World Cup LXV (65) RP Thread

[Antoletia]

"So a win and a tie to start the season, not half bad."

"Yeah, tie at home win away and you can qualify. We might have switched that around a bit, but we still came out of the first two game stretch where we wanted to be."

"Yeah, though we should really be looking at 6 points right now."

"Yeah, a late mistake leading to a tie. So idiotic."

"I hope we at least achieve to our potential this year, we may never qualify again, but i'm fine with middle of the table if we stay around there."

"Yeah, im psyched for the next couple of games."

"And the youth on this team is amazing, the next gen might actually do something for this team."

"Yeah, the two Robideau's, the young strikers, and defenders this could be a great bunch of years in a bit."

"But we have to concentrate on the now."

"Yep."

"Forward to the next game."

[Sangti]

(From Roman Barlaan's POV)
Sangtians are expecting a hostile treatment from the people of RKQ. Remember last World Baseball Classic, where jeers can be heard from the crowd after 9 innings (we lost after 11 innings). The moment Sangti Indios were almost out of the WBC26 that time. And what happened after that? The Indios won 4 of its last five matches, save for Milchama but hey--they only lost 0-1. They even crushed Ko-oren, the 17th ranked at that time--at their own turf!

The Indios were unranked that time, so they will return and they will be better, just like the Agilang DIlaw years after this. Another almost success story was of that of the Flaming Eagles. Another unranked team, but almost snooped into the knockout stages. The future is bright for Sangtian Sports. Their basketball team, the Globos Angas will make their debut at the Campionato Esportivano de Pallancestro, and will enter as another unranked team in the next International Basketball Championships.

Speaking of unranked, the Agilang Dilaw were unranked in the moments before the start of the World Cup qualifying. After a bittersweet dejavu in the Baptism of Fire, beaten by the eventual champions Aels. (what would happen if we won that game?) Today, Sangti will gather its inspirations from the sporting gods of Sangti. And they faced Saintland, a team that performed well at the qualifiers as a new team. I cant remember but it looked lik WC 63 or 64. Watching from the VIP area with Jerous Almirante the FA Chairman and CEO's of Sangti's sponsors.

The reopening of the Estadio Ferdinand Marcos after the riots by GSE was warmly welcomed by the Sangtian faithful and the visiting Sanctii fans who watched their team play, despite coming from as far as the World Changers. There was one minute applause for the Sanctii fans and the national anthems were played. It was ecstatic. The first World Cup qualifying match for Sangti at the sold-out stadium.

(From Jerous Manalo's POV)
Kick-off. I watched my players from the touchline, giving them key instructions. Not to mention that I rested Adrian in favor of Daren.There were exchanges of play and pulsating action right off the bat. Daren was a good insertion in the lineup. He clicked with the midfield and made good passes to the target man, but, we cannot break the stifling defense from the Sanctii. Then there came the 39th minute.

Erick made a mistake and a counter-attack soon ensued. Their no. 7 mesmerized the players, from Marvick to Roman to Luke and suddenly found himself in a one-on-one situation. However, there was Wil, he saved the shot despite injuring his leg. His heroics that time inspired me, but he was injured, I needed to replace him. I called Jovick, the third choice keeper. Yes third. I told him to warm-up and he might replace Wil. But Wil raised his hand. A thumbs-up--meaning he could continue the game. That was a mixture of relief and nervousness for me, since I don't know if I will still replace him.

Two minutes of added time, and Wil was caught into action again. This time however, his injury could not permit him to continue the match. I called Brian this time to replace the injured keeper, and I apologised to Jovick. He was disenchanted at first, but he looked like to accept my decision. I hope that I would not make the wrong decision. End of first half.

(From Jovick Bucaoto's POV)
I was sitting in the bench the whole game last time. It was the same case here but after some time my coach called me to warm up. I thought this was my chance. I am 22. I am the future of Sangti between the sticks. Brian is 32, Wil is 31. This is my chance. Then after Wil was still able to play, I stopped warming up and sat at the bench. However minutes later he was rendered unplayable. I thought I will be called into action, when I heard the name,

Brian.

He wasn't pointing at me. He was telling Brian to suit up and replace Wil. I felt betrayed. I felt like walking out of the bench, but Luigi, my teammate at Wanko stopped me. He asked me if I would like to break the mood of the manager. Then I calmed down, until halftime. I told my teammates to go ahead to the dressing room. Then I went into berserk mode. I broke an ornament after punching the wall. I was frustrated. Then I realized, I am still part of the Agilang Dilaw, so I returned. Hope that nothing saw that incident, or else.

(From Rasid Pasamonte's POV)
I checked on Wil, felt his knees, his legs, but when my hands went through his *****, he irked. It was painful. He cannot move for minutes. It was a GROIN injury. It would be disastrous to tell Jerous that WIl might miss the rest of qualifying. He had already injury issues with Christiann. I think Wil will miss up to MD 15 of the WCQ. But I am waiting on the official report. Hope that his injury is nothing serious. He was a pity when I saw him brought out of the stadium by stretcher. It was a round of applause from the crowd as he is taken away and he waved to the fans.

I entered the dressing room at halftime. It was dead silent. It remained silent until the joker of the team, Mari, lift the spirits of the players. He's only 19. He will make a good partnership at the back with Roman. The team huddled and went back to the stadium.

(From Jerous Manalo's POV)
It was silent for 10 minutes, until Mari cheered us up. Then we huddled. VIva El Sangti! Mabuhay ang Agilang Dilaw! And we returned to the pitch. It seemed that I made the right decision. Brian was competent upon his duties. It remained the same for 35 minutes. And the last 10 minutes?

I entered Luigi and Mari into the match, replacing Erick and Luke. There was still action in the dying minutes, but their #1 keeps doing a good job for them. We conceded no goals this time, but also failed to score.

(From Roman Barlaan's POV)
What can I say? From my point of view, the effort from the players are outstanding today. Their defense holds up, but they are struggling offensively. Zero goals in 2 matches is a cause for concern. Maybe we can change the lineup next game.I got to go, I have a press conference at the EFM.

It is good to be a journalist for the Diario.

[New Sideburn]

(meanwhile, nothing happened here in this post)

[Neu Engollon]

Telleursville, Geneva Canton, Neu Engollon 20 June 2013

We're in the capital. It's pretty neat. Mrs. Toft gave me a special comarahtive commemorative pin for NEFA, and one for WC 65. I'm going to wear them everywhere. I didn't eat as much at the match this time. I learned my lesson from Khytenna. The food in the Capital Center looked great, though! I did have a bowl of Roclettes. There were some New Sideburn fans there, they were kinda moody, until Cheney Rosewood got one past Oskar.

Afterwards, Dad said we'd be joining the team to celebrate. We were going to go in the Burgunden BreuPub, but the New Sideburn team was in there celebrating. I asked why the Goats couldn't go in too and he said that was only in rugby that the two teams celebrated together.

We ended up going to the local Attico's, which is still pretty good. Once again, before I could stop Dad, he handed my program to Erich Siebech who scrawled all over it. Damn! Dad really is ticking me off. He really doesn't listen to me sometimes. I really miss Mom. I tried to call her on the cell she gave me, but it didn't work for some reason. Maybe her phone was turned off. Dad yelled at me for stepping out into the alley. I really wanted to go home.
We got back to the hotel, Tell's Capital Inn, and checked out for a late flight to Metropolis, Backyard Sports. The game is going to be at Playground Commons. It sounds like they'll be playing a bunch of kids. This could be kinda fun. I'm getting sick of planes, though.

[Brenecia]

You know, thought Blake, wistfully, for a moment there he really thought he had it.

It had been the 25th minute. Simplest of things; Riggs takes the corner, lofts it to Pike, Pike smashes it in. 1-0 Brenecia, and away from home at that.
Then they scored. Three times in twenty minutes. A fluky deflection from a breezy long shot had caused Mansfield to spill the ball, and the Qutari centre-forward narrowly got to it ahead of Leo Musket. The captain was again at fault, too slow to close down one of their midfielders as he rushed into the box and smashed the ball past Mansfield, cool as you like. And there was nothing anyone could do about the third goal, sheer brilliance from their centre-forward to hold off two men and poke it between Mansfield's legs as he rushed in. Musket was looking ... increasingly a liability, captain or otherwise, and questions were being asked of the goalkeeper, as well. Bruce Morant replaced Musket at half-time, but Blake settled for staring meanfully at Felix Carrick, who was young and promising and raring to go for his first cap.

And now it was half-time. Time for The Talk. Blake was never good at The Talks. Brenecia tended to re-enter after the interval feeling pretty much as 3-1 down as they had been when they'd entered.

"Lads," said Blake, and hastily added "and lasses. We're... going through a rough patch at the moment."
He really wished he hadn't just heard Rhys Fontaine mutter "Yeah, too right" near the back. He glared at Fontaine before continuing.
"We had an unfortunate Baptism of Fire, but... I still have faith in you lads. So much faith I brought you all back for the qualifiers. And, I, uh..." Blake cleared his throat. "And I still have faith that we can fight back. We're in a bad time now, but we can get out of it! We just have to believe in ourselves! We're not going to beat those bastards from New Sideburn if we get hammered now!"
"Yeah!" said Ash Twining, with more or less conviction.
"Right," said Macbeth, a little reluctantly. Allbeck echoed him.
"Right then!" Blake pumped a fist. "Let's go out and do this!"

It hadn't been the most inspirational speech, but the general feeling seemed to have come across. Brenecia came out of the tunnel imbued with a lot more bravado; they were pressing upfield, creating chances constantly. Pike smashed a shot against the crossbar in the 56th, and Morant glanced a header over the bar three minutes later. And it was three more minutes after that...
The home crowd were really up for it now. They were baying for blood. They could sense a second goal, and it came from Miriam Spitfire. Twining had the ball in space in the penalty area, but sensed defenders closing in on her... so she stabbed the ball across to Spitfire, who hammered it into the back of the net.
The comeback was on. And indeed, in the seventy-first minute...
"HOW WAS THAT NOT A RED CARD?" Blake screamed. The Patriot faithful bellowed similar words with more swearing thrown in for good measure. Macbeth writhed after a powerful challenge from the goalkeeper's charge... and Brenecians don't dive. Even so, a yellow card... and a penalty.
Ash Twining stepped up to the box, with an assist to her name already. She stepped back, swung her left foot behind and buried the ball into the bottom-right corner.
Maybe... just maybe this wouldn't go so badly after all.
After all, there was always hope.
--------------------------------------
SCOOP of the DAY with MEREDITCH FINCHE
Hello, hello, hello! I'm fresh off the frontlines at Union Park as Brenecia finally showed some backbone and fought back from two down to draw with mighty Qutar. 3-3 was the final score, surprising considering our defensive nature, but ah well... such is life, I suppose, and goals are good bloody fun!

