The Brotherhood Cup (Rosters/RP/Scores)

[Astograth]

Matchday Two Scores

Group A
North Chicanan 0-3 Astograth
San Havana 2-1 Seleucius

Team                   P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 San Havana          2  2 0  0  4  2  +2  6 Q
 2 Seleucius           2  1 0  1  3  3  +0  3
 3 Astograth           2  1 0  1  4  2  +2  3
 4 North Chicanan      2  0 0  2  1  5  -4  0 E

Group B
Wadomia 1-0 Matting
Ocel0t 1-1 Darmen

Team            P  W  D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Wadomia      2  2  0 0  4  2  +2  6 Q
 2 Darmen       2  0  2 0  1  1  +0  2
 3 Ocel0t       2  0  1 1  3  4  -1  1
 4 Matting      2  0  1 1  0  1  -1  1

Group C
Polar Islandstates 1-3 Civil Citizenry
Vettrera 1-2 Nzyghistan

Team                       P W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Civil Citizenry         2 1 1  0  3  1  +2  4
 2 Nzyghistan              2 1 1  0  2  1  +1  4
 3 Vettrera                2 1 0  1  4  2  +2  3
 4 Polar Islandstates      2 0 0  2  1  6  -5  0 E

Group D
Erathore 0-2 Virabia
Mangolana 1-1 Perahikia

Team              P W  D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Virabia        2 1  1 0  3  1  +2  4
 2 Erathore       2 1  0 1  2  3  -1  3
 3 Perahikia      2 0  2 0  2  2  +0  2
 4 Mangolana      2 0  1 1  2  3  -1  1

[Wadomia]

OOC: Does the green highlighting mean I'm in the playoffs?

[Astograth]

OOC: Does the green highlighting mean I'm in the playoffs?

Yes, you're qualified for the knockouts. If you have any other questions please send them by TG.

[Polar Islandstates]

The official looked down at his clipboard. Workers? Check. Materials? Check. Electricity supply? Check. Things were looking good. There were more people on the island now, more Virabi, more Sakhalin natives, more activity, more completion, more excitement. A breeze ruffled his hair and he looked up. He glanced around the settlement that Camp Helligdommen had become with uncertainty, it felt a lot like he was being watched. But there were people everywhere, all busy doing things and getting the town ready for the visits of dignitaries and diplomats the next week, how could he feel like he was being watch when there were literally tens of people who had him in their line of sight at any one time? The was alive with activity. It was like termites building a nest.

Shaking the feeling, the official looked back down at his clipboard. Heliport? Check. Greenhouses? Check. Street furniture? Check. He was feeling good. This would be a massive gold star next to his name in the halls of both governments. His was a bright future if he worked things right, made sure he got in the background of the right photographs, stuff like that. There was a crash off to his side, he jumped. Just some scaffolding falling off a cart. Its okay. Nothing to worry about.

The breeze came again, this time bringing some droury drizzle on its breathy gusts. He looked up at the Topp nervously. The barriers were up, and the stakes were driven in. The place certainly didn't look like it was going to slide again any time soon, but still. The idea of another disaster like that terrified him. It was a miracle that only two people were killed, and here they were building a town on the same spot? The official put his faith in the Sakhalin engineers, as many had done in the past it had to be said, and moved on around his tour.

Wind turbines? Check. Central hall? Check. Transport link? Check.

The feeling came back. He was being watched. Definitely. No doubt about it. He looked up. His blood ran cold, far colder than the breeze circling his ears. Down the street ahead of him, there they were...

Creepy old women? Check. Bone necklaces? Check. Wild eyes and flaming torches in hand? Check.

Mad religious agenda and disregard for human life?

Check...


-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE DAILY MESSENGER
Terns slip to second disappointing performance

In the second match of the Brotherhood Cup in Astograth today, the Terns turned up a dismal performance to allow a strong a dominant Civil Citizenry side to run out 3-1 victors. The second defeat in the competition means the Terns now have no chance to progress into the next round, meaning Sol is likely to field an experimental lineup in the last group match.

