World Cup LXV (65) RP Thread

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media
International Edition - Sport


500 Up


Gonzalo Pereira reports from Torgos;

Happy anniversary international football. Has it really been so long? We remember it like it was yesterday, when we first stared into your eyes under the stars on that fateful night in Liventia. Four hundred and ninety nine games later here we still are. Sure we’ve had our ups and downs, our fights, tantrums and walkouts. But for better or worse we’re always reunited in the end. Now I know we said we weren’t doing presents but we’ve been thinking. For the big five, oh and another oh there is something we’d very much like. A little thing, a token. What we want, what we really, really want couldn’t be more straightforward. Three little points. That's it. What could be simpler than that?

If only it were that simple, but points have proven somewhat elusive here in Pasarga. In their last World Cup outing in Turori two tournaments ago Martín Tejera’s side took nine points from three games in a run that included a win over the host nation (just throwing that one out there for straw clutching purposes). Flash forward to the present day and a group campaign that started with such excitement is in danger of petering out badly. First the mouth-watering clash between Atlantian giant and the champions of Rushmore ended in a hefty and confidence sapping defeat and then Iarlaith Mag Aonghusa’s charges fluffed their lines in what was supposedly the Group A fixture that absolutely guaranteed three nailed on points.

Unfortunately nobody appears to have forwarded the Mangolanans a copy of the script as the lowest ranked nation in the tournament very nearly sent the Corsairs packing with a spirited display in front of a big crowd in Torgos. The Mangos had certainly come to play and when striker Gregory Nena reacted quickest to nod Medrán’s attempted parry back into the net it was the least the Mangos deserved. With time running out and an embarrassingly early flight home looming Gelson Di Santo did well to force the ball into a crowded penalty area for substitute Rodrigo Hoyos to turn in the equaliser. It was a scuffed finish on his wrong foot but they all count, this one more than most.

It was billed as a must win encounter for both sides but a point apiece, while by no means ideal, at least keeps both nation’s interested as the group stage draws to a close. Yes one qualification place may now be out of reach as the Jungle Cats, whose claws have seemingly turned into massive disembowelling talons, stuck seven passed the hosts in Stein-los but the second one lays just about within reach.

It all now comes down to what, this time, is actually a must win game against the hosts in Stein-los, a suitably atmospheric local derby with which to celebrate Sargossa’s 500th senior international fixture. Both sets of players know their counterparts inside out, largely thanks to the cross-nation Liga de Fuego in which the majority of both squads earn their pay. And both countries are possibly feeling just a little bit gun shy after those heavy defeats to Vilita. Sargossa may have the edge in rank but Pasarga have home advantage. This one’s going to be a toughy.

But let’s look at the final day permutations. Vilita’s place in the knockout round is already assured thanks to two wins from two while the local media will probably be thinking a single point should be enough for their heroes to also advance. But mathematically speaking that’s not entirely accurate as a heavy, albeit unlikely, victory for Mangolana over Vilita in Torgos could still potentially see the Mangos through if the derby of Olde Rushmore ends in stalemate. For Sargossa the equation is relatively simple, beat the Wanderers by two goals and (shocking Mangolanan win in Torgos aside) goal difference will see the campaign continue. For Pasarga its win and they’re in. Hold on tight, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

[Osarius]

Thoughts of Amandeep Sahota, Osarius manager, World Cup 65

There is an air of nonchalance in the team that is disconcerting. They know Ishmael and I will both be gone after we play our final game in this World Cup cycle, they still seem to think they are the underdogs -- despite being the highest ranked side in the group -- and I got the distinct feeling the players just... didn't really care against Valanora.

The Vanorians are a very strong team. We're talking about a team which contains individual players with perhaps more experience than our entire squad combined, so when you think about it, perhaps losing 2-1 isn't so bad. But that kind of thinking doesn't apply to the third best team in the world. It doesn't apply to a team desperately trying to capture a trophy to prove that their tactical high-pressure style is the way forward. It doesn't apply to a team who have spent a reasonable amount of time trying to prove that they are not "bottlers".

I want to commend the team for not losing more heavily, but I can't reward failure. There was no exhibition of fundamentally Osarian football for me to be proud of. There was no old-fashioned defending, body-on-the-line-for-the-team, playing for the flag mentality. This will certainly need to change ahead of the final group stage match. We simply cannot afford anything other than a convincing win if we are to maintain a semblance of strength.

To this end, I considered naming a more attacking side than usual, but I can't bring myself to take such a risk. Too much focus on going forward, and it could lead to a complete neglect of duties at the other end of the pitch. We cannot afford to underestimate our opposition, regardless of rank and reputation. Lest we forget, two years ago, that was us.

Perhaps this is the way to get through to the players. Remind them how far they have come. Remind them of the dismissive reports. The way media outlets across the multiverse wrote them off. I remember Benedict di Corradi spoke once about allowing players enough freedom to unleash their demons on the pitch, let them be free. But also restrain them enough that they can maintain focus and channel that power. Maybe anger and pride are the way to go. Let them become angry enough to release these demons, but too proud to let them take over. I'll speak to Ishmael about it. He would better understand the psychology of these particular players. They know he is the tough one, too. If he fires them up, maybe I can provide the anchor they need. Bond them all to the same cause again. I know one thing for certain though, this team will not progress unless they can combine to form a team greater than the sum of their parts. As a football nation, as a sporting nation, in fact... we've come so far these past twenty years, but there's still so far to go. The lack of Osarians playing abroad despite the national team's rank is proof of that.

[Licentiapacisterra]

Walking Down the Duchy Road

The best blog to ever cover Licentian football !!

And back to what we all expected. It looks like drawing with the Bulls is going to be the highlight of this World Cup for us, although, to be frank, we didn't even expect that, so I reckon we should all be quite pleased with the result, and forget the fact that we just lost, even if the game was much more exciting than that against Audioslavia.

Game Two. Mytannion. Circle Stadium. Longview.

I don't really know why I felt the need to list all that, but oh well.

We came in to it hoping for some points. The crowd were rowdy. Of course, the Mytanars are well known for their antics in the stands, but Licentian fans aren't afraid to chant back. Even if the atmosphere wasn't entirely suitable for young children, it certainly helped us when we got out there. We were pumped up, ready to go, but so were Mytannion. It should have been the tightest match for us this Cup, and we were ready to go out and perform to the best of our abilities.

The first half saw a few quality chances from each side, though again, no goals. Cam Ritchie could claim to have kept an empty net for 135 minutes of World Cup football, and he did, to the annoyance of the rest of us in the changing room. The chances for us came mostly from the right foot of Logan Moran, while the Mytanars could probably claim the best chance of the first half, with Eugeny Ivanov spraying a one on one shot wide, met with widespread frustration from his own fans.

The second half started with a long spell of pressure from us, with Moran, Parkinson and Donaldson denied goals in quick succession by the gloves of Demy de Zooijt. The Mytanars made us pay for not taking our chances not long afterwards. Iivari Kaitanen's long pass meant that Grant Ferguson was caught in the middle of nowhere, and substitute Mikkel Kohlemainen had the simple task of rounding Ritchie and ending his streak. Despite a few last minute chances from us, we weren't lucky enough to pull this one out of the bag.

The changing room was a bit of a depressing sight afterwards; Grant Ferguson especially was in a state. But Logan Moran showed why he was appointed captain. He pulled us all together, reassured us that we had played fantastically, and that if we played like that again, we could beat Eura. While we were all a little cynical, it had us back focused on the task ahead. It isn't over yet.

If we beat Eura on the final day, and Mytannion either hold Audioslavia to a draw or beat them in Gilley, we will advance to the next round. If both us and Audioslavia win, but we beat Eura by a bigger margin, we advance. If we draw with or lose to Eura, we are out. Simple as that. We have to win. We have to, otherwise we'll be letting you all down. We have to win, and we will.

Come on you Cyan !!

[Eura]

THE EURAN SWITCHEROO STRIKES AGAIN
3-2 loss followed by shock 3-2 win against world champions as sparks fly between Sporadic and Klimt
Simon Banning reports from Pitape Stadium, Gilley, Saugeais

EURA - 3
Blackthorn 42
Needle 53
Sharp 60

AUDIOSLAVIA - 2
Eiger 12
Van Wildernis 80
Rijsbergen s/o 90+2

The mark of a champion is the ability to play badly and still get away with a result. Audioslavia failed to achieve such a feat this evening as they were thoroughly outplayed by a superb Eura in a controversial encounter, leaving Group G in the balance.

It was a personal triumph for Kelly Sporadic, who got one over his rival Israel Klimt, but more importantly a vindication for the Euran team who had been so harshly criticised previously; though expectations of them thankfully are not getting out of hand before the key game against the Licentian Islands. This game was marked by controversy and drama not just between the managers, but also in the personal battles on the pitch - all of which the Euran's triumphed in. Gareth Blackthorn showed why he is so highly rated with a world class performance that Tom Riley (the injured captain who he replaced) would be proud of as he dominated the midfield. With Michael Robertson taking the armband, Blackthorn put in an outstanding display reminiscent of the sort of midfield general Persa Ryans was for a number of years, not to mention Steve Thompson when he was played in a deeper role. Audioslavia's midfield maestro Win Van Wildernis found himself out of the game for the vast majority of the 90 minutes, shut out by the mesmerising performance of the Euran midfielder Blackthorn, who turns 20 tomorrow morning.

Lee Sharp and Sam Needle had their own doubles edition of the battle of heart and mind with Audioslavian pairing Ruy Garcia and John Ryan, giving the two centre backs a torrid night - something they might not expect usually from a 35 year old and a 38 year old. But when that 38 year old has scored 17 goals in the Polarian top flight this season, you can't be complacent against them. Sharp was also battling James Courier in his deeper lying forward position, tearing apart the opposition's midfield lynchpin all night. Finally there was the duel between one of the worlds best forwards, Karsten Eiger, and one of the worlds best goalkeepers, Daniel Belgrave, both playing in the Polarian league. The Audioslavian's were wearing white on the night, kindly offering to wear their away kits to avoid clashing when Eura had initially offered to wear their customary blue away kit themselves, out of respect of the world champions. As the evening went on, the concept of respect between certain members of the two teams seemed to go right out of the window.

It started with song. Both national sides blasted their national anthems out; Slavian's first, us next as always. There was a brief presentation just before the anthems of note. A representative of the Euran FA, captain Michael Robertson and retired legend Steve Thompson presented James McCroft (who said this week that he will retire after the World Cup) a Euran Legends Medal, given to sporting stars deemed to have contributed to Euran sport and society. It's the culmination of a year of bravery from McCroft, who played full of heart in his final Directus season despite persistent injuries and the death of his brother, a bomb disposal expert killed while disarming unexploded devices in southern Mytannion. McCroft got the game off to a pulsating start as he rifled a shot at goal from 30 yards, which Kajaxo Imaslavii kept out with a diving save. In the early stages Eura had most of the possession as they played their passing game while Audioslavia employed their controversial tactics, dropping deep and shutting out the opposition to get them on the counter attack. Eight shots were taken by the Eurans in just the first 20 minutes, but all of them were from distance and not serious goalscoring opportunities.

Audioslavia posed a constant threat on the counter attack and on this humid evening in Saugeais they got their expected first goal with a trademark swift counterattack. Mannestraal Jansen burst down the right and crossed into the box after Eura gave away possession cheaply, leaving him free to cross into Eiger. Eiger chested it down at the far post and for a moment it looked like interim captain Michael Robertson would close him down. But on the edge of the six yard box Eiger swept the ball into the roof of the net, an unstoppable shot that Belgrave could only watch go in with frustration. Twelve minutes gone and Audioslavia were ahead. It seemed it would be business as usual for the world champions as the Euran fans took a collective sigh and waited for the capitulation. Despite the Euran's having the better of the game, the scoreboard never lies and they knew they had a mountain to climb. For the Audioslavian's, a comfortable feeling of relaxation set in. They could now do what they do best, sitting back and defending a lead against opposition who were inferior.

If this performance was anything to go by, you have to wonder if self assured confidence has become complacent arrogance in Klimt's dressing room as the Euran's took an increasingly strong hold on the game. Suddenly they looked confident. Sharp was tearing Courier apart and frequently finding space in front of the defence to play through Needle. Panic broke out in the Slavian defence in the 29th minute when Sharp, in acres of space, found Needle with a perfect through ball that completely outdid Garcia - one might say he 'threaded the Needle'. Needle though wasn't quite able to finish as clinically as usual, blasting high and wide when through on goal. Yet Eura's heads did not go down, they kept going - and the Audioslavian fans remained surprisingly unnerved. With half time imminent, Blackthorn scored his second international goal in classy fashion to get his side the equaliser they deserved. He outdid Van Wildernis, called back to defend for a moment as his personal gameplan began to unravel against the brilliant Euran youngster, with a cheeky drag-back-and-turn move that left the Slavian stranded and Blackthorn with space to shoot on the edge of the box. He sidefooted gracefully but firmly into the bottom corner.

The score was 1-1 as the half time whistled sounded and the atmosphere in the stadium was energetic. The Euran's were hyped up after an assertive first half display that had given them a slight edge. As half time approached Kelly Sporadic had been screaming at his players as he egged them on, and when Blackthorn netted he almost did himself a mischief with a frantic dash towards his Polarian assistant coach Kallstrom and head coach Watson. By comparison, the Audioslavian's were serene and seemingly too confident. Israel Klimt had a slight frown on his face as he walked down the tunnel at half time, but there were no signs of anxiety. The fans applauded the team off, expecting their quality to shine through in the second half as the Eurans would surely tire - clearly they were not aware of the fitness levels expected of one of the most stamina-dependent teams in Rushmore. The only sign of unease was the looks on the faces of their players. As they walked off, they looked tired and almost a bit shaken after expecting a cakewalk - they had presumed the Licentian result was a blip, and hadn't expected the sort of resistance they had encountered.

The second half started a bit slowly in comparison to the first, as little happened in the first five minutes. Colin Collymore left the field with a knock, providing an opportunity for Mickey Smith to reestablish himself in the side. After a dreary opening five minutes the game lit up again as Eiger drilled a shot at goal from the edge of the box. This time Belgrave was on the top of his game, saving brilliantly with his left foot after being thrown off balance. Yet in the 53rd minute, after an abysmal pass by Vazquez to Courier which was intercepted by McCroft, a breakthrough would come. McCroft used his unexpected capture of the ball well, feeding Sam Needle with another killer through ball. Imaslavii hesitated as his defenders stood dumbfounded by how the ball had got past them, before rushing out to try and intercept Needle. His dive to intercept was less than spectacular and the surprisingly sprightly 35 year old forward dashed past the keeper, before passing the ball into an empty net. The Euran half of the crowd went ballistic as the Audioslavian fans finally became anxious as they began to realise they were in real trouble.

Anxiety turned to panic seven minutes later. It would take a brilliant goal to put Eura on the verge of the victory they deserved, and rather painfully for their opposition it came in the trademark Audioslavian style - a blistering counter attack. Smith proved a point to Sporadic over his selection as he pulled off an unbelievably risky maneuver against Eiger, stepping over the ball as last man to drag it through Eiger's legs on his wrong foot. He immediately drilled the ball forward to Blackthorn who sprinted forward. He waited and waited as four Audioslavian's crowded in around him; move over? Not a chance. His patience was rewarded as Sharp broke clear of the last man Garcia. Blackthorn beat the players surrounding him with an incredible chip, finding Sharp with outstanding accuracy. Sharp brought the ball down on his left foot and faked a cheeky lob attempt to lure the retreating Garcia into sliding into Sharp. The Jan Mayen Islanders striker drifted backwards with the ball before pushing it forward on his right foot, leaving Garcia for dead as he sprinted towards the box. Imaslavii stood no chance as Eura's legend of legends finessed the ball past him with ease.