Anyway, let's not hang around. Our next member of the XI; none other than Vinny Warbike at right-back! 'Peroxide' Vince was known for his bleach-blond mohawk and serious attitude, which got him a lot of red cards... but he was a real hit with the fans, let me tell you. Vince was known for his ability to throw a subtle elbow in the middle of a set-piece, and there was none better at the two-footed tackle. But his abilities didn't end there; he was great going forward as well, with his bombing runs down the right flank helping Kingsgrove to their first ever title in 307. Had a way with the ladies as well, I can tell you! Died of liver cancer, I'm afraid, at 29. Ah, well... bloody good full-back, though.

[Taeshan]

Taeshan

Sargossa

2

0

Voegael

Medrán

Longwaters

Maidana

Lydie

Gonzàlez

Jaffacake

Fernández

Fasnacht

Formica

Pato

Ramís

Juniper

Jerez

Müller

Defederico

Ptolemy

Echeverría

Ibrahim

Di Santo

Wiggin

Estrada

---

Subs: 45' Agustín Caruzzo for Mariano Estrada [SRG], 60' Tyler Icicle for Manny Pato [TAE], 67' Aaron Conrad for Xavier Ptolemy [TAE], 90' Eddie Styles for Ender Wiggin [TAE]

---

Goals: 17' Xavier Ptolemy [TAE], 51' Ender Wiggin [TAE]

---

In what proved to be a game where the Knights returned to the old plays of when they had just started playing soccer and were having fun. The Knights showed a flair they haven't had since they were just a bunch of boys kicking a ball around. People say you can't go back, but you can especially when they did like last night.

The night started with the fans at the Coliseum getting treated to a history of the Taeshan national team, from their surprising first run at the cup, to their Cup of Harmony championship until now where they have their hearts set on a fourth straight world cup qualification. And then the players came out. With their third green kits on and ready to play. And boy did they.

Now when i say they went back to their roots, i mean they did. They tried gimmicks that the teams of old did. The Knights flied together in the flying V they scored twice off in their first world cup qualifiers. And it worked, a move not seen in over 40 years and the Knights played it to brilliance. It led to the sixth career international goal from Attacking midfielder Xavier Ptolemy, and it was a brilliant piece of team work.

In the second half the Knights came out and played a beautiful game. Passing the ball around with precision, controlling possession and showing a flair they did not have a few months ago when they lost to the very team they played, in the same stadium only those few months before. They showed a Taeshani masterminded game and proved that they were the higher ranked squad, and when they brought their A team and a game they were the better side. Now hopefully they can do the same come a few months from now in Sargossa.

Now lets talk about the fans, boy were they ever loud. Already starting the cheers "We're going to Saugeais." (interwoven with Pasarga) the fans in the Coliseum showed the might of almost 600,000 strong. The homefield advantage shown through as the Knights plowed towards a second goal. With a brilliant piece of work striker Ender Wiggin chopped through the Sargossan defense and slotted the ball into the net.

Speaking of Saugeais it was announced some an hour later in the post game press conferences that the two would play a two game friendly series. The first at the midway point of qualifying in the Coliseum, and the second in the lead up to the world cup finals, which if all goes well the Knights will once again be in. The two meetings will be the 6th and 7th in history, with the Knights currently down two wins to three. But i digress.

As we head into the coming the days the Knights will need to stay focused. They may have taken down one obstacle but a second still is off in the distance. The mighty Armed Bears will come up in a few weeks and the Knights must be ready to beat them down, and keep themselves in line to qualify. You do not get back into the top 10 by losing a bunch of games. Til next time.



*Note- Sargossa's roster picked from Copa team due to no roster.

[Tasrailia]

Sorry for the lateness of this RP cause I was busy during the last two days so I will be posting about both matches.

Tasrailia 2-5 Eastfield Lodge

GK: Alex Permat (Hoberra)
DF: Matthew Norir (Devbourne)
DF: Joshua Coap (Devbourne)
DF: Barry Edwards (Devbourne)
DF: Riley Daian (Launey)
MF: Ryan Whincup (Burth)
MF: Ben Ben (Burth)
MF: Timothy Mole (Devbourne)
MF: Michael Mole (Devbourne)
MF: James Blueberry (Hoberra)
FW: John Utaja (Burth)

Another debut was to be used as Alex Permat got the rainbow cap for his first game and for everyone this was the first game of the stadium for the international team. I could feel that drama could happen and I was right as it was basically all of the ???? That would happen.

It happened, five quick goals in like, like 10 minutes and we could see that this was going to be a 50-0 insult to the nation. We weren’t happy at all so we left the field in protest. We were going to not head back out there as we felt like we were being cheated and was tempted to leave the stadium in protest. The crowd was also thinking that way aswell as the crowd just plumed down and in the end, there was only 15 people in the whole 30,000 stadium.

We didn’t know what happen after that, as the leader of the country put in a law that all countries must have no species that goes as fast as a normal human being. The people were happy about the law, not only that, you will be hoping that no one will break it.

[Branta Island]

Edoardo Gaspari's Online Journal
May 21st, 2029

Out of the hospital everyone!! Resting at my villa on the west side of Leggio, trying to regain my strength to make my triumphant return to the sidelines for your national team. Just finished watching the match between Kikwipeyi, and boy we still have much work to do. But we at least scored this time, eh? That something positive to look at.

The first half didn't have much in terms of offense, on either side. Just a lot of passing and stealing in the middle third of the pitch. Orisno and Aureliano had gotten forward a few times, but most of the passes from the midfield were too long and rolled out before either of them could catch up to it. Maybe I need to threaten them with being replaced by Gilberto Ruzzeri, the much speedier yet horrible finishing striker, just to put the fear of Margaret into them. But alas, I didn't need to send the email out, as in the 39th minute, Aureliano had shot the ball like a bullet into past two defenders into the wide open right side of the net. It was a brilliant maneuver, as he received the ball from Nicola De Rege in the midfield, turned past one defender then fired as he saw the opening. Half time was glorous here at the villa.

However, coming out of the interval, the team didn't have the focus straight away, as the Kikwipeyian offense zipped by the back line with ease, and scored within the first two minutes of the second half. That goal woke the team up, but sadly, they didn't make the best of their chances in the attacking third once again, and had to settle for another draw.

Two points from two matches. We haven't lost yet, and hopefully with the lower portion of the group coming up, we can start gaining ground on the leaders. Tirdarsaor are coming off a draw of their own, but haven't played the best of football to get to that point. A win should be the goal, and I hope assistant Frederico can instill that confidence in the team like I would if I was there.

Off for now. Talk to you all after the next match!

[Commune-PDTv2]

Glorious Commune defeats mighty Sea Dragons

In a thrilling display by the Xylovitus, The mighty Commune repelled the previous World Cup finalists to claim victory in their opening game. The game began ...

---

The two scientists sat nervously as Beta paced slowly up and down in front of them. It was easy enough to lie to the Communadi populace about the away games but when many thousand ardent football fans had watched Mantwenic defeat the Xylovitus, it was considerably more difficult to convince them of a victory.

"So ... ?"
"Glorious Minister Beta, we ... we have been ... err ... "
"Get to the fucking point, Krjbick!"
"The Xylovitus is not performing as well as we had expected."

Beta glared at the scientist as the scientist did everything in his power to both maintain eye-contact but avoid the stare.

"I'll reiterate ... So ... ? Why is the bastard shrub not performing? Do that thing not understand what is at stake here? The Glory of the Commune in World Cup Football!"

The other scientist chose to answer this time

"He is unhappy Sir ... "

From a look of utter disbelief, Beta's facial expressions transmorphed into a smile and then a laugh. He lent in close to the younger scientist proceeding to laugh in his face before stopping and reverting instantly to the usual look of calm anger. Like a coiled spring which could jump at any moment and probably take out your eye in the process.

"Do I look like I care?"
"No Sir and I ... I fully understand. For the Glory of the Commune. However, with a squad of only one player, psychological factors are greatly multiplied. I believe the test subject has been subjected to a great deal more psychological trauma than we first projected."
"Boo-fucking-Hoo."
"... Err ... I seriously believe that if we wish to succeed with claiming the World Cup, these factors cannot be ignored."
"How about this? I speak nicely to the Vegans, they lend me one of those nice Dwarven axes and I go counsel the fucking bush-head?"
"That would surely only worsen our plight."

Beta was dumbfounded. Who did this scientist think he was?

"I .. err ... concur ..."

Both! Words could not summise Beta's anger, bubbling away beneath his cold exterior.

"So you are seriously suggesting compassion towards that thing. Ha! What is this? Paradystopia? Love, equality and other such bullshit."
"Paradystopia have currently won two out of ..."
"Finish that sentence and you'll find yourself in Muskul'Nuul Level Zero wearing a R.K.Mhurhax rugby team shirt."

(For those not accustomed to Communadi rugby, Mhurhax is a small town outside of Muskul'Nuul which houses all the prison guards. Their Rugby team is in fact called 'Garda de Nuul' and they are renowned for they brutality towards the prison team, The Revolutionaries. Needless to say, the outcome of such an act would result in a swift death of the scientist at the hands of some of the most deranged and sociopathic inhabitants of the Commune outside of the government.)

"I apologise Minister."

Beta scowled and began pacing again. He had a certain degree of faith in the scientists but didn't respond well to being disagreed with and with the erroneous predictions still ringing in his ears, he wasn't in the best of moods. He also knew that Alpha would soon be asking questions about the underperforming football team, questions he knew he'd struggle to answer.

"Ok ... so what do you suggest?"

---

The Xylovitus stood in his 'house', kindly constructed for him by the gracious Communadi government. This house was effectively a concrete box with an open top to allow the few rays of sunlight which made it through the Mogd-Syrdushan smog to warm Xylovitus' leaves. The door was locked from the outside and only opened when a heavily armored team of soldiers came in to hurl buckets of water, compost and cow shit over him before exiting the way they came and locking the door shut again.