In the first half, Civil Citizenry immediately stamped their authority on the match as Sol's players looked tired and uninterested, with Acca going close twice but being denied by outstanding saves from Gammel, who more than made amends for his mistakes in the first match. All that pressure could only end one way though, and towards the interval Awtitata was able to make the breakthrough that Civil deserved, taking a shot from the edge of the area to swerved viciously in the air and shot into the top corner.

A half time barracking from Yarbin appeared to force some life into the terns, and they came out trying to apply some pressure on the opposition defence, it was this that lead to their downfall however, as a Civil counterattack exposed the Terns horribly and Acca found himself in a position to tap in from six yards. Acca doubled his tally four minutes later with a strong shot from the corner of the area after good possession play by Civil.

With minutes counting down and no sign of a significant comeback on the cards, Sol shuffled his deck, and threw on Kasanov and Irndtor, the former crossing for the latter to control and slam home from 8 yards for a goal on his international debut, a moment that clearly meant a lot to the youngster despite the overall result, with Ishmael the Tern doing laps of the stadium.

Upon the final whistle, the Twitchers stopped jsut short of booing their heroes, but made their opinions known clearly to both staff and players alike. One can only hope that the newer player eager to impress make a good show of their last group game.

[Virabia]

... As Inacayal hobbled out of the newly completed air/sea terminal, he took a aside and took a couple of seconds to look around at the town. Due to the polar night, it was hard to see much of anything but, what he did see was surprising to him. He had only been gone a six and a half months but the entire settlement had changed from refugee camp to a town. Where there were once rows of tan tents tents stood rainbow A-frame houses with lights emanating from their interior. Next to the buildings were street lamp that cast their light down upon streets which were newly cobbled. Near the rocky shore were benches situated in such a way that people could sit down and look out at the sea which stretched for kilometers on toward the small bit of the sun which shone. In a word, the town was picturesque and Inacayal fell in love with every bit of it immediately. This was much better than Ita could ever have been.

The only problem with it all was that he was at a loss at what to do. He wasn't exactly a new arrival, so, he was reluctant to follow the signs which led people to a centre where they could register as a resident of the island. Since he had done that already, he resolved to take a seconds breather and sit down on one of the benches that overlooked the ocean. His mind soon wondered off. For once, he was in much too good a mood to think about his footballing career. Instead, he thought about what new experiences he'd have on the island. What kind of people he'd meet and what kind of work he'd do. While he had already made enough from football to last him much of his lifetime he couldn't stand the thought of having nothing to do. It'd drive him mad. Mad jus...

Inacayal began to hear what sounded like human voices...or perhaps...crow voices if they spoke a human tongue. They were voices all too familiar to him. The cry of "REPENT SINNERS FOR YOU HAVE ANGERED THE WHALE DEVILS" began to ring throughout the city. He wondered if they had been a bother to the town during the six months that he was in a coma.

Before he could think too much more than, "Well, duh" he was interrupted by a loud noise from the harbour. Inacayal whipped his neck around to see what was going on and what he saw was nothing short of surprising. A small fleet of five motorboats had laid anchor in the shallow harbour. Inacayal couldn't tell how many were on each boat but he reckoned about three. The forewoman of the closest boat held a megaphone in her hand.

"REPENT SINNERS! YOU HAVE AWAKENED THE WHALE DEVILS!", she repeated the familiar battle cry of her kind, "WE GIVE YOU ONE MORE CHANCE TO LEAVE THIS SACRED GROUND. SURRENDER TO THE ALMIGHTY AND WE WILL SURRENDER TO YOU."

Inacayal facepalmed. He couldn't imagine how someone could be so stupid, much less a group of people. The notion that the spirits of whales inhabited the island was laughable. The entire premise was flawed because of basic biology but how to let the crazy people know of that.

Well luckily there just happened to be a megaphone next to Inacayal. Not thinking much as to why it was there he picked it up, switched it on and began talking.

"Can you hear me?", asked Inacayal.

"Yes", replied the forewoman, "Have you come to repent sinner?"

"Oh... no" said Inacayal.

The forewoman cut Inacayal off "Then burn"

"Well, you see" Inacayal likewise cut her off, "Just wanted to say one little thing"

"That is?"