Kelly Sporadic sprinted down the touchline, punching the air many times as his side could smell glory. Eura were suddenly dominant and the world champions, so imperious in previous games, were reduced to chasing the ball like boys against men. Blackthorn was the metronome of this unstoppable machine of passing exchanges. The Audioslavian fans booed and hissed, yelling 'We want our money back' and the like as Israel Klimt began to lose his temper, fuming silently with his arms crossed on the touchline. In contrast the Euran fans couldn't be more delirious with their unexpected dominance, chanting jubilant tunes of 'World champions? You're having a laugh!' and 'Who are ya' as their team rolled the ball about the field like it was an extension of their feet. There was a moment of personal glory for Kieran Kane too, who came on in the 67th minute to pick up his 100th cap. Finally Audioslava pulled back an undeserved lifeline when the game was really beginning to get away from them in the 80th minute. Win Van Wildernis had been dominated by the irresistible Blackthorn and was quickly losing his composure as he tried to keep it together in what must be one of the least convincing performances of his international career. He gained some consolation with a goal via a massive deflection off the unlucky Lyle Heath, leaving Daniel Belgrave frustrated.

The RSK Longyearbyren Town goalkeeper deserved a clean sheet, not two goals against his name, and he received a rousing cheer after he punched away a bullet header from Eiger, the last chance the opposition had left. Just minutes earlier Eiger let his frustration be known as he struggled to trouble Belgrave, smacking a ludicrous effort well over from some distance to the jeers of Euran fans. With stoppage time ticking away the game appeared to be over, but for one chance Eura were suddenly presented with to add icing to the cake of a memorable victory. Claus Rijsbergen flew into Lee Sharp after the masterful striker dribbled into the box with great skill and dexterity, earning the Directus defender a second yellow card and the Euran's a penalty. Rijsbergen's performance had been nothing short of woeful, and even a shake of the hands from Directus teammates Michael Robertson and Glenn Anderson as he left the field wasn't enough to console him as he stormed down the tunnel. Sam Needle put the ball down on the penalty spot - arguably one of the worlds best penalty takers, having not missed a penalty in nearly seven years, a goal was rightly expected.

In one last remarkable turn of events, he scuffed the ball wide prompting a surprised groan from the Euran support. His teammates looked dumbfounded (as did Sporadic and the coaching staff on the touchline) as the veteran striker watched his effort, which was referred to this evening by Audioslavian legend Jeremy Jaffacake as 'cringeworthy', go wide. Nonetheless he got a rousing ovation briefly from the Euran support, in recognition of the longest unbroken run of success from the penalty spot for a Euran player at any level above semi-professional football. Moments later Imaslavii belatedly punted the goal kick out to the middle of the field. The final action of the game said it all, as Blackthorn rose to beat two Audioslavian's in the air to head the ball on to Lee Sharp, who turned inside the woeful Garcia and took a rather cheeky shot from nearly 40 yards, which the Audioslavian keeper watched wide nervously. The final whistle blew and the two halves of the Pitape Stadium showed contrasting pictures of the evenings events. The Euran players converged in front of their fans, applauding the bombastic sea of red in the crowd. Only Lee Sharp didn't take part in the immediate celebrations, making a point to walk over to the opposition and shake them by the hand before going over to give the man of the match Blackthorn a pat on the back. Sportsmanship at it's best.

Less sportsmanlike were the disappointing actions of Israel Klimt as the whistle blew. Sporadic punched the air and gestured towards his side to go over to the fans before straightening up and turning around to shake hands with Klimt. However Klimt held his hand back and directed an angry rebuke at a man whom used to be a Bulls manager himself, in a display lacking humility that will almost certainly anger Audioslavian fans, who hold Sporadic in high regard. As Klimt stormed off Sporadic looked incredulous and tried to follow him only to be gently pulled back by Kallstrom. A short war of words broke out as the diminutive Euran Head Coach and U21 Manager Louis Watson faced up to his opposite number.
In his post match interview, Klimt didn't say a lot and was clearly furious. When asked by Clint Covey, formerly of this newspaper and now of the Directus Post, what he thought of his sides surprised defeat, he delivered a rasping rebuke to the inappropriately chirpy Euran reporter. "Fluke. We all have our days where everything goes our way and its that day for them. Claus was never off, that was never a red I tell you. The referee knows their man has gone down lightly the moment there is contact, and he still books my man and he's off because its an occasion and they're the underdogs. Should've been a goal kick."

When reminded that Sharp had been clearly hacked down by Rijsbergen, who was the last man, by an Audioslavian journalist, he kept to his line. "Nonsense, Lee knew what he was going for and he went into Claus, not the other way round. That decision changed the game." He was questioned on this assertion too. "Even so near the end of the game, I felt with eleven men we would have stood a good chance of nicking the draw at the death." He was far from magnanimous in defeat, and his irate style of response to every line of questioning certainly ruffled a few feathers given his usually immaculate record with the press. Sporadic was up for interview next, and he was in a far lighter mood. He initially dodged questions about the opposition and his rival Klimt, rightly reflecting on the bravery of his players and making some modest references to his tactical changes which won the day.

He reserved special praise for Blackthorn, Sharp and Belgrave. "I think those three, those three made the difference tonight," he said, when I asked him about their performances. "That boy Blackthorn is the kind of player that made me want to manage this national team. From what I'd seen before I got here, the best attributes of the best Euran youngsters are their physical stamina, technical ability and spatial awareness. He has it all and he dominated them today, you wait, that boy will be playing for a Champions Cup challenging side and playing every game for Eura in five years time. What can I say about the other two that hasn't been said already? Bloody marvelous? Danny was great in goal today and his goals conceded record doesn't reflect how good he is I think, because we have always been an attack minded team. Lee always puts a shift in but tonight was one of those special performances like he gave us at the 60th World Cup. When he's fit, and he's got service, he can score from anywhere within sight of the opposition goal and that's why their defenders are scared of him."

After capitalising on his victory with some more public lavishing of praise upon the fans and backroom staff, Sporadic finally threw a parting shot at Klimt. He warned that the tactical nous of the Audioslavia manager was limited in its scope, and that he could put their future success in jeopardy. "Audioslavians have always stuck to formulas that they've 'proven' to be winning, but so few men in claret and green have ever sought to improve or adapt. That Audioslavian style of play - one I created myself, I might add - was useful for taking points from larger teams, back in the day, and was developed into the sort of system that, with some quality players, took Audioslavia to the summit of world football. From there, Klimt should have made every effort to improve. Adapt. Investigate. Change. The world was learning how to cope with those awkward, defensive, cautious Bulls, and the fact that my current 'and' most recent teams have played Audioslavia off the park in the last two games is testament to that. Adapt or die, that should be Audioslavia's motto."

Could he be getting ahead of himself? "No," he answered, "because I'm managing a team that have belief in themselves and have nothing to lose. They're not under significant pressure and I don't plan on that changing. We're in a better position now; we expected to be out this evening, in all honesty. But this is only half the task ahead. We need to beat the Licentians, and they're a very good team as I should know. If there is one thing my old team is good at, Audioslavia that is, it's getting back up from being knocked down and they'll go at Mytannion with a lot of determination. We can only hope the Mytanars are not relaxing too much now they've qualified." Upon being asked what his personal opinion was of how far Eura could go, he was cautious. "We still have to win our next game against tough opposition to be sure were through, and even then we are only in the round of sixteen. What's important is we came into this world cup aiming to get at least three points after a few bad group stages and we've done that, with an inexperienced squad and several injuries. We're looking forward to the game and whatever happens I'm proud of the boys after today. If we win and go through, great. If we lose and Audioslavia pull it back, that's how it goes. Que sera sera and all that."

Just before he could close, another journalist returned to the topic of Klimt. Sporadic was unmoving on his position. "Will Israel adapt?" asked one journalist. "No." he replied with confidence. "Will Israel be sacked?" asked another. "You'll have to ask him that."

EURA LINEUP FOR LICENTIAN ISLANDS GAME: BELGRAVE, FEENEY, ROBERTSON (C), HEATH, SMITH, BLACKTHORN, DAWSON, MCCROFT, STEVENSON, SHARP, NEEDLE

ANALYSIS

Player Ratings

EURA

1. D Belgrave – 9/10
2. N Feeney – 7/10
4. M Robertson – 8/10
5. L Heath – 7/10 YC
23. C Collymore - 6/10 (Smith - 45)
7. J McCroft - 8/10 (Kane - 68)
24. G Blackthorn - 10/10
8. C Dawson - 7/10 (Anderson - 83)
11. J Stevenson – 7/10
10. L Sharp – 9/10
9. S Needle - 8/10

Substitutes

13. C Waller
15. B Dassuna
19. R Collins
3. M Smith - 8/10
18. C Sinclair
16. K Kane - 7/10
20. G Anderson - 7/10 YC
25. N Martin
17. S Thomas

AUDIOSLAVIA

1. K Imaslavii - 5/10
2. C Rijsbergen - 3/10 2YCRC
5. R Garcia - 4/10
6. J Ryan - 5/10
3. C Vazquez - 6/10 (Zekani - 66)
8. J Courier - 4/10
14. M Jansen - 7/10
7. M Garrastazu - 6/10 2YC (Romanov - 73)
10. W Van Wildernis - 2/10
11. Z Jansen - 5/10
9. K Eiger - 7/102YC

Substitutes

22. A Newbridge
13. JL Cézanne
18. M Crespo
19. A Euler
4. L Romanov - 7/10
17. F Vivaldini
21. A di Viola
20. N Ferz
12. V Zekani - 5/10

MoM: Gareth Blackthorn (EUR)
Attendance: 48,415

Possession
EUR - 67 % 33 - AUD
Shots
EUR - 23 10 - AUD
On Target
EUR - 15 6 - AUD
Corners
EUR - 10 3 - AUD
Pass Completion
EUR - 91 % 75 - AUD
Fouls
EUR - 16 25 - AUD

[Ossidiacqua]

Athos, Porthos, and Aramis looked at each other, confused. The getting in had been a piece of cake. They'd cut the wires on the fence outside, snuck in, knocked out a security guard or two, and successfully stalked their way up the stairs and had located the fuse box, all without getting caught on CCTV.

Unfortunately, that had been the easy part...

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I mean, I don't know! Do you know?"

"No, do you?"

"No, I don't either!"

"So, neither of you know. Great."

"Don't give us that, you don't know either."

"I can't believe none of us know."

"To be fair, it is a pretty confusing bunch of electronic equipment. Made for the people who understand it rather than the people who use it."

"Meaning?"

"He means if it was something like a 'vacuum' or a 'television' then it would be easy for us to work out which bit to take out. But this is basically a room of unlabelled wires."

"Are we sure this is the right room?"

"According to that map we saw on the way up, yes."

"Then why don't we just get mental, you know? Tear everything out? Could we just release a bear?"

"Because we're trying to be subtle. I think they'd notice if all of a sudden nothing was working at all. Beside, Aramis left the bear tied up outside."

"Godammit, Aramis..."

"What? I'd like to see you sneak a bear into a telecommunications building."

"I have done, actually, several times."

"Ha!"

"Gentlemen, please! Focus!"

"Right, right, so, why don't we cut this red one?"

"Why the red one?"

"It's always the red one."

"Says who?"

"Says every film, ever."

"...you watch films?"

"Depends where I get sent, but yeah. Don't you?"

"No way, man. Those moving pictures are weird. They give me the creeps, big time."

"Well, whatever, the point is, its always the red one."

"But there's a red one here, too."

"And one here."

"And over there!"

"Two more here!"

"Okay, okay, I get your point. Still, we've got to try something, no? Otherwise Re'll kill us."

"I'd like to see him try..."

"Don't mock, guy, he was a pro like us once. Before he got fat."

"He did get fat didn't he?"

"Oh, terrible. Those jowels!"

"Oh, tell me about it!"

"Gentlemen, please!"

"Sorry."

"Sorry."

"Right, okay then. Any ideas?"

"One."

"Well, let's hear it."

"We cut all the wires leading to this fan and cooling system here, as well as unplugging a few switches and cutting a few red wires on that board over there labelled 'international cables'."

"Why didn't we see that earlier?"

"Works for me."

"Yeah, and me."

"But, if it fails?"

"We fiddle with the brakes on the team bus."

"Ohh, lovely. I like that plan."

"And there's a grizzly bear in the luggage compartments.

"Love it."

"Okay, then it's settled. Here we go. Wires cut. Let's get out of here, before someone hears one of you two heaving breathing."

"Whatever you say, Athos, I just hope that was the right set of wires. Oh Deus Ex Machina, let that be the right set of wires..."

It wasn't.

All their adjustments did was lead to a woman in the suburbs being unable to call her local area for three hours in the middle of the night, and create a very warm switchboard room.

Fortunately, Aramis had made a sensible move in praying to Deus Ex Machina as they left the room, and the machine goddess was in a benevolent mood. Just as the matches were finishing, and the hosts and WCC was busy inviting teams that had qualified to the finals - a formal move that happened between tournaments - the great spectral hand of Deux Ex machina silently reached down from the heavens and gaily pressed a fingertip to the switchhook button in WCC HQ.

"Hmm. Getting no answer from Cosumar, you?"

"Nope. Nothing."

"Hm. Who's next on the list?"

"Ermm... Ossi... Ossiduckqua?"

"Let's give them a ring."

Removing her finger, Deus Ex Machine chuckled to herself. Her worshippers may not understand technology, but she did. And thus, thanks in no part at all to the efforts of Giocomo Re, Aramis, Athos, or Porhos, and entirely thanks to the efforts of the team and Deus Ex Machina, la Renaissance were off to the World Cup for the very first time.

Where they would lose every match.

Probably.

What a good use of effort.

[New Montreal States]

"Up next, join Lisette Bellechasse as she continues her tour through the magical world of NMS cheesemaking..."

*click*

"...ethics concerns over the Toaster Council's attempts to expand the market for NMS toaster in Neo Lemmitania..."

*click*

"...joining us from Saugeais, it's Doc Lagacé. Doc, what went wrong with the Paladins tonight?"

"The same thing that always happens when they're confronted with non-human opposition; they go to pieces and give up an embarrassing result. Today, they were confronted with an eclectic mixture of robots, reptilian humanoids, humans, and other humanoid-like beings that I haven't quite manage to wrap my mind around. And just like they've done pretty consistently since dropping points to Armed Bears to miss the finals of World Cups 56 and 58, they weren't able to find and exploit their opponent's weaknesses."

"To be fair to them, Doc, I'm not sure the Holy Empire's side really has any weaknesses worth mentioning."

"It certainly looked like that last night, as they carved through the seven-man backfield and racked up a lead that the Paladins' couldn't take advantage of. The only goal scored by the Paladins came on a Fred Nguyen penalty kick after the violations of the normal workings of the universe became too much to be tolerated."

"How's the side taking the loss?"

