World Cup 63 RP Thread

[Boring Paradise]

December 27th: 3-3 Khytenna (A)
December 30th: 3-2 Sicoutimont (A)
December 31st: 2-3 Equestrian States (H)

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MD1: 2-0 Secundus Kasius (H)
MD2: 4-2 Free Swiss States (A)
MD3: 1-0 Wight (H)
MD4: 2-1 Amelio (A)
MD5: 4-3 Octinstine (H)
MD6: 3-3 Slembana (A)
MD7: 1-1 Nation M (H)
MD8: Cowardly Pacifists (H) Win
MD9: New Montreal States (A) Lose

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Mid Qual (H): Free South Califas

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MD10: Secundus Kasius (A) Win
MD11: Free Swiss States (H) Win
MD12: Wight (A) Lose
MD13: Amelio (H) Win
MD14: Octinstine (A) Draw
MD15: Slembana (H) Win
MD16: Nation M (A) Win
MD17: Cowardly Pacifists (A) Win
MD18: New Montreal States (H) Draw

Already  - 5-2-0 - 17/21 points
Exspected (That are Left) - 7-2-2 - 23/33 Points

Group 18                     Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 New Montreal States         7    5   2   0    16    6  +10    17
 2 Boring Paradise             7    5   2   0    17   10   +7    17
 3 Wight                       7    4   2   1    15    6   +9    14
 4 Octinstine                  7    4   1   2    16   10   +6    13
 5 Slembana                    7    3   1   3    17   20   −3    10
 6 Secundus Kasius             7    3   0   4    10   10    0     9
 7 Nation M                    7    2   2   3    13   15   −2     8
 8 Cowardly Pacifists          7    1   3   3     2    7   −5     6
 9 Free Swiss States           7    0   2   5     7   16   −9     2
10 Amelio                      7    0   1   6     4   17  −13     1

Previously
Location: Green Knight Hotel, Paradisia, Boring Paradise, Rushmore

---

Cameron Clark: We had a great start to the season with 15 points out of the possible 15 points. But the next two match were both draws against two teams who are lower ranked than us. After just you ditch me at Sharkinal Jones. The team went downhill and got two draws. Now as I am back again for more. There will be more wins for Boring Paradise when I am around. Also more luggage to carry around ins't it. I hope you liked your journey without me?

Luke Homewood: Yes we did enjoy our journey until we hit a draw in Slembana. But you said that we will meet at the fountain outside. After 39 minutes you just phoned me to say to come into the hotel. 39 Minutes and in the freezing cold as well. Did you want me to freeze out there with Gray Hughes. Who do you think you are, Cameron Clark?

Gary Hughes: What Luke said was true. I hope you did not do that on purpose. If you did, then real consequences will happen to you.

Cameron Clark: Sorry Guys, just got in here after so much trouble downstairs in the reception area. I just came in here just about five minutes before you guys did. So I then saw you outside and phoned you to come inside.

Luke Homewood: The match did not go well against Nation M.

Gary Hughes: This match was not a big match by Matthew Johnstone. Raiyaan Malik, Sameer Jaklim, Hishaam Ali, Kevin Harris and Osama Homewood were resting this match. If I were to choose the team starting team. I would to the best one possible. If not then I would try the best I can do. But Matthew Johnstone went to far with that and took 5 key players for rest. Who does that?" Gary Hughes saying the line-up problems before the match.

Cameron Clark: He does for sure.

Luke Homewood: In the first half. There was no goals but a lot of fouls taken place from both sides of the field. One for Ryan Miller tackling the winger, Likshvax. Another one from Daniel Jones when is studs in the shoes took contact on Amarennen after he just tackled him. Amarennen was then took away for treatment in the 35th minute of the first half. But then came a careless thing by Ezo Gathem when he just kicked and stood onto Haider Williams right in front of the ref on purpose and he got a yellow card for that. Haider Williams was still fine and was still able to play the match. Amarennen was not coming back on after the injury, he was taken off for Shwarzzen in the 43rd minute. At half time it was Nation M 0, Boring Paradise 0. What an unlucky first half of the match for both sides as they both currently get 1 point each.

Cameron Clark: But it didn't end there. In the 73rd minute, a tackle from Ezo Gathem once more on Haider Williams. The perfect goal chance for Boring Paradise came with a penalty and a double yellow for Ezo Gathem. Yousuf Bell came at the spot. He was the third best penalty taker on the team following ahead Raiyaan Malim and Sameer Jaklim. Bell came up wioth a steady pace and then blasted it to the top right corner of the net, while the goalie, Alvanz went the wrong way and went the other way. One goal by Shwarzzen in the 81st minute. Made the team really happy. A cross from Kherfa from the wing, Shwarzzen came from behind the Offside line and there he was scoring from a volley with no one could stop him except for our rubbish goalie, Nathan Pili. The match ended in a draw against Nation M 1-1 was the final score at Paradisian Knights Park.

Gary Hughes: Next match is at home against Cowardly Pacifists. We all hope it is a win and if it is. It is a great chance to be back on top. Now who wants what for dinner?

[Sicoutimont]

Royales Second In Group After 7 Qualifing Matchdays

On the eve of Sicoutimont's Royales football team's next World Cup Qualifing game, against Kinitaria, we check back in with the 6-1 team that is currently second in the group, with San Potato to thank for that. On matchday 2, Alex Gannot opened the scoring in the tenth minute, showing Val Kylx-like prowess against the Potatos. And then, Les Machine, otherwise known as Girard Giroux, got to work. He scored 4 goals, just missing a fifth, leading the team to a 5-2 victory. The third game proved the only loss for Les Royales so far: Warkus beat Artyom Bergeron for 1 75th-minute goal, leading them to a 1-0 victory. Giroux, however, did not play the game; he had suffered an ankle injury in the dieing minutes of the game with San Potato, but returned for match 4 against West Zirconia. With his match-time being limited, and being subbed out in the 51st minute, he still assisted on the winning goal by Christopher Savard, who scored his first of the qualifications. Pier-Luc Dion was the keeper, stopping 14 Zirconian shots. The next game was Bonarisa, back home at Stade St-Pierre. Bonarisa took a 2-0 lead, and it looked as though Les Royales would be upset. But then, the duo of Giroux and Stan Sarault got to work: Les Machine scored a goal, Sarault tied it, and a beautiful passing play from Giroux to Georges Allonts, who scored to win the game in the 82nd minute, won the game for Les Royales. Shadowbourne was next, and the team faced a scare here: Up 4-0, with Giroux getting his 7th, 8th and 9th goals, and Vince Varrault getting a goal, the Bourneans returned the favour with 2 goals, but their cry was too late, as they fell 4-2. Earlier in the week, San Potato defeated Bears Armed, in a glorious 2-1 victory. Les Royales took on Apox 4 nights later, and continued their roll, winning 4-1. Giroux figured in his 10th goal, but Alex Gannot was the real star: he brought the game even after Apox scored early, and then scored to give us the lead in the 63rd minute. Next up for Les Royales is Kinitaria, a tough opponent. After that, Les Royales will take on the seemingly-beatable-but-still-difficult Bears, who they are currently deadlocked for 1st, seperated by 1 goal in differential. Will Les Royales continue their good play? Find out soon!

Bergeron Decorated in Farf League
Artyom Bergeron, goalkeeper of Farfadillis team Ferdullaele FC, who finished 4th in their league, won that league's title for Top Goalkeeper. Bergeron looks to continue that success in the Globe Cup, and the World Cup Qualifing.

Giroux Returns from Injury
Les Machine stopped producing after being injured in game 2 against San Potato, on a dirty play by Potato defender Landry Shearner, who was ejected on-spot and banned for 3 matches. After an MRI, it was shown to be a slight fracture to the ankle. He walked on crutches for 3 weeks, missing the game against Warkus, and only returning against West Zirconia with a doctor's note, as manager Marc Denis believed he was not good enough to go. Giroux is back now, and healthy, scoring 10 goals in his first 6 games.

Fans Cheer as Les Royales Strike Fear
At the Belizion bar in downtown Lac-Drouin, the fans have been cheering since the end of match 4, with Sicoutimont soundingly pounding all opponents to the fans, but in reality, each game showed a weakness in Les Royales, be it defence, goalkeeping or striking. Benoit Calais, a teacher, says: "This is the first time we've really had a football team go far in anything, so I think the fans are really getting on board." Win or lose, one thing is for sure: These quals will improve Les Royales' international ranking-both NSWC-wise, and mentally in other teams.

[Mytannion]

Part One.
Part Two.
Part Three.

---

Part Four.

