World Cup 78 - Roleplay Thread

[Vilita]

Football Association of Vilita, Tivali Ring Stadium, Alikki-Corra, Vilita :: Charged with reviewing the entire history of Vilitan Footsport; their participation and performance in the World Cup Final and all the factors that contributed to the Jungle Cats Triumph during World Cup 77, the 'Generation of Champions Analysis Team' (GoCat) was determined to dig deeper than any previous team, find data on the fringes and put together quality analysis that would hopefully prevent the inevitable 'Vilitan Slide' that occurs whenever the Jungle Cats triumph or near the top of the KPB rankings. The first set of statistical analysis the specially convened Football Association of Vilita GoCAT team attacked was World Cup 77 itself, starting with the World Cup 77 Qualification phase. This analysis covered all World Cup 77 Qualifying matches and the CoCAT divided themselves up into different groups covering positional analysis in segments.

With an historical policy of selecting players from a National Talent Pool throughout a qualification campaign, many different Vilitan players are given experience during the qualification cycle so that more players are able to step up when needed, and that the younger players are prepared for the occasion earlier in their career. Was the implementation of player selection policies a help, a hinderance, or a non-factor in the Jungle Cats success? With only one cups worth of data, the GoCAT still didn't know.

With the World Cup 77 Qualifying analysis complete, some GoCAT team members remained in their positional teams in order to continue similar analysis on the World Cup Finals and on prior historical campaigns.

Once World Cup 78 Qualifying was completed, one of those teams immediately dove into the data to do begin constructing a direct comparison of the Vilita National Team's World Cup 78 Qualification Campaign with the World Cup 77 Qualification Campaign that ultimately led to the Jungle Cats lifting the World Cup title.

The GoCAT Team approached their World Cup 78 Qualification Analysis the same way that they did their World Cup 77 Qualification Analysis, starting with looking at the number of appearances a player made - and starting with Goalkeepers.

Though there were 16 matches in the World Cup 77 Qualification campaign, no goalkeeper appeared more than 5 times - those appearances by Vilitan Generation of Champions hero Zelkki Milake. As was the case in World Cup 77 Qualifying, It was, for the most part, a 3-goalie system for the Jungle Cats with Yeaddin Owls prospect and Vilitan 'Goalie of the Future' Mako Canopii and Lonngeylin Coast's Cilamara Issah making 4 appearances a piece.

Despite there being two fewer qualification matches during the World Cup 78 campaign then in World Cup 77, more goalkeepers were given a chance in the National Team with Upsin Ajaara of Marine Coast United and Kalek Intafel of Alikki-Corra United making a single appearance in addition to the two appearances each made by Maratopa Inita-Arua of Makosile and Strike's Nikki Tzimas. For Intafel, it was a special appearance as the long-time National Team servent was given a 'testimonial' like appearance against Legatorum and came home with the win and a shutout in what many expected was the netminders final appearance for the Jungle Cats.

Vilitan Goalkeeper Appearances
World Cup 77 Qualification
Starts (Sub Apps) [Shutouts]

6(0) [2] - Zelkki Milake :: Eastal Lunar FC
5(2) [1] - Cilamara Issah :: Lonngeylin Coast
5(0) [3] - Mako Canopii :: Yeaddin Owls AFC
1(0) [0] - Maratopa Inita-Arua :: Makosile FC
1(0) [1] - Nikki Tzimas :: Jungle Strike FC
.
.

Vilitan Goalkeeper Appearances
World Cup 78 Qualification
Starts (Sub Apps) [Shutouts]

5(0) [1] - Zelkki Milake :: Eastal Lunar
4(0) [3] - Mako Canopii :: Yeaddin Owls AFC
3(1) [1] - Cilamara Issah :: Lonngeylin Coast
1(1) [0] - Nikki Tzimas :: Jungle Strike FC
1(1) [2] - Maratopa Inita-Arua :: Makosile FC
1(0) [1] - Upsin Ajaara :: Marine Coast United
1(0) [1] - Kalek Intafel :: Alikki-Corra

On the surface, it seemed like the perfect execution of the Vilitan Goalkeeper Rotation program.
The execution of the Vilitan Rotation Plan was executed in a very similar fashion as it was during World Cup 77 Qualifying.

The most experienced players and likely World Cup Finals goalkeepers received the majority of the work with projected starter Zelkki Milake given over one-third of the starts. Perhaps a slight shift comes in the preference of Mako Canopii, the young Yeaddin Owls AFC netminder who impressed greatly in World Cup 77 leapfrogged Ciliamra Issah to make the second-most starts and Canopii continued to impress posting a shutout in 3 of the 4 starts made during the cycle. There were, however, less matches to go around overall as not only were there two fewer games in the qualification campaign itself, more starts were given to fringe goalkeepers.

Perhaps there was something to the 'keep it fresh' mentality, however, as the Vilita National Team opened up their World Cup 78 Qualification campaign with seven consecutive shutouts. Not only were the seven consecutive shutouts the most consecutive shutout matches ever posted together by the Jungle Cats, it also equalled the total number of shutouts the Vilita National Team had posted during the entirety of World Cup 77 Qualifying.

Perhaps even more impressively six of the seven shutouts the Jungle Cats recorded to open up World Cup 77 Qualifying were recorded by different netminders. Mako Canopii started things off shutting out Mattijana 1-0. Then it was Upsin Ajaara's turn, a 2-0 victory over Natanians and Nosts. Maratopa Inita-Arua was given a surprise chance to shine against Ethane and took the chance wonderfully as Vilita won the match 3-0. Then, in the high profile match against Apox, Vilita's #1 netminder Zelkki Milake was called upon and also delivered a shutout. Cilamara Issah got on the board in the biggest of Vilita's shutout wins, a 4-0 triumph over lowly Suize, and the run was closed off with the before-mentioned Testimonial for Kalek Intafel who also produced a shutout. Only Milake, who added a second shutout in the 3-0 victory over 47th rank Sameba, was the starter for more than a single of Vilita's 7 shutouts.

"Shutout Machine" Mako Canopii would ultimately get the only three-match run of the campaign, starting consecutive matches against Suize, Sameba and Legatorum in the second half of qualifying when it became clear the Vilita National Team coaches were focused on World Cup Finals preparation. Only Milake, Canopii and Issah started for the Jungle Cats over the final 7 matches. In that stretch, only Canopii posted a shutout - two in fact against Suize and Legatorum.

With such variation in goalkeepers, however, the GoCAT began to ask the $100,000 question... Was it really the Goalkeepers who were responsible for the shutouts... or was it the Defenders?

Vilitan Defender Appearances
World Cup 77 Qualification
Appearances [Goals]

11 [2] - Endur Rotropii :: Marine Coast United
9 [1] - Linkat Cjinder :: Milona-Lpaka AFC
9 [0] - Arocki Tadalek :: Jungle Strike FC
8 [3] - Jirijii Januaa :: Milona-Lpaka AFC
7 [1] - Monner Vileai :: Tropicorp FC
7 [0] - Rintala Sekagaya :: Alikki-Corra FC
4 [1] - Mileke Drokasorna :: Colonial Sile
3 [0] - Kwuimekii Hentetii :: Rammsissil
1 [0] - Tlikao Muratai :: Lonngeylin Coast
.

Vilitan Defender Appearances
World Cup 78 Qualification
Appearances [Goals]

12 [1] - Linkat Cjinder :: Mliona-Lpaka
10 [1] - Jirijii Januaa :: Mliona-Lpaka
7 [0] - Arocki Tadalek :: Jungle Strike FC
7 [1] - Endur Rotropii :: Marine Coast United
4 [0] - Kwuimekii Hentetii :: Rammsissil
3 [1] - Monner Vileai :: Tropicorp FC
3 [0] - Mileke Drokasorna :: Colonial Sile
2 [0] - Rintala Sekagaya :: Alikki-Corra
1 [0] - Tlikao Muratai :: Lonngeylin Coast
1 [0] - Amarini Baracelv :: Alikki-Corra

As was the case with the Goalkeepers, more defenders appeared for the Jungle Cats during World Cup 78 Qualifying than in World Cup 77 Qualifying, despite the fewer amount of overall matchdays. However, there was just one extra defender involved, Amarini Baracelv - and just for one extra match. More of the load during qualifying was taken by two players, Linkat Cjinder and Jirijii Januaa. Both Cjinder and Januaa are coming off a dream cycle - not only having won the 77th World Cup Title with the Vilita National Team but also having been successful domestically with club side Mliona-Lpaka AFC, winning the UICA Champions Cup, becoming the first Vilitan League side to claim the honors since the Turoki Tide.

Champions Cup 67
.

Cjinder and Januaa stepped up to fill the gap left by Jungle Cats Captain Endur Rotropii who was dialed back to appearing in just half of Vilita's matches, likely due to the Marine Coast United stalwarts advancing age and fears of injury or over-tiredness ahead of the World Cup Finals when Rotropii's experience would be needed the most.

Of course, the statistic the GoCAT were most interested in understanding is whether or not they could correlate the Vilita National Team's record threatening 9 shutout games in the Qualification Phase to a certain series of defenders opposed to correlating with any particular Goalkeeper, which the GoCat had already determined was unlikely - even if Mako Canopii does seem to have a propensity to not allowing the opposition to score any goals.

Shutout Match Appearances

8 - Linkat Cjinder
8 - Jirijii Januaa

4 - Arocki Tadalek
4 - Kwuimekii Hentetii

2 - Endur Rotropii
1 - Monner Vileai
1 - Mileke Drokasorna
1 - Amarini Baracelv

Immediately upon viewing the data it was clear to the GoCAT that there was far more of a correlation between which defenders were playing in the match and the defensive prowess of the Vilita National Team than it was which Goalkeeper had been in the match. Even though, as the voice and commander of the defenders, the Goalkeeper often gets much of the credit and praise for a shutout performance, the Vilita National Teams propensity to rotate their goalkeepers meant stability would come from elsewhere and in World Cup 78 Qualifying that stability, unsurprisingly, came from the Mliona-Lpaka AFC duo of Linkat Cjinder and Jirijii Januaa.

Cjinder and Januaa were at the backbone of the Vilitan defense in 8 of their 9 shutout performances during the World Cup 78 Qualifying campaign. The majority of the time, Cjinder and Januaa were joined by one of either Jungle Strike FC's Arocki Tadalek or Rammsissil's Kwuimekki Hentetii. Despite appearing in 7 matches for the Jungle Cats, Endur Rotropii was only involved in 2 shutout games perhaps putting some doubt into the 34 year old's role in the starting lineup in Cosumar & Bonesea.

Meanwhile, for Jirijii Januaa, in 10 matches played 8 were shutouts and just two - The 5-2 victory over Sameba in Round 14 and the final matchday's 2-2 draw with Garifunya- when the Jungle Cats had nothing tangible left to play for, were not. Perhaps the most interesting statistic, however, came from Rammsissil's Kwuimeki Hentetii. The 28 year old had a breakthrough campaign in the eyes of the staff. While appearing in just three qualifying matches during World Cup 77 Qualifications, Hentetii made four appearances during a shorter World Cup 78 Qualification campaign... every single one of which resulted in a shutout performance by the Jungle Cats. The propensity to be involved in and play to the highest level of performance throughout the campaign likely cemented Kwuimekii Hentetii's place in the Jungle Cats World Cup 78 Finals Roster.

Champions Tour Series
Celebration & Reflection
Media Guide - Part I
Media Guide - Part II
GoCAT Reports
GoCat 77Q: Goalkeepers
GoCat 77Q: Defenders
GoCat 77Q: Midfielders
GoCat 77Q: FowardsGoCat: The Wormhole
GoCat: High Level World Cup Runs

[Turori]

Citizens Falling Hard in Finals
Cocoabo Advance to Olympic Games Knockout Round

For a more complete backstory regarding Cocoabo Forest please visit the Historical Record on the Atlantian Oceania Forum

Alesund Stadion, Amotath, Parougan Fief, Cosumar :: The decision was an easy one for the Football Association of Turori. They had layed out the guidelines. 8 matches each. Score the most points and get a trip to the World Cup Finals.

It was the Citizen Squad that scored the most points - 20, compared with the Cocoabo Squad who scored just 17. That should have been the end of it. The Citizens packed their bags and headed for Cosumar while the Cocoabo were rounded up and sent to Kelssek and Vekaiyu to compete in the XII Summer Olympic Games.

Things were supposed to be easy. But the conservationists wouldn't let it go. They knew how big it would be for the Cocoabo Preservation movement if a Cocoabo were to appear in a World Cup Finals match. Media outlets across the multiverse would pick up the story. No longer would Cocoabo Preservation be a Turorian matter. The Cocoabo would Transcend the Vilitan Cove. Donations would pour in from Esportiva, Rushmore, Sonnel and beyond. It was not to be, however. The Cocoabo had lost. Despite the protests from Preservationists at the Football Association of Turori headquarters in Eelandii, there would be no changing course. The Football Association of Turori were true to their word. The results on the pitch were all that mattered. Points talked.

So, two matchdays into the World Cup Finals, with the Turori National Team on the verge of failing to claim a single point in the World Cup for the fourth straight cycle, the Football Association of Turori had another decision to make. If results on the pitch were all that mattered, then clearly something had to be done.

Even though, by all accounts, the Citizen Squad was playing well, they weren't scoring any points. Against the number three team in the world, Farfadillis, Turori had the most chances. They just didn't finish them. Makakio got the only goal for the Eels but Farfadillis responded with three rather ridiculous tallies late in the second half that turned the match on its head. Farvish captain Ruy Monrazón got the winner and G. Q. Disterfred II looked shell shocked as what looked like it was going to be a famous victory and the start of a long World Cup run for the Eels quickly became a humiliating defeat and put Turori on the brink of an early exit.

That early exit was all but confirmed one matchday later when the Citizen Squad once again struggled to find the back of the net. Although the Eels conceded just a single goal in this match, it was enough to cost them all 3 points as they were shut out and put into a situation where only the most extreme, improbable result on the final matchday could see them advance beyond the group stage for the first time since World Cup 72.

Speaking of World Cup 72, it was eventual World Cup runners-up Eura who Eliminated Turori from competition and ended their hopes for World Cup Glory by a 2-3 scoreline in the Equestrian States. Similarly, one cycle prior during World Cup 71 it was also elimination at the hands of Eura, this time a 2-2 draw in Yttribia that saw Eura advance on penalty kicks to the Semi Final.

Some of the players on Turori's Citizen Squad played in those eliminations at the hands of Eura, and would certainly love an opportunity to get revenge on their foes. With only one game remaining for Turori in World Cup, perhaps now was their chance.

While it would take a miracle plus help for the Eels to make it to the knockout round - they would have to defeat Eura by at least four goals while Farfadillis claim victory over Drawkland - There is still a chance for Turori to knock Eura out of the competition either way - just as Eura had done to them on multiple prior occasions - should Turori defeat Eura while Drawkland claim at least a point against Group Leaders Farfadillis.

The real question, however, is whether or not the Citizen Team was the right team for the job. While they scored more points against lesser opposition in World Cup Qualifying, they had performed about the same as the Cocoabo Squad when considering only results against similarly ranked opposition. Further more, the Citizen Squad hadn't won a single World Cup Finals match since World Cup 73 and hadn't advanced out of the Group Stage since World Cup 72. Perhaps they just didn't have what it takes.

Meanwhile, over in Novonaya and Provinsk the Cocoabo were taking scalps left and right in the Olympic Games. While all Cocoabo are treated equally back in the Cocoabo Forest and during their stay with the Turori National Team, they were split into two teams upon arrival at the Games - Male Cocoabo on one team, Female Cocoabo on another.

The Female Squad had a tough time in their opening match falling 0-2 to the Orion Islands team. They scored their first goal of the tournament in the second match against Schottia but the Schottian team had 3 of their own to take another victory away from the Cocoabo Forest team. The Female Cocoabo finally got a point on the board in the third match following a one-all draw with the Teremaran Unified Team. However, the result almost certainly eliminated the Lady Cocoabo from any possibility of advancing to the knockout rounds.

On the Men's side, however, it has been a very different experience for the Cocoabo Forest team. Led by Cocoabo #91 and Cocoabo #99 fresh off their goal-scoring exploits in World Cup 78 Qualifying, the dynamic duo picked up right where they left off back in the Island Emirate opening the Olympic Games with a 2-0 victory over Elejamie. Things really broke open in the Cocoabo's second match, however. In hostile territory competing against the host nation the Cocoabo Forest men's team slotted seven goals past a helpless Robert Desrosiers. The CF Outeneau netminder was pulling the ball out of the back of the net time after time after time and it didn't appear that the end would ever come. There was a moment of respite for the home squad when Innisfail County's Rémy Dionne netted a consolation tally for the hosts but the emphatic victory cemented the Cocoabo as Gold Medal challengers.

With their tiebreakers seemingly set the Cocoabo just needed to stay the course and they continued on track during their third matchday with a narrow but necessary 3-2 victory over Novumera. The win put the Cocoabo Forest team on 9 points after just three matches and also served to guarantee Cocoabo Forest a place in the knockout rounds. It is not yet known who the Cocoabo Forest will play in the knockout portion of the competition but it does appear that the Mens Football side remains Cocoabo Forest's best shot at a Gold Medal in these Olympic Games.

It led the Football Association of Turori to wonder... While it wouldn't be proper at all... maybe they should have just been fielding an all-male Cocoabo team after all?

With just one Cocoabo officially a part of their World Cup 78 Finals Roster - Cocoabo #85 - a goalkeeper, the Football Association Really didn't have many options with regard to fielding Cocoabo in their lineup in the final match against Eura. But they figured it couldn't hurt. Worst case, Turori loses yet again. Its not like the blame would be place on the Cocoabo. It was the Citizen Squad who put them in the hole to begin with. Plus then maybe the Preservationists would all go home and stop protesting in front of the Football Association of Turori headquarters in Eelandii.

Football Association officials decided to do a roll call to see if any other Cocaobo were in Cosumar. Cocoa-bo had a few, but they were mostly there for marketing purpose and weren't trained for sport. Tropicorp had brought some as well for experiments in the cool weather. They had hoped to arrange an exhibition 5 v 5 match with some Vloo but couldn't find enough Vloo interested in sport or going out in the blustery Parougan weather for the event. Of them, the only Cocoabo with National Team experience was Cocoabo #46.

