International Domestic Soccer NewsWires
After many confusions in the country that led to the delay of the final games of the Emperor's Cup, threatened with a name change, the first half of this season has ended. As everyone in the whole world must know now, this part of the Cafundelense season isn't so important, being only useful to get the players fit (with the exception of the Emperor's Cup, which has some importance). The State-related competitions don't have big value. The most important one is surely the Emperor's Cup, which is viewed as an important competition, but doesn't come close of the National League, and that's why the smaller teams have more chance. The others competitions are State Championships, and the only reason why the supporters want to win this is because they have to defeat their rivals to get the trophy. And that’s the only reason that they exist too. The State Championships and the State Champions Cup have tradition, while the Emperor’s Cup has practical importance. See the names of the state champions:
JUTA STATE: Cafundó do Juta
LASFT STATE: Petardos S/A
CENTRAL STATE: Ranca Toco
TITÃ STATE: Galáxia
DUNBOOR STATE: Dunboor FC
OLD CITIES STATE: A.F.F.
ESPINAL STATE: Coqueiros
COAST STATE: Atlético Insular
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THE STATE CHAMPIONS CUP
All the state champions played this unimportant competition. See the results (obs: away goals rule apply):
Previous Champions:
Season 1 - Tênis Clube
Season 2 - Petardos S/A
Season 3 - A.F.F.
Season 4 - Clube Imperial
Season 5 - Petardos S/A
Season 6 - Ranca Toco
Season 7 - Petardos S/A
Season 8 - Clube Imperial
Quarterfinals
1st Leg
Atlético Insular 3x0 Galáxia
Dunboor FC 1x1 A.F.F.
Petardos S/A 4x0 Coqueiros
Ranca Toco 2x2 Cafundó do Juta
2nd Leg
Galáxia 1x0 Atlético Insular
A.F.F. 1x2 Dunboor FC
Coqueiros 0x2 Petardos S/A
Cafundó do Juta 3x3 Ranca Toco
Semifinals
1st Leg
Ranca Toco 1x0 Atlético Insular
Petardos S/A 2x4 Dunboor FC
2nd Leg
Atlético Insular 3x1 Ranca Toco
Dunboor FC 1x2 Petardos S/A
Final
1st Leg
Dunboor FC 0x0 Atlético Insular
2nd Leg
Atlético Insular 3x2 Dunboor FC
Champion: ATLÉTICO INSULAR!
Reactions: A POSSIBLE THREAT? The victory of Atlético Insular in the Champions Cup surprised many football experts. Although the competition isn't an important one, the fact that the island team defeated Ranca Toco and Dunboor FC to get the title was seen as a proof that this team is able to defeat even the strongest teams of the league, and must be taken seriously in the league. Everyone now expects Atlético Insular to reach at least the top 8 in the league results, as the team showed strength to do so.
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The republic didn't appear. So, the competition avoided being called "President's Cup". But, the new ruler of Cafundéu is a woman. So why isn't the competition called "Empress Cup"? The fact is, it should, but there was no time to make these changes for this season. It'll happen in the next one.
A bigger competition than the last ones, it involves 64 teams. See the results (obs: no away goals rule):
Previous Champions:
Season 1 - Petardos S/A
Season 2 - Dunboor FC
Season 3 - Petardos S/A
Season 4 - Central United
Season 5 - Clube Imperial
Season 6 - Cafundó do Juta
Season 7 - Clube Imperial
Season 8 - Khalmar-Tijhus
In blue, games considered huge. In red, a game is a city/state derby. If in purple underlined italics, the game is huge and a derby.
Round of 64
1st Leg
U.D.E.U. 1x5 Clube Imperial
Espinalense 0x4 Atlético Insular
Vila Velha 2x2 Royal Pollvogarad
Amigos do Pebolim 1x3 A.F.F.
Engenheiro Peres 0x2 Faculdade de Medicina
São Jorge 1x1 Khalmar-Tijhus
Moto Clube 1x1 Aliança
Imperatriz 0x3 Penders
Marinha 2x4 Pernetas EC
Tênis Clube 0x9 Petardos S/A
Legião de Srieth 1x2 Dunboor FC
Forças Armadas 0x3 Nacional da Cruz
Varzeano 0x1 Atlético Jutense
Mocidade 2x1 Central United
Pico da Neblina 3x3 Galáxia
Carandirú 0x1 Metropolitano
Serrano 1x1 Tabajara
Globo Multimedia 1x4 Sambarilove
Rio Bonito 0x3 Ranca Toco
SC Carnavalesco 0x6 Cafundó do Juta
Cristãos 1x2 Porto Lacruz
Tio João 2x1 SC Lasft
Mondragon Warriors 3x1 Coqueiros
União 1x0 Agreman FH
Massaranduba FC 1x3 América
Dínamo de Natal 2x2 EC Elville
Ferroviário 3x1 São José
C-Electronics 0x2 União Trabalhadora
Lusitânio 2x4 Petrol
Supersônicos 2x1 CR Submiria
Aldeia Vigiah 1x3 Clube dos Banqueiros
Cosmopolita 0x4 Clube Comercial
2nd Leg
Clube Imperial 3x0 U.D.E.U.
Atlético Insular 2x0 Espinalense
Royal Pollvogarad 0x0 Vila Velha (0-3 on penalties)
A.F.F. 4x0 Amigos do Pebolim
Faculdade de Medicina 1x2 Engenheiro Peres
Khalmar-Tijhus 3x1 São Jorge
Aliança 1x0 Moto Clube
Penders 3x2 Imperatriz
Pernetas EC 3x0 Marinha
Petardos S/A 2x1 Tênis Clube
Dunboor FC 11x1 Legião de Srieth
Nacional da Cruz 2x2 Forças Armadas
Atlético Jutense 4x1 Varzeano
Central United 2x0 Mocidade
Galáxia 1x0 Pico da Neblina
Metropolitano 3x2 Carandirú
Tabajara 2x3 Serrano
Sambarilove 3x3 Globo Multimedia
Ranca Toco 0x0 Rio Bonito
Cafundó do Juta 4x2 SC Carnavalesco
Porto Lacruz 1x2 Cristãos (5-4 on penalties)
SC Lasft 4x1 Tio João
Mondragon Warriors 0x2 Coqueiros (3-4 on penalties)
Agreman FH 1x1 União
América 2x0 Massaranduba FC
EC Elville 2x2 Dínamo de Natal (7-8 on penalties)
São José 5x3 Ferroviário (2-3 on penalties)
União Trabalhadora 1x2 C-Electronics
Petrol 1x0 Lusitânio
CR Submiria 3x2 Supersônicos (5-4 on penalties)
Clube dos Banqueiros 2x0 Aldeia Vigiah
Clube Comercial 3x1 Cosmopolita
Round of 32
1st Leg
Clube Comercial 1x1 Clube Imperial
Clube dos Banqueiros 0x2 Atlético Insular
CR Submiria 2x1 Vila Velha
Petrol 2x4 A.F.F.
União Trabalhadora 0x0 Faculdade de Medicina
Ferroviário 1x3 Khalmar-Tijhus
Dínamo de Natal 3x1 Aliança
América 1x2 Penders
União 3x0 Pernetas EC
Coqueiros 1x4 Petardos S/A
SC Lasft 2x2 Dunboor FC
Porto Lacruz 1x1 Nacional da Cruz
Cafundó do Juta 2x2 Atlético Jutense
Ranca Toco 3x1 Central United
Sambarilove 1x0 Galáxia
Serrano 1x2 Metropolitano
2nd Leg
Clube Imperial 2x0 Clube Comercial
Atlético Insular 0x0 Clube dos Banqueiros
Vila Velha 1x3 CR Submiria
A.F.F. 1x1 Petrol
Faculdade de Medicina 2x2 União Trabalhadora (5-3 on penalties)
Khalmar-Tijhus 3x0 Ferroviário
Aliança 3x1 Dínamo de Natal (6-5 on penalties)
Penders 0x2 América
Pernetas EC 2x1 União
Petardos S/A 1x0 Coqueiros
Dunboor FC 0x1 SC Lasft
Nacional da Cruz 1x1 Porto Lacruz (3-4 on penalties)
Atlético Jutense 1x1 Cafundó do Juta (9-8 on penalties)
Central United 1x2 Ranca Toco
Galáxia 3x0 Sambarilove
Metropolitano 3x2 Serrano
Round of 16 (Oitavas-de-final)
1st Leg
Metropolitano 2x1 Clube Imperial
Galáxia 3x0 Atlético Insular
Ranca Toco 1x1 CR Submiria
Atlético Jutense 1x3 A.F.F.
Porto Lacruz 2x2 Faculdade de Medicina
SC Lasft 2x1 Khalmar-Tijhus
Petardos S/A 4x0 Aliança
União 2x5 América
2nd Leg
Clube Imperial 0x0 Metropolitano
Atlético Insular 3x0 Galáxia (5-3 on penalties)
CR Submiria 0x1 Ranca Toco
A.F.F. 1x1 Atlético Jutense
Faculdade de Medicina 0x0 Porto Lacruz (2-4 on penalties)
Khalmar-Tijhus 3x1 SC Lasft
Aliança 1x2 Petardos S/A
América 4x3 União
Quarterfinals
1st Leg
América 2x0 Metropolitano
Petardos S/A 1x1 Atlético Insular
Khalmar-Tijhus 0x0 Ranca Toco
Porto Lacruz 1x3 A.F.F.
2nd Leg
Metropolitano 4x1 América
Atlético Insular 2x0 Petardos S/A
Ranca Toco 0x0 Khalmar-Tijhus (4-2 on penalties)
A.F.F. 1x0 Porto Lacruz
Semifinals
1st Leg
A.F.F. 3x1 Metropolitano
Ranca Toco 2x2 Atlético Insular
2nd Leg
Metropolitano 0x1 A.F.F.
Atlético Insular 2x1 Ranca Toco
Final
1st Leg
A.F.F. 3x0 Atlético Insular
The live match report of this game:
[17:27] * Cafundeu finishes scorinating the Emperor's Cup, which results will be posted later
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[19:15] * ChanServ modo de ajuste: +v Bostopia
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[19:18] * ChanServ modo de ajuste: +v Bazalonia
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[19:19] * Bazalonia stabs his BoF host opponent
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[19:19] * Cafundeu rises from his coffin
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Goals:AFF: Heitor 22' , Kose 51'/90'.
THE FINAL
ATLÉTICO INSULAR 0x0 A.F.F.
Place: Cúpula Tropical, in Ilha Eremita.
Attendance: 55,091 people.
Referee: Alceu Braga Mendes (Lasft State).
Assistants: Natália Gomes and Mário Bassan (Lasft State).
Time of the game: 21:30h (local time).
MOTM: Silveira (A.F.F.)
ATLÉTICO INSULAR: Amutarrad; Moraes, Tuff and Vega; Edsanderson (Francinélio 80'), Lionel (Mário 63') and Sytrobes; Vuhumara (Sinclair 45'), Tales and Hool.
Coach: Ensio Varg.
A.F.F.: Zecão; Léo Mattos (Malan 60'), Augusto César, Whitecroft and Eduardo Monte; Pasarap, Silveira, Prescott (Beattis 75') and Neto (Petras 75'); Heitor and Kose.
Coach: Benjamin Oliveira.
A.F.F. WINS THE EMPEROR'S CUP!
Reactions: READY FOR MORE? The quality of the football shown by A.F.F. during the Emperor's Cup was seen as a sign that the team can do the same in the national league. The new players Prescott and Kose added some depth to the team, which seems now very strong. So, the question appears: can the team win the title again, after many seasons? If not, the team at least is expected to end in a respectable position in the final standings, possible a top 4 one, as the most famous teams disappointed during the Emperor's Cup.
International Association Football University Challenge Championship
The first-ever International University Challenge Championship (IUCC) was held over the week in Hatton, Grand Island, Ad’ihan, at the Hatton College of Medicine. The tournament, which features the world's top footballing universities, is a single round-robin tournament, with each team playing two matches.
The organisers, the Football Federation of Ad’ihan (AFF), have said that they intend to hold the tournament every other season.
For the inaugural competition, the University of Riestre from Vephrall and Dancougar's University of Gilderome joined Ad’ihani champions Hatton College of Medicine to contest for the title of international university football champions.
Results
U of Gilderome DAN 1-2 U of Riestre VPH
U of Riestre VPH 1-1 Hatton Med College ADN
Hatton Med College ADN 1-2 U of Gilderome DAN
Table
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 U of Riestre VPH 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 4
2 U of Gilderome DAN 2 1 0 1 3 3 0 3
3 Hatton Med College ADN 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
And so, with that, the University of Riestre are crowned the inaugural international football champions at university level.
Recently, as per an effort to raise interest in the Cafundelense league, four clubs from Cafundéu - Cafundó do Juta, Petardos S/A, Dunboor FC, and Ranca Toco went on tours of Yafor 2, to play Yaforite clubs in Yafor 2, as well as earn some money off of the gate receipts.
Day 1:
IYC Kaharan 1 (Valanar, 13') - Dunboor FC 1 (Luiso, 22')
Kiera FC 0 - Ranca Toco 2 (Loverado 12', Gepardo 84')
IYC Hadaris 1 (Kaliokis 72') - Cafundó do Juta 3 (Flecha 9', 34', R. Vélez 18')
IYC Uharan 2 (Torino 17', 64') - Petardos S/A 2 (Newton 31', Hawk 45+1')
Day 2:
Ramen United 1 (Amhartu 18') - Dunboor FC 2 (Luiso 11', 44')
Cardarel FC 2 (Insfield 3', Meleherat 25') - Ranca Toco 3 (Gepardo 23', 25', Aatunen 42')
Chelmar FC 3 (Sharma 3', 15', 24') - Cafundó do Juta 3 (Flecha 11', 22', 74')
IYC Kaharan 1 (Valanar 72') - Petardos S/A 3 (Newton 12', Hawk 17', Fresco 71')
Day 3:
Uharan FC 0 - Dunboor FC 3 (Razov 8', 75', Luiso 71')
IYC Darigeris 1 (Zerch 16') - Ranco Toco 2 (Serginho 2', 81')
IYC Ajer 2 (d'Angiél 12', Valdaan 32') - Cafundó do Juta 2 (Flecha 18', Hocn 52')
Chelmar FC 2 (Sharma 8', 90+2') - Petardos S/A 1 (Hawk 1')
Day 4:
IYC Uharan 3 (Torino 9', 12', Kiranar 19') - Dunboor FC 2 (Razov 2', Jorginho 18')
Chelmar FC 4 (Sharma 13', 24', 81', Eleifo 90+2') - Ranca Toco 1 (Ghur 21')
IYC Kaharan 2 (Valanar 43', Éverton 51') - Cafundó do Juta 2 (Flecha 12', Eager 81')
IYC Ajer 3 (d'Angiél 11', 15', 77') - Petardos S/A 4 (Rubiano 3', Newton 15', 54', Hawk 90+3')
And it is good, as the climax is a thunderous 4-3 win by Petardos S/A, as Laborious Hawk scores in injury time to clinch it for the former TQCC champions!
Records:
Dunboor FC: 2-1-1
Ranca Toco: 3-0-1
Cafundó do Juta: 1-3-0
Petardos S/A: 2-1-1
It's the second season of the Newmanistan Premier League. Can Dover City successfully repeat as champions, or will Pocono City avenge being defeated on the last matchday? Will Loudon re-find their old, traditional form? How about rising clubs like Southport or Putnam Lake? Will the Empire's most recognizable name from the national team, Jeremy McAllister, finally bring home the championship to his Putnam Lake side? Centralia's improved, and so has Stroudsbourg. Recently promoted West Penthoria has spent a lot to try and assure themselves of remaining in the Premier League. Then there's a bunch of other teams too, who aren't about to let the favorites have an easy time. There are 46 games in the NPL. The 24 sides play each other once at home and once on the road.
This is the consensus predicted order by a panel of Newmanistanian football experts. (Results either tonight or tomorrow).
1) Pocono City- Ok folks, you think Brian Carson has a chip on his shoulder? And I'm not talking about the national team here, the Captials lost the NPL title last season in a very heartbreaking fashion, and they are determined to get back to where they feel they belong. His big signing last year was Brett Carlson, and you can expect this young forward to get plenty of time before he figures to play for the Rockets in Di Bradini Cup 6. Kevin Lewis is still in his prime, and they should get one more good year out of Kevin Dalton. Then, knowing the Capitals, they'll go out and spend huge money on keeper to replace him. A solid back end led by Michael Harrison and Chris Lombardi can't be overlooked either. Pocono City is most vulnerable in the midfield, but they should get by.
2) Southport- We found out last year that Sakura Jo was the real deal, as the Fujisawan Territories icon adapted well to her first full year in Newmanistan. With that behind her now, with more comfort, she will only get better. Defenders Mitch Conrad, Brent Treichler, and young 15-year old Todd Benjamin, a DBC 6 candidate play well in front of her. And Julie McElroy will continue to score goals with frequency. That's enough when Jo's your keeper.
3) Putnam Lake- Jeremy McAllister's side might not be ready for a championship quite yet, but they will be right in the mix. The icon of Newmanistanian football has captured the interest of nations from around the world as transfer offers keep coming in. But over the last few years, the Eagles have begun to build around McAllister, and young striker Calvin Lane, a DBC 6 candidate, has the ability to reach his full potential playing here. The Eagles also get great goalkeeping from Chris Kusler, and that cannot be overlooked. Ken Cerutti has gradually become a solid midfielder, too.
4) Centralia- Ah yes, team "we want to win 1-0 every game". After yet another dominating defensive season, the Cougars went out and made a big overseas purchase. Yep, on yet another defender, landing a young Casey Berber from Dancougar. The Cougars see a ton of potential in Berber, and feel that they have the perfect system for him to absolutely flourish. And they're probably right. Mark McCafferty will be an outstanding mentor. The signing of Berber allowed them to trade defender Ed Peterson to Stroudsbourg for cash. Is there another big signing in the works? Maybe, a forward?
5) Dover City- The defending champions fifth? Well, most people think they overachieved last season. The Mountaineers are a pretty well-balanced team, and Keith O'Brien gives them decent keeping. Cafundeu's Carlao has become the leader of the back end and seems to be enjoying this new chapter to his career. A solid foward trio of Brian Wright, Alex Warrick, and Fujisawan's Taree Taira will all return in the efforts to repeat. Midfielder John Owens looked good playing for a second division club last season, and is the main addition to Dover City this year. Not helping was several players seeing dollar signs and going to other clubs.
6) Springfield- The Thoroughbreds are led by Shawn Drummond, who is arguably the second best striker in the Empire behind McAllister, although there are some rumors that Springfield may have him on the transfer market. If such a thing happens, then lower the Thoroughbreds considerably. They have some other weapons, including Corey Hennis, the starting keeper on the national team, along with Nate Stratton, and midfielder Steve Boland, who also play at the national level. They have a young prospect named James Seidler, a midfielder, whom they are high on as well.
7) Stroudsbourg- Is tiny little Stroudsbourg really ready for the big time? It's hard to believe, but this club looks like they may actually beat out teams in the big cities. Nus Kusaglu, from Kose and The Turkomans, was the leading scorer for the Panthers, and he will return. But he will have some help, with the huge signing of Christopher Moreton from the Blouman Empire, and the acquisition of Ed Peterson from Centralia. Additionally, their first round pick two years ago, Dirk Brogan, a DBC 6 candidate, is looking like another legitimate scoring threat. If only the Panthers could land a real strong keeper.
8) Loudon- This could be the low spot for the Leopards. Loudon needs to get back to the top and needs to be challenging for championships, but right now it just does not look like it is going to happen. This is not a bad club, and they have a solid back end with Eddie Chapman and young Sheldon Talcott. Kevin Carrigan and John Murphy are the team's top scoring threats, and while they'll get the job done, the Leopards need a better supporting cast, and a much better keeper to even think about a title.
9) South Tier- This is where we start to see a bit of a gap brewing. The Seagulls are solid team, but don't seem to be the type that can get up there with the best and compete for the title. Tom Cuyler and Brian Rafferty are both great midfielders, and Cuyler in particular is really getting pretty good, but they can't do it all themselves. Scott Conrad, a solid keeper, will keep them ahead of other mid-pack teams.
10) Olympia- The Gladiators have fallen into the rut of being a perennial mid-pack team, and this year will be no exception. The player to watch is likely 15-year old Kyle Carrigan, the younger brother of Loudon's Kevin. Kyle is likely a given for the Di Bradini 6 team, but he can't carry this entire team on his back yet. They've improved in the back end with the transfer of Andrew Pollard from the Blouman Empire, and the purchase of Dover City's Eric Lovell. Maybe, they could be a spoiler.
11) Fairfield City- With Jennifer Vilardi coming along as a fantastic talent, the Admirals should have enough to build on a decent mid-table position last year and assert themselves as a team that can win any night. Midfielder Chris Coleman will be able to get her the ball in prime chances and is a nice up and coming talent himself, as is defender Michelle Norton.
12) Hastings- Jennifer's twin sister Shannon shouldn't be too far behind her in the standings are her Crusaders seem to be a fairly similarly constructed team. They'll look for Shannon Vilardi to be the team leader in goals. Eric Feldman is a young defender with promise, and midfielder John Owens should get Shannon the ball alright.
13) Tundra Falls- How, in the world, could the mighty Tundra Falls Mariners fall so low? How can the Proving Grounds not have a contender on their sacred pitch? Well, when they transfered Matt Caufield away to the Blouman Empire, it was just the start. Don't be surprised if Tony Borsinger and keeper Kurt Allwine are wearing new uniforms by the end of the season, either.
14) North Charlotte- North should win the battle over South this season. The Wildcats made a couple decent acquisitions that should keep them in a solid midfield position. Justin Lyons, Kevin Kohagen, and Eddie Martin make up a solid midfield that should give them just enough.
15) West Penthoria- The Division Two champions were promoted and now are ready to make sure they do not go back down. They opened up the checkbook, and signed a top keeper from Arroza, and then gave him support in landing defenders Eric Blunden from Centralia and Kevin Stover from Dover City. They still need some people that can put the ball in the net, but this is a promising start.
16) Concord City- The biggest move by Concord City was to land Alex Freeman, formerly of South Tier. Chris Phillips, a defender, was also signed from North Charlotte after the Wildcats released him due to behavorial issues.
17) South Charlotte- The Condors still continue to seem hopeless, but should be able to do just enough to fend off relegation without really needing to worry about it. Shane Classen is a tremendous midfielder, and the start of the team, with Kyle Billings, a 15 year old prospect perhaps someone else that they can look to.
18) Daytopia- There's not a lot to be excited about here. But like South Charlotte, they're probably just good enough to stay safe in the premier league. A couple of young defenders, who are both DBC6 candidates, Scott LaFave and Brett Taratino, who are each 15 represent a bright future, but they aren't there yet. They recently announced that they will be fully committed to developing young players.
19) Hampton- Hampton remained in the premier league by four points, but they should be able to do a little better thanks to first round pick Kevin Taylor, and their first round pick of last year Chris Farrell leading the way. Both strikers will be able to score against the weaker defenses of bottom teams.
