Copa Rushmori 38 - Everything Thread (Rushmore only)

[Gatchingerrak Union]

The Gatchinovo Times

Star goalkeeper Julien Furman relatively new to goalkeeping, but quick to the lessons of life

Yuri Sen

MIAGO, MYTANIJA - Julien Furman has been hailed as one of the most promising prospects in the Gatchingerrak Union, to the point where many football pundits, who have watched his play with the Montreal City, say he's their version of the one and only Theshenden, the legendary Ko-orenite goalkeeper of Maethoru.

It's a label ever so fitting for the 17-year old Olympique de Rimouski player that has brought particular spark in the slugfest between the Gatchingerrak Union team that fought valiantly in a 0-1 Copa Rushmori 38 loss to Nephara, held in Miagostadion, Mytanija.

But the life on the field hasn't been the smoothest for Furman, who started playing football at a fairly late age for prospect, until he was given an opportunity to do so, and able to shine with it. The phenom goalkeeper with a long mileage is expected to take the charge in his remarkable journey with the Olympique de Rimouski, after they had signed an exorbitant $6 million NSD (rough translation: 2 million Quebecois Pounds) to earn the services of the goalkeeper.

It began when Furman, who had immigrated to Montreal with his father, a musician, at age 11, was at a local academy. His elder brother Vasily and sister Maria, who had signed up for the Montreal City's academy sides, had encouraged him to do the same, and it was sooner than later that he, standing 191cm tall, caught himself holding onto the ball.

'Sometimes, some things just happen...like that,' Furman said in a brief meeting. 'I didn't really expect to end up joining the team, but the life does bring wonders and I am happy to be here, just seven years after my first time with the club.'

Furman's background is one thing he, who has taken a year to decide between his allegiance, is proud of, a dual-citizen of Quebec and Novopetrograd and a father of two children with his Mertagnian wife, Oitia-Aida Torremenchaca.

His parents, musician Viktor and primary school teacher Agrippina (nee-Ushakova), moved from Palmyra (OOC: the wordplay is based on Odessa/Sevastopol/Kherson), medium-sized city facing the Southern Rushmori Ocean, to South Shores of Montreal when Julien was 10 year old, after Viktor had received a major job offer at the Montreal Conservatoire of Music.

The goalkeeper, who visits Palmyra every off-season to see his grandparents, says he is always glad to represent Gatchingerrak Union and that 'the union team, consisting of conflicting states, provide a solid sporting foundation for all four states into the future', thus reflecting his Quebecois values.

Furman is the third of four children in the house, with his elder siblings Vasily and Maria now in Zenit Attawapiskat and Admiral Petrograd, and has a younger sibling named Sergei (Serge), still a high schooler at Montreal City Academy. But he, unlike his siblings, was quick to set up family when he, already a father to two children, married his wife, Oitia-Aida Torremenchaca, at a small ceremony in Neorudo, Mertagne, making him the first of four Furmans to get married.

'Of course I am happy,' the Olympique goalkeeper said, with him and his young family planning to move to Daehae District, Rimouski, at the end of the Summer. 'I am blessed to be married to a wonderful woman, who I met when I was 14 and her 17. It's been three years, and while we have come the long way, I am happy to spend the rest of my life with her.'

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[Norrhem]

--==Norrhems Dagliga Nyheter (Norrhem Daily News) ==--

SKARRSHOLM, NORRHEM In a news conference in Skarrsholm, prime minister Carl-Anders Jonevret has addressed the Valladar-Norrish Brattsjö Canal Project after protests have sprung up both in Brattsjö and Skarrsholm as well as online.

"The annnouncement of the Brattsjö Canal Project has sparked a very strong response from within the Norrish population and I would like to address a few key points that may, or may not, have been the cause for some confusion that has come in its wake.

When the government of Valladares approached us with an inquiry concerning a potential canal between the Lesser Inland Sea and the Xandrian Sea, it was not much more than an informal exchange of thoughts at first, a test of waters, so to say. Brattsjö was chosen as one of the most obvious locations due to its location, the relative short distance of proposed canal as well as pre-existing infrastructure.

I fully agree that nature has to be protected, which is one reason why we will conduct several environmental impact studies to reduce the negative effects, both in terms of location and design to be as non-invasive as a project of this magnitude can be. Some effects will be unavoidable, but all I ask of you in this regard is to put your faith in us to ensure to cover as many facets as possible before a single shovel hits the ground. Unless said shovel is for a study, of course.

Secondly, the economic impact. Yes, at the moment Brattsjö is one of Norrhem's two main sea ports and an important hub for cargo and transportation with our port and transmodel. I understand the worries that the future possibilities of container and other cargo vessels to bypass the port through the canal, taking away some of this activity. At this stage any of this is just speculation, of course, but while some transmodal activity will be reduced by a canal, one also has to look on the other side. The canal opens new and exciting options for international shipping companies to increase vessel frequency and size, making this particular route far more attractive than in the past and this increase in traffic can more than make up for any loss of activity.

Furthermore the investment into updating and expanding the existing port facilities to accommodate the larger class container and bulk vessels is far lower than having to build them from ground up and there also are plans to maybe add additional maintenance facilities for vessels to increase the number of jobs created by this opportunity. The upcoming Trans-Pavolan Railways network also would play a role in the connection of Brattsjö and Norrhem in general with the rest of Rushmore. There have been talks with the TPR to make Brattsjö one of the Norrish hubs, channelling more cargo coming through the region and increasing not only its national, but also regional importance.

Now there also have been some more outlandish claims of this project enabling foreign governments to take control or at least influence Norrish politics and economy or our sovereignty be sacrificed on the 'altar of the almighty Gullveig', how Miss Brannefalk had so eloquently put it, or how it would be undermining Norrhem's integrity, dividing Norrhem to be more easily conquerable. Clearly there are some very strong misconceptions over what a project like this entails. It would not be Valladares imposing itself on Norrhem and placing canal facilities in our country and having full control over them, but it is a planned joint venture, as they happen throughout the multiverse, a partnership. Rest assured that we will not enter any agreements that would be seen as a risk to Norrish independence or values, but only after careful evaluations make any decisions for the mutual advantage of both Norrhem and Valladares, so any fearmongering in this early stage is not only completely out of place, but does also casts a negative light upon Norrhem, which could in the future cause any potential developments that this country could greatly benefit from to disregard our nation and thus see Norrhem fall behind, which then would likely be lamented even worse by the same voices.

As mentioned before, we have high level talks in Metropolis scheduled for later this summer to firm up on a course of action for studies into the environmental and economic impacts as well as different feasibility studies to ensure that the project is as solid as can be before any firm decisions are made."

So far no official statements by the opposition have been made, but Norrhems Dagliska Nyheter will keep you informed on any new developments.

[Trans-Dniesters]

"Have you heard the latest about our friends from beyond the stars, Rina?"

"Of course I have, Slava," replied Major Gavrina Vasilyevna Kumilyova. "That is just creepy, wouldn't you agree? The idea that this thing, this... being that comes from somewhere that's not on this planet, can just go into your body and take it over... I still get chills just thinking about it."

"Are you sure that it's not just because it's getting cold here?" asked Captain Vyacheslav Ilyich Klimov.

"Don't be stupid, Slava," Kumilyova grunted.

"How do you suppose they do it, though?" Klimov asked in a more serious tone this time. "Do they go in through the mouth, the ears, the nose? Maybe even the anus?"

"Why does everything always have to involve the anus for you, Slava?" Kumilyova muttered in an exasperated tone.

"I'm just saying," Klimov shrugged. "I'm just trying to understand here. You know me, Rina. I try to understand the world as best as I can. I really do. But my brain, all it really knows is soldiering. It can't really take in any more information than that. And it just so happens that the only thing my brain chose to remember is the female anatomy."

"Does that line really work for those young ladies you've chatted up?" Kumilyova asked with marked disbelief.

"Once or twice a week," Klimov said proudly. Kumilyova turned around to look at him, and then Klimov shrugged and said, "All right, maybe it only works once a month. Once every two months," he quickly amended.

"Caught up with the sports lately?" Kumilyova asked after a few minutes. "I remember that the Copa Rushmori was due to start at the same time as the second southern offensive," she said, referring to the second attempt by both the Movement for a United Ceroat and the Pridnestrovian intervention force to establish an area of control in southern Ceroat. "How long has it been since? Two, three weeks already? Maybe even a month? Time sure does pass us by when we're fighting, doesn't it?"

"Da, you're right," Klimov nodded. "Although we've only done one mission ever since the second offensive."

"That's true too," Kumilyova agreed. "The Copa should probably be over by now, don't you think? I wonder who won."

"Definitely not Pridnestrovia, sadly enough, that's for sure," Klimov muttered bitterly.

"Let me guess. Quarterfinals?" Kumilyova asked.

Klimov shook his head. "Round of 16," he replied.

"Against a team that I've never heard of before and will never hear of again?"

"Thankfully not," Klimov sighed. "At least we were beaten by Savojarna. There's no shame in being beaten by Savojarna, at least."

"That is true," Kumilyova nodded. "Savojarna are a good team. I hope our boys gave them a good fight."

"Oh, they did," Klimov said. "They only beat us 1-0."

"Well, I suppose that's something," Kumilyova shrugged. The two of them then spent a few more minutes in silence, and then Kumilyova straightened up and said, "Here comes the convoy. Signal the rest."

Klimov nodded, and then he took out a small flashlight, turned around, and started pushing a button at the bottom of the flashlight. In the darkness, no light could be seen coming from his flashlight, but to someone who was wearing night-vision goggles, a bright green beam was coming out of Klimov's flashlight. Four shadowy figures emerged from behind the trees and approached the two. The weak moonlight shining through the canopy then revealed these figures to be more Pridnestrovian Airborne Forces troopers. They knelt down beside Kumilyova and Klimov as soon as they got closer, and then Kumilyova turned to them and said, "As soon as we have visual confirmation of Chudovsky in that convoy, we will move in. But we need visual confirmation. The last time we went in on him, we only had intel from a day before. Now, the damned Kremlin itself is taking no chances. They want Chudovsky, and they want him yesterday."

"Understood, sir," one of the troopers nodded.

The manhunt for the Ceroatian warlord Edwin Chudovsky had been going on since the start of the Pridnestrovian intervention in Ceroat. The former colonel had already twice slipped through the grasp of Pridnestrovian forces which had been sent to capture him, first slipping away during the Battle at Bigelow Airport and then during the chaos of the Siege of Novy Nish. Twice Chudovsky had outsmarted the intelligence services of the Pridnestrovian Republic. Twice Tiraspol had been made to look foolish by this one man. Pridnestrovia was determined not to give him a third successful attempt.

Finding Chudovsky's whereabouts after his escape from Novy Nish had been difficult though, especially after intelligence resources had been diverted towards the situation in southern Ceroat. But once both the Ceroatians and the Pridnestrovians have broken through the initial defensive line of the aliens and their tripods, resources could be diverted back towards the Chudovsky manhunt. And, two days ago, the hunt had finally paid off. Edwin Chudovsky had been seen leading troops in southern Ceroat. Predictive analysis then stated that a convoy carrying Chudovsky would be arriving at the town of Duboynye tonight. And indeed a convoy had arrived at Duboynye tonight, but whether Edwin Chudovsky was in that convoy was a different question altogether.

"Arya, get the scope ready," Kumilyova said. One of the troopers then handed over to her something that looked more like a handheld digital camera than a telescopic sight. Kumilyova adjusted a few settings on the scope, and then she aimed it towards the recently arrived convoy and looked through the scope. A few men started getting out of the vehicles in the convoy, and Kumilyova started taking pictures of all of them even though she had pretty much burned the memory of Edwin Chudovsky's face into her mind and would recognize him at a glance.

And then she finally found him, the slippery bastard. Edwin Chudovsky stepped out of the jeep leading the convoy. He looked around at the village, the nearby military encampment, and the alien tripods surrounding the village, and nodded his head. Gavrina Kumilyova took as many pictures of Chudovsky through the scope as she possibly could. There was confirmation that Chudovsky was actually here in Duboynye. If he could manage to escape from Kumilyova and her men yet again, then he was truly a very slippery man indeed.

"I've got the pictures," Kumilyova said once Chudovsky had entered a hut. "We have everything we need. Now it's time to grab Chudovsky."

   PRIDNESTROVIA 3 - 2 SARGOSSA
   ANGELOV (29')       MANZANARES (13')
  MATVEYEV (56')       BIENVENIDA (54')
KAPRIYANOV (71')

[Valladares]

THE METROPOLIS HERALD
Metropolis, Wednesday, July 14^th, 2021

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COPA RUSHMORI 38 | Valladares win Group B following exhibition of effectiveness against Cassadaigua

EBOR, MYTANIJA (VAP) — The Valladar national football team have confirmed their qualification for the knockout stages of the 38th Copa Rushmori held in Mytanija after putting up an impressive display against the group's top seed Cassadaigua at the Olujastadion in Ebor. The team managed by Jessica Curran passed their toughest test so far in the group with strikers Brayan Borja and Iván Valenzuela scoring two goals early in the first half and substitute striker Gabriel Petrasso providing a third one with 10 minutes to go in the match for a clear 3-0 victory, which added to Cabo Azure's win over Oberour Ar Moro confirmed Valladares as Group B winners with one match to go, awaiting the runners-up of Group A in the next round of the competition, with Tikariot and Mytanija already qualified in that group but still to play each other to decide their final placements in the table.

Although La Nacional had started the competition on the right foot with a victory over Copa debutants Cabo Azure, the defensive behaviour in that match still left something to be desired ahead of the showdown against the top seed of the group, as the Valladars took too many risks against the newcomers and ended up conceding twice. On the other hand, Cassadaigua were coming off a convincing 2-0 victory over Oberour Ar Moro and were also looking forward to seal qualification for the next round with one game in hand, as expected for the top seeds of the group coming into this edition of the Copa Rushmori. However, Dagan-born gaffer Jessica Curran saw in this match the chance to use her knowledge on the team she used to represent as an active player to her and Valladares' advantage, and prepared her team to exert pressure on the Fillies from the very beginning of the game, played in another warm night in Ebor.

