Di Bradini Cup 28/U21WC49 RP/Roster/Results Thread

[New Sideburn]

THE BRINEMOUTH HERALD
AUTOMATONS SHUT DOWN AND OUT
by Paige Galleon

Vilita: 0
New Sideburn: 1 (Penrith 62')

An intensely tight contest as Darryl Boyden's defensive, counter-attacking football appears to be paying off. But Vilita's fully mechanical squad appeared to have the better of the first half, fiercely pressing upfield with seemingly inevitable force. The crowd's chants of "Make 'Em Bleed" were silenced when Amanda Clough was flattened by an unflinching construct.
While the wingback (somewhat unsteadily) remained on the pitch, it wasn't long before Daniel Cromwell was put sharply to the test. A perfectly calculated shot from StottBot was tipped past the post by the Crisisbless stopper, and MbidzoBot forced him into a reflex save from the corner.
Vilita continued to press forward, but it was the Sideburnese who came closest that half. A cross from left winger Parrish found Rook Cathar for a seemingly clear goal, but his header was disallowed when it turned out Cathar had ripped off AlianaBot's arm while rising for the ball. The sides entered the break level, Cathar with a caution, and Vilita given ten extra minutes for repairs.
When New Sideburn emerged from the tunnel, Cathar had made way for Martella's Adrienne Eastway, Boyden hoping to add some thrust to the midfield. It paid dividends, as Sideburn actually enjoyed the majority of possession from that point on, having 53% by the final whistle. Their attacks were focused along the wings from here on out, Parrish and Penrith overlapping well with the fullbacks to funnel the ball forwards. Cheney Bittencourt twice came close to scoring, and Chris Christon's long shot smacked CorsiBot in the head and went out for a corner. Parrish swung the set piece inwards, Bittencourt and AhatBot collided in midair to leave Kylie Penrith with a near-open goal and the ball perfectly place for a half-volley. The Raven River midfielder made no mistake from thirteen yards out.
Vilita were relentless for the final half-an-hour, but Boyden had drilled his defence well; zonal marking was used expertly to shut down play, and whenever possession was won back, Sideburn would casually pass the ball around the midfield and kill Vilitan momentum. The constructs were unable to put a good shot on target, and it was Boyden's men who deservedly take home the points after a fine display.

[Sangti]

EL DIARIO DEPORTIVO DEL SANGTI - EDITORIAL

Is Escuro the Answer?
Edric Conciso

Before the match against the Equestrian States at Tricorn Arena, Marco Escuro was a complete unknown. All the Sangtians known about him is that he was sent by the Cantones FA to the Felixian farm team Athletico Vigo to continue his growth as a footballer. He was nowhere to be seen at the Agilang Dilaw lineup at last edition of the Di Bradini Cup at Saugeais, and now, he was included in the squad. A relatively unknown player, he stepped onto the field at the sixty-fifth minute, and he immediately made an impact. His speed and Agility caught the Little Ponies red-handed and eight minutes on the field, had scored his first international goal.

He started the next match against Felix, and there, he scored a hat-trick before being replaced in the 83rd minute. His goals were a deflected strike from the edge of the box at the twelfth minute, a looper in the 38th minute and a blistering left-footed half-volley at the 60th minute. These goals were enough to beat Felix 3-0 and win Group D. And what happened after that? He started again against Kriegiersien, but his magic seem absent that day: he was dispossesed by the Di Bradini clones once he touches the ball, and when opportunity comes, he was there to waste it. No one of his shots were on target and Alberto was furious enough for him to be replaced at the half-time break. The lone goal by Di Bradini XVIII.0 was enough to send both the final four participants home: Felix and the Equestrian States.

The question is this: if Kriegiersien were able to shut down Sangti's top scorer in this edition of the DBC, where will the goals come from? The answer is from both Tristan Isip and Elden Castro. They were the strike partners last edition, and Castro alone produced five of seven Sangti goals there. Isip on the other hand did not score any last year, but scored the opening two goals against the dethroned champions this edition. Castro was largely on the bench except on the third match against the clones, where he played the entirety of the match. This is because of the premature emergence of Rhomuell Villejo, who was largely disappointing this campaign.

For me, Escuro is some years to be Sangti's answer on offense. They can still rely on the usual Isip-Castro pair that has produced wonders last campaign. That pair worked very well against Thatius last time, as Castro had a hattrick and isip had three assists. And there is Robin Linsangan. The mainstay of the national team can score anywhere from the half-line. Marco Escuro can flourish further but for the match against Mizuyuki, Castro and Isip has to start together in front.

[Free Republics]

News Magazine

President of Amolotopia Impeached
by: Alexander Ehrlichmann

The President of Amolotopia was impeached this morning by a 361 to 240 vote of the Amolotopian Assembly. Oliviero Schiavone's downfall began last year when Tatiana Tokareva, Mr. Schiavone's former secretary, claimed that she had carried on an affair with the now-former Amolotopian President. Although this damaged the then-President's credibility, he survived the scandal and remained in office for an additional 9 months.

However, when surveillance camera footage recently revealed that Mr. Schiavone was receiving sexual favors in his office on a regular basis, the calls for his impeachment began to grow. Although the origins of the surveillance footage, which was posted to the RepublicLeaks web site, is currently unknown, it has been confirmed beyond any doubt that the footage is authentic. Despite clear video evidence to the contrary, Mr. Schiavone continued to stubbornly deny that he had carried out a sordid affair in his office.

As Garland Begin and other members of the President's own party called for his removal from office, the President still denied all wrongdoing. On multiple occasions, President Schiavone's current secretary, presumably with his permission, referred to these irrefutable facts as "ridiculous allegations." It got to a point where the President lost all of his credibility, but he remained defiant until the end.

The impeachment debate lasted for 12 hours on Friday. A special Saturday session of the Assembly would be held so that the debate could continue. At 11:17 PM on Saturday night, the Amolotopian Assembly finally voted on the articles of impeachment against the President of their Republic. In the end, the parties split over impeachment. It has always been controversial in our Federation to remove a legitimately elected executive from office and even most members of the opposition parties would prefer not to overturn that precedent.

In the end, the majority of the Assembly determined that the President's behavior was egregious enough to justify his removal from office. Under Amolotopia's mixed-member proportional system, it is unusual for any party to control a majority of the Assembly. The CPP had been governing Amolotopia with control of just 255 seats in the Assembly. Provided none of their members defected, it was usually possible to find the 46 opposition votes necessary to pass legislation. It certainly helped that the Holy Party controlled 25 of those seats. All it took to pass legislation was convincing a handful of Conservatives, Progressives or Party for National Greatness Assemblymen to go along. There were even a handful of independents who could occasionally be convinced to vote with the government.

In the end, the CPP split virtually down the middle over impeachment, with a slim majority of 130 CPP Assemblymen voting to remove a sitting CPP President from office. Garland Begin was very vocally in favor of removing the President while Nicholas Kerr was the most outspoken CPP Assemblyman in opposition. Kerr thundered from the Assembly floor, "While President Schiavone has made some mistakes, he is still the legitimately elected President of our Republic. Unfortunately, oral sodomy is not yet illegal under the laws of Amolotopia, so he has committed no crimes. Instead of removing our President from office, let us censure him instead. I have spoken to the President's wife. She has assured me that her husband has apologized to her for his wrongdoing and that he told her firmly and sincerely that he will not do anything of the sort ever again. Did not our Lord and Savior Himself say that he who is without sin shall be the first to throw a stone?" Outraged, Mr. Begin replied, "I wish to advise my colleague Mr. Kerr that our Lord and Savior did not intend for those words to apply to those who knowingly and willfully commit serious sins. President Schiavone knows as well as anybody that oral sodomy, indeed any form of sodomy, is an abomination to God. Sodomy was the very sin that motivated our Creator to rain down fire from the sky on the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. The President is not some immature teenager that made a mistake. He is a man who knows better, as he shows by his defiant refusal to admit that he made any such mistake! I would suggest that Mr. Kerr cares more for political expediency than he does for ensuring that our leaders are of high moral character." Mr. Kerr would angrily deny that accusation, but given that a majority of the Assembly must appoint an interim President, it rang true for most.

The members of the opposition parties were mostly divided over whether they should vote for impeachment or not. While the Holy Party was united in its support for impeachment of a "wicked" President, the rest of the parties were not so united. The members mostly weighed several factors in determining their vote. There was a general perception that President Schiavone was a hypocrite. There was also their reluctance to break with precedent. Lastly, there was the fact that the President had done nothing illegal and that few people would object if a politician from a mainstream party were caught doing such things. Indeed, few people had objected just a few years earlier when an Assemblyman from the Moderate Movement, the local affiliate of the Coalition of Moderates, had been caught sending pornographic text messages of himself to 16-year-old girls. Since the age of consent in Amolotopia was 13 at the time and since our Federation has a very sex-positive culture, few people had objected. Most of the objections had been from the religious extremists and feminists that normal people regard as crazy and prudish, so nobody took them seriously. Now, they were voting to remove a legitimately elected President for having consensual oral sex with his secretaries, all of whom were in their mid-20s to mid-30s.

In the end, the opposition parties, excluding the Holy Party, voted 206 to 115 in favor of the proposal. President Schiavone was impeached. Several opposition Assemblymen, speaking on condition of anonymity, told me that they made their final decision because they wanted to remove President Schiavone and replace him with a non-theocratic President. With 301 votes required to elect a President and with theocratic parties controlling 280 seats in the Assembly, that meant that a new non-theocratic President would have to be acceptable to a grand coalition of all non-theocratic parties. President Schiavone refused to comment on "the coup" when I called him up and requested his thoughts on the impeachment.

The Amolotopian Assembly will begin work Monday on the process of electing an interim President. Until they do so, it will be impossible for any legislation to be enacted. With nearly 3 years remaining until the next Presidential election, the Assembly would be unable to do any governing at all unless 301 Assemblymen can agree on an interim President. An Assembly election will be held next year, so if the Assembly deadlocks, the voters will have an opportunity to replace them next year. Presumably, it would be in the interests of all parties to see that an interim President is chosen promptly. When the President of Roxawa died in office several decades ago and their Assembly deadlocked for nearly a year leading into the mid-term election, the furious Roxawan electorate voted in droves for minor parties and joke parties at that mid-term election. If the major Amolotopian parties wish to remain in the Assembly, they would be well advised to compromise, if necessary, in order to get the Amolotopian government going again.

Alexander Ehrlichmann is News Magazine's newest political campaign correspondent. As long as he can remember, Alexander has been fascinated by the news. As a boy, he insisted that his parents subscribe to News Magazine because he wanted to know what was happening in the world. In high school, Alexander started his own school newspaper, independent of his high school, which reported on serious issues that the school's approved newspaper would not touch. Attending the University of Amoltopia, Baseton campus, Alexander majored in journalism and graduated at the top of his class. He was hired by News Magazine straight out of college last year to report on the news in his home Republic of Amolotopia. After impressing the editor, he was recently assigned to cover the Consul election campaign.