20) Portsmouth- The Whalers just don't seem to have it, and even though they overachieved a little last year, we see this as a tough season for them, and perhaps they will be in a fight to remain in the premier league.
21) Lincoln- The Colonials were promoted and are looking to make an impact. We like a few of their players, especially midfielder Todd Gillespie, and think they will play with just enough heart and character to finish here, which is the final spot to stay safe.
22) Riverside- The fact that they weren't demoted last year just prolonged the inevitable this year. There is not much to speak of here in any way.
23) Seminole Bay- A team that's been on the decline for a while now, and we think that there time has finally come. A year for ownership to recommitt themselves to winning may be what they need in the organization, because as a city, Seminole Bay does not belong in a secondary league.
24) Rockland- The third of the three teams that were promoted, it's going to be hard for the Jets to stay up as they really haven't done anything over the offseason.
Cegeeng joins Vephrallers in Cafundéu
Yet another Stestrenas player has chosen to leave the nation in search of the big bucks in Cafundéu. Vephrall national team left-back Ferrys Cegeeng is bound for SC Lasft in a deal estimated at over Ł58 million.
The full list of Vephrallers that currently play or have previously played in Cafundéu (those no longer playing in italics):
- Going Sytrobes (Atlético Insular)
- Wendelors Clituleng (Dunboor FC)
- Jehoepe Shrifflu (Atlético Jutense)
- Jehoepe Pasarap (A.F.F.)
- Soscren Pranasik (Clube Imperial)
- Dotos Ponten (Clube Imperial)
- Ferrys Cegeeng (SC Lasft)
Cafundéu holds the distinction of having been the home of the most Vephrallers playing abroad, and is currently tied with Valanora as the nation with the most currently playing there (six each). The Kura-Pelland and Candelaria And Marquez leagues each have one Vephrese player, Siestanin Mantlom (Curzek Rovers) and Avilass Gackbang (Arrigo Portuguese), respectively; no Vephrese players play in any other foreign leagues.
CSA promises scheduling changes for 1758 season
The Collegiate Sporting Alliance has promised that new scheduling procedures will be in place for Vephrall's college football teams starting this season. They have declined to give any specifics yet, but have said that each team will most likely play about twelve games per season (they currently play seven to nine, depending on conference) and that nonconference regular season play will be introduced in the near future, though not necessarily this season.
National Team Coach Brian Carson may not have had the best qualifying campaign for World Cup 41, but his Capitals made up for it by taking home the Newmanistan Premier League Championship this season. You may recall last year, where Carson’s Capitals were beaten on the last matchday by Dover City for the crowd. This year, Putnam Lake and Centralia loomed as the biggest threats, with the Eagles of Putnam Lake at one point opening up a 10-point advantage early in the season, before the Capitals took over. After celebrating the championship, 38-year old goalkeeper Kevin Dalton announced his retirement. Dalton spend 16 seasons in Pocono City, winning four NSL championships, as the league was known then. He also played for the national team in World Cup 40 and the Baptism of Fire.
Jeremy McAllister continues to get Putnam Lake closer, but still the Eagles await their first ever championship. J-Mac’s 40 goals led the NPL this season, and the young Calvin Lane got off to a great start before eventually fading later on. Chris Kusler was a pleasant surprise, as well. We knew the goalkeeper would be good, but he established himself as one of the top keepers in the Empire. Centralia showed their usual dominance, their back end allowed just 29 goals over the entire season!
Surprise Teams: Olympia (somewhat better then expected), Loudon (year wasn’t as bad as some thought), and Seminole Bay (they were supposed to be a lock for relegation)
Disappointing Teams: Southport (was supposed to contend for title, not finish 20 points out). Tundra Falls (at one point, they were 18th, decent finish got them to 13th, but still way below their standards).
League MVP: Jeremy McAllister (Putnam Lake)
Keeper of Year: Kevin Dalton (Pocono City)
Top Midfielder: Kevin Carrigan (Loudon)
Top Defender: Mark McCafferty (Centralia)
Overseas Player of Year: Sakura Jo (Southport)
Rookie of the Year: Brett Carlson (Pocono City)
Pocono City 46 31 7 8 100 95 44 51
Putnam Lake 46 29 7 10 94 92 42 50
Centralia 46 29 7 10 94 61 29 32
Dover City 46 26 10 10 88 89 59 30
Loudon 46 25 8 13 83 79 57 22
Springfield 46 24 9 13 81 77 51 26
Olympia 46 23 12 11 81 68 43 25
Southport 46 24 8 14 80 69 41 28
Stroudsbourg 46 22 11 13 77 73 46 27
South Tier 46 22 10 14 76 68 47 21
Fairfield City 46 20 9 17 69 70 61 9
North Charlotte 46 17 12 17 63 65 65 0
Tundra Falls 46 18 9 19 63 54 56 -2
Hastings 46 16 14 16 62 66 64 2
Hampton 46 17 10 19 61 65 67 -2
Daytopia 46 16 11 19 59 59 65 -6
Seminole Bay 46 13 12 21 51 52 69 -17
West Penthoria 46 12 14 20 50 38 60 -22
South Charlotte 46 12 11 23 47 50 77 -27
Concord City 46 12 8 26 44 51 80 -29
Lincoln 46 8 10 28 34 39 70 -31
Riverside 46 6 11 29 29 37 84 -47 R
Portsmouth 46 5 12 29 27 35 103 -68 R
Rockland 46 6 6 34 24 31 103 -72 R
– Harrison Senators won the B League championship in rather dominating fashion, starting well and stay on top for most of the season. For a while, Thumbria Bay was their biggest challenger, but they went on a huge losing streak in the second half of the season. The Pittstown Miners, despite only ending up just four points back, were never really a threat to Harrison. Pittstown and Harrison though will make their first trip now to the Premier League, where they’ll be joined by Brighton, a team that was relegated from the NPL, and will now return. Andover and Yorkville will go down.
Harrison 46 28 7 11 91 81 46 35 P
Pittstown 46 26 9 11 87 71 43 28 P
Brighton 46 23 9 14 78 76 58 18 P
West Loudon 46 22 11 13 77 68 47 21
Thumbria Bay 46 22 9 15 75 65 48 17
Bradford Town 46 21 12 13 75 72 59 13
Pocono Village 46 20 10 16 70 62 56 6
Dover Town 46 19 12 15 69 69 58 11
Pocono Lake 46 19 10 17 67 67 56 11
Scrantena 46 18 12 16 66 63 59 4
Ashland 46 19 9 18 66 64 63 1
Rushville 46 17 13 16 64 63 55 8
Liberty Town 46 17 13 16 64 66 63 3
Strausser 46 18 10 18 64 63 67 -4
Independence 46 17 12 17 63 63 66 -3
Silver Lake 46 17 11 18 62 66 66 0
Steel City 46 17 11 18 62 56 62 -6
Buffalonia 46 14 11 21 53 52 70 -18
North Concord 46 14 10 22 52 54 76 -22
Montgomery 46 12 14 20 50 47 61 -14
Fairfield Town 46 13 9 24 48 55 74 -19
Manchester 46 11 13 22 46 54 75 -21
Andover 46 11 12 23 45 49 74 -25 R
Yorkville 46 8 9 29 33 37 81 -44 R
– North Falls, in fourth place at the midway point, used a very strong second half to win the league title and move up a notch. Dawson City join them. Falling to the bottom was a horrible Nassau club as well as Allenstone.
North Falls 30 20 4 6 64 57 29 28 P
Dawson City 30 18 8 4 62 54 26 28 P
Dayton Town 30 18 5 7 59 59 35 24
Johnsonville 30 17 6 7 57 62 37 25
Cloverfield 30 14 6 10 48 41 36 5
Monticello 30 13 7 10 46 43 34 9
Wrentham 30 11 8 11 41 37 34 3
Bristol 30 11 8 11 41 44 42 2
Cranston 30 12 5 13 41 39 42 -3
Putnam Beach 30 11 6 13 39 47 48 -1
Knightsville 30 11 6 13 39 43 45 -2
Newport 30 9 8 13 35 36 43 -7
Nazareth 30 9 8 13 35 33 46 -13
East Adams 30 7 6 17 27 32 52 -20
Allanstone 30 4 7 19 19 27 57 -30 R
Nassau 30 5 2 23 17 21 69 -48 R
– Not everyone was thrilled with the D League’s winner, Centralia Town, as the Premier League Centralia club gave the team a heavy amount of funding, and it seemed to put Centralia Town at an unfair advantage. They will move up a notch now, along with Nashua.
Centralia Town 22 17 3 2 54 51 18 33 P
Nashua 22 15 3 4 48 42 17 25 P
Sutterfield 22 14 4 4 46 47 25 22
Clear Falls 22 14 4 4 46 41 20 21
Naples 22 11 4 7 37 37 26 11
Evason 22 7 5 10 26 27 35 -8
Eastport 22 6 6 10 24 24 31 -7
Chesterville 22 6 4 12 22 20 40 -20
High Point 22 5 5 12 20 28 39 -11
Rutland 22 4 5 13 17 21 44 -23
Stockton 22 4 3 15 15 26 47 -21
Verona 22 3 6 13 15 23 45 -22
The Empress’ Cup
1st Round (Top 20 Premier League Clubs receive bye)
Lincoln 3-0 Verona
Riverside 2-1 Stockton
Portsmouth 2-1 Rutland (1-1 FT, 1-1 AET, 4-3 PK)
Rockland 3-0 High Point
Harrison 6-1 Chesterville
Pittstown 2-0 Eastport
Brighton 2-0 Evason
West Loudon 3-2 Naples (2-2 FT, 3-2 AET)
Thumbria Bay 0-2 Clear Falls
Bradford Town 1-0 Sutterfield (0-0 FT, 0-0 AET, 3-2 PK)
Pocono Village 3-0 Nashua
Dover Town 1-3 Centralia Town
Pocono Lake 3-0 Nassau
Scratena 2-1 Allenstone
Ashland 4-0 East Adams
Rushville 1-3 Nazareth
Liberty Township 5-1 Newport
Strausser 3-1 Knightsville
Independence 0-1 Putnam Beach
Silver Lake 1-0 Cranston
Steel City 1-3 Bristol
Buffalonia 2-1 Wrentham (1-1 FT, 2-1 AET)
North Concord 0-1 Monticello (0-0 FT, 0-1 AET)
Montgomery 4-2 Cloverfield
Fairfield Town 3-2 Johnsonville (1-1 FT, 2-2 AET, 4-3 PK)
Manchester 0-3 Dayton Town
Andover 2-1 Dawson City
Yorkville 0-4 North Falls
2nd Round
Pocono City 3-1 North Falls
Putnam Lake 2-0 Andover
Centralia 1-0 Dayton Town
Dover City 3-0 Fairfield Town
Loudon 5-2 Montgomery
Springfield 3-2 Monticello (2-2 FT, 3-2 AET)
Olympia 2-1 Buffalonia
Southport 4-0 Bristol
Stroudsbourg 3-1 Silver Lake
South Tier 1-2 Putnam Beach (1-1 FT, 1-1 AET, 2-3 PK)
Fairfield City 0-3 Strausser
North Charlotte 2-1 Liberty Township
Tundra Falls 3-1 Nazareth
Hastings 0-2 Ashland
Hampton 2-1 Scratena
Daytopia 1-2 Pocono Lake
Seminole Bay 1-4 Centralia Town
West Penthoria 2-1 Pocono Village (1-1 FT, 2-1 AET)
South Charlotte 3-1 Bradford Town
Concord City 4-3 Clear Falls (2-2 FT, 3-3 AET, 3-2 PK)
Lincoln 0-1 West Loudon
Riverside 2-3 Brighton (2-2 FT, 2-3 AET)
Portsmouth 3-2 Pittstown
Rockland 1-3 Harrison
3rd Round
Pocono City 2-1 Harrison
Putnam Lake 4-0 Portsmouth
Centralia 2-0 Brighton
Dover City 2-1 West Loudon (1-1 FT, 1-1 AET, 3-1 PK)
Loudon 2-3 Concord City (2-2 FT, 2-2 AET, 2-3 PK)
Springfield 1-2 South Charlotte
Olympia 2-0 West Penthoria
Southport 1-0 Centralia Town
Stroudsbourg 1-2 Pocono Lake
Putnam Beach 0-3 Hampton
Strausser 0-1 Ashland
North Charlotte 2-1 Tundra Falls (1-1 FT, 2-1 AET)
4th Round
Pocono City 3-0 North Charlotte
Putnam Lake 2-1 Ashland (1-1 FT, 2-1 AET)
Centralia 2-1 Hampton (1-1 FT, 1-1 AET, 3-2 PK)
Dover City 4-0 Pocono Lake
Concord City 2-1 Centralia Town
South Charlotte 1-3 Olympia
Centralia 2-0 Olympia
Dover City 2-1 Concord City
Semis
Pocono City 4-2 Dover City
Putnam Lake 1-2 Centralia
3rd Place
Putnam Lake 0-2 Dover City
Championship
Pocono City 1-0 Centralia
TQCC teams (in order of preference): Pocono City, Centralia, Putnam Lake, Dover City
Globe Cup (in order of preference): Dover City (if not TQCC eligible) then Loudon, Harrison, and Springfield.
And on another note, The Empress would like to congratulate Chris Peterson of Clube Imperiale in Cafundeu on his teams Championship, and Brett Prescott of A.F.F. for his teams winning Cafundeu's Emperor's Cup
Congratulations to Chris Mahaffey for being the first Arrozan player ever to play on a national championship winning side.
THE SAME OF EVER REVIEW OF CAFUNDÉU’S LEAGUE SYSTEM – Cafundéu’s league is composed of 5 divisions of 20 teams. All the divisions have the same style:
-1st phase: All the clubs play each other 2 times(home and away). It’s called “primeiro turno”. The winner of this phase it’s the first placed at the end of the league.
Tiebreakers: points, number of wins, goal difference, goals scored, yellow cards.
-2nd phase: The 8 best placed teams in the 1st phase play in a knockout stage. The 1st plays the 8th (Game A), the 2nd plays the 7th(Game B), the 3rd plays the 6th(Game C) and the 4th plays the 5th (Game D). They play two games(home and away). The winner continues. In case of draw, the team with better performance in the 1st phase wins. Then, the winner of the game A plays against the winner of game D, and the winner of game B plays the winner of game C(semifinals) with the same rules. Then, the winners play the final using the same rules.
-3rd phase: The winners of the 1st and 2nd phase play each other in one game in neutral ground. In case of draw, there’s extra time and penalties. The winner is the Cafundéu champion.
Promotion and Relegation: In all the leagues 4 teams get relegated. They are the 4 worst teams of the 1st phase. The promoted teams are the 3 best teams of the 1st phase and the best team of the 2nd phase(note that the champion of the 2nd phase can be already promoted in the 1st phase, so the best placed team that still wasn’t promoted will be promoted (the one which reached the final or the semifinal of the 2nd phase).
Orange: Division champions
Blue = promoted
Red = relegated
Green = 2nd phase champions(if lost the Grand Final)
Purple = 1st phase champions(if lost the Grand Final)
Phase Champions are promoted too.
Special cases:
Silver: TQCC teams
Brown: Globe Cup
Gold: SBCC teams
The phase champions in the 1st and 2nd Divisions are also qualified for the TQCC and SBCC, respectively.
1st Division Past winners (since the entrance of Cafundéu in the NS World Cup -before that, there were many champions in competitions with different formats):
Season 1 - Atlético Jutense
Season 2 - Cafundó do Juta
Season 3 - Petardos S/A
Season 4 - Petardos S/A
Season 5 - Dunboor FC
Season 6 - A.F.F.
Season 7 – Petardos S/A
Season 8 – Cafundó do Juta
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CAFUNDÉU’S FIRST DIVISION – very disputed, the top teams did a good job, with fewer exceptions. Atlético Insular and A.F.F. continued surprising after the good run in the Emperor’s Cup:
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Clube Imperial 38 22 6 10 101 60 41 72 TQCC
2 Cafundó do Juta 38 19 12 7 78 51 27 69 TQCC
3 Petardos S/A 38 19 7 12 81 66 15 64 TQCC
4 A.F.F. 38 18 9 11 75 67 8 63 TQCC
5 Dunboor FC 38 18 8 12 70 59 11 62 GLOBE
6 Ranca Toco 38 16 12 10 64 52 12 60
7 Atlético Insular 38 15 10 13 63 59 4 55 GLOBE
8 Khalmar-Tijhus 38 15 9 14 60 61 -1 54
9 Atlético Jutense 38 15 8 15 54 54 0 53
10 Clube Comercial 38 14 11 13 53 58 -5 53
11 América 38 13 11 14 55 67 -12 50
12 Galáxia 38 12 12 14 59 70 -11 48
13 SC Lasft 38 11 15 12 35 37 -2 48
14 Central United 38 12 11 15 54 60 -6 47
15 Metropolitano 38 12 10 16 42 51 -9 46
16 CR Submiria 38 11 13 14 53 66 -13 46
17 Penders 38 10 11 17 62 73 -11 41
18 Sambarilove 38 9 11 18 43 55 -12 38
19 EC Elville 38 7 12 19 29 44 -15 33
20 Agreman FH 38 6 14 18 26 47 -21 32
Globe Cup playoff (6th placed x Cup runner-ups):
Ranca Toco 1-3 Atlético Insular
For the 2nd phase, the 8 teams battled for the segundo turno (derbies in underlined purple):
Quarter-Finals – 1st Leg:
Khalmar-Tijhus 1-3 Clube Imperial
Atlético Insular 2-2 Cafundó do Juta
Ranca Toco 2-0 Petardos S/A
Dunboor FC 1-2 A.F.F.
2nd Leg:
Clube Imperial 4-2 Khalmar-Tijhus
Cafundó do Juta 1-0 Atlético Insular
Petardos S/A 3-1 Ranca Toco (Petardos wins due to better campaign on 1st phase)
A.F.F. 0-3 Dunboor FC
Semifinals – 1st Leg:
Dunboor FC 0-0 Clube Imperial
Petardos S/A 3-2 Cafundó do Juta
2nd Leg:
Clube Imperial 2-0 Dunboor FC
Cafundó do Juta 4-1 Petardos S/A
Final 1st Leg:
Cafundó do Juta 2-1 Clube Imperial
FINAL 2ND LEG:
CLUBE IMPERIAL 2x1 CAFUNDÓ DO JUTA
(Clube Imperial wins due to better campaign on 1st phase)
Place: Estádio Rei Albieri Van Tocco, in Cafundó do Juta.
Attendance: 177,803 people.
Referee: Márcio Plenário (Lasft State).
Assistants: Édipo Bloch and Keyla Morini (Dunboor State).
MOTM: Alex (Clube Imperial).
CLUBE IMPERIAL: Juile; Alex, Williams and Tushambanda; Da Silva, Underdark, Ponten, Pranasik (Peterson 45’) and Caras (Valtinho 71’); Aristóteles and D’Abbo (Saulo 64’).
Coach: Júlio Vargas.
CAFUNDÓ DO JUTA: Rodríguez; Bahsir, Aligon, Eager (Bonfá 80’) and Kaneda; C.Vergara (Cícero 63’) and Hocn; Ulcviecel, Fabrício (R.Vélez 45’), Flecha and I.Vélez.
Coach: Eduardo Bosschaart.
Goals:CIM: Aristóteles 22’/78’.
CJU: Ulcviecel 43’.
Yellow Cards: Tushambanda, Underdark and Caras (CIM); Aligon, Eager, Hocn and Raúl Vélez (CJU).
CLUBE IMPERIAL WINS THE LEAGUE!
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Other details of the first division:
Best Player:
1st – Alex (Clube Imperial)
2nd – Laborious Hawk (Petardos S/A)
3rd – Flecha (Cafundó do Juta)
4th – Augusto César (A.F.F.)
5th – Julian D’Abbo (Clube Imperial)
Top Goalscorer:
1st – Laborious Hawk (Petardos S/A) – 30 goals
2nd – Sinan Kose (A.F.F.) – 26 goals
3rd – Aristóteles (Clube Imperial) – 23 goals
4th – Julian D’Abbo (Clube Imperial) – 21 goals
5th – Flecha (Cafundó do Juta) – 20 goals
*in case of draw, the player with less games played stays in front of the others
Best Goalkeeper:
1st – Imon Juile (Clube Imperial)
2nd – Eetu Riihijarvi (Dunboor FC)
3rd – Moisés (Ranca Toco)
4th – Fernando Rodríguez (Cafundó do Juta)
5th – Yuji Watanabe (Clube Comercial)
Best Defender (full-backs and center-backs):
1st – Alex (Clube Imperial)
2nd – Augusto César (A.F.F.)
3rd – Nilan Bahsir (Cafundó do Juta)
4th – Mertus Gaëif (Petardos S/A)
5th – Thomas Whitecroft (A.F.F.)
Best Midfielder (defensive and offensive):
1st – Laborious Hawk (Petardos S/A)
2nd – Alfonso Di Angelo (Petardos S/A)
3rd – Connor Mengucci (América)
4th – Zé Sho (Atlético Jutense)
5th – Silveira (A.F.F.)
Best Attacker:
1st – Flecha (Cafundó do Juta)
2nd – Julian D’Abbo (Clube Imperial)
3rd – Sinan Kose (A.F.F.)
4th – Aristóteles (Clube Imperial)
5th – Thomas Ulcviecel (Cafundó do Juta)
Best Coach:
1st – Júlio Vargas (Clube Imperial)
2nd – Benjamin Oliveira (A.F.F.)
3rd – Ensio Varg (Atlético Insular)
4th – Eduardo Bosschaart (Cafundó do Juta)
5th – Júlio Mercegues (Clube Comercial)
Team of the Season:
First Team:
------------------------------Juile(CIM)------------------------------
---Bahsir(CJU)--------Gaëif(PSA)-----Alex(CIM)---Augusto César(AFF)--
-----------------------------Zé Sho (AJU)----------------------------
----------Mengucci(AME)--------------------Di Angelo(PSA)-----------
------------------------------Hawk(PSA)-----------------------------
---------------------Flecha(CJU)-----D'Abbo(CIM)--------------------
Coach: Júlio Vargas (CIM).
Second team:
----------------------------Riihijarvi(DUB)----------------------------
--------------Alegro(RCT)-----Tuff(AIN)-----Whitecroft(AFF)----------
------------------Silveira(AFF)----------Barba(CCO)------------------
-----Da Silva(CIM)-----------------------------------Barnes(DUB)-----
----------------------------Ulcviecel(CJU)----------------------------
------------------Kose(AFF)--------------Aristóteles(CIM)------------
Coach: Benjamin Oliveira (AFF).