Then, one Football Association Official got an idea.

"What if we just present Cocoabo #46 as, say, Mirana Gotuai?"

The idea was daft at best. Even though Mirana Gotuai wasn't a well known player, particularly outside of the Island Emirate, everyone would have known they aren't Cocoabo.

"Well, they don't really know our customs, just tell them that this particular Cocoabo was adopted by Gotuai, who named it in their image"

Football Association of Turori officials were baffled but intrigued. It might be seen as a blatant attempt to circumvent the rules - but who cared. Turori needed a miracle to advance from Group B. They weren't going to get a miracle without changing things up. If they get kicked out, who cared, they were probably going home early anyway. They could at least go down fighting.

Besides, as Cocoa-bo would say, Wouldn't a World Cup Finals match against Eura be... better with Cocoabo?

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

OOC - The Mammoth Compendium of World Cup Lies lives up to its name; you're free to believe it IC'ly, but please don't believe a word of these RPs OOC'ly. They're a compendium of lies.

THE MAMMOTH COMPENDIUM OF WORLD CUP LIES
World Cup 78

Finals Matchday 2 - The Adventures of Imperial Man! (And Sidekick Boy)

Imperial Man, Imperial Man
Fighting crime wherever he can
He's shooting fire from his platinum penis
So all the villains know that he's serious
Imperial Man, Imperial Man
Beating crime with his immaculate plan

Imperial Man (And Sidekick Boy) Episode CCCXIV
Against the Valladar Six

<voiceover> - Few people know that mild-mannered Imperial footballer Michael Glycaso is the secret identity of the amazing Imperial Man! He uses his secret identity to travel the Multiverse, righting wrongs and fighting crime as Imperial Man before and after the matches alongside the loyal Sidekick Boy, who doubles up as the team's jockstrap washer. Tonight the Holy Empire are playing Valladares in Bonesea for matchday 2 in the first round group stages of World Cup 78 - but is the Valladar team all that it seems....

[fade to the Imperial locker room]

Imperial Man: Say, Sidekick Boy, that's a mighty clean pile of jockstraps you have there.

Sidekick Boy: Thank you, Imperial Man. In my secret identity as the team's jockstrap washer, I think it's vitally important to make sure that the Holy Empire's footballing lads always have the very cleanest jockstraps.

Imperial Man: Well, you're certainly succeeding there... But I didn't ask you to join me in putting on our superhero uniforms tonight to discuss jockstraps. Oh no. I fear there's something more serious afoot...

<dramatic chord>

...the Valladar national team is a front for the vile supervillain team the Valladar Six!!

Sidekick Boy: Gasp!

Imperial Man: Yes, it's true. And what's more, I know their secret identities!

Sidekick Boy: Zowie, Imperial Man... you truly are the Multiverse's greatest detective!

Imperial Man: Yes, that's right; using my amazing and highly useful power of reading the minds of blades of grass, I've worked out the truth about Valladares:
Alexander Roudet is... The Amazing Silent Hedgehog
Romain Capelle is... The Whipped Cream Avenger
Patrick Courtois is... Nuts 'n' Bolts
Alexander Lopes is... The Latex Raincoat
Jonathan Bosetti is... The Tree
Juan Cáceres is... Captain Unwieldy Supervillain Name

Sidekick Boy: Golly gee willikers, Imperial Man!

Imperial Man: Their nefarious plan involves using their status as the group's top-ranked team to defeat us in a football match... NEVER have I heard such a nefarious plan! It's nefarious, I tell you! And a plan!

Sidekick Boy: <awed silence>

Imperial Man: Fortunately, I know a way to stop them...

Sidekick Boy: What's that, Imperial Man?

Imperial Man: I'm glad you asked, Sidekick Boy.... Let's go and pay them a visit.

[cut to the den of iniquity known as the Valladares Locker Room]

The Whipped Cream Avenger: Heh, Heh, Heh... Soon the Holy Empire shall be defenceless against our evil masterplan...

Captain Unwieldy Supervillain Name: Yes, by using our superior KPB Points, we'll soon bring them under our power as we take total and final control of our World Cup Group!

The Amazing Silent Hedgehog: <silence>

The Tree: And perhaps we'll send the Holy Empire out of the World Cup in the process!

Nuts 'n' Bolts: But wait, what's that sound?

<dramatic crashing sound>

The Latex Raincoat: Oh no! It's.... Imperial Man!

Captain Unwieldy Supervillain Name: And he's shooting fire from the tip of his platinum-clad penis!

BIFF!!!

WALLOP!!!

KAPOW!!!

ZAP!!!

Imperial Man: Surrender, Valladar Six... You know you're beaten!

The Whipped Cream Avenger: Yes, it's true... By using your extraordinary powers of shooting fire from the tip of your platinum-clad penis, reading the minds of blades of grass, speaking to weasels, and climbing to the top of the greasy pole - and your 43 other vaguely defined but no doubt amazing powers that we don't have time to list - we stand defeated.

Sidekick Boy: HURRAH!!!

The Latex Raincoat: What do you want from us, Imperial Man?

Imperial Man: It's very simple... instead of sending you to prison in the Bonesea Asylum...

Valladar Six (in unison, except for the Amazing Silent Hedgehog, who is silent): ANYTHING BUT THE BONESEA ASYLUM!!!!!

Imperial Man: ... you simply have to arrange to lose your next match against the mighty Holy Empire...

[Later]

Sidekick Boy: You did it again, Imperial Man... we beat the Valladar Six, and you helped win the football match!

Imperial Man: All in a day's work, Sidekick Boy. The Multiverse can rest easy so long as I'm on the case.

Sidekick Boy: Would you like a jockstrap?

Imperial Man: Only if it's clean, Sidekick Boy...

<Sidekick Boy and Imperial Man laugh jovially together>

Imperial Man, Imperial Man
Fighting crime wherever he can
He's shooting fire from his platinum penis
So all the villains know that he's serious
Imperial Man, Imperial Man
Beating crime with his immaculate plan

[Port Christopher]

To the edge of the world

A World Cup 78 journey by Rachel Del Arro


'One point.' Rachel gave a little cheer to the camera with her free hand. 'Yay-hey!'

'It might have been against the bottom seeds in the group, we might have failed to score -again - but it's still a point. Aaaaand... believe it or not, with a match left to play, we can actually still qualify.' You had to be one a Port Christopher fan to realise that how much of a novelty it was, to still be in the hunt going into the last match. 'A win over Valladares, will be enough to see us through to the next round so long as Sargossa don't beat The Holy Empire.'

It had crossed Rachel's mind before, that there might not be a single person out there who actually cared. Would she care if she didn't play for them? Since they had moved to the island, attendances had understandably dropped. The Home match against Poggers had been played in front of a paltry 3,498 fans. And that figure actually looked quite credible when you consider that only seventy-three people travelled to see their 2-0 win in Goluta. There was a statistic in one well known sports blog, which had it on "good authority" that there were more people from Port Christopher in Cosumar supporting Schottia, than there were here on Threemilestone. This made her think of her trip to Whitehaven, and Tim Maitfield's daughter, Tess, telling her that she was a Ceni fan. Rachel had reminded her that Port Christopher were at the World Cup whereas Ceni weren't, to which the child had riposted: At least Ceni are a proper team.

She could have just put it down to the fact that Tess had been born in New Gelderland, and lived in Ceni for more or less her entire life. With her father playing for Celtic Noviodunum and Polaris respectively, she was a truly international child. However, given the slim numbers of view her video diary had, it would back up the assertion that there just weren't many fans out there. What's more, a quick look at the comments section would tell you that most the viewers were less than supportive. Rachel had disabled comments from subsequent posts.

'It's a lot easier said than done of course - beating Valladares that is - but we've got a game plan.' Behind Rachel the Fourfields Stadium Complex was in view. 'We'll stay organised...

Organised That was the only game plan they had. Stay organised. Keep possession. Rachel, when you get the ball, run like fuck. Get the ball to Tony. Truth be told, Jim Reid was a shite manager. He really was. Unless you had been following events on the island since Baptism of fire 59 closely, you'd have absolutely no idea why he was even in charge. Rachel wasn't even sure how he managed to keep it up; wondering around a desert island for nine months of the year like a bloody castaway. Because they had already been handed several eviction notices, someone needed to be in residence there at all time, and since the rest of them had clubs to play for, it normally had to be Jim. How he didn't lose his mind, she would never know. Every time they came back for another home game, she half expected to find out that he'd been having a conversation with one of the footballs.

There couldn't be long to go now, could there? Realistically, the writing had been on the wall for a while. Jim couldn't be enjoying himself. Proving the corrupt FA officials wrong, making their way to the World Cup, it had been a great adventure, and Rachel didn't regret a second of it. However, it had cost Jim almost everything. His marriage, his home, his life essentially.

How would she feel if she didn't have international football anymore? That was a good question. Could she play for another nation, if she'd already been capped for Port Christopher? The short answer to that seemed to be yes. She'd looked into it years ago, and it appeared that some teams had fielded players who already had caps for other nations. She'd had a friend call the Schottic FA on her behalf with a general enquiry, and it seemed that there had never been a precedent set in Schottia. There were unofficial rules regarding what constituted Christopheran eligibility, but if it went belly up they wouldn't apply anyway. Hah! Maybe she should do a video diary piece on this stuff, it might earn her more views.

'So in just under twenty-four hours, we will be back here,' Rachel pointed to the slightly surreal stadium complex. 'For a date with destiny.' It gave her a lump in her throat when she considered that it could be her last. They had been here before though, then Eshan 0-3 Port Christopher happened. 'So tonight, eleven thirty in Port Christopher, SBC-2, you'd better be there.'

[Flardania]

Opening Theme

---

Bonjour et Ohayōgozaimasu Kirishima. Welcome ladies and gentleman to the World Cup 78 edition of the Kitsune Report, brought to you by the Nagatomo Sports Network (NSN), sponsored by Air Pacifica, and Pocari Surge. Here at the Kitsune Report, it's all about Kirishinan sports. With football deservingly taking center stage as the Kitsunes strive to make their dream of escaping the group stages and making a Round of 16 appearance a reality. Matchday 2 is done and I have the news cause I'm your host, the fan you can count on the most, to bring you Kitsune news, Keitaaaaaaa Woo! Now let's get grooving to some world cup football but first a word from our sponsors.

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Valanora 0–1 Kirishima Review:

With the Kitsunes coming off of a draw against Chromatika. The Kitsunes prepared to face a team that can strike fear into the minds of fans of almost any nation. At the heart-stopping rank of 4th in the world, the Marauders of Valanora were to be the very next opponent of The Kitsunes.The last time the two teams met was World Cup 76, where Valanora won the matchup 5-3. Also, the last time Kirishima had a point in the table or win in general, was World Cup 77 against Valanora. The Kitsunes would return to Kettle Field at 8pm local time once again seeking to get nothing worse than a one goal loss. On the other hand, Valanora was coming into the match seeking to seal the deal, secure the qualification and assumingly kick their feet up and guarantee a round of sixteen appearances.

After The Kitsunes offensive play style that got them to the World Cup was slowed down by Chromatika in the first half and utterly stoppped in the second half, the Kitsunes attempted to put Valanora on the defensive from the beginning. As early as the 5' and 6' minute, Kirishima had not one but two shots on target that had to be saved by the veteran goalkeeper, Vanorian Aediron Galadirdren. A player who is known for their excellent reflex and positioning. At least I think Aedrion is a veteran, you can never tell with those elves. Perhaps we should recruit elves of our own from the Northern Forests? Anyways the Vanorians would have their chance at goal in the 8' and 13' minutes but the first was off-target and the second was saved by Miyoko Hojo. The Kitsunes would return to applying pressure in the 17', 21', and 26' minutes but the first two shot attempts which were taken by Yabuta were off-target and the latter was taken by Renée Guidice but once again the Kitsunes were denied by Galadirdren. Not to be out done Hojo came up big with two saves of her own in the 30' and 33' minute to keep the match tied. In the 44' minute Yabuta once again tried to score but it was deflected by Galadirdren. The two teams entered the half with the score tied 0-0 with the shot attempts reading 6-4 in Kirishima's favor.

In the second half, things were looking okay. Kirishima was still in the game at this point and so long as they did not lose by more than a goal they would still have a chance should they beat Spaam handily. Kirishima while aggressive was not losing the ball easily and had better possession. The one thing is that with a quality side like Valanora, the control can be taken away from you so easily. The Kitsunes kept the pressure in the second half with Rin Mizoguchi taking a shot on goal in the 48' minute but it was saved by Galadirdren. Then came the scariest part of the match for the Kitsunes. In the 53',54', and 55' minutes Valanora had three shot attempts with the first being saved by a deflection by Nguyen, the resulting corner being saved by Hojo and the second corner going out off-target. In the 58' minute Valanora would have another opening but it would hit the crossbar for a miss.

The Kitsunes had to avoid lacking offense in the late second half like they did against Chromatika in the previous game and it seems they were ready this time. In the 63' minute the Kitsunes would have another shot on goal via Ako Izumi but the shot was off-target leading to Sayo Matsuoka being subbed in for Guidice. In the 68' minute Josuke Ichikawa would have his attempt on goal but it would be saved by Galadirdren. In the 72' minute Pandazi Papadoupulos was subbed in for Son Daehan and in the 74' minute Valanora had an excellent shot at taking a late lead but Miyoko Hojo made a terrific save preventing the ball from going in the upper corner of the goal. Finally, in the 79' minute the Kitsunes had a corner kick which was delivered by Izumi. Yabuta rose up and headed the ball and Galadirdren quickly reacted but the ball missed the goal and Galadirdren and hit the post. Before Galadirdren could finish hitting the floor the ball for itself in front of Sayo Matsuoka who stayed calm and fired a bullet in the complete opposite direction of the keeper for the GOAL! to the roar of the Kirishinan supporters in attendance. As opposed to the last game when Kirishima retreated and played defense. The Kitsunes remained aggressive denying the opposition a shot attempt outside the 84' which was deflected out for a throw in by Miguel Tamayo who came in the 79' minute. The Kitsunes who were denied victory in the previous match due to late game heroics, got an even more unlikely victory in the very next match thanks to late game heroics. Final score Valanora 0, Kirishima 1.

Seong Mi-Soo, had this to say following the match. "After last game, I stated that we needed to learn from the experience of the last game and know how to close the game better when we are in position for an upset. However, I think it's safe to say not many people expected it to happen so soon let alone against Valanora outside of Katsuragi because she is the only one crazy enough to put blind trust in us. However to be fair Keita Woo of the Kitsune Report was on the right track when he wanted us to face Valanora although I'm not sure he was that confident in us getting a full 3pts in this matchup. We have faced Valanora reluctantly many times, I mean who really wants to face the ones tied with Starblaydia as all-time world cup winners. With that said we have always managed to play well against this team whether it's in Qualifiers or the cup itself whether they are upsets, draws or close and respectable defeat. We are in a great position to finally achieve the dream of escaping the Group stages for the first time. We are in control of our own destiny, so we can't celebrate just yet. I don't want to come this close to fulfilling this elusive goal in a group of death no less and leave it at that. No this is the time to do it. A Chromatika win puts us in regardless but we can't rely on situations, we need to use our own power to make it out."

Valanora 0       -       1 Kirishima 
                              S. Matsuoka (79')

Kirishima v Spaam Match Preview

Take a deep breath. Kirishima is legitimately so close to making it out of the Group Stages but they need to close the deal against Spaam. While the opposition is the easiest one yet on paper and had been handled by both Chromatika and Valanora. One needs to remember that Valanora and Chromatika are much better than us rank and talent wise. Also one might forget that the Kitsunes have a history of losing the one game against the one team on paper they have a chance of beating. Whether it's Electrum in the past of Mercedini just last World Cup. Kirishima advances automatically with a Chromatika win against a hopefully dazed Valanora but should not rely on that. The Kitsunes need to play as if they need to win to stay alive, if the Kitsunes win they will advance, if the Kitsunes draw, they will also make it but if they lose to Spaam nothing outside of a Chromatika win would save the Kitsunes so let's not let it happen. Keep calm, focus and playing their game and the Kitsunes can make their dreams a reality. Until next time, Lets Go Kitsunes!

Post by: Keita Woo

[Valanora]

A sample Vanorian Citizenship Test

1: What was the original capital of Valanora?

• Mar Sara
• Char Sara
• Gladerial
• Raynor City

2: Where is the Temple of Elune Located?

• Mar Sara
• Char Sara
• Gladerial
• Raynor City

3: What is the Elven Goddess of Mischief and Destruction?

• Galaderial
• Elune
• Melikki
• Ariela

4: Who was the first elf to undergo spiritual training?

• Neena Raynor
• Jas Hatire
• Illymdon Soldarian
• Faenero Fresco

5: How long did the Shadow War last?

• One Year
• Two Years
• Four Years
• Eight Years

6: Who was the leader of Valanora before the Jumani revolt?

• Galaderial
• Elune
• Celekorn
• Zeratul Raynor

7: What is the football academy in Raynor City?

• Raynor City Training Academy
• The Night Academy
• The Raynor School of Excellence
• Raynor Center for Development

8: What nation was previously part of Valanora but dissolved?

• Tarlachia
• Assegai Developments
• Fort Europe
• Demot

9: How many nations make up Valanora?

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 5

10: What is the nickname of Valanora?

• The Immortal Plane
• The Eternal Empire
• The Elven Lands
• Arrosia

A foreign national wishing to gain citizenship must score at least 80% or higher on a citizenship test, which normally consists of 25 questions, of which the above 10 are part of a group of 100 that will be selected upon for any individual test.

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ Power Outage

The Wanderers did enough to get a draw against the Bulls of Audioslavia, however despite that, they still look like they will be on the outside looking end when tomorrow comes and the group stage has ended here in Cosumar. While we all knew that it was going to be a steep mountain to climb to advance out of the group given the nature of the participants and where this half of the tournament would be taking place, to only have a single point through the first two matches and needing results outside of our own to advance out of the group definitely was not foreseen. The stunning loss on the first matchday against Semarland definitely was an auspicious start and that the Wanderers' star studded offensive prowess was unable to manage a goal against them is quite disheartening. It was again that lack of the offense being able to find a way through the staunch defensive line and work of the Audioslavia squad that has put the squad in this precarious position heading into the third match. All one ever truly desires in these sort of instances is for your fate to still be in your own hands and yet it is not and even a victory for our side, which is not assured, could not be enough if the Audioslavs and Semars decide on a gentlemen's agreement to play each other to a draw so that both advance, as has been seen in other tournaments with a cloudier history.

