Baptism of Fire 69 - IC Thread

[Uan aa Boa]

THE RIFLE, HOE AND SUN
BOANI STATE PRESS

UAN AA BOA 5 - 2 TIIWARK
BELOVED COMRADE CHAIRMAN HAILS FIRST INTERNATIONAL WIN

All communes and districts united yesterday in acclamation of the inaugural Boani victory at the Baptism of Fire, an emphatic win in a high-scoring game dominated by a hattrick for striker Ezekiel Tola.

"I am one player among many," Cde Tola insisted in a post-match press conference. "This victory belongs to the whole team, the whole nation, the entirety of the socialist struggle."

Commentators and observers were universally surprised by the number of goals in a match between two teams both methodical and defensive in their approach, but they had reckoned without the ability of the Boani back four to initiate rapid counter-attacks with a series of incisive passes opening up the midfield. That midfield area was effectively dominated by our heroes in red, gold and green. While media from Tiiwark are insisting that key players being unavailable made a vital difference, the truth is that the pairing of Zolani and Tatayo were able to robustly impose themselves with relentless physicality. Time and time again Tola appeared in the crucial position at the crucial moment as the dialectical contradictions inherent in the confused defence unravelled with grim logical necessity.

In a statement released through the Secretariat to the Central Committee, the Beloved Comrade Chairman let it be known that our brave revolutionary warriors have equalled and indeed surpassed the nation's expectations. Victory was all the sweeter, he said, because for the second game running the Boani team had refused to succumb to a team from a slaver nation. "What use has their exploitation been to them now?" he demanded to know. "A team of free and equal comrades fighting for their own cause will always surpass the efforts of the oppressed."

With a third game against another capitalist nation, and also a monarchy, Ancherion the proletarian crusade continues, with Uan aa Boa now strongly placed to advance to the knockout stages.

We say let comrades throughout the nation take pride in this glorious victory! Onwards to further victories and the inevitable triumph of socialism!

[Eraman]

CHAPTER 3 – SEMBARA BUNIAN

The win against Geektopia doesn’t seem to show any signs of a better dressing room. The feud between the two groups of players are still clear. But the national head coach, Sembara Bunian is keeping himself calm and collected as if he knows how to handle the situation. The fact is, he doesn’t. He is just as worried as every Eramanians. He just doesn’t want the fans to panic.

Sembara Bunian is every Eramanians choice as the national team head coach. He led Royal Puncakpura to two consecutives third place with a bunch of unknowns. Under his tutelage, the club from the highlands now boasts three national team players. He has since gain the reputation of nurturing young talent and bringing them on to the first team.

In the second match again Third Asopia, Sembara Bunian is making no changes towards the starting line-up with Dundang Bayan in goal, the Kudung brothers on both sides of the flanks and Badang Gangsa partnering with Dino Sapar at the back. Putra Daulapura Suara Petara and Rimau Belang will be covering the back four as holding midfielders and Mano Bosa given the authority to roam the midfield. The burden to score will again be on the shoulders of Kilat Saputra as the right winger, Biduk Serangga as the left winger and Buisan Buayan as the focal point of attack.

Eraman starts the game as they played in the second half of the last game. Beautiful short passes among the players as if they get along really well. The opposition attacks broken up easily by the two holding midfielders. Dominating the game and forcing Third Asopia to put 10 man behind the ball.

As the referee blew the half time whistle, Eraman is already 3-0 up with goals coming from each of the front three. The dressing room for the first time ever is brimming with confidence. The players are still not talking to each other but smiles are everywhere.

The second half starts as bright as the first half. Eraman is showing no sign of slowing down until Putra Daulapura Suara Petara unleash a screamer to score the fourth goal. Sembara Bunian making three changes just after that with young 20 years old goalkeeper Yuyi Dunya coming on for Dundang Bayan, 23 years old promising left winger Kudrat Saputra coming on for Biduk Serangga and Kaya Diman replacing the tired Mano Bosa as the creative outlet of the team.

Suddenly, it is not the same Eraman anymore. The influence of Mano Bosa in the middle of the park is clearly felt. Kaya Diman fails to replicate his Anara teammate performance and Eraman were rightly punished with a late goal from Third Asopia.

Two wins out of two and top of the group, the next match will be the most challenging task yet. All eyes will be on Sembara Bunian to keep the dressing room together. The next match against Grod Island is going to be a top-of-the-group match with both sides is yet to drop a point. Eraman will have the advantage for having their third consecutive match in Olympic Park in Mount Salt City. Grod Island who played their two first matches in Norrion will now have to travel to Mount Salt City for the match.

[Geektopia]

Geektopia has wiped their hopeless demeanor off the map after a 500 thousand dollar buy over from Infinity Sports. Artribervill Beyea, a major defensive player that came from one of the most underrated sector of Geektopia likewise to football, is ready to play!

He has gone to top 3 in most of his tournaments. Even Rozensweig used to have him in 2012-13 until he dropped out to play in the indies. Beyea has had rocky relations with the brand up until 2018, where he announced at an interview that he will come back to his "soccer haven".

Known for bicycle kicking, defensive stunts and having been given no red cards in his football career of 8 years, this player is a special something and is known to football fans as undisputedly " The Best in GKTA". This has been what the people have been wanting, and the GSR have been confident to come back ever since this buy.

[Eastfield Lodge]

Baptism of Fire 69
Hosted by Ethane & Eastfield Lodge

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CUTOFF for all groups.