"Manager Étienne Girardeaux credited his players with keeping their cool in the face of consistent cheap shots and violations of conventional laws of physics. He was drinking tea during his post-game press conference, and crediting his players with keeping to their duties in a gentlemanly and correct manner, in accordance with the standards of li."

"Li? The old Confucian standards of proper conduct? Pretty sure there's no room for hippy Karelan soccer coaches in that system."

"I don't think he knows what he's talking about, either, but there you go. Meanwhile, DMF turned center-back Séraphin Boucher had a different reaction:"

PALADINS CB SÉRAPHIN BOUCHER (en français): "Robots! Giant metal robots, slamming metal robot parts into me. And this is acceptable on the pitch now. Is nothing not acceptable in the World Cup anymore? I will tell you all now what I am going to do. I am going to get on the Internet, ladies and gentlemen, and I am going to order every single Christforsaken steroid and hormone I can get my hands on. And then I will eat them all at once, and go out on the field and use my inhuman slabs of muscle mass to bend the goal net bars into giant middle fingers. And then I will go sleep with the wives, and mothers, and sisters, and half-sisters, and step-sisters, and platonic friends, and old senior Prom dates, and drunken collegiate hookups of the World Cup Rules Committee, as they have given the ultimate proof that they are the greatest doormats in all of Creation."

"That's pretty harsh, Doc."

"Pretty harsh indeed."

"Any reaction from the WCC?"

"Not yet."

"We're joined now by Amélie Rochon, our in-house specialist on international sports law. Amélie, is it legal for the Holy Empire to start a robot programmed to bend the rules more efficiently than puny, inefficient meat-bag humans when the refs aren't looking?"

"Yes."

"Thank you, Amélie."

"So what's next for the Paladins, Doc?"

"We're right where we were at the end of World Cup 63 qualification, Matt. With Boring Paradise eliminating Apox in the first-ever all-Esportivan World Cup Finals fixture, the Paladins and Paradisians will once again be playing one match for all the marbles."

"Didn't go so well the last time, now did it?"

"No it did not, Matt. Not even a little bit. On the bright side, at least the Paradisian side is human, so there's a little hope there."

"Doc Lagacé, keeping up with the latest from the Paladins in Saugeais. Up next, leading physicists have confirmed that 'something's up' with every single neutron in the New Montreal States. How will this affect the world of sports? We'll be interviewing a leading research -"

*click*

[Kiryu-shi]

The entire room was dark, but Reah could feel the presence of the bottle on the table.

The air was completely still, and the only thing she could hear was the slow rhythm of every breath that she took in and let go.

The outline of the bottle was just barely visible from the hint of light that was creeping in from the crack below the door to the hallway. Her hands were around an innocuous looking glass, her knuckles white from the tension.




Reah hadn’t meant to get the bottle out from the mini-bar under the sink. She had walked into her hotel room after another late meeting with her assistants, and she had simply been going about her standard routine to get ready for bed. Changing. Making sure the bed was made. Putting away the paperwork she’d need for tomorrow. Picking out something from the mini-bar.

It had still been light enough out that she hadn’t needed to turn on the light in the room when she had come back from the meetings, and she had even gone so far as to close the curtains, change, and sit down in the fairly comfortable arm-chair, glass in hand, before realizing what exactly she was about to do. She hadn’t really moved, since.

Ever since she had give up drinking, she had been so busy that she didn’t really have time to stop and think about what her decision meant, the toll it was taking on her, how long it had been. She hadn’t kept count of days or anything, and she hadn’t mentioned it to a single person. Not that she particularly talked to anyone about drinking prior to her decision, but still, it was something that she had pushed to the back of her mind.






The match against Turori had been a disaster. The defense hadn’t been able to keep the Eels from repeatedly penetrating deep into the Kiri side of the pitch, while the attacking midfielders couldn’t keep possession long enough to get anyone a reliably good opportunity to put one past Ematora Saenu, who absolutely dominated when given chances in front of the net. Reah’s squad had been completely outclassed in most of the facets of the match, as the wings of the formation were repeatedly victimized by the Eels attack, and the weaknesses of the wing backs were completely exposed.

Jukkia Diijelhma, meanwhile, was able to take advantage of two opportunities, and beat Megumi Harris on both occasions. The final scoreline read 2-0, and given the form of the two squads, Reah was slightly grateful that the score wasn’t even more lopsided. Even though there were a few decent individual efforts, with Andrea d'Coriaceus showing an impressive work rate in the middle of the pitch, there was no cohesiveness to the squad, and the buildup to provide opportunities just did not come together in any way.

It was tempting to blame the loss on the conditions; traveling from the far north of Saugeais to Montbenoit wasn’t necessarily easy. Some of the players had complained about the amount of time they had to spend sitting on the train, and others were not complimentary of the food that they were provided en route to the capital of Saugeais. Meanwhile, Turori had spent a long time getting used to the host city, and even had endured the challenges of playing Saugeais in their national stadium for the opening match of the World Cup here. There was no doubt which team was more comfortable. But there was also no doubt that Turori had dominated qualifications, and had consistently demonstrated that they were a better all around squad than the Kiri.

And Turori, of course, had a chance to showcase how much they deserved their accolades with their match against Wight to close out their qualifying campaign. After two matches, the squad that had come from the fourth pot, the squad that were technically ranked the lowest of the teams in group E, had climbed their way to first place. In fact, the entirety of the group was flipped, if world rankings were considered to be at all meaningful. And truly, going into the final match, there wasn’t much that clearly differentiated any of the four squads. Even after taking part in a 2-0 defeat of Wight, and then losing to Turori by the same score, she could easily imagine a situation in which Wight would take three points off of the first place Eels. And if the Kiri tied Saugeais, which wasn’t necessarily out of the question, there would be three teams tied with four points, with the only undefeated squad, the hosts of the tournament, in last place with three squads.

Reah couldn’t quite wrap her head around the implications of that result, even after deliberating various scenarios and tie-breaking mechanisms with her coaches. They had been deciding whether or not to encourage an aggressive match, or whether or not to play for a draw given the fact that they’d be playing the hosts of the tournament, and a single point would be incredibly useful in moving on. The only result that would guarantee not being able to move on, on the other hand, would be a loss, while a win would clinch the move to the knock-out round of the tournament. And while it was nice that they knew that they controlled their own destiny, in the case of a win or loss, there was absolutely no consensus over the general way the coaching staff wanted the Kiri to approach the match.

And to top it off, Saugeais would clearly come out firing for a win, needing the full three points to avoid being tossed out early of the tournament that they were hosting. And after two matches to get their squad acclimated to the pace of international football after missing out on qualifications, there was no doubt that this Saugeais squad would not be going down quietly.

It was all enough for any sane soul to want a touch of something or another to dull the mind at night, just a little something to take the edge off of her worries and stress.




And instead, Reah was staring down an inanimate object, sweat dripping down her face in the cool Ville-DuPont night.




By the time she moved her eyes away from the bottle, it was already past 11 PM. And by the time she was able to stand and turn away from the table, drifting quietly towards her bed, it was close to 1 in the morning.

Yet the seal of the bottle remained unbroken.

[Equestrian States]

Ponies' Defensive Woes Continue as Late Surge Brings Victory
by Steve McNotapony

Ossidiacqua 3-4 Equestrian States
at World Cup Park in Les Allies, Saugeais
Attendance: 53,450
Scoring:
Alessandro Finiguerra '8 (L. Borromeo)
Thunderlane '19 (Apple Jack)
Angel Capobianco '26 (R. Velasquez)
Ricardo Velasquez '30 (E. Fibonacci)
Fire Dash '47 (Rainbow Blitz)
Ironhide '74 (Cloudchaser)
Rainbow Blitz '80 (Starlight Sparkle)

LES ALLIES, SAUGEAIS - My, what an ugly match that was. Flimsy defenses, shaky goalkeeping, and rough play from both sides combined to make last night's match against Ossidiacqua a painful eyesore for Equestrian fans accustomed to clean and graceful performances from their beloved team. And all of this coming on the heels of the Ponies' worst loss in over three years. Now, many fans are left wondering what exactly happened to the nearly-unstoppable squad that won its qualifying group not long ago?

The first few minutes set the stage for the rest of the night's show. Both the Equestrian States and Ossidiacqua came to World Cup Park having suffered a defeat on the first day, and developed similar strategies to dominate possession and the pace of the match. However, neither side was able to establish the early superiority they had hoped for, and until the eighth minute it looked to be a match that would be decided at midfield and with only a few goals. But then everything started to fall to pieces for the slightly-favored Ponies.

After stopping an Acquan attack dead in its tracks, well short of the box, the Equestrian defense prepared to send play back to midfield. But as Subtle Trix passed the ball to Flitter to clear it, Lorenzo Borromeo dashed between the two defenders to intercept the ball. The Equestrians, preparing for an aerial battle in the middle of the field, were in no position to drop back and defend against the sudden and unexpected counterattack. Borromeo was quickly joined by Alessandro Finiguerra and the former tapped the ball over to his teammate, leaving High Soarin' on the wrong side of the box to block a shot. Andrea Molovi raced back, desperate to put another player between the Acquan striker and the net, but was unable to reach him in time. With a flick of Finiguerra's foot, the Ponies were on the short end of a 1-0 score.

However, the Equestrian States weren't about to make the same mistake twice. When High Soarin' took a free kick from the box just under ten minutes later, he wasted no time getting the ball in the air to the waiting midfielders. Cloudchaser overpowered her mark to head it over to waiting Apple Jack. Spotting a gap between the Acquan players, the normally defensive-minded Equestrian blasted through the opening and into the open field. Facing little opposition en route to the goal, it seemed Apple Jack's speed had caught his opponents napping. Unfortunately, Luca Fausti had also learned from High Soarin's error and was waiting in position to block Apple Jack. But Thunderlane came out of the blue, allowing Apple Jack to pass back to his teammate. Thunderlane fired with perfect aim to net the Equestrians their equalizer.

The match now even once more, things were looking up for the Ponies until Ricardo Velasquez broke away from the herd, threatening to score another Acquan goal. Subtle Trix set himself up to defend the Ossidiacqua captain, and did so perfectly, except for making the tackle with a bit too much force. Velasquez went down, and Subtle Trix was promptly booked by the ref, already looking a bit sick of calling fouls. Worse yet, was the placement of the free kick just outside the box. The Acquan captain's shot seemed sure to be blocked by a formidable Equestrian wall, but it never came. A quick, short pass to Capobianco set up a shot that was perfectly positioned to give High Soarin' little chance to react. It came in from the side, behind an Equestrian defender and passed the keeper. The Equestrian States now trailed again.

But a bad situation was about to get worse. The Acquans tacked on another goal just four minutes later, and sucked the life out of the Ponies. Subtle Trix was pulled, as was Apple Jack, as Twilight Striker fielded a team focused on just one objective in the second half: scoring. Fire Dash started the second half well, firing home a volley two minutes in to bring the Equestrians back within striking distance.

The Equestrian States began to dominate the match, taking control and subjecting the Acquans to relentless pressure. Rapid Dash was felled in the 64th minute, and Polanco received a yellow card for his role in the Equestrian midfielder's injury. Ironhide, the leading scorer of the Champions' Cup winning Selyne City Athenians was tapped to replace Rapid Dash and quickly made his presence felt. With a long, thundering blast, the score was even for the first time since the 19th minute. But the Equestrians weren't done yet. Polanco made another hard tackle, this time on Rainbow Blitz, and the ref had seen enough. The red card was out, and so was the Acquan defender. Rainbow Blitz took the shot with practiced ease, firing it in to give the Equestrians their first lead of the World Cup finals. The lead held, and the Ponies left the field victorious.

  Group H                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
1  The Archregimancy     2    2   0   0     8    3   +5     6   Advances to Second Round
2  Starblaydia           2    1   0   1     4    5   -1     3*
3  Equestrian States     2    1   0   1     3    5   -2     3*
4  Ossidiacqua           2    0   0   2     3    5   -2     0   Eliminated
* - Starblaydia ahead of Equestrian States on Goal Differential

Next up for the Equestrian States is a must-win against fellow purple-clad Starblaydia. The five-time champs are the obvious favorite, but the Equestrians will have momentum coming into the match.

OSSIDIACQUA 3-4 EQUESTRIAN STATES
Scoring:
 Alessandro Finiguerra '8 (L. Borromeo)
 Thunderlane '19 (Apple Jack)
 Angel Capobianco '26 (R. Velasquez)
 Ricardo Velasquez '30 (E. Fibonacci)
 Fire Dash '47 (Rainbow Blitz)
 Ironhide '74 (Cloudchaser)
 Rainbow Blitz '80 (Starlight Sparkle)

Starting XI:
GK - #1 - High Soarin' (Pegasus - Male) - 31 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
DF - #3 - Flitter (Pegasus - Female) - 25 -  Ponyville United (EQS)
DF - #8 - Andrea Molovi (Human - Female) - 24 -  Stalliongrad HC (EQS)
DF - #17 - Subtle Trix (Pegasus - Male) - 30 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
MF - #5 - Starlight Sparkle (Unicorn - Female) - 28 -  Ponyville United (EQS)
MF - #9 - Rainbow Blitz (Pegasus - Male) - 21 -  Makosile United (VIL)
MF - #2 - Cloudchaser (Pegasus - Female) - 25 -  Cloudsdale Flyers (EQS)
MF - #4 - Apple Jack (Earth Pony - Male) - 26 -  Mardi Lopunnies (NSI)
MF - #11 - Rapid Dash (Pegasus - Female) - 28 -  Canterlot Royals (EQS)
FW - #10 - Fire Dash (Pegasus - Male) - 29 -  Ponyville United (EQS)
FW - #7 - Thunderlane (Pegasus - Male) - 25 -  Kiiara-Torra (VIL)

Substitutions:
 Blackmane in for Subtle Trix '27
 Candace Rivers in for Apple Jack '46
 Ironhide in for Rapid Dash '65

[Pasarga]

Who is going to stand up?

MD3

[Saugeais]

For those of you wondering how the history of the British monarchy transfers their crown, there you go. Actually, go check out the rest of CGPGrey's stuff, it's really neat.

Cutoff time!

[Ossidiacqua]

"Well, we're out."

"We are indeed, Your Excellency."

"So, Vega, what happens next?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, do we enter the Cup of Harmony knockout stage, or something?"

"Er, no. I think that only happens if you finish third in your group."

"Ah, how unfortunate."

"Quite."

[Audioslavia]

This was the man who had lead Audioslavia to the promised land. The man who had taken the credit for those two stars above the badge, for that dominant win of the AOCAF cup, who had stood at the front of the open-topped bus as it rolled down the streets of Cathair, hoisting the trophy in the air and waving to the thousands upon thousands of adoring Audioslavians. Alvaro Mozo had been in attendance among the throngs on both occasions, having made the trip over from Izotzazubia just to see that famous trophy sitting proudly at the top of that bus. The first time, in July 2166, he'd been a young midfielder on the cusp of the Izotz Zubia first team. The second time, summer of '70, he'd been the team's talented playmaker. A move abroad had been on the cards, a 'goal of the season' bauble had been awarded to him, and it hadn't been too long a stretch for Alvaro to imagine that, in two or four years time, it'd be him on that bus, a squad-player in the greatest Audioslavian football side in history, holding a major trophy aloft in front of swathes of his countrymen. He'd imagined picking out his family in the crowd, his friends, his former workmates and team-mates, faces from school, from around the town.
Indeed, four years later, he was part of the Audioslavia set-up, but not in the way he'd envisaged. A crippling knee injury, the use of a walking stick in cold weather, but with that the opportunity to take an early start in management and, at the tender age of twenty-seven, become the replacement for David Radic as Audioslavia's assistant manager, the right-hand man of Israel Klimt.

