World Cup LXXV - AK75 - The RP Thread

[Acronius]

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One, And One, And One, Is Three
Acronius retains top spot in Group 3 following 3-0 win against Nuevo Caracas
James E. Sudlow (@SudlowUP)
^{12/06/2016, 21:04 | Lionsgate, Acronius}

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ACRONIUS 3 - 0 NUEVO CARACAS

ACR - 4-2-1-3
GK - Sebastian Nielsen
LB - Lupe Andersen
CB - Richard Ayers
CB - Fabian Royce
RB - Franz Ruess
DM - Arturo Santiago
DM - Frank Spelmeyer
CAM - Axel Aubry
LW - Max Fawden
CF - Saul Vesper
RW - Titus Blackett (C)

NCS - 4-2-4
GK - Gabino Dorantes
LB - Alonzo Tallon
CB - Felix Shin
CB - Antonio Amparan
RB - Francois Gauthier
CM - Esteban Jimenez
CM - Bembe Rio
LW - Raoul Seguin (C)
CF - Francisco Maduro
CF - Andrea Garozzo
RW - Elodie Kim

Goalscorers

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Vesper - '28
di Scampi - '67
Blackett - '81

None

DEFENSE - After pulling a 3-5 upset against Super-Llamaland and ascending to the head of Group 3, Henry Coyle's side followed up on their early success with an expected, but nonetheless assuring 3-0 home win against group minnows Nuevo Caracas. Played at the Atlas Arena in Defense, Coyle had opted to field a rather experimental lineup, dropping Lupe Andersen after a poor performance against Super-Llamaland, and leaving Frank Spelmeyer on the bench although the midfielder was subbed on in the second half. Right-back Elias Parsons was transferred to the other side of the pitch in order to fill in for Lupe Andersen, while veteran Alexis Lestrange started off beside Arturo Santiago instead of Spelmeyer. Bench gem Joe di Scampi earned his first cap for the Blue Boys, coming on for scoreline opener Saul Vesper in the 62nd minute before scoring a goal of his own five minutes later. Titus Blackett completed the triad with an 81st minute goal, sustaining Acronius' top position in Group 3.

Despite an applaudable scoreline, observers and analysts have noted that the Blue Boys should have had much less trouble getting past the Caraquenian defense, who nevertheless showed praiseworthy effort throughout the game in order to make up for the constant absence of Nuevo Caracas' shoddy two-man midfield. Pundits additionally remarked that the Blue Boys were playing uncharacteristically defensively, citing Frank Spelmeyer's temporary absence as a preventive factor to the Acronians' offensive chemistry, as Alexis Lestrange was more often than not a holding midfielder like Arturo Santiago. Henry Coyle was more than happy with the result, however, lauding his team for their performance.

The game started off subtly despite an 80,000 strong crowd, with Acronius' forward trio much more timid to score than they were against Super-Llamaland. The first twenty minutes of the game saw the Blue Boys enjoy comfortable domination over the ball, while the offensive line beat around the bush, so to speak, testing a sturdy, but timid Caraquenian defense, who were even capable of producing a few brilliant shotstoppers in the back. The opener came inside of thirty minutes, with Saul Vesper, the 'Six-Yard Assassin' claiming his third goal of the tournament. Winger Max Fawden dragged along Francois Gauthier for a speed burst, before the 31 year old fired a sitting pass into the box. Axel Aubry effortlessly burnt off two Caraquenian defenders with a dummy, before Saul Vesper put goalkeeper Gabino Dorantes to shame with a rabona that did not fail its target. 1-0 for the Blue Boys in the 28th minute.

However, the Caraquenians didn't even seem fazed by Vesper's goal, conversely putting twice as much effort in order to limit the skill deficit between themselves and their opponents. Their 4-2-4 formation proved to be a huge tactical fault, however - this formation only works with exceptional midfielders and a persistent offensive line, neither of which the Caraquenians possessed. This left their defensive line completely cut off from any support - and Henry Coyle realized this at half time, bringing on the offensive-minded Frank Spelmeyer for the much more conservative Alexis Lestrange in order to capitalize on this error. Change slowly came, with ball possession land-sliding in favor of the Acronians. The defense was probably the only positive element of the Caraquenian team now, as the back four fended off the attacking Acronians time after time. Realizing the Blue Boys would need even more offensive firepower to break the line, Coyle made his decision, bringing off six-yard poacher Saul Vesper for an explosive rookie nobody knew before this match: Joe di Scampi.

A mere five minutes after the youngster came on, he made his name as a super sub, firing in a sitter from 25 yards out, doubling the scoreline. The Blue Boys weren't done though - and treated their stadium with a third goal: after all, what's an Acronian game without a Blackett goal? The star striker took advantage of a quick counterattack in the final moments of the game, racing up the pitch before blasting a furious shot into the back of the net. The referee blew the whistle: Acronius 3, Nuevo Caracas 0.

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

NEWSLETTER OF THE IMPERIAL WOMEN'S INSTITUTE
Palace Branch

Knitting
Footy Ball Knitwear

The discerning member of the Imperial Women's Institute, whatever branch she may belong to, is always on the lookout for new knitting patterns that she can use to make a suitably festive jumper for her grandsons and granddaughters.

With the new footy-ball craze that's sweeping the IWI, we thought we would offer a few patterns that suit the Palace Branch's current quixotic and baffling endeavours on the field of play.

First of all, the ladies at the Palace Branch have been practicing with a bespoke footy-ball sphere, as knitted by Mrs Doris Yarn before each practice. Isn't it colourful!




Team members are also wearing the following hand-knitted booties, prepared by Palace Branch chair Ethel Organza. It seems the team go through a pair each every practice day, so Ethel's knitting needles are certainly being kept busy!




Rumours that these unorthodox training materials have anything to do with the Palace Branch's dismal footballing form over the first three matches have been strenuously denied, with sources close to the team ascribing last night's 1-0 loss against Nassau-Hessen to 'running out of puff' after a strenuous day of polishing the club's teapots rather than knitted practice gear.


Indeed, the members of the palace branch have been going footy-ball crazy of late, with the patterns for these delightful men's cardigans (designed by Mrs Agnes Peau de Soie) available in an insert at the close of the present newsletter.




Scarves in Imperial footballing colours are also proving popular with Women's Institute family members, with Mrs. Edna Moleskin's design proving particularly popular with young and old alike.




It's never too late to take up knitting! Why not give it a go? Contact your local IWI branch if you'd like to try your hand at making any of the objects shown on this page. If you're an experienced knitter caught up in the current footy-ball craze, why not drop us a line with your design and/or pattern. We'd love to publish it here in the Newsletter.

And who knows... maybe it will inspire the Palace Branch girls to up their game!

Mrs. Elsie Zinnngggggggg
Chair, Knitting Committee
IWI St Mary's Branch

[Kandorith]

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Kandorith 2–3 The Royal Barangay

Group   7                                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Sarrbia                                  3    1   2   0     3    1   +2     5
2 Polaaskan                                2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
3 Valanora                                 2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
4 Jeckland                                 3    1   1   1     3    2   +1     4
  Kandorith                                3    1   1   1     4    3   +1     4
6 The Royal Barangay                       3    1   0   2     4    6   −2     3
7 Stacoco                                  2    0   0   2     1    5   −4     0

With Kandorith looking more and more uncomfortable, the team is falling in a repeat of the early disaster of the previous World Cup. A draw and a loss now tell the tale of the football team's current qualifying campaign, which because of this is not looking good. The Kandorese team needs to step up their game in the upcoming matches to show that they are worthy of being a competing team in the actual World Cup. With the Red Dragons looking weakened, the fans are already feeling the heavy weight of the drama which was the Kandorese team in the previous World Cup. But fans are looking forward to the game against Polaaskan, which they should win and make the turn around from then on.

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Kandorith vs Polaaskan

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Substitutes
GK - N^o 24: SEIJI Sakabara
GK - N^o 25: KEIXÍAN Han
LB - N^o 6: SUYING Shin
CD - N^o 8: HUÁN Jun
CD - N^o 14: MING-HUA Te
RB - N^o 16: SHANYUAN Lee
CDM - N^o 11: MURAKAMI Mitsuhare
LM - N^o 18: OKHA Eiichi
RM - N^o 12: KEILÁNG Xie
CAM - N^o 4: Taiji Moto
ST - N^o 19: QEILAN Zhu
ST - N^o 23: MÉNG Zeijí

Starting eleven
GK - N^o 1: JIANJIN Tuan
LB - N^o 3: XIAN Shilin
CD - N^o 5: XIEXIE Tian
CD - N^o 7: LUNG Mara
RB - N^o 9: MAO Zhénsheng
CDM - N^o 20: XIN Zihao
RM - N^o 15: SHAN Xiaobo
LM -N^o 10: XÍMÍN Chosi
ST - N^o 21: QÍNG Weimin
CF - N^o 13: MADATO Xien-kan
ST - N^o 17:MINGZHENG Shéng

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[Flardania]

Opening Theme

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Bonjour et Ohayōgozaimasu Kirishima. Welcome back to another edition of the Kitsune Report, brought to you by Seongwoo Motors and the Nagatomo Sports Network (NSN). Here at the Kitsune Report it's all about our cherished national team. We will continue coverage of this historic World Cup 75 qualification where 140 nations fight for only 30 spots, where only 20 will be able to relax and the remaining 20 fight for the ten remaining spots. So with out any further delay it's time to get grooving for some cup football once again.

Rejoice! It came sooner than later and while it's a bit early to get excited there was a lack of mass upsets on MD 2. You had some underdogs pull out some wins but there was only on true upset which came in Group 13 as West Angola went to Falatulu, pulling out a five to three win. While things are starting to balance out one must begin to worry if your Falatulu. After defeating the easiest team in the group,Tobiasia 3-2. They managed to get upset twice once against Legalese and now West Angola.

Now it's time for the Kirishinan Football check. In this short segment,if you can even call it a segment, I simply report on matches of national interest. Nations who we may have a soft spot for or is a rival, essentially some sort of emotional connection or player in their league or ours. You get the point. In Group 3 Pridnestrovia drew with Cosumar at two goals each. The Vanquishers COH 64 champions managed to hiccup against a squad that hasn't been seen in a long time. That said Pridnestrovia has been off to a nice start with this being there second shocking performance in three games, the first being an upset against second group favorites Super-Llamaland. To play this well against the top two favorites is very impressive indeed.

Also in group three Emperor's Cup II champions Acronius defeated Nuevo Caracas to take the lead in the group. Group three certainly looks fascinating as Acronius and Pridnestrovia are among the leaders of the group. One thing is for sure and that's the fact Kirishinans still feel bitter that Pridnestrovia cost the Kitsunes a trip to the BOF 58 finals. Looking down in Group five, San Llera defeated Indo-Malaysia four to two, which was a much expected result. Finally in group 19 Unified Sunrise Islands won their home match up against Yttribia with a single goal.

Moving on to some Kirishinan football news, the topic is Sayo Matsuoka. Now it's interesting that see would be the main topic on this Report because the events of World Cup 74 seem to be all in the past. Anyways with that said it can not be denied that she seems to be the media face of the team, whether she likes it or wants to be it or not. Why? First off all she's cute and if you are Kirishinan you know what I mean. if you are among our foreign audience long story short she can sell you things you wouldn't normally by. Even better yet she's charming. Yea that's a good way to describe it.

Second of all she was thrust into the media world when a feud broke out between her and Bianka Schraeder. Schraeder left AC Kawajiri without showing courtesy and things went downhill with Sayo's life even being threathen a few times. Sayo often times would be seen as the villian because of Armeian tendencies to side with their own. Long story even shorter the once shy Sayo is now a player always with a chip on her shoulder seeking to be better than the girl who she has grown to hate. Sayo is currently in Olympique Imgeum-si and the questions right now is what is next for her career. Imgeum would like her to stay but the KFA would like her to leave since she is a big name, thus bringing more focus to Kirishima. It also helps that Sayo isn't too attached to her current team as of right now. Right now there are murmurers that three Anglatia super league teams and one second division team may have interest in Matsuoka.

In my opinion she should stay away from the super league and leave the KPL. Sayo is at a intresting position right now in her life and can take her game to another level by joining attempting to join a prestigious league. Preferable a co-ed league if possible to diversify her ability. She can do what Yabuta is not willing too do considering the friendships he made and his enjoyment to living in Akihabara. Matsuoka can take the spot of Papadouplulos as the international darling, which she almst did before the incident with Schraeder. Considering Schraeder is in the super league, I believe that Sayo's career can be hurt being competitive with her. Sayo should have something to motivate her but not impede her progress nor compromise her character.

Shytysle 0–2 Kirishima Match Review:
Coming off of a frustrating home draw against Chromatika, the Kitsunes traveled to Scummoss in the nation of Shytysle for the next match-up. The Kitsunes were glad they went up against a non heavily defensive focused team but stayed patient. Transitioning from two defensive heavy mindsets into a very offensive mindset is certainly not easy. The Kitsunes spent the early part of the game testing the opposition offense and seeing if the scouting report would hold true. Would the star opposition Jym be the one to take most of the shots. The answer was yes.

In the 55th minute Sayo Matsuoka scored her first ever goal as a starter during a counter attack which saw Fujisaka perform a standing tackle to Jym before passing the ball to Papadoupulos who sent a bomb to Yabuta. Yabuta then crossed low crossed the ball to Matsuoka who placed it in perfectly. Later in the 71st minute Yabuta made sure to get his as Miyamoto punted a nice though ball to Yabuta after the opposition over exerted themselves. Yabuta won the matchup with the opposition keeper with a brilliant shot to the upper right corner.

With this victory the Kitsunes rocket up from seventh to third in Group 20. The Kitsunes have made progress with that one expected win but will need to keep it up. The Kitsunes find themselves in a good position above Ko-oren and should not waste any opportunities. T

(206)Shytysle 0 – 2 Kirishima(25)
                    Matsuoka (55')
                    Yabuta (71')

Here is what Kyosuke had to say after the match.

"It felt good to finally pick up a win. It's tough trying to keep the media, fans, and less experienced players calm with recent results. We knew the type of team we were up against and knew we should not lose to them. Yes the team was a little too cautious for a top 50 let alone top 25 team, but that is just how we are. This a team built on patience which means knowing there are certain matchups we struggle with now but so long as we build form we should handle better during the next meet up. I would say we are like a PS 2 console. We may have a long startup at times but when we are on, fun times awaits. Nor we just need to defend our home and strings wins together. "

Flardania(Kirishima) v Abaja @Dreamscape Arena, Kairaku|Kirishima cap: 84,827 Preview:
Abaja is coming off a 1-1 draw against Nordeana at home. They are unfortunately another defensive minded team but not as bad as Ko-oren or Chomatika. The kitsunes need to re-adapt to facing a defensive minded team and prove why they are ranked better. A loss and too a lesser extent a draw at home nonetheless would reflect a serious weakness in this Kitsune squad. Last match I ask that Yabuta and Matsuoka wake up which is exactly what those two did. This time considering the defensive focus the Kitsunes will not be able to play normally and should rely more on set pieces espeically should a free kick be awarded in one of Ako Izumi's Goldilocks zones. Izumi and the entire defense will be the key for this match as even a 1-0 result would be enough. Lets Go Kitsunes!

Post by: Keita Woo

[COCANEFA]

CUT OFF

[San Jose Guayabal]

www.elnacional.gu/sjg/uh/id=267325

You are in: El nacional > SJG > Politics > Esportivan Union, The Debate

Written by: Ramiro Guerra.
Date: Friday 8/05/2207, 17:50 - San Salvador time

What's this about the Esportivan Union?

As many of you know, the last couple of days have emerged conversations and rumors along Esportiva in which we talk about the formation of a supranational entity that will act as a sort of customs and economic union of different nations along in the region, a name is not handled particularly for identity but what is known for sure is that this project involves a union of many countries throughout Esportiva, including San Jose Guayabal, but many wonder if this will be feasible or not feasible for all of us, if we benefit in something, if something What benefit would cost to do that? All that and more will explain in this article, but first start explaining that this idea is, leave it to your judgment whether this idea is not far-fetched or whether or not it is feasible and whether it would be worthwhile to participate.

