World Cup 83 - Roleplay Thread

[Kita-Hinode]

OOC: This weaker version of your regular Pokécard has been brought to you by an actual notebook, but also a writer in a miserable mood.

A red-haired girl walked out of a house, followed by her little Vulpix. As she opened the door, she took a step into the grass, she could hear her mother yell something to her. She turned around, smiling.

MOR: Don't worry, mom! I'll go straight back home after work, I promise!

This was Marina O'Reilly, a girl that had been born in another region, Eyre, and had moved with her family to Anglia for work reasons. She was often considered the sweetest girl in all of her class, the only person to never get a single bit of a rise out of the shenanigans one of her classmates took part in. She was followed by her fluffy best friend, Marie the Vulpix. Her parents had allowed her to go in a Pokémon journey in the past but she didn't go too far with it. Still, she loved working with Pokémon and was now working under Professor Tennant, the local Pokémon authority.

Marina walked down the road as the morning of Saturday presented rather cold weather, enough to annoy Marie a little bit. Of course, she was soon stopped by three men, all of them burly and dressed in blue and white.

MOR: T-T-Team Bushwacker?
TB1: Well, well, well.
TB2: Well, well, indeed.
TB3: Look at who dropped by the block.
MOR: I-I don't want any trouble.
TB1: It's fine, we just don't like your kind 'round these parts, 'init, lads?
TB2: Yeah.
TB3: Aye.

She looked at Marie, who by now was looking with ferocity at the three. One of the hooligans tried to kick her, only for the Vulpix to dodge and set their pants on fire with a Flamethrower, causing the trio to run away. Marina sighed, patting the Vulpix on the head.

MOR: Hmpf. State of them. C'mon, Marie. We're getting late!

The two darted down the road, arriving at the Pokémon Academy. Professor Tennant seemed to be adjusting something but soon looked at her.

PT: Why, hello, Marina. How are you?
MOR: On a bit of a rush, Professor. I met those bastards from Team Bushwacker.
PT: Oh, dear. Are you OK? Did they harm you?
MOR: Nah, I'm as fine as I can be. Dunno about the Buschwackers and their pants now though, Marie burned them.
PT: That sounds like something Marie would do.
M: Pix!

Marie struck a pose of courage while on Marina's arms. Tennant chuckled.

PT: Well, if you're OK, sweetheart... I need some help. We got three new trainers that want their newbie's kit.
MOR: Did you run them through the test, Professor? We don't want an Asakawa incident happening here...
PT: I don't think that's needed... I'm pretty sure you know those three and can attest they're not joining to cause trouble.
MOR: I know them?
PT: Yes, they're classmates of yours!
MOR: That's not a good sign, professor...
PT: Why don't you go talk to them then?

Marina nodded, walking up to the nearby room where the three would be... finding out that those three were Ann Marie, Lloyd and Lucas. Ann Marie was still sleepy (apparently not used to waking up early), Lloyd was reading a book about the Magnemite family and finally, Lucas was mostly waiting for the Professor to return with his kit. Marina let Marie get out of her arms, which was the cue for the Vulpix to tackle the sleepy Ann Marie, causing her to wake up from surprise as she got her face licked.

AM: W-What the heck...
MOR: Well, well. I see you're the new recruits!
LM: Woah, Marina! What are you doing here?
LL: She works here, Lucas...
MOR: Well, it's more of a part-time job. I see Marie still likes you a whole lot, Ann.
AM: E-Eh... well, she has good taste, the little critter.
MOR: In any case, I'm amazed to see the two of you here. Didn't figure you would be into training Pokémon.
LM: Two? What about Lloyd?
MOR: Lloyd already has Pokémon. He didn't get his starter yet, but he did work at a farm, so he's familiar with those.
LL: I finally decided which one to get, Marina. Do you have...
MOR: Let me guess, a Magnemite?
LL: The book tipped you off, didn't it?
MOR: Yup. But don't worry, Mr. Tennant has some. And... what about you two?
AM: Uh... I just woke up again.
LM: I'm still thinking about it. I considered maybe getting a Pikachu-
MOR: We don't have that one.
LM: Woah. For real?
MOR: Ayup. Everyone in this bloody region wants a Pikachu, don'cha know?
LM: Huh.
LL: Makes sense, they're very popular.
MOR: We do have a Yamper but the Professor still wants to study him for a while.
AM: Eh, why don't you get him a fighter? One that preferably can punch just as hard as he?
LM: O-Oh, come on!

Marina rubbed her chin before clicking her fingers.

MOR: I got it! I'll get you your Pokémon in a bit.

[South Covello]

Election Night in South Covello

8:00 PM: "Good evening, you're watching SCNN, I'm Lion Spitzer, and you're watching Election Night in South Covello. Polls have just closed across the nation and you can expect results to start coming in soon, but let's just summarize things in case you've somehow been living under a rock for the last eight months. Although 63 candidates are on the ballot for President, there were only ever two serious contenders - incumbent President David Hale, who has a 29 percent approval rating and has been criticized for failing to deliver on any of his promises, and his opponent, Carter Redwin, known for his fiery rhetoric, but also his racism, sexism, xenophobia, and undemocratic stances. Not very good choices, but well, these are our candidates. So, we'll of course bring you the results as soon as they come in, but while we wait, let's take a look at an SCNN Poll conducted just yesterday. It showed David Hale with a narrow 49 to 48 percent lead over Carter Redwin, with three percent undecided and a three percent margin of error. Notably, and we can't stress this enough, if it should end 49 to 48, with, say, three percent of the vote going to other candidates, we would have a runoff in three weeks between Redwin and Hale. Someone needs to get a majority tonight, so in such a close race, we'll have to pay attention to the share of the vote that goes to other candidates.

8:23 PM: "OK, tallies are starting to roll in now, but we still have well less than 1 percent of the precincts reporting, at this point it's mostly just people who voted early because they were unable to vote today for whatever reason, those are, of course, tallied separately, and as early voting ended yesterday at 8 PM, many of those votes were already tallied and just not reported. So, let's take a look, and it's David Hale up 61 to 38 percent, but only about 10,000 votes in, we're obviously expecting a lot more - oh, and it just changed again, now it's down to 54.3% for hale and 44.3% for Redwin, and as you can see 1.6% for other, we're not going to break other down further, but as we discussed earlier, it's significant their vote share because someone needs a majority tonight or we go to a runoff.