"Whales are sea mammals right. They live in the water...not on land. So, explain to me why they'd want anything to do with an island. All they'd do is get beached and die...", Inacayal was shooting for the moon. Negotiating with crazy people is rather like banging your head repetitively, "So, why do you insist that whale spirits they live on land? Because whales don't..."

(ON THE BOAT)

"The guy... he has a point." said one of the others that shared a boat with the forewoman.

The forewoman turned to the other with a blank stare. She was much too entrenched in her beliefs to be convinced. "Are you a sinner too?" asked the forewoman away from the megaphone.

She then put her mouth back to the megaphone, "NOW BURN SINNERS. BURN FOR YOUR CRIMES!"

((OOC: I know your wondering why a megaphone happens to be lying outside in the bitter cold but, do I really need a reason. This is a universe where a footballer lives forever and is also a time traveling demi-god and one player can score every...single...goal... So is a megaphone that bad? Perhaps it's just how things are in Sørøya. Instead of old soda cans there's megaphones))

[Astograth]

Matchday Three Scores

Group A
Astograth 1-0 San Havana
North Chicanan 1-3 Seleucius

Team                   P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Astograth           3  2 0  1  5  2  +3  6 Q
 2 San Havana          3  2 0  1  4  3  +1  6 Q
 3 Seleucius           3  2 0  1  6  4  +2  6
 4 North Chicanan      3  0 0  3  2  8  -6  0

Group B
Matting 1-5 Ocel0t
Wadomia 2-0 Darmen

Team            P  W  D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Wadomia      3  3  0  0  6  2  +4  9 Q
 2 Ocel0t       3  1  1  1  8  5  +3  4 Q
 3 Darmen       3  0  2  1  1  3  -2  2
 4 Matting      3  0  1  2  1  6  -5  1

Group C
Civil Citizenry 1-1 Vettrera
Polar Islandstates 3-0 Nzyghistan

Team                       P W  D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Civil Citizenry         3 1  2  0  4  2  +2  5 Q
 2 Nzyghistan              3 1  1  1  2  4  -2  4 Q
 3 Vettrera                3 1  1  1  5  3  +2  4
 4 Polar Islandstates      3 1  0  2  4  6  -2  3

Group D
Virabia 2-0 Mangolana
Erathore 3-1 Perahikia

Team              P  W  D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Virabia        3  2  1  0  5  1  +4  7 Q
 2 Erathore       3  2  0  1  5  4  +1  6 Q
 3 Perahikia      3  0  2  1  3  5  -2  2
 4 Mangolana      3  0  1  2  2  5  -3  1

The quarter-final fixtures are as follows:
Astograth vs Erathore @ Gotorlekua (42,000-seater), Rumiatzi
Wadomia vs Nzyghistan @ Unity Stadium (33,500-seater), Iturributa
Virabia vs San Havana @ Ximun Orieta Stadium (34,000-seater), Echegoyan
Civil Citizenry vs Ocel0t @ Ituraitz Sporting Ground (63,000-seater), Ituraitz

[Ocel0t]

EDIT: Ack, missed the RP cutoff, sorry!

OOC: Sorry, lower quality than usual. Been too busy to RP recently, so my results have suffered.

The Grand Ocel0t was angry as he watched the blade fall upon the neck of the rubber chicken. This couldn't go on any longer. He gave his people freedom (to a certain extent) and the right to lead their own lives, but they still weren't happy! He had to make them see that he was the only god worth worshipping. As if Margaret actually helped the team win. Oh please! He could take care of her easily. And he would. He knew a way...

---

Fluffy Guarcouff rushed down the middle of the field on a counter-attack. He was through! He was... what? The ball suddenly started to go slower and it grew heavier. When he tried to shoot, he tripped over it. Hot with embarrassment, he got to his feet and watched the defender take the ball and clear it. What had happened? He decided to forget about it, and continued to play.

At the other end of the pitch, a Darmen player took a shot from an impossible angle. He could see it was heading for the side netting, but the second strange thing happened that night. The ball seemed to stand still in the air, before swerving around and finding its way into the top of the net. This time he knew everyone else had seen it, because the stadium was completely silent. The referee blew the whistle, and the match ball was replaced. However, bizarre things kept happening, and when Bilaydinetov scored it was under the same circumstances.

