AOCAF 47 Everything Thread

[Ko-oren]

Lackluster win over Quebec

The Dragonflies are back with a win. Three very necessary points before heading into the last game against Osarius. It wasn't very attractive, again. A meagre 44% of possession. Six shots on goal. Those things don't sound too bad, but then you take another look at this game and you see that that 44% was almost all on our own half or in midfield. The six shots on goal were the only things that lured the Dragonflies to anywhere near the Quebecois goal. The criticism that has surrounded Ko-oren all this tournament still stands. The team plays as if there are not four players on midfield, and the defence cannot set up attacks all the way from their line. The worst thing that could happen is an injury to one of our two decisive centre backs... and that is exactly what happened in the 70th minute. Juliasterinthen grabbed his hamstring after a sprint (too late for the ball) and was substituted. Later research showed that he is fine and will play against the Firebirds, but it shows how fragile the team really is.

After Juliasterinthen's injury, Quebec completely dominated the game, but could not come close to an equaliser. Now you are probably trying to imagine how Ko-oren even scored a goal, but that happened back in the 30th minute, from a corner. Bad covering by the Quebecois led to a header by Nascimento. Then again, bad covering after set pieces is one of those few things that the Greenblues can do and that will probably be our main way of threatening Osarius. But that means we have to avoid playing like Ko-oren in the final 20 minutes, after the injury.

From Aranfield Bridge to the Angelotic Temple: Aranfield was a 'small' stadium, for Valanorian standards. It would have been among the largest three venues in Ko-oren in comparison. The Angelotic Temple is the third largest venue in the tournament with 71,000 seats, so it is a fitting venue for the showdown between Ko-oren and Osarius. Vilita & Turori face 95X in the largest stadium, the Battleground, and the hosts play Farfadillis in Artani. That's a game for the statistics only, because both have already advanced to the second round.

Starblaydia takes on the Sportgirls, while Quebec plays Darvale. To survive this round, it's simple: the Greenblues need a win. With anything short of a win, Starblaydia or Quebec will eliminate us. The Purple are ahead in head to head (1-0 win over us), but we are ahead over Quebec (1-0 win for Ko-oren). The two tied each other, so everything depends on their head to head versus Ko-oren in this scenario. All three teams have seven points, so all teams are equal in that regard.

Should Ko-oren reach the next round, that might not be an upset but it would be undeserved. I don't want it either, but maybe the best thing for this team is to get a major setback in order to rethink it all.

[Greater Watford]

A 0-0 draw at the Angelotic Temple leaves Greater Watford with everything to play for in their final group game against Semarland. The game today will not go down in history as a classic, but the point picked up from today could prove vital.

The Hornets were riding high after a win against Vilita & Turori, and stuck with their 1-11 line up for this game, the same lineup used throughout the tournament. Both teams looked to start positively, and they did, Kendrick Hannon and Una Solo being tested early on. The goalkeepers were in good form, and it would be a tough day for the forwards.

Greater Watford hit the woodwork in the 17th minute, when Samuel Harris tried a long-range shot, that looped over the defence, but didn’t have enough dip on it. The attacking midfielder was providing a useful outlet, and was causing 95X a bit of trouble upfront. Peréz also looked strong, and narrowly missed in the 33rd minute.

95X had their fair share of chances. Xi Foureleven, scoring twice against Lindmark, forced Kendrick Hannon into a good save at his near post, and Jordyn Third also came close, her high shot going just over the bar. It was 0-0 at the end of the first half, both teams playing positively, but not able to find an end product.

In the second half, de Rosso replaced Steven Shields with Armando Westberg, the manager feeling Westberg would provide a better outlet from the back. A corner in the 58th minute saw the ball fall to Westberg, and his shot nearly found a way in, but was blocked, with it being unclear who got the key touch on the ball. The young defender was making a case to try and stay in the team.

95X were also going for the win, and with not long left, Xi Foureleven tried a shot on the edge of the box. It went under Dowling’s legs, leaving Hannon unsighted, and he did very well to get a hand on the ball to tip it wide of the post. Hannon had been in good form, only conceding once in the whole tournament.

The game finished goalless, a fair reflection of both sides. Vilita & Turori play 95X, and Greater Watford play Semarland. A Greater Watford win guarantees them a knock-out spot. A draw for Greater Watford is good enough if 95X lose. A loss for Greater Watford means they will be flying out of Valanora. It will be an intense encounter at the Castle de Mot

[Audioslavia]

"Well yes, as celebrations go it was a bit weird, but you have to respect that fact that scoring in a derby is quite a cathartic affair, and while I don't condone the symbolism, I won't be taking disciplinary action against Ronda Styrn"
"Okay, thanks Alex"
"Thank you"

Alec smiled at the reporter and made his way back down the tunnel, pausing outside the door to the Audioslavian dressing room. In it, he could hear a familiar song being sung in full voice by those inside:

The Calanian's wife was as fair as the sun,
        and her kisses were warmer than spring.
    But the Calanion's blade was made of black steel,
        and its kiss was a terrible thing.
    The Calanion's wife would sing as she bathed,
        in a voice that was sweet as a peach,
    But the Calanion's blade had a song of its own,
        and a bite sharp and cold as a leech.
    As he lay on the ground with the darkness around,
        and the taste of his blood on his tongue,
    His brothers knelt by him and prayed him a prayer,
        and he smiled and he laughed and he sung,
    "Brothers, oh brothers, my days here are done,
        the Calanion's taken my life,
    But what does it matter, for all men must die,
        and I've tasted the Calanion's wife!

He shook his head, stood with his hand on the door handle, and thought about what he'd say to admonish Ronda for her celebration. It hadn't been much, no one had had to pull her away from the Calanion fans, but there was a very definite - if quick - show of disrespect. One universally understood by a global audience. Ronda, upon flicking home a low, near-post cross with a deft left-foot finish, had wheeled away to behind the goal, stood on an advertising hoarding, brought her right fist out in front of her, wrist facing the sky, and slapped her bicep. This movement apparently causing her fist to tilt up until it was parallel with his body. It was a sign known all over: "Up yours". Or, in the Audioslavian tongue, "Get it right up you". The symbolism of the fist was much the same.

He took a deep breath and opened the door, just as the players had sung - or at least hummed - the last line of the song.

"Well done lads" said Alec, drawing a few cheers bosses from his players. He looked at Ronda. Ronda blinked, then threw her arms up in the air.

"Oh come off it! We just scunnered the scallies (Audioslavian slang for Calanion) you can't be having a go at me. At least celebrate with us first"

"You told an entire country to f*** itself" said Alec, not giving an inch to his employee. Ronda shrugged.

"I tell Calanions to go f*** themselves every day"

"Not on national telly you don't"

"Yes I do!"

"Ronda, we can't hear what you're saying under your breath whenever you're standing near a Calanion when you're playing in the LigAnaia, but you have to admit that giving 20,000 fans the old 'up yours pal' arm movement in full view of the watching world... it doesn't look great. I mean, you're supposed to be a senior player now. You're 29, not 19. Imanol can get away with that shit, you can't"

Alec looked at Imanol, who beamed. The young winger had scored the opener - his first goal for Audioslavia - with a crisp finish on 24 minutes, and had celebrated by sprinting down the touchline - again in front of the Calanion fans - with his tongue out, his thumbs in his ears, waggling his fingers mockingly at anyone wearing green.

"How come his celebration was fine and mine wasn't?" asked Ronda. A question she damn well knew the answer to. Alec rolled his eyes.

"In the f***** shower, you. And the rest of you. You smell like goats"

"Speaking of which" said Clyde - Alec's assistant - as the players made their way to the showers, "it looks like they're coming back. Properly."

"Who?" asked Alec.

"You know who I mean" said Clyde, smiling. "Men in cyan ties seen in the WCC offices. Krytenia are back."

Alec shook his head and just about held back a shrug. "Aye, but for how long?"

[95X]

95X Remains Confident After Taken Aback by Draw

"I've got to hand it to them," Marvin Stark said of his team after the scoreless tie with Greater Watford, "usually there's this unspeakable politeness afterwards, nobody dares to say anything, yet after this one heads are high and we're going into the next one best as possible."

Stark had praise for his opponents as well.

"We played a great game against an underranked opponent, a little error on either side and one of us would have walked away with a win."

An excellent defensive effort led by 95X National Team veterans and domestic league teammates Wu Fivetwelve and Cynthia Brixton stopped Greater Watford's offensive efforts by Ignacio Peréz in the 33rd and substitute Armando Westberg's excellent shot in the 58th to keep the status quo on the scoreboard.

"Sometimes, you just get lucky," Fivetwelve remarked after the match of deflecting Westberg's shot.

Upfront for the 95Xers, Jordyn Third continued her marked overall improvement with better offensive control and taking a difficult yet good choice shot around a defender only seconds before halftime. Xi Foureleven took three shots at the goal, all of which connected with the gloves of Kendrick Hannon either as a catch or deflection.

