WC72 RP Thread

[Kernansquillec]

KERS GET OFF TO PERFECT START AS THE RETURN LEGS ARRIVE

The first half of qualifying ended on a slightly disappointing note as Kernansquillec were held at home by Garifunya. Yet, despite that game at the half-way point in group 11, Kernansquillec were sat in second place, a point ahead of Valladares and just a win off Krytenia who led the group. Hopes were high, but they could quite easily fade in such a tight group where a number of the favourites had yet to really make their mark. One of those favourites, HopNation, were to host the green and whites in the first of the return legs. After Kernansquillec managed to earn a draw at home, coming home with anything to show for their trip would be a result. As it turned out, the Kers managed to do even better than the first time the two teams met as they ran out 3-2 winners in Zorg. A brace from Iris who was in frighting form put her team in front after an early opener from the Hops. Blackwood seemed to have sealed the win with a little over a quarter of an hour left to play, having scored a long range shot that evaded Oeny Subanos, but Loontas score just minutes later from a corner kick to make it a nervy ending for the Kernansquillecans.

As the full time whistle blew, Green and White fans were able to celebrate their win, but also the news that rivals Valladares had been held to a surprise draw against Garifunya. Kernansquillec were now three points clear in second place ahead of their Rushmori rivals. The next game up for the Kers was a relatively easy one in theory. Minnows Kumbhalgarh had only claimed a single point since the start of qualifying and were in poor form. Broudant saw fit to rest a number of key players as important clashes against Krytenia and Valladares loomed on the horizon. In the end it proved to be a good tactical decision, despite an early Brian goal that suggested otherwise. After just six minutes Kumbhalgarh were in front with Brian finishing well past Ferly after a fortunate break in play. But, despite the goal, an upset was never really on the cards. By the 14th minute Agata De Luca used her pace to get on the end of a Käufer ball over the top of the backline. The young midfielder, who has come into her own this tournament, confidently finished to level things up.

The Kernansquillecans didn't stop there and pushed on. Lilac was able to show once again why he is the Kers' top goalscorer of the modern era as he did brilliantly to react to De Luca's deflected cross. Despite it taking a nick, diverting it behind the run of the forward, Lilac managed to change his momentum and set himself in time to get a decent contact onto the ball that send it past Brian in the Kumbhalgarh goal. Late on, the Kernansquillecans rapped things up with Poutre claiming his first goal in qualifying this season. The Louargat man hasn't been in the best of form so far and has struggled with injuries, but should take confidence from this goal that sealed all three points against the group 11 minnows.

That result, coupled with Krytenia's defeat to a rejuvenated Bears Armed gives Kernansquillec the lead of group 11 after nine games, with just five more games to come. Kumbhalgarh have already become the first side to be officially eliminated from the group. Panem, HopNation, Garifunya and Bears Armed also risk joining them over the coming matchdays unless they can pick up their form. But as it stands, it looks like the top two spots will be fought over by the top three teams, Kernansquillec, Krytenia and Valladares. While Bears Armed and HopNation may still dream of a miracle comeback, it would be quite a turnaround in events for one of the teams outside the top three to qualify for the World Cup. With Kernansquillec's next two games coming against Krytenia and Valladares, the Kers' fate will most likely be all but sealed within the next two games. Two wins would put them in a position where qualification becomes more of an expectation than a hope. Defeat in both of those games would spell all but the end of their hopes. Anything in between will give the Kers hope that they can still pull of the miracle of exiting the group of death with a ticket for the World Cup. Valladares still remain favourites to book their place in the finals, and with just three points separating them from the top two, Valladares should still qualify. But given how group 11 has been so unpredictable, anything can and probably will happen. Kernansquillecan fans will just have to hope that luck falls on their side this time.

HopNation 2 - 3 Kernansquillec
(Schytaing 19', Loontas 78' / Iris 42', 65', Blackwood 74')
Rhizome Arena, Zorg

Kernansquillec 3 - 1 Kumbhalgarh
(De Luca 14', Lilac 33', Poutre 70' / Brian 6')
The National Stadium, Kernansquillec City

# Group 11                           Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Form
1 Kernansquillec                       9    5   4   0    22   15   +7    19   XWWXXWXWW
2 Krytenia                             9    6   1   2    19   16   +3    19   WWLWXWWWL
3 Valladares                           9    4   4   1    25   18   +7    16   XWWXXWLXW
4 Bears Armed                          9    3   2   4    21   21   ±0    11   WLLLXLXWW
5 Garifunya                            9    2   5   2    19   20   −1    11   XLXWXLXXW
6 HopNation                            9    2   4   3    20   19   +1    10   XWWLXXXLL
7 Panem                                9    2   3   4    15   18   −3     9   LLXWXXWLL               Qualification position
8 Kumbhalgarh                          9    0   1   8    11   25  −14     1   LLLLXLLLL               Playoff position

[Kandorith]

Greater Vakolicci Haven, Overcome


The Greater Vakolicci Haven 1–4 Kandorith

P Group 6                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Polar Islandstates                   9    7   1   1    29   12  +17    22
2 Kandorith                            9    6   3   0    32   17  +15    21
3 United States of Devonta             9    5   1   3    18   13   +5    16
4 Crystal Empire                       9    4   3   2    17   15   +2    15
5 Communicar                           9    3   3   3    10   13   −3    12
6 Nizov                                9    2   0   7     6   16  −10     6
7 Coreyo                               9    1   1   7     8   19  −11     4
8 The Greater Vakolicci Haven          9    0   4   5     6   21  −15     4

As Kandorith was still hopeful, the winning streak continues. Kandorith has been awe striking for the past matches and carries on cheering up the fans once again. The Kandorese team is in top shape and nothing seems to bring them off their path towards the World Cup; however two heavy matches lie awaiting. Kandorith needs all support and all concentration for the upcoming matches. Communicar should, on paper, not be a problem for the Kandorese team; Polar Islandstates however. With Xí-tiang in charge, the Kandorese team has never been so successful; the only thing they need to manage now, is staying in the race.



An earlier report from the Polar Islandstates called the latest matches they played uninteresting at most; this means the Kandorese football team will give their everything to try and pry away the first place in the group from them. It has been Kandorith's mission to directly qualify for two qualifying campaigns now, with this time making the most chance. Never has Kandorith followed the first placed team so closely and have they shown such confidence in their matches. If there is any national team for the country which should qualify directly, it is Xí-tiang's team. Polar Islandstates is by far not an easy opponent; Kandorith has been lucky two times in their previous meeting; giving them the advantage in the late match, but with the current confidence and already familiarity with the team, it could give them the edge in the upcoming match, but first they have to play against Communicar.



Communicar is a well known nation to the Kandorese people, however in sports; they have never met in any competitive sport yet. Communicar met Kandorith in the away match first; which led to an uninspired draw. This time Communicar has to travel to Huanghzhé Stadium in Xíangzhou; giving Kandorith very familiar ground to play on. If Kandorith manages to defeat Communicar, it is starting to look like they are going for a record amount of points in any Kandorese qualifying campaign. The streets around the capital are already decorated in the national colours, with song and entertainment ready for the upcoming match. Even if either team loses; both fans will feel at home, as the Kandorese fans are doing their best to make every visitor feel at home.



Ever since Xí-tiang has taken over, the Kandorese football has been the buzztalk of the nation, never has football been this populair since Kandorith reaching the quarter finals in the previous World Cup. Xíanjí has long been deemed the most legendary Kandorese coach; but Xí-tiang has far surpassed him already; being the man who put Kandorith on the worldwide football theater as a serious team. The former Xiǎngzhóu Ravens and Nagato Goya coach has a clear vision, he has always wanted to surpass Xíanjí and more, his ultimate goal is to see Kandorith lift the trophy. Confident as ever, or even arrogant to some people, he is a solid mountain in the Kandorese national football history. Xí-tiang took over the team after a scandal rocked the Football Association with the previous coach, Yúan. After a very disappointing appearance from Kandorith in World Cup 70, Yúan was forced to step down as coach. Kandorith looked like it was to be eliminated; but ever since Xí-tiang stepped in, the team has had an upturn. From a losing team in World Cup 70, Kandorith still managed to get back in the race, to be eliminated later on. Now it seems, Xí-tiang is the destined coach to lead Kandorith yet again to a new glory campaign of football. The fans and nation is looking forward to the upcoming matches and as tradition; the Emperor will be present in the last round of matches played both at home and away.

[Ko-oren]

Six points - still fired

The Union is back, after three consecutive losses late into the first half of qualifying. That meant Ko-oren was found in third place, not good enough for playoffs yet. After the mid-qualification break, there would be four 'easy' opponents before the horror schedule of facing New Wolfopolis, San José Guayabal and Abanhfleft to finish off World Cup 72 qualification.

Three consecutive losses, it has been a while since the team managed that. The position of Darius Fitzpatrick, head coach, was a tough one while he had the entire break to think about what went wrong, what to do and what to change. Because at this rate, the Union would miss out on the World Cup. That's not just a bad thing because the 13th team in the world can't qualify, but it could be seen as a failure of the young Union: if the players cannot work together properly, how would 21 nations pull of that feat?

For us, the fans, it only seemed a day between the 0-1 loss to Abanhfleft and the restart of qualification against Walkany. For Fitzpatrick, it must have felt like an eternity, and for the players, waiting for a chance to redeem themselves, it must have felt like even longer.

Fictional 'stock' in Ko-oren plummeted as well after the third loss. Bookmakers increased the payout for a Ko-orenite qualification, fantasy football fanatics dropped Ko-orenite defenders from their rosters worldwide.

Then, finally, the Walkany match came. Fitzpatrick fielded his usual eleven, seemingly with the same instructions as always: "wait for Walkany to determine the pace of the game, let their players flood into our half, then strike back at double speed, catching them on the counter. If that doesn't work, work the ball through the middle for our striker to finish the job. One goal should be enough, as long as we keep our goal clean." And keeping our goal clean would be an easy feat, or at least, it has been an easy feat until the three losses. Macedo sustained a minor injury, recovered, two substitution goalkeepers were added to the roster. For the second half of qualification, Cláudia Macedo was given the green light to start again, her injury healed. But still, can you trust a goalkeeper to keep the goal clean after three lackluster games?

It turned out, fairly quickly, that apparently you can't. Leones Cleen took a free kick for Walkany to open the score 0-1. The determination to win disappeared for just a minute, but at least Chuluun put up the equaliser in the first half still, from a penalty. It wasn't a dubious penalty in the slightest, but to this day we don't know what possessed Luke Poloski to commit an unnecessary foul like that. Chuluun stepped up and she placed the ball into the left side of the goal. Not impossible to stop, but hard enough to score.