With the same players who started the match against Cabo Azure, La Nacional came out to implement the strategy devised by Curran striving to keep a compact defense while also keeping the Dagans away from the goal defended by Lucien Chamoun, but they would not take too long to make their first offensive statement as Valladares had a chance to break the deadlock after just three minutes, with Summer Speers managing to deflect a dangerous header by Valladar striker Iván Valenzuela by a few inches. The Valladars would once again approach the Cassadagan goal in the 11th minute with Cristian Benítez testing Katie Schnapper's reflexes, however the rebound was intercepted by Brayan Borja who greatly capitalized the opening left by Schnapper's move ment to react to the previous shot in order to score the first goal of the evening for Valladares. The Fillies replied to this goal with an attempt by striker Jenna Frontiera in the 15th minute which went wide, despite her being skillful enough to feint past Mauricio Arboleda and Jason Fletcher with relative ease, but La Nacional was able to double its advantage just three minutes later, in a play started by an interception by Darwin Pico. Pico would connect with former Nacional teammate Cristian Benítez, who in turn would assist Valenzuela who would not miss his chance this time, scoring to put Valladares two-nil ahead before the 20th minute mark.

With the 2-0 advantage having been quickly built up, the Valladars opted to retreat a bit and resume the strategy proposed by Jessica Curran, with Darwin Pico and Kevin Martins turning into key players to contain the Cassadagan reaction in the middle of the field, whilst Benítez as well as Borja and Valenzuela were left waiting for a chance to stage a counter. The side coached by Jessica Tolson had some clear-cut chances to reduce the gap with the Valladars in the remainder of the first half, however, Chamoun was always there to perform some much-needed saves to deny the Fillies. For the second half, the Dagans were once again allowed to be on the offense and the Valladars felt really comfortable by giving them control of the ball and waiting to see what they could do with it, although this was in part to prevent weariness thanks to the hot conditions at Ebor. Dagan manager Tolson brought Madison McClain to the field to refresh her team and try something different, with McClain enjoying a great chance to score which was blocked by Arboleda at the right time in the 65th minute. Curran also refreshed her team, sending Andrés Abrigo and Pablo Núñez to provide better defensive support and endure the Dagan onslaught, whilst Iván Valenzuela was replaced by newcomer to the national team Gabriel Petrasso, who was coming off an impressive season in Pasarga and would be entrusted to capitalize any chances that could come on the counter. Eventually, Petrasso would be able to put the icing on the cake and score his first goal with La Nacional in the 80th minute, just a couple of minutes after he entered the field, by finishing a counterattack started from a interception of a Dagan pass in the Valladar box, from which the ball quickly came to the feet of the Tanrısal player, who was then left faced one-to-one with the Fillie goalie Schnapper and whom he beat with a shot to the upper right corner of the goal to seal the second win for Valladares in two outings and qualification for the round of 16.

Having secured the top spot of Group B with this win over Cassadaigua, the Valladars will close the group stage at their Ebor headquarters against Oberour Ar Moro. With Oberour Ar Moro already eliminated after two losses in two games, there is no much interest attached to this match other than the chance for Valladares to round up a perfect group stage with a third victory. However, with a tough challenge ahead in the form of either hosts Mytanija or Tikariot in the round of 16, gaffer Curran chose to give a deserved rest to the usual starting 11 and test some new players for this upcoming game, especially considering that the Copa usually represents a chance for new players to come into the consideration of the national team and be watched in action with the sky-blue shirt.

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Valladares 3-0 Cassadaigua
(Borja 12', Valenzuela 18', Petrasso 80')

Starting XI: Chamoun - Acosta, Arboleda, Fletcher - Pico, Martins - Betancourt, Durmisi - Benítez - Borja, Valenzuela
Yellow Cards: Fletcher 47', Chamoun 88'
Subbed Out: Betancourt 55', Fletcher 69', Valenzuela 78'
Subbed In: Abrigo 55', Núñez 69', Petrasso 78'
Unused Subs: Sánchez, Brown, Barrichelli, Alonso, Escobar, Balboa, Zamudio, Lucchetti, Araúz
Manager: Jessica Curran (CDG)

Stadium: Olujastadion, Ebor, Mytanija
Attendance: 42,000

Starting lineup against Oberour Ar Moro: Sánchez - Brown, Barrichelli, Núñez - Abrigo, Alonso, Escobar, Balboa - Zamudio - Lucchetti, Petrasso.

[Nyowani Kitara]

Note: This government owned media source is one of the most biased media sources in the entire tournament, so read this media source, especially the other news section, with a critical eye. Obviously, everything is strictly IC

The Kitara People's Free Press
The voice for the working people of Nyowani Kitara

Nyowani Kitara national team prepares for must win game against Pridnestrovia with a knockout stage berth on the line

THESSIA, MYTANIJA- We come to the largest city in Mytanija, and the first Rushmori Capitol of Culture, for one of the biggest games Nyowani Kitara has ever played- against Pridnestrovia. After a heroic effort to get a point against a Sargossa squad that beat us 6-1 just two years ago, and then a stunning comeback last week by an unranked Txakhaxi to ensure we only earned a point, we sit in third place in Group H. That leaves us, functionally, with only one path our of the group stages and to our first ever knockout stage appearance at this tournament- find a way to down WCC member Pridnestrovia.

For the second straight tournament, Nyowani Kitara is staring at an unfortunate set of tiebreakers. Last tournament, we were level with a team we beat, Mavinet, on 4 points a piece. However, our 3-1 win over them was for naught, as the deciding tiebreaker ended up being our 6-1 loss to Sargossa to start the tournament. Aka, rather than head to head being the first tiebreaker, as it is in many tournaments, the first tiebreaker was overall goal differential. Unlucky in Eura. And we could get similarly unlucky here in Mytanija. Presently, Txakhaxi is ahead of us in the tiebreaker game, as goals allowed is the tiebreaker instead of Goals For. A rare one, as generally they want to encourage goal scoring- but these tiebreakers encourage fierce defending.

Tage Hermansson, the Player-Coach, is not worried about tiebreakers. "All we asked is that we were 100% in control of our own fate on Matchday 3- and we are. We are not eliminated, we don't have to scoreboard watch- we know exactly what needs to be done. I don't give a damn what happens in the Txakhaxi v. Sargossa match." It's simple. If we win, we are assured of a top two berth no matter what happens. If we lose, we are out. And if we draw, unless Txakhaxi somehow also draws while conceding three more goals than we do(unlikely to the point of absurdity), we are also out.

The travelling Kitaran fans are, of course, nervous. Said one fan. "Pridnestrovia has a good squad, a strong squad. They will be tough to break down. The nice thing about this year's team is that they play fearlessly. However, we're going to have to score both early and often if we want to beat them." The general consensus is this- the crowd will be packed and emphatic. But how do we break them down? Hermansson has already announced that he will make a chance. With Johannes von Weber coming off the bench and having an immediate impact in both matches, Hermansson has announced that von Weber will get his first career start for the national team on this matchday, in place of Leonard Lundquist.

"We don't need him to change the pace- we need him to set the pace of play against Pridnestrovia." The Player-Coach told the media. "We're familiar with going forward, but the pressure is acute in this one- we're going to need to score a goal, and preferably early. If we're conceding first, we're going to allow them to sit back and simply invite pressure, and try to burn us on the counter. No, we need to be creating chances from the get go, putting the ball in the back of the net, and then started to defend with everything we've got."

Other News
- In a surprise to absolutely nobody, the new United Republics government in Yuezhou has been caught being puppets for a foreign corporation. The Nyowani Kitara Ministry of Information told reporters that the corruption scandal was exactly why they would continue to recognize Ren Qiang's government as the sole legitimate representatives of the people of Yuezhou, as they worked for the people, not the big banks in Hattmark.
- Nyowani Kitara's northern neighbor, Græntfjall, has announced an end to their 30 year inhumane immigration policy, where they threw immigrants onto freezing cold ships and separated families. Nyowani Kitara's Foreign Minister congratulated them on making the obvious move, but said the decision was the natural end state of capitalism. "Capitalism breeds inhumane competition for resources that feed the rich, eradicate the middle class, and crush the poor. Those type of immigration policies are inevitable in a capitalistic society that teaches racism to divide the lower classes against the bourgeoise." (Note: Foreign Commentators will note the lack of mention in Nyowani Kitara's statement about their own border wall on their northern border with Græntfjall, that is designed to keep people from leaving/escaping Nyowani Kitara into that country by ground.

[Pasarga]

Over forty years have passed since the start of the modernization project in the dual islands, spearheaded by the royal court and provided by the industrial might that is Eura. It took several years and was definitely contested by some of those in the rural areas that the nation was moving too far away from its roots, but over a decade later the dual islands had been brought into the modern era and began the long process of repaying back the Eurans for their investment into the dual islands. Two decades of payments and lucrative trade deals for the Eurans and eventually the dues that were due to our regional neighbors had been paid off and awarded the dual islands something a clean state to move forward into the modern era with, without debt and without the worry that they were being left behind by their neighbors.

King Jakub Einar Havel-Oldenburg Majistar had reigned over a prosperous time in the Pasargan economy but he knew that his reign was coming to an end soon, his health had started to wane over the last few years and he could feel the weight of aging pressing hard against him. He had married a cousin of his adopted family's line to secure the throne and inheritance, a pair of children to keep the line of succession in tact. The Majistar clan had ruled over Pasarga for as long as anyone could remember, his reign had been initially questioned having not been born into the family but had been adopted by the dual Queens that had come before his reign. Now his own son, a man of nineteen years of age, was going to soon go through the same transition of power that he had to those decades ago, back when there had been a fear of civil war. It had seemed a lifetime ago, in some way it had truly been since it had occurred when he was still in boyhood and before the modernization efforts, yet he could still clearly remember how it seemed the fate of the dual islands had been balanced upon the edge of a knife's blade. It had taken masterful statecraft by his adopted mother to have avoid a full blown conflict, which would probably be her lasting image in Pasargan history.

What would the next forty years and his son's reign have for Pasarga, where would the dual islands and her people go in the next decades after Jakub's reign came to an end? He wondered how his son might react in the face of adversity, if he would have the sort of poise and political acumen to be able to navigate rough water's like Julia had done so or if he would be like a deer caught in the headlights? Would Pasarga continue to be a nation that was slowly seeing urbanization and the end of the rural, agriculture domination that had been its base for the centuries leading up to the modern era. Before the Euran investment, it had been a niche industry of toymaking that had been Pasarga's most notable export, that and a remarkable amount of professional footballers of significant ability and potential. It had been football that had really drawn the eye of the region and then later the world to the islands and perhaps had been the spark for that modernization, as capital flowed into the dual islands via those sporting institutions. Even now, the national team was among the better sides in the world and her clubs were of decent reputation, enough that regional television rights deals kept the league quite well funded.

Whatever was to come, he knew that if his children had good council and did not become intoxicated with the power that came with the throne, then they were likely to succeed. Like those youth footballers that went off to foreign shores chasing their dreams and trying to achieve their potential, his children had their own potential that they were looking to achieve. Time would tell if they would uphold the Majistar name well once he was gone from this world, though Jakub was hopeful that it would come to pass. Seeing his children grow into successful adults and members of the court would be a good way to end his time on the world and as the ruler of the dual islands.

[Mytanija]

VUJOVIC MAKES AN IMPRESSION, SO WHAT NEXT?
YOUNG WING-BACK MIGHT FURTHER OPEN THE DOOR FOR RUSHMORI-BORN TALENT

by Dalibor Kosec

Slobodan Vujovic has enjoyed an outstanding start to his Mytanar national team career, scoring the winner in only his second appearance against minnows East Neutralia. He’s been so impressive that it is hard to tell that he’s playing slightly out of position at wing-back, Vujovic tends to play right-back for Astograthian league champions Royal Rumiatzi, but Lev Repin has used the 20 year old’s attacking instincts in a slightly more aggressive way and that has been very fruitful for the national team. We have seen foreign-born talent succeed in the Mytanar national team in the past, the very best example being the current national team captain Jasno Odonelec, but could Vujovic’s success see more Mytanar émigré talent being integrated into the senior national team over the coming years?

Maks Shishkin’s beautifully weighted reverse pass to send Vujovic in on goal was exquisite, with Vujovic’s dead-eye finish demonstrating exactly why Lev Repin is so determined to play the youngster at wing-back. Another full-back that could benefit from Repin’s near-fetishisation of tactical flexibility is Vuk Bajalica. Bajalica is Tikariot-born and has impressed for the Mytanar under-21s at the Di Bradini Cup in the past. His performances have earned a move to Kyethas Rivermen during the transfer window and if he can continue on his upward trajectory it would be no surprise to eventually see him in the senior national team. You can be sure that Adem Fejzic will have one eye on him ahead of the next Di Bradini Cup or perhaps even for the Mytanar football team which will be sent to the Olympics.

Given the number of promising young and youngish central defenders Mytanija has produced in recent years you may believe that it could be a near impossible challenge for foreign-born centre-halves to force their way into Lev Repin’s thinking. It’s difficult to see the likes of Savicevic, Anac, Racic and Jernejec being forced from those first four spots and with the likes of Bigger Mbala-Ekakia (the Mytanar-born son of immigrants), Andrija Ugljanin et al coming through there is fierce competition. There are a few promising options though, with East Railway’s Amar Kovacevic perhaps being the most highly-rated. Echegoyan’s Kamil Zinkovsky might force himself into Di Bradini Cup contention following a promotion-winning season, whilst Zelimir Slavuljica has a few admirers after demonstrating some quality for Miruan City in Tikariot.

Central midfield is another position with tough competition, but there are a number of talented young players who have dual citizenship and could well end up playing for the Hoops. Directus’ Edin Aganovic might be the best of the lot, playing a little like a young Tahir Fejzuli with his creative prowess shining through. Iturributa United’s Borna Marusic is a more box-to-box option and would provide plenty of energy to any midfield. Two 18 year olds midfielders are coming through the ranks in Tikariot too, Evgeny Prikhodko and Enis Crnogorcevic. Prikhodko has had an injury-marred season, but is expected to play a larger role for Vantanoch in the future. Crnogorcevic is at Meriador and is considered as a real contender for the next Di Bradini Cup squad, if not the current one.

