World Cup LXV (65) RP Thread

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media
International Edition - Sport


Llama Drama


Gonzalo Pereira reports from Soluca;

After a disappointing start to the campaign Iarlaith Mag Aonghusa’s Corsairs have found some form as their winning run stretched to five games. On paper visitors Super Llamaland offered a tricky test but a defence that hadn’t conceded in the previous three matches dominated the first half. The attack took a little longer to get going but after thirty six fairly uninteresting minutes Rodrigo Defederico took aim from twenty five yards and fired a rocket into the top corner. Six minutes later Sargossan captain Alejandro Echeverría swept in Maidana’s cutback to double the advantage.

Of course it wouldn’t be a true Sargossa match if everything went to plan and sure enough the Llamas came storming back after the break. They huffed and puffed but couldn’t seem to blow the Corsair’s defensive house down. That was until John Oliver stuck out an optimistic boot during a goalmouth scramble to halve the deficit. But 2 – 1 looked like being as good as it got for the visitors, or it would have been but for a moment of genius from Jared Mullin who beat almost the entire defence before placing a beautifully curving effort past Ezequiel Medrán. Unfortunately football is the cruellest off mistresses and straight from the kick-off Sargossa's finest surged forward and gained a freekick in a dangerous position. With what was the final action of the match Echeverría swung in a pinpoint cross onto the head of centreback Mauro Fernández who rose highest in the penalty area to head the ball home and break Llama hearts.

After the late dramatics of the previous match the home fans were hoping for something a little more sedate as the Wolves of Horusland bounded into town. Sadly someone apparently neglected to mention this to HorusLandian forward Altaan Narek who put the visitors in front after just seven minutes. Estrada did equalise soon after but a smart finish from Santtu Virtanen ensured the Wolves went in at the break with a narrow lead.

The turning point of the game came in the second half after HorusLandian star Narek received his matching orders after a thinly veiled assault on Sebastián Canteros. Down to ten men the visitors simply couldn’t cope as the Corsairs started to scythe through them at will. Chances were made and in striker Federico Ferreyra the nation boasts a forward whose clinical incisiveness is a danger to any side in this tournament. Sure enough two smart second half finishes turned the match on its head and ensured a fifth straight win for the side.

Bottom after two matches but fifteen points from a possible fifteen has seen Sargossa soar majestically through the rest of the group to sit in second place, two points behind leaders and top seeds Taeshan.

[New Montreal States]

"Up next, could supposedly "good-for-you" foods green tea and bean sprouts secretly be giving you cancer? We'll be joined by two medical experts to discuss whether every trip to a Vietnamese restaurant might be bringing you that much closer to the grave-"

*click*

"...order today and we'll include this giant novelty coffee mug at no extra charge!"

*click*

"...joining us from the aftermath of the Paladins' most recent draw, this time against something called the 'German-Spanish Empire,' a disgruntled Doc Lagacé. Doc, what's your assessment of the situation for the Paladins right now?"

"Doom! Doom! DOOM! DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-"

"There are still eleven matches to go, Doc."

"This defense is going to be the death of me yet, Matt. They've given up more goals than anyone else in the group. Even New Lowerlands and Colland, who are locked in a deathmatch for the bottom spot in the standings, have performed better on defense than the Paladins have. We might as well petition to relocate to Group 8."

"Because that group is somehow more winnable than this one?"

"No, because we've turned into the City of Woe!"

"They've only given up five goals, Doc."

"Really? I'm not even sure what the hell that makes the 'States, then. It makes us an early favorite for the Cup of Harmony, I guess."

"How did the defense let everyone down against German-Spanish Empire?"

"You can see the two points the Paladins left on the field right here, as the Galician runs down the sideline and finds the Upper Rheinlander free in space after Mathieu Thion-Bartel lost his footing on the cut, giving the Rheinlander all the space he needs in the box. Pierre Desrosiers gets a hand on it, but the Asturian in there to tap in the rebound to give the German-Spanish Empire their first goal of the night. Amelio Quagliata Jr. would put the Paladins ahead again, but the Empire struck back when the Pomeranian set up the Elector Palantine in the box after an aggressive move by the Prussian in center-midfield to steal the ball from a complacent John Powell Hughes. Hughes didn't go back on defense for several seconds after losing the ball, giving the German Spaniards an effective one-man advantage on that drive. They took full advantage of it, and the Paladins have fallen behind both Farfadillis, the Northern Sunrise Islands, and Lymantatia, as all three sides won their matches last night."

"Ugly stuff, Doc. Any further word on the Flunkyball incident from a week ago?"

"Matt, sources close to the team confirmed that the Paladins attempted to better understand their Kriegiersien opponents by performing a traditional Kriegiersien pre-game drill called "Flunkyball," which is believed to increase your chances of scoring and durability -"

"THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID! Sorry, Doc."

"Anyway, ten of the players bought a crate of cheap schnapps and several live turkeys and set up a Flunkyball pitch behind the hotel they were staying at. My source told me that Benoit Longevin-Whitby and Deangelo Morrissey were suspended after being too dehydrated from their hangovers to play, and that both players might be kicked off the team shortly. They also confirmed that starting left midfielder Armand Potvin's absence from the Kriegiersien match was because he was recovering from being attacked by drunken wild turkeys while vomiting on the side of the field during the game of Flunkyball."

"Words fail me, Doc."

"That's what everyone else said when they first heard that, Matt."

"Doc Lagacé, everyone. Coming up next, our social media reporter will be joining us to discuss the growing fad of people ending their perfectly normal conversations by saying rude things about Milchaman sports teams. Don't you dare touch that remote-"

*click*

[Lymantatia]

A Year In The Life: Weeks 5-8
The person centered around in "A Year In The Life" is a female 14-year-old named Liselotte de Archambault (November 20, 1997-) who lives in Roselle, a town with a population of 10,000 which is near Laurentia. Liselotte's paternal ancestry starts with the Archambault noble family. She has a mother (October 22, 1964-), father (June 2, 1962-), a 14-year old sister Marguerite (March 11, 1997-) and a 22-year old brother named Alfred (March 28, 1989-).
Week 5 (January 29-February 4)
The town has a snowstorm on Thursday.
Week 6 (February 5-February 11)
She meets a new student named Joao, who she befriends.
Week 7 (February 12-February 18)
Her family has a reunion.
Week 8 (February 19-February 25)
We go to Connorstown at Saturday.
Timfen 0–2 Lymantatia
Posted at 9:00pm 2013 June 25 - Lymantatia has won again! This time it is against Timfen. We are at third place, just like last edition.
Goalscorers
26 mins - Jacques Bressler (Lymantatia)
44 mins - Sylvius Johnson (Lymantatia)
Current Statistics
Average number of time of goals: 33 minutes
Average number of time of goals by other teams: 48 minutes 30 minutes (48.5 minutes)
Most goals by person on Lymantatia's team: Jacques Bressler (7)
IC Time is 9:00pm 2013 June 26

[Saintland]

Sangti pulls off shocking draw against National Soccer Team

(SP) Our Kingdom's National Soccer Team visited Sangti today to face their national soccer team, called the "Agilang Dilaw" by their media. The match took place at the Estadio Ferdinand Marcos in Ciudad Sangti. This match was a very physical affair, but it was bogged down in midfield for the better part of the match as not a single goal would be scored. Sangti, like the Sanctii at the last World Cup, is seeded 8th in this group of 10, so maybe we shouldn't be surprised that they are tougher than they appeared to be. "Today was simply not our best day. Although we had the better of the possession and more goal scoring opportunities, their keepers just weren't going to concede anything. The defense played well, but we have to score goals. A draw is only worth a third of a win and we need to finish in the top 2 in this group regardless, so we can't afford to be leaving those extra 2 points on the table. Alessandro [Seius] has 2 clean sheets and that is definitely an encouraging sign, but clean sheets don't win matches if you can't score goals. I have no doubt in my mind that God's Plan includes our Kingdom qualifying for this World Cup, but nobody ever said we would coast through qualifying. God wants us to go through some adversity before we come out on top and I believe we can rise above that adversity and show the world that we are God's Kingdom." - Prince Andreas

Following the playing of both national anthems, the match started bogged down in midfield. Sangti was seemingly unable to advance the ball past the Sanctii defense. The center backs on our Kingdom's National Team repeatedly took the ball right out from under the feet of Sangtian strikers. Although they usually start Adrian Magcaleng, the Sangtians started Daren Corsiga instead for some reason. Magcaleng was not red-carded against Jedi8246, so this is a puzzling move, but one that they probably pulled to throw off the Sanctii preparation. However, that did not make a significant impact.

The match stayed relatively uneventful until the 39th minute. Erick Khan, one of their midfielders, passed the ball right to Silvester Flaccus. Flaccus seemingly went into a zone, Prince Andreas style, shaking off defenders until he was one-on-one against Williard Navarette. Silvester hit the ball hard and it looked like a certain goal, but the Sangtian keeper somehow found a way to block the shot. While doing so, he planted his leg awkwardly and was injured. The Sangtians seemed to be on the verge of replacing their keeper, but they kept him in the match slightly longer. In added time, Lucas Aufidius set up Prince Andreas on a breakaway and the Prince of Saintland shot with the precision that the widely acknowledged best player in the multiverse today is known for. Navarette barely saved that shot, but he was clearly unable to continue. Sangti's "manager" brought in Brian Cua, their backup keeper. Reports from Sangti's media already indicate that Navarette is likely to miss the rematch at Royal Stadium.

After halftime, the Sanctii came back out onto the pitch and continued to have the momentum. Prince Andreas would set up a Stephanus Vagionius scoring chance shortly after the half. The Vagionius shot would hit the post and bounce to Roman Ang, the very young Sangtian defender. At the hour mark, a long shot from Paulus Flaccus was hit too high. Now, Sangti came back and Daren Corsiga set up a shot on goal by John Utanes. Seius saved it easily. Both teams were blowing whatever scoring chances they had.

As the clock reached the 70th minute, Prince Andreas attempted a long shot and sent it out for a goal kick. He used the opportunity during the stoppage to bring in Paulus Gabinius and Ioannes Gratus. The Poenius brothers left the match, leaving the Sanctii with a 3-3-1-3 formation and a newly offensive mindset. In the 76th minute, Prince Andreas would send the ball to Vagionius. Vagionius faked a shot, with Gratus and Gabinius standing on either side of him. However, the keeper did not buy the fake this time. Brian Cua had apparently scouted the Sanctii playbook and was able to survive the Sanctii fake-out without conceding a goal. Frustrated, Vagionius took a shot for real and ended up hitting it way too hard and way too high, sending the ball flying into the stands, where it was caught by a Sangtian fan. Sangti was clearly happy with the draw, bringing in Mari Arceo and Luigi Averilla to replace Erick Khan and Luke Docdoc. Thus, Sangti shifted to a 5 defender look instead of their normal 4 defender look and brought in a fresh defender for a tired one. That paid off, as the Sangtians would cling to the nil-nil draw and steal a point from the heavily favored Sanctii.

Elsewhere, Wight played Karditan to a 1-1 draw and The Sovan Antithesis stunned Jedi8246 3 to 2, so the Sanctii are still in a tie for first place. That is remarkable, considering that the Sanctii left 2 points on the table against Sangti due to their inability to score a single goal. After 2 days, there is a 5-way tie for the Group 16 lead. Wight, Karditan, Sondstead and Quebec have also won a match and drawn a match. Tomorrow, the Sanctii will host the Sovan Antithesis at Royal Stadium. Since the Sanctii will have to face Wight and Karditan on consecutive days following that match, it is essential that the Sanctii pick up 3 points against the Sovan Antithesis tomorrow. That match will be broadcast live on Royal One, but tickets are still available at Royal Stadium. Cantus Virginum will be performing once again, although the SP can confirm that they will not be permitted to delay the start of tomorrow's match. Be sure to watch the match and support our National Soccer Team in their efforts to qualify for the World Cup this time around.