Ah, David Radic. On the occasion of Audioslavia's first World Cup victory he'd been at the back of the bus, his adoring ten year-old son on his shoulders, chatting excitedly to the footballers who's images no doubt hung on his bedroom wall. Four years on, the second trophy parade for the second World Cup, Radic hadn't even been on the bus, preferring instead to watch his eldest daughter's graduation. Israel Klimt had, apparently, had his own daughter's graduation on the same day. It wouldn't have come as any surprise to those who knew him that Klimt had preferred the front of the bus, the adulation of a crowd who worshipped the ground he walked on, World Cup trophy in the air, soaking up a rousing rendition of "Set My People Free", a well-meaning ironic song about the 'great' manager.

Israel Klimt had been the man to set Audioslavian football free. He'd been the man to lead them to the promised land.

The Audioslavian media had kicked him like a dog.

Those questions, and sordid rumours that had surrounded Klimt as his Audioslavia side limped into and out of the World Cup - questions over his real role in Audioslavia's successes, in comparison to the hard work done by Radic behind the scenes, had bubbled under the surface of a disasterous AOCAF campaign and the stuttering qualification series, but had boiled over entirely after the Eura match, the sickening 3-2 defeat, and Israel's inexcusable actions after that game. Previous managers had been humble in victory, showed humility in defeat. Israel's lack of humility after the Euran debacle had highlighted just how terribly unhumble he'd been after the side's triumphs.

In the Mytannion game, the players had refused to play for him. It was the largest of nails in his coffin, hammered in with the loudest of bangs. 1-0 down at half-time, Israel had done what, Alvaro reckoned, no international-standard, World Cup winning manager had done. He'd resigned in the middle of the game. He wasn't a stupid man, he knew what was happening, knew the players had lost faith in him, knew there was possibly no way back for him, and in a final act of petulant self-preservation, he'd announced his resignation to the team, then to the travelling members of the FFA, and he'd left the stadium.

Alvaro Mozo, twenty-eight years old, with only three years of managerial experience behind him, was about to get a baptism of fire in international football management.

He hadn't done half badly. He'd given a team-talk - one based mainly around appealing to the players' pride, imploring the older ones to 'go out with a bang' - and he'd watched as Audioslavia took control, got back in with the equaliser, peppered the Mytanar goal, but ultimately fail to seal the game.

He'd felt the attention upon him. Sensed that the cameras were, as the second half rolled on, focusing less on the fightback and more on the young guy stood in his technical area, pointing, shouting, and focusing on the gap on the bench where Klimt's frown had been in the previous two games.

Upon the final whistle, Mozo had made a point of shaking his opposite number's hand firmly. His players had made a point of shaking his hand too, showing the world that they accepted a new man as their gaffer.

Now, on the plane home, with Israel Klimt still nowhere to be seen, Alvaro wondered as to how long he'd remain as Audioslavia's national team manager. Would he even accept the job if offered to him?

Of course he f****g would.

[Blouman Empire]

THE EMPIRE TIMES

Further Than Ever Before

Kane Harrison was in top form last night in the match against Darmen as he lead his team to a historic 2-1 win over Darmen that took the Eagles past the group stage of the World Cup. Darmen had complete control of the game early as they seeked to ensure they wouldn't finish this cup without a win but were unlucky to not take the lead as James Solomon was forced into a difficult save by Bryan Faulkner in the 3rd minute, Solomon remained under pressure for most of the first half as Darmen lead a strong onslaught. The Eagles appeared to have started slow as they allowed Darmen to control the game and keep possession, however, they woke up at the half hour and while Baden Lakes had the perfect oppurunity to score the first goal 35 minutes in with a diving header Darmen had Mikael Adan to thank as his quick movements got his feet in the way sending it back up the field. While both teams had a number of shots and oppurunites to score neither side was able to break the deadlock and it ended up nil all at the break.

The Eagles showed more determination and urgency at the start of the second half and with it managed to score within 8 minutes thanks to Harrison. He timed his run well to get on the recieving end of a cross by George Cardol as his foot perfectly hit the ball into the back of the net. He doubled the Eagle's lead 12 minutes later this time from a header of a corner after being kicked towards the back post by Andrew Lambert. Darmen managed to bring the game tighter as Luca Cormio put one in the back of the net at the 86th minute mark, thanks to Adan set up the ball with a high cross into the penalty area allowing Cormio to lob it over the head of Solomon, while he managed to get a hand to the ball it was not enough to parry the ball over the bar. While Darmen seemed to gain some spirit following the goal it was too little too late as the Eagles managed to hold off a late surge to secure their first win of the Cup.

The win represents a number of milestones for the Empire; it was the first time the Eagles were able to score a goal this World Cup and more importantly it is the first time the Eagles have managed to progress past the group stage of the World Cup. Speaking after the match manager Sit Nathan Kolson was overjoyed "We have exceeded all expectations, a number of people expected us to finish bottom of the group but here we are moving to the next stage. I am confident that our form will continue and we will put on a strong performance for the rest of the tournament". The team will next face Polar Islandstates whom they faced during the finals in not so best terms. The Eagles will be facing a formidable opponent as they coming into the game having won all three group matches and never lost a game during the qualifiers. Capatin Baden Lakes spoke out regarding the difficulty of their line up "They are a strong team and potential champions, but we came up against them during the qualifiers and even managed to draw one of those games. The team is in top form right now and we know what we are coming up against I am confident that we can win this game and continue in the World Cup".

[Andossa Se Mitrin Vega]

The final whistle. Everyone on the pitch had been listening for that. And now twenty-two souls dotted the green in various stages of exhaustion. Some stood hunched over tugging at their shorts. Others had sunk to their knees as if in prayer while others still lay on their backs staring up at nothingness. The battle was over – and the Sea Dragons had managed to exact revenge for the loss in World Cup 63 that had motivated their play for the match.

The plan had worked to perfection. Jere Tobias had been punished from the moment the match had begun when Panirii quite literally ran over him. But the “Green Goblins”, as the Vegai Fans have come to call the Gordanopian National Side, had similar plan as they returned hit for hit with the number two side in the world. And with a Apoxian referee who let the two defensive juggernauts battle it out, bruises and sprains were in no short supply.

In the end the Sea Dragons would escape with a hard won 1-0 victory and move into the round of 16 to face familiar foes in the form of the Mystical Unicorns.

WC 50 Qualification MD 4: ASMV 0-2 The Sylvanaes Queendom
WC 50 Qualification MD 15: The Sylvanaes Queendom 3-2 ASMV
WC 58 MD 2: ASMV 1-1 The Sylvanaes Queendom
WC 60 Round of 16: ASMV 4-3(AET) The Sylvanaes Queendom
WC 61 Semifinals: The Sylvanaes Queendom 2-0 ASMV
WC 64 Quarterfinals: ASMV 1-0 The Sylvanaes Queendom

We have a history of mixed results against the girls in pink with a 2-1-3 record against them. The trick is in controlling their high-octane attack and making the most of our own chances. The Sylvanaes Queendom has become a model of consistency as they have qualified for 13 of the last 14 Cups, claiming the title in WC 53. But now is our time and the road to our title runs straight through the Unicorns.

[The Archregimancy]

The following advert featured prominently in Ordinary Reality magazines and newspapers following the Archregimancy's qualification for the second round with a 100% record.

DESERT TRAINING
Are YOU man enough?

Are YOU a 90-pound weakling? Are YOU tired of having sand kicked in your face by TIRESOME ATHEIST JOCKS? Have YOU ever wished you had MORE strength and stamina?

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Instead of having SAND kicked in your face, spend 40 days and 40 nights KICKING THE SAND!

Learn to RUN ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT! Learn to LEAP TALL SAND DUNES in multiple bounds! Gain, STRENGTH, STAMINA**, and deeper INNER SPIRITUALITY!

Are you scoffing? Are you thinking this can't possibly work? Let's look at the EVIDENCE!

Prior to engaging in DESERT TRAINING, the Archregimancy's national football team were weak ascetics who ate nothing but dried figs***, and frequently tired at the end of matches. Now, THANKS TO DESERT TRAINING, the national team are undefeated since returning to the World Cup, and qualified for the second round of World Cup 65 with a 100% record, including a come-from-behind victory over perennial World Cup champions Starblaydia - all THANKS TO DESERT TRAINING!

Look at these before and after pictures of Archregimancy forward Fr. Gerasimus the New Ascetic!!!!

before ............................... after

If DESERT TRAINING can do this for Fr. Gerasimus, imagine WHAT IT CAN DO FOR YOU!!!!****

FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE MYSTIC ANCIENT ORTHODOX SECRETS OF DESERT TRAINING

Please write to:
Desert Training
Monastic Football Association
Holy Monastery of the Greatest Lavra
The Archregimancy



* Guarantee does not cover the non-Orthodox; conversion to Orthodoxy may be required for best results.

** 'Stamina' is not a euphemism for increased sexual performance, so please stop writing us pleading letters asking us about this.

*** Only Fr. Eusebius the Rigorous ate nothing but dried figs.

**** Unsupervised adherence to desert training may result in death; the Archregimancy and Monastic Football Association bear no liability for any harm that may result from unsupervised desert training.

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

"Lost... We LOST?"

"That doesn't matter Simeone...."

"What do you mean, it doesn't matter, Juan - we lost. To Apox. Without scoring a goal."

"Look, I don't like it any more than you do, but we couldn't actually be at the match, we were almost certainly guaranteed first place in the group anyway; and cherry on the cake, those nice lads over at New Montreal States ended up finishing second behind us."

"But we lost...."

"And if we had been there instead of leaving them to it while we identified and removed the source of the anomaly, we likely would have won; we both know our squad this time around couldn't manage their way out of a paper bag without us, but I'll gently remind you that we had more important things to worry about this time - you know, like saving Rushmore, Atlantian Oceania, Esportiva, and a few other realities besides from collapsing into each others' space, and killing untold billions. But, you know, if you'd rather we win a football match against Apox than save the multiverse, it can probably be arranged..."

"Sorry Juan; it's just that.... Apox!"

"Yes, well... could have been worse."

"I suppose it could have been."

"And we have identified the source of the anomaly, Simeone, which is a big plus."

"There is that.... So, it took the appearance of a broadcasting satellite dish at Arrowpoint Palace in Arçon.... right there in the away dressing room.... right where Fr. Basil detected it - without realising he was detecting it."

"Absolutely - and here it indeed is, dismantled by the Physiotherapist."

"Say, where is the Physiotherapist?"

"He took one look at the internal components, went a rather pale shade of white, excused himself, and then went to have a sit down in that blue box he's so fond of."

"The 'isolation chamber'?"

"Is that what he calls it?"

"But did you get any idea of why he reacted the way he did?"

"Not really; he muttered something about 'Omega', but I can't say that meant much to me - does it mean anything to you?"

"It's a letter of an alphabet, isn't it?"

"Can't say that makes things any clearer, Simeone; ah well.... it'll probably all become clear in the end. These things usually do; let's just hope this isn't one of the messy ones...."

[Saugeais]

And now, live from the Hanging Boar Tavern in downtown Montbenoit, it's the Frank and Walter Show on WSSR, Saugeais's number one sports talk radio.

Frank: We are on the air, and oh boy do we have things and stuff to talk about today. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We're going to make you several promises for the next couple hours or thereabouts. We're going to do the best we can to keep you informed, entertained, and maybe have a laugh or two along the way. And this is radio's best combination of the divisive, outrageous, appalling, objectionable, offensive, and occasionally inhospitable. I'm Frank Harrison.

Walter: And I'm Walter Kovak. Shout-outs to our producers today, Christian Hill and Xavier Zimmerman, to give us updates, and interns doing their intern-ly duties back at the studio. Check us out at wssr.sau/frankandwalter, that's where you go and listen to us stream live.

You know, I was going to come on here today and just light up on Powell Pieran. I really, really wanted to. But after the supremely better performance against Kiryu-shi that not just won the match, but advanced Saugeais to the second round, I don't have that much criticism, which is a complete shock if you've been listening to the show for the past few years. I feel that the entire team played solidly, with only a minor passing mistake here and there, and in turn it led to a 2-nil victory.

Frank: Well, I knew they'd advance all along, you were acting like a complete.....Deutsche bag on the matter, and you had every right to be. The team had several momentary lapses of reason that, at times, it seemed like they would unravel and fall apart. Credit needs to go where credit is due, and Pieran is first and foremost on that list. He had a plan and stuck with it, even if it meant subbing out Vincent James and Jimmy Alberighi for Yancy Wash and François Rousseau, respectively. François had a resurgence like I'd never seen before in a 34 year old past his prime. A goal and the assist that led to the other was a sight to behold. Maybe he'll be rethinking about retiring from the international scene now?

Walter: I doubt it. Most of the time when you retire for international play, it's to lengthen your time in the domestic leagues. And with François being a key player and part time captain for Laketown Rangers out in Taeshan, I'd have to agree with his choice to stay out of the international duties. There are plenty of young, talented midfielders that can take his place. Sure, he had quite the personality on him, and you'll never see a more brash, outspoken, yet fun-loving guy come through the ranks, but it's time to move on and I'm thinking that's why Pieran called up Ludovic Bissette, to slowly ease him into the role of a box to box midfielder on the international level once François is gone.

Frank: It shouldn't take that long, right? But let's get back to the scoring, shall we? As I said before, Rousseau had a goal for himself in the 38th minute on play, after a good several minutes of attacking from for the Knights slowly broke down the Kiryu-shi defense. Shots were peppered at their keeper, Megumi, and while many thought it was a downright cheap goal (a goal is a goal in my book), Rousseau was in the box to smash home a goal after the Megumi parried away a Casimir Archambault shot and a defender failed to clear the ball in time. That gives him 16 goals in his long, illustrious career on the national level, putting him in 5th place behind some "decent" players like, oh I don't know, Amaechi Olsen, Kuzan Ruslan, and the previously mentioned Archambault.

Walter: He won't reach their total amount of caps, but still if you've played over 100 games for your country, chances are you are doing something right to deserve the continuous call backs. And yes, he was credited with the assist for Saugeais' second goal, coming just before the hour mark, when the fan dubbed "François Show" was put on the air. Rousseau slotted a nice through ball to fellow namesake François Bourgogne, who beat the offside trap Kiryu-shi were applying, and gave him plenty of room to run with just Megumi to beat. The opposing net-minder ran out in an attempt cut down the amount of space Bourgogne could shoot at, but after quick recognition, he chipped the ball over her head. She chased after it in vain, as the ball crossed the line a second before she was able to kick the ball away, doubling Saugeais' lead and sending the crowd into a frenzy.