There’s no overseas born false nines coming through, which could stunt the chances of the pair of Euran-born strikers which could figure for Mytanija one day. Daniel Jokic is slightly older at 21 and is playing for Revolutionaries. The 20 year old Fran Prpic-Bosanac has come through the academy system at Workers Union, rather fitting given the large Mytanar support that club supports from the local immigrant community. Prpic-Bosanac is expected to be a shoe-in for the Di Bradini Cup squad and another who may have their eye on a potential Olympic squad spot. Adem Fejzic will be managing both sides and Prpic-Bosanac will hope that that can give him a leg-up into a spot which could allow him a rare chance at an Olympic medal.

Slobodan Vujovic could be the first of a few players which find their way into the Mytanar national team despite being born elsewhere. That has never been a problem for Mytanar national team squads given the proliferation of Mytanar immigrant communities all over the place. In recent years that has slowed a little, but Vujovic’s success could see Repin cast his eyes over other options. Those that it might benefit will hope so, whilst Repin will hope it is something which can bring him even greater success.

[Hispinas]

Hispinas 3–1 Eastfield Lodge
Copa Rushmori 38 - Kotrba, Esca, Mytanija
HSP Scorers: Peppi Palmero (17'), Perlita Chapa (32'), Carmelita Grimaldo (37')
HSP Lineup: Laida Echevarrieta, Casimiro Coro, Chequil Puma ▼ (▲ Chicho Mondragon 54'), Marcos Rolan, Chara Grullon, Trinidad Quevedo, Auza Vertiz, Salomon Duran, Carmelita Grimaldo ▼ (▲ Munio Sola 87'), Perlita Chapa, Peppi Palmero ▼ (▲ Ozeano Amunategui 79')

Three first half goals from the Golden Sealions have ensured a Round of 16 spot for Alfonzo Medrano's team.

It was a similar tactic used against San Isidro Labrador where three first half goals were the end result. Unlike the first match however, their defense stepped up due to the formation changes and were able to stymie the Eastfielders' chances of scoring a goal in the first half. Despite this, the opponents scored a second-half goal that would at most annoy Medrano as another opportunity for a clean sheet was foiled. It would feel like eternity since Hispinas has secured a clean sheet and the coach would want to get one when they face Yuezhou, although their next opponents are similarly ranked against the Hispinos and would give them a run for their money to finish atop Group F and avoid a potential meeting with Savojarna.

Medrano and the coaching staff knew that any result other than a loss would secure them top spot, and will probably either San Ortelio or Darmen. They weren't much implications of having alternate results, as both situations finishing 1st or 2nd in the group would have their next match for the Round of 16 within the capital. Win the group and they will play their fourth consecutive match at Kotrba, or, be the runners-up and face a potential elimination at the hands of Savojarna in Radnika. Should they win that match they will travel southwest to Prizren where they play in the Stadion Prizren, otherwise, if they win the group and dispatch Group E's runners-up, they will travel northwest instead in Thessia' Novi Atletskistadion. That would be beneficial to them as the same venue will host the semifinals.

They decided to revert to their default lineup as they want to get all three points against Yuezhou.

[Eura]

COPA RUSHMORI 38 GROUP D – MD1
NORRHEM 2 – 4 EURA
Scorers: Almwood 7, Rowland 48, Steele 65, Robson 81
Lineup: 1. K Belgrave, 4. J Menard, 5. D Steele (s/o 72), 15. A Coles, 2. H Wheeler, 3. L Almwood, 6. Rowland (sub Mullins 56), 8. V Robshaw, 7. M Woakes, 10. I Tomlinson (sub Sherwood 86), 9. B Bond (sub Robson 77)

Shithousing

Dean Steele spat into the turf as soon as the whistle blew, his ball of spit splashing in the grass before the shrill peep had finished. The score was Valanora two to Eura’s nil and Steele’s team were out of the World Cup on their first return since the disastrous qualifying exit of cycle 87. It had not been a dignified re-emergence for Eura. Eura was not gonna’ victor, as the song went. Seven defeats in ten games had unsettled the Oslograd project and Steele was starting to think he should be the latest in a long line of Euran veterans to retire from the international game. He half expected Oslograd to give him the boot anyway if he didn’t call it quits first. And yet, despite Steele’s role in a campaign that ended with the embarrassing defeat to Twicetagria, the calamity against Poafmersia, and now Valanora…
‘Perk up. Balloons that deflate at the slightest pinprick are weak. Are you weak? No. I’ll see you in Mytanija. There’s a good chap.’
Well then.

Its half time in the first match of the Copa Rushmori and the situation has not improved. Its 2-1...
…to Norrhem. Eura had been pretty on the ball and ugly at the back – same old story.
‘I’m sorry, I seem to be having some kind of delusional episode, because we seem to be 2-1 down in the first game of the Copa. Against a team who have virtually no international experience. What’s happening to me?’ Oslograd was echoing the thoughts of millions of despairing Eurans watching at home and the thousands more in the stands. A full strength Euran team, put into the lead by Lucy Almwood’s curling strike from range, had conceded two pitifully soft goals in quick succession to Annika Haglund and Thore Grönholm. They were all silent, naturally.
‘Jackie my boy, do you have some idea? Is it just a migraine? Or did you really miss that tackle on the part timer up front?’
Silence.
‘Vinny, maybe you can explain? Have you forgotten how to pass or am I, in fact, having a severe episode of something terrifying? No?’
Deadly, defeated silence.

‘You know, I used to manage a team like Norrhem. A mix of mercenaries, semi-pros and occasionally, rarely, a top-quality footballer. But you know what? They were fucking lions, as they showed when they beat you sorry lot in a friendly. Norrhem are not lions.’
‘They’re Norrhem!’ said sweet, simple Ben West, with a gleaming smile on his uncapped face.
‘Yes, well done, have a gold sticker. Really though – if you can’t beat this kind of opposition, then there’s no excuses, not today, not after the amount of second chances some of you have had over the years. From me, from Lee, from Michael. I’m starting to wonder if you even believe in the Way of the Warrior anymore.’
Once again, the still of quiet in the dressing room spoke volumes. Oslograd even looked a little taken aback.

For the first time, he was managing a team with big enough names that they might not all worship him at the drop of a hat. He might even have to consider abandoning “Skorjiball”, even after that promising debut of a fusion of the Brandon/Sharp era and Oslograd’s style at the home Copa, and most of World Cup qualifying. What he really needed was a senior player to step up and not just give a pep talk, or back the manager. Someone needed do something to show they were one hundred per cent invested in his philosophy. Even captain Monica Rowland was hushed, rolling some tape up and over her hands on a loop as if to shut out the world.

Dean Steele decided he would be that player. ‘Boss’, he muttered gravely, dour like his adopted Brinemouth home, ‘we’re not doing the business, we get it. Lads! Any of you remember Fligsive?’
A couple of them grumbled disapprovingly. Oslograd had only been boss a year and a bit and they were already fed up with the constant references to World Cup 66. ‘Ah, don’t be like that. Well, anyway, I was one years old when it happened, so I don’t remember shit from it. Some of us do.’ He glanced knowingly at Kevin Belgrave, Brian Bond and Monica Rowland, who had all been toddlers when it had happened, but probably just about old enough to recall fuzzy details. ‘But we’ve all seen the highlights right? We all know the kind of character it took to go all the way. What they don’t tell you in school though is how often we nearly failed because of the same old problems – weak at the back, too intricate on the ball, mentally inconsistent, bloody weak.’

He shook his head to match the venom in the last word. ‘We only won because the leaders in that team, people like our gaffer, hacked and kicked and slashed their way through when our usual stuff didn’t work. So, let’s stop worrying about playing as glamorously as they did, and focus on how they actually won in the end, right? Boss?’
Oslograd wiped a tear away from his eyes. ‘That was…it was poetry, Dean.’
‘No worries gaffer, just saying what we’re all-‘
‘POETRY. Now for my own…’ The players rose as Oslograd puffed out his chest. A speech awaited. All paused in anticipation for-
‘FUCKING CASTRATE THEM THEN!’
Oh, never mind.

Eura returned to the pitch agitated and raring to go. Norrhem, for all their fantastic effort before half time, were not ready. Patrick Edgren’s galloping jog down the left just a minute into the second period was rudely interrupted by Harry Wheeler launching into a devastating slide tackle that flattened the forward, setting the tone nicely for the second half. Egged on by Oslograd with a renewed sense of belligerence as he squatted on the sideline, aggressively gripping the grass to stop himself lunging at someone from the excitement, Eura drew level through Rowland’s right foot within minutes.
‘YES! Castrate! Castrate! You have given me sugar, now give me spice!’
Steele was revved up as much anyone else, playing like a man reborn. His own game-changing chance came from a corner. Moira Woakes lofted it in, Steele charged towards the near post, losing his marker, and thumped home an unstoppable header past Morgan Bergström. He sprinted to the corner flag and practically lifted it out of the ground with his right foot.

A 3-2 lead was no guarantee of victory, not this far from full time. Rowland was replaced by Eamon Mullins to keep the 34-year-old captain fresh. The out of practice Mullins, experienced at domestic level but a relative rookie in the international arena, was ruthlessly dispossessed by Jöns Arrheka seconds after his first touch. A few seconds of a remarkable sprint later and he was away and unmoored from the concerns of Eura’s transparently mortal defence…until Steele executed a diagonal run across him at the edge of the centre circle, and flew into the Norrhem midfielder from the side as if he were a train hitting a hatchback. Arrheka tumbled and screamed, a streak of red quickly growing out from his shin. A goalscoring chance had been snuffed out in the most crushing fashion. Steele glanced over at Oslograd, who nodded sagely, as if to give him permission for what was to come next.

‘Auuughrghgh!’
In seconds, both teams were converging in a fury. Steele was back to where he was against Valanora, spitting onto the ground, but this time he did so for the purpose of hitting his downed opponent in the face with it. Fisticuffs followed, as did a straight red card for the Euran centre back. He brushed off his outraged opponents and teammates awkward glancing, marching off the pitch like he was almost proud of it.
Norrhem should have had an advantage, but the loss of Arrheka and his replacement with Rasmus Sparre broke up their momentum and shattered the team’s morale. Arrheka’s run, had it not been cut short, was their chance and now it was gone. Even Eura with ten were a force to be reckoned with, and sure enough Stewart Robson would come off the bench later on to finish off the win. At the final whistle, Oslograd walked back down the tunnel to a waiting Steele, who had started to worry that he had actually misread the situation and fucked up massively.
‘Shithousing, Dean! Glorious, magnificent shithousing!’
There was no need for regrets, then, even if he would miss the next game.

COPA RUSHMORI 38 GROUP D – MD2
SOUTHWEST EASTNORTH 0 – 1 EURA
Scorers: Bond 25
Lineup: 1. K Belgrave, 4. J Menard, 19. T Green, 15. A Coles, 2. H Wheeler, 3. L Almwood, 6. Rowland (sub Erskine 45), 8. V Robshaw (sub Rogers 73), 7. M Woakes, 10. I Tomlinson, 9. B Bond (sub Atkinson 70)

Twelve yards

Thessia was supposed to be the bit of Mytanija that really quite liked Eura, but if it was then Kevin Belgrave couldn’t tell. The Novi Kaunostadion was being drenched in a metric shit-ton of rain as Eura and Southwest Eastnorth duked it out, drowning out the intensity of the occasion and distracting the players from the fearsome host nations fans joining the Eurans and their opponents supporters in the stands. The Pioneers were enterprising in their play but not quite quality enough to make it count when it mattered. The Eurans were conservative by their standards, replicating their stodginess of the second half against Norrhem, focused on snatching goals on the counter and dominating the late stages.

Eura got the goal they needed to choke the game too; Moira Woakes settled out on the right after a ponderous, cautious advance up the pitch, then picked out Brian Bond from nowhere with a world class cross – the towering striker rose above Leigh Bourne and their teammates and scored with a sublime header. Belgrave didn’t have to do much, except for the slightly unfortunate moment before half time when a rain-affected Jack Menard slid across the pitch like a bobsled and took out Trevor White, conceding a very stupid penalty.

Belgrave had faced many penalties in his time, and the 36-year-old had saved many of those he had been tested with in his long international career. In his 141st appearance for Eura he would now face another. Gorman Thurman IV lined up to take it and Belgrave did the mental arithmetic. He played through the possibilities and probabilities of what way the penalty would go, whether it would be high or low, advised by not only a comprehensive pre-match briefing and the expensively financed Euran scouting network but also, crucially, by his own decade and a half of top-level experience. And what happened?
The guy fell over.
Belgrave shook his head and picked up the ball as it rolled towards him, barely crossing into the six yard box. Oh dear.

[Mytanija]

This is your cut-off for the final group games of Copa Rushmori 38, let's see who moves on and who goes home. Tense but you're not alive until you start kicking.