8:45 PM: "OK, votes coming in fast and furious now, and the two candidates are neck-and-neck. With 11 percent of the vote in, so still very early, Carter Redwin is in the lead, 50.3% to 48.9%, so that's 0.8% of the vote going to someone else, we'll see if they keep Redwin from getting to a majority tonight. Now, if you're at the Hale campaign, the realization really has to be setting in now that you could lose this. When Carter Redwin entered the race, nobody ever expected him to win, he was this crazy racist bigoted demagogue. But to talk about just how he managed to rise in the polls, we're going to bring in one of our favorite guests, she's talked to us many times throughout this campaign, and throughout Redwin's previous campaign in the inaugural presidential election, please welcome Professor Anna Brainerd, who teaches political science at Baycoast University. Anna, welcome in."

Anna Brainerd: Thank you, Lion, I always enjoy talking to you, even if I don't enjoy the circumstances.

Lion Spitzer: Well, Anna, last time Carter Redwin ran for President, he got only a small fraction of the vote, less than a couple hundred, now, he's in the lead with, now, 12 percent of precincts reporting. What changed?

Anna Brainerd: Well, I remember that night distinctly, it was the first democratic election in the history of our nation, we had just overthrown the Gregists, and here was this man, this awful man, who was just going to throw us back into tyranny. But our people had hope, hope for the future, and they said no, they didn't let him.

Lion Spitzer: But now, the economy's going nowhere, we have, as we have discussed before, an unpopular President who has kept none of his promises, do you think people are less hopeful now?

Anna Brainerd: I think that would be a major understatement, unemployment is rising, people are sturggling, and they don't particularly like David Hale. They view his presidency as a failure. People want change, just as they did four years ago, but in this case, the only candidate promising change is Carter Redwin. It's unfortunate that nobody else stepped up to challenge Hale, if they had, I think we could be having a very different conversation right now. But seriously - people don't want to elect Moses the Pant Ferret as President, or Busty Daniels. I mean, Busty may play a head of state on FNL, and might I add she does a fabulous Scarlett Nicholls impression, but nobody wants her as an actual President. So really, it's Redwin or Hale, and people don't like either, but those are their options.

Lion Spitzer: And, as you said, last election was right after we overthrew the Gregists, this is only four years later, could people really forget tyranny that fast?

Anna Brainerd: Well, I don't usually like giving Lord Almighty Gregory credit for anything, but he was very good at managing the facts and making people believe what he wanted them to believe. They believed he was God, after all, and that Costa Lunians were all dunces who think that llamas live in trees under the sea, and that San Jose Guayabal was the most evil nation on Earth, and so on. And Carter Redwin can do the same. It's like the facts don't even matter anymore, and, I mean, it's always that way in dictatorships.

Lion Spitzer: Do you think Carter Redwin will be a dictator, then?

Anna Brainerd: Oh, I have no doubt. I wouldn't be surprised if he uses the recent attacks as an excuse to do so right away, even. And as we've seen from recent evidence, I am almost certain those were false flags by Redwin's campaign, probably masterminded by Redwin himself. He may be a tyrant, but he's also a genius, he knows how to control these things. He's very good at that.

Lion Spitzer: Well, Anna, we have to let you go now since we need to take a commercial break, but thank you for coming on. Stay with us, we'll be right back.

9:00 PM: "Top of the hour here in South Covello, polls have been closed for just an hour and results are still coming in, 18 percent of precincts now reporting, and let's take a look. Carter Redwin at 51.5%, David Hale at 46.5%, and others at a combined 2%. And as we've said all night, someone needs a majority. If nobody gets a majority, the top two candidates, presumably Redwin and Hale, go to a runoff.

9:35 PM: "We are now ready to make a partial projection, but first, let's take a look at the results so far. With 30 percent of precincts reporting, Carter Redwin stands at 51.6% and David Hale stands at 46.3%, others have a combined 2.1%. Although we are not yet ready to project a winner, or if there will even be a winner tonight, we can now tell you who will not be winning the election tonight, and that is David Hale. That is to say, we cannot yet project if Carter Redwin will win a majority tonight, but we can project that David Hale will not. We cannot rule out the possibility that no candidate will get a majority tonight, but there is simply too much ground for Hale to make up at this point, and it simply will not happen.

9:39 PM: "David Hale has released a statement. Let us put it up on the screen. "it seems the networks have said we will not win tonight, but they haven't said we'll lose tonight either. We will continue to fight this out for as long as it takes, if it goes to a runoff, so be it. We will continue to fight for the rights of all South Covellans to be free and free from tyranny and despair. We are monitoring the results and remain confident that we will proceed to a runoff." Desperation from Hale, it seems, he knows now that it's going to be a long fight to win, and really, the reality has to be setting in across South Covello that the thing we never thought possible could happen, Carter Redwin could actually win this thing.

10:00 PM: "Top of the hour again here, and still too early to make a projection, we have 52 percent of precincts reporting, Carter Redwin has 50.9% of the vote, David Hale has 46.9%, the other random candidates have the remaining 2.2%. We've known for about half an hour now that David Hale will not win tonight, and we still do not know, however, if Carter Redwin will win tonight. He's barely above a majority, we could head to a runoff. But really, fear has to be setting in across this nation now, the man many so despise could actually win."

10:35 PM: "We're getting more and more election results in here, now, 66% of precincts have reported, and clearly David Hale is not going to win tonight, but it's still too tight to say if Carter Redwin will or if we will go to a runoff. It is 51.0% for Redwin, 47.1% for Hale, and 1.8% for everyone else. We are not going to project this just yet, but it's getting close to the end perhaps."

11:02 PM: "Ladies and gentlemen, this is big, we have breaking news to report, let's check the results before we tell you though. 81 percent of precincts have reported, and Carter Redwin has 51.2% of the vote to David Hale's 47.1%. We are now projecting that Carter Redwin will win a majority of the votes cast tonight, he will be elected President, and we will not proceed to a runoff. Although he will remain just above the 50 percent threshold, there are not enough votes left out there to push him below it. Therefore, Carter Redwin will be the next, and third, President of South Covello. There will, as per the South Covello constitution, be a 14 day transition period before President-elect Redwin, as we can now call him, will be sworn in. I am told that the now outgoing President Hale has called Redwin to concede, urging him to tone down his rhetoric and take this country in the right direction. Only time will tell if he succeeds. We are also told that Redwin will be giving a victory speech in about half an hour, we will, of course, bring that to you live when it happens. But wow, what a night. Once again, in case you just joined us, Carter Redwin has been elected President, and he will take office 14 days from now. And now I am told we have an exact time for the acceptance speech, it will be delivered at 11:30 PM, so just over 25 minutes from now."