Tobias Möller as a player was known for his penchant for turning up for the big moment and finding goals when it seemed like the opposition had a way of containing the Wanderers' attack. As a manager, his sides have been quite adept at finding the back of the net, both with Hellinic Rouge and as his tenure of the national team manager has gone. When you consider that trend for the manager and the sheer amount of good to great natural attacking talents, including a striker who is considered by many to be among the top five in the world, the fact that the Wanderers do not have even a single goal in the first two games of the World Cup is quite perplexing for the fans and management alike. Ingþór Auðbjörnsson is being isolated and focused down by the opposition defenders, which is something that the Wanderers' have been dealing with the entire cycle and the striker has still found ways to get around such concern from the opposition, and yet here the rest of the squad has not been able to figure out the solution and Thor has been unable to find those small channels and half chances that he normally would find.

When the side had its back against the wall during the Qualifiers, the manager pulled out a rotated squad that surprised many and whose results showed the quick thinking of tactical knowledge that they manager does have. With that said, I am expecting there to be quite a rotation for the final game against Starblaydia, yes that Starblaydia that has the record tying five World Cup titles in their history and who looked like they could turn water into gold during their qualification campaign. Roland Lebrun has clearly not been himself in these two games and thus one would expect to see Feierabend to start in the role of the advanced midfielder in this must win scenario, with the young CAP player ready to cash in on the promise that has been the story behind him for years on end. Elsewhere, Kárpáty has not been able to team up well with Thor and despite being on the wrong side of thirty, you have to believe that Romelio Ceballos will get the start, with his history of performing well in dire situations and a noted good chemistry with Thor in the past four years.

Two changes in the attack is likely we are all going to see, as the defensive effort has been solid if unremarkable, so you would not want to disrupt that chemistry and rhythm that the backline and Hunor seem to be having. Will it be enough against Starblaydia who have sent a squad that excels in the physical side of the game, if lacking somewhat in the technical aspects when compared to the other great powers of the footballing world. The Wanderers are more on the other side of the spectrum, having quite a wealth of players with the highest of technical attributes but not exactly the fastest that you could hope for, especially if Ceballos does start at the head of the spear as he is expected to. It is a clash of styles as well as a clash of what has been and what is now, with the Wanderers having won the more recent World Cup compared to The Purple Peril. A victory and advancement is on the line, there is no lack of motivation, and the squad ought to be focused on this match, even if their eyes no doubt will flash towards the scoreboard from time to time. Fate is not in our own hands but fortune favors the bold, thus we will go out and be bold, for an all or nothing attitude is quite apt and may well be the difference between the Old and the New.

[San Jose Guayabal]

WORLD CUP OF BACKPACKERS

Part II

Marcos

After talking a lot with my friends about World Cup stuff, clock was marking the early morning, sleeping was difficult to do due to the jet lag effects, but the mugs of tea we drank helped us to remove the effect for a while, since we needed to travel to Bonesea for the World Cup adventure and all the things. Michael woke us up at 8:30 AM, it was only hour and a half left to the departure to Bonesea, and the flights to that place only go one per day, so missing one of those would make us miss a match, which nobody would like to suffer, since all of us bought tickets for said matchday, I had to woke up my son and my spouse by slapping them, that's the most efficient way to wake them, but I discovered that my spouse was taking herself some selfies, to which, I was surprised and she was upset for the slap, hence she slapped me as a revenge, but that's how things work in this family, we consider us different to the rest of families in San José Guayabal, we tend to be more jokesters than the average between us, something that is rarely seen there, since the traditional families tend to be united and not so joke-prone like we do. Anyways, we somehow managed to leave the house and Kwame took us to the airport, he was heading to Cosumar, since that's the place where Semarland would play their matches, while all of us were being guided by Philippe to Bonesea, it's a good thing at all that she is a native Boney, since we would struggle or perhaps crash and burn while trying to say a single word of Boneylinga.

Migration procedures were easy to do, fortunately, Michael didn't had problems, only my son with the videogames he took, he forgot to declare them, he put his signature on a form, filled it and they let the videogames pass with him, it was good to have the games with us, since: How would we live? Life without videogames is not life, bro. My son, who is extremely good at geography read that we had to cross the Wide-Enness Ocean, which has at least 4800 kilometers wide in some zones, that's not frightening at all, what it really frightens us is falling up in an ocean whose average depth is 7000 meters, goodness, I had chicken skin when I heard to that facts, especially when he told us that the deepest point is at least 25000 meters deep, WOAH! that's at least three Santa Marta Peaks deep, wowow, I have never reached 6000 meters at Santa Marta, but THREE! Santa Martas (8656 masl) is fucking scary! So, it was matter that the planes have enough oil and don't screw our lives. We stopped thinking that, we just hop on the plane and expected that everything would run fine, except for socialization skills, which I didn't wanted to try and use it due to embarrassment, I wanted to do so in Bonesea and not in the airplane, anyways, after twelve hours, we were close to Bonesea and thank God nothing happened there, except for some turbulence near the 7th hour of flight, a gigantic storm was posing on the sea, perhaps a hurricane was forming there, since I think that the waters aren't so cold at that latitude, then after some minutes we heard the so awaited words "Fasten seatbelts, welcome to Bonesea!" Everybody was applauding to the pilot in appreciation and by his skills while dodging that hurricane I said before, that's good to know, that at least you can fly in trusted hands, literally.

Philippe made us move fast into the airport and helped us a lot into Migration procedures once again, I was shocked at how difficult to understand is Boneylinga, the Boneys speak too fast, their intonation of words and pronunciation is so complex, it's difficult to keep up the rhythm of a conversation in that way, it's a struggle, but fortunately there's Philippe with us, acting as a translator and making us simple spectators in the conversation. I have got to admit, Bonesea didn't looked as I expected, I was expecting a big metropolis covering all the island, something I asked to Philippe "Why too many forests?" She answered "In Bonesea, people tends to take forest conservation and nature seriously, to the point that some animals have citizen rights." Something I tried not to laugh and fortunately I succeeded on my attempt of not doing it, since it'd have been completely impolite from me. Michael was taking pictures of the forest and a Terrier appeared, he tried to kick it but Philippe appeared and hugged the dog, she had to explain Michael that the terrier dog breed had citizenship, so, doing harm would have been treated as doing that to a human or a yuman bean, he was surprised since he only tried to do self-defense, he was going to get bitten by the terrier if he didn't made that feint of kicking it, then Philippe drove a car to her house, my son was asleep while listening a good song on his beats, my spouse was surprisingly talking with Philippe in order to arrange a trip to the highest point of Bonesea, Jeremiah's Peak for today, something that wouldn't happen because it was already 1:00 PM and while we reach the peak's top and return, it'd be easily 10 PM, but Philippe said "Let's do it, sunset is at midnight here, so, no problems for a trip." We decided to go there, but, lunch has to be made.

Airplane food is horrible, disgusting, and surprisingly, it's so expensive yet not worthy of consume, imagine a soup costing C$7 (N$ 14) and being an instant soup?! Goodness, that's a brutal theft of money, while you can found better soups by C$ 1 let's not talk about an instant soup, let's talk about a homemade soup instead; although, they have the sandwich option too, expensive yet delicious. Now, at Bonesea, I was expecting insects to eat or even more vomitive stuff, but fortunately we found a "foreign-restaurant" which included Pupusas on their menu... I know, Pupusas at lunch is the dumbest idea, but when it's the only known option of the complete menu, I prefer to play it safely! May be honest, those Pupusas weren't bad, those were really good Pupusas and guess who was making them? A Guayabalense doing some jobs in Bonesea in order to distract himself before watching La Selecta, I had the chance to talk with him for a while, about expectancies of the matches and stuff like that, we both thought that La Selecta would struggle in the two first games yet they would get a good score in the last game and that's when the rise would start, and would be hopefully unstoppable! Salaries in Bonesea are mediocre, according to what he told me, although he was working there in order to make enough money to build some Boney memorabilia and sell it to local museums in San José Guayabal, a wise idea if you ask me, yet risky.

After lunching, we continued our trip, we had to go through a two-hours drive to the base of the peak, let me tell that it's not a so tall peak, it's only a 2194 masl one, which is roughly the size of the mountain near our house, at the suburbia of San Salvador. The breathtaking scenes while we were hiking through to the top were lovely, I managed to take some of those photos and gather them for my album of trips, which is little yet interesting to see, while my spouse was doing the normal business of everyday. It was interesting to take a close eye to the rocks during the trip, we decided to analyze some of those, we found them to be pure basaltic rocks, I'd have taken some in order to decorate my house but I didn't, since I don't want to have issues at the airport when we go back home, the last thing I want to do is to have a talk with Migration on what I'm carrying, they don't care on what I carry, damn it! We finally reached the top, it was 6:00 PM when we did it, we only took two hours to do it, which was surprisingly faster than we initially though, it was snowing at the top, there was some wind, which made the scenery and the environment so cool there, I love cold weather since it makes you feel so relaxed, extremely relaxed and somewhat inspired to do what you want, reminds me of my childhood times where I was studying comfortable on a desk while I was seeing the snow falling through the windows, I went out and made angles with snow or started a war launching snowballs to my neighbors... Oooh, the good ol' times I really miss them *wipes tear*.

Our stance at the top wasn't so brief at all, we stayed for an hour there, it was 7:20 when we left, snow has already ended and the sun was still there, with enough light to go down and reach home before sunset, there was 4:40 hours left with sun, so we had a chance to reach a pub and drink some beer and go then to Philippe's house. Going downhill in the mountain, I was witness of the best that the Boney nature has to offers us, I saw bears, reindeers and other exotic animals right there, including a couple of wild horses and two yuman beans who tried to frolic near the path, which I looked disturbed and walked fast, one of them told me something but I didn't knew until he managed to identify me as Guayabalense and muttered "Puta" in Spanish, to which I showed my middle finger and then walked as normal, fortunately the incident didn't escalated quickly. We reached the parking so fast, we took around an hour to reach our destination, obvious reasons, downhill is easier and also the time rush we had, we needed to drink some beers urgently, so Philippe drove to her house, right into Spittalsea, but first, the beers were bought in a liquor store that apparently is owned by Boney Government, I guess it's a monopoly like the one that works in San José Guayabal, in order to take control alcohol consumption and all that stuff, which is a good idea, yet still weird to buy into an alcohol monopoly store abroad, I thought this only existed in my home nation.

We reached her house, finally, it was 11:30 PM, so, still time to do a barbecue and eat something, it was the time for the typical "midnight lunch" and what a lunch we would prepare, with beers, BBQ, bacon, goodness, this is not suitable for veggies! We all helped to make the food and watch a World Cup game in the Cosumarite side, it was Audioslavia vs Starblaydia, a nice match there, to be fair, I really enjoyed the game, no matter the outcome since I tend not to root for another team unless it's the one I really root for, I just want nice football for my eyes and heart. The Audioslavian side continues to be as always, that nicely composed team in the strategical aspect of things, good players, good technique and nice defending, well, Audioslavian defending is one of the best in the Multiverse, so not a lot of surprise if we go there and analyze it, while Starblaydia was having a good performance despite not having played a lot of time into the World Cup Finals, they managed to assemble a good national team, with decent quality in it, so they were enough to contend for something in this Group, shame that they lost the match, but as I said, no sympathy towards any team, I just say that based on what I saw on the game, which was worthy for a World Cup but Audioslavia managed to take advantage of a newly-assembled Starblaydi side that is trying to start a new path, a new path that might lead them to new glories, and feel what they felt in the past, after winning those five World Cups.

...

Four days later...

There has been a couple of good days here, lots of trips across Bonesea and of course, the matches of La Selecta, which haven't been convincing at all, yet those have kept into what I thought, narrow matches, two ties, and the desires to revenge of Nova Anglicana vanishing, sadly, since didn't happened. Nova Anglicana is some sort of black horse for us, to be honest, I don't understand what does that team has when they play us, perhaps they play their best match in their lives or something like that, they are always there in order to complicate things, and this 3-3 proved my point, they keep us at two points, yet are two points below Ethane, our next team on the list, turning the next game into a decisive matter for us. On all my time watching football, even my spouse and my son think that being here and hoping to beat Ethane would be one of the last things they would think out of the national team, yet, there's a chance to pull a good score fortunately, I hope we do since this childs are trying to succeed and redeem San José Guayabal into the international stage of football, and their performance has been dignifying, to an extent that some of us didn't believed it would be, at least, we trust that we will have a good performance from them for this match.

I can't complain of my stance in Bonesea, it has been cool, visiting the Jeremiah peak, Spittalsea's Dogside and Wharfside with Philippe. I really enjoyed the Wharfside Dock zone since it was a real display on what you can expect from a maritime zone, the dockyard was full of different activities and stands open, with those beautiful posters at their doors that were literally screaming "Come here!" or appetizing you to go and taste some maritime delicatessen that Bonesea has to offer, also, some beautiful drinks prepared in basis of the traditional histories of Bonesfolk on the sea. From what I've read, the Bonesfolk have a really deep maritime tradition that has extended from generation to generation and still continues until today, since the very beginning, they demonstrated to be a brave bunch of marine people that endured heavy conditions and managed to make a civilization prosper and turn into what we know today as Bonesea. Returning to the food aspects, I had to taste some shrimps and other kind of native fish, their main dish, the Hákarl, which is rotten shark fermented in urine (Ew!) proved to be delicious, well, for me at least, since Michael vomited all over the place and my son rejected to eat after seeing that it was fermented in urine, the Hákarl accompanied with caesar salad was a extremely good dish, and the best of all is that we had to eat all of that with less than C$ 10, which is even cheaper than what I found in San José Guayabal!

That's all for today folks, time to get some sleep, since I have barely slept and I need to watch that win... ¡Vamos Selecta, Carajo!

---

Alina

Me and my parents had enjoyed a nice sleep after being on the bar watching how the teams were drawn for the World Cup, we were so exhausted after having to take those eternal flights from home to Spittalsea, at least, we managed to found a couple of good people to interact such as Claudia, Italus and Elissa, those three managed to sympathize me so fast, especially Claudia, since we both speak Spanish natively and makes the communication something better between us, it's not that my English skills are horrific or something like that, nope, instead, my English skills are good enough, but it doesn't matters if I reach a native level of it, I won't be as comfortable as I feel while speaking in Spanish. At 7:00 AM, I woke up and saw that it was still dark in Bonesea, perhaps winter was starting to appear into that latitudes, since this World Cup was being held in November (Guayabalense IC Calendar) which is weird, since all of the World Cups are in Guayabalense winter, now we are in summer there, so, I still find this weird. After waking up and taking a shower, I saw some satellite TV, put a Guayabalense channel and saw that it was 5:00 AM in San Salvador, the anthem would begin to be played and then the political interviews of the morning, something that I wasn't interested in seeing, hence I changed the program and then changed channels, went from one to other, nothing interesting except for one about the Boney history of football, which I deemed to be something interesting.

When watching that documentary, I was surprised at their naming for football "greasy-churn" which left me surprised, with the question "Why greasy-churn?" and never figured out why, what I saw was mariners playing football with extreme rudeness and a really offensive game style, I managed to distinguish one of those players, it was Pythagoras Jones, the legend of Boney football and perhaps their most prominent figure. Then, I saw how they won the Baptism of Fire and casually, their first friendly was against us, and I still remember it, despite I was a child at the time (I was five, now, I'm twelve) I remember how Rodolfo Zelaya scored a hattrick in said game, it was a 5-2 for us, and that was our last time beating them, then we appeared once again in their first World Cup match ever, they beat us 3-5, goodness, that was in WC 75 and surely, I remember that WC for being a nasty World Cup for us, a complete nasty World Cup, since we were eliminated in the Group Stage, hence, turning that World Cup into a shame for us. Following that, I saw that Boney football has transcended a lot since the last World Cup, both in infrastructure and development, if not, see why are they hosting this World Cup, also see how they have innovated in general, now they have a good monorail system nationwide, a good bunch of electric cars (Which casually are Guayabalense assembled) with a good infrastructure in charging points across the nation, which I figured when Claudia invited us to buy a coffee the last afternoon, when we were leaving the airport.

The documentary was certainly interesting, in my opinion, they needed to explain what is "Greasy-churn" and the origins of that naming convention, which I still don't understand why it's named like that. My parents awoke when I finished watching the documentary, they went to bathroom and took showers, they took a bit more than the usual, perhaps they were using the jacuzzi and enjoying a "brief stance of 40 minutes in it" I mean, brief because one can perfectly be in a jacuzzi for an eternity, I guess. Somebody knocked the doors, it was the staff offering us a menu and telling us "Go to the bar and you'll find breakfast, today, we have international breakfast." I thanked them and closed the door, then threw myself on bed and let a sigh of relief go, relief because I would avoid eating insects at least for some hours, I guess it'll be inevitable but the more we stand, the better for us and our stomachs, I don't want to guess how insects taste like, but perhaps by that opinion, I'd lose a chance to eat a delicacy, perhaps one of those insects tastes good? Who knows, so I knew that I had to change my opinions and open my mind for the possibilities I can find there. Then, my parents went out of the bathroom, picked clothes and went to eat, we found some beans, egg and cheese for breakfast, which indeed was the best we can eat, the things that I don't normally like but I appreciated to see abroad, since it's something on what you can trust, although, one should trust in all the different kinds of food offered since the preparation is exhaustive, but my kind of trust is to the food I know, I know how it tastes, how it looks like and everything about it.