As the months went on and it came around closer to the next General Election, Taras Kasprzak’s stock within his own political party, the USWP (if you’re not keeping up, the United Socialist Workers’ Party), was on the rise beyond any recognition. Nobody had seen any politician – as he was now being called – rise this quickly and become so well loved by supporters and party members alike. By the middle of the year, the USWP membership numbers had grown to 7,000 as more people were taken in by this new, younger speaker who roused passion in their hearts and stirred fire in their bellies.

He had let the party grow to a size that only a few months before would have been the stuff of dreams for Razevhsky and Bijiriman. Kasprzak was the single most valuable commodity they had and he had a way of taking in anybody he spoke to that meant he could not only get new party members to join the first time they heard him speak but he could also make ordinary people who may never have supported a radical party such as the USWP to support him and even change ideology within one speech.

It was a magnificent skill and one the majority of the party admired greatly. A few were still suspicious of him, this newcomer who had been fast tracked through party ranks at the fastest speed that had ever been seen before. In the past, politics had been a slow process in Mytannion – people had to have almost twenty years of experience to even be considered as a major member of a party – even then, they could face a lot of opposition.

Times were changing though and a vibrant new generation of politicians who were in their 30’s were popping up all across the political spectrum. Kasprzak was one of the left-wingers and it was the same with many of the others. The right-wing was becoming old, decadent almost. People couldn’t care less about the old rhetoric, the endless planning of the old type. The newcomers brought hope and seemed active, willing to take immediate action on the various problems that faced Mytannion across the nation.

In August 1991, Bijiriman suggested that the USWP should merge into a larger left-wing coalition in order to give them a better following as they headed into the next General Election. They would merge with the MDP, KPM and the Ultranationalists (National Tolikists, a left wing party akin to what many in other countries may know as Bolsheviks). Kasprzak took the hugely unexpected step of resigning from the party. I tracked down Arslan Vydra, a member who was close to Kasprzak at the time.

“Taras just didn’t agree with this. He did agree with some of the views of the Ultranationalists, he confided this in me. However, he made the point of emphasising the ‘United’ name in the party’s name. He didn’t want to compromise his own party’s beliefs and felt that if other groups wanted to do this
they should become a part of the USWP and adhere to their beliefs rather than the other way around.”

“But surely the ‘unitedness’ of the left-wing would be increased by these different political groups joining together? Did he not realise this?” I asked.

“He acknowledged it but he didn’t accept it to be true.” Arslan told me. “He wanted everybody to be a part of the USWP and he invited members of the Ultranationalists he admired to join him and become a part of the party that he hoped would unite the left-wing more and eventually become a platform for Taras’ own views.”

“Did they join?”

“They politely declined, but they stayed in correspondence with Taras. They shared ideas and they helped each other out.”

The Ultranationalists were well known for being more violent and had become almost a paramilitary group by this point – staging attacks on right-wing opponents regularly and breaking-up rallies and marches as the USWP had done at times under the guise of the WPP. They basically became a part of the Sturmskgrupp and helped the USWP hurt other political parties indirectly and really hurt their chances of getting elected. The USWP and Kasprzak was clever in this case as they didn’t implicate themselves but damaged the opposition’s chances of getting elected whilst strengthening their own position.

They knew they wouldn’t get elected, they knew the Social Democrats were most likely to and that was okay as they were fairly centre-left and weren’t the enemy, but the right-wing were and they were being hurt regularly – a good thing for all advocates of the left.

Anyway, back to the main focus, now. Kasprzak had resigned and many immediately were shocked, supporters of the USWP were furious that Bijiriman had caused their best young speaker to quit and called for Bijiriman to take back the things he had said, issue an apology to Kasprzak and then quit the party.
This all occurred and soon enough, Kasprzak was a member of his party again. This is really the stage when ownership turned over from Bijirman to Kasprzak – although Razevhsky was now the official leader. Taras Kasprzak was apparently happy for this to be the way though, he liked Razevhsky and actually agreed with a lot of the things he said. Together, they became the two big members of the party and they were pulling in new members from everywhere.

“They were quite the double act, they toured Esca and the surrounding areas whipping up a frenzy around the left-wing. There was a desire amongst the people to make the poorer more equal with the rest of society and make it so that people were not getting more than they really needed. Surplus was not something that was needed anymore, people didn’t like it. People would only get what they truly needed!” Arslan informed me.

“What about the nationalist side of things, what happened there?”

“What in our own party?” Arslan seemed confused.

“Yes.”

“It was there. Of course it was. It wasn’t something I necessarily agreed with but it seemed to work, people told to feel proud of their nation. To be patriotic. They were told what was good for the nation would be what was – in the end – good for the people.” Arslan said.

“Did you think he was in fact a fascist, in the end?”

“Yes.”

While Arslan was pretty sure that Taras Kasprzak was meaning the best with his policies and did agree with some of his ideas. He thought this promotion of patriotism so vociferously was closer to fascism than it was to socialism or a worker’s republic or whatever it was that he actually thought the USWP was working towards.

It was clear that it wasn’t fascism though, it was more just council communism and at the most corporatism but the latter wasn’t really true. What they believed – Kasprzak and Razevhsky – would be what we know today as a far-left ideology, masquerading as left-wing but not the extreme end of that. It was important that they appealed to the masses and this was where Kasprzak knew exactly what he was doing.

In September, Kasprzak rejoined the party officially and Razevhsky and him ousted Bijiriman more publically – naming him a traitor to the party and saying he would not be welcome in their ranks ever again.

On the 8th September, Bijiriman was found dead outside his apartment building in East Esca. He had apparently fallen from his room on the tenth floor to his death at the bottom. It was not clear whether or not he had been pushed. Although many believed that the Sturmskgrupp had been ordered by Kasprzak to get rid of Bijiriman. This has never been proven and so the death has been classed as suicide officially for a long time. It is widely thought that Bijiriman’s death was a little bit different though and not his own doing.

Already Kasprzak was showing the ruthlessness needed to be the main man and Razevhsky was rumoured to be scared of his partner in crime, fearing he would be next. He didn’t talk to Kasprzak about it however and the matter trundled on – Razevhsky fearing for his life when in fact Kasprzak had no thought of ever doing this. Not yet, anyway.

On the 14th September, Kasprzak himself was involved in the disruption of a meeting of the Conservative Party. The biggest party on the right side of the political spectrum in Mytannion. A substantial number of the Sturmskgrupp, ordinary USWP members and some Ultranationalists turned up to the Vjatirac.

The Conservatives were led by Otto Weiss, a person who Kasprzak called ‘our biggest enemy’. Razevhsky apparently climbed upon a chair in the Vjatirac and yelled that the right-wing had been the cause of all the problems in Mytannion in the past and that the Border War had been caused by Conservatives and traitorous capitalists who cared nothing for the ordinary worker.

The rest of the Sturmskgrupp present attacked Conservatives and demanded that Weiss yield the floor to Kasprzak. They beat up countless figureheads of the Conservative Party and eventually Weiss himself – they shoved him off the stage and into what was left of the audience. Both Kasprzak and Razevhsky were arrested and Kasprzak notoriously commented to the police chief that:

“It’s all right. We got what we wanted. Otto Weiss did not speak.”

Kasprzak and Razevhsky were both eventually sentenced to three months in prison but both would only end up serving just over one month apiece.
On 28th November the USWP held a large public meeting on the banks of the Askva River. After Kasprzak had spoken for some time, the meeting erupted into a melee as the Conservatives tried to get revenge for what happened a month and a half before. A small company of the Sturmskgrupp defeated the opposition though and the event gained the USWP more publicity – this time in a positive light, as they put it across that their free speech was being curbed by the evil Conservatives.

It worked well and it furthered the cause, but signs of complacency were creeping in and they would soon realise that they may have been acting a little too fast.

[Paradystopia]

"Paradystopia"
"... Yesopa..."
"Paradystopia!"
"... Paradystopia. Group five. Paradystopia two, Legalese three."
"More"
"More info on 'Paradystopia two, Legalese three'. Goalscorers. Paradystopia, Tarcka, fifth and ninetieth plus two minutes ..."
"More"

Friedrich Hjken was getting to grips with operating the Communadi infobrick. He had found that generally shouting 'more' at it would prompt the plastic tile to provide more information. Eventually, however, it would respond with 'no more infomation possible' in a surprisingly gruff tone. Friedrich didn't mind. At least it was one part of his life he still exercised control over. The Holy Father; Sigismund Frenek had graciously given him 24 hours to mull over whether he was going to obtain DNA samples from various international footballers surrepticiously or against their will or have several sections of his brain removed and his arms replaced with robotic ones. There was a little gentle whirring from the infobrick before it burst into life with a new voice, this one was male and it provided a terse commentary of the game. Communadi commentators, thought Hjken, had about as much passion for football as vampires have for sunbathing.