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2nd Division Past Winners:
Season 1 - CR Submiria
Season 2 - Clube Comercial
Season 3 - Clube Imperial
Season 4 - Galáxia
Season 5 - Petrol
Season 6 - Pernetas EC
Season 7 – CR Submiria
Season 8 – Central United
CAFUNDÉU'S SECOND DIVISION - the Second Division seemed weaker than average this season, with no famous teams disputing it. Vila Velha surprised the country finishing in the second place. The top 4 teams go to the SBCC:
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 São José 38 22 7 9 78 51 27 73 SBCC
2 Vila Velha 38 21 6 11 74 56 18 69 SBCC
3 Porto Lacruz 38 20 9 9 85 58 27 69 SBCC
4 Tabajara 38 20 8 10 40 27 13 68 SBCC
5 Faculdade de Medicina 38 17 8 13 61 49 12 59
6 Petrol 38 16 10 12 54 53 1 58
7 Clube dos Banqueiros 38 17 6 15 73 69 4 57
8 União Trabalhadora 38 15 11 12 51 53 -2 56
9 Tênis Clube 38 17 3 18 52 60 -8 54
10 Aliança 38 16 6 16 61 62 -1 54
11 Mondragon Warriors 38 15 9 14 45 48 -3 54
12 Pernetas EC 38 14 8 16 54 56 -2 50
13 Royal Pollvogarad 38 14 5 19 47 54 -7 47
14 São Jorge 38 12 11 15 39 45 -6 47
15 Coqueiros 38 14 3 21 50 59 -9 45
16 Serrano 38 11 11 16 41 61 -20 44
17 Globo Multimedia 38 11 10 17 60 62 -2 43
18 Imperatriz 38 12 6 20 43 54 -11 42
19 SC Carnavalesco 38 11 7 20 45 57 -12 40
20 Nacional da Cruz 38 10 6 22 50 69 -19 36
2nd Phase (derbies in red):
2nd phase – Quarterfinals first leg:
União Trabalhadora 1-3 São José
Clube dos Banqueiros 2-0 Vila Velha
Petrol 2-2 Porto Lacruz
Faculdade de Medicina 3-3 Tabajara
Second Leg:
São José 4-0 União Trabalhadora
Vila Velha 3-2 Clube dos Banqueiros
Porto Lacruz 1-1 Petrol (Porto Lacruz wins due to better performance on 1st phase)
Tabajara 1-3 Faculdade de Medicina
Semifinals First Leg:
Faculdade de Medicina 3-0 São José
Clube dos Banqueiros 1-2 Porto Lacruz
Second Leg:
São José 2-0 Faculdade de Medicina
Porto Lacruz 4-2 Clube dos Banqueiros
Final 1st Leg:
Faculdade de Medicina 1-1 Porto Lacruz
Final 2nd Leg:
Porto Lacruz 3-1 Faculdade de Medicina
THE DECISIVE FINAL:
SÃO JOSÉ 2x0 PORTO LACRUZ
Place: Olímpico Imperial, in Lux.
Attendance: 68,556 people.
Referee: Antônio Emílio Jardins (Coast State).
Assistants: João Felipe Vasconça and Nico Maior (Coast State).
MOTM: Ferreira (São José).
SÃO JOSÉ: Urbano, Pereira (Rochapedra 78’), Jorge Cruz, Samambaia and Prestes; Takahashi, Piau, Meira (Carbone 62’) and Diogo; Isini (Milanesi 45’) and Ferreira.
Coach: Edmílson Chester.
PORTO LACRUZ: Mauricinho; César Morel, Nasser and Fágner (Xico 70’); Kléber Andrade, Abate, Matoso, Edson and Tessano (Fonseca 70’); Caubói (Camarão 45’) and Praiano.
Coach: Vladmir Lopes.
Goals:SJO: Piau 55’ , Ferreira 59’.
Yellow Cards: Prestes (SJO); César Morel, Kléber Andrade (PLC).
SÃO JOSÉ WINS THE SECOND DIVISION!
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3rd Division Past Winners:
Season 1 - Tio João
Season 2 - Marinha
Season 3 - Galáxia
Season 4 - Royal Pollvogarad
Season 5 - SC Carnavalesco
Season 6 – Metropolitano
Season 7 – Porto Lacruz
Season 8 – Nacional da Cruz
THIRD DIVISION - the relegated teams from the 2nd Division battled against the promoted ones from the 4th, while the ones that were already in the 3rd just watched the competiion:
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Ferroviário 38 21 10 7 76 45 31 73
2 Forças Armadas 38 21 7 10 83 56 27 70
3 Carandirú 38 20 7 11 97 71 26 67
4 Varzeano 38 20 5 13 91 73 18 65
5 Pico da Neblina 38 19 7 12 56 45 11 64
6 C-Electronics 38 17 11 10 54 50 4 62
7 União 38 18 7 13 68 51 17 61
8 Rio Bonito 38 17 10 11 70 70 0 61
9 Engenheiro Peres 38 17 5 16 67 68 -1 56
10 Mocidade 38 13 12 13 59 65 -6 51
11 Aldeia Vigiah 38 15 5 18 73 88 -15 50
12 Supersônicos 38 12 14 12 64 61 3 50
13 Massaranduba FC 38 12 9 17 63 72 -9 45
14 Tio João 38 12 8 18 53 76 -23 44
15 Lusitânio 38 12 7 19 57 71 -14 43
16 Dínamo de Natal 38 12 6 20 51 65 -14 42
17 Espinalense 38 11 7 20 75 82 -7 40
18 Moto Clube 38 11 7 20 56 63 -7 40
19 Marinha 38 9 11 18 46 66 -20 38
20 Amigos do Pebolim 38 8 11 19 55 76 -21 35
2nd Phase (derbies in red):
Second Phase – Quarterfinals First Leg:
Rio Bonito 1-0 Ferroviário
União 3-2 Forças Armadas
C-Electronics 0-3 Carandirú
Pico da Neblina 2-1 Varzeano
Second Leg:
Ferroviário 2-2 Rio Bonito
Forças Armadas 1-0 União (F.Armadas wins due to better campaign on 1st phase)
Carandirú 3-1 C-Electronics
Varzeano 4-1 Pico da Neblina
Semifinals First Leg:
Rio Bonito 2-0 Varzeano
Carandirú 5-4 Forças Armadas
Second Leg:
Varzeano 1-1 Rio Bonito
Forças Armadas 3-3 Carandirú
Final 1st Leg:
Rio Bonito 1-2 Carandirú
2nd Leg:
Carandirú 3-0 Rio Bonito
Grand Final:
Ferroviário 1-1 Carandirú (1-2 AET)
CARANDIRÚ WINS THE THIRD DIVISION!
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4th Division Past Winners:
Season 1 - Interior (ceased)
Season 2 - Galáxia
Season 3 - Sambarilove
Season 4 - Vila Velha
Season 5 - Porto Lacruz
Season 6 - São Jorge
Season 7 – Serrano
Season 8 – Pico da Neblina
FOURTH DIVISION - competition full of unknown teams:
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Esportivo Jutense 38 20 7 11 65 47 18 67
2 Zeca Futebol 38 20 7 11 68 52 16 67
3 Boiadeiros 38 20 3 15 89 67 22 63
4 Cosmopolita 38 19 5 14 65 52 13 62
5 Democratas 38 17 8 13 64 57 7 59
6 U.D.E.U. 38 16 9 13 60 63 -3 57
7 Virgem Maria EC 38 16 8 14 75 60 15 56
8 Peladeiros 38 16 8 14 65 56 9 56
9 Cézares 38 16 8 14 82 74 8 56
10 Gelid United 38 15 9 14 35 33 2 54
11 Ribeirão 38 15 8 15 62 65 -3 53
12 Clube do Fusca 38 13 10 15 48 66 -18 49
13 Miragaia FC 38 13 9 16 61 76 -15 48
14 Nova Éden 38 14 5 19 52 65 -13 47
15 Legião de Srieth 38 13 7 18 56 64 -8 46
16 Fulminense 38 11 12 15 45 52 -7 45
17 Cristãos 38 11 12 15 44 56 -12 45
18 Civil FC 38 10 15 13 46 49 -3 45
19 Colonial 38 10 12 16 38 44 -6 42
20 Intensivo 38 12 4 22 62 84 -22 40
2nd Phase (derbies in red):
Second Phase – Quarterfinals First Leg:
Peladeiros 0-0 Esportivo Jutense
Virgem Maria EC 1-5 Zeca Futebol
U.D.E.U. 3-1 Boiadeiros
Democratas 2-3 Cosmopolita
Second Leg:
Esportivo Jutense 1-0 Peladeiros
Zeca Futebol 2-0 Virgem Maria EC
Boiadeiros 4-2 U.D.E.U. (Boiadeiros wins due to better performance on 1st phase)
Cosmopolita 0-1 Democratas (Cosmopolita wins due to better performance on 1st phase)
Semifinals First Leg:
Cosmopolita 3-0 Esportivo Jutense
Boiadeiros 5-3 Zeca Futebol
Second Leg:
Esportivo Jutense 2-2 Cosmopolita
Zeca Futebol 3-1 Boiadeiros (Zeca Futebol wins due to better performance on 1st phase)
Final 1st Leg:
Cosmopolita 2-1 Zeca Futebol
2nd Leg:
Zeca Futebol 0-1 Cosmopolita
Grand Final:
Esportivo Jutense 1-3 Cosmopolita
COSMOPOLITA WINS THE FOURTH DIVISION!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5th Division Past Winners:
Season 1 - Democratas
Season 2 - Braguinha
Season 3 - Nova Éden
Season 4 - Porto Lacruz
Season 5 - Cosmopolita
Season 6 - Pico da Neblina
Season 7 – Mocidade
Season 8 – Nova Éden
FIFTH DIVISION - competition with even more unknown teams:
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Associação Imobiliária 38 22 7 9 75 50 25 73
2 Internacional Penderia 38 19 14 5 80 53 27 71
3 Santa Cruz do Norte 38 18 11 9 55 39 16 65
4 Velha Guarda 38 18 9 11 52 40 12 63
5 Santista 38 16 11 11 74 61 13 59
6 Baback FC 38 15 14 9 61 47 14 59
7 Braguinha 38 15 14 9 60 52 8 59
8 Dunbooritano 38 18 4 16 57 52 5 58
9 Xavantes 38 13 15 10 47 44 3 54
10 Laausp 38 14 10 14 67 64 3 52
11 EC Melhorais 38 13 11 14 50 52 -2 50
12 Litorâneo 38 13 10 15 46 49 -3 49
13 Capital 38 13 10 15 45 50 -5 49
14 Refugiados 38 13 10 15 40 45 -5 49
15 Palestra 38 13 8 17 52 56 -4 47
16 Locabens United 38 11 10 17 46 60 -14 43
17 Sertão 38 9 13 16 45 57 -12 40
18 Tronos 38 9 6 23 47 75 -28 33
19 Binários 38 7 12 19 37 59 -22 33
20 Snooker Team 38 7 9 22 42 73 -31 30
2nd Phase:
Second Phase – Quarterfinals First Leg:
Dunbooritano 2-4 Associação Imobiliária
Braguinha 2-2 Internacional de Penderia
Baback FC 5-0 Santa Cruz do Norte
Santista 0-0 Velha Guarda
Second Leg:
Associação Imobiliária 1-0 Dunbooritano
Internacional de Penderia 2-0 Braguinha
Santa Cruz do Norte 1-1 Baback FC
Velha Guarda 3-1 Santista
Semifinals First Leg:
Velha Guarda 0-0 Associação Imobiliária
Baback FC 2-1 Internacional de Penderia
Second Leg:
Associação Imobiliária 1-0 Velha Guarda
Internacional de Penderia 3-3 Baback FC
Final 1st Leg:
Baback FC 1-1 Associação Imobiliária
2nd Leg:
Associação Imobiliária 2-0 Baback FC
ASSOCIAÇÃO IMOBILIÁRIA WINS THE FIFTH DIVISION!
Teams invited for the fifth division: Tropicália, Estrela da Manhã, Cruzeiro do Sul and Guaraense.
This season, the LIDYT preseason transfer window was relatively quiet, given the extreme activity of the past. In the past, top LIDYT teams had attempted (and, for the most part, succeeded) in bringing foreign internationals to the LIDYT, by using a combination of monetary lures, the opportunity for secondary monetary gains (from side jobs such as advertising), and the high chance for title victory. This season, however, there was very little of that. Many attributed this to the increased revenue sharing agreements mandated by Deron Smithes, new LIDYT head and legendary Yaforite international. Due to these agreements, richer clubs were forced to give a certain percentage of their wealth to poorer clubs in the same division. As such agreements were passed, top LIDYT clubs no longer had the money necessary to scout out and purchase foreign internationals and, as such, the few foreign internationals who moved to the LIDYT this season instead were offered contracts by top LIDYT clubs and then signed said contracts.
The first large scale purchase of a foreign international was that of Dancougar player Kevin Underwood by IYC Hadaris. Underwood had failed to impress clubs in Daehanjeiguk with his tryouts in that country and IYC Hadaris, who had been scouting players from Dancougar ever since that country's improbably run and penalty defeat of Yafor 2 in the last World Cup, were quick to snap up Underwood by offering him a contract comparable to the one that had been received by Cafundelense center midfielder Éverton after his transfer to Yafor 2 last season. Underwood was quick to accept and he became the first player from Dancougar ever to don the uniform of a Yaforite club. Hadaris, then, greatly improved their team, while only putting a slight strain on their salary budget.
Well-supported IYC Ajer were the main club to lighten up the transfer window, as the majority of internal LIDYT transfers (of which there were a lot, mostly centering around swapping player) related one or more of their player. Manager Jumer Havas, noting that his contract is up at the end of this season, was quick to remove underachieving players, as well as gain players who he believes can work together well. Kura-Pellandi attacking midfielder Pepe Pupori was one of the first to be jettisoned, as he was sent off to Ramen United for a lot less money than IYC Ajer had spent on him the year before. His performance last season had been disappointing and thus, he was a loss of money for the Ajer-based club.
Young Macabean superstar Mika d'Angíel was a contractual signing. He had been excellent in World Cup Qualifying, under a Yaforite manager, and Havas reputedly spent a record amount of money on a striker to lure the young star to IYC Ajer. To spare room for a young striker at the top of their formation, IYC Ajer moved disappoint Vanorian striker Jeros Dragonhand to Cardarel FC, along with a large bundle of cash, in exchange for Yaforite international striker Zyante Meleherat, who could, in Havas' mind, serve as a possible mentor for the young Macabean, as, indeed, their playing styles were relatively similar.
The main stars for IYC Ajer in the past, as well, were sent off. Brendan Deguela, the Zwangzug international who was a two-time LIDYT Midfielder of the Season was exchanged in a swap deal with champions Chelmar FC for Yaforite international defensive midfielder Mosada Juhan and cash. To many analysts, IYC Ajer's problem in the past season had been the fact that they had had four playmakers in their midfield and too many players who had been used to holding the ball at their feet. This swap allowed Chelmar FC to get rid of Juhan, who, having developed as a pure defensive midfielder, was no longer able to play alone in the center midfield for Chelmar in their 5-3-2 formation, while allowing Ajer to get a true defensive midfielder in the form of Mosada Juhan.
Using cash obtained in other deals, Cardarel FC signed former Zwangzug internationals Evan Terwilliger and Steven Ruck, who many regarded as both past their prime. To fill the void at left midfielder opened by Terwilliger's departure, Chelmar FC signed Amario Otavias, the former Yaforite U21 star who many regard as the next great Yaforite left midfielder. IYC Ajer, to replace Ruck, purchased Zwangzug international Dirk Grosa from Spenson Suburbia, who quickly used that money to buy Kiera FC's Marish Patriin. The deal of the season, however, was a three-team swap deal sending Prince Sebard, IYC Ajer's iconic player to LIDYT-A "Honorary Andrei Arshavin Football/Soccer Division" champions IYC Toralen. Toralen then sent four players from their excellent youth system to Cardarel FC, who moved young Vanorian international Jamichel Totez to IYC Ajer. Ajer also sent money to Cardarel FC. It was a thunderous deal, as all three teams gained and lost in equal numbers.
The last of Cardarel's stars, David Insfield, the breakout performer of the this World Cup's Qualifying, was also let go - this time by a straight purchase by a foreign club, Ad'ihani champions CF Mont-Pluie. The Ad'ihani club used a great deal of money to sign the player, money that Cardarel immediately moved into their youth system. Insfield is expected to have another excellent season abroad and to wow scouts once more.
Even an uneventful transfer window can be pretty eventful! This season is gearing up to be a good one in the LIDYT.
For the first time in the history of West Zirconian football, a foreign manager has been appointed - in fact, not only one, but two managers have come from overseas to take over at West Zirconian clubs.
Dancougaran duo Pat French and and Vic Martin have now arrived in West Zirconia, fully aware of their place in history. Pat French has perhaps the more difficult task, that of taking Moorcroft City from the doldrums back to the glory days that their supporters remember and expect. He arrives with a wealth of experience in Dancougar's college leagues (most recently as coach of Hazuki State University), as well as having had a successful spell as coach of the Dancougaran national team. Vic Martin arrives from Port Royal University, having taken the club to the top of Dancougaran college football. He will take charge at Division Two newcomers Hyland Town.
Reaction to the appointments has largely been positive. Bradley Hornets manager Liam Simpson commented that it would "stamp out any complacency our own managers might have," while Chris Irwin, manager of Taylor's Cross, said of French's arrival at Moorcroft City, "As least it spares us from having that idiot [City chairman Richard Bonner] at the League Managers' meetings!" The mood at the clubs themselves was upbeat - particularly at Moorcroft, where captain Ben Phillips said, "We just need some stability now, after what we've all been through - this new manager's just what we need."
The two new managers are expected to hold press conferences shortly.
Dancougar - Offseason Briefs
Chuuoushi: Pat French, who has coached Hazuki State University since it began college play almost twenty years ago, has refused a contract extension to jump to professional football. He will take over floundering Moorcroft City in the West Zirconian first division. After turning down the position at CF America Chuuoushi when the D-League was founded two years ago, French says he's reevaluated his career goals and wants to coach at a higher level.
"There will be high expectations are Moorcroft City," he said at a press conference earlier today. "The team has a strong history, strong supporters, and I'm looking forward to the challenge. My only regret, leaving now, is that I could never bring Hazuki State a championship in the tournament era."
Hazuki State were crowned national champions twice during his reign, both coming before the institution of the spring tournament. This past year, his team finished No. 1 in the national poll and got past No. 2 University of Shikibu in the Conference Round before being eliminated. But the most impressive entry on the French resume is probably his short time as the national team head coach, which included a Baptism of Fire 26 victory and fourth place group finish - one spot out of qualification - in Dancougar's first qualifying run.
Port Royal: In a surprising move, Vic Martin, the head man at Port Royal University, has resigned his post to jump to Hyland Town of the West Zirconian second division. In a press conference earlier today, Martin also revealed that he had been considered for the Moorcroft City job won by fellow college coach Pat French.
Martin's credentials are a string of strong finishes with Port Royal, who were second in the venerable Kishin Delta Collegiate Premier League this past season. Despite his success during the regular season, though, Martin has had problems at tournament time. This spring, Port Royal were bounced in the first round in an even matchup with the University of Fujiwara. His inability to "win the big one" has long been a thorn in his side, but the goals at Hyland will be more modest - win promotion.
"I don't feel like I'm lacking anything that I need to be a top coach," said Martin. "Sometimes things like that happen. It's football. But I feel like I can draw the best out of my players, and I'm with them to the end." Several of Martin's former Port Royal players have, in fact, made the jump to the D-League.
Kildare: Transfer rumors involving Green Wombat forward Claudia Bard have fallen to the wayside after her retirement during World Cup 41 qualifiers.
Sporting Kildare, who climbed from last in the league table to 9th, are reported to be in the market for a striker who can play in front of team MVP Lyle Dylandy, now entering his second season. The midfielder's five goals and twelve assists were the highlights of one of the league's worst offenses. With no other deals in the works, Kildare may have to wait for the Super Draft, where Dell Viper predicts that they'll take forward Kano Saito with the tenth pick.
With six teams playing internationally next season, the transfer front has been remarkably quiet. Jennifer Sloan's signing by Shuukyuu Kishin made headlines last summer, but so far no teams have indicated that a move is in the works. With the World Cup now in full swing, and the Cup of Harmony not too far away, analysts predict that teams may become more active within the next few weeks.
Extraliga
M W D L PTS GOALS
1. Lovos - Renault Atma 30 20 2 8 62 75-56 TQCC
2. Visby Nestle Quarcoo 30 15 4 11 49 60-48 TQCC
3. SD Borland Leve 30 15 4 11 49 61-57 TQCC
4. Telecom Cxal Shepenyagah 30 16 1 13 49 63-66 TQCC
5. Atma Teatanic 30 14 6 10 48 54-48 GLOBE
6. Edda EB Ulfborg 30 12 10 8 46 69-50 GLOBE
7. EMC Goar 30 13 5 12 44 54-52
8. FC Leve 30 14 2 14 44 69-80
9. LKS Perros-Guirec 30 12 6 12 42 67-62
10.Blaupunkt Leve 30 12 3 15 39 59-55
11.EBBC Bosch Atma 30 12 3 15 39 55-65
12.FC Keno Neuville 30 10 7 13 37 52-55
13.LTK Vester Atma 30 12 1 17 37 62-70
14.EDF Atma 30 9 7 14 34 54-63
15.AG Bitola Quarcoo 30 9 6 15 33 47-60
16.MACIF Goar 30 8 5 17 29 59-73
Liga 2
1. RCL Atma 30 54 67-51 SBCC
2. LNL Courier Haxley 30 53 66-47 SBCC
3. LGS Shepenyagah 30 52 62-49 SBCC
4. Levka FOS Leve 30 46 56-50 SBCC
-------------------------------------- promoted to Extraliga
5. Lindos Volvo Ulfborg 30 46 52-50
6. Atlas-Beemen Atma 30 46 52-51
7. ASC Calvena Goar 30 43 47-52
8. Espre VCS Leve 30 43 49-56
9. Rancilio Shepenyagah 30 42 52-44
10.TFL Ventura Ulfborg 30 41 48-50
11.Aurora Rafaelburg 30 38 55-52
12.Motorola Goar 30 37 53-64
13.FHSG Ahon Haxley 30 35 58-62
----------------------------relegated to Liga 3
14.Nyborg Club Perros-Guirec 30 34 53-57
15.Electra NABI Rafaelburg 30 32 47-62
16.Billoux BCG Shepenyagah 30 32 46-63
Liga 3
1. Gravity Rafaelburg
2. Visea DR Haxley
3. Drexir Quarcoo
-------------------------------------- promoted to Liga 2
4. Calvi Lovun Leve
5. US Leve
6. Lear-GAP Rivo
7. Start Nylanders Sint Vilbeert
8. La Vey Rafaelburg
9. TeamSystem Superior Rivo
10.APCO-GV Goar
11.Carisma Optica Quarcoo
12.Vipera Ulfborg
----------------------------relegated to Liga 4
13.Castrop-hva Evda
14.CMS Energy Shepenyagah
15.Shetlanders Quarcoo
16.INCO-AVIC Shepenyagah
Liga 4
1. CabelRo Goar
2. FC Guixos
3. Petrac Olympia Shepenyagah
4. Club Olafsvik
-------------------------------------- promoted to Liga 3
5. Vibo Atma
6. Vibo Sint Vilbeert
7. FC Coral
8. FC River Creek
9. Consul VW Ulfborg
10.IMTM Siemens Quarcoo
11.Zakros Kilios Lovis
12.Allgou Rivo
13.Dispo-Calvados 02 Vorh
14.Eeri Rhae
----------------------------relegated to Liga 5
15.VingCard Shepenyagah
16.Erica Zepter Club Shepenyagah
17.Secura Ulborg
18.Tyst! Goar
Liga 5 grupa zachodnia
1. Exyda 09 Atma
2. Pisac Vorh
------------------------------ promoted to liga 4
3. Nova Axlon-Neustadt
4. FC Blu Cervinia
5. Dessa-Sollentuna Leve
6. FC Cesna
7. Oceania Malva
8. Calvena Blu Cervinia
9. Vibo Neuville
10.FC Epidavros
11.Calvena 02 Rhae
12.FC Axlon-Neustadt
13.Vibo Malva
Liga 5 grupa wschodnia
1. Gallea Rafaelburg
2. FC Leer-Cobalt
------------------------------- promoted to liga 4
3. ESBF Krug VBC Haxley
4. FC Kivik
5. RTB Carpenteras Rivo
6. Estima Tecto
7. Gallea Olafsvik
8. FC Pirin
9. OKS Olafsvik
10.Narva Courmayeur
11.Yola Mesco Rafaelburg
12.Ayr Rafaelburg
13.YLE Langnese Haxley
14.Nevex Ulfborg
15.Kotek Villa Mrucqius
16.FC Villa Mrucqius
17. Lovisa Kilios Lovis
Clausura Matchday Fourteen: Once in every thread
There's a post that goes like this, when hopes that started dead will end up with a miss...