After it, we decided to go to the stadium early, since today played San José Guayabal against Brenecia and we didn't wanted to be out of the stadium due to overcrowding or stuff like that, so, we took the monorail and arrived to the stadium two hours before the match, well, that'd be early compared to the times we do at home, since we are at least five hours before the kick-off, but it's better to prevent, especially abroad. The environment looked cool out there, Guayabalenses were crowding the stadium so fast, I saw children playing there and their parents asking for some beef, it looked as the normal Guayabalense match at home. I was expecting to see somebody known there, but didn't expected to see Italus and Elissa back me with Guayabalense shirts, it surprised me, but it surprised most my parents, who told them "Hey, didn't managed a flight to Cosumar?" Italus responded "Nope, we didn't, sir, tickets were sold completely, hence we decided to stay here and support San José Guayabal, since we like Guayabalense football" With them, two guys appeared there, both were Echanis too and were accompanying Italus and Elissa, those two guys are Pere Cardona and Hector Berengeur, the first one is a rock climber and the second one is somebody involved into Echani politics, namely a Social Democrat like us, at least, somebody who has the same political thoughts as my parents and I, which is interesting, in my opinion, so we can have somebody to talk about politics without concerns of a brawl or something like that. Anyways, we, the seven entered to the Stadium, the Clover Field, it was 2 PM there, only an hour prior the match, and things started to pack up so fast, Guayabalenses were there, expectant to see the new National Team doing something good at the beginning of the Qualifiers.

The time came, we sang the anthems and saw how San José Guayabal started to create some kind of domination of the match, something that it converted into two quick goals, at the minute eighth and the nineteenth, it was a quick two-zero lead for the team, which gave some kind of confidence, but not the good kind of confidence, since two-zeros are liars, no one should trust those, because winning teams tend to relax and let the other team equalize in plays that could have been easily prevented, something that for disfortune happened in this match, Brenecia equalized late in the match after Costa left a ball alone in the area and then a Brenecian leg appeared to sinking it deep into the goal... One point, one fucking point, well, better than nothing. We had to return to the fan zone and we enjoyed with the Echanis for a while drinking some beer, watching more games and then, a talk about Social Democratic stuff, perhaps politics and the challenges that both parties (Guayabalense and Echani) had to face. It turns out that the Echani side has managed to seize presidency in the last election, something that it is cool for them, I expect that Eshan now turns into a country capable to unleash all their potential in economics, social security, etc. Eshan looks to be as a cool nation, what it's better is that it has one of the largest FAS fanbases in Multiverse, which is cool for me and a disgrace for my dad, who in this moment would like to nuke them. Anyways, we said that the Social Democrats in SJG had to affront a lot of challenges, since regaining leadership once again needs a lot of effort, and make the people know that the Conservatives are slowly turning the welfare state issue into a deplorable service, it hasn't worsened a lot, but it's on the way of that and can be reverted, I hope so.

After drinking, and then sleeping and repeting the routine of visiting different places across Bonesea. A place that captured my attention was the industrial dock, you'd wonder why a 12 years old girl is interested in industries? Well, I'm interested since I'm planning on studying Industrial Engineering, since I have been obsessed into efficiency of things, productivity and all that stuff, I want to keep things running smooth, something that I'm trying to begin at my home by doing the chores with a well programmed schedule in order to keep everything done in the best time possible. Returning to the docks thing, I saw all the process there, it looked so efficient the way how they unloaded the containers and distributed their contents into different zones, according their category, the zone that called my attention the most was the technological zone, they received a lot of technological material, especially for optic-fiber internet to be installed across all Bonesea, which is fine, since they will go a step further compared to other nations such as Gregoryisgodistan, that nation known for being an utter piece of shame for the multiverse and especially for Esportiva, a country that never has enough of boycotting the progress of other nations, I don't know why but I'd assume at first glance that all those boycotts are caused due to envy or things like that, I don't find any logical explanation for such things.

Then we returned to stadium and saw how La Selecta managed to complicate themselves with another draw, such an outcome, that turned to be a quasi-exact carbon copy of the match against Brenecia, except that this was in the shape of a 3-3. Where Santos scored a hat trick while Pitre, the good ol' player of Atlético Nacional scored two for the Anglicanans, something that made me enrage a lot since I hate Pitre and I really hate Nacional, I would love to see them rotting in hell. Anyways, the National Team got two points and somehow, complicated their qualification for the second stage, the Round of 16, on which we haven't a chance to qualify as first, so, we could face Bonesea and this would be really interesting to see, why? Because it'd be lovely to leave one of the hosts in the road, it'd be a good challenge, indeed, and I like challenges, I hope the National Team also does love challenges, because that one is one worthy of being considered a really tough challenge that will be enough to test them and see if they are capable to continue their representation of the Guayabalense colors, which are sacred and must be defended with honor! That's what I think and pretty much everybody in San José Guayabal does, if somebody doesn't does, excuse me but sod off! You're not a real patriot, you're not a real Guayabalense, you're not a real football lover!

Anyways, time to leave, I need to see some documentaries in order to enrich myself with knowledge, bye and see you all in the next blog!

[Mriin]

Janna let out a small cough, trying her best to ignore the light layer of smoke Don's extended sigh let out.

"This is our most important test yet," the dragon slowly began, "a match against former world champions, where we're actually considered to have a fighting chance. There is even foreign press saying we're the dark horses rearing for an upset. And, this game is do or die--if we can't get three points here, there is basically no chance for us to advance. The world is watching."

"We can definitely do this." Joren stepped up, and Don stepped back to give the captain some room. "Osarius have a stellar pedigree, but are considered a little weaker than Electrum; while Electrum is a very solid, well-rounded team, the Osarians focus heavily on possession-based play. And when that doesn't go as planned, things can easily go awry. They play their defenders very aggressively, so if Solara can find a hole she'll likely have a free one-on-one just like that; but at the same time, if we ever screw up in their half they'll have incredible counter-momentum. It's a fine balance to strike exploiting something like that without giving up opportunities ourselves, but between Janna and myself I'm confident we can call a tight enough game to pull it off."

Don cut back in, and pointed to the redhead midfielder. "Their formation also seems weak to wingers breaking through, so keep your eyes peeled, Malia."

"Gotcha, boss."

---

The time to kick off had come, and Joren gave the ball a short boot to the side where Solara was already in a full sprint. Don't try to outlast them, she briefly thought back to the Osarian footage she'd watched, just go for the throat.

She was past the front line before they could move a muscle, and she cut past Daniele Gentile without breaking stride. Demetrio Constantini tried to get in the way and slow her down, but she didn't relent and he pulled up, seemingly afraid to get physical (which is fair when someone 7'+ is running full tilt in your direction).

And then she was in open space. Damn, they really do play far up. She slowed her pace a little, getting a slightly better hold of the ball while planning her next move. Bartolo Monteforte was staring her down, but after the Electrum game she wasn't going to be cheeky and try to slide it in. Gotta make them stop it. So she took it straight into the box, waited until just the moment Monteforte broke forward so she couldn't walk it in, and sent it center-right with her left hoof.

Her jaw dropped as Monteforte immediately flung all his mass to his left. Can humans react that quickly? Not only did he get in the shot's way, he got his elbow in front of it and clamped down on it mid-dive. Well shit, guess I have to get back now.

Monteforte's throw wasn't excellent--seemed a little rushed wanting to get the counterattack off ASAP--and ended up delaying the drive Ryan Watson had to range to his left to collect the ball. Delayed just enough for Janna, hanging out more forward following the explosive start, to get there just a split second later where her slide sent him off balance. Kalia, who'd been trailing Watson, caught up as a result--and didn't even bother separating the ball. Watson was off it momentarily as he righted himself and felt Kalia lightly collide into his back, turning to see the ball sailing across the field.

Malia wasn't as free as she'd hoped, however. She'd ranged up and Will Simpson had taken clear notice, leaving her not much of anything to do with the cross than to horn it back towards the midfield and hope for the best.

Joren being in its path was probably the best it could have been. The ball had already changed direction thrice, and he hoofed it forward for another--to Aldo.

I have no idea what the fuck just happened, he thought, but apparently I'm onsides, so let's go.

And so he streaked down the field, and an exasperated Solara spun back around once again to follow him in. Constantini was the only one there to contest them, and he chose to get in front of the ball handler.

Aldo chipped the ball claer over Constantini, and Solara didn't let her second chance go to waste.

[Eshan]

---

---

---

Ninety Minutes for Redemption

---

Funny how this happens. A long and grueling qualification campaign, 16 games against some of the best in the world, a campaign where we only barely managed to qualify in the last two matchdays. A hard fought draw against Damukuni and then barely, barely losing out to a (at least on paper) superior team in Gregoryisgodistan. And now all of that, all 18 of those matches, after proving ourselves against some of the world's best, it all come down to a single game. 1,620 minutes of football come down to 90 against Cosumar. 12th or 13th best in the world, something like that at least, cohosts of this tournament so you know referees are going to be sympathetic to them, they're coming off a 2-1 win against Damukuni, it's really not the best looking situation for our lads on the Eshan national football team.

Of course, we're always optimistic about our chances, and you know that Marco van Ciavatinni and Artemis Montanari are headed into this match thinking that they've got just a good a chance as any to take on Cosumar and get the three points we so desperately need. Of course, considering that we're last in the group on one point compared to first and second placed Cosumar and Gregoryisgodistan's fourth we'll also need to overcome our goal differential disparity by winning by 3 or more goals.

What makes the situation even more interesting and sorta shitty for us is the fact that we can could beat Cosumar 1093-zero and it wouldn’t count for diddly squat if slave squad from Gregoryisgodistan grinds so out much as a point against Damukuni. So they have to lose, but Damukuni can only score one goal while we will need to score two goals to top them should they win and score three or more goals to top both Gregoryisgodistan and Cosumar assuming they don’t score any goals. So…a lot hanging finely in the balance here and it’s not really stacked in our favor, which surely means that the odds are even greater of us pulling it off and qualifying right? I think that’s how that works, or I hope at least.

Either way, we really need Margaret and the brilliance of the entire team to help us win and propel us through. And that’s the minimum. It makes me laugh writing it out. The bear minimum is that we win 3-0 against the twelfth or thirteenth best time in the multiverse of all the countless collective nation-states that exist.

Whew lad.

President Revan F. Bernat Inaugurated as 50th President of the Republic of Eshan

---

So it’s finally happened, the 50th President of Eshan has been sworn in and there is a tangible belief that our glorious nation is ready to mount a great comeback in both domestic strength and international prestige. No point in relying on us to translate and project our interpretations of his words, why not read President Revan F. Bernat’s own words in his inauguration speech.

My fellow citizens of the great Republic of Eshan:

I stand here today humbled by the great task that lies before us, the great calling of divine purpose that exists as a fundamental fabric woven into our being, I stand humbled by the faith bestowed unto me by the hundreds of millions of voters and awed by the tremendous responsibility that lies inherent in the awesome powers and responsibilities that lie in this office.

We observe today a reminder of the grand nature of our Republic; We observe today, not a celebration of a party or politics, but the success and longevity of a nation that has stood for hundreds of years as a shining example of the human spirit let loose by freedom. We watch on as history is recorded as signifying this present day as one of end as well as beginning, one of renewal as well as change. For today I have sworn to you and to those divine and all-powerful forces that have existed as long as time itself, that I will do my part in ensuring the continual survival of our great nation, and that we will recall that grand nature of what makes us exceptional.

We are fortunate to be alive in such a time where the state of the Union is good, that the heart of the nation is sound, that our nine islands are safe and secure in the face of all immediately known dangers. While we have seen our economy shrink, seen our very principles assaulted, our inherent capabilities unshackled in favor of favoring the few of the many in recent years, we can stand proud at the front of a new dawn of an era of untold prosperity in our nation.

More than ever am I bewildered and impressed by the variety of viewpoints that lie in our nation. We are an innately curious, intelligent, and answer-seeking people, and it is in our nation to balance our drive to action with a philosophical nature that fosters the best any nation could offer. We are Echani, each and every one of us. We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained our brotherhood, we must not break our bonds of affection. These mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the breast with the chorus of our shared Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature. On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord. On this day, we come to proclaim an end to the petty grievances and false promises, the recriminations and worn-out dogmas that for far too long have strangled our politics. We promise today to expand a new frontier of excellence among our nation and our allies, and inspire a fear the likes which are unknown to our enemies.

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in that fundamental right to prosperity and excellence that God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.

We stand upon the precipice of the greatest journey in our nation’s history. We look inward to cover protections for all man and ensure the basic freedoms and liberty of speech and thought, of politics and economics. Never before have men tried so vast and formidable an experiment as that of administering the affairs of a continent under the forms of a Democratic republic….Upon the success of our experiment much depends, not only as regards our own welfare, but as regards the welfare of mankind. For as we shine brightly as the pinnacle of what man can aspire to achieve as a nation, a people, and grand world order.

We will tackle the problems the lie before us. We will renew again the spirit that lies at the heart of our nation and flows in our blood; our ability as Echani to defeat the biggest obstacles in existence by very virtue of our being Echani. Our eternal optimism will burn brighter than ever as we confront the problems that drain our economy, as we unite with our allies in Atlantian Oceania and around the world to solve the great issues that lie before us, and we sharpen our iron as we look to those who have wronged us in the past, and we look to opportunities in our region to assert our fundamental exceptionalism and forever expand the borders of our great empire.

Now let the word go forth from this time and place, to friend and foe alike, that the torch has been passed to a new generation of Echani — born in this century, tempered by war, disciplined by a hard and bitter peace, proud of our ancient heritage — and unwilling to witness or permit the slow undoing of those human rights to which this nation has always been committed, and to which we are committed today at home and around the world. And so, my fellow Echani: ask not what your country can do for you–ask what you can do for your country.

And so, with a good conscience our only sure reward, with history the final judge of our deeds, let us go forth to lead the land we love, asking His blessing and His help, but knowing that here on earth God's work must truly be our own.

Thank you, God bless you, and may the divine light shine forever on our eternal Republic.

[Eura]

OOC: Continued from here.

Wars tend not to distribute the pain and suffering very evenly. While Euran's and Sameban's bled in the savage madness of the central borderlands and Oakstone, and fought in brutal hand to hand mountain fighting to the west, both sides in the east had been playing a more patient and less bloodthirsty game. There had been many battles of course. Scores had been killed and maimed. Euran government estimates put internal displacement of civilians from their homes in the region at anywhere between two and nine million. However the focus of the Sameban Republican Army on the rest of the front had meant that it avoided quite the same level of destruction. Sameba had chosen instead to hold its inferior but nevertheless strong armoured divisions in reserve for a future breakthrough attempt should the more infantry and artillery focused siege of Oakstone fail. Eura had simply parried the blows as and when they came without making any advances. It was almost as if the Euran's were allowing things to be stable in the east. This should have raised suspicion among Sameban commanders. It should have been the source of doubts. Instead they had been content to effectively have a dead front and shift resources elsewhere. Thousands of Sameban vehicles and essentially an entire Sameban army were not being used but, just a few miles away, the Euran's had very different ideas.

A secret build up of arms had been taking place that was so large in scale as to be almost impossible to completely cover up. The Sameban's anticipated a potential minor offensive and accordingly raised their alert somewhat, but not substantially, and they continued to hold off on the next phase of their eventual Eastern thrust plan. The Euran Army meanwhile had mobilised three armoured Corps, two infantry Corps which included a large paratroop element from another corps, and a massive artillery deployment. Preserving most of the element of the surprise was already an unprecedented success thanks to all sorts of concealment efforts. Most crucial among them was the stationing of thousands of armoured vehicles in large underground car parks, tunnels, roads that had been falsely closed for maintenance and public safety from air attack, and other various kinds of improvised staging area. The effort was only made worthwhile additionally by the preparation of many thousands of support vehicles, the most crucial of which were fuel trucks and infantry fighting vehicles. On the dawn of one of the first warm days of the new year the Euran Army had finally finished polishing the spearhead that would cut through Sameba's waistline. At its head was the lead main battle tank of the 1st Tank Regiment, 5th Division, 1st Armoured Corps. An MBT-8H Cavalier, commanded by another little cog in the great game, had spent the early hours of the morning warming up its engine in a cold and dark garage.

The commander in question lit his last cigarette as he waited for the coming storm. Smoking was not common in Eura and frowned upon by most yet few would begrudge him the soothing reassurance of a quick puff of the eponymous Hornchurch manufactured brand. A radio signal was all that came through. The plan was on. He discarded the cigarette and climbed into the tank with his crew. They shook hands briefly before he took up the unit radio. The MBT-8H series had a state of the art electronic warfare suite that enabled the Euran armoured forces to remain connected in ways the Sameban's could only dream of. Advantages of this kind were to play a crucial role in the coming operation. 'Leader to company, listen up. We're rolling on the hour. Eura expects your best efforts and ultimately a winning effort. Rules of engagement are as listed in your tactical books, no changes of any importance. Remember, we only go forwards. The schedule is king. If we don't meet it, people die. Good luck everyone.' That short but sweet note coincided with the garage door sliding open slowly. Thousands of such doors and other covers on different facilities were now letting loose their deadly cargo. Less than a year ago this building had been a specialist maintenance garage for heavy goods vehicles. The owner now had to watch from his window as a company of tanks grunted into life inside to set off on the most important mission of their existence.

Ahead of the vast armoured divisions the fighting had already started. Sameban field commanders near the previously stable frontline were confused and panicking. They had received very direct instructions from Emile Gartanzo himself and his chief advisors that nothing would happen here for now, that everything had to focus on the decisive victory in Oakstone. If that proved wrong they would simply have to fend for themselves and ensure the Euran's don't march all the way back into Sameba. Tens of thousands of artillery rounds, missiles and bombs from air, land and sea had shattered this delusion in less than an hour. Sameba had made a few critical errors in its early war strategy that were now becoming apparent. Its complacency at sea had produced an irreversible set back at the Battle of the Scrub Islands. Oakstone had proved to be a symbolically and strategically important target but too wasteful to attack compared to what should have been Eura's soft underbelly. The Sameban Air Force and armoured divisions had been wasted in reserve. The Endemian campaign was unraveling too thanks to bad leadership on the ground and a thinly stretched Sameban Navy. None of these mistakes were as important as the failure to reinforce their gains on the east coast in depth. The prevailing assumption was that Eura, the weak and decadent democracy with its arrogant sense of invincibility shattered, would pour absolutely every inch of blood it had to offer into the Oakstone region. The dictatorship couldn't have misjudged them more catastrophically. When dawn broke over the horizon, the extreme end of the Sameban front was under attack. In minutes a small armoured regiment near the new border had been eradicated by Euran tanks and it would not be the last.

[Bonesea]

Matchday 3 RP Cutoff: Groups A-D

Good luck folks...