It really was a case of the back line stepping up and finding that next level to play at for those remaining 30 minutes. It's been stated many times before, but 2-0 is the most dangerous score line in a match, and the pessimistic me thought back to the Turori game. Would the newcomers at the back be able to withstand opposing pressure this time? As it turns out, yes they can, but only in small doses. Kiryu-shi struggled to get out of the midfield for the remainder of the half, but whatever did manage to get through, Hart, Bernard, Plamondon, and Renault all were competent enough to see of the threats. I have to give them props for finally starting to come around for them. It may have taken them 3 games to get acclimated, but better late than never.

Frank: Yeah, and just in time, too. The Knights have the unlucky privilege of facing one of the best in the damn business, the purple and black attack of Starblaydia. Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but Saugeais and Starblaydia haven't really played much, have they? I remember some matches way back when, a couple in the defunct Mike Sarzo Memorial Trophy, but was there anything else?

Walter: Christian was looking up stats earlier, and you are correct, Frank, in remembering that they played in that old tournament. In fact, Saugeais-Starblaydia has only happened at that tournament, and the record isn't that great. We haven't beaten them in regular time, with a record of 0-1-1, but in the World Cup 58 version of the MSMT the Knights scrapped a 4-3 win on penalty kicks. That was the tournament where they also surprised Krytenia and Delaclava to win the entire thing.

But yeah, the Knights have never defeated the Blades in regulation, and judging by how the team is performing right now, even with the morale boost of advancing, I'd venture a guess and say it still won't happen. We're gonna take a break, maybe have a bowl of nachos or something. You're listening to Frank and Walter on WSSR, Saugeais' number one sports talk radio network.

[Valanora]

Valanora Times
Forward March

After an initial disappointing draw with Gyatso-kai, the Marauders rebounded in a resounding way in Pasarga, taking the last two matches and winning their group outright. In doing so, the Marauders exacted a little revenge by taking out Osarius who were able to defeat the Marauders in the knockouts during last tournament. That loss sent the Marauders spiraling down from second to eighth before the qualifying for this World Cup, with the impressive qualifying record of the side bumping them back up one more slot to seventh, though Osarius rose to third. Much like the matches with Quakmybush and Branta Island during the qualifiers, there was definitely the idea of revenge the mind of the players which undoubtedly helped them muster that needed effort to win the match.

Then it was last night's match against Legalese, with our region mates needing a victory and a bit of help from the other match to see themselves through. However the Marauders knew that a victory was the only result that completely assured their own progression and played like a team on the edge. While the final scoreline of only one to nil might give the impression of a boring match, in truth is was anything but. The play was up and down the field at times, other times a display of the tactical possession game that the Marauders usually employ to see out the last fifteen minutes or so. Altogether though, it was a moment of fortune for Aerataur who was able to break the deadlock in the fifty-fifth minute with a well placed shot from the top of the box that eventually sealed the group for the Marauders.

For their efforts of winning the group the Marauders will meet the cohosts themselves in the round of sixteen. The meetings between the Wanderers and Marauders are few, but surprisingly evenly matched in the few matches that they have played against one another. For their credit, Pasarga was able to navigate out of a group that most pundits thought they would only get third in. At rank forty-two, they are definitely punching above their supposed status, but such is the benefit of hosting the World Cup, getting that extra boost from the home crowd that evens out the field just a tad. We Vanorians should know, having won two of our five championships in an edition being hosted on our home soil.

All the same, despite their home advantage, the Wanderers should not pose a serious threat to the Marauders, as they have been prone to giving up quite a few goals. Vilita tore through their back line for seven goals in their match and while the Marauders may not be able to replicate that performance, they should find the spaces to utilize their potent attackers. Despite only having a trio of goals through their three group matches, the Marauders still have the firepower to put a couple of goals past their opposition. Indeed it may be a leaky defense like the Wanderers that is the sort of remedy for the faltering strike force of the side and the floodgates may very well open.

Assuming that the Marauders are able to overcome their opposition, they face a difficult path ahead if they wish to capture their sixth title. The potential foes in the quarterfinals are either world number two in Andossa Se Mitrin Vega or The Sylvanaes Queendom who have a title to their name and whom the Marauders defeated in the Final of World Cup 61 for their fifth title. Both of them are quality foes that would could easily knock off the Marauders on their march towards another title, with the defensive prowess of the Vegans or the mystical impact of our fellow elves. If that were not enough, the Polarians would likely await in the semifinals, a side who has been in ascendency for several editions now. They will likely be chomping at the bit to finally get a title of their own and validate their efforts, as the field has become wide open with the elimination of Audioslavia in the group stage. They, along with several others, surely must be thinking why this could not be their time to snatch the opportunity that has arisen and make that push for a championship that has seemed like a trophy for only a select few.

It would probably even be better for the tournament if a nation like Polar Islandstates were to win this edition of the tournament. It could show that anyone given enough time, effort, and of course that little bit of luck you need can win a championship. That however can not be the concern of the Marauders, their concern is their own success, the success of their manager, and the pride of representing Valanora and securing another title for her. It is still several steps away undoubtedly, but elves are ever concerned with the long view more than the short view. And that perhaps is the crux and where the conflict could arise, take what is good for them or for the greater community if such the chance arises? Though that may still be three victories away, it is a thought that finds its way arising for the more philosophical inclined of the squad, of the supporters, and of course we media types who follow and report on their matches.

[Wight]

.

[Mytannion]

Part One.
Part Two.
Part Three.
Part Four.
Part Five.
Part Six.
Part Seven.
Part Eight.
Part Nine.

Looking back now, I remember how Alina was about everything, she had been hugely worried about me for the whole time. I had felt empty for a week, cried for about three hours after discovering the news and when I went to the Hospital to see Mum I broke down again then. Alina had been with me the whole time, she had made sure I was alright and to be honest I had no shame anymore – I didn’t care about crying in front of her anymore. It was awful, normally I would have held stuff in, tried not to cry in front of a girl but I felt comfortable around Alina, I didn’t mind if she saw my pain and it was understandable anyway – I think she would have thought I was heartless if I didn’t, though she herself was one of the coolest characters I knew, showing little emotion, other than in front of me at times of course.

She had constantly asked me if I was alright, if I was coping and I regrettably snapped at her a few times – wanting to be alone with my thoughts. This was a girl I believed I actually loved, it was a big word for sure and we were both too young to perhaps experience what people would consider to be ‘true love’ but I believed it then. Wouldn’t have said anything about it to anyone of course, the boys would have ripped me to shreds for that sort of thing and that wouldn’t be fun to try and have to deal with. Alina was great about it all, I stayed at hers a few times, she argued with her Mum over it and stood up to her step father and whilst I was there he wouldn’t dare touch her.

I think she finally realised I was serious about her, even if this with my Pa had come at the worst possible time for our relationship to blossom. It’d be bad anytime it happened – but it had occurred at a poor time in relation to other events. I felt empty without Pa, he had always guided me through life, advising me on the correct decisions to make and almost giving me direction through life. Now that I didn’t have that I had to make my own decisions – me and Mum were arguing and had barely any relationship, poor Silvana had to look after little Jarik and it was almost as if our whole lives had gone to shit without Dad there to help us.

I was depressed, I was sure of it but I wouldn’t exactly try and get the problem fixed or solved. Silvana had noticed it and had told me to go to see a doctor or something, I hadn’t exactly given her a fair response – I’d been pretty honest sure, but it’d probably been a bit unfair to shoot the idea down in such a manner. I wasn’t exactly in a great frame of mind to make the decision.

Times were hard in Mytannion, the regime that had been deposed, Kalinina and all them they had made it that way. People were suddenly wildly liberal but the financial and economic issues people and the nation as a whole made austerity measures the only way forward. I became fairly knowledgeable about it all whilst I had myself cooped up at Alina’s, I read a lot of books, news, it was my life for about a month – some days I’d stay there reading about the latest political measure to try and cut the deficit and others I’d go out and buy some more newspapers to try and find out about the latest development.

Many would say it was a boring life but I found it fairly interesting. It wasn’t exactly me though, I wasn’t very interested in politics and found all that sort of stuff boring unless The Pink Skies incorporated something tangentially related into one of their songs. I know that Stefan had told me that when he wrote ‘Ibonian Heaven’, the bit at the start about drowning a woman was related to the now deposed Premier Kalinina, we all hated her guts up north and most of our families had been involved in getting rid of her.

She had kept us all down and where we had been the life and the soul of the country before she had come to power, we were just simply her workforce, doing her dirty work and allowing the south and the dickheads from the capital to live easy lives whilst we worked our arses off doing tough jobs for them, mining, factory work, other assorted bits of manual labour. Even I had been involved in some of it, I’d been about 11, 12, 13ish when it had gotten its worst and even I’d had to do some hard work in the factories. She cared none about us.

Music had kept us going, even if she had tried to make sure that it didn’t. Music was now our lives, we lived for it and without her our lives were so much better – even if our economy wasn’t.

Once I got worse and worse and stayed at home more and then Alina’s I really worried her, she was upset because I was and she didn’t know what to do about it. She constantly asked what I wanted her to do and I couldn’t answer because I didn’t really know what to say myself. I didn’t know what I wanted her to do. I felt useless, worthless at times and for no real reason, it was proper shit. I hadn’t seen any of the lads for a while either and apparently they were once again just writing music and practicing our old stuff.

Alina had declined to tell me of any offers we had had to perform – I wasn’t in the right state of mind apparently which was a ridiculous notion – I think it would have been something to do almost, something to take my mind off the grief that had stricken me for a month after my Pa’s death. I didn’t know how to respond to it honestly, it was something I hadn’t really encountered in any shape or form before. It was new to me and I had discovered I wasn’t the best at dealing with it – I wasn’t sure I wanted to ever actually have to deal with it ever again in my life. Life was tough and this compounded everything and it wasn’t something that I felt a 16 year old should have to deal with, it must have been even worse for Silvana – someone at an important stage in her life, she’d be heading off to University soon and this hadn’t been helpful to her.

I needed something to make me feel better and I probably made one of the worst life decisions I had ever made. Hannes had given us some contacts here and there – mainly within the music industry but he also gave us drug dealer’s numbers, in order to give us the stuff that made us perform and write music in the manner we did. At this time it probably was not a good idea to have access to one of them so easily. They could give me stuff that would surely remove my pain but would also make me irritable and moody on the comedown, which would not be fun for anyone who was close to me and particularly Alina – something I never would have wanted, but sadly back then I was younger and stupid and the drugs seemed the best thing to do to improve my mood.

The allure of the drug dealer’s phone number was too strong and I quickly found myself dialling it, Alina was out, her Mum and her step father were at work and I was in her back room by myself in the dark. It was a pretty sad life I was living day to day; I hadn’t been to school in a few weeks, they had tried to make me go in a few times and I’d just not paid attention really. They said it’d be good for my grief – taking my mind off it by doing school work but I didn’t see it really, I felt the music would have been better for me but Alina and Silvana had kind of said going back into it so quickly may not be a good idea.

A voice crackled into life at the other end of the line.

“Yeah?” It came.

“It’s Svet Jelic mate, need some gear.”

“Ah right, you alright Svet la’? Heard about your Dad mate.”

“Yeah, now can we get on with this, you got any gear for me?”

“Woah. Try to be nice and that’s the thanks I get, brilliant,” he said before beginning to focus more on what I was saying. “Yeah I’ve got some stuff, the usual ecstasy for you I presume?” He questioned.

“Nah, if I wanted that I’d get Hannes to sort me out mate,” I said, “Anything a bit more... Well, anything stronger?”

“Plenty mate. You have anything in mind or should I just give you something and not ask too many questions?”

“Yeah, that. Just whatever, just make sure it’s good stuff and it’ll make me forget about all this crap I’ve got going on.”

“Sure, as I said, I’m not going to ask too many questions rock star. I’ll have it ready for you in ten, meet me somewhere, any idea where?”

“Meet me at mine, I’ll pay you extra.”

“Alright, sound, see you there lad.”

...

The time passed fairly quickly, I had had to drag myself into the shower and to get dressed. My head hurt, I didn’t know whether it was lack of light or something slightly different. It was a head ache, a migraine perhaps, I wasn’t sure of the exact issue but my head was banging and getting fucked on some drugs was probably not the best idea given the state of me and the effects they would have on my body but I didn’t care anymore. I was almost liberated of caring about anything because of my Dad’s passing and that meant even my own life.

I didn’t care what state I’d be in by the end of the day, if it meant I died myself I wasn’t sure I was bothered. I felt empty and as if I didn’t mind, I wasn’t sure what I wanted from life anymore. I had wanted success, a little fame, Alina, my family safe. Now, I wasn’t sure I wanted anything, I was indifferent towards it all. Sure Alina was a big part of my life and so was my sister Silvana – but my mother and I had gone different directions and the success and fame were no longer important to me – I didn’t care whether I had them or not.

It wasn’t a big issue anymore; I stepped outside the front door and took the short walk down to my house, a little down the street. One advantage of living here was being so close to Alina’s, but of course, now I actually lived with her (kind of), it didn’t matter none. I couldn’t process thoughts; Dad was constantly on my mind. I just wanted him to be back and the grief that had stricken me ever since his death. Everything was muddled.

Confused was probably the best word to describe myself, I was unsure of nigh on every single decision I had to make. Silvana had asked me what to do with the stall down the market, our uncle had been running it in my absence which I believed to be very good of him really. He didn’t have to do that after all, it wasn’t his look out. I’d said if he wanted to continue to run it, that’d be a massive favour to us all until I was back in shape to run it. I didn’t know if that would ever happen though. I didn’t know if I’d ever be fully normal again, I doubted it. The pain was too much.

I leaned against the red bricks of the wall that was right next to my front door, these streets were the ones I used to play football on when I was little – Dad would come home from the stall and laugh at us all scampering around – occasionally Dad would get involved and play a good pass through to me to convert. Every time I’d run back over to him and we’d celebrate like two Atletik players down at Maine Road. Those days were gone of course, Maine Road no longer existed, I no longer played any football and Dad was quite simply no longer here.

I took a cigarette out of the packet in my pocket and then the lighter out of my jacket pocket, lit it up and took a long drag. The wait was quite painful, I just wanted to get off my head and not remember my own name. The high would remove the pain over my father for a while, it’d all go away and I’d forget what it felt like to grieve over a loved one.

The cigarette soothed my mind a little, I didn’t think I knew fully what was going on and I wasn’t even on the drugs yet. My brain was addled by emotion and that was enough to make anyone go a little mental. I did think at times I was turning insane, the sadness and emptiness had twisted me into a person I hadn’t been before – me interested in politics and spending all my time in darkened rooms and not responding to Alina when she spoke? It didn’t sound like me at all. I knew it wasn’t me at all.

I probably could have changed myself had I really wanted to do so but it would have taken everything I had, aptitude and desire and it seemed as if both of them things had been knocked out of me with Dad going. Everything came back to his death. I couldn’t blame him, of course I couldn’t but stupid life and the way it threw stuff at you was something I was very tempted to blame.

I had a few more drags of the cigarette, deep in thought just as a black moped whizzed up onto the street. It’d be him, no doubting that, he had his helmet on and came right over, stopping just next to me. I kept still, leaning against the wall, one foot pressed against it. He stepped off the ‘ped and went to the seat, lifting it up and grabbing a little bag out of it. It was full of what appeared to be almost off-white... nuggets off whatever the fuck it was. I couldn’t think of another word to describe the stuff in the bag, nuggets seemed to be the best word, even if it did sound a little bit bent. It had lots of jagged edges and didn’t look to appetising to say the least.