To be continued....

[Timuria]

Under Qualified Chapter 5:

Bekir stood nervously at the door. He noticed that the neighbourhood was rather different from what he was used to. Far from the brutalist towers and monuments that were a vision for a future that was promised and was yet to be delivered. This neighbourhood felt as if it was asleep, which was a far cry from the depths of Demir, he could see the sky clearly as the evening breeze cooled him. He steadied himself and rung the doorbell, holding onto a bottle of white wine which threatened to slip from his grasp. He couldn't understand why he was nervous, it's not as if he particularly cared about what people thought about him.

The door swung open and he was greeted by the familiar, toothy smile of his spreadsheet bound compatriot and assistant. Senol stepped aside, "Come in Bekir, Ayse! He's here." He bellowed out into the house. As he stepped in he noticed the rather spartan decor, but he had all the amenities a person would expect. Perhaps Senol was humble in his lifestyle as well as his attire and attitude? As he offered his friend the bottle of wine a slightly chubby woman arrived with a welcoming grin, followed closely by a woman who couldn't have been much past 20. "Bekir this is my wife Ayse." The woman greeted him with two kisses on the cheek, a traditional way of greeting that had fallen out of fashion, much to Bekir's pleasure. "And my daughter Maryam." Bekir nodded at the woman, who had clearly and perhaps fortunately taken after the mother in terms of her appearance.

"No family of your own Bekir?" Ayse asked entirely innocently.

His mind raced as he felt the creeping anxiety the pinpricks of fear, the eyes looking at him, as if a light had faded within them. He coughed and shook his head, "No I've never had that opportunity." A lie, he had every opportunity life could hand a man and he squandered them. He was led to a dining table, he noticed several idols of folk gods. He took particular notice of Kayahatun, the Stone Lady, who protected the souls of the innocent with her very body. A silly and childish myth for people to cling on to. The smell of garlic and cooked meat hit his nose, "It smells wonderful Ayse." He complimented, keen to appear at least polite. "Senol don't you have a son as well?"

Senol was making his way to the kitchen, to plate the food, "Oh yes."

His wife continued, "He's away at university. A year abroad."

Bekir nodded, "Lucky boy. I wish I had the chance to see the world, you know before this." He waited nervously for the food to be placed in front of him, unknown to his hosts, he felt a disturbing level of discomfort. "What about you Maryam?" He exhaled as he tried to excise his tension, "You must be... approaching the end of university right?"

She smiled, "Yeah I'm actually studying sports science."

Bekir nodded and suddenly found the girl interesting, "Oh? Well then maybe if we can get the funding we can use your expertise. You know since your father's only good with numbers and I'm a-"

Maryam cut him off, "Farmer?"

Ayse nudged her daughter, "Don't be rude! I'm so sorry Bekir."

Bekir held up his hand as the food was placed in front of him and Senol resumed his seat, "No, no. It's perfectly okay. I did study agriculture after all. But there's more to it than farming, but maybe that's a discussion for another day."

The meal passed by, the food wasn't exactly the most adventurous flavour experience ever conceived but he could tell whichever of hosts had made it, knew what they were doing. As he got up to leave he summoned a self driving vehicle, having indulged in far too much drink to cope with general pubic transport. He had enjoyed sparring with Maryam and had invited her to observe a training and given her one of his complimentary tickets to see Valanora. He didn't know why Senol had never invited her, he supposed he'd find out.

He got into the car he ordered and noticed a discarded copy of Özgürlük, a newspaper that rather famously supported the nation's opposition and was one of the outlets that was particularly nasty in the wake of his well documented issues in government. He opened the paper to an article by Esin Albayrak, an interesting long read on the role of government money in organised sport, of course writing for a capitalist rag she pushed the need for private investment, but he couldn't begrudge anyone the right to their view.

***

Iskender left the training facility on his own. He had taken the unusual step of asking Caner to train with him after the mandatory practice had ended, a desire stirred in him, if he was called upon again he wouldn't make the mistakes he had in the past. As he absentmindedly walked out of the gate, waving to the Banijan man who was in charge of the gate. He began to walk back to his parent's apartment, reserve players were allowed to visit their family if they were in the city during national team duty. He wondered if the team would surprise anyone in a couple of days, it would be quite a statement to get any kind of result against Valanora.

He heard a clearing of someone's throat, "Hey! You're a member of the national team right?" An overeager feminine voice called to him. Iskender turned to see the timid, bespectacled face of a young woman, she couldn't have been much older than him.

"Yeah, I suppose. I mean if backup goalkeeper is on the team." He murmured the final part to himself as he realised how absurd it sounded.

"I'm Esin I'm writing a... book on footballers, I was wondering if maybe you'd like to go out for a drink sometime?"

Iskender felt incredibly conflicted, of course he could go for a drink with this lady, he couldn't believe that after the recent period he'd been having that anyone would want him, "You don't care that I bungled that game away?"

The woman adjusted her glasses, "N-no actually I think it'd be really interesting to speak with you, hear about how you process that kind of event happening to you."

"Well here's my phone, put your number in it." He gave her the smartphone "I'm not sure how interesting I'll be, but I'd be happy to get a drink with you."

She handed the phone back to him, "Great, you wont mind if I record it will you? You know so I'm not writing constantly and being rude."

He took the phone and read the name aloud "Esin... Albayrak. Cute name. Well I wouldn't think you were rude, truth be told I find it hard to get by without. You know checking this every 5 minutes." He waved the phone carelessly as Esin turned to walk away, "Well I'll give you a call to arrange it!"

She waved and smiled, "I'll look forward to it."

Iskender turned and smiled to himself, he couldn't believe it, maybe things would be turning around for him. He was trying to get that starting place and now suddenly a woman didn't care that he ruined his country's most important match. A self driving car pulled up in front of him revealing Caner, "Hey why do you look so happy? And do you want a lift?"

Iskender nodded and joined his friend in the car, "Let's just say things might finally be looking up, you heading to Fakulti?"

"Yeah I have to go to an interview there, I'm thinking of going to university." The car set off as Iskender smiled.

"That's great. But wont that effect football?"

"Only if I move abroad and that's not exactly likely is it? I can just study at the National University's campus in Tashkent."