[The Licentian Isles]

Some lads think they’re right hard, don’t they ?? They think it makes them look tough to come up to a group of lads having a drink before the game, and kick seven bells out of them. Wankers.

We’d headed to a pub in Spit, just down the road from the Tricorn. It wasn’t the one we’d rioted at after the game against the Serbians, just a little place around the corner from the stadium. It was packed out the door, a mix of Licentians and Dagans, having some friendly banter before the game, as we always do. We never cause trouble unless there’s a firm on the other side that wants it. Aside of that, it’s just flares and chants. We aren’t going to fight people who don’t want or expect it. Only cowards do that.

So, we’re sitting in this pub, singing until our throats hurt, the Dagans replying, just having a laugh. Songs about Schwartz, Miller, Dickson, Gibson, and a whole host of others, Cyborg Holland (and hating them), and the classic, Walking Down The Duchy Road. It kind of fitted our situation, the lads trying to get in a fight with someone, sending the rest running, smiles on our faces.

Now, we don’t claim to be the best hooligans in the world. We’re good, yeah, but we aren’t the top dogs. Neither are the Mytanars though. They seem to go around claiming that they are, without proving it to anyone, and expected people to lick their arses. In my opinion, you have to prove yourself by fighting, not by some kind of reputation. Which, by the way, is bullshit. The last time I heard about the Mytanars in a fight, they had their arses handed to them by the Blockheads. There’s no obligation to meet another group, especially if they haven’t called you out.

Anyway, some Mytanar group appeared at this pub. We weren’t entirely sure why they had at first; they were playing Darmen in Pompeii that evening, so they were a long way from their game. One of them shouted at my mate, who was discussing something, so he ignored it. Me and a few others looked over, and there were about sixty of them, all looking aggressive. That’s when we knew something was up. The lad who had shouted at my mate spoke to the group.

“Let’s turn them over lads.”

Suddenly, they charged in. The majority didn’t really know what was going on, but me and my mates stood up and prepared; we knew what was going down. The Mytanars charged over to the group that was still in their seats first, with the majority avoiding us. We had to go to them, and we did. The few that were unfortunate enough to end up against us had the shit kicked out of them.

We skipped the game against Cassadaigua, to make sure the rest of the lads were alright. See, while there were ten of us that probably did deserve that, the rest of the guys there in that pub weren’t hools. They had never been in a proper fight before. They got beaten up for being in the wrong place, at the wrong time. They burned a flag that they nicked from us, at their game against Darmen in Pompeii, and they clearly thought that made them look big and hard. No. Now, the rest of the world knows that they beat up a bunch of innocents for singing terrace chants and wearing Licentian shirts.

So, this is a message for all you Mytanar hools who came down to Spit today. You fucking cowards. You want a fight, get in touch, and we’re perfectly happy to beat seven bells out of you. Don’t get innocent fans involved. Next time, organise it. Like I’m doing right now. You want a fair fight ?? Come down to Despite tonight. Bring a crew. Fight against those of us who want it, not the average fan. Then we’ll see who the hard men are.

Twats.

Yes, my guy is probably twisting the facts a little to have an excuse to call out the Mytanars. Myt, if you do want to carry this on, give me a shout, and we’ll sort it out.

As usual, if anyone else wants to call out my boys, go ahead. They’re spoiling for a fight now, so expect a big one if you do.

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

11:05
In a bus
Between Icke and Spit, Wight

"It was just so... weird..." said Jet Hawk, on the phone with his brother, Anthony, "I... I mean... This wasn't the first time Hokuto made something strange but..."

"I watched the best moments of your match at the hotel's television. Pretty gnarly." replied his brother, currently at the Glorious Commune, playing the Campionato Esportiva VII, "I'm sorry I couldn't catch up with ya, but this place has been utter chaos!"

"I hope you didn't try to make an impression skateboarding with the poor children or something." said Jet, trying to calm down after hearing that, "You know you suck at that."

"Psh, you think that bailing in skateboarding is good! It's Skating, not Hall of Meating." answered Anthony, "But don't worry about me, I don't think the guys here have any vendetta related to us, so... Just do your best, aye? I gotta go train a little, see ya."

"Take care, Tony. Bye." replied Jet, turning the phone off. Ariane Hall, who was sitting next to him, was using her headphones, singing the music that was probably playing, some romantic song from Kitsunia-Deesse.

"Arie, take those headphones off. We both know you weren't listening to any music."

"Sorry... But I'm interested. What did he say about... y'know...?", asked Ariane, pointing to Hokuto, who was meditating at the very end of the bus, "Was he freaked out or something?"

"Well, he said it was pretty amazing. Gnarly, y'know." Jet said, shrugging after saying the "gnarly" part, "Quite honestly, Tony sees things in a pretty nice light."

"Guess he wasn't horrified about... well... a blue-haired chick coming out from thin air." Hall said, remembering of what happened the night before.

---

22:48
South Lawn, Spit

43 minutes of the Second Half - Wight 1 x 0 Northern Sunrise Islands

"Defense, use the laws of physhics in your aid, break their gravity point!" yelled Einstein II to the defense of Northern Sunrise Islands, who was now trying to counter-attack against Wight. He was near the bench, near Cintacurta, Beancouff, the Tsukamaru twins (who were subbed out at the second half by Hawk and Conbi), Mandaloupe, Hall, Mittens, Brennan (subbed out in the second half by McScrewdive), Bebeto, Roma and Michellis.

Hawk was with the ball, deciding then to progress through the middle, with the team following him on their last offensive play of the match, probably. Stooge requesting a pass at the left, McScrewdive finding a way to be available for a pass. That was the moment. Hokuto lifted his right hand up, the weather started to change... turning from the dark night of Wight into a red sky. Suddenly, a strange track started to play, but there was no sign where it came from and whether it wasn't just an illusion and Hawk passed the ball straight away to Hokuto, in the front of the box, in a way that the defenders of Wight could only see the ball reaching the striker's feet.

It was that same move Hawk saw at that concrete pitch, Hokuto lifted his right leg up and kicked it. The girl was back, appearing from the same thin air and lending an even bigger power boost to the impressive shot. The Nordlander, at the goal as a substitute due to how the team of Wight wasn't really worried with the match tried his best, trying to defend the shot, but could only see the ball for a fraction of second as it found the way of the net, making a small curve to the left of the goalie.

Tresavean-Wake was silent, his teammates were silent, the crowd was silent, the broadcasters were silent. All of them mute for instants after such an odd and impressive move. As the girl disappeared in the same manner she appeared, in thin air, Hokuto walked his way slowly to the goalie, without any expression. Hokuto would extend his hand to the goalie, who was still motionless after the shot.

"Omae wa mō shindeiru." said Hokuto as the Nordlander fell down to his knees. Hokuto would then return to his pitch, with no signs of celebration. The rest of the Vaporeons, though, were pretty happy, specially after the astonished ref signed the end of the match and also, thanks to Sicoutimont and Saugeais' result, their qualification.

---

11:22
In a bus
Between Icke and Spit, Wight

"You know, Conbi? We should try to find it who was that girl." said Rosso, seemingly more serious than the usual Casanova he used to be.

"...She was probably just an illusion, Panther." answered Conbi, reading a book, "Or are you going to say something stupid like "She's the prettiest illusion I have ever seen"?"

"Well, now that you mentioned..." grinned Rosso, "Maybe the illusion could use a little of the Panther Swag to be more real."

Conbi facepalmed, saying "I should've expected. Why do I hang out with you?"

[Mizuyuki]

"Welcome to the live coverage of the 3rd matchday of the Di Bradini Cup in Wight! Today, we will be covering Mizuyuki's match against Callumackbar, one which could very well have large ramifications on the qualifiers from Group E."

"Yes, a concise summary indeed. With both of them still in the running for a round of 16 spot, Callumackbar requires a victory to be assured of their progress, while a draw would leave them needing Thatius to beat The Inevitable Syndicate by a whopping eight goals for them to go through. On the hand, Mizuyuki need only to secure a point to be guaranteed qualification; they'll be group runners-up if they draw or win and the Syndicatians achieve a similar result, while they'll win the group outright if the Syndicatians really lose by that much to Thatius."

"A remotely unlikely possibility, I must say."

"Quite so. There's absolutely no chance that the Thatians could overcome a strong TIS outfit by that much. Heck, pigs would fly before they defeat the Syndicatians by eight."

"Looks like the teams are heading onto the pitch for kickoff! The managers are standing in their respective technical areas, and everything seems set for kick - wait a minute. Where's the Callumackbarian manager? Whatsisname Bur-ah something?"

"You make him sound like a foreign terrorist when you pronounce his name like that. It's Wayne Burbrige - Wayne as in W-A-Y-N-E, bur as in the prickly, annoying hell that you get when you scamper through your local miser's fields to pinch some of his produce, and bridge as in hashi."

"Oh, hashi desu ka! Just say that right from the start, baka! LIKE A BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER~"

"Oy, yamero!" No one in their sane minds would want to listen to you warbling over national TV first thing in the morning! Any poor sods who heard that just now must be rushing to their WC to throw up in disgust right about now."

"Ehehe... just having a bit of fun."

"Tonikaku, let's turn our attentions away from these mundane matters and focus on the game at hand. From what I can see up here, it looks like Shirakiin still isn't rotating nor overhauling her starting XI, since the likes of Tsuchimikado, Saten and Izawa are all lining up on the pitch. They're going around shaking hands with the Callumackbarians now."

"Come on now, Shirakiin wouldn't drop the likes of them from the starting XI! Heck, all those players you've just named are the cornerstone of this current squad; she'd just be shooting herself in the foot if she really excluded them. Not to mention the fans back home would probably storm the FA building."

"Now that, right there, is a damn unpleasant sight. Remember what happened last time our fans got on the end of a lamppost?"

"Didn't they bring it down and use it as a battering ram against the FA's doors? Lucky for the highbrows in the FA that the doors were Miria shatterproof grade; they'd have been turned into pancakes if it had been normal glass or something of the sort."

"Oh look, the ball's heading our way, right about NOW!"

"Oh shit! DIVE FOR COVER!"

The ball hits the glass window of the suite and bounces harmlessly back down to the pitch, although it does leave the two commentators with an unpleasant ringing in their ears.

"By Amaterasu, that was certainly a close shave. Thank goodness for shatterproof glass."

"WHO"S THE BUGGER WHO KICKED THAT BALL UP HERE?"

"Erm... I think it was Tsuchimikado mopping up a loose ball in the area. Can't take any chances, can they? Not if they want to stay in the competition!"

"Sou ka? Mikoto-chan nara daijoubu da."