The team appears loose and ready going into the Group Stage finale against Vilita & Turori. Aptly taking place at The Battleground in Raynor City, Vilita & Turori enter the match leading Group D with nine points, while 95X sits in a three-way tie for the group's second quarterfinal qualifier with seven points along with Semarland and Greater Watford, who ironically also play each other in their final match. Should 95X and Semarland finish tied for points, or Greater Watford squeak out with a tiebreaker, 95X fans will be microwaving pony pot pies of sorrow.

---

The Chance Meeting

Despite the obvious differences and the 95X National Team's record while playing in the country, Valanora is a very hospitable place for the 95Xers, and Xi Foureleven even finds that she could go about her life without the constant hounding she receives at home.

At a random time between games, Foureleven runs into someone that looks out of place, another human man among the elves, along with a friend, sightseeing. Foureleven immediately knows who it is.

"Floyd?!" she calls out, as the man stops to see who's calling his name. As he sees Foureleven, his jaw drops.

"Xi!" he replies, trying to hide the emotions. His friend rolls her crystal-blue eyes.

"What are you doing here?" Xi inquires in her usual cold, flat tone of voice.

"After that incident, I was told I'd be fine as long as I stopped playing sports. I wanted to get away, and my parents disowned me, so I opened a phone store in Ashton." Floyd explained. "We're the highest-volume dealer in the chain, and with the sponsorship deal the phone company has with the League, we won an all-expenses-paid trip to the game between 95X and Vilita & Turori. I almost turned it down, but she didn't want me to say no."

Floyd's friend is clearly agitated.

"Who is this?" she melodically and sternly asks, expecting an explanation.

Floyd gulps some air and introduces the two.

"Xi, please meet my wife, Chrystal. Chrystal? The greatest soccer player 95X has ever known, Xi Foureleven."

It was time for Xi to roll her eyes at Floyd, while she mechanically holds out her right hand to shake hands.

"It's nice to meet you after hearing just about everything about you on a continual basis not too long ago!"

Floyd laughs slightly in disgust, while Chrystal shakes Xi's hand with her opposite hand.

Chrystal explains that she and Floyd re-met while Floyd was in the hospital, that her right hand had to be amputated after becoming infected in the Under-15 World Cup, and that after being in a relationship with another woman that didn't work out for reasons she doesn't go into, she heard of what happened to Floyd and remembered he was the only crush she had that didn't mistreat her. They married shortly after his release from the hospital, and focus on running their business instead of following sports.

"Nice to meet you a final time, Mr. and Mrs. Commando," Foureleven closes the conversation.

"Actually," Floyd corrects her, "it's Grey. I took her last name."

"That is very wise of you. Good luck to you."

[Valanora]

Laborious Hawk looked at the headlines coming out of the media regarding the internal strife of the governing bodies of sport and football. It pained him to see such strife not only happening but that it was being broadcast across the world for all to see. It diminished the great name of Valanora, more than recent results across a multitude of sports could ever hope to do so. These were elves of high regard just like he was and yet they were arguing like petty children, seemingly threatening to take their ball and go home if they did not get their way. One wanted to be the omnipowerful organization over all sport, the other wanted full control of their own sport, both points Hawk could understand. However in order for any progress, someone had to cave and compromise, yet neither seemed inclined to.

"Do you really think that they would keep us from playing on the national team if the VFA doesn't get its way?" Caeltimyonan Haerear asked the captain, one of the first of the squad to enter into the locker room for the training for the day. Hawk felt for the younger elf, he had just recently been able to find his way from being in the pool to the actual team and starting. To have all the work be put to nothing and all the opportunity lost between of squabbling overlords had to weigh heavily on the younger elf.

"They might try to, a lot of the domestic club players seem to be behind the VFA and I can understand why they do not appreciate the meddling the VSC had with the national team staff. However to have all players currently members of the VFA as well as the staff go on strike from all VSC sponsored events seems like the most drastic of measures. It would cripple the domestic teams in the ICCs and would leave the national team with no pool to choose from at a critical time, with the nation potentially being the hosts for the next World Cup. Millions of fans would be left with players that they never would have heard of, who likely would not be up to par in talent and skill, to try and get behind and root for. While they root for the shirt, having people they already know and can somehow relate to makes it easier. So in that case you could see fan pressure put on the VFA and perhaps some players ever "cross" to represent the national team."

"I never thought I would live to see the day where a bunch of suits would keep a player from pursuing their dream. It seems almost something from a bad dream, these people who do not even know us detirmining our fate over such petty little matters." The youngster sighed even as he pulled on his cleats and kit. "It doesn't seem fair."

"Life is seldom fair but perhaps if we let our voices be heard, these suits as you call them will listen to us and the fans and come to some sort of agreement. Surely both parties would want to put on the best of shows if the nation is awarded the World Cup and that can only happen if they are cooperating. Not all is lost quite yet." If only the captain truly believed the words he was trying to comfort his teammate with he would not have been so worried about the headlines. However he could only do so much, for now he would have to focus his eye on the training for the match for Farfadillis. "Put it to rest, we've a gameplan to learn. Farfadillis usually finds a way to get one over on us, we need to be able to win the game and group. The path to defending the title becomes that much easier if the group is ours."

[Valanora]

AOCAF 47 Matchday 5

Group A
Valanora 4-2 Farfadillis
Cosumar 0-0 Perlasilangan
Nellietopia 3-0 New West Guiana

Ps Team                 P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
 1 Valanora             5  4  1  0  18   5  +13  13
 2 Farfadillis          5  3  1  1  18  10   +8  10
 3 Nellietopia          5  2  2  1   9   4   +5   8
 4 Cosumar              5  2  1  2   6   8   -2   7
 5 New West Guiana      5  1  0  4   5  16  -11   3
 6 Perlasilangan        5  0  1  4   2  15  -13   1

Group B
Audioslavia 1-0 Legalese
The Calanian Union 4-0 Ciqi
Equestrian States 2-0 Western Sunrise Islands

Ps Team                         P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Audioslavia                  5  4 0  1  12   4  +8  12
 2 Legalese                     5  3 0  2   9   4  +5   9*
 3 The Calanian Union           5  3 0  2   9   6  +3   9*
 4 Equestrian States            5  2 1  2   7  11  -4   7
 5 Ciqi                         5  1 1  3   2   7  -5   4
 6 Western Sunrise Islands      5  1 0  4   2   9  -7   3
* Legalese ahead of The Calanian Union on GD

Group C
Osarius 0-1 Ko-oren
Starblaydia 2-1 Sportgirls
Royal Kingdom of Quebec 1-0 Darvale

Ps Team                         P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Ko-oren                      5  3 1  1   3  1  +2 10*
 2 Starblaydia                  5  3 1  1   6  5  +1 10*
 3 Royal Kingdom of Quebec      5  3 1  1  12  4  +8 10*
 4 Osarius                      5  3 0  2  10  7  +3  9
 5 Sportgirls                   5  1 1  3   3  9  -6  4
 6 Darvale                      5  0 0  5   0  8  -8  0
* Quebec eliminated on H2H GD (-1 RKQ, 0 KOR, +1 STB), Ko-oren ahead of Starblaydia on GD

Group D
Vilita & Turori 1-2 95X
Blouman Empire 3-0 Lindmark
Greater Watford 1-1 Semarland

Ps Team                 P  W  D  L For  Ag  +/- Pts
 1 95X                  5  3  1  1 10   2   +8 10
 2 Vilita & Turori      5  3  0  2  8   4   +4  9
 3 Greater Watford      5  2  2  1  8   2   +6  8*
 4 Semarland            5  2  2  1  7   6   +1  8*
 5 Blouman Empire       5  2  0  3  5   8   -3  6
 6 Lindmark             5  0  1  4  2  18  -16  1
* Greater Watford ahead of Semarland on GD

Quarterfinal Fixtures
Valanora v Vilita & Turori @ Angelotic Temple, Longview
Audioslavia v Starblaydia @ The Battleground, Raynor City
Ko-oren v Legalese @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
95X v Farfadillis @ Hatire Memorial, Capri

[95X]

95X Defeats Vilita & Turori! Seriously.

Chance. Some picture it as a pointer on a spinning wheel. Others flip a coin or roll a die. Some 95Xers with too much time on their hands write on LiveSpace how they think they live within a computer simulation, where everything is determined by a complex setup of programs drawing upon a string of numbers that appear random.

Ask any of the men or women wearing blue and gray playing for the 95X National Team, they'd tell you a lifetime of exercise, strength and conditioning, practice, planning, and perseverance is no random number.

95X was far too prepared for their match to wonder the status of their three-way tie with Semarland and Greater Watford, as they took to the pitch at The Battleground with a 'win to stay alive' mentality. They knew both sides began each match with the same score, this would be no different. They would focus on the exact moment of the match. And they would keep pressing forward.

One snag: before taking to the field, Krista Beal pleaded her case to Marvin Stark that she be inserted into the starting lineup in place of Jordyn Third.