[Farfadillis]

For the match against Eura, Margaret had smiled upon us... sort of. Tíbürçìó's dementia had made him tweak the strongest line-up quite a bit, but not enough to make the team essentially uncompetitive like in the match against Turori (how did we win that game again?). Êns would start the game... which I think was just a brief manifestation of Tíb's sanity. The kid may be only eighteen, but he was crucial in the first game, and Dü Síbírí was terrible when given the chance. I would never have admitted it fifteen years ago, but not even I would've pulled off that pass of his for the second goal. If he can put in performances like that one consistently, we've got a future superstar in our hands.

However, Êns starting was the only good tactical decision Tíbürçìó took for the game. He took some more, but all of them were terrible. With no apparent reason, he swapped Söh and Monrazón. Not an entirely daft idea, actually, since they share similar attributes and play in similar positions, but, as a defender, Monrazón's a poor man's Söh, and, as a midfielder, Söh's a poor man's Monrazón. Eleonóra, the starting right winger, would be replaced by Groaré Sasca, an... offensive midfielder. Obviously, you can't play with three offensive midfielders, right? Correct, that would be tactical suicide, and even a demented man can realize that, so said demented man once again moved our best player out of position. Fôrté Wínrôuge, who'd discovered the joys of playing defensive midfield a few days ago, would now be fortunate enough to explore the depths of the role of... right winger. Fôrté can't defend, and he doesn't run much, so it that choice was a recipe for disaster. Or, at least, so I thought.

As both teams entered the pitch, ready for the match to begin, I glanced at Tíbürçìó. His face showed pride in his managerial abilities, those he once had, and he still believed he had, even though he did not. He was going to destroy the team's chances this World Cup, and there was little to be done about that. There was absolutely nothing, and I really do mean nothing, any of us could do about this situation. We were with our backs against the wall, and there was no way out.

Watching our disfigured "strongest" line-up enter the pitch alongside the Euran line-up, professionally prepared for this match, and featuring John Spartan and Craig Sinclair, who only started the important games... well, it was a bit disappointing. With a mentally-healthy Tíbürçìó, I would've been confident of getting the three points. I was all but that in that moment.

The game began and, to be honest, I was a bit surprised at how well we were doing. We weren't dominating, I knew we would not dominate a single game that World Cup, but we were putting up a great fight. We got the occasional attempt of a chance, and the Eurans seemed to find it hard to make it past the... great defender Monrazón was turning out to be? Also, Söh was actually causing many problems to the Euran midfield. He was cutting their attacks short quite often. At moments I entertained the idea that I was actually in front of a stroke of genius. But whenever I looked at Wínrôuge trying to make sense of a winger's positioning... I realized it was, at best, an ok decision aided by lots of luck.

Nonetheless, even though the Eurans were arguably the better team in the first half, the team hung on quite well. Fôrté did actually manage to threaten them even from the right flank, but by doing offensive midfieldery things. Sasca and Jevdjevic-Hadsic put in quite a shift, even defending at times, and both Êns and Çíânflöné caused some trouble. I was beginning to think we were able to get a point out of the game, and with some luck three. Specially with our defenders doing so well. Sinclair was causing a bit too much trouble for an octogenarian, but that was inevitable.

For the second half, the Eurans came out firing on all cilinders, and we felt it. They completely inutilized our attack, and by taking advantage of something very simple: there wasn't any skillful player to connect the defense and the attack. Wínrôuge was (relatively) easy to mark out of the game because he was understanding nothing about his new position, Söh was not good with the ball, and Meier was being marked too heavily. Essentially, those three players were being pressured to lose the ball, and the Eurans were doing it so well we truly were suffering. In my ever-so-optimist eyes, we were going to be thrashed.

Watch any important Farf game, and you'll notice we tend to have those slumps, though. Like everyone decides to fade out of the game in unison, and suddenly get completely dominated by the other team. It had happened in World Cup 73, when we lost to this very team six to one. I was watching that happen again. That was not a fun World Cup by the way; I was still in the hospital because of the gunshot at the time.

However, just like in the game against Turori, we scored out of nowhere. Sutton played a pass to Rose, and it was terrible. Jevdjevic-Hadsic reacted quickly, got to the ball first, turned around, looked up and calmly lifted the ball over the Euran defense in the direction of Çíânflöné, who had seen the play unraveling one second before all the other players. Through on goal with about half a meter to spare, Çíânflöné did not forgive Sutton's mistake and smashed it past Douglas. In the twenty minutes before the goal, the ball had barely touched the Euran half. A couple of second had been enough for us to be leading the game, however.

After the goal, the team seemed to snap back to reality. The Eurans began getting tired, and we began getting more and more into the game. However, that did not last, because Sinclair played Campbell through on goal, and any Farf knows that means Campbell scored. However, just as the ball entered our goal, Tíbürçìó turned around and called Lázár. He told him he was going in, and then informed both of us of his plan. Eleonóra would go in for Jevdjevic-Hadsic (bad idea) and play as a right winger. Winrôuge would move to offensive midfield, finally! I tried to convince him to swap Monrazón and Söh while he was at it, but he didn't even listen. You can't have everything, I guess.

However, despite those two being out of position, for a good ten minutes I got to see what this team was capable of under professional hands. We began taking control of the game. Sinclair and Spartan were replaced, both too old to not be tired at that point of the game. More and more, the team generated chances. Obviously, at the end of the day, no matter what we did the following fifteen minutes, the newspapers would say the Eurans deserved the three points. However, the game was very much on.

In the eighty-fouth minute, Wínrôuge ended up playing Êns through on goal. He did not have much space, but he chose to dribble Douglas nonetheless. No longer able to aim for the goal, the kid chose to cross, and the cross was perfect. An incoming Lázár Eleonóra would head the ball in and begin celebrating like a madman. Not only had he scored what would end up being a decisive goal, he had also scored against Eura, the country where he played. I remember how much I liked scoring against Vilita.

When the game ended, it felt hard to believe that we had managed two wins in two in the World Cup proper with these tactics. I didn't quite get it. However, I did know one thing: those few minutes of true Farf football, right after we started playing with the appropriate tactics, had left me wanting more. I wanted to manage this team one day.

[Cosumar]

Cosumarite WC Practice Facility, Ramusok
24 hours before MD1


Romikk Valgard was not a fan of Airik Ruhl.

Pearce loved to wax poetic about the "Cosumarite brotherhood" and caring for each member of the team like a family member. But, quite frankly, fuck that. Romikk did respect a lot of those values, but his definition of "caring for each member of the team" ended squarely at a certain fellow striker named Airik Ruhl.

As far as Romikk was concerned, Ruhl didn't even deserve to be considered part of that "sacred brotherhood". Romikk didn't care about the domestic violence trouble that CSBN media pundits always harped on. He had quite enough reasons to loathe the man just from observations with his own two eyes. Ruhl was brash, arrogant, conniving, and a major asshole to just about everybody. Put simply, he's a thug, Romikk thought. He liked to joke with his best mate on the team, Ragnar Targaryen, that Airik was a de-evolved Cosumarite, taking our highly refined society back about 300 years.

But being honest with himself, Romikk knew the real source of his disliking. Airik Ruhl was a threat.

Just as Romikk had broken into the national team at World Cup 77 and finally cemented his starting place at the AOCAF, Ruhl decided to thunder onto the scene with 22 goals in Nephara, stealing headlines from Romikk's Euran debut all throughout what was supposed to be HIS year. Though Romikk's ascendancy was rapid, he had grown accustomed to (and secretly fond of) titles like "chosen one" and "Cosumar's strike future" and "the next Arora". What's more, his ascendancy was all the more special because he shared the experience with Ragnar. The two young strikers became fast friends during WC 77 and truly congealed together on and off the pitch. They roomed together with the Vanquishers. They video chatted nearly every day while with their clubs. And during the AOCAF, they had finally started up top together for every match. Romikk had never had more fun playing soccer. He and Ragnar began to dream of starting together for many World Cups to come and talked many time of becoming a legendary "deadly duo".

Ruhl made all of that less certain. For the first time in his short career, Romikk did not feel secure in his place, and that was scary. Well, he felt pressure from big club breakthroughs by Vega Zeale-Riddick and Elena Culbreth too (and even Kevin Stabb filing his one-time switch from the USI), but at least those three had the decency to put their heads down and let their play do the talking.

Not Airik Ruhl. No, Ruhl scored two goals against Schottia in a meaningless pre-WC friendly, then came out and virtually demanded that he start at the World Cup. In public. He even demeaned Cosumar's "other strikers" (AKA...Romikk and Ragnar!) for being "ineffective as a two-inch dick" in the preceding (admittedly lackluster) win over Mriin. As if in one (admittedly phenomenal) showing Ruhl had proved himself the best and most cunning striker in the Multiverse. Plus he made a small dick joke. The nerve.

As the team worked final preparations for the World Cup in the weeks since, training sessions had been intense - especially amongst the strikers. Five had been included in the final squad for the first time in Cosumarite history and playing time was completely up in the air. Ruhl quickly made himself a top performer. He was challenging Romikk and Ragnar's places. They knew it. He knew it. And he wasn't afraid to talk about it either, constantly trying to get in Romikk's head with banter, stray elbows and other exhausting mind games. And it was exhausting. There simply hadn't been people like Ruhl back home on quiet Kalloroda Colony.

Romikk glanced at the dragon-themed clock on the wall. Now was the moment of truth. At 5 o'clock sharp, the coaching staff were posting of the starting line-up for tomorrow's World Cup opener. At the new stadium. Against the hated Foot Slaves. He hurriely put his cleats in his bag, stood up from the locker room bench and made his way over to the crowd of sweaty footballers at the window, where someone on the other side was struggling to tape up a list of names. After some pushing and maneuvering, he caught a glimpse of his name. And Ragnar's. A sigh of relief and then a grin of excitement. They were getting their chance.

Scarcely two seconds later, a shirtless Airik Ruhl and his tattoos and twelve-pack strutted through the door, making his presence known to the whole room. The crowd of players looked silently at him and he looked back at them with a smirk, eyebrow raised. Airik cracked his knuckles and brushed Zeale-Riddick and Deirdre McNessa aside towards to the window where the starting line-up was posted.

"All so eager to play with me tomorrow, eh? Let's take a look at who gets the honor!"

Romikk couldn't wait for what came next.


~To Be Continued~

---

Cosumar 3-2 Eastfield Lodge
WC Tune-up Tour | @ The Amphitheatre, Cassandra
Targaryen 26' _{(Heher assist)}, Targaryen 49', Valgard 55' _{(Kvanderwyk assist)}
Subs: Elam, Culbreth, Loredan

Cosumar 3-0 Soltsteed
WC Tune-up Tour | @ Somerset Road, Centus
Svensson 53', Targaryen 63' _{(Chisenhall assist)}, Targaryen 75' _{(Serafino assist)}
Subs: Varghese, Simmons III, Elam

Cosumar 0-0 Bonesea
WC Tune-up Tour | @ Leviathan Arena, Kaldukosic
No scorers
Subs: Tapp, Sigler, Ruhl


*****

Cosumar 1-1 Gregoryisgodistan
Group A, Matchday 1
@ Crowley Memorial WC Stadium, Ramusok
Serafino 59'
(Valgard assist)
Subs: Ruhl 56', Tapp 70', Sigler 71'
Yellow Cards: None


Cosumar 2-1 Damukuni
Group A, Matchday 2
@ Crowley Memorial WC Stadium, Ramusok
Targaryen 46', Valgard 56'
(Serafino assist 56')
Subs: Sigler 64', Ruhl 68', Tapp 85'
Yellow Cards: Heher 63'


Cosumar vs. Eshan
Group A, Matchday 3
@ Crowley Memorial WC Stadium, Ramusok

Goal-Scorers Tally
Bellerophon Serafino (1)
Ragnar Targaryen (1)
Romikk Valgard (1)

Assists Tally
Romikk Valgard (1)
Bellerophon Serafino (1)

Sub Appearances Tally
Airik Ruhl (2)
Denton Tapp (2)
Mauricio Sigler (2)

[Cosumar]

For some players, World Cup dreams are about to really kick into gear
While tonight's results might make others curse and shed a tear
And those already facing long odds have nothing to fear

But whether you're a striker of the top tier
With millions of fans whose hearts already hold you dear
Or a defender hoping for the breakthrough in your career

Simply relax and keep your head clear
Maybe even check your footgear...
But most of all, just remember that It's Good To Be Here

---

Matchday 3 RP Cutoff: Groups E-H
Scores

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People

"Good morning, ladies, gentlemen, slaves, and Guaya Beans. There is a lot of news to discuss today, so I'll get right to it. A few days ago, the wicked Guaya Beans, led by the Devil Queen Margaret, aka Maniac Margaret, launched an EMP attack and destroyed our beloved telescreens at the Guayabalanese border that blare messages like this one into that meforesaken land. Well, we have our revenge now! The telescreens are back, bigger and better than ever! There is now a giant wall of telescreens 500 feet off the ground and 1,200 feet high, blaring messages into San Jose Guayabal 24/7. And unlike the previous telescreens, this is a continuous expanse of telescreens stretching from one side of the border to the other. No matter where in San Jose Guayabal you are, you will always see a telescreen, likely multiple. In fact, this speech right now is viewable on those telescreens, so HI GUAYA BEANS! YOU'RE A BUNCH OF LOSERS!

"Furthermore, the sound from the audio devices is louder than ever and can now be heard from a range of 50 miles, literally shaking the Earth when you get too close, it's so loud. Fortunately, we have upgraded the homes of our citizens near the border to resist this, but if the Guaya Beans didn't, and they probably didn't, their homes near the border will be literally crumbling. We shall prevail, you stupid Guaya Beans! We shall prevail!

"Now, as for the matter of the attack, I order the Guaya Beans and their Devil Queen not to launch any more EMP attacks at the telescreens or anywhere else in our nation. If they continue with the EMP attacks, we will treat it as an act of war and launch a full-scale nuclear attack on every city and town in San Jose Guayabal. The nation will be engulfed by a flaming, radioactive firestorm which will destroy the people and the entire nation. Thankfully, the 100-foot wall on the border is also fireproof so the flames will not spread to Gregoryisgodistan, keeping the Guaya Beans engulfed in flame as they beg for their lives while our people are safe and sound.

"But, Maniac Magster, this doesn't need to happen. You could simply not launch another EMP attack. It would be that easy. So easy, a moron like you could do it, you loser. So, if you and your Guaya Bean friends value their lives, do not launch another EMP attack. If you do, your nation will be wiped off the map and you will be destroyed. Are you quaking in fear? Well, you should be. Beware the awesome power of the Lord!

"Now, I must talk about other matters, more pleasant ones. Our beloved Foot Slaves finally got over the four-point hump in the World Cup with wins over Eshan and Damukuni, and yes, that last one is pronounced DAMN YOU KUNI, because DAMN YOU KUNI, or as I like to call them, Dumbokuni, and yes, by the way, we also tied with hosts Cosumar. Next up for our Foot Slaves is a Round of 16 clash with Eura, aka the Euran idiots, because if you're Euran, Euran idiot. Haha, I made a joke, laugh or be executed. That means you too, Guaya Beans! Eura somehow only went 1-0-2 in the group stage, a measly three points, but still advanced on goal difference. They won a single game, they lost two, they do not deserve to advance, but through black magic, bribery, or just bad rules, they did. So now we face them.

"And yes, Eura is our enemy, and their enemy Sameba is our ally. Therefore, I encourage all fans lucky enough to attend that game in person to fly Sameban flags in addition to Gregoryisgodistan ones and carry posters and sing chants about Gregoryisgodistan's glorious friendship with Sameba. And maybe even throw human solid or liquid waste, or prune juice or gruel, at the Euran players like we would at players from any other Enemy List nation except east Saintland, which is really just part of a single nation ruled by the illegitimate "King" Andreas. But I digress. Let's show Eura the Awesome Power of the Lord! Let's light up the sky with a million flares, and with songs and chants of praise to me, your One True Lord, and to Sameba, one of our greatest allies in the fight against nosy old Eura. We will someday destroy Eura, not because it is easy but because it is hard! We will someday win the World Cup, not because it is easy, but because it is hard! Maybe we can do both at once and secretly feed the Eurans nuclear bombs so they'll lose, then go home, and detonate the nuclear bombs in Eura and kill everyone. That would be a great plan. But I could just be bluffing to confuse the Eurans. You never know. I have these great plans sometimes, nobody else likes them, but they're really great. That's one of them. Who wants to help me secretly feed the Eurans nuclear bombs? Let's do it tonight!

"Anyway, we wish the Foot Slaves best of luck tomorrow in Cosumar, and wish the Eurans a million curses on and off the field. We shall prevail in sports and in war. We shall vanquish the foes, be they Guaya Beans or Euran Idiots. And they shall be destroyed! Oh yes, they shall be destroyed! Thank you, and Me Bless Gregoryisgodistan!"

[Brenecia]

Brenecia 1-0 Nova Anglicana
(4-2-3-1) 1 - Woodgate (vc); 2 - Szukala, 22 - Bradden, 6 - Szubanski, 3 - Lovelock (19 - Quill 76'); 4 - Gryphon (c, Alweather 70'), 16 - Drover (21 - Hartsdown 60'); 15 - Crowther, 11 - Balliol, 13 - Keohane; 17 - Bannion
Goals: Balliol 28'

It had been a mildly dull, certainly routine win. Brenecia had not dominated, but they'd been more organised and assured with their 39% possession, rotating a few players with a view to succeeding further down the line. 20-year old Brae Crowther had been their best player, aided by the fact that Rozelle's veteran backup leftback, Cory Henry, was far too inclined to attack himself and didn't have the pace or the skillset to try and mark her down. She'd had a few decent shots and been responsible, though uncredited on paper, for providing the goal - her cross swung in, Bannion and an Anglican centre-half contesting it in the air and it bounced loose to the D, and Sander Balliol charged it down, unmarked, and volleyed it low and hard into the corner...
It had been a satisfying group stage. They were still unbeaten in the cycle - more importantly, they were first in this group, swanning through while the world number 1s crashed out with three draws. Bardsley hadn't had a lot to say in the post-match briefing, but what she'd said, at the end...
Well, lads, four more to go.
... well, it had lingered.
People said footballers were stupid. That, by and large, was untrue - intelligence helped on the road to the top, leaving aside the more abstract intelligence required to see the field with panoramic vision that was a prerequisite of playing professionally, and in any case they could sure as hell tell you the answer to '3 + 4 = 7'.
Four more. That would mean winning.
Brenecia. Winning the World Cup.
What the fuck.