"More info on 'Goalscorers. Paradystopia, Tarcka, fifth minute'. Paradystopia opened the scoring at their home ground in Sabrjk today with a fifth minute free kick from Viaddin Tarcka. Liam Todd earned a yellow card after bringing down Luke Benjamin just outside the area in the first real worthwhile attack of the game. The free kick was taken quickly by Tarcka, catching the defense and goalkeeper off guard, curling inside the near post before Waldrop could get a hand to it. An adequate start for the Paradystopi. More info on 'Goalscorers. Paradystopia, Tarcka, ninetieth plus two minutes'. There was little chance that Paradystopia would be making a comeback by this point, they looked tired and were wasteful with possession. Viaddin Tarcka kept hopes alive by scoring in the second of the four minutes of added time. A successfully executed one-two pass just inside the Legalese half fooled Ellsworth and allowed Benjamin to run at the open space. There were three attackers to two defenders. Benjamin's early cross was meant for Pitinuus, who failed to make a clean contact with the ball. This did have the fortunate effect of committing Waldrop. The ball deflected from Pitinuus' head to Tarcka, who tapped in from close range by the far post. Three-two to Legalese."
"Continue"
"... Goalscorers. Legalese. Jay, tenth minute. Kelshimer, thirteeth minute. Bassford, thirty-seventh minute. Bookings. Paradystopia. ..."
"Off"
"... Could you repeat the command?"
"Off!"
"... Osarius. Grou..."
"OFF!!"
"... Old Guard. Group twelve. Old Guard nil, Kardi..."

*crack*

Friedrich had also discovered the best way of turning off an infobrick was to press the speaker sharply with the heel of one's shoe.

[Vettrera]

Beatrice wasn't expecting a win, she'd be a fool to think that Vettrera would just waltz into the competition and be able to pull off upset after upset, and yet, that was exactly what she thought. After the amazing string of games Vettrera pulled off, she thought that this would be a whole new chapter for the Tempests ,that the team indeed had improved since her days long ago on the Vettrera National Team. The team had been terrible even in her days, some 30 years ago, yet here Vettrera was now on the cusp of something amazing, finally being able to raise hell in the World Cup, finally beginning to show teams that The Tempests meant business. She knew that their lucky streak would have to run out sooner or later, and that a win against West Angola was highly unlikely (even more so than the draw to The Holy Empire, which she felt oddly entitled to). No, no, Vettrera was improving and that was all that mattered to her. Sure there would still be the reports that screamed of how horrible and mismanaged the team was, or her former collegues and teammates that still say that the Tempest aren't entered into enough tournaments. But for once, she wanted to go read the sports section of the Valor City Ledger without seeing another headline that read "Tempests' Flat Out Unmatched Against _________". Beatrice wasn't upset about the loss to West Angola, she was just upset at the possibility that the Tempests could fall back into their old ways. Vettrera sports teams always were and still do compete largely due to momentum. The teams reminded her of an avalanche, it doesn't stop till it reaches the end. She thought that Vettrera had finally reached the end of their cold streak, and the team was finally playing like a cohesive unit. Everyone was working together and getting along, and most importantly, everyone was winning. But now Beatrice just didn't know, she wanted to believe that Vettrera was still on it's way to becoming a power player...but she just didn't know. She just had to wait and see.

[Lymantatia]

Vakolic 0–0 Lymantatia
It was Matchday 5 when the Vakolic Football Team were who the Multicultural Peoples of Lymantatia tied with 0-0.
Goals Scored:
None.
DYK:
Did you know that Jacques DeLamielleure (born 1961)'s son is Christianus DeLamielleure (born 1984)?

[Antoletia]

"Well that was almost a huge tie for us."

"Yeah, oh well we have them at home in a few months"

"Yeah and by then they will have easily qualified and might give us the win to get rid of the pesky Chenkoryans."

"That is true, they really will probably not need a win in the second half."

"True story, and 4 goals to three wasn't that bad, they are the highest scoring team in the qualifiers right now."

"We are 7 goals behind them so have some room for improvement."

"Yes, and we could really turn up the defense."

"Haha, like our defense will have a good game anytime soon."

"Yeah we are really sad in the defensive department."

"Oh well we can now worry about smaller fish that we have them behind us."

"Yeah here is to maybe winning a few of these late games and putting ourselves in a good position for late."

[Apox]

The History of Apoxian Football

Part One: The Beginning
Part Two: Expansion and the Marshall Cup
Part Three: The Game Grows
Part Four: Moving on from Cups
Part Five: The Northern League
Part Six: The Midlands League

Part Seven: The Dwile League

The Dwile league started late due to teams from as far away as Barbury attempting to join, defying the point of a regional league.

However, it finally got going in 527, and was closely contested, with Dwile Warriors pulling out an early lead, and at the half-way point, they led by 5 points. However, their lead was whittled down, and after losing crucial games to FC Endeavour and Mercury United late on, they eventually fell behind those teams, finishing 3rd. FC Endeavour went on to take the title, a final matchday win over Frewick F.C handing the title to them.

In the 528 season, FC Endeavour collapsed early on, despite help of George McLaren, now at the height of his powers. After 12 matches, they lay a lowly 5th in the table, behind Dockland's Pirate's, a team in their debut season. This left a battle between Mercury United and Dwile Warriors at the top, with Issington F.C following a distant 3rd. Eventually, the Warriors pulled ahead, and they secured the title with two matches to go. FC Endeavour recovered to finish 4th, but it was a very wobbly performance.

FC Endeavour went on to win reclaim the title miraculously the season after, beating a much improved Issington side to get there. After that, they bid good-bye to their star, George Mclaren, and never looked quite the same side after that.

After this, Dwile Warriors dominated for a couple of years, pulling out a string of impressive results, which kept them near the top, thanks to the growing talent of George Kilwer in goal, but more on him later.

After a cancelled season in 532 due to legal issues, the Dwile League was back, this time Mercury United climbing to the top for the first time since the league's creation, beating contenders Dwile Warriors and FC Endeavour to get there.

The next five years saw the top teams all share the title between them, with Mercury United winning it again before changing name to Dwile Central in 537. Dwile Warriors both won it once, and Issington F.C managed to get a win in after many years of trying to break the top three down.

Issington then joined the others as the serious title contenders and these four dominated the title race until the end of the league, except for the 540 season where Frewick F.C surprised everyone by winning, before returning to the lower depths of the table.

Dwile during this time were developing a much more defensive strategy compared to the other clubs, as at the time in Apox scorelines would regularly read 7-3 or 7-4, with goal totals pre games topping 10 goals quite often. However, Dwile Warriors sought to stop conceding goals, and this was helped by the development and forward thinking of their keeper, George Kilwer.
The manager at the time, Graham Murphys, was a very forward thinking man, and he decided to play 4 defenders, instead of the usual 3, in a 4-3-3 formation, as opposed to a 3-4-3. As a result, and with the brilliant George Kilwer, their goals conceded record dropped from an average of 3.76 over the 527 and 528 seasons to 1.94 over the 530 and 531 seasons.

Born an raised in Dwile, Kilwer played for the Warriors youth from 526, aged 16 to 529, aged 19. In this time, he was one of only 3 individuals who graduated from the youth team to the full side, and the only player to gain a starting place straight away. He was a key part of the 530 and 531 title winning seasons, gaining 37 out of a possible 44 caps.

He continued to play for the Warriors for the next 8 seasons, gaining a total of 286 caps in that time and keeping a staggering 132 clean sheets. The steady presence at the back for Dwile Warriors meant that for ten years they played competitively for titles. At the age of 31 he was released by the Warriors as he wanted to try something new. For the remainder of the regional leagues, he played for Wye United, helping them to win the Midlands League in 543 and 544, aged 34. He was a regional commander during the civil war, and by the time it had finished he was too old to play.

He managed Gwinevra Barbarians in the leagues afterwards, performing moderately well, before being sacked after they finished second bottom in the 554 season. Afterwards, he moved away from football and now resides in Mona in the north, with his wife and youngest of three children.

