World Cup 89 - Roleplay Thread

by **Alasdair I Frosticus** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:27 pm

Dear Milchama,

Thank you for sending in your Join GOOFI application form.

We are very sorry that you do not want to join GOOFI. It makes us very sad that we will not be able to share tea and crumpets with you.

However, we are confused over your entries in the 'WE DO NOT WISH TO JOIN GOOFI BECAUSE' category. We're totally cool with you being monotheists, and we'd love for Margeret to join GOOFI - but admit that she's not currently a member. But why does loving crafts make someone anti-Semitic? What is a Semitic anyway? Does it involve bowel cleansing?

Your Friends in GOOFI

Dear Ailen Koirala of Skornshelus [sic]

Thank you for sending in your Join GOOFI application form.

We are very sorry that you do not want to join GOOFI. It makes us very sad that we will not be able to share tea and crumpets with you.

You note that you've had 'quite enough' of mad cultists recently. Boy do we agree; there's nothing that's more likely to get Cthulhu sighing deeply and wiping a tear of lightening from his eye than the exasperating behaviour of cultists dancing under a gibbous moon while making arcane unspeakable sacrifices too evil to put into words - and the other types of cultists are pretty wearisome too.

Does our shared frustration perhaps help change your mind? If it helps, we agree that decolonisation (especially with an 's'), universal self-determination, and social contracts make for excellent potential topics of discussion.

Your Friends in GOOFI

Dear Allison LeFleur, General Secretary of the FAC,

Oh Boy! We're so happy that you want to join GOOFI, alongside Vilita and Audioslavia and the Holy Empire!

This is just the bestest news evah! And you're not even playing us in the World Cup qualifiers!

When can you join us for erudite yet kindly debate on the leading issues of the day (preferably over tea and crumpets; and maybe scones - with clotted cream, of course!)?

Here are some topics that we think would be super fun to discuss with you:
The role of dialectical materialism in the Group 10 qualifying results
Classical ballet and the World Cup Committee: a misunderstood relationship
The scourge of mad cultists: how will it end?
Does dancing under a gibbous moon improve posture?
My favourite apocalypse
Yog-Sototh's best-ever biscuit recipes
The Turnip: A Guilty Opaque Organisation For Ice

But we're open to you proposing your own topic of discussion! This will be ever so much fun! Huzzahs for GOOFI friendship!

Your Friends in GOOFI

Dear Dottie Carmichael of St Trinians,

Thank you for sending in your Join GOOFI application form.

We are very sorry that you do not want to join GOOFI. It makes us very sad that we will not be able to share tea and crumpets with you.

But a particular thank you for your excellent picture of Nyarlahotep. We agree! He (well, this week, anyway; talk about gender fluid...) is so super dreamy! He's so dreamy that who knows how many unholy child harbingers of the coming end times he's left strewn across the multiverse via his male avatar spilling his dread seed in willing vessels. He just loves to share the love, does ol' Nyarly, though sometimes we wish he wasn't quite so ... directly physical ... when it comes to sharing the love. All the same, would you like to share the love with Nyarlahotep? Would you like to be a willing vessel? Do let us know by return of post.

We're so sorry that you're worried the matriarch might kill you if you join GOOFI, and that this is discouraging you and the rest of St Trinians from building links of cuddle-based friendship between ordinary mortals, Great Old Ones, and Elder Gods over tea and scones and crumpets, sharing laughter, cuddles, and friendship. But we have a potential solution for you. If you do join GOOFI, and the matriarch then kills you, perhaps you can talk to this Herbert West chap that we've been in touch with lately. Should you take Mr West's reagent immediately after the matriarch strikes you down in anger, then I think you might be somewhat (re) animated by the results!

Do let us know if this works - especially if it subsequently encourages the belles of St Trinians to join GOOFI!

Your Friends in GOOFI

Dear Aleksänder Blåuveud, Executive Director, Royal Saltsteadish Football Association

Thank you for sending in your Join GOOFI application form.

We are very sorry that you do not want to join GOOFI. It makes us very sad - though we're delighted to read that despite your reluctance to join GOOFI, you're still willing to share tea and crumpets (not to mention traditional Saltsteadish pastries, with a customary pinch of world-famous Saltsteadish salt to bring out the flavours of your freshest fruits).

All the same, we can't help be disappointed that your dislike of mad cultists is one of the main reasons for your refusal to join GOOFI. We dislike mad cultists too, honest we do! Why, Hastur was saying just the other day that if it wasn't for those pesky mad cultists always running around sacrificing people in our name without ever asking us if that's what we want (and we most certainly don't), then he might be Hastur the Speakable instead of Hastur the Unspeakable.

Mad cultists are always spoiling things for us. They're pooey.

Still we recognise that even if it wasn't for those pesky mad cultists, you'd still be unwilling to join a formal friendship group. And you know what? We respect that, honest we do. It just makes us a bit sad.

All the same, we'll look forward to tea, crumpets, and traditional Saltsteadish pastries in the return leg.

Your Friends in GOOFI

Applications to join (or not) GOOFI are still open! See below in the 'spoiler' (not sure why it's called a 'spoiler'; but whatevs) for the application form!

by **Polkopia** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:42 pm

Yakoby Kosyo Recounts His Emotions on the Pitch in MD13 Against Eshialand

'Fuck, just wide!' Kosyo thought to himself, seeing his shot drift just to the right of the goal post. This seemed to be how this game was going for him throughout the entire day; he managed to have five shots now, but only one was on target. The only on-target shot he had didn't even end up challenging the keeper either; it was a poorly-struck ball that slowly rolled past the defenders and into the hands of Alexander Kolek, the Eshialand keeper.

The score was 3-3 and time was running out for the Polkopians to score. As it stood, Polkopia had just dropped down to second place in their group following their previous match, after Baker Park had an incredible game against The Jovannic, where they scored six points and conceded only two. Although Polkopia had also won against their opponent, the score differential was 4-2, which allowed Baker Park to surge ahead in the group. Although the two nations were tied in points, Baker Park had the edge, as they had less goals scored against them and more goals scored against their opponents. The resulting group standings sparked a new sense of urgency for the Polkopians, who were already so close to qualification to the World Cup for the first time in the nation's history, and didn't want to see it slip from them so late in their campaign.

Kosyo looked behind him as he walked back toward half-field, staring down Kolek as he ran up to the ball and delivered a goal kick, sending the ball flying toward the midfield. The Polkopian midfielders had been playing back in their half, so this ball was Kosyo's to fight for. He followed where the ball was headed and backed up against Avery MacDougall, his opponent. Although he jumped as high as he could, he felt the gall graze over his head and hit the chest of his opponent, who quickly turned and drove the ball down the field with a quick pass to an Eshialand player.

Kosyo sighed and trotted down the field, sticking close to MacDougall in case they decided to drop it back. He surveyed Eshialand's positioning around the field and felt his heart drop, as in that instant, he saw the striker maneuver past Vasiliy Zubokov and now sprinted toward the goal. In that moment, when Kosyo figured they were going to take a shot on goal, he gasped when he saw Lev Rusakov, Polkopia's other central defender fly in with a slide. It was always risky to slide in the box, especially when you're the last person standing between the attacker and the goal, but Rusakov's feet swept the ball from under the striker's feet, sending the ball over toward Nikita Rudin, who had already been charging in from the right.

The ball safely found Rudin's feet, who immediately turned and passed it down the field, where Danya Siyan was already making a run toward half-field. The ball hit Siyan's knee and placed it directly in front of him, where he then faked out the midfielder with a simple side-step move, continuing to charge the bar forward, now past mid-field. The rest of the Polkopian midfield charged toward the goal, leaving a few of Eshialand's players behind as Polkopia's counterattack seemed to be gaining momentum now. Siyan passed it to Petro Marčuk on his right, who, without taking an extra touch, passed it directly toward Yuri Smyefinov who was now standing on the edge of the goal box. Only one defender stood between Smyefinov and the keeper, and the Polkopian surely knew that time was of the essence here, as he would run out of time if he spent too much time trying to fake out his opponent. Immediately, Smyefinov stepped to the side and delivered a hard kick to the ball.

Kosyo barely knew what happened next and acted purely on instinct. The only thing he remembered was a deflection off of the keeper, which sent the ball his way. There were no defenders near him and Kosyo had a clear shot on goal. Kosyo knew, in these instances, a player should take another shot as soon as possible, before the keeper had a chance to recover, so that's exactly what he did, blindly kicking the ball toward the net.

In that instant, the ball left his foot, hovering above the ground and shot past the keeper before finally falling in the back corner of the net. It was all he could do to not rip his shirt off of his back as he ran around the perimeter of the field amid the booing Eshialand fans. The only thing in Kosyo's ears were the shouts of his fellow teammates, who all rushed to him and grabbed onto him, pulling him down to the floor before jumping on top of him and amassing a sort of Polkopian dogpile. The game wasn't over yet, but the Polkoians had all acted as if they won the entire World Cup as they celebrated Kosyo's goal.

As he made his way back to the Polkopian side of the pitch, Kosyo reflected on the past few games he had played for his team. He seemed to be doing well as of late, but even better, his team always seemed to be backing him up, regardless of whether he was the top goal-scorer or not. He was just as happy to assist his teammates in their goals as he was scoring them himself. Today, he had only scored one goal, but assisted in two- one where Siyan scored and one where Pašin scored, so he felt as if though his contributions today were more than enough, but he knew that, back home, he would be subject to lots of criticism, both online and in-person. Kosyo knew that many people would question his role as the starting striker for the National Team, but he knew that he has already done far more for this team than anyone back home would've seen. He knew that he was a valuable asset for this team, and they wouldn't be where they are now had it not been for the versatility as a player that Kosyo had displayed throughout Polkopia's qualification run. It took him a while to understand what his role was for the team, but in these past few matches, Kosyo finally began to understand; it wasn't the fact that he was a young, skilled footballer with the technical ability to stump even the most skilled defenders, but it was the fact that he was able to mesh with most personalities on the field. He never hogged the ball, nor did he ever expect to score every game. He wasn't in it for the fame, riches, or glory, but rather to see his team succeed, and if that meant giving the ball to his teammate so he could have a sure-fire way of scoring, then so be it.

Suddenly the whistle blew and Kosyo had to snap back to reality as Eshialand resumed play. There was still a little over twenty minutes left in this game, and the score could change at any given moment. In times like this, Kosyo was instructed to drop back and act as a second attacking midfielder, rather than a striker, effectively changing Polkopia's formation to a 4-4-2, with himself and the other attacking midfielder, Pašin, staying with the rest of the midfield in order to ensure Polkopia's dominance in possession for the rest of the game. The tricky part here though, would be winning possession from Eshialand, who were no doubt looking to equalize the score once again.

Fortunately for Polkopia, the task of winning possession came a bit too easily, as a long ball from one of the fullbacks just missed the target, intending to reach one of the wingers running up the side of the pitch, but instead, the ball sailed out of play in the Polkopian half. Kosyo immediately heard shouting and looked to the bench where he saw his number held up by the line referee. In his place would be Vladimir Ravlić, who would be coming on as a fifth defender for the Polkopians, with the intention of doubling down on their defense rather than press for another attack.

Kosyo held up his hands and clapped to the few Polkopian supporters in the audience, running past Smyefinov and Išutin, giving each of them a short hug before coming off of the pitch. He hugged his teammate Ravlić and whispered "fucking kill it out there," before giving him a pat on the butt and sending him out on the pitch. Coach Dyakov came up to Kosyo and gave him a double high-five.

"Well done, Kosyo," he said, grinning at him, "you played well out there. Go and get some rest, you've earned it."

"Thank you, Coach." Kosyo said, nodding, before walking up to the bench. As he walked past his teammates, they all stuck out his hand and Kosyo slapped each one. He eventually took his place right next to Slava Panin at the very end of the bench.

"Hey, good job out there." Panin said, smirking at him, "You really are good at what you do, you know that?"

"Thanks, Slava." Kosyo said, smiling, looking down at his feet. The two had really bonded a lot lately, and with Panin talking to Kosyo about his struggles with his sexuality, their bond had grown even more.

"I mean it!" Panin said, staring at Kosyo, nodding, "and uh, I just want to say I'm sorry about giving you shit earlier. I mean, giving you shit at the beginning of this whole World Cup thing. I think I was just a little jealous, but seeing you out there... it's almost inspiring, you know? Like, you play so well with the team and it's incredible to see. I just wish... I don't know, I just wish I could do all of that."

"Well," Kosyo looked back at Panin, "you can. You just have to relax a bit when you're out there. You know, back home, everybody at Lada Kirovski knew you were a force to be reckoned with, but some of the defenders - I won't say their names, but they knew you were an emotional guy, so they'd purposely talk shit to you and get you riled up. Have you ever noticed that?"

Panin laughed, "Yeah, actually, it's only ever when we play you guys that I get pissed off so much, and I think that has a lot to do with it."

"Well you're easy to read, that's why." Kosyo said with a smile, patting Panin's knee, "You're really good too, and I want to see you out there as soon as possible, but you just have to learn to relax sometimes. For me, I don't give a shit if I score or Pašin scores, or Azarov, or whoever. I just want to win. And sometimes, you can't win it all by yourself."

Panin said nothing, but he turned his head away from Kosyo and stared at the ground below him.

"Listen, you're not as bad as Smyefinov," Kosyo paused and laughed. Even Panin managed to smile a little bit. "But," Kosyo continued, "it's your job as a footballer for this team to play with the rest of the guys out there. You do it so well in Valinkova, I don't see why you can't do it here."

Panin nodded, "Yeah, I know. I know, I know, and it's stupid why I get these impulses to carry the ball by myself all the time, but it's hard to trust people you don't play with that often, you know?"

"I hear you," Kosyo nodded, looking back up at the field where Pašin had just drawn a foul midfield from tripping a player, "but sometimes you just have to. Coach trusts these guys enough to start them, and if he trusts them, so should you. That's how I see it, at least."

The two of them were silent for a long time, both of them continuing to watch the game being played in front of them. Currently, Polkopia seemed to be passing among the midfield and defense, and took no real chance of advancing the ball past midfield unless absolutely necessary. Coach was running up and down the Polkopian side, directing the players on where to position themselves throughout the play, flailing his arms in exaggerated, animated movements that seemed almost comical to Kosyo, who never really took the time to study what Coach looked like while he was shuffling his team mid-game.

"Do you think I'll start again?" Panin finally asked, breaking the silence between the two.

Kosyo paused as he thought for a moment. "Probably, but maybe not right away. I hope he at least subs you in mid-game though so you can prove yourself to him."