It - or something like it - had happened before. Thirty years ago, in fact. Audioslavia, ranked 53rd in the build-up to the tournament, were a long way away from their heyday. They had a couple big names, sure - Karsten Eiger, John Ryan, Kajaxo Imaslavii - but only with the benefit of hindsight. They decided, sensibly, to play a defensive, counter-punching style and doubled down on it when they reached the finals themselves. Nobody took them seriously, nobody gave them the respect that they would earn, counterattack by grinding counterattack, over the next month.
And when the dust settled, they were champions.

And so, in their rooms that night, the Brenecians began to dream.

Mathis Woodgate struggled to sleep. He sat on his bed, leaning against the wall, watching the stars. He'd played at two World Cups before, and overachieved at both under Raven Cullen. Cullen had thought anything was possible, sure, but... under Bardsley, everyone believed it. If you didn't concede, you couldn't lose, and Bardsley had drilled them into the knowledge that they could hold out against anyone.
Ophelia Lovelock was no stranger to success of late, but that and being surrounded by Nepharim had given her a lust for success. She'd worried that she'd be unable to fulfil these new ambitions with the Patriots. It was the hope that killed you.
Catherine Gryphon didn't think of the captaincy as anything unlike what she usually did. She knew she'd be out there in the next match, first name on the teamsheet. She knew she'd talk a lot - blessed with a voice that cut clear as glass across the pitch. She knew how to let her skill do the talking when needed, too. She knew, in short, what to do - and slept easily.
Anaximander Scrivener had had a long career, and was currently at its tail end. A big trophy win, he felt, was the least he deserved, and he'd drag the rest along the line himself if that's what it took.
Niko Szubanski had had a few drinks on the down-low that night. The pressure was new, and not entirely welcome... but the feeling of success surging through his limbs? That was worth fighting for, again and again.
Squire Trevelyan wondered how things would've gone if Apox hadn't had its disaster... if it had called him up. If Apox was here instead of Brenecia. If, maybe by this stage, with none of the controversies... ah, but it was just dreaming. He was here, and this was now.
Sander Balliol knew he was a very good player. Moreover, he was painfully aware he wasn't a truly great one. But his nation needed him, if only sporadically, and he liked silverware as much as the next man. It was only four matches away... but four matches against the world's best, with Brenecia yet again left with their backs to the wall...
Keohane wished she was here for the Sunrise Islands. In a way, she supposed, she was their representative. That thought gave her some solace - enough, in any case, to drift peacefully to sleep.
Elsie Drover slipped out of the hotel after dark and wandered the streets until the small hours. How could she sleep at a time like this? With so much left waiting to do? She'd been here before, and it had lost none of its novelty. Fuck, could they really do it?
Aelfwynn Bannion knew she was maybe the least heralded footballer in the side, and no less essential for that. She hadn't scored yet, and missed a few decent half-chances... that couldn't continue. Bardsley was keeping faith in her, and she had to repay that... against the proper world-class sides, unless Bannion stuck the ball in the net every serviceable chance she got, the Patriots didn't stand a chance... she slept fretfully, at best.
Brun Carrack worried if she'd retain her starting place (she would). She clung to her dreams of victory for dear life, knowing that cruel reality could snatch them away at any moment - even being here, starting for the national side, even that felt like a dream. But her manager, Conrad Keane, he'd been right, he'd said she was built for great things... but this?

And Catherine Bardsley dreamed, as she often did, of a quiet room where the world was a better place.

[Bonesea]

.

[Schottia]

SBCNEWS Online...
World Cup special - Group-D round-up
by Gary Corsie, former Schottia international.

---

It's something no Schottian has ever been comfortable with: The weight of expectation. The perennial plucky-underdogs have gone through enough pluckiness..? Pluck..? Whatever the noun, they've gone through enough bottles of the stuff to last a lifetime. It's how Schottians have traditionally defined themselves; nose to the grindstone, working hard but to no avail. Getting to the final of the Cup of Harmony fitted with the narrative, it was on home soil, they dug deep and lost out to an even smaller, pluckier side in the final. Then, when they made it all the way to the World Cup-77 quarterfinals in SJG and Quebec, the common consensus was that they'd had their moment in the sun, their fifteen minutes of fame. They were done, thank you very much.

Therefore, you can imagine the surprise this year, when Schottia cruised huffed and puffed through the qualifiers with a 100% record. Rather than sitting back at the end of a gruelling WC-77, reflecting on what they had achieved, the team were playing like they had unfinished business. The incessant groaning and murmurs of decent from the old-school Schottian support, must have been deafening.

We're getting too big for our boots...

It'll never last, mark my words...

Och, we have to lose eventually...

Remember, in Schottic culture pride cometh before a fall, and the only way to cleanse one's soul is through hard-work, discipline, and frugality. These were the same geriatric naysayers who complained at every turn during the modernisation of Schottia's game. When they joined the WCC they complained that it would put ticket prices up. When Schottia entered the Di Bradini Cup, they said if would fill the young laddies' heads full of nonsense. When the SPL received its UICA accreditation, it was supposed to mean the league would be filled with longhaired capitalist, from countries no one could bloody pronounce. And, one can only imagine the hoo-ha when the nation amalgamated its men's and women's teams..!

But at every one of these landmark events, the naysayers had been proven wrong. The thing was, this new generation of players were nothing like their grumbling and cantankerous elders. They might have been hard-working and disciplined (for the most part), but they certainly weren't frugal. For a start, the majority of this new, mixed-gender, generation of go-getters didn't play their football in Schottia. They played their football in the big-money leagues along the Terranean Coast - they played in the Harlighet Ligan, the V-League, and Farfadillis. They had grown up as winners, and didn't care one jot for the old ways. Schottia went into their opening match in Cosumar ranked 9th in the world, and - despite the heart palpitations it was causing their grandparents - the players were determined not to wilt under the weight of expectation.

Lionel Mah's new-look Schottia had been dumped into Group D, which was something of a mixed bag. They had dodged some of the nightmare Pot-Three teams such as Osarius, Turori, and of course the derby-of-sorts that a match with Port Christopher would bring. They had also avoided a resurgent Starblaydia side from Pot-Four, who escaped a qualifying group containing Nephara and Mercedini. For their sins Schottia had drawn familiar foes Super-Llamaland, more-ominously, reigning champs Vilita, and their opening opponents, World Cup debutants, Tumbra.

Tumbra 0–1 Schottia @ The Klyde Sportsplex, Klyde City
Line-up: Gould, Watt, Doig, Souter, Paul, Conjure, McDonald (Soria-Luna), E.Killanen, Rudden (Rexmont), Coultan, Martel-Burns (McCormack)
Goals: Martel-Burns

Tumbra were making their long-awaited debut on the world stage, following some heart-breaking near misses in the past. Ranked 33rd in the world, the Blue Lions fielded a team largely consisting of home-based players, and were the highest ranked side in Pot-Three. The main goal-threat would come from Humboldt Albion striker John Krajewski, who managed a highly impressive seventeen goals during qualifying. Meanwhile TL-East star, Henry Butler, looked like the kind of player who could provide some substance in the centre of the pitch, giving McDonald and Conjure some food for thought.

As expected, Robin Stoff's Tumbra side were well up for the fight, and with little to lose, they set about making things exceptionally difficult for Schottia. Stoff has been praised in Tumbra for his brand of football; and in the opening forty-five, the Tumbrans showed they definitely weren't here just to make up the numbers. Schottia didn't exactly play badly, but they really had to dig deep for the opening hour. It wasn't until the closing stages that Lionel Mah's side managed to gain the upper hand, with Killanen and Coultan pushing further up the pitch in search for that elusive goal. In the end it was Polaris striker Corinne Martel-Burns, who scored the only goal of the game, blasting in a Chloe Rudden cross with twenty minutes to go.

Manager, Lionel Mah, will have been relieved to take all three points against a team who looked like they were going to push Schottia all the way. This might have been Tumbra's first outing at the World Cup, but based on what we've seen, it is unlikely to be their last.

Schottia 0-2 Vilita @ MasseMord Stadium, Azuris
Line-up: Gould, Watt, Doig, Souter, M.Ünterhausen, Conjure (J.Ünterhausen), McDonald, E.Killanen, Rudden, Coultan (Soria-Luna), Martel-Burns (Brankovič)
Goals:

It was already being billed as the big fixture in Group D, and a 0-0 draw for Vilita in the first match, meant that there was an added tension, as Schottia took on the reigning champions. The only team with a 100% record still intact this cycle, verses the title holders, was always going to be a massive on game - and it would be by far the stiffest test Schottia had faced this year.

Schottia were without the services of Stephen Paul for this one, with Mark Ünterhausen filling in for the Falourr man at centre-back. Other than that though, it was a full-strength Schottia that went out to test its metal against one of world football's most famous sides.

The opening forty-five was just as tense as we expected with neither side giving much away. Schottia captain Jenny McDonald was lucky to stay on the pitch after a heavy challenge on teenage Turoki Tide midfielder, Polaox Torerun. It was one of many robust tackles flying in, as Schottia tried to stay in the match. The Atlantian Oceanians were the better side throughout much of the first half, and Harry Gould had to be at his best on thirty-nine minutes, to keep out a Berali Tzufarei strike.

In the second half Schottia brought on Johannas Ünterhausen for Evelyn Conjure, and his physical presence seemed to steady the ship a little. The Tyranians' best chance fell to Chloe Rudden shortly after the restart, but The Reds' winger hammered her angled strike into the side netting. Had Schottia taken the lead, it would have been a bit of an injustice, and with half an hour left on the clock it seemed that a draw was the best they could hope for.

On the 74th minute, Vilita underlined why they are many people's favourites to retain their title, as they took the lead through Linkat Cjinder. The young defender rose highest to guide his header in at the back post, leaving Gould with little chance. Schottia needed to change something, and went on the offensive with Brankovič replacing Martel-Burns, who had been a little off colour in this match. As Schottia committed people forward they were always going to leave gaps at back, and Fishtii Blikala exploited just such an opening, to score the goal that ensured Schottia were dealt there first defeat of the campaign.

Super-Llamaland 1–2 Schottia @ MasseMord Stadium, Azuris
Line-up: Gould, Abner, Doig, Souter, Paul, Conjure, McDonald (Bánach), E.Killanen (James), Rudden (Soria-Luna), Coultan, Martel-Burns
Goals: E.Killanen, Martel-Burns

So it all came down this. A winner takes all match, with Schottia knowing that anything other than three points would almost guarantee they crashed out of the World Cup. The fact that Schottia had beat the Tigers twice during qualifying, only succeeded in cranking up the pressure on Lionel Mah and his players, who were definitely the side with more to lose. Falourr defender, Stephen Paul, was back for this match after picking up a knock against Tumbra. However, they were without the services of vice-captain Larry Watt, who reached his yellow card limit. Porty wing-back, Esther Abner was drafted in, while Mark Ünterhausen was dropped to the bench to make way for the returning Paul.

The match represented a homecoming for Tigers' captain, Adrian Lindberg, and the Real Azuris player put in a good shift at the MasseMord Stadium. His side were understandably up for the match, with the prospect of making the last-sixteen for the first time since WC-70 in their sights. As a result, when Schottia took the lead after thirty-seven minutes, there was palpable sense of relief among their supporters.

Eoin Killanen verses Adrian Lindberg was proving to be a fascinating battle in the opening stages, but in this instance, it was the Mâ Âlâmëómë man who got the better of his opponent. Killanen gave the veteran defender the slip, showing great awareness to get on the end of a layoff from Coultan before powering his side ahead. You could see how much it meant to the player, who has a habit of coming up with the goods at the right time for his country. Schottia were where they wanted to be, but there was still a long way to go, and this game very much hung in the balance.

Schottia's fears were realised shortly after the restart, when some laidback defending allowed Ansel Penbrooke to capitalise. Miroslav Vorobyov might not be the strongest player in the Tigers' team, but he is a contender for being the quickest. The FC Samotath winger left Abner completely wrong-footed as he whipped the ball across the face of goal for Penbrooke to turn in the equaliser.

Lionel Mah needed to shake something up, and once again the Quebecois came good for them. He made an attack-minded double switch, with McDonald and Rudden making way for youngsters, Bánach and Luna. It was a risk, but one that paid off, with United girl Bánach, in particular, putting in her best performance in white and green. It was Luna however, combining well with Counjure in the centre, who played Martel-Burns through for the winning goal. The Polaris striker disguised her run beautifully, as she surged through the middle to score the winning goal with only four minutes left on the clock. Markus Sheffield got a hand to it, but there was too much on the strike, and the ball bounced past him and into the bottom corner of the net. The striker will have done her growing reputation no harm at all with the goal, which put her side through to the last-sixteen. Her yellow card for an over the top goal celebration will, on the other hand, have taken the gloss from an otherwise top-drawer performance.

Schottia Vs. Pasarga @ MasseMord Stadium, Azuris

Schottia's reward for topping Group D was a match with WC-72 champions, Pasarga. Schottia's two previous meetings with the Rushmori giants came in that same cycle, with the sides facing off in qualifying. The Auks lost both matches, in what turned out to be a disastrous campaign, costing Barry Gorman his job in the end. Schottia were ranked a lowly 66th in the world at the time, and only Larry Watt, Eoin Killanen, and Kim Coultan survive from what was a very different looking squad. While The Wanderers aren't quite the same side they were twelve years ago, they are still ranked 13th in the world, and few would argue that there is much between them and Schottia.

This is clearly a match that could go either way, and the Schottic defence will need to be mindful of striker Ingþór Auðbjörnsson, who is regarded in some quarters as the best in the business. It will be important that they don't take their eye of the midfield though, and the prospect of Fjóla Sigurjónsdóttir going head to head with Paul Doig will be filling Schottia fans with dread. Furthermore, with a player of Tar Hunor's stature in the centre, McDonald and Conjure might find themselves under a fair bit of pressure, measuring in at 173cm and 170cm respectively. Will Lionel Mah be tempted to start with Johannas Ünterhausen in a bid to counter the Izotz Zubia man?

Coming in on this kind of form, it's a great chance for small Tyranian nation really achieve something on the world stage. There are no easy games from here on in though - if there ever were to start with - and Schottia need to treat them all like finals. The older generation might be looking around, wondering where their plucky underdogs have gone, but the player will have their eyes on something very different...

Klyde City, Cosumar

'Are you sure it was World Cup-72 that Pasarga won?' Gary poured over the article draft in front of him, eyeing it with the utmost suspicion. There was a lot on the line here, and he couldn't take any risks. 'I thought it might have been 74...'

'Of course I'm bloody sure.' The young man sat opposite him replied, before taking a sip from his pint. 'That's like the most basic of knowledge, you can look it up online if you don't believe me.'

'Hmm...' Gary glared at him over the top of the laptop screen, but he seemed satisfied by the self-assurance in his response. 'And these goal scorers, they're definitely correct? Same with the starting line-ups?' Gary took a sip of whisk(e)y, washing it down with a hefty glug of frothy, back stout. He'd had to take the train back up to Klyde City for the meeting, which had required him to finally brave one of these mysterious Irish Bars.

'Yes.' The man folded his arms defiantly. 'I've double checked. I took it from the SBC's own website, so if I'm wrong, they're wrong too.' He leaned forward, tilting the screen a little in his favour. 'Look!' He jabbed it with his index finger. 'I've even formatted it in the website's house style, with the bold green headings.'

When SBC-Sports had suggested he write an article, rounding-up Schottia's progress through the group stage, it had placed Gary in a state of panic. Somehow he'd been winging it in the TV studio, but there was no chance he could fill a two thousand word article with open-ended statements. He could already hear the laughter, the barrel laughter, side-splitting laughter, as the legions of people waiting for him to fail read it over. That was where Max Glover came in. The young man, whom Gary had found on a fans' website had agreed to write an article, which he could pass off as his own. There was of course a fee involved, not to mention Gary having to wangle him a ticket for the Pasarga match.

'I'm worried that the intro might be a bit tongue-in-cheek.' Gary tugged on his beard while he read over it again. He was a little unsure how his father (a seasoned naysayer) would take to being called a geriatric.

'It's light-hearted, whimsical...' Glover shrugged off Gary's concerns once again. 'A sideways look at things, a fresh take on football analysis, is that not what your meant to be all about..?'

'Supposedly...' Gary finished off his nip, chasing it down with a third of a pint, reducing it mostly to foam. 'Right, it'll do I guess.' He removed a bundle of notes from the inside pocket of his tweed jacket. 'One hundred, two, three, four.' He place the money down on the table in front of Glover, and waited for him pick it up.

'And the ticket?'

Gary reached into the jacket once more and retrieved the coveted item, placing it delicately in front of the young man. He'd had to go through Chloe to get his hands on it, and it wasn't an experience he'd enjoyed.

Glover studied it for what felt like an age, before nodding. 'Okay, then we're all good?'

'Yes it'll have to do.' Gary admitted, he would never have said as much, but the article was better than he'd originally feared. He watched as the young man finished up his drink and got ready to leave, no doubt already thinking about how much fun he was going to get up to with a wallet so full he couldn't even close it.

'Say..?' Gary asked just as Glover was about to take his leave. 'Do you know much about coaching?'

[Vilita]

Hhheeeeylooooo Everrrybody! Welcome to today's edition of Vilita?, Turori? or BOTH!!

Of course, the Vilitan Cove's favorite game show where we let everyday citizens such as yourselves compete against a famous Vilitan and a famous Turorian to see who truly knows the most about our fair homelands!

And a reminder to those of you watching along at home, you can compete live with our contests by visiting our information portal and navigating to the 'play along live' link. The at-home contestant with the fastest cumulative and correct response times will be entered for a chance to be a contestant on a future show!

Now, without further ado, lets meet our contestants.

First our celebrity contestants!

Our Vilitan celebrity, representing the best Goalkeeping family to have never won a World Cup with the Vilita National Team, following in the footsteps of Jimmy Jaded... Aranora Jaded!

From Turori, he single handedly led Turoki United to the Vilitan Stellar Division Title and runner-up finishes in the UICA Champions Cup and UICA Globe Cup, now he serves as president of the Football Association of Turori... Mumau Atla-Siioai!!!