"I'll have none of this," Stark quieted his one player unhappy with their assignment on a team with little depth. "I'm giving you two options: sit on the sideline with your mouth closed, or consider yourself dismissed."

Beal wisely chose the first option, concluding the single petty pregame disagreement. Unknown to the 95X media or fans, Beal strongly disagreed with her reserve assignment from the minute the lineups were announced.

Xi Foureleven found herself heavily defended throughout the match, and what the young Eel Cat Things lacked in overall experience they made up for with skill and stamina. It remains unknown to the overlooking multiverse that Xi Foureleven had defeated aging and had no problems keeping up, yet her looks at the goal were downright ugly the duration of the match.

On a corner kick in the 25th minute, Xbrenna Samster's kick was deflected by a defender and pushed down the field. Tripate Falcon broke away from the sprinting 95X defenders and scored on the run in the 26th. The 1-0 score would remain on the board through halftime.

95X returned for the second half with one of their usual adjustments, pushing two of the midfielders a bit further back, and putting Myrshyll Grandview a bit further up the pitch, in sort of a 4-2-1-1-2 formation.

While it looked good on the drawing board, the offense remained stunted as defensive efforts against Xi Foureleven continued. Stark started yelling something as Foureleven was tackled rather hard in the 53rd, yet no misconduct was called against the defender nor Stark.

That's when Jordyn Third felt like she was the one player on a team with ten potted plants, something she hadn't felt the rest of the tournament. She never dared to tell anyone else, lest she be shunned by the others for the rest of her life. She knew she'd have one chance to pull things off against a top-flight national team, and a throw-in in the 57th was the time.

As Sam Seventyfifth picked up the kick and dribbled up the pitch, Third broke free from the defender and Seventyfifth made a short ground pass to her. Third looked up the field, seeing two defenders and the keeper. She pressed forward, nearly losing control as a defender picks up to her pace, yet manages to retain possession. Not taking too much time, she glares at the goalkeeper, and takes a shot from the right side as she's tackled by on opposing player. The shot is low and straight, passing between the post and the keeper's gloves. In the 59th minute, it was Jordyn Third who tied the match at 1-1.

Third got up, running screaming toward her teammates for a few congratulations. But the match was not over. And there was a favor 95X wanted to return.

A direct free kick was awarded to 95X in the 83rd, despite the game being on the line Una Solo returned the favor by taking the kick, which bulleted past the wall of defenders and put 95X up 2-1 with the match short on time.

After 5 minutes of stoppage time, it was over. 95X had not only beaten the team that had defeated them so badly in the past, they also put their own goalkeeper in the scoring statistics.

95X 2, Vilita & Turori 1
(Third :59, Solo :83; Falcon :26)

[Ko-oren]

Osarius ousts itself

The Firebirds had it all, but in the end they were their own biggest enemy. It sure wasn't Ko-oren, but it does mean that the Dragonflies are on to another adventure, this time against Legalese in Gladerial.

Group C was going to be the biggest tie ever seen. Osarius was sitting on top of it all before today's kickoff, but they ended up fourth. Ko-oren, Starblaydia and Quebec all managed ten points, because they all won on the final matchday. And that caused some headaches around Atlantian Oceania. We lost to Starblaydia, but won against Quebec, while they tied each other. Now Quebec has the best goal difference, but in the end that did not help them. They were the ones to drop out, and +1 goal difference Starblaydia and +2 goal difference Ko-oren move on.

And that marks the third goal for Ko-oren in five matches. Our fans have only seen three goals total: three for, one against. We have also won three matches, and we have lost one. Now the latest victim is Osarius, which makes it look like Ko-oren is a good team but just very frugal on the goals, scoring not more than needed... to the point where we needed the Firebirds to score in their own goal.

In the 43rd minute, Heilyn sent a long free kick flying into the Osarian 18 yard box. Now the Dragonflies only sent in three players to try to make something out of this free kick, and for some reason Chuluun made it close to the ball. Under pressure from her, one Osarian defender tried to get rid of the ball, but only passed it closer to goal. The main centreback of the Firebirds now tried to kick it for a corner, but sent it past his surprised goalkeeper instead: 1-0. This was the cue for Ko-oren to defend like there was nothing else, and most of the second half was a boring midfield battle. That was won by the Firebirds, but as soon as they got 30 metres from our goal, they were boxed out completely by our 11 defenders.

Legalese is up next, who lost the deciding Group B match to Audioslavia. They have lost two games this cycle and lucked out against the Calanian Union to secure a final eight spot on goal difference. That said, Legalese is a sturdy team, but they look beatable. Beatable by any team that isn't Ko-oren, because we have had two shots at goal... and we still needed an own goal to win.

[Vilita and Turori]

Tripate Falcon scored the lone goal for Vilita & Turori in a rare Atlantian Oceania Confederation of Assocation Football Cup defeat to long-time rivals 95X.

Heading into the match, the Eel-Cat things were atop the table on 9 points but 3 nations, 95x, Semarland and Greater Watford were just 2 points behind; threatening the Eel-Cat things place in the Quarter Finals. Vilita & Turori had previously dropped an unexpected result to Greater Watford putting them in the precarious situation where a defeat to 95X and any result other than a draw in the Semarland-Greater Watford fixture would see the Eel-Cat things eliminated from the competition. However, a win for Vilita & Turori or a draw in the Semarland v. Greater Watford match would mean a place in the Quarter Finals for Vilita & Turori.

While the Eel-Cat things got on the board early and took a 1-0 lead into the half, 95X, who would have been eliminated with a defeat, came roaring back in the second half with 2 goals to eliminate seasons of misery in regional competition against the Eel-Cat Things and propel them to the top of the group where they would get a more favorable quarter final matchups.

Luckily for Vilita & Turori, a winner never emerged from the Semarland v. Greater Watford matchup which ended all square at 1-1; allowing Vilita & Turori to sneak through to the Quarter Finals as the second place finisher in Group D.

The luck ends there, however, as the Eel-Cat things have been drawn against the tournament hosts, Valanora, in the knockout rounds. More than just the current hosts, Vilita & Turori's Quarter Final opponents are also the defending tournament champion and finished the Quarter Final phase unbeaten; the only team in the competition to survive the 5-round group stage without a defeat.

Many Vilita & Turori fans were disappointed with the lack of star power in the Eel-Cat things lineup for the 47th AOCAF competition; with the 19 year old dual-national Tripate Falcon the most experienced in the squad. Falcon, a player for Cednia Beach United, is one of a small number of players on the Vilita & Turori AOCAF squad that has Senior Domestic Club experience - not to mention National Team experience. After a poor showing during AOCAF 46 where the Eel-Cat Things failed to make the knockout round for the first time in the modern era; The football Associations of Vilita and Turori decided to make drastic changes for the AOCAF 47 lineup and go back to the roots, and invest further in youth player development. After announcing the upcoming formation of a domestic youth championship competition to comply with upcoming alterations to the UICA code of entry; it was decided that Vilita & Turori would promote the new youth league by bringing the best players from the competition up to the National Team to compete at the regional level, many of the players making their international debut.

Their competition has been fairly light so far, and they have performed admirably with 3 wins in 5 matches. However, it all changes from this point as one of, if not the most successful nations in World Cup history is now standing in the way of advancement for a very, very inexperienced Vilita & Turori side.

[Valanora]

Valanora Times
On To The Next

Farfadillis has routinely been a pain in the side of the Vanorians when it comes to the AOCAF, denying them one title and very nearly toppling them over in another Final in the AOCAF. However, that day saw the Marauders emerge victorious and claiming their first AOCAF, the first of two, the second being won in the edition previous to this one. In the match to decide the group winner, it was once more the two sides going at it in this competition, and much like the two Finals they fought, goals and glory were out in force. However like the second meeting in the Final, it would be the Marauders who would ultimately emerge victorious, with the scoreline being a bit flattering.

It is a bit of irony that it would be the quartet that everyone is worried about not seeing in the next cycle that would score the four goals that the Marauders nabbed against their southwestern regional rivals. With Fresco putting a pretty bow on the match just before the ninety minute, after opening goal by Hawk, then a quick pair bye va Drake and Soldarian before half time gave the squad a three to two lead after the first forty-five. Dandalleion had scored the second goal of the match at the thirteenth, showing his detractors that age had not completely caught up to him, while the more youthful Fuego had given Farfadillis the lead half an hour in. Yet the offensive firepower of the Marauders could not be stopped and the defense manage to find their stride in the second half, keeping Farfadillis from netting a third to make the end of the match and group all that much more interesting. Instead the game finished with the flattering four to two scoreline and both sides preparing for a date in the knockouts.

There the Marauders have the unfortunate pleasure of going up against Vilita and Turori, one of the top seeds in the tournament, after surprise defeats to Greater Watford and 95X cost the Eel Cat things the group. In a way the side are lucky to even be meeting us in the knockouts, after Semarland and Greater Watford played to a draw while 95x pulled the upset victory, leaving the pair from being able to overtake the Eel Cats. Even their own media has remarked about how the schedule had been soft and they were fortunate to even get to the knockouts, especially after the strange decision to send what appears to be more of an Di Brandini Cup squad than a true national team to the AOCAF.