---

Progress High School re-opening next Monday

(SP) King Paulus XV decreed today that the notorious Progress High School will be reopening next Monday, for a special summer boarding school session. The King has also decreed that Sister Maria Polus will be reappointed as the permanent High Inquisitor at Progress High School and that, effectively immediately, Sister Polus will be the headmistress of the school. The former head of the school, Mr. Ulrich Kluge, a Republican national, has been relieved of his position, by order of King Paulus XV, and has been advised to find another career. King Paulus XV will no longer permit Mr. Kluge to work as a headmaster in the Kingdom of Saintland, as the King has deemed him responsible for the total collapse of discipline at that school last winter. "I am honored to be appointed as the Headmistress of Progress High School by His Majesty, King Paulus the Great and Wise and I will serve those foreign resident children in the same spirit of humility with which I serve the One True God and His True Church. I will change what needs to be changed and I will strive to conserve that which should be conserved. I will be remaking Progress High School in the image of God. I will strive to make Progress High School a model school for other foreign resident schools in our Kingdom, a place where foreign resident youths are taught, whether they like it or not, how to be virtuous. I promise that Vindictva Progressvm will be no more before the end of this summer and I promise that these spoiled brats will learn proper deportment. I look forward to welcoming everybody back to school next Monday." - Sister Maria Polus

Since the end of the school year, Vindicta Progressvm has emerged onto the scene. The group of foreign resident youths that are students at Progress High School have been busy disrupting a number of events over the past few week. It all began when they disrupted a basketball game against Mapletish during the International Basketball Championship. Then, they heckled Cantus Virginum at a concert at Royal Square Garden. It got worse as they actually had the audacity to disrupt the wedding between Georgius Catiotus, a center back on the National Soccer Team and his wife Martha, the figure skating gold medalist at the last Winter Olympics. After that, the SP recommended that the King reopen Progress High School, but he chose not to do so.

However, what happened yesterday was the last straw. During halftime of the match at Royal Stadium between the National Soccer Team and Narsora, Cantus Virginum was scheduled to perform. As the podium was set up for the group to perform, Vindicta Progressvm members jumped the barricade at Royal Stadium and seized the microphones. Instead of singing, they instead used the opportunity to denounce Sister Polus for her "abusive" methods and criticize the "backward" Church of Saintland. They spoke in English, seemingly targeted at the foreign audience. The St. Petrus Police had apparently been distracted by a report that Feministvs Sanctvsterra was planning on desecrating the Cathedral again and the Royal Armed Forces were busy trying to prevent an imaginary shipment of supplies from being smuggled into the Kingdom and given to Feministvs Sanctvsterra.

Vindicta Progressvm delayed the start of the second half as they continued slandering the good name of Sister Polus and uttering numerous seditious and blasphemous statements for around half an hour. After they figured out that discretion is the better part of valor and ran for the hills, Cantus Virginum finally came out to perform, delaying the start of the second half even further. It was an appalling waste of time and likely was a contributing factor to the Sanctii coming out flat in the second half, beating Narsora by just the one goal that they had scored right before half.

Progress High School will be housed, for the remainder of the summer, in St. Petrus at the campus of the Maria Virgine School. The Maria Virgine School is a highly prestigious girls-only boarding school that is designed to turn girls into upstanding young ladies. Maria Virgine shields young ladies from temptation into sin. Many of the school's alumni have gone into the convent, a list that includes Sister Polus. Those that decide that convent life is not for them have numerous benefits, including a program to arrange marriages. Unlike most schools, Maria Virgine permits young ladies to stay on until they marry, even after they have completed their graduation requirements and most girls who are eligible for that program opt for it, as they find that it is easier to determine which men are worthy of marrying when they have a school employee chaperoning them throughout the courting process. Many prominent Sanctii men use Maria Virgine as a wife search service. In fact, Queen Catharina was a student at Maria Virgine, and the Princess Maria is already pre-enrolled in the school.

Maria Virgine was the first school to respond to the request from King Paulus XV for a Church of Saintland boarding school campus to house Progress High School for the duration of the summer term. Since Church of Saintland schools are not in session for the summer, their campus was being unused. The campus has a 20 foot fence around it and police officers will be stationed outside to watch for any escape attempts. Any students from Progress High School that fail to return for the summer term or attempt to escape will be considered members of Vindicta Progressvm and punished accordingly under the laws of our Kingdom. Let's hope that this measure will prove sufficient to shut down Vindicta Progressvm, at least for the remainder of the summer. If it is not, more drastic measures may yet be necessary.

---

Royal Square Garden, St. Petrus, Saintland

Prince Andreas - Before we show off more of our launch lineup, we will discuss the capabilities of the Saint in more detail.

Dirk Roth - One of the features we built into the Saint was a private messaging system. If you have something that you wish to say to any fellow Saint owner, you need only know their username to send them a message.

Prince Andreas - Right now, I'm going to load the Private Messaging app and send a message to somebody.

The crowd watched the screen as Prince Andreas selected "skaterVIIIgolden" from his friends list and composed a message using an on-screen keyboard:

Its time.

Prince Andreas - Now, I'm going to send the message.

Prince Andreas touched the send button and the message was sent to his mysterious recipient.

Dirk Roth - It is now time to show off the "Close" feature, which permits 2 Saints to interact with one another in special ways if they are in the same geographical location. In some software, users will be able to leave items in geographical locations or pick up items that were left by users that previously visited that location. There will be incentives for using that feature. Unfortunately, we only have 1 Saint here at the moment, so we are unfortunately unable to demonstrate the "Close" feature at this time.

As he was saying that, Martha Pudentilla emerged and was making her way toward the stage.

Dirk Roth - I must say this is unexpected.

Prince Andreas - I am proud to welcome Martha Pudentilla, the soon to be Mrs. Georgius Catiotus, to Royal Square Garden.

Martha Pudentilla walked onto the stage. The Sanctii in the crowd cheered loudly for her. She was a national hero, for winning the first ever Olympic gold medal by a Sanctii athlete and she had been considered one of the biggest longshots to medal prior to the City Centre Games.

Martha Pudentilla - Thank you, Prince Andreas. You've always been a true gentleman as long as I've known you. I'm here to help demonstrate the "Close" feature, which requires 2 Saints to function properly. Of course, I have not been working on the Saint, but Prince Andreas and my fiance Georgius have kept me in the loop.

Martha Pudentilla took her Saint out of her purse.

Martha Pudentilla - You may not be aware that it is possible to Remote Broadcast up to 8 Saints on the same screen at the same time. I will put my Saint into Remote Broadcast mode.

She put her Saint into that mode and suddenly both Saints were being broadcast on the big screen above.

Martha Pudentilla - As you can see, both Saints are in proximity to one another and there is a "Close" notification on both screens. I will load "Close" on my Saint.

Martha Pudentilla touched the icon for "Close" and the app immediately recognized that her friend "Prince Andreas" (SoccerSNT10) was nearby.

Prince Andreas - As you can see, if you are "Close" to somebody on your friends list, the Saint will recognize that. However, if you are "Close" to a stranger, it will not identify the user. However, the users will be allowed to send messages and friend requests to one another. If you own a copy of a simulator and wish to compete against somebody who does not have that software program, there is the Download Play feature, which permits your Saint to send a demo version to theirs. I'm going to send Martha a demo version of the Real Soccer Simulator so I can play a soccer match against her.

Prince Andreas selected "Download Play" and then selected to send the "Real Soccer Simulator" to Martha.

Martha Pudentilla - I was talking to Prince Andreas about this earlier and we agreed that neither of us would play as the Sanctii. Instead, we will play as rivals of our Kingdom. I will be playing as Cassadaigua, a nation that disgusts me and Prince Andreas will be playing as the Equestrian States, which you know as the country that has those cute talking horses.

Prince Andreas - There are features restrictions if you use the "Download Play" feature, but the specific restrictions are up to the creator of every software program. The Real Soccer Simulator restricts "Download Play" matches to World Cup sides, from the current list. As the list is based on the signups for the upcoming World Cup 65, you will not be permitted to play as former #1 ranked The Babbage Islands, a team that has seemingly thrown in the towel after losing their #1 ranking to Audioslavia and facing a humiliating early exit from the Finals last time. You will, however, be able to play as the Free Republics or New Sideburn's colony.

Prince Andreas and Martha Pudentilla set everything up and soon they were facing one another, in a match that was taking place at Royal Stadium. Prince Andreas got out to an early lead as Thunderlane and Fire Dash scored goals. However, Martha Pudentilla was able to get on the board as Sierra Hinson scored just before halftime.

Martha Pudentilla - I want to play a second half. I think I'm just getting the hang of this.

Prince Andreas - That's fine with me.

Early in the second half, a Danielle Leonard shot was knocked out by High Soarin' for a corner. The corner was headed in by Meghan Kinson for a goal as the virtual Royal Stadium crowd chanted "Rapist" over and over again.

Martha Pudentilla - I tied it up, but I have mixed feelings. That Meghan Kinson disgusts me. I'm sure she's guilty of something improper, although knowing the way things work in Cassadaigua, their corrupt authorities will explain "why" she is innocent.

The match continued as Brianna Bouchard would be fouled by Andrea Molovi in the penalty area a few minutes later. Molovi was given a red card and Martha decided to take the penalty with Bouchard. Bouchard's penalty went into the net and suddenly Cassadaigua led 3 to 2.

Prince Andreas - No more taking it easy on you.

Despite those words, the Dagan defense held strong for a while. Soon, it was added time and Cassadaigua still led 3 goals to 2. Prince Andreas began moving the ball forward in a last-ditch effort to get an equalizer and avoid the humiliation of losing to a girl. Rapid Dash dashed past Meghan Kinson and put the ball past Lauren Kearns to tie the match at 3-3. The ponies had drawn Cassadaigua in the sport they call "hoofball" and Prince Andreas was relieved...

---

Saintland 5, The Sovan Antithesis 2

(SP) The Sanctii shredded the opposing defense today en route to a victory over The Sovan Antithesis. The Sovan Antithesis team is composed of a bunch of masked, androgynous players who are seemingly interchangeable. They play a 1-4-5 formation, which has to be one of the most ridiculous things soccer fans in the Kingdom have ever seen. Their extreme attack-mindedness left the "Margret Worshippers," as they call themselves, ill-equipped to defend. The Sanctii got out to a big lead early, but the Antithesis found a way to get 2 late goals. "This had to be one of the most bizarre teams we have ever faced and many of our players faced those shape-shifting criminals from the Equestrian States and even a team of soccer-playing snakes in that Swamp Soccer World Cup. I believe many of their players were women, but it was impossible to tell. Judging from their soccer team, which apparently is referred to by numbers, The Sovan Antithesis is one of the most wicked of all the nations and is certainly not a place that I am looking forward to visiting. Regardless of who we end up facing, we just need to put our trust in God because, if we trust in God, He will be with us on the pitch and when God is with you, there is nobody that can beat you. We now have the toughest stretch of qualifying coming up, but I am hopeful that we can compete with Wight and Karditan and I believe that we will qualify for this World Cup." - Prince Andreas

Prior to today's match at Royal Stadium, Cantus Virginum performed the national anthem. Unlike the previous match at Royal Stadium, there was no delay. The Sanctii came out determined today to score early goals. When they saw that their adversaries were leaving only 49569 back in defense, they knew exactly how to exploit that. The Sanctii went back into a shell defensively, with everybody except for Prince Andreas and Stephanus Vagionius guarding the defensive box. Prince Andreas and Vagionius made sure they were not ahead of 49569. Now, the Sanctii just clogged potential passing lanes, waiting for TSA to make a bad pass. Eventually 24353 passed toward 71013 and Georgius Catiotus deflected the pass right to Lucas Aufidius.