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[Eastfield Lodge]

Baptism of Fire 69
Hosted by Ethane & Eastfield Lodge

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MD3 Scores - Groups 7-11

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RP Prompt: ATTENTION EVERYONE As part of this Baptism of Fire, we shall be selecting a Tournament's Best XI. We are looking for players from actively RP'ing nations, so nominate a player you think is crucial to your squad, in any position (even goalkeepers), and write a piece about them. The best performing players, with the most character development, will be in the running for this prestigious honour.
NOTE: You're not required to follow the RP Prompt, and if you have other ideas then go with them. This is just to help create RP ideas in case you don't have any and doesn't boost your RP Bonus score any more or less than a normal RP would. [i]

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Group 7
Porabasta 0–3 Nottinhaps
Libonesia 1–1 Kevagaria

P Group 7              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Porabasta              3   2  0  1    4   4   0    6
2 Libonesia              3   1  1  1    3   4  −1    4
3 Nottinhaps             3   1  1  1    4   2  +2    4
4 Kevagaria              3   0  2  1    2   3  −1    2

Group 8
Ancherion 3–3 Uan aa Boa
Tiiwark 0–0 Baranil

P Group 8              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Uan aa Boa             3   1  2  0    9   6  +3    5
2 Baranil                3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5
3 Ancherion              3   0  2  1    9  10  −1    2
4 Tiiwark                3   0  2  1    5   8  −3    2

Group 9
Walenstein 3–0 Najaf
Alanikka 3–2 Zuiopien

P Group 9              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Walenstein             3   2  1  0    8   2  +6    7
2 Alanikka               3   1  1  1    5   6  −1    4
3 Zuiopien               3   1  0  2    4   7  −3    3
4 Najaf                  3   1  0  2    3   5  −2    3

Group 10
Grod Island 2–1 Eraman
Dritten Asopie 3–2 Geektopia

P Group 10             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Grod Island            3   3  0  0    6   2  +4    9
2 Eraman                 3   2  0  1    7   4  +3    6
3 Dritten Asopie         3   1  0  2    5   9  −4    3
4 Geektopia              3   0  0  3    3   6  −3    0

Group 11
Balqia 1–4 Alluersia
Flaw 3–3 ROBOSTANIA

P Group 11             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Flaw                   3   2  1  0    6   4  +2    7
2 Alluersia              3   2  0  1    7   3  +4    6
3 Balqia                 3   1  0  2    4   7  −3    3
4 ROBOSTANIA             3   0  1  2    5   8  −3    1

[Geektopia]

After multiple buys and training sessions, with little to no success, Geektopia is going home early in a unanimous vote for the team.

[Ethane]

Baptism of Fire 69
Hosted by Ethane & Eastfield Lodge

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MD3 Scores - Groups 1-6

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RP Prompt: ATTENTION EVERYONE As part of this Baptism of Fire, we shall be selecting a Tournament's Best XI. We are looking for players from actively RP'ing nations, so nominate a player you think is crucial to your squad, in any position (even goalkeepers), and write a piece about them. The best performing players, with the most character development, will be in the running for this prestigious honour.
NOTE: You're not required to follow the RP Prompt, and if you have other ideas then go with them. This is just to help create RP ideas in case you don't have any and doesn't boost your RP Bonus score any more or less than a normal RP would.

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Group 1
Gutulia 1–0 Libera populum
Derring-Do 0–4 Ofasval

Group 1                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ofasval                 3    2   1   0     5    0   +5     7
2 Gutulia                 3    2   0   1     4    2   +2     6
3 Libera populum          3    1   1   1     2    1   +1     4
4 Derring-Do              3    0   0   3     1    9   −8     0

Group 2
Soviet Micronesia 2–0 Holy Marsh
Bysantia 6–2 Pratapgadh

Group 2                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bysantia                3    3   0   0    11    3   +8     9
2 Pratapgadh              3    1   1   1     7    8   −1     4
  Soviet Micronesia       3    1   1   1     3    4   −1     4
4 Holy Marsh              3    0   0   3     2    8   −6     0

Group 3
Antahbrantahstan 3–1 Vartugia
Apl0n 0–3 North Quadana

Group 3                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 North Quadana           3    3   0   0     8    1   +7     9
2 Antahbrantahstan        3    2   0   1     5    4   +1     6
3 Apl0n                   3    1   0   2     3    5   −2     3
4 Vartugia                3    0   0   3     2    8   −6     0

Group 4
TigerSharkistan 4–2 Ashaie
Libertas Omnium Maximus 0–2 North Miklik

Group 4                    Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 TigerSharkistan            3    3   0   0     7    3   +4     9
2 North Miklik               3    2   0   1     5    3   +2     6
3 Libertas Omnium Maximus    3    1   0   2     3    3    0     3
4 Ashaie                     3    0   0   3     3    9   −6     0

Group 5
Bohr 2–0 Ekamijan
Skarten 2–1 Sajnur

Group 5                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Bohr                    3    3   0   0     7    1   +6     9
2 Skarten                 3    1   1   1     2    4   −2     4
3 Sajnur                  3    1   0   2     5    4   +1     3
4 Ekamijan                3    0   1   2     0    5   −5     1

Group 6
Monsaw 0–0 Pineapple Porcupines
Bresanie 2–3 Xanneria

Group 6                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Monsaw                  3    1   2   0     5    4   +1     5
2 Xanneria                3    1   1   1     6    6    0     4
3 Pineapple Porcupines    3    0   3   0     2    2    0     3
4 Bresanie                3    0   2   1     5    6   −1     2

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

[except from the SPORTS Today]
LOM disappoints fans in anticlimactic loss

Somehow, The Maximusian National Team suffered a surprising loss at the hands of North Miklik. Fans are shocked and surprised to find themselves once more at risk of disqualification from the Baptism of Fire. The team lost 0-2 against a little known and relatively unassuming team.

From the end of the game until the time of writing this article, there have been an ever growing number of conspiracy theorist protesting outside of the stadium where the game was held claiming that the MNT must have been drugged. They point to the fact that, on many occasions, the Maximusian defense seemed to be moving in slow motion. They claimed that the Miklik team payed of LOM management to drug their own players. Both North Miklik and LOM team managers have publicly announced that this is a falsehood and that neither teams were in any way doped or sedated. The conspiracy theorists are calling for every member of both teams to be tested for possible drugging at once. It is unknown at present if these tests will be conducted.

MNT head coach, Vincent Alfonsi, said in an attempt to get protesters to give him room to get to the team bus, "The boys had a rough night! For God's sake, leave us alone to train and get 'em next time!" Indeed, for those who do not prescribe to the doping scandal, it can be assumed that the TEAM simply had a terrible night. Team Strategists, Alex Jones and Tom Glendale, have reportedly been studying every second of game footage in order to discern where the team went wrong. We can only pray that the team is able to turn it around when they go up against Group Rival, Tiger Sharkistan. If they pull off a win, they have a real chance of making it to the knockout stage. Lets hope they can make up the lost ground!

[Ofasval]

Ofasval Paper
"Amazing International Performance!"