Then the second half started. Leroux came in, as did Sutherland, and later on Bahvahnin. Leroux took over for Nascimento, who was exhausted after the Olympic race he did in the first half. With Leroux, Fitzpatrick replaced pace with attacking impluse. Sutherland replaced Chuluun, for no apparent reason, but maybe also having our third striker Leroux in midfield would spice things up a bit more. The second half was unconventional in the first place, starting with Nascimento, Volkov, Eregrent and Leroux instead of Wakefield. Bahvahnin was the last to come on, for Iorweth. He didn't have a bad game, but we needed something more to get the three points here, and Bahvahnin is good at handling the pressure and making decisive plays from the back line.

This strategy paid off, in the end: Sutherland, the substitute, scored from a beautiful bicycle kick to put up Ko-oren 2-1. Poloski then scored the 2-2 and things looked bleak again. A draw was still not what we were expecting. Fitzpatrick exhausted all substitutions, so the current eleven had to score a third one to win. Three goals in one game, for the national team... not a likely event. But it happened. Another substitute, Leroux, scored the decider with a determined shot into the far corner. That was after she sent Fil Gones to buy a hotdog at one of the stadium shops: that was how much he looked out of place after Leroux' successful nutmeg.

The next game was away at Gabbindon and the Liffian Isles. Fitzpatrick avoided defeat against Walkany, could he do it again? This time against a much less inspiring opponent. Still, the final score was only 0-1. In the first half, he started Davenport with Iorweth and Bahvahnin in defence, and a midfield consisting of Nascimento, Bagaurunir, Millet and Wakefield. Nascimento, for stamina, Bagaurunir, for intercepting and taking pressure off of our back line (who could then make plays further up front), Millet's strange talent for creating space where there seems none, and Wakefield's tendency to go exactly into that open area. Leroux started in attack.

By the time the second half started, the team looked different. Juliasterinthen took his usual place in defence for Iorweth, Heilyn came on for Millet, which meant Wakefield kept hitting Gabbindon defenders, so she was taken off for Chuluun, making a 5-3-2. What exactly the purpose of this was, is still unknown, but Chuluun scored the single goal that provided us with 3 points in the 84th minute from a lousy header. Lousy, because two Gabbindon defenders missed the ball they should have easily cleared before Chuluun headed the ball.

After the game, the Union FA acted. "No consistent tactic", "Doesn't show his experience", "Doesn't know what to do after things get tough" were some of the comments picked up by hidden microphones: Darius Fitzpatrick lost his job as Union of Ko-oren head coach.

[Nassau-Hessen]

Hessen Weather A Rough Outing

Nassau Surmounts The Kings Own Again, Face Similar 1st Half Start

Nassau 3–2 Arcantova

Perhaps Group 5 should be renamed the Group of too many close one goal matches regardless of how large the skill deference is. In fact, every match day but one has had at least one 1-0 result in Group 5. This trend is not merely applicable to closely ranked teams, either. Audioslavia is especially susceptible to this, as they just barely ousted Maretta and Arcantova in such manner to retain their perfect winning record. Outside of the occasional 4-1 matches, trouncings are scarcely played. Nevertheless, Nassau has withstood most of these queerly narrow games on the side of the victor. 'Tis a trend they would repeat as the Eagles successfully warded off another underdog in home and home matches. With a fresh net-minder in the Starting XI, a second place spot in proximity, and an indubitably difficult upcoming trio (and duo of a road trip) of matches on the horizon, the Nassauites nearly outright required a win in the Pavilion to remain in the advancement picture.

The opposer in this pairing was none other than the Kings Own. The Arcantovans were thirsting for a compensation from the earlier narrow one-to-none defeat at the hands of the Eagles. However, the lack of offensive consistency of Arcantova would alleviate some of the burden of rookie goaltender Sandy Roper, who all eyes were laid on as he intended to usurp the starting slot of Falco Brambler. The first sixth of the game primarily consisted of a Nassauite offensive dominance. As a rather rare feature of the squad (Nassau bestows precedence to tact and counter-attacks over offensive surges), the general lack of experience of the Arcantovan assembly on an international scale paved way to cautiously experiment this contrasting method in real game time. This strategy was met with some quality scoring chances, but no capitalization. After the teen minutes transpired, Arcantova managed to improve their positioning to a stable neutral-zone play without much action in either polar ends. This gridlock lived for ten minutes before Noah Lindsey costly erred in lowering his guard. The exploitative #58 Sancho Bolgorro hastily stole the ball, and with much precision planted a pass past the defenders to an awaiting onside Quintus Marma-Madoc. M&M (as the squad has nicknamed Quintus, #69) from thence merely had to chip it over Abel Reeves to give the Blue & Gold a 1-0 lead in the 26th minute. Frustration set in for the Kings Own, who were unable to get a good, quality glimpse of Roper up to that point. Peter Collier, fed up with this, pushed Sancho Bolgorro around, who likewise reciprocated the hostile gesture. In the 32nd minute the couple were separated, each having received a yellow card during the affair. This appeared to rally Arcantova, as Elias Taylor was able to blaze an unassisted shot pipe-down past Sandy Roper merely a 180 seconds later in the 35th minute in one of Arcantova's first shots. The Hessen got back to business, however, and forced yet another (perhaps less neutrally stable) stalemate. Stoppage Time was soon declared for four minutes. The Nassauites, unwilling to enter half tied with the unranked, took possession at 45+1, and soon after were able to bury the ball in a fantastic tic-tac-toe pass pattern from Chubbs to Zarambaga to the scoring Sancho Bolgorro at 45+3. A minute later the whistle sounded and both teams entered their respective dressing rooms at half-time. Advantage: Nassau.

The second half arrived soon enough, and both teams entered the fray of the Ariman Pitch once more. Nassau began to pressure Arcantova a little further in the opening minutes of the second half, but the defense (as in the previous matchup between these two) stood steadfast, and Reeves gobbled up whatever efforts survived the defensive wall. In 52', a carded Bolgorro was sent to the bench for the seasoned reserve Isenberic Longhole. Arcantova then, wishing to even the score, reciprocated the offensive possession made by the Hessen, and created a slew of decent scoring possibilities against Sandy Roper. After two failed attempts by Arcantovan strikers, Darnell Lee was able to execute a corner kick Roy Ball simply couldn't refuse. In the 71st minute of play, Ball headed the ball inside to double the King's Own score and tie the Eagles. For the following fifteen minutes, efforts began to intensify. Eventually, Lionel Floyd could not manage to hit ball on a tackle, and instead submitted a moderately proximate free kick to the net for the Nassau Eagles (also getting yellow carded in the process). M&M took the kick, and with considerable pressure resting on his shoulders, expertly sunk a wonderfully curved shot to the right extremity of the net during 86', reacquiring the lead he initially gave to the Hessen. A round of substitutions immediately ensued. For Arcantova Richard Barker came in for Collier while the worn Chubbs and Zarambaga duo were subbed for a more conservative Sandybanks and Danderflaugh pairing heading into the final minutes. The full-on onslaught of the Arcantovans was finally realized and it almost felt as if a tie loomed in the night air during those final seconds despite the lead. Unfortunately for the aficionados of the King, Roper stuffed all narrowly avoided goal attempts with finesse and poise in a dazzling display of athleticism. It wasn't the prettiest outing for Roper, but he managed to get the job done at home. The final result: 3-2 Kuthoderians, with the aiding breakout of Quintus Marma-Madoc.

Of course this is also how the previous half began for the Hessen before ending it with a single victory and four losses. Nassau cannot afford to repeat recent history this time around should they wish to satisfy their eventual goals of an increase in rank and a high placed finish. This need doubles with the Pruski's incredulously surmounting the Lions by a 3-2 final, subsequently making the coveted second place slot within one meager point of Nassau with only five games remaining (not to mention there's a pivotal approximating match against the current holder of that spot). However, the painful stretch is upon us. The flawless Audioslavia (although narrowly defeating some teams that they should've blown out to pieces) lies directly ahead. After which, a little reacquaintance with more successful Beltane relatives is in order. Winning two out of three would be ideal here, but nearly impossible against such high caliber footballers. Nevertheless, hope remains. Nassau hasn't been this arguably close to qualifying for something besides the Runner Cup since inception. This win was one small step for Nassau, but a big one. Next up: Roper is to face his first real superpower team, the Audioslavians.

Match-Day #: v./@ NATION...Away Stadium (Score)

Match-Day 1: v. Prusy Krolewskie (W 4-1)
Match-Day 2: @ Arcantova...Adapolf Stadium (W 1-0)
Match-Day 3: v. Audioslavia (L 1-4)
Match-Day 4: v. Nova Anglicana (L 3-5)
Match-Day 5: @ Greater Watford...TBA (W 1-0)
Match-Day 6: v. Maretta (L 2-4)
Match-Day 7: @ Bacclieu...TBA (L 1-2)
Mid Break Day: Break
Match-Day 8: @ Prusy Krolewskie...Stadion Heinemeyer (W 2-0)
Match-Day 9: v. Arcantova (W 3-2)
Match-Day 10: @ Audioslavia...TBA
Match-Day 11: @ Nova Anglicana...Londinium
Match-Day 12: v. Greater Watford
Match-Day 13: @ Maretta...Dorchester Field
Match-Day 14: v. Bacclieu

[The Sword Bloke]

STARLARKY; SWORDEANS AGAIN EQUAL 2ND AFTER WIN

The Sword Bloke has been rocked in recent days, with the shock bombing of Owneristanol by San Jose Guayabal. The Swordean dictator Shop Owner will attend a memorial service for the many victims. The Swordean population are also affected; They are at risk of death from somebody other than Shop Owner. Luckily for them, soccer is a great distraction. And today, they had an easy game that they were red-hot favourites to win.

Against who, you ask? Starlarknia, of course. Our opponents had very little experience in the international sporting realm before being drawn in Group 20 of the World Cup. The Swordeans were 3rd in their group, being ruled out of 2nd because of the Unified Sunrise Island's better goal difference, while the Sandwiches from Sandwich Territories are first in our group.

The Swordeans had the advantage of starting off with the strong Starlarknian wind their way. McAldo & Jells Kondrii were waiting for the whistle to blow. While they were waiting, shirtless Swordean fans lifted up posters stating 'Death to all of Guayabal' & 'Prayers to Owneristanol, Bombs to SJG' among other things. The whistle blew. The game started. Jells Kondrii ran down the field. The Fans were cheering...

In the 12th minute, the Swordeans were quite unlucky, with yet another offside goal. Jells Kondrii, the fast 180cm forward was running here, there and everywhere. He this time ran another hard run, ending up passing it to an offside Daniel Barnet-Murray, who tried an awesome scissor kick goal, which unfortunately didn't work out, though it ended up in the net. Swordean fans looked like they were about to jump onto the field and kill the referee. Luckily, they didn't, because if they did, we would be forced to forfeit the game. How sad. Luckily, as I said, that did not happen. Anyways...