Panin nodded, "Yeah, I'd like that."

by **Lathamford** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:42 pm

Season 19 :: Team Situation Report
__________

Royal Farrowdraft FC
For this 19th season, the board of directors of Royal Farrowdraft FC has approved the application of head coach Leonardo von Featherleaf to recruit his compatriot coach, Xavier Auyer as his assistant. The Royale also this season brought in two Sebastians, namely defender Sebastian von Apex of Thetford Academy and captain of the under -21 team, Sebastian de Axehelm of Tractor Grasswind FC. Their main goalkeeper Russel Springflower and defender Adam Froststriker have decided to retire at the age of 33. The 18th season Lathamford National League champions are not seen as interested in adding a line-up of imported players and are content to maintain the existing import trio. For the record, only three imported players are allowed to be registered by the Lathamford National League team.

Lokomotive Featherwood FC
After resigning as head coach of the national team, Anton Glasstriumph was more focused on managing the Loko until he managed to become the Lathamford National League runner -up in the 18th season. This season they lost key goalkeeper and former national goalkeeper Otto Baymartin who decided to retire at the age of 34. For that they bought young goalkeeper Eli Gradwohl who previously wore the Young Stocksbridge jersey. They also decided to keep their import trio of defender Paul Trebalka, and midfielders Rex Clarke and ZHOU Donghai. While there have been rumors that national striker Otto Farrowsteam will be migrating to an outside league this season, it seems to remain just a rumor. The player who collected 26 caps and 16 goals has been linked with a move to the Eraman league, where the Mitra club are said to be interested in applying for him.

Rotor Blewbury FC
CEO of Rotor Blewbury, Edgar Broometich has confirmed Rotor Blewbury FC will be building a new state-of-the-art training center on the Cape Astro coast, East Blewbury. For this season, The Bison have bought a young midfielder, Otto Vanderbilt from Dynamo Buttercourt FC, it is more of a swap-transfer where their midfielder Roscoe Wellington will also move to the Black Cat. Rotor Blewbury also promoted their junior player, Eric Watts to the main team. Former Lathamford international defender Antony Izzard-Crew decided to retire at age 35 and is rumored to be a Director at their new training center which will be ready soon. There is also no news of the transfer of foreign players even though they have another quota for that.
Update: Rotor Blewbury FC reported acquiring a 20 years free agent Hispinas midfielder, Federico Varas Villegas which played in DBC51/ U21WC72 recently.

Dynamo Buttercourt FC
For this season head coach Dean Fritzweather has only made two purchases, one by transfer-swap between Dynamo Buttercourt FC and Rotor Blewbury FC involving midfielder Roscoe Wellington who went to the Black Cat and Otto Vanderbilt who moved to the Bison. Hundredstar goalkeeper Johann Gurisen was bought from the team that went down to the Lathamford Nationwide League, Red Star Holyrock FC. Dean Fritzweather also decided to keep two of his import players, defender ZHAO Xiaotong and striker Jonas Myhill. Young goalkeeper Lucius Harridan has also reportedly extended his contract for another three years with the Black Cat.

Dinamo Thetford FC
Nothing new for the Red Horse this season, they still retain almost 100% players and coaching staff, In addition to local players, they also still retain their import trio, namely, defender Hiro Sarutobi-Zeegelaar, and GUO strikers Bojing and Nelson Eagletombs. Last season they were in fifth place at the end of the season, rumors are blowing if this season they are still in the same position or down, maybe Dinamo Thetford will get a new head coach, and maybe the tradition of just hiring a local head coach will end, as their owners intend to take an import head coach. In addition, former Torpedo Stocksbridge FC player Benjamin Strongpike has been appointed their new chief scout replacing the recently retired Ed Witts.

Spartak Eaglearm FC
Spartak owner Eaglearm FC confirmed that Abus Pharmaceutical has sent them a formal application letter to continue sponsoring the team for Lathamford National League seasons 20 & 21. Spartak also this season managed to buy young striker Micah Driggins from Goldfinger MA and for foreign players Fred Sawatzky of Red Star Holyrock FC. Spartak Eaglearm FC has confirmed it will fly to Oakwood Landing for several international friendly matches with several clubs there, including Bayport Wharf FC and Jamesdon FC. Head coach Samir Bogdani reportedly said this season 19 is the last season he will play and will retire and become Spartak's permanent manager for season 20. For the record, Bogdani is the player-manager for the team.

Goldfinger United FC
Goldfinger United FC this season decided to promote their two young academy strikers to join the first team namely Dane Retterath and Emmitt Saberi. Meanwhile, former national striker Bruno Caskwoods decided to retire at age 34 and has been offered to be Miner Community’s assistant head coach next season. Rookfish Technology has agreed to extend their sponsorship contract for another season with the additional option of two seasons depending on the team’s performance this season. Head coach Diego Alpenhair admitted he was a bit stressed with the team’s performance last season and is determined to improve it this season.

Torpedo Stocksbridge FC
Torpedo Stocksbridge FC has announced it has bought veteran Chromatika striker Teodoro Schwarz, 36, a former Hüelhunde FK from the Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom leagues as player-assistant manager to assist William Slatebinder. They also managed to secure young defender Ryan Colfields from Young Stocksbridge to strengthen Torpedomen's defensive line. Teodoro Schwarz was also reportedly asked by national coach Pedro Menendez-Sutra d’Ame to be his assistant on the national squad. His current assistant, Osborne Shrivenham is reportedly begging to be released to give his full commitment to his club, Rotor Blewbury FC. The season also saw their defender Benjamin Strongpike decide to retire at the age of 35.

Tractor Grasswind FC
Tractor Grasswind FC this season bought another Tikariot player, Johnson Randley making all three of their import players come from Tikariot. Johnson Randley was bought from a club relegated to the Nationwide League, Red Star Holyrock FC. The Windy also managed to snatch national goalkeeper Glen Greenash from the same club for a fairly attractive transfer fee. Being in the bottom five of the league last season forced management to open up more of their savings to buy quality players in line with the demands of head coach Victor Christenson. This season they lost national U21 captain Sebastian de Axehelm who migrated to The Royale. Their main stadium, Milkygrave Lane has just finished undergoing refurbishment for the comfort of fans for the season.

Hightrees FC
Lathamford National League newcomers Hightrees FC this season have managed to get three imported players comprising Sharktail goalkeeper Mahali Tajudin, Kiltoch striker Max Tennyson and Indusse defender S. Aksinwala. In addition, the Highlanders also managed to get two young players, namely midfielder Alvaro Romani from Buttercourt Academy and national U21 defender Sam du Fugerholds from Grasswind II. Their stadium, Throgmorton Memorial Stadium has also passed for use in Lathamford National League matches after a number of issues were successfully corrected including floodlights and electronic scoreboards. Hightrees FC managed to secure new sponsorship this season from Manor Racing for the next two seasons.

by **Yue Zhou** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 2:46 pm

The Zheng Zhoulun Memorial Conference Room was no 203-B. The Nangang government of the United Republics, drowning in Überolía money, had splurged on renovations under the guise of improving government infrastructure, and the conference room had been bedazzled accordingly. Everything was nauseatingly blue and gold, there were two new chandeliers, and the table had been replaced with a beautifully ornate piece made from the last few cherry trees in Nangang. Even more star-studded was the list of attendees to the meeting, highlighted by President Wu Zhongsheng, Foreign Minister Zhen Qiang, and revolutionary heroes in Generals Lang Duoliang and Kong Aiguo, the latter of which was speaking now.

"Malik Akongo and the KFF started strong, but have been pushed back on multiple fronts recently," Kong began. "Nephara have treacherously backed the incumbent dictatorship, while Eura have stayed silent. KFF have strong foreign backing, but in recent days it's become clear that is not enough. What they need now are boots on the ground. We're one of the few nations in position to do so. It's clear that for democracy to survive in the fledgling new Nyowani Kitara, it must be backed and backed strongly. Where would we be, after all, without support from [REDACTED]? Still under Ren Qiang's boot, that's where."

Zhen, who had been openly rolling his eyes during Kong's speech, countered this argument as soon as Kong had sat back down. "The United Republics are still vulnerable diplomatically, despite all of our hard work. We're universally recognized as the legitimate government of Yuezhou, but that doesn't mean we can afford to openly buck the CRC and some of the biggest heavyweights in the region on this issue. A public intervention will waste valuable diplomatic capital, and for what? So some party boy whose only claim to power is being Boaz Akongo's Least Favorite Child can rule? I say we forget about this."

Liang Ziyou of the right-wing Liberation Army party, who had only been invited as a conciliatory gesture (although the Progressive Democrats noticeably hadn't been), thunderously cut off the applause for Zhen. "If the CRC won't do what's right, then we will, and I say forget them! Malik is a freedom fighter with the support of the people, and if we don't support him, we're no better than those commies!"

"There are other ways in," one of Wu's economic advisors suggested. "If we can't openly support them, we can provide covert support. Supplies. Weapons. We have a mountain of excess from the civil war that we can regift to the KFF. And our troops are battle-hardened in a way that the young KFF surely can't be - surely they'll be in need of some training. If we can't deploy, we can at least nudge Nyowani Kitara in the right direction, in a way that will give us a valuable ally once democracy prevails in the region."

"Are we forgetting about the People's Federation in all of this?" It was now Lang's turn to speak. "We want democracy to win out in the region, but we haven't even won fully over the socialists in our own backyard. Nyowani Kitara is about to become a minefield of foreign weapons and advisors - I'm sure we can make an impact there, but it will be far less than the one we can impact against a relatively defenseless and incompetent People's Federation. Nyowani Kitara is the smokescreen - we need to think about how we can use it to lure Ren Qiang out of his shell, because a democratic Nyowani Kitara means far less if we still fail to extinguish socialism in Yuezhou."

"Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone here," Wu Zhongsheng suggested, speaking for the first time all meeting. "In exchange for Yue supplies and funds, we can base some reconnaissance there to look for Ren Qiang's meddling. At the same time, we can also try to appear overinvested in the KFF"s success, hinting that we're distracted abroad, so that the People's Federation will feel more safe in sending support to Nafuna Akongo. They were wildly indebted to her father, after all. They may be there already."

"Didn't they reject Nafuna's ask for help? We intercepted that letter-"

"Or they let us intercept the letter. We can't assume anything now. We can only act in a way that draws the People's Federation out, and then strike at them and destroy them once and for all. Zhen, have your department prepare a letter to Malik Akongo. We'll offer him financial support, supplies, and weapons. We'll also warn him of YPA involvement in Nafuna's recent rally, and suggest we help increase reconnaissance in the region to snuff them out. And if we do find the YPA there, we strike, and we strike hard. Kong, ready our response. They won't know what hit them."

by **Jeruselem** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 3:05 pm

Princess Kate sitting down playing with rabbits in backyard

Hello, this is Princess Kate for Naked News Jeruselem. Just to recap the events of the World Cup 89 qualification, and the last two days. These are some of my pet rabbits, this is ... Peko. Because you have to name your rabbit Usake Pekora, it's compulsary. We're not having it our way at the moment but we're not out of it, we're still in there! I'm looking forward to baby rabbits!

Match day 12 of qualification was interesting and no lack of goals.
Commonwealth of Baker Park was back home and they trashed visitors 6-2. Well, The Jovannic are last, and you'd expect Baker Park to win that one.
Xanneria hosted the dangerous visitors Sajnur, but neither team took home with 3 points as they drew 2-2. I'm glad those teams didn't win.
Aut-Ves-Nat have been mounting a comeback and won a home game 1-0 against 2nd last placed Kiltoch.
Flavovespia had to play one of challengers Eshialand, and Eshialand failed again crashing with Flavovespia winning 1-0.
And the big game in the day was group leader Polkopia playing Jeruselem! The home are big scorers, and they showed again ... this attribute. They beat the Princesses 4-2 but they did concede two goals showing they rely too much on offense.

Match day 13, lucky 13. That's the Dallas favourite number! Other than 69 ahem.
Home team Flavovespia had to play Commonwealth of Baker Park, something even we want to avoid. But they did pretty good holding Baker Park to 2-2 draw. For Baker Park not the result they wanted, but they it's what we want!
Eshialand needed to win at home after the recent loss but playing Polkopia is not the team you want to play at the moment - after they beat us 4-2. Well ... we wanted Eshialand to win but they lost to Polkopia 4-3. Hey, both teams are very offense orientated.
Kiltoch at home and lost 2-0 to Xanneria.
Sajnur pushed aside visiting The Jovannic 2-0 at home.
Aut-Ves-Nat winning games but they came to Jeruselem for a win and went home with nothing as we won 1-0. Not our best game but we got 3 points. 3 points is better than nothing.

The Jovannic are eliminated on 8 points.
Kiltoch are eliminated on 10 points.
Aut-Ves-Nat aren't eliminated but cannot top the group, they are effectively eliminated on 12 points.
Eshialand have crashed back to 7th on 17 points with two losses in a row.
Sajnur are 6th on 18 points with Flavovespia also on 18 in 5th.
Xanneria are back! They have moved to 4th on 21 points.
Jeruselem are still 3rd with 24 points and the loss against Polkopia was the cause. But we're far from finished.
Commonwealth of Baker Park in 2nd on 26 points and of course Polkopia leader the group on 28.
Polkopia only have one loss and are still the one to beat, something we didn't do this time round.

So what's scenario for us!
Polkopia is proving hard to beat, and Commonwealth of Baker Park the top seed are still in the hunt to unseat them. Jeruselem sit in 3rd ready to pounce and also Xanneria are present in a position to be dangerous. The others need the top 4 to trip over, I cannot see these teams topping this group given current results.
We have a 4 point deficit to the top spot so, it's not impossible but we're happy to get into the top 2. I cannot see Commonwealth of Baker Park giving up their claim easily either.
What I see is the top 3 taking it to the last day to decide everything.
We have to grab all the wins we can and beat Baker Park.
Baker Park can lose games, so we must beat them.

Now, as usual there's lot of weird questions that get thrown at us.
So, some ask is Pekora Dancer's coat ... made from rabbits? Err, no that's lot of rabbits. Come on rabbit girls don't wear coats made from rabbits.
People ask how I know my friend Peko. Well I know her from school, she was this awkward girl. Actually she's still awkward. I don't mix with dumb, she was smart but just didn't have social skills.
People have noted the team does have a Kate Dallas and a Stellas Dallas who also happen to be same name as ... Princess Kate, me, and daughter Princess Stella. Err, they are related but they aren't royals and well there's a lot of us out there. There's bound to be a lot of Dallas girls with the same first names. We're not directly related to those players.
People think football players are paid too much. Actually they don't get paid that much, I can't disclose how much everyone gets paid due to legal reasons but they can't swimming in money. It's enough for a living as long as you don't overspend.
Are players discouraged from having familities? HEY, of course not. How are we supposed to get football players of the future if there's no kids to replaced them. That's how things work in nature so more kids the better. Well it's that how things are supposed to work?
Viewers ask where Peko's kids live when she's away from home. Sometimes they end up with the grandma or sometimes they stay with mine. Well, we all know each other. I'm happy to take care of her kids.

Well, that' all from me. Err, that hyperactive rabbit ... that one it like that unlike this one.
We did have a setback on match day 12 losing to Polkopia but we're not far off the top 2 anyway.
All we need to do just get as many points and hope our rivals drop points.
This isn't like the last campaign, but it's always a struggle.
See you all later.