Aufidius booted a long pass over the heads of all the TSA forwards and defenders in the direction of Prince Andreas. Prince Andreas beat 49569 to the ball and began to make his way into the scoring area. Soon, he had the lone defender from the Antithesis beat and Prince Andreas was heading toward a one-on-one situation with the keeper (81915). Prince Andreas placed a shot low and on the right edge. It hit the edge of the post and ricocheted into the goal. Prince Andreas had scored and not even 7 minutes of play had yet elapsed. The home crowd at Royal Stadium came to their feet, cheering loudly for the Prince of Saintland.

Still, TSA threw 9 men forward on attack, so the Sanctii just went right back into that shell. This time, it didn't take quite as long as a long shot by 60888 would be blocked by Petrus Mamilius. Mamilius blocked it right back to 9718. 9718 took another shot and Alessandro Seius saved it. Seius quickly booted it long in the direction of Stephanus Vagionius. Vagionius got to the ball and headed it over to Prince Andreas. Both Sanctii moved forward and soon they were through on goal. Prince Andreas faked, 81915 bought the fake and the Prince of Saintland passed to Vagionius. Vagionius hit the shot too hard and it went flying off the bar and to the head of 49569. The ball bounced off the head of 49569 and out for a corner. Both teams brought most of their squads forward for the corner. Prince Andreas booted the corner into the area and toward Nicolaus Poenius and 9718. 9718 leaped to head it away to safety, but Nicolaus Poenius got his head on it first, sending it right past 81915 for the second Sanctii goal. The Kingdom of Saintland now led by 2 goals and just 15 minutes had elapsed.

A few minutes later, Lucas Aufidius intercepted a pass from 24353 that was intended for 60888. TSA were still sticking with that ridiculous formation. Aufidius booted another long pass, this time to the feet of Vagionius. Stephanus Vagionius beat out 49569 and had a one-on-one with the keeper. Vagionius's shot was directed to the lower left corner. 81915 saved it. The Sovans threw 8898 and 60888 back to function as extra defenders, having apparently just figured out that their crazy formation was only going to result in Sanctii scoring chance after Sanctii scoring chance.

After this adjustment, play finally began to somewhat resemble a soccer match. Just a few minutes later, a Prince Andreas intended for Stephanus Vagionius would be intercepted by 49569. 49569 passed way downfield in the direction of 15584. 15584 ran furiously toward the Sanctii goal and finally shot when he got close. His shot bounced off of the right hand of Alessandro Seius and out for a corner. TSA's corner was targeted toward 8898, who leaped higher than Matthaeus Belaeus, heading the ball into the back of the net. Suddenly, The Sovan Antithesis had narrowed the match to a 2 to 1 Sanctii lead after 23 minutes.

The Sanctii did not take long to answer, as they slowly moved the ball down the field. Prince Andreas passed back to Petrus Mamilius to get some time to build up a play. Mamilius passed to Silvester Flaccus. Flaccus passed to Ioannes Poenius. Poenius moved forward and eventually passed back to Flaccus further downfield. Silvester Flaccus passed across the interior of the field to his brother Paulus. Paulus Flaccus passed forward to Prince Andreas, who set up a cross to Vagionius. Vagionius took a shot and 81915 batted it out for a corner. Prince Andreas came up to take the corner, booting it into the goal scoring area. Matthaeus Belaeus had come forward this time for the corner, a rare occurrence and by some coincidence, the corner went right to his feet. Belaeus finished clinically, putting the ball low and straight in front of him. 81915 guessed the wrong direction and watched helplessly as the Kingdom of Saintland took a 3 to 1 lead in the 27th minute.

Right before halftime, 15584 made the mistake of giving the ball away to Lucas Aufidius and Aufidius passed long to Prince Andreas. The Prince of Saintland charged toward the goal. 81915 ran out, trying to dive for the ball. Prince Andreas just barely put his shot over the keeper's head as he dove and it bounced into the back of the net. The Sanctii had taken a 4 goals to 1 lead in added time and that was the score at halftime. It looked bleak for The Sovan Antithesis, due to their inept defensive play.

Cantus Virginum performed for most of the halftime interval. Their fans screamed loudly as the most popular musical act in Saintland put on a show. The second half started with the Antithesis pushing for a second goal. They would get it in the 50th minute when 9718 scored on a defensive mistake by Paulus Flaccus. Flaccus over-pursued 9718, giving him a clear window toward goal. Alessandro Seius was caught off-guard by the shot, but still got a hand on it. That didn't matter, as 9718's shot still bounced into the goal. The Sovan Antithesis had scored their second goal of the match. Prince Andreas pulled Vagionius and the Flaccus brothers, bringing in the Jucundius brothers and Andreas Inventius. The Sanctii now played a 7-2-1 formation with no strikers.

This new defensive-minded formation worked, as TSA were unable to get any significant scoring chances. The Sanctii focused on maintaining possession and did not seriously attempt to score more goals. The match continued like this until the 81st minute when TSA decided to bring 81915 forward on attack. Suddenly, the Sanctii realized that nobody was back defending the goal. When Petrus Jucundius intercepted a pass that was intended for 15584, he passed ahead to Andreas Inventius. Inventius easily beat the last defender for the Antithesis and ran forward. By the time he reached the scoring area, it was now the 82nd minute, but there was no defensive player in the area. Andreas Inventius took the easy goal, putting the Kingdom of Saintland up by a score of 5 goals to 2. That would prove to be the final score, as the Sanctii picked up their 2nd victory and remained undefeated in World Cup 65 qualifiers.

Once again, there is a 5-way tie for first place in Group 16. Karditan, Wight, Sondstead and Quebec all won today, just like the Sanctii, which now means that all of those nations have 2 wins and a draw, good for 7 points. Nobody else has more than 3 points. Tomorrow, the Sanctii will visit Wight. While this first visit for our Kingdom's National Soccer Team to Wight is later than we had hoped for, since Wight was a co-host of the last World Cup Finals, it is still an important test for our Kingdom against one of the true powers of international soccer. The match will take place at the South Lawn in the city of Spit. Tomorrow, the Sanctii will be hoping for a victory or, at the very least, a draw against the team that is favored to win Group 16. The match will be broadcast live by Royal One. Tomorrow, the Sanctii will have another chance to show that they should be regarded as one of the powers of international soccer and they will have a chance to shock the world. Since it would likely be easier for our Kingdom's National Team to beat Wight at Royal Stadium, a victory tomorrow would be a huge step toward winning Group 16 outright and qualifying for the World Cup without having to compete in a playoff. Tomorrow, we will find out if the Sanctii have successfully shaken off that rust they picked up during that break between the World Cups. This will be the most important qualifier of the first half and the Sanctii will be determined to defeat a perennial World Cup qualifier. Be sure to tune in to Royal One's broadcast and find out if they can do just that.

[New Sideburn]

Cathy Stokes' Dream Diary
December 8, 330
I dreamt I was a cat stuck in a tree, and a giant bear was trying to eat me. In the distance those Archregimancy blokes were having a party, and I craned my neck to see closer; they had a giant birthday cake and a stripper came out. I craned further forward and fell out of the tree and the bear mauled and ate me. I ... really wish the dream had ended before then.

Nobody could say that the Cormorants would take their next opponents, Phing Phong, lightly.

I mean, sure. They were fielding their second-string back line, attacking midfielder and strikers. Paolo Crewe was arguably their third-string goalkeeper, if you trusted shirt numbers.

But you had to bring these players on sometime, and after all, it would be terrible if the top players missed a clutch fixture on a caution here. And there were worse times to field your B-squad than when you were facing a team that had played and lost five matches in the Baptism of Fire.

And Chase Wingett had scored a goal.

One goal in fifteen caps was... really bad, on the face of it. But when you looked deeper you realised that it was mostly substitute caps, and from the Baptism of Fire at that, where he'd been at Newrook and in mediocre form.

Anyway, they'd submitted 2-0 to superior Sideburnese steel. Next stop: Backyard Sports at home.
-----------------------------
"They're street footballers, then?" Catherine (Sedgwick) looked confused. Four of the women were sat at a cafe after training, discussing their curious next opponents. "Does that mean they aren't fielding a full eleven?"
Lucia shrugged. "Pretty sure they are. Hell, if you don't start with seven then you get herded off the pitch."
Cathy (Stokes) grinned mercilessly. "We'll give 'em a proper welcome next week, then, aye? Bet they ain't used to that back home!"
"They play in a 250-capacity stadiu... well, field. There's just no quality standards in this tournament, no quality standards at all," grumbled Olga.
"You're getting the start tonight?" asked Lucia.
"Yeah. James picked up that yellow in the last minutes of the Phong match, right?"
"I swear 'Phing Phong' is like... how racists think foreigners talk," muttered Catherine. Cath wasn't exactly dim, but she did tend to struggle a bit to keep up with a conversation.
Lucia leaned back. "Anyway, I'm sure it'll all be fine. All we have to do is put the boot in good and 'ard..."

[Alexanderburn]

134 Alexanderburn 1-1 Boring Paradise 47
Frederiksen (48')
Draw with Boring Paradise is, well, boring

We cannot say much at this point, but it seems as if Alexanderburn will not go anywhere if they continue to be placed under St. Lucoa yet above Valladares

The match was somewhat disappointing. In fact, it wasn't as boring as most newspapers may claim due to the numerous amount of injuries that occurred throughout the game, in addition to the yellow cards that flew left and right in the game.

The goals are listed below..

Alexanderburn 1:0 Boring Paradise - 48' - Frederiksen
Alexanderburn 1:1 Boring Paradise - 90'+6 - Williams

and the match stats are as follows:

Alexanderburn - 13 shots VS 18 shots - Boring Paradise
Alexanderburn - 5 shots o.g. VS 6 shots o.g. - Boring Paradise
Alexanderburn - 28 fouls VS 19 fouls - Boring Paradise
Alexanderburn - 6 corner kicks VS 8 corner kicks - Boring Paradise
Alexanderburn - 7 cautions VS 5 cautions - Boring Paradise
Alexanderburn - 43% poss. VS 57% poss. - Boring Paradise

As you can tell, the match got very heated, and the statistics show that Alexanderburn did seem to be the more aggressive team in the match even though the team was instructed and coached to play a defensive role. This may have had a positive or negative effect on the team's result, as it was likely that both goals scored in the game were direct results of Alexanderburn's switch to a more offensive tactic.

For example, Schroeder needed to be substituted out in the 74th minute for an injury that could keep him out of the next few matches, but this is only in addition to the yellow card that he received earlier in the match. Fiedler, who was brought on in place of the former captain, was also one of the six players who received a first warning. Barros, who was substituted in along with Hooper for the minor injuries sustained by Doyle and Milton by fouls from Boring Paradise players, was almost immediately booked right after Schroeder's injury was sustained from DF Daniel Jones (Boring Paradise).

"What may have been the most aggressive and dirty games of football in the entire tournament is finally over, and all I could think about during that game was, is this really happening?" noted goalkeeper Dale Moulton after the match. The game last 90 minutes in addition to 7 minutes of overtime, a record for the nation of Alexanderburn. This may just have been the worst game that the team has ever played, but it is by no means the "most boring" as noted by AX1 sports reporter Sergio Coggino.

"We can just hope and pray that tomorrow's match will go better," reported Peter Mathiassen in a post-game interview last night. "This was really a bad day for the team [ANFT] and we are just looking to turn a new page in the history of Alexanderburnese football in this tournament."

Just a note to folks: Schroder is injured, Barros is booked, Doyle and Milton will be out for the next match, and Beller and Massie are too disappointed to represent the team tonight.

Mathiassen also took the courtesy of revealing the upcoming lineup just a couple of hours ago:

STARTING LINE-UP (Alexanderburn @ Estope)

van der Pol / Kidane
Frederiksen / Holierhoek (c) / Jameson
Fiedler / Collett
Hooper / Rittenhouse / Ebersberger
Moulton

Modification: +1

Good luck Alexanderburn!

