of an entity whose gaze transcended reality, then at least it could admit that they should not be treated with the fullness of its contempt.

As to the other nations that the Fog-Thing was to face, the Eurans seemed to delight in wearing the Holy Empire away kit for reasons that were apparently somewhat obscure (and which the Fog-Thing had no intention of investigating) while the Flardanians only seemed worthy of note for deploying primitive artillery on the field of play (if the Fog-Thing understood correctly). The Kitsunes would no doubt be surprised to discover that its dissipate body was impervious to ballista shot.

This much the Fog-Thing did know.... its long ordeal of playing this 'football' must soon come to an end. It would be released from its bondage at the end of this tournament no matter what. Perhaps it could find a way of accelerating the conclusion of this torture - if it could only find a way of being eliminated in the first round, then it would at last be free to unfurl the fullness of its immense power, beholden to no one....

It was worth a thought.

by **Ceni** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 3:25 pm

CENI WINS DI BRADINI CUP
Penalty kick thriller against San Llera sees Ceni lift a football trophy for the first time

Having been defeated in the Round of 16 in the last edition of the Di Bradini Cup, the Cenian national U-21 team returned to Valanora, two years older and ready to tear up the field in revenge for their shock loss to Quebec in the 37th Di Bradini Cup. As a measure of their seriousness, U-21 manager Peter Petrossian decided to, in contravention to established convention, bring in eligible players who had already earned caps for the Cenian national team to bolster Ceni's effort to win the trophy, and that effort seemed to pay off: despite an early loss to Schottia, the team crushed Flardania in the opening round, saw off a spirited Abanhfleft side with two Arrowsword penalties, and ran rampant through the knockout stages, scoring four goals past each of Devonta, Cosumar, and Tomikosan, the latter two no inconsequential opponents with much talent of their own. Their reward: a final match with San Llera, a side the team had beaten on their way to the final of the 35th Di Bradini Cup. San Llera had gotten to the final using an opposite approach: relying on their defensive formation to carry through, winning against quality opponents such as San Jose Guayabal, Pasarga, and the Unified Sunrise Islands, with their defense denying the much-touted Teitur Vaarisiemi and Ingþór Auðbjörnsson any goals at all. Thus, it would be a tough challenge for Ceni to face at this level of competition, and face it they did.

San Llera didn't have too many world-class players on their own for this tournament, nor did they have too many big names like Ceni did, but the real secret of San Llera's whole team strategy was their teamwork and chemistry which saw them through to this stage in the competition; their defense worked well together to deny opponents goals, as we have seen that San Llera had only given up one goal before their final. In contrast, Ceni's offense has been firing up all tournament, with its powerful offense scoring 22 goals this competition, while it has more recognized players such as Andrew Arrowsword, Adrián del Toro, and Jasper Valaran suit up to take the field for Ceni. So this match would be, coming in, a competition between two radically different styles: an offense and a defense. And the competition would be exciting indeed as this clash of styles would take fans the whole way to penalties; from the beginning, though, there were moments.

Starting off, we saw the SanMen taking the lead in possession with their box-to-box midfielder Gerra Sedono start off with the ball, passing to one of their stars Carles Verino on the right wing. However, this pass was intercepted by Cenian playmaker Jasper Valaran, who is good with his passes, in contrast to Sedono, and Ceni started off on one of what would turn out to be many attacking runs that would just get snuffed out by the omnipresent Lleran defense. Leo Gashi in the midfield was able to set a tone for many encounters, just managing to dispossess Valaran of the pall and preventing him from passing forward; Gashi passed forward to Verino and passed forward to Esteve Quitiella, who sluggishly attempted to advance with the ball only to lose the ball to defensive midfielder Petro Valles, a veteran of 3 Di Bradini Cup campaigns. Valles and Valaran have worked up a partnership over the course of this tournament, and Valles used this to good effect to shift over the tenor of play from the defense to offense again, passing to Valles.

Most of the clash in the first ninety minutes took place in the midfield like this, and you can see why with the quality defensive and offensive midfielders presented by both sides during this final encounter, with a packed Battleground stadium in Raynor City the venue for this exciting and entertaining clash. Ceni took the first blood in the final, with a three-man play (of course). Jasper Valaran, the playmaker, started off the play, passing through the scrappy defensive midfielder Pataki Fuyets right through to Ben Lorennion. While dribbling through the Rotino-Fish defense, Andrew Arrowsword was advancing up the pitch as well, drawing a couple of defenders to him and away from Lorennion; Lorennion passed to his striking partner Auren Brahe-Antilles, who, at this time, was uncovered by the great majority of the Lleran defense, which preferred to focus on Arrowsword and Lorennion; Brahe-Antilles hit power-dribble mode, able to dribble fast and low to the ground due to his lower center of gravity, and hit a curling shot right above Johann Van Zanten's outstretched arms. Ceni was in the lead by a score of one to nil.

About ten minutes of frantic possession battles in the midfield then took place, with Valles and Valaran barely taking the upper hand in these battles to gain possession and give Ceni another chance to go on an attacking run. But it seemed that whenever Ceni went on a run, the well-organized San Lleran defense, led by the precocious 18-year-old Zanzibar Tejada and the reliable Adalbert Sadornil, just pushed the ball back into the midfield, stymieing many Cenian chances to score a goal for their efforts. The midfield would then attempt to run forward and score against Ceni's iffy defense, but their bad passing and more defensiveness proved their undoing on more than one occasion as we saw Valles and Valaran dispossess the SanMen on more than one occasion. This far in the match, we saw Ceni have the upper hand in the midfield, with the Cenian team having most of the chances throughout the match, but that only resulted in a 1-0 lead for Ceni.

However, about 30 minutes into the game, Gerra Duvale chose to substitute in Paquito, a young, pacy striker, for the sluggish Esteve Quitiella, who had not been making much of an impact throughout the game. The change seemed to work for San Llera, as Paquito was able to receive a pass from the Rotino-Fish star Carles Verino and was able to use his low center of gravity to jink around the Cenian defense, led by captain and experienced hand Liam Lorechian, one of the more exciting Cenian defensive prospects. Lorechian was able to momentarily clear the ball away from Paquito, but Verino was there in the space in front of the goal and he received the ball well before shooting into the left of Juan Pablo Morales's goal in a one-on-one contest; Morales was able to save the ball, fortunately, but he was caught off balance from the save, and Paquito was able to knock the ball into the right side of the goal to score San Llera's first goal.

Neither side wanted this game to go the full distance and stay at a stalemate for the remaining sixty minutes of the match, but it seemed that's what happened as the defensive team just shrunk into an even more defensive formation to avoid giving up any more goals. The winger Marc-André Onasi, with partial Quebecois descent, has a pacy physicality that can wreck any defense, made an advance up the right side of the pitch and passed forward to Arrowsword, only to see his shot saved by the excellent goalkeeper Van Zanten, who is likely to win the tournament's award for Golden Gloves as the best goalkeeper as he can save things that his defense left untouched while coordinating with his defenders to ensure that there aren't too many of those good shots to be saved. As a result of these skills, he was able to beat back the Cenian advance and clear the ball upfield. The defense was able to hold the Cenian offense at bay until the halftime whistle blew.

However, Ceni was back at it again after halftime as Arrowsword led the charge this time through the Lleran defense. He passed forward to his teammate Cesar Corvalán, who had been substituted in for Brahe-Antilles, who passed forward to the more-than-competent del Toro; del Toro was able to draw the Lleran center back Norman Mora out of position onto the left side of the pitch before passing to Andrew Arrowsword. Despite the SanMan's speed in getting back to his old position, Arrowsword was too fast for him, able to exploit that opening in the Lleran defense in order to go one on one with Johann van Zanten. Arrowsword hit a very pacy shot to the left that van Zanten could not stop, giving Ceni a clear 2-1 lead. But that lead proved not to last for long.

San Llera, despite its propensity on the defensive side, has proven itself to have some not bad offensive options, such as Verino and Paquito, who have been able to work together as a single unit in order to penetrate the admittedly leaky Cenian defense. After their conceded goal to Arrowsword, the SanMen went on the offensive, but this time, their midfield's lack of passing options cost them, as we saw Gashi and Sedono get on the ball but be unable to pass it successfully to their better offensive teammates, as Cicero Solis Vela was able to get between them in order to clear the ball, which landed at the feet of Petro Valles, who passed forward to Jasper Valaran. Marc-André Onasi got a shot in on the ball down the wing, using a fast dribbling style, but his shot went off the woodwork and was cleared by the Lleran defense.