32 minutes of defensive play isn't anything that happens often. With the Swordeans, it does, though. Guess how long they were defensive for? 32 minutes. So in the 44th minute, the Swordeans started attacking. After a horrible Starlarknian corner by Dudey Dude went straight to John Antle. Antle passed to Kondrii, who did what he had been doing for most of the game, running. He evantually ran down to the box, before kicking it terribly, making it hit the post. It evantually rebounded to the Starlarknian goalie. Would have been a good goal by the guy who this qualifiers, finally made his return to football, 12 months after last playing for That Team, in the game he will dread for life; The day he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, and was told he would require a knee reconstruction. Luckily, that was the last, and he's back and fit now.

After half time, the Swordeans were prepared for the 2nd half, the half they are known for performing well in every day. They started off well, as usual. Jamie Haigh again continued his good form. Jells Kondrii continued his awesome running form. But at the moment there wasn't anything they could do. Until the 57th minute...

In the 57th minute, Jells Kondrii bombed it into the box for McAldo to score. McAldo was in an offside position. Yes, when he touched the ball, he was offside. Yes, the flag went up. But it just happened at the moment the courageous McAldo was pushed down by the Starlarknian defender. The ref had no choice but to give Starlarknia a red card. It was the penalty for McAldo to take. And what did he do? He slotted a Panenka kick successfully, with the goalie jumping the left while the ball smashed into the middle.

The few Swordean fans who travelled to Starlarknia erupted into cheers. McAldo hailed WorldVision, Jells Kondrii took a sip of a Swordean fan's cola, WorldVision 39 entrant One-Hit Jimson, who gave the Swordeans their highest ever position of 22nd, started singing and the fans started chanting. It was the perfect 57th minute goal.

The Starlarknians nearly slotted one in when they got a penalty. Ormond Langford's tackle on Brody Bro, however, could only warrant a yellow card. Brody Bro stood up to take his penalty kick in the 82nd minute, and... Hit the crossbar. George Haklim couldn't get his hand to it the first time. Brody Bro tried heading it in, but Haklim caught that. The Swordeans were destined to win now.

And obviously they did. The fans went wild after the victory, like they have with every other Swordean victory. The Swordeans, however, were still equal 2nd; Well, 3rd, with the Unified Sunrise Islands having a better goal difference than the Swordeans, having got a 3-0 victory on the same Saturday night as the Swordeans against Electrum. The Swordeans secured a shock 1-0 victory against the Sunrisians in their 8th matchday. Who knows how the Swordeans will progress? I don't exactly know, but they will be good, and that is a guarantee.

Next up for the Swordeans is Electrum; The Electrumites from Rushmore are 4th in our group; The Swordeans are 6 points ahead of the Rushmori nation. A win should all but guarantee that 2 of 3 nations will make it into the top 2 spots; Yours Truly, the Sandwich Territories & the Unified Sunrise Islands. Our prediction is us first and straight into the finals, while the Sunrisians just make it into the playoffs on goal difference, and win and go into the group stage. I don't know what will happen... But we will qualify.

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Gregoryisgodistan Bombs Star United States
GREGORYISGODISTAN NEWS AGENCY

Gregoryisgodistan has launched a conventional, non-nuclear bombing attack on several major cities in Star United States earlier this morning. After an ultimatum to surrender the war and send Gregoryisgodistan 9.8 million slaves expired, Lord Almighty Gregory ordered the air raids of SeaShore City and Golden City. However, due to the state of the military, it took some time to make the resources available and the bombings were not launched until this morning. Several hundred conventional bombs were detonated, destroying much of those two cities, but notably Gregoryisgodistan opted not to use nuclear weapons this time. Still, the death toll is estimated in the thousands, but not nearly as many as died in San Jose Guayabal. Many citizens survived in underground bunkers, however there is still massive devastation in those two cities. Lord Almighty Gregory promised more destruction if Star United States does not surrender, adding "Star United States will pay the price for their sins. They attack us, we attack them. It's a fair trade now. Just don't attack us again and we'll be fine. But if you do attack us again, you saw what happened to San Jose Guayabal and it will happen to you too. So just don't do it."

Meanwhile, the power grid is beginning to come back in Gregoryisgodistan, though Lord Almighty Gregory stated it should only be used for necessities and not for luxurious purposes. Not that most of those luxurious purposes would work anyway after the EMP, but surely a few electronic devices managed to survive. Still, if they are not necessary, they should not be used at this time. Lighting and stuff like that can be used, but even high-powered air conditioners should not be used. Lord Almighty Gregory did say, however, that it is fine to plug in an electric fan at this point and that should not cause issues. "Just don't plug in 200 of them," he said.

The fate of Star United States is the fate of all nations who do not recognize Lord Almighty Gregory as the God he is. They will ultimately be destroyed and perish from this Earth. That is what Lord Almighty Gregory says, and Lord Almighty Gregory is God so he must be right. All of Gregoryisgodistan applauds the efforts of our brave and noble Air Force in bombing Star United States, and mourns the pilots who were shot down by the Starian Air Force. They died martyrs for our Glorious and Holy Nation. May Lord Almighty Gregory bless their souls and guide them to the Land of Eternal Reward.

Other News

Gregoryisgodistan continues to prepare for a possible Sanctii invasion of the homeland. Should that happen, Lord Almighty Gregory promises that there will be severe revenge taken on Saintland. "Should the Sanctii invade, they will meet their fate. Our soldiers will fight back brave and strong, and we will not hesitate to bomb their country into oblivion. Our air force is still powerful in spite of the EMP attack, and we still have bombs, and we are not afraid to use them. Saintland should fear us, not the other way around. We are not afraid of the Sanctii. We will destroy them if they attack us. Don't even think about it, King Andreas, or you will be very sorry and so will your citizens."

The Gregoryisgodistani Air Force, Navy, Army, and Coast Guard are on high alert preparing for yet another invasion or assault. Whatever happens, they will fight back harshly and attack the Sanctii homeland. Gregoryisgodistan will not stand for Sanctii violence, not now, and not ever.

[Szavoda]

continued from here

After finishing their coffees on the patio, Mark led Katarina back into the house, then down a flight of stairs to a small, dark room. He flicked on a light switch at the bottom of the stairs, illuminating the room. It was a small, simple brick-built wall. There was a metal set of shelves with various beaten boxes. On first glance, they looked like ammunition boxes, although she didn’t get a proper look before her attention was turned to a large, high-tech security door, which had a huge bank-style wheel-lock.

He swung the lock open and the huge bolts of the door slid open and the door leant open. There was a blast of cold air and Katarina buttoned up her coat; Mark, stoical as ever kept his sleeves rolled up, and only put his sunglasses on top of his head. Cross stepped in, followed by Katarina. Inside was a large space, with metal racks and shelves lining all four of the concrete walls, as well as three isles down the middle, which extended for about 40m into the space. Mark flicked on another switch, and the lights hummed into life.

“Behold, the Armoury!”

Katarina took in the room. Each of the shelves and racks were stocked to the brim with a variety of weapons: assault rifles, handguns, boxes of ammunition, submachine-guns, crates of grenades and other explosives. In one corner was a collection of significantly heavier weapons – resting on a shelf was a large belt fed machine-gun, and next to it a high-tech looking rocket-launcher. Mark went to the nearest shelf and took a pistol out of one of the long sets of metal-holsters on the shelves. He then took a clip of bullets from a separate shelf. He snapped the clip in gun and handed it to Katarina, who took it hesitantly. He led her through the room to another door, which was secured by an electronic lock-pad. He typed in the code and it opened. Inside was a shooting range: 5 stations with its own set of ear-mufflers, with a 25m range in front, a variety of shaped targets at the far end.

“Obviously you’re going to be experienced with hand-guns, why don’t you have a go?”

He held the gun by the stock and Katarina removed her jacket and hung it on a peg by the door. She took the weapon and strode purposefully to the station, where she went through the pre-firing checks. She donned the protective plastic goggles and tied her hair back in a tight ponytail. It was all second nature to her, and it took her just a few seconds from a resting start to raising the gun in front of her face and squeezing off six consecutive rounds into a circular target downrange. She placed the weapon calmly on the surface and pressed the button on the side which brought the target to the front of the range. No words were needed, there were six clean holes through the innermost ring on the target. She then picked up the pistol and handed it back to Mark.

“Impressive.” He noted. “I’d expect no less from the Szavda Army.” He added somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

They returned back through the armoury, Mark describing the various forms of weaponry which Clyne used in operations, before returning upstairs and back into the house.

“One of the most secure rooms in Eura, that. Only one way in, one way out, surrounded by 1 and a half foot of reinforced steel and concrete. The door is 2 foot of pure steel, can survive a bomb being detonated practically outside it. Good thing too, we’ve got over £40 million pounds were of kit in there, enough to equip a small army.” He paused as he opened another door “Which we do!”

He led Katarina past a number of rooms with open doors: there were a number of meetings rooms, a couple of which were occupied by people, who each nodded to Mark as he passed. They reached the end of the hallway where there was another set of double doors, which had a bronzed name-tag on the left. It read, as she expected “Mark Cross, Clyne Services CEO” He snapped open the door and strode over to a desk which, like his office in Hornchurch, sat just in front of a large window with his back to the glass.

There was a chair opposite the desk and Mark gestured for Katarina to sit down, whilst he did so on his own chair. He rummaged through a draw in his desk and brought out a folder, which he opened and thumbed through, before he slid it across the table to Katarina.

“This outlines what we have planned. You’ll find on page 3 a basic outline of our new Operations team, of which you’ll be an Operative and Szavda Communications Liason. You’re currently living with Lauren Reynolds yes?”
“Yes.”
“She’ll be with you, as equals I hasten to add. Molly Hibbert-Landsman will be in charge and report back to our Out-of-State Operations manager Adam Rawlinson. There’ll be five other members of the team, plus two in-State Co-ordinators. You’ll meet them later when we have our first briefing this afternoon. I’m just giving you the inside loop now, combining it with your official entry briefing.”
“Right.”
“I’m sure you’ve read all the brochures and info, but I’d just like to extend a formal greeting on behalf of Clyne Services. It’s a true pleasure to have you aboard with us, we’ve tried a number of times to recruit Szavdas, but they’re often reluctant to join a Euran operation.”

Mark continued for another minute or so, basically repeating himself from when they met in Hornchurch, and Katarina faded in and out from looking out the window at the rolling green hills.

“It’s 11:30, we’ve got our Operational Briefing at 1pm, over lunch, which we’ll take in the dining room. So, you’ve got an hour and a half, we’ve got a lounge on the second floor where there’s a TV and some magazines. I’ve got a meeting and paperwork to attend to; I’ll see you in an hour and a half.