Guarcouff cut inside a defender before chipping a ball to Bilaydinetov, who shot from 25 yards out. The shot was destined to go well off course, but it swerved to the right and appeared to be fighting it self before going in the net. The Darmen keeper was stunned, as was the entire stadium. The ball was again changed, but it was no different, so the match continued. Boateng was taking a corner, the signal he gave meant he was kicking it to him. Boateng ran up and lobbed the ball high towards the players. Guarcouff soared into the air, he head connected with the ball, painfully. With the force of a bowling ball, it slammed into his head. He blacked out before he hit the ground.

OCEL0T 1-1 DARMEN

Scorers:

36' Baker
70' Bilaydinetov

[Wadomia]

Wadomia Sports News

Wadomia Goes Undefeated in Pool Play; Clinches Playoff Spot

by James Mattfield

Junior Writer

Wadomia defeated Darmen in Matchday Three, and plan to compete tough in the playoffs. Wadomia played Matchday Two against Matting and won, which gave Wadomia playoff birth.

"Our players played their hardest in Gameday Two against Matting," says Head Coach James Gutierrez.

In Matchday Two, Krom was able to score in the first half, and the defense did the rest. After that, Wadomia knew what they had to do. In Matchday Three, some starting players were benched to be saved for the playoffs. Backup Robert Washington was able to score one goal, and other forward David Sasser scored the second goal. Wadomia's defense didn't let anyone score at all. Wadomia didn't let one goal score for two games so far, and hope to continue into the playoffs.

"I'm way excited. I'm gonna play one hundred and ten percent out there," says Krom.

The first playoff game will be against Ocel0t. A very tough opponent to play against in Matchday One. We hope Wadomia luck in their first international soccer tournament in ten years.

We wish you luck!

[Erathore]

Alexio Del Nieran was a damned good footballer. Too good some might say. He was also smart. Very smart. And good looking. No one good deny that Del Nieran was one of the more handsome footballers they had seen. He had wonderful qualities. And yet he was single. And he wanted that to change, but for some reason didn't think it would. Sure he could get together with any number of good looking…well…beautiful supermodels whenever he wanted, but that wasn't what he wanted in a girlfriend. Looks weren't everything. Sure the helped, but the girl for him needed smarts, wit, overall good stats. He didn't expect to meet that girl. It was statistically improbable that he would find the perfect girl. So why bother looking? Del Nieran didn't bother looking, but he didn't give up either. Just kinda passively searched. Little did he know that the girl of his dreams would find him.

---

3…2…1…whistle. Final time.

Erathore 3, Perahikia one. 1 goal to Del Nieran, 1 to Lanziano, and 1 to Alessandro Mettis. It was a good win. It was a qualifying win. Erathore would be moving on to the quarterfinals to face the hosts, Astograth. It had been a good game.

Alexio Del Nieran was in the shower, washing away the sweat and blood of the match. They had won in several ways. Goals, possession, pass completion, everything basically. He had played wonderfully. Beautiful moves, wonderful passes, a great goal. He smiled as he threw on some clothes and walked out of the changing room. He could hear voices outside, chattering, making last second equipment checks.

Reporters. Del Nieran simultaneously smiled and sighed just as he simultaneously loved and hated the media. Loved because it helped make him famous, but he was too modest to really milk that or be a jack ass about it. He hated the media because they had a way of slandering whoever they focused on. Everyone knows how poisonous the media is and yet everyone still listened to and believed what they had to say. So he prepared some answers that were informative, good for publicity, but couldn't be broken and twisted to be used against him or anyone he knew.

He left the building and was immediately assaulted by a barrage of questions. Which was odd considering that there weren't many reporters there. Around 5 actually. But man they could ask questions quickly. He moved through the first four quickly. ENSC, EraSport, and two foreign ones made up those four. He spoke calmly and somewhat quickly to the reporters. Saying a mix of generic and non-generic things. "Yeah we played well," was generic. However when one says, "Yeah we played well against Peraikia," it suddenly became somewhat unique. Or at least that's how he justified it to himself. And so he made his way to the last news channel. It was one from Astograth, ATBK was the name displayed in several different places. The cameraman nodded to Nieran as he walked up, then pointed inside the van. "Women," he said with an exasperated sigh. "Always need one more minute for their makeup."