[Paradystopia]

YS: What is this place?
JW: I'm not sure. Peaceful though.
YS: Shouldn't we be somewhere in Paradystopia?
JW: You tell me! This amusing jaunt though time was your idea.
YS: Oh yeah. I'll check the GPS.
JW: You have GPS?
YS: Yup. It's a waterproof one.
JW: Why waterproof?
YS: Well, I like fish, yes?
JW: Okay
YS: And fish live in the ocean, yes?
JW: Among other places
YS: The ocean doesn't have a lot of discernible landmarks
JW: Ahh ... I getcha. So where are we?
YS: We're in the Paradystopi Capital of Newtown
JW: Really? All I see is nothingness.
YS: Yeah ... weird
JW: So ... when are we?
YS: I'll check the chronographic display unit ... It's twenty past seven.
JW: Calling your watch a 'chronographic display unit' doesn't make it anymore science-fiction-y ... Also, twenty past seven doesn't really answer anything.
YS: It's 09.03.2012
JW: What? What does that figure even mean? And how do you know that?
YS: I checked my portable time travel computer.
JW: You have a portable time travel computer?
YS: Yeah, I bought it at a market. Thought it was just a joke thing. Never thought I'd actually use it or that it would actually work.
JW: It doesn't work. 09.03.2012 doesn't make any sense.
YS: It might do to someone. Anyway, I'm bored here. Let's go.
JW: Good idea. Preferably somewhere with football results. I haven't a clue how Paradystopia are doing.

ooc: a cop-out RP due to time-constraints. For the relevance of the date, go left 'til you find 'Paradystopia' with 'Charge d'Affaires' underneath. Look under that ...

[Sondstead]

Please stop asking me to write clever subtitles. Please.

Sondsteadish Pop Culture · Sports in Sondstead · Technology · Weird Stuff · Visiting Sondstead

Another day, another tie (26 June 2013)

Contributed by Ash Terry · Somebody's got to ask; was their something in the water in Wight?

As you no doubt heard last night, after a 1–1 away game draw against Wight, Sondstead scored a 1–1 draw against another high ranked team, Karditan. This is getting weird. Of course, the Karditan (Karditani... I think) team was even weirder, with some of the players being, uh, trained ponies and a trained bison. And the manager is, um, a bear. I am informed that in other countries, ponies and bison and bears are intelligent. Human intelligent I mean. I had no idea. I don't know what to believe anymore. I'd appreciate some help with that. I am honestly just really confused right now. Furthermore, apparently football is banned in Karditan and so, uh, the half the team are mobsters. Because no one else plays football in Karditan.

Anyway, apparently Sondstead doesn't have an extradition treaty with Karditan, so they were able to play in Windstrand despite being wanted men/ponies/bison. Meanwhile, Sondstead started out using their 4-3-3 formation, going for an offence focus against the more defensive Karditani team. Katie Ästerssünr was filling in for Gamal Karimi on the front of the formation and Durante Abandonato filled in for Jöhännes Muharukua. The game started out with Sondstead, surprisingly, seeming to have the upper hand, pushing forward against the Karditani defence.

Even so, it was very tough (let's be fair, Sondstead was the definite underdog), and it was a little surprising again when Katie Ästerssünr scored a goal at 40 minutes. Scoring a goal against a team ranked something like 41st in the world (I don't recall exactly what) definitely illustrates why she is probably the best player in the Women's FF-Ligä. Unfortunately she suffered a strain in her left leg shortly after the shot and had to sit out the second half.

As the Sondsteadish team switched back to their 4-4-2 diamond at halftime as they have been since the BoF, Ästerssünr was replaced by midfielder Möhmet Dale̊r as Sondstead tried to hold onto their lead. At first, they managed to effectively hold off Karditan, but all too soon cracked, with Karditani forward Mario Cansetta scoring at 59 minutes, after which Sondstead went into a mad dash to hold on to the tie, which ultimately they managed to.

It's interesting to note that this match resembled a mirror image of the one against Wight, with a stronger first half against the higher ranked Karditani team and a weaker second, compared to a respectable but not particularly strong first half at Spit Lawns followed by a surprise second half.

[Brenecia]

Most of the time when people refer to a player being 'helicoptered in', it refers sarcastically to an expensive player being signed in for too much money from overseas.

Brad Kuepper had literally just been helicoptered in.

The military-grade chopper touched down in the training field as the players around it winced and blocked their ears. Kuepper leapt out gracefully, though he seemed a little disoriented by the whole experience and nearly faceplanted. He was a tallish man, all lean muscle and long bone, with rusty brown hair and stubble. While he was not, by definition, Blake Lawless' first or even second choice, he was definitely his first choice for being the third choice, and the moment Pike had been declared injured until the end of the qualifiers at best, Lawless had sent out the warrant to bring in a substitute. Enter Kuepper, 24 in both age and, now, number, born in Treason but from Brenecian parents and playing at a Brenecian club, and that was good enough to satisfy eligibility, fresh off a great season at that.

He might not be fully fit yet, but he was 2/3rds Huckerby's age, which probably counted for something.

He smiled as the chopper dusted off. "The government's idea," he said, by way of explanation. "Guess they wanted me here as soon as possible. So... Tantamir's tomorrow?"
---------------------------------------------
It was tomorrow. Tantamir had been. And, after an 80th minute half-volley from Kuepper, they had gone.

The team was currently carrying him on their shoulders through the pub. Edmund Pike sighed, as he sat alone in the corner, maimed leg propped up on a stool.

The door opened. Blake came in and sat down next to him.
"Blake?" asked Pike, weakly. "I'm sorry, I'd shake your hand but, well..."
"You've been cleared already? Do any of them know?"
"I'd hate to ruin their night," said Pike, bitterly.
"Come on, Ed, there's no call for that," chided Lawless. "You've been our saving grace the entire qualifiers."
"No, our defence has been our saving grace. I've been the rangy bloke at the front who is in the right place at the right time a lot. And now apparently I'm not even good at that anymore."
Lawless sighed. "Come on. I'll buy you a drink."
"Make it a big one!" called Pike, as Lawless went off to the bar.
--------------------------------------------
SCOOP OF THE DAY with MEREDITH FINCHE
Short and sweet today, I really ought to dash, but it's a good win for Brenecia as we appear to have another not-entirely-rubbish striker! I just hope you like 1-0 wins. I'm happy enough with them, if we're the 1.

Still, what we need right now is what the fans are clamouring for; another Ideal Best XI! Ace Colton was our best ever right winger, at least partially due to his name. He also had a mullet, but... well, it was the 320s, what can you do? He retired fairly recently, too... I mean, I can actually remember him at the end of his playing days. When he was old and smoked way too much and wasn't very good. But before then, Ace Colton had been a dashing sex symbol for all of Brenecia, and had thrilled the country with his perfect runs and pinpoint crossing. And, again, his peroxide mullet.

Next up... is the top teams of the group. Oh, dear. Might be time to avert your eyes as we visit the sub-humans on their home turf, as Bears Armed hosts Brenecia! See you then!

[Commune-PDTv2]

"Beta?"
...
"Beta?"
...
...
"Where have you gone Beta?"
...
"Don't ignore me."
...
...
"Beta!"
...
"Respond Beta! Respond!"
"You can't escape me that easily"
"BETA!"
...
"Wake up Beta, you have work to do!"
"BETA!"

With a sudden surge of energy, Beta sat upright in his hospital bed. He was sweating and discombobulated ... Had it been some feverish dream? Doctors began to crowd around the minister, urging him to relax, sleep and be calm. He couldn't relax. At least not with the muted pain gently throbbing in his chest.

[Licentiapacisterra]

You know that moment when you're discussing how Wight is a heaven in the back of a truck, and suddenly, your companion just disappears into thin air ?? You don't ?? Well, I wouldn't suppose you do know what it's like; you've never been to Wight, after all. This kind of weird thing normally happens here.

Just for the record, it's frustrating and a little bit freaky. At least I didn't shit myself, like I did when the bear-superhero thing appeared.

It was all over my underwear; trousers as well. Not fun to clean it all up, I can tell you that for nothing...

You want me to stop discussing my shit ?? Are you sure ?? Fair enough then.

Barlow was there, with his sweaty sandwiches (the four guys I'm travelling seem to like them like that; I don't), trying to get out of Mettle how he'd got to the Back Road, despite the fact that he (do you call a bear he ??) didn't seem to have a clue what had happened to bring him here. Poor bastard. I know that feeling incredibly well, especially with the amount of people I've seen pass through over the last eight years, and my own experience with showing up here. It was hard when I had friends around me; I can't imagine what it's like for him.

And then, suddenly, POOF !! The bear just disappeared, as quickly and as confusingly as he had appeared. I wondered if the guys in front of the truck had even noticed. Shakersson seemingly continued to snore in the passenger seat, although I'm not quite sure how. I can never sleep on trucks; the noise of the engines just keeps me awake. I better have somewhere nice to stay when I get to the Islands, because I'm going to be absolutely fucking shattered.

Anyway, I've gone off on one. Doesn't really make any sense to the conversation, so I'll shut up now.

Anyway, after a little bit of wondering what the fuck had just happened, we settled back down. Barlow continued to eat his weird sandwich, and I picked up my journal. He's not too bothered with the silence, I don't think. Gives the both of us time to think; not entirely sure what he thinks about, but never mind. None of my business, and it distracts me from my own thoughts.

I got a message from Luke a couple of days ago; I don't know how they managed to get the post to the truck, but I won't bother asking. He was saying that sports channels back home had been running lots of documentaries on the contenders for the Hall of Fame spot. There are a lot about me, apparently. My story was always considered to be a real "poor orphan done good" story, though I never bothered with worrying about it. I didn't want all that to get in the way of football. In a way, it's good for the media that I "died". It makes my story more compelling, and more people'll watch it.

I'm the favourite for it, apparently. Nathan is a big contender as well; Luke, Ellis and Jack are all a little less popular, but thay have fairly big voting blocks in their home parishes. Being from Abingdon, it doesn't make too much difference about my parish; third smallest and all that. Still the best at football though; Montfort and Farnworth can fuck right off.

Anyway, should try and get some sleep. I hope we get a good run tonight; I need to be getting back soon.

[The Sovan Antithesis]

ALL HAIL MARGRET

Oath has been recited, so here is our schedule:

1. @ Karditan
L 1-3
2. Jedi8246
W 3-2
3. @ Saintland
L 2-5
4. The Royal Kingdom of Quebec
W 3-2
5. @Sondstead
W 3-2
6. Aquitayne
W 4-3
7. @Sangti
L 1-2
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

That loss put us back a bit. Not only did we lose, we are now tied for 3rd and are in need of a win to stay in the race for qualification. Can you imagine the pandemonium if we qualify and The Sova Empire doesn't? That would be sweet. But the Sangti game, that was rather disappointing. It took us 87 minutes to score! We will need to be good in both halves if we want to win.

We now present you, the daily census ranking for our group. Today, the most armed.

1. Jedi8246 (173)
2. Karditan (75)
3. Aquitayne (0)
4. Sondstead (-45)
5. Wight (-52)
6. Narsora (-76)
7. The Sovan Antithesis (-96)
8. Sangti (-99)
9. Saintland (-111)
10. The Royal Kingdom of Quebec (-167)

And the running tally (10 for first, 9 for 2nd, etc.):
1. Karditan (43)
2. Sondstead (40)
3. Jedi8246 (37)
4. The Royal Kingdom of Quebec (36)
5. Wight (35)
6. Aquitayne (34)
7. Narsora (32)
8. The Sovan Antithesis (27)
9. Sangti (26)
10. Saintland (25)

[Maklohi Vai]

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

Now skipping to the second game of the Des Monts Ila Vai Cup, played in Kolo Lahi. 5th minute

"Coach, look over to midfield! We've got a player down."

"What? Who?"

"It's, uhhhh, I think it's Kolao Namopoi."

"Shit, we're already on our third reserve mid."

"It looks like he's coming off, coach. What do we do?"