Cross rose and escorted Katarina out of the office and back down to the main room. He directed Katarina towards the lounge before going off and talking to a bald man in a suit and disappearing into one of the House’s many rooms. Almost exactly 90 minutes later Mark entered the lounge and told Katarina that the meeting was about to start. Mark led her downstairs, through another door to a well-lit room with wallpapered walls. There was a large table in the middle of the room, with 8 people sat round it. There were two spare chairs, one for Katarina, one for Mark. She sat down first, whilst Mark removed his coat and handed it to another suited servant.

“Katarina, meet your new team.”

[Volcanoc]

WHAT DO WE HAVE TO DEAL WITH NOW, YOU ASK ME?

A Volcanic soldier has escaped to San Jose Guayabal to help bomb The Sword Bloke. He of course, has alerted the Volcanic Government first. Here is his conversation with the Government.

"Hello, good night. This is the Volcanic Government. How may me, the male secretary, help you today?"

"Hi this is Priest Posner. Just coming by to ask for permission for something."

"Oh yes, Mr. Posner... I will direct you with the appropriate department. Please listen to this soothing music. Dance to it if needed. Put it on speaker. I don't care what you do, as long as you listen to it."

"Urm, I can get my wife to waltz it with me?"

"As I said, I do not care. Just wait for the appropriate department to speak, and listen to the music."

"OK! Mr Secretary Bossy Pants..."

"You do know my name is Priest Secretary Johncock... My younger brother plays for the national football team. He always steals the spotlight from me. But he's our football teams best player, so they won't do anything to him."

"Oh wait a second... We went to high school together?"

"Yes. Anyways, the department representive is coming in a minute. SO JUST LISTEN TO TEH DAMN MUSIC!!!!"

"Ummm... Nah. Why listen to music when you've got a Secretary on the phone? You're funny, Priest Secretary Johncock."

"Oy! It's illegal to call a Government employee by their Priestly name!"

"Or is it!"

"*sigh*..."

"Hey, our football team may qualify into the World Cup..."

"May. We dropped from 3rd to 5th."

"Oh brother..."

"NOW SHUT UP! THE DEPARTMENT REPRESENTATIVE IS HERE!"

"OK Mr."

"Hi, I'm Priest Contact Secretary Maddison. How may I help you?"

"Yea. This is Priest Posner."

"I know that, you idiot."

"No need to be rude! Anyways, can I go to San Jose Guayabal to help them bomb The Sword Bloke & Gregoryisgodistan?"

"OK. Only if 16,999 other Volcanoc soldiers can come to the Esportovan trifront."

"Why not? Volcanoc, Atlantis... Fighting in San Jose Guayabal, The Sword Bloke, Gloriax, Star United States, Gregoryisgodistan, Coconut Isle, etc."

"OK. The ships will pick everybody up tomorrow. All 8 of them."

"I don't care how we go!"

"I don't care either."

"Well, you are one generous lady. Thank you so much. We will win the war, even though we ain't in Esportiva, Atlantian Oceania or Rushmore..."

"Yes, we sure will. Bye there, Priest Posner!"

"Bye bye!"

[Stvoto Latoli]

Section: Home Page
Section: Local News
Section: Business
*** Section: Sport ***
Section: Entertainment
Section: Opinion

Aside From Ninety Seconds Of Negligence, An Annihilation

31 December 4014 - In a confident display that brought to mind memories of the game against Norrehavn back in September on Matchday One, the Maritime Empire re-entered the Group 10 playoff race with a glorious flourish. The Milchama team, on the other hand, considerably favored by the bookies last night, may have just seen their World Cup 72 qualification dreams snuffed out on an unseasonably dry and mild evening in Zhevassi. Goals from Jones and Trilliam were not enough to overcome the hosts' barrage.

While the first ten minutes were slow, exemplified by cautious play around the back from both outfits, once the teens came ticking across the game clock, the Warriors began feeling the heat. When Jabbar al Amri sent a drifting, low speed lob down the right side of the midfield circle to his Brewers teammate Heji'šagheru Eji, the Brewers veteran number ten issued forth a physics-defying mid-air trap to leave Hopper in the dust. Outdoing himself, Eji then hit a wicked ball across the pitch on the half volley. Shegalo's first touch was brilliant, chesting it inside the lunging feet of Martin, but his second was poor.

Shegalo would make up for that seven minutes later, though, in the 21st. Zhetroyzheleigu Zowbowbyuthi's meandering run out the center of defense made a few Gold-Whites fans nervous, but he evaded Vernon and Ben Ari and marched past the midfield circle. With nothing to lose, he drove the ball straight down the pitch with a dipping line-drive, hoping a defender would stupidly block it and create a loose-ball situation at the top of the eighteen-yard box (rather than allow Fletcher to collect it). Zowbowbyuthi got what he wanted, as his central-defense counterpart David awkwardly got his head to the ball, but sent it ricocheting to the feet of Irmedheghi. Stvoto Latoli's premier trequartista used a series of shake-and-bake dribbles to create space between herself and Martin, then ever-so-lightly tapped the ball ahead to Shegalo, who had sneaked in behind from the left wing. Nutmegging David, the Sunbirds' winger hammered the ball back against the direction of his run, to Fletcher's right, and with a satisfying snap of the net, it was one nil to the Maritime Empire.

This event seemed to get under the skin of the Milchama manager, and he began berating his players from the touchline in an animated, extravagant fashion for the next five minutes. Calling attention to himself in this way was a terrible idea, as a nearby steward observed that the Warriors' head coach was not wearing his WCC-mandated identifying nametag, required for all non-player staff in the pitchside area. When the fourth official got wind of this, it wasn't long before referee Emaan Akhtar was called over to address the situation, and when it became clear that visitors' manager was only going to become more belligerent as the debate continued, the Patistani peacekeeper showed him a red card. Brendan al Tameer, of course, boisterous and fun-loving as he his, opted to fan the flames by turning to the Graha'ajat crowd behind him and leading a chant of "Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Hey Goodbye" as the Milchama boss stalked down the tunnel.

Things went from bad to worse for the Warriors as five minutes later the Golden Crows doubled their advantage. Once again Zowbowbyuthi opportunistically sent the ball cannoning directly down the pitch, and once again a Milchama center back (this time Benjy) blundered by volleying the ball back to the feet of a crowd of Gold-Whites' creative midfielders. It looked like all the channels had been shut off this time, and al Amri was forced to play the ball back to Zowbowbyuthi, but the damage had been done - Milchama defense was now out of position, pulled together too centrally - and Zowbowbyuthi noticed. The Brewers center back saw Leagh Gilmore sprinting down the right side in one of the Lobyuseistvooshu fullback's signature voyages down the wing, and his first time long distance through ball found Gilmore perfectly, setting up a one-on-one with Fletcher. Stvoto Latoli's leading World Cup 72 qualifying phase goalscorer easily added another to his tally by crushing the ball near post, past the flapping arms of Milchama's goalkeeper.

But of course the second half was still to come, and when the visitors managed to shore up their defense a bit, the balance of play leveled out a bit. (That Shegalo nearly obtained a brace in the 56th minute by curling a ball into the postage stamp from his left side, forcing a spectacular diving save from Fletcher, belied the shift in overall play to Milchama's advantage.) And it looked like another late meltdown had begun in the 74th minute. A long distance Jones screamer from just outside the left side corner of the hosts' box put Milchama on the board. But that wasn't all. Confirming the age-old adage "two nil is the most dangerous scoreline to have," it was a mere 89 seconds before Lyu was again picking up the ball from the back of his own net, as Trilliam escaped Thušabhi's mark and bashed the ball hard and low past the Gold-Whites captain's fully-extended right arm.

Fans were fearful as again it appeared al Tameer would be willing to settle for a draw, bringing on defender Kuaku Gheberihiq and pulling goalscoring wingback Gilmore. Boos began to quietly become audible across the vast stands of the Graha'ajat Stidiyama. But whatever al Tameer's intention was, the Golden Crows players were having none of it. In the 84th minute, Irmedheghi won a corner by deflecting a ball off David Martin's knee, and O'Bearga's gorgeous corner kick found Zowbowbyuthi's diving head to re-establish the lead.

Determined to preserve the lead, the defense pulled out all the stops, delaying play whenever possible. (Lyu earned himself a booking for taking too long to take a goal kick.) But this negativity turned out to be unnecessary, as al Amri's stoppage time thunderbolt from thirty yards stung Fletcher's fingers before cannoning off the post and into the back of the Milchama net to put the nail in the coffin.

4 - 2

Information

Venue: Graha'ajat Stidiyama, Zhevassi, Pazhujeb Islands
Attendance: 96,000
Referee: Emaan Akhtar (Patistan)
Man/Woman of the Match: Zhetroyzheleigu Zowbowbyuthi (Stvoto Latoli)

Managers

Stvoto Latoli: Brendan al Tameer (Stvoto Latoli)
Milchama: Unknown

Squads

Stvoto Latoli: Lyu; Gilmore (Gheberihiq 76'), Zowbowbyuthi, abd al Raziq (Thušabhi 69'); al Amri, Kyle, O'Bearga, Shegalo, Eji, Irmedheghi; Athey
Milchama: Fletcher; Martin, David, Benjy (David Martin 51'); Tomas, Trilliam (Thomas Trilliam 82'), Hopper (Jones 59'); Vernon, Herthig, Ben Ari, Venton

Goals

Stvoto Latoli: Shegalo 21', Gilmore 31', Zowbowbyuthi 84', al Amri 90+1'
Milchama: Jones 74', Trilliam 75'

Next Match

Opponent: @ Saintland
Venue: Royal Stadium, St. Petrus, Saintland
Stvoto Latoli's Projected Starting XI: Lyu; Gilmore, Zowbowbyuthi, abd al Raziq; al Amri, Kyle, O'Bearga, Shegalo, Eji, Irmedheghi; Athey
Referee: Hurko Trakios (Astograth)

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

Season 6, Chapter 21: Goldeneye

Sunrise: So... what exactly happened while I was...
Sarian: Knocked out like a wimp.
Sunrise: Shut up.
Mikoto: Well... Like I said, Julia went berserk. Now she's with Prince Matthew somewhere else.
Dainer: Luckily, my assistants were able to put a tracker on Julia's shoes, so I can get traces of where they are hiding.
Sunrise: Assistants?
Dainer: Just a couple of kids I hired. Figured that since I can't take over the world thanks to the elephant in the room...
Mikoto: WHAT DID YOU CALL ME!?
Dainer: It's an expression. Since I can't take over the world, I'd rather be effective on preventing others from trying. Specially since "the Conqueror of Realms" can't figure out how to keep scouts at every place.
Mikoto: WHAT?
Dainer: Oh, ma'am, you're taking this too harshly. Think of it as incentive to develop your skills a bit more. Now I'm off. You two staying?
Sarian: Nah. Had enough fun laughing of him.
Ytt: ...You keep hanging, Sunrise. Good luck.
Sunrise: Where are you going?
Dainer: Easy. We're going to solve this problem by our own methods. Either that or get something done while you two rest.