A supranational union can be designed for different sectors such as the loss of independence of a country to become dependent on this union and other countries of the region, although in reality it is not, to start a union of this type simply performs an economic and customs integration of member nations, as well as the approval of legislation, so that each member nation to adopt them and compete on an equal footing with other members of the union in the economic sphere while this helps to increase the terms of quality under which different products that usually we eat or we are quite useful occur, these are usually more expensive as regulations are adopted involve an increase in production costs due to will need to meet technical standards, health and quality for each product, so if you have the idea that will be able to export to "tortilla soup you cook the weekend" is very wrong. The disadvantage involves the approval of laws is the loss of independence in each country may require, either if its laws are too strict or not, but rather independence is lost when trying to shape legislation in each country.

Entering the economic level, the ability to perform several extra things besides customs integration arises, we start describing the first: "The creation of a single currency, which must be used by the members of the union" This idea can be beneficial depending of the economy of each country, if the economy is fragile, a common currency would help greatly to improving the economy of the country concerned, while speaking of a country with a currency quite consolidated at the international level, with a good value when exchange can be disadvantageous as it is at risk of creating a negative impact on the economy and make this cede ground to other at the regional level. Adapting it more to the plane of San Jose Guayabal, our case is strong currency, thanks to the kindness of oil and other derivatives, the Crown has acquired a great strength relative to other currencies, the point used as secondary framework when transacting with oil, only behind of the NationStates Dollar, that gives an idea of ​​how strong our currency when making international trade, that reason makes sacrifice our currency for another common would be counterproductive for interests of our nation, but is not expected to sacrifice national currency is a prerequisite to be part of the union requirement, although this is one of the points that gives meaning to the unionist proposal.

A very interesting topic that has been raised within the possibilities that would bring this union would be the freedom of movement of citizens residing in each of the countries that integrate union, a good idea but also risky at a time because that at this very moment, Esportiva does not have a database that includes information about criminals who can move from one country to another so easily, that list, which must be accessible to the entire region and contain information updated country should be a priority to create before performing this idea of ​​free passage for all citizens, if this is done, this idea would be great to run as it would allow freedom of movement for all people who want to do tourism, travel business or travel of any kind between the countries of the region, apart from providing enough trade between different nations, is with this idea born the proposal of Union Area, this is the list of countries of the union and which have free access to enter if you have a clean criminal record in the country of origin or provenance, also appears the idea of ​​creating a single regional passport for residents in the participating countries of the treaty, with that card free will have access to all countries of the union, but as mentioned above, for this to be feasible, it is necessary to have the criminal record of the countries that integrate union.

Other Interesting News:

• General Elections have a date, September 25th.
• National Team defeats Boring Paradise with Tenorio's brace on début.
• Guayabalense Social Media laughs at Boring-Paradisian typo on San José Guayabal name.
• Floods are expected on the southern region, Civil Protection suggest people to "Stay on house"
• Herrera "Winning against Omerica will be a huge step for us"

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Matchday 3


                     San José Guayabal 4-1 Boring Paradise

Played at: Arena Banco Nacional, Att: 74,410, Time: 20:45 Conditions: Clear skies - 24°C
                     Referee: Joachim Massheller - 36 (RED)

Starting XI of La Selecta:                                   Boring Paradisian Starting XI

Terrazas                                                     Homewood
Moreira                                                      Jones
Passarelli                                                   Alklani
Salume                                                       Hall
Valencia                                                     Browning
Bregoo                                                       Harris
Tenorio                                                      Webber
Saucedo                                                      Wong
Fraser                                                       Miller
Zelaya                                                       Malik Jr
Faña                                                         Jaklim Jr

                                     Goals 
     4                                                          1
Tenorio - 30                                                 Malik Jr - 65
Faña    - 44
Zelaya  - 62
Tenorio - 88

                                 Booked Players

      3                                                          3
Tenorio     - 34                                             Alklani  - 24
Saucedo     - 70                                             Webber   - 70
Passarelli  - 70                                             Wong     - 70


Possession:      San José Guayabal 62% - Boring Paradise 38%
Shots:           San José Guayabal 17  - Boring Paradise 7
Shots on Target: San José Guayabal 10  - Boring Paradise 5
Corners:         San José Guayabal 6   - Boring Paradise 4
Fouls:           San José Guayabal 20  - Boring Paradise 14

[Associated Godlands]

GodHatesYou.God
The official blog of Shirley Phelps-Roper

I'm back!

After a lot of praying and numerous goat sacrifices, I have repented for my sins. I am now ready to return to my full capacity as coach of the Associated Godlands national team, and Queen of Associated Godlands. Now, both have gone through some turmoil in my absence. The soccer team's first match without me ended in a 3-3 draw, indicating God's displeasure with my unholiness. It was against RedBlackiland, and while God does in fact enjoy the color black, He cannot stand red. Embarrassing to lose to such a team.

Luckily, I did my duty back at home in the church, and better results starting to pour in. The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was named as player-coach, and led the team to a 1-0 defeat of -Anthor-, with Jesus Christ himself scoring the winning goal. It was a fairly close game, partially because it is well-known that God loves hyphens. Yet the Anthorians are dirty communist scum, hence our victory.

The last game came against Eastfield Lodge, and resulted in another 1-0 victory behind another goal from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You may remember Eastfield Lodge as the nation in which the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ came to preach and convert the locals, but few did. We have taken revenge of those heathen scum with this victory. They are also Muslim, so, needless to say, God hates them.

While our time in Eastfield Lodge may have been very successful, I'm afraid there has been some domestic turmoil. An atheist terrorist organization has rose to power in neighboring countries, and has started attacking our soil. The recent burning of a church is one example of the atrocities this group of thugs has committed.

With that said, I promise you Associated Godlands, those heathens will be taken down! We will exterminate every last one of them. Good night.

[Valladares]

The National Kickoff
The Online Home of Valladar Football!

Celebrating 50 Years of Valladar Domestic Football

Part II: Four New Champions (Seasons 4-7)

Part I: The Origins (Seasons 1-3)

Welcome to another entry of Valladares' leading sporting blog, The National Kickoff, in which we'll continue with our recap of Valladar domestic football with the second part. In the previous entry we talked about the birth of the Valladar Super League (Valladar Liga-1 nowadays) with Metropolis Alligators, Eterna Stars, and Tannenberg FC starting to place themselves as the leading clubs in the nation after the first three seasons. However, their supremacy (or at least the latter two clubs' one) started being threatened by other clubs who until then had come close but always lacked something to win the title, and even one that stayed away from the league in its early years but appeared to reclaim its historical spot. So here we go with our second chapter:

The Balance Starts Tipping for the "Fourth Big Team"

Since the first VSL season, and even though at first glance it would seem to the average outsider that these clubs have little in common, Marinos Metropolis and Slateport Bulls started building a rivalry of their own just like the ones developed between the "Big 3". The Blue Derby (which is blue because of the main colour of both clubs but at the same time it's an actual mistake to call it a derby since Metropolis and Slateport are several kilometres away from each other) flourished under the premise that both clubs wanted to enter the "Big Teams Club" as the fourth "Big" team, and their consistent performances in the past 3 seasons helped greatly to this purpose. And it was in the fourth VSL season where both bitter rivals would have a real chance to decide who would have the upper hand for such a honour:

The Apertura Tournament was, for the most part, a head-to-head between Bulls and Marineros for the top seed position in the playoff round. Marinos remained unbeaten for 17 games ahead of the crucial MD18 visit to the Estadio de la Riviera, where Slateport were virtually unbeaten, and the odds were fulfilled with the Bulls edging past Marinos and seizing the top spot, which they just had to keep with one more game. The Marineros had then, the chance to end in second place, which would grant them the chance to avoid the Bulls in the playoffs while also having the tiebreakers in their favour for being Group B's top seed, however their drawing trend would come back to haunt them in the last game of the regular season (out of 19 matches, they tied 10, won 8, and lost only once, in Slateport), allowing Caimanes to leapfrog them for the last playoff seed. AD Cerro continued surprising everyone by finishing fourth, the Big 3 also secured qualification without much drama (although TFC finished eighth) and Chiquito FC qualified for their first playoff by taking advantage of Fontvielle Impact's constant ups-and-downs. In the playoffs, Slateport Bulls managed to emerge unscathed from a tricky Group A containing incumbent champions Metropolis Alligators, surprise package Cerro, and Tannenberg FC, by beating Cerro in both games, remaining unbeaten against MA (winning in Metropolis and drawing at home) and winning once and also losing once vs. TFC; meanwhile, Marinos successfully navigated Group B with a perfect 6-0-0 campaign and tearing Caimanes, Eterna Stars, and Chiquito into pieces. Thus, the two rivals were now meeting in the Apertura finals, where Marinos once again capitulated in Slateport, however, the Marineros were able to turn things around in the second leg at the National Stadium, winning 3-0 and 4-2 on aggregate score, punching a berth to the Canalave Crown and the Champions' Cup in the process.

Marinos would proceed to extend their domination to the regular season of the Clausura Tournament, clinching top spot there without much trouble. Metropolis Alligators followed on the steps of their crosstown rivals by claiming second place, leaving Eterna Stars in third, whilst Slateport's traditionally strong defense only helped them to finish in fourth place. Fontvielle Impact (who seemed to have learnt from their mistakes in the Apertura), Caimanes, TFC, and Cerro completed the group of playoff qualifiers. In the semifinals, we witnessed Apertura champions Marinos being paired with rivals Slateport Bulls, Impact, and Cerro in Group A, but the actual Group of Death was Group B by far, which had the "Big 3" in its entirety plus Caimanes fighting for a single ticket to the final. And the final was...Slateport Bulls vs SC Caimanes (!!), after the Bulls dumped Marinos out of the Clausura in the hope of facing them again in Canalave and the Jacarés survived the "Big" tussle that became Group B. With that, everyone was hoping for the Bulls to beat the team from Campo Grande in order to make it to a Canalave Crown showdown between the two hopefuls for greatness, but Caimanes said "no" to that wish, scoring one goal in their visit to the Lake region and then beating the Bulls 1-0 at home to win the Clausura on away goals. And so, the Canalave Crown turned out to be Marinos-Caimanes, not Marinos-Slateport like everyone expected, which seemed to be a better gamble for the Metropolis club, who beat the Jacarés 3-1 at Dragon Stadium and won their first national championship, further raising the bar for the Bulls in their fight to become "the fourth Big team".

As for qualification for international tournaments, Caimanes' Clausura win was rewarded with the second and last berth to the CC, Slateport Bulls along with MA and TFC were given Globe Cup berths for their campaigns throughout the season, while Eterna Stars were once again left out like in season 1 (although they became the first Valladar team to play the group stages of a UICA tournament during this season). And regarding relegation, Valencia FC were, just like AD Cerro, a pleasant surprise: in both tournaments of the season they were pretty close to qualify for the semifinals and that was enough to keep them safe from relegation, whilst FC Columbus (known as FC Lilí back then) also did just enough to avoid relegation in their first season in the top-flight. On the other hand, Deportivo Aguablanca were the only promoted side that failed to avoid the drop, being joined in the following B-League season by Cardenales FC and Universitario de Maldonado.

La Super League Parle Français

Most Valladar football pundits call Season 5 the "Awakening of Foixien Football", since in this season there were two pivotal events that split the history of football in the Foix state (and Valladares as a whole) into two parts: the first one was the purchase of AS Bezieres by Bezierien entrepreneur Rémy de Saint-Lorent. Les Rouges were the state's most traditional side, as well as the state's most decorated side historically, however their passage to the Valladar Super League and their lack of silverware saw them turned into an average side sinking into mid-table mediocrity, even coming off achieving their worst league placement ever: 12th. Saint-Lorent claimed to be able to turn the club into a title contender within 3 seasons, which was taken with a pinch of salt by ASB fans. Despite everyone's skepticism, Saint-Lorent started investing hard in his new acquisition and Bezieres were able to qualify for the playoffs for the first time ever, having finished in sixth place in the Apertura.

The second pivotal event was Fontvielle Impact, given that Les Bleus swept everyone in the Apertura, winning 15 games, drawing 2, and only losing twice for a total of 47 points, leaving the "Big 3" plus the defending champions Marinos behind to fight for the final seed, which ended in TFC's hands. Caimanes, like Bezieres, confirmed their qualification for the playoffs in the last game, and despite beating Slateport on the last MD, Cerro were unable to prevent the Bulls' qualification for the next round. L'Impact would be put in a tough Group A along with Metropolis Alligators, Eterna Stars, and Slateport Bulls, while l'ASB were tipped by most people (even their fans) to be Group B's wildcard, where champions Marinos, Tannenberg, and Caimanes were more favoured to qualify for the final. Considering their regular season campaign, Fontvielle Impact were heavily favoured to win Group A, and they eventually did so, but not without being forced to edge Metropolis Alligators on the "number of points in the round-robin" tiebreaker after tying in points at the end of the playoff round. However, the prospect of having a Derby de Foix in the final (which was too far-fetched by most people) was fulfilled by AS Bezieres, who ended up topping Group B against all odds and raising even more eyebrows as the goal set by Rémy de Saint-Lorent was coming true much earlier than expected. The first all-Foix final in VSL history had is first chapter at a packed Stade Jules Picot, where 37,908 fans witnessed a narrow 1-0 win for Les Rouges. But Fontvielle Impact were still standing and managed to level the series with a 1-0 win of their own at the Stade de l'Amitié, taking the final decision to a penalty shootout where Les Bleus proved to be more effective and defeated Les Rouges 5-3, winning the Apertura.

The Clausura tournament looked to be wide open, with Metropolis Alligators leading with 23 points after 10 games, and five other teams giving them chase: Apertura champions Fontvielle Impact, Tannenberg FC, SC Caimanes, Slateport Bulls, and...AS Bezieres. However, the tournament was cancelled after controversial refereeing in Columbus in the match between relegation-bound FC Lilí and Nord Energie FC led to the assasination of Antioquian referee José Marrugo by a Lilí fan when Marrugo was arriving to his hotel after the game. The fan was arrested and sentenced to life imprisonment, Lilí were automatically relegated to the B-League, and the remainder of the season cancelled. Thus, Fontvielle Impact were declared season champions for the first time, with the other Champions' Cup berth and three Globe Cup ones being allocated considering the Clausura standings at the time of the cancellation. As a result, Metropolis Alligators qualified for the CC, while Tannenberg FC, SC Caimanes, and Slateport Bulls went to the GC. Season 5 also represented the top-flight début of Canalave Dragons and Nord Energie FC, who survived, while the other debutant (Alejandría SC) as well as Vaud were unable to avoid the drop to the B-League. In fact, this was the only time we heard about Alejandría in the VSL/Liga-1, as they're currently languishing in the División 1 Distrital aka sixth tier. Coming up to replace the relegated sides were Nacional, who would be finally be making their debut in the top flight, Cardenales FC, and AC Tallin, both returning to the Super League.

All in all, this season ended on a (double) happy note for the Foix state, with one of its clubs bringing home the title for the first time and another one starting its path to greatness, defying all odds and the disbelief of its own fanbase.

TFC Level the Playing Ground

Five seasons of Super League action saw Metropolis Alligators (twice), Eterna Stars, and even Marinos Metropolis and Fontvielle Impact lifting the trophy. Out of the "Big 3" members, only Tannenberg FC were yet to win a championship, whilst Slateport Bulls also wanted to leave their underachievers label behind with a championship. And then, there was AS Bezieres, who surprised all and sundry in the last campaign and surely wanted more. The sixth VSL season saw the VFA eliminating the playoffs for both the Apertura and Clausura tournaments, citing the desire to "reduce fixture congestion" for the clubs taking part in UICA competitions.

Nacional, who were finally taking part in the VSL after 3 seasons of self-imposed exile and other 2 seasons in the B-League, had a strong start to the Apertura, winning 8 and drawing 1 of their first 10 games, with Slateport Bulls being closely behind. Metropolis Alligators, Canalave Dragons and Fontvielle Impact were also in the chase, however it was the Bulls the ones who took advantage of Nacional's collapse in the decisive final stretch of the Apertura to take the first CC berth and Canalave Crown qualification with them, leaving their state rivals Eterna Stars behind in second place and incumbent champions Fontvielle Impact in third. Eventually, Nacional crashed down to seventh place, after only being able to win one of their last five games.

After a subpar Apertura, where they were only able to end in sixth place, TFC found in the Clausura their chance to shine. The Citizens would have to fight for the Clausura title with Eterna Stars, SC Caimanes, Metropolis Alligators, Fontvielle Impact, and also Apertura Champions Slateport Bulls who obviously wanted to win the Clausura to win the Super League outright. Eventually, TFC were able to withstand the pressure coming from those challengers plus AD Cerro (who came from behind to enter the title contention) and forced the Bulls to play the Canalave Crown with their Clausura championship. Despite playing the best team of the season, TFC showed their true colours at Dragon Stadium and won 2-0 to claim their first VSL championship, piling up more disappointment on the team from Slateport.