The coach paused. He could play it safe or play it on the edge. The former would have few consequences, but the latter could be volatile.

"Put Klaus in."

"Sir?"

"You heard me. Put Klaus in."

"Yessir," the assistant said in shock. He then turned and yelled, "LOMUPAKANI-WAGNER!"

---

Klaus snapped out of his daze. Had someone just yelled his name? He looked around. His teammates looked back. Maybe he had been called.
He walked over to the coach's stand, where the assistant coaches were.

"Did someone call my name?"

"Yeah. You're going into the game."

"What?"

"You're going into the game. Warm up quick and get ready."

"Ok." He began to jog in place, getting his blood up and running. It was still almost surreal, the whole experience. Being on the team, practicing, seeing the altercation. It was all coming real now: the first game.

As Namopoi was carted off, the referee nodded to Klaus that he could go on the field. Almost immediately, Klaus could hear the shouts of recognition in the stands, and a growing chant of "Klaus! Klaus! Klaus!" appeared.

Play started back up, and immediately Klaus felt the rush. That rush for which he yearned to play football, that rush which kept him going even when times were tough. It zoomed through his body like a venom, infecting every limb and every joint of his being. The game became a blur, rushing by him, until...

"Klaus, you're taking the corner, right?"

"What?"

"It's the CM's job."

"Oh, yeah, right."

"Klaus stepped to the edge of the white line. It might as well have been the edge of a cliff. No room for error. He placed the ball down, took a couple steps back.

Survey the field.

Defender creeping in on far post.

Keeper oblivious.

Step.

Swing.

Launch.

Curve.

Flight.

Head.

Score.

[Gaveo]

The Gaveoan Times

World Cup LXV Qualifiers: We Won!

That last goal really screwed us up.

By: Beni Cortez

After the unthinkable win over Jeruselem in Gaveo with a 1-0 win, Gaveo went to Estadio Cadiz to faceoff against Mesoland. Gaveo had to win to maintain their lead over the group as Mytannion and Bergnovinaia won their matches. Gaveo was confident that they could win and bring home the three point for the Gaveoan people. But instead we tied 1-1 at the last second, right when everyone in Gaveo thought the win was in Gaveo's lap.

The first half was Gaveoan dominated as Gaveo was playing flawlessly with all the effort the Gaveoans could put in a match. That effort resulted in a goal for the Gaveoans as Sebastian Cadiz scored in the 27th minute from an assist from Cesar Milano. The goal was beautiful and the Gaveoan fans went wild. Gaveo maintained their lead over Mesoland until the 89th minute of the second half. That when Alabana Nukaba scored the game tying goal after a small series of mistakes from Gaveo as they passed the ball to the Mesoland team and that after a few touches, resulted in a goal. 1-1 full time quickly followed.

Gaveoans were disappointed that they tied but they were happy that they have done something great. Now Gaveo will head off to Bergnovinaia. A old foe that we won against last World Cup Qualifications. Coach Villaroel was confident that Gaveo can pull of a win from a way, citing the surprise win from the Felix-Valladares game as inspiration for the Gaveoan team. Will Gaveo win the match and get back first place? Or will Gaveo falterer and lag behind? We will find out next week, good luck and go Gaveo!

[The Sova Empire]

Pollard was a defensegirl. She was only supposed to be sending the ball to the strikers, but it was certainly unexpected what happened in the opening part of the Ko-Oren match. On the opening kickoff, The Sova Empire got the ball and back-peddled to Pollard. She really got a hold of the ball and would not let any Oren player get the ball. She got to mid-field and decided to fire a long shot. Apparently, the goalie lost focus and did not expect it. Within one minute of play, TSE led 1-0. Coach reminded the players after that goal "Focus guys. That's why we are ahead right now. Let's keep it up. 1, 2, 3, MARGRET SUCKS!!!" The offense was still kicking, but the goalie woke up too. Shot after shot went wide. The game was tense though. 2 yellow cards were given due to goalie interference for TSE; one by Leggett and one by Kruger. Thankfully, nothing came of it. For 88 minutes, it looked like a 1-0 victory for the Sovan team. Ko-Oren had other plans. The equalizer came in the 89th minute, and the game was tied going into injury time. But it all came down to a free kick, and a scorching shot from Oren's Fenner sealed the loss for TSE. The goals were given up by Trevor Grey, who continues to struggle in the closing parts of games.

It will take a few more wins to get TSE into qualifying position, but there is still plenty of time to do it. The next match will be against 70th ranked Iturributa. They are 2-2-3 while TSE is 3-2-2. So expect the match to be close.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Sportsnet-Your Sports Broadcasting Channel


Hong Chun Joo about to shoot for his 4th goal in the qualification, as well as the 4th goal for Quebecois for last night's huge, 4-2 victory over Jedi8246.

Anna Grondin
6.26.2017
St.John's, Newfoundland, Royal Kingdom of Quebec-Thunderbolt Park scored two as Royal Kingdom of Quebec Grim Reapers won against Jedi8246 to place the second place in the tough Group 16, in what was a crucial home match at Green Point Stadium last night.
After winning in a dramatic fashion against Karditan the night before, the Grim Reapers have returned to their normal XI rotation, with the substituted players well rested and ready to be back into the field. A full force of all its players was needed to win against this tough players, so no key players were replaced.

The first goal came right in the 19th minute when Gary "The Socially Incompetent" Loewen-Jang quickly intercepted a Jedi pass in the midfield and quickly passed it to William Corriander, who then passed it back to rushing Loewen-Jang right to the border of penalty zone, where he tapped the ball to the back of the net. The Jedi quickly replied back when their striker shot a hard overhead kick from 15 meters to the goal. However, they didn't panic and continued to play their offensive brand of playing. Bombarding of shots continued and eventually the 2nd Goal of the Quebecois, scored by Thunderbolt Park, came in the 36th minute. The 28-year old Captain did a great job by deceiving the entire Jedi defense before scoring in a rabona kick right above the opponent goalie's head. Most of 72,680 crowds went wild as the 4-time Q-League MVP and scoring leader scored with such a fashion and cheered rabidly.

They continued to launch their attack, but no more goals came as they entered the end of the First Half and went to the locker room and discussed for their game plan for the second half. When they came back, Grim Reapers continued to attack with their fiery offense and another goal came in the 59th minute with Thunderbolt Park tricking 6 players(including their goalie) before scoring. By now, the Grim Reapers pretty much outplayed the Jedi and the stadium was grilling with all those cheers of Quebecois fans.

With a huge 3-1 lead, Head Coach Ji Choon Kim now decided to pull another of his trademark moves. Shortly after it was launched, the announcer at the Green Point Stadium warned the audience to get their sleeping pills and start singing Arirang of the North, a Korean-Quebecois folk song that is played as the nation's unofficial/second anthem, which is followed by the Korean National Anthem. Most of opponent fans were confused at what the heck was he asking for, but for home fans, it meant that the Grim Reapers' bedroom soccer will start. So, for next 20 minutes, practically nothing happened much, as the players were very much passing to each other while punching any opposing players who dared to steal the ball away. The cheers did not stop,as well as singing of Arirang. The Decibel level was a bit too much for Jedi, who were far too intimidated to attack boldly.
At the very last 2 minutes, however, things went quite eventful when Hong Chun Joo, who fed off a pass from Ross Woodward-Kim, scored with all his might in the 89th minute. However, he also scored an own goal about 25 seconds after believing that the match was over.
"I thought I heard a whistle and people cheering, so I felt like I should celebrate by scoring in my own net." commented Joo in the post-game interview, "That was foolish indeed and I better be careful next time, I guess."

Winning 2 in a row, the Grim Reapers will be facing the 80th-ranked Saintland at St.Petrus tonight. The QBC Broadcast starts at 22:30(due to timezone concerns), with some previews and other pre-game interviews to be held before the 23:00 game(for your information, this is when the match starts in TV back in Quebec, not at St.Petrus).

[San Potato]

Johnson brace helps San Potato to victory

At the Grand Arena last night for match 7, San Potato managed to beat Iturributa 2-1 to move up to 4th in tightly contested group 14.

While the scoresheet seemed to make the match look rather contested, it was really an easy win for us as the only goal Iturributa got was from a penalty.
San Potato had majority of the possession and shots, forcing the keeper to up his game to prevent a landslide victory.
Joe Johnson scored both goals,one early in the game, on the first attack and the other in the second half.
Hobo proved to be key in this game, making some good passes and decisions in just his first game as the youngest player to ever start for San Potato.

San Potato kicked off the match and scored by doing short, direct passes to slowly figure out the defense. Eventually, Johnson got open and with help from Hobo, who managed to nutmeg the defender in a pass to Johnson, before Johnson calmly put it in the back of the net.

Iturributa tried on some shots on goal, but Devin Johnson managed to turn back the clock and make amazing saves which seemed impossible for anybody, even with his long wingspan.

Iturributa did get a penalty around the half hour mark, after a handball by Mbah a Moute made the referee point to the box.
They capitalized on the chance, sending Johnson the wrong way to tie the game up 1-1.

What proved to clear all doubts of Johnson rusting as he reach 27 is his second goal this game, 6th of the qualifiers, scoring like how he always scored, blitzing the defense and beating the keeper one-on one to give San Potato 3 points.This goal was special for him as it made him the all-time leading scorer for San Potato, with 34, more goals than legend and U-21 coach Tony Allen.

The crusaders did try to increase the lead, but were unable due to some great showing by the defense in the last few minutes.

Stats
San Potato-Iturributa

62 Possession 38
18 Shots 10
10 On Goal 4
5 Fouls 2
1 Bookings 0
4 Saves 2

Goals
2'- Joe Johnson
34'-Iturributa (PEN)
56'- Joe Johnson



Our next match will be against Liventia, away from home and it is going to be a tough match as Liventia is on the top of group 14, but we are confident that San Potato can take on them and probably snatch a win.




-Your Daily Meat

[Mangolana]

Mangolana Gazzette

Mangolana earns shock win over Ossidiacqua

The Mangolana national team earned a shock win over the Ossidiacqua national team who is ranked second in Group 12, but, were projected by many as the favorites to win Group 12 over Milchama. In front of a packed Grego-Johnson Stadium, Mangolana defeated Ossidiacqua 1-0 in a win that sent the nation into a state of pandemonium. Parties in the streets of Mangolana took place all through-out the night following the result. The parties took place all the way from the streets of Mascona to the beaches of Arlnet. The win propelled Mangolana into the top of the group with a 3 point advantage over Ossidiacqua and 5 points ahead of top ranked nation Milchama. Mangolana's next match will also be taking on the Cosumar national team in Cosumar. With a win, Mangolana can rocket their way ahead of the Group and make it a whole lot easier for Mangolana to take the group and return to the World Cup.

However Mangolana manager Arch McTash is not convinced just yet. "We have had an extreme luck here in the first part of qualifying. Our best matches so far have ended in draws while our worst preformance resulted in a win. We need to get our play good all the time and not just when we feel like it. When we can do that, then I will expect this team to make the World Cup. As of right now, our goal is still the same as it was when qualifying started. Play well in qualifying, make our country proud and advance far in the Cup of Harmony should we be invited." It has appeared that McTash could be on to something with the national team however and lets hope that the team can continue the run that the team has been on as of late.

Back to the match against Ossidiacqua, the Mangolana national team looked to draw the projected top seed in the group at home against Ossidiacqua. The start of the match however did not go Mangolana's way. Ossidiacqua scored two goals in the opening 15 minutes of the match that were both ruled offside. The Mangolana national team also suffured a loss when Tappy Shogun went down with injury in the 28th minute and had to be replaced by Shaun Line. Mangolana would manage to give two free-kicks just outside the box just before halftime. Both free-kicks were greatly placed by Alessandro Finiguerra but both were tipped wide in excellent saves from Chris Marte. An inspirational speech from Captain JD Fuller which showed in the second half. Mangolana played like a world class team in the second half on defense, allowing only 3 shots and 1 on goal. However, Mangolana's offensive play did not improve. The goal would not come until a lucky bounce landed the ball at the feet of Gregory Nena. Nena was able to break into the box, but before he could get a shot off, Ossidiacquan defender Pedro Uguccione slid studs up to prevent a clear goalscoring chance. For his trouble, Pedro Uguccione was awarded a red card and Mangolana was awarded a penalty. The penalty was taken and buried into the back of the net by Mangolana Captain JD Fuller to give Mangolana a 1-0 lead and the win.