"What's with that 360 degree turn in personality? You looked like you wanted to blow someone up just seconds ago..."

Sakurako sucks in a deep breath while a look of surprise emerges on her face.

"Don't tell me you're a closet Tsuchimikado fangirl?!"

Ruriko slaps a hand to her mouth.

"Shit, wasn't supposed to reveal that particular secret of mine."

Sakurako leans in closer to Ruriko, grinning menacingly.

"Ooh... what do we have here? Perhaps Ruriko here has her room plastered in Tsuchimikado posters? Or maybe she has Nendoroid figures of her lying all around the place? Hmm.... could it be.... that she has a DAKIMAK-"

Sakurako's words are cut off as Ruriko hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth. Muffled sounds come from Sakurako, though they are almost inaudible.

"Stop that! We've on live national TV for Amaterasu's sake! Don't behave like a bloody spoiled child!"

The screen fades to black, followed moments later by ads advertising Yuki Nendoroid figures.

"Now that was the worst choice of commercials I've ever seen during all my living years."

"Anyway, we should be getting back to the pressing matter at hand, which is the coverage of the damn match! Sakurako, I swear by Tsukuyomi that if you ever mention that particular thing in public, I'll smash your head like a ripe watermelon!"

"Uwah, I'm terrified. Come and get me~"

"I'm a kendo practitioner, for your information! And I'm godan! I'll take you out if you do that, and I'm serious!"

Ruriko pulls out a shinai from nowhere and waves it about threateningly before preparing to execute a men strike on Sakurako. Sakurako just looks at her boredly.

"Hai, hai, sou desu ne. Well, looking down on the pitch, it looks like Callumackbar have our lasses under some intense pressure. They're camping in our half, and have been since the start of the game."

Ruriko relaxes, draws a deep breath to calm herself and stashes the shinai somewhere. She then takes her seat.

"Sure seems like it. And nice sidestep there from Price, gets himself past the sliding Saten, passes to Sakoura - whew, we sure got off lucky there. Great dispossessing of the ball by Ishio, but the cracks are already showing in the defence. Will the Nova survive this onslaught?"

"Come on Ruri, don't be such a pessimist. The lasses will be doing their best to win, and if they do get eliminated it's through no fault of their own."

"My thoughts exactly. Oh, Callumackbar have chased the ball down. And it's Price with the ball - a magician, he is - jinks and dinks past yet another sliding tackle by Saten, slips a cute pass to Lukas Shore on the left!"

"Saten is getting skinned way too often by Price today - that's twice he's got past her in as many minutes."

"And it's Shore with a speculative long range effort - OH ****, looks like it's going to squirm into goal past Takanashi!"

"Calm down, Ruriko! It's just hit the post and bounced out!"

"Whew, that certainly was quite the shock. What ARE those buggers doing out there on the pitch anyway - I could have got past that lot, the way they're playing!"

"More like I could've driven the team coach through the holes in their defence just now. No idea why Shore didn't get himself closer to goal or lay the ball off - they'd probably be celebrating a goal now if he'd taken the less selfish option."

"But you have to admit it was a wonderful shot, just a little more to the left and he'd have had the beating of Takanashi."

"True that. Back to the match, and it looks like the Nova have stepped it up a notch or two! A magical interchange of passes between the trio of Tsuchimikado, Izawa and Ishibashi leaves Isshiki clean through on goal - she tries to round the diving goalkeeper - and"

Sakurako facepalms.

"And she falls flat after tripping. On her bootlaces no less."

"That was one of the most farcical shot attempts I have ever seen."

"Well, it certainly topped the time when I saw Shirakiin herself slip on a penalty and smash her face into the pitch."

From below, Shirakiin emerges and shakes her fist furiously at them.

"Oopsie, looks like we're rumbled."

"And... it's time for a commercial break! Stay tuned for more football action after the break!"

"Why are we even having commercial breaks during a live broadcast?"

[Mizuyuki]

"Welcome back, master!"

Ruriko thumps Sakurako on the head with her shinai. Sakurako grabs her head in agony and rocks about on her seat with tears in her eyes.

"This isn't a damn maid cafe, for Amaterasu's sake..."

"Welcome back to our live coverage of Mizuyuki versus Callumackbar! As the game wears on..."

Behind her, Sakurako mumbles, just loudly enough for her words to be heard.

"That's only a difference of one word... and she thumped me for it."

Ruriko pretends not to hear Sakurako's protestations.

"The Nova are really turning on the afterburners now - they've been on top ever since that Lukas Shore effort that clipped the post."

"That must have galvanised 'em real proper. Sometimes you need a shock or two to get teams into gear, and I think that's precisely what happened here."

"Shirakiin did make some tactical switches after that though. She pulled Saten deeper and allowed Ishibashi to roam around in midfield, while Isshiki and Honda dropped slightly deeper. Now the Nova are playing a variant of 4-1-3-2, which is much more solid and compact that the 4-2-3-1 they were using at the start of the match."

"That's done the trick then. Although their offensive capabilities have been weakened in exchange for defensive solidity, I can still see them winning the match with heaps to spare if this dominating trend continues for much longer. It's a surprise that Callumackbar haven't conceded yet - their defence are really being ripped to shreds by our midfielders' wonderful passing and dribbling."

"Yup, have to agree with you there - the Nova have fashioned some amazing chances and openings thus far, and it's only the heroics of Callumackbarian 'keeper, Michael Sands, that's keeping his side in contention."

Both of them turn their swivel chairs towards the pitch, where the game is being played out.

"And the game has just kicked off after the 15 minutes break. I'd imagine that the Nova got a real rollicking from Shirakiin down there, since they've blown countless chances to get their noses in front against this bunch. Callumackbar aren't much of a threat right now; preoccupied as they are with staving off the Nova's repeated assaults on goal, they aren't going to get anywhere near our goal anytime soon."

"Well, to be fair, the Callumackbarians were in the right place at the right time to deny our lasses for each of those chances... it's only a matter of time before we score though. We've got them pinned back in their own half real good, to the extent that they haven't had a shot on goal since that Shore fizzer early in the game."

"And we have action down on the pitch!"

Sakurako gestures hurriedly for Ruriko to turn her attention onto play.

"It's Tsuchimikado on a weaving run that cuts the Callumackbarian defence to ribbons - she dances past Price, Gardner and Delains with a delicate flick and passes - finds Honda in absolutely acres of space down the left flank!"

"Honda darts down the left right to the touchline and curls in a great inswinging cross - gets it near to Izawa, who stretches to get a touch on the ball - and the ball spins just out of her reach and clips the crossbar on its way out for a goal kick."

"Wonderful cross, that; could have been a perfect golazo if only Honda had kept in a wee bit lower."

"I don't think that was her intention at all, more like she accidentally put too much spin on the ball."

---

"We're now into the 55th minute, and Mizuyuki are showing no signs of letting up. They're still going for the Callumackbarian jugular even though a point would probably suffice at this point, given that TIS are winning comfortably against Thatius."

"Have you forgotten that post-match press conference Shirakiin gave after the draw with TIS? From what I've seen of the transcripts, Shirakiin made in clear in no uncertain terms that she would be setting out her teams to win, not to draw, and she hinted that any player who didn't give it their all on the pitch would be given the boot in no time at all."

"Knowing Shirakiin, she probably threatened the team with that humongous hairdryer of hers. Either that, or she's blackmailing the lot of 'em."

"True, her hairdryer treatment is certainly nothing to be sniffed at."

Sakurako looks at Ruriko bemusedly.

"I wasn't talking about Shirakiin's hairdryer treatment, she really has a bloody big hairdryer that looks like it could knock the stuffing out of anyone with a single blow! I've seen her brandishing that thing when I was passing by the FA's offices in Kirayuki; by Tsukuyomi, I wouldn't like to be on the receiving end of that pink monster."

"You're good at pulling my leg, aren't you?"

Sakurako sighs.

"Whenever I'm being serious you think I'm kidding you, and whenever I pull a joke or two you think I'm as serious as the Lord Provost himself. Not that we have a Lord Provost in the Auroral Union, mind."

"Anyway, it's Izawa in control of a dipping pass from the middle of the park by Ishibashi, turns and twists 30 yards from goal and spots the run of the onrushing Saten, nice little through ball there - Saten shapes up to shoot, she pulls the trigger! A despairing dive by Sands, but he just fails to make contact and the ball smashes into the top right corner of the net!"

Sakurako taps Ruriko lightly on the shoulder.

"All of which can be summed up into one short word - GOAL!"

Sakurako takes a sip of a bottle of mineral water.

"Stop it with the damn purple prose already. This is a football match, not an opera at your favourite theater, Ruri."

Ruriko glares daggers at Sakurako.

"You didn't even apply the phrase correctly, you baka."

---

"We're approaching the end of the game now, and no letting up from Shirakiin's lasses out there - it's been barrage after barrage of cannonballs fired at the embattled Callumackbarians."

"Fire in the hole! Another smashing rocket by Saten - this time Sands does get a fingertip to it and deflect it wide. Great 'keeper that - I must recommend my local team to commence negotiations for him soon."

Sakurako chokes on some water and proceeds to cough loudly, while Ruriko thumps her back vigorously. She recovers after a couple of minutes of racking coughs.

"In what capacity exactly are you advising your local team?"

"As global advisor, of course! Although I'm not exactly as good as whatsisface Singh down in Mizunaga, I'm certainly a hell of a sight better at my job than those armchair managers in our domestic league."

"I have a feeling you just might be breaking the fourth wall there."

"Sure that Singh might have signed a few stinkbombs, but he's my idol simply because he's keeping hold of his job! And even after coming out with those farcical comments last weekend - what was it again? Calling a player of his by the name kebab?"

"Seems to be a hardy barnacle, that Singh. Going by the standards in the Auroral Union, he'd have been sacked entirely ages ago."

"That's the dadblamed point. His team aren't run by Mizuyuki-jin, though they are represented by one of our local firms."

Sakurako gets up and holds an imaginary microphone in front of Ruriko while pretending to be a professional journalist interviewing her.

"By the way, what are you planning to offer for Scott? Care to run a figure past us, advisor Ruriko?"

Ruriko whips on a pair of trendy designer spectacles and clears her throat a few times before replying.

"I cannot confirm our interest in Scott at this moment in time; as of now, he is not a player of our team and it would be irresponsible of me to discuss players registered with other teams. However, we are looking at several alternatives at goalkeeper, and we are interested in signing a suitable replacement to our current 'keeper, who is 80 years old and suffers from a serious case of arthritis."

"Don't dodge the question, advisor. What is the sum; I repeat, what is the sum?"

Ruriko sighs while adjusting her spectacles.

"If you're so insistent I can let you know. Off the record, mind. We're putting in a club record bid for him and also hope to make him the highest paid player in our club's history. To that end, we will be lodging an official bid of fifteen slabs of my mother's home cooked steak as well as a couple of Tsuchimikado posters that are currently in my possession. I don't mind; my mother's steak is atrocious, and those Tsuchimikado posters are way out of date."