With little to do with his time, he practiced. Manipulating his body and training it to do all kinds of weird and wonderful things. Growing great shards of wood upwards from his hands, allowing them to erupt in a myriad flowery blooms and then let the petals float down to earth like colourful snow. Retribution was beginning to manifest itself in his woody veins and the chlorophyll which pulsed through them but the guard stationed far above him, poised with a hosepipe full of weedkiller meant any overly aggressive actions would be quickly quelled.

Creaking gently, he seated his wooden form in the corner of his room and watched ivy from his roots climb the concrete walls.

[Paradystopia]

JW: Welcome to the Whirled Cup Poetry Corner
YS: Yeah guys, we asked online for people to submit a short poem about football, Paradystopia, your favourite player, whatever. So how have the submissions been James?
JW: We've had some really good entries, better than that stupid idea to suggest a team nickname.
YS: Wasn't that your idea?
JW: That's not the point.
YS: If you say so.
JW: Anyway, would you like to read the first poem Yapper?
YS: Certainly, it's entitled 'Boom!'

Boom! by Sami Holbas age 5
When I see Pradiztoepia (sic) play
I like too shout 'Hurray!'
There players run fast going Zoom
They kik the ball and it gos Boom

Zoom, Boom, Goal! Hurray
I like too watch Pradiztoepia play.

JW: Aww ... Sweet.
YS: Yeah dude, that's cool. Keep up the good writing Sami! Do you have one James?
JW: Yes, I do. This is a little more mature in the writing but I think it would be nice to read it here.
YS: Cool. What's it called?
JW: The Veridian Plateau, by James Wong.
YS: So some kid has the same name as you. Poor kid.
JW: Oh no, it's by me.
YS: ...
JW: What?
YS: ... dude, that's low.
JW: What?
YS: Hijacking a kids poetry competition with your own writings?
JW: No ... it's not a kids only competition is it?
YS: Ages 13 and below, I thought we agreed.
JW: Oh
YS: And you're 32
JW: Man ... I spent hours writing this!
YS: Still, you were going to use this TV time to self-promote. Low man, real low.
JW: C'mon though. These kids write tripe. The rhyming structure in 'Boom!' doesn't even fit properly.
YS: Don't talk to me about rhyming structure dude, I'm a Lymryker.
JW: So?
YS: We live for poems. It's our cultural heritage.
JW: So, you're saying you're better than me? Just because you're an otter?
YS: It's Pteronurian for your information
And yes, it's a trait of our nation
For the sake of the show
I'd back off now Bro
And avoid a humiliating sensation
JW: I bet you think you're so very clever
Well, I'm ... I'm ... err ... even better
So don't get me started
Or I'll ... I'll ...
YS: James, your rhymes disgust my poor ears
Whilst your wit does bore me to tears
You gambled and lost
And should accept the cost
You're a fool in the eyes of your peers
JW: Yeah, well, just because you are ... err ... I mean ...
YS: James, my good man, Are you stoned?
Your awful poetry here cannot be condoned
Now be a good pup
Kindly shut the fuck up
As I believe the appropriate word here is 'pwned'
JW: ... Fuck you ...

[Mapletish]

The Sour Kind
Because being sweet is too mainstream; bringing you the latest updates of the World Cup LXV Qualifiers
With some annoying eyebrows and fake accent; YOLO!

Hello this is Tish once again for your edition of the Sour Kind, the Worldcup Qualifiers gets into its second matchday and the Lions travel towards AMSV for their match and lost 4-1 to AMSV. Although it was a heavy defeat that the Lions have to take and while they are now three points away from the top with Free South Califas and AMSV currently holding onto maximum points from the opening two matches. Despite the result the Lions managed to broke through AMSV's defences and brought a goal back for the Lions, destroying what could have been hopes for a cleansheet for AMSV. So right now lets move into the match report.

A sensational display of goal scoring flair from veteran Fylen Kel'tas drove AMSV to a dominant win in their first meeting with Mapletish in the World Cup Qualifiers, as they destroyed the Lions 4-1 at home to put themselves at the top of the table for the time being and maybe for the rest of the matchdays that will follow, eliminating their closest threat, a team ranked 31 positions below them.

The Loire-Mourenx veteran was on target for all four of his side's goals as they overcame the Lions, whose only consolation was an away goal courtesy of Junio that gives them the faintest of hopes for the return. Hopping to win the match and give the Lions an extra headache in the bid to qualify for the World Cup, the Sea Dragons came out in a bullish fashion and almost took the lead in the first few minutes of the game, breaking the Lions defences apart swiftly without a hitch.

Syrinici Tia'bel picked up the ball from the halfway line and embarked on a brilliant run, weaving past several Mapletish markers before squaring up to Sapphire in goal, she did well to parry the shot away and Fylen Kel'tas found himself on the wrong side of the rebound and could not convert it into a goal in what could have been a simple tap in for him take.

The veteran certainly looked irritated with himself at letting the golden opportunity slip his feet, he made instant amendments to ensure that he got the goal. A fluid move form the home side ended at the feet of Acaugu Eld'mosu and the midfielder crossed the ball into the penalty box . Kel'tas reacted before anyone else in the penalty box and muscled his way between the Lions' defence and diving in to steer home a goal to put his team in the ascendancy after just eight minutes. It looked as if age hasn't caught up with him as he looked to recreate his youthful side.

The goal was no less than what AMSV deserved for an all action start to the clash, as they hurried through the breaks and broke the defences of the Lions' quick and gave them barely a second to breathe, making what would be a rare sight from the defensive team.

As the half progressed, the Lions started to gain a foothold and started to get themselves the possession that they need to in order to get themselves a chance in front of goal. Clear chances came for the Lions but the failure to convert these chances made life difficult for the Lions after trying their best to break the five men defence with what looked more like an eight man defence with the midfielders coming back to support the defence.

Several deep crosses required defensive action from the home side, while Junio went closest to troubling Sithias Zyh'athkim with a powerful shot after receiving a cross from Ai Jing, a rare occurrence in the attack after dropping deeper in her midfield role. But to Ai Jing's disappointment, Junio failed to convert his chance well as the veteran keeper was on hands to tip the ball out of danger.

With the Lions looking more certain to enter the break on down, a perfect chance came for the Lions. A clumsy challenge by Vito on Kel'tas as the forward fell head down in the penalty box left a bloody gush on his face, desperate calls for a penalty went on death ears as the referee refused to oblige. Using this chance, the Lions took their chance to push on a quick counter.

Lyxat Im'untu attempted to stop the attack from closing down into his penalty box as he unleashed his trademark tackling over Di Natile who was leading the counter quick on the flanks, Di Natile evaded his challenge leaving Im'untu on the ground. Panirii Ther'tai came in and attempt to knock Di Natile off the ball but a playful chip over him and a perfect low cross reached Junio who stroked the ball past Zhy'athkim to level the game minutes before half time.

The Sea Dragons could have panicked a little after seeing their lead evaporate, but instead they opted to start the second half at a much more positive fashion and right like how they started the first half, they wanted a goal quick. And with just four minutes played after the break, Eld'mosu picked up a header on the edge of the box and threaded through to Kel'tas, who executed a perfect volley past Sapphire for his and the Sea Dragons' second goal of the match.

However the veteran forward was in no mood to slow down in his scoring momentum. With the Lions still reeling from that early blow, Xataru Enth'umii picked up a loose ball on the edge of the penalty box and hit with vigour towards goal. The shot took a deflection and fell perfectly for Kal'tas to pick up, who executed a marvelous turn and shot into the roof of the net to seal his hat trick putting his team two goals clear and clearly in control of the match.

The consolation for Mapletish is that it could have been even worse, Eld'mosu left his marker standing with a silky turn and shaped towards goal, launching a stinging effort from the left. The ball looked destined to hit the top corner if not for the intervention of Sapphire who pulled off a stunning fingertip save to avoid going further from the score line. The goalkeeper was let down, however, by some boneheaded play from those in front of her.

The Lions however did not resigned themselves to chasing a hopeless match, who turned in some exciting play down the flanks, and in the centre despite the heavily crowded penalty box and tough players to beat in AMSV's defence, the Lions managed to amass a further five shots on goal to heighten their chances for a goal however all five shots failed to materialize as the Lions was caught by the offside trap three times of what could have been a perfect comeback.

An amazing free kick attempt by Junio on the Lions' first try to catch the score back to their favour was ruled offside after Di Natile was deemed to have receive the ball from behind the defence line despite scoring a stunning diving header. The second frustrating attempt came after Junios alleged attempt on goal was later deemed offside once again as he seem to have received Ai Jing's cross behind the defence line. The third frustrating moment came shortly afterwards, with what seem could be the slackening off of AMSV's defence, a corner from Di Natile was received by Junio from just inches behind the defence line once again, saw him caught by the offside trap canceling out his stunning volley from near post.

In what could have been by a 4-3 comeback for the Lions, with three attempts ruled out as an offside, the supposed demoralized Lions were caught at the back with Kal'tas completing his fourth goal as a perfect pass from Eld'mosu was well received by the former and his attempt on goal cap and exceptional display for both the striker and the Sea Dragons, who now hold an impressive win over the Lions in their first meeting with each other. However despite the defeat that the Lions face, the match was well played for the Lions as we start to focus on the positives of the match here.

After the match, Janette, the manager of the Lions expressed her views of the match, '' The lads played well today, despite going off with a defeat and denied exceptional chances that could have given them the win. It was an amazing experience for the Lions to be visiting AMSV and the crowd was pretty hospitable, cheering for everyone on the pitch, it really encourages everybody to perform better. Overall the Lions did well in keeping possession but the chances didn't come right for the Lions."

Right after this match, the Lions are scheduled to face The Glorious Commune in their next match in what could be a certain victory for the Lions to cover up for the less than positive defeat over AMSV.