Group A
Mytanija 1–1 Tikariot (Scorinated by The Licentian Isles)
Kalosia 1–0 East Neutralia

  Group A                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Mytanija                                      3   2  1  0    5   2  +3    7*  Q
2 Tikariot                                      3   2  1  0    7   4  +3    7*  Q
3 Kalosia                                       3   1  0  2    4   6  −2    3
4 East Neutralia                                3   0  0  3    1   5  −4    0

*Mytanija ahead of Tikariot on goals against

Group B
Oberour Ar Moro 0–3 Valladares
Cassadaigua 5–1 Cabo Azure

  Group B                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Valladares                                    3   3  0  0    9   2  +7    9   Q
2 Cassadaigua                                   3   2  0  1    7   4  +3    6   Q
3 Cabo Azure                                    3   1  0  2    4   8  −4    3
4 Oberour Ar Moro                               3   0  0  3    0   6  −6    0

Group C
Astograth 1–1 Gatchingerrak Union
Nephara 5–1 Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland

  Group C                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Nephara                                       3   2  1  0    8   3  +5    7   Q
2 Astograth                                     3   1  2  0    6   3  +3    5   Q
3 Gatchingerrak Union                           3   1  1  1    3   3   0    4
4 Schutzenphalia and West Ruhntuhnkuhnland      3   0  0  3    2  10  −8    0

Group D
Norrhem 0–1 Southwest Eastnorth
Eura 1–1 The Askari Union

  Group D                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Eura                                          3   2  1  0    6   3  +3    7   Q
2 Southwest Eastnorth                           3   2  0  1    6   3  +3    6   Q
3 Norrhem                                       3   1  0  2    6   7  −1    3
4 The Askari Union                              3   0  1  2    5  10  −5    1

Group E
Darmen 1–2 San Ortelio
Bollonich 1–2 Savojarna

  Group E                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Savojarna                                     3   3  0  0    5   1  +4    9   Q
2 San Ortelio                                   3   2  0  1    3   3   0    6   Q
3 Bollonich                                     3   0  1  2    5   7  −2    1
  Darmen                                        3   0  1  2    5   7  −2    1

Group F
Yuezhou 0–1 Hispinas
Eastfield Lodge 0–1 San Isidro Labrador

  Group F                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hispinas                                      3   3  0  0    8   4  +4    9   Q
2 Yuezhou                                       3   1  1  1    4   4   0    4*  Q
3 San Isidro Labrador                           3   1  1  1    7   7   0    4*
4 Eastfield Lodge                               3   0  0  3    1   5  −4    0

* Yuezhou ahead of San Isidro Labrador on goals against

Group G
Græntfjall 3–1 Ancharmunn
Bollonischian Maribaya 1–2 Pasarga

  Group G                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Græntfjall                                    3   3  0  0    9   3  +6    9   Q
2 Pasarga                                       3   2  0  1    8   4  +4    6   Q
3 Ancharmunn                                    3   1  0  2    3   8  −5    3
4 Bollonischian Maribaya                        3   0  0  3    2   7  −5    0

Group H
Sargossa 1–0 Txakhaxi
Nyowani Kitara 3–5 Pridnestrovia

  Group H                                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 Pridnestrovia                                 3   2  1  0    9   6  +3    7   Q
2 Sargossa                                      3   1  1  1    7   7   0    4   Q
3 Txakhaxi                                      3   0  2  1    4   5  −1    2
4 Nyowani Kitara                                3   0  2  1   10  12  −2    2

Second Round

A1 Mytanija v Cassadaigua B2
Stadion Prizren, Prizren

C1 Nephara v Southwest Eastnorth D2
Miagostadion, Miago

B1 Valladares v Tikariot A2
Olujastadion, Ebor

D1 Eura v Astograth C2
Novi Kaunostadion, Thessia

E1 Savojarna v Yuezhou F2
Radnika, Esca

G1 Græntfjall v Sargossa H2
Novi Atletskistadion, Thessia

F1 Hispinas v San Ortelio E2
Kotrba, Esca

H1 Pridnestrovia v Pasarga G2
Psenicova, Decraa

[Nyowani Kitara]

Note: This government owned media source is one of the most biased media sources in the entire tournament, so read this media source, especially the other news section, with a critical eye. Obviously, everything is strictly IC

The Kitara People's Free Press
The voice for the working people of Nyowani Kitara

Sadness of Copa Rushmori elimination brightened by stunning news- Nyowani Kitara will enter World Cup 89 Qualifying

THESSIA, MYTANIJA- First, for the main event. This Nyowani Kitara squad, overmatched with their Player-Coach against this strong Pridnestrovia, put all their hearts and souls into it. However, the draw last week did them in. They could not capitalize, and most importantly, could not keep their opponents out of the back of their own net. The worst defense in the tournament with 12 goals conceded across three games, our boys simply were not good enough in the back to advance to the knockout stages of the Copa Rushmori.

They fought, however, with passion and strength. We went toe to toe with Pridnestrovia in an eventful first half, with five total goals scored to give ourselves a 3-2 halftime lead. A score, of course, that if it held, would have been good enough to put us into the knockout stages of the Copa Rushmori for the first time ever. Unfortunately, we could not hold on in the second half. The equalizer at the one hour mark saw our squad try to push forward for the go-ahead goal, leaving ourselves further and further exposed in the back. A pair of counter-attacking goals in the final 10 minutes of normal time gave Pridnestrovia the 5-3 win.

When they scored their fifth goal at the 87th minute of the game, everybody knew that the increasingly desperate gig was up. Players on the field, fans in the stands. And they knew we were headed for the bottom of the group table as well. But the fans tried to put the players in good spirits. As tears were flowing from their faces, fans bellowed patriotic songs, staying through the end of the game even though they were sad themselves. And when the final whistle blew, players visited the fans and they all sang together.

Tage Hermansson, the Player-Coach, said that the squad left everything on the field. "It is hard to advance at this tournament. With the breakup of Atlantian Oceania, it is unquestionable that Rushmore is the multiverse's premier sporting region, and that the Copa Rushmori is the premier regional tournament. Our group was filled with talent- Pridnestrovia and Sargossa in a group is just tough for a nation like ours to make it out of. We did everything that we could- even if we finished in last, we had some great moments for our country. There are no regrets."

Unbeknown to him at the time, however, the Chairman of the FA had come out to make a statement. "We have seen our nation unite and rally around the flag and the sport at two successive Copa Rushmoris. Kitarans love football, and we believe that further investment and development can help ensure future success on the international stage for our country. That is why, for the first time, Nyowani Kitara will enter World Cup Qualifying. We will play at Baptism of Fire 76, and enter World Cup 89 Qualifying. We believe that further exposure to elite international competition, rather than hiding from it, is what will improve the standard of the beautiful game in this country."

The FA Chairman also said that, with the team entering World Cup Qualifying, they would look for a full-time manager. "Tage Hermansson has done a wonderful job as Player-Coach, and will still wear the armband and be a leader of the team. But if we're going to be full-time at this, we need to go all-in. We're going to hire a full-time manager- no more player coaches. Hermansson still has plenty to contribute on the field, and he will do so."

It's stunning news for a nation that has rejected entering World Cup Qualifying for a while now. And after a disappointing last place finish in their group with the tournament's worst defense, it deftly brightens the spirits of Nyowani Kitara fans after a harsh finish in the table here in Mytanija. Will the future shine bright for Kitaran football?

[Southwest Eastnorth]

Fan action mars victory over Norrhem
http://www.swensport.swe/national_football_team.html

MYTANIJA - After the pathetic display of "sportsmanship" between Tikariot and Savojarna that fouled up the Copa Rushmore last CR, it was a nerve wracking game between Norrhem and the Pioneers. Not because of anything on the field but rather the atmosphere the Pioneers felt with the do or die game being a relative repeat of the last Copa Rushmori. The teams came out to play in the thankfully sunny skies of the wonderful NOVI KAUNOSTADION. The bowl that has been hosting the Pioneers for all three of their games this group stage. The visitors were the yellow and black Norrhem team. Like the insects that share the color scheme, the bumble bees of Norrhem buzzed around the competition in Mytanija. The Black and Yellow swarm did their best to disrupt the Pioneers who were int heir full blue outfits.

A first wave attack came from, Thore Grönholm, a Right Mid who came weaving his way around and through the defense of the Pioneers. He had gotten to the far end of the pitch when he tried an unsuccessful lob to the exuberant Patrick Edgren. It failed. The Pioneers went on an attack afterwards and through their full effort at the goal, again a failure as with their rivals.

The game though will likely be known for what happened an hour in. An obese man, with white hair and wearing a green polo shirt went on to the pitch and appeared to go after Simon Abrahamsson the manager of Norrhem. After a while it was realized that the man was there and was attempting to attack Abrahamsson. The man didn't succeed and given he fell down multiple times in the process leading to multiple people to believe he was actually severely inebriated. Local Police have also stated that the man is actually a 38 year old Swennic man. His name is Harold Calvin Jr and yes if you recognize that name, he is the son of Harold Calvin mayor of New Baltimore a city in the northern coast. According to reports, Harold Jr was severly inebriated and claimed he wanted to "help the Pioneers get even with Tikariot" despite the fact the team was playing an unrelated nation.

After that dely it was clear Norrhem was shaking and it showed Southwest Eastnorth took advantage and int he 82nd minute, they scored in a Leigh Borune header. Leigh was sort of down after the last game, having been out leeped by Eura's Brian Bond, hopefully this made up for it. Coming up is a revenge game. Not against an opponent you may think though. A tough Gauntlet arises as we will play the legendary Nephara side. The same Nephara side that beat us in the CR 35 semi-finals

SOUTHWEST EASTNORTH - 1

Bourne 82'

NORRHEM - 0

NONE

[Pasarga]

Who actually provides the most national team talent for the Wanderers? For nearly two decades, that answer would have been immediately answered by anyone in the dual islands as Baskita FC without a second of hesitation, as the capital club had won a Youth Champions' League and was routinely producing players that would eventually find their way into the Wanderers' shirt even if it was not with Baskita itself. Baskita's success in the Youth League also seem to indicate that their academy was the very best in the nation and was the lifeblood for producing the talent needed to achieve the highest level of success for a Pasargan footballer. The likes of Ádám Berecz and Ralf Bader in particular spring to mind as prominent national team players that came through the Baskita academy and had a good career with the Wanderers.

Except, it is a bit of a misnomer, a small bit of fabrication as history actually shows us that it is not the mighty club in Torgos that has the best academy in the dual islands nor does it fuel the fires of the national team, it is instead that club that so many teams love to hate, CA Paulinthal. How can this be I hear many of you ask yourselves, as often none of the mighty Hurricane players make their way on to the national team, particularly as they are team that usually has a plethora of foreign talent on their roster. It is because of this fact that the dominance of the Paulinthal club players on the Wanderers squad for this edition of the Copa Rushmori made such a big deal in the dual islands, as it seems to have bucked the trend that despite being the dominant team in the dual islands that it does not provide the talent for national team program, that it could not win the Youth League on routine and thus was obviously inferior to the capital club when it goes to their academy talent.

However the mistake is thinking that it requires to be at CA Paulinthal to have made an impact on the national team, as well as neglecting the fact that almost everyone in the dual islands will say that the South Pargis Youth League is the most difficult of the four regional youth leagues (as well as the reserve leagues). The South Pargis has not only the clubs from Paulinthal, which include CAP, Paulinthal, Santos, and Athletic Sutra, but it also has the Stein-los, Sardin, and Myrkan clubs in its division, obviously stacking the competition in a way that can not be matched by even the Central Pargis division in which Baskita and the rest of the capital clubs reside. On a deeper inspection, we also see the names of very famous Wanderers to have come through the CA Paulinthal academy in the records of the national team, with the obvious ones in the Földessy brothers, Alexander Jager, and Alexander Kárpáty just to name a handful, despite all but one of those six having decided to take their trade abroad rather than stay at CAP. Add that into the wealth of talent that the Hurricane currently have and is on the Wanderers squad, then the picture starts to become much clearer.

That united talent and origin will need to show up in a good amount of chemistry as the Wanderers prepare for their journey through the knockouts of this Copa Rushmori in Mytanija after not looking quite up to par after their first match in the group stage. The match against Bollonischian Maribaya was far closer than anyone in the dual islands would have thought it possible and when combined with the unexpected defeat to Græntfjall on the second matchday, it means the Wanderers head into the knockouts as group runners up and not winners. Surprisingly it will not be Sargossa that the Wanderers will be facing in the Round of Sixteen however, as they faltered in their opening two matches and needed a last matchday win to advance. It is instead Pridnestrovia, who will be flying very high and confidently after having just put five goals past Nyowani Kitara, flexing the sort of offensive might that will give pause to the Wanderers and their apparent frailty at the back. While every match is one where you look to outscore the others, the strikers might be burdened with trying to carve out many a goal if the Wanderers are to advance rather than only needing a solitary or pair in order to achieve the desired result. For a team that was the last Rushmori presence at the Finals, going out early would be a serious dent to the pride and check of just how capable their new manager really is.

[Yue Zhou]

The Diaspora
BREAKING: LU TO LEAVE DRAGONS AFTER CR38
Lin Kewei, SPORTS

ESCA, MYTANIJA -- The Yuezhou Footballing Association announced tonight that Lu Jialan would leave the national team by mutual consent after the team's elimination from Copa Rushmori 38. While Lu, 61, refused to take questions about the decision or his future during the evening's pre-Ro16 press conference, the former Beian City manager has been at odds with the FA for almost the entirety of his tenure. Although Yuezhou has reached greater heights under Lu than any other manager in their history, most notably achieving a historic qualification to World Cup 88 and a credible third-place finish in the group stage, Lu's time at the helm failed to deliver the stability that Yue fans were hoping for after the initial heights.

"This morning, we spoke with representatives of Lu Jialan and decided that it would be best for all involved if he were to leave the national team after the Copa Rushmori," said FA President Wang Gehong, who drew criticism for making his announcement so close to the team's pivotal Round of 16 matchup against Savojarna. "We thank Lu for his successful time with the Dragons, highlighted by our nation's first-ever World Cup qualification, and wish him all the best in his future endeavors." While Wang was outwardly supportive, tensions between the FA and Lu reportedly reached a breaking point before the Copa Rushmori, with Lu lashing out for a perceived lack of support, the FA's attempt to hire Kang Guilin behind his back, and the over-politicization of the national team. By what became an underwhelming group stage, Lu and Wang were no longer on speaking terms, and the manager reportedly would not speak to Wang directly during negotiations.

The overwhelming favorite to succeed Lu is former Nangang Royals and Græntfjall manager Kang Guilin. Kang, who has turned down the national team job multiple times in the past (back when it was still the Red Dragons he would've been coaching), is reportedly much more excited to join the team after the establishment of a Nangang-based democratic federation in Yuezhou and is a coaching legend in Yue circles for his five league titles with Royals. While there are concerns about his age (he'll turn 70 in his first cycle with the national team) and perceived complacency (Græntfjall never rose above "decent" when he was in control, before immediately winning a Cup of Harmony under his successor Igrene Cantor), it's unlikely that the domestic search will pass Kang by. While a manager from another Rushmori nation could be in the cards, the FA does not appear to be considering any specific foreign managers at this time.

Lu's future is uncertain, although after achieving qualification with a Dragons side ranked seventy-eighth in the world, he should expect to have many suitors. The rumor mill has suggested that Lu is eyeing a move to Esportiva, home to many up-and-coming national teams who might look towards Yuezhou for that final push. Meanwhile, reports that Lu is considering taking charge at Nyowani Kitara in light of the team's recent decision to enter World Cup Qualifiers, while unlikely to come to fruition, is a symbol of how far the relationship between Lu and the FA has frayed. No matter where he ends up, though, it's unclear if he'll be able to achieve the same heights as he did with Yuezhou - meaning that despite agreeing to part ways by mutual consent, both sides could end up worse off from this split than when they started.