Below are the stats of the Dwile League in the 16 seasons it was active:

FC Endeavour - 4 times: 527, 529, 534, 539
Dwile Warriors - 4 times: 528, 530, 531, 536
Mercury United/Dwile Central - 3 times: 533, 535, 542
Issington F.C - 3 times: 537, 538, 543
Frewick F.C - 1 time: 540

---

Jon Quillisi Has Opinions column from the Apoxian Word

This depressing mire for Apox only continues, after a loss to Sicoutimont. While Sicoutimont are not a bad team at all at the Group's Fourth seed, after the early potency of Apox's attack against Kinitaria, this loss is yet another blow to our qualification chances, as we now stand a full 7 points of qualifying or a play-off place. And we went in with such high expectations, being regional winners and all that...

It started off so well, after Dravid Scott put away the ball in the 9th minute, after receiving the ball from the wing off Tom Heeeh. This gave our team hope that our average qualification was beginning to turn around. Alas, it was not to be, after 10 minutes of leading, the Sicoutian defender, Alex Gannot smashed it into the back of the net from a corner, after Joleon Small was handed a surprise start for the team.

Then followed a rather uneventful period of play, with Apox coming close several times, with Piere Luc-Dion making several acrobatic saves to deny our shots. It was a largely uneventful rest of the half, the only exception being a tussle between the two players, Will Fich and Yves Savard, seeing them both carded.

However, after a short period of play in the second half, Sicoutimont pulled away slightly, with Alex Gannot scoring again, again from a corner in the 63rd minute to give the Sicoutians the lead. After this, the flood gates opened a bit, as Sicoutimont scored in the 70th minute, courtesy of a Girard Giroux strike, and in the 85th minute, with a late Oscar de Orebale putting the game out of reach. Our side walked off, with the fans quiet with the shock of the loss, on of the teams heaviest to date, and an upset loss to boot.

John Grigia will need to bounce back after another loss puts the team firmly rooted in 5th place, a place we will most definitely not want to be. Oh well, hopefully we can alleviate the situation with some solid wins over the lowly ranked, lowly placed Shadowbourne and Bonarisa.

Jon out x

[Taeshan]

"Well that was another easy game."

"Yeah lol, defense like this who needs and offense?"

"Exactly, we just keep stopping the other team, and it won't matter how much we score, as long as we continue a solid goal a game or so."

"Yeah i wouldn't mind winning 1-0 the rest of the year if it meant we made it to Aguazul/Turori."

"Exactly."

"Best defense in the world."

"Stingiest as well lol, we don't let anyone in towards the goal. We nip the offensive at the bud."

"We the shit bro, we the shit."

"Yeah World Cup 63 here we come."

"W00t"

[New Montreal States]

"factory workers at a New Montreal industrial park came off their shifts to find their cars covered in a layer of tofu, after a midday explosion at the Happy Happy Soy Soy processing plant. Giles Northeby is on the scene with the details..."

*click*

"...are you sick of cheap modern recliners breaking the moment you sit down on them? Hi, I'm Obese Denise, and if you're a little husky and proud of it, you need to try one of my new reinforced recliners, now with titanium rebar!"

*click*

"...Paladins spinning their wheels against Octinstine, with a 1-1 draw keeping them from getting any separation from a Boring Paradise side that has been anything but boring so far. Doc Lagacé has strong opinions on the matter, and he's definitely over Amelio, right, Doc?"

"My therapist says I'm doing great, Matt. Unlike the Paladins' offense, which had another bad day against an Octinstine team that kept them out of their comfort zone the whole night. The Paladins midfield got nowhere against the 3-2 trapezoid employed by their opponents, and Leclercq and Cormier spent most of the night wondering just where their support had wandered off to. Not a fun night for anyone in the sky blue and silver, and if it hadn't been for a yellow card in the box on Mark May to give Leclercq an easily converted penalty in the 34th minute, the Paladins might have lost all three points instead of only two."

"What's up next, Doc?"

"It's a road trip to ValKylxstan, Matt."

"On the road at Slembana?"

"I like the way I put it better."

"Of course you do, Doc. We'll be right back after these messages..."

*click*

[West Angola]

West Angolan King Sien III, with his greatest political rival beside him, knew that both their heads were on the chopping block. Garret could pound him, he knew, if he revealed that Sien had uttered the words ‘screw the Constitution’ during their argument over how to respond to the Euran terms, but he could pound Garret right back by revealing that Garret had wanted to capitulate when he still thought Eura would be taking direct control. As a result, both would be keeping their mouths shut, they would take the initial flak for accepting the deal, but it would calm down once people realized things weren’t as bad as they sounded at first hearing. In the end, both would survive politically if they could weather the next few days.

Now, however, Sien had to open the floodgates of anger that waited in the plaza below and behind the television screens of the people. He had already advised the Euran leaders who had accompanied him to expect a negative reaction initially, but also that the people would calm down once they thought things through. Now, with three men beside him, any of whom could ruin him and one who was actively seeking to do so, Sien stepped out onto the Royal Balcony to give the speech that might save Garret the trouble.

People of West Angola, it is my honor and privilege to address you tonight, not only as your King, but as a fellow West Angolan! Today, the nation begins a new future, and enters into a new era which our forefathers could only have dreamed of! Here with me, as you can see, are the Euran Ministers for Overseas Territories, as well as their Deputy Prime Minister. They bring with them official documents which make West Angola a member of the Eurasphere, a cooperative partnership of mutual defense and economic aid which it is my pleasure to announce that this country is joining!

Sien paused here, and allowed the crowd to realize what he was saying. The confused mutterings soon turned into cries of anger, and then a united roar as some began to throw tomatoes they had conveniently bought from the stands that always sprang up at monarchical announcements. Sien continued over the din:

This is a new day for West Angola! A day of peace, and assured freedom for many years to come! Join with me, and our brothers in Eura, as we seek to... Okay that's it, we should all go inside now."

The four quickly hustled into the palace and shut the massive doors. The crowd, still quite upset, could still be heard outside as the group returned to the king's office. "How long will they stay angry?" asked Harker. Sien shrugged, "Not long, I hope. They'll calm down once the full text of the deal is distributed and they figure out this isn't conquest." Even as Sien said this, a thought crossed his mind: At least I hope it isn't...

[Wight]

.

[Ossidiacqua]

"...so in conclusion, Senor Capobianco, it's treating you well?"

"Fantastic, thank you, Your Excellency."

"Good, good. Well, if that's everything, I bid you good luck against Farfadillis."

"Oh, thank you!"

Grand High Cardinal Giocomo Re nodded and clasped his fingers together under his hook nose as his guest prepared to leave. He'd invited Angel Capobianco, striker for the Sicoutian team Lac-Drouin St-Pierre and the Acquan national side, into his imposing office at the Magisterium to talk to him about his new clockwork knee. After returning home from Cotdelapoms for the last time after leaving previous club Cap Nordique, Capobianco had been summoned to the Magisterium for the usual 'de-briefing' for any Acquan national who was returning after being abroad for a long time. However, on entering the complex, he'd been hit by a bullet fired by an over-enthusiastic member of the Guarda Djocoranga who'd been chasing a stray dog that had relieved the guard member of his lunch.

Faced with a star striker bleeding from his shattered knee in the courtyard of his palace, Re had made the tactical decision to user him swiftly into the military intelligence buildings, use him as a live test for the latest in bionic technology, and hush the whole thing. Knocked out, Capobianco was put under sedation as the military doctors set to work installing the piece. Clockwork. It was an old technology. Old as the hills. And certainly older than the Fall that had happened to the nation. But its application was new. Re had long dreamed of an army of metal soldiers that could do his bidding, and whilst the technology required to develop an artificial intelligence capable of this was way beyond anything the nation's top scientists could manage or that Re could tolerate - this being a man who was distrustful of aeroplanes - they could certainly make a start on the metal and clockwork requirements of the scheme. Metal and complex armour systems eventually combined with clockwork flail-type melee weapons, and when the medical scientists realised that provided muscle nerves were present, delicate gears and switches could act as the step between cold physical metal and soft biological squishy parts, the path towards part-clockwork joints was started.

Keeping it a secret, Capobianco was sent back out into the world. This meeting was now as much a chance to enquire about Capobianco's well being as it was to find out more about how this top secret technology was faring in the field. Or on the field, in this case.

The case of whether the metal in his knee would give him an advantage on the field the issue both men were interested in most. You'd think health first but, Re's consideration for the well-being of his subjects was astonishingly low sometimes. Well, most of the time. Which probably made it not that astonishing, to be honest.

"So, you're positive that it gives you no advantage on the field?" asked Re, just as Capobianco reached the grand doors at the end of his office, held open by his assistant, Simplo.

"Not really, no!" replied Capobianco jauntily, "Just as well, really, otherwise I might have been banned by the league, or at least drugs-tested. The WCC probably wouldn't care, but that's a charlatan organisation at best. I mean, playing against bears?"