Meanwhile, Rémy de Saint-Lorent's efforts to turn AS Bezieres into a competitive team finally started to pay off with their first Globe Cup qualification, with Eterna Stars and Metropolis Alligators also qualifying for it. Nacional's subpar Clausura helped a lot in preventing Los Albos from qualifying for a UICA competition, after they ended in sixth place overall, and former champions Fontvielle Impact also missed out on UICA thanks to their seventh place. And in the relegation zone, both of Valencia's teams (Valencia FC and Cardenales FC) and AC Tallin were unable to surpass HAC's meagre point tally of 23 and were relegated as punishment, with an all-Foix contingent coming up to replace them: AS Vaud, RC Belfort and Olympique de Fontvielle.

This is My Place

In their first incursion in the Valladar Super League, Nacional showed they would be a really hard nut to crack and a strong contender who would give the "Big" teams and other established contenders such as Marinos Metropolis, Fontvielle Impact, Slateport Bulls, SC Caimanes, and now AS Bezieres a run for their money. Los Albos were clearly looking to regain the prestige earned back when they competed neck to neck with Metropolis Alligators for supremacy in the District of Metropolis, but now in a nationwide competition with at least other 8 good teams to beat, instead of 3 like they had back in the amateur era.

The Apertura tournament would be a clear sample of that: incumbent champs TFC and Metropolis Alligators started sharing the top spot and then exchanging it during the first 10 games, with Nacional quietly trying to sneak into that battle, and AS Bezieres and Eterna Stars waiting for a chance to enter the conversation for the Apertura title. TFC would not take too long to collapse, and eventually the fight for the top spot between MA, AS Bezieres, and Nacional came down to the wire with the Alligators looking to clinch the Apertura with a win over Nord Energie in Toril, Bezieres visiting the Stars at the Alain Tramontin Stadium, and Nacional hosting Pumas at the City of Metropolis Stadium. A draw was just enough to bury the Alligators' chances, and Nacional, who hadn't even led the league for a single week, took advantage of this to win the Apertura by defeating Pumas. Bezieres's win over the Stars was not enough to prevent that.

The Clausura also started in the same fashion as the Apertura: Tannenberg and the Alligators battling for the top spot and the chance to play Nacional in Canalave for the title, with Bezieres and Caimanes both looking to get something out of that fight and Nacional closely behind. With Tannenberg dropping crucial points in the middle of the Clausura, the fight for the top spot soon became a matter for two: Metropolis Alligators and Nacional. The former wanted to prevent the latter from running away with the championship without playing the Canalave Crown, however AS Bezieres, SC Caimanes and now Fontvielle Impact ended up being the only ones who could stop Nacional since the Alligators' hopes were dashed in the Derby against Marinos. But neither of these teams could really do anything since Nacional clinched the Clausura and also their first Super League title with a win over Pumas in Maldonado, becoming the first team to win both the Apertura and Clausura in the same year.

As a consolation prize, Metropolis Alligators joined Nacional in the Champions' Cup, while AS Bezieres (who achieved a historic third place), Fontvielle Impact, and Eterna Stars qualified for the Globe Cup. AS Montreux and Hamanos Athletic Club were relegated to the B-League for the first time, with Belfort also going down, and were replaced by Valencia FC and Cardenales FC, who were returning to the VSL after just one season, and Gatineau UC 98, who were to make their debut appearance the following season.

[Ceni]

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CENI DOWNS JERUSELEM
A strong victory gets Ceni's qualifying campaign on a good start

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Despite playing away at the third seeds Jeruselem, nominally one of the most competitive matchups in Group 16, Ceni merely continued its hot streak against the nation home to Naked News and its interesting interviews. Ceni maintained its good streak on the defense, only conceding one goal, while the offense didn't exactly cut through the Jeruselem defense like a hot knife through butter like they did against North Carcossia and the Hesperides, but they still managed to score three goals to maintain their position at the top of the group, with the full six points out of two games.

The game started out fairly routinely, with a battle in the midfield for possession between each team's main midfield talents, with Allison Swan, Ceni's chief playmaker, facing off against failed pop star Emma Bunton, with Swan winning the challenge easily. Lauren Florentina of the team had big ambitions for her playing skills in this game, but she wasn't able to fulfill those, as Swan dove around her easily before passing to Corran Celgis, the Centralis Heart midfielder who was the second Cenian player to reach a Champion's Cup semifinal with the team (he had won the CC with Cathair, as well as Jaime del Olmo). He previously played with 1830 Cathair, one of the world's best clubs, so he's had experience playing with the best players and teams in the world. That more than adequately prepared him for the game against Jeruselem - who admittedly are past their prime, not having qualified for the last several World Cups.

Ceni's midfield had a good time against the Jeruselem defence, with del Olmo working well with his counterpart on the right side of the midfield, Jacen Xasan, who plays for Spartangrad in Eura, to bring the ball forward against the Princesses' defense. They play with a little less aggression than Ceni does and bolster their defense with an extra man (or woman, in their case), so their defense was probabky considered better than Ceni's, and definitely better than North Carcossia's dfense they had picked apart a week previously. Nonetheless, the strike team, led by Kel Koromin, did their best to outwit and outplay the Jeruselem defense. Koromin did have a successful jaunt out past the main part of the defense and had a good shot past goalkeeper Dakota Dallas, a scion of the famous Dallas family of Jeruselem that lends the team their name the Princesses. Koromin wasn't interested in giving her a royal pampering, however, and was determined to shoot past her and score a goal for the Cenian team. Dallas wasn't as interested in being in the receiving end of a goal, but luckily, she didn't have to do much work, as Koromin's shot hit the post and went wide.

That wasn't the end of the story for Ceni, though, as their offensive-minded nature kept forcing turnovers and moved the ball forward, so there were plenty of opportunities for the team to keep on scoring. Jaime del Olmo, the world class attacking midfielder that he is, set up an excellent scoring opportunity for Nico Asturias, the Cenial United forward, but his shot hit the crossbar and deflected right into the path of Jeruselem defender Raquel Khoo, who cleared the ball after a bit of a fight with del Olmo. That put the ball back in Jeruselem's court, and they tried to search for a good opportunity through the Cenian defense, which admittedly isn't the best in the world, featuring the less-experienced Justin Morroghany in the right side and Josh Axakel in the left. At least they are bolstered by experienced defender Kaia Travaran, who was named the captain of the team in what may be her last World Cup campaign with the team. Nonetheless, her experience showed, and she successfully tackled forward Clara Waldo to clear the ball away.

The ball now went back to the midfield, where it saw some fierce battles, but Ceni's excellent midfielders were able to win the day for Ceni. Corran Celgis and Thajan Jaros, the latter playing for La Nueva Avenida in Farfadillis, did well on the defending and passing side of things, and they were able to outwit the Jeruselem midfield pretty easily before funnelling the ball to Cenian playmaker Swan, only a tender 19 but a must-have player for the squad. She was able to set up an incisive pass to Jaime del Olmo, and he was able to pass to Nico Asturias in the front, who was eager to make up for his mistake earlier in the match. That he did, and he set up a classic feint move to distract goalkeeper Dallas before scoring in the other side of the net to open up the scoring for Ceni.

Jeruselem now made some substitutions in the midfield to better take advantage of their possession, with the more experienced Michelle Huniker replacing younger player Khloe Christi. That still wasn't enough to change the momentum of the game, though, as Waldo and Lupin both had pretty tame shots at the goal, with Jacian Ryaden being able to save both of them. It wasn't going to be a good day for Jeruselem, and manager Elías Carrasco looked on approvingly as his team made some excellent strategic plays to get back in the Jeruselem area of the pitch, with Travaran moving forward and passing to Celgis, who had an incisive pass down the right of the field to Jacen Xasan. He dribbled forward and brought the goalkeeper out of position before passing to Jaime del Olmo. Del Olmo thought he had a good shot on the empty goal, but then defender Jordan Spiel managed to get a legal tackle kn the distracted del Olmo and sent the ball rocketing out. Ceni now had a corner kick to take advantage of, and Corran Celgis did take full advantage of it, using his training and instincts honed at several top clubs to send a textbook-perfect header right oass Dakota Dallas, putting Ceni firmly in the lead. Halftime was only a few minutes away, but Jeruselem made a hurried attack anyway. It didn't give them any advantage, though, as Ryaden managed to stop the Jeruselem attack in its tracks.

In the second half, Jeruselem came back rested and refreshed and ready to go against a confident Cenian team. Manager Carrasco subbed in Adrián del Toro for a tiring Jaime del Olmo, saving the Cathair player for a more important encounter, namely the one against Turori, when his skills would be more urgently needed. Del Toro has been on a roll in Cenileague, scoring the second most goals in the league behind the enviable Galasgoldas Tathtauré of Valanora for Pinnacle Project before earning a transfer to Phalanx AF with the team's relegation. He immediately made himself useful in the match, providing the vital energy in a push for the Jeruselem goal. However, this time Dakota Dallas was no pushover, and she managed a reflex save on the whizzing shot that del Toro sent after a flurry of passing activity, from del Toro to Xasan to Asturias and back to del Toro again. Despite the lack of a goal scored, though, the play showed that del Toro has the talent and the drive to be a major part of Ceni's national team in the future.

Jeruselem, a bit more hopeful after Dallas grew into the match a bit more, tried some aggression for a change, and it finally produced some results. Henessy Lupin managed to get some serious spin on the ball after she received an incisive pass from midfielder Lauren Florentina, and the ball managed to just make it past the goal line - or did it? The goal review technology was trotted out, and the referee confirmed that the ball had indeed crossed the line. The Jeruselem team celebrated their goal, and perhaps Florentina would be content with an assist. She wasn't, and under her leadership, the team began to press again, making the game a lot more competitive in that instant. Ceni, though, was trying very hard to keep Jeruselem out of the goal zone, and Kaia Travaran performed some excellent tackling work to keep the ball away from Ryaden's goal for a change. Florentina, eager to score, moved past Travaram and Axakel, who formed Ceni's back line, and Waldo, the former schoolteacher, passed it to her, allowing Florentina to score. But that one wasn't to be, as the assistant referee waved the checkered flag for offside. Jeruselem manager James Troisi raised a fuss about the call, but it was obviously offside.

That sort of took the wind out of Jeruselem's sails, while Ceni still had plenty of energy, especially considering the boundless energy of midfielder del Toro. Allison Swan, though, was having some cramps in the hot Jeruselem weather, so manager Carrasco subbed her out for Jay Irikor, the midfielder who's been having something of a mid-career revival playing for the Chromatik side Urrheddiao, where he notched more than 20 assists as a playmaker, proving crucial in the side's campaign through the Globe Cup group stages. Irikor and del Toro had a good rapport, apparently, and they bounced the ball between each other up the field, allowing the ball to move closer to the Jeruselem goal. del Toro hit the final pass on that play, to Cornellians star Kel Koromin, who hit a screaming shot into the right end of the goal to extend Ceni's lead to 3-1. Jeruselem attempted to send the ball through the Cenian defense, but Kaia Travaran held firm to prevent the home team from scoring even further and making the match a bit more competitive.

Ceni, however, wanted to extend the score even more in its favor, but Jeruselem apparently didn't get the memo on that one, and as Ceni advanced up the field, the defense grew a bit more constricting on the offense. Asturias had another chance on the goal after a series of passes by Irikor and Xasan managed to outwit the Jeruselem defense, but Dakota Dallas managed to anticipate the goal and blocked the excellent shot. Jeruselem tried a couple of last-ditch attempts to score two goals in the ten minutes remaining in the match, but none of them were successful, as Ryaden blocked the goals that Travaran wasn't able to prevent. Overall, it was a successful match against the third seeded team, which on paper, could be a good match. However, Ceni didn't have too much trouble in Carrasco's second game on the job, with the offense firing off very well and the defense working as well. It's a good omen for Ceni's further qualification campaign.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

From the Desk of Lord Almighty Gregory

To: Censorina Polus

Dear Ms. Polus,

I am writing to remind you to issue a response to our request to hunt down and kill the wicked Anti-Patriarch, the heathen so heathenistic he does not deserve a name. Please inform me if you agree with our plan which we transmitted earlier. To reiterate, we will send soldiers claiming to be defecting Taxachuttan slaves, who we took into slavery after Warren Elizabeths gave them up. They will claim to have found Iesus Christus and accepted him as their Lord and Savior. They will then use their information to get and find the Anti-Patriarch, and then we will execute him with the Brownie Cutter of Death. Ideally, they would ask the Anti-Patriarch to bless them, he will show up, and they will arrest him and take him into custody. However, I doubt they will be so accommodating. We will likely need to use a more difficult and arduous process.

However, rest assured, we will hunt down and kill the Anti-Patriarch. We will execute him with the Brownie Cutter of Death on live Gregoryisgodistani TV, and can sell the video feed to other countries and split the money. Of course, you can show it live for free, because you help us and he is your terrorizer.

Let us all show the world our awesome power together, at which point you will be removed from the Enemy List. We will sign a historic peace treaty and all will be well. But first we need to hunt down and kill the Anti-Patriarch. So let us do so. Please inform me at your earliest convenience of how to proceed.

Thank you.

Sincerely,

Lord Almighty Gregory

[Anglatia]

After a brief hiccup in my schedule plans because of the Copa De la Paz not happening, I'm now revealing the other RP series that I'll be working on for this World Cup cycle. Ideally I'll alternate between this and The Mighty Jacks.
An Empire In Flames - Part One

The walk from the tunnel to the field was the longest walk ever. The tunnel was completely dark, and narrow enough that it was hard for the players to walk out without bumping into each other. But there was certainly a dramatic element to running from complete darkness into the night air of the AirValeria Arena, which was lit up by floodlights. Especially with a scene like the one that was unfolding now. The fans were in full voice, the Imperial team had just entered the pitch, and the anthem of Underfell FC was ringing out through the massive steel structure.

"From the banks of the Ross
To Baratstan City
We will fight fight fight, for Underfell FC!
Woah, woah, hey hey hey!
Hey hey hey!
Woah woah, hey hey hey!
Hey hey hey!

To hell with VIK!
To hell with SVFC!
To hell with Calovice!
To hell with ACV!
Woah, woah, hey hey hey!
Hey hey hey!
Woah, woah, hey hey hey!
Hey hey hey!

UNDERFELL!
UNDERFELL!
UNDERFELL!"


When the song finished, Nessa Chryst and the other players lined up for the starting lineup announcements, and that was the moment when she realized how far she had came. Just under two years ago, she had been playing in the Anglatian Lower Premier League, or ALPL. It was the league that was between the Anglatian National League, where the Anglatian clubs that couldn't quite get entry into the Imperial leagues played, and the unprofessional lower divisions. Now she was in the starting lineup for the national team, the one that represented all seven states of the Empire. She was next to Andros Diasakos, a player that she had always looked up to, and on the other side of her was Zahara Santana, the most hyped prospect in the history of Anglatian or Valerian football.

But she could still remember when things were different.

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The sixteen year old girl found herself at the shore of the river Ross, with nothing but a bag full of her things and the clothes that she was wearing. Everything in her life was broken, her village burned and most of her friends butchered by an invading army. She was lucky enough to have escaped, but at this point she felt like she would be better off dead. The death and destruction that had brought her here was caused by the South Valerian Liberation Army(which was ironically located in a region that is a northern part of Jugoskania), a Muslim rebellion in the heart of the most fervently Christian part of the Valerian island chain, one with heavy ties to Kisote's Eastern Brotherhood.

She could remember the smell of blood in the air, quite vividly. She remembered faking her death and spending a half hour among corpses, and then running off into the woods and walking two miles to the closest airstrip without even saying goodbye to her parents. They were still alive, or at least she hoped they were. They had enough influence in the village to possibly escape, but she had only just arrived in Anglatia and she would have to find her uncle in Ballonstone before she could try to contact them. It would be harder than she expected, though, to find him. She barely practiced her English after all, and she only had about thirty marks. She found herself wandering through the city, stopping eventually once it was clear that she was lost.

The girl sat on the ground and took in her surroundings, before realizing that she was actually heading closer to the city center and not to the outskirts. In the distance, she could see the massive stadium and the towering skyline. She was going to get up and change directions when a voice made her jump. "Excuse me, but are you alright?" someone asked her. "I'm sure that you know it already, but you're covered in blood."