The Lleran team then got to work on the painstaking task of getting the ball back to the Cenian side of the pitch in order to equalize the game and force it to extra time perhaps (that is, if the Cenian offensive machine would not get in another goal in the twenty minutes that the game had left in it). Nonetheless, the Rotino-Fish just kept swimming up and down the pitch, trying to score a goal and force extra time. Their strategy was to score a goal (well, obviously) before parking the bus, maintaining possession and beating back the Cenian propensity to score a goal. In order to be able to capitalize on the second part, though, the SanMen had to work on the first part: scoring a goal. Paquito got in motion to do this, dodging Valles in the midfield with a quick run forward before passing the ball forward to his aggressive teammate Verino, one of the stars of San Llera's show. Verino was able to capitalize on an opening on the right side of the pitch, where Nick Torabi is the weakest of Ceni's defenders. Here he was able to do a quick turnaround on the ball, passing to Paquito to avoid Lorechian's oncoming personage, before receving the ball and threading the needle right into the left side of the goal.

Now that San Llera had equalized, they needed to make good on the second part of their strategy, which was to use their defensive structure to good effect in order to deny Ceni any more goals in normal time in order to send the final contest of the Di Bradini Cup into extra time and - perhaps - penalties if they were lucky. It was always the plucky underdog that needed to use penalties to draw out a contest against the higher seed, and San Llera was most definitely the plucky underdog in this fight against the Cenian juggernaut with so many quality young players. Thus, with about fifteen minutes left in normal time, San Llera endeavored to park the bus and deny Ceni any more goals, while Ceni wanted to get the game over quickly and secure their first football championship of any kind.

San Llera was able to capitalize on their goal, much to the chagrin of the Cenian fans who had journeyed all the way out to Valanora to witness this contest. Despite the firm offensive efforts of the Cenian national team, led by the competent attacking midfielders del Toro and Onasi on the wings, the San Lleran defense was simply just too strong for the Cenian offense, which was tiring out. At this point, Corvalán was the most energetic player on the pitch, and he led some consistent attacks against the Lleran defense that ultimately failed to make their mark. Despite several corner kicks by Lorennion and Arrowsword, heroics by the Lleran goalkeeper Van Zanten were able to keep multiple attempts at the goal from Ceni's wonderful offensive line out of the goal, unfortunately for the Cenian team. In that way, with their assured defense of the goal, they were able to force extra time in the final.

Ceni was a little bit wary of extra time, for they had lost 4-3 in the extra time to Cosumar in the 35th Di Bradini Cup a couple of years ago, but they were determined not to befall the same fate as the team of yesteryear, which still had numerous Cenian stars and prodigies such as Kira Koromin and Tomás Fierro. Ceni looked like they were about to meet the same fate as that team, however, when Paquito was able to make a lightning-fast run in past a dazed and tired Cenian defense before finding just the right angle to send to the clever striker Miquel Jover, who intercepted the pass headed to the midfielder Carles Verino, as befitting his character. Jover was able to send the ball careening toward Morales at a great angle, which just barely crossed the line and gave San Llera the advantage with only a couple of minutes of extra time having passed. To combat the fatigue in his defenders, manager Peter Petrossian substituted in center back Miri Windtide to fill in for Liam Lorechian, hoping that that defensive addition would help to stabilize the back line, while he substituted Sofia Falcón for the tiring Jasper Valaran.

Some of the changes appeared to work - while Falcón was less effective than the amazing Valaran, who had been tearing apart defenses in the Schottic league, she injected new vigor into the team, and her partnership developed with Cesár Corvalán at Argi Sanguesa in the I-League would serve to benefit the team later on in the game. For the next ten minutes of half time, Ceni would try to attack the San Lleran defense, but in vain, as the defense that had locked the door shut in the dying moments of regular time would not give Ceni an opening of light into the door, closing the door and throwing away the key. Manager Petrossian was in despair that his team would lose a final again - this time, to a side that had really gone under the radar for most of the tournament. But Ceni was confident, having beaten their rivals Cosumar earlier in the tournament, and they sure weren't planning on falling in the finals again.

In the second half of extra time, the partnership of Falcón and Corvalán worked some magic and brought Ceni back into the game. Although San Llera's defense was still as tight as a turtle's shell, Marc-André Onasi was able to advance along the wings using a brute physicality that no other Cenian attacking player really had. Being half-Quebecois, Onasi had the height, power, and pace that allowed him to muscle through the San Lleran defense, unlike the other Cenian strikers, born of a shorter, less heavier stock, who had to depend on their guile and ingenuity to move forward. However, Onasi did move down the side of the pitch for several minutes before having Sadornil knock the ball out of bounds. Now, it would be time for a corner kick, which Onasi would take. It was a nice, loopy ball out to the corner of the mass of players, to Falcón. Falcón had an incisive pass through the muddled mass of Lleran defenders, including Norman Mora, who found himself out of position again, straight to Corvalán. Corvalán would take a short distance to dribble forward and then hit a wonderful angle to the right of the goal to ensure than van Zanten couldn't get to out.

Ceni was now level with San Llera, and now neither side really wanted to score another goal. Although San Llera tried once or twice, Windtide and the Cenian defense were able to block any opportunities for the Rotino-Fish. Then the referee blew his whistle: it was time for penalty kicks. Left with no substitutions, Petrossian had to rely on the players he had on the field, and he chose to send in Cesár Corvalán first; the young forward easily converted past probably the goalkeeper of the tournament. Jover converted past Morales; Onasi converted for Ceni; Paquito, nervous for San Llera, missed his shot, but Van Zanten saved Lorennion's to keep the two teams level; Verino converted to keep the teams tied at 2-2. Here, Ceni's offensive capability allowed it to move forward, with del Toro converting his penalty, while San Llera had to use a more inexperienced kick-tacker, Pataki Fuyets, whose shot was saved by Juan Pablo Morales. Despite Ceni's lead, two more shots had to be taken, and Petrossian next sent in the star of the tournament, Andrew Arrowsword, who he could rely on easily to score a penalty; Arrowsword calmly and collectedly scored the penalty, practically ensuring victory for the Cenian team; Gerra Sedono converted for his team, but it didn't matter as Ceni won the shootout 4-3 and erupted in celebration: they had finally won a footballing trophy! Cenian fans all over screamed their hearts out, perhaps rivaling the intensity of the Ultras of Red Blackiland in their passion at this moment, and the team lauded and feted Arrowsword for his contributions. It was certainly a job well done for Ceni's youngsters - only now, the question was whether they could take their talents to the World Cup...

by **Turori** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 3:59 pm

New-Look Turori Ready for World Cup Return

Q: So, Mumau, what's this meeting about today?

A: You'll See shortly. You'll see.

Q: Will you be bringing a cocoabo with you to the conference today? We couldn't help but notice you talking to one of the trainers just now. Will you finally be breaking the media blackout on the Cocoabo's?

A: Yes, there will be a Cocoabo arriving shortly. It will be a special day for the Cocoabo's and it wouldn't be the same without one of them here for the announcement. In fact, I'm being informed that the Cocoabo is now ready, so I'm going to begin the conference.

EELS PARK, EELANDII, TURORI :: Mumaou backed away from the microphone for a minute, cleared his throat and had a small bit of tea before returning to the microphone.

As you all know, Cocoabo's have always been key parts of the Turorian culture. While we have always loved and cherished our native bipods, we for many years had kept them out of the media spotlight, for reasons which I think everyone in this room, being the culprits at the heart of the problem, is more than aware of. Today, however, with the rise of the Cocoabo Preservation Society, the Cocoabo is up front and forward in so much of Turori's outward presence. As an extra special bonus, one of our Cocoabo's will grace us with their presence here in the media room. We have an exciting announcement to make and we are honored to have one of our Cocoabo's here to share in the excitement.

After we missed out on qualification to World Cup 75, and had to settle for the Cup of Harmony, I sat down with some former National Team head coaches, and my good friends Hooizo Nuakoi and Wizitra No'aai. We sat for a while and thought about what we could do to improve our performance in the World Cup 76 qualifiers. We were all in agreement that there was little we could do - we had Won the Cup of Harmony, proving to be the 'best of the rest' and then came out in the Eagle's Cup and promptly defeated the World Cup Champions - the Unifed Sunrise Islands. So then we started to think, why is it that they play as if they were on par with the Audioslavia's and the Northern Sunrise Islands's in some competitions - but can never progress beyond the Quarter Finals of the World Cup?

Well, one thing we began to think about was our Kit. Sure, the Kit alone isn't going to make us play better - but we are currently outsourcing our kits to Schottia. We like Schottia, the kits are cool - the colors certainly say Turori. Not many other nations use our color kit. But we decided to investigate something better.