Lineup to play Savojarna (3-4-2-1): Lu; Yao, Yuan, Zhu; Kang, Yang, Li Jing, Reeve; Wen, Liu; Huang
Lu Jialan, in what could be his last match as Yue manager, has decided to go back to the original starting eleven that he brought to Mytanija. Yuezhou has failed to beat Savojarna in three Copa Rushmori attempts, falling in penalties sixteen years ago the last time they met in the Round of 16. However, the Northlights have yet to play Yuezhou under Lu's 3-4-2-1 system, and the hope is that the Dragons will be able to rediscover their defensive solidity and shut Savojarna out - something they distinctly failed to do the last time they met, when Savojarna won 4-0 to advance to the semifinals of CR36. On the other end of the pitch, Wen Xiaohui, who recently moved from CASK Thorsborg to Libertas Bergheim, may prove vital. The attacking midfielder has supplied most of Yuezhou's spark this Copa Rushmori, and will hope to bring more of the same to Radnika tomorrow.

[Nephara]

Astograth 2 - 2 Nephara
(4-4-2) 1 - Provost; 2 - Stride, 5 - Clevinger, 19 - Sale, 22 - Lind; 7 - Koerner (13 - Reed 73'), 4 - Timekeeper, 8 - Cromwell, 11 - Considine; 21 - Basilisk, 10 - Lovelace (16 - Marinkovic 61')
Goals: Considine 27', Marinkovic 78'

Gatchingerrak Union 0 - 1 Nephara
(4-4-2) 1 - Provost; 18 - Soeringer, 5 - Clevinger, 19 - Sale, 22 - Lind (3 - Muscadin 66'); 7 - Koerner, 15 - Horvath, 8 - Cromwell (14 - Fletcher 60'), 18 - Kalevi; 23 - Gjasula, 21 - Basilisk
Goal: Gjasula 33'

Nephara 5 - 1 SWR
(4-4-2) 1 - Provost; 2 - Stride (18 - Soeringer 56'), 19 - Sale, 6 - Brabanzon, 3 - Muscadin; 13 - Reed, 4 - Timekeeper (15 - Horvath 56'), 14 - Fletcher, 11 - Considine (18 - Kalevi 77'); 16 - Marinkovic, 10 - Lovelace
Goals: Lovelace 4', Sale 18', Reed 38', Stride 50', Fletcher 90+2'

"Hm."
"Hm?"
Catherine Sedgwick looked across at her boss, Triffid Ramsey, a woman she was supposed to be mentoring but who these days seemed to have less and less to learn. "Was just... watching you."
Ramsey glanced back. "Watching... ?"
"IIt reminded me of the old days. Under your father." Sedgwick licked her lips as Ramsey cocked her head; rarely did the assistant talk about the old days. "Late father, I suppose I should say... well, you know he's dead, I suppose it doesn't matter."
"So I've grown up to be the same?"
"No. I think not. I think something different, Triff. For one, well... he'd not have succeeded with this troupe. He--"
"What?"
"I mean, it isn't sacrilege." Sedgwick gave her usual complacent, airy smile. "I thought the hero worship annoyed you."
"Well... well, it does. But even so."
"Your father wrung the best out of ... limited talents. Players such as myself, mind. It was a brutal and physical team then, nothing more, and he knew how to marshal the best of that, nobody can deny it. But..." Sedgwick gestured out towards the pitch. "Look. Reed and Cromwell starting and finishing dizzying passing moves. You have structured attacking fullbacks, defenders playing out from the back... strikers who can drop back and link with midfield, not just present themselves as options for long balls. We'd slot those early Cormorants. Easily."
They watched the play together, for a while. Anselm Koerner was training especially hard, eager to keep his place under legitimate pressure from Reed. Unfortunately for him, Radeka Lind was on top of things, nipping the ball away from his feet every time, then setting a quick counter...
"But they'd injure like three of our players," Ramsey said, at last. "Wouldn't be worth it."
"Perhaps not."
"Still, you're giving me too much credit. Nephara sides have been this good, in the past--"
"Mm, perhaps, but that only speaks better about you. No? After all, you're the only manager-- you and Strauss have been the only managers to get the best out of a side at their peak. It's harder than people expect, I think. No, you're... you're very different to your father, Triff. So when you look like him, sometimes--"
"And how's that?"
"Oh, you know." Sedgwick made a face. "Dour, disappointed. Like Nea Provost could catch the moon for you and you'd still feel let down. And I'm surprised by that, before remembering your father. Most of the time, though, I think it's important to remember you're you."
Ramsey chuckled softly. "You reckon you could tell the press that?"
"Do you read the press?"
"No."
"Well, believe me. They already have." Sedgwick clapped a hand on her boss' shoulder. "You are you, now. Your record speaks for itself. You could go mad, spin off the rails, and it would only make them love you more, you know."
"Mm." Ramsey smiled, softly. "Thanks, Cathi. But all the same, I think I'll try to keep an even keel... only room for one Skorji this Copa, I think. And I still have trophies yet to win."

[Graintfjall]

Græntfjall – 3 (3)
B. Ernestisson; Matteosdóttir (12’ o.g.), T. Ernestisson, Jokulsson, Vilbertsdóttir; Miansdóttir (42’) (74’ Hólmarsdóttir ), Ásvaldursson (86’), Álvgeirsdóttir (67’ Jonathansdóttir ), Kristoffersdóttir (24’) (87’); Wolfgangsdóttir (17’) (68’ Dannysdóttir ), Bergmundursson

Ancharmunn – 1 (1)

Led by a super performance from Johanna Álvgeirsdóttir at the apex of the midfield diamond, the Snow Wolves eased past Ancharmunn. A brief flutter of nerves when Michelle Matteosdóttir turned a cross into her own net at the 12 minute mark was calmed five minutes later when Lilly Wolfgangsdóttir notched her first ever Copa Rushmori goal. In fact, all three scorers for Græntfjall were CR first-timers, with Sara Kristoffersdóttir – whose shot against Pasarga had been ruled an own goal – finally scoring, six years on from her inauspicious debut at the tournament, and Jade Miansdóttir’s curling 12 yard strike putting a seal on the result after just 42 minutes. Græntfjall controlled the ball through the second half; Álvgeirsdóttir was substituted off to an ovation for her fluent performance showing what she can do in a more central role.

Stat of the day: Not counting Matteosdóttir’s intervention – an unfortunate moment, given she otherwise played well, offering a genuine attacking presence up and down the right flank in the unusual, asymmetric formation fielded for the dead rubber game – Ancharmunn did not manage a shot on target.

News from Group H filtered through that the reward for topping Group G – the first time Græntfjall have won their group at a Copa Rushmori – was the decidedly mixed blessing of facing Sargossa. Similarly to Pasarga, Sargossa are long time Rushmori heavyweights whom Græntfjall have never played in competitive senior football. Absent first-choice starters Reynarsson, Bensson and Guttisdóttir all return, but Matteosdóttir impressed enough despite her early mistake to retain her place over the “95% fit” Elektra Lúthersdóttir, while Jade Miansdóttir will bolster the narrow midfield with Sara Kristoffersdóttir held back as an impact sub off the bench. Matteosdóttir’s presence on the right should permit Álvgeirsdóttir to trend inside from her on-paper role of right midfield.

Starting XI against Sargossa: B. Ernestisson; Mattheosdóttir, Bensson, Reynarsson (c), Vilbertsdóttir; Álvgeirsdóttir, Ásvaldursson, Guttisdóttir, Miansdóttir; Jonathansdóttir, Dannysdóttir

---

Welfare reform first major test of coalition loyalty

The governing Left-slate/Progressive Liberal coalition will have its “solidity, strength, and ability to govern” tested this winter as it navigates the tricky waters of welfare reform, according to back-bench Progressive Liberal MT Hannah Sæbjörgsdóttir, who warned of possible rebellions from within the caucus. Popular dissent over the Blue-Green government’s welfare reform bill emerged as one of the main factors in their unexpected defeat in last summer’s elections, but the two main electoral beneficiaries of that anger have very different priorities when it comes to remedying the complex mess of the Græntfjaller welfare system they have inherited.

Since forming his government, Prime Minister Zóphonías Juliusson has been beset with bad economic news while trying to forge an agenda largely predicated on his own party’s manifesto; on issues such as unilateral withdrawal from Montaña Verde, he has largely ignored the policy preferences of his coalition partner Kaija Michaelsdóttir, but anger from within the Progressive-Liberal Fraktion over their lack of policy relevance despite winning a larger vote-share at the last elections is “bubbling up, and nearly bubbling over”, according to Sæbjörgsdóttir. That is only likely to increase if Juliusson’s welfare reform bill, to be unveiled next week, ignores the recommendations of Michaelsdóttir, who in her capacity has foreign minister has returned from a recent whistle-stop fact-finding mission investigating foreign welfare delivery systems.

Juliusson has prioritized a full reversal of all welfare cuts enacted under Prime Minister David Austmannsson as well as an updated cost of living adjustment (COLA) for pensioners, whose vote swing away from the NDF late in the summer election proved decisive in securing Left-slate the largest share of seats in the Thing. Michaelsdóttir is said to be more concerned with a major investment in early-years investment through pre-Leikskóli,* expansion of childcare, and targeted nutritional assistance for mothers, pregnant women, and children. “Our concern is the Prime Minister will either launch some enormously expensive white mammoth** that will get shot down, or trade away our priorities to keep his,” said Sæbjörgsdóttir.

Sæbjörgsdóttir is passionate about the Progressive-Liberal focus: she herself is a single mother who led a successful legal challenge against certain Blue-Green austerity cuts, arguing that because they exclusively stripped benefits away from single mothers, they were illegal under equalities law. The experience brought her sufficient national celebrity to be elected as an MT in Kyrkdorf, traditionally a Liberal-Conservative heartland, but she says her campaigning days are not over. “The Blue-Green welfare reforms were a thinly veiled assault on single mothers,” she says, pointing to policies such as a fee required to bring industrial actions against employers accused of discriminating against the hiring of young mothers, as well as cuts to funding for childhood nutrition. “If this gets forgotten in an attempt to cater to the pensioner lobby, the government could start to see rebellions.”

The possibility on splits on the government side will be welcome news to the opposition, who are gearing up for a big fight on the welfare reform issue. Juliusson’s foreign policy climbdowns in Montaña Verde and Jabal Akhdar have largely resonated with a voter base tired of foreign entanglements, and his government has largely evaded blame for the economic slowdown. The Blue-Greens have been hit by a fresh round of corruption allegations as news from Yuezhou implicates their largest donor, Überolía, in a government graft scandal, while the National Democratic Front are still recovering from the bruises of their unexpectedly poor election showing. Part of that result undoubtedly reflected lost votes over their support of the Blue-Green welfare reform, while the party’s attempt to reel in older, conservative working-class voters makes a hard line on pensions difficult.

As such, it would be a gift of an own goal to play into opposition hands by splitting, according to Left-slate junior welfare minister Eldur Gilbertsson. “We have to stand united behind the Prime Minister,” he said. “Now’s not the time to be splitting from the cause, because it’ll just hand the reins of power back to those who’d continue tearing down the support system for the poorest and most vulnerable in our society.” He called “deeply cynical” efforts by the NDF to paint welfare reform as a culture war issue; the opposition party ran a series of adverts over the weekend implying that the main recipients of government benefits were immigrants and second-generation families, including a huge billboard in central Háttmark showing a line of burqa-clad women, purported to be queueing for welfare. “We are building a safety net for everyone, not just those who meet the NDF’s narrow, racist, bigoted definition of ‘real’ Græntfjallers,” said Gilbertsson, who said the government would be “unstinting” in pushing the “biggest ever” expansion of the welfare system.

In this edition:

• Græntfjaller rights group hits back at Nyowani Kitara with footage of Kitaran border fence
• Could climate change be responsible for unusually heavy snow fall?
• Questions raised over age-testing as 80% of “child asylum seekers” released from Hulks reported to be over 18
• Græntfjall Open snooker championship loses main sponsor over report into poor treatment of unicorns at semen farms
• Short story: The Llama and the Ferroelectric Phase Materials Scientist

* Pre-K.
** Elephants are exotic creatures in Græntfjall, so the expression ‘white elephant’ is unknown, and substituted for the mammoth, a much more common, everyday encounter in the White Winter Queendom.

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
Lundell puts in a challenge ahead of octofinal

By Jaukka Halanen

Arsika, MYT - Against Bollonich, the Savojars were able to sit back and relax a little bit as they had already secured group victory after two clean sheet victories over Darmen and San Ortelio. Substituting out a total of six starters, including captain Victoria Maersk and left winger Krister Voynov, they were trying to play with setups a bit, looking ahead to the knock-outs already. Daniella Strauss made it rather clear that she is not looking to make major changes to the squad on the longer run, but primarily aims to ensure no unnecessary suspensions or injuries and wants to give her starting eleven some rest before a hopefully long KO phase. However, that might have changed after North Laithland playmaker Rika Lundell had an inspired performance, making a good argument that she should start over Partisan Sjoedrhavn’s Morten Poulsen.

The offensive midfielder was at the heart of the opening goal after nineteen minutes, in which Lovisa Tedenby moved up to secure a long ball by Pedersen, and knocked it back to Lundell for a light chip over the head of the Bollonischian back line into the run-up of Victor Hedenberg. The pass was timed so perfectly that the striker had a clean 1v1, which is of course always favoured for a cold converter like Hedenberg. The lead was exactly what Savojarna needed, and they accordingly doubled up quickly, this time with Lundell positioning herself perfectly for a corner, standing at the edge of the box to be left alone by Bollonich’s defenders. The plot worked ideally as Aarsoy crossed out to the edge, giving Lundell the time to control the ball and smack it into the top left corner unstoppably for the keeper. Savojarna lead the game 2-0 at half time with Bollonich finding little more than scraps.