"Not mine," the girl said, before stopping to search for the right English words. "I... I escaped Branslakur and... I am searching for my uncle. Artemy Chryst. He lives in Ballonstone."

When she mentioned her hometown, a look of surprise flashed across the man's face. She was relieved when he switched from speaking English to Jugoskanian, although he carried no regional accent. "You're from Branslakur? You're lucky to even be here, isn't the whole village... You know... Dead? Is it as bad there as they said on the news?"

"Most, not everyone. I escaped by pretending to be dead and paying a pilot to take me here. Most of the men died trying to fight back, I lost all of my friends when the village center fell. Everyone who fled into the woods got caught by a second line... Some of us jumped off of the cliff onto the rocks by the ocean, to avoid a worse fate at the hands of the SVLA. But I think some made it by hiding under the Church," the girl explained. "Are you from Jugoskania?"

"I'm Ross born and bred, I learned your language because I coach football in Ballonsgate and half our mids are Jugoskanians. I don't work far from where you want to go, it's about a fifteen minute drive from Ballonstone to Ballonsgate. My name's Pasco Hackney, and you are...?"

"My friends call me Nessa," replied the girl, looking the man over. He seemed trustworthy enough, and the fact that he spoke her language helped her to trust him. "And I do play football, but I'm not a mid like most of my friends. I play forward," she added, wondering if she would be able to continue playing. She belonged to an amateur team back home, but they wouldn't be playing anytime soon. Not unless the town somehow recovered its lost population and signed an entirely new squad. "Can you take me to Ballonstone, since you're close to there?"

"Of course, I wouldn't be a very good Christian if I left a fellow Christian without helping," Pasco nodded. "I'm here for the night to close a deal with a new player for Ballonsgate United, and then I'm heading back. You can stay in my hotel room till then, and call this uncle of yours if you haven't already."

Little did Nessa know back then that this decision was the one that would not only get her career going for real, but that it was the decision that would put her on the radar of the coach that transformed her into a star.

[Red Blackiland]

Red Blackiland Sports and Off-topic Chronicles

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The insistence in an error

Coming from a bye day for Red Blackiland

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Author : Mathias Gërdorffen
I found the Lady Massler another other day and she insisted, more once: she wanted because she wanted to attend a class of these sports academies. I avoid the conversation, subject moved, tried to make her give up the idea, but it did not work. As much as I claimed it was a boring thing, she would get bored, the good old lady insisted and insisted until I gave in and took her to a Little School Football, very close to where we were. On the way she told me that was very curious about things of Physical Education and, in the case of football, curiosity grew. After all, we were the world champions four times. And what happened now that we could not win anyone else? I thought it best that she could find.
We enter the field where they held classes and sat in a side stands the lawn. The teacher was beginning to class and there were thirty children, boys and girls, aged between eight and ten years or so. First he gave a warm, put the children in a circle and each year he showed the students were repeating. He flexed the trunk forward and counted up to eight. Then the kids flexing the trunk and counted out loud up to eight. After doing a side opening and in that position, he counted up to eight. Were ten stretching exercises. Children, very flexible, had no problem with stretching, unlike the teacher, who was quite hard. Then the Lady Masslerme asked the question I was afraid: for the teacher and the children had to count to eight during each exercise? I had to confess I did not know. It will not be because he is teaching children to count? She insisted. I kept saying that he could not explain it. Or is it as far as he knows how to count? Now the old lady already showed a mocking tone. I pretended not to hear, and tried to change the subject. But that's when it got worse, started the class itself. Sincerely my friend accompanied the organization of soccer class. The teacher students placed in line behind a series of five cones, separated from one another by a distance of a three meters. In the front row of cones, about ten meters, a beam and a goalkeeper. At the signal of the teacher, the first student in line broke with the ball at his feet, zigzag between the cones, passed the ball to the teacher after overcoming the last cone, received the ball back and kicked the goal. Then returned to the queue and waiting for his time.How class had thirty students during the thirty minutes it lasted one year, each student took six shots on goal. I impatiently waiting for the question of Ms. Massler, which came soon: Why did he use those cones? Honestly my friend, do not know. I think it's to improve the agility of children. She was not pleased: Listen, but during the game has a cone in the field for children circumvent? I thought the good old lady was coming and stood still.
She continued: You noticed that they spent most of the class time in line? Is he teaching students to get in line? In football game you have to queue before kicking the goal? And the more I was bored face, the more she enjoyed. Before we parted, she tried to comfort me. Look, John the Baptist, I know it's not how you give class. And we both know that Carmona and other great historic players would have never learned football if they had done these things that the teacher taught the children. But at least I learned one thing: Now I know why our selection picks up so much everyone. It is not only the leader's fault.
To think ........
"If a single person without any specific training, if the Lady Massler, can analyze and verify all these misconceptions with regard to education and training of football, how 'we' professional body movement and football is the initiation or specialized training, not realize the error, and what's worse, we refuse to change and remain missing, cooperating directly for the formation less time level of our football players. "
Red Blackiland don't have this problem in its actual stage, but be sure that this is a history that could give to everyone a lesson about football.

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Montreal Noire Walktrough #3 - Finally,Ko-han enters in the main storyline!

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Montreal Noire Box - Buy your game now!

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Case/Mission #5 - (Traffic)

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This is first case with Ko-han as a pro-detective working to Surete de Montreal after being promoted from the Patrol Department. A cutscene starts with the other experienced detectives welcoming the new one. Your new partner in Jiojing Kuro-san. Ko-han and Kuro-san will be called to investigate an abandoned car near a depot area full of blood splashes, looks like a murder happened in there. This is in one of Montreal Freigh Depots areas.

Blood splashes at the car

Going to the crime's scene, when you being nearer to it, a cutscene with the coroner and with a witness will start, he'll resume what he found in the car and about the first evidences, and he'll tells you that a possible could happen in the past night/midnight, and then you'll start to search through the place. Inside the car have large splashes of blood, and a bit ouside, in the trunk of the vehicle, behind it, you'll see a receipt that contains a small live boar purchase signed by a Kokomin Kun-jan. In the front of it, you can find a wallet that belongs to Sionging Karigawa, you'll also find, near of the vechile, a broken-repaired Shenzei eyeglasses and a bloody steel tube and you'll record the number plate, also he'll recognize that the tube was made from a Quebecois enterprise called Humsuei.
Remember about the witness? Now you'll interview him, he is a worker at the depot called Sun Gon-Jan. Gon-Jan had seen a car parking in the freight depot lot in the hours presumed by the coroner, but he failed to recognize which car is it, as he knew all of the cars that parked there daily, but he speaks that since the car was in the middle of the depot, out of the normal place, he went to take a look at it, and when he saw all of the blood splashes, reported it to the police or Surete de Montreal. He was very nervous in the beginning forced to stay in the place by your partner, bur helped the detectives so much. Ko-han won't doubt it, he says that knows Sionging, as he knows who stops at the freight depot, then he tells you that don't know the content of the wallet, but Ko-han thought that it was doubtful, since Gon-Jan was a poor man, that was only a simple worker at the depot and the lot joining it with the car full of blood splashes, so, Gon-Jan tells that he had saw it, but he didn't stolen anything, after it he speaks about the bloody pipe found in the crime scene. After tracing the car details and the plate,is confirmed that the car belongs to Sionging.

The live boar slaughterhouse receipt

Then,Ko-han will walk to the nearer telephone and calls the police radio to locate the residence of Sionging, once you have it, Ko-han will go to Sionging's house. Reaching in the house, Ko-han knocks at the door, are received by Sionging's wife called Niki Karigawa, Ko-han tells her that he'll take a look outside of the house and i'll interview Mr. Karigawa later. Inspecting inside the house, you can see both photos of Mr. and Mrs. Karigawa in separate rooms and space, Ko-han will start to think that the couple was having problems in the marriage, you can see a newspaper talking about a future charachter of the story helping a couple of vets. You'll find in Sionging's bedroom, a photo from Sionging Karigawa with the message : ''Hurry,my sweet Rumi. I want to have you back'' which means to a concealed marriage or relationship. In the same room, you'll find an empty Shenzei eyeglasses case, the same enterprise and eyeglasses found in the crime's scene, a train ticket receipt from Montreal to Centrale (other Quebecois city and province). If you'll go back to the dinning room, in the kitchen, you can find a divulgation card from a Kokoroto's Bar and a Humsuei water-heater installation ticket/receipt. Now, you with Ko-gan will go finally outside of the house, and inspect the new water heater, you'll arrange the pipes properly fitting one by one until the end that you'll see that one is missing and is the same as the other found in the crime's scene. Time to interview Niki Karigawa,Sionging's wife.
She was very desperate about Sionging whereabouts of her husband, even with the knowledge of his other affair. Mr. Karigawa tells that Sionging and Kokomin were friends, but she doesn't approve that friendship, calling Kokomin a ''very crooked person'', she confirms the identity of the receipt to a live boar and that was ordered by Sionging. Ko-han asks about she knows anything about a Rumi and Niki says no,Ko-han thinking that she's lying by the photo with the phrase that he found at Sionging's bedroom, she'll tells you that both are having discussions and problems in the marriage. She'll confirm the relation about the empty Shenzei glasses case and the ones found in the crime's scene and that this belongs to Sionging, tells that her husband drinks in the Kokoroto's Bar and says that he spent most of his time with tool work friend, Kokomin, and that is certainly Kokomin knows about Sionsing's location.
Now, it's time to trace adress for the Kokoroto's bar in the telephone on the police radio.Finding the adress, and reaching it, enter in the bar and talk with the main bartender, asks for if he knows anything about an Kokomin, the bartender tells you that he is just in the back part of the bar, in a separate table. Once you'll go to the coordinates in the bar, you'll start to interview Kokomin. Ko-han will ask if Kokomin knows anything about an abandoned vehicle near of the freigh depot, and Kokomin denies it, then Ko-han thinks that he is lying and Kokomin gets angry with that, to prove the opposite, Ko-han tells about the receipt for a live boar found in the crime scene and signed by him. So he admitted that Sionging's death was staged and mounted by both of them, that them used the blood of the live board to spread it around the car and abandonated Sionging's car with his glasses, the receipt, the wallet and the bloody pipe. So, Ko-han asks if Kokomin knows about Siongings whereabouts, he denies it, then Ko-han doubts, by the fact that he spent so much time with Sionging and the act of staging Sionging's death to something. So, Kokomin tells Ko-han that Sionging faked his death to leave his own wife, not want to fight for the divorce, to make a way to go back to Centrale, after it, he reveals Sionging's location that is in Kokomin's apartment. You can choice if you want to leave or arrest Kokomin, choosing the first option will produce the probability that you see him in a future crime when he tries to steal a chicken/fish truck comitting homicide. Now to drive to Sionging's location in Kokomin's apartment.
Driving towards the direction, the police radio let you know that the blood found in the car isn't human one, but from a swine, matching with the receipt from a live boar. Just check inside for the number of the apartments, you'll see that the Kokomin's apartment is number 3. Walking up to the door, if you made the questions by order in Kokomin's interview, he'll respond to Ko-han and Kuro-San knocking in the door, he'll reveal that planned to leave Montreal for a while, then he says to Ko-han that needs to pack his clothes ahd stuff, he hits the door in Ko-han's face, make you kicking it down and pursue Sionging. If you didn't made the proper sequence of questions in Kokomin's interview, Kokomin will open the door to see that the detectives are outside, waiting, Ko-han will ask to Sionging to come with him to Surete's station, Sionsing will try to escape, going out of the window while Kokomin gives himself up.
To pick Sionsing, make the same going out of the window, follow and pursue him in the emergence exit and ladder, then down the pipe, to see Kuro-San's car cutting off Siosing, he'll be charged for wasting police resources and investigation and fraud.It's revealed in the game later that Niki made Sionsing came back to her's house, forgiving him. A case that see how the own citizens many times make the work of the police harder wasting police time and resources, staging or reporting fake crimes or accusations.

[New Dukaine]

Port City Leader, Sports edition
New Dukaine Slacks in the first 4 matchdays

New Dukaine is not doing so hot this round as they go through the Audioslavia portion of the cup. The national team has only won...nothing, lost 3, and tied 1. This is very bad news for everyone in New Dukaine, as this places the team in dead last in Group 6. New Dukaine is working on brand new formations and is practicing twice as long for tomorrow's match. New dukaine will play a more mediocre team, Ferret Civilization-

And that is when you slap down the newspaper and turn on the tv to ESPND

"Good morning everyone and welcome to DSC! We have a special guest on today in our specialllllll report! Ejiro Abena joins us on Skype to talk about the World Cup. Hey, Ejiro."

A split screen enters

"Good Morning"

"Ejiro, you have been tiring yourself out practicing and trying to get better, is that a factor to you against the national team?"

"Well not exactly, I personally think that our player's confidence slack might be one of the factors. If I pull up the ranking here in group 6, Ah here we go, we can see that we are .57 on the KPB scale, resulting from our bad performances in the Baptism of fire.

"Will this result in any changes to the team?"

"Yes, our coach is looking at changing out the bad players and replacing them with our new subs that we just got from the Academy. We are hoping this actually works out very well and we can start winning more games."

"Ejiro, thank you. We have run out of time. Advertisements will play then we will be back!"

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This segment was sponsored by Hydro Cola, the only soda in New Dukaine that quenches your thirst
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[Fluvique]

Hello folks, I'm here to bring to you the highlights of the match Fluvique-Greater Cascadia, in the third match of this qualifiers. Let's go!

A new World Cup ilusion starts. And we say start, 'cause after the 0-3 defeat with Nova Anglicana, we need to start over and make some changes in the squad. Sacking Muyskens and all the defence is a good starting point. Even if we only can kill Adam Wilde is a good new.

The people is filling the stadium, a great attendance despite the weather and the time. We believe that the people who organizes the Fluviquean matches live in the Caribean and don't know where the hell our country is. Meanwhile, the board at the Royal Association is trying to discover a new way to make money with tickets and continue despite an average of 3 deaths per year by hooliganism.

The commentators seems to be a pair of menopausal women with heat, according to their voices. I'm pretty sure that the fat one attends regularly to the Cabaret near my house.

The players are now in the turf. It's Anthems time. The Fluviqueans sing it less than an electronic song. It's very cold, hum. A pair of blond girls are excited, not by the Anthem, but because they appear in the giant camera.

Now the Greater Cascadia Anthem is performed. We ask for respect, compression and MUYSKENS OUT.

The referee of the match is Maurice Sanders. It looks like Noob Saibot with shorts.

First half.

0.00 Is the start of the match. Allez la Fluvique! Yes, we can't do another thing rather than say allez. Allez to the thieves in the RFA, allez to the tax increases, allez to the politicians.

02.00 Shot of Di Angello, saved by Naomi Ingalls. Adam Wilde walks near her and ask for an autograph of Charles Ingalls.

02.30 Greater Cascadia waits on its field and Fluvique has ball posession. The White Foxes are more focused than two teens looking a porn magazine.

05.00 Greater Cascadia is pressuring more than debts to Greek economy.

12.00 Shot of FEDE, close to the goal. He watches a nice girl to flirt after the game, but he realizes that is only a giant ball from the sponsors.

14.30 Greater Cascadia misses a clear goal chance. Fluvique in defense is more untidy than the dentures of Methuselah.

16.00 Another chance for Greater Cascadia. Muyskens doesn't know if cheer his players or buy air tickets to the Arctic. Is still 0-0

21.00 Almost Fluviquean goal, saved by the goalkeeper. Corner kick. Is not a final, so Adam Wilde can be a dangerous pleayer in the area.

23.00 Greater Cascadia controls the ball and the game. Muyskens sends a Whatsapp to his wife telling her to close doors, windows and hide their childrens in the basement.

26.30 Fluvique now is pressing. The commentator is more exited than a teen youtuber.

27:44 Fluvique recovers a ball. The last time we recovered something, was our freedom in 1808. The people celebrates.

28.38 Larissa Nunn runs and creates a gap between her and Kaleshko of three kilometres. She throws a center for a great Drop of Patricia Irena. The ball goes to the stands.