Sakurako drops all pretense of being a journalist and bursts into a fit of laughter.

"Your local club sure is a miser! Fifteen slabs of that shit your mother cooks... heck, they'd probably want you to take it off their hands if anything! And as for the Tsuchimikado posters, frankly you'd get a better market right in Kirayuki compared in Callumackbar!"

Her words go unheeded by Ruriko, who is once again focusing on the game.

"Excellent shot on the turn by Izawa there, safely deflected out for a corner kick by Jordan Murray. Scott's thanking his stars that didn't make it past Murray, it was a blistering shot that would probably have left him with no chance at all."

"A corner kick for the Nova - Tsuchimikado will take. There's plenty jostling about in the penalty area as players try to get into position -"

"OY REF! ARE YOU NO' WEARIN' YER SPECS? PERHAPS YOU LEFT 'EM IN YER OLD FOLKS HOME? SHOULD AH LEND YOU MAH CONTACTS?"

"I must say, that's a remarkably accurate Scottish accent, though heaven knows where you acquired it."

"Anyway, Tsuchimikado runs up to the ball - gives it a bit of bend - the ball sails into the area - and Ishio outmuscles Murray - gets on the end of it! Scott is rooted to the spot - clearly didn't see that coming - GOAL FOR THE NOVA!"

"Now you're sounding like an old geezer reminiscing about games in the 1950s with his mates at the bar."

"Shut it, Sakurako, or I'll have to knock you out with my shinai."

---

[Polar Islandstates]

Martin Feldbaek puffed his cheeks out and hit toes in pursuit of the figure in the orange bib that just flew past him. No surprises in that it was Moses Luc Bjerregaard. The young right back pulled around Dall and deftly slotted into the training goal. Feldbaek jogged to a stop, and put his hands on his knees, exhausted by the short sprint. He looked at his fellow centre-back, Torsten Navarro, and was pleased to a certain extent to see Navarro in a similar state. What good was an extra four years of experience if a young seventeen year old was going to make him feel like an old man at the age of just twenty-one?

The team were playing eleven vs eleven on a training pitch with smaller goals. It was an exercise in finding space in a restricted area, and Feldbaek's half of the squad were down three goals. Mainly thanks to that Bjerregaard kid. Four years Feldbaek's junior, he'd stolen the show at the tournament so far, and have saved the skin of his seniors in defence on more than one occasion. He'd even found time to get forwards and provide a goal and an assist. Not bad for a right back. Feldbaek chuckled at this definition despite himself, he was sure the lad was a right winger that happened to be good at defending. He'd scored four goals in that training exercise already, after all, having embarrassed Feldbaek a couple of times with his turn of pace and dazzling control. Still, a defender he was, and one good enough to bump the ordinarily right-back-favouring Vauxhall Jansen onto the left flank where his versatility came in useful.

van Jendrisen started the match up again, and sure enough, it wasn't long before Bjerregaard was on the ball again. Feldbaek noticed that the eyes of all observers seemed to be solely on the young full-back. He felt a pang of jealousy. He'd loved playing for Aleutia, but they were now in the second tier, and if he ever wanted to compete for places in the senior squad he was going to need to play in the UICA-competitive teams. He needed to be in the shop window, not Bjerregaard.

Running towards him, Bjerregaard played a one-two with Oslograd, before dummying a pass to Seger and running through towards Feldbaek. One step-over, two step-overs, three step-overs, Bjerregaard's hips jinked and twisted as he tried to make Feldbaek commit. The u-21s stood his ground however, and Bjerrgaard ran out of time. He turned to run past the central defender, but forgot to take the ball with him. Feldbaek stood tall, and put his foot on the ball as Bjerregaard landed in an embarrassed heap behind him.

"Nice try, kidda," said Feldbaek with a smirk, "but you'll have to do better than that."

Looks like those extra four years did count for something after all.

[Pasarga]

"Well a victory over Groteberg was nice... but now we have the Polarians in our next match. Not too keen on that being a great reward for winning our group, the Polarians are a hefty force. Their senior team was just in the World Cup Final don't you know."

"Yeah, but the point of this DBC for us was to try and get part of the team playing overseas. We've gotten a bit of that already, what with Holtzmann, Kakuta, and Correia all heading off to Astograth once the DBC is concluded. There's also been scouts from Valladares poking about our matches. So maybe we lose to the Polarians in the next match, but at least we've accomplished our goals."

"Such lofty standards, merely get to the knockouts and get a few of us overseas. The goals of champions."

"It's a step by step process you know. Torgos was not built in a day, you have to set the foundation in order to get the results you want later. It takes hard work and dedication, not meant for those who lack the patience or work ethic to see things through."

"I just think we should be aiming higher than what we do. Look at squads like Starblaydia, Valanora, and The Holy Empire. They head into each World Cup thinking they are going to be contending for the title, while we're merely happy in making the FInals. Here we get a sense of accomplishment with just making it out of what was a reasonably easy group to navigate. Where's the ambition?"

"The ambition is there, why do you think Hernandez is trying to get us overseas? The Liga is not a beacon of club prowess and we need to move abroad to truly hone our skills. All that we need is some patience and in a cycle or two it could be us that turn into the next Wight. Patience is a virtue that is duly rewarded. Have faith."

[Farfadillis]

Both teams entered the pitch, the Farves and the Polarians. Both were already qualified, but there was no doubt in anyone's mind that topping the group would be very convenient. Polar Islandstates and Farfadillis had won both games up to then, and both teams were the more renowned internationally of the group, with the former being much more famous. However, this was the U-21s, and anything could happen.

The captains shook hands and the Farves won the coin flip, so they'd kick-off in the first half. On one side, the Chicks and their incredibly boring playing style, on the other, the Greenflies and their fun but a bit too risky playing style. The match promised to be among the best of the competition, even though both teams had won by small differences the previous matches. Finally, the referee blew the whistle, Rossi passed the ball to Morsón and so the game began.

It was a rather entertaining match for the first twenty minutes, with Farfadillis getting closer to the Polarian goal than their opponents, but without any goals. Alaminos was the most worrying player for the Polarians during the first twenty minutes, constantly dribbling down the right flank, even humiliating Jansen and Jaatinen at times. His crosses were usually found by Rossi's head, sometimes Morsón's, but the Greenflies still couldn't score. It would take them almost exactly half an hour to score.

Karkka got the ball from Alaminos at the edge of the box. Alaminos kept on running, which instantly gave the part-Hujukian the idea of connecting a through pass between Feldbaek and Jansen. He did and the ball just barely made it between the two. It then arrived at Alaminos' feet. He then dribbled Nilsson, who was rushing towards him in a desperate attempt to prevent a goal, and got to the penalty spot with the ball at his own mercy and just the goalkeeper left, but with both Bjerregaard and Feldbaek bothering him. However, he was good enough at physical battles for the ball to make the Polarians' attempts futile. He then chipped the ball, and Rzatkowski couldn't help but watch the ball go in. Now Farfadillis held the lead and they deserved it.

The goal didn't seem to change the Chicks' attitude though, as they continued to play their ever-so-boring football and try to cope with the Farf ever-so-risky attacks. They did get some good chances, but none of them was really dangerous until the forty-second minute, in which they got to equalize.

Sendero lost the ball to Konigstein, which triggered a swift counterattack from the Polarians. As the Farves rushed towards the goal to prevent any attempt to score, Konigstein sent a long aerial pass to Larsen, who chested the ball and dribbled Fakkotti. He was then challenged by Faró, but Larsen managed to dribble him by using his strength rather than his skill. He then sent a through pass to Oslograd, who managed to stop the ball at the edge of the box. He then dribbled Alaminos, who was rushing towards him to prevent the imminent one-on-one, and bent the ball towards Rigutti's left post. The Polarians had now equalized when the first half was about to finish, maybe without much merit, but they had. The counterattack had been very precise, and it showed that the Polarians were an ever-so-dangerous team at that.

What made matters worse was that Farfadillis was a team known for being weak to conuterattacks, so they were, from that moment on, at constant risk of a checkmate. However, the Polarians were also at constant risk of a checkmate, as Farfadillis' attack is arguably one of the most overwhelming around, and not even the excellent Polarian defense was safe of it.

Not much would happen before half time, with both teams trying hard for another goal but none getting it. No substitutions were foreseeable, and indeed there were none.

The second half started with the Polarians playing better football, and the Farves having to cope with the now confident opponents. However, the period in which Farfadillis would be dominated by the Chicks wouldn't last much, as a smart substitution would turn the tables. Rossizzo would risk the team's well-being by replacing Yülàáê Mî, starter for the senior national team, with Risko Kâí, the promising youngling who was obviously not expecting it. This caused an incredible twist in the way the game was being played, as now Risko and Alaminos were constant threats on the left flank who combined perfectly to cause headaches to the entire Polarian defense. It was now the Polarians who couldn't control the game, and Farfadillis looked like the obvious candidate to take the three points now.

It would only take the Greenflies fifteen minutes after Risko replaced Mî to score again. In the seventy-second minute, Alaminos dribbled Konigstein and passed the ball to Kâí. Kâí, knowing that Alaminos would try to sneak behind Jansen's back, decided to head towards the edge of the box, where Feldbaek was waiting for him, he then attempt to dribble him but, instead, heeled the ball towards Alaminos, who had managed to evade Jansen in the process. Alaminos then tried to stop the ball as quickly as he could, as he was running. The ball took off and ended up in a perfect position for a volley. As an instinct, he attempted the desperate volley with his right foot, attempting to get it to the left post, not really expecting anything as a result. However, the ball bent perfectly towards Rzatkowski's right post, just as intended. The Polarian golakeeper couldn't dive in time, as the shot was very violent and had taken him by surprise. The ball barely avoided hitting the post and crossed the line before dancing around inside the goal. It had been a golazo.

After that, the Farves would not calm down, and Polar Islandstates would, figuratively-speaking, tremble in fear of another goal that would not come. The game would continue wtih Kâí and Alaminos threatening the Polarians, and with Rossi and Morsón playing their cards in that as well, but nothing else would happen, the scoreline would just remain completely still. The Greenflies would top the group and prevent any rubbing of salt in their injuries, even getting a revenge to some extent, got in World Cup 65's opening matchday.

Rossizzo had noticed the obvious, Risko Kâí was worthy of the starting position, maybe even of the real deal, the national team, as well. Alaminos was already looking like a strong candidate for World Cup 66, and Fakkotti was good enough to warrant a place in the national squad too. He also knew the Polarians would have to worry, as none of their players really got to play well, with only Oslograd and Bjerregaard playing decently enough.

[Wight]

.