-5th minute: This is it, folks. Matchday fourteen, twenty-eight, thirty-one? However you're counting, for six teams, this is where the season ends. Or maybe when.
0th minute: Aaand we're underway. I think. This is never how time dilation was meant to be employed...just call it fluid.
2nd minute: "Time dilation is just for astronauts. Too bad Spenson doesn't have any spaceships...oh, wait!" -BJ in Fulpog, by text. (Fulpog is a suburb of Spenson-the suburb, in fact, in which Spenson Suburbia play their home games. They're in Trecelunas right now.)
9th minute: "En realidad, nuestro partido es más interesante que 12 de noviembre-Arlington City. Ellos no tienen ningún razón para jugar...y Arlington está descando su mejores. ¡Pero podemos evitar ser últimos, si ganemos!" -Maria in Trecelunas, by text.
11th minute: "Wen did Aguazul get net xs^" asks whizkid41. Great question. Computers were relegalized seven days ago, if my lame tries at this time dilation business are right, but I don't think the Internet is legal. Maybe she's on the inside?
14th minute: GOAL! Effortless for Deportivo Peralta! Guiomar Oleastro sets up Adalberto Molina perfectly and the shot is good. Now they need the Pumas to come through.
19th minute: "La misma problema de la estación pasada. Pero las Pumas pueden marcar los puntos. ¿Ciudad? ¡Jajaja!" -afishi02, Ciudad Peralta, by text
23rd minute: Something tells me he's (or, I suppose, she's) stopped laughing. Chip Noonan, on the counterattack once again. 12 de noviembre have completely dominated the first twenty minutes to be fair, but Noonan lays in the pass for Miles Wishon to score...don't go anywhere, we've got another goal! Eleuterio Roldán clears a cross from Dirk Grosa and deflects the ball to Elian Lobo. Lobo shakes off Devon Goeltz, and Trecelunas FC are out of the basement!
25th minute: "Do you have viewing ratings for those two matches? Attendances? Spenson-Trecelunas has got to be more exciting, and nobody would have seen it coming." -hammyhero
36th minute: Depor double their lead! Molina relays to Patricio Olmos, Fatima Nejem tries to intercept. No avail: Olmos scores.
43rd minute: Ah, we're tied back in Ciudagua. Quique Aiza brilliant just behind Donato Casales, as per usual: makes room for the latter to poke it past Trey Moonshower.
44th minute: "whizkid, estamos mirando los partidos por televisór. nadie dice que no podemos tener teléfonos celulares...¿Pero dos goles entre estos equipos? ¿tan rapidamente? ¡no lo puedo creer!" -enriK, by text
"Masson would have saved that, I like to think...forgive an old fan's delusions. Arlington City are bound to face an attacking opponent so it makes sense to rest their defense, I only hope it doesn't backfire." -undergroundilan
45th minute: GOAL! Amilcar Quintana on top form, passes to Gabriel Vega to go into halftime.
And what a halftime it is! If these scores hold, Deportivo Peralta will win the regular season!
"2-0? This should be more trouble than will be for Namiri Forest-remember the final? Oh, and anything you can do about the graininess? It's fine on the computer but we're trying to watch on the really big screens." -meetee
Sorry, no such luck. Good point, though: Namiri were 2-0 up and blew the lead (to 12 de noviembre!) They should have an even easier time against a more open defense.
"todavía no habemos perdido en la clausura, no empezamos ahora." -perultra, Ciudad Peralta, by text
46th minute: And we're back at it.
51st minute: 12 de noviembre pull ahead, Casales again off a pass from Joaquín Cuéllar.
53rd minute: Uh-oh, meetee might have been on to something. It's that Kimiran Yahakov left wide open in front of net and he scores! Deportivo Peralta are still on top, but that could change at any time.
60th minute: Halftime entrant Pascual Rendón scores in Trecelunas.
63rd minute: TIED UP IN SAN PABLO! Jonas Henke over to Muus Jurin, who takes aim and places it past Dimas Holguín.
66th minute: "Si termine así, perderíamos por GD. Por segundo vez. Encenderémos cosas." -perultra, Ciudad Peralta, by text
I'm so surprised.
72nd minute: It's not going to end like that! Zoe McQuoid beats Carlito Digüella in the midfield and scores! Tie game, and Rovers United lead the league!
76th minute: "If Rovers finish 15-11-2 and Deportivo 13-15-4, they'd be tied by some people's accounts. I would pay money to hear Vidur Chatterjee say that Deportivo Peralta deserve to be at least tied for first. Mind you, GD will sort it out anyway, barring...more goals than are fair in a Namiri game!" -meetee
78th minute: "Pues...Arlington-Rovers jugarían aquí, ¿no?. Sería...interesante si perultra y sus amigos miren." - afishi02, Ciudad Peralta, by text
81th minute: You expect me to keep track of this? Goyo Macías with the goal! Pumas lead again, but as meetee pointed out, that's not gonna help if Deportivo can't score.
85th minute: Robin Hormel, what the?! Completely overwhelms the San Pablo midfield, and sets up Natasha Keller for the goal! Rovers lead outright!
89th minute: Can we exhale yet? Cayetano Pinzón with a beautiful shot that hits the post!
Full time! Rovers win! This is the matchday that ends like this. And what a day it was.
Clausura standings:
W D L GF GA GD Pts
Deportivo Peralta 8 10 0 28 21 7 34
Arlington City 8 3 3 25 13 12 27
Rovers United 7 6 1 25 17 8 27
Namiri Forest 5 7 2 23 14 9 22
Trecelunas FC 3 7 4 14 14 0 16
12 de noviembre 2 6 6 16 21 -5 12
San Pablo 2 4 8 18 32 -14 10
Spenson Suburbia 2 3 9 8 25 -17 9
Overall standings:
W D L GF GA GD Pts
Rovers United 15 11 2 50 34 16 56
Deportivo Peralta 13 15 4 53 43 10 54
Arlington City 15 6 7 47 29 18 51
Namiri Forest 11 12 5 38 25 13 45
San Pablo 7 6 15 39 57 -18 27
12 de noviembre 5 11 12 32 40 -8 26
Trecelunas FC 3 16 9 26 33 -7 23
Spenson Suburbia 6 5 17 23 47 -24 23
Final: When football season rolls around
Milchama made a World Cup final not so long ago. So maybe there is hope...
Nobody in Zwangzug has much to say about Arlington. The famous (or infamous) cities are the ones that stand out from our normal, whatever that is. And Arlington is just that. Its chief claim to fame in the cold car-banning north is the home of the world's seventh-longest skyway system.
Yeah. Most impressive, perhaps, is the way that fans have taken to the game: not obsessively, necessarily, but still sincerely. For all the geekiness the City fans can be a simple lot. "Football, right? Nah, not that football, the other football. Right...that's the game where they don't score a lot of goals, isn't it?" Don't bother confusing them with how exciting goals are. It only throws the poor folks off, and besides, exciting action just isn't what we're all about.
So it was the team in blue that took the field against Rovers United, which play in white. What the Rovers' fanbase lacks in cohesion it makes up for in size. The distribution of football clubs in Zwangzug is rather ridiculously skewed west, with both of the other teams playing there. The Rovers, therefore, draw support from Bassabook to the FTC, and plenty of their fans went to Ciudad Peralta for the final. Yes, with all the talk about Zwangzug, Zwangzug, Zwangzug, we forgot about Aguazul. Sorry about that. As sort of implied, not really, last time around, the fact that both finalists came from the same country meant that the other one would get to host it. So it's probably a good thing Deportivo didn't win, otherwise we'd have had to play in Namiri Forest or somewhere and they're almost like part of the nation, too! At any rate, Rovers United are involved, so the point's mostly academic.
Hormel assisted on the first goal, which came in the twenty-fourth minute off the boot of Curtis Naluk. Until that point, Arlington's defense had seemed fine as normal, with the well-rested players easing back into the swing of things. Arlington went and tied it in the thirty-ninth, when Wesley Ridder headed Geoff Kempner's cross into the goal.
So 1-1 at the half, fittingly enough this year. Would it hold? Nope. Minute sixty-one, Melissa Prine was on the...all right, in the Rovers' end of the field. Weston Luzader charged for the ball, as he is prone to do, and Prine niftily passed to Wishon for the go-ahead goal. So it was until the eighty-second, anyhow, when the Rovers struck back again (they've been getting rather good at that). This time around, Keller sent Jurin the equalizing pass.
And once again, 2-2 it ended. But this time was different in extra time: just enough trust in the software that there was some sort of hope for a goal. Add to that the Rovers' free-spirited attack, which negated Arlington's proud defense, for a match with no bias for either side. It came down to skill-and luck.
Minute 108. Kai Masson had made a simplistic save. Upfield to Bennett Covy, holding fast even in this big of a game. Jurin? Rebecca Calhoun. Hormel. Keller. Noonan. Still Noonan-Melissa Prine now, and? Goal! Arlington City up 3-2!
And they held on, at last. Their defense tired but proud, until the whistle blew. And then? If Arlington is the nation in miniature, it is still a city, and cities understand how and why to celebrate. Not with pride, perhaps, but joy: from the unheralded backups to stars that thrive in obscurity, those twenty-three are winners of the league.
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Yuba United 3 3 0 0 9 0 9 9
2 Olympique Protectorat 3 2 0 1 8 3 5 6
3 Poikimitagiin FE 3 1 0 2 3 7 -4 3
4 CS Lac-Amédée 3 0 0 3 3 13 -10 0
Before the season began, quite a few transfers were organised, mainly between Cafundelense teams and Septentrionian teams. Let's take a look at them:
Ronaldão: SC Lasft (Cafundeu) --> CS Sept-Onze Ourseville: 105,740,000 SFC
Paul Bourassa: US Septentrionalis --> América (Cafundeu): 39,652,500 SFC
Gérard Labrie: CA Ourseville --> A.F.F. (Cafundeu): 39,652,500 SFC
René Laviolette: St-FX --> CS Sept-Onze Ourseville: 41,300,000 SFC
With these signings, CS Sept-Onze were looking forward to a great season. Especially after their loss in the final of the TakilQuip Champions Cup, crowning the best club in the world, that was held at their own stadium, Stade du Rivage. A ceremony was held before the game to celebrate the achievement. Let's see if they could build on that and if the the other 15 Superligue teams could do better than them:
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
P 1 CS Sept-Onze Ourseville 30 18 10 2 50 21 29 64
P 2 ASJL Cap-Nord 30 18 6 6 50 27 23 60
P 3 Union d'Ourseville 30 16 7 7 46 34 12 55
P 4 US Septentrionalis 30 16 6 8 45 33 12 54
P 5 CS Lac-Amédée 30 13 8 9 38 32 6 47
P 6 CF Grand-Glacier 30 12 7 11 48 43 5 43
P 7 FC Cap-Phare 30 10 9 11 29 33 -4 39
P 8 Nordiqueville AF 30 10 9 11 35 42 -7 39
------------------------------------------------------------------
9 SC Mont-Bleu 30 10 8 12 28 30 -2 38
10 CS Ourseville 1093 30 9 8 13 43 45 -2 35
11 Stade du Dauphin 30 9 8 13 31 35 -4 35
12 Mont-Lambert FC 30 10 5 15 32 37 -5 35
13 Richelieu AC 30 6 12 12 25 32 -7 30
------------------------------------------------------------------
R 14 Club de Hockey St-FX 30 6 10 14 29 44 -15 28
R 15 Mont-Surrindère SC 30 6 9 15 33 59 -26 27
R 16 CO Baieville 30 5 10 15 35 50 -15 25
As you can see, there's a little change this time: the bottom three teams relegate directly to 2e Division while the first three teams from 2e Division promote directly to Superligue. In addition, these 3 teams plus the 4th-placed team will participate to the Serie B Champions Cup.
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
P 1 Bourdailleux 30 18 6 6 41 26 15 60 SBCC
P 2 CH Vaudreuil 30 14 6 10 44 39 5 48 SBCC
P 3 Desmarais 30 12 9 9 40 30 10 45 SBCC
------------------------------------------------------------------
4 Club Latin 30 12 9 9 48 44 4 45 SBCC
5 Baie-Verte CCFC 30 13 5 12 39 37 2 44
6 AA Benoîtville 30 12 8 10 35 35 0 44
7 AS Île-Benoît 30 12 6 12 37 35 2 42
8 L'Étoile du Nord FC 30 11 9 10 41 45 -4 42
9 SC Presqu'île 30 11 8 11 40 44 -4 41
10 Septentrionalis HC 30 10 8 12 39 44 -5 38
11 Sauvageville 30 9 10 11 36 36 0 37
12 Calembourg 30 10 7 13 36 38 -2 37
13 CA Ourseville 30 9 9 12 41 44 -3 36
14 FC Les Vals 30 9 8 13 45 49 -4 35
15 CH Piedmont 30 7 11 12 30 34 -4 32
16 Orléans 30 9 5 16 36 48 -12 32
The newly-formed national cup for Septentrionia. It was formed after lower amateur clubs wanted a shot at facing the best clubs in the nation for some money prize. After an agreement with the major clubs, all the clubs in the nation are allowed to participate in the cup. The format used is the following:
- First round: Every amateur club enter the Cup. Direct elimination until 16 clubs are left
- When 16 clubs are left: the 16 2e Division squad enter the cup, drawn against amateur clubs
- Winners are drawn with the 16 Superligue sides
- Teams are randomly drawn until the final
This year, 128 amateur sides entered the cup, which counts for three rounds until the amount of 16 teams is reached. We join in the 4th Round, as the 2e Division sides enter the cup:
Ouvriers de la nation 3-2 Orléans
Amis de Sainte-Denise 0-2 Sauvageville
Étoiles de Dubreuil 2-3 Club Latin
CS Anse-aux-Crapauds 1-3 CH Vaudreuil
Maccabi Milchama 3-3p Calembourg
Brasserie Les Deux Épais 3-1 Desmarais
SS des Monts 0-3 Septentrionalis HC
Juniors de Baie-Douce 0-4 AA Benoîtville
Cavaliers de Jeanne d'Arc 0-1 Bourdailleux
Police de Saint-Jacques 3-2 CH Piedmont
Atlantes de Grand-Chariot 1-0 Baie-Verte CCFC
Voyageurs 0-1 L'Étoile du Nord FC
Club de la Fonction Publique 0-2 FC Les Vals
Bostopians FC 0-2 AS Île-Benoît
RefisGreek United 1-4 Club Athlétique Ourseville
Amateurs de Côte-Ravin 1-1p SC Presqu'île
As is usual in national cups, we can see some upsets in here: We can see Ouvriers de la Nation beating Orléans, Brasserie Les Deux Épais beat Desmarais, who would go on to promote to Superligue. As well, the Policemen of Saint-Jacques stole the win against CH Piedmont in an unexpected way, as they got a penalty in the 90th minute. Baie-Verte CCFC proved they had a very bad season by getting beat by Atlantes de Grand-Chariot and, finally, Amateurs de Côte-Ravin almost beat SC Presqu'île, same for Maccabi Milchama against Calembourg.
Fifth Round
Ouvriers de la nation 2-3 CS Sept-Onze Ourseville
Sauvageville 0-1 CS Lac-Amédée
Club Latin 0-1 Union d'Ourseville
CH Vaudreuil 2-2p ASJL Cap-Nord
Calembourg 0-3 CF Grand-Glacier
Brasserie Les Deux Épais 1-3 FC Cap-Phare
Septentrionalis HC 0-0p Stade du Dauphin
AA Benoîtville 2-0 US Septentrionalis
Bourdailleux 1-2 Richelieu AC
Police de Saint-Jacques 2-5 CS Ourseville 1093
Atlantes de Grand-Chariot 1-2 Mont-Lambert FC
L'Étoile du Nord FC 1-3 Club de Hockey St-FX
FC Les Vals 2-1 SC Mont-Bleu
AS Île-Benoît 4-3 Nordiqueville AF
Club Athlétique Ourseville 3-0 CO Baieville
SC Presqu'île 0-1 Mont-Surrindère SC
No real upset here, aside of CS Sept-Onze who had to fight until the last minute to beat Ouvriers de la nation and CA Ourseville beating CO Baieville 3-0, which proves that CA Ourseville simply had a bad season last season.
Sixth Round
Mont-Surrindère SC 2-3 AS Île-Benoît
CS Lac-Amédée 3-2 AA Benoîtville
Club de Hockey St-FX 4-3 Richelieu AC
FC Les Vals 1-0 CS Ourseville 1093
Mont-Lambert FC 0-2 Stade du Dauphin
Club Athlétique Ourseville 2-3 Union d'Ourseville
CS Sept-Onze Ourseville 4-1 FC Cap-Phare
CF Grand-Glacier 1-2 ASJL Cap-Nord
Quarterfinals
CS Lac-Amédée 1-0 FC Les Vals
Stade du Dauphin 2-0 AS Île-Benoît
CS Sept-Onze Ourseville 0-1 ASJL Cap-Nord
Union d'Ourseville 1-2 Club de Hockey St-FX
Semifinals
ASJL Cap-Nord 0-1 Club de Hockey St-FX
CS Lac-Amédée 1-0 Stade du Dauphin
Final (In Stade 1093, Ourseville)
Club de Hockey St-FX 2-3 CS Lac-Amédée
Lac-Amédée are the first holders of the Bouclier du Président
But let's not forget the essential: the Superligue playoffs. After all, they're the ones who will crown the real Septentrionian champions. The real reasons they're kept is because of the viewer attendances they generate: over a million people watch the final every year, and it's growing year after year.
Quarterfinals
CS Sept-Onze Ourseville 1-0 Nordiqueville AF
ASJL Cap-Nord 2-2p FC Cap-Phare
Union d'Ourseville 3-0 CF Grand-Glacier
US Septentrionalis 0-0p CS Lac-Amédée
Semifinals
CS Sept-Onze Ourseville 1-1p FC Cap-Phare
Union d'Ourseville 3-2 CS Lac-Amédée
Final
FC Cap-Phare 0-2 Union d'Ourseville
Union d'Ourseville are the champions of this year's Superligue.
Participating to the different international cups:
TakilQuip Champions Cup:
- Union d'Ourseville (Champions)
- FC Cap-Phare (Finalist)
- CS Sept-Onze (Semi-Finalist and runner-up of the TQCC)
- CS Lac-Amédée (Semi-Finalist)
Globe Cup:
- Club de Hockey St-FX (Runner-up Bouclier du Président; Taking place of CS Lac-Amédée)
- ASJL Cap-Nord (Highest ranked eliminated Quarter-finalist)
Serie B Champions Cup:
- Bourdailleux (Champions)
- CH Vaudreuil (2nd place)
- Desmarais (3rd place)
- Club Latin (4th place)
Qualifiers for international competition
CAPITALIZT SLANI
Sonoma Center Panthers TQCC 1
Medoria Löwen TQCC 2
Yuba United TQCC 3
San Diego Iguanas TQCC 4
Aeropag Penguins TQCC 5
ʼEbestigatus Tāpuŋjī Globe 1
Syoko Poggyūggijī Globe 2
KQ Nepáïire Tingitana SBCC 1
Jackson FC SBCC 2
Dawson Springs FC SBCC 3
JASĪʼYŪN
Carter FC TQCC 1
Noka Mariners TQCC 2
Dusanto Mojaʼikījī TQCC 3
New Haverford Albion Globe 1
Naquada Falls Demons Globe 2
Qidade Savana SBCC 1
Jamaica Giants SBCC 2
Sokojito Dosi Dalamjwijī SBCC 3
Lexington FC SBCC 4
Heidelstadt Falken SBCC 5
2149 Capitalizt Élite League—final standings
Defending champions Sonoma Center always looked the best of the sides in this year’s Élite League, though they weren’t able to secure their third title until the antepenultimate matchday. The much-anticipated Sokojito derby was short-lived, as Dalamjwijī were relegated despite getting the better of their rivals. Yuba had a poor season, similar to their showing two years earlier, but will return to the TakilQuip Champions’ Cup on the strength of last season’s performance.
Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sonoma Center Panthers COM 34 20 6 8 85 54 31 66 Champions/TQCC
2 Medoria Löwen COM 34 17 8 9 60 52 8 59 TQCC
3 San Diego Iguanas COM 34 16 10 8 51 43 8 58 TQCC
4 Carter FC JSY 34 16 8 10 50 37 13 56 TQCC
5 Aeropag Penguins COM 34 15 10 9 46 36 10 55 TQCC
6 Yuba United COM 34 15 9 10 49 42 7 54 TQCC
7 Naquada Falls Demons JSY 34 15 8 11 48 40 8 53 Globe Cup
8 KQ Nepáïire Tingitana COM 34 13 10 11 49 45 4 49 SBCC
9 Dusanto Mojaʼikījī JSY 34 13 9 12 41 45 -4 48 TQCC
10 San Solari FC COM 34 12 12 10 54 45 9 48
11 Noka Mariners JSY 34 12 8 14 42 44 -2 44 TQCC
12 Sokojito Dosi Gyūlhabdwen COM 34 11 7 16 41 44 -3 40
13 South Coast United JSY 34 11 6 17 38 57 -19 39
14 Black Oasis Athletic COM 34 10 8 16 39 49 -10 38
15 High Mountain Buffalo JSY 34 9 10 15 35 43 -8 37
16 Sokojito Dosi Dalamjwijī JSY 34 8 10 16 32 46 -14 34 Relegated/SBCC
17 Sokojiʼwa Dosi CK COM 34 8 9 17 51 63 -12 33 Relegated
18 New Haverford Albion JSY 34 8 6 20 30 56 -26 30 Relegated/Globe Cup
Élite League Two
Qidade Savana was determined to regain their spot in the Élite League, and stayed on top of the division from wire to wire, notching up an impressive 7–0 win over the defensive-minded Graceville Salamanders. Four-time Bedistani champions Jamaica Giants will make their return to top-tier football next season; at the opposite end of the table, former Champions’ Cup participant Lexington FC will be shunted into League Three, though their Samseong Series B Champions’ Cup invitation remains valid.
Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Qidade Savana JSY 34 22 4 8 92 49 43 70 Promoted/SBCC
2 Jamaica Giants JSY 34 19 9 6 45 28 17 66 Promoted/SBCC
3 Jackson FC COM 34 17 7 10 46 32 14 58 Promoted/SBCC
4 Dawson Springs FC COM 34 14 15 5 28 20 8 57 SBCC
5 Heidelstadt Falken JSY 34 16 8 10 47 37 10 56 SBCC
6 Ἄργος ΛΠ COM 34 15 7 12 44 33 11 52
7 Natestadt Nationalisten COM 34 11 18 5 26 19 7 51
8 Cordubovica Falcons COM 34 12 9 13 40 43 -3 45
9 Kagoshima Phoenix COM 34 11 11 12 34 36 -2 44
10 Humai Titans JSY 34 11 10 13 42 48 -6 43
11 Griffin Zebras JSY 34 10 10 14 33 47 -14 40
12 Seansburgh Cougars COM 34 8 14 12 34 41 -7 38
13 Querzakhi United COM 34 7 16 11 21 23 -2 37
14 Silto Dosi ʼYasāŋmajī JSY 34 8 12 14 36 44 -8 36
15 Syoko Poggyūggijī COM 34 8 11 15 26 36 -10 35 Globe Cup
16 New Hampton Terrapins JSY 34 8 9 17 33 47 -14 33
17 Lexington FC JSY 34 8 8 18 39 63 -24 32 Relegated/SBCC
18 Graceville Salamanders JSY 34 7 10 17 21 41 -20 31 Relegated
Élite League Three
League Three North
Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Sonoma City Volcanoes COM 34 20 6 8 86 37 49 66 Promoted
2 Keto Lodīlūnajī JSY 34 19 8 7 67 45 22 65
3 Lisda Lokado Goji Salamjī JSY 34 17 10 7 40 25 15 61
4 Chorion Bluffs Knights COM 34 16 9 9 61 45 16 57
5 Forest Hill FC JSY 34 15 12 7 48 31 17 57
6 KQ Sirto COM 34 15 10 9 65 48 17 55
7 Laniuq Explorers COM 34 13 13 8 43 32 11 52
8 Musketiere Twintown JSY 34 12 15 7 40 32 8 51
9 Penbulg Donʼujī JSY 34 12 12 10 51 47 4 48
10 Navarre Town COM 34 11 15 8 35 34 1 48
11 Nyendoli ʼYoŋjī JSY 34 11 15 8 30 24 6 48
12 Ari FC COM 34 12 8 14 52 62 -10 44
13 Cambridge Pioniere COM 34 10 8 16 56 68 -12 38
14 Lolestu CK COM 34 8 14 12 25 31 -6 38
15 Teʼyaçu Joŋlyugijī COM 34 5 13 16 35 58 -23 28
16 Accola Eagles COM 34 5 11 18 27 46 -19 26 Relegated
17 SV Pößneck COM 34 3 15 16 35 64 -29 24 Relegated
18 SV Sorastadt JSY 34 1 8 25 18 85 -67 11 Relegated
League Three South
Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Werd Beachcombers COM 34 20 10 4 44 20 24 70 Promoted
2 ʼEbestigatus Tāpuŋjī COM 34 18 10 6 48 29 19 64 Globe Cup
3 Eintracht Maastricht JSY 34 18 8 8 61 41 20 62
4 Alexandria Porcupines JSY 34 16 11 7 37 21 16 59
5 Kitsilano Konquerors COM 34 15 11 8 38 26 12 56
6 Lexington Firefoxes COM 34 14 7 13 62 48 14 49
7 Dennis Bears COM 34 12 13 9 32 26 6 49
8 Sūŋja Pitūs Gyūlhabdwen JSY 34 13 8 13 34 34 0 47
9 SpVgg Tolzerio COM 34 11 14 9 22 22 0 47
10 RKA Warriors COM 34 13 7 14 47 44 3 46
11 Πόρτο-Χε Δολοφόνοι COM 34 11 13 10 33 30 3 46
12 St Raphael B’ing Bishops JSY 34 9 13 12 24 31 -7 40
13 Commerce Heights T’birds COM 34 12 2 20 55 77 -22 38
14 Eintracht Südtolzerio COM 34 10 8 16 28 36 -8 38
15 Midway Wolves COM 34 9 9 16 35 45 -10 36
16 Scarab Inferno COM 34 8 10 16 47 66 -19 34 Relegated
17 Floral FC JSY 34 7 8 19 46 76 -30 29 Relegated
18 Südtolzerio Kreuzfahrer JSY 34 4 10 20 32 53 -21 22 Relegated
Élite League Four winners
The expansion of the Élite League concluded this season with eighteen new teams being added to League Four, for a total of eighteen teams in each division. Though Capitalizt SLANI invited top clubs from non-league competitions to enter, Jasīʼyūn chose instead to allocate their places to reserve teams, making this the first season that reserve teams have played in the Capitalizt/Bedistani league pyramid. The reserve teams played a part in Jasīʼyūn’s first-ever sweep of the regional leagues, helping to restore balance between the two associations in the upper levels.
League 4/A: Noka Mariners B (JSY)
League 4/B: Heidelstadt Falken B (JSY)
League 4/C: Eastfield Rogues (JSY)
League 4/D: Kaiwu Mavericks (JSY)
League 4/E: Portland Safari (JSY)
League 4/F: Naquada Falls Demons B (JSY)
Élite League Cup
The League Cup received a few format changes due to the eighteen new teams. San Solari gave a confident performance in the final, winning over the favored Panthers 3–1 and becoming the fifth team to earn a star on their crest.
Fifth Round
(EL2) Jackson FC 1–1 Noka Mariners (CEL)
(L3N) Cambridge Pioniere 1–1 San Solari FC (CEL)
(CEL) Carter FC 0–2 KQ Nepáïire Tingitana (CEL)
(L3N) KQ Sirto 3–1 Lexington FC (EL2)
(L3S) Kitsilano Konquerors 0–0 San Diego Iguanas (CEL)
(L3N) SV Pößneck 2–5 Aeropag Penguins (CEL)
(EL2) Jamaica Giants 3–3 New Haverford Albion (CEL)
(CEL) Sokojito Dosi Dalamjwijī 0–1 Syoko Poggyūggijī (EL2)
(L3N) Ari FC 2–0 RKA Warriors (L3S)
(CEL) Sokojito Dosi Gyūlhabdwen 5–0 Portland Safari (4/E)
(CEL) Naquada Falls Demons 2–0 Dusanto Mojaʼikījī (CEL)
(CEL) Sokojiʼwa Dosi CK 0–0 Werd Beachcombers (L3S)
(EL2) Dawson Springs FC 0–1 High Mountain Buffalo (CEL)
(CEL) Sonoma Center Panthers 5–2 Cordubovica Falcons (EL2)
(CEL) Black Oasis Athletic 2–3 Yuba United (CEL)
(CEL) Medoria Löwen 1–1 South Coast United (CEL)
Fifth Round Replays
(CEL) Noka Mariners 1–2 Jackson FC (EL2)
(CEL) San Solari FC 3–0 Cambridge Pioniere (L3N)
(CEL) San Diego Iguanas 1–1 Kitsilano Konquerors (L3S)
Extra time: 1–1
Penalty kicks: 2–4
(CEL) New Haverford Albion 1–0 Jamaica Giants (EL2)
(L3S) Werd Beachcombers 2–2 Sokojiʼwa Dosi CK (CEL)
Extra time: 2–2
Penalty kicks: 3–4
(CEL) South Coast United 1–3 Medoria Löwen (CEL)
Sixth Round
(EL2) Jackson FC 0–1 San Solari FC (CEL)
(CEL) KQ Nepáïire Tingitana 5–2 KQ Sirto (L3N)
(L3S) Kitsilano Konquerors 1–0 Aeropag Penguins (CEL)
(CEL) New Haverford Albion 1–0 Syoko Poggyūggijī (EL2)
(L3N) Ari FC 0–2 Sokojito Dosi Gyūlhabdwen (CEL)
(CEL) Naquada Falls Demons 1–0 Werd Beachcombers (L3S)
(CEL) High Mountain Buffalo 1–1 Sonoma Center Panthers (CEL)
(CEL) Yuba United 0–1 Medoria Löwen (CEL)
Sixth Round Replay
(CEL) Sonoma Center Panthers 5–2 High Mountain Buffalo (CEL)
Quarterfinals
(CEL) San Solari FC 2–1 KQ Nepáïire Tingitana (CEL)
(L3S) Kitsilano Konquerors 2–1 New Haverford Albion (CEL)
(CEL) Sokojito Dosi Gyūlhabdwen 3–0 Naquada Falls Demons (CEL)
(CEL) Sonoma Center Panthers 2–1 Medoria Löwen (CEL)
Semifinals
(CEL) San Solari FC 1–0 Kitsilano Konquerors (L3S)
(CEL) Sokojito Dosi Gyūlhabdwen 1–3 Sonoma Center Panthers (CEL)
Final
(CEL) San Solari FC 3-1 Sonoma Center Panthers (CEL)
TechConGroup Cup
The TechConGroup Cup format also got some tweaks. Sonoma Center dominated the competition, winning the final by a record 5–0 scoreline over ʼEbestigatus Tāpuŋjī as part of their double, winning them their second star. The fans on the losing side were surely not too disappointed by the result, however, as the League Three club will be Capitalizt SLANI’s top-seeded representative in the Globe Cup next season by virtue of reaching the final.
Fourth Round
(EL2) Dawson Springs FC 0–2 Sokojiʼwa Dosi CK (CEL)
(CEL) San Diego Iguanas 3–1 KQ Nepáïire Tingitana (CEL)
(EL2) Kagoshima Phoenix 1–1 Commerce Heights T’birds (L3S)
Extra time: 1–2
(L3N) Sonoma City Volcanoes 0–1 Ἄργος ΛΠ (EL2)
(4/F) Konduli Sanʼyaŋjī 0–5 Yuba United (CEL)
(EL2) Jackson FC 1–0 Natestadt Nationalisten (EL2)
(L3S) ʼEbestigatus Tāpuŋjī 1–1 Querzakhi United (EL2)
Extra time: 2–2
Penalty kicks: 2–1
(4/E) Jonloli Gyūlhabdwen 3–1 Mifflinburg FC (4/B)
(CEL) Aeropag Penguins 4–0 SV Metrewalk (4/B)
(EL2) Seansburgh Cougars 1–0 Accola Eagles (L3N)
(CEL) Sokojito Dosi Gyūlhabdwen 4–3 Medoria Löwen (CEL)
(4/C) Concrete Jungle FC 0–3 Black Oasis Athletic (CEL)
(L3N) Ari FC 2–7 Sonoma Center Panthers (CEL)
(4/B) Blauplanet Krieger 1–3 Syoko Poggyūggijī (EL2)
(CEL) San Solari FC 3–1 KQ Sirto (L3N)
(L3S) Lexington Firefoxes 1–3 Cordubovica Falcons (EL2)
Fifth Round
(CEL) Sokojiʼwa Dosi CK 1–3 San Diego Iguanas (CEL)
(L3S) Commerce Heights T’birds 1–2 Ἄργος ΛΠ (EL2)
(CEL) Yuba United 0–2 Jackson FC (EL2)
(L3S) ʼEbestigatus Tāpuŋjī 3–3 Jonloli Gyūlhabdwen (4/E)
Extra time: 5–3
(CEL) Aeropag Penguins 0–0 Seansburgh Cougars (EL2)
Extra time: 0–0
Penalty kicks: 1–4
(CEL) Sokojito Dosi Gyūlhabdwen 3–0 Syoko Poggyūggijī (EL2)
(CEL) San Solari FC 1–4 Cordubovica Falcons (EL2)
Quarterfinals
(CEL) San Diego Iguanas 4–1 Ἄργος ΛΠ (EL2)
(EL2) Jackson FC 2–3 ʼEbestigatus Tāpuŋjī (L3S)
(EL2) Seansburgh Cougars 1–1 Black Oasis Athletic (CEL)
Extra time: 1–1
Penalty kicks: 4–1
(CEL) Sonoma Center Panthers 2–0 Cordubovica Falcons (EL2)
Semifinals
(CEL) San Diego Iguanas 3–4 ʼEbestigatus Tāpuŋjī (L3S)
(EL2) Seansburgh Cougars 0–2 Sonoma Center Panthers (CEL)
Final
(L3S) ʼEbestigatus Tāpuŋjī 0–5 Sonoma Center Panthers (CEL)
자스연 컵 (Jasīʼyūn Kūb)
Sixth Round
(EL2) Griffin Zebras 2–1 Heidelstadt Falken (EL2)
(EL2) Heidelstadt Falken (3) 2–1 (3) Griffin Zebras (EL2)
Extra time: (3) 2–1 (3)
Penalty kicks: 1–2
(L3N) Musketiere Twintown 2–0 Qidade Savana (EL2)
(EL2) Qidade Savana (3) 3–1 (3) Musketiere Twintown (L3N)
Away goals: 0–1
(L3N) Forest Hill FC 1–0 South Coast United (CEL)
(CEL) South Coast United (3) 3–0 (1) Forest Hill FC (L3N)
(CEL) Dusanto Mojaʼikījī 1–0 Carter FC (CEL)
(CEL) Carter FC (2) 2–1 (2) Dusanto Mojaʼikījī (CEL)
Away goals: 0–1
(CEL) High Mountain Buffalo 2–0 Silto Dosi ʼYasāŋmajī (EL2)
(EL2) Silto Dosi ʼYasāŋmajī (1) 1–1 (3) High Mountain Buffalo (CEL)
(CEL) Sokojito Dosi Dalamjwijī 2–3 Naquada Falls Demons (CEL)
(CEL) Naquada Falls Demons (7) 4–0 (2) Sokojito Dosi Dalamjwijī (CEL)
(EL2) Graceville Salamanders 1–1 Eintracht Maastricht (L3S)
(L3S) Eintracht Maastricht (2) 1–1 (2) Graceville Salamanders (EL2)
Extra time: (2) 1–1 (2)
Penalty kicks: 3–1
Quarterfinals
(EL2) Griffin Zebras 1–0 Musketiere Twintown (L3N)
(L3N) Musketiere Twintown (3) 3–1 (2) Griffin Zebras (EL2)
(CEL) South Coast United 1–1 Dusanto Mojaʼikījī (CEL)
(CEL) Dusanto Mojaʼikījī (5) 4–0 (1) South Coast United (CEL)
(CEL) High Mountain Buffalo 0–1 Naquada Falls Demons (CEL)
(CEL) Naquada Falls Demons (1) 0–0 (0) High Mountain Buffalo (CEL)
(L3S) Eintracht Maastricht 1–3 New Haverford Albion (CEL)
(CEL) New Haverford Albion (6) 3–3 (4) Eintracht Maastricht (L3S)
Semifinals
(L3N) Musketiere Twintown 2–1 Dusanto Mojaʼikījī (CEL)
(CEL) Dusanto Mojaʼikījī (3) 2–1 (3) Musketiere Twintown (L3N)
Extra time: (3) 2–1 (3)
Penalty kicks: 4–1
(CEL) Naquada Falls Demons 2–2 New Haverford Albion (CEL)
(CEL) New Haverford Albion (3) 1–1 (3) Naquada Falls Demons (CEL)
Away goals: 2–1
Final
(CEL) Dusanto Mojaʼikījī 2–1 New Haverford Albion (CEL)
(CEL) New Haverford Albion (3) 2–0 (2) Dusanto Mojaʼikījī (CEL)
Matchday Twenty-Four: Have a kit-kat
Don’t worry, don’t worry, sh-sh-sh-sh-shush, it’s all right, it’s all over. There, there. No longer will ten of the eighteen CMSC1 sides have to cope without their World Cupping players. The league now goeth on hiatus for the duration of what should be a gleefully short C&M Harmony run and, when it returns, the Vanderpents, Carecas and Bellings of this world will be back for the final ten league fixtures (ten?!? Bloody hell…) and the last three rounds of the CMS Cup (What?! Okay, which one of you said this switching-to-eighteen-teams thing would be a good plan, eh? Own up!). Of course, then there’s the Di Bradini Cup to worry about, which will tear a couple of dozen young players from their manager’s assorted bosoms and send them over to Starblaydia for a couple of weeks, but hey; they’re only kids. Their clubs can manage without ‘em. Can’t they….?
Albrecht FC were already without their most likely DBCer – the left midfielder (and heaven knows we need one of those…) Ryan Fattori – for their encounter with Turks’ Club. Still, Daniel Armour’s a decent young stand-in, and they really haven’t noticed Peter Vanderpent’s absence, and who needs Francois St. Louis when you’ve got Dylan Farquar?
It’s starting to look as though Andy Le Lan’s tenure at the helm of the Scorpions will include this simple discussion every season: why do they become so utterly crap at this point of the year? They haven’t won since matchday nineteen, and we’ve ceased to expect them to. But against the beleaguered Khatib-Gassett side, under first-time manager Giorgio Pezzoni, surely they’d get back to winning ways at the MSS?
Well they didn’t, as you’ve probably guessed, on account of this being the main game an’ all. Instead, they took the lead through Ben Edwards and spent the rest of the game defending like mad. It didn’t work. Shane Wojciechowski’s age caught up with him in impressive fashion against the pace of the Turks’ brightish young things Ishmael Dolphin, Hague Parr, Manuel Zelzi (back from injury) and Eli Cripps (back from his jaunt to Nire, and apparently none the worse for it), and Stefan Santamaria, who’s young enough to be Wojciechowski’s son (out west and in certain parts of El din, anyway), was similarly shown up once or twice. Plus, the Zarblese right-back Valete is a bit of a dud. There. We’ve said it. There’s a crap foreigner playing in the CMSC. Frankly, they’d be better off playing Nic Noble.
Anyhoo, the lost 3-1, which keeps them at the top of the table but just ten points ahead of the Turks in thirteenth. And, for the first time, they’re no longer favourites – that honour has instead been taken by Asdrubal Espinoza’s Turkish, who took another 2-1 win this weekend. It was a struggle, against a pleasingly mid-table Caires Sports, but Turkish will (probably) have their three biggest names in Maini, Taylor and Soldarian back for matchday twenty-five, and that has to give them all the momentum.
Down at the other end of the table, Carl Woods had a fine first game at the Gamboa helm. The former Caires Sports manager has been out of work for some months, and his appointment came as something of a surprise, but he’s a perfect Gamboa man – a devotee of highly attack-minded football and a wearer of a perpetually condescending expression. He had to go back to basics for his first game back in the top-flight however, with his side expected to be under the cosh against the El din Marbles. And so they were, but the makeshift defence held, and the dropped left-back Aaron Abdellah gave Woods something to think about when he came on as a sub for the limping Eddy Price and promptly scored the only goal of the game from a Kevin Ely corner.
That result fails to lift Gamboa off bottom, but they’re only a point behind McDonald now, following their spirited 4-3 home defeat to Port of Clotaire that lifted the Harpies back into fifth. Carlos Panachero’s stock meanwhile is starting to fall dramatically now that the Marbles have slid into the drop zone, and a club not particularly used to success might very well have to get used to a sudden return to the old days if things don’t pick up quickly.
No less galling is the fact that Cathedral City are still in the title race, though the Cats wasted an opportunity to go top with a 2-0 defeat in Allemali. The Shining Sons may well have lost Presbury Ellis to the DBC by the time the league restarts, while their old enemies across the pond, Marquez-Onwere, will be boosted by the return of Jack Stafador. Without their midfield enforcer, they crumbled to a 3-0 defeat in Bove.
AFC MN Smith 3-0 Marquez-Onwere (Walker 32, Fauske 69 and 70)
Albrecht FC 1-3 Turks’ Club (B. Edwards 10; Towle 25, Dolphin 57, Parr 61)
Caires Sports 1-2 Albrecht Turkish (Meakin 64; Maidment 20, Dixon 82)
Candelaria-Allemali 2-0 Cathedral City (Ellis 27 and 74)
Candelaria Arsenal 0-1 Caires City (McGuire 38)
El din Marbles 0-1 Gamboa FC (Abdellah 78)
KT Hotspur 1-0 Arrigo Portuguese (Milton 29)
McDonald SC 3-4 Port of Clotaire (Arnold 21 and 44, England 75; Donnelly 35, Zetaback 55, Alaoui 72, Dotson 73)
Radyukevich CSC 1-1 Green Island (Naylor 24; Fitzpatrick 58)
Global Round-Up: Success, failure, and successful failure
And so, before the CMSC XXIX gets backs underway after a distressingly long period in the cooler (we’re never doing that again), a brief look at the ten representatives of C&M and their campaigns on the international stage is probably in order.
The fourth TQCC saw some widely divergent Candelariasian performances, which might well have seen the CMSC slump badly down the rankings were it not for some truly astonishing game-saving performances. Marquez-Onwere set the tone in the prelims, comfortably disposed of by the champions of Acapais – though, as it would turn out, Keenshire were an extremely strong outfit. The group stages were little better, with little Caires City simply outclassed on their first international foray. A Dionísio Madeira Lobos hat-trick against another set of Acapais natives, Highland Park, was the only highlight; but an unbeaten home record at least suggests that they would have something to build on were they to qualify for the TQCC5.
For the reigning champions though, this truly was a season (or half-season, or whatever) to forget. They were unlucky, certainly, against the Aeropag Penguins, with the UCS’s own Ryan Taylor guilty of some poor misses, but it was an exhausted defence that ultimately cost them. No Candelariasian side will want to play Keenshire again in a hurry.
Life was pretty mixed for Albrecht FC too, but their home game against United Trilan will be remembered for a long time. A six-nil scoreline did the Scorpions justice, made at utter mockery of the Candelariasian ‘keeper Ozzy Stefano and defender Demario Ortiz, and will have asked big questions of Adam Williamson – Albrecht coach Andy Le Lan’s predecessor as C&M Under-21 coach. The two biggest clubs in these two rival countries have developed a nice little rivalry of their own in recent times, but the C&M side are certainly getting the better of it just now. The biggest clashes of the group stage were undoubtedly between the Vélez brothers’ Cafundó do Juta and the former champions Yuba United however, though both ultimately eased through.
Albrecht FC got themselves one of the worst draws they could have asked for in the last sixteen, in the form of Keenshire. They were, frankly, outplayed home and away, but the presence of Peter Vanderpent proved the difference in the 2-1 aggregate victory. The surprise Cafundelense champions of Clube Imperial proved, if anything, less of a challenge; the 3-1 home victory one of Albrecht’s finest on the global stage so far.