30.21 Header of Totterham. It goes wide. Castanginnet today is slower than a pregnant women in a wheelchair.

32.10 Long pass to Gonza, but Jacqueline Totters is more fast than a hooker in Chary Street.

34.45 Di Angello pass to Kaleshko....off side. The commentator wasted eight littres of saliva.

36.20 Gonza shots but misses the goal.

37.04 Our defence is more flooded than the Union River with a light rain.

38.12 Carina Aster runs, touchs with Porter and the ball is out of the stadium. If NASA's scientists found water in Mars, now they will find a ball.

39.00 Greater Cascadia is pressing more than Merkel to Greece.

42.00 Muyskens talks to Missing Children and denounces the dissapearing of his forwards.

44.35 Free kick to Fluvique. Sam Gonza shots. Is deflected. Corner kick.

45.00 Two minutes of injury time.

45.00 + 1 Almost own goal of Greater Cascadia.

45.00 +2 End of the first half.

Halftime.

Until now Fluvique was a little bit better than its rivals. However, every time that Greater Cascadia made a counter attack, the White Foxes had more troubles than a stutterer flirting with a hot girl. A good substitution could be shaking all players and hire eleven backpacks.

Statistics.

Appearances of Gonza in the match: 1,03
Appearances of Wilde in the match: 0.
Insults to Muykens and its staff: 330 per minute.
Fluviquean defence speed: 7,6 kilometres per day

Second half.

00.00 Start of the second half.

01.00 The Jumbotron is broken. We don't have idea of the time. We will improvise.

02.00 Yellow card to Wilde. One more and the crowd will celebrate it as a goal.

85.00 Fix the Jumbotron sons of a b*****

107.00 Greater Cascadia will score soon.

90.00 Almost penaty kick to Greater Cascadia. Kaleshko hits Delores. The referee didn't saw it for a miracle. Muyskens is more nervous than smuggler in a border control.

07.58 They fixed the Jumbotron. Until now is our greatest joy in the match.

09.50 Free kick to Fluvique. So far the national team made us feel less emotions than a chess game between two blind.

12.48 Mi almost scored, with Paribas missing the ball. A miracle in the Fluviquean area. At this point, Ralph Wiggum could make fun of us.

13.20 Fluvique reachs the area. Corner kick for the White Foxes. The supporters pray for a good center.

15.15 Topolsky throws a center and the defence cut it just in time. Almost goal.

15.40 Shot of Di Angello, more long than his ears. Wilde dissapears together with FEDE. The last time they were seen was in 1996.

16.31 Shot of Di Angello and the goalkeeper saves. Corner kick. The best player so far is him, but he has less accuracy than Michael Fox.

19.31 Muyskens and his assistant debate if they should make a substitution, cut their balls or walk over barbed wire.

21.07 Ingalls saves a clear chance of Fluvique. Mhago was in the area as a forward and he almost score. At any time Paribas will play as wing and De La Mesea as midfielder.

22.55 After tree years and a half Porter shoots the free kick. Paribas sends it to corner kick. The people begins to complain more than the fired workers in the Revolution avenue.

25.15 Nick Auze enters for FEDE. All the country is ready to kill him if he is sent off again.

30.00 Drop of Topolsky. The commentator complains more than a communist near a McDonald's.

31.40 Qarina Totterham was near the area but Kaleshko stops her. We always loved you, Julien.

33.50 Wilde shots and he almost hits a satellite. The TV broadcasters are in line to insult him.

35.39 Goal of Greater Cascadia....oooohhh everyone must go.

35.12 Why we are football fans? Our girls playing field hockey are better.

39.50 Fluvique was near to score. But, well....they suck. Loooseeeers.

41.20 A couple of seats fall to the turf. We pray that the next one hits Wilde.

42.00 Flares, stones and a wooden bar falls near Naomi Ingalls. The referee tells her to continue or no one will leave the stadium alive.

44.12 GOOOAAAALLLL OF FLUVIQUE. Adam Wilde scores. We knew he was a great player. Lets go for the victory!

45.00 The supporterts start to insult and whistle. The commentators are near to insult too. Muyskens is hidden behind an armored glass.

45.00 Four minutes of injury time. Necessary minutes to evacuate Greater Cascadia's fans to a safe place, like another universe.

45.00 +1 Yellow card for Sam Gonza. Mhago, De La Mesa and Topolsky threaten the referee, who has more fear than the fat people in Wall-E.

45.00 +2 Free kick for Fluvique. Half of the country goes to the area. Gonza shots and the ball hits the only player in the barrier. Massive suicides.

45.00 +3 With this result Fluvique is in relegation zone. With this result the stadium will explode.

45.00 +4 Final whistle!

The players quickly run to the changing rooms, avoiding journalists, spittings, shoes, watches, cell phones and the illusions of many kids. Fluvique disappointed everyone, but it will not happen again: if they don't win over Port Christopher, they will be killed befora the next match.

That was all folks. Until the next game. Or the execution of our players.

Results

1- bye
2- Fluvique 4-3 West-East Timor @South Lane Stadium.
3- Nova Anglicana 3-0 Fluvique
4- Fluvique 1-1 Greater Cascadia @South Lane Stadium.
5- Port Christopher vs Fluvique
6- Fluvique vs Abanhfleft @South Lane Stadium.
7- Arcantova vs Fluvique
8- bye
9- West-East Timor vs Fluvique
10- Fluvique vs Nova Anglicana @South Lane Stadium.
11- Greater Cascadia vs Fluvique
12- Fluvique vs Port Christopher @South Lane Stadium.
13- Abanhfleft vs Fluvique
14- Fluvique vs Arcantova @South Lane Stadium.

[Amazonesta]

The Amazononian Observer

Amazonesta collects first victory of the World Cup 75 Qualification campaign with 5-3 victory over Corelia


Team captain Federico Paiz celebrates the game's final goal against the Kingdom of Corelia

CORELIA- World Cup Qualification was never going to be easy. Obviously this team is the #32 team in the world, but as the 4th highest ranked team in the group out of 7 teams, and only playing in their 2nd World Cup Qualification cycle ever, this was always going to be an uphill climb for Amazonesta. However, the team is holding their own on the pitch in group 12. Their first two games, of course, were against the highest ranked teams in the group, being #6 Quebec and #37 Equestrian States. While there were no surprises in Amazonesta's 2-0 loss away from home to open qualifying against Quebec, there were very many positives to take from their 1-1 home draw with the Equestrian States to begin the World Cup Qualification cycle, with Amazonesta's goal coming from none other than Omar Falcone.

Then, of course, Amazonesta was finally able to earn their first victory of the World Cup cycle. Of course, the Kingdom of Corelia is an unranked side, meaning they have not ever participated in a WCC competition. Of course, this was not a normal unranked side. In their first ever WCC sanctioned match, they were able to upset the Equestrian States, 2-1 away from home. That, of course, is the footballing minnow of the world beating a side many expected to at least make the World Cup Qualification playoffs. Amazonesta absolutely needed a win, as they did take 1 point from the group's top dogs, but could not afford to drop points against a team like Corelia if they had any chance of qualifying for the World Cup Finals.

Amazonesta was able to pull off a victory. The 1st half, away from home, was a tough slog for the Amazonestans. This team and Corelia played to an even 3-3 first half. For Amazonesta, Luciano Rodrigues was able to open the scoring in the 14th minute, when he was quickly answered by a Corelia player. Nicolas Boaventura added a goal in the 24th minute, and Omar Falcone was able to score in the 37th minute for Amazonesta's 3 goals. The game was always tight, as a Corelia response to each Amazonestan goal kept this fast-paced and high-scoring game extremely close.

Ultimately, of course, there was simply too much firepower from Amazonesta for the Corelians to have a serious chance. In the 2nd half, the Amazonestan team was able to clamp down on their hosts. Their midfielders were able to keep possession of the football, and Corelia could not mount much of an attack. Star striker Omar Falcone scored his 3rd goal in the last two games, and his 2nd goal of the game, in the 61st minute, which proved to be the match winner as it gave Amazonesta a 4-3 lead. Corelia was never able to adequately respond, and Federico Paiz was able to kill his opponents on the counter-attack in the 77th minute to seal a 5-3 victory.

Of course, this leaves Amazonesta with 4 points. Not a terrible point total for the first 3 games, especially when many people thought Amazonesta would only be able to come up with 3 points from these first 3 games. Amazonesta, right now however, is in a good position. While it is a bit too early to talk about qualification, as there are far too many games to be played, Amazonesta is in a good place in the standings right now. They are in 3rd place in the group, and they play Bonesea at home in their next game, who are in 2nd place. A win for Amazonesta puts them in 2nd place, which is in a playoff spot. Quebec is currently running the table in group play, taking maximum points after 4 games, so it would seem to be wishful thinking to qualify directly for the tournament, but the race for that playoff spot is wide open.

With that, a legitimate chance of World Cup Qualification still on the line, Orlando Juarez isn't looking to do much tinkering with his lineup. He values cohesion, especially on a national team, where you simply do not have nearly as much time to build the sort of cohesion that makes more flexibility possible with a club team. Something's going right on the offensive end, with 5 goals against Corelia, but more games will have to tell if some changes are needed in the back, as the defenders has struggled for large parts of World Cup Qualification. We'll see if that faith in the lineup can pay off, and more importantly, we'll see if Orlando Juarez is willing to pull the trigger on the back line after their upcoming game with Bonesea, where the team's fullbacks will be under an extraordinary amount of pressure from Bonesea's wingers.

[Banija]

The All-Banija Sports Magazine
The only nationwide publication that is all sports, all the time!

Banija finally comes up with first victory of the World Cup 75 Qualification campaign with 1-0 victory over Wolfenia


The national team celebrate's the game's lone goal in their 1-0 Qualifier victory over Wolfenia

BUSUKUMA- Banijan manager Jan Cassallerus has an extremely tough task as he is at the helm of this team for the duration of the World Cup 75 Cycle. He had nothing but excellent reviews in the previous World Cup Qualification cycle, where he took a team that did not get a single point in World Cup 73 Qualifiers and led them to 4 wins and 3 draws in 12 matches, earning them a well-deserved place in the Cup of Harmony. Of course, the first pressure really came in the Cup of Harmony, where Banija was not able to build off of its momentum, and actually fell to Abanhfleft 5-0 in the final game of the tournament.

People started to really get unhappy though during the United Valhaven Regional Football Championships. While that tournament started with a lot of progress for this side, they ended up following 1-0 to both Frenline Delpha and the United States of Devonta in consecutive games, on home soil. This made a lot of Banijan fans not happy, as they were hoping for something better than a 3rd place finish at a tournament that Banija itself was hosting.

Of course, this qualification campaign has not gotten off to the best start. While people were happy with their 1-1 draw with Zenic to start the campaign, they were extremely disappointed to follow up a draw with a top-32 side with a 2-0 loss, at home, to Losthaven, a side ranked #255 in the world and exactly 156 places below Banija in the world rankings. To be frank, the effort was embarrassing, and it is assumed that many players figured that the win would come easily and handily to them, but Losthaven simply converted their opportunities and left this Banijan team stunned.

Banija lost another game they were expected to lose on Matchday 3, when they fell 2-0 away from home to Farfadillis, who has taken maximum points in 4 games and looks set to cruise to the World Cup Finals. They needed to right the ship against their unranked opponents, Wolfenia. If they lost here, the qualification campaign would start spiraling out of control, and Jan Cassallerus would actually be at risk of losing his job at the end of the cycle. Fortunately for him, a Saah Desta goal in the 83rd minute gave the hosts a 1-0 victory over their Wolfenian visitors, and crucially gave Banija their first win of the World Cup 75 Qualification cycle.

While they came away with 3 points, look for Banija to make quite a few changes before their next match. They get ready to travel to Dreamplanet, who is in last place in the group, but a team that has enough talent to play with anybody in this group. Jan Cassallerus is going to want a better performance than he saw in the first 4 games. Look for a younger side out there, especially in the back, and look for Cassallerus to go to his bench earlier in the game, and not wait until after the 60th minute as he usually does. They'll do what it takes to get points, and 3 points in Dreamplanet, while easier said than done, will be able to right this ship for this World Cup cycle.

[West Angola]

NAMIBE CHRONICLE

STADIUM LIGHTS FAIL, WEST ANGOLA PLAYS AND WINS ANYWAY


A scene from last night’s match (we think), played in total darkness after the lights in Warren Memorial Stadium failed

NAMIBE- Despite the remarkable progress made by the repair crews over the last two months, the renovation and remodel of Warren Memorial Stadium is still a work in progress. This fact was brought home last night in the match against Tobiasia as the lights in the stadium failed just seconds after the opening whistle, plunging the stadium into darkness and rendering play all but impossible. After no small amount of fumbling about attempting to find one another, the referees and the team captains conferenced at midfield and inexplicably decided to play on. With none of the players able to see one another, they were forced to direct their passes towards the sounds of one another’s voices, or try to slip silently through the defense without being seen. The referee and the linesman were similarly unable to see, so there was no way to tell if the ball went out of play, and more than once we are told the reserves were surprised to find a player for one team or another advancing through their number.

Our knowledge of the match comes to us secondhand via the Sporting Ministry, who interviewed each of the players to determine what happened during play, so there is unfortunately no record available for the Tobiasian side. After Tobiasia brought the ball into the West Angolan zone early in the match, Elsa Scott managed to win the ball through sheer luck and, by reflex, sent the ball clear where it was quickly lost to all present. After nearly ten minutes of searching, Nathan Gonzalez stumbled upon the ball and managed to sneak past the probing group of Tobiasian defenders to quietly dribble across the line. No one in the stadium knew Gonzalez even had the ball until he began loudly celebrating his first international goal. The referee made his way over to confirm the goal, bumping into Glenn Santos along the way, and moments later attested that the ball was indeed in the goal, much to the consternation of the Tobiasian side.

Tobiasia received possession after the goal, but sheer bad luck gave the ball back to West Angola. Captain Peter Simmons said afterwards, “I was standing near midfield trying to listen and hear where they were when suddenly the ball quite literally hit me in the foot.” An attempted pass in the dark had resulted in a give away, and Simmons was able to replicate Gonzalez’s success while the Tobiasians attempted to figure out what had happened. Simmons relayed the story of his goal to the Sporting Ministry: “I couldn’t move very quickly because I was trying to avoid notice, and I didn’t know where anyone was. I knew if I bumped into anybody, my side or theirs, that I would be found out, so it took me almost ten minutes to get into their zone. I guess the Tobiasians figured out they must have lost possession at some point, because they all came streaking past me towards their own goal. I still managed to get through them, waving my hand in front of my face to try and find the goalpost. I finally hit it, but when I did it made a loud ringing sound, and almost immediately their keeper came flying in and tackled me. We both just lay there for a second, and I heard him ask, ‘Did you score?’ and I said, ‘I don’t know, let’s go find out.’ Somehow I managed to tap it in before he hit me, and the referee got there about a minute later to confirm the goal.”

Up by two 26 minutes in, West Angola pulled back into their own box, knowing that Tobiasia would be playing with extra intensity. It did no good, however, as after fifteen minutes of silence the visiting side exploded in a flurry of sound and activity. While the West Angolans had huddled in their box, Tobiasia’s side had managed to gather and draw up an attacking plan to slip past the eleven players between them and the goal. They did so with brutal efficiency, overwhelming the startled defenders and hammering the ball into the net to pull within one. Shaken from the goal, Jan Pawel instructed Peter Simmons to send the kickoff as far away as he could to try and run the clock out until halftime. The ball was not found before the whistle blew, sending the match into the break with West Angola ahead 2-1. John Brennan (EPSN) tried to get an interview with Jan Pawel before he headed into the locker room, but mistakenly wound up speaking to “Uncouth Urkel,” an infamously fanatical football fan, whose profanity-laced tirade was quickly cut off by Brennan.

West Angola held the ball to start the second half, but miscommunication between players attempting to pass in the dark allowed the visitors to seize possession and threaten to score. Once again, however, sheer luck saved the national side, as Jeremy Thomas happened to be standing in the perfect spot to block the equalizer attempt, and after calling over Wesley Reynolds to take possession West Angola was once again able to advance. A bizarre, fumbling style of play developed for both sides, and changes of possession were numerous and quick with neither side able to break through . Finally, Peter Simmons managed to wrest control of the ball away from an unidentified player (possibly on his own team, although the action was so thick it is impossible to tell) and score his second goal of the match (and fifth of the tournament) to put West Angola ahead by two.