So it was determined at this moment, that we had to re-think our kit. Hooizo and myself went over to Tropicorp and met with the folks at Tropicorp Sports and we sat in a room for three hours tossing around ideas before we finally came up with a kit that we think will both present our national colors gracefully, but also allow ease of movement for our players while they are on the pitch - and perhaps even give us a bit of a competitive advantage. Of course, the marketing guys had their say too - not from a financial standpoint, but from a standpoint of Cocoabo Awareness. Our partnership with the Preservation Society grows stronger by the day and we are proud as the Turori National Team to fully embrace the Cocoabo Preservation movement and the history, heritage and future of these great Turorian creatures

Then, members of the Turori National Team walked out onto the stage donning a brand new Tropicorp Sports designed kit with Eelskin brown as a base color - a lime green trim as a nod to Nigel the Eel, traditional Turorian racing stripes and then, a new addition, a silouette of a Cocoabo around the players Left side Torso area.

An applause then erupted in the room as the goalkeepers entered the room accompanied by a Cocoabo wearing its own custom-cut version of the new national team threads, trotting into the room regally causing the camera's to begin snapping uncontrollably. Unphased by the psychcadelic light patterns the Cocoabo let out a bit of a screech before spinning and showing off the opposite side of the kit for the preying media representatives. The commotion and photo session lasted nearly 8 minutes, before Mumau Atla-Siioai finally returned the the microphone.

I just want to say Thank You to the Cocoabo Prevervation Society and to our trainers for allowing the Cocoabo to attend todays conference. I'd also like to say a big thank you to Tropicorp Sports for working so fluidly with us in the design and development stages, and making sure we had this kit in time for the start of the World Cup 76 Qualifiers. Now, I'd like to introduce to you Muzuzula Vrialia, our Media & Marketing representative, who will tell you a little more about the kit.

Another applause began as Atla-Siioai descended from the podium, and Vrialia approached the stage. before speaking, Vrialia dimmed the lights gently, and a projection containing a drawing of the new primary National Team Kit that had just been unveiled was reproduced on the wall behind the speaker.

Thank You very much to Mr. Atla-Siioai for his kind words about the kit. Looked great didn't it?!

In thinking about the design of the Kit, we not only considered its aesthetics for performance on the end of the players, but also intimidation from a visual standpoint. We thought it would be a nice touch to add the shoulder spikes which you can see better here on the drawing behind me then you might have been able to see on our demonstration. When our players are in full sprint, these detached spikes will be at full extension and really add to the flavor of the kit.

We are looking forward to seeing this kit in action during the World Cup 76 Finals in Ceni and Electrum.

Thank you all for coming today. See You in Electrum. Lets go Eels!

by **Farfadillis** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 5:05 pm

"Psychopathy. Traditionally defined as a personality disorder characterized by persistent antisocial behavior, impaired empathy and remorse, and bold, disinhibited, egotistical traits."

"Well, that's not me."

"Advocating the mass killing of the families of your teammates does strike me as fitting of the definition."

"No, no, once again, you have misunderstood. It is in the tone. God, why are we having this conversation again? It's been two years for fuck's sake, and the plot hasn't advanced one single bit."

"Ha, true. I have to say, the revolution and the government have been in a deadlock for a long time now. If someone were in charge of writing this shit, I'd say they've been doing it half-assed all the way up to now."

"Perhaps they're just bad at this whole discipline and balancing responsibilities thing. Happens to all of us. Even me."

"Oh, was a slight lack of discipline what made you behave like a total psycho in the dressing room yesterday?"

"Not a total psycho. Maybe I was a bit unfortunate to choose words at which they took offense. At most, that makes me a bit of an asshole."

"Being a professed libertarian makes you a bit of an asshole. You're openly advocating for genocide. It's, like, you're not even hiding the fact that you want people to die without dignity."

"Fine, fine, fine. I'll tone down the genocidal tendencies. Happy?" He hissed. "Can't the guy think of something new to write about already?"

"Well, they would need cooperation from some other nation for something like a war, and it's probably too much of a hassle for them anyway."

"What?"

"What what?"

"What you just said."

"Stop being a Class A A-hole?

"No, no, after that. I could've sworn you broke... you know. The wall."

"I swear you're getting cuckooer by the day. Feel like grabbing lunch? Perhaps you're just hungry."

"Err, yeah, my stomach's growling and I do feel like getting some yummy Chinese food."

"Chi-what?"

"Huh?"

by **Vilita** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 6:18 pm

An Alternate Universe, Not So Far Away ::: The stench was almost unbearable. Corpses began to rot in the streets. Nations throughout Atlantian Oceania had become complacent. They'd seen the Virus before. While a cause has never been pinpointed, it has always seemed that the onset of the Virus tends to coincide with the culmination of the regional Pumpkin Crop. Some have even gone so far as to call for a complete ban on the growth and distribution of Pumpkins throughout the multiverse in an attempt to reduce the likelihood of the "Pumpkin Plague" of terrorizing the multiverse yet again.

Others, however, have called for calm. Indeed, after the first ever Pumpkin Plague, regions throughout the multiverse have better learned how to handle any subsequent outbreaks. There has never been any solid evidence definitively linking the Pumpkin Plague directly to Pumpkins - even though all but one of the Multiverse-Wide Pumpkin Plague epidemics have corresponded directly to the peak harvest of the Pumpkin crop.

Year after year, the Plague comes and goes. Some areas tend to be hit harder than others. Rushmore and Esportiva, for example - consisting of some less established governments often declaring Marshall Law and pre-mature firing squads to 'terminate' the Plague. In Atlantian Oceania, however, the Pumpkin Plague was low on the radar of the Every day citizen. Sure, they would get the usual symptoms as the Plague began to spread but the scientists and researchers throughout the region would typically get the antidote distributed quickly into water supplies region wide. Symptoms would get milder and eventually disappear and people would go on about their merry ways.

Perhaps, however, it was this lack of respect for the Pumpkin Plague that has caused the recent turmoil that has seen pockets of death throughout Atlantian Oceania as a result of the inability for medical teams to develop and distribute the antidote for this particular strain of Pumpkin Plague quickly enough.

See, that's the one thing about the Pumpkin Plague. Although Medical Technicians have a good idea where to start in developing a cure, each recurrence of the Plague comes with a slightly evolved mutation. Immune to all previous Cures, a new antidote is required each time the Plague rears its ugly head. Atlantian Oceania scientists had gotten so good at adapting to the mutations, however, they created a false sense of security amongst its people.

Less than 24 hours after the most recent seasons Pumpkin Plague began, the first death was reported. Then another. Then they started to pour in. The Scientists had to double their efforts. One omission was the Tropicorp Scientists who reportedly discovered the antidote hours earlier but due to the internal processes and not having previous been involved in a Pumpkin Plague Purification event, did not understand the urgency of distribution with only the Vilitan cities of Yeaddin - where much of the research took place, and Lopinka getting the antidote at first. Eventually, they got the antidote distributed and into the water supply region wide. Not before it was too late for many, however. While the Vilitan Cove was safe Calania was hit with the unpleasant odor of rotting corpses - none willing to move them until the cure had fully settled in the system either.

Zombifarf

Even the antidote wasn't foolproof. While by-and-large, region wide, it was working and peoples symptoms were clearing up, there was one place that it just wasn't having the desired effect. Whether the Virus had mutated when it had gotten to their island or whether the distribution channels were corrupted, it was unknown. Whatever the cause, however, people were being lost in Farfadillis.

Of course, many folks didn't care. They were just Farfadillizards anyway. The multiverse may very well have been a better place with a few million less Farves in it.

The problem was, the majority of the seemingly incurable Farfatians weren't dying. Some died, sure. The rest, however, turned into Zombifarves. Sometimes it would be hard to tell a Zombifarf from a native Farfutian. One moment a Zombifarf would seem fine, then, within an hour, their symptoms would lapse and they would start oozing blood from their oraphi, seeking out other Zombifarfs and doing... whatever it is that Zombifarfs do.

When word of the Zombifarfs spread, Tropicorp officials controversially attempted to study them for future reference in the event that the phenomenon spreads during any future Pumpkin Plague outbreak. Tropicorp also initiated a small quarantine of all cities and areas in which they held interest including many cities and locations throughout the Vilitan Cove - Alikki-Corra, Yeaddin, Lopinka, Cocoabo Forest - in an attempt to insure the health and safety of its employees as they continued their research mission.

While now, with the notable exception of the ongoing situation in Farfadillis, the majority of Atlantian Oceania is zombie free and showing only pockets of limited lingering exposure to the Pumpkin Plague, the region was certainly caught with its feet on the hammock this time around, expecting this seasons Plague to be just as easy to cure as the previous seasons Plague, and it most certainly was not.

