Nicknames: Bumblebees, Islanders
Colours: Yellow and black
Manager: Michelle Germaine (Delaclava), record 27-4-9
Style: +2.25
So close. All the way to the World Cup final to lose by one goal. Michelle Germaine enters her third World Cup cycle as manager of a national team determined to make it back to the final and win. Her team started the last qualification cycling between three formations. Yet by the end the strikerless 4-6-0 that made earlier Bumblebees famous was the setup of choice. It is perhaps an odd choice, given the headline presence of striker Jason Olson with his two Gold Boots in the Cafundelense Primierona. But it's probable that Olson's early exposure to the highly-mobile front four concept in the Babbage 4-6 helped make him the dangerous striker that Clube Comercial loves.
An all-time high of 15 out of 23 players are signed outside of The Babbage Islands for their club play. There is a hot debate over how good or bad this is. But there's no doubt that some of the top clubs and aspiring clubs in the world are looking to Babbage teams for talent.
In the roster below, starred (*) players played in World Cup 55.
Keepers
Elizabeth Hanna-Kirkpatrick* 32 GK 82/0 Dover City
Jerome Patterson 28 GK 0/0 Bloomfield National
Hanna-Kirkpatrick will take over the Bumblebees' all-time top spot for goalkeeper caps early in this Cup cycle. Patterson is an able second choice, and his recent Champions' Cup and Globe Cup experience will make him stronger.
Defenders
Sweepers
Nancy Svoboda* (vice-capt) 22 SW 31/0 Pocono City Capitals (Newmanistan)
Katja Mira 21 SW 0/0 Atlético Central (Cafundéu)
Centre-backs
Ronald Dennis* 32 CB 104/6 Ajax Khaldoon II (Queer Poco el Mono Ara)
Benjamin Price 20 CB 0/0 FC Mildrid (Erathore)
Jerry Kirkpatrick* 38 CB 136/6 Dunboor FC (Cafundéu)
Wing-backs
Caitlyn Ballantyne* (captain) 33 WB 44/2 Ranca Toco (Cafundéu)
Eva Glemnitz* 26 WB 18/0 Athens Town (Civil Citizenry)
David Johnson 22 WB 0/0 Great Falls Cymru
Caitlyn Ballantyne, star defender for TakilQuip Champions' Cup holders Ranca Toco, headlines a very good back line. She received the armband from 38-year-old Jerry Kirkpatrick, still rostered but in the twilight of a brilliant career. Jerry is the eminence grise of the team, a hard-nosed defender utterly without fear. He has in turn influenced a generation of Babbage defenders including his former centre-back partner Ronald Dennis. Nancy Svoboda is a true sweeper with excellent speed and impeccable judgement; Eva Glemnitz is a scrappy player who fights for the tiniest advantage and then makes it count. Katja Mira is a backup sweeper on the rolls, but she is expected to shift elsewhere in the back in future cups. With her entry into the Cafundelense system, on loan to Atlético Central from Petardos S/A, her potential is explosive. Benjamin Price and David Johnson are young players with futures--Price at a budding international force in Erathore, and Johnson with the last Championship Series winners Great Falls Cymru as they return to the Babbage premiership.
Midfielders
Central midfielders
Sophia Valentine* 29 CM 10/1 Red Devils FC
Skarphéðinn Grímsson* 32 CM 42/6 Volerander FC (Swartaz)
Natalia Karven 20 CM 0/0 Dunboor FC (Cafundéu)
Sean White 20 CM 0/0 Lehi FC
Wing midfielders
Bethany Martin* 29 LM 45/29 Hastmead Diamante (Osarius)
Dagrún Hallvarðsdóttir 23 RM 0/0 Urajbina ZL (Kagdazka and Pazhujebu)
Tristan St-Pierre 22 LM 0/0 Belgium FC
Oddi Ísleifsson 23 RM 0/0 Parisian
Attacking midfielders
Claire van de Graaf* 25 AM 31/1 Zarahemla All-Sport
Logan Clark 21 AM 0/0 Skyline United (Mangolana)
Points
Jason Olson* 35 SS 100/59 Clube Comercial (Cafundéu)
Glen Svoboda* 24 SS 43/23 Beningrad (Sorthern Northland)
Tom Hovi* 26 SS 17/8 Zhevassi ZL (Kagdazka and Pazhujebu)
The 4-6 is back. It's a scheme that uses central midfielders as go-betweens. They can drop back to join the back line for a six-player defence, or surge forward to create a six-player attack. Sophia and Skarp are very fit players used to the demands of the system. The heart of the 4-6 is the union of an attacking midfielder with wingers and a forward with mobility into a blur of frontal activity in every direction, denying defenders the ability to fall into familiar patterns against standard schemes. It requires team players with offensive mindsets. The original Babbage 4-6 was built around Tegan Nash at attacking midfield with Orson Cook and Patty Heatherly on her wings, and they attained two World Cup semifinals in three cycles. The modern version has scoring machine Jason Olson showing that he can do a lot more than play target man, playmaker Van de Graaf adding a serious eye for the goal, converted forward Martin settling in on a flank and dazzling with speed, and newcomer Dagrún impressing all and sundry with decision-making and intensity. Add five bright young backups age 23 and under, including Karven and St-Pierre recently picked up by top-50 clubs. Now season with established stars Glen Svoboda and Tom Hovi, who are expected to see plenty of action backing up the decade-older Olson, and you have the core of a potential champion.
Expect Dagrún Hallvarðsdóttir to take most penalties, and Claire van de Graaf to take corners and most free kicks.
Forwards
Forwards? Who needs forwards? Olson, Glen Svoboda, Hovi, and Martin normally play as forwards in other systems. But all four have an all-round athleticism that Germaine puts to good use to overwhelm defenders trying to read the field.
Off-pitch notes
- Three national team players are captaining gender-specific senior teams for the Football Federation of Babbage. Katja Mira is captain of the women's Olympic team, and Tom Hovi will captain the men. Meanwhile, captaincy of the WSWC eleven falls to Sophia Valentine.
- Glen and Nancy Svoboda are brother and sister, the two oldest children of the late World Cup Hall of Famer Magnus Svoboda. Younger sister Margaret has an Olympic bronze medal.
- Caitlyn Ballantyne won 42 caps for Sportgirls before activating her dual citizenship and playing for the Bumblebees instead. Prior to turning pro she earned a doctorate and taught literature at university.
- With both of them starting, expect a few announcers to trip up over Ballantyne and Valentine and a few listeners to mishear key consonants.
- Bethany Martin was once a runner-up for Miss Babbage Islands. She's a great interview.
- Jerry Kirkpatrick and Elizabeth Hanna married during the last World Cup cycle, and so far are coping with the stress of both playing professionally in different nations.
- Skarphéðinn Grímsson is the team prankster. Call him Skarp, everyone does.
- Three players (Hovi, Johnson, and Óddi) are returned Mormon missionaries.
- Tristan St-Pierre is the tallest player at 2.01 metres, and Claire van de Graaf the shortest at 1.55 metres.
RP permissions
An opponent who RPs first may assign my scorers, may assign yellow cards to my team but not red cards, and may assign injuries to my team members with anticipated unavailability of one game or less. Please do not godmod.
Home kit
Away kit
(Kits courtesy of Tenderville4Sportswear.)