Iskender playfully punched his elder friend on the shoulder, "Looks like things are looking up for both of us. Maybe if things keep improving we can win against Valanora."

Caner laughed at the prospect, "Come on, just because I've got an interview for university and you've had a good day?" He paused, "Well I suppose you having a good day is extremely rare."

The pair continued their conversation as the car made its way to the Fakulti district.

[Recuecn]

The game had, for once, never really been in doubt, and ever since Hippolyte Lavigne's goal early in the second half, the stadium had had a growing sense of anticipation--a building feeling that thirty thousand fans were going to go wild as soon as the final whistle was blown. The game would be the first home win for the Unicorns since they'd beaten Dainer 1-0 towards the end of qualifying for World Cup seventy-two. That had been years ago. The team had had some success in the IAC, of course, but never at home. It was about time, and people were excited.

Gerauld Firaut was watching the crowd count-down to the whistle from his goal-line. For once this game, he'd felt more like an afterthought than like the star of the show. Usually, Reçueçn was on the defensive, and he had his work cut out for him. But the team had been doing well against Starcom Racing, pushing them fairly hard, and allowing their own goalie much-appreciated breathing space.

They were in what should be the last minute of stoppage time now. Gerauld was still focused--he might still be called on for a last minute save--but he knew this was it. Chweeeeep. There it was! A win at home!

The crowd was on its feet, cheering. A slew of pyrotechnics went off in a ring around the outside of the stadium, rippling around it with a roll of explosions: boom, boom, boom, boom, boom. Now, Gerauld's focus was gone. The moment the whistle had gone, he took off at a sprint towards Hippolyte, where he knew the team would be gathering.

"Gathering" was a tame word for what was going on on the pitch. The RNFT players had formed a small mob, bouncing and dancing up and down, jumping on each other's backs. Gerauld, running from his goal at the far end of the field, was the last to make it to the group; even the reserves had all poured off the bench and onto the pitch. Anywhere else, this amount of celebration might have seemed over the top for a low-stakes, first-half-of-qualifying single-point win over one of the lower-ranked seeds in the group. But Reçueçn was the lowest ranked seed, and they would celebrate while they had the chance. And after all, it was their first win at home in years.

Gerauld was wandering among the throng of players, trading back-slaps and compliments.

"Hey good game."

"Nice work out there."

"Nice save."

"Congratulations!"

He bumped into Tremblay now, and they shared a hug. Tremblay said something in Gerauld's ear, but he couldn't hear it over the commotion, so he just smiled and nodded. Hopefully it had just been another compliment.

Gerauld now led the way across the field towards the other group of players still present--the Starcom Racers. With Gerauld in front, the Reçueçians filed past them, clasping hands with each one.

"Good game, good game, good game, good game, good game."

The team gathered once more on the center circle, as they had after their last victory, in Valladares. Tremblay had disappeared--still talking to the Starcom coach, Gerauld guessed. Lebo took it on himself to lead a cheer. He kept it simple.

"Reçueçn on three! One, two, three--"

"Reçueçn!" The cheer was a hearty yell.

Someone had turned to wave to a fan, and that looked good, so the entire team turned to face outward. Clustered in a bunch in the middle of the field, facing outward, they gazed at the stadium, full of supporters, still cheering for their victory. The players cheered back, clapping and waving to the fans. The fans, of course, were very pleased by this, and cheered even louder.

Next came the walk back into the tunnel and to the dressing room. Inside it was pandemonium. The racket of conversation was immense, and soon enough someone had started blasting a heavy hip-hop beat through the speaker system. Gerauld sat in a corner, focused on his own little world: his cleats, his towel, a change of clothes. With his pants and a t-shirt on, he slung his duffel bag over his shoulder and stumbled out of the locker-room.

"See ya boys!"

"Bye, captain!"

The emotions, the thrill, the commotion that came with victory--the combination had dazed him. It wasn't always this way after a match: sometime one's mind was clear, replaying each moment of the game, reliving every little victory and every little mistake. Sometimes after a defeat you felt as if the wind had been knocked out of you. Or after a win, you might feel more alive than you ever remembered feeling, and you had to go for a run after the game, or take your wife to bed and find a different way to burn off all that new-found energy. But every game was different, and this time, the fanfare of victory had exhausted Gerauld, and put him in a trance. Somehow what he really wanted was to sit in a lazy boy chair, lean way back, and drink a tall glass of cold milk.

Gerauld reemerged from the tunnel onto the pitch. By now the fans were filing out of the stadium. The sudden emptying of the rows of seats, now populated only by the stadium custodians weaving between the rows gathering trash, had created a markedly different atmosphere.

Not everyone had made a beeline for the exits, however. A few lingered. Gerauld spied a pair of figures waiting in the bottom row of the stands; a young woman holding a child with its arms around her shoulder. They'd spotted him too--the woman freed a hand to raise over her head and wave at him. Grauld waved back and grinned as he saw that the toddler too had lifted one of her pudgy arms and was moving it back and forth in an attempt at a wave. He greeted them as he drew nearer.

"Hey!"

"Great game honey!"

"Couldn't do it without you here, Samantha."

Gerauld was down right below the stands now, and he pulled himself up on his tiptoes to meet his wife for a kiss as she leaned over the security railing.

"Papa!"

Baby Rebecca was third-wheeling, but she was not unwelcome.

"Hey there birthday girl!" Gerauld reached up and pressed her little hand in his for a moment. "How'd you like the game?"

Then, tossing his duffel bag over the railing, he pulled himself up and over it, landing next to Samantha. He pulled her and Rebecca into another hug, before slinging the strap of his duffel bag over his arm again and lifting Rebecca out of Samantha's arms and onto his shoulders. "Hang on up there!" he instructed. Taking Samantha's hand in his, the trio headed for the exit.

Samantha pulled herself a bit closer to Gerauld, looking up at him as they walked. "You must be so proud, sweetie," she said. "The team played so well! That was one of the best games I remember coming to."

"It wasn't a bad one," admitted Gerauld. "Like I say, when I don't have anything to do during a game, it means things are going right."

"You were important though," insisted Samantha. "They couldn't play without you."

"They'd be a much better team if I wasn't nearly as important as I am. But I'm glad I matter to someone." He smiled down at her and squeezed her hand.