All this time, a replay of the first final looked to be on the cards, but Albrecht could just about consider themselves the favourites against Olympique Protectorat, especially after the Adi’hanis’ 3-0 home defeat in the previous match. So it proved, but a little club from the JSY group had other considerations when it came to the final. Last time out, Albrecht Turkish had been the romantic choice, after the events in the Candelariasian capital not long prior to their victory. In Raynor City, the lowly Noka Mariners – eleventh in the last Élite League – were the story.
And so the capital was denied another party… Except, for the outer boroughs at least, there was still much to celebrate. Albrecht Independent hardly ripped it up in Group H of the first SBCC, finishing second behind Kareen FC and looking a long way behind the Cafundelense contingent and the inevitable unpronounceable Capitalizt entry. If anything, Melin & Nader or Ironside looked the better bets to keep up the CMSC2’s honour, but the Indies were about to embark on a memorable few weeks. Two-one down to Vila Velha with two minutes to go, young Rio Kwan scored a sensational equaliser to underline his promise and leave it to LeRoy Myers to make the Indies’ progress completely safe. In the quarter-finals, they were eased aside by Northtown, only to take them back to the Army Ground and crush them. Later, in swirling rain in Hoxton, they managed but a one-all draw against their group stage nemesis Kareen, but the Eesseffians were soon downed on home turf.
Having disposed of Ironside, KQ Nepáïire Tingitana had to be the favourites come the final; yet another CAM against COM encounter. Over in the Empire, the luck proved on the Capitalizts’ side however, with a late equaliser coming in after Andrew Abbott’s opener. The lone striker and former Green Island man had plenty left in the tank however, and two breakaway goals in extra time gave the Indies a stunning title.
The icing on the cake came in the 1093 Bière Super Cup. Though the Indies’ chances of lifting another trophy were effectively dashed against Char Sara, their 2-0 win over a full-strength Noka Mariners was entirely deserved. The Globe Cup winners were simply a cut above in that tournament, even with the presence of Petardos S/A, Sept-Onze, the Sonoma Center Panthers and the like in the planet’s second competition.
Still, the Candelariasian representatives performed well, even if MN Smith’s collapse was cemented by their defeat to Lovisan opposition. Cathedral City put up a valiant fight against Petardos, while MarquezOW continued to strike blows for C&M football against both the Iguanas and Panthers – even if they were reliant on penalties against the latter. They were finally downed by Harrington Lakeside – surprise, if deserved finalists; but, after MarquezOW’s TQCC failure, the naranja must be satisfied with their performances here. At the very least, it shows that we’ve got some surprising strength and depth over here.
Which is nice.
Matchday Twenty-Five: Here we go again again
Again, again!, as the teletubbies would say, as we finally enter the home straight of XXIX. And not before time. Anyone remember what’s going on?
Oh yes, that’s right; we’re having to start to think the unthinkable. Or certain sections of the press are, at any rate, after Albrecht FC came back from Raynor City and registered only a goalless draw at home to shot-shy Radyukevich. They had no excuses; Peter Vanderpent is back, Joe Cunningham had a great TQCC and scored the winning goal in the Cup of Harmony final (I know, who knew?) and only Ryan Fattori was missing on DBC duty (which looks likely to last the entire back end of the season), but the Jukos are still scrapping for every point – best witnessed when David Wolverton accepted a straight red and three-match ban when he hacked down Ryan Edwards a split-second away from a sure Scorpions goal.
Some are now starting to genuinely wonder whether Albrecht will even get a TQCC place now, never mind win the title as had seemed a foregone conclusion not so long ago. That might be a tad premature, for the truth is that absolutely anything can still happen, with ten points only separating first and tenth, and the leaders on just a +6 goal difference. Strength and depth, y’see? Int it nice?
The fears that the capital pair would ease to a one-two once again have long since gone… not that Albrecht Turkish aren’t top, you understand. But their 2-1 win against relegation-bound CandelariaAM was scraped out like the innards of some manner of shelled sea creature, and they can certainly take nothing for granted either – especially without Niv Cohen on hand.
At least they have the rest of their squad back, an advantage that Marquez-Onwere can’t claim. Fresh – or not, as the case proved – from their run to the Globe Cup semi-finals, MarquezOW were again without Jack Stafador, this time to the Oxen Cup, and that proved utterly crucial in their game against Cathedral City. Don’t even bother whispering it now – yes, their side consists of a wing-back from Frontenax, a couple of ancient Kura-Pellandis, and a centre-half called Christmas; but Charlie Cunningham’s Cats are real championship contenders. Their 4-0 beating of the naranja was simply breathtaking.
For the MarquezOW, seven points off Turkish, their own challenge looks likely to fade once again. This would be a good time to blood some of those youngsters they’re so keen on – or it would, but they’re only six points off the drop zone and really can’t risk anything. Strength and depth. Maybe it’s not such a great thing after all.
Caires City were simply outclassed in the Champions’ Cup, but they’re really not out of it either. Their two-nil win at KT Hotspur underlined their title potential – and just how good Dionísio can be. If the CAMAFA can sort his passport out after the debacle that was the CoH final (they won it, btw), the Big Blues have a real playa on their hands. Yes, you read it right. He’s a playa. That’s really good.
Port of Clotaire lead a block of teams still kinda in the hunt, but their 2-0 home defeat to Gamboa suggests that a TQCC place is the best they could manage, while Carl Woods may be set to lift the nobs of Abiodun to safety.
AFC MN Smith 3-4 El din Marbles (Jacobs 38, McDonald 43, Jones 66; Watson 5 and 74, Soro 89, O’Leary 90)
Albrecht FC 0-0 Radyukevich CSC
Arrigo Portuguese 1-1 Turks’ Club (Johansson 52; Nxele 59)
Caires Sports 2-2 Candelaria Arsenal (French 17 and 51; Shannon 49, Harouni 68)
Candelaria-Allemali 1-2 Albrecht Turkish (Bradley 47; Taylor 48, Kennedy 50)
Cathedral City 4-0 Marquez-Onwere (Ozi-Mayer 24, Federici 76, Spelman 79, Duxbury 90+2)
Green Island 4-2 McDonald SC (va Drake 28, Yalçin 40, Vidakovic 55, Okeke 87; Rose 7, Zapata og 45)
KT Hotspur 0-2 Caires City (Cozzi 63, Dionísio 82)
Port of Clotaire 0-2 Gamboa FC (Adekunde og 35, Dobson 35)
Matchday Twenty-Six
Okay, so maybe it’s not so premature. But you have to admit, it’s a crazy situation. Albrecht FC batted away United Trilan, Keenshire and Clube Imperial et al like they were Nr Webley Regional Division 2 outfits. Weeks later, and they’re struggling against McDonald Sports. You could be playing against O’Sullivan Caras, Dotos Ponten, Saulo and Julian D’Abbo, or against Sacha Wasilew, William Rose, Nic England and Ferhat Guzelis. Surely there’s no argument here?
And for eighty minutes that was the case, as the Scorpions attempted to struggle back from recent league hiccoughs with a serene display in Saurin. Stefan Santamaria looked decidedly bored in goal, and Peter Vanderpent’s early goal looked likely to be enough. And then the walls came tumbling down, and the travelling fans were left gaping unattractively once more, as the Dons hit three in the final ten minutes.
Bearing in mind that they were missing Richard Arnold, their best player this season by some margin, McDonald should simply not have been allowed to perform like that, and the champions really have to pull it together quickly if they’re going to have a hope of stopping their neighbours from taking the trophy back to Hoxton. Particularly after Ryan Edwards was ruled out for a couple of games.
Albrecht Turkish are now five points clear of the Scorpions, though given that they had a home game against Marquez-Onwere this weekend, that’s hardly a surprise. A far more notable performance came in Arrigo, where Caires City took another powerful away win. On the face of it, it’s expected – Portuguese remain grimly mid-table, and you have to wonder about Matthew Tortini’s future while the club show so few signs of going anywhere. El Profesor keeps promising that he’s building for the future, and they do have some decent young players, but Avilass Gackbang, Matt Reddington and Djabgor Cvecej will also need replacing sooner or later and it’s hard to see where Eduardo Morales is going to get his title challenge from. The Errant Knights meanwhile, paupers to Portuguese’s billionaires, continue to perform consistently without any visible means of support.
While Elgin Dannat could prove both Caires City’s saviour and Cathedral City’s nightmare, the El din Marbles may well have put a more decisive spanner in the Cats’ works. There was no football played in the Marquezian city this weekend, obviously, though Andrés Toluca somehow managed not to send anyone off, and Jack Marshall was able to ignore all the hullabaloo around him (although, to be fair, he doesn’t really have much choice) to poke in the Marbles’ winner.
Ted Garrido meanwhile, over at a rather less roughhouse game in Abiodun, gave out two red cards when Kevin Ely and Reiban Okeke had a nice little punch-up, as Gamboa’s revival was halted by a not-entirely-out-of-it Green Island. In what is still supposed to be very much a transitionary season for Hane Davies’ men, the GIZ are up to fifth, ahead of KT Hotspur (whut??) on goal difference. Thomas Larson’s tedious mob smacked Caires Sports at the Kaleta Online Dome, with the Knights having gone to pieces a bit since Ahershk Valinial buggered off to Starblaydia. PoC stumbled in Bove, while Turks’ Club pushed themselves further out of danger and Radyukevich into it. They’ll probably never win by more than one goal, but Giorgio Pezzoni is, very quietly, doing a terrific job under trying circumstances.
AFC MN Smith 2-1 Port of Clotaire (Brightmore 5, Redway og 66; Waywide 49)
Albrecht Turkish 2-1 Marquez-Onwere (Soldarian 32, Maini 60; Beye 89)
Arrigo Portuguese 1-3 Caires City (Cvecej 41; Varnali 19, Dionísio 74, McGuire 86)
Caires Sports 1-4 KT Hotspur (French 68; Johnson 17, Gallagher 26, Tensen 27 and 32)
Candelaria-Allemali 1-2 Candelaria Arsenal (Hamley 20; Ytterland 8, Shannon 54)
El din Marbles 1-0 Cathedral City (Marshall 51)
Gamboa FC 1-3 Green Island (Richardson 36; Vidakovic 44, Okeke 51, Yalçin 82)
McDonald SC 3-1 Albrecht FC (Rose 83, Juracka 87, P. Wasilew 90; Vanderpent 17)
Radyukevich CSC 0-1 Turks’ Club (Johnson 10)
CMS Cup Quarter-Finals
It’s highly questionable whether anyone but the eight clubs left involved give a figgin, I’ll grant you, and even that’s not a given, but the CMS Cup this year is still a diverting contest. With most of the big guns out, MarquezOW are probably the favourites to make the final for a third straight season, while KT Hotspur also had the chance to do the same. More notable was the presence of the Melin Professionals, who are having a dire time in the league after concentrating on this cup just an ickle too much, and of the two better Candelariasian sides from the SBCC. The Indies and Ironside could well pull off a CMSC2 one-two, although you won’t be surprised to hear that that division’s pretty damn tight at the moment too, even with the distractions of two cup competitions.
The Indies’ll be the favourites for the CMSC2 title now, partly on their SBCC performance and partly because they were knocked out of the CMS Cup this weekend. That it was an under-strength Gamboa side doing the knocking doesn’t bode entirely well for their chances next season, assuming they do go up, though only an impressive Lewis Piccioni goalkeeping performance, Andrew Abbott’s not-remotely-top-flight-qualityness, and a spectacular hit from teenage midfielder John Yeoman gave the Abiodun club their place in the semis.
The CMSC1 strugglers will now face another CMSC2 high-flyer, in the form of Ironside-Talinger. This is a club that doesn’t even have a fulltime manager now, after Carl Woods upped and left for… Gamboa, funnily enough, but the veteran stand-in Robert Kilroy certainly isn’t doing a bad job. A single away goal was the difference in Rose of Sharon; midfielder William Cook shinning over Joel Sbaïz’s line in the first half.
Marquez-Onwere were made to work for their place, following a draw against Candelaria-Allemali in Marquez. The modern CMSC’s oldest rivalry continued over in Candelaria, where the naranja finally got themselves in gear for a morale-boosting 3-1 win. Their semi-final opponents are the El din Marbles, who squeaked through against the Professionals.
Albrecht Independent FC 0-1 Gamboa FC (Yeoman 47)
Marquez-Onwere 1-1 Candelaria-Allemali (Johnson og 11; Ellis 39)
Replay: Candelaria-Allemali 1-3 Marquez-Onwere (Bradley 90+3; E. Kjaer 52, Siriwong 57, Careca 68)
KT Hotspur 0-1 Ironside-Talinger (Cook 25)
El din Marbles 2-1 Melin Professionals (Watson 69, Merino og 70; Naylor og 89)
Matchday Twenty-Seven: Champions’ chances fading fast
The Millerman Sheppard Stadium, quite possibly for the last time in its history, witnessed two matches this weekend – Saturday’s game; in which Albrecht Turkish edged that little closer to taking their title back, and Monday’s; in which Albrecht FC’s hold on the trophy they’ve lifted nine times previously looked set to slip away terminally.
Andy Le Lan has promised an almighty rocket up his team’s collective backside, whilst admitting that they are suffering from the mother of all hangovers following their defeat to the Noka Mariners in Raynor City. They were nothing but lacklustre after their 1-1 home draw against bottom of the table Gamboa, and next week’s trip to Bove looks another potential banana skin on current form. The Smudgers still have everything to play for to avoid relegation (whoever said eighteen teams and only three relegation spots was a bad idea, eh? Find these people and bring them to justice!), even if they’ll be without Kirby Brightmore through suspension (he’s a striker, he’s got five yellows… how did that happen?) and were smacked by the suddenly in-form Green Island on Saturday.
The A.Turks’ 3-1 win over the El din Marbles gives the Millermen a three point lead over Caires City and seven points over the GIZ and the Scorpions. Now that the euphoria over lifting the third Champions’ Cup has well and truly died down, fans are realistically starting to talk about the new Solidarity Stadium hosting the reigning CMSC champions next term, which is a big thing for A.Turks fans. Despite their size, and successes of years past, they still only have two CMSC league titles to their name, and aren’t yet nearly as blasé as their neighbours in the capital.
Such talk might be a little premature, but their major challengers aren’t doing themselves any favours. The Caires derby (alright a Caires derby – the Caires FC board have excellent lawyers) ended goalless, while Cathedral City also took just a point at home to a PoC side still in the hunt for a Champions’ Cup place. With Arrigo Portuguese and Turks’ Club winning, the all-important top six places will likely be spread around the top ten, with everyone else battling to stave off relegation, but don’t rule out any later movers just yet. Candelaria-Allemali, for example, who have been fortunate not to lose key players to the Di Bradini Cup and are coming into form at just the right moment. They’re still a desperately uninspiring side (and club, frankly) but kudos to Paulson Gates for investing in Andrew Bradley, discarded at Turks’ Club and now the leading Candelariasian scorer in the league (that’s only ten goals, but still…) and trusting the ability of Tate Parrish, without whom they could well be dead and buried already.
For the record, if anyone’s keeping notes, the top scorer so far is the one that got away; the C&M-born Sorthern Northlander Lee Waywide, at PoC. He’s got thirteen. They really do like to spread ‘em around in this league, don’t they?
Albrecht FC 1-1 Gamboa FC (B. Edwards 7; Castelão 17)
Albrecht Turkish 3-1 El din Marbles (Taylor 31, Reizei 34, Tucker 84; Soro 13)
Caires City 0-0 Caires Sports
Candelaria-Allemali 4-2 KT Hotspur (Knight og 10, Parrish 33, Bradley 40 and 70; Shehu 23, Gallagher 29)
Candelaria Arsenal 0-1 Marquez-Onwere (Cassumba Domingos 6)
Cathedral City 1-1 Port of Clotaire (Silva de Aviz 65; Turkmen 58)
Green Island 3-0 AFC MN Smith (va Drake 44, Yalçin 55, Vidakovic 75)
Turks’ Club 1-0 McDonald SC (Parr 38)
Radyukevich CSC 0-1 Arrigo Portuguese (Johansson 45)
Matchday Twenty-Eight: Jory’s out (no he is, really) as the title edges towards the capital
On current form, the race to avoid relegation over the final six matches is going to be far more entertaining that that for the championship.
While it’s by no means dead and buried yet, Albrecht Turkish had moved six points clear at the top following the twenty-eighth round of games, and that could well be just too much for anyone else to handle. You wouldn’t begrudge ‘em it, while their playing like this; a series of proper team performances over recent weeks highlighting the solid quality of the whole squad. Gary Maini has probably been the key man, but even he has only notched up seven league goals and if the A.Turks do lift the title it’ll be a nightmare to pick out a single player of the season. Perhaps manager Asdrubal Espinoza should get the major plaudits instead, delivering a Champions’ Cup and CMSC gong in the same season. Turkish better thank their lucky stars that Aguazal doesn’t have a national team.
Alright, so it hasn’t happened yet; but how can you think they’re going to balls this one up now? The manner in which they rolled over the PoC was really very impressive; for all that the Harpies have been struggling badly for some weeks now, their own potential title bid a distant memory. And more to the point, who’s going to challenge the Millermen’s bid to keep the title in Albrecht for the eighth season in ten? Caires City are still the best placed, but their 1-0 defeat in Allemali against the bizarrely in-form Shining Sons did their hopes no good. If anyone can challenge them now then, it’s likely to be Green Island. On current form you can forget any bevy of summer bids for any of Hane Davies’ beloved Eesseffians; even without Tom Osborne, Davies is making the best of the previously disappointing Reiban Okeke, and their defence is the forth-best in the league, which is a totally new experience for the Zapata locals. A third second-place finish in five seasons? Don’t bet against it.
Cathedral City will still challenge, but they’ve got real ground to make up now after their defeat to the GIZ. Their main goal may be to hold off the reigning champions from taking a Champions’ Cup spot. Albrecht FC have simply fallen apart since losing the fourth TQCC final; a 2-1 defeat to MN Smith utterly deserved and far from unexpected. If it carries on like this, even a Globe Cup place may be beyond Andy Le Lan, with a quartet of foreign managers on his tail. Best placed among them is Thomas Larson at KT Hotspur, who scored four away goals in their 4-3 victory at Marquez-Onwere. Yes. That Thomas Larson. That KT Hotspur. In a seven-goal thriller.
It’s like I don’t recognise my own country any more.
Anyway, the header – Turpin Jory has left the Hilltop Stadium, following Radyukevich’s 1-1 draw with McDonald SC. The general consensus is that the Dons and Gamboa are going down, which is fine – the Saurin club budgeted for that, and Gamboa can afford it and no-one likes them anyway. But the Jukos? They’re in sixteenth and could be in a really bad way if they were to plummet and, when push came to shove, the board have gotten panicky. The new man hasn’t been announced, but it’s hard to see what he could do Finlay Endee, or Vincent Peluso, or Coleman Mustard or Turpin Jory couldn’t. Not that he’ll need to, for now – all that matters is safety. And baring in mind that only Albrecht Turkish will definitely, mathematically be in the CMSC1 next year (assuming they don’t field an ineligible player, or owt), it’s fair to say that nobody’s sleeping comfortable at the moment.
AFC MN Smith 2-1 Albrecht FC (Johansson 2, Fauske 44; Vanderpent 15)
Albrecht Turkish 3-1 Port of Clotaire (Maini 18, Taylor 57, Westhead 85; Waywide 30)
Caires Sports 0-1 Arrigo Portuguese (González 16)
Candelaria-Allemali 1-0 Caires City (Parrish 65)
El din Marbles 1-1 Candelaria Arsenal (LeCass 90+1; Cerullei 11)
Green Island 2-1 Cathedral City (Carpenter 53, Okeke 73; Baker 58)
Marquez-Onwere 3-4 KT Hotspur (Careca 60 and 87, Siriwong 82; Gallagher 9 and 50, Milton 62, Johnson 81)
Turks’ Club 2-1 Gamboa FC (Nxele 6, Johnson 88; Castelão 90)
Radyukevich CSC 1-1 McDonald SC (Rotherwell 51; P. Wasilew 64)
Matchday Twenty-Nine: Biggest. Weekend. Ever. Sort of.
Yea, not as big as it would have been if anything had actually been decided. But the title is now almost certainly going in a different direction, and the reigning champions now have a real war for Champions’ Cup football on their hands. Albrecht FC are used to being the centre of attention – but never quite like this.
The big talking point of the weekend was actually Pando Wasilew’s woeful challenge on Arrigo Portuguese ‘keeper Andy Harford, during McDonald’s 2-2 draw with Matthew Tortini’s men in Saurin. Straight red cards are necessarily that uncommon – Albrecht Turkish defender Lance Adams, Radyukevich wide man David Wolverton and KT Hotspur’s Kura-Pellandi wing-back Junichi Inaki have all be recent recipients – but it does seem that, with some referees at the moment, you’d need to take your boot off and repeatedly beat your opponent’s face with it, Golosstyle, to get yourself sent off. The overall quality of the men in black appears to be on the slide – C&M has an elite group of Toluca, Harvey, Garrido, Sheffield and Humberto, but beyond that it’s really very poor. Foreign referees for XXX? Stranger things have happened.
But enough about that – we were treated to some superb, tense football matches this weekend that leaves Albrecht Turkish with one hand on the trophy. Though both sides were far from full strength, the MSS was treated to a blinder between Turkish and Green Island, separated only – as ever, it seems – by an Eesseffian. Espy va Drake and Scott Soldarian both had fine opportunities, but it was the aristocrat who supplied the finish to keep the Millerman six points clear.
Caires City versus Marquez-Onwere was a no less decisive encounter, with the Errant Knights moving ten points clear of the naranja with a 2-0 win. The respective talents on offer should have made such a result a major upset, but City are indisputably one of the league’s major players, and most likely the only one capable of catching Turkish.
If Elgin Dannat is going to have a hard time resisting the calls of bigger (and better paid) jobs elsewhere, then Andy Le Lan will be hoping merely to keep his. A 1-1 draw in El din did neither the Cats nor Scorpions any favours, and it would have been much worse for the visitors, had Jason Federici not missed a string of chances. Cathedral may yet have the last laugh over Port of Clotaire, despite the increasingly exuberant-looking fee spent on the young Candelarian, though their nearest and dearest gave them no gifts on their bid for a TQCC place, after going down by a single goal in Rose of Sharon.
Elsewhere, Gamboa look dead and buried, with only the CMS Cup to think about, following a defeat in Wayne Hubert’s first game as Radyukevich manager. His arrival, after all-but guiding Abiodun South into the CMSC2, may give the Jukos the boost they desperately need, but other sides are peaking at the right time too – Caires Sports took three huge points in Allemali; a sensational result given the absence of Ahershk Valinial, Grey Mendoza and Kim Mihyeon to the DBC and an early injury to Archer French. Lone front-man Oran Baron set up Wilberto Flinter for the first-half stoppage-time equaliser, before teenage forward Robbie Sinjinir nodded in the winner.