Dainer, Ytt and Sarian walked through the corridors of the hospital, reaching the top of the building where an helicopter that would take them back home was at.

Sarian: So, what's the plan?
Dainer: Simple. If Julia has yet to notice my tracker, then we already might have all the data needed to go to her location and strike at the best moment.
Ytt: I assumed all the time we took to get here would do the deal, can't guarantee anything. You know how these things are a bit... ineffective some times.
Sarian: We can always go door to door squeezing the info out of anyone that knows anything about it, right?
Ytt: No, that would take too long...
Dainer: Precisely. And time isn't exactly on our side. So we'll have to gamble on it. Any word on the informants, Kitsunia?
Kitsunia (via phone): They're all OK. Turns out they managed to escape before she went berserk. Also, thanks for recruiting me for this. It was kinda boring.
Dainer: We need all the help we can get... I mean, the Futurnian building is almost a wreck.
Ytt: Like the old flag Esportiva had.
Sarian: That thing was disgusting...
Dainer: Enough. So, Kitsunia, anything on the tracker's data?
Kitsunia (via phone): Well... it zeroed at a location at... huh. That's odd.
Dainer: What?
Kitsunia (via phone): Zeroed at somewhere left to Generalville... Pretty sure that's off-limits.
Ytt: Would it be the remains of Joltopolis?
Kitsunia (via phone): I guess. It's a bit hard to read the name of... But seems like it.
Ytt: ...Have you tried resizing the font at Options?
Kitsunia (via phone): Yeah.
Ytt: Try Times New Roman.
Kitsunia (via phone): Yup... There we go, Joltopolis.
Dainer: This means we might need someone that has experience from those days.

Dainer then smiled, turning the helicopter at a different direction.

Dainer: Think I just know the right person for the job.

[Chiata]

Chiata Times
The War is Over for Chiata

Many people have blamed the war for just about anything. Food and gas prices higher, blame the war. It takes longer to cross province borders due to checkpoints, blame the war. You shoelace came undone, blame the war. Well now, the war-blamers have ran out of things to blame. Chiata is no longer at war.

This morning, the Chiatan Government declared that Chiata was backing out of the SETO-Gregoryisgodistan War. Henceforth, Chiata is neutral in the conflict and will look to make peace with Gregoryisgodistan and their allies. Additionally, all Chiatan soldiers are to be withdrawn from the front and taken back home. This sudden change in foreign policy has happened due to many reasons.

• The terrorists attack by San Jose Guayabal nationalists in Gregoryisgodistan was highly disproved of by the Chiatan Government. The attack happened at a stadium during a World Cup Qualifier match. Sports are meant to invoke peace and cooperation and attacking civilians is not the way to go about war. Even if Gregoryisgodistan killed civilians, that is no justification to do the same. An eye for an eye will make the world blind.
  
• San Jose Guayabala launched EMPs over Gregoryisgodistan. It is never a good thing to use nuclear weapons on a nation. EMPs fry all electronics, so the attack was not isolated on military targets. As a result, necessary functions like water supply and hospitals were put out of commission.
  
• San Jose Guayabala attacked using ICBMs on Gregoryisgodistan. To set things straight, Gregoryisgodistan launched nuclear missiles into San Jose Guayabala, so the Guayabalese were fully in their rights to retaliate. As stated above, Chiata does not support the use of nuclear arsenals. They have consequences that effect other peaceful people, primarily kill civilians, and have long after effects. Gregoryisgodistan was crazy enough to send six ICBMs of death on. San Jose Guayabala doesn't just match them blow for blow, however. They launch twenty-two sticks of nuclear death into Gregoryisgodistan.

Clearly, both of those two belligerents have gone stark raving mad. Does Mutually Assured Destruction mean anything to anyone anymore? It even has a nice acronym of MAD to get the point across. If anything, a coalition of nations should get in the war and stop it. Stop them from obliterating each other in open nuclear conflict. Chiata is lucky they got out of there when they could. Hopefully everyone can stop fighting before they ionize the southern half of Esportiva.

[Patistan]

The best news channel their is

"Our we online? Yes finally. Hello viewers you already know who I am so fuck it. Star United States had air raided Fujranwala and killed 20,000 citizens while we in return shot down one of their planes and they respective pilot is in Patistani custody. Also some days ago Star United States planes raided and destroyed the city of Turrakhbad, which is the telecommunication hub of Patistan and due to that we haven't been able to transmit anything for some days and right this very second we might abruptly stop as we are barley holding a signal. Out of the 100,000 population of Turrakhbad 5000 are presumed to be dead. Patistan in a befitting reply has decided to air raid Seashore city, a major port city of Star United States. The 2 million city was bombed for 5 hour continuously and the Patistani forces were successful in damaging the harbor.100,000 Starians are presumed to be killed including citizens and military personnel. Some boats anchored at the harbor were always damaged.

Prime Minister Imran Khan in a speech condemned King Iqbal for condemning Patistan saying that "They don't know what position we are in" he also reaffirmed that the NAP treaty was with only San Jose and not with his allies. That is all from here, may Allah be with you.

This is Khalid Raso---
*Transmisson breaks*

(OOC: I'm going on vacation so RP will be limited, so this should justify it)

[Flardania]

OOC: A little shorter than planned but something came up and got to go out to perform errands.

ボード上のきつね！
Kitsunes get first win, defeat Taeshan 1-0
Français|日本語|한국의|English
FBC News | Flardanian Broadcasting Corporation

---

Report by Aoki Muranaka

Fans in Lao Tzu Square Yurihama celebrating win

With the frustrating sense of despair and devoid of luck the Islands of the Mist had thus far in this tournament. The Kitsunes finally earned a a much needed victory in this World Cup. With the 1-0 win against Taeshan, the Kitsunes moved up from the bottom of the group and still look poised to finish in the middle of the group and meet expectations. With the clutch 80th minute goal by Josuke Ichikawa the Kitsunes fans in Megalo Mesembria were ecstatic and the defense made sure to buckle down. With this latest result the Kitsunes seek to reclaim the point's they lost to Hodife in Hodife. It is a big time match in the bottom of the group where a win can push Kirishima further up the table and a loss would put the Kitsunes back at the bottom. Can the Kitsunes get the results they deserve against the 213th team this late in qualification while on the road, can the Kitsunes keep momentum, and will the Kitsunes play better football are all questions that fans are asking.

The Kitsunes have yet to give in and are taking every obstacle head first, but won has to remember part of this situation is a result of Hikaru Kyosuke deciding to not keep some of the little veterans he had and start rebuilding. Let's take a look at the best player, the best player playing to their expectation, the dark horse, the player who will eventually be a dangerman and the biggest let down.

Joseph Yabuta- Yabuta is the best player on the team as not only he led the Nymphs to their first league title, but he's been a leader on the international stage. Even on the teams worst days, he's been going out and scoring goals to try and win games.

Ako Izumi(F)- Izumi whose been playing her first few international games has been ridiculous with ball movement and it seems that she is and will be a permanent roster member. Some of her teammates already given her the nickname "the Architect".

Ayame Fujisaka-Fujisaka was doubted the moment he was selected since people assumed he was riding on the coat tails of Papadopulos and Yabuta and his one all star showing on the final match day to clinch the title. However Fujisaka has done magnificent in defense despite the group record and seemed to earned the praise of future captain.

Miyoko Houjyou(F)- Houjyou looks bad on paper when you look at the past scoreline and her experience is very limited but the traits and potential are all there to be a magnificent goalkeeper. Don't believe it, just watch how she fared against higher ranked opponents. Give her a world cup or two and you will see her kit all around the multiverse.

Kagetoki Takishida- Takishida has been the biggest letdown so far as many people anticipated him to be the star midfielder over Izumi. Nevertheless he has struggle and time will tell if he was a spark in the can or a temporary lack of form.

Tonight's match will be away in Hodife. For those at home, games can be seen on Nagatomo Sport Network (NSN) and Saito Broadcast Channel (SBC) in Japanese or French. For those seeking English broadcast check local network listings.

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[Albaie]

Earl Edward " Lucky " Mercer looked at Erentsen and nodded as the goalkeeper pulled off a quick reaction save from one of the striker's shots. Hey may be the temporary Assistant Manager but he still took his official role as goalkeeping coach seriously and had been taking the criticism about Erentsen's recent performances to heart. In his opinion there was nothing wrong with Erentsen but the rest of the team. Edward wasn't receiving another cover at the back and under such fierce pressure, having to deal with shot after shot of course some would eventually get through. As a result of his own opinion Mercer was being especially hard on the back line putting them through every drill he could imagine especially in the mid qualification break and was trying hard to make sure that soon Erentsen would not have to be pulling so many saves out of his bag and in turn the results would improve.

Mercer had long known about Mark's problems probably he had noticed their beginning even before Mark himself. As much as he was sad to have lost such a great friend even if it was just temporary, he knew that the sabbatical was necessary if he wanted his friend to get back to normal. Edward had done as much as possible to help out Mark having taken over almost complete command of the 77th Imperial Brigade a few months back and by the end of the domestic season Mercer had been almost fulfilling all of Mark's day to day tasks, but even that hadn't been enough and Edward had been forced to watch his friend slowly sink lower and lower into the abyss that threatened to swallow him. Edward had only felt more pain for his friend as he had watched him try to fill his pain with debauchery and hedonistic nights out in the capital which had only furthered the problems. It had only furthered the problem as Mark's father still showed no signs of progressing in his recovery and still lay in the coma he had fallen into even before the Great Imperial War.

Many as soon as news of Mark's sabbatical was released had tipped Mercer to be the new interim coach to which Edward had been immensely surprised, not least because he had no real playing experience beyond youth caps but he had no previous managerial experience at anywhere near this level. If Edward had been offered it he would have turned it down anyway how could he do such a thing to not only his best friend but to a man who had been almost a father to him and would surely wake up one day. Edward to his favour was the man who knew the most about the team outside of the Deberen family so he guessed that was why some people tipped him to succeed them but Arthur Sportern was an even better appointment. Not only did he know the team quite well as the head of the IAFA but also had great international and managerial experience and was the only man that the Deberen's would trust to hold the team together in their absence with every other manager in the country having too much hatred for Albaie's premier footballing family to be allowed to only be a stop gap in their reign.

[Nova Anglicana]

6th Place - East
5th Place - East
4th Place - East
3rd Place - East
2nd Place - East

Elizabeth Avenue

Sports, Politics, Pop Culture and a whole lot more

NABL Eastern Division Preview

In the following days, we're going to be doing extensive previews of the twelve teams of the NABL, division by division. We'll begin with the Eastern Division and our projected 1st place finisher, the Aquae Sulis Trappers. All of our numbers are produced in-house by our statistics team.