[Wight]

Round of Sixteen

Farfadillis 5–3 Groteberg
Filopines 0–0 Wight (0–1 AET) Scorinated by The Licentian Isles
Cassadaigua 2–1 Taeshan
Sangti 1–0 Mizuyuki
The Inevitable Syndicate 0–0 Kriegiersien (0–0 AET) (4–2 pen.)
Free Republics 1–1 The Licentian Isles (2–1 AET)
New Sideburn 0–0 Northern Sunrise Islands (0–1 AET)
Pasarga 1–1 Polar Islandstates (1–1 AET) (10–9 pen.)

Quarter-Final Draw

Farfadillis vs. Wight @ South Lawn, Spit
Cassadaigua vs. Sangti @ The Mausoleum, Spit
The Inevitable Syndicate vs. Free Republics @ Tricorn Arena, Spit
Northern Sunrise Islands vs. Pasarga @ Thin Air Stadium, Pompeii

[Kriegiersien]

Schoenwetter Herald


In a ghostly atmosphere Kriegiersien lost in the first Play-Off Round with 4-2 in Penalty Shootout against the Inevitable Syndicate and by that all dreams of the Title were crashed.

The biggest Problem was the scoring still. Coming with 2-1 goals out of the group stage, the Di Bradinis again didn't score or conceived. A good defense, a great goalkeeper, but if you don't score, you can't win.

In the penalty shootout a major flaw showed. All Di'Bradinis shot into the middle. After the second shot the Goalkeeper got it and the game was lost.

"I hope the next generation has more spirit and learns how to shoot", mumbled a tired Felix Quälix on the Press Conference.

[Farfadillis]

(I apologize for the non-sense that this RP-line, if you can call it that, has turned out to be. I'll just go ahead and call it a mysteriously non-sensical failure)

- Who's there? - he said timidly.

- WHO'S THERE!? - he shouted, evidently crazy.

- Nobody... - he heard come from a silent voice.

-What? - he said, breathlessly and quite surprised.

In obvious desperation, he ran towards the door, tackling it. Stainless steel, and yet he had tackled it. This action met no response, however. Depressed and as crazy as ever, he headed back towards where the lizards were. He stepped into the room and looked at them again, the lever which could free them from their four by four metre prison was withing his grasp, and he was crazy enough to do it. Without much thought, he did it. He hadn't realized they were his only source of food, and that he had made a fatal error.

But that wouldn't matter, as the lizards were carnivorous, and very hungry... very hungry.

---

Stepping into the field again, they all could see their next opponents. They had defeated the Polarians already, this team couldn't prove too much of a challenge now. Groteberg was quite the infamous team, after all, they had found it easy to qualify in a difficult group, however. The Grotebergish were walking towards the center of the field just as them, for the traditional meaningless greeting. They could feel their eyes burning because of the terribly designed kits their opponents were wearing.

The game began with the Greenflies dominating the Princes. It even only took them three minutes to score a goal, when Karkka got the ball at the very edge of the box, dribbled Hoshino and shot to the lower-left post. The game had begun with Farfadillis showing they were more than capable of defeating their opponents. The goal had been a very amateur error coming from the Princes' defense (even though amateur now means world champion).

It wouldn't take Groteberg much time to equalize, however, after a very dubious decision by the Wightling referee, Ludo Hotten. The referee had given Groteberg a penalty after Fakkotti took the ball from Wada's feet without any kind of foul. Still, a penlaty it was, and Rigutti couldn't stop Matsuyama's shot, which was actually pretty good. One-one it was now, and Hotten was heading to death if it wasn't because, being Wighling, he probably was already dead and, well, because there were no Farves around there anyway. Who would even consider travelling to Wight anyway, there's a reason why the Farf national team didn't qualify for World Cup 64, and it obviously wans't lack of competence... or maybe it was...

Anyway, it would take Farfadillis thirty minutes of constant attacking to recover the lead, thanks to a fantastic goal scored by Alaminos. He got the ball from Elevado on the right flank and proceeded to dribble Ninomiya. He then found Maruyama coming to stop him, but he dribbled him as well by sending the ball between his legs as if they formed a tunnel. Then he acted as if he was going to shoot and left the goalkeeper, Alexander Bentley, somewhat awkwardly-positioned. He then fulminated him with an incredibly strong shot to the left post, at the exact time in which the referee's clock (if he was even carrying one to start with) hit forty minutes.

Groteberg would, however, equalize rather rightfully just a few minutes later, after a very good counterattack which ended with Matsuyama slotting the ball in after dribbling Rigutti. Just as the ball entered the goal, the referee (if you can call him that) blew the whistle indicating the end of the first half.

The second half began with the Greenflies still controlling the game, and yet again recovering the lead after a free kick by Kâí, who had recently substituted G. Mî. The ball hit the crossbar violently and barely bounced inside the goal, but Ludo Hotten, who hadn't even looked at it, decided to give Farfadillis the goal.

However, Groteberg would equalize with the game almost finishing, in the eightieth minute, after Matsumaya decided to shoot from outside the box, with Elevado having left him all alone due to a tactical mis-hap. The shot bounced once before going in, which greatly confused Rigutti, Now everything looked like it was heading for extra time.

But, instead, Farfadillis got to score again. Rossi got the ball on his flank and dribbled Godai. He then crossed the ball, which found Morsón's head. Morsón then, having jumped higher than Maruyama, headed the ball violently to the right post. As the shot was very close-ranged, very precise and very fast, the goalkeeper couldn't help but watch the ball go in after hitting the post to his left in the exact minute in which everything should've ended: the ninetieth.

The hit was huge for the Princes' morale, as was seen when Kâí, who recently signed for Urbizania Wanderers of Astograth, dribbled three defenders inside the box in the last chance possible, and chipped the ball, ending Groteberg's run for the Di Bradini Cup trophy.

Farfadillis would now have to face one of the toughest opponents out there, being previous world cup champions of pretty much every category, but luckily without one of their main footballing stars, Israel Falcon.

[Free Republics]

The Free Republics had defeated the Licentian Isles after 30 grueling minutes of extra time. The Licentians had been in the lead for most of the game after Aran Millar scored an early goal. On this day, the Licentians were determined and they were ready to face the Republican side. However, Rule Theriault's team kept on pushing forward attempting to get their equalizer. Finally, Faredin Pozenel would break through in the 81st minute, after an assist from Ayub Sandstrom. The match went to extra time tied at 1.

For the better part of extra time, both sides were playing for penalties. At the halftime interval during extra time, Rule Theriault decided to bring in Durante Trevisano, Nikodem Sobczak and Leonid Borodin as substitutes for Bernard Lukic, Arnou Labrecque and Joseph Poole. All of the substitutes are considered better penalty takers than the starters that they replaced. Surprisingly, in the 119th minute, the Republicans would find an opening and Kyle Bolton would put a shot on goal, forcing Nathan Hunter to send it out for a corner. Ayub Sandstrom took the corner and set up a Nikodem Sobczak header. Hunter missed the header by an inch and it went into the back of the net. The Licentian Islands were stunned. They had been eliminated by the Free Republics for the second consecutive Di Bradini Cup.

Meanwhile, the Inevitable Syndicate and Kriegiersien had played to a scoreless draw after extra time. The Syndicate U-21s earned a shot at the same team that had played their senior side to a draw on the final day of qualifying for the previous year's World Cup. After their victory at the Multitudinous Arena in Despite, the Republicans now headed to the Tricorn Arena in Spit to face the Syndicate. They had eliminated the U-21 team of one prospective World Cup co-host and now they sought to defeat another prospective World Cup co-host's U-21 team.

Following their victory against the Licentian Islands, Rule Theriault addressed his team in the locker room.

Rule Theriault - That was much more difficult than we expected. Those Licentians seemed to have figured something out about us, but thanks to Faredin and Nikodem, we're heading to the quarters anyway! Next, we will face that so-called Inevitable Syndicate. This is not the team that we played to a 2-2 draw last year. This is their U-21 team. We are now just 2 wins away from being right back where we were a year ago. We are just 2 wins away from getting back to the finals. There are no talking animals remaining in the Di Bradini Cup this year. But, let's not get ahead of ourselves. Even if we did play the Syndicate's senior team to a draw, we must not underestimate their U-21s. They made it to the quarterfinals of the Di Bradini Cup, just as those Licentians did last year. So far, they are undefeated in the Di Bradini Cup, although they did play Mizuyuki to a draw. Previously, the players on this team won consecutive U-15 World Cups. This side may be fairly young for the Di Bradini Cup, but they are talented and must not be taken lightly.

Rule Theriault went silent to let his message sink in. Kyle Bolton was the first to break the silence.

Kyle Bolton - Coach, we drew the Syndicate's main team. We have nothing to worry about.

Rule Theriault - Kyle, they won consecutive U-15 World Cups.

Kyle Bolton - The only reason they won those World Cups is because we weren't playing in them.

Rule Theriault - That may be the case or it may not be.

Kieran Hancock - Didn't they get eliminated during the Round of 16 at the last U-15 World Cup?

Rule Theriault - I think you may be right, Kieran. Still, winning a competition twice is an impressive feat. Those Sanctii were eliminated from the last World Lacrosse Championships in the Round of 16 and they were probably the best team in that competition.

Marius Christofferson - You watch lacrosse, coach?

Rule Theriault - No, but I read about it in Sporting World.

Joseph Poole - Speaking of Sporting World, why are they syndicating Saintland Press articles in their international sports section now?

Rule Theriault - Sporting World probably doesn't want to hire an international sports reporter and Saintland does participate in many sports.

Faredin Pozenel - Why is there so much footage of the Olympics on Sanctustube and virtually no footage of the Republican Games?

Jens Koch - Remember, you are talking about a Sanctii web site. The Sanctii are obsessed with that Republican Games knockoff currently taking place in Liventia.

Ayub Sandstrom - Why?

Jens Koch - I don't know.

Miroslav Bozek - Coach, is it true that you'll get us each a Saint if we win the Di Bradini Cup this year?

Rule Theriault - That's correct, Miro. I'll also be picking up a copy of the Real Soccer Simulator for each of you.

Miroslav Bozek - The Real Soccer Simulator? That would be an immense help with our preparation.

Kyle Bolton - It definitely would, but I'm more interested in that upcoming wrestling game. I've heard that Nova will be included as a playable character.

Rule Theriault - Nova Hellstrom?

Kyle Bolton - Yes, coach. Even though she just debuted, they're still including her in the game.

Leo Cremonesi - What else would you expect out of RCES and RepublicSoft. They produce software of the highest quality.

Rule Theriault - Massimiliano's U-15s had a chance at a free Saint, but they blew that opportunity.

William Walls - They allowed 52 goals in 10 Beach Cup matches. If I had been the keeper, they would have allowed around half of that.

Rule Theriault - Well, the Sanctii fell short because they couldn't score goals. Seius allowed just 24 goals and they also lost 6 out of 10.