HEY KORONE, stop playing the fool!
Sorry, that's the dog Korone. My cat is called Okayu.

by **Pluvia and the Saxean Isles** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:27 pm

28 Greatstreet, Marienburg, Pluvia and the Saxean Isles

Prof. Charles Cunningham of the history department at the Royal Marienburg University had come home late. He hadn't been able to make himself leave his office for hours. He'd just kept going over what had happened in his head? Had the comely blonde graduate student in any way given him an indication that she would have wanted to be kissed? Their hands had touched, briefly. And she had seemed very interested in his research. In any case, she hadn't slapped him after he'd kissed her. In his experience (at least in films), when women were kissed when they didn't want to be, they inevitably slapped the man who had kissed them. So perhaps it had been all right. But he couldn't be sure. So he was late coming home, which meant another dinner heated up by himself in the microwave oven. His wife was in the second bedroom, reading. He figured he shouldn't disturb her. He settled in to eat and to read.

The last diary entry saw William II on his unprecedented campaign trip. He was bringing his message to the people of Pluvia directly. Although he would not endorse candidates or campaign for political parties, he was going to do his utmost to speak on the first steps of reform taken by the National Assembly and to press for more. He had just completed three days in Alenard. While in Alenard, he had entertained representatives from the provinces to the north and west of Alenard, which he would not be visiting directly. He discussed the major industries of these areas and heard what they believed would improve their lot. He also spent time around the city of Alenard itself, speaking on the need for reform, but also striking out against poverty in the city. His final day, he spent in recreation with some of his fellows. It was good to feel like himself again instead of the king.

May 4, 1885

I have retired to my cabin for the night and write this by candlelight, for it is nearly midnight. We have not yet reached our destination of Oldenbach; that will have to wait for the morrow. This pleasure yacht we are taking was donated by a local noble, since a steamship is not practicable for this stretch of the Olden. I must write a note to remind myself to have this area widened and deepened so that commerce can more effectively flow. The yacht is powered by sail and the current of the Olden, so we ride along at a modest pace. It is a small crew we have on board, just four sailors, the noble, a couple of my university friends, two servants, myself, and the most interesting man I have met in some time. The man, Rhys Baillie, is a Saxean by birth, but has lived in Alenard for many years now, and is perhaps my father's age.

The circumstances of our meeting were quite unusual; apparently he had gotten quite inebriated the previous evening and had stumbled aboard ship and fell asleep below decks. He would have been removed, quite rudely, from the yacht had I not intervened. He seemed an interesting man and he has proven to be so. The noble scoffed at this man and wished to play cards all day; I let one of my school fellows entertain him. Meanwhile, Rhys, I, and others fished off of the side of the boat and talked of many things. The man is a veritable troubadour; it seems he knows all the ancient lays of both Pluvia and the Isles and he sang snatches from them as he strummed his instrument, like a cittern or lute. He is a seemingly inexhaustible well of tales both historical and of legend; I remember singing some of these songs and hearing of these tales when I was a youth in the Isles.

But it was not all ancient stories. The man was quite frank with me about the challenges facing my realm and especially the Isles. He admitted that the old system of many lairds and the old laws were not ideal for many, but he worried for the future. He worried that with the loss of independence, the people have lost their sense of who they are and have plunged into poverty and apathy. He expressed a great concern for widows, orphans, and others who may not be provided for under the current state of affairs. He attempted to dissuade me from seeing industry and modernisation as the panacea for the nation's ills; he thinks the soul of his country and of mine (his words) may be found and restored in the peasantry and in the country life. I allowed that this might be possible, but I cannot give up my desire to have a modern, progressive, strong, country. I will not yield, even to charismatic Saxean troubadours.

One of the other sailors came to me and tried to warn me that the man was a socialist and that I could be in danger, but I dismissed him. Everyone sees socialist plots under every floorboard, but it seems impossible that Rhys could harm me. He is a storyteller, a minstrel, a lover of wine and song and the written word. In fact, I have made up my mind to ask him to accompany me throughout my journey. I shall not be frightened into giving up a friend.

PSI Goalscorers

vs. Saterun: Baumeister 7', Goldberg 19', Fletcher 44', Bradley 78', Kingsley 85'

vs. Al-Qurija: Newman 46', Pearce 51', Francke 59'

by **Trolleborg** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 4:34 pm

Greetings, compatriots!
It’s TTV with a most recent news about our national football team. Most recently Trolls have to fight with Greater Vakolicci Haven and Osarius. Both teams are in troubles, but world of international football is not only dangerous, but also treacherous, and you never know what happened next. Both of opponents, probably, more than happy to put hurdle or two on our way. Fortunately, this time they are not succeed. But we wish they did this to our concurrents in this WCQ.

GREATER VAKOLICCI HAVEN – TROLLEBORG 0-1

Visit to the GVH began with events that did not please the head coach - he lost two of his most important players, Troll and Kerr, due to injuries. He decided not to replace them, but use players already sitting at the plane, that carried team.

This game begin like if previous just continued. In the first minutes Zhivoglot rushed to the goal with a speed of arrow, ahead of the defenders by several meters, but failed to shot ball properly.

Then Finnsnes struck a powerful blow from 35 meters, but the hosts' goalkeeper managed to parry it

The hosts could then score, after a pass into the penalty area, while our defenders lost concentration and played carelessly, allowing three of them being just cut off of the game by the hosts' player with one pass, but by some miracle their forward did not hit the goal literally from two meters

Unfortunately, our lads allow much liberties to their opponents, especially at the end. In the second half, an excellent combination not far from the GVH penalty area ended with a mighty shot from Berglund, but the hosts' defender took the hit, and the rebound was not in our favor - although the ball swooped past the goalkeeper, but also past the goal

Again, our the defenders did not play very clearly, allowing them to make a dangerous shot, but Krogh played brilliantly, parrying header at close range.

And almost immediately he had to show skill again. True, it seemed to us that the home team's forward had violated the rules in the fight against Pathmoor, but the referee remained silent, allowing the offender to go one-on-one with the goalkeeper. Fortunately, Krogh emerged victorious from their duel.

Literally in the next attack, our lads finally managed to score - Finnsnes, who worked in the center of the field tirelessly and selflessly, like if for three players at once, made a pass to Jivoglot and he finally scored.

It is very important that young players do not dwell on past failures. We all remember how Jivoglot was unlucky in the match against Murphtannia, and considering that it still has a trace of past unsuccessful performances of our youth team, it's great that he still scored. Let's see, however, what will happen next.

TROLLEBORG - OSARIUS 2-0

At less than seventy seconds in the game our lads have a great chance to score: Pathmoor cleverly passed a pass into the penalty area, and there Berglund, despite tight guarding, managed to shoot, catching the goalkeeper by surprise - but, unfortunately, the ball flew past the goal.

The guests could return favor almost immediately, but, fortunately, the next moment, when the defenders of our team were not up to par, did not end with a goal

It turned out to be a kind of illustrative episode: during the match, the visiting team created several more great scoring chances, but every time something was literally missing, so while having the opportunity to score three or four goals, the guests left the field never make precise shot at goal at all.

But our footballers did not show much better performance, although they also had several opportunities to score. In the end, we were able to do this only in the middle of the second half:
Pathmoor make a powerful shot on goal, the goalkeeper coped with it, but Jivoglot managed, while being attacked by two defenders, to deliver ball into the net

And three minutes later, he used a long pass, went near to the goal and shot past the goalkeeper - 2:0, and this was the score until the end of the game.

Nevertheless, while we all being glad for our young striker, it should be noted that he spent a lot of time and effort on just handling the ball before shots, and in other games at the international level he will most likely not be allowed to act in this way.

The situation in the standings has changed slightly, but given the circumstances and the schedule, it does not promise anything particularly pleasant for our lads. But we are solidly behind them and hope that hard work and determination will pay off.

by **Kelssek** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 5:45 pm

“I... we should support the democratic forces, of course. I can’t see how Kelssek can have any credibility as a nation if we were to openly or covertly be in league with monarchists, no matter what the context.”

Milton shook his head at the young man’s naive idealism. “Countries have no friends, only interests. The question is, which side best suits our interests?”

“We could still assert a peacekeeping role. Deploying aircraft carriers would send a message-”

“We have one aircraft carrier and what the hell do you propose it to do exactly? Send a message? Have you considered how the regional powers will respond? Who will be our allies here? It begins with coordination, before we even think of doing anything so reckless!”

“Milton, you just said we have interests, not friends.”

“Allies are just that, allies. You join together because you have common interests. If you are so feckless then I suggest you leave these matters of statecraft to those with the knowledge and stomach to make these calls.”

Martin, VP Commercial Relations, jumped in. “A covert approach would be far better. There’s no point sticking our noses in openly. Arms, training, funds, it’s something we’ve done before and it minimizes the risk to us. But if we don’t move proactively, we will be dealing with a refugee crisis soon. Rushmore’s not as far away as you think, and there are dozens of commercial air routes...”

“And maybe some of those refugees will be able to play right-back,” Harold Green, the acting chair, interrupted, having had enough of the digression. “We are all aware that this is a meeting of the national federation of the country’s third-most popular sport, not the military committee of national security and missiles explosions and whatnot, yes?... Next item on the agenda, GOOFI. It appears once again the elder gods are seeking friends.”

“That was one of Moonbeam’s action items from way back when, I believe,” Martin said. He eyed Moonbeam Infantino’s empty chair thoughtfully. The director-at-large had gone missing in Omerica over a year ago, but given Football Kelssek’s tendency for inertia and the fact that Moonbeam wasn’t really contributing a whole lot to the board meetings before he’d been presumed dead, that his seat wasn’t technically vacant was good enough.

“It was one of the last Honks he posted, in fact. You don’t think that’s what happened to him?”

“The whole point of this GOOFI thing is to put up a friendly image, right? Whatever you think of Moonbeam’s zen master organic oat milk BS, devouring him probably runs against that.”

“Action item, Martin to fill out and submit GOOFI membership form.” Harold declared. “I realize this isn’t really ‘commercial’, but it’s relations, so just get on with it. Next item, status report on campaign to eradicate racism. Alice?”

“Uhm... well... you mean within football, right?”

“Item deferred pending further consultation. Adjournment proceedings...”

by **Squornshelan Remnant States** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:14 pm

OOC: The opinions herein are solely those of the characters of this post. No disparagement of Squidroidia, the FFI, or the users behind those entities is intended.

Ailen Koirala's office was in full crisis mode.

First, a reply to an application that no one remembered sending had arrived from some organization called, and they were apparently not kidding about this, "GOOFI." Then, while the envelope was still dripping ichor onto the rug, a proposal had come out of Squidroidia for an Independent Superleague which had bafflingly included Confederate clubs on its proposed roster. Having ascertained with reasonable certainty that neither of these worrying developments was some cruel prank, Koirala and her staff had sprung into action.

"Is there any response from Megabrantid or Yassaca's boards or presidents yet?"

"Nothing, no indication they've taken any notice. I have heard back from legal though about the eligibility question."

"And?"

"Well, there is a potential loophole. Megabrantid and Yassaca could not participate in such a league under the auspices of the SCFA, since we are now affiliated with Atlantian Oceania's regional federation. However, the official FFI regulations do not specifically ban Atlantian Oceanian club teams from participation."

"They don't?"

"Well, it's obviously a simple error, and the intent of the regulation is clear, but the current documents say only that "No nation in the regions of Antlantian Oceania, Rushmore, or Esportiva may participate."

"Antlantian Oceania?!"

"Antlantian Oceania."

"What is that, a region for ants?"

"Well it doesn't really exist, an obvious typographical error, but. . ."

"But legally speaking there's absolutely nothing in the FFI regulations to stop our two best teams from bolting."

"Fuck, do you have any idea what that would do to the league, to the association as a whole. The two clubs that have won six of the past seven league titles jumping ship for this internationstatal cash grab."

"Ok now, before we fly off the handle and spook the public, let's take a moment to consider. Most of the proposed clubs included are rated in the low to mid hundreds, this would hardly be a powerhouse of a league. Arlington City are obviously the the top club in the proposal, but Yassaca and Megabrantid would also be among the few names lending real credibility to the league, along with Dalaris and one or two others."

"You'd think inviting clubs from Kelssek. Any two of Burnaby, Langlois, Latrobe, Outineau, or Kirkenes would be a big boost to this pipe dream. As it stands there's only six or so top-100 clubs, and not much incentive for them to sign on. Why would the Firm and Tigers step away from the top-20 league in the multiverse to become the faces of this new nonsense league?"

"Well they don't participate in the FFI."

"This isn't the FFI though, is it. The whole thing just doesn't make a lot of sense. Reads more like something some blogger cooked up in an hour or two than a genuine proposal."

Pyotr the Intern burst through the hall door. No one could remember what his last name was, and they were by now far too embarrassed to ask him.

"This is not a genuine proposal for a league. It's something some blogger cooked up!" He was out of breath, having clearly run down the hallway, but he continued. "It's also not a proposal for these teams to leave their current leagues, it's an idea about replacing the FFI."

A beat of silence before everyone in the room heaved a sigh of relief in unison.

"Yeah, their name is Shotclocking Supersquid, and they're not affiliated with anyone but themselves."

"So this is just clickbait content then?"

"More or less. It's an interesting idea maybe, but that's all. No different from people proposing a realignment of the SCFA along state boundaries. Some interesting implications, but nothing's ever going to come of it."

"Ok, well thanks for that, Pyotr." Koirala stood, hands on hips, gathering her thoughts for a moment. "Any progress on that rug shampooer?"

"Er, no, not yet. Sorry."

"Ok well, good job figuring out this Squidshot Superman business, but get on that this afternoon, ok? I have no idea what this mess even is, but it definitely looks like it'll stain badly."

"Right away Madame President." Pyotr vanished back through the door.

"Ivar, draft a response to this, er . . . response. I don't have any recollection of sending any kind of application to this GOOFI organization, but they seem reasonable enough. Don't commit us to anything other than a meeting, their choice of venue. I suppose we'll be accommodating in that regard. Oh, and make sure you spell decolonization with an 's.' They seem to like that."

"Consider it done ma'am. Anything else?"

"Probably best not to mention coffee at present, I'll drink hot leaf water if I have to. Anything for a first impression I guess. Speaking of which, you haven't rescheduled my meeting with the Santraginean Youth League leadership yet, have you?"

"Was just about to ma'am."