Just today, Ofasval played the nation of Derring-Do, expecting only a small amount of goals to be scored, the team played their heart out and won with a stunning 4-0 scoreline, the great leader personally attended today's game and thoroughly enjoyed every second of Ofasval's dominance. One supporter even stated that "(The Nation) all at once blew up in cheers, the entirety of the nation was overjoyed and they showed it with everyone shouting Ofasvalian players names in harmony.

In other news, Takara Østergaard, Ofasval's first team Centre Attacking Midfielder, has been announced by polls in Ofasval to be the nations star player, as well as the best on the team, scoring not only Ofasval's first international goal but also adding two to the tally as well from today's match. We caught up with one of Ofasval's "Super Fans" Yuno Aikensson, she told the press that Takara not only should be showered with gifts but also, directly stating to the Baptism of Fire board, that he should be part of the best XI of the tournament, she even gave several sophisticated reasons as to why.

"Well... The reason why I think Takara should be part of the best eleven... Well, there are several, I think mainly though, because he has been truly a team player, not only scoring three goals, but he also created two assists for the other players as well. He's a very admirable player, he doesn't think of just himself you know? He really is with the team, he understands how they play. I also think he should be in the best eleven, because, have you seen him dribble?! He is easily one of the best if not the best! Better than CR7, Messi and or Neymar combined! He is insane! He dribbles past everyone like they're little children! He's Ofasval's favourite and we all know that. I'd have to say he might even be our great leaders favourite! He's the best player in the tournament, no doubt, heck, I'd say he's one of the most mobile as well, more than Gareth Bale! He can tackle like a god, he shoots better than Pele, and he runs up and down the pitch like nobodies business. Not to mention... He's kinda hot."

Yuno went on for a little bit longer, but nothing much more relevant came from her, yes, we are allowed to say that, she said: "Oh, you can cut that bit out, I'm just rambling." Then apologized.

This concludes the Ofasval paper's coverage of the International Football match on 2/10/19 in the Baptism of Fire tournament.

[Bohr]

A Generation Late

Amid the celebration for Bohr's dominant 2-0 win over Ekamijan, a team that has still failed to score in international play, there was a sobering announcement. Noel Drew, starting goalkeeper and oldest player on the team, announced that this tournament would be his last: "I knew that I'd probably only have one or two more shots at this type of stage, and the way I'm feeling, I'd rather go out on a high note. I want to step aside, and let the next generation of Bohr players thrive." Drew's retirement speaks to a victimless crime that the BSC, and Bohr's newfound interest in soccer, has committed. It's great that the college phenoms now have a place to go, instead of disappearing into obscurity, but we shouldn't forget the people who never got that opportunity. Drew might symbolize those people as well as anybody; after leading his South Bohr A&M Suns to the finals of the Bohr soccer bracket, Drew graduated...and found nothing. Without sports as a profession available, he ended up working various jobs, never having the passion that he did in college. At 34, Drew finally tasted the big money and fame that the BSC brought, but only for a season. His domestic career ended with him trying to carry a decrepit offense to a title-and even though he performed incredibly well in the first half of the season, he couldn't keep up that level of play, and Rochmann AC faltered at the end. Still, Drew's performance, both there and here, raises a couple questions: "How good was he in his prime?" and "Who else did we miss out on that was potentially world-class?" There have been so many players that won a Sunrise Award (Bohr's college award for the best soccer player), and just disappeared. What could they have done? And what can Drew do, in his last hurrah?

Bohr 2-0 Ekamijan
Krone 22'
Williams 42'

[Eraman]

CHAPTER 4 – THE REST OF THE SQUAD

The game against Grod Island is an important one for the national team and the dressing room. It is a match between two nations who are yet to drop a single point in the campaign. Both teams trashed Third Asopia in one-sided matches and scrap for victory against Geektopia. Away from the field, both nations are leftist.

For the third consecutive matches, Sembara Bunian picked an unchanged side. He is hoping the team can show the same energy and quality like the one they produce against Third Asopia. But it just wasn’t meant to be. Grod Island dominates the game and goes to the break with a two goal lead through a brace from 18 years old wonderkid, Liam Fletcher.

The dressing room of Eraman is dead silent. As usual, it was divided into two groups. On one side, the commoners led by the national team captain Badang Gangsa with seven players behind him and on the other side, players playing for the royal clubs led by the national team deputy captain Putra Daulapura Suara Petara with nine players behind him.

Both sides of the divide have their heads down. The commoners have four players in the first eleven namely Badang Gangsa, Mano Bosa, Kilat Saputra and Buisan Buayan while the royalties have seven players in the first eleven namely Dundang Bayan, Lipas Kudung, Cicak Kudung, Dino Sapar, Putra Daulapura Suara Petara, Rimau Belang and Biduk Serangga. None of them is blaming anybody. They were outplayed all over the pitch. The whole team is responsible for the disastrous first half.

The second half is no different to the first half. Eraman doesn’t seem to know what to do. Grod Island continues to dominate the game but fails to add anything to the scoreline. A quick counter attack at the final minute finally results in a consolation goal for Eraman finished off by Buisan Buayan.

Eraman next match will be against Geektopia who will be eager to get their first point after three defeats in the first three games. Another slip up for Eraman can be very costly and will jeopardize their chance of topping the group to qualify straight to the round of 16.

[Sajnur]

More disappointment at the Baptism of Fire

Sajnur's Baptism of Fire campaign is not going well as another 2-1 loss, this time to Skarten, means that they are now third in Group 5, a point behind Skarten and a whopping six points behind Bohr, who have won all three of their matches. Skarten held 67% of possession, and largely kept Sajnur away from the ball and the penalty box, to the disappointment of Sajnuran fans.

Skarten held a 2-0 lead in the first half thanks to goals from Aleksnder Mrawszko and Zachariasz Zrieszko, as Skarten controlled the play. The Sajnuran defence was repeatedly stretched as the Skarten front three, who played wider than usual, gave significant trouble to the Sajnuran wingbacks and the Skarten midfield made the Sajnuran back three largely irrelevant. Sajnur was further set back by the departure of Jessica Siafik in the 20th minute, as the captain was knocked down in an aerial challenge against Tomislaw Jagla, with Jagla receiving a yellow card. Sian Levici was substituted on for Siafik, but was unable to achieve the same penetration in the first half. Mrawszko scored in the 29th minute with a dribbling run in the penalty box, showcasing the endemic difficulties Sajnur's central defence seem to have with tricky forwards. The 38th minute saw a goal by Zrieszko as Mrawszko threaded a pass through Sajnur's defence, leaving Zrieszko to dispatch a one-on-one attempt past Piotr Laghiev.