With the Northlights playing calm and collected, but not at full energy; and with Strauss further reducing the experience in her team in favour of resting stars, the side started losing pressure a little bit and conceded their first goal of the tournament after a lack of communication between VIdkun Nymark and Dmitri Dmitriev following a free kick from the right side, which Bollonischian Dennis Perry could use for the lone goal of the second half. Savojarna’s 2-1 victory means a clean record into the second round, a clash with Yuezhou. The Northlights played Yuezhou in the quarterfinals at the last edition, beating them 4-0 in a clean fashion, but previously had some closer encounters with them, including the spectacular 4-3 in the opening match of the Copa Rushmori 35 at the Bjurman. Savojarna will enter this match as favourites, but it will certainly not be a game that is already won as Yuezhou have plenty of quality.

In the Northlights camp, the question is whether Savojarna will start Poulsen or Lundell in the knock-out game. Savojarna manager Daniella Strauss said in her press conference that Poulsen had earned his position before the Copa in training and fit well with the system Savojarna play, but lauded Lundell’s Player of the Match performance and was clearly considering the Värstjö native for the position. However, she did not want to show her cards, stating that her decision would depend on the form of the day and the expectations on the opposition. Lundell herself, asked the question during the POTM press conference, said: “I am always trying to do my best and I always like to be playing, like every player. But we’re here to win a cup, not to play our own best tournament, so I’m not too fussed over who starts. I’m happy with how we played tonight, I think I had a good game of course, but Morten also had two fantastic games in the group and I’m happy to see that”.

Bollonich 1-2 Savojarna (0-0)
Novi Zavej Park, Arsika (MYT) - attendance: 28’968

Goal: 19’ Hedenberg 0-1 (Lundell). 41’ Lundell 0-2 (Aarsoy). 72’ Perry 1-2 (Schmit).
Yellow cards: 86’ Ilkkanen (foul)
Remarks: Ilkkanen (SVJ) misses next match (second yellow card)

Savojarna: Pakanen - Pedersen, Nymark, Forsberg (46’ Dmitriev), Viipuri - Aarsoy, Tedenby (76’ Ilkkanen), Lundell, Jashkin (53’ Gyldenström) - Ehlers, Hedenberg

[Sargossa]

As one of Mytanija’s more tourist friendly spots the city of Thessia was an easy location to get to for the travelling Sargossan faithful. And while the majority of locals were willing to overlook the murky depths of geopolitical history. Others offered their visitors from the north a chillier welcome, unwilling to forget the logistical support provided by Sargossa to the hated Kalinina regime some years previously. Not that it really mattered to the pickpockets. A clumsy tourist is a clumsy tourist regardless of their respective national leader’s dubious choice of allies.

Over at the Stadion Yolanda Savic, one of the Copa Rushmori’s smaller venues, a healthy number of blue clad fans were hoping their national side weren’t about to have its pockets picked by a plucky underdog. Txakhaxi were making their Copa debut and their surprisingly well-drilled outfit had already held both Nyowani Kitara and Pridnestrovia to draws. And they were at it again against Sargossa. The match resembled a training exercise, with one side bent entirely on protecting their goal while the other tried everything to break them down. The Corsairs were falling into the trap set by their unranked opponents. They slung an aerial barrage at the Txakhaxi penalty area, but the procession of crosses and lofted balls were meat and drink to the trio of giant Txakhaxi centrebacks.

As the minutes went by the sense of urgency increased. The late collapse in the opening game against Nyowani Kitara was followed by a disappointing defeat to Pridnestrovia. All of which meant that a draw would not be good enough. In the other game Pridnestrovia were ahead against Nyowani Kitara and were looking good to win the group. Currently unranked Txakhaxi were joining them in the knockout stages. Sargossa, the top ranked nation in Group H, were rock bottom.

At the back Hakhan Fubaxiki and Dahiu Adatxi were forming a huge barrier and, despite the introductions of Agustín Soria and Mauricio Sainz, were giving nothing away. They were getting something on every attempt into the Txakhaxi box. Deep into the second half they got a little too much something onto one particular attempt. A neat exchange of passes in the centre left Enrique González in a rare bit of space. Having seen a whole host of forward passes and crosses into the box snuffed out by the Txakhaxi backline the Ciudad Soluca midfield schemer elected to take matters into his own right boot. The Scrabble defying Fahia Kaopokatxai looked to have it covered right up until the drive hit the outstretched boot of Adatxi and looped to the wrong side of the keeper. Kaopokatxai and their defenders could only look on helplessly as the ball nestled into the back of the net.

The relief among the Sargossan players, coaches and support alike was palpable. It was a single goal against an unranked opponent, but it would do. Txakhaxi simply weren’t equipped to find an equaliser. And perhaps they didn’t entirely want to. With Nyowani Kitara conceding a fifth over in Trunca, Txakhaxi would achieve their ambition of not finishing bottom by not letting another goal slip by. They held firm. There were no further goals. Txakhaxi would finish in third and the Corsairs, with their win, sneaking above them and Nyowani Kitara into second. The reward for which was an extended stay in the city of Thessia. Although for how much longer was open to doubt with as the second part of that reward was a tough encounter with Græntfjall.

[Hispinas]

Yuezhou 0–1 Hispinas
Copa Rushmori 38 - Kotrba, Esca, Mytanija
HSP Scorers: Carmelita Grimaldo (49')
HSP Lineup: Natalio Londono, Gurutze Aranaz, Casimiro Coro ▼ (▲ Chicho Mondragon 65'), Chequil Puma, Fermin Maquibar ▼ (▲ Latisha Gurule 81'), Hibai Berriz, Auza Vertiz, Trinidad Quevedo, Carmelita Grimaldo ▼ (▲ Munio Sola 70'), Peppi Palmero, Ozeano Amunategui

Alfonzo Medrano couldn't be happier that his side won the group decider against Yuezhou, they avoided a potential grudge match with Savojarna, and have ensured that the Golden Sealions would play their fourth consecutive match at Kotrba in Esca, which is probably a better trade off as they would be already familiar with the venue, as well as not to have exerted any effort in traveling from the base camp near the capital to other locations at the start of the tournament.

Their reward for the group victory is a Round of 16 match against San Ortelio, who prevailed against Darmen to keep their second spot from the rest of the group, with Bollonich also losing to the Northlights who already secured a spot in the knockouts before Matchday 3 proceedings even started. Out of all the participating nations who made it to the Round of 16, only Valladares are the other side who had to play their fourth consecutive match in the same stadium they played Matchday 1 with. This may have drawn ire from fans and officials of other participating nations who were made to travel around Mytanija, while Valladares and Hispinas stayed in the comfort of their Matchday 1 venues until the Round of 16 which would give both nations an absolute advantage.

Medrano downplayed any thought of a bias towards certain nations in their pre-match interview prior to the San Ortelio match, saying "It was the luck of the draw that brought us here. San Ortelio is a formidable opponent despite having to lose to powerhouses Savojarna, and that has to be taken into consideration by my players." For the San Ortelio match, he keeps Londono at goal, having scored Hispinas' first clean sheet of the tournament despite conceding three against San Isidro Labrador, however, they will make changes up front, as Pancho del Olmo slots in the left winger spot, and Peppi Palmero will be rested for a potential quarterfinal match against either Pridnestrovia or Pasarga. Casimiro Coro is a huge question mark and will have his fitness test after being subbed off early in the second half, with either Chicho Mondragon who replaced him in the Yuezhou match, or Marcos Rolan who played in the 3-1 win over Eastfield Lodge on Matchday 2.

[Trans-Dniesters]

The most dangerous part about the insertion into the village of Duboynye was getting there in the first place. Initial intelligence reports stated that the village had a patrol of three tripods around its perimeter. The tripods were the deadliest thing in the arsenal of the aliens which had taken over South Ceroat. Each tripod had four tentacle-like arms underneath the main body or pod, and two of those arms had claw-like appendages, between which was some sort of laser or emitter which was the tripod's primary offensive weapon. The beam emitted by these arms, dubbed "heat rays" by their human opponents, was an instant death sentence for anyone who got hit by it. Any victim of the heat ray would have their body instantly vaporized; the only evidence of the person hit by the ray ever having existed was the cloud of dust and the clothes left behind at the place they were when they were hit by the ray.

The heat ray had been very effective and devastating against the combined Ceroatian and Pridnestrovian forces when they first attempted to enter South Ceroat. Neither force simply had anything to counter the heat ray, so they were forced to retreat while both the military intelligence and scientific agencies were brought to work finding a weakness within the tripods. Eventually they did find one, and it had to do with disabling the force field shield around the tripods which had been able to fend off everything that the Ceroatians and Pridnestrovians had thrown at them. The solution to taking down the tripods was disabling their shields, and to do that, the military had developed a microwave emitter of their own, tuned to a specific frequency which essentially rendered the shields powerless. Once the microwave was pointed at a tripod, it essentially lost all of its shields, and it could then be damaged by conventional human weaponry. The Pridnestrovian Army had to wait until enough microwaves had been built before they could think about organizing another offensive into South Ceroat, but this time, thanks to their microwaves, the combined forces of Ceroat and Pridnestrovia were finally able to punch through the initial defensive line of the aliens. Now, the dream of the Movement for a United Ceroat to retake their capital Ragusapolis was closer than ever.

But before all that, one more thing had to be done in the meantime, and that was to capture the rogue warlord Edwin Chudovsky. Chudovsky had been a former colonel in the Ceroatian Army before the incident in Mount Vozrozhdeniye which practically decimated the Army and resulted in the entire State of Ceroat falling apart at the seams. Little of this however was known by most of the outside world, and the only evidence that Ceroat had fallen apart was when their government pulled all funding from their stock car racing team, Motorsports Ceroat, in the middle of the ninth season of NSSCRA. Once everything fell apart in Ceroat, Chudovsky took full advantage of the situation and established himself as a powerful and ruthless warlord in the Western Province of Ceroat, taking over a vast swathe of towns and cities and crushing them all under his heel. Those other warlords who didn't submit to his rule were swiftly and decisively dealt with. He and his forces also committed numerous atrocities which eventually drew the notice of the Democratic People's Republic of the United Socialist States of Pridnestrovia, and it was under the pretext of stopping Chudovsky committing further atrocities that Pridnestrovia decided to intervene on behalf of the Movement for a United Ceroat. Of course, Pridnestrovia had to actually capture Chudovsky to show that their intentions were pure and honest, but the man had already escaped their grasp twice. But now that they had found out where Chudovsky had escaped after his escape from Novy Nish, they were determined not to let him slip away a third time.

The mission to bring in Edwin Chudovsky had been handed once again to Major Gavrina Vasilyevna Kumilyova and her "merry band" of Airborne troopers. Kumilyova and her group were the same ones who had been sent after Chudovsky in Novy Nish, and because Chudovsky had managed to escape her there before, Kumilyova was more than determined to nab him this time around. But that task was being compounded by the presence of the tripods roving around the outskirts of Duboynye, the town in which they had just observed Chudovsky jumping out of a convoy.

The thing about the alien tripods though was that while they were definitely formidable and dangerous, they had one glaring weakness: they could only act against objects which were directly in front of them. And Kumilyova and her men had been able to find a gap in the tripods' patrol during which they could slip into Duboynye without much trouble. So that was the first difficult part of their mission done. Now it was time to find Chudovsky and then get him out of Duboynye without alerting the aliens.

For a place that seemed to be very important to the aliens given how many tripods were patrolling around it, the interior of Duboynye itself seemed strangely deserted. Even the soldiers which had dismounted from the convoy alongside Chudovsky had disappeared, and the only noises that could be heard in the village was the whirring of the mechanisms which operated the tripods' legs. Kumilyova noticed a place where three tripods were tucked away in a quiet and dark corner of the village. The fact that there were no lights inside the pod on top of all three tripods suggested to her that these tripods were inert, but she decided to take no chances. "Slava, get Arya and Boris Nikolay'ch and plant some explosives on those tripods," she ordered her second-in-command, Captain Vyacheslav Ilyich Klimov.

"Right away," Klimov nodded, and then he used hand signals to command the aforementioned soldiers to follow him and carry out Kumilyova's orders. Meanwhile, Kumilyova and the other two men left with her, Senior Lieutenant Ravil Ivanovich Yanenko and Junior Lieutenant Boris Ivanovich Nukorev, remained close to the wall of the shack where they had last seen Chudovsky enter. Kumilyova held out her right hand with three fingers extended and then folded those three fingers one by one. Once she had folded the last finger, she returned her right hand to the trigger of her AK-12 rifle and then used her left hand to test the doorknob of the shack in front of her. The knob moved freely, and Kumilyova slowly twisted it open. Once she had opened the door though, the speed with which the three of them entered the shack was the complete opposite to the slow and deliberate movements that they had done to get the door opened in the first place.

"Something doesn't feel right, Rina," Ravil Yanenko whispered as the three of them scanned the room and hallway immediately in front of them. "I don't hear any guards here at all."

"Tell me something I don't know, Ivanich," Kumilyova muttered back. "But that doesn't mean that we can let our guard down now. They could just be hiding someplace in here. Stay frosty, and check your corners. And get your pistols out. This looks like a very tight place to fight in."

"Chyort," Yanenko muttered, but he put his Kalashnikov away and took out his suppressed Makarov pistol. The three of them swept through the shack as quickly as they could, and then once they had cleared the ground floor, they went up and checked the floor above. But yet again there was neither hide nor hair of Edwin Chudovsky inside this building.

"I am honestly and legitimately getting scared now," Boris Nukorev said as the three Airborne troopers met up in the middle of the hallway on the first floor of the shack. "You saw Chudovsky go into this shack when he left the convoy, da, Major?" he asked Kumilyova.

"Of course I did," Kumilyova retorted. "I saw him through the scope. I took the pictures that the KGB wanted us to take. I know all of you saw Chudovsky get out as well. Yes, I know that none of this makes any sense whatsoever."

"That man is a fucking ghost, Rina," Yanenko said. "I never believed in ghosts before, but Chudovsky is starting to make me think otherwise."

"Everybody calm down! Just calm down!" Kumilyova hissed. "There has to be a simple and logical reason for this. There must be some sort of secret room or hidden compartment or rat tunnel in here where he's currently holed up and hiding. We just have to find it."

"Yes, of course," both Yanenko and Nukorev nodded.

"Let's just go through this place one more time, but this time let's check for secret compartments or tunnels," Kumilyova continued. "I'm not leaving here without Chudovsky, or without absolute proof that he was actually here."