"Scratch that, I'll meet them as scheduled now that we don't have to scramble to keep our league together." She glanced around the room at her assembled staff. "I appreciate your work this morning everyone, but now it's back to the regular daily. I want to make sure we push the win over Huayramarca hard, get Kaalia's face on every screen we possibly can after her hat trick. The standard talking points as far as splitting with them and with Tumbra, reasonable results and all that crap. We're right where we want to be with an opportunity to control our own destiny, you all know the drill by now. Keep the press off Groothuis's back and let her do her job."

by **Savigliane** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 7:36 pm

FIND YOURSELF

2. Rizzuto

Bianca had insisted on the utmost of secrecy for their meeting. She didn't know much about Evangelista Rizzuto, but she knew enough to know that in normal circumstances, there was no way she would ever talk to the right-wing politician. But she'd seriously owed Nicola Colombo, and all she'd agreed to do was talk to him - which meant she could just say no to whatever was offered and carry on with her life. So the two of them had agreed to meet in Castiglione, where ACAB was visiting for a match anyways, and in the back of a coffeeshop that the owner, Rizzuto's friend, had closed early.

She had arrived a few minutes late, and had been surprised at who she'd met. Rizzuto the public figure was an incredible speaker, but almost permanently angry, with a slight sense of sliminess around his entire persona. But even before Rizzuto had said a word, it had become clear that she was seeing a different side of the politician, with intense eyes that somehow hinted at an artistic nature and a kind, almost placid expression. "Bianca! It's good to see you," he'd said, seemingly genuinely. Despite that, she'd initially remained distrustful - this was probably just an act, even if it was a damn good actor. "Evangelista," she'd led with, evenly. "What do you want from me?"

He'd almost seemed offended at the suggestion, but pushed ahead. "It's pretty simple - I'm stepping down from my position as leader of Piano di Dios, and I want you to be my successor." He'd said it almost casually, as if he hadn't just asked a still-active footballer, who was also fiercely left-wing, to take over a right-wing and overwhelmingly religious political party a few weeks before an election.

"What?"

"The party has reached the limit of its potential with me in charge," he said. "You're incredibly popular, a national hero. The number of people who will vote for you just by name...it's huge."

"I don't buy it. But besides, why would you think I would even support your hate group, much less lead it? If you did any research on me at all you'd know that's not what I'm like. I believe in compassion, in equa-"

Rizzuto cut her off, then awkwardly stopped. "Sorry, go ahead."

"No, you go."

"Our views may be more...similar than you've realized. I don't mean on the small issues you've talked about - social issues and economics and the existence of God and what have you. Bianca, pardon me for asking...when you were in our original world, how were you treated? How were Saviglianos treated? Did Occitania treat you well? Did Lutetie open its arms?"

"If you're asking me, then you already know how I feel."

"Very clever. But you agree, then, that we shouldn't go back."

"I think," she said evenly, despite the topic at hand and a creeping sense of panic that the mention of Lutetie had brought to her. "that the world we are currently in has been incredibly kind to us. Anaia has given us a new home, a new lease on life, a new sense of purpose. It's unfortunate that some things have been left behind by the move. But returning to our reality, with all of its cruelty and callous disregard for our existence...that's unacceptable to me."

Evangelista nodded. "I'm going to tell you something now. But you have to promise not to tell anyone else until I say it's okay to do so." She nodded. "Alberto Caccini has opened an Interdimensional Travel Task Force, led by Professor Leandro de Rossi of the Acqui Bollente National University."

"Sure, I saw that on the news. It's not going to work, though. Just wishful thinking."

"Here's the thing, Bianca," he said, putting his arm on her shoulder, staring into her soul with those strangely kind, intense eyes. "We have eyes and ears within the ITTF. They believe they are incredibly close to finding the solution. Best case scenario, it doesn't work, and possibly becomes incredibly dangerous. Worst case scenario, we are ripped from the loving embrace of this new world and thrown violently back into a reality that has already rejected us."

Bianca leaned back, as if thrown away from the news, eyes widened. "We have to tell every-"

"We will. But what do you think will happen then? Populistas will support this initiative - it's their task force. Ligue-Est may resist at first, but if they think it's feasible, they won't hesitate to go back - that's where all their wealthy donors and profit margins come from. Une Nation will bandwagon on. The Greens and Fronte don't have the strength necessary to stop this. Face it, Bianca. This is the only way. You're our only hope. And us, yours."

"But all the right-wing rhetoric, the hatred...I can't stand behind that."

"We're not asking you to. Only to look the other way so you can keep the party behind you. All we need you to do is to oppose going home. If you can do that, then we can win, and we can save this world."

Bianca had never been so sure of anything before. "I need some time to think about it," she said instead, but both people in the room knew what she was going to think about.

"Call me when you're ready," Evangelista said. "I'm honored that you would consider it."

LINEUP TO PLAY MD14 (@Ethane), MD15 (@Bahia Roja) - D'Ambrosio; Lamontagne, Garcia, Blanco, Romano; Chastain, Auvergne, Toscani; Coste, Squarciafichi, Rossi

Tlanx-Nulzk Hal, still unsatisfied with his team's performance, has opted to continue to change things up, starting Alnio young gun Bonaguinta Rossi at right wing ahead of more polished, experienced, options such as Zoë Barthelemy and Calliope Montevecchi. Additionally, with Gabriel Buvalelli picking up a knock in training, recent Græntfjaller Most Valuable Player Nathaniel Auvergne has stepped in. Otherwise, the lineup that has taken ten of twelve points in the second half of qualifiers remains unchanged, with Serena Lamontagne, Óceane Chastain, and Margherita Romano impressing in their short stints with the team. Both matchups are absolutely critical - dropping points to either, combined with six Trolleborg points, would forfeit control over their ability to finish second. A playoff berth is already virtually the best-case scenario - so there is precious little room for error.

by **Oberour Ar Moro** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:01 pm

The cargo ship Convoyeur was on the seas, aimed for Carathyr in Tikariot. It is as normal and straight-forward a trip as you could imagine. But in the driving wind, raging waves, and blowing winds, the ship had found itself outside the channel, and completely lost.

The Convoyeur began blowing its siren, which was dimly audible on Enez Sant Gaud. But audible enough on a small building by the island's lighthouse. There the man on station began scanning frequencies, before finding it: the "mayday mayday" of a ship in trouble.

The word from the island's volunteer coastal watch went out: A ship was on the rocks off Enez Sant Gaud and needed assistance. A small collection of Sant Gaudans headed out. Estin Baudroyer made his apologies and left the Rouage with Herveig Boyssel, and Oliuier Braouezec. The three piled in Estin's boat and started to carefully make their way out to guide the ship's crew to safety on the island.

They made it to the stricken Convoyeur and went aboard, meeting with the absolutely frazzled captain on the bridge.

“She's sitting awful crooked, and the forecast over the next few days is dicy,” was the diagnosis of Herveig Boyssel, nodding slowly and solemnly. “Another storm and it might break the ship entirely. Wisest thing to do is leave the ship, rest up on the island, and take the mail boat back to Pourriciel. Leave her for the Coast Guard and Saut to figure out.”

The captain looked like he wanted to die. “And there's no chance of floating off the rocks on the tide?”

Estin and Herveig and Oliuier conferred amongst themselves silently, looking to one another. They came to a conclusion and turned to the unhappy captain, shaking their heads.

The captain cursed, then slumped against the console. "Do you men want a quick drink? Because I want a quick drink."

Considering the captain was surely thinking of his job and the punishment to come, and the ship was fairly steady, the three men agreed they could go for a quick drink. A crewman was called and entered carrying a bottle of golden liquid.

"You boys had chouchen before?" the captain asked as he started pouring glasses and handing them out.

"Chouchen? I haven't seen that on island in a grip. Pretty random that you'd have a bottle."

"Nothing random about it. The Convoyeur is full of chouchen. On it's way for the beautiful and fair of eastern Rushmore." The captain took his glass and took a bracing gulp, washing the whole glass down. “Not that they'll truly appreciate it."

The Sant Gaudans nodded and murmured their assent. As they finished their drinks and collected the crew and began to return to the island, an idea was already forming.

The crew of the Convoyeur had been safely escorted to the island. The seas had calmed, the winds had died down, and the Coast Guard had been informed. The patrol was told that in a few hours the first ships would be to the scene. This meant select men of Enez Sant Gaud had a limited time.

In the black of night, ten men quietly floated to the stranded ship and let themselves on board. Once aboard they availed themselves of bottles of chouchen, secreting them onto their boats, as much as they could carry. But the ship was still filed to the brim, and it could sink to the depths with a poorly aimed wave.

Under the old rules of salvage, anything lost to the sea could be seized by anyone intrepid enough to recover it. Plenty of justification, even if the men disguised themselves on board. In less than thirty minutes they were done, heading back to the quiet island.

Joavan Baudroyer, short-listed National Team center midfielder, knew nothing about any of the events transpiring as he slept.

by **Geisenfried** » Sat Sep 25, 2021 8:53 pm

Morale had been low ever since the Huelavia game. They had finally gotten out to the start they wanted, managing to strike first and lead the game against a top ranked team, a quarter hour in. But it all gone south in a hurry. They hadn't held the lead for ten minutes before Huelavia had equalized. Another ten minutes, and they were behind again. And if going into the half down 2-1 was bad, the ten minutes before the hour mark in the second half was even worse, quickly putting them past the point of salvaging the game. It had gone from such a promising beginning to an ugly rout. And the fact that it had been Huelavia had made it doubly worse. Huelavia, after all, was the ones who had left points on the board in several games, leaving the door at least to the playoff race somewhat open. Dropping points was a bad thing, but to give them over to a team like that was even harder to swallow. All the same questions were going to be raised again, and new ones offered. Would they be able to bounce back? Txakhaxi, after all had managed to blank them in the opening round. This was not a team they could afford a draw against, especially at this stage of the groups.

---

For all that worry, the match in Rödis was a simple affair. They'd showed up like professionals and played like the game in Sueji had never happened, cleanly dispatching their hard-to-spell counterparts without so much as a fuss. Despite the setbacks, the team was continuing to get better. But time was running out to make their move, if there was a move left to be made. The next two matches against Britland and Brenecia would decide their fate, simple enough. Britland was more of a potential stumbling block than a true road test, but Brenecia was going to be their entire qualifying session in a ninety-minute nutshell. It had been said before and would likely be said up until it changed - Geisenfried had not managed to put away a single top-tier opponent in their entire qualifying session. You can't do that and expect to get a chance at the main show. If they managed to finally make their mark, then they still had an outside chance - a very slim one, but one nonetheless. If they didn't, then it was time to hope that the Cup of Harmony invitation was waiting somewhere in the mail at federation headquarters. Six points or nothing. Everything would be decided at Wilhelm-Rohm.

Huelavia 4 - 1 Geisenfried
Grüneberg (15'), Gimenes Velho (24', 51'), Alvarado (34'), Romanovich (59')

Geisenfried 3 - 0 Txakhaxi
Voight (29'), Christenen (44'), Dreschner (73')

by **Valladares** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 12:13 am

5^TH SESSION OF THE HIGHER ROYAL COUNCIL OF VALLADARES
GREEN PALACE, METROPOLIS
21:00 HOURS

IN ATTENDANCE:
KC: HRH King Cyrus of Valladares
FP: Florent Philippe, incumbent Prime Minister
RG: Raymond Germain, Royal Minister of Foreign Affairs
JP: Jefferson Pratt, former Prime Minister
MS: Martín Serrano, former Prime Minister
CM: Catalina Malavón, former Royal Minister of Foreign Affairs
AM: Antoine Mortaud, former Royal Minister of Foreign Affairs

GUESTS:
RC: General of the Army Randall Cooper, Commander of the Self-Defense Forces of Valladares
PL: Pierre Lannoy, Chairman of the National Department of Security (DNS)

ABSENT:
Tulio Silva, former Royal Minister of Foreign Affairs
Stephen Bowles, former Prime Minister

The Crisis Room of the Valladar royal residence in Metropolis started filling up for a new session of the Higher Royal Council, the body of counselours on foreign affairs for the Royal Government of Valladares made up of the four most recent Prime Ministers and Ministers of Foreign Affairs, including the incumbent Prime Minister Florent Phillippe, and chaired by King Cyrus. Sessions of the Higher Royal Council were not usually held on a frequent basis, given the special condition of the Council as an advisory body which was to be summoned only for exceptional situations of serious external threat to the nation, however, the recent events going on within short distance of Valladar soil prompted the Valladar kings to resort to this resource. This meeting had been pushed back for two hours to allow the members of the Council to watch the World Cup 89 qualifying match between Valladares and Torisakia, which La Nacional ended up losing by a 4-2 score, in practice bidding farewell to their hopes of returning to the finals of the biggest footballing event of the multiverse.

KC: "I cannot believe we lost two hours of meeting because of that game, ugh."

FP: "Not a big deal, Your Highness. It's time to focus on more pressing matters."

KC: "You are right, Philippe. Alright lady and gentlemen, thank you for attending this week's session of the Higher Royal Council, which we are opening up with the two usual issues of recent meetings: the announced referendum on zones of southeastern Darmen, as well as the new developments on the situation in Nyowani Kitara. Going into the first issue at hand, I would like to hear a report from the DNS on the latest information coming from Darmen. Mr. Lannoy, you may start with your intervention."

PL: "Thank you Your Highness. As you already know, the referendum on Rogerton is scheduled to be held concurrently with the next general election of Darmen, according to what the Darmenis have announced. The latest reports from our units deployed in Darmen tell us that the main parties over there are all fearful of any outcome that could leave Darmen at a huge disadvantage in a future face-off with Valladares, and thus are heavily campaigning for the autonomy of Rogerton and nearby towns, not really willing to make any territorial concessions. As for the other options that will involve the Rogerton area seceding out of Darmen, it seems the Valladar population there are not quite interested in becoming a buffer state between Darmen and Valladares, nor is in the interest of anyone in this meeting that such an option comes into fruition. Therefore, union with Valladares is the choice the Valladar organizations in Darmen are backing."

JP: "Excuse me, Mr. Lannoy. Have your DNS units deployed in Darmen done anything to support the Union campaign?"

PL: "Yes, Mr. Pratt. The DNS has been providing monthly money transfers to contacts linked with the Partido Valladar and the Frente de la Libertad Valladar to fund the campaign for union with Valladares, with the help of third parties so as not to compromise anyone in the Royal Government of course. These funds have been mostly used in advertisement, brochures, public rallies, and recruitment of volunteers. We have also set up a radio station in Fenway which broadcasts useful pro-Valladares propaganda 24/7 to those zones in southeastern Darmen, so the DNS have been heavily involved in the campaign there, and if His Highness allows, we would be willing to drop them more Points to give the Union supporters a decisive push ahead of the vote."

KC: "Sure. We need that vote to go our way in order to preclude any possible chance of resurgence of Darmeni influence, especially now that we're about to build the Norrhem canal. So you are free to allocate more funds on that front."

AM: "In my opinion, we should have not offered them the choice of autonomy. That's just as good as the status quo, and the Darmenis will use that choice to their own benefit. Their so-called example of autonomy in Esportivan Darmen is nothing different from the actual Darmen, is that what we want for the Valladars there?"

FP: "Mr. Mortaud, a basic principle in a negotiation is that all parties involved must be willing to compromise if something else is to be achieved. Autonomy within Darmen is clearly not something we would desire, but it would've been much harder to bring them to the table had we refused to give them that choice. After all, they have more to lose than us at this point in time."