One of the advantages of playing for Reçueçn FC, its players who had also been called up for the RNFT had found, was that most of them lived very close to their training grounds and to the national stadium. Gerauld lived so close that he didn't bother to take the car to home games; his apartment was only a couple stops distant on the tram. The tram left from just in front of the stadium, and the Firauts just made it on before it pulled away. It was packed with departing fans, but Gerauld managed to find a seat for Samantha. Rebecca sat in her lap, and he stood next to her, holding onto the bar that ran along the ceiling. A couple fans pointed and whispered--they'd recognized him as the team's star goalie. But tonight no one bothered him during the short ride home.

In less than ten minutes, they were at their stop, where Gerauld, Samantha, and Rebecca disembarked and set out to walk the rest of the way home--it was only a block and a half through one of Reçueçn's nicer neighborhoods. Rebecca was reinstated in her position atop Gerauld's shoulders, and soon enough they were home, pushing open the door of the apartment.

Gerauld smiled as he stepped through the doorway. The decorations of a birthday party littered the room. A few balloons lay on the floor, streamers had been draped from the ceiling, and big, colorful letters strung on the wall spelled out "HA P PY BIRT HD AY". A small pile of torn gift wrapping was in the corner, a couple new toys were on the table, next to the boxes from which they had just been removed, and the last third of a 'birthday' cake was on the counter. Two small candles had been herded onto what remained of the cake.

"How was the end of the party?" Gerauld asked.

"It was good! Rebecca had a lot of fun, I think." Samantha turned to Rebecca. "Didn't you, cutie? Didn't you?"

Gerauld headed straight for the laundry room and emptied most of his duffle bag into the washing machine. With the laundry started, his next stop was the kitchen, where he poured himself that glass of milk he'd been thinking of. He looked over the counter at Samantha, who had taken off Rebecca's shoes and was now cleaning up a bit of the mess in the living room. She gathered up the discarded wrapping, and reached for a streamer."

"Wait!" called Gerauld. "I don't think we should let the party end quite yet. We're still celebrating, aren't we Rebecca!"

Rebecca giggled happily.

"Plus, this cake is looking very inviting after a soccer game." Gerauld picked up a knife. "You want some, honey?"

"If it's a party, I guess I'd better say yes," said Samantha. She came around into the kitchen and tossed the trash into the garbage can. She opened a small cooler that was sitting on the counter. "You want something other than milk to drink?"

Gerauld turned to find her holding a bottle of champagne. "It looks like I'd better say yes too!" He finished his milk and cut the cake into three slices. He took two of them into the living room with him. He sat on the couch next to Rebecca and handed her a piece of cake. "Normally you wouldn't get to stay up this late and eat more sugar," he said, "but today's a special day."

The birthday girl.

Rebecca took the cake from her dad, but when she looked up, her lip was quavering and her eyes were full of tears.

"Birthday over?" she asked.

"It will be soon."

Rebecca looked distraught. "No more birthday?"

"Birthdays are only one day, sweetie."

Rebecca burst out crying. Samantha came into the living room with a slice of cake in one hand and two champagne flutes in the other, all of which she set down on the table before squatting down in front of Rebecca. "What's wrong?"

"She's crying because her birthday's over. It's okay, Rebecca, you'll have another one next year."

Rebecca paused in her sobs and looked at her dad. "Next year?"

"That's right, darling. You have a birthday every year!"

"Oh." Rebecca still sounded mournful, but she had stopped crying.

Gerauld put aside his cake and put his daughter in his lap. Samantha sat beside them. Both were relieved the problem had been solved that easily. "Don't worry, Rebecca, you'll have lots more birthdays." Gerauld gestured with his hand as if you could see them waiting on the horizon somewhere. "This isn't your first one, you know. You don't remember, but you've had birthdays before, and you're going to keep having them, every year."

"Will I be two again?" Rebecca took a big bite of cake, which seemed to be doing about as much as Gerauld's reassurances were to assuage her fears.

"You'll be two for a whole year. Then, next time you have a birthday, you'll be three! And it keeps counting after that: four, five, six, seven... every time you get turn a year older you'll have another birthday and we'll throw another party."

Rebecca seemed happy now, but Gerauld was happy to continue. "Even though you're turning two, this isn't your second birthday. Your second birthday was last year, when you turned one. You don't remember, but we had cake then too. And you had a birthday before that: your first birthday was the day you were born, when you turned zero."

"Oh, don't confuse her," said Samantha.

"I remember that day," said Gerauld. "We were supposed to have a soccer game then too. I told them I couldn't go, I was about to have a baby girl." Gerauld did remember, very clearly. That had been the day the team played against Osarius. Osarius had just won two world cups in a row, and had been ranked first in the world. He'd left at the last minute to go to the hospital. He'd been a bit worried he had let his teammates down, but he knew he had made the right choice. Wow, that had felt so long ago. And yet Rebecca was only turning two today. So much had happened since she'd been born.

Samantha leaned her head on Gerauld's shoulder. "I remember that too. You burst into the room where I was in labor and I told you to go back to the stadium."

Gerauld laughed. "I think your words were, 'Can't you see I'm busy?'"

"I'm glad you didn't leave. I needed to know you were there with me."

"I know. I needed to be there with you."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Samantha picked up the champagne flutes and handed one to her husband. "Well, let's celebrate! To us! To our first home victory! And to the birthday girl!"

Previous Match

---

Reçueçn 1—0 Starcom Racing
World Cup 83 Qualifiers — Matchday 5
National Stadium, Reçueçn, Reçueçn
Goalscorers: Hippolyte Lavigne 58'
Reçueçn line-up: Gerauld Firaut (c), Leo Beck, Ägidius Heissler, Norman Bright, Oliver Spencer, Luc Pélissier, Harold Saunders, Maynard Hebron, Hippolyte Lavigne, Franky Adams, Jean-Baptiste Brochard
Substitutions: R. Lavigne for Pélissier (62'), Kayserling for Bright (73'), Nasser for Adams (78')

---

Upcoming Match

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Caras vs Reçueçn
World Cup 83 Qualifiers — Matchday 6
Silberburg, Caras
Reçueçn line-up: Gerauld Firaut (c), Leo Beck, Ägidius Heissler, Norman Bright, Oliver Spencer, Luc Pélissier, Grégoire Leclair, Maynard Hebron, Hippolyte Lavigne, Franky Adams, Freeman Lebo

[Brusseldorf]

Excerpt from CasablancaNews interview:

(Host) Once again we are joined by the prolific Craig Foster, and to his left, man of the hour Marcev Steyr. Now gentlemen, I’ll start off by asking for your thoughts on last night’s performance.