Mapletish Rating: ★★☆☆☆ [2/5]
Starters
Sapphire - Tried her best in the match with a few terrific saves in both halves, a better player in the defence than the people in front of him. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't keep out the four goals that knocked the Lions out from the match but at the very least she denied Kal'tas from adding a fifth to his tally.
Vivian - Not on up to sorts in the match, having to deal with several mis-tackles on her part which proved crucial in the Sea Dragon's attempts at the goal, however she was much better in the second half keeping out the threat of the Sea Dragon's attacks with important interceptions.
Vito - Did not have a great start to the match and was lucky to get away with a clumsy challenge earlier on, though he recovered well after the well and was more focused on doing his defensive duties but was careless to get a few fouls.
Taylor - Was hopelessly outplayed by the opposition attack with half a pace slower movement than the forwards of the opposition. Her passes down the flans weren't as accurate as it should be.
Mei Kei - Guilty of being two of the goals conceded as she failed to mark her opposite number properly as she let Kal'tas run riot around her as she failed to contain the attacking threat of Kal'tas. Despite that, she provided encouraging attacking runs to support the attack.
Nicole - Tried hard to make the engine room tick but with the defence leaking holes, she started dropping deeper to help out, but failed to made an impact as she sees little of the ball.
Ai Jing - Tried her best to support the attack from a more reserved position, responsible for some of the wonderful passes and crosses around the AMSV box but struggled to find the room to have a consistently telling influence to support the attack.
Enkainia - After seemingly being overwhelmed in the opening minutes of the game, failing to catch up with pace of the game, her mistimed passes almost caused the Lions the ball but she settled down quickly enough and took a firm grip on the game and was a key figure in the Lions' counter attacks.
Di Natile - Tried to coordinate the attack with Ai Jing and Enkainia dropping down to help, but he failed to provide much for the attack as he was marked out tightly by the AMSV defence which canceled many of his attempts to start the attack.
Junio - The Lions' tailsman tried hard to tick with the engine room going on half the efficiency than what was expected of them, had to drop deeper to receive the ball and make full use of the efforts by his telepathic partner Ai Jing and the other supporting players in the form of Enkainia and Di Natile. However he was marked tightly by the host's defence for him to be given the chances to find the space. However he was on hand to tap in the leveling goal at the end of the first half in what would be the consolation.
Substitutions
Morison - Was given half an hour of playing time but he failed to change much of the game like how he did in the previous match, struggled to coordinate well in the engine room but was key to holding onto the possession play.
Alvarez - Subbed in to give the engine room a fresh look while he tried his best to coordinate with Morison.
Lynette - Subbed in to replace Taylor and provided the Lions with a more comforting consolation as she was key to keeping the scoreline at bay with better timed interceptions and tackles.

Well here it is for me today for the Sour Kind, I shall see you guys once again for the World Cup Qualifiers and while the World Cup Qualifiers get hotter, don't forget to catch Game One of the semi-finals tie between the Minnows and Havl, the defending world champions of ice hockey. And so here it is for me once again and bye.

[Neo Lemmitania]

Welcome back once again to Shemp’s Corner, the only pan-athletic talk show in Neo Lemmitania. I’m your host, Shemp Wooley, the Dean of Neo-Lemmitanian Sports, and I’m joined tonight by Gil Lemson, thanks to an unfortunate contractual obligation.

Gil: Not so unfortunate, I get paid for bein’ ‘ere.

Shemp: It’s unfortunate for our listeners, who might like a coherent discussion of the past two World Cup qualifiers.

Gil: Come now, Shemp. You make it soun’ like I dunno wot’s ‘appenin’ in the Worl’ Cup.

Shemp: I shall give you the benefit of the doubt and ask your thoughts on last night’s game.

Gil: Oh, was there a game las’ night?

Shemp: And so it goes.

Gil: Seems like they jus’ played one the other day, an’ already they’re goin’ at it again?

Shemp: They played the opener a week ago and the second match was last night.

Gil: Wull, that’s jus’ dandy.

Shemp: So not knowing that there was a game last night, you’d also not know that it was here in Lemmington, with the Lemmings hosting Krytenia.

Gil: Do tell.

Shemp: The Krytenians are another team with a lot of history in the sport, so not a huge surprise that they won it three nil.

Gil: Three nil? So no one managed a try in the ‘ole match?

Shemp: They don’t have tries in international-rules football. Try and remember the game you attended.

Gil: Okay, lemme think back to that an’ see... Hmm... Um... Remind me, when did this ‘appen?

Shemp: Eight days ago.

Gil: Eight days ago... Lessee... Yesterday, I was doin’ me laundry. Day before that ‘ad some business with me solicitor. Three days ago... wot did I do three days ago? Oh yes, ‘ad that meetin’ with the nice folks at ACME Lemming Corp. Four days ago...

Shemp: Lemson!

Gil: Yes, Shemp?

Shemp: Stop reminiscing! You’re wasting the airwaves.

Gil: Wull, you instructed me to try and remember the game I attended. An’ that was quite a while ago.

Shemp: Eight days! It was only eight days ago!

Gil: Okay, if that’s ‘ow you feel about it, wot were you doin’ eight days ago, Shemp?

Shemp: I was working with you in the broadcast booth in Hutt River at the first World Cup qualifying match! Until you disappeared from the booth, that is.

Gil: I never disappeared from the booth. You disappeared from the booth.

Shemp: What are you talking about? I never abandoned my post!

Gil: Wull, in point of fact, you did, Shemp. I distinc’ly remember you leavin’ as soon as play started in both the first an’ second 'alves.

Shemp: Oh, you clearly remember that, do you?

Gil: Clearly.

Shemp: A moment ago, eight days was too far into the past for your substandard brain to recall.

Gil: It all came back to me in a rush.

Shemp: So you must also remember this: my job is to host the game. That means being on hand for pre-, mid-, and post-game discussions. I am supposed to leave the booth during the game itself, to allow the play-by-play and color commentators to call the game. And you will also remember that when I returned to the booth for the end of game recap, I found Gilson passed out on the floor, in a pool of his own vomit. Sally was helping clean Mike up after having resuscitated him, and you were nowhere to be seen. Having disappeared from the booth!

Gil: I never did.

Shemp: Well, you weren’t in the booth!

Gil: Well, no, not at that specific time, I wasn’t. But I’d never disappeared.

Shemp: So where the hell were you?

Gil: I went out to get Clem an aspirin an’ a beer! At ‘is own request, I might add.

Shemp: Like hell.

Gil: I absotutley did! An’ you can check the game transcript if you don’t believe me.

Shemp: I’m going to have someone do that, you know.

Gil: Oooh, I jus’ ‘ope you do, Shemp. Because you’re wrongin’ a wronged man, ‘ere.

Shemp: Even if that’s true, it doesn’t explain why you never came back to the booth.

Gil: Oy, I got lost. ‘aven’t you ever left the booth to get aspirin an’ beer only to find yourself wand’rin’ through an’ underground labyrinth of strange foreign architecture an’ weird foreign ‘utt Riveroons ‘oo don’t speak yer language?

Shemp: No, never. The stadium in Huttville was laid out like any other stadium, no underground labyrinths.

Gil: Says you. You jus’ didn’t wander into the labyrinth. So bully for your good luck.

Shemp: And the Hutt Riverans spoke perfectly good Anglish. If you were lost you could have asked anyone how to get back to the booth.

Gil: Says you.

Shemp: Yeah, says me. Do you even know how the game turned out?

Gil: Wot, you mean like the final score?

Shemp: Yes, do you even know the final score of the game you supposedly witnessed between Neo Lemmitania and Hutt River?

Gil: Sure I do. It was nil nil.

Shemp: It was one nil. The Lemmings won it.

Gil: Oh, they ended up finally scorin’ durin’ the closing moments whilst I was trapped in the labyrinth?

Shemp: No, they scored in the first half and I told you about it at halftime, because you had missed it even though you were supposedly in the booth watching it.

Gil: Oh, that goal you mentioned was real? I thot you’d made that up just to make the game sound more excitin’ than it actually was.

Shemp: Grrr. All right, we’re going to break for some important messages from our underwriter, and then I’ll be back without Lemson and any viewers we’ve got left can learn what’s going on in Neo Lemmitanian sports.

[Ko-oren]

First loss. At least that never changes

After a crazy first half, many fans still thought a win could happen. Still, conceding five goals is bad in everyone's book, and now the Greenblues are among the most conceding teams of the World Cup already... Let's talk about the defense for a while. Norn, Dehenat and Nidog are just with the three of them, but with enough backup of the other players, the team manages to play a very defensive game. Against faster attacking teams, that might be a problem, but usually, they manage very well. Think of the previous World Cup: Ko-oren got to the tournament while relying on its defense. There has been some debate about player personalities, qualities and teamwork. As always. But the question of age is also coming into the arguments, especially with our most trusted captain Dehenat reaching 34. Defenders can play for a while longer than other players, but 34 is an age at which even defenders can quit the game. Obviously, there is a talented generation ready to take over, and there are some good players in the age between 'old' and 'very young', so the team should not have a problem in this transition period. But before we throw out our three defenders, we have to talk about the other two. Nidog is 28 years old, but lacks some quality to be a world-class defender. Norn gets too many bookings. But on the other hand, they manage very, very well with just three players against some of the most renowned attackers of the multiverse.

Yesterday's game was against the Holy Empire. Fans in this nation have been fearing that day for a while, where the ultra-offensive team meets our ultra-defensive squad. And the difference was not that big, it was only a loss by one goal (nothing like the World Cup, luckily). The attack was very well too, and overall, we cannot be unhappy with the display. Eight goals in one half, just one last goal to satisfy the fans and the hope that the equalizer would come somewhere late in the injury time. And as always, as we have seen in the Archregimancy games of last cycle's qualification: no-one's really happy with the fact that not many Ko-orenite fans can make it to their stadiums. Sure, there is a very good reason to it, but then again, this raises the question: how many fans from the Holy Empire do we allow in our stadiums in the second half of qualifying?

The head coach of the Greenblues has not said a lot about the debate about the defense, but he has repeatedly said that he thought that '23 players for an entire qualification with its ups and downs is a bit little'. Does that mean there will be more players called for when the 23 do not cut it? What if there is a massive drop in form for 10 players? Will we see a roster with 23, 30, 46 or 100 players?

The Holy Empire 5–4 Ko-oren
@Imperial Hippodrome, Holy Empire
??.?? (21.00 Ko-orenite time), 8C, cloudy. Att: 250 Ko-orenites.

'9 1-0 Lethbridge-Stewart
'14 2-0 Raymond
'19 2-1 Shiribeshi
'24 3-1 Lethbridge-Stewart
'31 4-1 Lethbridge-Stewart
'39 4-2 Tokachi
'40 5-2 Foreman
'44 5-3 Shiribeshi
'89 5-4 Fenner

Yellow:     
(The Holy Empire) '45 John, '66 Slaxyr (Ko-oren) '70 Norn, '73 Sanuki, '82 Nidog
Red:
-

Subs:
'58 Asgard OUT
    Dauragur IN
'75 Norn OUT
    Musashi IN
'83 Talmis OUT
    Eregrent IN

Chapter 2: Regions, cities and distances

Ko-oren is a large nation, consisting of one main island, with some islands around it. Outside of urban areas, the country is only sparsely inhabited. Because of all this, people first identify with their city, then their region. People hardly identify themselves by their state, which is a purely administrative division. This section will focus on regional differences, cities of Ko-oren and the distances between them. There will be some attention to infrastructure, too. Just mind that chapters 7 and 8 have a lot more on the ‘real’ Ko-orenite way to travel large distances.