RG: "I must add that this referendum is only one of several demands we have made on Darmen to ensure the safety of both the Westlands state and Valladar citizens in Darmen. Whilst we can consider the fact that the referendum is going to be held as a resounding success, unfortunately we haven't heard anything on a formal waiver of Darmeni claims on the Westlands, which is the main step that will convince us as Royal Government that the intentions of Darmen and Joshua Rademacher are sincere."

CM: "We must put some pressure on Darmen on that front. The referendum is not enough if we are to eliminate any threat of a military attack by Darmen for all eternity. I propose that the Royal Government devises a mechanism to enforce compliance by the Darmeni government with what was agreed upon in regards to the resignation of their rights over the Westlands."

KC: "I agree to the proposal by Mrs. Malavón. Mr. Phillippe and Mr. Germain, I need both of you to contact the Darmeni government and remind them of the need to make that declaration as soon as possible."

JP: "At this rate, we should just take those territories by force or drop a Mega Bomba on Scott City and see what happens..."

RG: "Oh please, Pratt. Your Mega Bomba jokes are so bad that they even made your party lose an election..."

RC: "Reminder that the Self-Defense Forces are not allowed by the Royal Constitution to move a finger unless provoked, so our hands are tied regarding the chance of a pre-emptive attack on Darmen. However, I assure you that the chances of Darmen attacking Valladares are realistically low. The Darmenis have been really careful to avoid having a nuke fired their way, and it is in everyone's interests that the military situation stays this way."

MS: "Also, we must admit that Rademacher does not waste time at all. The only reason behind all those painted rainbows and his overtures towards Valladares and is the fact that accessing the CRC is his main political goal, and a failure on that front would be the death sentence to his career. At the same time, he's attempting to make new friends to avoid further isolation by Valladares regardless of the outcome of the referendum and is looking to see what to rescue out of the turmoil in Nyowani Kitara, picking his side there. Speaking of which, what about Nyowani Kitara? Are we doing anything on that front, Highness?"

KC: "For all I care, everyone attempting to get their noses into Nyowani Kitara should be allowed to kill each other there. Valladares has no real interest in that country and I don't see us getting any gains or benefit out of a hypothetical intervention, so the best course of action for us would be sitting down and eat popcorn while that country and others who don't mind their own business go on M.A.D. mode."

AM: "I have to agree with Your Highness. It's not our war and we should avoid supporting any particular belligerent or sending soldiers as cannon fodder for meaningless conflicts."

RC: "Regarding some information I have received from our sources in Nephara on a potential intervention there by Nephara and Eura, I have sent a couple of internal memos to the Air Force commander reminding him of the need to keep Valladar borders free of any alien interference, no matter if their purposes are "peaceful". Thus, I have ordered Valladar airspace in the Mainland, the Westlands and Junín to be closed to any foreign forces attempting to intervene in Nyowani Kitara. Valladares won't be used as a proxy or a bridge to attack other nations and anyone trying to transit through Valladar airspace with that purpose will be shot down accordingly."

MS: "I would like to suggest that this ban is extended to the areas surrounding the different weather stations scattered all over the Ituyán mountains and controlled by us. After all, they're important assets for Valladar intelligence tasks in the region."

RC: "That could also work, Mr. Serrano. Consider it done, if the Honourable Prime Minister and His Highness approve, of course."

FP: "I would have no issue with that."

KC: "Same. There you have it, gentlemen: one more mission for the Royal Government. Please contact the Euran and Nepharan governments and inform them of the decision made here. If they want to play war games in Nyowani Kitara, they will have to find a way to get there that doesn't involve us."

KC: "Just to summarize, we need to get Darmen to say bye-bye to their Westlands claims, while also getting the DNS to pump more funds to the Unionists in the upcoming referendum. Nyowani Kitara is to stay unmolested and left to solve their own matters for themselves as far as we are concerned. And as a last commitment for the next meeting, I will need some briefings on new developments of the Norrhem canal. We need to set that project in motion as soon as possible..."

by **Barunia** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 12:23 am

To say Emmanuel Carter’s resignation from football came as a shock to Barunia would be an understatement. The nation was in utter disbelief. It was headline news around the country. No one had been told either. Newland Fire, Carter’s team in the X-League, were up in arms and were threatening legal action if he didn’t complete the remaining 2 years of his contract. The Suns were also shocked. They, like most people, had expected to hear that Carter would be returning to football. Instead they heard that he was gone for good. There was a lot of anger and bitterness among the players, many of whom had played with Carter for years. To leave in the middle of a qualifying campaign without warning felt like a betrayal.

Regardless of the off-field drama, the campaign didn’t stop. There was still football to be played, and the Suns headed to Devonta. When the two sides met earlier in the campaign, Barunia absolutely annihilated Devonta, and it was Rachael Cross who was the main destroyer. So the team were confident they could perform even without Carter. Before the game, Liesel reminded them to be professional, and not let the Carter issue get in their heads.

Professional they were. While it wasn’t the dominant performance of the last game, the Suns’ passing game was strong and their ball control excellent. Moorhouse, perhaps criminally under-rated in Carter’s shadow, now stepped into the limelight at the tip of the Barunian “spearhead” formation. Two goals in quick succession to the Barunian number 10 put the visitors in a commanding position going into the break. However, the home side did manage to sneak a goal past Taylor to give them some hope, before Mellissa Hunt put the icing on the cake with a long-range effort that was weighted beautifully. It proved vital, as the Devontans were able to score another late, after a controversial penalty call against Karly Seymour. The Barunian leftback seemed to hardly make enough contact to knock down the Devontan forward, but down he went. However, in the end it didn’t matter, as Barunia would come away with the three points.

by **Electrum** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 4:20 am

The Turnip: Expert football commentator wasted his entire life watching games played in 90 minute chunks
by Harold Banana, citizen journalist

Spaccanapoli Footballson is a portrait of a diminished man. His hair is clean cut yet his soul is cleanly broken. He spends his time voicing over matches of football yet he hates his own voice. He doesn't sweat yet he has four armpits. Who is he? Well we just said his name -- it's Spaccaanpoli Footballson.

In a classic example of nominative determinism, Footballson started watching matches of football while he was in the womb, in preparation for his debut appearance at World Cup 69, at the tender age of half a year old when Network ENN provided a separate channel for colour commentary with the coverage hosted by babies of all shapes and sizes, including special analysis from manchild Billiam Maskey, the very same one who founded The Turnip.

His career started to skyrocket once he secured a full-time job as official television commentator for all streams in all languages for all World Cup qualifying matches in World Cup 76. Some of his great moments included catching a fly with both of his hands while commentating a match between Nephara and Antoletia and realising that he was, in fact, adopted during the World Cup match where Eura defeated Electrum for the title all the way in Cosumar.

When we asked Footballson what it was like having one of the world's best jobs he said, "Well it's less interesting than you think. Football is an utterly dull sport. Ninety-nine percent of the time you are waiting for something to happen, and the other one percent of the time is spent talking about what happened. And that's what I felt after just one day. I spend my nights in hotel rooms with dry nuts and subpar crisps and I spend my days wandering the deserts of each of the countries I am in, hoping to discover jewels hidden by mummies. But I never find any. I always wish I had a different surname or else I wouldn't even be here."

In his spare time during those long stays in hotel rooms, Footballson also spent the time writing a novel based loosely on his experiences as a football commentator called "Trials and Tribulations: Catching Your Wife Cheating On You With Some Hot Himbo Footballer". It is truly a fascinating page-turner, featuring a list of real-life players with seven abs that your wife may cheat with in the appendix and on page 32, a twenty-five paragraph composition of the main character's wife locking eyes with a footballer while at the same time the main character is commentating a match.

When we asked him about the novel he said, "Everything you read is based on real life events and movie rights are pending." He seemed pretty downbeat so we asked him what he would do instead if he had another shot at life. He said, "Well anything but commentating and writing articles about football matches. Imagine watching a match for ninety minutes and then regurgitating it in word form describing in laborious detail what happened when and who scored goals and I just can't. I can't imagine that existence. I'm already broken. Sorry."

To round out our interview with this blubbering mess we call Footballson, we asked what moment in his career truly broke him. He replied, "Well... the most recent time I can recall is during this current World Cup qualifying. You think you understand everything there is to know about the world of football and then you see Polkopia about to qualify from debut and nothing makes sense anymore."

by **Kohnhead** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 5:44 am

Two big wins continue Kohnhead's brilliant start to Qualifying

Following the heartbreak of last cycle's failure to make the playoffs needing to just beat two lower ranked teams and yet failing before ultimately suffering a defeat against Starblaydia on the final matchday we were back on our 5th attempt to qualify. We performed horribly at the Cup of Harmony losing in the Group Stage with Le Choix and Eraman both of whom were ranked below us getting wins against us. That poor showing dropped us down to 64th in the KPB rankings and Michael White's job was quickly on the hot seat.

Then came the 13th IAC with what many considered to be an extremely odd format with a preliminary round which dropped us from 44 teams down to 32. In those four games Kohnhead would go 4-0-0 including a big win over higher ranked Squidroidia who had finished 2nd the year before. We were looking like one of the best teams in the tournament and followed that up with a great performance in the Group Stage becoming the only team to reach the 7-0-0 mark with yet another win against Squidroidia. While our tournament would end in the quarterfinals (our best ever IAC performance) thanks to a heartbreaking loss to perennial finals losers HUElavia it kept White's job and gave us some momentum before we went into the qualifiers.

But before we went in the Qualifiers we played a few friendlies, one against a nation that we have a long history with in South Newlandia one of the nations that will be hosting the World Cup who have made the World Cup Proper before. We took down South Newlandia in 1-0 fashion with a big win in Barnley and then we took on 65th ranked Sylestone another BoF 72 alum in a home and home series. We beat them 1-0 in Avondale before beating them 2-1 in Swisston to cap off of a brilliant set of friendlies that put us right into the mindset before the qualifiers.

Through the first 13 games of qualifying something extraordinary has happened to The Brains who sit at 9-0-4 and in 2nd of Group 2. Besides the fact that we have no draws our nine wins have come against the teams ranked lower than us in the KPB rankings while our four losses have come against teams ranked above us (Brenecia, HUElavia x2, Squidroidia) all by one goal margins. We have gotten the results against the teams that we need to get results against yet we haven't been able to get results against the top tier teams.

However we still have looked really good over the course of these qualifiers, most recently garnering a 4-0 win on the road against Txakhaxi and a 5-0 win against Britland at home. These two teams are at the bottom of the table but it's good to see us doing the double against both when in past cycles we have been below average at getting full points against bottom table teams. The first game saw the first international goal for Arnold Donaldson, a brace from Stratford, and a beautiful finish from Al Torgan who still gets minutes and starts off of the bench.

The 5-0 win gave Darien Robin a chance to shine and we saw the linkup from teammates in Quebec and Shingoryeo twice with Robin scoring a hattrick (once assisted by Barter) and assisting Barter on her lone goal. John Smith also put one in the back of the net as he and Robin continue to fight for the job of 4th choice striker. It's looking like Robin is a bit ahead but John Smith has also played quite well. Stratford however is still clearly far ahead of both of them after playing well in his first season over in Flavovespia.

Kohnhead still need to play Brenecia, Squidroidia, and Le Choix and how we do in those matches will determine if we have our first World Cup birth, have to go through the playoffs, or are once again eliminated. Right now we are tied with Squidroidia at 27 points but have the advantage to a vastly superior goal difference (the best in the group thanks to our 9-0 form over the last two games). Right behind them sit HUElavia at 26 points and we all chase Brenecia who sit at 30 points. Kohnhead are right there in the mix and we need to continue our form against the lower teams however the team with the best defense in the group needs to start picking up some wins against the better teams.

Is it finally time for The Brains to make the World Cup?

by **Chartistan** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 7:19 am

THE BILLBOARD GAZETTE

DON'T TOUCH US!

Chartistan once again pull off a massive upset, beat Quebec 1-0 in Billboard to keep slim qualification hopes alive

It seems like a once every cycle tradition for the Chartistani national team. Doctor Lucas, being put in a group that would almost guarantee them to be knocked out before a ball is even kicked, take on and beat high-level opposition at least once during the campaign. We saw it against Savojarna in the 87 qualifiers, saw it against Taeshan home and away in the 88 qualifiers, and now in the 89 qualifiers, with hopes of Chartistan making the World Cup on their 3rd attempt getting slim, the 21st ranked Independent Athletes from Quebec, who they drew with in Quebec City, fell at Old Town Park off the back of Air Latte switching positions and scoring a wonder volley for the team in purple.

Before the game, Chartistani attacking players Little Exnash and Adult Royce were having rumors fly around both of their heads, with the players put on the free agency list via their requests, which was the same method that landed Air Latte in Græntfjall a couple cycles back. As of kickoff, and as of the writing of this article in fact, neither player has had a confirmed club. Nonetheless, this match was a battlefield that ended up not with a crazy scoreline. But 1-0 is still 1-0, and Chartistan made the most of it.

In the 27th minute, Adult Royce would sprint after countering an attack by the Grim Reapers, getting past the defense and opening a straight sprint to the goal. With the defense catching up in the box, he would step back and defer the pass to Air Latte, who got a volley on it that rocketed the ball past Jang Hyo-Sook to score the only goal of the game.

Upon entering the postmatch interview, Chartistani manager Doctor Lucas Combbrush was swamped by Chartistani players, led by captain Kimmi Yamjune, who proceeded to lift him up into the air for another managerial masterclass. When all the commotion was over and the manager was on the mic, Doctor Lucas had only a few words to say. "That was unreal! Feels like we won the World Cup!"

However, qualifying for the World Cup proper was, at this point, slim to none. Chartistan sit 7 points back of Quebec with 5 matchdays remaining, and Chartistan are looking towards the games against Transvolcanic, Murderbum, Rizealand, Krbustan and Indusse knowing they have to win every single one of those games and hope that Quebec, Indusse and Reçueçn all drop points in their next 5 fixtures to have a shot at qualification. Safe to say, it's easier said than done, as Murderbum and Indusse both made Chartistan drop crucial points in the first half of qualifying. It's a slim, slim chance to say the least.

by **Cassadaigua** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:13 am

Tense game against Tamgu, but two wins,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

When Cassadaigua defeated Tamgu during the first leg of the competition, forward Jenna Frontiera said about a defender on their team (we don’t have access to their roster), that “Those guys are going to lose a lot, so they need to learn how to lose properly. Get out of our faces after we practically undress you on the field, making you look like an idiot. I had to put him in his place.” Frontiera is known for trash talking on Brattleboro FC, and let’s face it the eventual successor to Rachel Schanke as our top forward has a much different personality. Schanke is much more low key, your professional type player who is not going to engage others in a war of words. She has been on this team for a while along with midfielder Meghan Wolcott, each of whom are the same age. Wolcott is the trash talker, so Schanke has been able to not get involved in any of that. As a granddaughter of one of the great Cassadagan soccer players, Rachel clearly has been told from a young age to be respectful of all opponents. Jenna Frontiera on the other hand is a trash talker. Not only that, but she has become popular for some over the top goal scoring celebrations at home. We have not really seen that in the World Cup, but let’s face it, after Frontiera scores you expect something much more energetic than when Schanke fires it home. Meghan Wolcott, of course, seems to really enjoy having someone to go along with her with all of those wild antics.