Ausilio Mancini - Didn't they have a starting striker who was mediocre at his peak and has been playing in their domestic league for decades?

Rule Theriault - Yes. Fadius would be a great manager, if only the Sanctii weren't so backward that they still use captains.

Most of the team laughed.

Kyle Bolton - Maybe we should prepare for the Syndicate. If we want to win this thing, we need to make sure that no surprises will await us when we face the Syndicate's team.

Rule Theriault - That's right, Kyle. Everybody, watch the Syndicate's matches tonight. I'm sure they've been uploaded to Sanctustube. Tomorrow, we'll talk about what we learned in practice.

Kyle Bolton - That sounds like a good idea, coach.

Rule Theriault - I'm glad to hear that.

The Republicans were determined to defeat the Syndicate. Anything short of winning the Di Bradini Cup would be considered a disastrous result by everybody associated with the Republican National Team. The only acceptable outcome was to leave Wight as the U-21 World Champions.

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

22:11
At the Lobby Room of the Hotel the Sunrisians were staying at
Pompeii, Wight

The Sunrisians were worried. Louis Brentford, one of the players of the team suddenly have gone missing from the facility of the hotel. No one was exactly sure why or what happened, until they eventually found out a note written with blue ink, mostly curvy lines, that they couldn't figure out who was the owner of said type of writing and thus, the obvious writer.

It said.

Greetings, infidels
You failed the way of the Blur
But justice comes in Miles Per Hour
Of the Bees of Griffin Park
Louis, no more

"I know" said Bebeto, "This is silly in so many levels, but... that could means... Louis is in danger!"

"Well..." pointed Brassmate to the outside, "That could be it."

Outside, there were a small group of Mobians, mostly anthromorphical hedgehogs, with masks covering their heads, while they held Louis Brentford tied by his hands. The moon in the sky made it more clearer, nationalists of the Mobian Nations were, once again, recalling their rivalry with Northern Sunrise Islands, even if this meant going to Wight for nothing else, aside for doing damage. But then, something completely different happened.

As the moon reflected on the eyes of Brentford, he started to change. Quickly, Brentford was no longer a human, but... a creature with strong claws, expandable arms, spikes on the top of both feet. His skin, once caucasian, was now covered fully by a dark-blue/purple-ish fur. He howled, breaking free from the ropes that tied him. Almost all of the members of the group there fled, aside from one of them, who was too busy taunting the rest of the Sunrisians that could see him.

The Werehog

The Werehog then grabbed the remaining Mobian by his neck, now looking at him with his full bloodlust targeted.

"Now... Let's see if Mobians have good, tasty blood..." said the Werehog, with a pretty distorted voice, "You'll be the best dinner I had in years!"

"Not so fast...", said Hokuto, arriving in the scene with a girl that resembled the girl from his kick, but... different in many ways. The roller-blading lady managed to quickly knock down the Werehog, free the Mobian and take a strange medallion out of Brentford with her sword, making him instantly return to his normal form. With a nice grin, she helped Brentford get up, while the Mobian fled from the scene like the others.

The Roller-Blader

The rest of the players rushedly came to help. Their instincts were to ask her who she was, but she fled as quick as she appeared.

"...Who the hell was her? Hokuto, answer!" yelled Dave Stooge.

"...I think it's time." answered Hokuto, slowly moving to the hotel. "Maybe you should go pick something to drink, it'll be quite long and it's pretty cold here."

[Sangti]

The team had 90 percent of their budget remaining. The ten percent have already gone to food, lodging, and travel expenses from Tricorn Arena to The Mausoleum, where they stayed since Matchday Two of the Di Bradini Cup.

"The logistics guy was smart to place our base near The Mausoleum rather than the Tricorn Arena." Alberto said. "Well lads, if we have a significant budget remaining, we can still go places, shop for souvenirs and stuff. That's if we progress all the way to the final."

The statement made by Alberto produced a unanimous ovation from the squad. The players after all did a good job defeating Mizuyuki 1-0, courtesy of an Elden Castro goal from Tristan Isip, and it looked like the combination that produced Castro's five goals last edition. The pair could have added more goals if not only for great defending from the Mizuyuki players. They face Cassadaigua next, after beating Taeshan 2-1 at the Tricorn Arena.

But Alberto and the team cannot relax just yet, despite the fact that Alberto will keep his managerial job safe, but it is a Sangtian practice to keep going despite reaching the minimum expectations. While they are on a practice pitch preparing against Erica Lambert and her Cassadaiguan team, something came up Alberto's mind, but he is very unsure if he can even consider it fair. In the end, he did not teach the players this sneaky and nasty tactic, and that tactic is called groping.

When the team went back to the lodging, they saw several Cassadaiguans (they noticed it because of the replica uniforms some women wore) walking, carrying boxes of apples. Then they overheard their conversation. "If those dorks attempt to harass or grope our players, then apples will rain the pitch!" "Yes, being an all-male team, we can forsee what will happen to the match tomorrow."

"That's scary." Tristan said.

"You have been warned, lads. Do not do anything stupid out there, play your hearts out, but not to the point that apples will be thrown at you." Alberto said, with a nasty little grin in his smile.

"Yes sir." The team unanonimously said.

OOC: TG me if there are problems in this plot. I'll edit accordingly any violation that you may point out.

[Wight]

.

[The Inevitable Syndicate]

GhoulBlasters
An invisible man, sleeping in your bed... Nope, can't help you with that one.

---

After receiving a handsome sum of money from Cat5away after beating up his home ghoul, the Ghoulblasters were ready to make their way to Wight. However, as they got to Fligsive International, Steve got a call on his EyeGlass.

"Hello, is this the Ghoulblasters?" said the voice on the other end.

"Well, it's certainly one of them. What can I do for you, sir?"

"My name is Alex Gardiner-Stewart," said Alex Gardiner-Stewart. "I saw a couple of people from the Syndicate post about you on Blatter, and how you dealt with the spirit in that apartment."

"Indeed, we are the best at what we do, so it's expected you've heard of us, Mr. Gardiner-Stewart." Benson replied, "But what does a man like you want with our services? From what I've heard, you don't want much contact with the spiritual plane nowadays..."

"Well, you'd be right there, but I've been receiving some complaints recently. The brief is, simply put: the ghost of my pilot mother is haunting the residents of St. Thomas' Cove. Think you can send her on to the other side?"

"We were just headed to Wight, but I guess we can come and have a look. It won't be cheap, though, but I'm sure a man like you can afford our unique services...."

Benson hung up, and turned to face the other two members of the group.

"Well, boys, looks like we're not going to Wight! We're headed for the Licentian Isles!"

"Why are we going there? That's not even in the region!" said Busby, giving Steve a cold stare.

"It's complicated. I'll tell you on the plane."

The three arrived, some hours later, at St. Thomas' Cove, with all of the ghoulblasting kit they need, even their signed Eiger photo just in case. Meeting them at the local bar was Gardiner-Stewart himself, who was locked in conversation with a local football fan. The trio entered the bar, in full garb, and received many odd looks from the locals.

Dex cleared his throat. "Do not be alarmed! We're here to sort your ghost problem!"

Benson slapped Dex on the back. "We need to be more covert. People might get scared. There's Alex - we'll brief him on our plan."

The trio sat by the footballer, and discussed their strategy. The basic plan was to go down to the cove where Alex's mother had crashed her RLAF plane all those years ago, and try and force a connection through a couple of realms - maybe even some Ko-orenite football stadiums, in order to open up the way for Ms. Gardiner-Stewart to enter the next plane. She was bound to show up if they gave her a free pass. The only quirky part of the plan was that Alex had to wear lots of Christmas lights, as these are known to increase the magnetivity of local EEK energies. He'd be lit up, and she'd come for him.

On the beach in the dead of night, Busby was tangling the Licentian up with the lights, and Dex was rifling through the suitcase they'd bought with them to look for something that could accurately locate the spiritual plane, and allow the trapper to act as a gateway to it.

"Mike, do you still have that radio we got from cat5away's apartment?" Dex asked.

"Yeah, it's in the top pocket. Why?"

"We can use it, as it's drenched in EEK. It'd be the perfect catalyst for the trapper." Dex replied, as he ripped the speaker cone out of the broken radio, and sloppily wired it to a port on the trapper. "Steve, have you got that record player?"

"And the record, Dex. However, I still don't see how playing "Starblaydia" by Blokes on the Job is going to help!"

Dex looked at Benson. "Have you heard the lyrics to that song? The second line is 'On a darkened road, this looks quite spooky...'. The ghosts love that stuff."

After deliberating what kit to use, the team finally finished their preparations. Alex was lit up like a Christmas tree, the trapper was now a gateway to another dimension, and the record player was finally willing to play a whole song without skipping.

"Right, are you ready?" asked Mike, finger poised over the two main switches.

"We're good to go. You, Alex?"

"I'm ready."

"Alrighty then! Let's do it!"

The first few bars of the chintzy 80's song began to play, and the murky green portal that was suspended above the trapper began to pulsate and swirl.

Travelling in a beat up Synclair,
On a darkened road, this looks quite spooky...
I met a strange person, he made me nervous,
He passed through me and left me breathless,
And he said...

Do you come from Starblaydia?
Where Simeone had his career...

Suddenly, there was a distortion on the beach, not one caused by the portal. The figure of a woman began to form.

Dex smiled. "See, I told you they love it!"

The ghost of Alex's mother looked directly at her son. She mouthed something, but Alex couldn't hear it. He looked over at the Ghoulblasters. "What's she saying?"

Busby clapped his hands and rummaged through the case. "Here," he said, chucking some tatty ear warmers to the Licentian. "put them on."

Alex did so, and he heard the faint, ghostly echo of his mother's voice.

"Alex, is that you?"

"Yes, mum, it's me. I've come to see you properly - at last."

"Oh, it's wonderful to see you. I was hoping this would happen sooner rather than later. You see, life is very boring as a ghost..."

"I've heard, mum."

"Of course, you died too, didn't you? Plane crash, as well. Ah, how nice of you to follow in my footsteps. Same spot, too."

Alex stifled his tears. "You're... You're okay with it all, then?"

"Of course not. I'd do anything to be back in the mortal world, with you, my son, but being a ghost does give you time to come to terms with your death. However, it seems your friends have opened up a gateway to the next world. I hope it's for me..."

"It is, mum, if you want it. If you want to go..."

"Well, I've had enough time here as a ghost, haven't I? Besides, you could always get on the phone to one of those blokes in Wight - they might be able to sail you over if you want. Someone like you is bound to have some leverage, right?"

"I guess. I just... I've always had so many things I wanted to say to you, and now that you're here, I can't think of anything..." Alex sighed.

"Well, I'll talk at you, then, son. I want you to know that I am immensely proud of you. You were, and still are, the best damn goalkeeper the cyan-and-gold have ever seen. You've taken that team to new heights, and you're not done yet. Not even a plane could stop you!"