While the citizens of the region will certainly be hoping that the Pumpkin Plague never again terrorizes Atlantian Oceania; there will no doubt be at least some small groups of scientists in major research institutions such as 95X, Tropicorp, Valanora, Falcania and Starblaydia who will be curious to see if and when the Virus mutates again.

by **Fluvique** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 6:35 pm

World Cup Team Profile
FLUVIQUE

Country Overview
The name 'Fluvique' is derived of the latin word for river, "Fluvium".
The country was first explored in 1520 by French sailors.
With 4.219.665 km2 of land area is one of the largest countries in Rushmore.
It has three official languages: Spanish, French and English.
One of the highest elevations in the multiverse is Akarama mountain in Geneva, with 7,385 m above sea level. And country's lowest point is Espeuen lagoon in Greencastle (-112 m below sea level)
The country has the highest number of theatres per capita than anywhere in the world.
In 1878, Saint Patrick College was the first team to install fences to prevent pitch invasions.
Fluvique is considered "The World's feeder", due to its huge productions of grains, beef and cereals.
The national team played its first official international in the Baptism of Fire 60, winning 1-0 over Transpadana.
In the XI Olympiad, the team won the Olympic Bronze medal.
Notable Fluviquean clubs include Mevosa and Betham.
The team's nickname is The White Foxes

Ricardo Carusso: the mastermind behind the qualification

With six goals against in fourteen matches, the Fluviquean defence was one of the strongest in the qualifiers. Despite an average age of 23, the Fluviquean defenders have the experience of many matches and tournaments with the national side. This defensive strength was one of the main achievements of White Foxes' manager, Ricardo Carusso. Now he is a beloved character in the Fluviquean football, but his appointment was controversial and hard.

After the Cup of Harmony 66, when the team lost in group stage, half of the Royal Football Association's board resigned, Alexander Lavigne was sacked after four matches and Sam Gonza, captain and national star, retired from international football. With only a few weeks before the start the Olympics Games, Fluvique's participation was in peril. In those volatile days, the only manager with a contract with the RFA was Ricardo Carusso, manager of the U-20 women's team. He almost received the good news when he was in the supermarket.

Reminding those hard first days, Carusso talks about how he become manager of the senior team.''We had a meeting one hour after the call and I accepted the offer, of course. We had one first problem and it was how to get players, because the clubs didn't wanted to lose them for two weeks. Finally we reached an agreement and 18 players were ready to play the Olympic qualifiers. The crisis in the RFA was total, we lacked of sparrings to practice, so before the first match we had a couple of friendlies against Concord University's women's team. They were a group of U-20 girls, but they play better than me. He says with a smile. He is always smiling, like all the country since the qualification, a relief for all the Fluviqueans which are living this moment as the end of a major feat. Or the start of a bigger one.

'This is a country with a very strong football culture. Here football is everything. For the majority is more important than religion, politics or even family. It is very important for all. A retiree of eighty five years old and a boy of eleven, have the same passion for the game. So, that's why is amazing to be in the World Cup. Football is being played here since 1870s and this is the first time that we are in the World Cup.'

Carusso first movement was to confirm Gonza as captain and build a team around him. During qualifiers to WC76, Fluvique used fast counter-attacks and quick and precisses passes in the midfield to be a compact and effective team and Gonza finished as the team's topscorer. Les Tricolores had the best start of their history, sharing the second place with Nova Anglicana, after four victories, a draw and a defeat and only three goals against. However, the second round started with a painfull defeat at home with the eventual group winner, Semarland. Carusso explains the team's oath in the changingrooms of Geneva.

"We lost at home and everything seemed doomed, due to the high quality of rivals and the points' gap. However, the crowd applauded us despite the result and, when we entered to the changing room, I said to them 'hear that. Never a defeated national team left the pitch with an ovation. You made this. They believe in us. We believe in us?' And we swore to win the next four matches." That support in a tough moment gave the necessary confidence to improve the mood. The White Foxes won six games in-a-row and only conceded a goal in their road to Eura and Ceni and qualified to the play-offs against Frentline Delpha.

We played those matches as the most important matches of our lives and maybe an unique opportunity. We knew that it would be extremely important to get a good result as visitors to receive them at Greencastle, with all our fans, with more peacefulness. They were the favourites, but we have the best player in the multiverse. And that was the difference.

A 93 minute goal of Sam Gonza ensure that Fluvique would be present at the 76th World Cup finals. For the first time. Ricardo Carusso led a team plagued of young players and also big stars of the multiverse's football to the biggest scene. The 53 years old man has been coaching since 1994 and, after an extensive career in the Fluviquean First B Division and First Division, the bronze medal in the Olympics, he was appointed manager of the national side of one of the most passional countries in the multiverse.

I think we have to create a solid Fluvique, especially in defence, to give confidence to our strikers. We have Auze, Di Angello, Topolsky, our full backs and of course Sam. They are always ready to score. Our stars could easily change a match's fate, so we need to have a line of sentiles in defence to keep our goal safe and that could improve our chances to make a good performance in the World Cup.

Sam Gonza: the magic reappearance

One of the last images of Sam Gonza with the national side was the heartbreaking scene after the painful group-stage elimination, when he announced his retirement from international football. But the fate wanted another thing. Only a few months after, he had again tears in his eyes, but this time he was crying of happiness, as he helped his country qualify to its first World Cup ever.

When I said that, I was really sad. I always tried to do my best and be happy and also give happiness to all our people. After that defeat, I thought 'It is over. This is not for us' and I decided to give up. I went on vacations with my family and I tried to be out of the world a couple of weeks. Then the Olympics started and Fluvique was playing. It was very hard to see them playing while I was in front of a TV. Even my daughter said once: 'Dad, why you are not there?'. And I did not had an answer.
Hundreds of thousands met in the main squares and streets across the country, in an event called "Sam Monday", to cheer him up and ask him to come back. All the society mobilized for him, including MPs, doctors, teachers, journalists, office workers and even the Queen. He could not resist the affection of his people.

In a press conference Carusso said that he was going to suffer in his new job and then I called him and I said 'let's suffer together'. We spoke for an hour about football, about the team, about his style, ideas and goals and that I was available if they needed me or if I was on their plans. And of course, I came back. It is hard to say no to the Queen of your country. It was a surprise, but I have spoken with her many times, thanks to the national side and she expressed her best wishes in the farewell dinner at the White Palace.

On its first match Gonza scored the victory's goal and helped its team with eight goals, including a hat-trick against Azrea and the only goal in the playoffs to qualify for the World Cup. But before those two matches, there was a decisive one, to put Fluvique above its bogey team.

The match in Nova Anglicana was the most important victory before the playoffs. We had never won against them and even once we lost 2-5 at home. It was a final, because if we had lost, we would lost the qualification. Fortunately we played our best overall match, we won 2-0 and it proved to be decisive, as the goal difference was the tiebreak at the end.

I had the luck to score the goal against Frentline Delpha in the last minute, the only goal in the playoffs. I decided to trust in myself and I tried to avoid all their defenders, but it seemed that all their country was trying to stop me. I tried to get a free kick near the area at least, but when I had the opportunity to shoot, I did. And happily their goalkeeper could not stop it and we won. It was a huge happiness, especially for the team. All our players deserved it and I think we did better and that is why we are in the World Cup.

We are going to Electrum and Ceni in a positive mood. We played good matches throughout the qualifiers, we trust in ourselves, in our work, we have an amazing group of people, we have been together since the U-20 and others since the Baptism of Fire, so we are a great group of friends. In a World cup anything can happen, we are in places never seen before, we know the hopes of our fans and that thousands will be there supporting us. So is our responsibility to give our best and we'll try to find what we can be. It will be fun

Team analysis

The goalkeeper, like since 2009, is Andy Paribas. He is one of the most regular players in the national side and he saved the team many times in the qualifiers. So many clean sheets are not casual.

On the right is Gabriel Varelovsky, who plays for Electrum's Somer City and Surrounds. He is maybe the most experienced in the defence and is a important option in attack, never neglecting the defensive aspect. The center backs are a couple who has been playing a lot together and there Carusso clearly found a pair which will play for a long time in the national side: they are Rodrigo De la Mesea and Dennis Castanginnet. And left back is Teo Calmwater, the youngest starter with 18 years old. That is the defence, one of the main strengths of this team.

In the midfield, there is Henry Mhago. He is not the archetype of Fluviquean defensive midfielder, rather he is a playmaker, usually taking the ball from the center-backs and deciding the team's timing. On the right side is Lucas Topolsky, who is his perfect partner. They both almost have the same skills. In the left side is a surprise: Hamilton Escarrà. He entered once as starter and never again went out. It was a bet of Carusso and he quickly began to be one of the pilars. He is a hunting dog. In fact, the Fluviquean midfield have three defensive midfielders, with different roles in attack, but a common task when the opposite team controls the ball: recover it and start the counter attack.