First of all, there are four general regions in Ko-oren: North, South, West and East. The Northern region consists of five states. One of these is a chain of islands to the northeast of the biggest island. The Eastern region is the four islands on the east of Ko-oren. The Southern region is two states, though extremely large states, and the Western region is the entire western coast including the chain of islands in the very west. The Western region splits the biggest island: the Northern and Southern region do not border. Looking at the map, Mayara is the capital of the Western region, which shows how it splits up north and south. Ko-oren city is in the Northern region, Senoren, Tangku and Arboren are in the South. Lastly Wui is part of the Eastern region.

Each has its own ‘personality’: the four regions generally represent the four different climates (see Chapter 3). Cities are often named together with the region they are in: ‘Ko-oren City, Northern region’, ‘Tangku, Southern region’, ‘Mayara, Western region’ etcetera. Still, regions are not worlds of their own. It is not uncommon that people live in one region, but work in another. Or move from one region to a different one.

The primary way of getting around is by rail. Cities have extensive metro systems, and efficient train lines join cities together. From the bottom up: metro (within urban areas) – all station train (linking small towns with bigger cities) – intercity train (linking cities) – interregional train (linking bigger cities, often through different regions) – high speed rail (linking just the few largest cities of the country via bullet train). Apart from these, there are also night lines which offer the opportunity to sleep while traveling.

Cars are rare in Ko-oren - not illegal, not non-existent, but rare. As railway is the main way to get somewhere, only people that have to go to places that are not visited by trains have cars. Examples are natural park rangers and farmers. This also means there is hardly any road: practically all cars in Ko-oren are 4-wheel drives.

Traveling by train can be intimidating if you don’t know your way! If you travel by all station train, you have to indicate where you want to leave the train! If you forget this, the train will not stop at that station. You can see where the train will stop by looking at LED’s above the doors. At the same time, when you are at an all station train station, you have to indicate you want to catch the train too, by alerting railway personnel. You can see if the next train will already stop there by looking at the lights at your platform!

1 Overview
2 Geography 1: regions, cities, distances
3 Geography 2: climate, weather & landscape

4 Cities
5 Population, demographics

6 Meritocracy, Ministries
7 Politics, Democracy

8 Age writing
9 Age writing 2

10 Colonies: ARO & TAO & SVO
11 Colonies: IRO & NKO & ZAO
12 Thaulandi

13 Sports: football, baseball, gridiron, field hockey
14 Sports: others (rugby, handball, ice hockey, basketball, marathon), sports per state

15 History 1
16 History 2

17 Language

[Sicoutimont]

Royales Off To Good Start at World Cup 65

The Des Monts Ila Vai Cup didn't go so well for Sicoutimont, but more on that later. We're going to the World Cup Qualifiers. Les Royales have already played 2 matches, in Group 3 alongside World Cup legends Valanora. The first match came at home, at Stade St-Pierre to open the qualifying rounds. Tirdarsor were the opponent, and it definitely looked as if Les Royales would have problems early on. 2 years ago, they dropped the opening match to unranked Rikatan, and with Tirdarsor 267th in the world, that would be a similar upset. The defense struggled early, losing the ball in their own zone a few times. That finally cracked open when Tirdarsor's top striker broke through in the 21st minute. After stealing the ball from Yves Savard, he danced around Neal Kent, before burying the ball behind the keeper, Pier-Luc Dion getting his first taste of World Cup action this year. But after that goal, energy came to Les Royales. Girard Giroux quickly tied the game on a beautiful play. Off a corner, taken by Georges Allonts, the ball went directly to Alex Gannot, who was playing midfield. He chipped the ball right into the middle of the box for Giroux, who then simply chipped it over the keeper to tie the match. That goal, which took place in the 26th minute, saw the entirety of Stade St-Pierre jumping and cheering until the end of the half. 1-1 at 45 minutes. Niles Coaches was in attendance at the match, was cheered as he was shown on the board at halftime, but later had to leave in the 74th minute because of an issue that needed his taking care of with the Minister of Finance. Rene Rochefort was also at the game, coming the half hour from the Emperor Hill suburb, where he had presented the Emperor's Shield to the club their. Continuing the match, Alex Gannot wouldn't keep the game at a tie, receiving the ball on the left side before a short chip would find itself going off the bar and in in the 56th minute, making the score 2-1 for Les Royales. In the 60th minute, Giroux would receive a penalty kick opportunity after being tripped, he converted with a blast to the top right corner which the keeper had no chance on. 3-1 for Les Royales. Tirdarsor would score in the 75th minute, but Les Royales held on to take their first win in World Cup Qualifying this year. The next match was against 308th ranked side Mythic Erin. The match would take place in that nation, but not many people were left after halftime. Alex Gannot was the one who made that happen, scoring first in the 4th minute off a free kick opportunity just outside the box which he would convert. Then, someone who doesn't usually score showed up, with Antoine Urbaille getting an opportunity. Receiving the ball from Giroux on a throw-in, Urbaille proceeded to score a brilliant goal, almost parallel to the net, but the ball somehow found itself just below the woodwork and into the net for a 2-0 score, this taking place in the 39th minute. The party wouldn't stop for Sicoutimont, who didn't give up a goal for the next 51 minutes, giving Pier-Luc Dion his first clean sheet of the campaign. Interviewed after the match, the goalscorer said "It's very nice to score, you know. It's the only time ever I can say to Giro, I got more goals than you!". Giroux responded by pieing the scorer in the face, which resulted in laughs from both, before leaving back to the dressing room.

World Cup 65 Qualifiers Final Schedule Announced

The SFA revealed the official schedule for Sicoutimont at the Qualifiers, it is below.

MD1-Sicoutimont vs Tirdarsor, @ Stade St-Pierre
MD2-Mythic Erin vs Sicoutimont
MD3-Sicoutimont vs Valanora, @ Pierre Beach Stadium/SportCity
MD4-Akbarabad vs Sicoutimont
MD5-Sicoutimont vs Quakmybush, @ Pierre Beach Stadium/SportCity
MD6-Sicoutimont vs Swyftlandre, @ Stade St-Pierre
MD7-Branta Island vs Sicoutimont
MD8-Sicoutimont vs Kinzar, @ Stade St-Pierre
MD9-Kikwepeyi vs Sicoutimont
MD10-Tirdarsor vs Sicoutimont
MD11-Sicoutimont vs Mythic Erin, @ Stade St-Pierre
MD12-Valanora vs Sicoutimont
MD13-Sicoutimont vs Akbarabad, @ Pierre Beach Stadium/SportCity
MD14-Quakmybush vs Sicoutimont
MD15-Swyftlandre vs Sicoutimont
MD16-Sicoutimont vs Branta Island, @ Pierre Beach Stadium/SportCity
MD17-Kinzar vs Sicoutimont
MD18-Sicoutimont vs Kikwepeyi, @ Stade St-Pierre

Next up for Les Royales is Valanora, one of the world's great football powers, at home. It will be the first time these teams have met, and it will also be a battle between the current undefeated teams in Group 3, the group leaders.

Royales Fail To Defend Des Monts Ila Vai Cup Title
Up against Maklohi Vai in the second DMIVC, Les Royales looked to defend their title against the 57th ranked side in the world. The first match, played at Stade St-Pierre, saw a low-scoring contest with little offensive prowess. Most of the match, each team's top players were silent, with Girard Giroux not scoring in the match, giving that opportunity to Christopher Savard. Oscar de Orebale tapped the ball right to Savard, who struck the ball just past the keeper's reach. A counterattack later in the half proved to be wasted after a bad pass, with Savard's 41 minute strike being the only goal for either side at the half. Again in the 63rd minute, a turnover left Girard Giroux with a breakaway, but he couldn't get a good hold on the ball, which slipped away into the Vaian keeper, Numatao Makai, who grabbed the ball away from Giroux. The Vaians, getting desperate in the 75th minute, changed their formation, bringing in 3 strikers to the match. This would pay off 4 minutes later, with Tumo Makanopalani receiving the ball, dribbling, and firing it past Dion. After the goal, both teams focused on defense, and the match would end 1-1. So, the next game was the rubber match. At the Vaian National Pitch, the Vaians came out much stronger than in the other match. They pressed hard early on, culminating in a 15th minute head-in goal from Mulo Kalapalani, the 6'6 defender got over the Sicoutian defenders to head the ball in. Sicoutimont, not wanting to be left behind, returned in the 37th minute, with Georges Allonts pressing in deep to tie the match. His strike came after 20 minutes of Vaian defensive domination, turning aside all chances by Les Royales in the match. And that goal by Allonts would be their only fault the entire match, as Sicoutimont would never score again in the match. The offense on both sides became ineffective in the second half, with so many amazing plays made by both defense. However, it was Sicoutimont's that cracked first. In the 84th minute, Tumo Makanopalani faked in and struck the ball home. Sicoutimont could not equalize in the final 6 minutes, and the 2nd Des Monts Ila Vai Cup went to Maklohi Vai.

[Blouman Empire]

THE EMPIRE TIMES

Eagles Continue To Shine Regardless Of Result

Despite the defeat the Eagles put up a strong performance against group favourites Polar Islandstates narrowly losing out 1-0 to the top seed team. The deciding goal from the PIS forward gave the Eagles their first loss in qualifiers putting a slight damper on their campaign for consecutive World Cup qualifications. PIS twice went close to extending their league but both attempts were deftly saved by the Blouman keeper. The Eagles almost equalisied with a solid strike off the foot of Captain Baden Lakes from 12 yards out, and the PIS striker was left scratching his head how he managed to lop the ball over the cross bar after a perfect cross came in from the wing.