The second half proved to be somewhat better for Sajnur as they managed to shutdown Skarten's midfield and isolate their front three, but Skarten only conceded one goal and held on for victory. Ahmed Nazar scored in the 80th minute thanks to a through pass by Levici on the counter which stranded the Skarten back line on the half way line, with Nazar sprinting towards the penalty box and rounding Filip Ulmsqvist to slot home into an open net. Sadly, this goal proved to be too little, too late, as Sajnur did not have the possession to create enough attacks, particularly given the midfield congestion employed by Skarten.

Sajnur will be facing Ekamijan again in their next match, and Tomasi Vuierev has been named as interim captain given Siafik's injury. Siafik is expected to be back in time for the second Bohr match, and further changes have been made to the lineup to face Ekamijan as part of a general rotation by manager Eliseo Marinon.

Lineup for Sajnur v Ekamijan

[Walenstein]

Walensteiner Broadcasting Corporation Sport

19:34 February 8th, 2019
By: Emanuel Radnitzer, senior football correspondant

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Matthias Merten scores a hat trick to lift Walenstein 3-0 over Najaf

#WALvNJA

Walenstein‌‌‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌3 - 0‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌Najaf‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌

‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌M. Merten '13 ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌
‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌M. Merten '82
‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌‌ ‌M. Merten '90+1 [FK]

‌‌FT

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PARLIAMENT STADIUM, EASTFIELD LODGE --

Walensteiner striker Matthias Merten stole the show against Najaf in his side's BoF Group 9 fixture, scoring the only 3 goals of the match for his first career hat trick.

There was admittedly not much action during this one-sided fixture. Right from kick-off, Walenstein went straight onto the offensive, firing off 4 shots during the first ten minutes of the match.

In the 13th minute, CAM Oliver Severin would break through Najaf's defence and enter the penalty box. With two Najaf defenders flanking him, however, he decides to pass back to striker Matthias Merten, who fires off a rocket of a strike which bounces off the shin of Najaf's keeper Xavier Pollazi and into the net for his first goal of the evening.

In the 39th minute, Walensteiner RM Hans Gerhardt would wrap his arm around Najafi midfielder Victor Halabi midpitch to hold him off of the ball - the referee would blow his whistle and book the offender with an arguably justified yellow card.

In the second half, Najaf's only real oppurtunity to equalize the game presented itself in the 64th minute. Najafi striker Yahya Salehi would break through Walensteiner defence and run into the box on a break away, but take a poorly timed strike that that would be easily deflected over the crossbar by Walensteiener keeper Manuel Oswald.

In the 82nd minute, Matthias Merten would recieve a wonderful through pass from LB Arndt Henning, just barely beating the offside flag. Moving closer to the net, he'd fire off his strike, deflecting off Najafi defender Leon Baxter, and then graze off keeper Xavier Pollazi into the net to make the game 2-0 for Walenstein. Despite the officials deliberation as to whether award an own-goal to Baxter or not, it was determined the ball would have gone in eitherway, and the goal was given to Merten for his second of the night.

Just as the match entered it's 3 minutes of stoppage time in the second half, CAM Oliver Severin would be taken down by Najafi midfielder Ghassan al-Zanitan right on the line of the box. As the referee brings the game to a halt, Walensteiner players would argue for a penalty, claiming the challenge occured inside the box. The referee decided to consult VAR, and finally makes his descision - the offense occured outside the box by milimeters, therefore it would be a free kick and not a penalty kick for Walenstein. The referee then showed his yellow card and booked the Najafi midfielder, as his teammates prepared their wall.

Matthias Merten, taking the free kick with his right foot, would curve it right over the wall, and beat keeper Xavier Pollazi, landing right in the top right corner of the net, to make the game 3-0 and earn his first ever hattrick.

As the referee blows for full time and Merten recieves the signed match ball, Walenstein earns another 3 valuable points with it's second 3-0 finish in a row.

---

At his post-game press conference, Walensteiner manager Amadeus Klausmann was asked about his team's performance against Najaf.

"I'm very delighted with the lads performance today. As I said yesterday, the key to success against Najaf is to burst through their defence, which we did, and did so spectacularly. I'd like to congratulate Matthias on his hat trick, and Manuel for his second clean sheet in a row. Our midfielders controlled their portion of the pitch, breaking up Najafi possesion and getting the ball up to our strikers, a neccesity for the proper execution of the 4-4-2 diamond. Our defence and keeper, whilst not really challenged too much today, did their part aswell by denying all Najafi chances tonight. The team lived up to all my expectations and even beyond them, tonight."

Asked about Linus Wendel, who went down during last game and was subbed off, the coach offered this explanation:

"Our physician, Dr. Grünberg, has confirmed Wendel pulled a hamstring during the incident, and was therefore subbed off as a precaution. He missed yesterday's practice and today's game obviously, and we will keep him out for tomorrow's fixture aswell, before easing him back in as a sub in the fixture after that."

And, finally, he was asked about the upcoming repeat fixture against Alanikka tomorow - the last of which, ended level 2-2.

"The changes I've made to the squad really have fixed several of our issues we experienced against Alanikka in the first match of the tournament. I feel confident going into tomorrow, with our defence patched up we'll hopefully take yet another 3 points, to further bolster our place at the top of the table."

Join us tomorrow at 17:30 for full coverage of the BoF Group 9 repeat fixture Alanikka v. Walenstein!

[OOC: WIll edit-in team of the tournament nomination character development in several hours ]

[Antahbrantahstan]

RR Sport Daily with Thaissa Cavalcanti

---

"Good evening Anturians, i am Thaissa Cavalcanti, and i am here to bring you the latest sports news and new, juicy sports scoops from all around the multiverse."

"The Anturian football team defeated the Vartugian football team with a great score of 3-1, and while a lot of Anturians are still very happy after watching the Anturian team restoring their glory, lots of people are also still afraid that the moment will not last long, as they're very worried that the resulting euphoria from the match against Vartugia will affect the players' mental state during the next match in the Baptism of Fire. It does feel very strange, but could all of this are symptoms of a "quickly satisfied" mindset across the players?"