For the Marauders, this match will be won by continuing to play to their strengths in the strong midfield and excellent offensive minds that hero quartet are. While the team may be playing with quite a few distractions, they can take a giant dose of joy in that they were the sole team to go through the group stages without a defeat, though the draw with Nellietopia will be a sombering reminder that any result is possible. The Eel Cat things are looking to keep the side from having the chance to add their names to the list of teams who have defended their title and the Marauders continue to play for the vindication that needs to come following their exceptionally poor World Cup cycle. It is two iron giants going at one another and only one can emerge victorious, with the edge definitely having to go to the Marauders playing on home soil. However that would make the victory for Vilita and Turori all the sweeter as they try to reclaim the title of the region's best, with World Cup champions Osarius having been ousted it is there for anyone to grasp.

[Audioslavia]

The fallout from the second-day defeat to Western Sunrise Islands had deeply affected him, but not in the way he'd expected.

The Audioslavian media, usually so quick to pounce with glee on even the most mild slip-up by the national team, so quick to label managers as cauliflowers and hound otherwise successful bosses out of jobs, met Audioslavia's poor 2-1 defeat to Western Sunrise Islands more with a sense of... acceptance. The resignation wasn't demanded on the front pages of the Herald, but instead painted across the forlorn print on the sports pages of Audioslavia's rose-leafed paper. "Here we go again" was, in fact, the leading headline on two seperate pages. Alec had always figured that there were rules against that.

After that, came the determination of the build-up to the Equestrian States game, and the cathartic hammering 5-2 victory that followed. The chest-beating after defeat of local rivals The Calanion Union followed, and the wave of which took a rather tired squad past Legalese in a Strait Derby just four days later. Weeks had passed as minutes, Audioslavia had won four from five, and all of a sudden were staring a major quarter-final in the face yet again. Alec, realising he might well be at the peak of his career as a football manager - merely days after all had seemed hopeless - had prepared his side for the quarter-final by letting his team rest up for two days before some light warm-up activities and a rigorous fitness test. One which 37 year-old captain Alec Koskinen hadn't passed. Fourteen seconds of pondering had lead Kirk to the decision not to play his captain, much to the surprise of most in the press and in the team, but to be fair most had backed him on the decision. You don't change the rules just because someone has over a hundred caps, and 37 year-olds needed to be protected, especially if - ideally - you'll need them for two more games after the quarter-final.

It was only now, standing in the tunnel, that Kirk had started to have second thoughts. His men - and woman - adorned in Audioslavia's traditional claret and green stripes, lined up alongside their opponents. Ah, their opponents. Taller, blonder, more tanned, more handsome, each looking like they'd just stepped off the set of one of those Vilitan soap-operas he'd occasionally seen at three in the afternoon after training.

Starblaydia. *That* opposition. Those crisp white shirts flecked with black and purple. The five stars above the crest. Another fellow COCANEFA nation. Starblaydia had been without silverware for generations upon generations, but then Superman hadn't done anything of note since 1993 and you still wouldn't punch him in the face if you knew what was best for you.

He racked is brains. Had they... had they even played one another since that final?

No. No, they hadn't.

You couldn't mention Starblaydia to an Audioslavian without them bringing up the World Cup 63 final. Neither could you, to be fair, mention any word beginning with 'S' without an Audioslavian mentioning it. Some were wont to bring up the result upon being asked whether they'd prefer marmite or jam on their toast. Even those who hadn't been born back in 2266 had been taught, at their mother's breast, that Karsten Eiger had most certainly not dived to earn Audioslavia their 26th minute penalty, which Eiger then scored by expertly drilling the ball down the center of the goal in the manner of an ancient Valhallan god smiting a troll with a swing of his mighty hammer. "Either way" they'd add, "he then went on to score an actual goal later on". And what a goal. Was it a long-range screamer? No. He'd had a free shot at a bouncing ball from fifteen yards and blootered it into the roof of the net past a bedazzled goalkeeper, but it was consistently voted 'goal of the century' by most Audioslavians.

Then, of course, there was that image of John Ryan grinning as the Starblaydi strike-force bickered amongst themselves upon being thwarted once again. Resplendent in his claret and green striped shirt, white bar across the front, and black shorts and socks. Audioslavia usually wore white shorts, or occasionally claret, but on this occasion - to best contrast with Starblaydi white and purple, they had worn black. It had apparently worked.

Alec looked down at the shorts of Ramon Goicoechea, one of two young defenders Alec had brought with him to Valanora, and one who was about to win only his second cap for the national team as a replacement for Alex Koskinen.

Black. And black shorts.

The omens were good.

[Farfadillis]

Guide to the Highly Dysfunctional Farf Multilinguality
Guié a la altamenté grisfuncionalé superlingualida Farfa
Guía a la altamente disfuncional mulitilingualidad Farfa
Jüíé alá êlêvátâmêçentê sífüçíônãl übérólínngüa Fârfà

Farfadillis is a country filled with non-sense. In such a tiny island, the landscape doesn't make any sense: there's sky-high mountains sweeping over the scenery if you go either north or south. Yet, at the same time, in the middle you'll find a big, dry desert bordering a very wet lake that's close to as big. In this wee island, organizations, associations, federations, and whatnot also don't make any sense - just ask people about the FFFF, the most (in)famous football association in the world, probably. Sport doesn't make much sense in this minuscule island, either. The Farf brand of football is attacking beyond reason, and its relative success a clear case of a big pile of bullshit mystery. And let's not get started on the distribution of wealth, probably the most absurd thing about this country. Some people win a million times as much as others by doing something equally or less hard than others and spend it in a very insensitive manner, while some people actually have a hard time finding food!

It is not surprising, therefore, that languages in Farfadillis are, just as all the other things mentioned, best described as 'this is very confusing and to be honest doesn't make any sense.' But, if you dig deeper into the Farf culture, and manage to avoid asking too many questions about how the heck a country managed to have people speaking drastically different languages while being at most something like two hundred metres apart, you might understand a bit more about Farf multilinguality.

Ok, let's get one thing out of the way first. Unsurprisingly, countless Farf libraries in history have been accidentally burned to the ground, leaving little information concerning Farf history. Basically, hear-say is taught as history if you go back to the era when things were stored in books. In Farfadillis, that would be fifty or so years back. Languages evolve over hundreds of years. We've got no idea how Farfadillis got this polarized. This is one of those times when it is convenient to quote the most important rule when studying Farf history: 'Whatever the reason, it's not relevant.'

Now, second thing. There's nine states in Farfadillis. They're radically different culturally-speaking, to the point where you'd be surprised (if we weren't talking about Farfadillis here) to find out there's not been any friction between them ever in so many years of history (or maybe the records about that were unintentionally conflagrated to the ground). Anyway, they're so different culturally, that they have a variety of mother tongues. Ferdullaele, Frion, Pacifista and Shotomalpa speak different variations of Farf, though everyone in the country speaks it very well (yes, even the starving kids over Ruland). Ferdullaele speaks 'pure' Farf, Frion speaks a slight mixture of Karuvan and Farf, Pacifista speaks a combination of Faroleran and Farf and, finally, Shotomalpa speaks a combination of Farf, Faroleran, Karuvan and Rulandese. Yes, even we find them confusing. Then there's Shojercia, which speaks Shojercian, basically Shotomalpa's language but even more twisted. They're a very small state, thankfully, so there's no reason to get into the specifics of their language. Let's just say it's more complicated than Rulandese and leave it at that.

Alright, that's five states down. The other four are Karuvis, Puerto Farolero, Induja and Karuvis. Karuvis speak a combination of Serbian with Slovene with Romanian with Slovak with... you get the idea. In contrast, Puerto Farolero speaks plain Faroleran (known as Spanish in many other countries, it's basically the same). Ruland speaks the infamous Rulandese language. Induja, landlocked by the other eight states, speaks a confusing yet understandable combination of the three languages mentioned in this paragraph.

Right now, we'll be focusing on the three most important languages in Farfadillis: Farf, Spanish and Rulandese. The first two are very similar. The last one is probably in some way related to Satan. With those three, you'll be able to understand the culture of the most important parts of the country. That means the ones that are relevant in the footballing world.

OK. Farf's the first thing you'll get an introduction to. This language is spoken, as we mentioned, by everyone in Farfadillis. Either fluently or nearly. If money is your thing (and so is suffering of PTSD), and you want to start a business in Farfadillis, this is the only language you'll ever need. Ferdullaele's the most economically-relevant state.

It is believed Farf originated from Spanish and French, as well as some widespread speech disability that made people end every other word with an accentuated 'e.' It's as easy to learn as any other Latin language. If you already know one, you'll pick up Farf very quickly. Please note that there's two forms of saying 'the' in Farf, and it might get confusing. It all comes down to how posh the person you're speaking to is. If posh, say 'Gre' or 'Gra' (there's gender distinction for everything in Farf). If not posh, say 'El' or 'La'. When learning the language, if at any point you feel like a mildly retarded Spanish-speaker, congratulations, you're on the right track. Or you're on the wrong track, and consequently learning Portuguese.