The man turned to me and handed me a little pipe as well as the bag, he still had his helmet on and his visor down. He wasn’t visible behind it and I didn’t believe it was the same man who I had spoken to on the phone, he had seemed fairly sympathetic to me and talkative. He was the head of the operation to be fair, this man was just one of his lieutenants, collecting money and distributing drugs. He’d be fairly hard too, to try and discourage anyone from running off without paying for their gear. I knew I certainly wouldn’t try and run from this fella.

I handed him the money I’d been told to pay and turned to walk away, I heard the man step behind me. “You’re gonna have to smoke that mate, use the crack pipe, I’d advise you not to share it with anyone.” Then his moped burst into noise again and he was gone. I was happy he’d left, I stuffed the bag into my pocket and looked the pipe over. I didn’t know whether I was looking forward to this or not, many had told me never to get onto this sort of stuff but I wasn’t sure I minded anymore. I walked back to Alina’s, opening the door and heading inside, back to my pit in the back room. I liked it in there, it was darker than everywhere else with the curtains permanently drawn and my personal effects strewn around the room. I took the bag out of my jacket pocket and looked over the small crystal like nuggets inside it, I opened it up and took one out, it felt like a little rock, rough edges and hard, I imagined it’d be tough to break down, not that I’d try.

I put the nugget in the pipe – not entirely sure if what I was doing was correct or not – and tried to light it from the bottom. There were fumes immediately and the vapour was a nasty smell, I could almost taste it in my mouth it was so grim. I couldn’t take it really but I thought sod it, I’d need to if I wanted to forget it all – I’d need to damage myself to get rid of the grief I felt and I did, I inhaled and there was no real effect. This was shit. I’d paid money to try and get over the grief and it wasn’t working.

I put another one of the nuggets in the crack pipe and lit it again, the fumes were there once again and I began to inhale some more. I felt a little woozy but not exactly because of the drugs, I think it was more because I was breathing in heavily rather than it being the drugs. I inhaled some more and there was still no effect. This was a new drug, it couldn’t be that it was taking time to hit me – there was no chance – I obviously just hadn’t had enough or something, so I did some more and some more until I had used four of the nuggets in the bag. There were only ten or so.

That was when it did hit me and I was too high, my eyes were rolling, I could feel it. It was horrific, I felt sick, and I was shaking. My body vibrated and my head ached, it felt as if my skull was being smashed, crushed. It felt ten times worse than being battered by them lads. That had no comparison. If I had wanted to forget about my father’s death I had sure found a way to do so, I was off my head – no doubting that. Quite literally, my head felt as if it had gone somewhere different to the rest of me.

I retched and the contents of my stomach came up, my mouth was salivating wildly, I had certainly had too much. This was beyond just whiteying, this was an overdose. I was surprised at how I could think of these things whilst also being as high as I was.

I wasn’t too sure whether I actually was high though or if this was just making my mind spin and my head hurt and my body produce such grim things as the bile that was currently burning through my throat as I retched again. The floor was awash with vomit and saliva, I was sweating, my eyes wouldn’t focus on anything in particular and my body was a mess. My physical appearance didn’t match my mental one though – I felt confident, wide awake, I wasn’t quite sure why but I felt as if I could do anything really. My body felt hot, the temperature rising quickly, my heart was beating quickly against my ribcage – almost painfully so.

My body felt like jelly, ironically enough given the nickname my friends had decided to give me and I felt my body almost convulse. My arms were wildly flailing and my legs almost bouncing against the floor which I had somehow ended up on. I couldn’t feel anything though, my body was numbed, I just felt as if I was wide awake but I was almost fitting, convulsing. I’d seen my brother do this when he was little because his body had overheated and it was one of the worst things I had ever seen. I dreaded to think what anybody who walked in would think of me – lying down in pools of my own vomit and sweat.

I heard the door click open and some footsteps come in.

“Svet, are you in?” It was Alina, she walked through the house, obviously going through the kitchen and then the front room and then through to where I was lying. I could barely see her, my eyes were hazing but there was a cry of desperation from her. As if she was scared of what was going on, looking back I knew I probably would be if the situations were reversed. I supposed they had been – from that night after The Switch gig.

She ran back out into the kitchen and came back with a towel, she held my head up and my eyes rolled again and she wiped my mouth clean and then tried to look into my eyes.

“Svet?!” She shouted, “Svet, look at me!” She slapped my face and then wiped my forehead again, “Svet, focus!” I could just about manage it, looking back into her eyes and holding her gaze. She had her arm around my back, under my arms, supporting my body and holding me up. My legs still seemed to have a mind of their own however and were almost dancing underneath me with a rhythm that was non-existent at that time. I could barely speak, my mouth was salivating wildly. I tried to speak but all that came out was an unintelligible garble.

“Alinaaaaa..” My voice hissed, it was all I could manage and she looked down at me, she whimpered. Tears struck her eyes. It would have been grim for her to see me in this state. Why did I put her through it? At the time these thoughts didn’t come to my mind, the thoughts that did were incoherent and made no sense – but when I recovered it was the first thing that sprung to mind and it was the thing that made me realise that I needed to clean up my act and get over this. It was time to do so.

“Svet, I’m not going to ring an ambulance, you’d get in trouble, look stay here.” She said, trying to push my body up onto the sofa and managing it eventually. She was skinny, her arms had no muscle and she could barely lift me but she managed it. They say it’s easier to do things for people you love don’t they. I wondered if she did.

She brought me a glass of water and almost forced it down my throat, the liquid was cooler and my body was beginning to cool down a little although I was still aware of beads of sweat rolling down my body. She pulled me close to her and I didn’t know why, I didn’t know what to do so I swung my arms around her, pulling her close and she did the same, pulling me closer to her. I was suddenly tired, the high and being wide awake being replaced by a feeling of almost like I had the ‘flu, I was tired, felt exhausted in fact and it wasn’t too long before I fell asleep in her arms.

...

“Svet, hey Svet,” Came a voice, my eyes snapping open and Alina coming into view. “Are you okay now?”

“Ugh, I feel exhausted Alina, I’m so tired.”

“I’m not surprised, you had crack! Why the fuck did you do crack Svet?!”

“I’m not sure, I wanted to forget everything, I felt cooped up you know...” I said, “I wanted to just get rid of the grief and I just asked for whatever. I wasn’t sure what it was at first to be honest, until the guy told me what it was...”

“You’re such an idiot, the state of you when I came in, you should be glad both my Mum and him were working late – they would have chucked you out if they’d found you in the state you were in. The state of the room alone took a little explaining and that was even after I’d cleaned everything up.”

I vaguely remembered throwing my guts out all over her back room and I could feel my top was still damp against my body. I was lying in her bed and all concept of time had evaded me completely, what time was it? I couldn’t even hazard a guess, the curtains were drawn and there was no light coming through – but it could have been bright outside for all I knew.

“What time is it Alina?”

“You’ve been in bed for about a day and a half Svet! I’ve never seen anything like it.” She looked at me with the most disappointed look I had ever seen on her face, she had massive bags under her eyes and she was even more pale than usual. It seemed as if she’d been crying too, there were various tissues all over the room and she did look very worried. Her face was lined slightly, as if she had aged in the past few days, going from a 15 year old to someone in their late 20s almost. It was mental.

Maybe it was just the light, I still found her as attractive as ever.

I couldn’t believe she had cared for me in the manner she had. She must have been here nearly the whole time and just as I thought on that a question formed upon my lips.

“Have you been here the whole time I’ve been asleep Alina?” I asked. She looked at me, her dark green eyes taking everything in and considering a response. She looked across my face.

“I have. I had to make it look as if I was still going every day so told my Mum I had to go in early to get some extra work done for some lessons, she bought it, so she thought I was gone before she even got out of bed most days.” She said, “I had to stay really quiet and then ring the school saying I couldn’t come in, they thought I was my Mum though... It was difficult. I’ve missed two days,” She laughed bitterly.

“I’m sorry.” Is all I could muster.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m glad you’re alright.”

“I don’t feel alright. I don’t feel too good at all.” I said, she laughed again. She picked up a glass of water from the bedside table and gestured for me to have it, “Thanks.” I said and sipped the water, the cool liquid cooling me down and clearing my head slightly.

“Well, you’re better now, I’m glad.” She said. I propped myself up on my elbows and moved nearer to her, giving her a peck on the cheek and she smiled down at me. “Anyway, are you going to get out of bed and finally have a shower? You stink.”

“Thanks and there I was thinking I was the model of someone in their prime.” I laughed.

“Get up, now.” She said, punching me on my arm. I laughed again and dragged myself out of bed. “You’ve got a big day ahead.” She said and I stood still for a second, shocked. I wondered what I could have ahead of me. What had she prepared for me.

“Why? What am I doing?” I asked, unsure of myself. Unsure of what was going on.

“Well you know how The Aurora haven’t done much for around a month because you’ve been off the scene? Well your mates have been graffitiing the whole town with the band’s name and it’s got the band some attention, notoriety, that sort of thing.” She said, taking her time to get to the point, “Well, more people have listened to your tunes as a result and Hannes has apparently sorted a gig of your own. You’ll be headlining it tonight. If you’re up to it of course.” She quickly added at the end of the sentence. I was reassured a little.

I didn’t know if I was, could I face all them people? I wasn’t one for stage fright or anything like that, I loved performing and being on that stage is where I felt right. I just didn’t know if I was ready for it myself. I had a couple of new songs I had written myself, more political stuff, one was called ‘Red Star’ and I loved it more than the majority of songs I had already written. It was quality. Then there was another one, ‘Don’t Have To Sell My Soul’, I was turning into a right anti-capitalist.

Was I ready to perform them? The lads didn’t know the chords for them or anything, it was something we’d need time to work on. Would I be able to perform them tonight? Doubted it. But I loved them more than anything, they were easily my favourites – other than Ibonian Heaven perhaps, but I didn’t write that, so it felt a little strange calling it my favourite of our songs. I don’t know.

These two songs had been an experiment on my part to see if I could write chords and stuff too, they came off quite well I reckon, though they hadn’t been performed properly yet – not with Stefan on the guitar parts, Polak on his bass and Laz smashing the drums to bits. I’d have to see if it worked, would we have time to get them up to scratch for a gig tonight? I wasn’t too sure.

Could I perform anyway? I didn’t know. I didn’t know if I was ready for this. I’d have to take the leap some time.

“Let’s do this.”

...

We were sat in the area behind the stage at a new venue, one I hadn’t yet been to. Inspiral was a big venue, 5,000 people would pack into this place and all for us. I wasn’t sure how people had heard our music, it wasn’t as if we had records going out or anything. But they had. Stefan hadn’t explained it fully to me, but we had practiced all day – this was the first time I had seen them since Pa died and it felt good to be with the lads again. They had welcomed me straight back into the fold and it was great.

We had got the new tunes sorted so quickly, it had taken Laz the longest to learn his parts on them – which wasn’t surprising, he wasn’t clever when it came to anything really and it just took him ages to get used to anything – whether it be academically or musically, he took his time. Eventually he got it though and I hoped he didn’t go too far wrong on his parts. Worst came to worst he’d just go into some form of solo, that’s what I told him to do. It’d be funny watching him improvise at the very least.

Polak had been quite comfortable in learning his bits and we all knew Stefan would pick the chords up easily as he always did, he was at one with music and it was insane how good he was at it. He picked everything up with ease and we knew he’d perform it excellently too. It was strange how no bigger band had tried to nab him off us as of yet. It often happened, bigger bands picking off the biggest talents in smaller bands and then using them to a good standard in order to make the best music possible.

We knew we were the best though. Maybe not on a Pink Skies level, but we knew we were better than the rest. Neon Hail had been established for longer than us and were now falling behind, there were lots of other bands too that had suffered the same fate and they were getting slightly riled at our fast track to success but the only reason we had managed that was because we were quite simply better than everybody else. We weren’t being cocky or overconfident or big headed, we just knew we had the best songs around on our scene and were good at performing. People liked us, we were relatable – we came from the red bricks of Thessia ourselves and this gave everybody else a little bit of hope – they believed they too could do something to get out of the place.

It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at and all that – we were from Thessia, but that didn’t matter did it. We were still in Thessia, but we were at a crossroads in our lives. We were heading towards success and we needed to keep along that path. It was crucial for us.

The lads were getting pissed and I had said I’d have a few beers too to try and loosen myself up, but instead I’d just had a few slugs of vodka. It had loosened me up that was for sure, I was feeling pretty lucid and alive. I was ready for this, no matter what had happened and I think getting out after such a big overdose and Alina caring for me had helped me no end. It had made me clean myself up and get my act together. It had made me think about my grief and rationalise it in a way that had finally made me understand it.

Pa had always said, ‘always have fun no matter what you do’, he’d want me to remember him but remember everything good and not his passing. He’d want me to forget about that and move on, always moving forwards and always try and remember why he was great. He’d want me to remember the good times, forget the bad – including his death – and live my life in a manner he would agree with. Doing my best in as many things as I could, looking after the family, being honest about everything and just living life to the full.

I was going to turn things around starting tonight. I’d go out and do this gig for my father, I’d do it to the best of my abilities and then in the morning I’d go and apologise for being an idiot – Alina would hopefully accept it – then I’d go square things with my Mum if I possibly could, if she was being an idiot about things then I’d leave it alone to try and not aggravate the situation and then try and recover things again from there. I needed to salvage something from the situation with my mother, it wasn’t fair to leave things on them terms. It was all a bit much for a 16 year old to deal with.

A man came walking in, it wasn’t Hannes, it was someone doing his job but even more professionally. This guy knew what he was doing. He strode over to us with purpose.

“It’s time to go out boys, smash it.” He said, this time he wasn’t offering me any drugs in the way Hannes would. I didn’t think I needed any this time though. There was probably still some crack in my system somewhere. It didn’t matter anyway, this would be the most sober gig I’d ever done and though the whole crowd and the boys were all off their heads, I was not. This one was for Pa. It was going to be the best thing I had ever done and I would make sure of it. That meant that I would have to be sober.

...

We walked out onto the stage; there was a big sign behind the drums with ‘The Aurora’ written across it, with vivid colours curling around it. It appeared we had a logo now; things had seemingly gotten a lot bigger whilst I’d been away. Somehow the music had reached a wide audience, I wasn’t sure how but I wasn’t going to ask why. Someone had recorded stuff and obviously put it on unlicensed tapes and stuff, people had heard it anyway. There had even been a piece in the newspaper saying how good we had been at The Seahorse.

I walked over to the microphone like I had a few times before and it was slightly different this time around, I was ready for something big and I wasn’t off my head for once. It was slightly unnerving that I didn’t have my MD to rely on to put the performance on. I’d rely on it a few more times I was sure, but not this time around, I’d show Pa I could be successful and I would show I did not have to have drugs to do it too. This one was for him, it would be incredible.

“Hello Inspiral!” I shouted, a cheer going up straight off and my heart pounded with pride, “I don’t know if many of you know – but my father passed away recently,” I said, with the crowd turning to sombre quiet. “I would ask for a minute’s silence but it wouldn’t be fitting, so instead this show is just going to be for him – all of it, let’s put on the biggest fucking show in the whole of Rushmore tonight, this is going to be huge and it’s for my Pa. Let’s fucking do it. Come on!” I shouted and the place went off as the boys began to play the opening chords of ‘Don’t Have To Sell My Soul’.