Despite the loss the Empire will still be in high spirits going into the third match showing that they can perform against a top 10 side with manager Sir Keith Kolson stating he was happy with what he saw today. "We walk away with a loss but we certainly didn't let them win, they had to fight to get it. The entire game our players excelled and their first half performance was outstanding and it was just a matter of PIS being the better team on the day". The Blouman forwards took a number of shots at goal during the first half but the strong defense and excellent reactions from the PIS keeper ensured that none slipped by. PIS were able to score in the 47th minute with a clever pass opening up the Blouman defense allowing the PIS striker to score. After the goal PIS continued to play with more confidence, however, their inability to score a second almost proved costly as the Eagles charged back looking for the equaliser forcing the PIS keeper to pull off a number of saves. Despite the surge it was the host team that came back strongly turning the tables on the Eagles forcing them to defend again. Although PIS failed to score a second, one was enough as the final whistle blew to give them the win.

The Eagles will next come up against Razmakistan for their first home game of the campaign. Razmakistan, an unranked side is sure to be no match against the Eagles who will have the home crowd behind them at Mellor Insurance Stadium in what is predicted to be a sell out crowd.

[Alexanderburn]

Alexanderburn 2-3 Felix
Schroeder (18'); Sirois (40')
St. Lucoa 0-0 Alexanderburn

Alexanderburn begins WC65 with humiliating start as B-team fails to win either opener

Well, if the team cannot win these matches, there is no hope for the youth of the ANFT. Good bye and good luck!

reporter Marc Schelongerten

"Well, those two opening games were, well, atrocious!" noted coach William Kingsley after two hard days of matches.

"Obviously, our B team is nowhere near up-to-par and we will have to put our A-team back onto the field. I am embarrassed to say this, as our nation has earned the prestige of being ranked 134 in the tournament and we cannot even provide two wins, let alone one, against inferior teams. An outrage indeed - a disgrace!" he exclaimed. The players knew that their coach wasn't necessarily angry with them, but just disappointed because he had attempted to experiment with allowing the less experienced players to play a few matches against easier opponents. Obviously, however, his strategy backfired.

"There may be no way we can make up for this. This could cost us the whole tournament!" he roared, but then eased back after realizing that he himself had made the mistake of not recognizing some of his players' talents, or lack thereof. "Alright, let's just get the A-team back on the road, and we'll see everybody tonight here in Portsmouth for the match against Kaznan. This should be an easy one for us, hopefully.."

The first match of the tournament was played against Felix, an opponent of relatively equal skill (Alexanderburn is, however, more highly ranked than this opponent and thus could expect a win or draw). Alexanderburn took the lead with its new B-team members Marcel Schroeder, the former captain who is itching to regain his place in the starting 11, and Sebastian Sirois, who was cut from the team in the World Cup 64 after debuting in the World Cup 56 edition. A late goal in the first 45 minutes from the opponents allowed the halftime score to rest at a "comfortable" 2-1. However, after the Alexanderburnese took the pitch again after the break, the team received thrashing upon thrashing that forced them to accept a 2-3 defeat on home grounds.

"We were just as surprised as the next person," noted Marcel Schroeder after the match. "I don't know what would have happened if [Sebastian] and I didn't score any goals in the first half." Meanwhile, the game against St. Lucoa went even worse, not because the team ended in a 0-0 draw against an extremely inferior team but because of the performance of the B-team athletes that had coach William Kingsley screaming and shouting enough derogatory remarks from the sidelines that he had to be removed from this game and banned for the next match against Kaznan.

"It really is unfortunate that the officials decided to enforce such ludacris rules and regulations," noted Kingsley in a post-game interview. "When there is an obvious need for goal-line technology that would have given my team the proper win over St. Lucoa, those in charge of this tournament in this land have decided to take other, less-necessary measures. It truly is a disgrace to the name of football as I, as we know it."

STARTING LINE-UP (Alexanderburn vs Kaznan)

van der Pol / Massie
Frederiksen / Holierhoek (c) / Jameson
Fiedler / Collett
Doyle / Rittenhouse / Beller
Moulton

Modification: +2

Good luck Alexanderburn!

[Polar Islandstates]

Prologue

**
From the case notes of Wolfgang Lillehammer, PI
It's funny how words have the ability to conjure up memories. And I'm not talking about putting them into a sentence and using them to describe certain memories you may have, like I'm doing here, no, sometimes no sentences or grammatical constructs are even necessary and just the simple word itself can bring the rush back. Just like the smell of your favourite breakfast in the morning can bring one to think of weekends at home growing up, or the sound of the terns calling and bring to mind locations you've spent time in, words have that same power of association and connotation. For some, the mention of a family member's can bring bittersweet thoughts of absent friends and family long departed to mind, and for others it is the name of a job they once held or a company name that makes them think of their pasts. For others, it can be the name of a place. So it is with me.

Bjarnarey.

This rocking cradle of civilisation set in the middle of the Norscelt sea has long been a seat of memories for me. Even now, as I receive daily e-mails from my publisher asking me to go back into my case notes and write them up for publication, just the word 'Bjarnarey' in the subject heading tells me all I need to know, and immediately makes me recollect how far I've got in writing up my latest case.

It has been my home. It has been the seat and host of some of my greatest personal victories and private disappointments. I've laughed, I've loved, I've fought, I've mourned, I've done it all on these wooden jetties, with varying degrees of success, and I wouldn't swap the place for all the gold in Northbrook. Even now, re-reading my notes on the case I just concluded, I can see just how much the place means to me in the way I talk about it. I see as much beauty in the floating platforms and houses of this city as I would in a sonnet.

The old volcanic reef that makes up the land below the shimmering lagoon of Bjarnarey was first discovered at the end of the fourth century, when disputed claims from both Surtsene and Barentsberg were both documented as claiming the reef in the name of their respective kingdoms. Bjarnarey back then would have been a most hostile environment, and its modern colonisation has only the shipwreck of the Surtsene ship The Wyrm's Brede to thank. Blown way off course by a ferocious storm whilst on a trade mission to Ellismare, The Wyrm's Brede (meaning 'The Dragon's Breath') ran aground on the island now known as Nordkapp and had her hull torn to shreds by the hard volcanic shards that characterise the tops of the reef that poke out of the water. The survivors scrambled lifeboats, and after spending the night in the calmer waters of the lagoon, they set off for home, noting the location of their precious cargo of gold. Returning for the shipment of gold three months later, captain Svein Bjarne named the islands after himself and noted their potential as a harbour and trading post not too far from the established routes and resolved to come back.

Bjarne and his followers intended to set up a trading post on the largest island, Langoya, but found the scaled, shard-like nature of the hard volcanic shale that covered the islands to be completely inhospitable. Unable to moor their ships properly or spend the nights on the bare islands, they instead re-appropriated one of the boats and dismantled it. Lashing it into a makeshift jetty, they attached it as best they could into the barest of mooring points on the island, and they were finally able to tie their ships safely. Years would pass before the settlement grew to anything more than a hundred transient residents, but over time the jetties became pontoons, the shacks became more established residences, and the trading post became a fully fledged port and whaling post. In the small bay known as Havn, now Hove, the ships would dock and weigh anchor, bringing wealth to the islands and making Bjarne rich. Even after taxes imposed by the governments of both Surtsey and Barentsberg, he was able to still earn enough to purchase the rights to the reef from both nations that had claimed it, and Bjarnarey became a wealthy and ultimately unique city-port.

Bjarne died a bachelor, and it is still not known what happened to his considerable personal fortune, but his successors on the council of Bjarnarey successfully campaigned to have Bjarnarey established as a fully blown nation-state not long after his death, and so his name lives on. Over time, the town we know today began to take shape, and at the turn of the twentieth century, the island, for want of a better word, because the fourth constituent state in the union of Norscelt, with its black star joining those of Jan Mayen, Surtsey, and Grimsey on the flag.

Nowadays, Bjarnarey is an organic mess of a town, unique in the Federation, and the place I call my home. The islands that form the only visible part of the reef remain almost completely inhospitable, and the lagoon they create is the only seat of civilisation for hundreds of miles around.

Every house in Bjarnarey floats. With the islands an awful weathered mess of razor-sharp piles of shale that have been chipped off the islands over two millennia and as a result are over two feet thick in most places, the houses are simply lashed to each other in a great floating raft of wooden shacks that stretches over nearly the entire lagoon. Pontoons are lashed to jetties, jetties are lashed to piers, piers are lashed to more houses, and very rarely you'll come across a great spike that anchors the buildings through the lagoon into the volcanic rock below. The rows and rows of bobbing walkways mean that the fastest way to get across the city is often by the channels that criss-cross the lagoon. I hesitate to call the canals, because they are not man-made, specifically. Canals are usually hewn from the earth the reside in, but the channels of Bjarnarey are more of an indication of a strip of free water that has been allowed to remain free from settlement. They are the voids in the otherwise built up area of Bjarnarey, a void that is necessary for the city to function.

Larger channels typically mark the various districts that define the city, from Langoya and Hove, to the college buildings at Jodrell, the Nordkapp, the Lighthouse, and Little Wight. Largest of all the channels is the confusingly named Norscanal, the only stretch of water in the lagoon save for the Port Authority protected waters of the Docklands that it is forbidden to re-develop. Not even the famous floating stadium of the city, The Barge, has been free of development. In my last book I revealed how the concrete building that was next to The Barge was sunk in dramatic and nefarious circumstances. One of the few by much maligned architect and Bjarnarey native Lars Christiansen that dot the city having been bafflingly realised in concrete, the old Mayoral House now lies at the bottom of the lagoon, and was swiftly replaced by a tower of cheapskate Bjarnarey Flotilla fans that were hoping to be able to see into the stadium without paying. They failed.

Over the smaller channels, bridges and even planks are the main way of getting around on foot, and it is also not uncommon to have to walk under an overhanging stretch of property that has the only footpath hung below it like some kind of devilish playground challenge as you look directly into the icy chopping waters of the lagoon. Rope bridges are frequently lashed to other houses across the channels, and if you don't like your neighbours, simply move your house. The streets and walkways of Bjarnarey are forever having to re-drawn and re-planned thanks to the written right of all residents to choose where to moor their house. It is not an uncommon site to see somebody hack their apartment out of a block of flats four storeys tall, attach it to a barge, and then float it down the Norscanal to find somewhere new to park it and start another tower. Many ground floor residences were originally penthouse suites elsewhere in the city.