Of course there's many more delicate intricacies when it comes to the Farf language. But you'd get bored real quick if we started drilling into the language too much.

Alright, then there's Faroleran. It is Spanish, with 'yeismo' and 'voseo', as well as some confusing slang. Its origin is unknown, as Puerto Farolero has got a big forest and therefore loads of firewood to place irresponsibly close to libraries. Puerto Farolero's language is pretty much the same no matter how wealthy your are. This is owed in big part to the fact that Puerto Farolero's a state that's reasonably well-off and properly governed (this expression is to be applied loosely to anything Farf) to the point of not abusing its population by overburdening its working populace then paying it little to no money. Also, if to say 'you' you say 'tu' or 'usted', you'll sound very, very formal. Always use 'vos', and learn all verb conjugations that go along with it. Knowing standard Spanish will certainly let you communicate, but knowing Faroleran will let you communicate even better.

And, finally, we arrive at the most intriguing language spoken in Farfadillis. Rulandese. We hope you like diacritics, cause a vowel without a diacritic in this language is pretty much a diacritic by itself. Hope that made sense. Anyway, first off, here's a handy list you'll need:

Rulandese diacritics:
â, ê, î, ô, û
ä, ë, ï, ö, ü, ÿ
á, é, í, ó, ú, ý
à, è, ì, ò, ù
ã, õ, ñ
ç

'Whatever the reason, it's not relevant.' That's the answer to 'Why the fûçk are there so many diacritics?!' The first rule of Farf history studies sure comes in handy. The reason why we don't know this time is Ruland's the state of starvation. There were never any libraries to begin with.

Anyway, we'll give you a very quick rundown of the six categories of 'standard' diacritics. There are more, though. Please bear in mind that it's highly convenient that you know Spanish. Even better if you know Faroleran. Reason is the languages are kinda close to being barely similar. To be fair, they do have a similar structure. But that's not the kicker. The kicker is they're pronounced very similarly!

So, first off, learn Spanish or be born in Ruland if you want to learn Rulandese. Otherwise it's gonna be impossible.

Second, use your Spanish pronounciation, but bear in mind the following rules for every diacritic:
'^' means the letter has a short 'a' sound at the end. 'Drê' sounds similar to 'Drea' in Spanish.
'¨' means you should pronounce an 'e' at the end. 'Drët' sounds exactly like 'Dreet' in Spanish. There's a kicker, though. If '¨' comes before a vowel or is the last letter in the word, it sounds like an the vowel that follows the vowel that has the diacritic. That means 'a' turns into an 'e', 'e' into an 'i' and so on until 'u' turns into an 'a'. 'Drë' sounds exactly like 'Dri' in Spanish.
'´' is a simple accentuation, found in Spanish. You don't need an example here.
'`' makes vowels shorter. 'eà' sounds exactly the same as 'ê'.
'~' this squiggly line is the same as in Portuguese, but it also applies to 'o' for some mysterious reason. Except when used over an 'n'. Then it's like in Spanish.
'ç' is pronounced 'tz' in Spanish. 'Çis' would be pronounced 'Tzis'.

Therefore: 'Mâ Âlâmëómë' sounds similar to 'Maa Aalaamiómi' in Spanish.
'Dí Maozöxê' sounds similar to 'Dí Maozoexea' in Spanish. The 'x' is not pronounced the same as in Spanish though. It's pronounced 'sh' (as in English).
'Risko Kâí' sounds similar to 'Risko Kaaí' in Spanish. Actually pretty simple.
'Mâás Fôx' sounds similar to 'Maás Fox' in Spanish. For some reason, 'Fôx' is pronounced the same way as in English.
'Rübéãn Tôr' would kind of sound like 'Ruebéan Toar' in Spanish, except the 'a' would be hard to pronounce.
'Drê Röènôùjýâ' would sound kind of like 'Drea Roeenoaujyaa' in Spanish. The 'y' would be accentuated, and as there's a 'j' before it, it would sound the 'Ji' in 'Jim' (in English).
And, finally, what maybe some of you have been waiting for...
'Yurpá Mêndêlöíndçêl' is close to an indecipherable clusterfuck, even in Rulandese. It certainly doesn't roll off the tongue, at least. Buuuuut we can try. If you can pronounce 'Yurpá Meandealuíndtzeal' in Spanish on your first attempt, you're well on your way. Now don't forget that the 'a' after the 'e' when it is an 'ê' is shorter, and that the 'd' is barely audible because it's next to a 'ç'. Also, remember that as 'ö' is right next to a vowel, it's pronounced 'u'.

Hopefully you've learned something about the intriguing multilinguality of this country. Maybe there will be a second lesson, so if you've learned nothing at all, you may have a chance to not learn anything at all again. That concludes this lesson.

[Valanora]

Quarterfinals
Valanora 2-3 Vilita & Turori scorinated by Yttribia
Audioslavia 0-0[0-0 AET](4-2 PKs) Starblaydia
Ko-oren 1-1(2-1 AET) Legalese
95X 4-0 Farfadillis

Semifinal Fixtures
Vilita & Turori v Audioslavia @ Artani, Mar Sara
Ko-oren v 95X @ Angelotic Temple, Longview

[Ko-oren]

AOCAF Final Four

The Dragonflies have done what nobody expected: reach the final four. Some have maybe expected it though, but at the start of this tournament I would have had them declared legally crazy. I still would do that, knowing that Ko-oren is in the semis, as the least deserving team to be here.

We have had some luck this tournament: Osarius scoring an own goal after a low possession game. Lucky set pieces versus Quebec. In short: Ko-oren lacks any offensive impulse and the fact that we have scored even one goal this entire AOCAF so far may be called a miracle. But nothing was as crazy as yesterday. The Dragonflies did not score one (as was custom up to now. Every single game we only scored one goal), but two. In our defence, that second one was not in regular time, so we can still maintain the 'we only score once in the first 90 minutes' slogan.

In all honesty, Ko-oren started playing a very attractive game of football, for the first five minutes. 59% of possession, a shot on goal, the first minutes were promising. After that we corrected those first minutes and landed on a well known 33% with three shots on goal after ninety minutes. Legalese had the better of the game, but crucial errors in the passing department made it impossible for them to score. Anytime one of these horrible passes was intercepted by one of Ko-oren's centre backs, they were boxed in by the twenty-one players on the Ko-orenite half (Legalese playing a very 'invasive' tactic here) and simply gave a long ball over to Chuluun, who played 90 minutes without even one decent pass to her. This long ball would bounce somewhere in the Legalese half, get picked up by one of their defenders and the story would continue from there. Often the next part of the story would be incredibly similar to the bit of the story just before the new bit.

This continued for most of the game, until Eregrent managed to get a hold of one of these passes. He sped past one defender, then two defenders, and saw he had a vast amount of space on the other side of the field (with usually still fifteen out of twenty-two players stuck on the Ko-orenite half). He gave a low through ball to Wakefield who only had the goalkeeper to beat: she nearly failed, but the goalkeeper overcommitted and even though her first touch wasn't good enough for a goal, she still had an empty net and that was the Ko-orenite 1-0. What happened late in the first half was even weirder: Ko-oren conceded. Legalese got one of their many passes through the Ko-orenite last line. A shot in the low short corner was the equaliser. From this point on, both teams played more to avoid conceding another goal, even Legalese, so the referee ended the game as soon as the clock hit 90, not waiting for extra time. The fourth referee was still tinkering with the electronic system that he was required to use for extra time and for substitutions, but could not get the thing to work properly. Eagle-eyed people might have seen we would have had three minutes of extra time (one bookings and one tantrum), but thankfully the referee had enough of that.

The extra time continued on much like the first 90 minutes, and Legalese started subbing on their penalty specialists. Penalty specialists who are not brilliant at keeping the ball with them, or positioning, and that meant that Eregrent, Wakefield and Chuluun had space whenever there was a long ball flying in from Páll, Juliasterinthen or Davenport. In the 110th minute, Wakefield sent Chuluun on a mad dash for a bad pass, but she reached it before it bounced across the goal line. She then had no players offside and took her sweet time picking an intended target. This was Eregrent, and he beat the goalkeeper to a low cross at the near post: 2-1.

The Greenblues are going on to play 95X. They just beat Farfadillis 4-0, so we are in for a nice night of football. From the 95Xers, that is. As soon as the whistle sounded for the end of the game, the press representative for Ko-oren received a formal yet urgent e-mail, which they publicised most of in the ensuing press conference. "We're called 95Xers, you are not to say '95X's' and let your media know they cannot use our flag for semifinal hype purposes, and also tell your players that they should go easy on Xi Foureleven." Similar e-mails came from the already qualified nations of Vilita, Turori and Audioslavia: "Welcome, we gathered you were new in these regions of the AOCAF. 'Thanks' for not respecting regional conventions of having Valanora, Osarius or Farfadillis in the final four. Some congratulations though" and other backhanded compliments.