Prior to the game against Tamgu at Dagan Airways Stadium, Frontiera posted on social media that, “I hope the Tamgu defenders remember what I said to them after the first game. Their little pathetic team sucks. But it would not be the World Cup if we didn’t have these little chicken fodder teams to embarrass on the field.” Wolcott responded to the Spacebook post saying that, “even I wouldn’t go that far! (with multiple laughing emojis.” Now, you might say that a manager would not be fond of their player making such a comment, but remember that Frontiera’s club manager is also Brittany Byers, the World Cup manager, so those two get along and expect this kind of thing from one another. “Jenna is going to be Jenna,” Byers said about the comment prior to the game.

In the 3rd minute of the match, Frontiera backed up her talk, getting the Fillies on the board with a great individual effort to get between two Tamgu defenders for the opening goal. The player wearing #3 was not amused and got pushed Frontiera from behind after she began celebrating her goal near a bunch of Dagan supporters. Jenna didn’t respond, and instead turned around at the player that shoved, pointed at him, and laughed. The referee got between them pretty quickly, but no cards were issued. Things did not get better for Tamgu soon after, either, as nine minutes later, Courtney Graham delivered a great corner delivery that was headed home by Morgan Rosenblatt to make it 2-0. After that goal, Frontiera and #2 began pushing one another, and the referee had enough, issuing a red card to Jenna Frontiera. A yellow was issued to #2. Frontiera and manager Byers protested strongly, but to no avail. It’s always to no avail. But nonetheless, Cassadaigua was one player down and Tamgu capitalized, beginning to take control of a match that for a little while looked like it might end up 10-0, Fillies.

Tamgu scored in the 25th and then again in the 34th to make it 2-2, and following the second goal their seemed to be a shoving exchange between Tamgu’s #9 and Caitlyn Kaleta. Inexplicably, the referee issued a red card to Kaleta, later saying that she instigated the whole thing. Now, Cassadaigua was two players down, and in the 41st minute, Tamgu scored their third goal of the match. At halftime then, Cassadaigua was down 3-2 and this was looking like dropped points in the making.

Perhaps at halftime, the referees talked things over and realized that they were being a little too hard on the Cassadagan players, because just three minutes into the second half, Tamgu’s #2 was issued a yellow card (his 2nd, leading to a red), for a borderline tackle on Rachel Schanke. With Cassadaigua now at only a 10-9 player disadvantage, they began to figure out how to take control of the match, and optimism was growing that the team would not blow this game, after all. Schanke scored in the 57th, followed quickly by Courtney Graham’s goal in the 64th, and just like that Cassadaigua was back on top, now by the score of 4-3. Preston Newfeld made it 5-3 in the 76th, and the team surrendered an eventual meaningless goal in the 86th. Survival, for sure.

Those red cards meant that Frontiera and Kaleta were unavailable for the match against Natanians and Nosts, but their replacements, Madison McClain and Sarah Bayne each stepped up and had a strong match. Wolcott scored in the 20th and 55th for the Fillies, with McClain getting a goal between them, in the 38th. Cassadaigua will be glad to have their full lineup back going forward. Frontiera did not apologize for her actions, and instead said, “No one even knows who Tamgu’s players are. No one cares to even name them within their country. You must be a bunch of losers if that is the case. The only way they can have some success is to have the referees on their side and sending off people on the other team.”

Looking at the table, Cassadaigua’s three-point lead was restored thanks to Qasden’s draw with Mercedini. The Fillies will play the G’s of the group next, with Gatchingerrak Union preceding an important match with Geektopia.

by **TJUN-ia** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:26 am

By Peter Davis

After holding our UWC title in unconvincing fashion against Ranoria, the Jaguars entered this doubleheader at Tiankong, the final games in the CEA for this season, looking to try and get back in the Top 2 race come what may. Tiankong is certainly a great place to try and do that, considering our history of winning here in the CEA capital, and with a 6 point game that needed to be made up for, we certainly had some work to do here in Tiankong Stadium.

Up first was Hispinas, who we drew with 2-2 on MD3 in Mandrid and could certainly be a tough opponent on their day. The first half would be a replay of that game in the space of 45 minutes, with Ozeano Amunategui (Gonzalez De Artaza) scoring twice and both Joe Green and Kepo Ulawaya countering with goals of their own. The introduction of Prince Carter changed that, with his hattrick of assists (twice to Archer Andrews, once to Vladimir Podolov) making the result a surefire thing. The belt remained with us and with Turori falling to Raspotochje of all teams, the gap to the Top 2 was down to 4.

Then came Milchama, another nation who held us to a draw on the road earlier in the season - a goalless one at that - but luckily for everyone, we would have goals today in Tiankong's swansong. All of them would be scored by one man as today turned out to be Peliniho's day, getting his goals in the 34th, 37th and 56th minutes before being substituted for Carter to the applause of the watching crowd. His efforts meant that we spend another week with the UWC belt and with Sargossa falling to Hispinas 6-3 in Mandrid, the gap is now down to 2 points heading into a big week of action next time out.

We will head to Goza next to face Sargossa in a "2nd vs 3rd" showdown that may be our toughest UWC title defence so far in this reign. After that. no matter what happens in Independienté, Szensky then has its swansong against the wacky Sevendia. Many will hope for 6 points here...and maybe that will be required, but who knows at this point. GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group 13)
MD1: @Pyazhnaya (181) - Krasnograd Dome, Krasnograd D 3-3 (T-4th)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD2: vs Ranoria (79) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City W 3-2 (4th)
MD3: @Hispinas (126) - Estadio Nacional en el Castill, Mandrid D 2-2 (T-3rd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD4: @Milchama (220) D 0-0 (5th)
MD5: vsSargossa (41) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky L 0-2 (6th)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD6: @Sevenida (UR) - Seven Stadium, Seven W 2-0 (3rd)
MD7: vs Raspojochje (336) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong W 3-2 (3rd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD8: @St Trinians (97) - National Stadium, Searle L 1-4 (5th)
MD9: vs Turori (2) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City W 2-1 (4th/4-3-2/15pts/+0GD/UWC Holders)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD10: vs Pyazhnaya (181) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky W 5-2 (4th/UWC Holders)
MD11: @Ranoria (79) - Smith Field, Richardson D 0-0 (4th/UWC Holders)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD12: vs Hispinas (126) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong W 5-3 (3rd/UWC Holders)
MD13: vs Milchama (220) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong W 3-0 (3rd/UWC Holders)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD14: @Sargossa (41) - Independienté, Goza
MD15: vs Sevendia (UR) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD16: @Raspojochje (336)
MD17: vs St Trinians (97) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD18: @Turori (2) - Cednia Beach Center, Cednia

by **Pemecutan** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 8:41 am

CHAPTER 2.1 || CHAPTER 2.2 || CHAPTER 2.3 || CHAPTER 2.4 || CHAPTER 2.5
CHAPTER 2.6

CHAPTER 2.7

The morning sun has greet the capital this day. Showering them with a bright light. No sign of black clouds occur. Pande drive his care leisurely. He is not in a rush to arrive at his office. It's Friday after all, a short day as people say. He really wants to finished the meeting today. The final agenda will be the finalization and also the voting for GRFA dissolution.

Around 8 o'clock in the morning, Pande almost arrive at his office when he realize there are people flocking the building. He also see several fire trucks parks near the building. What's going on?" he is mumbling.

Pande park his car on the sideways then rush to the building. When he get near the building, one firefighter stop him.

"Sir, you can't go in there," shouts that firefighter.
"What happen?" ask Pande ignoring the firefighter warning.
"The building was caught on fire this early morning. Just a part of it thought," explain the firefighter.

Pande's vision becomes empty. He feels shocked and disbelief with what have happen even though the evidence is in front of him. The firefighters are still struggling to extinguish the fire. He feel helpless. One of the firefighter grab his arm and take him away from the building. The firefighter advice him to stay in a distance but Pande can't focus on him and what's he say. He just can't believe this disaster happen at this particular time.

ALL FALLS DOWN

"So, what will happen?" wonders Karangdewa.
He and the others top officials are gathering at the hotel's restaurant. They were escorted back to the hotel after accident. It's been more than 4 hours after the incident is noticed by the fire brigade.
"Is it going to be postpone?" Suryawan ask the others.
"Well, the decision is on Pande but we're not seeing him," say Maladi while sipping his americano.
"Where is he?" ask Gudamang in confusion. The others are just looking at each other.

On the other hand, Arthajaya confront Agung Darma.

"Tell me the truth! Don't hide anything," ask Arthajaya in a higher pitch.
Agung Darma feel the anxiety. But he really doesn't know who did this.
"I've told you, Sir. I'm not lying. It's not me," answer Agung Darma. "I do plan to do something but this is not it," add him.
"Then who it is?" ask Arthajaya again.
"I have no idea," say Agumg Darma.

Pande is seating in the meeting room at the hotel where the other officials. He is waiting for the information. He looks so anxious. All of the plan that he build yesterday have crumble down. The room door is knocked several time. His secretary is entering the room. Pande look up to her.

"I'm sorry, Sir. But the firefighters forbid us to use the building for several days," inform the secretary.
Pande exhale deeply. "Inform the other leaders. I'll have a small talk with them here," ask Pande.
The secretary just nod then walk away from the room.

Everyone in the room are murmuring and whispering one another. They are still digest the incident. Pande then knock on the table to calm the other.
"Good morning everyone," greet Pande. Everyone suddenly turn to him. "As you can see, we are in a terrible condition and I hope we can cope with it. I got the information that the incident will be under investigation. And because of that, we can't use the building for several days," explain Pande.
"So what happen with the meeting?" ask Gudamang.
"It will still continue," answer Pande. "Though the venue will be change. We will use this meeting room as long as the investigation is still on-going. But for today, I guess we have to postpone the meeting. I know some of you might be upset. But this is as a way to cleanse our anxious from today's incident. Let get some rest and continue it tomorrow on another fresh day."

As there are no objection from the leaders then Pande dismissed the briefing. When everyone goes to the door, Suwitra suddenly approaching Pande.

"What happen, Suwitra?" ask Pande when Suwitra is standing in front of him.
"I....I....I have something to tell you. It's important," answer Suwitra. Pande just stay silent. "I think it is related to today's incident."
What is it? ask Pande.
Suwitra carefully give Pande his handphone. Pande take the phone and read what's in it.

"This....." Pande can't finished his sentence while Suwitra is smiling while nodding his head.

by **HUElavia** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:02 am

Make or Break Time!

HUElavia enters crucial final stretch of the Qualifiers needing points and help to make it to World Cup 89!

HUElavia 4-1 Geisenfried
(Chanca 10', 49', Alvarado 38', Pujals 72' | Voight 84')
(Sueji Stadium, Sueji, HUElavia)

HUElavia 0-0 Moliza
(Chetka Arena, Chetka, HUElavia)

In Matchdays 12 and 13, HUElavia was coming off the high of winning against two of their three direct rivals, Squidroidia and Kohnhead, extending a 3-game win streak and an undefeated streak of 4 matches. The next two games were against lower ranked teams of Gelsenfried and Moliza, allowing Coach Conavacio to use the C-Team for these matches. In sold out matches in the West and East parts of HUElavia respectively, the team came out wanting to get more points and put themselves in a strong position to advaince to the World Cup.

The first match saw HUElavia really put the pressure and domination over Gelsenfried from the get-go. The opening goal came in the 10th minute, when Romanovich was being covered by Thalmann, when he passed to his right and Chanca gave a curving shot past Juergensen into the top corner of the goal to make it 1-0. The crowd erupted with joy and passion while Chanca was mobbed by her teammates in celebration as she was in tears for scoring her first ever seniot goal for the team. In the 38th minute, Chanca was on the ball when she gave a pass to Cerqueira, who in turn gave the ball to a sprinting Alvarado, who was played onside by Messer, and he went one-on-one with Juergensen, slotting the ball to the left side of the goalie, rolling into the goal to make it 2-0. The crowd erupted once more while Alvarado celebrated with his teammates for the goal. In the 49th minute, Chanca was on the ball once more, being covered by Eberhardt, where she moved to her left and gave a blistering shot from outside the box to blast it past Juergensen, who stretched out to stop the shot, into the goal, making it 3-0. Chanca was mobbed by her teammates, as she was once again with a big smile on the grand goal she had scored. In the 72nd minute, a corner was taken by Sergeyevna, who curved the ball into the box, where Pujals towered over everyone and headed the ball past the fingertips of Juergensen into the goal to make it 4-0. The crowd was up and celebrating, applauding the effort from the C-Team, while Pujals hugged his teammates and had a smile from his first ever goal with the Senior Team. In the 84th minute, Voight took a shot that chipped over Casillas, as it went into the goal, making it the definitive 4-1.

The second match saw Moliza frustrate the chances of the HUElavians, in a team that was filled with Rus-HUElavian players. Shots were taken all around, but Wilson made saves left and right to keep the match at 0-0, which was how it ended after 90 minutes. In all sincerity, it was truly one of the most dull matches ever played in HUElavian history.

With the two matches done, only 5 matches remain in the Group Stage of World Cup 89 Qualifiers. Squidroidia and Brenecia drew with each other to drop points, while Kohnhead went on a 9-0 romp during these two matches. Now, Brenecia leads Group 2 with 30 Points (9-3-1), followed by Kohnhead in 2nd with 27 points (9-0-4, +19 GD), Squidroidia in 3rd with 27 Points (8-3-2, +13 GD), and HUElavia in 4th Place with 26 Points (7-5-1). HUElavia will play their next match at Txakhaxi, followed by a home match against Britland at Yeugsaiwai Stadium (50,000), in Yeugsaiwai. The B-Team will start both matches, with Marquez in goal for both matches and Braz-Bittencourt serving as the Captain for the team. The Special Uniform will be worn for the first match and the Home Alternative will be worn for the second match. HUElavia is obligated to go for the victories, especially where they need it heading into the Matchday 16 game at Brenecia, which could decide the fate of HUElavia in these qualifiers. For Brenecia, Kohnhead, Squidroidia and HUElavia, there is no margin of error for these four teams. A drop in points can relegate them into possibly the Playoffs, or an elimination (and likely an invitation to the Cup of Harmony). At the end of the day, all four want to make it into the World Cup in South Newlandia and Tikariot, and they will give their all to be among the 32 teams come next summer. Here's to strong showings by Los Amarillos/Os Amarelos in these next two matches.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

by **The Inevitable Syndicate** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 9:56 am

The players, automaton alike, snapped into action once the ball began to fall into the cage. The automaton at the centre of the pitch hastily gained control of the ball, dropping it to its feet and beginning to, shakily but securely, dribbling it towards the opponent’s goal.