In attack, Paul Di Angello is the left winger and also the fastest player of the White Foxes. Nick Auze is the center-forward, while Sam Gonza usually starts as right winger, but he moves in all the attack front. The mobility of its world-class strikers is the key of the Fluviquean offensive power. They are constantly changing positions and their fast counterattacks have proven to be deadly to any defensive line. Free spaces are something to avoid when facing the tricolor side.

The team can expect the support of thousands of Fluviqueans in Electrum to the group stage, which will travel to the host cities thanks to the location of both countries in Rushmore. Fluvique has been drawn in Group G along with Chromatika, Nephara and Pasarga.

The White Foxes' first ever appearance in a World Cup will be at Somersville Stadium in Somer, to face Nephara. In the city where the sun always shine, the Fluviquean dream will have its first chapter. Agri is known as the most passionate city in Electrum and will host the second match of The White Foxes, against Pasarga. Les Tricolors will end its groupstage in Centralis, against Chromatika.

The 23 names to write history
Nº   Position        Name                Age               Club
1       GK        Andy Paribas            29              Sportif
2       DF        Rodrigo De la Mesea     24              Mevosa Football Club
3       DF        Gabriel Varelovsky      30              Somer City and Surrounds (Electrum)
4       DF        Julien Kaleshko         20              Concord (Azrea)
5       MF        Henry Mhago             28              Mevosa Football Club
6       DF        Teo Calmwater           18              Alkanter Central Football club
7       MF        Paul Di Angello         27              Centralis Heart (Electrum) 
8       MF        Lucas Topolsky          29              Lexington Victory (Electrum)
9       FW        Fede                    28              Vaduz Portcullis (New Gelderland)
10      FW        Sam Gonza (C)           28              All-Inclusive Haranguer (Abanhfleft)
11      FW        Nick Auze               23              Mevosa Football Club
12      GK        Christiaan Van Aalst    21              Greencastle Football Club
13      DF        Dennis Castanginnet     20              Betham Football Club
14      DF        Alexe Kedzierski        22              Aztus Football Club
15      FW        André Villeneuve        20              Liberty Football Club
16      DF        Beauregard Snijders     20              Alkanter Central Football Club
17      MF        Paul Caulfield          21              Alkanter Central Football Club
18      FW        Bernard Pullian         21              Mevosa Football Club
19      MF        Ricky Bertens           20              Larston FC (Azrea)
20      MF        Ted Apparicio           20              Mevosa Football Club
21      MF        Hamilton Escarrà        29              Betham Football Club
22      MF        Shakir El-Ghazzawy      18              Salccia Football Club
23      GK        Lucas Schuhart          18              Betham Football Club
Staff
Name                  Role                    Age
Ricardo Carusso       Manager                 53
Rafael Cremonesi      Assistant Manager       52
Alexis Lesauvage      Goalkeeping Coach       47
Sébastien Arends      Fitness Coach           45
Edgard Bagni          Coach                   58
Gianmarco Cloet       Coach                   48
Gabriel Barn          Physio                  54
Danny Ferry           Physio                  49
Mark Williams         Nutritionist            35
Natalia Ocaña         Psychologist            31

by **Barunia** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 7:02 pm

Barunia in Sports .com.bu

World Cup 76: Best team ever?
It could well be the strongest Barunian team in decades. Anticipation is high for the 76th World Cup, and expectations at home are equally high for the Suns. Undefeated in the group stage, they moved up into 9th place in the world entering the finals of the World Cup. The defence has been outstanding so far, letting in just 13 goals for the tournament, the least of any team in the attack-minded Group 16. The veteran Paul Bainbridge continues to hold his own in goal, while praise must also go to the backs. The now well-known names of Benitez, Sweet, McClelland and Blakefield have all performed exceptionally, but credit must also go to Andretti, Donaldson, Newton, and Mortimer, as well as Kyrow and Cole in the midfield.
Up front, Hannah Miller has proven herself an outstanding attacking midfielder, while Collins-Holzknecht and Bailey just keep getting better. This then, could be the Barunian squad to go further, deeper, into the World Cup than ever before. Greatest of all time? We'll have to wait and see.

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"From the moment you pull on that jersey, you are part of one of the world's greatest teams. You have been chosen as the best of the best. Remember that. Have no doubts as to your ability - you are here, and that should be proof enough. You are a Sun, and you know what Suns do? They shine, and they keep on shining; even when everything seems night, the Sun is still shining, you just can't see it. That's what we are. We shine, and we never stop, even when everything is dark. Remember that. Write it down, tattoo it on your skin, whatever you need to do, but never forget it."

Joric Ruskin's words to his new players at the beginning of a campaign had changed little over the years. Whenever a player came into the squad, Joric would tell them that. He guessed he'd probably said it to close on a hundred players now, if not more. He could remember most of their faces, almost always young, fresh-faced kids with eyes wide with dreams of footballing glory. Some didn't make it, and faded into obscurity. Others lasted, and became less young and fresh-faced, and the starry-eyed look was replaced with a determinedness, a hardness that came from experience, and the knowledge that success was hard work. But a few, a very small few, never lost hold of the dream. They were the legends, the players who never stopped striving. Yohan Marris had been one, Sam Winton another. With players like that, Ruskin had built Barunia into one of the giants of the footballing world. He wondered who would be the next legend of Barunian football? That was the next generation though, and that generation would be the first since the days when Cedric St. John was captain not to hear Ruskin's famous introduction to the national team. After 9 World Cups at the helm, Ruskin was retiring. He'd been to every World Cup with the Suns in one capacity or another; now it was time to hand over the reigns. What this would mean for Barunian football, he didn't know. But he knew that, whatever happened, the Suns would keep shining.

by **Ceni** » Mon Oct 31, 2016 8:02 pm

Here is your first cutoff of the World Cup finals!

Scores

by **Electrum** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 1:40 am

The cutoff is 40 minutes late, but who cares, it's the World Cup! There's no time for lounging about, there's only time for quick tempo!

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 4:22 pm

Mascot Death Fight Knockout Stage Preview

Here is the preview of the Mascot Death Fight Knockout Stage. Last time, we looked at the Group Stage, now let's see who wins it all.

As a reminder, here are the matchups.

Osarius Firebirds vs. Barunia Suns
Audioslavia Bulls vs. Flardania Kitsunes (Foxes)
Brenecia Patriots vs. Abanhfleft Revolutionaries
Krytenia Dragons vs. Valanora Marauders
Vilita Jungle Cats vs. Red Blackiland Dunkelöwe (Dark Lions)
Fluvique White Foxes vs. Chiata Suns
Damukuni Elephants With Big Ears vs. Cosumar Dragons
Nephara Cormorants vs. Turori Eels

Osarius Firebirds vs. Barunia Suns Well, Firebirds are powerful, but the Suns are Great Balls of Fire. Spraying them with fire like a Firebird just makes them more powerful. Firebirds can beat most things, but not Suns. And they're not Phoenix, which will become relevant shortly. More on that later. Prediction: Barunia over Osarius

Audioslavia Bulls vs. Flardania Kitsunes (Foxes) Hopefully the fox's upset stomach from eating the frosty is better by now, but it's still going up against a bull, which is ferocious and will like charging. Bull charges fox and gores him, to advance. Prediction: Audioslavia over Flardania

Brenecia Patriots vs. Abanhfleft Revolutionaries Well, this is interesting. The Revolutionaries are starting a revolution against the Patriot loyalists. This really could go either way, much like an actual revolution. But since most revolutionary groups are nutters who are easily put down, we'll go with the Patriots. Prediction: Brenecia over Abanhfleft

Krytenia Dragons vs. Valanora Marauders This is not much of a contest. Dragons can breathe fire. Marauders can... Maraud? Is that a word? My spell check says it is so I guess it is. But the Dragons are going to set the Marauders on fire. And they'll die. Prediction: Krytenia over Valanora

Vilita Jungle Cats vs. Red Blackiland Dankelowe (Dark Lions) Easily the best matchup of the Round of 16, we have Jungle Cats and Dark Lions. Either of these teams could have gone to the final if the draw were different, but one team will go out early. We like the Jungle Cats to gore the Dark Lions in a bloody fight. Prediction: Vilita over Red Blackiland

Fluvique White Foxes vs. Chiata Suns And now we have the lamest matchup of the Round of 16, probably. Foxes against Suns. The Sun beats down on the Fox, but it's not very effective. The fox will survive and the Sun won't kill him. Boring. Prediction: Fluvique over Chiata

Damukuni Elephants With Big Ears vs. Cosumar Dragons The second-best matchup of the Round of 16. Can the Elephants trample the Dragons before they get set on fire? We think they can. Dumbo may be Dumbo, but he's still a frickin' elephant. Prediction: Damukuni over Cosumar

Nephara Cormorants vs. Turori Eels I take it back. This is the lamest matchup of the Round of 16. We've got those wacky tropical penguins against Eels. I think Cormorants eat fish, and eels are a fish, so I'll go with Nephara. But this is completely lame. Prediction: Nephara over Turori

Quarterfinals:

Here are the Quarterfinal matchups.