[Polar Islandstates]

Prologue
The Concrete Museum
Accidents Will Happen
The Popular Peoples’ Front of Bjarnarey for the Bjarnese


Professor Know-Nothing

**
From the case notes of Wolfgang Lillehammer, PI
My initial thoughts of ‘who?’ ended up being pretty prevalent throughout the city over the course of the next day. A bit of research here and there at a selection of carefully chosen ‘melting pots of political opinion’, that’s gossiping in pubs and coffee shops to you and me, told that me that I wasn’t the only one out there that had never heard of this ‘The Popular Peoples’ Front of Bjarnarey for the Bjarnese’. To all intents and purposes, they appeared to have suddenly sprung up out of the very waters of the lagoon themselves.

In fact, not one person claimed to have had even any prior knowledge that any such group was even close to existing even below the Bjarnese waterline.

Not only that, but nobody I spoke to was even aware of any any-Wightling sentiment in the city. As far as I had been aware, the Wightling population in Bjarnarey was regarded as something of a quirky trait that summed up the unusual nature of the city as much as the floating stadium of The Barge did. They had their… moments, sure, most nationalities did, but Bjarnarey is historically a city of immigration. For centuries, people have been coming to Bjarnarey on boats to refuel, to trade, to be taxed, to rest, to recuperate, and to enjoy the hospitality of the lagoon. Some stayed. Some stayed longer than others. It was all part of the social fabric of Bjarnarey, and it was an accepted part of life in the floating city. Wightlings in particular stayed longer than others, turning the north-western canals of the city into a sort of enclave, packing the streets and re-designing the architecture in their own unique way.

True, some had grumbled after the incident with the re-animated corpses, but nobody really held it against the regular citizens, and the idea that a large group of anti-Wightling activists should be roaming the canals with enough popular support to make their requests a reality was absurd.

In the wake of the Sargossan incident in Külmsaar over the previous two years, there had been a fair amount of anti-Sargossan sentiment amongst the people of the Federation, yes, but it had been entirely reserved for the Sargossans. And mainland Sargossans at that, not even those that had fully moved to Valhallan culture. But, that was reserved just for Sargossans. It hadn’t spilt out into other nationalities at all.

As I walked the streets waiting for my appointment with Kolberg at the university, soaking up the bemusement in the general population, I tried to think about what the little hate-filled paragraph that had come with the photograph could tell us.

First of all, the photograph itself was never going to tell us much: balaclavas, masks, safe hostages and the day’s papers. All pretty standard stuff. With a hastily spray-painted insignia on a bed sheet hung up behind them however, it was already not exactly screaming ‘professional outfit’ at anybody half educated that was paying attention.

Second of all, at no point did that paragraph of nonsense ever mention the Federation. It was ‘Valhallan this’ and ‘Bjarnese that’. Nothing about the Federation. Either these were psychos with an eye on full secession in the future, or they were old. Old enough to have lived much of their life pre-Federation. The nation isn’t much more than twenty years old, you have to remember.

Lastly, you never really get a sense of real violence from them. The paragraph was full of carefully chosen words, and was well written in general. There were no impulsive outbursts, or claims of final victory. They didn’t come across as lunatics, in short, which is a shame given that their modus operandi so far was coming across as an incredibly organised association of men, willing to postpone their plans so as to create maximum exposure, and able to disguise themselves and move with utmost efficiency and speed. So if they weren’t lunatics, they were dangerous.

Efficient, dangerous, not insane, probably older than most, and working for a probably hastily made up organisation.

What did it all mean?

Why did they need Little Wight free of the Wightlings, though? I didn’t believe for a second that it was simply a case of xenophobia and anti-immigration secessionists.

In short, we needed more information.

Fortunately for me, in my wanderings, I realised I had reached the Norscanal, and was right where I’d arranged to meet Officer Kolberg before we went to the university. Right on time, there she was.

“Kolberg,” I said, tipping my fedora.

“Wolfgang,” she replied, tipping a non-existent hat in return, her blonde hair tied tightly behind her head in a bun, “good to see you again.”

“What say we go and interview a receptionist, eh?”

“What a good idea,” she said, with mock sincerity.

“So,” I said, as we started the short walk from that corner to the Maritime College main reception, “any thoughts down at the station?”

“Oh, you know,” she replied slowly, “I can’t give too much away.”

“Any leads?”

She pulled a face.

“No, then.”

“No, well, we have a couple,” she said, “we’re not like, close to locating the guys any time soon, but we’ve got a few leads that we’re looking at, at least.”

“Looking at?”

“Honestly?” Kolberg looked at me. I flicked an eyebrow at her to get her to finish that thought. “We’re flailing around like freshly caught lagoon-bait. We don’t know where we’re going with this investigation.”

I grunted a response, I’d assumed as much.

“How ‘bout you,” she continued, “any luck?”

“Oh,” I shrugged a genuine shrug, “not much really, only that I don’t think all is as it seems.”

“What gives you that impression?”

“Gut feeling.”

“You trust your gut feeling?”

“Never let me down before,” I said, patting my paunch fondly, “I like my gut. It gets good feelings.”

“Yeah but, why wouldn’t things be as they seem?” pressed Kolberg as we reached the impressive wooden archway of the main Maritime College building.

“This is Bjarnarey, Officer,” I replied with a smile, “shit always goes down in Bjarnarey, just, in the opposite direction to how you think it might.”

The wind blew around us in a playful way, the dark wood buildings of the college softly reflected the morning light off their glossy facades, and the gulls screeched overhead as we bobbed gently on the still waters of the lagoon and Bjarnarey went about its business behind us. Then, to emphasise my point, a passing guillemot emptied its guts onto the jetty between us with a dull splat. It was almost poetic, in a really weird Bjarnarey kind of way.

“Anyway,” I said, taking a deep breath, “how about you and me go get some more information, yeah?”

Kolberg nodded, and I pushed open the swing doors into the central reception area of the university. Even in the summer vacation, if was like stepping into another world. Plushly carpeted, wall to wall panelling, and expensive looking light fittings, this was a well looked after building. And yet, there was something eerie about it. Even though I’d never been there during term time, there was a distinct air about the reception of a place that normally had a lot more traffic than two detectives on a private appointment with a couple of receptionists.

Striding up to the glass partition between us in the hall and them in the reception, I knocked twice, confidently.

“Yes?” came the voice from behind, closely followed by a head poking around the corner, “Ooh, Lilly Hammer and Karl Berg?”

“Umm…” said Kolberg, looking at the disembodied head that was hovering at the window behind an impressively thick pair of spectacles.

“I’m Lillehammer, and that’s Kolberg, actually, but that’s okay.” I replied, unimpressed, “We’re here to see the tapes.”

“That’s right, that’s right. My name’s Janet, would you like to come through?”

She pressed a buzzer, and the two of us walked through the barrier and into the reception area. She gestured towards a pair of chairs set up in front of a computer monitor, and we sat down. I pondered for a moment on why so many receptionists were called Janet, when Kolberg spoke up.

“So, have you looked at the tape yet?” she asked.

“Can’t,” came the snappy answer as the receptionist fiddled with the settings on her computer, “regulations. All I could do was setup the files in accordance with your warrant and wait for you. Aaaaaannnd…. here you go.”

One last flourish on the keyboard, and the film started. The time and date stamp checked out. The seconds ticked away, and there was Boris, picking up the envelope from a different receptionist that was also probably called Janet. Our Janet clicked a few more buttons, and the video started running backwards.

“Let me know when you want me to stop.” said Janet.

We leant in closer to the screen. We could see the envelope in question lying on the desk at the back of the reception, and it was simply a case of waiting for it to disappear in rewind. After about half a minute of watching, and two hours in real time recording, it happened.

“Oh, woh, woh, woh,” I said, “play it forwards from there.”

Janet obliged, and we watched in real time as a man in sandals and horn-rimmed spectacles appeared on the screen and dropped the envelope on the desk, where it was put behind by the receptionist ready for Boris to collect.

“Ahhh, so he gave it to Janet.” said Janet.

“I knew it!” I shouted in triumph.

“Pardon?”

“I, er, I mean,” I recovered hastily, “I mean, who is that? He looks familiar somehow…”

“Oh, that’s Professor Aalesund, and you’re in luck! Because he just logged out of his office according to the key-card records,” continued Janet, looking across at another of her many desks.

“He’s in on the holidays?” asked Kolberg, standing up in anticipation.

“Lots of the professors are,” explained Janet, “so, shall I send the tapes over to the station? The Professor should be walking past any moment now.”

“Oh, erm, yeah!” shouted Kolberg, running out of the reception, “That’d be really useful, thanks! Lillehammer?”

“Oh, yeah, thank you Janet, you’ve been really helpful.”

Getting up and leaving the desk, I followed Kolberg out of the building and onto the canal path where the figure of the professor was walking towards us.

“Looked familiar, huh?” asked Kolberg.

“Oh, yeah, he’s the guy who hosted the party at the Christiansen building, remember?”

“Oh, well, I didn’t really get to see much of the inside of that.”

“I guess…” I said slowly, before hailing the professor as he got nearer, “hey, Professor Aalesund!”

“Oh, er, yeah?” he answered, slightly taken aback.

“Did you leave a package at the reception a few days ago?”

“Um, yeah, I did, why?” he replied, pushing his glasses up his nose nervously.

“Care to tell us what was in it?” asked Kolberg, showing her badge, “Officer Kolberg, Bjarnarey Police.”

“Oh, erm, I’m not sure, really.”

“Think harder.” I intoned threateningly.

“Well, it was just some sheets from my most recent research findings, really, nothing that spectacularly interesting. The usual Bjarnese kind of thing.” he answered, sweating slightly.

“So, specifics?” I asked, narrowing my eyes, there was something not right about this that I wasn’t sure about.

“Well, I’m sure I could find out for you, I could get you a copy of most of it in a heartbeat from my office, why? Was it important?” asked Aalesund.

“You could say that,” said Kolberg sternly, “with the information being passed onto the perpetrators of the kidnapping at The Barge last night, you better start coming up with some answers, Professor Know-It-All.”

“Kidnapping?” he asked.

“Yeah, kidnapping.” I looked at Kolberg, she looked back, “Where’ve you been?”

“Researching in the department,” he answered, “why? Wait, what kidnapping? I know nothing about any kidnapping?”

“Professor Aalesund who asked you for that information?” I interrupted.

“Well, er, now you come to mention it I’m not sure I recall a name.” he said, blinking nervously in the low evening light.

“How convenient.” I said, unimpressed.

“No, really!” he blurted out, “It was somebody who claimed to be a fellow researcher from another university. I can’t recall a name, I usually write these things down… erm… Boris, I think it was.”

I looked at Kolberg and raised an eyebrow. It seemed highly unlikely that it was my neighbour that was the one on the phone.

“What was their number?”

“Oh, erm, don’t know. Withheld.”

“I thought as much.” I replied flatly.

“Looks like another dead end,” said Kolberg ruefully.

“Seems it,” I replied, “still, Professor Aalesund? If you’d like to take us to the Department of Architecture, I’m sure we’d love to get a hold of that information anyway, just in case its relevant.”

“Wait, architecture?” asked Aalesund, surprised.

“What do you mean, ‘wait, architecture’?” said Kolberg slowly.

“Ooohh, wait, I know what’s happened here,” said the Professor, “you’re confusing me with my big brother, Troels!”