Neither side was able to find the opposing goal for the next fifteen minutes, and a series of nasty collisions around the 67th minute raised concerns on both sides about injury, causing Jan Pawel to substitute Andrew Ricardo for Simmons, Stephen Yates for Ramirez, and Christopher Therris for Gonzalez with twenty minutes left to play. Tobiasia scored shortly thereafter, and once again no one is sure who scored the goal, only that it occurred in the 71st minute and came on a long shot that Jeremy Thomas didn’t hear coming until it was too close to stop. The substitutes distinguished themselves in their response, however, as Ricardo and Yates each scored five minutes apart to make the score 5-2 in favor of the home side.

Now ahead by three, West Angola’s focus turned to avoiding disaster, pulling all eleven players into the box as they had before to guard against the Tobiasian attack. The attack never came, however, and at full time the referee blew the end of the match without the visitors having attempted a shot over the final ten minutes. Just moments after the whistle was blown, the lights came back on, providing dim illumination as they warmed back up. It was at this point that the ball was discovered in the goal. At some point a Tobiasian shot (it must have come from a long way off as the shooter failed to indicate he had scored) had rolled across the line unnoticed, and with a shrug the referee awarded a third goal to Tobiasia and declared the match over, giving West Angola a bizarre 5-3 victory. Jan Pawel brushed off an interview attempt from EPSN, saying: “No questions. I just want to forget this whole thing ever happened.” Attempts to speak to members of the Tobiasian side were similarly refused, and only with the release of the Sporting Ministry’s report was anybody able to piece together a complete picture of what happened last night.

The national team next goes on the road to take on Legalese, a nation West Angola has some history with, falling to them on penalties in the final of Cup of Harmony 55, and overcoming the Legal Eagles in Cup of Harmony 59’s quarterfinal. As the match is an away game, a small number of tickets will be made available through the Sporting Ministry Ticket Office, and those seeking to purchase seats outside of the Ministry may seek to do so from the away venue. The Ticket Office can be reached by phone at 22-81-1995 or online at http://www.football.wa/national/tickets.

Tobiasia (255)   at   West Angola (120) 
                 0-1 14' Nathan Gonzalez
                 0-2 26' Peter Simmons
41' -Unknown-    1-2
                 1-3 56' Peter Simmons
71' -Unknown-    2-3
                 2-4 74' Andrew Ricardo
                 2-5 79' Stephen Yates
90(?)' -Unknown- 3-5                    
Yellow: None
Red:    None

Group   13                               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 West Angola                              4    3   1   0    12    6   +6    10
2 Frenline Delpha                          3    2   0   1     5    2   +3     6
3 Osarius                                  4    2   0   2     5    6   −1     6
4 Falatulu                                 4    2   0   2    11   15   −4     6
5 Legalese                                 3    1   1   1     9    8   +1     4
6 Herendon                                 3    0   1   2     1    3   −2     1
7 Tobiasia                                 3    0   1   2     7   10   −3     1

---

Chronicle writers Christopher Lauren and Paul Wilson contributed to this report.

---

Part One|Part Two|Part Three|Part Four

Cpl. René Silva, AWA (KIA), 2041-2064

“Even as Lieutenant Commander Hodges was giving his life to silence the mainland artillery, our soldiers on the beach were fighting to secure Benguela as a landing point for our army. One of the great heroes of that effort is Corporal René Silva who, like Gavin Hodges, sacrificed herself to secure freedom for millions.”

Part Five: Blood on the Sand
If someone were asked to give a detailed description of the scene suggested by the word “hellscape,” the beach outside of Benguela was fairly close to what they would come up with. The initial airstrikes had softened up Benguela’s defenses, but the city’s defenders made efficient use of what they had, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at the determined invaders from behind a solid line of pillboxes, bunkers, and foxholes. Explosions from artillery and mortar shells carved deep furrows in the sand that provided some measure of cover for the invaders but also impeded progress when they tried to advance.

Most of the soldiers were dropped onto the beach by conventional sea transports, but a sizeable amount had descended from low-flying air vehicles. These paratroopers had as much trouble as the ones advancing from the water line, however, as they had to contend with more concentrated fire due to their position and numbers. In the shallows, the transport bay door dropped open and deposited René Silva and the rest of her platoon into the battle. Corporal Silva, like the majority of the Exile military, was experiencing her first real battle situation, her only training thus far having been drills for the invasion and to repel an invasion of Farreth Island that never came. As a result, her priority quickly shifted from being a hero to staying alive.

Silva cautiously peered over the lip of the shell crater and cautiously surveyed the position ahead of them. An instant after she dropped back down a round cracked through the space her head had been. The mainland soldiers had recovered quickly from the airstrike that preceded the invasion, and the sharpshooters along the defensive line were taking down anyone foolish enough to expose themselves for too long. Sharing the crater with Silva were the other members of her squad, one of which had thrown his rifle down and appeared to be sobbing into his hands. Keeping low, Silva crawled over to him and grabbed his shoulder, “Saunders! What the hell is wrong with you?”

The Private’s eyes were red-rimmed and his pupils were enormous, “I… They… It wasn’t supposed to be like… like this…”

She shook him roughly, “Fall apart later, Private! I need you focused and together or its going to be like this for the rest of your life!” His gaze remained unfocused, so she reared back and slapped him full across the face and pressed the soldier’s weapon into his hands, “This crater is going to become a target in about ten seconds, and if you’re either going to stay here and die in a hole on a beach and no one will care or you can get up now!”

The blow sent Saunders rocking back, but some color returned to his face and he gripped the rifle, “O…okay. Yes sir.”

“Good, now follow Jenson out of here, Brannon and I will cover you. Get to cover and wait for us, we’ll go forward together.” Saunders still looked slightly dazed, but he nodded and clambered out of the crater behind Jenson as Silva the last member of the squad popped up and down to lay down covering fire. Their actions wouldn’t have much of an effect against the soldiers in the bunkers, but hopefully the small arms fire would give them something to think about besides drilling their two exposed comrades. Miraculously, both Saunders and Jenson managed to reach another hole without being shot, and Silva and Brannon wasted no time in scrambling after them, this time with the first two providing the cover fire.

Focused as she was on not getting shot, Rene did manage to note that Saunders was now totally focused, blazing away at the mainland soldiers with an intense expression. As she reached the shell hole and slid down inside, he briefly put a hand on her shoulder. Brannon took his place at the front as Jenson dropped to the bottom with Rene, "Best I can tell, there's two other friendly squads in the craters ahead of us, but there's a heavy machine gun in front of them that has them pinned down, neither we nor they can go forward unless it gets taken out." Barely audible over the din of battle, Silva could hear the gun blazing away at a rate nothing manual could match. Silva pulled Jenson close so he could hear, "Stay down and don't get shot, I'm going after the gun. You're in command until I return." Jenson nodded, and Silva pressed herself against the side of the crater. Taking a deep breath, she counted to three and then boosted herself back into the killing field.

She almost died immediately when a shell exploded just a few dozen meters in front of her, showering her with sand and debris. A fragment glanced off her helmet and a flurry of wooden splinters peppered her right arm, forcing her to stifle a scream. The explosion may have saved her life, however, as it kept her from being spotted for several critical seconds as she scrambled away from her comrades to slip behind a small rise. With her arm turning the sand beneath her red, she peeked out to take stock of her new surroundings. She had come about fifteen meters away from the crater lateral to the machine gun, which put her well to the side. To get to the gun she would need to go another thirty meters ahead, which would require making her way across several stretches of open ground. Her best chance, it seemed, would be to hug the rims of the two other craters between her and her target, minimizing the target she presented while maximizing her speed.

The pain in her arm had been a nuisance when she was lying still with it resting on the ground, but as soon as she tried to put weight on it it graduated to excruciating. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she crawled forward on her elbows to another small hill and discarded her rifle. She should have left it behind in the shell crater, but now her sidearm would have to suffice, the bulky weapon was only slowing her down, especially since it was becoming clear that her arm wasn't good for much more than a prop at this point. She still had about twenty-five meters to go, but the gun crew's attention remained fixed on the craters. The gun's great weight meant that it was slow to track, but the distance was far enough that she didn't want to risk a straight dash. She quickly shoved herself to her feet off the ground and, hunched over, sprinted towards an overturned vehicle tossed by an impact and left smoking on its side next to a crater. The jeep was a fairly substantial detour from her path to the gun, but from behind it she would have an easy path to it without nearly as much risk. A bullet split the air above her back, and she heard the death rattle of the machine gun grow louder as it began to swing in her direction. As slow to track as the gun was, if it reached her while she was in the open there was no escape.

Knowing she had only seconds to spare, Silva launched herself into a full-body dive that carried her behind the jeep. As she skidded to a stop, a fullisade of bullets tracked across the vehicle and ignited the gas tank. At the last moment, she rolled down into the crater and covered her head, which resulted in her being showered with debris for the second time rather than being incinerated. This time her left arm took the brunt of the damage, but the sheer volume of shrapnel inflicted much greater damage and left the limb barely more than a bloody stump. It took all of her willpower to get back to her feet, and with only one arm climbing out was an ever more arduous task, but she was essentially running on adrenaline now and managed to power herself back over the edge. The flaming remains of the jeep and the acrid smoke filling the air and stinging her eyes made it extremely difficult to see, but by the sound the machine gun had resumed pinning down the soldiers in the crater in front, leaving Silva free to operate.

Moving slowly due to both caution and pain, Silva worked her way around behind the gun and pulled a grenade off her belt. Throwing with her right arm wounded wasn't ideal, but the explosion had sheared the barrel off of her sidearm and her left arm was completely useless. As she prepared to pull the pin, she heard a shout from the gun and fell backwards as a pistol round slammed into her shoulder. Rising back to her knees behind some wooden boxes, she tested her range of motion and found to her dismay that she would definitely not be able to throw anything. A quick stock of her options produced a bleak picture: one arm destroyed, limited range of motion in the other, a four grenades with no way to throw them, no rifle, and a ruined pistol. An insane, desperate plan took shape in her mind, and she hooked a finger through each of the pin rings on the grenades. With a primal yell, Silva rose shakily to her feet and charged towards the machine gun nest.

It was about fifteen meters to the gun, and the first shot caught her after five. Silva staggered, but didn't fall as she ran. A second round hit with six meters to go, but she still kept going as she raised the belt and tucked it beneath her ruined arm. Two more bullets slammed into her gut over the final stretch, but she was too close to stop as she ripped the pins off the grenades with her right hand and dove towards the gun, releasing the belt and sending it flying on ahead as two of the gunners emptied their pistols into her and a third made a desperate, flailing attempt to catch the belt and send it clear. Barely clining to life from the trauma her body had endured, Silva was dimly aware of being lifted and tossed like a doll as her world turned to fire. She crashed to the ground roughly, and the darkness closed in, but Silva felt nothing but peace as, for the first time in four years, there was no one else to fight.

"Corporal René Silva, your sacrifice represents a spirit that burns brightly within all of us. A spirit of sacrifice and patriotism that calls us to fight beyond ourselves in the name of liberty. Today we honor you as a martyr in the cause of freedom."

[Abaja]

World Cup LXXV

Abaja loses their first game to Flardania

- By Willis Segoso

Flardania 2 - 0 Abaja

FLARDANIA

Izumi 55'
Yabuta 83'

ABAJA

Udoh 55'

---

GROUP 20

Flardania 2–0 Abaja
Anglatia 1–0 Shytysle
Ko-oren 1–0 Chromatika

Group   20                               Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Anglatia                                 3    2   1   0     4    2   +2     7
  Flardania                                4    2   1   1     5    3   +2     7
3 Ko-oren                                  3    2   0   1     3    1   +2     6
4 Chromatika                               4    1   2   1     4    4    0     5
5 Nordeana                                 3    0   2   1     3    4   −1     2
6 Abaja                                    3    0   2   1     4    6   −2     2
7 Shytysle                                 4    0   2   2     5    8   −3     2

The Abaja Lions traveled to Kairaku, Flardania in the Dreamscape Arena to take on the Kitsunes, where they have received their first defeat of the World Cup Qualifiers. The sold out arena was filled with screaming fans from both sides. While Abaja was looking for their first victory, Flardania was looking for their second straight win. Welp, that's what happened. Flardania has defeated Abaja for their second straight win. It's also their second straight shut-out win. After defeating Shytysle yesterday, they did the same thing today. The Abajans have dropped to 6th place in their group.... Ouch. Not a good place to be. At the press conference, Alan Atsi was not happy about this game at all. "After our first match-up we were in fourth place... then after that, we drew again and we ended up in fifth place. Now we're in sixth. Hii ni kutisha. Oppurtunities just keep slipping out of our hands! Also, like Alulawe said yesterday, our schedule isn't getting any easier. I'm not saying that I'm absolutely furious with this loss. I mean, It's just one loss. But we've gotta start winning, guys." Alulawe Ju added on and said "Right, we have to start winning our games. Our chances of making it out of the qualifications are getting slimmer by the day. There is still hope.. Much hope. But hope could eventually disappear if we cannot get dubs. Our defense can only do so much. What our offense can do, though, is stay focused every game. Be serious with every game and every opponent. And most importantly, try your hardest. You have to fight very hard each and every game, because if you don't, we sure as hell won't be making it out of here. I really hate to e a negative person, but that's pretty much the truth."

Head Coach John Ndami said, "Okay. So I see we are really starting to struggle now, but to be frustrated over just one loss is not going to change anything. The only thing that can help now is to simply do better. I noticed in the game that our passing was not on point. Very inaccurate... Only tough teams can make t out. We have to be one of those tough teams. It's s easier to say than do, I know. But we can make that happen. More hard work, more practice, more drills. That can make us better as a team. You know what they always say, 'No pain, no gain'! I keep telling my players this every day. Since our next opponent is Anglatia, who is also a slightly easier opponent, it should put us in a better position of winning a game for the first time." After this statement, a reporter asked
"How does this loss reflect your team's performance?"
He answered, "It just means we've gotta get better on offense, and our defense has to play tighter. Our offense was poor and shabby. Our defense wasn't too bad, but improvements could be made for next game."

It was beautiful weather in Kairaku. Clear skies and a cool-ish temperature. Players from both squads walked onto the field. The first half of football started off with sloppy play from both teams. In the 6th minute, Flardania was attacking. Ryoushirou Nayasaki (FDA) got a cross from Sayo Matsuoka (FDA). Here came the cross, then there came the header. It was far right. Abaja started off slow. They took their time with passes. Then, when the time was right, they began playing faster. Christopher Anekwe (ABJ) passed it up to Alan Atsi (ABJ). He took a shoot just outside the box. It bounced off the crossbar, but the ball went right to Alulawe Ju (ABJ). He shot it again. The crowd got tense. Alulawe Ju's shot was batted away by Miyoko Hōjō (FDA). The ball went to Ayame Fujisaka (FDA), who passed it up to Pandazi Papadopoulos (FDA). Papadopoulos ran past Christopher Anekwe (ABJ), then he passed to Ako Izumi. Izumi passed back to Papadopoulos, then he passes it up to Joseph Yabuta. Pretty good chance here for Flardania. The crowd was on the edge of their seats. Yabuta took a shot, and Joseph Amé (ABJ) had the ball slip out of his hands, but he managed to regain control of it by diving on it, just outside their own goal. Almost a big mistake for Abaja there. In the 27th minute, Fabrosu Nyema (ABJ) passed a sharp pass to Christopher Anekwe, who passed it up to Dedéna Esé (ABJ) who tried a bicycle kick. The kick was up... and.... LOL! What the hell was that? The kick went high into the air and deep into the stands.In the 33rd minute, Flardania had another chance to score. Akiho Ubukata (FDA) was moving it up-field. She passed to Sayo Matsuoka, who then passed to Joseph Yabuta, then to Ryoushirou Nayasaki. He got tackled just outside the box. Emmanuel Udoh (ABJ) got the ball and passed to Joseph Amé, who kicked it up-field to Fabrosu Nyema. Nyema tried to pass to Dedéna Esé, but the ball was taken away by Ako Izumi. She then passed to Sayo Matsuoka, who tried to cross it to Ryoushirou Nayasaki, but it was blocked by Merrakwü Odena (ABJ). Corner kick for Flardania. The kick was floated into the box, but punched away by Joseph Amé. In the 45+1 minute, Abaja was running it up the field. Christopher Anekwe was running upfield and passed to Dedéna Esé, just before he got tripped up. Esé took a shot. His shot curved heavily. It was then batted away by Miyoko Hōjō. What a save! Before Flardania could get another chance, the halftime whistle blew, and it was a tie game, here in Kairaku.