AFC MN Smith 3-1 Turks’ Club (Brightmore 17, Johansson 42, Ireland 73; Cripps 67)
Albrecht Turkish 1-0 Green Island (Soldarian 53)
Caires City 2-0 Marquez-Onwere (Dionísio 14, Varnali 20)
Candelaria-Allemali 1-2 Caires Sports (Ellis 33; Flinter 45+1, Sinjinir 80)
Candelaria Arsenal 2-2 Port of Clotaire (Shannon 79, Ely 86; Jordan 1, Alaoui 45+1)
Cathedral City 1-1 Albrecht FC (Jobson 6; Vanderpent 52)
KT Hotspur 1-0 El din Marbles (Milton 54)
McDonald SC 2-2 Arrigo Portuguese (P. Wasilew 36, Roberts 39; Plet og 41, Travers 49)
Radyukevich CSC 3-1 Gamboa FC (Rotherwell 7 and 77, Naylor 88; Richardson 10)
CMS Cup Semi-Finals: Kilroy speaks the truth!
It had to happen eventually. Years after his era at Turks’ Club dribbled away to nothing, the unfortunately-named Robert Kilroy’s insistence that he could recover Ironside-Talinger in the aftermath of Carl Woods’ toddle-off to Gamboa and deliver them three titles in a season doesn’t look so laughable.
Alright, so the quarter-finals in the SBCC was their limit in the end, and they’ll still have to do a lot to overhaul Albrecht Independent in the promotion race. But Kilroy is now pretty much guaranteed another season in Talinger after taking Ironside into the CMS Cup final.
Though Green Island won the cup a few years ago on only their first season back in the top-flight, and Mayo Valley were champions in XXIII days after their relegation was confirmed, the last time any lower-league club reached the final was in XXI, when the ill-fated Arrigo City club were beaten 3-0 by none other than Ironside-Talinger. Prior to that, Bass FC lifted the Cup in XII against Gamboa FC; Ironside’s semi-final opposition this year. It’s all so neat, like a dear little mouse washing its paws.
In Gamboa, Ironside came up against their former manager’s new team, who really are starting to look like condemned men. Andrew Duffy has to take his share of the blame, for he was given money but still managed to produce a wafer-thin squad utterly unable to cope with injuries, the DBC and, in the case of Jua Huwang, the Oriental Cup. Instead, the centre of their midfield at the MSS had an average age of seventeen and a quarter. This is why they’re going to get relegated.
Ironside supporters will probably be more concerned that they had to rely on penalties to win, and it’s clear that they’ll need some major reinforcements before next term. Still, coming back from the crushing blow of Adlai Dobson’s late equaliser and Casper Richardson’s strike for 2-1 in extra time took guts, and young ‘keeper Darren Bryson showed top-flight steel in the shoot-out.
And they’ll meet… Not Marquez-Onwere, into the final for a third straight year. Because they’re not. It truly was an incredible encounter at the Estadio Arrigo Nacional, with the naranja going two down within ten minutes to Carlos Panadero’s El din Marbles, getting back to two-all, going three-two up a minute into the second half, seeing a superb free kick put in by Jack Marshall, and then watching as Nic Percy swung in a corner three minutes into injury time which missed everybody and went straight into Harry Primrose’s net.
So, it’s the El din Marbles versus Ironside-Talinger in the CMS Cup final.
Weee… Don’t anyone dare miss that one…
Marquez-Onwere 3-4 El din Marbles (Siriwong 12, Careca 16, Douaydari 46; LeCass 4, Quinn 8, Marshall 79, Percy 90+3)
@ Estadio Arrigo Nacional, Arrigo
Gamboa FC 1-1 Ironside-Talinger (Dobson 87; Calero 65)
(2-2 AET – Richardson 99; Wiater 109)
(Ironside-Talinger wins 3-0 on penalty kicks)
@ Millerman Sheppard Stadium, Albrecht
Matchday Thirty: So long, and thanks for all the points
Never mind Glasgow East – this is one contest you simply can’t afford to lose in your own backyard. The capital city derby may at times be an oddly tame affair, on and off the pitch, compared to its counterparts in El din and Clotaire in particular, but this one meant so very, very much. For one thing, it was the last time that the two clubs would meet at the Millerman Sheppard Stadium with both sides treating the arena as their home. Albrecht Turkish, following this game, have just two more encounters at the ground that bears the name of one of their truly great players of old – against Turks’ Club next week and against McDonald SC a fortnight later. Either match could see them presented with the CMSC trophy, but this game was always going to be a special occasion. The MSS may not be the most well-loved of stadia, least of all by A.Turks supporters, but leaving it for their all-singing, all-dancing and curiously retro new ground will still be a wrench.
Their corner of ‘away’ supporters gave the ground the perfect send-off, as they roared Turkish on to victory against Albrecht FC. This was – rather worryingly – probably the Scorpions’ best performance since the TQCC quarter-finals, and only old Shane Wojciechowski’s slow feet and goalkeeper Stefan Santamaria’s inexperience cost them, with international-quality strikers Ryan Taylor and Gary Maini capitalising with ease. Andy Le Lan has a couple of eminent forwards himself, but only Joe Cunningham found the net on the day when persisting rumours that he is on the verge of moving to Clube Imperial were denied only in the weakest of terms.
So soon after the Champions’ Cup final, fans are already talking about changes on the pitch, in the dugout and – perhaps most importantly – in the boardroom. They may get their wish on the latter front… though not quite in the way that they had imagined…
Meanwhile, their route back into the globe’s premier tournament was been made a tad easier by Green Island’s slip up in Lavange, that leave the C.A.L. with a great chance of staying up. McDonald Sports appeared to all-but condemn Gamboa to relegation, with a 3-2 win in Abiodun, while the El din Marbles’ narrow victory over Caires City keeps them two points ahead of the Saurin side and out of the drop zone. Radyukevich though, there’s the story – coming off the worse at home to MN Smith by the odd goal in five, Wayne Hubert may simply find this job beyond him. The Jukos have a ghastly-looking run-in, and confidence has simply flat-lined. If they start next season in the CMSC2, with an entirely changed XI, it really will be no surprise.
If KT Hotspur spend next season mixing it up with the Raynor City Rockers and Petardos S/A, it really will be. But they probably won’t. Not least because, by all accounts, they may not even be called that next year, as Lee Adamcyzk’s increasingly deranged period at the helm continues…
Albrecht FC 1-2 Albrecht Turkish (Cunningham 67; Taylor 17, Maini 79)
Arrigo Portuguese 0-0 Candelaria-Allemali
Caires Sports 2-1 Marquez-Onwere (Baron 37, Sinjinir 44; Careca 20)
Candelaria Arsenal 1-0 Green Island (Shannon 69)
El din Marbles 1-0 Caires City (Marshall 64)
Gamboa FC 2-3 McDonald SC (Abdellah 53, Yeoman 90+2; Roberts 12, Rose 38, S. Wasilew 68)
KT Hotspur 3-2 Port of Clotaire (Tensen 22, Gallagher 27, Bates 90+1; Waywide 19, Turkmen 55)
Radyukevich CSC 2-3 AFC MN Smith (Rotherwell 26, López 78; Johansson 50, Walker 65, Brightmore 86)
Turks’ Club 0-2 Cathedral City (Ozi-Mayer 31, Jobson 49)
Matchday Thirty-One: Some advice for the winners
They could really do with getting rid of Lance Adams.
As half-time in the Millerman Sheppard Stadium approached, Ryan Taylor shot weakly at Fedde Jeffrey. The Kura-Pellandi international number two began another Turks’ Club attack against a nervy Albrecht Turkish side, with former C&M international Walter Jordan playing possible future C&M international Mandla Nxele into space, who found Ishmael Dolphin, who’s never going to be a C&M international, unless we get really desperate, out on the left. Harris Dixon declined to let him dither and walloped the ball back out into the centre. An extended period of head tennis followed, inching steadily towards Oberon Martinez’s box, before the young Nire and Nire player (possibly) Eli Cripps ran into Lance Adams. The centre-half took a touch too many when he should have volleyed, and Cripps was left with a simple task.
Thankfully for the A.Turks supporters, he sliced his shot. The ball was later recovered in Thompsontown. Martinez sent his kick up the other end, Leon Towle utterly failed to take control of it, Scott Soldarian did, and Gary Maini had an open net in which to score.
And 1-0 it stayed, with the fans at the MSS turning their attention instead to events in Clotaire where the PoC were hosting Caires City, the Millermen’s last remaining challengers. Pep McGuire, lumbering through the Harpies’ defence like Gentle Ben, had scored low past Amis Cressey early on, but – with the fight against relegation weighing on their minds – a seriously cheesed off Port of Clotaire (and Albrecht Turkish) had the last laugh. Tom Redway scored a rare header from Serkan Turkmen’s corner, and the Kosenic winger knocked the winner in via Shane Avdeev.
And so, Albrecht Turkish’s league victory was assured, and the big ol’ pot was presented that afternoon. There’ll probably be an open-top bus ride, now. There usually is.
In the final reckoning, Turkish were simply better than everybody else. If they can get a quality centre-half to partner Steven Williams, and consider an upgrade on Hirokazu Reizei in the centre of the park, then it could yet be a one-team oligopoly for a good few moons to come.
Although we said that about Marquez-Onwere not so very long ago, and they’re just two points out of the drop zone. And Albrecht FC only earned a point in Lavange, and are two places below even a Globe Cup effort. Green Island, of the more successful clubs of recent years, are the main exceptions – with a 2-1 win in Rose of Sharon, their greater experience should help them stay in the top four. Caires City, on current showing, could well be the side to miss out. It’s going to be a most enjoyable final three matchdays.
Albrecht Turkish 1-0 Turks’ Club (Maini 45)
Caires Sports 2-0 El din Marbles (Banz 38, French 79)
Candelaria-Allemali 2-1 Marquez-Onwere (Bornemann 3, Hamley 11; Siriwong 69)
Candelaria Arsenal 1-1 Albrecht FC (Shannon 17; Vanderpent 75)
Cathedral City 1-0 Radyukevich CSC (Federici 37)
Gamboa FC 1-3 Arrigo Portuguese (Richardson 45+1; Reddington 23, Carocha 68, González 73)
KT Hotspur 1-2 Green Island (Kortsarian 48; Yilmaz 63 and 82)
McDonald SC 1-1 AFC MN Smith (P. Wasilew 36; England og 13)
Port of Clotaire 2-1 Caires City (Redway 77, Avdeev og 84; McGuire 12)
Matchday Thirty-Two: Are we about to lose our Marbles?
With two games to go, it’s now pretty much inevitable that someone ‘big’ is going to depart the CMSC1. How you define ‘big’ is a thornier problem – you could, for example, easily put Gamboa on that list, given their relative success over the years and relative wealth. Bad signings, board interference, too great a reliance on youth (and one old, in the form of the mid-thirties forward Sargento Castelão), and the regular loss of players to injury was too much for them, and defeat in Bove this weekend confirmed their relegation.
They could yet prove the only ‘big’ tumblers, with all four of last season’s promoted clubs in the running for the two remaining spots. The C.A.L., you may recall, opened up the season with a 7-1 drubbing of Gamboa (still the biggest victory of XXIX). Since then, they’ve gone on to lose only as many games as Caires City – draws have been the problem, thirteen of ‘em, with the latest added in Khatib-Gassett this weekend.
Both they and McDonald SC are fighting to keep up the honour of all-Candelariasian XIs, and prove that a modicum of success is possible without having a single foreigner in your ranks and, if they do both fend off relegation, it could provoke something of a sea change. Particularly given the three sides directly below them – Radyukevich, the El din Marbles and Marquez-Onwere.
Uh-huh.
All three clubs lost this weekend, and it’s comfortably odds-on now that at least one of them will finish in the bottom three. For MarquezOW, who were within an inch of reaching the Globe Cup final but a couple of months back, this is a barely credible situation. They can forget global football now; and this side with a World Cup winner, a heap of other internationals, and a CMSC XXVI title under their belts could well be facing the might of Deportivo María and Brayton Town week-in week-out next term. It certainly won’t be for the want of trying – their defeat this weekend was by the odd goal in seven over in Arrigo – and the next game will be utterly crucial. They host fellow Marquezians, the El din Marbles.
The Marbles may, at least in theory, have the larger fanbase, but it’s hard to argue as to whose exit would represent the greater shock. Yet Carlos Panadero’s side were another to be tipped as genuine title challengers at the start of the season, and it’ll genuinely be a shame to see them go. With that game against MarquezOW to come, before a trip to play Portuguese themselves, the odds really don’t look good. They offered nothing in defeat to Candelaria-Allemali (still far from safety themselves), but remain two points ahead of Radyukevich.
We’ve gone on about the unacceptability of the Jukos’ struggles more than long enough, but it doesn’t get any easier to stomach. Only a late Julius Rotherwell penalty put any gloss on their 3-1 home defeat to the new champions – they have an utterly huge game in Lavanage next week, and there’s every chance that even victory may not be enough to save them.
As for the other end… it’s just bonkers, frankly. Caires City won the crucial game, against Green Island, utterly against everyone’s expectations yet again. Another TQCC qualification is now in their own hands, and fans are really starting to buzz about the future. There’s talk of a ground extension an’ everythin’. With pretty flashing lights! Flashing lights!
And everywhere else…? Caires Sports, in tenth, could still make the TQCC.
Bonkers.
Albrecht FC 1-0 KT Hotspur (Vanderpent 11)
AFC MN Smith 2-1 Gamboa FC (Jones 23, Keddy 38; Richardson 28)
Arrigo Portuguese 4-3 Marquez-Onwere (Johansson 17, González 41, Beraza 62, Belling 81; Siriwong 3 and 53, Careca 73)
Caires City 1-0 Green Island (German 1)
El din Marbles 0-1 Candelaria-Allemali (Ellis 17)
McDonald SC 1-0 Cathedral City (Roberts 43)
Port of Clotaire 2-0 Caires Sports (Donnelly 60, Alaoui 90)
Radyukevich CSC 1-3 Albrecht Turkish (Rotherwell 86; Taylor 22 and 46, Maini 66)
Turks’ Club 0-0 Candelaria Arsenal
- Legends retiring...
Season 9 of the Cafundelense league was the last season for 3 players that are now in the history of this worldwide famous league. First, the midfielder Anormal, that played in SC Lasft and for many times was considered best player of the league and best player of the National Team, and is one of the Cafundelense players in the hall of fame (alongside Ganz Ijak and Heitor). Second, the offensive midfielder (from Squornshelous) Caj Ilmari, that for seasons was the idol of Cafundó do Juta, being the key player when the team conquered the title in Season 8. Now he ends his career in Metropolitano, but surely will not be forgotten by his fans in Juta. And third, the attacker Lennie Newton, the one that really achieved the status of biggest idol of a team, Petardos S/A (competing against Ganz Ijak the title of biggest idol ever). The Wentland player was the leader of Petardos S/A for many seasons, and the fans love him so much that even kidnapped a player once to try to put him in the National Team. Now the fans ask Newton to continue working in the team, as assistant manager. Other players are getting close to retirement too, as the attacker Heitor (A.F.F.) and midfielder Eddie Barnes (Dunboor FC), but will play in season 10.
- Big transfers that surprised the country...
And now to talk about three specific transfers that surprised the supporters of the teams. No one could expect these transfers to happen, but they did. First of all, Yaforite Imon Juile's transfer from Clube Imperial to Atlético Jutense. The best goalkeeper of the last season leaves the current champions to go to a weaker team. He said that it was natural as he is approaching the end of his career, but this is still surprising. Prince Hector Van Tocco, president of Clube Imperial, said that this transfer is going to open the space in the team necessary for Yuji Watanabe to be a starter in Clube Imperial, as the Dancougar goalkeeper had an excellent performance while playing in Clube Comercial. Second, Squornshelous attacker Ulcviecel. Cafundó do Juta's attack was too full of good players, so they decided to sell one of them. Now, Ulcviecel has to continue showing good performances in Khalmar-Tijhus. Last but not least, the transfer involving Connor Mengucci to Petardos S/A. With Sonny Yamane's poor performances that lead him to a transfer to América, it was natural for the billionaires to buy a player in his place. Mengucci was the best option, and surprisingly América negotiated him.
- Coach changes...
New face in Petardos S/A. After so much time being commanded by the Ariddian Christophe Argentier, it was time for a change. The new coach of Petardos S/A will be Júlio Mercegues, who showed all his talent while commanding Clube Comercial. Argentier will probably get a job in another top team. Dunboor FC also decided to change, signing Andreas Gilsoweller Veiga as new coach, while David Nefasto will have to look for a new job. Also, Nelson Yaschter returns to Galáxia.
Also, the promotional poster for the BoF 29 hosting bid was released:
'Mañana'. It is of course the Spanish for morning or tomorrow, or in a more informal fashion, some time in the future. If a builder tells you he’ll do a job 'mañana', you shouldn’t be surprised if in a week’s time it still isn’t done. But what has this got to do with to anything I hear you ask. Well nearly twenty years ago the SNFA released a short statement saying a domestic competition for clubs in Sorthern Northland to compete. A few months passed, nothing. Then a few more, people started asking questions and the SNFA simply answered 'mañana', and for the last twenty or so years that has been the only they’ve said on organising a club competition in Sorthern Northland.
Until a few months ago that is. Suddenly out of the blue somewhat as if they’d suddenly worked out how to get teams to play matches against each other and then put the results in a league format, a three tier football league was announced to start this year. The three divisions were imaginatively named Division One, Division Two and Division Three. The top two would feature twelve teams whilst the bottom would feature sixteen. Under plans for gradual expansion three teams would be promoted to Division One whilst just one went down and three would go up to Division Two with again just one going down. An extra two four non-league teams would them be given entry to Division Three and a similar strategy is to continue until all divisions have around 18-20 teams and the possibility of a fourth division even being likely. The four non-league clubs were to be selected based on cup performance in the first season. Only trouble is the SNFA dropped a bit of a clanger and didn’t invite any non-league teams in the Sorthern Cup. Whoops.
So just how are the 40 clubs in the Sorthern Football League in its premier season? Our handy divisional list below will reveal all, oh avid reader.
Division One
Baile an Fheirtéaraigh
Beningrad
Castrograd Sporting Club
Corcaigh
FC Juahzhou
Heathfield United
Little Greece Olympia
Locomotiv Shingon
Marx-Stadt
Oblast Rangers
Snowspire
Swinedon Town
Division Two
Areck Furness
Club de Football Septentrionien de Finistère
Eastlands
East Reading
Fenians Sport Club
Heathfield City
Hillaton Downs
James Connolly Sports Club
Lispole Strand
New Ireland
Rothsbere Athletic
Vespucci
Division Three
17th of October
Albion Athletic
An Blascaod Mór
Banna Rovers
Cobh Walkers
Dún Chaoin
Larne Valley Rovers
Newstoke
Reading Town
Red Star Cork
Revolutionaire
Rode Ster Amsterdam
Sparrowbottom Athletic
St. Patricks
Wollongo
Workers United
So that’s the teams and as we are currently halfway through the season now would be a good time to have a quick look back on the highlights of the first half of the season.
Naturally we start by looking back at a game on the big day, the day that everyone had been waiting for nearly twenty years. The opening day of the season, a first chance to see the new summer signings, an excuse to get out of wondering round garden centres with the other half and a reason to start a fight with a half naked northerner in a pub, and this team all with a real national league rather than just some local get together down the rec on a Sunday. The opening day of the season is all of those and what better way to start with a local derby? Not just any local derby either but the Beningrad derby. Oblast Rangers vs Beningrad FC. Two sides from the complete opposite sides of the political spectrum. Oblast as their name (retained from the Imperialist Northland era) suggests represent the nations small right-wing population and as such as one of the more disliked clubs, whereas Beningrad are pretty much the nation team, an icon of SN’s socialist government. A derby was the perfect way to get the league up and running. What the SNFA and the police hadn’t considered was that this now being a proper match in an important competition was now much bigger than ever. The number of spectators at the game was far higher than had been expected and when the inevitable fighting between fans did break out the police could do little to contain it leaving the referee with no choice but to abandon the game. So the opening game of this brand new fantastic league hadn’t even lasted 90 minutes, another clanger from the SNFA for arranging such a highly charged fixture so early on in the leagues history then.
Perhaps surprisingly the SNFA lay the blame on the pitch invasion to Beningrad FC fans thus awarding Oblast Rangers a 3-0 win but have ruled that the BFC fans acted in retaliation to “goading” from the Rangers fans. An offence for which the SNFA have banned the club from competing in international competition should they meet the qualifying criteria to do such a thing. So one matchday down, one game abandoned already and authoritarian bias always starting to play a role. Bring on the rest of the season then!
It didn’t take long however for another game (and this one even got completed!) to come and offer just as much drama and excitement as the Beningrad derby. The most exciting game of the second match day and possibly the most exciting game of the season so far was the topsy-turvy match in central Sorthern Northland between Marx-Stadt and Baile an Fheirtéaraigh in a match where the lead changed hands an impressive four times as each side was equally brilliant and equally awful. The two teams are arguably two of the smaller teams in the top division and the game and be seen as both a huge positive and huge warning. Play as well as they did when they played well and they’ll be right up there, play as badly as they did in their bad spells and they’ll be looking over their shoulders at relegation for sure.
For much of the excitement for the rest of the first half of the Division One season we head back to Beningrad and go back to matchday six. The Beninists had added to their woeful opening day with an awful 4-0 thrashing away to Locomotiv Shingon in the second match, and it didn’t get much better from there. Going into a matchday six fixture against Baile an Fheirtéaraigh, they’d so far managed to get just one win under their belts and sat in an uneasy 11th place. It was a dreadful start by the team many had down as pre-season favourites before the season. The Baile an Fheirtéaraigh game was a vital game if they were to have a decent season, and what a way to kickstart their season. Sure the defence was still crap, leaking three goals in the opening ten minutes and then conceding another just before half time. Baile an Fheirtéaraigh had the win all wrapped up it seemed, a nice change for the early season draw specialists, but maybe they’d done too well in the first half. In the second they seemed to have relaxed, thinking the game was already in the bag, concentration levels dropped discipline dropped and boy did they pay for it. Ham Hyi-san, still an unknown at this stage was thrown on for his first appearance at half time. It was a gamble for sure by the manager but a gamble that paid off highly. Determined to impress and sensing the complacency from the opposition he seized his opportunity with both hands and delivered in style by setting up three goals and scoring an equaliser in the final minutes to bring BFC from 4-0 down to 4-4 and a point. They were still in 11th, but that draw was a huge boost to confidence and with Ham installed in they starting line up they went on to the next two games in style including a six thrashing of FC Juahzhou. The final Beningrad game of the first half of the season though was a disaster, losing 3-0 away to Swinedon, the other ultra-right team, and a team who in their previous 10 games had managed a measly 8 goals. So are Beningrad great, good, bad or awful? Well they are all three it seems, but the fans will be wanting a huge improvement in the second half of the season from them. But what about the rest of the division? Whose top for example? That at the moment would be FC Juahzhou who barring that 6-1 defeat have gone about almost unnoticed despite having a fantastic record of won 8, drawn 1 and lost 2 and currently sit five points clear of Little Greece Olympia who occupy the second spot. The disappointments so far? Snowspire, the team from the frozen Northern Wastes for me. Many predicted them to be champions by virtue of playing their home games in sub-zero conditions for much of the season on a pitch covered in snow. Their location was supposed to give them an advantage over opponents (in fact several people complained that they had a unfair advantage akin to cheating prior to the seasons start) but so far it seems every other team has adapted to the conditions better than them. The other big disappointment would have to be Corcaigh, supposedly the nations second club they sit in 11th with half the season gone.