“No stammer!” I said, clicking my fingers in realisation at what had been nagging me.

“I’m Magnus,” he continued, “Department of History.”

“Well, Magnus,” said Kolberg, gesturing back up towards the university buildings and main campus, “if you’d be so kind?”

“Of course, of course, erm, follow me.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“So, erm, what kidnapping?” asked Aalesund as we walked up.

And so as Professor Magnus Aalesund led us up the way towards his office, the sun sunk just that little bit lower in the evening sky of Bjarnarey, the foghorns in the distant docks sounded out their greetings towards each other, and the minutes ticked away towards deadline number one.


The story will continue in A Brief History Lesson

[Zwangzug]

Full name
Date of birth
Place of birth
Any previous broadcasting experience?
If yes, describe.
Previous football experience? What roles, and what levels?
Preference for play-by-play or color? Or indifferent?
Preference to work with another applicant? If so, who?
Please provide contact information for up to three work references.

In your opinion, who is the target audience of a broadcast? How would you engage them? How would you engage people outside the target audience?

If you were currently broadcasting Group 5, which would be your favorite name to pronounce?
...

"The answers have been all over the place. Some people say it'll be domestic league fans who just need a refresher on how to calculate tables. Others say we need to review the basics. A couple promise they wouldn't be all nationalistic. The Algebraic contingent is out in full force, too."

"Does anybody have any experience?"

"Well, the Rovers United guys, they did the Fair Play Trophy."

"That's good..."

"Except Byron Hopper only wants to work with Kurt Jouet, and he only wants to work without Hopper."

"Okay. How about this one?"

"She's unoriginal. Look at all this matrix stuff, she just wants to be the next Gil Lemson."

"What are you talking about? This matrix stuff is plenty original! Speaking of the Algebraic contingent..."

"Wait, what? Eigenvalues and eigenvectors? This is even worse! We have the capacity to give actual broadcasts and not just crazy math digressions, let's use it."

"I'm just saying, it is original."

"In all the wrong ways. Okay, favorite names...Slade Brahm, Matthew Mills--nice alliteration, okay, I'll give them that! Someone has nominated Rhys Wyn Davies for the win, I hope she is joking. I'm going to discard whoever nominated Henny Henneman, alliteration can go too far."

"And we're keeping all this pile who liked Alistair McAllister?"

"See, that's not alliteration. Although I hope they know he's probably not Bigtopian. Jimeno Zambrano gets a look-in, here's a homer putting in for Dima Novak. Okay, hang onto whoever mentioned Tykaraije Makureru, that shows they're willing to put the work in."

"Or else they've tracked down those unnervingly thorough media guides."

"Which is putting the work in, all the same."

"Look, maybe we should post the opening overseas. Give a wider range of candidates the chance to apply."

"And, what? Bring over the winner, give them a crash course in Zwangzug culture, and just turn them loose?"

"Sure."

"No matter how crazy they are, I don't think anyone deserves that."

"Oh well. Back to the drawing board..."

(Muraro-Ughi 67; Schroeder 52)

[Kiryu-shi]

The least successful qualification campaign in twelve years...

Reah’s smile stretched thinly across her face as her eyes slowly lost focus. The starlight on the water shimmered as she let the familiar breeze carry drops of sea water onto her skin. The water moving against the rocks just beneath her played a beautiful counterpoint to the pounding in her head, and she let her mind move away from her body.

What did a lifetime spent living humbly, timidly, gratefully in the shadows mean? And to be cast out, all of her insignificant but personal accomplishments lost in weight of a nation’s spotlight.

To think that she was once proud of the moments when she was thought to be merely capable at meaningless tasks. To have properly ordered and organized a drawer full of seemingly abandoned paperwork. To have made it to the grocery store and smiled at the cashier who smiled back. To remember the gentle but precise cadence of a joke when retelling it to an acquaintance.

No one would remember those moments but her and even she could and probably would let them collapse into each other folding and morphing into a nostalgic haze. Maybe years from now pieces would be in tact.

She may yet piece together a smile, and the smile’s relationship with a pair of gentle eyes, and perhaps a soft laugh escaping those friendly lips, but to remember why that moment was so important to her - for years, a part of her soul that allowed her to breathe deeply every night - would be impossible.

Replaced, if she were lucky, with the piercing whistles that marked the end of another match. Another disappointing result, another failure of the Kiri.

Her mind hadn’t drifted far across the water before it came racing back.

… the most disappointing Kiri squad for over a century

[Felix]

World Cup LXV Qualifiers: A Heartbreaking Loss Sets Felix Back

By: Steven Smith

After going through the ride of a lifetime, Felix concedes their second defeat of the 65th World Cup qualifications. Felix had lost to Qazox at Stadia Volker which was jam packed of fans hoping to see another Felixian win. But they did not see that, instead they saw a trying team that had most of the possession, most of the shots, most of everything but none of that really mattered. It was that 85th minute goal that changed everything, that goal that went into the net. That goal that set Felix back for automatic qualification and would need some assistance from other teams to catch up from a five point deficit. We are now in third, with rivals St Lucoa overtaking us by one point. Felix will fly over to Boring Pardise a 4 hour flight. Felix has to win this game to get back into contention and needs Qazox and St Lucoa to lose in order for a better chance for Felix to jump spots. As always here is the recap of today's, disappointing match.

Felix and Qazox did their national things, the anthem, everything. The ball soon started to roll as Felix had possession first and that's where the dominance began for the Felixian side. Felix started to play beautifully with passes all over the place. It eventually resulted in a goal attempt from Mikel Araboa in the 14th minute, but the Qazox national team goalkeeper blocked it, much to the disappointment to the Felixian fans. Felix continued to deny Qazox possession of the ball but there were some mistakes, luckily for us it did not result in anything major as the tough Felixian defense prevented anything major. The next major chance at goal came near halftime as Yun Dong Lee shot the ball at the goal but the ball hit the post, causing a lot of "oohs" and "awws" but no "GOOOOOOOOLLLL!". Zero to zero, halftime.


The second half was more of the same as Felix started to get frustrated by this annoyingly effective Qazox defense, many experts has said that the Qazox way of defending was on decline, but that wasn't apparent as Felix failed to score and create chances in the second half. Nonetheless, Felix kept having the ball most of the time. Three major chances for Felix happened in the span of a minute as a corner kick based header from Lee was deflected by the goalie, the ensuing shot from Manolo was blocked by a Qazox defender and the last shot from Zaqqaf hit the post and went out of bounds. The whole Felixian side was pissed off as hell as the chances were so close, yet so frustratingly far. The Felixans tried once again to take the lead in the 79th minute from a shot from substitute Sebastian Krister but the ball was blocked by the goalkeeper's hands. It was in the 85th minute that a routine throw in turned disastrous as the ball was intercepted by a Qazox offender and they were off, 3 against 1 and Jesse Hilton scored the game winning goal for Qazox. Causing a large amount of booing from Felixians fans as they started to throw things to the pitch. Luckily nothing hit the pitch and the match went on but not for long though as Qaozx secured the surprise win despite home field advantage. Felix 0, Qazox 1 and the whole nation was silent.

The postgame conference was sombersome as the national coach was caught shedding a tear and telling reporters that, "Felix has never been this close to a win since the Baptism of Fire finals. We tried, seriously. We had all the stats in our hands we had the match in our hands. We could finish and that's what cost us the match." A reporter mentions the Ji Iseul Kwan mistake, "It wasn't the poor lad's fault and you shouldn't be blaming him, the poor lad is crying right now, feeling guilty as hell. To be completely honest it was everyone's fault. The man receiving the ball shouldn't of stand there, the other man should of shot the ball a second before or second after. Look, at this point we can only blame ourselves, but lets not self pity ourselves, we must stand up and rise again so we can win once again. That is all, good night." And Mr. Cardona left with the reporters silent as ever.

As said earlier Felix will face off against Boring Paradise, currently 6th in the standings and tied 0-0 against Valladares a team we beat 1-2. Felix will take a five hour flight from Volker to the Paradisian capital which has been haunted from a weird event that can't really be explained. The Paradisians were never here in Esportiva before, until they just popped up here. Anyways, we will face them next and if Cardona's words hold any weight, we will win. And Felix will have to win if they want to be in Pasargan or Saugeais in the World Cup proper. Good luck to our boys and lets hope we can bounce back from a crushing loss, go Felix!

As always here were the statistics for our sixth qualification match.

Goals
(85th): Jesse Hilton (QAZ)
Assists
N/A
Possession
FEL: 65%
QAZ: 35%
Fouls
FEL: 7
QAZ: 9
Cards
Yellow: N/A
Red: N/A
Injuries
N/A

Now here are the statistics for the qualifiers so far.

Goals
Mikel Araboa (6)
Yun Dong Lee (5)
Ziya Saqqaf (3)
Simo Roni (1)
Sebastian Krister (1)
Assists
Sebastian Krister (3)
Manolo Espina (2)
Simo Roni (1)
Mikel Araboa (1)
Clean Sheets
N/A
Yellow Cards
N/A
Red Cards
N/A
Injury List
N/A

-----

World Cup LXV Qualifiers: The Embarrassment Of The Free Republics Mentions Us Again

By: Steven Smith

In other news the misinformed Nova Hellstrom sends out a newspaper filled with lies. She says that I am a troll for the tabloid, The National once again, Ms. Hellstrom, you misinformed brat, this is a newspaper the most prestigious one in Felix and one of the most well known in Esportiva. And for your information Felix has a population of 75 million people that will, if threatened of invasion from a foreign foe, will rise up and defend this nation. Now I am no Nationalist but I believe the term "tiny hole in the ground" as a hugely offensive term. Felix is a great nation home to many heroes of all creeds, races, and sex and saying something as low as that has no words. I am outraged that she has said this. While I think her reporting is terrible, that she is ultra patriotic to the point of pure ignorance, that her lover Rule Theriault is a terrible coach. I never, ever would attack a nation based on a few dumbasses. I am a tolerant man and while I asked that she take out those offensive comments about Esportiva and other nations as a whole and she said no, I have no choice but the slander her and reveal the truth about her.

In matter of fact their is a rumor going around that she is "going out" with a Sangtian reporter, I have a few things to say, firstly, really man of Sangti? Her? And secondly, knowing Nova, she would probably go out with him as she seeks nothing but... Excuse me, I think you get the point. Anyways I demand a full apology on me, The National and most importantly Felix for those comments from Nova. I will not go low to the point of threatening suing but I do demand that they respect someone from another nation. If they do not do that, I don't know what else to say but that those two people are nothing but scum and are representing the Free Republics in a terrible way in the international front.

OOC: I mean no offense to Free Republics/Saintland as this is part of my RP and is solely made to offend made up people. Thank you for understanding.

[Aels]

THE REPORT
Huw Price in Drayfill

Second seeds held as Aels fight back

Aels 2
Legalese 2

PERHAPS things are looking ever so slightly on the up for the unfortunate Aelsh. A run of four matches without a win has now become five, but the manner of the result last night at the New Free Stone Stadium cannot fail to have raised the hopes of the coaching staff.

Sergyei Arefev had attempted to turn up the pressure on opponents Legalese, ranked 40th in the world, before the match by dismissing their world ranking. "What 40th ranked team gets to be a second seed normally? They're in hostile territory and aren't as good as their seeding suggests, and we stand a real chance of an upset," he had said.

But Arefev was left facing a battle on his hands when Aels found themselves two goals down to two early strikes by Cyrus Damhan and Liam Todd, the former driving home from fully 25 yards while the latter managed to get his head on the end of an inswinging corner kick.

The Mytanar coach responded, making a surprising 22nd-minute substitution — "fully tactical, he's not injured" — to bring on the previously-dropped Gethin Evans for Marc Powell in midfield. Evans, plainly keen to impress and win his starting spot back, was arguably Aels' hardest worker on the pitch as he fashioned chances and passes from nowhere.