Barunia Suns vs. Audioslavia Bulls
Brenecia Patriots vs. Krytenia Dragons
Vilita Jungle Cats vs. Fluvique White Foxes
Damukuni Elephants With Big Ears vs. Nephara Cormorants

Barunia Suns vs. Audioslavia Bulls As we said, Suns are lame. They can't stop the Bull. It beats down on the Bull and the Bull lives. Now, remember when we said Osarius is unfortunate they're not Phhoenix? Well, if they were, they could rise from the ashes and play in this round. And the next. And the next. You couldn't stop them. It would be epic! But they're just normal Firebirds. So they're done forever. Prediction: Audioslavia over Barunia

Brenecia Patriots vs. Krytenia Dragons Dragons will breathe fire on Patriots. They're that cool. So the Patriots are on fire, and soon they'll be dead. So Dragons win again. Prediction: Krytenia over Brenecia

Vilita Jungle Cats vs. Fluvique White Foxes After a tough matchup against the Dark Lions in the previous round, the Jungle Cats face the White Foes. Stupid foxes. They're completely lame. They'll get gored by the Jungle Cats. Prediction: Vilita over Fluvique

Damukuni Elephants With Big Ears vs. Nephara Cormorants Blowout City! Elephants against tropical penguin things. This isn't going to be close. Elephants trample the Cormorants in spite of their big ears. Go Dumbo! Prediction: Damukuni over Nephara

Semifinals:

Here are the semifinal matchups.

Audioslavia Bulls vs. Krytenia Dragons
Vilita Jungle Cats vs. Damukuni Elephants With Big Ears

Audioslavia Bulls vs. Krytenia Dragons Bulls are tough, tenacious like bull. But Dragons can breathe fire. It's going to take a tougher animal than a Bull to defeat them. Audioslavia was valiant, but like always, they lose. Prediction: Krytenia over Audioslavia

Vilita Jungle Cats vs. Damukuni Elephants With Big Ears This is a much more exciting matchup, and it may head to the Death Fight equivalent of Penalty Kicks. Which would be head kicks, or something. Who knows? But the Elephants With Big Ears will ultimately stomp on the Jungle Cats and crush them to death, but not before being bloodied. They advance, but barely. Prediction: Damukuni over Vilita

Third Place Match:

Audioslavia Bulls vs. Vilita Jungle Cats Well, they're both dead, so they kind of can't play this match. Maybe if they were Phoenix. But I digress.... Prediction: Double forfeit due to neither seem showing up, seeing as they're dead

World Cup Final:

Krytenia Dragons vs. Damukuni Elephants With Big Ears Can the elephants fight through the fire and defeat the Dragons? The dragons can fly, but Dumbo can use his big ears to fly, remember? So that's a fair matchup. Eventually, the Dumbos capture the dragons in their trunks and stomp on them. And then the Dragons are finally slain! Dumbo can come for his reward! Prediction: Damukuni over Krytenia

by **Red Blackiland** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 5:00 pm

Red Blackiland Sports and Off-topic Chronicles

Celebration Party

Players entrance at Walkers Stadium

Author : Mathias Gërdorffen

- Esther, how long! And more beautiful than ever ...
- Lukas, what a surprise! You even more charming ...
20 years ago not seen and there were the two that celebration party of the class 193 of the college.
Esther, plump, the skin of the neck half flaccid, straw blonde hair with split ends, purple nail polish, shoe with very high platform.
Lukas, bald, thick-rimmed glasses, nervous tic, protruding belly, shirt open to the middle of hairy chest.
- What are you doing?
- Oh, nothing as exciting as you. You know, I married Magnus, have two children, I can not work. It is the housewife life ..
- What a life, huh .. But you're really great, has hardly changed. I'm a rag right now, all perplexed ...
- Nonsense. I bet her students do not stop hitting on you ...
- Do not mention such a thing. If my wife listen, I'm lost.
The light of the ballroom flashed before erasing time. Esther was startled, stepped back, almost knocked over a table. Lukas came to his rescue and took her hand. It was still soft.
Esther liked the touch and made pressure on the middle finger of Lukas, who, in turn, felt his face turn red. But it was dark, all right. He came closer to Esther, put his arm behind his waist and brought her to his side. He kissed her. He went back to that college party, 20-plus years ago.
The two separated when the light returned. Esther turned to pick up a glass on the table, Lukas stood, staring at the woman did not recognize anymore.
The waiter spent offering drinks and snacks.
Mike snapped an amplified and cracked hello. Esther nodded to the great friend Chris who had just entered the hall and dropped Lukas in the corner to dwell on memories.
On the way back home, he asked for time existed.
Not getting response was to the bakery, bought rolls for the next day's breakfast and a pint of orange juice.
I was pretty sure it was going to wake up with a headache.

Red Blackiland first debut in World Cup

Hard-fought game in Workers Stadium. Farfadillian players celebrate their goal over Red Blackiland

WC 76 MD1 - Red Blackiland 1-3 Farfadillis

In Agri, in a World Cup that has been so fantastic, the Farfadillis team confirmed favoritism on our team, tried to rip all sweepstakes, all predictions, all expectations. Under the command of Winrouge playmaker, and a well-built facing the Farfadillians went 1-0 against for 3-1 in favor and in a difficult group like this, gave a resounding cry in the territory of Electrum. The group can be death, but Farfadillis refused to accept any surprise. Had the team players have known like the movie Ghostbusters teachers, fired for getting too concerned with supernatural apparitions?
Red Blackiland was better at the beginning of the game. He did not create much, but I could get to attack the field and put some pressure on Farfadillis team. Opened the scoring on a corner kick, Marckeiller rose to head and put in the right corner of Metz. This goal seemed to direct the game to a real and concrete possibility of the victory of Red Blackiland, which surely would be quite celebrated across the country. Yeah, but as Garrincha told the coach Vicente Feola about the instructions for the game with the Soviet Union, "but combined this with the Russians?". They not combined. Not Farfadillis.
Winrouge did a little of everything on the field. It was participating in a tactical scheme where, no doubt, to our opinion, it is the brain of the team. Jevdjevic-Hadsic, another offensive player, the closed side of the field. Red Blackiland accustomed to suffering, sat in their lead. And when he suffered an even pressure in the first half, it seemed something just the excitement. But it was not. The second time would show that Farfadillis was willing to haunt Red Blackiland and make your harmless ghost.
The play early in the second half, a large exchange of passes that resulted in Winrouge goal, getting free inside the area, already gave the letter: something is wrong. But before Red Blackiland realized what the problem was, before rebounding the left jab, came the right hook, right in the chin. The Cianflone goal turned the game into Farfadillis team and put the game into madness. After free kick in the area, Cianflone appeared at the far post and anchored head into the goal. Red Blackiland not know how to react. He could not, actually.
No forces, Red Blackiland saw Farfadillis have even more chances. And then things got complicated. Schwartz was not able and did not enter. They entered Ferreth, Eberhard and Rodristander. None of them was able to reverse the situation. Beckenstander was deleted, Shacker not appeared and Red Blackiland was apagadíssimo field in minutes through the pro end of the second half. Winrouge gave great release profunidade to Siorrha'Asione, who had just entered, hit the exit Hargreaves, sealing the outcome. The defeat was not much lamented by fans, who cheered the team after the match. The rating for the final stages of the World Cup has been something for the fans celebrate too much, which is the notion that the process of growth of football in the country will be something gradual and long term, and what may this cup be profit. But that does not mean that the team should not seek, perhaps, a classification for the knockout. The next is against Gregoryisgodistan.
Winrouge was the great man of the match. It was the equalizer, it was the best team played in the attack, including a beautiful shot from outside the area that the goalkeeper had to wring out - and it was. It was also the pass to Siorrha'Asione score the third goal and Cravasse victory. Alone, Winrouge made two dribbles, took seven fouls and was the player who almost caused the expulsion of Baszta, which unnerved when striker held the ball near from the corner flag and kicked. It was one of the great individual performances of the World Cup so far.