"Thanks, mum. I guess this is it, then?"

"This is it. But like I said, talk to the blokes in Wight, they could probably sort something out."

"I.... I love you, mum."

"I know, son. And I love you too. So very much. And your brother. Don't forget him. Now... Goodbye."

Alex began to burst into tears. "Goodbye, mum..."

And with that, Alex's mother's ghost stepped into the portal, and was whisked away in a flash. The trapper beeped a green light to signify that something had passed through. Benson went up to Alex, removed his earmuffs, and put an arm around his shoulder.

"It's alright, mate. She's in a better place. You've been there, right? You know exactly how it is!"

Alex looked at Benson. "You're right. She's happier now, at least. Thanks, you guys. I... I appreciate it."

Dex bounced over to the two. "And we would too, if you paid for us to get to Wight!"

Benson and Busby shot a stare at Dex, who slunk back to the suitcase. Moments like this really weren't his strong suit.

[Wight]

Quarter-Finals

Farfadillis 1-0 Wight Scorinated by The Licentian Isles
Cassadaigua 3–3 Sangti (4–3 AET)
The Inevitable Syndicate 1–1 Free Republics (1–3 AET)
Northern Sunrise Islands 1–0 Pasarga

Semi-Final Draw

Farfadillis vs. Cassadaigua @ Multitudinous Arena, Despite
Free Republics vs. Northern Sunrise Islands @ The Canvasdome, Icke

[Free Republics]

For the second consecutive match, the Free Republics ended up playing a grueling 30 minutes of extra time and, for the second consecutive match, the Free Republics had prevailed in extra time. Today, the Free Republics got out to the early lead as Jens Koch set up a Leo Cremonesi goal in the 11th minute. At that moment, Rule Theriault, Kyle Bolton and everybody that was part of the Republican team was relieved. They were certain that Marius Christofferson would hold onto the lead and they would be heading to the semis.

However, the Syndicate did not just lay down after giving up an early goal. Instead, they kept fighting and setting up goal scoring opportunities. On this day, the Syndicate would dominate the time of possession for most of regulation. As the second half wore on and on, the Republicans were increasingly exhausted, especially after playing 120 minutes against the Licentian Isles just 2 days prior. It seemed inevitable that the Syndicate would equalize and they finally did in the 83rd minute. Phoebe Wood played a perfect pass to Rhys West and West put it off of the hands of Christofferson and into the back of the net. The Syndicate had tied the match at 1.

Rule Theriault saw that his team was fading and decided to use his 3 substitutions as the second half came to a close. Bernard Lukic and Ayub Sandstrom were especially exhausted after running up and down the pitch for 90 minutes, so Theriault replaced them with Durante Trevisano and Leonti Ulyanov. For his final substitution, Theriault made a bold decision. He pulled Jens Koch and brought in Koby Theodore. The youthful Theodore, a backup striker, would play at attacking midfielder during extra time.

The Republicans came out for extra time with the fresher team in the midfield. The Syndicate had already used 2 of their substitutions earlier in the match, so even their substitutes had already been in the match for 20-30 minutes. Getting the ball first in the first half of extra time, Rule Theriault's side went on the attack immediately. Upon reaching the scoring area, Koby Theodore passed to Kyle Bolton and the captain returned the pass to Theodore. Theodore took his shot and hoped for the best...

The seconds that followed felt like minutes. Terry Scott, the Syndicate's keeper, had been caught off guard. Theodore's shot sailed into the back of the net. The Republicans began celebrating, as if they had won the match, even though over 28 minutes, plus stoppages, remained in extra time.

This celebration would prove premature, as the match quickly settled down into a familiar pattern. The defensive-minded Syndicate were once again forced out of their element, but they furiously went on the attack, looking for an equalizer. The Republican defense was utterly exhausted by this point, so Trevisano and Ulyanov were back helping in defense. Despite their efforts, Christofferson still had to save a half-dozen shots on goal, in the first half of extra time. The Republican side was relieved when the midway point of extra time arrived.

After getting a breather on the sidelines, both sides returned to the pitch for the second half of extra time. The Republicans once again spent most of their time defending in their own end. However, time was winding down in the match and the Syndicate could still not find that second equalizer. As the clock reached the 120th minute and Christofferson knocked a Syndicate shot out for a corner, a desperate Syndicate brought their keeper forward as an extra attacker. Douglas Swire took the corner for the Syndicate. The corner was in the air. A number of players from both sides leaped to get to it, but it was Miroslav Bozek who got his head onto the ball. Miro headed it back toward midfield. Koby Theodore and Juliet Watson began a footrace for the ball.

Theodore would get there first. He continued running, with the ball, toward the empty net. The Syndicate had nobody back to defend and there was no chance that they would catch Theodore. The Republican striker kept running toward the Syndicate's net. Finally, he was within range of the net. Instead of taking a shot, he slowed down slightly and came to a stop right as he dribbled the ball across the line and into the net. The Free Republics was up 3 goals to 1 and there was now literally no chance of a Syndicate comeback.

After a couple of pointless minutes of stoppage time, the referee blew his whistle. The Free Republics had once again been victorious in extra time. They soon discovered that the Northern Sunrise Islands had defeated Pasarga 1 goal to nil, which meant that they would be facing the Esportivan nation in the semis. The winner of that match would earn a trip to the finals to face either Cassadaigua or Farfadillis. Rule Theriault addressed his team after the match:

Rule Theriault - That's 5 matches down and 2 to go. We are now a win away from getting back to where we were a year ago. We are now a win away from another shot at the Di Bradini Cup, a Cup that was denied to us last year. We have the Northern Sunrise Islands next. Then, regardless of the outcome, we will face either Cassadaigua or Farfadillis. I have a feeling that our opponent in the finals will be Cassadaigua. It seems that I lit a fire under them when I commented on their opinion that winning matches is unimportant. But, we must not look ahead. Our next opponent is the Northern Sunrise Islands. This is a team that lost to those stupid ponies in the quarters last time around.

Marius Christofferson - If I'm having to stop a shot every other minute, it is just a matter of time before we start losing matches. The midfield needs to do a better job in possession next time.

Ayub Sandstrom - We were exhausted today.

Rule Theriault - You definitely looked exhausted. We won't be practicing tomorrow. When we get to Icke, we're going to spend our day off relaxing. We've played an extra 60 minutes over our past 2 matches and it wouldn't surprise me if we end up in extra time again.

Kyle Bolton - It seems like this time has been harder for us, so far.

Rule Theriault - Last year, Kyle, we were catching our opponents off-guard. They had never seen us compete internationally before. Now, every opponent we face has scouted us. Just look at the struggles Saintland had last World Cup cycle.

Faredin Pozenel - I wouldn't exactly consider 37 points and a trip to the playoffs to be struggles, coach.

Rule Theriault - But, those Sanctii still had their share of problems last cycle. Nobody takes them lightly any longer, nor does anybody look at us as an easy win.

Jens Koch - But, we always find a way to win.

Rule Theriault - In the world of international sports, you have to do that. If you can't find a way to win matches where you are outplayed, you won't be winning many championships.

Kyle Bolton - Why can't we just outplay all of our opponents?

Rule Theriault - Kyle, you should know by now that it doesn't work that way. Valanora and Starblaydia have won 5 World Cups each. Aguazul won 4 out of 6.

Porvaldur Hinriksson - Aguazul? I've never heard of them.

Rule Theriault - They seem to have disappeared, just like Sorthern Northland, who won the other 2 World Cups from those years.

Kyle Bolton - Valanora and Starblaydia aren't exactly going deep into World Cups these days.

Rule Theriault - The only constants in international soccer are change and the Holy Empire. We have the talent to win a World Cup.

Marius Christofferson - So do the Sanctii and they haven't even qualified yet.

Rule Theriault - I have a feeling that we'll face them in a World Cup final some day, but for now we need to win the Di Bradini Cup. We have never won an international championship.

Kyle Bolton - This will be our first win.

Rule Theriault - I hope so.

Kyle Bolton - Trust me coach, I guarantee it.

The Republican captain was confident, as the Free Republics were set to face the Northern Sunrise Islands in the semis at the Canvasdome in Icke, Wight. A spot in the finals was on the line, but the stakes were higher for the Free Republics. Anything short of winning the Di Bradini Cup would be considered a disappointment and the pressure only mounted on the Republicans as they got deeper into the tournament...

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

11:15
On a bus on the way to Icke, Wight

"So..." said Stooge, cockily, to a reporter by a cellphone, "I dribbled Globočnik by diving under her legs and basically headed the goal with my head... What? You want to talk with Hokuto? Oh, shut up!"

Stooge finished the call, almost throwing his cellphone out of the bus by a window. Mittens couldn't help but to take a laugh, just watching Stooge's reactions from the seat behind him.

"Dave-kun so cute when jealous!", said her, poking his head continuously, while Stooge was as angry as possible with all that. Some seats behind them, however, a group of strange, unfitting passengers were there, sitting together with Hokuto, chatting with the other players. Among these passengers, there was the roller blade girl from the other night, a little boy who seemed a lot like the Werehog form in which Brentford was at on that same time and other two strangers.

---

23:10 (two days before the match against Pasarga)
At the hotel the Sunrisians were staying at
Pompeii, Wight

"All right, Hokuto." said Stooge, angered among the players of the Sunrisian squad, who were all waiting for Hokuto's explanations about the whole problem that happened an hour before that moment. Hokuto sat in one of the couches of the lobby room, calm.

"Everything started years ago, while I was training Taekwondo with my master." said Hokuto, slowly starting his history, "I got a call from someone who said that he knew about my past. As some of you may know, I don't have a family, aside from the one lady that adopted me years ago and got me a spot at Ajéan JFC, thus turning me slowly in what I am and... I have always been interested by the chance of seeing what my past was."

Hokuto coughed, thus returning to the whole history that brought everything to what it was. "It turns out that I am one of the quintuplets that herd the blood of two special beings that were originated at a hidden lab in Scrap Brain Zone, who fled after finding a chance."

Byrd Jr. whispered to Sato Tsukamaru, "He does know that people herd gens from their parents, right?"

"Maybe he had an infusion too." the young Tsukamaru whispered back, while Hokuto continued his history.

"They weren't easy to be accepted by the common human-kind, even if they looked a lot like them. So they were forced to settle down with the Nekonian villagers of the Western part of Mardi. However, it turns out that all that Eggman did to them, made them stronger. Mother was a shape-shifter, something made able by some sort of soul-bonding with many dead impersonators and Father suddenly was a skilled martial-artist. How the hell did someone as stupid as Eggman managed to pull that and not end with Mobian Nations' independence still bothers me to no end, but, what matters is... they were powerful. And... aside from the fact that they had five children who were left at different orphanages and that's all he could inform."