Nieran forced himself to laugh. It wasn't funny. Then again it wasn't particularly meant to be funny. It was meant to be something to pass the time. Something to occupy a few seconds instead of having silence reign supreme in the absence of words and fake laughter. Nieran heard the door of the news van open and heard the sound of high heels. Nieran sighed and closed his eyes, taking in a few moments peace and quite before the questions began. The footsteps stopped and he heard a polite cough notifying him of the reporters arrival. He opened his eyes and saw her.

She had pale skin. Not pale as in, 'Wow do you live in a cave?' pale but more of a, 'Wow that is a good looking skin color.' Contrasting that was the fact that she had beautiful brown hair. It was a mixture of wavy and curly. Rather, her waves curled around her face. Then were her eyes. They were hazel but with a considerable amount of green in them. They were deep, pleading almost. Begging. Her lips were full and red. Nieran almost laughed as the term luscious came to mind. He probably would have laughed but he couldn't. He was transfixed by her beauty. She stood equally transfixed. Shyly she held out a hand.

"Hello there Alexio Del Nieran. My name is Nayara Itziar and I'm with ATBK from Astograth. Would you…mind if I interviewed you?" she asked and met his eyes with hers. Del Nieran stood transfixed. Her eyes seemed to be reading his soul but they lucked as if she was asking him for something. Appraising him. Begging him. Loving him.

"I…er…yeah," he responded, feeling himself blush inwardly. The hell was wrong with him? He needed to get his act together he thought to himself. "Yes. I would love to Ms. Itziar." As he and Nayara looked at eachother and tried to figure out what to say, the cameraman smiled. He was in the later years of his life, pushing 60, and he had seen many love at first sight occurrences.

This was one of them.

[North Chicanan]

OOC: official apologies for not rp'ing during the tournament. Life got a bit in the way and I completely forgot I was here. But I thank Astograth for allowing the team in the tournament and congratulate them on getting a bit of a revenge on the Northerners after the Cup of Harmony

[Astograth]

Quarter-Finals

Astograth 3-4 Erathore

Wadomia 0-4 Nzyghistan

Virabia 2-1 San Havana

Civil Citizenry 2-0 Ocel0t

The semi-finals are:
Erathore vs Nzyghistan @ Knights' Stadium (70,000-seater), Rumiatzi
Virabia vs Civil Citizenry @ Old City Stadium (72,000-seater), Iturributa

[Ocel0t]

Morten Heikkinen hated press conferences. He was a quiet man now, and he had learned from his days as a football player not to talk to much to the media- they would twist and distort it. After today's loss, they would probably make up more stories about his job being on the line, or about him having an affair with a player's girlfriend. It was sad.

He walked at a brisk pace through the corridors in the stadium, determined to avoid the mass of reporters waiting outside every day. As he walked, he slipped into though. Maybe he should revert to a 3-5-2? The midfield was the strongest point, and the forwards had some problems with injury, as well as Hulk's tendency to be sent off or suspended. Well, it was a pretty good performance, he thought. 2-0 against a good team isn't so bad, though there were some glaring errors that were just inexcusable. Too many young players that aren't mature enough yet. He needed some experience. Papadouplos, El Ghanasay, Muslimovic... they would have their time in the world cup. Let's see, what else... I bet the coffee is good today at- aah! Distracted again. Been living with cats too long.
It was then Morten realized he had taken the route back to the main entrance, where he saw dozens of reporters waiting eagerly. He wanted to run, but he knew it was too late. They had seen him. So he took a deep breath and braved the storm.

The next morning the Porta Times was delivered to Morten's front door. His job was apparently on the line. Again. On the next page, they said he had had an affair with a player's girlfriend. Again.