At halftime, here's what the score were looking like: Flardania 0-0 Abaja. Yeah a pretty boring first half. But it does get better! In the 48th minute, Abaja was attacking. Christopher Anekwe passed it up to Alulawe Ju. Ju shot a booming kick, and scored! Wait. Hold it. He was off-sides! No goal. In the 50th minute, Flardania had a chance to score a goal here. The fans' chants got louder and louder. Sayo Matsuoka had the ball, but got trapped. Stephen Oyenusi took it away, then Joseph Yabuta got it back. He ran up to the box and shot it. Joseph Amé snatched it up in mid air. Some people wonder if it was going to be a tie game trough out, but in the 55th minute, Pandazi Papadopoulos got a beautiful pass from Koharu Miyamoto. He then passed to Ako Izumi. Izumi ran it up. Emmauel Udoh ran up and tackled her, but the referee called a foul. Udoh got a yellow card. Ako Izumi was then awarded a free kick, about 8 meters away from the box, Izumi took the shot. The kick was up. It was high. The ball floated into the top right corner of the net, just out of Joseph Amé's reach. GOOOOAAAAAAALLLLL! The crowd cheered and roared. Flardania now takes a 1-0 lead over the Abajans. Abaja had to step it up now, but they couldn't. Alan Atsi, Alulawe Ju, and Dedéna Esé all had problems putting the ball in the back of the net, either because they were inaccurate or because Miyoko Hōjō was saving everything. Fabrosu Nyema also shot one, but he missed. In the 75th minute, Ryoushirou Nayasaki shot a booming kick, but went just above the crossbar. They missed the shot, yes, but they were bringing the pressure. They weren't about to let this game slip away. In the 84th minute, Akiho Ubukata was running up-field. She then passed to Pandazi Papadopoulos, who then passed to Izumi. Izumi passed to Ryoushirou Nayasaki. Beautiful teamwork so far. Nayasaki crosses it to Joseph Yabuta. He got a diving header and the ball zoomed to the back of the net. Another goal for Flardania! It was now 2 - nil. Well, down 2-0 in the 84th minute... Abaja basically had no chance to get back and tie this game. They end up losing a crucial game and they drop to 6th place in their group. Their next opponent is Anglatia, which will take place in Kensi Stadium in Kingston, Abaja. Who will win?

---

COMMENTS • 4,329
Top Comments • New Comments

ChiliBowl - Joined March 5, 2011
June 12, 7:18 PM - Everytime Dedéna Esé shoots, a kitten dies. Stop Dedéna Esé from shooting today!
Reply • Like (383) • Dislike (41)

Kenny - Joined December 18, 2006
June 13, 12:15 AM - Not even I can get as high as Dedena Ese's shot.
Reply • Like (251) • Dislike (27)

SpongeBobSquarePants - Joined February 8, 2007
June 12, 11:42 PM - Yall are going hard on these guys lol you can't expect Abaja to win everything.
Reply • Like (213) • Dislike (11)

AlulaweJuGOAT - Joined April 22, 2013
June 12, 9:11 PM - The way John Ndami speaks is just makes him sound so uninterested
Reply • Like (188) • Dislike (17)

Phil Mousey - Joined November 4, 2008
June 13, 1:08 AM - The coach just doesn't give a shit sometimes.
Reply • Like (175) • Dislike (9)

Read More

[Jeruselem]

After Jeruselem drew 1-1 with Turori at home at Dazza Dallas Stadium

Jeruselem coach James and defender Princess Elsa who is wearing bandages around her ankle

James: You alright, it doesn't look very good that ankle.
Elsa: It would be better if some Turori player kicked the ball instead on ankle hey
James: It was an accident, these things happen
Elsa: Well if ****ing hurt, and well I had to leave the game when we were defending
James: Yeah the timing as bad but hopefully nothing broken
Elsa: It's just bruised, we wasn't exactly just passing hey

James: You do a look at bit weird
Elsa: Yes, a naked woman with bandages around the ankle. Not something you see every day
James: Actually I have seen it before ...
Elsa: Oh that was probably Mum. She was really worried. But then she is my Mum
James: Kinda of pity today, we could have won.
Elsa: We didn't finish properly and they scored a goal after I was off the field

James: We're in third place not bad for being last two games ago
Elsa: Yeah well, what's with all these draws in Group 16
James: I don't get it
Elsa: Confederate Islands of Paputu has two draws, Quakmybush three, Turori two and everyone else except Ceni one draw
James: It's a tight competitive group other than Ceni who just wins
Elsa: I guess that's why where are third then

James: it's not your problem, you rest up.
Elsa: I have to do the TV interview, I get paid to that you know
James: we can't cancel it?
Elsa: No, it's part of the contract
James: Better not then, your Mum might find out
Elsa: I'm fine, just on them painkillers

James: They aren't good for you
Elsa: I know they are opiates
James: I'm an old guy, I have regular trips to hospital. I know about them
Elsa: I dont like to use them but sometimes you know you have to
James: Pain isn't much fun to bear
Elsa: Who was that girl?

James: Oh her, just a relative
Elsa: I thought it might be your girlfriend
James: I don't have a social life around world cup time
Elsa: You have to make time
James: That's a very thick wrapping for your bandages
Elsa: Yes, because I was bleeding from the football spikes

James: we don't want any infections
Elsa: I'm fine, as long as these painkillers keep working
James: Tonight will be different though
Elsa: It wouldn't be good night's sleep I assure you
James: I know about injuries, that's why I'm a coach now
Elsa: I'm sure it's not going to be my last one as well.

[Tumbra]

Forty-Six
Prelude, Part Four: The Beginning

9 July 1985

John Williams was in 1 Parliament Street. Pondering. The events of his nascent premiership were still fresh in his mind. After all, it had been a year since he entered power.

But as everyone knew, a week was a long time in politics.

The 1984 election had finally been the triumph John had been waiting for. After the dismissal of Callum Harrison as PM, he had attempted to stay on as SDP leader.

The party didn't give him a chance. Within the week, Harrison had been voted out and Anthony Charleston became the party leader. It was too little, too late. Williams had dissolved Parliament immediately after becoming Prime Minister, and had won the subsequent election in a landslide. Well, there was the new Tumbran National Party which somehow managed to capture seven seats.

Somehow, he'd ended up with a majority of 83. Eighty-bloody-three! After twelve years of low majorities and hung parliaments, hopes were not high for an era of majority government ever rearing its majestic head again.

And they had regained the Senate! Carver had become President of the Senate, which was a pity, but he had been overwhelmingly voted in.

Reform had been swift - the previous fiscal year had seen inflation go down, GDP go up and life seemed to be getting better again. New laws restricting the trade unions were in force which was a move that utterly split the SDP and caused Charleston to resign as SDP leader.

The suave, charismatic Charleston had been replaced with the gruff, old-time Hughton-era socialist John Brown, whom, despite his boring name, was Deputy Prime Minister in Edmund Thorpe's government, and was Home Secretary in Kenny's. Normally someone of that age would have been pushed up to the Senate by now, but Brown had resisted.

And he was asking tough questions, too.

Prime Minister's Questions, the sport which he now relished as fun, had become a nightmare. These were no longer the days of him trying to throw stones - rather it was about trying to avoid them.

John chuckled. There was this brilliant new satirical comedy television that had debuted on ITT - and there was one line that resonated with him, very well.

"Opposition's about asking awkward questions."
"And government is about not answering them."
OOC: Original Quotation from "Yes, Minister" - "Open Government".

How long would he last? Probably would hand over the reins in 1987 to Hewson - he was a capable man, and would certainly defeat Brown easier than he could ever do.

For the first time in a long time, he felt tired.

John Williams switched off the lights, and went to bed.

-***-
10 July 1985

It was warm. An unusally warm Tumbran summer. So warm, in fact, that the usually frosty offices of Government Street - more informally known as "Blackhall" due to the classified materials that passed through there - were feeling warm. Some of them had even opened their windows - a practice virtually unheard of.

But that was nothing compared to the heat of a fully-packed House of Commons. It was once again a Wednesday, which meant yet another session of Prime Minister's Questions.

The Speaker, George Townshill, called the House to order. This was harder than it seemed. Attempting to calm the House down, especially on days like these, was a nigh-impossible task.

"Questions to the Prime Minister! Mr. Benjamin Townsley."

"Number One, Mister Speaker."

"The Prime Minister."

John rose to the dispatch box. "This morning I had I had ministerial meetings with my colleagues in addition to my duties to the House, I shall have further such meetings later today."

He sat again. The subsequent question would be some boring shit about Townsley's constituency, where he would destroy the Opposition, et cetera.

-***-

"Mr. John Brown!"

John Brown rose. "Will the Prime Minister rule out an increase in the sales tax?"

Standing up again, John made his way to the dispatch box.

"Well, in this current economic situation, which I will remind the Member opposite me, was caused by his predecessor's government's spending, it would be fiscally responsible to. To do any differently would be financial suicide, which I might mention is what the SDP did at the last election."

The House roared in laughter.

"Of course, one of the main parts of our long term economic plan is to lower the sales tax to below ten percent, but because the SDP had spent all the country's money with reckless...abandon..."

John felt a clutching in his chest. He looked down.

"The Leader of the Opposition..."

That was it. He gave up the ghost, and collapsed on the floor.

He never opened his eyes again.

-***-

In 1 Parliament Street, Mrs. Margaret Williams was preparing lunch when the telephone rang.

Her cry of anguish was so loud that the security detail had to rush in to attend to the now fainted Mrs. Williams.

-***-

Doctor Jereminah Bentley, the Secretary of State for Health, immediately reacted to John Williams' collapse by rushing over to perform CPR on him while the House imploded.

Trying to find a pulse, he found none. A heart beat? None.

The ambulance had already been called, but by the time he reached here, it would be too late. Realising this, Bentley began CPR on Williams.

-***-

President of the Senate Michael Carver was beginning to start the day's session of the Senate when an aide ran up to him and whispered the news into his ear. Carver's mood turned from netural, to a snarl, to a genuine look of worry before he dashed out of the Chair's seat and began running to the Other Place.

-***-

It was too late.

By the time the ambulance arrived, the Prime Minister, John Williams was dead. The first casualty of the Premiership since Edward Freemont.

Leslie Hewson was carted off to the Palace to kiss the King's hand, and become Prime Minister.

But what would happen next?

[Brenecia]

THE ROZELLE OBSERVER
Lymantatia 3-2 Brenecia: Why are the Patriots underperforming so badly?
Jack Barraclough

When Lymantatia's equaliser slipped through Mathis Woodgate's fingers, the second-most expensive Brenecian in history punched the goalpost in frustration so hard that he fractured his hand. Thus was the microcosm of a game in which Brenecia were left to curse their profligacy in front of goal, their generosity in defence and a controversial red card for Catherine Gryphon.

While some have supported the referee's decision to send off Gryphon in the 32nd minute for a stray elbow, most felt the punishment was harsh, and embellished unnecessarily by the victim. Regardless, the Patriots were 2-0 up at the time thanks to goals from Purrington and Trevelyan, and as Lilith Paterson replaced Carroll to slot into the holding midfield role the defensive structure was left intact. There is no excuse for conceding three goals, nor was there anywhere to hide for Karena Foran in the 89th minute. If there was anyone you'd want the ball to fall to four yards from goal from Szukala's cross, it was probably the fresh legs of the Hellinic-Rouge forward. As it stood, she somehow managed to smash it against the upright.

So Brenecia have, so far, lost two matches and only barely edged the bottom seed at home. This can be contrived into a good sign - Brenecia's first World Cup qualification also started with three points from their first three games, but that's really stretching for a silver lining. This is, essentially, the same side that did fantastically in the Campionato Esportiva and, a year before, the Cup of Harmony, falling only just short in both competitions.

And yet, on the pitch, it really isn't. Up front, things are healthy enough - they've scored eight goals - but ten have passed by Mathis Woodgate and there was nothing Geneva Urquhart could do to stop number 11 fly past her. Woodgate's sudden and alarming drop in form for his country has been, in all honesty, terrifying - and it's put more scrutiny on a defence that's suffering from two inexperienced, attack-minded A-League fullbacks in Lovelock and Szukala. Scrivener and Duguid are, all of a sudden, startlingly prone to lapses. And Gryphon will be suspended next match, the BFA's appeal proving unsuccessful. Blackslate has been in relatively poor form while Purrington, though performing well for club and country, is older, fatter and slower than ever. Only the forwards look in genuinely good shape.

The good news is that Brenecia will be able to ease into a relatively forgiving pair of fixtures, hosting Mercedini and Aji No Moto either side of an intimidating trip to Yttribia. The good news is that, owing to the Patriots' bye, Woodgate will be likely be fit for the trip to Mercedini, though it is unknown if he'll keep his spot. And Gryphon should walk back into the team in time for the Yttribia tie. But do we need to look at alternatives for the central defence? Will Skorupska, unproven against top opposition, put the captain out of the first XI? Who will be our number 1?

And, most importantly of all, can Sasha Bale answer all these questions by the end of qualification, and put all the pieces together?

[Mapletish]

The Sour Kind
“Wise men speak because they have something to say; fools because they have to say something.”

World Cup 75 | Timothy Jozua

Hasznia 2-0 Mapletish: Dragons stays rooted to the bottom of Group A

Hasznia got one over the Dragons at home as the visitors slipped to three points away from sixth placed Eshan. Embarrassment was the word to describe the evening as the Dragons give up their hopes for a qualification spot in the World Cup. Aristi went into this match promising a better match for the Fierykop but he seemed incapable to deliver his promise but the Fierykop was behind the head coach as the Dragons goes four matches without a win in the qualifying campaign, their worst since their World Cup qualifying debut in World Cup 57.

The Dragons started the match well as they cranked up the pressure against the hosts with several attempts on goal, however it was the hosts who got the upper hand as Alex Hawkins opened the scoring in the 4th minute, he scored another in the 44th minute as the Dragons got downed in a drained out match to challenge the group.

The Dragons got the upper hand in this match and as early as the first minute, Alero Junio was on target after a long pass from Gustav after kick off reached the on running Junio who unleashed a strong shot towards the goal, it however failed to find the goal as it sailed past the on looking Ruddy Summers. Despite the onslaught in the first minute, Hasznia managed to get their footing as they controlled the ball well in their own half but were heavily pressured by the incoming Maplish players who were determined to get one over the hosts side. Hawkins was the man of the opening minutes. After saving a shot from Di Natile, Summers pulled a strong and long drop kick towards David Henry who unleashed a long cross towards Hawkins who volleyed the ball past Kazimir Petya as the home crowd erupted into cheers and applause for the fantastic attempt by the Hasznian player.

It was the Maplish's turn once again as they opened up another quick scoring attempt after regaining possession from the Hasznia's half of the pitch. David Henry failed to controlled the ball properly at his feet after a sloppy pass from Bo Strain. The on running Di Natile tracked Henry well and wrestled the ball away from him and started a quick counter with a quick lob to Enkainia Lee from the right side of the penalty area. Enkainia got her head on the ball but failed to convert the header as it hit the crossbar.

The match continued to be a possession affair as the Dragons controlled much of the exchanges with Hazsnia chasing shadows against the Maplish. The passes relayed well for the Dragons and Josef Gai and Junio were able to get a few opportunities on goal. In the 14th minute, a quick passing movement from Vito, Gustav and Kimberly Aurora reached the feet of Junio who controlled the ball well and spun past Michael Burns before slotting the ball through Kennith Iverson and getting a one on one with Summers who seemed composed enough to reach for the ball but the ball took a deviation from its path towards the goal and flew out.

Maybe it was time for Junio to retire here as his shots lacked the accuracy from his heydays. However, his intelligent and creative plays often got the Dragons away from trouble as he continued to prove that he was an asset to the inexperienced team. A huge gamble for Bernard Aristi here as he experiments with a creative mix of dedicated veterans and creative and ready to go youngsters.

Hasznia on the other hand was only restricted to a few chances. Having collected a loose ball from Summers in the 25th minute, Burns latched on a quick counter and found Strain who went past a tough challenge by Enkainia, who made sure Strain "strained" himself to get through the Maplish half of the pitch. Her efforts however did not pay off as Strain got away and unleashed a neat cross to Ed Miller who failed to get past the tough defence headed by Vito. O Rye got his feet on the ball before Miller could react. However Miller tried a sloppy shot towards goal as O Rye wrestled with Miller for the ball. The Dry Coast Park cheered in delight with that amazing chance.