Personal space does not exist in Bjarnarey. What the settlement lacks in size it more than makes up for in density, and there isn't a single part of the island except for maybe the docks and the college where you'll find an absence of residences. The top two floors even of the businesses in Bjarnarey are almost always devoted to residences, and the city is a teeming mass of humanity. Sokhorosk Linii, one of the largest shipping companies in the Federation, has their headquarters based in Bjarnarey, and even that complex isn't immune to the residential requirements insisted upon by the city, and so pod rooms and precariously lashed towers of apartments are dotted all around their plush executive meeting rooms. It is a swirling hive of activity, with noise and motion wherever you look, with peoples' private licenses barely concealed behind thin wooden walls. that bob up and down and sway with the sea. Even the airport has plenty of accommodation in fact, sticking out into the open ocean with its foundations on Langoya as it does.

And then underneath it all, the lagoon. Deep in many parts, shallow in the rest, the calm waters of the lagoon are what made Bjarnarey the city it is today. Calm where they are allowed to be, that is. In the narrow and creaking gaps between buildings that are just too narrow to call themselves canals, you can often find the salted and ice-encrusted waters churned up into a white frothing frenzy by the simple motions of the waves and the movements of the people within. Ropes and chains litter the jetties, with more than a handful of deaths every year being the result of an unsavoury or drunken trip into the waters.

Nothing is grown in Bjarnarey, and everything other than the fish caught in the surrounding seas has to be shipped in, serving to make the docks not just the lifeblood and employment for a huge proportion of the Bjarnese population, but also the vital lifeline for the entire city. They contain the only significant open water within the lagoon, and they appear as if from nowhere if travelling by boat or by foot from the rest of the city, where twisting turning walkways and jetties suddenly given way to vast open docks and piers, anchored to the bottom of the lagoon by colossal rigged columns and appearing to cleave the regular fabric of the city for as much space as is needed by the giant container ships that supply the city. There was plenty of villainy and fraud that went with this wealth and activity of course, following in its footsteps like a shadow, and to that I owe my employment, but for the main part, the docks get along and act as the beating heart of Bjarnarey, with the Norscanal its main artery.

It is by nature a cold place. The islands offer little in the way of protection from the cold, and the waters on which the wooden shacks float soaks up as much heat as the Bjarnese can create. And yet I know it as a place of almost unspeakable warmth. They live on top of each other whether they like it or not, particularly in the twisted channels and perspective bending corridors or Little Wight, and so they are almost entirely a welcoming and supportive people. Maritime Hove, the tiny football club from the south of the city, has its matchday audience made up almost entirely of people who were at The Barge watching Bjarnarey Flotilla just hours earlier, and the club has been adopted as a sort of 'Bjarnarey B-Team' just by association. The people of Bjarnarey have always been good for me. As has the city.

The Bjarnarey will always conjure up one thing more than any other however, and that is the image I had of it from the window of a helicopter as I took off for a meeting with my publisher in Jan Mayen, the city of books. Just after dawn, it was mere days after the conclusion of my last case with the gold and the reanimated corpses of Wightling origin, and I was still recovering. The sight of the city I saw that morning however would have been enough to revive me from a coma. Mist from the lagoon was rising slowly above the tops of the ramshackle houses, and as I looked north from the helicopter across the city as we climbed, the light from the east through everything into a harsh contrast. From The Barge to the lighthouse in the south, from the college and Hove to the throbbing Docklands in the north-east that were already shaking and rattling the city awake. The sight provided before me cause my heart to nearly burst from my chest. The silver waters of the sea are broken only by the jagged peaks of the reef's islands, and within them is cradled the wooden, living, churning mass of humanity that is Bjarnarey. It looked terrifically fragile in its spot in the wide ocean, and my blood pumped noisily in my ears as I thought of the engineering challenge and proof of the Valhallan strength of character that was the city below me. Having risked my life on its piers and broken bridges just days previously, I felt a great attachment to the place, like I had looked after it and been its caretaker, and now it was nourishing me in the best way it knew how. That sight lifted my spirits, and remains imprinted in my mind's eye to this day.

Bjarnarey is my home, and long will I protect its people and offer them my services as a PI.

I could never have dreamt that those services would have been called upon so soon after my last case however, and how little did I know that the very fabric existence of the city I loved would be threatened in a most devastating way that summer.

It all started with an envelope containing two pieces of paper that were slipped under my office door one afternoon...


The story will continue in The Concrete Museum

[Nandezia]

by Tomas Ubina

Canaries Lose Home Opener

In a disappointing defeat, Nandezia have fallen to 8th in their World Cup Qualifying Group. In their most recent game, they hosted Backyard Sports at La Gomera. Backyard Sports came out running around like children, and their hustle seemed to be working against the Tweeties. In the 6th minute, Pablo Sanchez sprinted past central defender Ramirez and shot a beautiful goal into the top corner, which Tono had no chance of stopping.

The first half remained in Backyard Sports' hands. Some of the Canaries chances seemed promising, but nothing threatened. In the 37th minute, Reese Worthington held the ball at midfield, as the defense gave him some space, he inched forward, looked down at the ball, and kicked it with all his might. As the ball was in flight, the ball literally transformed into a bowling ball. The puzzling look on the defenders face remained for the rest of the half. They tried to prevent the ball from rolling towards the goal, but nothing was stopping the might of the bowling ball. Tono, realizing what was happening, ran out and jumped into the ball, shoulder first, to try and redirect it. Not only did he not succeed, he was blown to the side. The ball rolled helplessly into the net.

During the second half, Aquino came on for Leopold, Agustin for Lothaire, and Dupont for Chevalier.

In the dying seconds of the game, Alban found space on the outside of the box, and slotted a ball into the near post, giving Mikey Thomas no chance of stopping it. To the roar of the fans, Alban saluted them with a smile and quickly tried to place the ball down again, but by then, the referee had blown the whistle.

The score ended 1-2, and Nandezia is on a 3 game losing streak. Currently, the Canaries are traveling to Homelands our for their third match of 18 in the group. Early standings has Nandezia near the bottom, but manager Clemente, and captain Desi Tono assure fans that their results will get better. Homelands our find themselves in 6th place, coming off an away win at Phing Phong, who are in last. Clemente has stated that if there is a team to get a win against in this tournament, Homelands our is certainly one of them, but refuses to underestimate a team that is in the World Cup Qualifying. "Every team is here to compete just as much as we are. We will not underestimate anyone, and we expect no one to underestimate us."

[Leorudo]

"Okay, first of all, let's set things straight, we have big plans for this World Cup! We have Adele, Morgan Freeman, and Nicholas Cage all booked to preform at the games. We also are planning do a massive snuggie night, with everyone going home with a free trail of netflix for the summer, oh, and we have churros. The club, which I now own thanks to the marvellous assistance of the Leorudian government, shall be the most fabulous football team in the history of forever! Oh, did I mention the churros? Family recipe, really nice. Anyway, my name is Marcus, but you can call me, well, uh, Marcus, I guess, really haven't thought it this far out, anyway, I own the team now, and there are going to be some changes around here, for starters, brownies are going to be made mandatory. We need more of them! What do I mean by this, you ask? Well, I'm hungry, and brownies are good, now about the football team, I'm thinking golden balls for this year matches, what do you think? Ahh, no matter, anyway, I have to fly out to the next game, so anyway, good days to you Sirs and Madams!"

So, a new owner had taken control of the team, and he has an obsession with brownies.

What could go right?

[The Sovan Antithesis]

ALL HAIL MARGRET

OK, now that our team has recited our oath, let's take a look at our schedule:

1. @ Karditan
L 1-3
2. Jedi8246
W 3-2
3. @ Saintland
4. The Royal Kingdom of Quebec
5. @Sondstead
6. Aquitayne
7. @Sangti
8. @Narsora
9. Wight
10. Karditan
11. @Jedi8246
12. Saintland
13. @The Royal Kingdom of Quebec
14. Sondstead
15. @Aquitayne
16. Sangti
17. Narsora
18. @Wight

What rank is Jedi8246? That's right, 67th. What rank is The Sovan Antithesis? 315th. An upset win for TSA came with rallies by both sides. TSA jumped out to a 1-0 lead after a huge shot by 9718 in the 23rd minute. Jedi (who hasn't posted their roster) scored in the 40th and 51st minutes to go up 1-2. 83303 broke out in the 55th minute for a pull-even goal. Then, for 30 minutes, shots by both teams saw the crowd get antsy, and then calm down. Then, the home Sovan crowd got their opportunity. 49569 stole the ball from a Jedi attacker, cleared it, and it found it's way to 15584. No one could touch him, and he fired one into the top of the net. The huge win was hoped to bring TSA over TSE in record, but in fact, TSE defeated Rex Luthian 1-0.

We've done the oath, the match report, and we now present you, the daily census ranking for our group. Today, beverage sales.

1. Karditan (13)
2. Jedi8246 (4)
3. Sangti (3)
4. The Sovan Antithesis (-3)
4. Wight (-3)
6. Aquitayne (-5)
6. The Royal Kingdom of Quebec (-5)
8. Narsora (-6)
9. Sondstead (-7)
9. Saintland (-7)

And the running tally (10 for first, 9 for 2nd, etc.):
1. Wight (23)
2. Karditan (21)
3. The Royal Kingdom of Quebec (18)
3. Jedi8246 (18)
5. Sondstead (16)
5. Narsora (16)
7. Aquitayne (15)
7. The Sovan Antithesis (15)
9. Sangti (14)
10. Saintland (12)

[Chiata]

Chiata Newspaper Article
After the second matchday of the world cup, not much has changed. The Chiata Suns regained their no. 7 spot in group 13. However, the Suns did improve. But they didn't win eather. Instead, the match against Ancharmunn was a draw. At the end of the game it was tied 0-0. Not a very exiting game, some would think. But only people who like offence and high scoring games would say that. Some people, like Chiata Suns fans, like defence and low scoring games. Well the fans got their wish at the home game. The game had so much defence that no one scored. A big feat for the Suns considering that Ancharmunn is around 150 ranks higher then the Suns in the world rankings. Sadly, Chiata still remains scoreless in the World Cup. If the Chiata Suns could begain scoring and keep up the crushing defence, they could have great things in the future.
The next game for the Chiata Suns is at The Greater Archipelago. There is somewhat of a rivalry between them because the Arcgipelago beat Chiata in the Round of 16 in the 52nd Baptism of Fire. Now the Suns are looking for reveng for a game that should have beem theirs.

Matchday 2 results for group 13.

The Kytler Peninsulae 1–3 The Greater Archipelago
Chiata 0–0 Ancharmunn
Tasrailia 2–5 Eastfield Lodge
Vakolic 0–3 The Licentian Islands
Jeru FC 3–4 Eura

The new rankings have been released for group 13.