CIVIL CITIZENRY 2-0 OCEL0T

Scorers:

6' Eksyama
64' Feoaimu

[Erathore]

Where do we belong/What the hell is going on?
We explore how it relates to footy

---

I have now seen it all. Hell we've all seen it all now. We live in Rushmore yeah? We drive a few hours and we're in Civil Citizenry, Virabia, Saugeais, and more. We are part of Rushmore. Not according to King Lorenzo and his government. Apparently we are part of Atlantian Oceania. Yay. We're with Starblaydia. Yay. We're with Krytenia. Whopdifrikingdo. Why you ask? Oh yeah, 'Geographical Reasons'

Apparently some little speck of dirt in Erathore came from AO in some way so now we are part of AO. BULL FUCKING SHIT! THE HELL WE'RE PART OF AO! I'd rather not be. Sure the region is prestigious but then again isn't Rushmore? Are we not better friends with Polar Islandstates then we are with Cafundéu? Do we not care for them? I guess not. Do you want to know the first thing is that we did when we joined AO? We entered the AOCAF. OK I must admit that is pretty cool, the AOCAF that is, but come on! Changing regions, alienating friends, being fucking retarded, is it really worth it? It's all about footy. It always is.

That's the business of Erathore. After all we are the Sports Only Nation of Erathore. And the only sport is football. It makes billions, if not trillions a year. So it's only natural that our minister of sport is amazingly corrupt. Oh wait, is this news? Dear Lord! I didn't know you were so blind! The man gave himself a massive salary, over $2.5 million! And when we complained and demanded a vote, his majesty King Lorenzo wasted exactly 1 hour before declaring it to be perfectly fine. No problems. No big deal. Only way more money than any other minister makes. Or most people for that matter. Ridiculous. Rifrikingdiculous.

By moving to Atlantian Oceania, the money going into Seria-A is expected to rise. By alot. By a metric fuckton. Seriously though. So much money. How many Starbladi citizens will want a chance to see Simeone Di Bradini play for FC Mildrid? Probably more. But I don't get why. I mean we are the same distance away from them now as we were when we were in Rushmore. Now we have to think about the national team, considering this revolves around them. Several players have expressed immense disgust. Barino Dino, Rolodel, Alexio Del Nieran, and Gaespare Malvolio. They have all expressed disgust and contempt for this action. Del Nieran has gone so far as to state that he is considering getting citizenship in another country where he can play on the national team for them until King Lorenzo, "Stops being such an idiot and returns us to Rushmore, where we belong." The other 3 haven't said anything of the sort, but their disgust is evident. Quoting Malvolio, "Thoroughly uncool." And I agree with him. I agree with him a million percent. I am ashamed to be an Erathi. I call for the government to start thinking clearly or resign. We deserve better then this. Rushmore deserves better then this. The world deserves better then this.

[Virabia]

((OOC: Note that me and PI's story will still continue...even though his updates are now in the CRV thread. I keep mine here because I want RP bonus dammet!))

...When I flipped that boat, I guess you could say that I was fed up. Not with those crazy people misrepresenting my kind (I'm a whale...don't really understand much English) but, just with their voices. You see, as a whale I am surrounded with some of the most beautiful voices in nature. Voices which can either be deep and booming or softer. It's rather funny (in the cruel way) that we have such great voices because, we're probably the ugliest blokes on the planet. I think that the best comparison would probably be Mama Cass Elliot. Don't know who that is? Well that's unfortunate. As you may have gathered from my comparison, she has a great voice but, like us whales she's fat and a bit of an eyesore.

Now dolphins, I really hate those. Everyone loves dolphins. They make these cutesy little noises and play around in the sea. When people go to Sea World (an evil place) they always see the dolphins play around with some wet-suit clad blonde 20 year old...I mean come on, why cant I play with a 20 year old, oh right, it's because I'm too busy being hunted for my meats and my oils and dare I say my fat. Dolphins on the otherhand, name one culture that eats them. Still we all know that in the end dolphins are like Michelle Phillipps. They may look cute and sing ok but everyone knows Cass is carrying the band (or at least their female section).

Anyway, the point of this is not to rant about sea creatures and compare them to members of bands that played the Monterrey Pop Festival, it is instead to rant about those pesky women who insist on making noise. Now, me I was just going about my whale business (I could tell you what that was but, then I'd have to kill you) when overhead a bunch of boats disturbed the water. This alone annoys me but, in this part of the sea it's usually one boat every once in a while. That, I can handle but, when a couple of boats whip by with no concern that annoys me. On top of that they pulled out these things that look rather familiar (they litter this part of the sea). Previously, I had thought them as purely ornamental (Ok, well to be honest when I tried to use it I had a hard time, they do not have a flipper friendly design) but, it turns out they have a use in making your voices many times louder and more annoying which, given the voices these women normally speak with really says something makes you want to carve out your ear drums.