Division One Mid Season Standings
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 FC Juahzhou 10 7 1 2 15 12 3 22
2 Little Greece Olympia 10 5 4 1 10 7 3 19
3 Oblast Rangers 10 5 2 3 12 6 6 17
4 Castrograd Sporting Club 10 5 1 4 18 11 7 16
5 Locomotiv Shingon 10 4 3 3 11 6 5 15
6 Heathfield City 10 4 2 4 13 11 2 14
7 Beningrad 10 4 1 5 24 25 -1 13
8 Swinedon Town 10 3 3 4 5 7 -2 12
9 Baile an Fheirtéaraigh 10 2 5 3 19 23 -4 11
10 Corcaigh 10 3 1 6 13 20 -7 10
11 Snowspire 10 2 3 5 7 12 -5 9
12 Marx-Stadt 10 1 4 5 11 18 -7 7
Elsewhere in the league, the Second Division looks like it will go right down to the wire with no one seemingly willing to take control. No team has stood out yet as contenders for promotion but that could be more down to the small gap in quality in the division than a lack in quality. Eastlands currently sit top four points clear of Hillaton Downs, but both will know they’ll have their work cut out to retain their positions.
Division Two Mid Season Standings
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Eastlands 11 7 3 1 19 10 9 24
2 Hillaton Downs 11 6 2 3 14 12 2 20
3 Lispole Strand 11 5 3 3 12 7 5 18
4 Fenians Sport Club 11 3 7 1 19 17 2 16
5 East Reading 11 4 3 4 19 15 4 15
6 CF Septentrionien 11 4 3 4 17 14 3 15
7 Rothsbere Athletic 11 3 6 2 10 8 2 15
8 New Ireland 11 4 1 6 12 14 -2 13
9 Heathfield City 11 3 4 4 15 18 -3 13
10 James Connolly SC 11 2 4 5 7 20 -13 10
11 Areck Furness 11 2 3 6 9 14 -5 9
12 Vespucci 11 1 5 5 5 9 -4 8
The Third Division got off to a rather boring start as the only team to register a win on the opening day were Corcaigh’s second team, Red Star Cork. Red Star certainly started in style as they strolled to an easy 3-0 away win in Dún Chaoin. That form has been kept up so far as they’ve been top in all but one week where the tiny island nation of An Blascaod Mor headed the division. Unfortunately for romantics though the Islanders fell away after their brief stay at the top and now seem destined to potter around aimlessly in mid-table for the season. Still anything other than bottom is an achievement for them. Most disappointed team in the division so far has to be Rode Ster Amsterdam, who currently sit in lower mid table. The team were tipped for promotion and allegations that the clubs proximity to the cities Red Light District may be a reason for their poor form have been denied.
Division Three Mid Season Standings
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Red Star Cork 15 10 2 3 33 20 13 32
2 Cobh Walkers 15 6 7 2 26 21 5 25
3 Sparrowbottom Athletic 15 6 6 3 22 15 7 24
4 Dún Chaoin 15 6 6 3 22 17 5 24
5 Revolutionaire 15 6 6 3 23 20 3 24
6 Banna Rovers 15 6 6 3 16 13 3 24
7 17th of October 15 5 6 4 29 25 4 21
8 An Blascaod Mór 15 4 8 3 18 15 3 20
9 Reading Town 15 5 4 6 19 24 -5 19
10 Larne Valley Rovers 15 4 6 5 19 18 1 18
11 Rode Ster Amsterdam 15 5 1 9 19 27 -8 16
12 Wollongo 15 2 9 4 7 10 -3 15
13 Newstoke 15 2 8 5 9 12 -3 14
14 Workers United 15 3 5 7 21 26 -5 14
15 St. Patricks 15 3 4 8 16 25 -9 13
16 Albion Athletic 15 3 4 8 11 22 -11 13
Sorthern Cup
Just a pointless tin pot, a nice distraction from the league, or even the most important part of the football season, and the Sorthern Cup is no different. Although currently the main complaints about it are that it’s twenty years late (an Irishman organised this whole league and cup thing by the way) and that seeing as lower league teams are supposed to prove their worthiness for addition to the league they’ve not actually been allowed into it this year leaving just 40 teams to battle it out for the piece of scrap metal in a sort of cup shape. Eight of the 40 teams (the “top eight” in the First Division, no idea how that was worked out before any games had been played) have been given a bye to a special round which is effectively a qualifier for the quarter finals, the four winners go into the main cups quarters and the four losers get nothing. Understandably the eight clubs are unhappy that four of them will be forced out but the smaller clubs are delighted at what they see as a better chance of doing well.
First Round
Marx-Stadt 4-1 Revolutionaire
Hillaton Downs 0-0 James Connolly Sports Club (1-0 AET)
Eastlands 3-1 Wollongo
Club de Football Septentrionien de Finistère 2-0 Workers United
Newstoke 1-3 Red Star Cork
St. Patricks 1-2 Fenians Sport Club
Cobh Walkers 1-3 New Ireland
Rode Ster Amsterdam 1-4 Swinedon Town
Lispole Strand 5-1 17th of October
An Blascaod Mór 2-0 Reading Town
Heathfield City 1-0 Albion Athletic
Dún Chaoin 2-1 East Reading
Larne Valley Rovers 0-1 Areck Furness
Oblast Rangers 2-1 Banna Rovers
Rothsbere Athletic 1-1 Snowspire (1-1 AET) (Snowspire wins 5-4 on penalty kicks)
Sparrowbottom Athletic 0-0 Vespucci (1-1 AET) (Sparrowbottom Athletic wins 3-2 on penalty kicks)
So onto the First Round results, all team bar the “top eight” enter. Not really any shocks to be honest. Red Star Cork won 3-1 at Newstoke a division above them but given their contrasting forms that’s no real surprise.
Second Round
Dún Chaoin 0-1 Hillaton Downs
Snowspire 2-0 Club de Football Septentrionien de Finistère
Marx-Stadt 4-0 Sparrowbottom Athletic
Heathfield City 1-4 Oblast Rangers
Fenians Sport Club 0-2 Lispole Strand
New Ireland 0-1 Swinedon Town
Eastlands 4-1 Red Star Cork
An Blascaod Mór 1-0 Areck Furness
An utterly boring round in terms of shocks, the only surprise being the credible An Blascaod Mór victory over Areck Furness giving them a well deserved spot in the third round.
Third Round
Hillaton Downs 2-3 Marx-Stadt
Lispole Strand 2-0 An Blascaod Mór
Eastlands 0-3 Swinedon Town
Snowspire 0-0 Oblast Rangers (0-0 AET) (Oblast Rangers wins 3-1 on penalty kicks)
“Big Eight”(winners from this join the winners of the third round in the quarter finals)
Corcaigh 1-1 FC Juahzhou (1-2 AET)
Baile an Fheirtéaraigh 2-1 Heathfield United
Beningrad 2-1 Castrograd Sporting Club
Locomotiv Shingon 2-0 Little Greece Olympia
An Blascaod Mór’s run comes to an end after they fall limply to Lispole Strand after having to travel away. Locomotiv Shingon end second place Little Greece Olympia’s Cup hopes, whilst Snowspire finally manage to get to grips with conditions at The White Cliff Stadium only to fail on penalties to Oblast Rangers having dominated the majority of the match.
The Lower League Section
“Can we play you every week?”
Around 50 kilometres off the south-western tip of Sorthern Northland, there lies the Dreyher Archipelago, a small group of 20 or so islands, of which the main island, Dreyher, is the sole inhabited island with a population of 1093 people. Every week without fail on a Saturday there will be at least one person watching a game of football at the island sole pitch, Thistle Hillock, chanting, “Can we play you every week?” He will also certainly think himself witty and the first person to have thought to sing such a terrace cracker.
Why? Because on Dreyher, Huntscove Harriors and Oast Orient do play each other every week in what is surely the worlds smallest league (well a one team league can't work...can it?), for the island, often cut off from the mainland by tempestuous seas has only two football teams, and if they want regular games they have little choice but to play each other week in week out.
Come match day, both teams wonder up to Thistle Hillock, a hill with a load of thistles on it as it’s name suggest, where a football pitch is marked out at the top, open for the elements to lash their fury upon. The referee is the same every week, he’s the only islander who knows the rules well enough to sufficiently referee a game, although he still receives plenty of complaints in the after game piss up every week. Each week the same two linesmen try to get their heads round the offside rule, and nearly every week they get it wrong. The same strikers line up against the same defenders and the same midfielders do battle in the middle of the pitch. So doesn’t it get a bit….boring?
“No not at all, in fact it’s anything but, you’re playing the same guys each week so you get to know what they’re good and they know what you’re good at, it means you need plenty of invention. To think of a new way to beat them every week,” explains Huntscove Harriers captain Matthew Richards.
Richards being one of the captains is one of the most important people in the league, it is his job along with Orient captain Steven Price to sit down in The Six Anchors, the islands main pub, to decide the seasons squads.
“At the end of each season each teams players elect a player to become captain for the next season, and it’s seen as one of the top roles here on the island so to get it is a huge honour. Then at the start of each season, the two captains meet up in the pub to decide the season’s fixtures, which is as easy as it sounds really, and then we sort the two squads out. There are about 40 players and they are all three agents so to speak at the start of the season, and we take it in turns to pick players school playground style until there’s no one left. After that the two teams usually stay the same for the season although there is a transfer window in January, with the fee for players being two pints of beer and a bag of pistachio nuts. It works pretty well as it keeps the teams even-ish so the league is usually close. It’s not rare for it to go right down to the last day of the season”, explains Price.
The first game of the season supported Price’s theory as the teams played out a drab 1-1 draw but unfortunately for Price, Huntscove Harriers, (named after the islands main seal cove which was popular with seal hunters in days past) have since gone on to record five wins to Oast Orients (whose name comes the oast houses used in the islands beer brewing industry whilst the Orient suffix means the east, as the oast are on the islands east side) single win with ten out of nineteen games played. Unless the Orient can pull of an incredible comeback it looks like Huntscove Harriers have the Dryher Island League wrapped up for this season. Steven Price though philosophically observes “that most teams around the world would be delighted with a second place finish and we’re in the Dreyher Cup final so we still have a chance of picking up some silverware before the seasons out.”
Groundhog Day it may be, but the people of Dreyher simply can’t get enough of it and with the league now affiliated to the SNFA both team are able to play in next season Sorthern Cup, “it’ll make a bit of a change won’t it? Unless we get drawn together of course!”
Dreyher Island League Mid Season Standing
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Huntscove Harriers 10 5 4 1 18 8 10 19
2 Oast Orient 10 1 4 5 8 18 -10 7
The games of these leagues don't appear on the worldwide television (only in local channels), nobody knows which are the main players. But these leagues exist.
First, the Landau Institute league, called Láifódi. The Laifódi (Landau Institute Football Dispute) involves all the teams from inside the place, including teams composed by doctors, patients or simple workers of the Institute. All the teams play each other twice and, in the end, the team with more points win the league. Simple. There is no relegation, as there isn't a second division.
In this season, it was a surprise finish, as the title was decided in the last round! Something that is extremely rare. The Neurologists, who were leading the competition since the beginning, lost the place to the Psychiatrists with 10 rounds remaining, and ended losing the title. Other curious fact is that the Toxicologists, which were placed 3rd at the halfway point, lost many easy games and fell on the tables. The final positions were the following (note that I know that the Institute probably won't place 4 teams in the TQCC, so the teams that won't go to the TQCC among the top 4 will go to the GC, with the 5th and 6th suffering the risk of not participating in international competitions at all:
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Psychiatrists 106 71 20 15 310 155 155 233 C - TQCC
2 Neurologists 106 71 19 16 315 159 156 232 TQCC
3 Cardiologists 106 59 25 22 227 143 84 202 TQCC
4 Pulmonologists 106 59 25 22 201 138 63 202 TQCC
5 Orthopedists 106 53 26 27 205 144 61 185 GC
6 Toxicologists 106 52 28 26 155 112 43 184 GC
7 Physical Trainers 106 54 19 33 238 183 55 181
8 Psychologists 106 52 25 29 200 152 48 181
9 Security 106 51 28 27 135 96 39 181
10 Dermatologists 106 52 24 30 196 150 46 180
11 General Practitioners 106 47 31 28 132 103 29 172
12 Surgeons 106 51 18 37 217 200 17 171
13 Endocrinologists 106 46 32 28 141 124 17 170
14 Gynaecologists 106 45 35 26 120 94 26 170
15 Stable Patients 106 48 23 35 167 140 27 167
16 Genetic Scientists 106 43 37 26 122 106 16 166
17 Scientists 106 46 22 38 153 133 20 160
18 I. T. Patients 106 44 24 38 213 190 23 156
19 Immunologists 106 44 23 39 164 149 15 155
20 University Students 106 44 22 40 211 192 19 154
21 Pharmacists 106 43 25 38 154 137 17 154
22 Otorhinolaryngologists 106 43 24 39 154 160 -6 153
23 Urologists 106 41 25 40 149 155 -6 148
24 Researchers 106 40 27 39 170 168 2 147
25 Oncologists 106 41 23 42 176 165 11 146
26 General Pathologists 106 39 28 39 172 156 16 145
27 Infectiologists 106 39 26 41 157 155 2 143
28 Monks 106 39 25 42 170 169 1 142
29 Optometrists 106 39 24 43 167 188 -21 141
30 Gastroenterologists 106 38 27 41 112 108 4 141
31 Dentists 106 38 24 44 157 181 -24 138
32 Proctologists 106 36 25 45 169 196 -27 133
33 Institute Workers 106 37 21 48 150 180 -30 132
34 Haematologists 106 33 32 41 147 165 -18 131
35 Physios 106 33 31 42 108 128 -20 130
36 Doctor Assistants 106 31 37 38 139 143 -4 130
37 Epidemiologists 106 35 24 47 116 146 -30 129
38 Audiologists 106 34 27 45 134 161 -27 129
39 Geriatricians 106 30 38 38 116 125 -9 128
40 Plastical Surgeons 106 34 25 47 111 144 -33 127
41 Obstetricians 106 31 34 41 129 156 -27 127
42 Anesthesists 106 33 27 46 176 214 -38 126
43 Cured Patients 106 30 33 43 83 95 -12 123
44 Neurosurgeons 106 34 18 54 140 179 -39 120
45 Hepatologists 106 31 27 48 109 133 -24 120
46 Nurses 106 28 35 43 105 121 -16 119
47 Pediatricians 106 30 26 50 134 194 -60 116
48 Radiologists 106 29 27 50 188 252 -64 114
49 Administrators 106 29 24 53 160 215 -55 111
50 Gravediggers 106 27 26 53 118 178 -60 107
51 University Workers 106 26 22 58 149 209 -60 100
52 Nephrologists 106 23 31 52 85 139 -54 100
53 Rheumatologists 106 15 25 66 79 193 -114 70
54 Cytopathologists 106 12 19 75 103 237 -134 55
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The country championship involves the 10 best teams of the country of Estresse Intenso (this means the teams from outside the Landau Institute). There are many teams in Estresse Intenso, but most don't have organization, so the league is composed only by the top 10. Teams play each other six times, and the best after these 54 rounds is the champion. Bottom two are relegated. Promoted teams come from a cup involving all the other teams that aren't on the league.
Top 4 win a chance to dispute the SBCC, the only international competition available for them (as the TQCC and GC are reserved for Láifódi teams). This season, the champion team was the Academia Acropolis. See the final standings of the league:
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Academia Acropolis 54 35 9 10 155 89 66 114 C - SBCC
2 Escritórios Macedo 54 31 14 9 81 34 47 107 SBCC
3 Bonde do .38 54 25 12 17 126 113 13 87 SBCC
4 Vila Ideal 54 21 13 20 70 65 5 76 SBCC
5 Aterro FC 54 20 16 18 99 96 3 76
6 Unidos do Jaçanã 54 22 6 26 104 101 3 72
7 EC Amizade 54 17 17 20 76 79 -3 68
8 Ernesto e Associados 54 13 14 27 80 122 -42 53
9 Camelô United 54 12 11 31 73 131 -58 47 R
10 Clube Tiro na Fuça 54 10 16 28 40 74 -34 46 R
Promoted teams from the National Cup: Guerreiros de Neblina and Bola Pro Mato FC.
The Riestre Bulls entered this season with a new title as winners of the inaugural International University Challenge Cup, where they defeated Hatton College of Medicine (Ad'ihan) and the University of Gilderome (Dancougar). But would they become the first team to ever defend their national title?
As promised, scheduling changes did come to the CSA this year. They decided, for now, to keep it simple - teams would still only play regular-season games against in-conference opponents, but they would now play them twice every year rather than once, increasing the match schedule from 7-9 games per year to 14-18.
East Coast Conference Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Calamen 14 7 3 4 20 15 5 24 C/Q
2 Sheoron 14 6 3 5 18 19 -1 21 Q
3 Defae 14 5 5 4 16 10 6 20 Q
4 Southeastern 14 5 5 4 17 17 0 20
5 Solonds 14 5 5 4 14 15 -1 20
6 (9) Salle 14 5 3 6 21 22 -1 18
7 Salle Southern 14 5 2 7 18 20 -2 17
8 North Salle 14 3 4 7 14 20 -6 13
Last season's champions: Southeastern
Fans' beliefs that national rankings are simply drawn out of a hat at the end of the season failed to be dissuaded by the seemingly illogical placement of Salle at number 9 in postseason voting while conference champions Calamen ranked merely 17th. To be fair, though, with the exception of North Salle, this was an extremely tight conference.
Isthmian Conference Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 (8) BTI 18 9 7 2 31 16 15 34 C/Q
2 Fishbog 18 9 4 5 27 18 9 31
3 Bektys Coastal 18 7 7 4 33 24 9 28 Q
4 Bektys State 18 7 4 7 21 23 -2 25 Q
5 South Bektys 18 7 4 7 21 26 -5 25
6 Scusenany 18 7 2 9 24 32 -8 23
7 Isthmian 18 5 6 7 20 22 -2 21
8 Flaarickug 18 5 6 7 23 26 -3 21
9 Sirinis Ag 18 4 9 5 17 24 -7 21
10 North Bektys 18 3 5 10 20 26 -6 14
Last season's champions: BTI
BTI being in the top ten actually makes sense, though quite how Fishbog didn't even make it into the top 25 is uncertain. In their case, they fail to secure an at-large bid to the tournament.
Midland Conference (of late, informally called the "Big Eight") Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 (8) Military 14 6 6 2 21 16 5 24 C/Q
2 (4) Riestre 14 6 4 4 23 19 4 22 Q
3 (6) Taeschand 14 5 5 4 18 15 3 20 Q
4 (10) Shentarong Tech 14 5 4 5 17 19 -2 19 Q
5 (3) Siellal 14 4 6 4 20 18 2 18
6 Westlake 14 5 2 7 19 19 0 17
7 Riestre Tech 14 5 2 7 15 18 -3 17
8 (5) Riestre State 14 3 5 6 13 22 -9 14
Last season's champions: Riestre (also national and IUCC champions)
One thing's for sure: the Midland is stacked. So much so that Riestre can hardly be blamed for failing to win the conference after all they did last year. The Knights of the Vephrese Military Academy will carry that banner instead, but Riestre still joins them in the tournament to try to defend that title.
Southern Crescent Conference Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 (1) East Point 18 11 3 4 35 20 15 36 C/Q
2 Darnai 18 9 3 6 26 23 3 30 Q
3 Sumbobor State 18 8 5 5 21 16 5 29 Q
4 Fekliir State 18 7 6 5 22 18 4 27 Q
5 Shentarong 18 6 5 7 19 22 -3 23
6 (2) Shentarong State 18 6 4 8 20 25 -5 22
7 Twin Cities 18 5 6 7 18 23 -5 21
8 Southwestern 18 5 5 8 16 16 0 20
9 Sumbobor 18 5 5 8 16 21 -5 20
10 Shentarong Southern 18 6 2 10 22 31 -9 20
Last season's champions: Sumbobor State
Not much to say here, other than the obvious statement that something has to be done with this ranking system.
Southwestern Conference Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Western Dettune 14 8 3 3 22 17 5 27 C/Q
2 Highland 14 7 4 3 21 13 8 25 Q
3 Western Darnai 14 6 6 2 25 16 9 24
4 Dettune Mtn 14 6 4 4 21 16 5 22
5 Virdys 14 3 6 5 12 16 -4 15
6 Anhenir 14 3 5 6 17 20 -3 14
7 Dettune 14 1 8 5 10 19 -9 11
8 Seibeng 14 1 6 7 12 23 -11 9
Last season's champions: Western Dettune
A historic year for the Southwestern Conference, as it receives its first ever at-large tournament bid! Highland managed to achieve a #21 ranking, which this year was good enough for an invitation. They'll be the 13th seed in the tournament, with conference champions Western Dettune and their automatic bid once again taking the 16th seed.
CSA National Championship
First Round
#1 East Point 2-0 #16 Western Dettune
#8 Defae 3-2 #9 Bektys State
#5 Military 5-2 #12 Bektys Coastal
#4 BTI 0-0 #13 Highland (0-0 AET, 2-4 PKs)
#6 Shentarong Tech 0-0 #11 Sumbobor State (0-0 AET, 4-5 PKs)
#3 Taeschand 2-1 #14 Fekliir State
#7 Darnai 3-3 #10 Calamen (3-3 AET, 0-3 PKs)
#2 Riestre 0-1 #15 Sheoron
So much for Riestre's title defense, upset by the fifteen-seed in the first round. How embarrassing. Meanwhile, the Knights have the strongest performance of the round, putting five past the Bektys Coastal Eagles.
Quarterfinals
#1 East Point 2-0 #8 Defae
#5 Military 2-1 #13 Highland
#11 Sumbobor State 1-3 #3 Taeschand
#10 Calamen 1-2 #15 Sheoron
Sheoron seem to be playing the part of Cinderella this year, though actually it was just two years ago that another fifteen-seed made it to the semis. That time it was the North Salle Devils, who lost 2-1 to #6 Sumbobor State in the semis.
Semifinals
#1 East Point 0-1 #5 Military
#3 Taeschand 0-1 #15 Sheoron
For the fourth year in a row, the top seed fails to reach the final, as the Roosters fall to the Military juggernaut. Meanwhile, Sheoron becomes the first fifteen-seed to ever reach the final as they keep a clean sheet against the Harvesters. Can the Otters defy the odds and win it all?
FINAL, from Ellime e Vephrall, Meice
#5 Military 2-1 #15 Sheoron
The Vephrese Military Academy Knights are national champions!