And now, our at-home winners. Representing the Island Emirate of Turori. A 32 year old school teacher from Kionao... Mualala Tangeri'iki!!

Our final contestant, from the beautiful Silean coast on the Isle of Turoki from the great Tropics of Vilita, a 56 year old pencil factory manager and part-time Jungle Cat trainer, Wildaan Slapsasi!!!

Alright well now that we've met our four contestants, lets reveal todays category:

FOOTSPORT

Footsport! Everyone's favorite pastime! Except of course, for those who don't care for it. Perhaps not a surprise considering the background of our two celebrity guests! How currently relevant as well as both the Vilita Jungle Cats and Turori Eels are off in the land of Dragons and blue creatures competing for World Cup glory in Cosumar & Bonesea World Cup 78.

Now a quick refresher on the rules. Once the question is displayed, the first player to buzz in gets to answer the question. If they get the answer right, they get 5 points. If their correct answer is also the nation they represent, all players from that nation get an additional 5 points! If they answer the question wrong they lose one point (but cannot go negative) and the answer is revealed. But, if the wrong answer they provide is of the opposing nation then the players from the other nation get 3 additional points. No additional points are awarded when the provided answer is 'Both'. Contestants can also guess "Neither" but doing so gains them no points.

Well, without further ado, lets get to the first question.



Vilita? Turori? or Both? ... Under-21 World Cup Winner?

*buzz* *buzz* Aranora Jaded! What say you!

Jaded slaps his hand on the podium in front of him, Neither!!

*host shakes head in disgust* Aranora Jaded. Arcticala Inlets most famous netminder of the past 25 seasons. You answered Neither.

Host: The game is Vilita, Turori or Both. I said you could answer neither if you wanted to, but that it wouldn't get you any points. What were you trying to accomplish with that answer?!

Aranora Jaded: Well, we don't even enter the Under-21 championship that often, we develop our young players in the AOCAF. So I thought it was the right answer.

Host: But you could have just said "Vilita" or "Both" with no penalty! Why say Neither?! You're WRONG!!!!

The answer is Vilita!

While neither Vilita or Turori... or Both, are regular entrants into the Di Bradini Cup competition for Under-21 aged players, both Vilita and Turori were regular entrants in its predecessory competition, the Under-21 World Cup. Vilita won the Under-21 World Cup's 7th edition in perfectly Vilitan fashion... Drawing the first match against Aquiliana, Losing the second match to Esth then opening the flood gates, scoring 16 goals in the next four matches to reach the final where they were paired up against the defending champion team from Bedistan. It was a goalless draw through regular time but the Jungle Kitties, as the were deemed, pulled through in Extra Time after a goal from Mauro Baraza gave Vilita its second major international championship. Neither Vilita or Turori have won the Under-21 World Cup, including the Di Bradini Cup, since.

Alright, on to the next question!


Vilita? Turori? or Both? ... Eliminated by Eura during World Cup 72?

*buzz* *buzz* Aranora Jaded! First on the buzzer again. Now. Before you provide your answer, let me give you some guidance. Don't say "Neither!"

Got it Host. I'm going to go with Vilita!

Host: Good Answer Aranora. It's not wrong. Its not right either. No points!

Of course, Vilita were eliminated by Eura in World Cup 72. Every Vilitan remembers it. After the triumph of World Cup 68 and subsequent eliminations in the Round of 16 and Group Stage in the cups following it, we all thought an age of darkness was upon us. Then came World Cup 72. We just kept winning. By the time we made it to the Semi-Final we thought we were well on our way to another title. Then Eura showed up. Perhaps the most humiliating defeat in the Final Four of the World Cup since the days of Dorian and Sonya, the Jungle Cats fell 0-5 to Eura who would go on to lose the World Cup final to Pasarga. HOWEVER! Eura's own path to the World Cup Final went through not one, but two Vilitan Cove nations. In the Round of 16 Eura snuck by the Island Emirate of Turori by a score of 2-3. It was the second straight cup that Eura and Turori met in the knockout round, both matches won by Eura.

So the Correct answer, of course, was both!

Two questions in. No one has any points. Mumau, Wildaan and Mualala - whenever you want to buzz in and start playing, be my guest!



Vilita? Turori? or Both? ... Most World Cup Quarter Final Eliminations?

*buzz* *buzz* Oh Good. Mumau Atla-Siioai. Give me a correct answer please so we can put some points on the board.

Atla-Siioai: Easy one. Turori!

Going with the safe answer I see.

Well lets see if you're right. Of Course, between Vilita and Turori, Vilita have made more appearances in the World Cup Finals. However, nearly half the time the Jungle Cats have qualified for the finals, they've been eliminated in the Group Stage. Turori, however, has a better record of advancing to the knockout rounds. What they do when they get there, however, is also very different. While Vilita have been succesful in advancing to the final four on multiple occasions, the Turori Eels have not. Half of the time they have advanced to the knockout rounds they were eliminated at the Round of 16. The other half of the time, in the Quarter Final - two more times than the Tropics of Vilita.

Correct Answer: Turori!

Good Job Mumau Atla-Siioai. I guess as President of the Football Association of Turori, thats something you should know. Thats 5 points for you for getting the question right, plus 5 points for a Turorian answering Turori to both you and Mualala Tangeri'iki!

The score after 3 rounds:
10 - (TUR) Mumau Atla-Siioai 
 5 - (TUR) Mualala Tangeri'iki
 0 - (VIL) Aranora Jaded
 0 - (VIL) Wildaan Slapsasi

Alright, moving on;


Vilita? Turori? or Both? ... AO Champions League Winning Association?

*buzz* *buzz* Alright! Wildaan Slapsasi of the Island of Turoki! Give us your answer

VILITA!!!!!!

Host: *backing away* Easy, Easy Wildaan! You have a microphone we can all hear you! Screaming it isn't going to make it right if it was wrong to begin with...

...But it wasn't! Thats the correct answer!!! Vilita it is.

There have been 25 editions of the Atlantian Oceania Champions League but just 9 associations have lifted the championship trophy. It didn't take long for Vilita to claim their first as an association. While Jungle Strike FC were defeated by the Woodstock Wild of Sarzonia in the first AO Champions League, the Yeaddin Owls solidified their position as best club in the multiverse winning the second Atlantian Oceania Champions League over the Montepool Waves at the Kafra International Stadium in Nedalia, adding to their club trophy room after back-to-back Nationstates Champions League titles. By contrast, the only Turorian club to appear in the AO Champions League final was Mliona-Lpaka AFC doing so in the competitions 10th running, losing to Jungle Strike FC at the Cascadia Bank Stadium in 95X in what would be the third of Vilita four AO Champions League titles as an Association.

Thats 5 points for you for getting it right, 5 points for both you and Aranora Jaded for the right answer being Vilita, guessed by a Vilitan!.

That tightens things up on the leaderboard considerably as we now have two wrong answers from Aranora Jaded who lost no points, and one right answer each from Mumau Atla-Siioai and Wildaan Slapsasi who are now tied on 10 points while our other two competitors are close behind at 5.

This will be the final question before we go for our scheduled break It should be an easy one, but make sure you think carefully!


Vilita? Turori? or Both? ... Host Venue during World Cup 17

*buzz* *buzz* Great! Our School Teacher Mualala Tangeri'iki. Do they teach World Cup history in schools in Kionao?

Mualala Tangeri'iki: Well, I am a history teacher but we don't often dive too deep into sports. However, World Cup 17 is a special one since it was the first World Cup hosted in the Vilitan Cove and the first World Cup Turori qualified for the finals. I know for a fact, that World Cup 17 was hosted by Vilita!

Right you are Mualala! World Cup 17 was most certainly co-hosted by Vilita along with Kaze Progressa.

However, your answer, unfortunately is Wrong!

While World Cup 17 was the first World Cup hosted in the Vilitan Cove, it had a more lasting impact on the way World Cup Finals were hosted than just putting them in amazing climates like our fine Tropics. Prior to World Cup 17 it may not have been the norm for host nations to play their Finals matches in the host country. Its not that it hadn't been done, but it was not a regular occurrence. For World Cup 17, however, Vilita played all of their matches in Vilita, Kaze Progressa played all their matches in Kaze Progressa... and... Turori! Played all their matches in Turori. A relatively young sporting nation at the time, the KPV organizing committee for the World Cup 17 hosting bid determined that their bid would have a better chance if they included the 79,000 capacity Almintora National Stadium in Turori instead of a smaller Vilitan venue as their 8th group stage stadium. They were right, of course, in as much as the bid was selected. As Turori had never before qualified for the World Cup Finals, it wasn't seen as a distraction in the bidding process. Once they qualified however, and, were drawn into the Vilitan half of the draw, it only made sense to ensure that the Turori matches were played in Turori. That decision didn't go down well in The Eagles Nest, however. Turori won its first World Cup match by a 1-0 scoreline and The Eagles Nest representatives felt that there were some questionable referring calls that went against them including multiple fouls and offside calls. Video replay ultimately would exonerate the claims but it was not the reputation the Football Association of Turori wanted to get off to. Regardless of the outcome, and despite the nation in limelights...

The correct answer is BOTH!

Vilita and Turori were both host venues during World Cup 17. Unfortunately this one is going to be a double hit Mualala. Firstly, for providing a wrong answer you will lose a point. That will knock you back to four points. Secondly, since the wrong answer you provided was "Vilita" and you are on team Turori, the Vilitan players each receive three points! Don't worry however, There are still five more questions to go for you to claw back into the mix!

The standings halfway through this exciting matchup of Vilita... Turori... or Both!

The score after 5 rounds:
13 - (VIL) Wildaan Slapsasi
10 - (TUR) Mumau Atla-Siioai 
 8 - (VIL) Aranora Jaded
 4 - (TUR) Mualala Tangeri'iki

Don't forget those of you following at home, you still have a chance to play along and win a place on a future show simply by playing along live. .

---

Now its time for our scheduled break and a word from our sponsors.

---

Can Vilita Castrate the Bulls? Or will Audioslavia resume its long-time dominance over the Jungle Cats?

The Jungle Cats may not remember the World Cup 64 defeat to Audioslavia but even those who weren't there will remember Vilita's most famous victory over Audioslavia -
World Cup 20.

Now, as defending World Cup Champions, will Audioslavia get their revenge on Vilita once and for all, de-throning the champs? Or will the Jungle Cats continue their title defense in Cosumar?

Find out this Sunday when two former World Cup Champions clash in Cosumar's Chilly North at the World Cup 78 Round of 16. Only one can advance. Who Will it be? It is sure to be the most hotly contested match of the Round of 16, the only match where both teams are former World Cup Champions.

It is the second massive clash of the campaign for the defending Champion Jungle Cats who were victorious against previously unbeaten Schottia in the Group Stage but faltered against lower ranked opposition and backed into an unlikely Round of 16 clash with Group C's unbeaten toppers from the strait of Champions.

Live Coverage begins Sunday at 18:30 from the Alesund Stadion, in Samothath. Cosumar

...to be continued...

---

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

OOC - The Mammoth Compendium of World Cup Lies lives up to its name; you're free to believe it IC'ly, but please don't believe a word of these RPs OOC'ly. They're a compendium of lies.

THE MAMMOTH COMPENDIUM OF WORLD CUP LIES
World Cup 78

Finals Matchday 3 - Victory!

The Mammoth Compendium of World Cup Lies is proud to be the first media outlet across the Multiverse to report the news that the Holy Empire have been declared World Cup 78 champions following a pulsating eleventy-six to pi victory over the brave, but ultimately outmatched, Sargossan national team. This brings the total number of Imperial World Cup titles to 15, three times as many as the distant second (but broadly admirable, as mundies go) national teams from Valanora and Starblaydia.

The Empire's World Cup victory after only three group stage matches sets a new record for fastest-ever World Cup title, with prominent figures from World Cups past and present lining up to acclaim this mighty and wholly unprecedented achievement.

Alan Belmore 'Well done Holy Empire! I've been particularly impressed by the extraordinary goalscoring achievements of Iago Sphrantzes, whose method of scoring goals via the medium of experimental multimedia performance art has made me realise what a total failure as a forward I was in my time

Urk 'I played for the Holy Empire once under a pseudonym, you know; but I never won the World Cup with them.'

Simeone Di Bradini 'Unlike Urk, I have won the World Cup with the Holy Empire; but not this time - I'm too in awe of the current team.'

Jeremy Jaffacake 'The Empire keep proving that it's possible to have your jaffacake and eat it too.'

Laborious Hawk 'This latest ego-crushing achievement by the Holy Empire makes me wonder why I even bother to take to the field these days; well done to the Imperial lads'

Bonesea coach Pythagoras Jones 'The Holy Empire are so good, I bet they'd manage to beat us in a match of greasy churning blindfolded and with one ankle tied behind their buttocks; they're that good.'

Lord Almighty Gregory 'I am so in awe of the Holy Empire's achievement in winning the World Cup after only three matches that I'm going to give up torturing the innocent and instead open a kitten shelter.'


A rare dissenting voice came from the manager of the defeated Corsairs:

Sargossa manager Rafael Barrios 'What are you going on about? That was a 3-3 draw, and you haven't even won your second-round match against Flardania yet, never mind the World Cup.

Mr Barrios has clearly been driven insane from the pressure of losing the World Cup to the Holy Empire, and we would urge readers to consider his comments in that light.

The entire multiverse is invited to next week's victory parade in the Imperial City, which will feature unlimited supplies of booze, attractive and sexually amoral young things of all four genders, and cake; lots of cake.

The Holy Empire Football Association have scheduled a series of friendlies to take the place of the remaining World Cup matches while the other participating nations continue to compete in the utterly unnecessary knockout stages of a tournament the Empire has already won. The first of these friendlies is against Flardania.

[Pasarga]

How Well Do You Know Pasargan Football?

1: How many teams were in the original Pasargan top division?

• 12
• 14
• 16
• 18

2: How many regional leagues are there for reserves and youth teams?

• 2
• 3
• 4
• 6

3: Which of the following teams is known as "The Eagles"?

• Baskita FC
• Galatica
• Santos Luega
• Lunas FC

4: How many Copa de la Lunas have there been?

• 16
• 18
• 20
• 22

5: What is the name of the defunct multi-association league(s) Pasarga participated in?

• Liga de Norte
• Liga de Fuego
• Albian League
• Home Nations League

6: Which team won the first domestic top division title?

• Stein-los Turkish
• CA Paulinthal
• Club Stein-los
• Baskita FC

7: Which team has the mostt domestic top division titles?

• Club Stein-los
• CA Paulinthal
• Tanrisal
• Baskita FC

8: Which city was originally the capital of football?

• Targas
• Lunas
• Stein-los
• Paulinthal

9: What is the third largest club in Torgos?

• Torgos City
• Fetherdron United
• Galatica
• Baskita FC

10: Who is the home team to the stadium "The Stadium of the Sun"?

• Hellinic Rouge
• Baskita FC
• Tharg-calan
• FC Belja

11: What player has the most international appearances?

• Ausilio Calabrese
• Tobias Möller
• Mór Császár
• Endre Takácz

12: What player has the most international goals?

• Ausilio Calabrese
• Tobias Möller
• Michael Mueller
• Mór Császár

13: What player had the largest transfer fee?

• Ausilio Calabrese
• Tobias Möller
• Mór Császár
• Ingþór Auðbjörnsson

14: Who was the first Pasargan to play abroad?

• Ausilio Calabrese
• Mór Császár
• Endre Takácz
• Takilian Majistar

15: How many World Cup Finals has Pasarga played in?

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4

Answers will be revealed in tomorrow's edition of the Torgos Tribune along with the full coverage of the Wanderers' Round of Sixteen match against Schottia

[Farfadillis]

For the game against Drawkland, Tíbürçíò had picked, against all odds, our strongest line-up. The chances of us failing to make it to the next round were minuscule, but I suppose if he'd done something truly ridiculous and we'd run out of luck, we could've gone out. Xíxì Êns replaced Tjêtê Dü Síbírí once again, making it sort of official: the eighteen-year-old was now a starter for the national team. I struggle to remember players who achieved that. Yurpá Mêndêlöíndçêl, Mâás Fôx and him. Yurpá was a starter for the worst Farf team in history, and Mâás made it into a squad that had its shortcomings. But Xíxì had rightfully earned a starting spot in one of the strongest Farf squads in history! Admittedly, Tjêtê was the weakest link, but let's not be the rain on Xíxì's parade.

In my mind, Tíbürçìó's illness was finally hitting a dormant period of sorts. I hoped we'd have him back for the (hopefully) four matches still on our way. I think all of the players were just as relieved as me. They hadn't been around to see his decision-making methods in action, so they all believed, to an extent, that he was seeing things that they weren't. After all, we'd won the first two games. However, suspicions were beginning to arise in the dressing room. Understandable, I guess. I'd heard Fôrté and Çíânflöné complaining during breakfast. I also heard Monrazón shutting them up. You know, for such an intelligent man, Ruy sure is a bit too loyal. In his eyes, Tíbürçìó can do no wrong.

The game began. I sat back and tried to relax. Yeah, I should've been watching the players do football things, but I wanted to rest for once, for a few minutes at least. The rest was short-lived, however. Just five minutes into the game, everyone on the bench was up in arms with the referee, until he sanctioned a penalty. Before I could even grab my cane and get up to have a better view, I saw Tíbürçìó turn around and shout at Metz. "Calogero, this one's yours!" I heard him shout. Everyone looked confused. I must've looked only sightly annoyed. I took a deep breath. The rest of the tournament was going to be one huge rollercoaster ride.

Since the gaffer's words are orders here, Calogero strolled his way to the other side of the pitch and prepared to take the penalty. I watch on, hoping to witness the first international goal scored by a Farf goalkeeper.

Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ

I'm still surprised, and nervous. I can't even remember the last time I took a semi-serious penalty. Where should I shoot? Have I ever shot at goal? I prevent shots from going in; I don't make them go in. With the ball a few meters in front of me, I take a very deep breath. "We're through anyway, in all likelihood, this doesn't matter much" I tell myself. To be honest, it doesn't work as intended.

I begin doubting. Should I shoot left? Maybe right? Strong? Well-placed? Maybe both, somehow? High or low? What is the gaffer even thinking, if he's even thinking at all? What happens if I miss so badly the keeper retains the ball? They'd probably score on us. I'd look like a fool. I don't like this. I really, really don't like this.