Starting Lineup
Order	Name	Bats	Slash Line	wRC+	PA
1	2B Josh Jennings	R	.287/.365/.417	122	511
2	RF Matt Armstrong	L	.266/.350/.409	112	496
3	3B Cliff Hammond	R	.275/.327/.434	113	490
4	LF Devon Morris	S	.234/.302/.526	121	492
5	1B Barry Glover	R	.269/.355/.435	120	481
6	SS Jarrod Novak	R	.279/.342/.432	119	454
7	CF Colin Robbins	L	.289/.321/.388	100	470
8	C Jason Almeida	R	.234/.313/.393	94	455

Starting Rotation
Order	Name	ERA	FIP	IP	K/9	BB/9
1	LHP Brad Bryan	3.21	3.54	181	7.7	2.1
2	RHP Christian Norton	3.47	3.92	180	6.7	3.5
3	LHP Sean Ballard	3.72	4.00	169	7.6	3.3
4	RHP Rocky Christensen	4.06	4.34	153	7.0	2.6
5	RHP Marcel Laflamme	4.23	4.50	150	7.5	3.6

Biggest Projected Hitter/Pitcher Improvement: Cliff Hammond, 1.4 WAR/500 PA; Christian Norton 1.6 WAR/175 IP

Biggest Projected Hitter/Pitcher Decline: Matt Armstrong, minus-1.3 WAR/500 PA; Marcel Laflamme, minus-1.5 WAR/175 IP

Hitter With Most Projected Days Missed: Jarrod Novak, 28 days

Highest Projected Starting Pitcher DL Probability: Marcel Laflamme, 27 percent

Best Offseason Move: Signing Sean Ballard to a 3yr/AP 10 mm contract. Ballard is a good #3 starter who is going to eat some innings. He has average strikeout and walk rates, but he has an ability to limit hard-hit contact, having a LD% of 15% or fewer in three of his past four seasons (20% is league average). Credit his good changeup, and with the veteran Almeida behind the plate, he'll continue to baffle hitters.

Worst Offseason Move: Not bringing in anyone to compete with (or succeed) Almeida at catcher. The veteran still provides nearly league-average offense and has good framing numbers, but he's thirty-six and the Trappers are going to have to look elsewhere for their starting catcher perhaps as soon as next year. The current backup is Beau Baum, and his rocket arm is his only playable tool, unfortunately. The 27 year-old Baum will see probably 30 or more starts this year to keep Almeida fresh, but he's no long-term solution.

Greatest Team Strength: Both the starting lineup and the starting rotation are very strong. In the lineup, seven of eight regulars are projected to be at least league average and six of eight at least 12 percent better than league average. Josh Jennings will provide speed up top, while Devon Morris could hit 35 bombs this year. Even Jarrod Novak is projected to keep hitting at age 37. In the rotation, three starters with an ERA under 4 and a couple of wily veterans at the back of the rotation is a very solid group. This combination of hitting and starting pitching will be tough to beat.

Greatest Team Weakness: The defense. Josh Jennings plays a great 2B, and Almeida, Glover, and Armstrong are going to provide solid numbers as well. It's the rest of the defense that troubles me. Giving a 37 year-old 90+ starts at SS is going to cost the Trappers some runs, Morris has never been better than below-average in left, Hammond's range is less than ideal at 3B, and Robbins' speed in CF is mitigated by the fact that he has a weak arm and often takes sub-optimal routes to the ball. The rotation probably needs to up their strikeout totals if they want to maintain sparkling ERAs.

Player We Can’t Wait to Watch: Brad Bryan. Critics may deride him as a finesse pitcher who struggles in the big spots, but when he's on, he's a joy to watch. And he's on more often then not. Those backdoor cutters to righties that settle just on the outside black, the backfoot sliders that keep hitters off balance and flailing, and the curve ball that he drops on batters right when they're not expecting it. A Brad Bryan start is a thing of beauty.

Noteworthy Miscellaneous Stat: The Trappers allowed the fewest runs (461) in the league last year, thirty-three fewer than any other team. Some of this has to do with the .250 BABIP that Trappers hurlers allowed, but the percentage of balls that opponents really smoked, or "well-hit average", was just 12.6% (league average being about 17%). Having added Sean Ballard and his line drive suppression ability, the Trappers pitchers can avoid some of the negative effects of their mediocre defenders.

Off-Field Story Line: Building for the future. The Trappers are an amazing team right now, but they are an aging ballclub. Five of eight regulars, two starters, and four of seven bullpen arms are 30 or older. The farm system is not strong, a product of having low draft picks and a couple of high-profile busts over the years. GM Alec Thorn is going to have to figure out a way to keep this team heading in the right direction, or else owner Kirk van Buren will override him to sign past-their-prime fan favorites to four year deals at too much money.

Projected Record and Over/Under: 70-58 — OVER. The Trappers are clearly the best team in the division and we see no reason not to think they won't continue their streak of five consecutive division titles. The rest of the division is slowly catching up to them, but they're not there yet. Brad Bryan, Christian Norton, and Sean Ballard are as strong a top three starters as any in the league, and with the lineup full of great hitters they've got? Fuhgeddaboudit.

[New West Guiana]

FC United

Don Hummel with Bill Cass sat along the side lines during a open practice of the FC United players, they along with some 500 people were sitting in the hot sun watching the weekly practice. John Ute's squad was trying to get things right for the next season, as once again they fell flat in the playoffs. Three years in a row they've been the top team in the NPSL during the regular season and three times in a row they fail to win the NPSL Cup. Both Don and Bill know this isn't making John a happy person, some one who strives for excellence, matter of fact his family has a history of this, his brother Jim Ute is the new Head Coach for the national lacrosse team.

However though Bill and Don aren't here for John, they're here to meet with FCs' top player, Aaron Ronald who in the past six seasons with FC has scored 56 goals. Bill and Don wait till Aaron is done exercising for the day, currently he isn't pratcing, he walks up to Cass and sits on the bleacher next to him, Hey good to see you Bill, been a little time since I last saw you, and it is a great pleasure to meet you Mr. Hummel"

Don smiling at this gesture shakes Aarons hand, "Call me Don, no need to go all out formal, plus I hate being called Mr. hummel."

"Sorry. So what is it that you want to talk about?"[/]i

Bill laying back, [i]Aaron, for the past few weeks Don and I have been meeting players all around the league, we were hired by Todd Zien of WG Sports to put together a real professional national team, the first since the world cup qualifying round of World cup 63. And we know about your stats very well and experience, and want you to play for the nation. "

Aarons' eyes got quite large then settled back down, "Who else have you meet with?'

Don folding his arms togerher, "We;ve gone to St. Johns United to see Chris Worthhiem I think he would be a great goalie, this last season he only allowed twenty-seven goals the best overall in the league. We also went to see Frank Cunning and Derek Smith in Arlington, they both a good defensive players, they aren't light footed but make up for it in height."

"Yea, i'd have to agree both Cunning and Smith are pretty good, I can't wait to see them both next season, but I'm surprised you didn't talk with Al Shin in Gem City, he is a really great goal keeper, in his three seasons Gem City has gone to the playoffs each year and have been promoted to the NPSL. He is a tough player, apparently last year during the playoffs group stage he broke his ankle during the seventy-ninth minute but still played until the end of the match. But no disrespect to you Don, you know good players when you see them."

Don smiled at Aaron, Thank you, we also travled to port Salem to speak with Seth Fairfield I know he must be wanting to leave Real Salem, he would be a good pair with you, what you think?"

"I think so, he is a veteran been playing for about nine years, he should try to get out of Real Salem, he is just too good fro that club. But for the national team pending who the Manager is he should look in to naming Seth as captain."

Bill nodding, Well we for sure will take your opinions into consideration, we aren't finalizing anything just touring around scouting people and getting feedback, Don has been obviously helpful, though i'm trying to talk him going to New Haven with me."

Aaron sitting next to Don, Come on, give New Haven a chance they'll come a a long way, next year they have the poentional of making their first playoff appearance. They'll got a lot of guys that though aren't the best in the league they've been able to make it work, and who knows they might have the next Don Hummel."

This stirred Don up a bit look at Aaron a little uneasy, "Really, the next me, I don't know, but i'll think about it for a while. We first have to go back to Zien and talk about what we've been doing." Getting up and starting to walk toward the parking lot, he look back at Aaron, "i'll seriously consider it though."

Not part of the rp, just for me to keep track of.

MD1  Varmelle    w   4-3
MD2  @ Skarosbrekka  w   3-0
MD3  Osarius  L   0-4
MD4  @ Brenecia   T  2-2
MD5  Lymantatia  L  0-1
MD6  The Jeckish Union  L  0-1
MD7  @ Recuecn   W  2-0

MD8   @Varmelle  W  1-0
MD9   Skarosbrekka W  1-0
MD10  @ Osarius
MD11   Brenecia
MD12  @ Lymantatia
MD13  @ The Jeckish Union
MD14   Recuecn

[San Llera]

World Cup 72 Kit Contest

And now, it's the Elite Eight of the World Cup 72 Kit Contest. Half of these teams will advance to the Final Four, and the other half will be eliminated. Who's in each half? Let's find out...

Audioslavia

vs The Sarian

In an almost undecidedly close matchup, The Sarian's superior crest ended up making the difference
Winner: The Sarian

New Wolfopolis

vs Frenline Delpha



New Wolfopolis have, for the most part, have breezed through to the Elite Eight, but they have yet to face a team with a crest that can match up to their, as well as great kits. Frenline Delpha pulls the upset and advances to the Final Four.
Winner: Frenline Delpha

Eura

vs Buyan

Eura have gotten several very easy draws, and now they face a team in Buyan whose kits are complicated in a good way.
Winner: Buyan

Brenecia

vs Patistan




Patistan's first two kits are great, but the watermark on the third one is a bit weird. Meanwhile, I'm not sure what the symbol on the Brenecian kits is, but I like it.
Winner: Brenecia

Voting
Now that the Elite Eight is over, we will be moving into the Final Four, which will feature not only my input but yours. The Final Four and Championship will be decided voting. To vote, you must rank the kits 1-4 in a telegram sent to this account. All votes are due by noon (Pacific Time, UTC-7) on July 18. Anybody is eligible to vote, but a nation and its puppet only counts as one vote. The kits you rank are as follows:

The Sarian
Frenline Delpha
Buyan
Brenecia

Frenline Delpha vs Buyan
Brenecia vs The Sarian

Remember to vote, and stay tuned for the final four.

[San Jose Guayabal]

OOC: Shop Owner wasn't killed, that's a slightly changed version made just to intimidate nations that wants to attack San José Guayabal, his house was shooted from outside, he's okay, without injuries.