It got to the bit where I came in and I joined in the best I could, this would be incredible.

“I don’t have to sell my soul,” I sang. The crowd was already dancing around in a trance like manner, they were all fucked off their tits from the alcohol or high on ecstasy.

This would be the biggest gig ever. I knew it would, I could predict it. Already the crowd were dancing along to the lyrics and when we got more into the show onto the more bouncy songs they bounced along to them too. We smashed it.

...

I picked up a newspaper from the corner shop, luckily being a smaller band meant not everybody knew who we were. The front page was the biggest surprise I had ever seen. It had our faces splashed across it, all of us clearly drunk, walking away from The Inspiral into the night. Polak had his bass in a case in hand and Laz had the most gormless expression on his face I had ever seen. It did look like a cringey band photo to be honest, but the fact we were all clearly out of our tree made it a little easier.

“Nice one,” I mumbled to nobody in particular as I read the headline. ‘Thessian band The Aurora play incredible gig at Inspiral’ it read, it told of how it had gone viral in a night with people ringing their friends and saying how it had been the biggest thing they had ever seen. This was so sound. I couldn’t believe it.

I walked back to Alina’s and as soon as I went through the front door she was pounding down the stairs, I showed her the newspaper and her face burst into a large smile. She was back to her usual self and I dropped the newspaper as she came up to me running, jumping up and wrapping her arms around my neck and her legs around my waist. We kissed and in that moment everything was perfect.

I couldn’t imagine things would get much better. But they soon did. The phone was ringing and Alina quickly ran over, breaking off our kissing at the most inopportune time and trying to prevent her Mum or her step father from being woken up at a fairly early time in the morning. It was only 8:30 and on a Saturday that meant a lie in for most people. Alina looked confused for a second and then her face dawned with realisation, a little voice squawked at the other end of the line. Alina gestured the phone to me.

“Svet, it’s for you,” She said, a smirk on her face, “It’s Stefan.” Stefan had been a little miffed when he had discovered I was staying at Alina’s but he knew what was going on now and although he didn’t know that I knew of his feelings for Alina – he still hid them and for some reason let it go that he knew I had been with her a fair few times, staying at hers. He knew we hadn’t exactly ‘consummated’ anything, but we were close and he knew we had kissed a whole lot – in almost a casual fashion, which is how I saw it mostly.

I thought Alina did too. I took the phone off her and could hear Stefan breathing at the other end of the line immediately, I didn’t know why he was breathing heavily. I thought he could have been running or something, in trouble or something along those lines. Never did I expect what was to come next.

“Hello?”

“Svet?” He asked.

“Yeah, it’s me mate.” I chuckled.

“Mate, everything is fucking sweet.”

“Why?”

“I just got a call to my landline from an agent mate, from the music industry.” Stefan said, I couldn’t quite believe what I was hearing, “He apologised for ringing so early, but he said he needed to get us before anybody else could.”

“What mate?! So what does that mean?” I wasn’t sure where this was headed.

“He said he wanted to sign us up, that we should meet him and try and agree terms on putting an album together and doing a proper tour. Apparently someone videoed the whole performance and has put it on the internet or something.” Ha, the Internet, something that very few in our neighbourhood had access to, it was becoming cheaper though – Polak had it, he’d be able to show us. “Apparently it has got two million views in about nine hours, the whole gig Svet mate! Two million people.”

I couldn’t believe what my best mate was saying.

“You’re not pulling my leg are you mate? Serious?”

“Serious lad! It’s huge. We need to go see him. Apparently we could support The Switch at their outdoor gig in Kitzbuhel!”

Kitzbuhel. The big left-wing mountain city. The pirate city. They loved music, they had a massive outdoor venue called the Millerntor Bowl – 16,000 people would often come to watch big names perform outdoors and if this was true our rise had been more than meteoric, it had been the quickest rise ever.

I was speechless. We would have to go meet this guy, this money could improve everybody’s lives if we were successful and we ourselves had no doubt that we would be. Our songs were great and if this video had gone viral so quickly then it clearly wasn’t just us that believed it. The newspapers, everybody thought it.

All I could manage was the most Thessian word of all. One which defined our dialect more than anything else and when I explained what I had just been told to Alina, she came out with the exact same response. It was the only thing we could manage.

“Mega.”

[Vilita]

JUNGLE CATS COMPLETE RUSHMORE SWEEP

Torgos, Pasarga :: Having already clinched a berth in the Round of 16 for the World Cup 65 in Pasarga and Saugeais, the Vilita Jungle Cats went into their Group Stage, Matchday 3 fixture against Mangolana with different goals.

In fact, it was just the second time in history that Vilita had won its first two group stage matches in a World Cup Final, and therefore, only the second time in history that a Jungle Cats side went into the final matchday of the group stage without needing some kind of a result in order to advance to the knockout rounds. The only other time that Vilita had this luxury was way back during World Cup 18, under the leadership of Helmut Vilkaous, the Jungle Cats opened the campaign with a 5-0 win over Artoonia before a 1-0 victory over Crystilakere clinched their place in the knockout rounds after just two matches.

Of course, fans of the Jungle Cats may want the comparisons to end right there. After Jurgen Ramzi's two goals against Svecia on Matchday 3 to complete the Vilita National Team's only 9-point haul in World Cup group stage history, prior to World Cup 65, the Jungle Cats were promptly eliminated in the Knockout Round on penalty kicks after a 2-2 draw with Dance 2 Revolution.

One thing that current head coach Calaesa Mitaroka certainly had was a bit of a defensive issue. While, over the first two matchdays, the Jungle Cats had scored more goals than any team in the World Cup, there was also no team in the Cup that had let more goals find the back of the net against them than the Jungle Cats. 8 goals conceded in just two matches was a terrible mark and it was obvious that the defensive and goalkeeping issues for head coach Mitaroka were far from solved.

However, despite the issues in the back, Mitaroka decided to leave his defensive trio unchanged for the Mangolana matchup. Miiara Makose retained the captains armband and led the team onto the field wth Kadi Molali and the youngster Endur Rotropii joining him at the back. Behind them, however, there was a chance. Kiiara-Torra's Nycflala Kater was dropped after letting in 8 goals in 2 games to kick off the World Cup Finals and Makosile FC's Atacir Tivalan was called upon to restore order between the sticks. It would be Tivalan's first ever appearance at the World Cup Finals. Tivalan did, however, get the nod five times during the Jungle Cats Qualifying Campaign. After falling short in the critical matchday two fixture against Kinitaria, the Makosile goalkeeper recovered recording victories in each of his next four appearances, conceding just one single goal in the process. This is likely the evidence that coach Mitaroka would hang his hat on at the end of the day when justifying the decision to make the swap, especially considering the match was basically a freebie for Vilita, a very rare opportunity indeed.

So it was no surprise when 20 minutes after referee Kolono Torukapai of Maklohi Vai started the match, the Jungle Cats were on the board.

The play was started in the midfield by Viliaka Morasita, new to the starting lineup after replacing Steffyn Siazzu, who found Sirkii Moliaudo in the area. Fearing a shot, goalkeeper Chris Marte quickly rushed towards Moliaudo - along with a pair of Mangolana defenders, leaving the prolific Lita Adjei completely unmarked at the back post. Moliaudo calmly poked the ball towards the back post and Adjei converted what was certainly the easiest goal of his international career to give Vilita the early 1-0 lead.

Mangolana were not about to concede defeat, however. Far from eliminated from the competition, the Mango's knew that a victory over the Jungle Cats would put them in pretty decent position to advance, so long as Pasarga was not able to defeat Sargossa. Thats when the bronamic duo sprang into action.

First, it was a free kick from an angle, 30 yards out. The opportunity was earned when Vilitan captain Miiara Makose impeded the run of Gregory Nana, unfairly according to the opinion of the referee Torukapai. The opportunity was converted when Allen Fuller's free kick soared into the penalty area and dropped conveniently amongst the pile of bodies to JD Fuller who skillfull used his Knee to redirect the falling free kick into the back corner of Atacir Tivalan's goal.

It was a unique celebration for Fuller, who was facing his domestic teammate, Tivalan, for the first time in International competition. Fuller would later quip that at time's he got confused, seeing Tivalan in net giving orders to the Vilitan players he felt as if those orders were for him, and even tried unsuccessful to head one early corner-kick clear of the area instead of into the goal.

Clearly that time had come prior to the 25 minute mark, however, and no sooner did Mangolana equalizer through one Fuller than did they take the lead through the other. This time it was just an ambitious effort from Allen Fuller who collected the ball outside the area, turned, and fired off a curling shot catching the Vilitan defenders off-guard as they waited for the pass. Tivalan attempted, arms out stretched, to keep the ball out of the net but to no avail and the Fullers embraced as their Mangolana teammates surrounded them in joy, their World Cup dream still alive for the time being.

It would be the underdog's from Mangolana, lowest ranked nation in the tournament, who would take the 2-1 lead into the half-time break and Vilitan head coach Calaesa Mitaroka who had all the pondering to do. While it was unlikely that the result against Mangolana meant much of anything to the Jungle Cats, other than a few points towards the World Rankings and perhaps a different opponent in the Round of 16, there were still reasons that Vilita wanted to win the match. Confidence, of course, is always a player. Pride, always nice. But, the Vilitan National Team was also chasing history. No team in the history of the World Cup Finals had ever netted 17 goals in the competitions group stage. Considering the 12 the Jungle Cats had netted in the first two matches, they seemed well on pace to put a new entry in the history books.

However, 45 minutes in and it was the low seeded Mango-loids who had the advantage. Vilitan coach Calaesa Mitaroka had other things to worry about. Forget about records - forget about scoring more goals than any other team in the history of the World Cup Finals: Group Stage. Mitaroka needed to find a way to get the three points back first and foremost. Captain and central defender Miiara Makose made way for the two-way threat of Retiso Buran. Buran would be charged with covering for Makose's defensive duties when needed, but supporting the attack at all other times until Vilita was able to re-take the lead. Vilita's most-capped player of the modern era, Jomur Hulyer, would take the captains armband from Makose in a largely symbolic motion as the teams returned for the second half.

It was also the end of the day for Makosile's Atacir Tivalan. After giving up two goals - the second of which might certainly have been avoided, Mitaroka decided the time was right to put the experienced Nycflala Kater back between the sticks and see if he could build up a little bit of confidence going into the Knockout stage.

The moves seemed to do the trick, at least in-as-far as getting the Jungle Cats back on top, but little more would come. Kiroki Mitaroka, showing yet another bit of quality mixed with otherwise mediocre performances since returning from an international hiatus, scored the equalizer about 20 minutes into the second half. It was the first touch of the match for Steffyn Siazzu, the newly-signed Mliona-Lpaka Turori midfielder coming in to replace Riksa Valjariia. Siazzu intercepted the ball intended for Jordan Morgan and sent it up the field quickly for Sirki Moliaudo. Moliaudo duked, digged and appeared as if he was set to make a move into the box. Just at the critical moment, however, he left the ball back for Kiroki Mitaroka who quickly fired a bullet that found its way past Chris Marte and levelled the scores.

Just minutes later, it was Moliaudo once again providing the impetus, having a hand in all three Vilitan goals but not getting on the scoresheet himself. It was once again Lita Adjei putting the final touch on it, giving Calaesa Mitaroka's side the lead once more and also, coincidentally, bringing the Jungle Cat's group-stage haul up to 15 goals, the second highest amount ever recorded in a World Cup Group Stage. Now, they had a new goal... err target. One more goal would put them equal with Valanora and Krytenia, both Atlantian Oceania rivals who had each scored 16 goals during the Group Stage in the late World Cup 50's. Two would put the Jungle Cats in a class of their own.

Zero, however, would mean the World Cup 65 Jungle Cats were just another team... another high scoring team that finished atop their group and advanced to the Knockout Rounds. Nothing else, Nothing special.

As Full-Time approached, Mangolana refused to be on the embarrassing end of a footnote in World Cup history. They were about to crash out of the World Cup at the bottom of Group A. However, they played the Jungle Cats closer than any of their other Group A foes, holding World Cup 65's most prolific team to *just* 3 goals.
Kolono Torukapai blew the final whistle. There was a bit of dejection that could be seen on the Vilitan faces after being held to just 3 goals by the cups lowest ranked team. The dejection, however, was completely undeserved. This experienced squad of Jungle Cats, with one youthful face in defense, had, in fact, done at least one thing that no Vilitan club had ever done.

This group of Atlantian Oceania's finest had just made a clean sweep of three Rushmori Rivals, on Rushmori Soil. 15 goals, 9 points and a trip to the Knockout round. Their opposition?

Osarius. 3rd Ranked Nation in the Multiverse. The Jungle Cats have faced Osarius before at the World Cup Finals. It wasn't good. Coach Mitaroka is going to need some luck this time around.

	Mangolana
:: Goalscorers :: :: 21' Lita Adjei :: 66' Kiroki Mitaroka :: 70' Lita Adjei	:: Goalscorers :: :: 25' JD Fuller :: 27' Allen Fuller ::
:: Best Player: Sirkii Moliaudo :: Worst Player: Miiara Makose :: Shots on Target: 8 :: Corner Kicks: 7	:: Best Player: JD Fuller :: Worst Player: Jordan Morgan :: Shots on Target: 5 :: Corner Kicks: 3

-------------------------------------------

:: MATCH RATINGS ::

-------------------------------------------
GK:: Atacir Tivalan - [5]
D.:: Endur Rotropii - [8]
D.:: Miiara Makose - [6]
D.:: Kadi Molali - [8]
ML:: Kiroki Mitaroka - [9]
MC:: Riksa Valjariia - [7]
MC:: Viliaka Morasita - [5]
MR:: Jomur Hulyer - [9]
FC:: Sirkii Moliaudo - [9]
FC:: Xcnaio Bansoa - [5]
FC:: Lita Adjei - [9]
Vilitan Subs Bench:
M:: Steffyn Siazzu - [5]
U:: Retiso Buran - [6]
GK:: Nycflala Kater - [5]

FC:: Nili Ylimaiina - [DNP]
FC:: Erocka Lorei - [DNP]
M:: Manolis Kontalroma - [DNP]
D:: Ritopa Simafela - [DNP]

Vilita (3-4-3) v. Mangolana

Vilita Jungle Cats ::
[GK] Atacir Tivalan, [D.] Endur Rotropii, [D.] Miiara Makose, [D.] Kadi Molali, [ML] Kiroki Mitaroka, [MC] Riksa Valjariia, [MC] Viliaka Morasita, [MR] Jomur Hulyer, [FC] Sirkii Moliaudo, [FC] Xcnaio Bansoa, [FC] Lita Adjei
BENCH::
[FC] Nili Ylimaiina, [FC] Erocka Lorei, [M] Manolis Kontalroma, [M] Steffyn Siazzu, [U] Retiso Buran, [D] Ritopa Simafela, [GK] Nycflala Kater

Vilita Substitutions::
(45) - Miiara Makose >>> Retiso Buran
(45) - Atacir Tivalan >>> Nycflala Kater
(65) - Riksa Valjariia >>> Steffyn Siazzu

[Eura]

EURANS THROUGH AFTER QUIET WIN OVER LICENTIANS
Deja vu as we face the Holy Empire once again
Simon Banning reports from Circle Stadium, Longview, Saugeais

EURA - 2
Robertson 8
McCroft 25

LICENTIAN ISLANDS - 1
Parkinson 3

Eura did what they needed to do in Longview tonight, and not too much else. They exceeded expectations in this group stage and will now be looking ahead to a very tough round of sixteen draw against The Holy Empire.