Craig: Obviously I’m very pleased with both the score line, but also the calmness with which they went about their tasks. Following our 6-3 defeat to Audioslavia, to then turn around and win 6-2 shows that not only can we take it, but we can dish it out too.

(Host) Now Marcev, with a hat trick made up of three stunning goals, you must be on cloud nine! How’s the feeling been back home?

Marcev: I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was a heroes welcome *laughs* I’ve struggled under previous coaches to conform to tactics and strength-based football, but Craig’s technical football has really allowed me to flourish. I love to add a bit of flair to my strikes, so I’m really pleased.

Craig: He’s being too humble *laughs* I haven’t seen a bicycle kick that ballsy in years.
Brusseldorf certainly looked dominant on the pitch.

Marcev: It’s certainly a nice change. Usually we’re the underdogs, so it was nice to have less pressure on us.

(Host) Some critics expressed that Brusseldorf was too harsh on Astograth, and it was unsportsmanlike to win like that.

Craig: See, I really disagree with that kind of sentiment. To me, it would be unsporting to hold back in a match like that. It wouldn’t do justice to the hours of work Astograth have done. Certainly as manager I view every match as a learning experience, no matter the score line. I think Iban would agree.

(Host) Tomorrow night’s game sees us travel to Tornado Queendom, any thoughts going into that match?

Marcev: I’m looking forward to it, hopefully I’ll get some minutes on the pitch again and make a difference.

Craig: I’ll be giving some of the subs a run definitely, it’ll be another fun match, and we tend to do well on the walk....

[Turori]

Eels Stink it Up in Pratapgadh

The Turori National Team suffered its first defeat of the World Cup 83 Qualification Cycle but it was not at the hands of The Macabees, Darkmania or Terre Septentrionale as the form guide might have supposed. Instead, after surviving the early schedule barrage of The Macabees and Darkmania, the Turori National Team have been defeated by Pratapgadh.

It may have been a classic case of complacency coupled with an unexpectedly strong home environment for Pratapgadh who saw their highest attendance ever come out to see the defending World Cup Runners-Up in their home stadium.

Many may have thought it was going to be a long day for the home side when Indelli Nura'amura put the Eels in front just 3 minutes into the match. However it was very much not the case as a switch seemed to go off mentally for the Eels at that point perhaps already looking ahead to the bye week and their tropical vacation homes. Pratapgadh levelled the score on the half hour mark as Kliaill Tuirma barked orders along the sideline but he could not get a reaction from his side. Tuirma even made a rare first half substitution removing Timi'sala Koarena in favor of the experienced Mirana Gotuai. Buoyed by their new found form, Pratapgadh came out firing on all cylinders in the second half and eventually found a way through as Turori looked exhausted from the idea of having to work harder than they had wanted to in the second half.

In their degraded mental state, Tuirma's Turori side likely never stood a chance and a pair of opportunistic chances were well taken from Pratapgadh who fed off the energy of the home crowd to convert three of their four shots on target and stun the #2 Ranked Nation in the Multiverse with a 3-1 reversal.

Despite the defeat, Turori remain atop Group W and should remain favorites to advance to the World Cup 83 finals if they can avoid any other surprises the remainder of the way. The Eels will now hit their bye in the schedule before resuming play on Matchday Six against 218th ranked Terre Septentrionale.

Turori [1] - [3] Pratapgadh

:: Turori Goalscorers :: :: 3' Indelli Nura'amura

:: Turori Statistics :: :: Possession: 49% :: Shots on Target: 6 :: Corner Kicks: 4

:: Pratapgadh Statistics :: :: Possession: 51% :: Shots on Target: 4 :: Corner Kicks: 8

---

Turori Eels Lineup v. Pratapgadh ::
[GK]Wiyauw An'maude, [D.]Yitizo Mpala'a, [D.]Mikki Mayelli, [D.]Moumouni Verre'elali, [D.] Lulu Pumaziiri, [ML] Indelli Nura'amura, [MC]Timi'sala Koarena, [MC] Daliora Toru'u, [MR] Saito Koshiki, [FC]Meldi'ita Mungwaii, [FC]Wiztsana Iretziia
BENCH::
[FC]Nua'oma Aikiki, [FC]Mirana Gotuai, [M]Lati'ala Giaoka, [M]Mbdiai Akarenaa, [U ]Biliki Rona'atu'i, [D]Amakli Inuro'o, [GK]Mitimi Obalialo

---

[Damukuni]

DBCSPORTS.COM.DU
Official Broadcaster WC 83, 84, 85

---

Rosé takes away somewhat Pyrrhic victory in Lepolanatnessffiria
Staff Report

The oddest match in history happened in Lepolanatnessffiria today.

Damukuni took a 3-1 win on the road, but after Wisdom Tracey scored a game-tying goal in minute number four, and the Lepolanatnessffirians kicked the ball to start up after, nothing happened. Nothing at all. Well, the ball moved, but except for the Damukunian defence, everyone remained frozen.

However, for some reason, every time a Damukunian player kicked to score, the Lepolanatnessffirian keeper took one step ... and successfully blocked each shot.

No one knows why only the Lepolanatnessffirian goalkeeper or the Damukunian defensive line were the only ones to be able to actually move their feet. Some speculate a localized nerve gas attack. Others said it may have been that no one really cared about the outcome of the game.

However, this did not stop Jiah Leeds from finally being able to break whatever magical curse the Lepolanatnessffirians may have cast, at the 88th minute. Leeds was eventually able to score two more goals to end the conflict.

After the game, Julián Rosé tried to speak to the press for the usual postgame press conference, but found that he had lost his voice and was unable to speak. Tracey took over the press conference, interpreting Rosé's hand gestures instead.

Rosé was able to speak once the team got back on the airplane and headed back to Damukuni. To this day, no one knows what truly happened at Lepolanatnessffiria.

NEXT MATCH: vs. Brenecia, West Bay Cricket Club.

LPS 1-3 DKI
L: A. Player 2'.
D: W. Tracey 4', J. Leeds 89', 90+1'.

---

This Campaign
Group N, 4th place (6 pts., +1), BLG H, LPS A (2/4 total), (.500).

[Omerica]

|national football| |club football| |basketball| |rugby| |volleyball| |lacrosse| |tennis| |cycling| |golf|

---

World Cup 83 qualification: Incorrigibles and Rebels split points in an uneasy match at the Stade de la République
Political tensions loomed large over Romainbourg, where a scoreless draw keeps South Covello unassailably ahead for the time being

........Omerica.
.