"Hmm, well. As you were." answered Re, silently cursing the fact that no advantage had been gained. "Goodbye, Senor Capobianco."

Simplo shut the doors after his master's guest had left.

"Forgive me, Your Excellency, but is something wrong?" asked Simplo, reading the expression on his master's face from behind the desk.

"I miss the action, Simplo." signed Re.

"The action?"

"Yes, the action. The Action. All those years out in the field, being in the Assassins' Guild, all the backstabbing and tricks I had to employ in order to get into the position I am now. All those contractors. All those contracts, for that matter. The people that I used to see on a daily basis. The tricks, the action, the exitement. The fun."

"Well, you have fun now, don't you?"

"Not in the same way, Simplo, not in the same way. All I do is sit behind the desk. What tricks do I even need to pull anymore?"

Re rose and stood at the window, morosely, his hands behind his back as he watched the people of the Magisterium go about their day.

"The most fun I've had in years was that fake assassination attempt the other week. And even that was a bungle."

"Well, we could do something about that, Your Excellency?" suggested Simplo with a glint in his eye.

"Like what?"

"I still have contacts at the Guild, plenty."

"But won't they recognise me?"

"Not likely, the people you knew are all dead. And, well, ditch the robes, wear some tatty old things, and I'm sure nobody would know why you were. Perhaps a false moustache? If you're that desperate for some fun with the Guild, we could get you some."

"Hmm," pondered Re with the beginning of a smile starting to form on his face, "you know, Simplo, that might not be such a bad idea after all. Get in touch with your contacts. Let's get me some fun!"

Re swooshed out of the room in his usual enigmatic way, and Simplo paused before following to just gather his thoughts. He closed the doors to the room slowly and carefully, unable to control the smile that was now spreading infectiously from Re's face to his own. Only, for a different reason altogether. The Grand High Cardinal was finally going to leave Simplo alone for a bit. And with any luck, he might get himself killed in the process...

[Blouman Empire]

THE DAILY REVIEW

REMARKABLE GAME ENDS IN DRAW

Football can be a strange game and at times can make no sense, yesterday's match between the Blouman Empire and Royalsoldiers was one of those times. A dejected Eagle's looked like they were to be on the receiving end on yet another hiding this campaign when Royalsoldiers took an early lead and tore them to piece in a first half hour assault, yet Sir Keith Kolson and his players ended up leaving Royalsoldiers with a sense of frustration and a point. Eric Taurus' goal in the final minute of added time earned Royalsoldiers a draw and denied the Eagles a victory at the end of a remarkable game. Sir Keith cast a solid figure on the side of the pitch as the Eagles recovered from an abysmal first half hour. Robert Schmitz was able to equalize in the 44th minute before the Eagles took the lead with a penalty scored by Baden Lakes late in the game.

The home side supporters were shaking their heads in disbelief at the notion that the Eagles had managed to come back to level by half time. The Eagles came back in the second half galvanized after their first half goal and looked much more solid with a clear direction, though Peter Neumadoor was lucky to only concede a free kick rather then a penalty when he handled the ball. The Royalsoldiers players appealed for the penalty claiming that both his feet were on the line and his hand, however, the referee called for a free kick which was kicked harmlessly over the cross bar. The referee had no hesitation pointing to the spot at the other end of the field after Brian Shaw needlessly bought down Schmitz. Lakes stepped forward and confidently placed the ball in the back of the net. The visiting sides supporters cheers and celebrations were cut short when Oliver Cyrus managed to score in the dying seconds.

Sir Keith, in a post match interview admitted that the side was lucky to be only one nil down after the first half hour "we could've been 4-nil down after the first 14 minutes. I'm glad we were able to strengthen, find our feet and fight back, bringing home the point is better then none though it was disappointing to fight back set to win and then one lucky shot takes it back to a draw." Sir Keith was not exaggerating when he talked about the team's luck in the first half hour, Royalsoldiers had a total of 10 shots with only one scored. Eric Taurus was twice through on goal but James Solomon was able to hold his ground on the first occasion but was unable to stop him on the second, chipping Solomon the ball flew rose gracefully over Solomon's hands and landed into the back of the net. While the point halted the Eagle's slide down the ladder it hinders their strong ability to qualify as their chances slowly dwindle away.

[Sandwich Territories]

"............................................"

"..........................................."

"..........................................."

"Eh.....Tolliver?"

"..........................................."

"I'm...............sorry, for what it's worth."

"Only 1 more day. Wow."

".........................................."

"Death is scary, but it isn't the end."

"........................................"

"Your mother will be with you."

"......................................."

"......................................"

"She'll be watching you, Mr. Ments. You, and your brother."

"....................................."

"......I don't want my mother to end like this, Jon."

"At least she has at least 36 hours or so."

"....................................Why not 36 years? Why her? Why so early?"

"I dunno, Tolliver."

"I'm sorry."

".................................."

[Mesoland]

OOC: Sorry for yet another short post, I'm finding it difficult to make time to RP.

MBC Sports News
Coverage of the LXIII World Cup in Aguazul and Turori

MESOLAND HELD TO DISAPPOINTING DRAW AT STRUGGLING FEWMIST

Fewmist 1
Unknown 33

Mesoland 1
Bulu 58

The bluebirds have slipped down to fourth in group 13 after producing their first draw of the qualification period, held 1-1 away to lowly Fewmist. Mesoland's already poor record against lowly ranked sides was tarnished further, after the blues were unable to better Bulu's 58th minute equaliser to Fewmist's 33rd minute strike.

With Nukaba on the bench following the minor injury he picked up against Traila last week, the two replacement strikers, Bulu (in for Vava who has reportedly snapped his hamstring) and Lukaka started their first ever game together as the two Meso strikers, while Natasu was back following his one game suspension after being red carded against Jukenia.

Fewmist, against the run of play, scored first, their unlisted striker finding space in the penalty area to worm a shot away, out of reach of a full-stretch Akazambaa who had, admittedly, been caught off guard by the shot. Mesoland controlled possession for the remainder of the half, however neither Bulu nor Lukaka could get a shot on target and the blues went into the second half, dejectedly, a goal down.

Thankfully, the bluebirds came out in the second half with a bit more vigour and spirit, managing to equalise after 58 minutes thanks to a well hit Bulu strike from 25yds. Although the blues then went on to search for a winner, Lukaka, Balotelli and Schmitt all hitting the woodwork, nobody was able to grab the goal to the seal the match, and the game ended as a rather drab 1-1 draw, man of the match going to Mesoland's equaliser, Zirka Bulu, who will most likely establish himself as a starting XI striker in the coming weeks, in place of Vava whose form dropped considerably before he tore his hamstring several weeks ago.

Mesoland, as aforementioned, are now 4th in group 13, and next face group leaders and world 53rd ranked Audioslavia in what should, on paper, be a close game between two evenly-ranked sides. Coach Bert Giazanba has announced that Beritata Nukaba will be making his full return for next week's game.

All World Cup and CoH news and results can be found on the MBC website, http://www.mesolandbc.mz, under the sports section. Article by Jonjo Tikali.

[Royalsoldiers]

OOC: Blouman's RP is too confusing. Hard to know what to RP.

Royalsoldiers Earns 2-2 Tie with the Bloumany
By, Lucas Hampton

After an exciting second half for the Royalsoldiers team, they are going into a match with a team they defeated during the pre-qualification friendlies. The match was competitive but Royalsoldiers did not expect such a talented team to show up for the Argo Islands. Now, the Argo Islands are ahead of Royalsoldiers in group play. This surprised many people. After Royalsoldiers was predicted to get two victories over the Argan team, I wouldn't be too sure at the away match. The Imperial team must be able to defeat the Argan team here if they wish to salvage their World Cup. Well, 'nough said about the upcoming match. Let's get to the summary of the match that the Imperial Team played earlier today in which they excited the crowd at Shox Stadium.

Royalsoldiers got off to a good start but could not take advantage of their many shots on the goal. The Imperial Team should have been up by much more in the first 30 minutes of the match. Royalsoldiers was unable to score until Oliver Cyrus able to put the ball through the net after a penalty kick made by the Blouman team. The Blouman team came out of the second half with a renewed effort and were able to put the ball in the net early. However, Royalsoldiers was able to quickly halt the Blouman attack. However, it affected the Royish offensive attack drastically and they were unable to score until Eric Taurus showed off his pure talent and put a ball into the goal with the final seconds of added time ticking off. This caused a draw in the match and frustrated the Bloumany as they were so close to a good win at Shox Stadium in Royalsoldiers. Royalsoldiers however suspended Blouman Empire's qualification chances and possibly is playing the position of a buzzsaw for the Bloumany.