"The Anturian coach, Raditya Saldana de Fretes, responds in a interview:"

"It's true that we still have, um, a very child-like mindset when it comes to our players, all of us here still, um, pretty much accustomed to the comfort zone that is Liga Utama, or The Premier League. The players do not realize that in fact, we're competing in an international competition, everyone is our enemy, no matter how close our relationship to the opposing nation, and no matter how much we give each other points in WorldVision Song Contest, but, personally i do not want to pressure the players too much, as, in fact, lots of players are still having a hard time to accostume, um, to adapt towards their surroundings, and, like we know, uh, we're playing in Ethane and Eastfield Lodge, and not the Stadion Negara, haha"

"While it is true that most of the players are still having a hard time adjusting towards the surroundings in Ethane and Eastfield Lodge, an in addition to that, a grueling training, strict diet, and the pressure of being an "ambassador" to the world. All of that are recipes to become incredibly stressful in a competition like Baptism of Fire, especially if your mental state is not strong enough, especially as we still need to battle all the nations once again to secure a spot in the Round of 24, with our first opponent being Apl0n, do you think that we have what it takes to defeat Apl0n, or better enough, all the other teams? or will we tumble down into the bottom of the group 3 table? It's up to you to decide, and in the meanwhile, we'll be right back after the break."

[Nottinhaps]

The Nottinhapsian Times: Nottinhaps FC wins 3-0

After a 1-2 defeat by Libonesia and a 0-0 draw with Kevagaria, Nottinhaps managed to score a victory over Porabasta, who currently lead the Group 7 league table.

The first half was relatively quiet, with only Navarre von Durran #3 being injured at 41'. He was replaced by Ian Nyström #29, but will play next match.

The second half was much more exciting for Nottinhapsian fans. Ian King scored early at 49', then Ric Fortes scored a long shot at 72'. Finally, scored in a penalty kick at 83'.

Manager Tehran Alfenso stated: "It's great to finally win a match in the Baptism of Fire... [the 4-2-3-1 formation] is still on the table if we don't perform too well. It's not a too radical change in my opinion, and the lack of experience would be neglectable compared to the gains ... I won't change [Nattinhaps FC's] formation if we do well enough."

When he asked who he would like to nominate for the Tornument XI, he quickly replied: "Ian King. He is a great striker, and Nottinhaps wouldn't have been 4-time Matchday Leader Awardees [in the International Left Football Association] without him. He's 28, and he has that perfect blend of youth and experience with him. Most of all, Ian has been an excellent team captain and he gets everybody on board with each other. He also pushes the other players to work hard. Without him, the team would have imploded from internal fighting or lack of training."

[Sajnur]

Player Profile: Jessica Siafik

Jessica Siafik is the 20 year old captain of the Sajnur national football team. The sole female in the 23 man squad invited to the Baptism of Fire, she is easily the team's best midfielder, and arguably the country's best football player. Excellent with both feet, her main job in the team is to distribute passes to the forwards and to marauding fullbacks down the wings with pinpoint accuracy, sometime through the opposing defensive line, or sometimes simply over it. Nevertheless, Siafik does a wonderful job. She is also Sajnur's main free kick taker, and scored a wonderful curler at the Independents Cup earlier this season. Siafik's other specialty is scoring from range, and she scored eight goals from outside the penalty box last season in Sajnur's domestic mens competition.

Born to a Kuvial family in the North Coast province, Jessica was known as an intelligent student, having scored mostly As, but also as an extremely ill behaved student, having once stolen her principal's car and also written messages into the school field with weedkiller as one of her grade's senior pranks. Siafik picked up football quite late, not even entering a school team until high school. It was obvious from the moment she stepped onto the field, however, that she was a special talent, and the next year she was picked up by Sajnur's National Sports Academy at the age of 15. She made her professional womens debut just a year after that, and in four seasons she scored 81 goals and assisted a whopping 105. With no opportunities for Sajnur's women to play competitive international football, though, and reports of Sajnur's men possibly gearing up for the possibility of international tournaments, Jessica moved to the mens league, where she was discovered to be Sajnur's best midfielder, and in two seasons Siafik has 27 goals and 50 assists.

While she was in the womens league, Siafik was known as a dynamic attacking midfielder, using ample pace and trickery to leave defenders in her dust. She would always find space when off the ball, and possessed the remarkable ability to put her teammates into space with passes of all distances. She still can do all of those things, but she used to be able to do them too. Of course, an attacking midfielder wouldn't complete without being able to shoot, and Siafik had that in spades. Whether she slinked her way to the six yard box undetected, put multiple defenders onto their arses, or whether she decided she couldn't be bothered going to the penalty box, any shot Siafik attempted was sure to at least threaten the goal.

In the mens league, however, Siafik found her pace not quite enough on its own to get past the faster male defenders, testosterone proving a moderate damper on her attacking exploits. Siafik was no slouch, mind, especially compared to most of the league's centre backs and the big lumbering target men, but her pace was no longer the big advantage it used to be. So she took a deeper role and became a playmaker, sending off perfect passes to her faster teammates with slovenly abandon, and taking more chances outside the box and with free kicks. Improvise, adapt, overcome, so they say. Indeed, compared to her days in the womens league, her play style could be considered quite lazy. She had changed, quite quickly, from a Thomas Muller or Gareth Bale to an Andrea Pirlo or David Beckham. Indeed, later in her first season, she decided conducting the midfield was so relaxed a role that she started to play while smoking cannabis. The sight of her sending off long passes for strikers to volley into the net with a cigar in her hand has since become iconic in Sajnur. Of course, when she doesn't feel like playing high, or she's playing in a country that doesn't allow cannabis, she has a chocolate wafer cigar in her mouth instead. The national captain hasn't lost any of her skill, though, and sometimes she decides she still wants to put defenders on their arses herself, and so her rainbow flicks and Marseille turns are given a Sunday drive on the field. Or maybe she pops up unmarked in the penalty box to slot one past the keeper.