Despite his best efforts it was not Evans who created or scored the first Aels goal, but instead his namesake Rhodri, who sent down a perfect through ball for Elwyn Richard to run onto and slice home from 12 yards past an onrushing Tarquin Waldrop, and the comeback was complete late in the second half when, having dominated most of the play in the period, Aels put together a string of 22 unbroken passes to find Bryn Thomas unmarked in the box.

Arefev notably praised Gethin Evans' contributions in his post-match remarks, but remained coy on whether the 24-year-old had worked his way back into contention for a starting spot. "There's no doubt the lad played well; everyone did to complete that result which we worked hard for, it's a fantastic comeback against the second seeds. But we'll have to look at it match by match and see how our players' strengths and weaknesses match up to our opponents' and I don't want to say player X, Y, or Z is definitely in contention for a spot or otherwise. All 23 players are 'in contention'."

The schedule does not get any easier for Arefev's men if they want to stop their winless run as they travel next to third seeds Hutt River, a team captain Richard says will pose a considerably stiffer test.

"In my view we've got to be more wary of Hutt River than we had to be for Legalese tonight, and that's no slight on our opponents. We won't have the comfort of home advantage and I've seen their players play internationally in club competitions. I know we have the talent to produce a result but we'll have to prove it on the night."

Match ratings: J McConnell 7.1, R Jones 7.2, O Griffiths 6.9, I Maddox 7.1, S Andrews 6.8, C O'Connor 6.9, R Evans (vc) 8.1, A Jones 7.0, M Powell 6.7, B Thomas 7.7, E Richard (c) 7.4; Subs: G Evans 7.8 (for M Powell), RW Davies 7.2 (for E Richard)
Bookings: O Griffiths, S Andrews, M Powell
Goals: R Evans, B Thomas

[Farfadillis]

Farfadillis win at Kriegiergiagrisiensien

It's that time of the year! Yes, the time in which the names of the countries we face are almost as difficult to remember as the many accents and other weird things in our players' names. Anyways, we seemed to get a very nice win this time anyways. We're now somewhat solid in the top of the group, along with Northern Sunrise Islands, with Lymantatia and New Montreal States behind. On second thought, they're very close... so we're not really safe.

Aaaaanyways. The match was easy. It's like if we were playing one of those football videogames, and chose as difficulty not insane, not hard, not medium, not easy, not Tahi-ti-mfen but, instead, your girlfriend. Yeah, that easy! It took us only two minutes from the kick-off to score. Dandalleion got the ball in the edge of the box after a long pass, dribbled a defender and shot to the upper-right corner, while the goalkeeper stood there without reacting, completely perplexed. After that, there were some chances for both teams. And with both teams I mean us, as we were probably the only team inside the pitch... and the only team capable of missing so many chances. Between Mêrí, Karkka, Tuzzio and Dandalleion they must've missed around ten chances, and clear ones. Anyways, to half time we went winning, and just by one goal.

The second half was more of the same. There were a few errors in the Kriagigiargresziensiensian defense and we scored two goals, both scored by Tuzzio. The first goal came form a long pass from Wii-Tzaara in the sixty-seventh minute. The ball bounced over a Karigriasian who tried to head it and ended up going straight to Tuzzio. He then let it pass through his legs to confuse the defender and started running directly to the box. He thn dribbled the goalkeeper and heeled the ball in as a last resource, as he was left without many options left. The goal seemed to just sentence Kriagiaigarsein to losing at their home, as it was followed ten minutes later by a very nostalgic shot from outside the box by Tuzzio, giving Farfadillis the final three-goal-lead.

Soooo... what's your opinion about the match? Do you think we'll qualify? Do you think I'm crazy? Did you know I'm crazy?

[Equestrian States]

Equestrians Defeat Carmadin, Retake First Place

Equestrian States 2-0 Carmadin
at Wild Grounds in Everfree, Equestrian States
Attendance: 58,233
Scoring:
Fire Dash '23 (Rainbow Blitz)
Rainbow Blitz '65 (Rapid Dash)

EVERFREE - After a poor showing in the Islands of Qutar, the Ponies came into their match with Carmadin looking for three points in what was expected to be a tightly-contested affair. However, the Equestrians not only won the qualifier to extend their unbeaten streak to 12 matches, but easily dominated the opposition in Everfree.

Scheduling last night's match in Everfree's appropriately-named Wild Grounds was probably one of the national team's best administrative decisions in recent years. As the city's lone EHL club was relegated from the Premier League last season, the devout hoofball fans of Everfree haven't had much to smile about in a while. But with the Ponies playing one of their key home matches here, the locals turned out to give the team an overwhelming home field advantage and the Equestrians gave their fans exactly what they hoped to see.

Though the Equestrian States struggled in the opening minutes against the unpredictable Carmadin squad, the Ponies eventually began to look every bit like the talented team they have proven to be in the last two years. Controlling the ball, the Equestrians began to do precisely what they do best: wear down their opponents with relentlessly high-paced play. By the time Fire Dash buried the first goal of the night in the net, Carmadin was already looking exhausted. With the lead now in her hooves, Head Coach Twilight Striker encouraged her players to keep the tempo up, but not to overexert themselves.

While Carmadin would mount several offensives in the early minutes of the second half, the Ponies had no difficulty closing down the opposition each time. With two second half substitutions, Twilight Striker gave her team the fresh blood it needed to keep Carmadin on the defensive for much of the match. Then, after Rainbow Blitz's 65th minute bullet hit home, the Equestrians could finally relax a bit. Cruising all the way to the finish line, the Ponies completed one of their best wins of the campaign with an impressive 62% control of possession.

Next up for the Equestrian States is a road match against Sudagiu. While the home team just stunned Bears Armed 1-0 on the road, Twilight Striker is reportedly unconcerned by her next opponent, concurring with the international media that the match was an outlier in an otherwise mediocre campaign by Sudagiu.

EQUESTRIAN STATES 2-0 CARMADIN
Starting XI:
GK - #1 - High Soarin' (Pegasus - Male) - 31 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
DF - #3 - Flitter (Pegasus - Female) - 25 -  Ponyville United (EQS)
DF - #17 - Subtle Trix (Pegasus - Male) - 30 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
DF - #26 - Blackmane (Earth Pony - Male) - 23 -  Stilwater Saints (NSI)
MF - #9 - Rainbow Blitz (Pegasus - Male) - 21 -  Makosile United (VIL)
MF - #2 - Cloudchaser (Pegasus - Female) - 25 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
MF - #4 - Apple Jack (Earth Pony - Male) - 26 -  Mardi Lopunnies (NSI)
MF - #11 - Rapid Dash (Pegasus - Female) - 28 -  Canterlot Royals (EQS)
MF - #31 - Candace Rivers (Human - Female) - 23 -  Umber Lumber (FWH)
FW - #10 - Fire Dash (Pegasus - Male) - 29 -  Ponyville United (EQS)
FW - #7 - Thunderlane (Pegasus - Male) - 25 -  Kiiara-Torra (VIL)

Substitutions:
 Antonio Randall in for Flitter '46
 Carrot Cake in for Cloudchaser '46

---

High Soarin's Early Blunders Nearly Cost Ponies

Sudagiu 2-3 Equestrian States
at an Unknown Stadium in an Unknown City, Sudagiu
Scoring:
Unknown '4 (Unknown)
Fire Dash '10 (Starlight Sparkle)
Unknown '26 (Unknown)
Fire Dash '50 (Ironhide)
Thunderlane '61 (Rainbow Blitz)

SOMEWHERE, SUDAGIU - That was close. Too close. Yes, the Equestrian States came out on top last night, looking dominant as always just about everywhere on the pitch. Yes, Fire Dash looked unstoppable against the Sudagiu defense. But the few mistakes the Ponies made came dangerously close to giving Sudagiu its second upset in as many matches.

The first few minutes were the worst, as the Equestrians looked sloppy at best against an overly-aggressive Sudagiu attack. I say overly-aggressive because the home team also made its fair share of mistakes, gift-wrapping the powerful Equestrian States counterattack numerous opportunities to score. But the worst errors seen last night were all committed by one player: Equestrian goalkeeper High Soarin'. The pegasus who has been the regular starter in goal for the Ponies ever since the national team first debuted in Baptism of Fire 45, looked like an inexperienced and unqualified keeper in the first few minutes of the Sudagiu match.

It took the home team just four minutes to get on the scoreboard, an unnamed forward crushing a shot by an out-of-position High Soarin' to give Sudagiu a 1-0 lead. The crowd roared loudly for minutes after the goal, seeing it as a sure sign that their team would leave the stadium with another upset. But Fire Dash and the Equestrians responded to the goal by attacking with relentless force, totally overwhelming Sudagiu's mediocre defense to equalize six minutes later on a corner kick.

But the goal was not the catalyst for a rebound, as Sudagiu surprisingly went into desperation mode with well over 70 minutes left in the match. This strange shift in strategy threw off the balance of the Equestrian States, and ultimately resulting in another error being made by High Soarin'. When another unnamed Sudagiu attacker scored in the 26th minute, the Equestrians in attendance made clear their displeasure by booing the goalkeeper. The remainder of the first half saw the Ponies try to restart their attack, failing to finish on any scoring chances before the break.

Whatever Twilight Striker said in the locker room during halftime, it certainly was effective. The Equestrians came out looking like a completely new team, smashing apart the tired Sudagiu defense for two goals.

The Ponies will next face off with Free Republics in Manechester, where the Republicans will seek revenge for their team's defeat in the Di Bradini Cup final last year.

SUDAGIU 2-3 EQUESTRIAN STATES
Starting XI:
GK - #1 - High Soarin' (Pegasus - Male) - 31 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
DF - #8 - Andrea Molovi (Human - Female) - 24 -  Stalliongrad HC (EQS)
DF - #6 - Stronghoof (Buffalo - Male) - 23 -  Stalliongrad HC (EQS)
DF - #26 - Blackmane (Earth Pony - Male) - 23 -  Stilwater Saints (NSI)
MF - #5 - Starlight Sparkle (Unicorn - Female) - 28 -  Ponyville United (EQS)
MF - #9 - Rainbow Blitz (Pegasus - Male) - 21 -  Makosile United (VIL)
MF - #2 - Cloudchaser (Pegasus - Female) - 25 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
MF - #12 - Lightning Bolt (Pegasus - Male) - 23 -  Canterlot Stars (EQS)
MF - #25 - Ironhide (Dragon - Male) - 22 -  Selyne City Athenians (NSI)
FW - #10 - Fire Dash (Pegasus - Male) - 29 -  Ponyville United (EQS)
FW - #7 - Thunderlane (Pegasus - Male) - 25 -  Kiiara-Torra (VIL)

Substitutions:
 Brix Hamilton in for Stronghoof '33

EQUESTRIAN STATES vs. FREE REPUBLICS
Starting XI:
GK - #1 - High Soarin' (Pegasus - Male) - 31 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
DF - #8 - Andrea Molovi (Human - Female) - 24 -  Stalliongrad HC (EQS)
DF - #22 - Ironclaw (Griffon - Female) - 28 -  Everfree Forest HC (EQS)
DF - #24 - Brix Hamilton (Human - Female) - 21 -  Nithgard GU (EAR)
MF - #5 - Starlight Sparkle (Unicorn - Female) - 28 -  Ponyville United (EQS)
MF - #2 - Cloudchaser (Pegasus - Female) - 25 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
MF - #4 - Apple Jack (Earth Pony - Male) - 26 -  Mardi Lopunnies (NSI)
MF - #11 - Rapid Dash (Pegasus - Female) - 28 -  Canterlot Royals (EQS)
MF - #15 - Elaine Everdeen (Human - Female) - 21 -  CDSA Decraa (MYT)
FW - #30 - Sonar (Bat Pony - Male) - 21 -  Matthew City Senators (NSI)
FW - #29 - Katherine Everdeen (Human - Female) - 27 -  San Jose Sharks (NSI)