This also means a trip back to Longview. We have good experiences there, and we would love to beat an Osarius-tier team there again. Which shouldn't happen; a loss for Ko-oren is a win for football, and we really need to make it clear that our team needs a rehaul if we want to do anything on a global stage next World Cup. A loss should do the trick... and still I can't stop hoping for the glorious Green and Blue in the final.

[95X]

Edge of Twenty

Healthcare in 95X is rather feudal; those with plenty of resources receive world-class treatment from doctors and hospitals, while the poor hope they do not die from something easily curable.

Xi Foureleven sat on the examination table in a room at a doctor's office, waiting for one of the top physicians in 95X. As Foureleven refuses to be seen by male doctors and needed to seek private treatment in her own time outside of SC Oceanside or the 95X National Team's medical staffs, this secret appointment before the current AOCAF Cup Tournament was a long time coming.

An aging woman with mostly gray hair walks into the room, looks at her clipboard, then looks up to speak at her patient.

"Ms. Foureleven," the woman says, "I'm Dr. Hawthorne. With all due respect, it is an honor to have you at my practice."

Foureleven, trying not to insult the doctor, looked straight ahead while responding to the usual patronizing she gets from people.

"And you are welcome to purchase a ticket for any match in which I compete like any other fan. However, I am now in your stadium for your medical expertise."

Dr. Hawthorne looks at the clipboard and says, "I was hoping you could explain your secret. You see, all of the records, tests, everything, indicate your body is no different than a common twenty-year-old, and has remained as such for as far back as I looked. It's nothing I've ever seen, and I've been in practice for over thirty years."

This is actually tough for Foureleven to hear. She hoped she was aging somehow, as she had in the past.

"Furthermore," Dr. Hawthorne continued, "I've reviewed where you've been injured, but there's no indication you've ever been injured there; no muscle, bone, or ligament damage indicators whatsoever. It's as if you're regenerating yourself."

This is tough news for Foureleven, who'd hoped she was aging somehow.

---

Xi Foureleven scored two of the four 95X goals in the AOCAF Cup Quarterfinal Match versus Farfadillis. Sam Seventyfifth was first to score for 95X in the game's opening minutes, and Foureleven's first goal came nineteen minutes later.

Momentum changed shortly thereafter, with the Farves in possession a majority of the remaining time in the first half. What would have been a game-changing goal sailed past Una Solo in the 43rd and was announced by the stadium announcer such. However the referee determined the player was in an offside position and the goal was waived off.

With 45 minutes in the books, 95X led 2-0.

The second half was all-95X, with Foureleven scoring her second goal of the match and Myrshyll Grandview adding the exclamation point to cap off the rout.

95X 4, Farfadillis 0
(Seventyfifth :06, Foureleven :25 :63, Grandview :81)

[Audioslavia]

"There's only one statistic that matters" said 'Captain' Kirk, holding back a wince at what was about to be a very hack statement, "and that's the result at the end of the match".

Alec had felt inundated with statistics over the previous games. After the furore over the Bulls' early loss to Western Sunrise Islands, the nature of Audioslavia's next lot of opposition had apparently necessitated a cavalcade of statistics. "We're 1-1-1 against The Calanian Union, what do you think that means?" had been one journalist-cum-statistician's remark, to which Alec felt his silent blank-faced reply had been apt. "It'll be our eleventh match against Legalese. They'll become our most-played opposition, what do you make of that" had been another question. "Luck of the draw" came the response, in what some saw as a thinly veiled dig at Audioslavia's rivals from across the strait.

Then came Starblaydia. Alex hadn't really registered any questions asked of him, so busy were all the journalists with remembering a certain World Cup final from a generation ago, and Alex had been quick to label it as 'another generation'. 34 years had passed since the game. It was certainly time to consign it to history, even if cup-winning manager Israel Klimt had only recently retired from football management, aged 82.

One statistic that Alec had to concede was an interesting one, though, was the one that explained Audioslavia's history against Vilita and/or Turori. The Bulls had played the men from the Vilitan cove, in all three of their guises, a total of sixteen times, winning an impressive thirteen, drawing one particularly drab encounter that nevertheless came on the way to Audioslavia's first AOCAF Cup win, and losing only two.

It was, of course, the nature of those two defeats that was cause for interest.

Audioslavia, despite their utter dominance over the Vilitans and/or Turorians, had lost the two absolute most important matches to their cross-region foes. The most recent a sickening extra-time defeat in Fligsive that gave V+T the forty-first AOCAF Cup. The less recent... few Audioslavians ever talked about it. World Cup 20. A free-kick sailing into the top corner. Waves upon waves of Audioslavian attacks crashing on an unmoving Vilitan shore like the undulations of the Cove in a tropical storm. Vilita winning 1-0 in Starblaydia to condemn Audioslavia to their third World Cup final defeat in a row. The defeat had been avenged tenfold without the wounds really healing. Only that sweet, second World Cup championship, the dismantling of former regional stalwarts Andossa se Mitrin Vega, had really numbed the national psyche to that horrific defeat.

Vilita, despite losing the vast majority of the battles, had won the war against Audioslavia. Not least having landed those crushing final blows on two occasions, but also the fact that Audioslavia was now situated in Atlantian Oceania - a region the nation had staunchly refused to call itself part of for the majority of Audioslavia's existence. The acceptance of diplomatic terms that saw Audioslavia join the union in 2261 was seen as a diplomatic victory for Vilita over the more traditionalist, isolationist old-guard of Audioslavian politics. The claret island's establishment of a quasi-region up in that north-eastern quarter of the region - a largely nameless collection of rival political entities with little in common but geography - is little more than posturing. Audioslavian re-secession isn't legitimately on the cards.

Not that that'll stop some of the more ironic fans waving tongue-in-cheek We're leavin' wi' Calania banners during the match. Said fans, heard from the tunnel, were silent right now. Alex watched on as the row of bluish-tealish-brownish-orangish V+T shirts left the tunnel and strode out onto the pitch, joined by an Audioslavia side dressed all in white for the occasion.

"This is an actual, actual, factual, major tournament semi-final" said the voice in Alex's head. He ignored it.

[Valanora]

Semifinals
Vilita & Turori 4-2 Audioslavia
Ko-oren 1-1(1-2 AET) 95X

3PPo
Ko-oren v Audioslavia @ Artani, Mar Sara

Final
Vilita & Turori v 95X @ The Battleground, Raynor City

[Osarius]

((OOC: Doesn't feel right not RPing at all... so here goes))

Despite having firmly cemented his place in legend among Osarian football fans following back-to-back World Cup triumphs, Jermain Lewis has come under fire from some in the past week. His side crashed out of the AOCAF Cup in the group stages, suffering a remarkable 6-1 defeat to Quebec -- incidentally, led by a former member of Lewis' staff -- and a remarkably flat 1-0 loss against Ko-oren.

Lewis was quick to defend his players, pointing out that the squad -- an under 23 selection, as opposed to the now traditional under 25s -- was lacking experience in certain key areas. "But this is the whole point of us fielding a younger side, we want to prepare them for tournament football. Of course, we want to win the AOCAF, and things have turned out pretty badly this time, but this doesn't mean we should change our approach. It's been working just fine over the past decade, hasn't it?" Lewis challenged.

Osarius Sport Network's lead analyst Roberto Cormega is inclined to agree with the manager, with some caveats. "Jermain makes a good point about experience, but two thirds of the midfield for most of the AOCAF played in the last World Cup final. I think the issue is one of balance. There are some young players in the squad who have been in and around the squad for a while already, but there were also a lot of players who'd not been in this situation before. The pressure perhaps was a bit overwhelming in the Quebec game, given the media attention because of Jayson [Dhanda] being 'one of our own', and so on." He explained.

The Quebec game was certainly an anomaly in Lewis' tenure, and in fairness to the Osarius boss, it did seem as though several unfortunate circumstances converged, as if the fates themselves conspired to orchestrate a crushing defeat. When Sido Pudoremu -- Osarius' main forward in this age-restricted squad, given the absence of Puntoriero and Grassi -- left the game in the fourth minute after coming off the unlucky party in a violent collision, many of the Firebirds' young personnel were visibly shaken. Much like the injury to Ezio Grassi during World Cup 70 impacted other players, so did this one. And this squad had no Rodriguez, and no Acosta to cool tempers. Less than sixty seconds after the injury, Darik Samuels lost possession and in an overzealous attempt to win the ball back, nearly scythed Miller's legs clean off. The referee brandished a red card so fast, it's not clear Samuels actually saw it at first. Or at least that would explain what followed -- three more Osarians receiving bookings, after what could be termed a 'strong disagreement' with the official -- and once again, Lewis' ability to control his players was questioned.