National Defence Council Head Quarters - San Salvador - 09:25

After the constant threats posed by Gregoryisgodistan, the situation looked a bit strange, because the enemy seemed to have the courage to keep attacking while San José Guayabal not attack it had not been attacked again, so there were no reasons make a new attack on the neighboring country, the situation now concentrated against The Sword Bloke, an insignificant nation that was attacking San José Guayabal no apparent reason, according to members of the National Defence Commission, the priority is kept Gregoryisgodistan but it was time to attack Bloke The Sword in forcefully to leave a clear message of "who's boss", as they were no longer tolerated the decisions made by The Sword Bloke as to attack San José Guayabal, was plain and simple ridiculous an attack against San José Guayabal when in fully marked status of inferiority, it was literally a suicide by The Sword of Bloke.

The Committee met again in order to plan the actions that should be made against The Sword Bloke, all members came in an appearance decide about to do against that nation, Prime Minister Camargo broke the ice and took the microphone saying "We need to attack first and last time to this nation, we must not tolerate them any movement to and teach them not to mess with us." While the Queen said in a very patriotic tone, "You have to put the trash in place, the Great Patriotic not leave, do not we let ourselves be attacked or that we were idiots, we must mercilessly attack scum. "The anger against the nation of The Sword Bloke was felt in the halls of the Royal Palace, action was necessary and the faster was better.

Colonel Saavedra said, "Why do not undertake a maritime and nuclear attack on The Sword Bloke? we must make clear who we are. "A notion that was accepted without first receiving a question from the Prime Minister," What kind of ships we send to The Sword Bloke? We must not attack the colony of them, we must attack them directly. "To which Saavedra said" Ships Blackhall that attack the main ports of that nation, especially in the capital, located on the coast and then that our troops withdraw and when it seems that everything is over, we give the final touch, direct fourteen ICBM's to The Sword Bloke and destroy that nation and perhaps cause the assassination of The Shop Owner. "That attitude was taken well by all the people involved in the decision-making table.

At Swordean EEZ - 18:30 (San Salvador Time)

The time had come, the leaders of the council does not mince words and decided to send the Blackhall boats to attack the coast of The Sword Bloke and therefore moved toward it quickly, just were the two p.m. on The Sword Bloke it was enough to make the attack in broad daylight time, the boats were separated from the convoy and headed three coastal cities, including the capital, three groups of two for each city, prepared with plenty of ammunition in order to reduce these cities to rubble while a counter-intelligence group headed to where The Shop Owner was at that time, to murder and sow fear in The Sword Bloke.

The murder was the first thing that happened, a group of three Guayabalense Soldiers infiltrated the house of The Shop Owner, said he were finishing lunch alone, the soldiers came to the room to shoot him, then they took a rope and hung from the balcony of his home for everyone to see what happened while the soldiers were firing into the air away to go to the boat they were in port and return to the ship, the first operation was in perfect shape and without much shock, then craft, to order soldiers killed The Shop Owner began throwing missiles at the main coastal cities of The Sword Bloke, causing about 3,600 deaths and a number of wounded unreported because of what happened.

The frigates returned to country in order to make way for the next part of the plan, the launch of ICBM's to The Sword Bloke, which were released at about 20:25 (San Salvador Time) and the frigates observed crossing of them, a soldier said, "There goes their destruction, those missiles." As they walked away and came already in waters of San Jose Guayabal, any problem happened next. Those ICBM's with fragmentary effect caused a great impact in the capital of The Sword Bloke, adding at least 5,600 dead and at least 2,300 wounded, the other impacts, three cities were hit squarely while an ICBM did not explode at the time of fall on land. In short, the damage was desired, that was enough to calm Bloke The Sword and put them in their respective places, causing them to stop attacking the sovereignty of San Jose Guayabal once and for all.

---

MD 10: San José Guayabal vs Walkany - Estadio Tierra de Fuego



Location: Yucuaiquín
Capacity: 105,458
Altitude: 1,256 meters above sea level
Tenants: Yucuaiquín FC
Game Timing: 20:15

The Estadio Tierra de Fuego is undoubtedly one of the most modern stadiums in the nation; with its two LED screens on both sides of the stadium and ample seating make it a favorite for the fans. Located in the city center, is a large stadium with facilities to get to there, although there tends to be exerted much pressure from fans due to the distance to the field, is a stadium where you can see large displays organized by fans with fireworks and flares, although supporters of the team of the city tend to be upper middle class. Hosted a World Cup 70 Quarterfinal and the Globe Cup 55 finals.

The Land of Fire: Yucuaiquín

Provincial Anthem - Normally played before both National Anthems

Yucuaiquín is a city located 420 kilometers north of San Salvador, inhabited by just over 500,000 people is a place characterized by its wide avenues and the Volcano "Fuego", which dominates the view and who generated the nickname city "La Tierra del Fuego" (The Land of Fire). In this city is normal to visit to the periphery in search of his other symbol, meat. It's considered the "capital of the meat" is a place where fine something cheap prices are offered meat, usually beef is accompanied with barbecue and salad with rice.

Accommodations: Fire Hotel, Urban Hotel, Daisies Lodge, Comrade Saúl Lodge, 911 Spicy Restaurant, Meat Boss Restaurant, Meat 4 U Restaurant.

Important Place: "Fuego" Volcano, Yucuaiquín

It is one of the most active volcanoes in Inferiore Minore, located thirty minutes from the city of Yucuaiquín, being elevated to 2,869 meters above sea level is a place where usually families camped in their surroundings due to its cool climate, it is not recommended to do walks into the crater but despite that the crater is regarded as a place to visit because of the volcanic lake that is found there.

[Carialus]

Carialus Bugle

"Carialus is in trouble" was all Carialus National Team Manager Schlasteur could say after the Comrades' Matchday Nine game. He is right, of course. Only five matchdays remain and Carialus is in fourth. "Honestly, everyone thought we had a decent chance to defeat Mertagne. We drew against them the first leg, so some people even expected us to win on the return leg," added Schlasteur.

The game got underway rather well for the Comrades. Mertagne was a little cautious at first, terrified of dropping more points to Carialus. They were 0-1-2 against Carialus in international play. In the 17th minute, the Comrades would be the first to score. The Mertagne keeper blocked the original shot from Kraus but couldn't hang on to it. Horak was there to kick the ball in on an open net, barely beating the center back to the ball. However, Mertagne would answer in the 32nd. Carialus was caught dead on a counter attack and the opposing team's striker had a free run against Boulos. Knowing the skills of Carialite goalkeepers, it's rather obvious what happened after that. The game was tied 1-1 at the half.

Mertagne was more confident off the ball in the second half and quickly turned the game in their favor. Carialus struggled to adjust and paid for it early on. A winger turned the corner in the box after a wonderfully timed pass from a midfielder for Mertagne. Brissa made the challenge, but failed in the tackle, and the winger shot the ball into the net, no touch. Dumont was brought off the pitch in favor of Kutej. It seemed like a fools move by Schlasteur until Kutej drove through the defense before finding Frost in stride. Frost had his marker beat and let off the shot. The goalkeeper got both gloves on the ball but couldn't handle it and it trickled in between the posts. At the 68th, the game was set for a 2-2 draw. Carialus laid back and tried their best to do the fables "parking the bus." To date, Carialus has never been able to do so and this match proved no different. It seems that Carialus' only way to not concede goals is to be constantly trying to score them. Mertagne scored in the 81st, a header off of a beautiful cross. The game ended with little stoppage time at 2-3, away team.

"Time is ticking now. We either get our heads together and figure something out, or we'll get left in the dust. Our group is wide open. With the correct attitude and drive, we might be able to sneak are way into the playoffs like last cycle," end Schlasteur.

[Krytenia]

If there was one good thing about being a journalist, Rami Niblick mused, it's that the stadium press offices give you some privacy. With the match against Bears Armed now over, and the Aces defeated for only the second time in the campaign, Rami had holed himself up in a corner of the room, poring over various notes and scribbled musings. Some were things his assistant had jotted down during the game, some were player reports from his "secret squirrels" in the Krytenian press corps that he's surreptitiously tasked to run the rule over his team and give their opinion post-match...hell, even Rubio had been kind enough to slip him a first draft of his write up to the Cy'un.

"Wimbley Wobbly" read the headline. Rami chuckled; it sounded about right given Joel Scott's needless red card.

One thing had become clear during this game, though. Rami did need to work on the team's discipline on and off the ball. Scott's indiscretion was bad enough; hell, putting your hand around the neck of an Ursine was just asking for that hand to be removed from the arm connected to it, had this not been a well-disciplined Bear-Belle. Try that in the wrong part of the Northlands and there'd be an Ursine wearing a defender's fingers as a bangle, Rami thought to himself. The midfield had also been guilty of giving up possession too easily, and doing that against the team with the most gravitational heft in the WCC was asking for trouble. Still, one bad game doesn't spoil everything, and once he'd got the upcoming post-match press conference (which Rami still thought he was on the wrong side of the table for, truth be told) out of the way, he could concentrate on a training and match plan to beat the Kers. He'd have the noise of a good seventy thousand Ousevale Borough fans to help on that one, too.

Rami's reverie was broken by the sound of the door crashing open and a woman's voice calling his name. It was a voice he recognised.

"Sam, the press conference isn't for half an hour, you know I don't..." As Rami looked up, his sentence came to a screeching halt somewhere in his trachea. Sam Crawford, who'd spent the last seven months or so coaching Rami on the art of being on the receiving end of interviews, looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards, dunked in a ditch, and then hit by a particularly gooey treacle tart. Her hair was in danger of receiving its own postcode, her mascara was doing a good impression of a polluted version of the River Diord, and the tracks of dried tears were obscured by the fresh ones rolling down her cheeks.

"They...sniff...they found him...sob...he's..."

Sam shook her head and wailed. Rami immediately embraced her, whispering "I'm sorry" quietly in her ear. The press conference could wait.

[Yttribia]

Ha ha ha ha hah.

"Look at these polls, Quentin! We're doing extremely well! It is by far a staggering lead! Sure the margin error isn't necessarily in our favour, but who cares? I don't!"

Marcella was Quentin's Chief of Staff in his election campaign. Quentin found Marcella to be an absolute sweetie, but she was just way too optimistic at times, and Quentin may have found her to be tiresome at times. However, she was Quentin's personal aide, and Marcella was grateful for her job. She always seemed to have a dedication for the craft of assisting, and this was her big moment. She was ready to show a projected parliament to Quentin, and hope for a response.

"As you can see here, this is what Parliament is projected to look like should an election take place."



"We are the light blue, correct?"

"Yes, sir."

"Why aren't we purple? That is the colour of regality, after all."

"There's already a party utilising purple, sir."

"Oh, well thank you for notifying me of our support across the nation! "

All of a sudden, the archaic fax machine began beeping, notifying a fax was incoming. Quentin, reluctant as he is, approached the machine and answered. All of a sudden, the fax machine began to spew out an invitation. This invitation, which stunned Quentin, was for a debate.