The referee surprising me by blowing his whistle. I realize there's no longer any time to think. "Right left up down strong weak" is what I think on the run up. I don't even look at their goalkeeper; I just kick the ball.

Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ

"I cannot believe it, but Calogero is going to take the penalty. Here he cooooomes. GOL! HE'S CHIPPED IT! The Drawkian keeper stood no chance. What a cleverly-taken penalty by Calogero Metz, and what a fantastic decision by the man, the one and only Tíbürçìó Çötàvíe!"

Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ

I can almost hear the commentator going on about how Calogero just "chipped" that penalty. I know what I just saw: he took that penalty so terribly, that shot was just an average of every terrible shot ever. In the end, it went to the middle and without much strength. It didn't even have the flair of a chip. "Another masterstroke by our favorite mentally-ill manager," I think sarcastically to myself as I sigh for what must be the thousandth time since I stepped off the plane.

Anyway, there's almost the entire game to go. "Hopefully things will go swimmingly from now on," I tell myself. And they do! Just five minutes later Xìxí stops a perfect pass from Jevdjevic-Hadsic inside the box, turns around, gets rid of a defender and places the ball far away from the goalkeeper's reach. We're two-nil up ten minutes in, and the kid's showing true wunderkind attributes.

Just ten minutes after that, Fôrté dribbles past three and punts the ball into the upper-right corner without a thought. It's kind ridiculous, honestly, how well this team can play at times. At the moment, Drawkland don't stand a chance in hell, I don't think.

After the third goal, the team seems satisfied, and, as a result, slows down the pace of the game. There's really no point in trying to score more goals, and I think that's a big difference between the current team and the ones I was a part of: this iteration does not have an insatiable thirst for attacking like the others. Some might call that egregious, I call it smart. In this particular case, it helps keep some legs fresh for the round of sixteen. It comes at the cost of conceding a goal to their striker. I think Katie Madison's her name?

Just as the first half is about to end, Tíbürçìó approaches me.

"Ichi, I just came up with a fantastic idea for the second half." I roll my eyes internally.

"Well, go ahead." I tell him. I'm not very annoyed this time around; we're already through, as far as I'm concerned.

"Listen to this cause it's gold," his smile tells me that, at this very moment, he thinks he's the best manager in the history of things. "Tájö Çíânflöné, right back."

"Sure, sounds good to me." I've now resigned to just following along his insane ideas. "Think he'll do a good job in defense?"

"No, but I think it will favor his offensive skills. Kid's talented, you know?" Really, Tíb? I had no idea our second-best player was talented.

"So, uh, why not keep him as a striker?"

"Cause then he's not gonna score, and he needs it for his confidence. Let's replace Trejo with Dü Síbírí, then tell Täjó he's now the best right back ever."

I sigh as deeply as I can. "Sure, let's do that."

Now this, this is beyond ridiculous.

Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ

"Now it's Meier on the flank. She passes to Monrazón. Monrazón to Eleonóra. Çíânflöné joins the attack. Eleonóra plays him through. He dribbles past one, now past another. He's through on goooooOOOAAAL! GOL! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Gol de Farfadillis! It's four-one! Fantastic movement by the striker-turned-rightback. The Drawkian defense truly stood no chance.

Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ

"It's a corner for Farfadillis! Wínrôuge gets ready to take it. Here comes the croooooss! Deflected! Monrazón gathers the rebound, passes to the flank. Çíânflöné's got the ball. Is he gonna cross? Here he coooooooomes! GOOOOOOOOOL! Ridiculous! Absolutely ridiculous! What swerve, what technique! This commentator is at a loss for words! Çíânflöné has pulled off a shot so difficult, it's barely even believable!

Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ

"The game is about to come to an end. Only two minutes left. Farfadillis are thrashing Drawkland five to one. It's a counterattack for Farfadillis! Röènôùjýâ to Wínrôuge, Winrôuge to Jevdjevic-Hadsic. Now Meier's got the ball. She passes it to Êns. Êns is running down the left flank. He cuts in and looks up. Çíânflöné joins him on the attack. Tremendous cross by Xíxìììììì! GOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Hat-trick for Täjó! An incredible cross by Xíxì Êns and Çíânflöné, who snuck past the Drawian defense completely unnoticed, heads it in. Six to one it is!

Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ Ӿ

The referee blows the whistle thrice, and it is at this very moment that I begin wondering: "Am I in the presence of the shell of a decrepit old man, or the one and only God turned insane decrepit old man?"

[Eura]

OOC: Continued from here.

Lying deep within Sameba are a number of what are referred to by government organisational policies as strategic cities. Based mainly in the south and centre of the country but also the far north and east, they form the backbone of the nation's housing, industry and general strategic value. A number of the core cities were under attack in a sustained way for the first time during this bloody conflict. Hit harder than the rest were the three largest in the target area. Storfan's industrial centre and power stations were being pounded by the Euran Air Force's heavy four jet engined bombers. The most huge of those three cities, Rivet, faced a similarly onslaught mixed in with bombing by faster precision bombers and fighter bombers, targeting its wide variety of infrastructure and large trunk roads. The naval port of Aspel faced the most pounding bombardment of all from both the air and the sea where the Euran Navy was launching an attack from far beyond the horizon targeting dock facilities and inland defences. Dramatic dogfights and missile battles had erupted in the skies as the Sameban Air Force finally made itself known in the conflict due to the unexpected Euran bombing. Their mobilisation had not been particularly affected. As expected the EAF had suffered some pretty difficult losses but it was at least able to sustain them, and continued to hit its targets thanks to more sophisticated technology and intelligence gathering. That unavoidable reality was creating numerous problems for the Sameban high command.

Initial damage at Storfan suggested a raid of limited success. Yet it went well into the night, because Operation INDIGO was initiated with days in mind rather than hours, and slowly the structures in place to withstand such a bombing campaign began to falter. Emergency services and military resources for preventing further damage were exhausted before they could be supported by colleagues from other regions. Pivotal war industries were burning in the night with no-one to stop them doing so. Meanwhile the rapid advance of Sameban forces might have been advantageous on the face of it but in the long term it presented too many challenges for the regime to handle adequately. The Sameban Republican Army's already stretched logistical resources were being pushed to the limit by a war for which they were not well enough equipped. Bombing Rivet was a masterstroke by the Euran strategic planners who intended to take advantage of this weakness. Rivet formed the core of the Sameban home front's support for the invasion to a degree that defied good sense or strategic logic. Heavy losses were being inflicted on the Euran attackers but communications facilities were being lost in great numbers while several key road arteries south were damaged to varying degrees. The effect of hordes of high altitude jet bombers dropping unguided munitions on residential areas, areas that were mixed in with strategic targets, had the additional effect of shock value. Sameban officials had almost started to believe their own propaganda of invincibility and a war being entirely fought on the turf of the Euran menace. In one spectacular stroke the bubble that they had created for themselves and their oppressed citizens was pierced.

Disrupting activity at Aspel was the most valuable aspect of the plan to the Euran's. All of the havoc being caused elsewhere was unimportant in comparison. The lightning pace of attacks had caught the military leadership of the city off guard. Remaining Sameban Navy, allied and merchant shipping was being flushed from the port, that is they were being told to make for the sea as quickly as possible in an orderly fashion. Explosions rocked the inner city. An absolutely mammoth combustion of ammunition and fuel smashed windows for kilometres around on all sides when the Gatrima Forward Operating Base was hit by a slew of cruise missiles fired from out at sea. The SAF were focused strongly on defending Rivet and Storfan as a priority on orders from the very top, but as the days passed attention shifted to a focus on Aspel, which was the main base for the SRA's weakened left flank to the east. Whether or not they had reacted too late made potentially little difference due to the sheer level of force applied in the attacks. Eura's airmen suffered for their efforts. It was good hunting for the SAF. In war however there is a lot more to winning than kill ratios. Strategic goals are what matter and for all its mistakes earlier in the war the Euran leadership had always understood this on a more deep level than all the Sameban President's men. In several days they had achieved these goals by triggering chaos along the east coast and beyond.

General Maurice Bareyol had been handed the primary responsibility for the eastern front of the war and so far had been the least important regional officer until recently. Faced with Euran tanks covering ground at nerve wracking speed, the EAF and Euran Navy causing serious casualties in the cities and an unprecedented airborne assault in the Monrose Hills plugging the gap between central and eastern fronts, one thing made him sweat more than anything else. More even than the perilously thin lines of rear defences and lack of tactical airpower to call upon. It was the lifeline that put Bareyol's position in such jeopardy. Hundreds of miles to the west and north west of his position and even Aspel were several large Sameban rivers, behind which lay in wait the majority of Sameba's armoured divisions and crack anti-aircraft units. The plan had been to keep them there for as long as possible until a breakthrough was possible but the bogged down stalemate of Oakstone had delayed the scheme. It wasn't quite complacency, more a combination of awfully unlucky timing and Euran forward thinking, which saw most of these forces remain unable to move quickly when Eura's great counteroffensive began. There was no hesitation in mobilising these forces to plug the gap in the east at first but time was not on their side.

A critical part of Operation ROUNDHOUSE was that the EAF had more or less stopped protecting Oakstone for a few days. Controversial as it was this was wise and allowed for tactical air power to be reassigned against targets deep into Sameba. The Sameban's were so busy fending off the massive attacks on cities and bases that they were neglecting the most important targets of all. Bridges and key roads connecting the heart of the country to the frontlines were hit hard by fast GR6 Interdictor's and slower, heavily armed GR-12 Prowler's. The cost was high courtesy of embedded air defences but the price paid was worth it. The highest loading routes to the east were cut with the exception of the legendary Tasco Bridge over the mighty River Barr, which was old and too close to the sea for many of the tanks to move without causing a gigantic military traffic jam. Among the flow of negative information pouring in to Bareyol's office came the news. His heart sank when he received it. Every indicator suggested that he was about to suffer the most humiliating defeat of the conflict unless he received reinforcements that now could not get to him in time. Miracles tended not to happen that way so he quickly accepted the fact that this phase of the battle was over and the imitative had changed hands.

On the sixth day of the Roundhouse Offensive as historians would soon be calling it, Bareyol was patched through directly to the President for a satellite phone call. His headquarters south of Aspel had been hit by an airstrike and he had been forced to instruct his private guard and personal regiment to begin digging in for a defence of the facility itself. 'Comrade President, sir.'
'Good morning Bareyol, I hope. You promised us news, what is going on? We are still redeploying our tanks, help will be with you soon once we've found the ideal route. Can your forces hold out if they fall back only slightly further? I have ordered the air force to redirect their best support aircraft your way.'
'President, I am sorry sir, but the facts on the ground have changed. I regret to inform you that in the face of our best efforts, the Euran armoured formations have broken through at Pullype and Mortice. My designated commander at the Monrose Hills base has surrendered against my orders. We have run out of fuel. I can only apologise sir, but I must withdraw our two armies of the Republic to Aspel.'
'Aspel, are you mad? We are on the attack. Oakstone is crumbling! You will not withdraw. You will stand your ground and rebuff this Euran thrust. They cannot summon such a horde of vehicles from nowhere. There must be a weakness, do you hear me?'
'President I assure you that if there a choice we would stand and try to hit back but their supply lines are too short and I don't have the forces to flank. We will be cut off and driven into the sea leaving Aspel undefended. I must withdraw.' There was silence on the line. It was never good to leave such a deadly leader speechless. 'Bareyol, if you do retreat, you will do one thing and one thing only. You will ensure that as many of our soldiers are ready to repel the Euran's at Aspel as possible. Then you will shoot yourself with your service pistol. If you do not, I will send someone to do it for you.' Two days later the SRA's command post had shifted fully back to the city, and Bareyol followed his final order to the letter.

The seventh day was the sweetest to dawn in Eura for some time. Finally the media smokescreen was lifted when the final Sameban armoured divisions retreated up the coast, stranding groups of surviving infantry based units in pockets throughout the areas that had been lost to be picked off over the coming days. At this point the leadership called for a pause as the Euran Army took stock of the situation and gave itself a pause for breath. Almost no-one could believe it but the armoured divisions had pulled off a combined arms operation of such calculated aggression and superior firepower that they had advanced twice as far as the plan envisioned by this stage. Not only had they regained the lost Euran territory, they had forced themselves deep into Sameban land overrunning whole divisions that had been expecting to sit and wait for many months ahead. The EAF had taken a great many casualties but the expense was worth it in light of the severe damage done to Sameban industry, logistics, communications and even morale. The navy had been the most successful branch of all arguably, taking few losses in their supporting role from wandering Sameban submarines and devastating their targets. Moreover, the implications for the massive Sameban invading force on the central front were stark. In only a week they had gone from worrying about whether or not they could finish the job there to the previously absurd and unlikely prospect of being flanked. Politicians like the Prime Minister though had a different perspective. The most important impact of this victory was much closer to home. Under the spectre of threatened terrorism and strategic bombing millions of citizens had curtailed the activities of their every day lives in recent months. Living under fear had become the norm. The economy had suffered and Sameban insurgents had been able to sustain the paralysis with sporadic attacks. On the eighth day, senior members of the government addressed gathering crowds in public in Bastion. It was not just a sign of their increasing confidence in internal security. It was a sign that the war had turned, possibly decisively.

[Cosumar]

Airik Ruhl was not a fan of Romikk Valgard.

Or Ragnar Targaryen, for that matter. Romikk especially, however, really rubbed him the wrong way.

As far as Airik was concerned, Romikk didn't even deserve to represent Cosumar in the national team. For fuck's sake, he had never even set foot in the Fiefdom until he was 16! He was just a pampered brat from that one space colony full of wealthy wannabe-hippies stroking their intellectual egos in tree-houses. What was it? Koroda? Kalljaro? It certainly wasn't what Airik considered Cosumar. The dirt. The earth. The taste of the air. The land where a millennia of his forefathers had spilled blood and buried their bones.

Clan Ruhl was Cosumarite through and through - one of the only remaining intact lineages (alongside the King's own) 100% confirmed to have been among the First 5800 Cosumarite settlers. Clan Ruhl's legacy throughout Cosumarite history, however, was a scarred one. From 700s cult leader Jorr Ruhl to infamous 400s bandit Kalpar Ruhl, his ancestors had committed treasons and treacheries aplenty. They were con-artists, thieves, plunderers, corrupt leaders. Though most of it is now buried in the pages of Cosumarite History textbooks, it was still a heavy burden (and simultaneous source of great pride) to bear the name Ruhl.

That's why weasels like Romikk Valgard who eyed Airik distastefully from a distance but couldn't look him in the fucking eyes in-person were infuriating. It's probably also why he tried so hard to project power and lash out at others. A Ruhl can never show weakness. But what not a single soul knew about Airik Ruhl, despite his missteps, was that he worked so hard to become a top footballer in part to begin to repair the image of Clan Ruhl. Sport matters to some more than others, sure, but he wanted to use his gifts to add something positive to Cosumar behalf of all the Ruhls who failed before. The domestic violence - oh, and the robbery - had been a misstep, sure, but he still believed he would get there.

...But not if Alexander Pearce kept starting colonial brat Romikk and his spineless sidekick Ragnar Targaryen over him and ignoring his clearly superior performances in training and friendlies. So, yes, he gave Romikk Valgard a black eye 24 hours before Gregoryisgodistan. After the team sheet was posted, the way Romikk was somehow able to look down at Airik despite being a good two inches shorter... it made his stomach tickle in anger. He reacted how a Ruhl always should when offended. He punished his offender.

After being pinned down onto the cold floor of the dressing room by the only stronger man on the team, Peter Svensson, Airik Ruhl thought he had kissed his chance at redemption - his chance at playing in a World Cup - goodbye. Just like when Hender Ruhl assassinated Queen Katherin all those centuries ago, a Ruhl would once again be a villain beholden throughout the Fiefdom. He yelled curses at Romikk Valgard from his prostrate position, but really... he was cursing himself.

...24 Hours Later...

Stunningly, however, he now found himself about to sub into the World Cup opener to the roar of 105,000 at Crowley Stadium. About to partner up top with Romikk-freaking-Valgard for the first time. He laughed to himself at the absurdity as he sprinted on and hi-fived Romikk, who's eye was still purple and drooping from his left hook, before settling in to pressure the ball with him. Oh, how things could change in just 24 hours...

How? Magic. The magic of Alexander Pearce.

To be continued.

---

Cosumar 3-2 Eastfield Lodge
WC Tune-up Tour | @ The Amphitheatre, Cassandra
Targaryen 26' _{(Heher assist)}, Targaryen 49', Valgard 55' _{(Kvanderwyk assist)}
Subs: Elam, Culbreth, Loredan

Cosumar 3-0 Soltsteed
WC Tune-up Tour | @ Somerset Road, Centus
Svensson 53', Targaryen 63' _{(Chisenhall assist)}, Targaryen 75' _{(Serafino assist)}
Subs: Varghese, Simmons III, Elam

Cosumar 0-0 Bonesea
WC Tune-up Tour | @ Leviathan Arena, Kaldukosic
No scorers
Subs: Tapp, Sigler, Ruhl


*****

Cosumar 1-1 Gregoryisgodistan
Group A, Matchday 1
@ Crowley Memorial WC Stadium, Ramusok
Serafino 59'
(Valgard assist)
Subs: Ruhl 56', Tapp 70', Sigler 71'
Yellow Cards: None


Cosumar 2-1 Damukuni
Group A, Matchday 2
@ Crowley Memorial WC Stadium, Ramusok
Targaryen 46', Valgard 56'
(Serafino assist 56')
Subs: Sigler 64', Ruhl 68', Tapp 85'
Yellow Cards: Heher 63'


Cosumar 1-1 Eshan
Group A, Matchday 3
@ Crowley Memorial WC Stadium, Ramusok
Valgard 73'
(Ruhl assist)
Subs: Cooper, Ruhl, Jorgensen
Yellow Cards: McNessa, Kvanderwyk

Goal-Scorers Tally
Romikk Valgard (2)
Bellerophon Serafino (1)
Ragnar Targaryen (1)

Assists Tally
Romikk Valgard (1)
Bellerophon Serafino (1)
Airik Ruhl (1)

Sub Appearances Tally
Airik Ruhl (3)
Denton Tapp (2)
Mauricio Sigler (2)
Torbjörn Jorgensen (1)
Tug Cooper (1)