The Osarius boss is loathe to criticise his players for emotional outbursts on the pitch, having all-but condoned the behaviour of Emanuele Riviello -- who physically assaulted a player -- in the past, and was consistent in that way after the match. "Emotions run high in football. I don't want to tell them to play like robots, so I can only let them make mistakes and learn from them." Lewis said. "People claim that I condone violent or reckless behaviour, but that's not true. How many players have you seen have outbursts like this more than once in my team?"

Against a heavily offensive side, utilising a lot of width, Osarius were always going to struggle after losing a wide player. The lack of emotional stability on the pitch didn't help either, and the reigning World Champions -- well, champion nation at least -- went into the half on the wrong end of a 3-0 scoreline. Lewis, true to form, refused to cower and resort to "damage control", sending his team out to attack yet again, but tasking Fabio Mancini -- as the most experienced player on the pitch -- with controlling the team. The Grimsby Town midfielder performed admirably in that role, adding to the already substantial pile of evidence that he is being groomed to become the long-term successor to Roque Acosta, but he could not prevent Osarius from falling further behind. When their attacks broke down, the Firebirds couldn't drop back to cover quickly enough, and Quebecois attack had simply too many bodies. In the end, you could have made a case for the result being flattering, but that would be doing a disservice to Dhanda's ruthless and well-organised side.

The Firebirds recovered with a convincing win on the next matchday, but saw Mancini, Bailey and Monroe all pick up yellow cards, and thus suspensions. Their presence was sorely missed against a typically resolute Ko-oren side in the final game of the group stage. A few conspiracy theorists have alleged that the uncharacteristically flat Osarius performance was deliberate, in an attempt to make it as difficult as possible for Quebec to progress. "I'm not even going to dignify that with a response," Lewis responded with a tone satiated in fury and disdain, when asked. "You clearly have no idea what you just suggested, so we'll forget you asked, and move on."

The lack of Mancini's driving presence in midfield, and Monroe's extremely aggressive positioning on the right was easily noticeable when looking at the seemingly disjointed nature of the Firebirds' attacks. Joanna Healy demonstrated that, while capable as a lone forward, she has a poor habit of dropping deep when service is not forthcoming. Healy's tendency to drift left the team without a point forward, and with no overlapping runner on the right, the normally balanced Osarian attack was lopsided. The Dragonflies thrived.

When a breakthrough eventually came, near to half time, it was the most undeserving of players who gave it up. Jorge Santana, slowly emerging as a serious contender to step into the rotation alongside the likes of Jaconelli, Rodriguez, Padron and Riviello, miscued a touch intended to concede a corner, wrongfooting Bartolo Monteforte.

The second half was much more of the same, with Lewis noticing that the available options were not the ones he needed -- perhaps pointing to a need for more individual versatility in his future selections -- and was unable to engineer a goal. Ko-oren were staunch defensively, flooding the middle of the park, and boxing out any attempts on the flanks. With the most creative players in the Osarian team all being central midfielders, it was a seemingly impossible task to break down a side willing to put bodies on the line. Certainly forty-five minutes wasn't enough time, and the Firebirds were booking flights home within forty-eight hours.

Lewis insists that the team will recover ahead of the World Cup qualifiers, and the youngsters who struggled will be able to make a significant impact in proceedings. "It was a learning experience," he insists. "They will come back stronger, we've seen other players do the same. They will also be surrounded by more experienced players next time around, they will be better equipped to handle the rigors or international football. We're also planning another friendly series to help prepare the younger guys, and complete the transition to a new group of players for the next few cycles. A few key pieces have retired from international football, and we have a tough challenge now to go back out there and try to win a third title in a row."

[Ko-oren]

"We finally lost! This time, they'll definitely fire the head coach! We need younger players to get used to the national team vibe, and we need some more attacking impulses! Finally we lost..."

"Uh... We lost in the semifinals. We're not out, we're still in for a bronze medal. To pretty much 99% of the population worldwide... this was still an exceptional run."

"I don't care! I'm so glad this happened... wait... semifinals... I don't think we ever did this good. Uh, that doesn't matter, I'll still type up a bit for the website. I won't let them know it was secretly a good result! I'm more determined than ever to expose this terrible team for what it is!"

Dragonflies play badly, lose game

Or, in other words, water is wet. Except for that last bit, because until so far we tended to win bad matches. Tomorrow is the third place playoff, and it would look like the Dragonflies did better than ever, you know, reaching the final four for the first time ever. But actually, as they say, defence wins championships, and in our case that didn't really work out, did it?

95X was the better team. But so were Legalese, Osarius and Quebec. Finally the Dragonflies have been exposed for the team they are: defensive, but not good enough to reach a final. Amateurs.

Aoki and Min played on the wings to keep Beaverton and Grandview off of the wings and avoid them crossing in to Foureleven and Third. Then Ko-oren had three central defenders in charge of these two, as well as any third player that could appear near the Ko-orenite goal. Heilyn and Nascimento tried playing in between the lines of 95X, especially between their offence and their midfield, trying to intercept passes and to keep them from moving the ball into the Ko-orenite half. That left Ko-oren with three players, one of which was mostly on the other half, and even Eregrent and Wakefield were on the Ko-orenite half for 80% of the time. This is the default setup for the Dragonflies: boxing the opponent out, isolating their offence from the rest of the squad, and to desperately avoid crosses. Ko-oren does not have the aerial defence to defend those, that's why.

In the end, though, the plan was a lot better than the actual game. Foureleven was on great form and scored the first 95X goal, after 43 minutes. She singlehandedly destroyed the Ko-oren morale just before half time, by placing the ball over Enshadilsa into the net. She was unguarded for just a second, and Samster managed to get a pass in right at that moment. Of course 95X was in possession. So it was no surprise they were in possession for the exact moment that Foureleven wasn't marked.

Ko-oren scored an equaliser from twenty-four metres out: Chuluun was visibly fed up with Ko-oren's slow pace, and tried to beat Solo from far out. To her surprise, the ball went right for the top corner. It hit the inside of the crossbar and only hit the ground after all of its spin was gone, seemingly seconds after the ball actually went over the line. After this, the Dragonflies were back to the usual scheme. This time, however, extra time did not go as planned. 95X scored a second goal after 112 minutes, this time Third was the lucky player as she got her head to a very early cross by Seventyfifth.

[Valanora]

3PPo
Ko-oren 1-2 Audioslavia

[Vilita and Turori]

V&T Youth Hammer through History

Eel-Cat Things stun Audioslavia, Reach Final

ARTANI, MAR SARA :: There's one thing that every as well as every Turorian - knows: Unless its a final, a match against Audioslavia is a guaranteed defeat.

So, when a highly talented but highly inexperienced batch of Vilita & Turori youngsters escaped with an incredibly unlikely upset of the defending AOCAF Champions, Valanora, in the Quarter Finals; everyone was excited. But when the draw for the Semi-Final was announced, and everyone realized Vilita & Turori's next opponent would be Audioslavia, any hint of optimism was immediately nullified.

Vilita & Turori, or Vilita, or Turori - they just don't beat Audioslavia when silverware is not on the line. It was as sure a defeat as there ever was for the Eel-Cat things. So much so, in fact, that some of the Vilita & Turori supporters who had made the trek to Valanora actually went home following the big win over the home side, instead of trying to stick around and scrounge up tickets for the Semi-Final match.

Oh, how wrong they were!

Berali Tzufarei apparently was not a scholar of history, and quickly struck to stun the Bulls, who were likely aware that the match against the Eel-Cat things was just a simple blip in the road on their clear-sailing path to another regional championship. Meanwhile, Vilita & Turori goalkeeper Nikki Tzimas, who traces ancestry through his mothers side back to Audioslavia's Calanian outpost, was thwarting the Bulls attack at every point of asking, holding the shutout through the first half. With the break looming, Tzimas got involved unexpectedly at the other end as well.

Just moments after Bulls striker Hufdis Uulver blasted 20 yards over top of the bar from the penalty spot after being wonderfully set up by Raul Capablanca, confusion ensued on the resulting goalkick. Instead of taking the usual path and blasting the ball long and into the mix, Tzimas played it short to Kwuimeki Hentetii who looked at his options up the field. At the same time, Audioslavian netminder Serge Rollins used the slow in play as an opportunity to open his chatter box, first directing his defenders movements, then, to lay some choice words into the Vilitan attackers. A back and forth between Rollins and Mirana Gotuai as Hentetii was crowded out at the half way line was seeming to escalate. With attention turning the other way, Henteti recovered smartly and was able to play the ball back to the feet of the goalkeeper Tzimas, who was at this point well out of his area. Tzimas glanced up field quickly before unleashing a thundering kick.

Realizing that this ball was not meant to be met by the head of an Attacker, Bulls netminder Rollins turned into an all-out sprint to get back on his line. He likely was never going to recover anyway, but to add injury to insult, Rollins stepped on a foreign object and lost his footing, crashing face first into the turf at about the time that Tzimas' clever punt was arriving at the net. The Vilita & Turori netminder put his arms in the air, celebrating the rare accomplishment as Rollins punched the floor in frustration.