Kodiak was upset about the team's execution and was clear on his disgust with the team's lack of scoring despite their ten open shots on the goal in the first 30 minutes of the match. Kodiak could not be upset with the effort of the defenders after the match concluded but there was an issue with the lack of scoring for a team that can usually put the ball through the net without added time. Burgess and Major got playing time in today's game and Major led the defensive effort for Royalsoldiers as they worked with excellent effort to halt the Bloumany in their offensive attack. The Imperial Team must be happy with the draw after they could not score throughout most of the second half. Jim Kodiak came under fire after a lack of substitutions but now, Kodiak's confidence was shown in the starters.

Goals

Blouman Empire

Robert Schmitz-44'
Lakes-58'

Royalsoldiers

Oliver Cyrus-45'
Eric Taurus-91'

[Secundus Kasius]

" Four one! Four ooooone!"

The crowds in Nexus square were going mental and people's ears were ringing with the chant. Those in the middle of the throng ran the risk of being crushed in the ensuing madness, but nobody seemed to care - even the police were joining in the celebrations.

How had they managed it? At the end of the first half the situation had looked dire - Arkwright had already conceded a goal, and the team appeared slow and sluggish. The half time broadcast was rife with photos of the Kasians out on the lash the night before - Potenta and Serpa sleeping in eachother arms (in a bus luggage rack), Jackson trying (and failing) to jump over a bin, and Caudex with his arm companionably around a worried looking homeless woman, and a bottle of spirits in his hand. It was no wonder they were struggling! In a desperate gamble and hope for a PR dream, Colomba^TM representatives sent a crate to the Kasian dressing room, and prayed for a miracle.

Somehow, somewhere, a god was smiling upon Secundus Kasius and Colomba that day. The crate had contained Caffee, a drink technically illegal in many countries outside the Kasian borders due to the dangerously high levels of caffeine, theobromine, and cathine. By the time the players were back onto the pitch, they were very clearly buzzing. Those watching the broadcasts adjusted their sets as players appeared to jitter about the pitch, but those watching from the stadium observed the same effect. The opposing team simply hadn't been able to keep up! In a remarkable comeback, Arkwright seemed to be everywhere at once, whilst Jackson and Caudex dominated the midfield with an unusual burst of speed and aggression. However, the real winners were Holt, Gallus, and Turner - whilst they seemed unable to coordinate their efforts, they made up for this in sheer bloody mindedness. Marty Smith could not withstand the onslaught of footballs propelled towards him, and by the time the whistle blew the Phoenixes had more than equalised, with Holt knocking in the final goal. To the shock of everyone, instead of leaving the pitch the Kasians hoisted Holt up onto their shoulders and jogged a full victory lap around the field - spectators could not believe their eyes!

Once the frenzying of crowd and team simmered down, and the doctors had ensured the drink had not done any lasting damage to the hearts or nervous systems of the Kasian team, people began to relax once more and settled into the normal ruckus of a Friday night victory celebration - alcohol was plentiful, people were abundant, and yet somehow, shops found their shelves suspiciously empty of the stimulant Caffee.

[United Gordonopia]

Bastion, FSSO

Jere Tobias didn't take a second thought as he turned, ball at his feet, and dribbled up the field. The cross had been perfect, and if he timed it right, there would be no one but the keeper to stop his shot. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see a back hurtling towards him, and he knew he would need all of his speed to stay ahead. He entered shooting range, made a quick fake to throw off the goalie, and shot.

"GOOOAAALLL!!!" the announcer screamed excitedly.

"Yeah, what you gonna do now old man?!" Tobias yelled as he rose from the couch in a hotel room in FSSO.

Throwing down his Cronos Elite controller, Norm Bates said, somewhat agitatedly, "Beating me is like beating your dad, Jere. I mean for God's sake, you guys know I didn't play this crap growing up. It's a good game, yeah, but-"

"Hey, no excuses," Tobias interrupted, "You've had the whole cycle to practice. At this point, you should be at least be able to score a goal."

Bates grinned, conceding the point. It appeared he just wasn't cut out for video games, even ones like World Cup 63, which was the closest thing to his sport off of a real pitch. It wasn't like he'd had a GMEGA growing up in the Tolten slums, like some of his teammates had in their home towns. He did admit, though, that it was a good way to blow off a bit of steam before a match.

"Well, Jere, now that you're done kicking Norm's ass, see if you can handle me."

Tobias turned to see that Jay Neuman had been the one to issue the challenge. As much as he loved the game, he didn't much fancy getting his own ass handed to him. While he had been rising through the ranks of the FC Deska Academy, Tobias had somehow also found the time to play some serious football. Back in Football Gordonopia 4, five years earlier, he'd even been ranked as high as 38th on the competitive ladder. Before he could back down, though, the other half dozen players in the room began egging him on, and he knew there would be no way out.

Sighing, Tobias agreed. Neuman strolled casually over to the couch and picked up the controller that Bates had dropped. As the two picked sides, Tobias could see the look in Neuman's eyes. Despite the fact that it was all for fun, and Neuman knew it, that old competitive look was still there. He would treat this like a real match. He was there for the win.

[Equestrian States]

Low Expectations
The Realistic Fan Site for Equestrian States Sports

Ponies Put Down; Head Home to Receive Beating
By Downtrodden Crankyface

Yesopalitha - 1
Isaac Jack-Bentley ‘61

Equestrian States - 0
No Scorers

FREEDOM’S ALTAR, YESOPALITHA - It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. Don’t get me wrong; I thought the Equestrians looked like youth league players facing the Holy Empire’s all-time starting XI, but the score was nowhere near as bad as I had predicted. The offense failed to produce anything notable besides yet another injury, this time to veteran midfielder Starlight Sparkle; the defense allowed Yesopalitha way more scoring opportunities that were somewhat wasted by the home team; and yet the Equestrians only lost by a single goal. How many times will I have to say the scoreboard doesn’t tell the whole story in this doomed campaign? This wasn’t a one goal shutout, it was a rout.

The match started off much as I expected it to, with the Ponies stumbling about blindly, being entirely outclassed by the Yesopalithans. However, through sheer luck, the Equestrians somehow managed to have the score remain 0-0 for the majority of the first half. It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t clean. It was mostly no fewer than five shots ricocheting off the crossbar. But the game stayed scoreless, regardless of the Equestrians’ clear failure to produce any opportunities of their own. Fire Dash and the offense had a few competent moments where they managed to move the ball down the field a little bit, but for the most part the first half was the Yesopalitha-Misses-Again Show.

I have a lot of respect for the Yesopalithans. Their run to the quarterfinals last World Cup was one of the best campaigns I’ve ever seen. But when it comes to management, I have a few complaints. First: a 144,000-seater stadium? Is that really necessary? I can understand wanting to make as much off a popular team as possible, but what is the experience like for the fan in the worst seat in the place? Second: the Yesopalithan Sports Committee. What’s up with these guys? They schedule an extensive pre-qualifying tour, but then cancel it and a bunch of domestic leagues for no known reason. Why? But I digress, there’s more of the match to cover.

The Ponies started off the second half even worse than they did the first. Yes, there were plenty of mistakes made by the Equestrians, but then came the death blows. After a ball was cleared by High Soarin’, Starlight Sparkle went racing down the field. But, with nobody near her, the veteran midfielder slammed into the ground and skidded a good five feet before coming to a stop. After the match, it was released that Sparkle had some issue in her knee that doesn’t sound good at all for her chances of coming back soon. The loss of yet another starter is a heavy blow to the already injury-weakened Equestrian line-up. Head coach Twilight Striker is expected to add at least five players to the team in the coming weeks to bring the squad back up to a reasonable size.

Without Starlight Sparkle, the only players outside the goal box with starting roles at the beginning of the campaign were Rainbow Blitz and Fire Dash; a rookie midfielder who has shown promise and the veteran captain with five full campaigns on his resume. Hardly anything to concern a defensive power like Yesopalitha. The home team had no difficulty whatsoever in shutting down every offensive drive after the Starlight Sparkle injury and the game's only goal came just a few minutes later.

After a pointless and rather obvious foul by the poorly-named Subtle Trix, Isaac Jack-Bentley lined up for a free kick just outside the goal box. One precision shot later and the match had it's deciding score. As the home crowd roared its approval, the Ponies could only watch as their hopes for an upset of any kind (poorly-founded hopes, but still hopes according to the post-match press conference) slipped away. Just over thirty minutes later, the inevitable whistle sounded an end to the lopsided 1-0 shutout.