"This shit is crazy," Yanenko muttered, but he and Kumilyova followed Nukorev back down the stairs to the ground floor. However, just as they were about to start going through the shack room by room once again, the three of them heard a door open and then close. The three Pridnestrovians turned around and saw a man stepping out of the cupboard underneath the stairs down which they had just come. The man didn't appear to have noticed that there was someone else in the room with him, until he did. But Gavrina Kumilyova was quicker to react than him, and she immediately lifted her Makarov and put two bullets in his chest and one in his head. The man's body immediately turned into a fleshy frothing goo once he took a bullet to the brain, and his clothes immediately collapsed into a wet heap in the middle of the puddle that had suddenly appeared.

"Chyort!" Kumilyova cried out softly.

"That man was an alien this whole goddamned time," Yanenko said.

"Did you see how he literally melted as soon as Rina nailed him between the eyes?" Nukorev added.

"Everybody shut up!" Kumilyova ordered. She then pointed at the door of the cupboard under the stairs and put a finger to her lips, the universal signal for silence. She then took the doorknob and forced it open, but before she could get a clear view of what was inside, all the lights inside the village suddenly opened up. "Chyort," Kumilyova muttered.

Nukorev went to one of the windows and looked outside. "Bad news, Rina," he said. "They've got Slava, Nikolay'ch, and Arya."

"Chyort," Kumilyova repeated.

█NYOWANI KITARA 3 - 5 PRIDNESTROVIA
    ODEDE (18')       ANGELOV (2', 60')
  ANGONGA (33')       BABIN (29')
  ABONG'O (35')       SALLER (80', 87')

[Tikariot]

Walking with Shadows
--- Chapter XX ---

Chapter I - Chapter II - Chapter III - Chapter IV - Chapter V - Chapter VI - Chapter VII – Chapter VIII – Chapter IX – Chapter X – Chapter XI – Chapter XII – Chapter XIII – Chapter XIV – Chapter XV – Chapter XVI – Chapter XVII – Chapter XVIII – Chapter XIX

What lays before them is a map that has several landmarks on it, the text at the top, however, is what seems to be strings of random letters. Only the words “Ordo Draconi Dhaencunori” that have been elegantly written above it are actually legible.

Sanford groans. “Great, we go through all that trouble and all we get is a riddle that’s worse than any we’ve had before. Just fantastic! We should just burn the bloody thing and be done with it.”

“Yeah, as if Horcomb would believe just that, he’d just think we’re trying to hide it and he definitely won’t leave any of us alone.”

“Go to the police, tell him what they did to you.”

Sophia shoots him a sardonic smile. “Oh, I’m sure that’ll go over well, since we only illegally entered that compound, shot someone with a bow, ok, that one was all me, stole the original papers, broke into the museum, stole the books… Something tells me that the police just might not take that too lightly either.”

The big man grumbles his assent, causing Nurisema to look up from his bone, apparently thinking he was being addressed.

“Exactly. So, the two options we have is either we solve this or give him what he wants. And I think it’s pretty obvious which of those two is not the desired one.”

She looks over at James, who has not move, let alone said a single word since he had unfolded the sheet. “Earth to James – can you read me?”

It takes a few moments before he breaks out of his trance of looking at the strange map. “What?”

“Good, you’re still here. So, what’s the plan now?”

“I have no idea.”

Sanford scoffs. “What if is all just a wild goose chase and this is exactly what it looks like? Gibberish.”

James shakes his head, seemingly lost in thought again. “No, as little sense as this makes right now, it fits into the bigger picture and it all started with information that indisputably can be traced back all the way to the actual Order. Can we guarantee that nobody got involved after the fact and just left this while having solved the whole thing overall, just to make anybody after them think there still is something to dig for? No, we can’t. But—”

He breaks off for a moment and looks at the people around him. “Is that a risk we can or are willing to take? If we take that risk and Horcomb gets this and somehow finds out that it is real, then he could get that decree and that would be a catastrophe in many ways. What do we have to lose trying to solve it?”

Thibodeaux holds up one finger. “One, time. Two, our sanity. Three, potentially our lives. Especially the last two I’ve grown pretty attached to of late.”

“All good points. I don’t want anybody to feel obligated to stay, if you feel that this is a waste of time, I will not hold it against any of you should you chose to walk away.”

He looks at the people gathered, but the only one getting up and sauntering away is Nurisema, causing Sophia to shoot an incredulous look at the dog. “I did not expect that one!”

The malamute disappears behind the counter, apparently trying to find the pub’s owner.

James can’t help but smile at the timing, but quickly returns to the matter at hand. “I take that as a vote to continue with everybody on board right now? Excellent, thank you. So, looking at this, it has to be a cipher and from all the riddles we’ve had so far, this is the most intricate one, which would hint at us getting closer to the actual location of the decree. Which one, I have no idea, but that should be our plan now.”

“And how are we going to do this?”

“Well, we have to try out different ciphers and see, if we can find which one it is, beyond trial and error I have no clue how to start this.”

Sophia nods. “He’s right. How many notebooks do we have with us?”

Sanford is the first to speak up. “I have one, that’s it. Those two are too low-tech for those things.” He points at Crowe and Skarsgaard, the latter of which is quietly snoring away in a corner.

“Mine is in the car.”

James’ head swivels towards Sophia. “It was not in the bag they took?”

“Nuh-uh, didn’t want it to get wet. I’ll go get it!”

He smiles as he watches her duck into the rain.

*****

A short while later they have retreated into a back room of the pub that the owner cleared out for them to give them some privacy and space to spread out. Crowe and Skarsgaard have opted to “guard the van”, as they put it, but Sanford is convinced that there wouldn’t be any guarding happening.

“OK, the most common cipher is the Caesar cipher, a simple shift cipher where you offset the alphabet by a certain number and then just replace the corresponding letters. Only thing you need to know is the number of letters you shift and you can decrypt. Now I don’t see any numbers on here anywhere, so we might have to do trial and error. Sanford, you do even numbers, Sophia, odd.”

“Are you calling me odd?”

“What? No! I’m not—”

Sophia chuckles. “Calm down, I am just joking.”

James blushes for getting caught off-guard again. “OK, let’s go, people.”

*****

“Nope, nothing.”

“Same here.”

Both Sanford and Sophia lean back with disappointed sighs before looking at James, who has been silent the whole time, intently reading something on his phone.

“Yo, James!” Sanford hollers across the small room, but even that does not seem to reach him.

“James?” Sophia doesn’t raise her voice or anything, but immediately his head raises from his phone, causing an exasperated groan from Thibodeaux.

“Yes?”

“We’ve come up empty. What have you been studying so intensely?”

“Oh, other ciphers. There’s one that is a more complex evolution of the Caesar cipher, the Vigenère cipher. In a Caesar cipher, each letter of the alphabet is shifted along some number of places. For example, in a Caesar cipher of shift 3, A would become D, B would become E, Y would become B and so on. The Vigenère cipher has several Caesar ciphers in sequence with different shift values.

To encrypt, a table of alphabets can be used, termed a tabula recta, Vigenère square or Vigenère table. It has the alphabet written out 26 times in different rows, each alphabet shifted cyclically to the left compared to the previous alphabet, corresponding to the 26 possible Caesar ciphers. At different points in the encryption process, the cipher uses a different alphabet from one of the rows. The alphabet used at each point depends on a repeating keyword.

For example, suppose that the plaintext to be encrypted is

ATTACKATDAWN.
The person sending the message chooses a keyword and repeats it until it matches the length of the plaintext, for example, the keyword "LEMON":

LEMONLEMONLE
Each row starts with a key letter. The rest of the row holds the letters A to Z (in shifted order). Although there are 26 key rows shown, a code will use only as many keys (different alphabets) as there are unique letters in the key string, here just 5 keys: {L, E, M, O, N}. For successive letters of the message, successive letters of the key string will be taken and each message letter enciphered by using its corresponding key row. The next letter of the key is chosen, and that row is gone along to find the column heading that matches the message character. The letter at the intersection of [key-row, msg-col] is the enciphered letter.

[OOC: Yes, I took the above section explaining the cipher directly from Wikipedia, because trying to explain this in different words likely would have screwed things up one way or another.]

Sanford looks at James wide-eyed as soon he has finished his explanation. “You are kidding me, right?”

James looks him straight in the eyes. “Do I look like I’m kidding? This cipher was all the rage at the time and was considered unbreakable, so it would make perfect sense.”

Sophia takes a bite out of an apple. “You know, he’s right, right?”

Simultaneously James and Sanford ask: “Who, me?”

“Yes.”

She quietly laughs at the stunned silence between the two men before continuing: “First cipher brought nothing. So, we have to keep looking. If Vigenère would be the next plausible one, then Vigenère it is.”

“Thank you. And before you start protesting again, Sanford, there are programs that can help with it. All we need to figure out is the code word.”

“And how would we do that?”

“Good old trial and error!”

Sanford groans again. “I need more coffee!”

As he walks off, Sophia looks at James. “Where do we start, though?”

“Try any words that could hold special relevance, like Ordo, Draconi, Dhaencunor or Dhaencunori and so on. Not much more logic we can apply, but with those programs at least we don’t have to do it manually, which should make it at least a bit easier.”

She nods and stretches, wincing.

“You ok?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine.”

“I know that ‘I’m fine.’ You’re not.”

“No, I’m fine, its just my neck.”

“I can massage it?”

She looks at him. “Sure, if you don’t mind?”

He mutters under his breath. “How could I mind that?”

[Astograth]

“Your tea’s going to get cold,” his mother warned him.

“That’s what I’m counting on, mum,” Abaria replied. It was always brewed way too hot in this house.

“Does anyone else need more water? Sugar?” she asked the others, holding out the lacquered tray. A tall pile of sugar cubes teetered in a flowery bowl next to the kettle.

“M’alright auntie, thanks,” said Andoni, and the rest mumbled agreement. Their eyes were glued to the TV, 90 inches of perfect colour mounted on a wall that never expected screens to be that large. Mugs sat all around the coffee table, steaming.

Eight men, all mid-to-late twenties, crowded the tiny living room of Garikoitz Abaria’s childhood home. The lads. His squad of friends from school and the neighbourhood here in Kala, capital and only city of Bakartirla. Unai, ‘Sixfingers’ Teyeria, Darrigola, Andoni the Ball, ‘Gere-Gere’ Gerrige, Zabalua, and of course Abaria himself. As teenagers they’d meet in that livig room every week to watch the Euraleague, or the Audioslavian National League, or the Nepharan Premiership, or the World Cup, or the best of UICA competition. Abaria had vivid memories of that one Champions’ Cup final between Ceni’s 1860 Azoth and Schottia’s Handon United… what ever happened to those teams, he wondered. Great football teams came and went in this multiverse. But the goal, the way the rain had pounded Bakartirla that day, the gleaming cup, the packs of sausages they’d nearly burnt – those were forever.

The ones gathered here weren’t even the full team – The Yak was living in Mytanija, Barry and Zurra on the Astograthian mainland. As kids they all joked about flying away from this blighted rock in the middle of the Modraine Sea, but that was easier said than done.

Abaria had made it, once. He’d trained at Bakartirla Bucaneers’ academy with several of the lads. The others had gradually dropped out, The Ball and Darrigola the last holdouts, as Abaria kept going up the ranks. He skipped the U18s straight to the U21s, and caught the eye of manager Ilazki Altzibararechuluaga. At only 19 Abaria had led the back line as the Buccaneers won the Second Division and their first ever promotion to the top flight. He’d signed for Echegoyan FC then, and it seemed like his career could only go up.

“And yes… here we see the lineup… several changes. The 4-4-2 diamond is confirmed,” Lekubegi Guerrikaechebarria’s voice boomed out of the speakers. A diagramme of the formation appeared onscreen and the boys hollered.

There he was, number 17. Bailo.

“… Artizar Bailo the big surprise of the day. As you can see, Erke will give him his first start, playing in defensive midfield. Tomofumi Ishimoda will also start, in attacking midfield. The rest of the team as you would expect: Bedigax in goal, back line of Martel, Doyenard, Labeaga, and Echeberz, Nekol and Malkorra on the left and right wings, and in attack Karazatorre and Epherra…”

He’d never been one of the boys, but they all knew him. A few months younger than Abaria, also one of the club’s brightest young talents of the time. After that fateful promotion season Bailo had jumped straight to the big time, Iturributa United. He’d spent several seasons struggling for playing time there before moving to Athletic Club Olarria, and found his footing there as an excellent midfielder under current national team manager Piarres Erke. Meanwhile, Abaria had plateaud at Echegoyan. Always first-choice centre-back, but for a struggling, erratic team. It ended in disastrous relegation the year before last. He’d ducked his head and accepted Bakartirla’s offer to return. At least it meant he could get the boys together to watch the Copa Rushmori, like the old days. And like the old days, two rules. First, no partners – this was a lads’ meet. Second, no booze – this was Auntie Aurkene’s house after all. Of course, like the old days, that just meant they’d gotten their drinking done earlier.

Bailo was on the pitch, prompting more cheers. They weren’t the only ones either – through the drizzle and the gusting wind so typical of the island, you could hear Bakartirla coming alive. Zabalua had brought a big flag, but not the olive green of Astograth. This was golden yellow over dark blue, the red sun sinking below the horizon: Bakartirla. The joke was that it should actually all be in shades of grey, but it made for a nice flag.

He maybe wasn’t one of the boys, but he was still their boy. Representing the island in Mytanija, of all places. Against Schutz and West he’d become the first player from tiny Bakartirla to ever play for Olibondeka, now he was the first to start a match. Would he be the first to score too?

Abaria had come to terms with the fact he likely wouldn’t ever play for the national team, never mind win the Champions League or anything crazy like that. His mind was set on taking Bakartirla to the First Division title – a big dream, but not impossible. Not after what Gortz United had just pulled off, finishing runners-up… the Top 5 could bleed after all.

Still he wondered what it would be like to be there in Miago, lined up to sing the anthem and feeling that crowd. Not hearing the cheers in this living room, but knowing they were out there, rising up from all over this rainy rock. For him and for them.

He took a sip of his tea and scalded the roof of his mouth.