Alexander Kirk wasted no time in yanking Rollins from the game, with Sean Patterick coming in has his replacement while Vilita & Turori also made a change, with Ikala Mravedii replacing Monner Vileai.

The shutout for Tzimas would end quickly however as Audioslavia came out firing in the second half, Espiridón Caszely being sniped in by Johan Tijgers Landhuis before pulling just inside the outside post and out of reach of Tzimas. The second half continued as a perfectly even affair, just like the first, but the nets at both end were accepting visitors this time. Tzufarei re-captured Vilita & Turori's two-goal lead on the hour mark cheekily chipping past Sean Patterick but Audioslavia pulled within one again soon after through Caszely's second of the match.

Taking a one-goal lead into the final 10 minutes of play against Audioslavia, all of the Vilita & Turori fans were just waiting for the moment, waiting for the implosion to come, waiting to see Audioslavia score two quick goals to propel them into the final.

Instead, it was the Vilita & Turori substitute Timi-sala Koarena who made the 40-yard dash in the counter attack, one on one with Patterick and cooly dribbling around the sliding challenge and walking the ball into the back of the net.

This crop of Vilita & Turori youngsters clearly had no respect for history, and no understanding of the implications of their actions. While they had defeated Audioslavia on the day, it may have signalled far, far greater ripples into the multiverse-time continuum. The war that had been waged for ages had seen its first major blip, and Vilita & Turori had better be prepared the next time they face Audioslavia in a Championship Final, as, in this new chapter in one of the multiverses oldest rivalry's; nothing was for sure anymore.

The Eel-Cat things final task: 95X. When the same two sides met in AOCAF 39, Vilita & Turori trounced their route-loving counterparts by a 7-0 scoreline. Many other less memorable victories over the years for Vilita & Turori bookended a long, long chapter of success over 95X. But true to form, this young Eel-Cat things squad has no respect for history, and already fell 1-2 in the group stage to this very same 95X squad. The two sides meet again in the final, and the question is, which history will the Eel-Cat things show a lack of respect for this time? The history of the multiverse? Or the history of Group D?

v. Audioslavia
:: Vilitan Goalscorers :: :: 4' Berali Tzufarei :: 39' Nikki Tzimas :: 59' Berali Tzufarei :: 88' Timi'sala Koarena	:: Best Player: Westii Yahaya :: Worst Player: Inbekira Ajhabekk :: Shots on Target: 8 :: Corner Kicks: 4 :: Opponent Shots: 6 :: Opponent Corners: 9

Vilita & Turori Eel Cat Things (3-5-2) ::
[GK]Nikki Tzimas, [D.]Kwuimekii Hentetii, [D.]Inbekira Ajhabekk, [D.]Monner Vileai, [ML] Teliima Loinara, [MC] Tripate Falcon, [MC]Westii Yahaya, [MC] Nubara Moafalia, [MR] Mbdiai Akarenaa, [FC]Berali Tzufarei, [FC]Mirana Gotuai
BENCH::
[FC]Wiztsana Iretziia, [FC]Meldi'ita Mungwaii, [M]Timi'sala Koarena, [M]Ikala Mravedii, [U]Tinjus Mngomeni, [D]Mikki Mayelli, [GK]Upsin Ajaara

Vilita Substitutions::
(40) - Monner Vileai >>> Ikala Mravedii
(65) - Berali Tzufarei >>> Timi'sala Koarena
(75) - Westii Yahaya >>> Upsin Ajaara

(For Future Statistical Reference)
GK:: Nikki Tzimas - [7]

D.:: Kwuimekii Hentetii - [9]
D.:: Inbekira Ajhabekk - [9]
D.:: Monner Vileai - [6]
ML:: Teliima Loinara - [8]
MC:: Tripate Falcon - [9]
MC:: Westii Yahaya - [7]
MC:: Nubara Moafalia - [6]
MR:: Mbdiai Akarenaa - [6]
FC:: Berali Tzufarei - [8]
FC:: Mirana Gotuai - [6]

Vilitan Subs Bench:
FC:: Wiztsana Iretziia - [DNP]
FC:: Meldi'ita Mungwaii - [DNP]
M:: Timi'sala Koarena - [0]
M:: Ikala Mravedii - [0]
U:: Tinjus Mngomeni - [DNP]
D:: Mikki Mayelli - [DNP]
GK:: Upsin Ajaara - [0]

[95X]

A Close Victory

It was one of those difficult moments when Marvin Stark had to motivate his troops. With the score tied at the end of regulation, he could see it in their eyes that several of the 95Xers were thinking of playing in the Cup Final instead of focusing on the additional final thirty minutes for one of the sides in the stadium.

"We've been out here ninety minutes," Stark begins, "and had we held on to our one goal lead we would be advancing right now. No more daydreaming, no more thinking ahead. We've got to earn our spot in the Final if we want to be there. Only three things are certain: we can win, and after thirty minutes we'll be shaking hands with our opponents. We want to be in the final? Let's play our best!"

The 95Xers wiped the sweat off their faces and returned to the pitch. The Dragonflies of Ko-oren also came out hard and heavy, taking two shots on goal that struck gasps from the 95X fans in attendance. Una Solo caught both, and sent the ball far up the pitch each time.

Jordyn Third was remarkable in the longest game of her career thus far. In the 112th minute, the player who was virtually unknown only a year before scored the go-ahead goal for 95X, and would lead to a win a few minutes later.

95X would play in its first AOCAF Cup Final since the 22nd edition. None of the current players are old enough to remember when Meilssa/Michelle Mitchell scored the winning goal against Hypocria, although nobody in 95X dared to ask how she could have existed just one competition ago.

A hushed sense of accomplishment filled the 95X locker rooms following the win, and the aura of fortune seemed to lift them as they learned who they'd face for the final.

"Vilita and Turori? We beat them last time!"

"We're playing in the same stadium!"

"We can do this!"

"NO!" Xi Foureleven corrects the last comment, "We WILL win! They are familiar with us, but we are familiar with them! We need to be smart about everything! Everyone, take very good care of yourselves between now and the next game!"

Everyone absorbed Foureleven's words, they all knew she was absolutely right.

95X 2-1 Ko-oren (AET)
(Foureleven :43, Third :112; Chuluun :84)

---

The preparations had been made, and the 95Xers were putting on their away dark blue kits with grey stripes, while Marvin Stark calls the team together for one final huddle before all cameras are pointed at them. Stark hands out final, numbered scouting and strategy reports printed on red paper.

The players nodded in agreement as they reviewed the report, and most looked like they did going into any other game.

Stark explained the reports' contents, collected them, and immediately ran all copies through a paper shredder.

"Now," Stark asks, "are there any pertinent final questions. Ask them now, otherwise everyone will know."

Jordyn Third slowly raises her hand, as if she needs to be called on.

"Is it normal to feel, well, normal?" she asks. This is coming from a player who's playing in her first top-level championship game.

"Yes it is," Stark replies, knowing the player who had the most to gain from the national team starting role had done just that.

[Valanora]

Final
Vilita & Turori 1-3 95X

[95X]

A Game For the Ages

The 8 PM local start time meant a very start for those watching from home, however many decided they wouldn't miss it for anything and late-night coffee and soda sales in 95X spiked in the hours before the AOCAF Cup Final kickoff. Their patience paid off as they were about to watch one incredible game.

The 95Xers came out on a furious pace, dominating possession time and holding the ball in the near midfield. With Xi Foureleven tangled up half the time, Xbrenna Samster distributed the ball to either another midfielder or Jordyn Third, causing the defense to spread. In one such instance, Third loft-passed the ball to Foureleven, who gracefully shot from twelve meters for the first goal of the game.

1-0, 95X.

Still in the first half, the Eel Cat Things seemed to learn from the previous match and most recent scoring play, while attempting to keep the chances of another 95X score to a minimum. However, on a Vilita & Turori throw-in picked up by Sam Seventyfifth, a pass to a red-hot Jordyn Third led to the second 95X goal of the first half.

2-0, 95X.

At halftime, only the commentators in the press box dared to say that "95X was only forty-five minutes away from their first major victory in decades," as no games were forty-five minutes in length. The real work in having the lead wasn't getting there, it was keeping it.

Vilita & Turori would strike the net in the second half, as Berali Tzufarei scored on a corner kick early in the second half. 95X maintained a 2-1 lead, but the veterans knew adjustments needed to be made.

That's when Xi Foureleven poured it on, schooling her defender(s) and playing unrelentless defense herself. She'd put 95X up by two goals again on a spin-move past the defense and scoring a goal in the blink of an eye. The 3-1 score would hold through the final whistle, which came at 95 minutes despite both teams playing a professional, clean match with little stoppage during the game.

The sound at The Battleground was already loud from the cheering 95X fans, who reveled in the moment.

95X 3, Vilita & Turori 1
(Foureleven :19, :73, Third :33; Tzufarei :56)