Next up for the Equestrian States is the group’s second seed: 29th-ranked Carpathia and Ruthenia. The match is in Stalliongrad, so there should be a majority of Ponies supporters at Diamond Park and thus a reasonable home-field advantage for the Equestrians. However, I can’t see any logical way that the Ponies can hope to win next week unless something really bizarre happens. I have to predict a 3-0 (or maybe 5-0) loss for the Equestrian States that should knock their defense clear out of their misleading second-ranked place in the qualifying field and down to something more realistic, like 30th.

Don’t watch the match if you’re at all squeamish, because the second part of the one-two knockout blow for the Ponies is coming up next!

Starting XI: Equestrian States vs. Carpathia and Ruthenia (MD8)
GK - High Soarin’
DF - Subtle Trix*
DF - Antonio Randall*
DF - Ironclaw*
MF - Carrot Cake* (Replaces Starlight Sparkle)
MF - Apple Pie*
MF - Rainbow Blitz
MF - Lightning Bolt*
FW - Fire Dash
FW - Quick Bolt*
FW - Sonar*

* - Replaces Injured Player

Injured Players: Starters: Flitter (DF), Stronghoof (DF), Andrea Molovi (DF), Starlight Sparkle (MF), Rapid Dash (MF), Cloudchaser (MF), Apple Jack (MF), Thunderlane (FW); Reserves: Ice Block (DF), Candace Rivers (MF)

[Audioslavia]

I 8-2 break it to you but...
Your Boys took one Hell of a Beating

There were three contenders for the night's loudest cheer.

The first, on sixty minutes, was for Karsten Eiger's hat-trick, Audioslavia's fifth goal of the game, a goal that signalled a rout was on the cards.
The second contender was Israel Klimt's eventual acknowledgement of the crowd's repeated, tuneful demands of 'Izzy, give us a wave, Izzy Izzy give us a wave', after five minutes of being a coy strumpet.
The third, and my choice for 'loudest cheer', was one directed to the scoreboard a good ten minutes after the final whistle, with most Audioslavians still bouncing in the stands, as the electronic scoreboard displayed a result from a match in group 12:

Geisenfried 6-2 Krytenia.

It was, all in all, a very good day for Audioslavian football.

The side had kicked off the match with a spring in their step, Karsten Eiger creating a chance after just two minutes, laying the ball off for Mannestraal to strike wide of goal. Eiger would go close with a header just three minutes later, as Audioslavia found their opponents extremely vulnerable on the counter-attack. The Bulls haven't exactly been free-scoring in recent weeks, having won their last two games 1-0, and so it was a huge moment when, on the quarter-hour mark, Txordin Velazquez put the home side in front with a side-footed volley from close range after the Bulls had crafted an opening after a string of careful passes around the Liventia box.

The Liventians, however, are never pushovers when it comes to international football, and the home crowd were stunned into silence when, just five minutes later, Lajuno striker James Clark fired in the equalising goal, running onto Michael Coburn's deft flick and finishing past Imaslavii. Liventia's fast-paced attacking play almost paid off again just moments later, as a sluggish Audioslavian defence failed to deal with Raul Martin's trickery on the right. Martin got to the by-line and chipped a cross over the top of the goalkeeper's head, falling on the opposite corner of the six-yard box for striker Paul Garner, but the Liventian captain could only misdirect the ball over the bar under pressure. Liventia would go on to enjoy a ten minute spell of pressure without being able to create any real, clear-cut chances, before they were finally undone by a traditional Audioslavian counter-attack. Quick movement on the wing, an overlapping full-back - Claus Rijsbergen in this case - and a low cross to the feet of striker Karsten Eiger who swept the ball past the goalkeeper for 2-1.

Audioslavia would double their lead soon after, Txordin Velazquez again getting on the scoresheet with a curling right-foot effort from a yard inside the area. The Liventians, after fighting so hard to get themselves back into the game and after looking dangerous for long periods, were suddenly 3-1 down. If the two-goal rally hadn't knocked the stuffing out of them, Audioslavia's fourth - and Karsten Eiger's second - on the stroke of half-time, would.

The blue-clad visitors would make a fist of the game again in the second half, attacking in the same style as Liv/En sides of yesteryear, but a confident Audioslavia would reduce their opponents to merely taking pot-shots from long range, a fifty-second minute grass-cutter that rebounded off the outside of the post - with Imaslavii well beaten - would be the closest the away side came to clawing back a goal, before Eiger's 60'th minute hat-trick strike finally caused the Liventian heads to fall. Zonnestraal Jansen made it 6-1 just moments later, skinning the full-back Andy Davis and unleashing a powerful near-post effort that Liventian goalkeeper Ross Ramsden probably should have done better with. Ramsden would complete his forgettable evening with two further mistakes, the first looping corner kick inexplicably dropped at the feet of Audioslavian substitute Niko Ferz, who couldn't believe his luck as he tucked away Audioslavia's seventh, and finally his ill-advised decision to come well out of his area to clear through-ball from the feet of speedy winger Mannestraal Jansen. Jansen beat the keeper to the ball and was allowed to run on unimpeded to finish for Audioslavia's eighth.

It would fall to Liventian substitute Sean Edwards to salvage what little dignity was possible with a late strike, finding space in the area, receiving a well-placed pass from Coburn and turning to flick Liventia's consolation goal past Imaslavii.

Final Score
Audioslavia 8 (EIGHT)
Velazquez 15, 34, Eiger 36, 45, 62, Z. Jansen 65, Ferz 70, M. Jansen 74
Liventia 2
Clark 21, Edwards 79

Nobody Mention the 'Q' Word

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   Group 13                  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
 1 Audioslavia                 7    6   0   1    18    6  +12    18
--------------------------------
 2 Polar Islandstates          7    5   0   2    20    7  +13    15
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
 3 Jukenia                     7    5   0   2    14   11   +3    15
 4 Mesoland                    7    4   1   2    17   15   +2    13
 5 Traila                      7    3   0   4    15   16   −1     9
 6 Liventia                    7    3   0   4    18   17   +1     9
 7 Akbarabad                   7    3   0   4    14   15   −1     9

With one game to go until the half-way stage, there are more than a few worried and/or excited whispers among the Audioslavia faithful. Six wins in seven games marks the nation's best opening to a qualifying phase since.. well, a very long time ago.

Akbarabad and Liventia, touted before the tournament as Audioslavia's most dangerous rivals in that hunt for a playoff spot, are both fully nine points behind the early leaders, as are a plucky Traila side who destroyed the #2 seeded Akbarabadis on matchday two, and would be higher up the table if only they had even an iota of consistency, instead flitting between scintillating victories and crushing defeats almost week-in, week-out. In fourth place, Mesoland have, according to the Audioslavian bookies, the best odds to overturn the Bulls and sneak into the qualifying playoffs ahead of them, while Jukenia are the surprise package of the group, coming from nowhere to match eighth-seed Polar Islandstates in second place. The Polarians themselves have put in seven very modest performances so far, but are still favourites to win the group outright.

Audioslavia, and popular manager Israel Klimt, will still see the playoff place as their goal despite being three points clear at the top of the group. Could the Bulls reach their first World Cup finals tournament since back in World Cup 29?

A few of the boys in claret are daring to dream already.

Riyhad are up next, a team who's name we've purposely misspelled and who's presence is missing from the above group table despite their being on the same amount of points as Liventia, Akbarabad and Traila.

I've been Jeremy Jaffacake, once again tempting fate for no apparent reason. G'NB

[Maklohi Vai]

Part 1
Part 2

Tumo Makanopalani's Travel Journal
Day 1

We had a home game today. 2-2 against Swyftlandre. I scored twice, 23 and 62. Mostly uneventful besides that. I'm a little concerned about starting this "journey" thing. I don't have a lot of confidence in my soul searching abilities right now. Anyways, today I went to Kolo Lahi's city center soup kitchen. I've volunteered there before, and I always enjoy the experience. The people there are so friendly, and most of them just fell on hard times. They aren't bad people.

I was talking with a man named Jur'unsho. He was an immigrant from Grazak a couple decades ago, and he had a tough time getting his footing here. I managed to remember a bit of our conversation:

"Hey, how are things going?"

"They're decent. I was able to see my daughter two weeks ago. First time in 3 years."

"That must have been nice."

"It was good to catch up for the first two hours or so, but after that we just reverted to our normal state. We argued and bickered, so much, so much."

"I'm sorry to hear that. It must be tough."

"It is, but I've gotten pretty used to it. It's unfortunate, though. I would like to have better contact with her."

"Do you have other children?"

"No, she's all I've got. Her and her kids. It's just a reminder that family is the most important thing you can have in the world."