.South.Covello.
.

0-0
Stade de la République, Romainbourg

Romainbourg — A palpably strained game at the Stade de la République has confirmed the status quo of the World Cup qualifier’s Group K, keeping South Covello untouchably in front, but the top spot fully open for Omerica to snatch.

Always expected to be a critical and tightly-fought contest, the game between the top two seeds in the group took on an added dimension with the rise of fascistic presidential candidate Carter Redwin, whose bigoted and inciteful rhetoric has been a subject of domestic and international concern. The likelihood of Redwin—who is facing the deeply unpopular incumbent David Hale—claiming victory has raised the possibility of Omerican supporters boycotting the Incorrigibles’ return leg in Riverview.

With the South Covellan team and supporters being met with protests against Redwin’s candidacy, the Romainbourgeois police increased their presence on the streets of the city-republic to ensure the visitors could make it around the city unobstructed. Nevertheless, the arrest of two people, a visiting Redwin supporter and a protester from North Provence, escalated the agitated climate ahead of the match.

Despite events surrounding the stadium, the atmosphere at the game proved more pleasant, where banners reading “Fuck fascism” and “Down with Redwin” were contrasted with a standing ovation for the South Covellan national anthem. The home team took the kick-off and were able to maintain possession for much of the first half, with the visitors, who play in an intensely Karelan style, preferring to hunker down and break away on counterattacks.

Clemente Affini would have the first true chance of the match, but could not keep the ball down low enough. Omerica’s other great chances were also squandered, with Maria Nelissen and Édouard Bouchard seeing their shots go too far right and left respectively and captain Red Bolton denied by Covellan keeper and captain Matthew Tyler. South Covello’s lone striker Coconut Charles picked up two excellent opportunities on the counterattack, but was unable to put either into the net: his first shot on target was easily put out wide by Valentine Augustin, while defender Charity Kayode cleared the second off the line when Augustin could not reach it in time.

South Covello were able to get the better of their hosts in the second half, controlling the pace of the game for most of that time. The most convincing opportunity of the match came after an overzealous Aristide de Felice brought Pillory Cantwell down to the grass, being lucky to escape the scrap with a yellow card. Charles would get the chance to put South Covello in the lead from the spot, but was denied by Augustin, who correctly read Charles and put his penalty kick out wide for a corner that fizzled into nothingness. The game would fizzle out with an Omerica’s best chance of the second half, a corner that was effortlessly cleared by the alliteratively-named Paul Paul.

“We were a tad more ragged in the second half,” Omerica manager Anne-Sophie Groothuis said of the match, “but the point is crucial. If we had been defeated, South Covello could easily run off with the group and leave us to fight for second. The playoffs will be brutal and we should avoid them if possible.”

“On the pitch, politics should be put to the side,” Bolton stated after the match. “The match was very respectful and I’m always honoured to have the opportunity to play teams of South Covello’s calibre. It wasn’t the prettiest game and there were times were both teams looked like could lose their nerve, but I think we did okay.”

State of play

Group K                Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts     Matchday 6          Matchday 7     
1 South Covello          5    4   1   0     9    0   +9    13       (bye)             v Anthor      .
2 Omerica                4    2   2   0     7    3   +4     8     @ Anthor            v Eraman      .
3 Anthor                 4    2   1   1     7    6   +1     7     v Omerica           @ South Covello
4 Eraman                 4    2   0   2     7    4   +3     6     v Sherpa Empire     @ Omerica
5 Sherpa Empire          4    0   3   1     5    6   −1     3     @ Eraman            v Szcerkina
6 Szcerkina Federacy     4    1   0   3     3   12   −9     3     v Brigantii         @ Sherpa Empire
7 Brigantii              5    0   1   4     4   11   −7     1     @ Szcerkina           (bye)
Tiebreakers: (1) head-to-head points, (2) head-to-head goal difference, (3) overall goal difference, (4) head-to-head goals for, (5) overall goals for
Legend:
██ Qualification to the World Cup finals
██ Qualification to the qualifying playoffs

With Anthor’s draw in the Sherpa Empire, the draw in Romainbourg keeps the Incorrigibles in playoff position ahead of their clash in Anthor, where victory would solidify Omerica’s position and be necessary to keep Eraman from moving up to second. Further down the table, third-seeds Sherpa Empire are severely disappointing supporters, having failed to win a single game thus far in the campaign and sitting ten points off first place (though with a game in hand) and five points off playoff position. Brigantii and the Szercina Federacy have also proven relative non-factors in qualification so far, each having lost all but one of their matches so far.

Omerica and South Covello will close out the first half of their campaigns hosting Eraman and Anthor respectively. Wins in these matches would put the top two at an arms length away from their closest challengers, which will be especially for the Incorrigibles thanks to their draw in the Sherpa Empire. On the other hand, defeat would blow the qualifiers wide open, with Omerica possibly forced to chase for the playoffs from behind if defeated in either of their next two matches.

Omerica continue their quest for qualification somewhere in Anthor, with live coverage on SFRD Sport. ⚜️

---

For your reading pleasure
▶ Carter Redwin wins the South Covellan presidency in the first round, avoiding a runoff against David Hale
▶ OPINION: South Covello’s fall to fascism is just one symptom of a larger multiversal problem
▶ Recall petition launched against Charlottesville legislator who called white supremacists “fine people”
▶ Brenecia 0–3 Hapilopper: Baptism of Fire holders claim a stunning victory to move five points clear atop Group N

United Republican Soccer Federation
6 Jacques la Rouge Road
Port Alexandre, AM 18-A40
UNITED REPUBLICS OF OMERICA

---

Omerica 0-0 South Covello
World Cup 83 qualifying group stage — Matchday Five
Stade de la République, Romainbourg, Romainbourg
Goalscorers: (none)
Omerica line-up: Valentine Augustin; Julie Boulos – Aristide de Felice – Charity Kayode – Fernand Michelakakis; John Soares – Elise Bianchi; Clemente Affini – Red Bolton (captain) – Maria Nelissen; Édouard Bouchard
Substitutions: Nelissen > Martin la Rouge (56’) – Michelakakis > Marine Roldan (64’) – Bouchard > Jean-François Fernand (79’)

Anthor v Omerica
World Cup 83 qualifying group stage — Matchday Six
Old Sample, Sampleville, Anthor
Omerica line-up: Drew Durant; Jet Sneyders – Emily Michelakis – Jesús Cruz – Marine Roldan; Alex Rodrigues – Sean Tester; George Palmeiro – Robin van Tyn (captain) – Martin la Rouge; Lucky Ashworth

---

[Joshenia]

A BRIEF HISTORY OF JOSHENIA PART ONE

Antiquity
By the end of the 6th century, the eastern coast of the Black Sea had been occupied by a collection of Germanic and Slavic Peoples that had migrated to the area over the course of the previous 2 centuries. Among them was a tribe known as the Djoshenii located in the region of Dobruja. They were described by Roman historians as matriarchal society who had always been ruled by a queen, an uncommon occurrence in the region.