Despite the importance of the match for both sides, there was a relaxed atmosphere in the stadium; particularly as the defeat of Audioslavia earlier in the day, and Israel Klimt's resignation, had taken the attention off the game. The Euran's simply needed to avoid defeat by more than one goal to go through, but the Licentian's would need to overturn that deficit. They played at full strength while Kelly Sporadic made some careful changes to allow the more experienced regulars in the team to get some rest. Dawson, Stevenson and Sharp all dropped to the bench for Spartan, Parsons and Thomas. It was dank and humid in the Circle Stadium, yet both teams looked cool and composed as they came out on to the pitch. The game started with a bang and in the worst possible way for Eura, as the opening goal went against them for the third game in a row. Logan Moran, the Licentian striker who had played so well against Eura in qualifying, headed down a Dylan Knight cross for Nate Parkinson to prod the ball past Daniel Belgrave from 6 yards.

It was a moment of slack defending by the Euran's which left Kelly Sporadic visibly annoyed on the sideline, but soon they wrestled control of the game away from the side chasing the points and two quick goals took the wind out of them. The first came courtesy of Directus defender Michael Robertson in only the 8th minute when he diverted a Parsons' cross past Cameron Ritchie. Eura applied further pressure after the scores were returned to evens, and soon had the break they needed. Sam Needle had just lost the ball to Toby Bishop halfway through the 25 minute, dispossessed as he hesitated on the edge of the box, but Bishop's pass to Munro was cut out by an out of position James McCroft. McCroft took a perfect first touch to control the ball with his left foot before twisting to shoot on his right, rifling the ball into the bottom left hand corner beyond the reach of Ritchie. Eura continued to dominate the first half, and Needle should have scored himself in the 40th minute, only for his header to be denied by the bar.

Even after the break and some changes, you could sense that the Euran's already felt they were through and that their opposition had come as far as they could go. The second half was consequently quite slow paced as Eura tried to not exhaust themselves before their next match, while the Licentians generally seemed to have lost their motivation. They did come close through Moran, who was unlucky not to score in the 62nd minute with a curling effort that Belgrave saved well. By the end of the game Eura had brought on some substitutes and played with a bit more freedom, searching for some icing on the cake. Mickey Smith forced Ritchie into a good save before Sporadic's men hit the woodwork for a second time. John Spartan was the unlucky man this time, striking the bottom of the post with a calm edge of the box effort that left Ritchie standing still. Spartan and Blackthorn generally looked quite secure as a central midfield pairing, and they will almost certainly form a further partnership in the future, with Glenn Anderson of Directus surely likely to play a part.

When the final whistle blew, there was a massive cheer from the Euran crowd as their side escaped the group stages for the first time in several cycles. The Licentians were disappointed of course, but they had done well to qualify at all for the world cup and received a deserved standing ovation from both sets of fans as they left the field. Eura now go on to face a side that they perhaps wanted to draw less than any other, the Holy Empire. With injuries to Tom Riley, Colin Collymore, Josh Stevenson and - as it has emerged this evening - Glenn Anderson, the team is depleted. Djourou Calaga has been called up temporarily as a backup for Tom Riley though he is unlikely to play given Blackthorn's new role. Speaking about the next game, Kelly Sporadic was cautiously optimistic. "We certainly are very pleased to get out of the group stage, it was a tough group. Obviously we've got injuries and I doubt anyone is expecting to repeat out Audioslavia performance against the Holy Empire, but we'll give it a go and I know there are guys in this team who want a bit of revenge for World Cup 60.'

What the press really wanted to ask Kelly about though was the abrupt resignation of Israel Klimt. His great rival had resigned in a remarkable display of submission halfway through Audioslavia's draw with Mytannion; a game which characterised their campaign as they once again were outplayed by the opposition, though perhaps not to the extent that ourselves battered them. "It's none of my business. I guess you guys will say I've won some sort of battle with him, and you'll think I'm pleased, but whatever, he can do what we like. My only concern is that of the Euran national team, and the way I see it we've done what we needed to do and more. Now we're looking forward to the future, and regardless of whether we get any further things look promising with the youngsters that have stepped up to the plate in this world cup campaign." Eura will play the Holy Empire at the Old Forest Stadium in Bugny, Saugeais, in the next round. Another miracle will be required for Eura to go any further.

ANALYSIS

Player Ratings

EURA

1. D Belgrave – 7/10
2. N Feeney – 6/10
4. M Robertson – 8/10
5. L Heath – 8/10 (Dassuna - 60)
3. M Smith - 7/10
7. J McCroft - 9/10
24. G Blackthorn - 8/10 (Dawson - 74)
26. J Spartan - 9/10
12. C Parsons - 7/10
17. S Thomas - 7/10
9. S Needle - - 7/10 (Oslograd - 69)

Substitutes

13. C Waller
15. B Dassuna - 7/10
19. R Collins
27. W Churchilli
18. C Sinclair
11. J Stevenson
8. C Dawson - 6/10
10. L Sharp
14. S Oslograd - 6/10

LICENTIAN ISLANDS

1. C Ritchie - 9/10
2. E Russell - 6/10 (Boyle - 45)
4. S Hill - 7/10
5. D Munro - 6/10 (Black - 63)
3. T Bishop - 5/10
8. N Parkinson - 7/10
7. L Naylor - 4/10
6. R Donaldson - 6/10
10. D Knight - 7/10
11. A Miller - 6/10 (Paterson - 78)
9. L Moran - 8/10

Substitutes

12. C McDonald
14. K Boyle - 5/10
15. K Stevenson
16. G Ferguson
17. M McKay
18. B Black - 7/10
20. J Paterson - 6/10
22. A Keir
23. R Dickson

MoM: Cameron Ritchie (Licentian Islands)
Attendance: 37,500

Possession
EUR - 62 % 38 - LIC
Shots
EUR - 10 7 - LIC
On Target
EUR - 4 3 - LIC
Corners
EUR - 6 7 - LIC
Pass Completion
EUR - 86 % 81 - LIC
Fouls
EUR - 9 9 - LIC

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ Pressing The Advantage

While the celebrations are still ongoing through the entire country with the Wanderers surprise victory over their northern region mates, the squad itself is preparing for a challenge that seems impossible. Their reward for the miracle of a victory over the Corsairs of Sargossa is none other than five time world champions in Valanora. The elves, so eloquently put as some others from Atlantian Oceania as "The Eternal Champions", are what await our young squad in the knockouts.

To name the advantages that Valanora have over us would be a fruitless exercise, though the most obvious ones in experience and skill are glaring. Where this is the Wanderers second trip to the knockouts in all of their history, falling to Bears Armed the only other time they advanced past the group stage, the Marauders have a record sharing amount of trophies to their name. Their players play in all the best leagues of the footballing community while ours remain in the Liga de Fuego, which has fallen even beyond the typical two allocation slot into the Champions Cup. We're at a severe disadvantage and everyone in the country and squad knows this full well.

What we do have though is that we're here at home and the chance to go further than any other Wanderer squad before. A victory over Valanora would be a generational defining moment not only for this squad, but for all of Pasarga football. It would cement that the changes in managerial staff and the player pool before the tournament was set to begin as the moment in history where Pasarga got it right. The moment that Pasarga stood up and said that it was not just a footnote in the record books but a force to be challenged with.

And if they do fall to defeat to the Marauders, then it is nothing to be ashamed of as it is the expected result. There will still be another four matches in Pasarga of the World Cup for the nation to celebrate, as they continue to play the gracious host. So let us feast on the blissful feelings that advancement has given us, that hosting has provided for, and see where the smile of fate shines on in a few days time.

[New Montreal States]

10-MAN PALADINS GET REVENGE

Come back from 2-0 deficit to eliminate Boring Paradise and advance to Ro16

BUGNY, SAUGEAIS - Someone watching the Paladins prepare for their matchup against Boring Paradise might be forgiven for thinking that the side was preparing for fixture against bottom-dwellers deep in the second half of qualifiers. Boucher declined all questions about whether he had gone through with his pledge to wolf down as many steroids as humanly possible in the 72 hours since the loss to the Holy Empire. He then sat in absolute silence in his dressing-room cubicle, only occasionally twitching his left eyelid. Manager Étienne Girardeaux was decked out in an electric orange and blue tie with the bespoke suit the team bought him after he guided the team from fourth to first during his stint as manager. He spent most of the pregame reviewing defensive schemes with his back seven, before giving the shortest pregame speech in NMS history:

"Let's go win the match."

Girardeaux then pulled out a torch, lit it, and silently left the locker room. The Paladins followed him out in perfect silence, with the exception of Séraphin Boucher, who leapt to his feet with an earsplitting yawp before silently falling in with the rest of the side. The entire team maintained a dignified silence, and stayed two steps behind their manager, on their way out to the pitch.

The stands, meanwhile, were getting louder by the minute. The blue-and-silver half of The Old Forest Stadium was going nuts. A traveling NMS contingent of 10,000 or so swelled to 14,000, as additional fans showed up to see the Paladins get a shot at redemption for their 6-1 loss to Boring Paradise in their final qualification match of World Cup 63. If the Paladins fans were blazed, their opposite numbers were blasé. The Paradisian visitors were completely quiet, acutely aware of their homeland's harsh penalties for not being bored at all times. Golf claps and stifled yawns greeted the Paradisians as they trotted on to the pitch. The Paladins, meanwhile, were greeted with a vigorous chant of "We'll pave Paradise and put in a parking lot!" while waving outsized cardboard bus silhouettes, along with giant "D"s and sections of white picket fences.

Yes, folks, the Karelans of old had a quiet grace about them - and, occasionally, monastic dignity. Paladins fans, meanwhile, took advantage of their increased numbers to unfurl their first giant banner of the tournament, which read: "THROW 'EM UNDER THE BUS."

And those fans had a lot to cheer for during the first half of play, as the Paladins not only blunted the Paradisian attack, but created a few good opportunities of their own.

As Coach Girardeaux burned a sage bundle on the sideline, Séraphin Boucher, assigned the role of sweeper for the night, was laying down the law in the shallow part of the Paladins' half. His ferocious - but legal - tackles created several counterattacks for the Paladins. The most promising one came in the 9th minute, when Boucher sent a through ball to Fred Nguyen, who attempted a shot from just inside the penalty box only to have Paradisian legend Osama Homewood deflect it wide. The subsequent corner went nowhere, and the Paladins found themselves in deep trouble not long afterwards.

While Girardeaux lit a second sage bundle after his first one burned out, Boucher drew a yellow card for a devastating tackle on Paradisian captain Samuel Wong. Boucher had to be dragged away from the ref by fellow defenders Henri-Réné Lavaillère and Luc Longevin. Armand Potvin took it upon himself to further distract the referee by taking his shirt off and twisting it around his head like a helicopter, distracting the ref from Boucher's breakdown and drawing another yellow card in the process.

The culmination of the yellow-card parade came when Potvin was sent off after sending Shooby Armours sprawling in the box while they were contending for a corner from Paradisian captain Samuel Wong. Armours scored easily after keeper Pierre Desrosiers dived in the wrong direction to give his nation a 1-0 lead and every single one of the 18,000 Paladins fans a bad case of déja vu.

That sense of déja vu was reinforced in the 38th minute when Haider Williams took advantage of Potvin's absence on the left side of the field to find space for a thundering shot into the upper left corner of the net to put the Paladins into the same kind of hole they were in against the Holy Empire, only with one fewer man on the field for good measure. Girardeaux formed a series of mudras with his hands and began chanting mantras at his side, although Professor Leslie Barmes, of the Department of Classical and Ancient Languages at Bellami-Thibault College in New Montreal, told this correspondent that Coach Girardeaux was actually chanting "do your f*****g jobs, guys" over and over again in Rejistanian for most of the second half.

The Boring Paradise camp went into halftime confident that history was going to repeat itself. Paladins fans, meanwhile, queued up for beer with funeral expressions on their faces. One gentleman with his face painted sky-blue and silver loudly and ceremoniously popped all four tires of the inflatable bus he'd brought with him. The Paladins, meanwhile, were taking things much more calmly. Girardeaux responded at halftime by replacing John Powell Hughes with John Randle-Cunningham, putting Amelio Quagliata Jr. in Powell Hughes' midfield spot and giving Randle-Cunningham Quagliata's spot at striker.

The Paladins had new life on the pitch with the beginning of the second half. Boucher, who had been twitchy and a bit erratic for most of the first half, calmed down considerably. After a masterful dispossession of Robbie Webber, Boucher found Quagliata on the fast break, sprinting through a Boring Paradise back line that had been looking a little, well, bored. In a superb display of football I.Q., Quagliata noticed that John Randle-Cunningham had strayed offsides, and took the shot himself. The Paladins were one down with forty minutes still to play.

The NMS crowd, meanwhile, got a bit of its voice back after Quagliata clawed back a goal. "You're always bored," followed by "Yawn a little wider!" The Boring Paradise side, meanwhile, torpidly fanned themselves and sipped their bottles of water as their boys played back and forced the Paladins to play out of position.

The Paladins looked fairly comfortable moving forward for the first time in a long while. Old habits die hard, and before long the midfield was buzzing with the kind of precision passing that was the foundation of NMS's scheme before Girardeaux's arrival. Eventually Boring Paradise made a mistake, with two defenders simultaneously converging on Fred Nguyen. This gave the hyperenergetic Boucher some space in the box, which he promptly converted into the tying goal after a crisp pass from Gaston St. John de la Ware.

de la Ware, redeeming himself after an absymal stretch of play during qualifiers led to him being benched by former manager André Vaillancourt-Bosquet, preserved the draw from a ferocious Paradisian counterattack. He intercepted a pass from Kevin Harris in the box to deny Boring Paradise an excellent shot at reclaiming the lead. Two minutes later, he intercepted another pass from Harris and sent it far upfield to Quagliata, whose shot was deflected by Boring Paradise keeper Osama Homewood. Fred Nguyen, following behind the play, pounced on the rebound and drove it into the back of the net for a 79th-minute goal that put the 'States up for good.

Nguyen and Quagliata quickly hit the bench in favor of a pair of extra defenders, and the Paladins expertly parked the bus for the remaining 14-odd minutes of play. When the final whistle blew, Paladins fans and players alike celebrated a result that, while not as decisive as the 6-1 thrashing that had knocked the Paladins out of WC63, achieved the same result regardless.

The team was most celebratory after the match, except for Coach Girardeaux, whose post-game press conference consisted of the remark that "the Manager who can be quoted is not the true Manager," then engaged in a ten-minute display of throat singing.

Up next for the Paladins, a Mytenar side that's rebounded considerably during this World Cup, edging out the defending champions and world number ones Audioslavia for the top spot in Group G. (See our full coverage inside)

INSIDE: Two-page scouting report and preview of Paladins vs. Mytannion
INSIDE: Klimt verklempt, resigns at halftime; Bulls parade back to AO early
INSIDE: Apox predators? Red Dragons upset Holy Empire, salvage three points from tourney

[Pasarga]

What squads are unbreakable?

Ro16