It was there that I had my first conception confirmed: family is important above all things. It wasn't really a revelation, as I had come to understand that before, but I knew that a simple confirmation like this couldn't be all of my journey. I'll have to see tomorrow what I can do next.

[Valanora]

An evening ride from Rinaldi to Capri was supposed to be a romantic sort of thing, the ferry sometimes taking its sweet time for those couples that choose to come aboard the craft for the venture. Tonight was no different, as a nearly cloudless night was brightened by the stars and a full moon. The ferry was happy for these more normal nights, with World Cup Qualifying back underway, most of the trips for him and the other three ferries were for sports fans. While that was all well and good, watching young human, elven, or even the occasional dwarven or inter-species couple enjoy a quiet, romantic night was far more a rewarding of trip.

However the ferryman also knew that it was the use of his vehicle for those sports fanatics that made the way for these more enjoyable trips. The capital gained from those passages kept the profits running and the business operational, such was the way of the world sometimes. All that said, he did enjoy how merry that the patrons seemed to be following a victory from the national team on the way back to the mainland. However when it was the domestic league, well the emotions were far more mixed.

So he contented himself on making these travels, slow and steady for his romatic patrons, quick and hasty for the fans. There was going to be a new branch of ferries opened soon, as the nation had expanded its borders in the last few years and now Vyinta was just off the coast of the mainland and not several days trip away by boat. Especially with rumors of the football domestic league overhaul, as the Vyinta sides reportedly being fully integrated into the Vanorian pyramid. That didn't concern him much, just that his business would continue to be running, as those expansions meant even more demand for service. Such was the life of ferryman.

[Socialist States Owen]

Riley continues to shine as Euran's win thriller
FSSO back on top of Group 7
Clint Covey reports from Western Cuba

WESTERN CUBA - 2
Moreno 8 (Pen)
Dawson 61
Moreno miss pen 63

FSSO - 4
Needle 36
Riley 53, 80
Sharp 66
McCroft s/o 49

Only a point separates the FSSO from United Gordonopia and Saugeais at the top of Group 7 after the latter beat the former 1-0 on their own turf, while the FSSO won a thriller against Western Cuba.

The home side took the lead rather early in the game after a thrilling start. Two minutes into the match Edgardo Mendoza struck the bar with a bullet header from a Perez cross, before Sam Needle struck wide up at the other end. In the eighth minute though, Tom Dawson (Western Cuba's best player on the night) dribbled past Joe Arne Pizza into the box before being blatantly bodychecked by Julesk Paranaya. Paranaya's appeals were ignored by the referee as Moreno stepped up and tucked the penalty into the bottom right hand corner. However the FSSO were determined to reply immediately and almost did through Josh Stevenson, but he could only direct the ball straight to home goalkeeper Armando Santos when set up at the edge of the box by Steve Thompson. Thompson then forced Santos into a superb diving save with a driven shot of his own from 25 yards, before Mendoza missed an opportunity to make it 2-0 by heading wide from a free kick into the box. Not long before half time the FSSO had found an equaliser through Needle, who wrongfooted the awful Shin Denisov before curling in on his right foot brilliantly after receiving a Steve Thompson ball out wide.

On such a warm night it was no surprise that the match was a heated affair as tensions flared red hot early in the second half. James McCroft, usually a very disciplined player, slid in dangerously on Vincent De Santa in the 49th minute and received a deserved straight red card for dangerous play. Yet it would be the Euran's who would go 2-1 up soon after as Tom Riley continued his fine form in a quest to stake a regular place in the void left by Persa Ryan's departure. Sam Needle did brilliantly to dispossess De Santa with a crunching (But legal) tackle leaving him free to charge towards the box and lay the ball off for Tom Riley to sweep in from 20 yards. Soon however there would be pandemonium in the ground as Western Cuba found themselves level before being awarded a penalty. Tom Dawson first leveled by firing in after being put through on goal by Perez; then Dawson won a second penalty of the game after Nick Feeney was harshly penalised for a shirt tug a minute later. Yet this sudden turn of the tide quickly flipped back in the FSSO's favour as Mendoza took the penalty this time and weakly placed it towards the left hand side of Daniel Belgrave, who saved with ease.

Suddenly the FSSO's experience and class became all important in deciding who would win the tie as they took the lead for the second time. Josh Stevenson saw Lee Sharp make a run and with great precision launched the ball ahead of Sharp's run, leaving the Directus forward with the easy task of deftly finishing past Santos. Santos then denied Feeney with a brilliant diving save before Moreno missed an opportunity to equalise again, weakly placing the ball straight into Belgrave's grasp when put through by some slack FSSO defending. Man of the Match for a second week in a row Tom Riley then bagged his second goal of the game. Sharp this time turned creator expertly backheeling away a ball cut into the box by Stevenson to the feet of Riley who smacked the ball through the helpless Santos. There was further late drama as Santos was beaten by Sharp once more but Acin cleared off the line, before Acin missed at the other end, striking the post with a low shot. It was a chaotic game but a hard earned win for the FSSO, who go into the game with United Gordonopia looking strong. Kieran Kane is expected to start the next match due to James McCroft's suspension. One thing is for sure; Tom Riley is continuing to prove his worth to the Euran team, particularly with Persa Ryans retired and Steve Thompson on the way out.

ANALYSIS

Player Ratings

FSSO

1. D Belgrave - 7/10
2. N Feeney - 6/10
5. M Robertson - 7/10
4. J Paranaya - 5/10 YC (Cotterill - 50)
3. JA Pizza - 6/10 YC
7. J McCroft - 7/10 RC
6. T Riley - 9/10
8. S Thompson - 8/10
11. J Stevenson - 7/10 YC
10. L Sharp - 8/10
9. S Needle - 7/10 (Fessner - 83)

Substitutes

13. S Neeson
15. M Humphrey
19. D Calaga
20. S Marshall
18. J Cotterill - 7/10
22. P Fessner - 6/10
17. S Oslograd

WESTERN CUBA

1. A Santos - 5/10 YC
5. S Denisov - 2/10 YC
8. F Acin - 6/10
3. G Ruiz - 5/10
11. P Posas - 5/10 YC
22. A Perez - 6/10
10. V De Santa - 6/10 YC
31. T Dawson - 8/10
11. E Mendoza - 7/10 YC
21. T Moreno - 7/10
7. K Yevtusehnko - 4/10 (Senteno - 84)

Substitutes

19. R Calderon
25. D Nanez
19. G Koptev
13. M Carpio
4. E Sanchez
14. C Senteno - 5/10
2. F Angon

MoM: Tom Riley (FSSO)
Attendance: N/A

Possession
WCB - 44 % 56 - EUR
Shots
WCB - 15 17 - EUR
On Target
WCB - 8 9 - EUR
Corners
WCB - 9 8 - EUR
Pass Completion
WCB - 77 % 85 - EUR
Fouls
WCB - 20 22 - EUR

TABLE AND SCORERS

Group 7 Table

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       Group 7                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
     1 The FSSO                    7    6   1   0    22    7  +15    19
     2 Saugeais                    7    6   0   1    15    4  +11    18
     3 United Gordonopia           7    6   0   1    11    4   +7    18
     4 Sandwich Territories        7    3   2   2     9   13   −4    11
     5 Mashiki                     7    2   3   2    11   10   +1     9
     6 Western Cuba                7    3   0   4    10   16   −6     9
     7 Newmanistan                 7    2   1   4    11   10   +1     7
     8 Yelvoldia                   7    2   1   4    11    9   +2     7
     9 Darknesssssss               7    0   1   6     6   15   −9     1
    10 Lunar Republic Islands      7    0   1   6     5   23  −18     1

FSSO Scorers

Lee Sharp - 4
Tom Riley - 3
Nick Feeney - 2
Steve Thompson - 2
Josh Stevenson - 2
Sam Needle - 2
Simon Xavier - 1
James McCroft - 1
Skorji Oslograd - 1
Kieran Kane - 1
Jim Cotterill - 1
Joe Arne Pizza - 1
Julesk Paranaya - 1

FSSO Assists

Tom Riley - 5
Steve Thompson - 3
Josh Stevenson - 3
James McCroft - 2
Kieran Kane - 2
Lee Sharp - 1
Sam Needle - 1
Jim Cotterill - 1
Skorji Oslograd - 1
Nick Feeney - 1
Michael Robertson - 1
Mickey Smith - 1[/quote]

[Groteberg]

Groteberg 1–3 The Babbage Islands
The Babbage Bumblebees defeated us 3-1.
Goal Scorers:
Charles Winston (1)
Bearchán O'Dea (3)