To: Quentin Pelletier
From: The Alliance for an Yttribian Democracy

Dear Mr Pelletier:

Seeing as these snap elections are bound to cause heavy tension between the monarchists and confederationalists, we ask that on behalf of the Alliance and the 64 per cent of people who support having a Prime Minister, without a king at top, to a debate for the people of Yttribia to finally decide and clear any doubts. Let us know if you are willing to debate.

Sincerely,

Dominic Lopes,
Chairman
The Alliance for an Yttribian Democracy

"Give them their debate. Marcella, announce to the public that I'll be debating 'the Alliance.' And let them know I am not going easy on them."

Quentin, wanting to live up to the hype, had a lot to overcome. This was the first in many of tasks he needed to overcome.

[Valanora]

This is the time to make your move.

Results

[Garifunya]

Part 1
Part 2

"Additionally, I am ordering the immediate arrest of Immanuel Prins."

The words shocked Immanuel Prins. He knew that this day would come. Ever since he joined the Federal Council to infiltrate "Baas" Gillaat's government and begin the democratization process, he had expected it. And yet, when the hour came, he was frozen by the imminence of his arrest. The world slowed around him. He saw Gillaat pointing at him and the soldiers moving to take him away. Was this how it was to end? Imprisoned in some dank cell and left to rot, if not executed by firing squad?

He snapped back to reality. This was not how it was going to end. He ran towards the other end of the room and pressed a button on the underside of the lacquered table and a secret doorway opened in the wall. There was a vase with a cluster of orchids on the table. He threw it at his pursuers before rushing into the tunnel. Shots ricocheted off the closing door and the walls of the passageway, but Prins paid them no mind. Left, right, left again, then a button halfway up the wall. An old butler had tipped him off to the existence of the passages, built in 1978, four years after Gillaat took power in a coup. Despite Gillaat's paranoia and the obvious importance of the Palace's secret, Prins had found, through many nights of stalking the passageways, that there were rarely more than two guards patrolling at any one time. Even then, they mostly did their duties at night. There would be nobody to stop him.

Breathing heavily, he pressed a button. Another door opened and he stepped into the kitchen. The staff, foreign and Garifunyan alike, should have been busy preparing the evening meal. As it was, they were glued to the radio, listening to a pirate radio station broadcast details of the ongoing protests. One of them spotted Prins as he emerged from the doorway.

"Mr. Prins, sir! What are you doing down here?" asked a portly black man, the sous chef.

"No time to talk, Jozef. Gillaat has ordered my arrest and I must leave now."

At that moment, shouts and cries echoed down the hallway that led to the kitchen. Jozef turned to Immanuel. "The guards are approaching! You must go! Everyone, to the doors!"

The kitchen boys, the dishwashers and the various undercooks all sprang into action. Prins hesitated for a moment. "Go now!" yelled Jozef. "We will hold them off!"

Prins bolted for the back door and headed out into the street. As he ran, he heard a shot coming from inside the building. His heart sank. He - they - all of them could not fail. He pulled out his mobile phone and dialed a number. "François? It's me. I'm heading south from the back entrance of the palace. Find me, quickly!"

********************

Meanwhile, back in the Palace, Gillaat slammed his fist down on the desk. "Verdomme! How could you idiots let him get away?!?!" He threw his hands up in the air. "Well, don't just stand there, you clodhoppers! Find him! Search the lower levels, that's where he'll be heading."

The two guards nervously saluted and rushed out of the room. Gillaat turned to face Boeker, Koel, and Kluinsteker. "How could he have known about the secret passageways?"

"It is impossible that he would have found out on his own, Mr. President. The passageways are a well-kept secret," said Koel. Sweating profusely now, he wiped his brow again with his silk handkerchief.

"Actually-" began Kluinsteker, but he quickly stopped as Boeker elbowed him in the side.

"Hmm, clearly not as well-kept as they should be," Gillaat said wryly, yet with a threatening undertone. "In any case, he can't go far. My guards will have him soon. I am sure he is behind these protests. He must be."

"A sage judgment, Mr. President," said Boeker. "Now if we could return to the subject of the protesters. My men are presently holding them back from breaching the Palace gates with tear gas and rubber bullets. If you were to authorize us to use, hmm, deadlier force, we might be able to break their will."

Koel wiped his brow again while there was a sharp intake of breath from Kluinsteker. Gillaat put a hand to his chin. "As much as I dislike shows of force like this, it appears I have no choice. You may do all in your power, including the use of lethal force, to remove these traitors from the Palace. Oh, and call the barracks as well. It wouldn't hurt to have a bit of the Laandmakt on hand in case your men lose their nerve..."

[San Llera]

News Wrap Associated Godlands
(OOC: Pretend this is Associated Godlands)
It's News Wrap Associated Godlands, the best news source for any God-fearing Obeyer.

World Hates Associated Godlands, God Hates The World

It has come to light that much of the world hates Associated Godlands. Much anti-Christian sentiment has been spread throughout the media. Here is a sampling:

Saintland: "Associated Godlands... their church is a false one." No, your church is false, Saintland. God hates you.

Elejamie: "Were they being serious with [Associated Godlands's WorldVision Entry]?" Yes, we were being serious. But if you don't want to take the Lord's word seriously, you can face His wrath.

Normandy and Picardy: "Religious rubbish" You are rubbish.

New Wolfopolis: "Their made-up guy in the sky hates us." He does. Except He's not made up.

So it's clear that Associated Godlands has plenty of haters, but, oh well, haters just gon hate.

Phelps-Roper Reportedly Unhappy with Pope Francis's Progressive Style

A recent report in the God Times has indicated that Associated Godlands National Team coach Shirley Phelps-Roper is dissatisfied with her goalkeeper's style.

"Since our national team was created, our goalkeepers have always done things the traditional way. Just stay on your line and stop shots," Phelps-Roper is reported to have said. "Pope Francis needs to go back to the old days."

Phelps-Roper declined to comment on whether this was true, as did Pope Francis.

God couldn't be reached, and therefore has not given His opinion.

Associated Godlands Fall 2-1 to The Fallenmark Islands

God's wrath has continued to rain over the Associated Godlands National Team, as they lost 2-1 to The Fallenmark Islands despite a goal from the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The loss eliminated Associated Godlands from World Cup contention.

"We definitely have a Muslim, a black person, or both hidden in our team," says Shirley Phelps-Roper. "If we didn't, why would we lose so much?"

God declined to comment.

[Krytenia]

Ker-Ching
By Rubio Sanchéz in Ousevale

SOMEWHERE in The Holy Empire, the place where dreams come from, a rotund lady is warming up for a glass-shattering aria. That song, though, is not for Krytenia - or at least, not yet. The Cinderella story of the Aces continues anew, as a capacity crowd at the Southern Arena watched agape and roared until hoarse as Kernansquillec ended up on the wrong end of a seven-goal smorgasbord of football.

After their reverse (and Joel Scott's act of complete idiocy) against a renewed Bears Armed, Krytenia had Mark Ellisham deputising at the back, whilst the visitors put out thir strongest side in a bid to stop the Aces' qualification hopes once and for all. The game, as you would expect, started at a frenetic pace as both sides fought to gain the advantage. Chances came thick and fast, as Zac Poutre forced a good save from David Heaton before Varinia Varano squirted the rebound wide, and Valrauncion fizzed one just over the crossbar from twenty yards at the other end. A first goal was never going to be long in coming, the only mystery being which net the ball would end up in. The answer, as it turned out, was Heaton's. Poutre whipped in a corner, Frenz could only half clear, and Caren Findlay was in the perfect position to thump the ball home.

The goal did nothing to slow the pace down. Both sides looked to attack in force, and it was a tiring day to be a defender as Sam Alinas and Sara Blackwood pulled their respective strings in the middle of the park. Valrauncion, again, came close, this time watching Kate Ellysa pluck his half-volley out of the air at full stretch; a save to grace any highlight reel. At the other end, Heaton was called on to tip over a Varano drive, and did well to pluck the ball from the crowd at the resulting corner. It couldn't last, though, and sooner or later something had to give. With each give, there is a take, of course; and it was Ronnie van Rijn who took the chance, skipping a Melodie Corren tackle before slotting past the keeper with a low shot to level the scores halfway through the first half. Krytenia were on a roll at this point, and straight from the restart, Liam Larsson won the ball back for the Aces, found Marco Angelo with a cross-field pass, and the Reds winger held up play just long enough to allow Valrauncion to get in perfect position for the cross and head home. Krytenia had gone from one down to one up in less than ninety seconds.

The scores, though, would be level at the break. A Frenz tackle was mistimed rather than malicious; nevertheless, it led to a free-kick thirty yards out, and the Kers played the set-piece well, the ball floated perfectly for captain Adélaïde Noupen to head home. Varano, a few minutes later, was left wondering how she hadn't got her name on the scoresheet; this time, she'd got the ball in the net, but had been denied by a late flag. A rather conternated Varano then took her frustrations out on the assistant referee, earning a yellow card in the process.

With the scores level at half-time, both sides felt the next goal would be crucial. This meant that the second half started as the first had, with both sides looking to make the all-important breakthrough. It took all of three minutes. Darren Radcliffe was the architect this time, finding Valrauncion with an inch perfect pass. The Ousevale man did what he does best, jinking past his man (well, woman) and making the goalkeeper look like a fool with a right-footed shot of deadly accuracy. All this in front of his own club fans, too...and he wasn't done yet. The Kers were making a few mistakes, now, and this allowed the serene Alinas to control the middle of the park, denying the visitors the ball, and setting up Valrauncion with a half-chance which the elf hit hard, on the volley, with his "weaker" left foot. The ball was past poor Ellysa before she'd had the chance to move. A beautiful goal, a perfect hat-trick, and surely three points for the Aces.

Or maybe not. Kernanaquillec were not quite done yet, and with a couple of changes in personnel and fresh legs, they looked dangerous once again. Isabelle Zorm took full advantage of getting a run-out, smothering Alinas in the centre, and the Kers once again had the chance to create opportunities. This was music to the ears of Varano, who finally got the better of Heaton with a curling shot that squeaked agonisingly out of reach of the Krytenian stopper and into the net off the inside of the post as if it had been guided by remote. It set up a nervy last dozen or so minutes as Krytenia held firm and Kernansquillec pushed for a winner. Rami Niblick decided to shut up shop by pulling off van Rijn for defender Mark Rossi, and it did what it needed to do as the Aces smothered the green wave of attack and inflicted Kernansquillec's first defeat of the campaign, returning the favour for Krytenia's defeat on Matchday Three.

Four games remain, and to be honest, at this stage the next three are looking quite winnable for the astonishing Aces. It's time to give the red shirts a runout in the next one, as the national team travel to the underperforming HopNation, who are all but out after losing to the hopeless Kumbhalgarh (who are our next but one opponents). Onward!

KRYTENIA - 4
van Rijn 23
Valrauncion 24, 48, 59

KERNANSQUILLEC - 3
C Findlay 9
Noupen 37
Varano 77