WC76 Kit Collectanea for Kit Collectors #2 - Group A and Group C

Group A Kits

~~The Pragmatic~~ Ficiscia kit is a simple black kit, with a white and green diagonal stripes in the shirt made by the Krytenian kitmaker JMC. The flag in the right corner of shirt is the previous Ficiscian flag, by the fact that the country choose a new flag. The combination of the black kit with the white and green colour tones are interesting, but the kit doesn't have much to talk about, also these kits were symbol of the historic qualification of Ficiscia to World Cup Qualification Playoffs, when faced Apox who confirmed the favoritism and guaranteed a place in World Cup 74 Final Stages. Also, the combiation of the socks with the shorts was pretty interesting and fit with the jersey very well, it's a good kit to have in your collection, even for use it in the supermarket if you want. About the team, Ficiscia surprised the football community around the world when they picked first over the two-time world champions and one of the best national team in the world, Eura and without a great football level but with a high defensive standard, in many fixtures, the team surpassed Eura in the points table, pushing the champions to the playoffs, and isn't the only thing to be considered in this group which also had, Ethane, who are developing greater with the past of the years and are making interesting campaigns, they made great matches this Qualifiers but failed to surpass Eura and the suprise, Ficiscia. However Eura qualified to the World Cup as well, after two wins against Kaboomlandia.
~~The Exotic~~ Ceni features a all-red with gold gradient details home kit, and a white with orange and red details away kit. This away kit kinda have a unique design between the 32 teams of the World Cup, showing a shape of a X in the bottom part of the shirt, symbolizing the Cenian flag, followed by details of the two colours around the shoulders with a classic polo-collar, tailored by the Red Blackilandian kitmaker Meski. Also, the kits are a bit old, and were used many times, seeing that this template is a old one as well as the font of the name and numbers. The kit is another great kit to have in collection. The Cenian team didn't face qualification, as they are one of the hosts, with Electrum.
~~The Flowered~~ Brenecia features a navy blue kit, with white sleeves and collars, as well as a thin gradient stripes around the Brenecian crest. The kit itself is another simple kit from the JMC production line, the colours, of course, help to do such a good kit as they're great colours and fit each other very well, the idea of the gradient stripe gave a good touch to the kit, doesn't make a high contrast towards the white details, maybe the type of collar isn't our favourite, but they also completes the details in the front of jersey. The use of navy blue, as a main background colour in the shorts and socks is a better choice than the white ones, in this kit, in our opinion and also, fits greatly with the jersey and its design. Therefore, is a good kit to have in the wardrobe, even more being from Brenecia, a famous team around the world, reaching in finals, like they did in the Cup of Harmony 66, co-hosted by Red Blackiland with Nothern Sunrise Islands by the way, and the previous Campionato Esportiva, hosted by Tumbra.
~~The Nice Old-Fellow~~ Osarius have a red with black and gold-yellow details home kit. The kits features black and gold-yellow details around the left side of the shirt, three stripes on shoulders, a classic collar with black and gold and details in the bottom part of the sleeves. The opinion about the kits were divided between the members of the chronicle. The collar is a good touch to the kit, as in Red Blackiland, the preference for collars like this is pretty high, the detail in the bottom part in the sleeves doesn't compromises the rest of the kit, maybe it could have a different detail in the sleeves, but the three stripes around the shoulders doesn't harm the kit as well. The detail in the side of the shirt divided opinion, most of the football lovers here liked it, another group didn't. In conclusion, the kit isn't bad, it's good, but there's a plenty of other favourite kits to collect. Don't harm to mention that the kit represents one of the most famous and biggest national teams in the world, two times third place and two times champions in the World Cup, coming from the more successful sports region, Atlantian Oceania. The kits are tailored by Corradini Sportswear, they're currently kit providers for the majority of major professional clubs in Osarius and former owners of Tyrrinian side Oclia Mariners. The team, however, didn't played well during this qualifiers, showing a few oscillations, finishing in the second place in the group, below only Barunia, lost few points that should be easier to them, like a draw with the The New North African Republic team, but even without the great football they play usually, was enough to get the second place and the playoff spot, as it generated a good fight with Mercedini for the position, but Osarius didn't lose any game against Mercedini, tied with them at home, but, in Mercedini they conquered a great 5-1 win without needing much effort. In the playoffs, they confirmed the favoritism over United States of Devonta, with a draw away, and a simple win at home. Which Osarius we'll see in the World Cup?

Group C Kits

~~The Passionate and Tiger Lover~~ San José Guayabal features the new white home kit as well as the new kitline, which the Guayabalense FA are waiting to reveal and will replace the old white and blue stripe, all-white and light-green ones. The jersey have a unique graphic element expressing the strength, passion, enegy and pride of San José Guayabal, also features in the upper part of the middle of the jersey a white-grey wolf pattern with couple of wolf heads which follows to the upper part of the back of the jersey, as the animal is a symbol of San José Guayabal and the Guayabalense Federation as well. The kits, have three-color details all around the kit, in the collar, in the bottom part of the side of the kit, in the shoulders stopping the custom wolf pattern, which completes the graphic in the middle. This design also appears in the socks, all of it followed by white shorts which makes the combination perfect. San José Guayabal is a long time Meski client, which also have all their first division club kits tailored by the Red Blackilandian kitmaker, as well as the ball and the league logo, in a great agreement made between these two parts. Talking about the team, San José Guayabal is a consistent team who doesn't have much oscillations and repeated their good technical level of football during qualification, falling in a considered easy group for them, the Guayabalense squad didn't encontered many difficulties excepting by The Holy Empire Fog-Thing of Antiquity Team, who wasn't match for the Guayabalense passion as they finished first in the group, the only surprising result which affected San José Guayabal was the loss, at home, to Acronius by 2-3. Also, San José Guayabal was one of the integrants from two of the most outstanding matches in qualifiers, and it was the two games against The Holy Empire, a 4-4 in THE's territory, and 3-3 in Guayabalense soil. They qualified directly and reaches in this World Cup with great chances of winning, crazy to get the first title.
~~The Artistic Lieutenant~~ Audioslavia have crimson with white and green stripped details in a half of the sleeves and jersey, the same design repeats to the away kit, but instead of crimson is white, and instead of green is crimson. Probably, you've seen these Audioslavia kits already, as they played the Red Blackilandian team in the qualifiers, unfortunately, even with the team playing very well, lost the two matches we had against them, but guaranteed the playoff spot and qualified. The kits remind us the classic kits from the past, which is the symbol of this kit. The stripped details in the jersey gave a very good touch to the jersey, in the home kit, fitted perfectly with the crimson background, the choice of the collar was good and the monochrome jersey/shorts/socks combination were a cool choice to maintain the quality of the kit, as it is a trend in the football kits universe. The kits are tailored by the Audioslavian ex-kitmaker Kirola, which reduced their activities, and limited their operations, announcing a pause in their production, a true shame for kit collectors and they'll be missed. The team, hadn't a tough group and the only rival was Red Blackiland (which was a bit threatened by Kernansquillec) which fought against them for the first position, but lost the two games against the Audioslavians which confirmed the favoritism and guaranteed the top position of the group, as well as the direct qualification, they played well and made the enough effort to qualify in such group and are one of the favorite teams to win the title.
~~The ''Red''~~ Abanhfleft kit doesn't have much to talk about. It is predominantly red. A blue line runs down both sleeves and on the sides of the jersey, as well as along the rear of the collar. The sleeves, upper back and top of the v-collar of the kit away jersey feature a remarkable, dark red stripes panel to highlight Nike's advances in kit technology. The shirt features an elaborate mesh panel on the front, at least in the authentic variant. The kit have a different and strange combination with a great contrast between the socks background compared to jersey and shorts which suggests a new style of combination between the different parts of jersey. The team, had in their group, the pragmatic team of Taeshan and the interesting squad of Veldgouwen which made a great Baptism of Fire, as well as the giants Pasarga. Even having a great match against Pasarga at home, ending in a disputed 4-4, the team couldn't surpass the World Cup 72 champions who were more consistent and conquered the first position. But, a surprising fact is that Pasarga lost the first place few times in the group, even to Abahnfleft, in the matchday 9 and make the possiblity of Abahnfleft dreams possible, but stopped in there. Abahnfleft guaranteed the second place and went to the playoffs, when Super-Llamaland suprising wasn't match for the Abanhfleft team with two wins, at home and away, and the aggregate shows a good difference between the two teams in these two games, which brought the qualification for them in the World Cup 76.
~~The Reflexive~~ Port Christopher home kit features a blue kit with white details around the sides and upper part of the sleeves, which also, as the Audioslavia kits, is a kit with a classic touch and reminds the kits from the past. The kit itself don't have much details, the construction of the white design fits well in the kit, and the gold details make the look of the white designs better, completing each other, maybe the collar could be different and more elaborated, but it's good in the way it is. As we don't liked the away kit at all, the home kit is a good one to keep in the wardrobe. The kits are tailored by a domestic kitmaker which we don't have much information. The team, with the five-time champions Valanora had a easy group, and the two didn't have much difficult to put their superiority over the rivals and pick the two top positions of the group, as Kandorith hadn't great matches and actuations during qualification, in the points table, Valanora guaranteed the first place with a good difference of five-points from Port Christopher, however, they made great games against Valanora, specially the away game, which ended in a exciting 4-3.