Jessica's main interests, other than football and smoking, are playing board games, particularly chess, video games, and driving cars really fast. She is a frequent fixture on the local race track or drag strip, and she once recounted a story of driving down a mountain pass in her supercar where she claimed to have reached 340km/h and drifted for half a mile. While it could be that telling fables is another of her interests, she is known to have won two hill climbing events at the age of 16 and a drifting competition at 17, so this story could very well be true. Jessica is currently dating Gabriela "Gabby" Fiume, who is the opening batsman for Sajnur's national cricket team and the woman who introduced her to the idea of smoking while playing sports, the sight of Gabby smoking while playing cricket being even more iconic to Sajnuran sports fans than Jessica smoking while playing football. Siafik has also recently completed her Bachelor of Aerospace Engineering.

[Uan aa Boa]

From Routers International News Agency
As part of our series looking at some of the players of the Baptism of Fire tournament, we caught up with Daniel Abimbola, goalkeeper for Uan aa Boa. The tropical eco-communist regime has made a clear if slightly puzzling decision to advance the cause of worldwide revolution by trying to beat capitalist countries at football. Despite being tactically very defensive they have surprised observers by notching up 9 goals in the course of their first 3 games and currently sit at the top of Group 8 on goal difference. This has cast the spotlight on prolific striker Ezekiel Tola, so I wondered how Daniel and his colleagues were reacting to this.

"Comrade Tola has played extremely well," he says, "and he himself would be the first to stress that the tip of the spear achieves little without the shaft. But come, a goalkeeper rarely expects the limelight whatever his team - it is our fate to be remarked upon only when we are unsuccessful."

A trace of bitterness perhaps? It can't be easy having only your failures appearing in edited highlights game in game out.

"Not at all," Daniel laughs. "So what if a goalkeeper works hard in order for the credit to go elsewhere? In that sense we are the working class of football and there can be no greater compliment. Besides, I do not wish to be complacent. We have a strong defensive mentality and I am not proud to have let in 6 goals so far"

I put it to him that this might be a predictable consequence of sitting back and allowing the opposition so much territory and time with the ball.

"It is all in the coach's plan," Daniel assures me. "Our counter-attacking play has been striking very quickly, and when the opposition least expects it. When they are at their most confident, at that moment they are also at their weakest. It is all in keeping with a Marxist dialectic. The tactic is sound, but I will be trying hard to make more of those crucial saves in the remaining group matches."

It seems the Boani team are always keen to bring politics into any discussion. I put it to Daniel that perhaps he sounds a little brainwashed.

"I do not think so, simply proud of my county's achievements. But you should know that everything is political. You order this coffee here, but where was it grown? How were the farmers treated, or the waiter who brings it? What was the environmental impact? Could it have been done better? To ignore the political is to place your head firmly in the sand."

22 year old Daniel grew up in rural Uan aa Boa. In a society divided into semi-autonomous communes his parents belong to a community responsible for servicing the huge solar farms that contribute to the nation's allegedly carbon neutral economy. He might have expected to follow them into engineering, but his prowess at youth level tournaments earned him a place at an intensive sporting school in the capital city of Aa. Evidently Uan aa Boa's entry onto the football stage has been a long time in the planning with talent being nurtured from an early age. I ask if he was always drawn primarily towards keeping goal and for a change he starts to talk about individuality rather than the collective.

"They say that to be a keeper one must be a little bit crazy," he says with a big grin. "One must be the lone hunter who stares down the panther and survives."

[Tiiwark]

O HochrheinNEWS.mf

Today's article is about the Kiivis Taaqiilovitaaxiq. A great attacker out of the Tiiwarkian team. There isn't much known about him because of his just starting career and the strict control of press inside Tiiwark.
Kiivis was born in Ootaviik, a small village in the poor west of Tiiwark. His parents are Daamian and Gaavila Taaqiilovitaaxiq. Kiivis was born on 17 January 2001 so he's only 17 years old and the youngest out of the team. He was doing Gymnastics since he was 4 years old and went to a sports school. He started playing football as he was 11 years old. He isn't considered as the best out of the squad but he's a big talent. With his height of 2. 11 meters and the strength he built up as a gymnast it isn't easy to stop him as a defender. He's part of the new generation and on the best way to become one of the worlds top players...

Selina Patek for HochrheinNEWS

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

[The uncut transcript of an interview conducted by the Litudinem Herald with Neil Berkley, Maximusain National team assistant coach]

Litudinem Herald: So, you all have had two rough games and one really stellar one, any ideas why the rapid flips?

Neil Berkley: It confuses me too. You would think that we would have either consistently bad or good games instead of the fluctuation we have seen. If I had to venture a guess... I would assume it has something to do with mindset. Game One we were too conservative, in every way. We didn't attack enough. On Game 2 we brought our A game. It was fantastic. However, we somehow lost the momentum. We need to make it back up!

LH: Regarding the third game: I am sure you have heard of the growing scandal that the National Team was drugged. What would you say about the merit of this theory?

NB: Tricky... To start off with, we think that it would be absurdly stupid for the North Miklik government to try to drug our boys. We were about equals statistically... on equal footing, rather, at the beginning of the game. Why would the Government of NW risk disqualification in order to take out a team that they already had an ok chance of beating us. It doesn't make much sense to me. I agree, our players, especially the defense, looked very sluggish. With that said, there could be a million and one explanations for this not involving a scandal.

LH: If you believe that there is no possibility of a drugging scandal, what are you doing to make sure that your team wins match #4 against Tiger Sharkistan?

NB: We are doing a lot of training for one thing. We are looking at the game footage, reviewing our faults and weaknesses, as well as our strengths, and seeing where we can capitalize on them next round. It is what we have always done and how we will win!

LH: What would you tell a dire-hard but downtrodden fan. Someone who was really worried that LOM would be DQ'ed?

NB: I would tell them to never give up hope. We know we are good. We have proven both in the Baptism and during the IDUFC that we can compete on an international level. We are up against some tough b*stards tonight. They have bested us once, not again! We have done the math and put in the hours. I am confident that we can pull this one off. We just cannot lose our fans. They energize the players, they give them purpose and strength!

LH: Thank you for your time Mr. Berkley.

NB: My pleasure! Go LOM!