[Mytanija]

WILL TIKARIOT TIE TEMPER EXPECTATIONS?
HOOPS SCRAPE A DRAW TO SET-UP DIFFICULT TIE AGAINST CASSADAIGUA

by Nevenka Planinc

MYTANIJA 1-1 TIKARIOT
MYT: J. Odonelec 71’
TKT: Perkkanen 66’

MYT: 1. Kasun; 3. Savicevic, 4. Anac (sub. Jernejec 76’), 5. Racic; 2. Milcic (sub. Vukovic 68’), 7. Hrdaljko, 8. Fejzuli (sub. Kurtcehajic 76’), 6. P. Odonelec; 10. J. Odonelec (c); 9. Ocokoljic, 11. Gannot

TKT: 1. Feron; 2. Coker, 3. Tameifuma, 4. Oakes, 5. Waltham; 7. Lorenskog (sub. Kinsella 72’), 6. Cartwright, 8. Noles (sub. Drouin-Lacroix 60’); 10. Dodd, 9. Conway (sub. Haigh 76’), 11. Perkkanen

Mytanija and Tikariot appear to be two very well matched teams. Tikariot have had a good couple of cycles when it comes to World Cup qualifying, but Mytanija has had a deep run in the Cup of Harmony and probably impressed a little more on the regional stage. Two nations on upwards trajectories made for a highly-anticipated match at the country’s largest stadium, Stadion Prizren. Not losing the match would allow Mytanija to return here for their last sixteen game and Lev Repin underlined the importance of that, wanting to take advantage of the largest capacity ground and the lack of travel to try and help the Hoops on a deep run through this tournament.

The two teams didn’t disappoint when out on the pitch, although the game perhaps was not as goal-packed as neutrals might hope. Repin’s three at the back matched-up well against Tikariot’s forward trio of Dodd, Conway and Perkkanen. Unfortunately for Repin his wing-backs couldn’t have quite the same effect as they had had during the opening two group games, Lorenskog and Noles pinned them back and although this did allow Mytanija numerical superiority in the centre of the pitch they couldn’t quite breakthrough Tikariot’s well-organised back four. This made for a game which was tactically engaging, if a little devoid of real chances in the opening 45 minutes.

That changed in the second-half with the game’s two goals coming within five minutes of one another. Tikariot got themselves ahead one winger crossed in to set-up the other, Adam Dodd crossing in from the left after nipping in front of Dino Racic and the ball running through for Antti Perkkanen to slide in. The goal forced Repin into a change with Srdan Vukovic entering the fray for Damir Milcic. Repin wanted Vukovic to drift inside and provide an extra body alongside Jasno Odonelec in the central area in front of the Tikariotian defence. The change worked, overloading the ‘number ten’ area and leaving Jasno Odonelec with the space to rifle an effort home from all of 25 yards.

The equalising goal heralded more changes, with Repin happy to go defensive and bring Zijad Kurtcehajic to stiffen the Mytanar midfield and freshen up the back-line with Jernejec for Anac. That could have been seen as a conservative move, but Mytanija did only need a point to seal top spot and Repin secured that. It might well have handed the Hoops the tougher match-up too, with Cassadaigua awaiting the national team in the second round. It does mean that Mytanija won’t have to travel for the first time in the tournament, remaining in Prizren for another game after starting in Esca, then playing in Thessia and finally coming to Prizren for match day three. Stadion Prizren has the largest capacity of any stadium in the country and Repin and the team will hope to harness the energy of the crowd to their advantage for the Cassadaigua game.


Dino Racic’s unexpected problem

1923 Esca expected to cash in on Dino Racic following his outstanding domestic campaign last term. His stock has risen enormously with both club and country over the past couple of years and 1923 Esca wanted to use the money from any transfer to more broadly invest in their squad. It would also give Racic the opportunity to test himself at a higher level. The club’s board have spent too, suggesting that a move perhaps did look likely, with Marek Ladicorbic, Imanuel Smiciklas and Mesud Erjavec all arriving from Druga Liga sides. Ladicorbic is a particularly smart addition, impressing in a Crvena Zvezda team which were eventually relegated last season.

Sava Grgurovic has also brought in Racic’s apparent replacement, with Braco Evic returning to the club from Atletik Thessia after a difficult few years. Atletik make a loss on him, but Evic never really delivered on his potential in Thessia and will hope a return to the capital can get him a little nearer to doing so. The four signings total NSD 2 million, a significant amount of money for any Mytanar club, but particularly one which doesn’t have the benefit of IFCF money. All of that would suggest that 1923 Esca thought Racic was as good as off, but no deals have been agreed. Racic failed to agree personal terms with two clubs: Nephara’s Crisisbless United and Pasarga’s Tanrısal. Tumbran side Lakewood United also submitted an offer before withdrawing it after 1923 Esca failed to respond quickly enough.

This all leaves 1923 Esca in an awkward position. It appears they have budgeted for Racic’s sale, with transfer moves carried out in the expectation that he would be leaving the club and leaving them with an overall profit on transfers. They aren’t a club for whom this would be an existential risk given that they are backed by Mytanar banking giant IOK, but it still isn’t something which they have planned for and it could have a few accountants worried in the corridors of Radnika. They still want to run a profitable club after all.

For Racic there is the question of where he will end up next season. He could stay at 1923 Esca and do very well, perhaps push them on to a spot in the top four with the signings they have made. However, new central defensive signing Braco Evic could kick-up a real stink if he isn’t a starter for the new season given that that is largely the reason behind him returning to 1923 Esca from Atletik. Racic’s overseas options seem to have dwindled, but there are some now linking him to Atletik Thessia, could that be an unexpected pseudo-swap deal? Given that Atletik have Andrija Ugljanin and Bigger Mbala-Ekakia it seems unlikely barring a switch to a three centre-back system. Atletik do have the money to sign Racic though given the sales they have made during the window. It could also represent an attractive proposition for Racic, with Atletik likely to be in contention for the title if they can sign him despite losing the likes of Damien Gannot and Patrik Odonelec. They’re also playing IFCF Champions’ League football, something which could make Racic’s eyes light up if he wants to stay in Mytanija.

The money wouldn’t be as good if he does stay with Mytanar borders, but Atletik might well be the best solution for all parties. 1923 Esca would sort their finances out and nip any potential issues with Evic in the bud; Racic gets his upwards move; and Atletik replace some of the quality they have lost in the transfer market even if it would necessitate a formation change. Robin Hjik has never been wedded to any one system and enjoys counter-attacking football, something a three centre-back system could seem predisposed to. It’s an interesting thought experiment if nothing else, after all a foreign club could still hand Racic his big money move overseas.


Never mix football and geopolitics

This Copa Rushmori was always going to be interesting for Ana Mecava-Catic’s government. The MNK – the main opposition – have questioned whether the country can afford to be hosting the tournament. Some have also accused Mecava-Catic of hypocrisy for seemingly reneging on her previous support for the communist rebels of Yuezhou and happily accepting dignitaries from the country during the Copa Rushmori. There has been a definite sense of realpolitik from the Jedinstvo leader as she and her party look to demonstrate to the region that Mytanija is making progress. Whether she and her government can avoid a minor international incident for the Policija allegedly ‘beating the shit out of’ Swennic pitch invader Harold Calvin Jr. at the Novi Kaunostadion remains to be seen.

Some of the host city allocations have raised eyebrows, who thought it’d be a good idea to put Sargossa in Thessia, for example? It is possibly the most anti-Kalinina city in Mytanija and the Sargossans support for her regime is well-documented. Thankfully their presence there has been limited to only one game so far and that was at the Stadion Yolanda Savic rather than one of the two larger venues in the city. They will be playing Græntfjall at the Novi Atletskistadion though and that might well see a different reception. Interesting too that Græntfjall are involved in Thessia, it’ll be their second match in the city with the largest Muslim community in Mytanija. A point of interest given the semi-regular reports of anti-Islamic sentiment emanating from Græntfjall.

[Eura]

COPA RUSHMORI 38 GROUP D – MD3
EURA 1 – 1 THE ASKARI UNION
Scorers: Walker 82
Lineup: 13. V Simm, 19. T Green, 5. D Steele (sub Sherwood 80), 25. J Byrd, 21. P Read, 23. A Ingram, 18. S Erskine, 24. E Mullins (sub Malone 71), 28. C Rogers (sub Woakes 73), 17. S Walker, 26. C Atkinson

Kiddo

‘Listen kiddo, what did I teach you?’
‘To pass.’
‘Exactly. So, what was that, Chrissy?’
Christine looked at her feet guiltily as Dad shook his head and tutted. ‘A shot.’
‘Chrissy, you’ll never get bloody picked if you keep doing that. Come on. Again.’
Dad threw the ball back to her and crossed his arms as if she wasn’t good enough at catching either. Christine’s brother Dec scowled as he passed her to go back to their starting position. ‘Stop being such a ball-hog!’
‘Bog off.’
‘You play like a girl.’

Christine went red. On the playing grounds of Eura, it was a message that had been pushed home for decades about the beautiful game. A sport for men – working men, usually – and not girls and women. Not her. Her Dad was hard on her but at least he didn’t believe any of that nonsense.
‘Alright then. Go.’
She set off down the narrow garden, barely five feet wide and fifteen feet long, dwarfed by the surrounding tightly packed houses and the red haze of the power station that employed their occupants. Dad charged right forward, looking to close her down, not giving her an inch while her little brother scampered away to her right. ‘Release!’
She kept going.
‘Hey, give me the ball!’

She did nothing of the sort. She stopped short of the towering frame of her only parent, drifted slightly to the left, then dragged the ball abruptly right and through his legs. He swore under his breath as she nipped around him and then rounded her brother too, who had decided to slide tackle her along the dry grass when she didn’t pass. With the moth eaten home net in front of her, Christine belted the ball through it, breaking a few more of the remaining fibres and smacking the back wall very loudly. She turned around with a gleaming smile.
‘There! See? Its way easier if I just go for it myself, you know?’ Her Dad said nothing as he walked over and picked the ball up. ‘The light is going. Go and get ready for bed. You’ll learn nothing, will you?’

At the weekend, the Atkinson twins would find themselves battling it out on an urban seven a side pitch for their primary school. Dad watched with pride as they harassed and hurried their opponents, running them ragged. But with the game at a tie just as time was about to run out, cocky little Christine went for glory, and found herself flat on her face as her brother waited. She teared up as the scabs on her hands went red. Dad sighed and picked her up, took her home, and gave her the “I told you so” treatment, though not too harshly. ‘You could be good one day kiddo, you really could. Just got to bloody listen to me, right?’ She half-did but not really. Over his shoulder the TV was on and featured an item on the new wave of female footballers in Euraleague; the familiar faces of Moira Woakes, Monica Rowland and, most of all, the masterful Rowena Strongbow. Those were her heroes, and one day she believed she would emulate them.

Ten years later

‘Aw, ref! You gotta’ be kidding me!’
‘Nope. Foul on 26. Free kick to the reds.’ The Askaris – “la Delfenoj” – were outraged. They were just eight minutes and some stoppage time from recording a historic victory over Eura. Their former manager Skorji Oslograd was steaming with rage himself on the sideline, clearly unhappy at his reserves and young players for letting him down as they had done in recent friendly match experiments. Lying on the floor was Christine Atkinson. The 23-year-old Lajuno striker still had the scars on her hands and knees from playing on gravel and what could barely be called grass pitches as a kid, but now she was laid out on the relatively luxurious green of Gradski Stadion in Ibon, Mytanija. Suddenly she found herself pulled to her feet by another weathered pair of hands.

Moira Woakes had summoned Atkinson to her feet, shooting Arrowsmith’s Valentina Cavicchi a dirty look as she did so. ‘Dirty fucker. You alright?’
‘Yeah, I’m good.’ Atkinson’s voice wobbled a bit. After a decade of making her way up the ranks and even scoring in a National Cup final the little girl from Lajuno was still in awe of her role model.
‘Great. Ok, Sharon’s on this one, quick release. We’ve got to get something here or Skorji’s going to have us all waterboarded for an away day or something like that. Got it?’
‘Ok, ok. I’m on the left.’ Play restarted and Eura went forward quickly, Sharon Erskine drilling the ball forwarded to Woakes’ feet. The Euran icon quickly passed away to Bobby Malone on the right, who set off on a bolting sprint past Patrick Read who had given up on the idea of overlapping. Malone tried to get a cross in, but there was Agostino Montargis to make another vital clearance, albeit straight down the middle of the pitch.

The ball came back to Scott Walker, Atkinson’s strike partner and a man under pressure. He could have gone for glory from range but instead sensibly opted to lay the ball off to Atkinson, who was free on the left side of the box. He went to feet and she received the ball gratefully, only to realise there was no obvious route forward, so she had to go back to Woakes, who herself was beginning to tire and had started jogging around casually. Woakes delivers though, even when tired, and Atkinson knew that if she made a run now Woakes might at least find the gap; Atkinson sprinted forward and Woakes, a magician in all but name, slotted a pass through Iohana Mercado and the impenetrable Montargis perfectly. Atkinson was on autopilot and had the ball at her feet before she knew it, ten feet from goal with only the goalkeeper to beat.
She thought about it. She really did. Then came the image of her Dad in the back of her mind. “Don’t you do it, kiddo!’
Oh, fine!
She slid a pass across Dorothea Soumare and watched Walker tap in an easy finish.

[Mytanija]

This is your cut-off for the second round of Copa Rushmori 38. Still a bit too early for some stolen looks at the trophy.

Second Round

A1 Mytanija 2–3 Cassadaigua B2
Stadion Prizren, Prizren
(Scorinated by Siovanija and Teusland)

C1 Nephara 1–0 Southwest Eastnorth D2
Miagostadion, Miago

B1 Valladares 0–2 Tikariot A2
Olujastadion, Ebor

D1 Eura 2–3 Astograth C2
Novi Kaunostadion, Thessia

E1 Savojarna 1–0 Yuezhou F2
Radnika, Esca

G1 Græntfjall 0–2 Sargossa H2
Novi Atletskistadion, Thessia

F1 Hispinas 3–1 San Ortelio E2
Kotrba, Esca

H1 Pridnestrovia 0–4 Pasarga G2
Psenicova, Decraa

---

Quarter Final

SR1 Cassadaigua v Nephara SR2
Radnika, Esca

SR3 Tikariot v Astograth SR4
Olujastadion, Ebor

SR5 Savojarna v Sargossa SR6
Novi Atletskistadion, Thessia

SR7 Hispinas v Pasarga SR8
Stadion Prizren, Prizren