"We also had a sixth member, our young sister, but... she died in a car crash and now... she is that one girl that appears at Hokuto's kick." said an unknown voice from the back, later revealing itself as the young roller blader from the hour before. The rest of the team was shocked when they saw her suddenly appearing, some of them even getting up to prepare for a possible attack.

"Don't worry!" said Hokuto, quickly standing between his sister and his teammates. "She's my sister, Nayuki!"

"Heh, I should've expected that you guys would react like that. I'm Nayuki Shibuya, reformed Rudie of Tokyoto." she would then bow to his brother's teammates and show a nice smile. "Sorry about scaring you guys out."

"Oh, no worries... We can make it all better...", said Panther, slowly moving forward to Hokuto's sister until Hokuto himself did a quick uppercut, knocking him out.

Some minutes later, Rosso would wake up surrounded by Conbi, Hokuto, Hokuto's recently presented sister, a boy that looked a lot like the Werehog form that Brentford adopted years later, a kunoichi in slightly revealing clothing and a young boy who looked awfully a lot like a knight.

"Permission to faint again?" asked Rosso.

"Allowed." said Conbi, bursting into laughter as his roomamate fainted again.

"What a doofus." said the Kunoichi.

"Agreed.", nodded the Werehog-looking kid.

"Oh, but he has a nice heart." said Conbi, slowly taking his roommate back to the dorm, "He's a pervert too, but... eh, at least his brain is in the right place, I think."

[Farfadillis]

Obviously, they were the underdogs for this match. Facing Wight, World Champions, just means you're the underdog. To make matters worse, they were the hosts. Almost everything was against them. However, tell these guys once and again that they won't be able to do it, for it won't change a thing, it will just fall short of producing any effect.

First the coin flip. Wight won, so they'd kick off. The game began, and the Wightlings were dominating the game rather quickly. For the billion people back at the small island on the edge of their seatsm the first ten minutes were some kind of Aguazuleño torture. Wight kept on passing and passing and passing... and passing and passing. The Farves were chasing the ball constantly without any kind of rewards, while the Wightlings held more than 70% of the possesion and constantly got opportunities. Mind you, it was just the first ten minutes.

After that, the Greenflies stopped sucking thoroughly. Kâí, who was a starter this time, started trying to generate chances for the Farves, while he got some help from Alaminos, probably the only ones with enough guts to do anything outside defending. Wight kept dominating, however, but the Farves didn't submit to such fate nearly as much now. They were far from reaching the opposing goal, but they were trying at least.

And then it happened, in the twenty-second minute. Alaminos dribbled a player and found himself halfway-through the Wighling half. Without any other option, he chose to shoot. The shot was very violent, but it probably wasn't heading towards the goal. However, it bounced off Scantlebury's hip and went out. Farfadillis now had a corner for them, and would be somewhat close to scoring a goal. Well, at least they'd be able to at least have a chance at having a chance to score a goal.

Karkka crossed. The ball went all the way to where the mess was. Kâí jumped above Scantlbury and headed the ball. It was a fast shot that Rollins couldn't react to stop, but the ball hit the crossbar. The rebound ended up right at the edge of the box. Faró, who was waiting right there, then decided to go ahead and shoot as any defender would: violently and without any real intention of scoring a nice goal. The ball then went straight towards the Wightling goal with tremendous force. It somehow avoided everyone in the box and went straight into the goal, barely avoiding the right post. Wightlings and Farves were equally perplexed, with the latter being really thrilled. All of a sudden, after an almost half-an-hour-long nightmare, it was them that were winning.

The Wightlings took the goal as a huge blow, however, as they now found themselves playing a very close match against a team that now even played better at times. It may have been because the goal impacted the Greenflies positively, but truth is the game changed drastically after a lucky goal. Such is football, goals not scored are goals against, and Wight was playing by this rule now. Not scoring when they could was a terrible mistake, they even took the game just half-serious at times, and now they were facing a real challenge.

They didn't get nearly as much chances, until they got a penalty in the forty-second minute, when the first half was about to finish. Reynard stepped up to take it. He looked very calm. However, when the time to shoot came, he figuratively obliterated the crossbar with a stunningly powerful shot, which went out and straight to the crowd. That meant the relief of an entire nation, now quite nervous because they stood a chance of advancing to the semifinal of a tournament they could win.

The first half continued as it had been from the Farf goal onwards, with both teams fighting it a bit but not overwhelming the other. When the referee, luckily not named Ludo this time, blew the whistle, Farfadillis was still winning.

The second half was a war. Kicks flew over the pitch, the game was impossible to control. Elevado and Philipps got sent out in the first ten minutes, after a fight with a few punches which miraculously didn't start an eleven vs eleven fight. Fakkotti and Faró kept the Wighling strikers at line, while Alaminos handled what Elevado was meant to be handling while also handling some strikers. The Farves also got some chances, with Morsón and Rossi threatening the Wighling goal as well.

It would be Wight, however, that would have the best chance to score in the second half, after half an hour. McBride crossed the ball, and Lennox jumped to head the ball. However, while in mid-air, Fakkotti, realizing it was very likely that he'd score, took him down. The referee was quick to react, and sent him out while awarding Wight a penalty.

Reynard stepped up again. He looked slightly more nervous this time, though. He took his time and ran towards the ball. He then shot violently to the right post. However, Rigutti would guess his intentions and dive there before the striker shot, which gave him an advantage that allowed him to stop the powerful shot. Wight was devastated, even though they had one more man in the pitch, it was as if they had one less. It had been too much of a blow to their morale, and they'd not stand it now.

Farfadillis would now dominate, Kâí and Alaminos would turn into the Wightlings' living nightmares, and would make it last for as much as the match could. It was basically the contrary of the beginning of the match. The Farves, however, committed the same mistake as the Wightlings: not being able to score. But they wouldn't, however, be punished.

And now they had to face Cassadaigua. It was a difficult challenge, but the tournament was certainly now within their grasp, and more than one of them was happy to have made it that far already. However, their thirst was unquenchable.

[Cassadaigua]

Youngsters performing well,
by Kiersten Turcotte, Associate Editor, Concord Heights Times


Our soccer future may be very bright,
as the kids perform well in Wight.

And with that, I retire as a poet. In the Di Bradini Cup, the success of our youngsters is quite satisfying to know that we may be closer then we think to getting back to playing in the World Cup, after two stints in the Cup of Harmony. It may, perhaps, put a little bit of pressure on the players from the senior team, who played poorly in the second half of World Cup 65 qualifying, and then did very little on home turf in the recent Cup of Harmony. The team that played in the Friendly Cup, considered our “B” team for veteran players was also very disappointing, and it’s not believed that anyone on that roster will be promoted to the senior team. There was an attempt to get a man on the roster, but Brian Chapman, the leading male scorer in Cassadaigua, failed to register a single goal in the Friendly Cup, and was known more for some terrible misses. Chapman’s struggles will certainly mean that the World Cup 66 roster will be all female once again, but just what will the average age of that team be? This Di Bradini Cup squad is in the semifinals, and you have to like their chances against Farfadilis. Everyone wants to look ahead to that potential meeting with Free Republics, given the teams (let’s put this nicely) “noticed” one another before even a single game was played.

There is no denying that our players have developed, and we could get started on the “do you need to win to develop” players argument for ourselves and say that our own success made for better player development and possibly got them ready for senior team play sooner. If this team had their traditional Di Bradini Cup of making the knockouts, but losing the in the first round or maybe the quarterfinals, then we would be looking at their performance right now as the status quo, and probably not thinking there would be much turnover at the senior team level. It’s the third time that Cassadaigua has advanced to the semifinals of the Di Bradini Cup: once they lost at this stage, and another time they got to that championship, but were beaten by Bears Armed. That squad never really got a chance to show what they could do at the senior level, because it was right before the nation backed out of trying to qualify for the World Cup. These new faces seem very hungry to be the ones that can bring Cassadaigua back to being a legitimate threat to win the World Cup.

I like that fire out there on the field. This team is playing with a high level emotion that we never saw in the World Cup. There was too much bickering on that roster, too much drama, and it looked like there was very little chemistry amongst the players. It really became apparent that a couple players, Adrienne Geraci and Erika Fenwick were becoming completely tired of having the drama of Meghan Kinson, innocent or guilty, hovering over the team like a grey cloud. The coach of that team, Brittany Lawton, was never able to find an answer for that and seemed to just be throwing mud at the wall as far as player lineups when the team struggled, and hoped that eventually it would stick. In the Friendly Cup, coach Taylor Connolly could never get that team going, and the attempt to get a man to lead that team and hopefully on the World Cup roster became a miserable failure when Chapman proved to be unable to succeed. Still, Connolly, seen as the #2 coaching candidate to Lawton, seemed content to just throw the same lineup out there, time and time again. On the Di Bradini side, Erica Lambert has been able to get the most out of her players. They’ve won games convincingly, close games, and even in extra time. This really begs the question, and it is something that Meaghan Bateman (CASE President) will be asked almost every day before World Cup 66 begins: “Should Lambert replace Brittany Lawton as manager of the World Cup side”? It would make sense if that roster was overhauled and it did lead to many of these Di Bradini players graduating to the higher level since Lambert already has experience with them. CASE, unlike most soccer organizations, has been slow to sack a manager, and if it were to happen, the timing would seem weird right now. Brittany Lawton has done a lot of good things with the senior team, and before the second half collapse, the team seemed like a shoe-in to at least make the playoff round to get into the World Cup Proper. But the team did collapse in the second half, and proceeded to have a poor Cup of Harmony. All while Erica Lambert is thriving at this level. Perhaps the time to make a change is now.

Unless you live in Farfadilis or Northern Sunrise Islands, or have close associations with those nations, just about everyone wants to see Cassadaigua vs Free Republics in the final. If they were to play in the 3rd place game, it’s probable that even that would have more interest then the final game! Free Republics manager Rule Theriault demands victory from his players, and his players develop for him. He got on the case of Cassadagan media sources (my boss, Rachel Sharper in particular) when it was mentioned that winning was not the most important thing in this tournament. Though if you listened to any of the Dagan players, they also disagreed with my boss. In an interview I had with Lambert, she showed that fire and desire to win. Erica was a very passionate player on the field in her playing days. Known for being the most intimidating physical defender Cassadaigua has ever had, that passion is rubbing off on the players. Just maybe, when it seems like Cassadaigua and Free Republics are polar opposites, their coaches are much more alike then one would ever know. Hopefully, both teams win their match and get to play in that final.

[Wight]

Semi-Finals

Farfadillis 1–0 Cassadaigua
Free Republics 3–2 Northern Sunrise Islands

Third-Placed Play-Off
Cassadaigua vs. Northern Sunrise Islands @ North Lawn, Spit

Final
Farfadillis vs. Free Republics @ South Island, Spit