[Libertas Omnium Maximus]

Player Nomination for Tournament's Best XI
Luke Brookshire
Information provided by the National Census Bureau and the MLF Association Archives. It is compiled by the Maximusian National Team Public Relations Department. For official or authorized use only. For more information visit http://www.mnt.lom/bio/archives



Full Name
Luke A. Brookshire

Age
26

Position(s)
Striker (4-4-2 formation)
Central Forward (4-4-2 Diamond formation)

Team(s) (not including minor or junior leagues)
Litudinem FC (2012-2014)
New Handover (2015-present)
Maximusian National Team IDUFC Team (2018-2019)
Maximusian National Team BoF Team (2019)

Titles
1.Maximusian Major League Football
a. Champion Team (2018)
b. Finalist Team (2013, 2017)
c. Semi Finalist Team (2016)
d. Quarter Finalist Team (2011, 2012, 2014)

2. Player of the Year Award (Maximusian)
a. Won in 2018
b. Nominated in 2017

3. Rookie Award (Maximusian)
a. won in 2013

Bio
While not the most youthful player on the field, Luke Brookshire, striker, is generally considered to be the best when it comes to Major League Football. He currently holds the record for goals scored in a season, assists in one season, and is predicted to break the career record for total goals scored before he retires. Luke plays in-league for New Handover Football Club and is a member of the Maximusian National Football Team, currently playing in the baptism of fire tournament.

Early Life
He was born on January 3rd, 1993 to Anna and Patrick Brookshire in Portland, Libertas Omnium Maximus and attended James Austin Public Elementary School, Prince Middle School, and Portland County Public High School. He was drafted into the Gifted Athletes Program (associated with Litudinem FC) after graduating at the age of 18.

Early Career
Shortly after, he began training with the Litudinem FC team. Luke rapidly became the team's rising star and was quickly made a starter for the team in only a year. He arguably led them to the finals in 2013 where they were narrowly defeated by Real Iustitia, 2-1. He again, led the team to the Championships in 2014 but was too injured from a sprained ankle to play in them.

New Handover
The next season he was traded to New Handover, at the time the best team in the league, and was a substitute for his entire first two years. In 2017, He was given his chance to shine after the starting striker, Edward Lee, tore his ACL and was forced to sit the season out. Brookshire once agin led a team to the Finals, loosing in a penalty shootout to the better trained Portland FC. That year he was also nominated for Player of the Year, one of the most prestigious awards in football for an individual.

2018
In 2018, Luke set the record for most goals in one season, scoring 4 goals alone in a game against New Castle FC. The team went undefeated during the normal 2018 season. Brookshire scored a goal in every game save for one (which was mostly because there was only one goal scored in the whole game), and carried his team to the Finals where he faced off against his toughest adversary Portland FC. The normal timed game ended 1-1 and went into a penalty shootout where Brookshire managed to narrowly pull a win off. That same year he was nominated and won Player of the Year award.

IDUFC
Later that same year, the region-wide International Democratic Union Football Championship was held in Laeral. As one can imagine, he was on the team. While that tournament was plagued with issues for Luke, he did manage to consistently score goals and was a driving force in leading the National Team to the Quarter-Finals, where they were eliminated.

Controversies
Brookshire has already been divorced, a concept highly frowned upon by the social conservative population of Libertas Omnium Maximus. His messy relationship was the subject of many tabloid magazines and was considered to be a relatively scandalous event. He cited the divorce as being caused by "fundamental disagreements" which leads some to wonder why he married the wealthy super model in the first place.

[Xanneria]

The Hailey brothers share a hat!
Steve Stevens writer for football.xan

Ethane - Xanneria is moving on up! As the chorus to the popular show about two Bigtopians in the business world goes "We're moving on up!" but instead of the Eastside we're moving up to second place in the group with a surging 3-2 win over a depleted Bresanie. It was clear that the Bres team was a bit distracted there are rumors that they won't even make it home as large scale riots and a potentiall government collapse loom in the back of their minds. But that was enough as the Hailey brothers scored all three goals and a couple of clutch extra time stops by Varg Miller whose started in goal for the Maroons this game after Evan Jefferson was a scratch. Jefferson had been suffering a bit of the flu the prior couple days and Miller came and performed admirably.

As with the prior match two days ago Ethane was still dealing with waterlogged pitches, but surprisingly the game wasn't as much of a dud as the second half of the Monsaw game. In fact a poor defense on Bresanie's part lead to what we believe is the fastest goal in Xannerian history, including Big Six tournaments. a goal less than one minute in by Glenn Hailey, captain and striker gave the maroons a wet 1-0 lead. as the rain lightened up a bit, a penalty called on Mark Hailey, the older brother, gave Mark a chance to score. Mark kicked a brilliant ball to the top left, just over the head of the goalie and it was 2-0 Xanneria. in the ensuing minutes though a midfielder from Bresanie got through and scored. Things didn't seem to be as close as the score was. A third goal by Glenn made it 3-1. Bresanie attempted a comeback and a breathtaking penelty kick by one of their middies left it 3-2 at minute 88, then a slip up by the defense in extra time made it seem like we could be headed for another tie, but then Varg Miller made a diving one handed catch to save the game and the win for Xanneria. A moderately high scoring game especially for the conditions, Xanneria's coach Alton said he would donate 10,000 roundy's to relief for the damage caused by flash flooding in the Ethane area from the rains over the last 4 days. In other news Pineapple Porcupines game once again ended in a 0-0 tie leaving them in third place having drawn all three games so far.


Xanneria - 3
1' / 71' G Hailey
20' M Hailey'

Bresanie - 2
44' ???
88' ???