Long story short, I just got sick of listening to their shrill voices. It was disturbing my me time (and the development of the super secret weapon whalekind will unleash upon mankind in ten years<- LOLWUT!). Plus, I also needed to come up for air. So, I timed my breath just right so that I'd flip those bastards into oblivion. I'd say it was a job well done... Wouldn't you?

_

((OOC: Part Two CC review RP to come later))

[Astograth]

Semi-Finals

Erathore 1-0 Nzyghistan

Virabia 1-0 Civil Citizenry

The Third Place Play-off will be between Nzyghistan and Civil Citizenry at the 63,000-seater Ituraitz Sporting Ground in, well, Ituraitz.

The Brotherhood Cup Final will be disputed by Erathore and Virabia at the 90,000-seater Grand Duke's Stadium in Rumiatzi, with the monarch himself handing the trophy to the winners.

[Astograth]

Third Place Play-off

Nzyghistan 1-1 Civil Citizenry (2-1 AET)

[Virabia]

The Vonghurst Star
Finality

RUMIATAZI - I know full well that to make much of our appearance in the Brotherhood Cup finals would be foolish but, to ignore the cup's immense potential value would just as foolish. While it is just one of the many cups that are played between the World Cup. Just another one of the cups that in no more than 5 years will be all but forgotten. For example, who can remember the Burchadinger Cup of a few years back or the Cup of Peace twelve years ago. No one bar the most faithful of otakus. Even this tournaments role in padding the resumé of the hosting nation will vanish once the nation gets more experience hosting tournaments.

Even now it's obvious that the Brotherhood Cup isn't high on the priorities list for too many. None of the games have managed to sell out and even tonights final has an expected attendance of roughly 90,000. The players' attitudes largely reflect that of the fans. While they go out and play to the best of their ability, there is a notable lack of passion when compared to club play or matches with influence on the World Cup (or the KPB rankings in general).

So, then, you must be asking where the value for a nation like Virabia is. While not in international notoriety or even a performance that the VFA could cite in the future, cups like these serve a role in boosting the confidence of the nations which do well in them. This effect could be observed as we went into the Fifty Second World Cup. Because of our strong performance of the twelve team Cup of Peace, the expectations for the team were higher than they had been before the last cup. While the Nats eventually ended up performing much as they did the previous time around, one must remember that since then things have changed.

Since WC52, the sport within the country has matured. The quality of play and the players have gone up across the board. While there is still considerable distance to go before Virabi football could be considered elite or even match the high standard that the TFL set for the sport on the island, we are slowly getting there. Some of the more optimistic forecasters even predict that we could qualify for World Cup 56. Which would be surprising considering that our first qualification will, in the end, fall only one short of the target of WC55 set by Waldenyr Caldas when he was brought in as the Nats' second manager 11 years ago.

For now, the squad in Astograth is going to just have to buckle down and play. While their win tonight will not bring them fame, it will see the country beating Erathore who pulled a controversial move and in the pursuit of their own fame switched confederations from the CRF to AOCAF. So in a way, not only are the players playing for confidence but also to prove once more that Rushmore is the new bastion of sports.

As yet another CRF-AOCAF clash takes place, one can be sure that we will keep you posted

_

Note that a different first XI will be used for the final
(L->R)
GK: Wilson
DF: Gamble, Merino, Pacopaco, Maassen
DM: Schmidt, Öglethorpe
MF: Pédrinho, Little
AM: Pédro
FW: America

[Astograth]

Final

Erathore 1-1 Virabia (1-2 AET)

Congratulations to Virabia for winning the Brotherhood Cup!

Additionally, thank you to everyone who participated and particularly those who roleplayed. This has been a great hosting experience I hope to repeat in the near future.

[Nzyghistan]

OOC: 3rd place! Sigged!

Cheers for the Cup, Asto! Hope to RP with you in future!