Las Mafias I - Walkthrough

Las Mafias I - Buy your game now!

Chapter/Mission 13 - Escape from the Fenix

Two days after their drug deal, Deliz and Tejeda get a call from Ricardo Perrón. Somehow Cédric found out about the deal and demanded a $50,000 at least cut, leaving them considerably short on what they need to pay back Pedro Barreiro. He asks Deliz and Tejeda to meet him at Blanco Street to discuss their options. When they arrive at the place, they witness the Flardanian Triads brutally attacking Perrón with meat cleavers. A gunfight breaks out and they kill Perrón's attackers, but it's too late and Perrón dies there in the park. As they're about to leave, they notice the money is gone and then see Abushito Torikawa being driven away and decide to follow him.

The Blue Fenix restaurant

They follow Abushito to The Blue Fenix and decide to get revenge for Perrón and find out why Abushito had him killed. They storm through the front door and immediately start killing everyone inside. They battle their way through the restaurant and down to its lower levels until they reach Abushito in his office. As they question Abusito, he tells them something they refuse to believe. He states that Perrón was a federal informer and his contact inside the Drugs National Agency told him that Ricardo Perrón passed them information about their deal. He also denies having anything to do with the fake cops who tried to take their drugs after their deal at the warehouse.
When Deliz asks about the money Perrón was carrying, Abushito tells them it's no longer there, but refuses to say anything more about it, stating that if he told them, he would be dead anyway. This is when Tejeda pulls the trigger and kills Abushito, immediately making Deliz very angry, who thinks they could have questioned him further for more information.
With Abushito dead, Deliz and Tejeda now get out of Flarditown, which is swarming with police. When they get back to Deliz's Apartment they have a smoke and discuss their situation. Perrón is dead, they don't have Barreiro's money, they killed half the Triads, and if they think Cédric sent them, it will mean war. They decide to focus on getting the money to pay Barreiro, but needing a drink, Tejeda calls it a night and tells Deliz he'll call him in the morning.

Walkthrough - Mechanics and Turorials

After the phone call from Perrón, get dressed and drive to Blanco Street with Tejeda. When the cutscene of the attack on Perrón is over, take out the Triads in the park, and then another cutscene will play. When that's done you'll be in your car, so follow Abushito to Flarditown. You have the option of going in now or you can drive to Vallavera's Ammo Shop to stock up on weapons and ammo; whenever you're ready head into The Blue Fenix. Once you've cleared the main restaurant area, head upstairs to the balcony over the bar and you will find a magazine sitting on the seat of the last booth. Continue working your way through the place until you come to an opium den, then head downstairs and in a small room on the left you will find another magazine on top of a crate.

Perrón's death

Keep going through the complex, and when you come to a large drug manufacturing room, another magazine will be in a small room on the north end along with some weapons and ammo. Now head down the elevator at the opposite end of the room to take care of Abushito. Once that's through, make your way out through a back exit where you will have to deal with a large amount of police, then head back to Tejeda's apartmentto end the mission and receive an achievement.

by **Fluvique** » Tue Nov 01, 2016 7:09 pm

In the sunny afternoon of Somer, Fluvique tried to overcome their nerves and avoid defeat at their first appearance in a World Cup. The national side pressed, chased, harried, fought and tackled in every centimeter of the pitch, trying to counteract a fine Nephara side. For large periods, the team controlled the game, but they could not hurt their rivals in the 90 minutes.

The tricolor team went out trying to quietening the attacks of its rivals, especially the runs of the fullbacks. Thus, both Varelovsky and Calmwater were more concerned in defence rather than be an option in the scarce Fluviquean attacks in the first half. De La Mesea and Castanginnet managed to keep Chrysanthe Scafidis under control and only some centers caused troubles in Paribas' area. However, at 35', Scafidis partner, Penumbra Amokachi, broke the team's resistance.

A pass between lines of Rainsford left Vyntra alone, despite Varelovsky protest, the linesman did not raised his flag and the play continued. She entered to the area, when De La Mesea and Castanginnet tlacked her, but before their entries she passed to Penumbra Amokachi, who controlled the ball and scored the 1-0 shooting to the right side.

Fluvique tried to fought back, led by Sam Gonza, but he was well controlled and marked by two players. Mhago was also marked and so the paysan's game creation was cut. Without the leaders and ideologues, the Fluviquean attemps were basically runs of Di Angello trying to find the head of Nick Auze.

With the lead, Nephara decided how the match would be played. They allowed Fluvique to possess the ball until the midfield and created a wall in front to stop the tricolor raids, always threatening with a deadly counterattack. Every time that Gonza had the ball, he was surrounded and, when he tried to progress, he was stopped by fouls. However, those free kicks were far away the goal, so they were almost harmless.

After a break, Nephara gained again control of the match, while the national side was chasing shadows and quickly had three players cautioned. Carussos changes were not enough to change the history. Worse, when Fede entered for Auze, Ashdown's corner kick found Calliope Katskalidis' head at 67'.

Despite that punch, the fanatical backing of thousands of Fluviqueans, plus the speed of Bertens and Di Angello, gave Fluvique some hopes, especially in the last fifteen minutes. Conscious of the world-class rival and the context, The White Foxes besieged Nephara, searching for a goal to put the result in peril. In defence, Fluvique stood firm and the midfielders showed their distinctive fierceness. In those last minutes, the desired style of the national side appeared again. Perhaps they lacked of accuracy and it was not a very oiled game, but the rebelliousness made possible to match up a game of unbalanced powers.

With Fede as center-forward, Fluvique lost height, but won movility. Gonza, Di Angello and the number 9 were helped by Bertens and Mhago was right behind them. It seemed to risky to a Carusso's team, but the team showed that the predictable imbalance was quickly covered by Mhago and Escarrà. But the pressure and attemps were in vain. Fluvique crashed over and over and the ineffectiveness of the centers and long-balls were clear. Nephara quickly managed to accommodate to the tricolor style of play and the team lost in surprise. Plus, they had a couple of chances to score the third, but first Paribas and later the crossbar saved the Fluviquean goal.

Carusso said in the previous press conference the importance of the first match to gain confidence and kill the nerves of the first time ever in the World Cup. After the opener match, in press conference, he said that "We have mixed feelings. We are of course sad and angry about the result and it is a shower of reality. They were better, we tried our best but we could not. It is worse because we feel that we could have done something more". About what it means to the team's aspirations to surpass the group stage, he stated that: "To be in the next round you need to win two matches. We have two matches to play. It is up to us. We must train, work and try our best. We'll fix our flaws and learn of our mistakes. We are not going to change what brought us here. We believe in us and we'll try".

It was Fluviquean first defeat in eight matches, the longest unbeaten run of the national side in official matches. But what hurts so much is the fact that now the struggle in Group G has two teams with a three points gap. The likely national sides to advance won. The qualification now is an uphill and then next game is decisive. In Agri, Fluvique will face Pasarga in a game which could be decisive for both teams fate. The loosing side will be out, while the other will extend its dream for one more match.

Despite everything, the highlight of the game was the Fluviquean invasion of Somer. Around 12.000 supporters filled the stands, scattered around the Somersville Stadium. With their flags, drumms and chants, offered color and passion to the World Cup. Thed did not stopped one minute. Firstly jumping and shouting the national anthem and after trying to inspire the team to fight back. The classical Je suis Fluviquean, Fluviquean je suis, was accompained by a new song, created for the World Cup and sung hours before the kick-off, in the beaches of the city, creating a spontaneous fanfest.

Electrum tell me how you feel
Knowing that we are already here
Be sure to keep open your pubs
We'll drink all your beer

And happy and drunk
We'll fill every stadium
It will take years to remove all our junk

And we'll laugh in your face
While we lift the cup
And if not we'll destroy all the place

The local security forces must be alert in the upcoming match in the city of Agri. The local passion with sports plus thousands Fluviquean in the streets could be a melting pot for clashes between ultras.

World Cup 76 - RP Thread

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