Phil Gulliver crept forward and made an attacking tackle for possession of the ball. He was fast enough for the automaton, and the ball flew from its possession and bounced with a clang off the wall of the cage. Jacob Pratt angled himself to knock the ball down from the rebound to his feet, and continued to press up, with Bradley Birch running down the left wing to receive a long pass. Well, as long as you could get in this tight cage match.

An automaton intercepted the pass with a surprising celerity, and two automatons began a series of short, interconnected passes as they attempted to keep the ball away from the Syndicatians. A shot attempt was made, which skimmed wide of the small goal and pinged back into the possession of Gulliver. Stopping the ball, he flicked it up onto his knees and lobbed it over the automaton that was coming to tackle him, into empty space further down the pitch.

A faceless automaton and Jacob Pratt both ran towards the ball, which was spinning in place as it slowed to a stop. Pratt went low, sweeping his leg around and kicking the ball just to the side of the running automaton’s foot, and the ball sped forward, past the final automaton at the back, and scuttled into the low goal as an industrial klaxon ended the match. The sea of red lights around the sides of the cage bobbed up and down in anticipation and excitement, as the three faceless automatons returned to the centre of the pitch.

“Good work, but not quite enough. You’ll get us next time, I’m sure. Thus ends the session today. We will resume tomorrow.” said Birch, motioning to the door automaton to be released from the cage.

An Unknown Amount of Time Later…
“It’s always odd, isn’t it, when you hit the end of something and find yourself at a loss on what to do next.” mused Phil Gulliver, from the top bunk of the crew quarters that the three shared in the bowels of the Aut-Ves-Nat.

“Certainly. It feels like I’ve just been hit with a wave of stuff all at once, you know? It feels like we’ve been here for a while now, but I’ve barely had the space to process what exactly happened to us. What exactly did happen to us, anyway?” asked Birch.

“Fligsive Disaster, innit. I think I remember being in a helicopter, but it’s all a bit of a blur. I think we all must have been together, and crashed into the ocean or something?” Jacob Pratt replied from the bottom bunk. “It’s almost like it doesn’t make sense, but I don’t have a better explanation. We’d all been comatose until we got woken up.”

“It’s a strange situation. I never thought I’d be here, but I suppose I’m lucky to be alive. Don’t you want to experience… more, though? We don’t even know anything about the other bits of the ship. Is there a hierarchy? We’re not being treated too great, if you ask me.”

“Well, what do you want to do about that Bradley?” asked Pratt. “Go and sneak around the ship and accidentally open a door to the top deck and get vaporised?”

“Well, maybe. At least do something. I’m a bit sick of this curfew, if you ask me. I haven’t seen more than six rooms in what feels like months. I’ve been carted about on a strict regime and I haven’t got anything to show for it.” Bradley stood up and shook himself down, dressing into a dark grey boiler suit. “I want to know what’s going on. Are you with me?”

Pratt pivoted his legs around and placed them on the floor. “Fine. It’s not like getting thrown in a brig would be too much worse than what we’ve got going on now. No work, in any case. And it’s not like they’ll murder us, either, right?”

Two stood at the doorway, looking expectantly at Phil Gulliver. He sprung up in the bunk and stared at them.

“Oh, fine. But I’m selling you down the ocean if we get caught.”

The trio stepped out of their room, the bulkhead door squeaking the ambiguous time of day. The strip lights that adorned this corridor continued in their tipsy sway, and all was quiet on this part of the deck. The three walked along the corridor, slowly and silently, naught but the hum of motors, servos, and various other industrial processes to cover their noise.

They made their way to the training cage, where a familiar yet markedly different scene was playing out. Various crewmembers, dressed in all sorts of working gear, were playing Foxsal, and several spectators were sitting watching from the sidelines, cheering. The crew were enthralled by the sight.

“We need to disguise ourselves a little if we’re going to be sneaking around the ship. Reckon these will work?” Birch sauntered over to a series of lockers pressed against one of the walls and started pulling out personal protective gear. A variety of coloured hard hats, work goggles, and thick, dense ear defenders seemed to be present here, and Birch quickly got to work distributing them to his teammates. Wearing the ear defenders around the neck distorted the shape of their heads, and the hard hats and goggles worked well to obfuscate their identities just enough to get by. Confident in their ability to walk around a bit more undetected, the trio walked on out of an exit from the training cage room that they had never dared to venture into before.

The sight that met the three of them certainly increased their interest in venturing on. Way more people were present in this part of the ship, which was a mirror of the room with the training cage in. However, this room functioned much more like a warehouse, with gargantuan shelves containing all sorts of wooden crates housed both within and without shipping containers. A buzz of forklifts and other machinery whirred around them as two men each carrying a pallet full of goods on a pallet truck whizzed by. Beneath their feet, several painted coloured lines twisted and turned into the dense middle of the warehouse. Studying the faded painted words below, Pratt was just about able to make out three possible obvious paths: “R&D Office”, “Management”, and “Communications”.

“What do you say, chaps?” Pratt asked. “Shall we split up and look for clues?”

“Sounds like a plan,” said Gulliver. “I’ll take ‘Management’ as it doesn’t look too far away and I can just blag that I was lost if someone jumps up at me.”

“I’ll take ‘R&D’ then,” said Bradley, putting a hand on his hip. “It’ll be good to learn if we’ve actually made any kind of difference here.”

“That leaves me with ‘Communications’. Time to see how the bits of the boat talk to each other, I guess. Find something good and meet back in the room. If you’re not about by breakfast time tomorrow, I’m assuming the worst.” Pratt immediately sauntered off down the orange line, weaving in and around pallets and boxes as he did so.

by **Graintfjall** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 10:43 am

Kaija Michaelsdóttir entered the Ellipse Office, where she found Zóphonías Juliusson sat behind the Terror desk.* He was cradling his large head in his hands; though Kaija had always thought of him as an older man, this was perhaps the first time she saw him as just an old man.

“Kaija.” He sounded hoarse: late nights, shouting at his staff, chain smoking, wodka by the gallon. Maybe all of the above.

Things between them had been awkward and stiff for weeks, ever since she cashed in her bargaining chips for a bigger place at the policy table. Perhaps what she’d said to him in ADDER hadn’t helped either. So, for weeks, it had been “Foreign Minister” or “Ms. Michaelsdóttir”. She thought the first name use was a sign things were improving. Or maybe that she should be even more worried.

“Zóphonías. You look… you don’t look well.”

He laughed. Whatever else might be said of him, Zóphonías Juliusson had a great laugh. Kaija had not heard it in a long time.

“A civil war is exploding on our borders, the press are calling for my head, my approval ratings are in the toilet, our opponents are deciding whether to elect the fascist or the really scary one…”

At this last, he gestured to a television, muted, that was playing coverage of the final Blue-Green leadership debate. Runólfur Eiríksson’s mouth flapped soundlessly, but Kaija didn’t need to lip-read to know what he was saying. His latest policy proposal – that Græntfjall should offer unilateral asylum to refugees… but only of Osterlander or Nordlander descent – was actually the more moderate stance. Benjamín Styrbjörnsson had instead advocated that no asylum would be needed, if there were a permanent ethnic homeland for the Osterlander and Nordlander people. Ethnic Kitarans in the territory could, he had calmly intoned while polishing his glasses, be physically removed. This proposal was currently polling higher than Juliusson’s own neutrality.

“…and my daughter won’t talk to me. I can’t think why I shouldn’t look the very picture of vitality.”

Kaija raised an eyebrow. She knew Rós Zophoníasardóttir, but only a little; obnoxiously stubborn left-wing purity clearly had a genetic component.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” said Kaija guardedly.

“Do you still talk to your father?” It was an unexpected question that momentarily threw her for a loop.

“I, uh – no, I never even knew the man.” She sensed he wanted something more. “My stepfather? Whenever I get free tickets for the golf, I…” She trailed off, but for once Zophonías, the great lion of anti-corruption, didn’t purse his lips in disapproval. He was always hounding his ministers not to accept gifts or donations or anything not available to the common man. A few years ago, when the Thing’s expenses had been leaked and public outrage had fumed over MTs on 100k+ kr. salaries charging home repairs on expenses from the public purse, he had issued a personal apology for his office’s own claims: 23 kr. on printer ink. But now, he couldn’t even summon the effort for a head shake of concern.

“Fathers and daughters,” he mumbled.

At last it occurred to her why this was on his mind. Boaz Akongo had had a daughter, too.

“The Waziri sent me a letter.”

After two years in the job, her Oh really? That’s news to me, and definitely not something my sources in your office had already informed me of face was pretty good, but today it didn’t seem worth the effort. “Uh huh.”

“He is supporting the KFF. Wishes us to join Banija. He says if the KFF gain a solid international coalition behind them, the KPWC will see ‘the writing on the wall’.” Zophonías was Jewish, by family if not faith, and well aware of the reference. He even had a print of the painting in his apartment, from Kaija’s memory.

“That’s broadly what our intelligence services have been telling us.”

“Do you believe them?” He turned on her, and suddenly the old energy was back, the keen dark eyes. An intellect ferocious as a stranded kraken raged behind that mask of torpor once more.

She hesitated. She remembered hearing a story, about how the Græntfjallers had got the new Presidente of Montaña Verde to sign the ceasefire, with all its annexes ceding drilling and forestry rights: they’d smashed his hand with a hammer and forced the pen into the broken claw, then held a gun to his head. Her country’s dark history in América was a bitter shame to her. But just occasionally, their methods did have a certain blunt simplicity, an appealing ability to get results that was attractive when Zophonías was in the depths of his indecision. Yes, I believe them: now, just sign the letter agreeing to back the KFF, she thought, as she glanced around the room for a hammer.

“No,” she wearily admitted. “That is, if they have sources on the ground telling them otherwise, I’ll listen. But from where I’m standing, Nafuna Akongo has no reason to surrender. She’s 19. If she were 60, perhaps she’d want to slink off to a comfy retirement with half her country’s treasury in her bank account. She’ll fight. And she’s young enough to produce an heir. If she’s captured – I don’t see how Malik won’t execute her.”

“Maybe that would at least end all this,” said Zophonías, very quietly. The veteran campaigner against the death penalty was aware of the irony bristling in his words.

Kaija smiled stiffly. “Have you considered how you will reply?”

“A call for peace. For all sides to lay down their arms and come to the negotiating table, committing to a democratic transition of …”

“Dammit Zophonías!” She had shouted at him before, but never in the Ellipse Office. She seemed more surprised than he was. “No one is going to listen to that right now.”

“It’s the only solution that …”

“No one is going to listen to that from you right now. You have no stakes in this. No status. No leverage. Look. You were born to give lofty speeches about peace, tears in the eyes of the assembled delegates. At the head of a long table, the… you’re probably going to call them the Pavola Peace Accords.”

“I thought ‘Pact’ was a little overmuch alliteration.”

“You won’t even be invited to the table at this rate. Why should Margravine Lindt or Prime Minister Smith or Waziri Mutungi or any of them listen to anything you say when you can’t even say what you want to come of this?”

“Back the KFF. Back the KPWC. Back the DFLK. They throw around these phrases like paper cranes in the wind. From the other side of the continent. From Atlantian Oceania. From Sonnel.” The timbre of his voice deepened, but he still looked disappointingly passive to Kaija. No real anger in his words. “This is happening on our borders. On our shores. Do you know before he fell sick, I had planned to make an approach to President Akongo – to Boaz Akongo – about a joint environmental project in Lake Viljan?”

“Zophonías, due respect, I don’t think anyone right now is thinking about wetlands conservation…?”

“You don’t think I know that!?” OK, he was furious. She’d misread that one.

He was up from the Terror Desk and stalking around, though without losing that giant teddy bear-ness to to his gait that made him all the more terrifying in that moment. He reached as far as the couch before collapsing down with an exhausted sigh.

Kaija walked over to the sideboard. On the television, the Blue-Green voters were engaged in a (muted) chant of “Send them back!”. She grabbed the remote and cycled the set off the channel, to an internet radio station. Jazz twinkled as she brought up the volume, low, and then set to pouring them both drinks. She steered clear of that industrial-strength wodka he sloshed back and instead looked over the selection of whiskeys. He was not totally abstemious. Violet Unbarred, Clairemont Ridge, Dhunmoor, Highmoor… She chose the Quebecois whiskey, and two cut glass beakers.

“Ice?”

“Please.”

When she gave him the glass he pressed it to his bowed forehead, as she sat down opposite, cradling her own in the butt of her hand so the condensation wouldn’t mark her dress.

“You came here to tell me I’m being a fool, and should throw in with the KFF.”

“I have never thought you a fool.”

“But…”

Kaija sipped her drink. Strange temporal whiff to it, but a solid taste. Not that she knew much about whiskey.

“You’re right. It’s easy for the Banijans to tell us to pick a side when it’s not going to be a refugee crisis on their own borders. And then – what if we were to pick the wrong side? The KFF don’t win and we now have a country led by someone who hates us even more than her father did. And he wasn’t exactly a big fan. The Banijans can slink off home. We’d be left to deal with the flaming bag on our doorstep. You’re right.”

His dark eyed stare was not easy to meet. She kept her eyes down, examining the ice cubes in her glass as they clinked about in their golden puddle.

“But Zophonías…”

“I want you to be honest with me. Do me that courtesy, at least.”

She finally met his gaze.

“I don’t think it’s the geopolitics that concern you. It’s what comes after. Malik Akongo wins. Does he call elections? Are they free and fair? He disavows communism – does that mean he turns the country over to the oil companies and land barons? He’s fighting a brutal civil war, the moment it’s over does he never raise up his gun again? You’re not worried that if you back him, he might lose. You’re worried that he might win!”

“How many dictators came to power in the name of ‘freedom’? How many times did David Austmannsson tell us some tyrant was the only hope for democracy?”

“Plenty. But David Austmannsson didn’t back the Partido Socialismo.”

At long last his face registered emotion: shame. She continued.

“I remember, when I was just a schoolkid, you with your arm around Chane Njuguna’s shoulders, calling him The Liberator. I thought the two of you were the coolest. I had his poster in my bedroom. Where’s he today? Which of his mansions? What about those ‘moderate, secular rebels’ in Jabal Akhdar? The ones our intelligence reports say are hand-in-fist with the Islamists now?”

He wrinkled his nose. For all his many great qualities, he was a man who, when confronted with bad news, tended to simply avoid listening altogether.

“You’re too wrapped up in your need to retain your lefty street cred. To signal your moral purity to the Altendalur dinner party set and the student dorms declaring themselves People’s Republics.”

“I won’t apologize for having principles.”

“You should, if those principles are freezing you from doing your job.”