The Dragons continued to pile on the pressure on the hosts but it was the hosts who were able to get one more over the the visitors. A weak clearance from Orla Fritjof had the ball bounced out of the line for a decisive corner for the hosts. Hasznia took the corner seriously as the team gathered at the corner flag as if they were having a short meeting and dispersed to their respective positions right after. A strong lob was employed into the box with Carter Vick as the provider. It reaches Alex Hawkins and he volleyed another shot towards the goal making his second goal of the game in the 44th minute.

The Dragons continued to control possession after the break and penetrated continuously towards the hosts' defence, but Gustav was unlucky with a well controlled leap and shot from Junio's cross but it cleared the left hand post before it got Summers to react to the shot. The Maplish's attempt to score a "catch-up" goal continued as Rye led a quick offside trap against Hasznia in the 55th minute and got a quick in-direct free kick. He unleashed a strong lob towards a on running Kimberly who managed to break away from the sight of Henry, who was tracking her movement. Kimberly controlled the ball well and maneuver into the penalty box, the resulting shot however failed to marginalise as it went into the gloves of Summers.

Hasznia, threatened by the attacking prowess of the visitors continued their quest for their third goal. In the 67th minute, a quick counter from a failed Maplish attack was in the feet of Carter Vick. He got a bit of distance and unleashed a short one two with Bo Strain and found himself between the Maplish defence and midfield, where he picked out an on running Hawkins who failed to get an accurate shot on goal with the well executed play.

The game was becoming more of a time wasting affair for Hasznia as they tried to cushion the quick attempts on goal by the visitors as Mapletish tried to get a well needed goal to end of the match that has drowned not only the players' spirits but also their rank in Group A. Hasznia held firm and controlled the game whenever they have the ball and held firm for a crucial win which meant Mapletish is the only team in the group that has not earned three points. One point from four matches will be Mapletish's most embarrassing streak in their recent history.

Hasznia 2-0 Mapletish, Match Statistics

2 Goals 0
4 Total Shots 20
2 Shots on Target 12
1 Blocked Shots 3
0 Shots from outside the box 5
50% Shot Accuracy (Excluding blocked shots) 60%
35.5% Possession (%) 64.5%
2 Offsides 1
3 Corners 4

[Szavoda]

continued from here

Anna knocked twice. Hard. The hotel corridor was dimly lit, moody lamps providing the only light in the windowless hall. The door at the end of the hallway was big, made of thick oak, with the numbers ‘00’ embossed on the front.

There was no response. She knocked again. Still no answer.

“Riley open the fucking door or I’ll kick it down” She growled. A minute passed. Clearly she wasn't going to try and kick through such a heavy door, so she disappeared back into the hotel to try and retrieve a key. The man at the desk had said Riley had returned from dinner at about 10pm, and he wasn't in the bar, so she reckoned he might be asleep. This would work as a nice surprise, just like he had surprised her yesterday.

She intercepted a rather timid maid and demanded a key to the room, stating she was Riley’s girlfriend and had been locked out. She got the key and hurried back to Riley’s room.

She turned the corner in the corridor only to see the Euran leaning on the door frame, in his shirt and suit trousers, sipping a cup of coffee.

“I was literally standing on the other side of the door. All you had to do was say please.” He said with a sly smile.

“Fuck you.” She snapped back, pushing past him and into his room. It was large, actually split into two rooms – a lounge area where she entered, with a bedroom and en-suite bathroom off to the right. It was lavishly furnished, typical Riley, and he had been watching the news – the TV still blared in the background.

Anna turned and faced him, standing in the centre of the room, whilst Riley took his time in facing up. He set his mug down and sat before addressing her.

“What can I do for you, Katarina?”

“Don’t call me that.”

“Sorry, Anna. Anyway, what do you want?”

“I want you to cut the shit. Some police officers came round to my flat and interrogated me about you. This town has collapsed in on itself under a wave of gossipy bullshit.”

“Sorry about that, I have that kind of effect. And for me, this is a holiday. Talk about stressful.” He paused, smiling. “Have you given it any thought? I’d very much like you with me down in Bastion.”

“How will it be better than here?”

“Well, it’s one of the largest cities in the world – you’ll be able to disappear all over again. No-one from your previous job knows where you are, and the last place they’ll think is back in Bastion. Hiding in plain sight, as it were. Some parts of Bastion – my parts – are very nice, and you’ll get to experience the very best the city has to offer: food, drink, houses, relaxation, men…”

Anna scrunched her eyes “Ew.”

“But in all seriousness, it is the greatest city in the region. Everyone needs to live in Bastion at least once in their life. You've lived in Hornchurch, which is nice. Bastion is infinitely better. Cannot stress that enough.” He stood, more animated now. “I've said this before Anna, but I know your type. You’re not comfortable living the quiet life. Sure, you had to get away, but you’re through whatever it was holding you down. I’d wager you were getting a bit antsy all the way over here. Sure, it’s nice, the sun shines, but there’s no action, no drama. It’s boring as fuck. So whilst you’re giving out this hostile attitude to me, deep down, you’re actually pleased to see me.”

Anna ran her fingers through her hair in exasperation. “Riley, you are so full of shit.”

“I haven’t built the region’s most prosperous criminal empire by being full of shit, have I?”

“You do love yourself, don’t you?”

Riley sighed – he clearly wasn't getting through. He moved over to her, standing a good couple of inches over her. He spoke quietly.

“Anna, what if I just took you to Bastion on vacation – spend some time in the city when you’re not working. Bastion’s a very different city when you've got cash and time, of which we both have plenty. I’ll show you some sights, take you to some parties, we’ll have a good time and you’ll see what a great place Bastion is and how great it would be to work with me.”

Anna backed off and sat on the settee and dropped her head.

“This has been the best year of my life” She looked up and stared Riley right in the eyes, with that powerful gaze. “I've been happier than I ever have been before. Last time I was in Bastion, I got shot and my best friend died. Not exactly happy memories.”

“But if you come with me, you’ll be top of the pile – anything you want, you can have.”

“It’s not about what I have or want, it’s what I don’t have here – a life, history. I'm a ghost, who nobody knows. I like it that way.”

“But now you have cops coming to your flat at midnight. They might not be competent, but there’s so little crime here that they've got to have something to do.”

“The guy who worked my papers is the best in the business, there’s no way they’ll find me.”

“Maybe so, but wouldn't you rather get out of here before they get the chance to?”

Anna was silent. Riley continued. “OK, how about this. You come with me for one week. Just one week – if you don’t like it, fine, come back here and I’ll never bother you again. If you do decide you like it, then I’ll welcome you into my organisation. As I said, think of it as a holiday. Come on, you haven’t had a break in a year. Besides, from my part, I can think of worse people to spend a holiday with.”

Anna gave a small smile. “Are you hitting on me?”

“I might be.”

“Don’t.”

“So can we do this – I’d have to get on the phone to my pilot.”

Anna cleared her hair from her face and pushed it behind her ear. “Fine.”

[Electrum]

Centralis Herald - Comment - Miranda Lawrence

Eurans at risk of overrunning our territory

Enough is enough.

There is an overpopulation at our border -- there are a billion or so citizens just North of us, and I would bet that even a few million of them flooding south of the border would be extremely disastrous on our small population of 40 million. Such is woe for us being adjacent to a nation with so many people, but let us not judge our great founders of our nation. We must send a message now, to close the Euran-Electrum border, and furthermore, we must build a wall between the two nations. Without it, Electrum would be irreversibly on the path of economic downfall, which is something I'm sure you agree we do not want.

For years now, there has been much arguing in Eura's parliament about the Population Density Relaxation Act which sees them relax the population density requirements in Eura, which are already bursting at the seams. As a result, what we would see is that instead of the mandated population density which sees Euran citizens being forced to stay in their megacities, that requirement is relaxed, meaning people would be more able to go where they please. And its no surprise they would choose Electrum, our quality of life, education and health standards are world class, but we simply could not handle the numbers.

In a way, it's clever. They want to push their population onto us, because by passing this law, it suddenly doesn't become their problem but our problem. And that's really what angers me the most, that a law that can be legislated in another country, and who suffers the most? Us. It's time that we raise the immigration standards, and indeed, reduce immigration to zero so that we can preserve our living standards for our future generations. The true Electrumites. The true Terraneans. That's why we must build a wall. We must build a wall with guardposts every few kilometres to ensure that trespassers do not cross into our territory illegally. The passing of this law means unfettered access by Eurans to our nation, due to certain Electrumite parties signing away our sovereign rights in pursuit for greater economic integration. They are no true Electrumites, but with the current political system, it proves difficult, nay impossible, to dislodge them out of the cabinet.

We know what type of people those Eurans are. They bring crime, fear, especially those of Sameban descent, and depress wages of hardworking ordinary Electrumites. To preserve our world class health and education system, we must close off our borders. It's for the good of the nation.

Miranda Lawrence is a conservative commentator who works part-time at the Liberty Institute, a conservative think tank based in Centralis, Electrum, and part-time as a weekly columnist for the Centralis Herald.

[Mercedini]

OOC: A roster has not been published by the Lymantatian Delegation, therefore, all Lymatatia goals will be marked unknown until a roster is published. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Mercedini Sports Daily
Matchday 4: Mercedini vs. Lymantatia
@ Zoloroni Sports City Stadium - Zoloroni, Mercedini

We're back with Matchday 4 for further live coverage of Mercedini's qualification campaign, today we're back in Zoloroni for a belter of a match-up, Mercedini will face highly-fancied Lymantatia in their second home game, after they beat favourites USI in their first home game. A packed crowd here today, with another high turnout from the Mercedinian contingent. The Lymantatian portion of the crowd is fairly sparse although it is starting to fill up as we approach kick off. Remember, Mercedini have returned from Vyshehradska with a point after a fairly boring 0-0 draw. Meanwhile, Lymantatia played Brenecia and in a fairly eventful match, the managed to hold their nerve and beat the 3-2. Were hoping for a goal-fest here today, will the crowd be pleased with the match today? We are only moments away from kick-off. The national anthems will play out and the match will be starting soon.

0' - All the players are pumped for a feisty match with one of the toughest teams in the group. We have already seen what Mercedini can do to big teams at home, when they stunned USI 2-0, will he have a repeat of that here, I wonder? Mercedini have elected to start with a 4-4-2 and have made a couple of changed to proceedings, with Legge facing Mossec upfront, Ross Presic and Adam Kraljic entering the team in midfield, and finally Issac Holloway replacing Noah Park at right-back. Are Mercedini capable of upsetting the odds once again? We will see, the first half stating now...

4' - (MRC 0-0 LYM) - First piece of action here, in the opening fine minutes, a corner comes in from the far side... it's headed out of the box. Shot comes in!! GOAL!! Mercedini stunned in the opening 5 minutes as Lymantatia take the lead. An amazing shot from outside the box evaded the hand of Hosset, a thunderbolt silences the crowd. 1-0 Lymantatia!

10' - (MRC 0-1 LYM) - Another scything pass from the Lymantatia and the striker is through on goal. The striker is breaking the tackle of defenders... inside the box!! GOAL!! A nightmare start for Mercedini as they go 2-0 inside ten minutes! The team pile on top of one another as the Lymantatian portion of the crowd goes wild! The rest of the stadium is deadly silent! Not the start that Mercedini wanted. After 10 minutes here in Zoloroni, it's 2-0 to Lymantatia.

25' - (MRC 0-2 LYM) - Lymantatia have really shown their quality today, and why they have ranked so highly. They have blown away Mercedini in this match so far. Mercedini haven't had a strong attacking chance so far. I fear the worst in this match, but it only takes a goal to bring Mercedini back into the match. 25 minutes gone, it's still 2-0, but Mercedini are finding openings in this game.

35' - (MRC 0-2 LYM) - Mercedini have a goal back in this game! It's Billic with the tap in as they reduce the deficit. Ross Presic on his qualification debut, who dribbled the ball into the box after getting past a couple of the defenders, he squared the ball to Billic who fired the ball into the open net, he was just inside the 6-yard box at the time. Legge grabbed the ball as they hastily try to restart the game. Mercedini have found the goal they wanted but it's still Lymantatia with the lead, 2-1!

43' - (MRC 1-2 LYM) - Play beginning to slow down as we approach half time, Mercedini are happy to get a goal back and would be happy to go into half time with just a one goal deficit. Billic and Legge are looking lively upfront for Mercedini, they could be a threat in the second half, they just need to see out the rest of the half.

45+1' - (MRC 1-2 LYM) - A disastrous beginning to the match could be paired with a disastrous end to the half, Lymantatia have a penalty after a reckless challenge by Ossun gives Lymantatia a chance to make it 3-1 before the end of the half, the player steps up... and send the goalkeeper the wrong way! A third goal for Lymantatia surely kills that game off now. Can Mercedini escape this match with their dignity? It's 3-1 Mercedini

45+4' - (MRC 1-3 LYM) - The Lymantatian kicks the ball up field and the referee blows the whistle, the Mercedinian managers waves impatiently to all the Mercedinian players to enter the tunnel, I'm sure they will get a talking to in the interval. At the break it's Mercedini 1, Lymantatia 3!

HALF TIME: Mercedini 1 - 3 Lymantatia
Billic 35' // unknown 4', 45+1', unknown 10'

The teams have come out for the second half, no change for either nation. Mercedini have it all to do if they want to snatch a result from this game, two goals is the deficit. Can they somehow manage to grab a point, or even get the win. We will find out with the second half starting now!

47' - (MRC 1-3 LYM) - Mercedini have grabbed a goal, early in this second half. Legge with the scrappy goal as he bundled the ball in from close range. Billic lost the ball in the box, several players lunged at the ball but Legge got to the ball first and the ball managed to roll past the despairing dive of the Lymantatian goalkeeper, Mercedini have found a way back once again, 3-2, this match is getting interesting!

55' - (MRC 2-3 LYM) - Cross comes into the box from the near side for Lymantatia. Flick from the header!! GOAL! Lymantatia have surely killed this game off, they have scores a fourth just when Mercedini though they could get back into the game. The players and management celebrate together, as it stands Lymantatia will be three points ahead of Mercedini, and safe in second place in the group, plenty of goals in this game, 4-2 Lymantatia.

69' - (MRC 2-4 LYM) - Lymantatia is slowing the pace as they close in on the victory, passing it round the defence and midfield, having all of the possession as they try and stop the Mercedinian players from having any time on the ball. It's effective so far, the score is 4-2 to Lymantatia as we enter the last 20 minutes.

83' - (MRC 2-4 LYM) - Mercedini have another goal back!! Billic with the headed goal which brings the deficit down to one. The cross from Presic once again, and Billic with the glancing header managed to guide the ball into the net via the post. The seventh goal in this game, the quick restart means we are already back underway and Mercedini have all the momentum, can they grab a draw in the last moments?

90+5' - (MRC 3-4 LYM) - A free-kick on the far side for Mercedini. We are already five minutes into the three that should have been allowed, plenty of noise and jeers coming from the Lymantatian crowd calling for the referee to blow his whistle. The cross comes on from Presic near the corner, heads go up!! Kraljic towards goal!! SAVED!! Billic with the rebound! GOAAAALLLL!!! Unbelievable, Billic has scored to snatch a point!! Pandemonium in the stadium as Billic gets his hat-trick and the point for Mercedini! I think a bit of wee has come out. Goodness me, what a feeling. The Mercedinian players, subs, management and even some of the fans that have got on the pitch are jumping on top of one another, the noise level in this stadium is immense! In the 95th minute, its Mercedini 4, Lymantatia 4. Wow!

90+7' - (MRC 4-4 LYM) - We have had a small delay as the security try to restore normality to the situation. The Lymantatian players look distraught, completely contrasting the feeling of the Mercedinian players and fans. I don't think there is enough time to do anything. Lymantatia kicks off and the referee immediately blows his whistle. Mercedini have gotten out of jail, in the grand scheme of things, they have dropped 2 points in their quest for qualification, but in this situation, I think they will be happy to take points from another big team. Mercedini are slowly making a name for themselves, taking points off big teams. At the end of this game, it's finished 4-4.

FULL TIME: Mercedini 4 - 4 Lymantatia
Billic 35', 83', 90+5', Legge 47' // unknown 4', 45+1', unknown 10', 55'

After that amazing ending to the game, Mercedini will hold their heads high as they head to Brenecia, in hope to take more points off big teams. We will head their in good faith and hope that Billic and co. can score some more goals, get some more points and climb the table as the group minnows attempt to do the impossible. It's goodnight from here in Zoloroni!