[Bysantia]

Bysantian times


What was that?!
by Klavus Titus

When I said this is going to be a show to behold – I was not expecting anything like what we’ve actually seen. It was only 30 seconds between kick off and first shot on goal. Pratapgadh started very actively and took initiative creating several good chances near Paul Smidt’s net. Nishant Joshi was on a scoring position twice, but went wide the first time and into the keeper's hands the second.
Bysantians organised a counter attack on 9’ using what became traditional combo: pass to Basil Plius – spurt – spot on pass – goal. This time Luis Popero sealed the deal himself. 1-0.
But it did not take long for Pratapgadh to come back. An uncharacteristic foul by Tranio Cecilius on 16’ costed him a yellow card. Prabhu Pardava took a perfect free kick curving around the wall and into top left corner. 1-1.
Stalemate continued until 33’ when Omar Olush created an opportunity out of nowhere and scored from 22m mark. That concluded first half. 2-1.
Second half started much like the first. Pratapgadh on the offensive and Bysantia counter attacking. On 53’ Chahel Visaria dribbled passed Jordano Santos and started a beautiful 5 steps one-touch combination that concluded in Nishant Joshi equaliser from 8m mark. 2-2.
It was anybody’s game at that point and was looking more and more like a draw until 83’. What happened next can only be interpreted as a divine intervention by out holly Emperor Spirit.
Samart Kulkarni hit a referee with his pass and it bounced back to Flavius Pinto leaving him 1 on 1 against the goalie. 3-2.
85’ Triple substitution by Krammer (Tedusius Cicero for Luis Popero, Torro Bragster for Jordano Santos and Lycus Vitoricus for Omar Olush) probably to win some time.
89’ Torro Bragster makes a dash towards the net with 3 defenders on him. Yet he manages to find Pinto with a miraculous pass. 4-2
90’ Lycus Vitoricus makes an awkward attempt on goal making Kirpan Kahlon push the ball over the line. In the follow up corner Tedusius Cicero is first on the ball. 5-2.
At this point Pratapgadh team is clearly in the state of shock. Final nail in the coffer comes on 91’. Flavius Pinto dribbles past 2 defenders in a row and delivers a canon shot to seal his hattrick. 6-2 and a final whistle.
While our team bursts into celebration – even usually calm Krammer can’t hold his emotions – Pratapgadh players just stand with blank expressions, unable to comprehend the reality. That is the biggest victory to date for our team in this tournament and possibly on international stage.

Current standings is as follows:


We would surely come back for some professional analysis, but for now I just can’t help but say “YEEEES! WE DID IT!!” Stay tuned. Hail Imperator!

[Alanikka]

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, WE GOT EM'!
Alanikka win first game!

[Skarten]

Victory!

A great deal of cheers was heard throughout the eastern European nation as the final bell of the game rang, and it was made official that Skarten had won the match against Sajnur! This great victory put them automatically at second place in the group 5, the one the Skarten team was on. This position meant that they were now more safely secured for an position in the next part of the Baptism Of Fire Cup. Of course, they could still lose and be eliminated, but with each passing victory this chance would get even smaller and smaller, until it would be unexistant.

On the homeland, this victory had rejuvenated the strength and popualarity of the team, aswell as the people's trust on a possible victory by it. Once again, the stadiums would be filled to the brim with the colors of the Skartenian White Eagle, even more so than before. Whether or not this was a good thing for fans of the other countries was still yet to be decided, especially as some of the more "acidic" Skartenians still held resentment for the game against Bohr. If this resentment would actually take place, only time would tell.

But this victory is no reason to simply stall and wait until the next gaming, thinking you have already reached the top. Or at least, it was not for the team. They would continue to train as much as they could, logically without putting a strain so big it would affect their performance on the game, but that was already of common knowledge. Their strategies would have to be reworked for this new adversary, as they would do for any other game, and even more, there would have to be accounts for possible changes.

Luckily, they already had a head start. It may have been a defeat, but nonetheless, the team had still played against Bohr, meaning that by now they had solid evidence of the playing style of the foreign team. They knew it would not be the same strategies that they saw before that they would see in tonight's match, but, as far as data goes, they now had an idea of the skills of each player, their stamina, and whatnot, this information being noted either by the player themselves or by one of the many people who worked for the team, doing such activities.

It is now only a few hours away from the game, and the stakes are higher than ever before. A defeat here could surely mean falling once again to the last place in the group, which, as everyone knows, can end with elimination from the Baptism Of Fire Cup if not fixed immediately. This tought lingered on the minds of many, but would not be enough to damage their concentration. This was simply, after all, just another match, another match in Skarten's path to victory.

Skartenian Formation Against Bohr

[Balqia]

Sport Report: Baptism of fire edition

A man with dark hair, green eyes and a short beard looks at the camera smiling in silence, he uses a white shirt and a dark blue waistcoat.
-Hello Balqia, my name is Leonidas Balkoviq and you are watching Sport Report.
His smile soon turns into a serious expression as he starts to speak.
-We start the day with sad news. Our National Team suffered a humiliating victory against Alluersia in the Baptism of fire. Our correspondent in Eastfield Lodge will talk more about that.
A screen in his right side turns on, it shows a blond man with a familiar face.
-H-hello Leonidas, hello Balqia. My name is Markus Petriq talking to you directly from the hotel were our Team is allocated. Unfortunately we will need to wait some seconds because they are having a reunion right now and…
He is interrupted by the room’s door that opens with a bang. A short man in a dark blue suit leaves the room while shouting various offenses to the room. A suitcase is hurled in his face, he takes it from the ground and with an obscene gesture get out of the scene. The reporter looks to the camera with a confused face and says:
-W-we are having some t-troubles here, we will return soon.
The Channel logo appears and a commercial starts to play. When the program returns the report is in the side of a brown haired woman, she uses a suit and holds a suitcase.
-Hello, my name is Elliane Olaniq, the secretary of the National Team. I will be responding some questions.
The reporter seems calmer now.
-So, how was the team before the game?
-They were very calm, with the last victory the morale was reestablished and confidence was growing.
-How the first half was played? What tactic was used?
-They used a offensive tactic, trying to make more goals as possible. However this backfired as the enemy team was aware of our type of game. They used a defensive approach what exhausted our players. They advanced and made a goal, I think the player name was Hughs. Maltiq made a goal too, right before the first half ends.
-Did you change tactics?
-Yes, we adopted the 4-4-2 formation and substituted Kalta by Faj, Kalta is too aggressive and we feared he would gave us a yellow card.
-And how was the second half?
-A disaster, you see, after their other goal we went back to offensive. However this backfired, with weaker defense their team advanced two more times before we changed to defense. But it was too late, the match was almost ending and we had a difference of 3 goals to each other.
-You think we will recover?
-Yes, with hard work and toil we could reverse our points and surpass our rivals.
-Okay, any statement before our interview ends?
-Yes, one. Hello mom. Two, Alluersia watch out! We will come back to you, and we will win the next match!
-Thanks Elliane.
-The pleasure was mine.
The channel logo appears and the other news start playing.