“It’s not my job to enable one dictator to replace another. Besides, I couldn’t back the KFF even if I wanted to. Maybe if Malik Akongo were called Mikkel Axelsson.” Zophonías’s humor returned as he laughed deeply. “How do I explain to the Waziri that our public are too racist for us to get involved…?”

“Zophonías, you’re not seeing this clearly. You’re – look. You were annoyed that I threatened to resign?”

His laughter died instantly.

“When I threatened to resign – it gave me leverage. If you’re to get your grand peace summit, your multilateral disarmament talks, your multiracial participatory democracy where the children fly kites and sing songs about peace and harmony, your big fucking speech… then you need leverage.”

“I will not go to war…”

“…in the name of peace.” Yes, she’d heard the speech before.

“I will not send Græntfjallers to die in service of some wannabe dictator. I will not force the hand of the Kitaran people in determining future. I will not…”

Kaija smiled. She had a pretty smile, Zophonías had always thought, pretty in the same way a bird of prey was beautiful as it coasted the thermals, just before it dived to tear apart some innocent little field creature.

“What is it?”

“Then you will not be involved in the peace talks. If there ever even are peace talks.”

“Some things are not to be bartered away for political favors. My principles mean more than that.”

Kaija had finished her drink. There was nothing else for her here. “You know, I misspoke before. I have never thought you a fool, until today. Enjoy your 10% approval rating. Enjoy being an Also present footnote in the history books.”

“So what, you’ve come here to demand more? What is it this time, Kaija? Tax breaks for stockbrokers? A few more government services you’d like to privatize?”

“Yes, actually, but that wasn’t why I came here today, believe it or not.” She set down her glass on the table and stood, smoothing down her dress.

“Then why did you come?”

“Now I’m the fool.” Zophonías was shocked to see she suddenly was on the verge of tears. “I came to… give you this.”

She handed over a slip of paper. He took his glasses from his pocket, expecting it to perhaps be another resignation letter. It was not. He rose from the couch, a joyous smile spreading, and treated her to a particularly melodious laugh as he swept her up in his arms.

Amanda Guttisdóttir flung open her door to find Jason Þórhallursson, shed of his suit jacket and tie.

“Jason. It’s 3 fucking AM.”

He glanced down at her. “Are you still…?”

“Had it done in Eura. Less fuss. Thanks for the recommendation, though.”

“So you can drink?”

“Yeah…”

“Good. Let’s get fucking drunk.”

He thrust a half-full bottle of wodka into her hands. As he entered her hotel room, she caught a whiff of his breath, and amended her assessment: it was half-empty. She followed him into the hotel room, where she found him sitting on her bed, staring at a piece of paper. Amanda prised it gently from his hands and inspected it.

* Named after the Terror, a 19th century vessel that went missing and was mysteriously rediscovered decades later with all hands lost, presumed eaten by krakens.

by **Mytanija** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 12:01 pm

Lev Repin wasn’t sure he had had a week as important as this one in his managerial career, the next two fixtures away to Poafmersia and at home to Siovanija and Teusland were likely to decide the fate of this World Cup qualifying group. His Mytanar team just had to ensure they didn’t lose either of the matches. They had a huge few days ahead of them. There had been a few weeks that pushed this one close and even surpassed it back when he was a player – over fifteen years ago – but he hadn’t yet reached the same heights as a coach. Mytanija had needed to win both games in the last international break and they had managed that, defeating a spirited Democratic Kingdom of South India team 5-3 and coming from 1-0 down to beat Rangers FC 2-1. They might need to grit their teeth and battle through even tougher situations this time around.

In the game against South India he had selected a bit of an experimental team, resting pretty much all of the key names and rewarding Sefir Ajanovic, Vlado Arzhentinski and Dejan Zgela for their impactful performances from the bench with starts. Zgela had scored twice, seemingly in the best form of his international career, whilst Ajanovic and Arzhentinski were fantastic in the early knockings of the game as Mytanija raced into a 3-0 lead with Mijat Simic adding Mytanija’s third and Zgela’s brace. They then lost a bit of control in the game, neither were the most adept at ball-winning and once South India started to throw caution to the wind, pressing more and committing bodies forward it started to cause the FK Arsika midfield pairing some issues. South India scored one and then clawed another back to make it 3-2. Mytanija’s lead was evaporating quickly.

The manager had to act fast and Lev was pretty pleased with his own quick decision making in this particular scenario, he had withdrawn Arzhentinski for Mersudin Smajic to stiffen things up in the centre of the park and it had the desired effect as the Hoops regained control. Omer Kuhar-Arh scored with an absolute thunderbolt, his 4th goal in 5 international appearances, before slipping Damien Gannot in behind the South Indian defence to make it 5-2. The home side managed to pull another back in second-half injury time but Mytanija had got the result they needed, even if the performance wasn’t always the most assured. It allowed some players to get more experience and that sort of thing could prove dividends in the long run, which was more or less how Lev Repin had built his time in charge of Mytanija. The last two qualification cycles had been building up to a real challenge at the third attempt and now here they were, top of Group 10 with twelve games played.

Then came the second fixture of the international break against Rangers, a team which had unexpectedly handed Mytanija a thumping on home soil in the first-half of the cycle. Repin was less willing to rotate players for this match, knowing that the Novi Kaunostadion crowd would be expecting the team to exact revenge for the 3-0 hammering they had been on the receiving end of in the away fixture. It did mean he had to drop Dejan Zgela after his three in two record over the past couple of matches, a difficult conversation which he hadn’t particularly relished. Zgela had understood and despite being noticeably disappointed he didn’t let his team mates see that. Repin respected players that conducted themselves like that.

He had another tough decision in whether to select Tahir Fejzuli with his experience and guile or to go with Mersudin Smajic, a player who was coming off a career best campaign domestically and had grown into a really strong all-around midfielder. His physicality made him a big factor in both boxes, attacking and defending set-pieces, but he was also an extremely intelligent footballer and able to pick a pass. Fejzuli was still exceptional technically and had just won the title in the Banijan-Farf joint league, but there was a growing feeling that he wasn’t quite able to keep up with the pace of some international matches. Repin had toyed with the idea of playing Jasno Odonelec in central midfield and playing Fejzuli as a number ten, but it was questionable whether or not Fejzuli’s movement would be good enough to get in behind opposition defences in the same way Odonelec did.

Repin plumped for Smajic in the end, he wanted a strong midfield pairing who could compete physically, so it was Hrdaljko and Smajic and Fejzuli would be an option off the bench if necessary. It mostly worked too, with Mytanija doing well in the centre of the pitch and forcing Rangers to engage down the flanks. The Hoops didn’t quite bank on the away side’s execution being as good as it was, though, and ended up 1-0 down as Kurisu Boido got on the end of a Krzysztof Bzoyd cross from the right. ‘Here we go again’ Lev Repin thought for all of a second, before rubbing his face and beckoning Jasno Odonelec over to him to issue the captain some instructions.

“Tell Damir and Patrik to close the full-backs down and let the central defenders deal with their forwards. You might need to drop into midfield as well to help Alen and Mersudin sometimes. Try get them going out there, Jasno.”

“Yes boss.” The captain replied, jogging out to the middle and yelling the instructions in the general direction of the intended recipients. Time ticked onwards and Mytanija were dominating the ball without really creating too many clear-cut chances, but then – as he so often does – Jezdimir Ocokoljic decided to grab the game by the scruff of the neck. He received the ball out on the left and an underlapping run from Damir Milcic drew a defender away from him and created a gaping chasm for Ocokoljic to run into. The striker didn’t need a second invitation and once he gets up to speed he’s very difficult to stop, something the various versions of Kris Boyd discovered as he bore down on the Rangers’ penalty area.

Bzoyd, probably still buzzing due to his assist, closed Ocokoljic down with Boydikis in close proximity too. Ocokoljic didn’t really have a clear sight of goal with the bodies in the way and as he slowed his run down it appeared he would be passing, but instead he hit a low shot through the legs of both Bzoyd and Boydikis and beyond Bjoyd for the equaliser. The goalkeeper didn’t even move, the ball seemed to be moving in slow-motion, but the improvised nature of the shot left him wrong-footed entirely. One goal apiece with time for either side to grab themselves the winner and three much needed points. Repin wondered if he should change anything, looking down his bench and catching the eye of Tahir Fejzuli. The veteran knew that meant ‘get warmed up’. Repin wasn’t sure he would use him, but he needed him ready to go all the same.

Usten Odonelec and Antun Spiridonovic were sent on first, replacing Bigger Mbala-Ekakia and Damir Milcic. Patrik Odonelec shifted over from right-sided wing-back to the left with Spiridonovic taking over on the right. Milcic hadn’t had his best game, probably being at fault for the Rangers goal, but he had played a part in Mytanija’s equaliser too. Repin just wanted fresh legs on more than anything else, which was what the Usten Odonelec for Bigger Mbala-Ekakia substitution was motivated by. The latter had come on as a substitute in the South India game and whilst he had coped well with Boyd’s physicality here he did seem a little jaded. Usten Odonelec was a big brute of a centre-half and Repin wanted him on for the remaining stages of this game, he could bully even the strongest striker. It also meant all three Odonelecs were on the pitch at the same time, a novelty which Repin couldn’t help but note even despite his concentration on the game unfolding in front of him.

With fifteen minutes to go he decided he had seen enough, they needed something a little different in the middle, a bit more creativity to break down this Rangers defence. It was time for Tahir Fejzuli. Alen Hrdaljko would come off, Repin still wanted Smajic’s height for defending and attacking set-plays. It didn’t take long for the languid playmaker to become acclimatised to the match, playing a lovely through ball for Ocokoljic with his first pass and then curling a shot just wide of the post with his second. Fejzuli was a class act, perhaps a little underrated both at home and abroad, but his medals told the real story. Repin wanted him to add another few chapters during this qualifying cycle, from the sideline he willed him to affect the game.

He perhaps didn’t expect it to actually work and whether it was divine intervention or something of that ilk Lev Repin did not know. He just quietly thanked whichever gods were at play. The wily veteran won a free-kick around 25 yards from goal, drawing Cristoforo Boyd in before jinking away and having his heels clipped. Usually Ocokoljic or Jasno Odonelec would take the free-kick, but Fejzuli immediately took the ball and placed it down. Nobody would get ahead of him in the queue for this one. The midfielder was known more for his creativity than his goal scoring, his 11 goals in 107 caps demonstrated that, even if he did chip in with a few more at club level. He did have fantastic technical ability however and he could strike a dead ball very sweetly indeed.

As he stepped up it felt like everybody in the Novi Kaunostadion held their breath simultaneously. One moment there was pure silence, the next there was the rumble of a crowd knowing that the ball was heading into the net, the next there was an explosion of noise. Fejzuli jogged over to the fans behind the goal, arms spread wide in celebration. Lev Repin punched the air. They had turned it around. The manager knew that his team might not find it so easy to do the same thing against either Poafmersia or Siovanija and Teusland. They couldn’t really afford to go behind and there certainly would not be any time to experiment as there had been against South India. A Fejzuli moment might not be there to rescue the three points; a rotated team would not be able to just muddle through to a win. It would be a huge week.

MYTANIJA SQUAD FOR MATCHES VERSUS POAFMERSIA (A) & SIOVANIJA AND TEUSLAND (H)
Goalkeepers: 12. Semir Besak (Mipojoseon [QUE]); 1. Pedja Kasun (Ararat Severyan); 24. Lazar Obradovic (Liria Prizren)
Defenders: 2. Damir Milcic (Anomalies [CMT]); 3. Grigorij Savicevic (AC Izotz Zubia [AUD]), 14. Bigger Mbala-Ekakia (Atletik Thessia), 5. Dino Racic (Libertas Bergheim [SVJ]); 6. Patrik Odonelec (CA Paulinthal [PAS]); 13. Srdan Vukovic (1896 Ebor); 15. Kamil Jernejec (Chromatik [CMT]), 4. Mojmir Anac (Olympic Thessia), 27. Usten Odonelec (FK Arsika); 28. Antun Spiridonovic (Litala ’93)
Midfielders: 7. Alen Hrdaljko (CA Paulinthal [PAS]), 19. Mersudin Smajic (Liria Prizren); 10. Jasno Odonelec (Atletik Thessia); 23. Zijad Kurtcehajic (Atletik Thessia); 8. Tahir Fejzuli (Mâ Âlâmëómë [FFD]), 18. Vilim Kupresak (Olympic Thessia); 20. Maks Shishkin (Maethoru SC [KOR])
Forwards: 9. Jezdimir Ocokoljic (Energija Chernovets [STL), 11. Damien Gannot (Sabrefell Athletic [NPH]); 21. Dejan Zgela (Damogran FC [SRS]), 22. Kemal Gajic (FK Arsika)

by **Sarzonia** » Sun Sep 26, 2021 12:08 pm

It may not be enough to get the Sarzonian national football team back to the World Cup proper, but Sarzonia's currently improved form may be enough for manager Nathan Hanifer to keep his job.

The Stars earned a 5-3 victory at home and a 4-0 away victory to improve their record to 6-2-5 and remain mathematically alive for a spot in the proper. However, Hanifer conceded that the Stars were essentially playing with "different goals in mind" with the Stars 14 points behind Græntfjall and The Holy Empire for either an automatic qualifying position or a spot in the playoffs.

"We've got a long road ahead of us," he said. "This is a process of getting this team back to where we want to see us."

If the first half of qualifying is any guide, Sarzonia are about to hit a bump in the road, as they face the likes of Zug um Zug, which defeated the Stars in their first meeting and started a five-match losing streak that sank Sarzonia's hopes of qualifying. Right after that is the away match to Saltstead, one which has seen the Incorporated Sarzonian Government issue a travel warning expressly prohibiting non-essential travel for anyone not affiliated with the team to Saltstead. A spokesperson for the External Affairs Department said anyone violating the travel warning would be subject to penalties.

Related specifically to the five-match losing streak, Hanifer said he wasn't as bothered by losses to The Holy Empire or Græntfjall with those teams well ahead of the Stars in the KPB ranks. However, the losses to Zug um Zug and Acastanha "really keep me up at night," Hanifer said.

"We left points out there in losses to teams that are much lower in the KPBs than we are," Hanifer said. "Beating Græntfjall or The Holy Empire would have been great results, but we know the odds of that happening are long."

The Incorporated Football Federation wouldn't make any announcements at this point in qualifying, but a source familiar with IFF chairman Zack Wilson's thinking said he's strongly leaning toward retaining Hanifer.

"He's a pragmatist," the source said of Wilson. "He knows this is a process and he's said he wants to see 'signs of life,' as he put it. We're seeing it."

A Sarzonia side that only won four matches in World Cup 88 qualifying cost manager Nicola Mentes his job, but Hanifer's got the Stars currently sitting with a winning record. They may not have the same momentum of an unranked Sarzonia side that went into Brenecia and slayed the Patriots 3-1 or the 65th ranked team that knocked out Nephara 1-0 in Woodstock, but this Stars team is building. And for the IFF, that may have to be enough.

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