1: Eastfeild Lodge 2-0-0 +6gd
2: The Licentian Islands 2-0-0 +4gd
3: Eura 2-0-0 +3gd
4: The Greater Archipelago 2-0-0 +3gd
5: Jeru FC 1-0-1 +1gd
6: Ancharmunn 0-1-1 -1gd
7: Chiata 0-1-1 -3gd
8: Tasrailia 0-0-2 -4gd
9: The Kytler Peninsulae 0-0-2 -4gd
10: Vakolic 0-0-2 -5gd

[Punum]

LM: Hello, I'm Lee Mueller and I'm here with Punisian manager Zackary Brown. It's great to meet you Zackary.

ZB: Good to see you too.

LM: With two losses in two games, what is going wrong?

ZB: I don't think anything is going particularly wrong, this is our first time in the World Cup and our first two games have been against very difficult opponents who both have had experience in the World Cup, I think as long as we keep our heads up and win the games we should be winning things should turn out fine.

LM: What would be regarded as 'fine' then?

ZB: Well if you look at the rankings we should come 8th, so I think we should be aiming to equal or top that.

LM: Moving on, Punum lost 2-0 to Kandorith, would you say that was a fair result?

ZB: We knew it was going to be a hard game and Lenny (Dotson) getting sent of didn't help, so yeah, it probably was a fair result.

LM: Would you say Lenny Dotson's tackle on Iichi Fuji was a red card?

ZB: Personally, I don't think it was, however I won't criticise the ref as football is a game played at a high pace and intensity nowadays, that these descisions are so hard to judge.

LM: Fortunately Iichi was fine and came back on to show his quality as he set up the second goal. The question is, was it poor defending or great skill from Fuji?

ZB: I think it was a bit of both, I've watched the goal over and I'll admit there was some poor communication from Craig (Hoffman) and Michael (Dean) as the ball came in between them, leaving space for Iichi (Fuji) to get the ball, go down the right, get a cross in and Meng Zeiji eventually headed the ball in to make it 1-0.

LM: There are also questions being asked about the second goal, but these are not about Punum, in fact they're about JieJie; Did he dive?

ZB: Yes he did, it was a clear dive, I'm still not going to criticise the ref for the same reasons I said before. I just hope he will watch it over again and then the JieJie will get punished later.

LM: There may be questions asked over if it was a dive or not, but there are no questions over the standard of the free kick, it was outstanding. What do you think?

ZB: It was definitely well placed, he saw our shortest man in the wall and dinked it in the bottom left, it was great to watch.

LM: I think we've covered the game, we've seen what the problems are but how are you going to move on?

ZB: I'll just tell the lads to keep their heads up and not to worry about the hard games but to focus on the winnable ones and we should be fine.

LM: Last of all, what is the team going to be against Charruterra?

ZB: I've made one change as Lenny Dotson is suspended for 3 games.
GK: Felix Briggs
RB: Craig Hoffman
CB: Clinton Conley
CB: Rick Curtis
LB: Marcos Dane
CDM: Matthew Jewell
RM: Michael Dean
LM: Henry Dean
CAM: Chris Lloyd
CAM: Malcolm Guzman
ST: Martin Hood

Subs
GK: Bill Hanson
RB/LB: Albert Chandler
CB: Norman Ismael
CDM: Frederick Newman
RM/LM: Neil Long
CAM: Rodrick Dalton
ST: Aaron McGuire

LM: Thank you

ZB: Great to be on here, see you soon.

LM: The next game is against Charruterra and as you just heard, the team has been announced, Charruterra are sixth and have just beaten Tyrrin 2-0. We wish Punum the best of luck, goodbye and goodnight.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Sportsnet-Your Sports Broadcasting Channel
Quebecois History in World Cup Qualifiers
Im Weon Kim
1.14.2017.

St.John's, Newfoundland, The Royal Kingdom of Quebec- The Royal Kingdom of Quebec Grim Reapers are back in World Cup Qualification Round for the fourth time in its history. Now, they're ranked 124th, about 200 steps above its ranking back in WC62, when it debuted. Lots of progresses have happened to the team since then. However, not much people, apart from the most dedicated bases of soccer fans, know about this. So, I have decided to write brief description of our history in last 3 World Cup Qualificaton rounds!!!


WC62: On its first qualification round, it drew 0-0 to Audioslavia before losing 13 straight to place as the 4th Worst team at the time. Well, barely anyone remembered that qualification round anyways. It wasn't on television, it wasn't on radio and most importantly(jeunes trésorerie milliardaires d'argent) (OOC: Quebecois version of YMCMB ). In addition, its home pitch was in the backyard(large enough to host a soccer game) at the mansion of Peu Weezy,its boss. No surprising that they did shit, eh?
After the tournament, it turned out to be that the then-President of Soccer Quebec, Edgar Newman, was bribed to send this team. This led into a series of huge scandals, which resulted in imprisonment of Mr. Newman and 17 other officials for 9 criminal charges.

WC63: After their catastrophic results in WC62 Qualifier, the Soccer Quebec, the national body of organisation for the sport, promised that they will send a legit team, with their best players from the Q-League and Quebec Intercollegiate Sports(QIS). And many wondered what will happen with this team. Well, this team was slightly better, but not by a lot. This team showed some promises and improved from 0-1-13 to 4-1-13, which is a lot. Their futility in defense and goaltending, however, led them to allow whopping 49 goals.
Only 2 players remain on that team: Thunderbolt Park and Gary Loewen-Jang. Thunderbolt scored 13 goals during the tournament and demonstrated some of his raw offensive talent, while Gary Loewen-Jang was somewhat effective and decent in blocking opponents' passes.

WC64: After two cycles of constant futility, this team showed some promising signs. While Thunderbolt Park and Gary "the socially incompetent" were out due to their injuries back in Q-League, the young guns(most of those who played in U15WC2, where Junior Executioners made it to the Round of 16) took over the pitch and played very well. The Executioners recorded fewer goals, largely due to the lack of experience and physicality among those young players. However, they also allowed fewer goals(by 50%), largely thanks to their tackle-oriented, gridlock defensive system. 6 players from this squad remain, including then-captain Ross Han and leading scorer Riley Johnson. Overall, they recorded a modest 7-5-6 record, which is a huge step above.

Now that this basic overview and reflection of previous 3 World Cup qualification attempts by Executioners/Grim Reapers(for those who didn't know or already forgot, official nickname of the team changed last week to the Grim Reapers) is over, I'd like you fans to enjoy watching the
Qualification round for this World Cup and support your Grim Reapers.

Good luck and Let's go Grim Reapers!

[The Sova Empire]

First Win

After 5-2 embarassment, 1-0 win opens up the winning for TSE

First off, congratulations to the New Montreal States baseball team for winning the WBC, and commiserations to Sicoutimont (the team that beat TSE in the Round of 16). But on to soccer.

Trevor Grey's debut in the goalie's box came against San Potato, and it wasn't stellar. He let by 5 goals in the first 30 minutes of play before Greg Sova finally pulled the plug and threw Jade Bird in. The shots kept on coming, but Jade's incredible intelligence and acrobatics, none went by. This gave an opportunity for some offense, and it was capitalized on. The first Sovan goal came in the 49th minute, when Jade Bird made a diving catch, passed to Locke, then passed to Starnes, then cleared to Kruger, who fired 2 shots before finally finding the back of the net on shot 3. Fast-forward to the 78th minute, and Blake Leggett stole a pass and broke out for a relatively easy goal. Unfortunately, that was all that TSE could muster, and the game ended 5-2. "I think I'll have Jade Bird come in for a couple of games, and have Trevor polish his skills a bit. I think we would have had a much better chance today had Trevor been at his best. We'll just have to get better by the time the next Potato match."

The 2nd match was against the unranked Rex Lucian. With Bird starting in the goalie position, it proved to be a goalie matchup. The offense could not get going on either side. Back and forth, both goalies were making spectacular plays, and the defenders were busy. The home crowd was attempting to cheer their way to a win, but it just wasn't going. Left, right, up, down, Jade Bird seemed to have everything covered. As the stoppage time hit, Katie Hebert took a chance and got a pass. She hauled off and hit the ball all the way to the goalie. The Goalie kicked it back, but by then, Ruth got a hold of the ball, and then passed it to Eden Kruger, who was wide open, and by the time the Rexes even realized it, the ball soared in. The players mobbed Kruger, and the final score displayed 1-0.

[Barunia]

BaruniainSports.com.bu

Another win, but margin too narrow
By Kitty Smith

The Barunia Suns had another close match tonight in the World Cup qualifiers, but despite a win over the German-American States the coach an players where not happy with tonights performance. I spoke to Fabrice Sagoro, who scored the game's only goal. He told me that the team are concerned about the lack of goals. "These are the easy matches, against the opponents ranked lower than us, and who don't try to wall off their goal like ASMV do. If we can't get the goals here. we're not going to have any chance against the better teams." Personally I'm more worried about where the goals are coming from. Victor Castolo, the Sun's shining light of WC64, hasn't scored a major international goal since that ill-fated game against West Angola. Instead it has been up to the young ones, Sagoro and Marris, to take the lead. Hopefully the veterans such as Castolo, Zokora and Plant can step up, or Barunia may be in for a hard time.

The game itself was fairly dismal, with plenty of chances for the Suns who dominated the possession. However, most of them were soaked up by the German-American defence, and when we did get a shot off it was usually wide. Luckily for the Suns, shooting down the other end was just as wild, and the Suns also performed admirably. Midfielder Bhara had a good game stopping the runs of the two opposing strikers, although he was substituted out for Damien Crook. Coach Wiggens explained that he wants to give these new players as much time on the pitch as possible so that they are ready for the challenges ahead. Crook may not quite fit into that field, as he's played for the Suns before, but never in something like the World Cup.

The only goal came from a brilliant cross field play by the Suns, which saw Cedric St. John, playing on the right, cross the ball to his counterpart on the left, Horatio Montoya, catching the defence out of position. A through ball to Sagoro, and G.A.S keeper Joshua Klopp found himself facing the Suns striker alone. Sagoro finished it well with a perfectly aimed strike to the bottom corner to seal the win.

With that win, Barunia are in third place on the ladder, with ASMV and FSC tied for first. These three teams are the only ones to not yet post a loss in group three, but there is a lot more football still to be played.