Middle Ages
By the year 968 hundred, Queen Alerica III had expanded the borders of northwards into Bessarabia, southwards into Bulgaria and eastwards into Wallachia. Her ambitions would soon become here queendom’s downfall as she had gotten the attention of the Byzantine Emperor to the south.
Following numerous Joshenian raids into Byzantine territory, the Emperor launched a punitive campaign of conquest. While the initial Joshenian resistance was succesfull and they had pushed the Greek back into Thrace, the emperor launched a second campaign the following year with an army of veterans from wars against the Fatimids. This time, the Joshenians fell at the battle of Tarnovo and their nation would be occupied by a foreign power for another 7 centuries. While their former occupiers fell to the Ottomans in the 14th century, the Joshenians would not gain independence until the 1700s when a new queen rose up against the Turks.

Modern Period
The rebellion started in port of Constanta when a woman allegedly descended from Alerica III gathered a militia and defeated the city’s Turkish garrison. Soon enough more and more towns would rise up and join her until the whole of Dobruja was in open rebellion. This inspired Bulgarians, Wallachs, Moldavians and Transilvanians to start rebellions of their own. This proved too much for the Ottomans to handle, and with pressure from the West, they granted independence to these newly formed Eastern Balkan states.
The peace didn’t last for long when these states started warring amongst themselves. Joshenia, being the richest of the states formed a union with the Wallachs and Moldavians and soon conquered the Transylvanians and Bulgarians. Prosperity soon followed as the Joshenians grew rich off the Black Sea trade. They sooned formed an alliance with the neighboring Russians and Austrians and hatched a plan to kick the Ottomans out of Europe in 1806. Using a trident maneuver (the Joshenians invading through northern Thrace, the Russians through Pontus and the Austrians through the Asian Minor coast), the 3 powers quickly overwhelmed the Ottomans and occupied Constantinople.
By the time of the industrial revolution, Joshenia was a regional power in Eastern Europe and had set its sights on colonizing Africa along with its European neighbors. In the Treaty of Berlin, they were awarded the lands occupied by the Maravi people (former Malawi and Mozambique territory).

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

© Sporting Times Daily 2027
Bees seek to extend run
by Mindy Cartwright, National Soccer Writer


When the Commonwealth National Team face off against Benjamin Mark at the State Fairground Stadium, they will look to extend a pair of streaks.

Their 5-1 win over Tulize extended the number of competitive matches unbeaten to 20, going back to a 2-1 defeat against Dreamplanet at the Estadio Quadros in Libon during WC 82 Qualifying; additionally, the Bees have a current 17 match unbeaten run at home, dating back to Nephara's 3-2 win at Sportsmen's Park earlier in the same competition. In all, BP has won 27 and drawn 7 against only 5 defeats in matches since the start of WCQ82, friendlies included.

Manager Pam Scott has continued to mix & match lineups, especially in midfield where Annabeth Westmoreland's omission from the squad for the two matches against Saltstead and Tulize opened up playing time for several other players.
"Obviously, we are always looking at finding good combinations of foursomes in the middle of the formation. AB can play with anyone, she doesn't really need much time to get used to whoever she's alongside and R & R (Lorenzo Taborn and Veronica Navarro), well they're virtually inseparable now. (laughs) And there are others who have enough playing time with each other that they can slot into place and pick up where the previous one left off. Different options gives us flexibility in how match up against other teams."

The opponents come in off a 1-0 home defeat to Libonesia, which left those two sides level on points with 7, although the victors have played one more match, and now they sit behind the Commonwealth and Saltstead. BP will close out the first half of qualifying with a trip to Libonesia next, so Scott believes it is vital not slip up with a chance to possibly be 4 points clear at the top at the midway point.
"Since we had a bye on the first match day, and will have it again on the first round of the second half, it's important that we get in a position where we can maintain the top spot while not playing. We'll be on the road against Eastfield and Saltstead in the return and (Benjamin Mark) too."

Additionally, the FAC announced the venues for the three home matches for the second half of qualifying:
MD 10 vs San Felix @ Prince William Stadium, Newmarket
MD 12 vs Tulize @ Newport City Stadium
MD 14 vs Libonesia @ Sportsmen's Park, Belle Haven

Lineup vs Benjamin Mark
Gordon; Briggs, Monaghan, Stephens; Haller (C), Westmoreland, Sotolongo, Fernanadez; Bozeman; Sandoval, Patton
subs--Gaines, Bartok, Vasillias, Callum, Stone, Taborn, Hayes, Jones, Wagner

[95X]

Overconfident?

Katelynn State thought her team struggled mightily in the 95X match against Timuria. So much so, she had very little to say despite picking up the three points for the match.

The largest qualification test for 95X was coming in the form of an off-day, followed by back to back games against Balqia and regional favorites Valanora, followed by rematches against the other four teams in the group and the same two that can realistically challenge 95X for the automatic qualification spot.

“I expect all of you to appear for every practice, on time, everyday,” State reportedly said in a personally signed physical letter to each of the players, regarding what she expected during the break in qualifying games.

[Qusmo]

Very important disclaimer.

Chapter I.
Chapter II.
Chapter III.
Chapter IV.
Chapter V.
Chapter VI.

Chapter VII.

“You need to get us in the CRC.”

Jralv-Zorno Jok looked across the table, incredulous, but the face in front of them was dead serious. “Eva, you know -”

“Jok.” Their voice carried such purpose, such pride - such power. “It’s not a request.”

Jok looked at Wanar-Ulutu Eva, staring across the table from them. They diverted their gaze, looking at everything, anything, to escape Eva’s unblinking eyes. They looked at the walls, the ceiling, the floor, their shoestrings, their hands, but there was no escaping Eva & their piercing stare.

Jok gulped.

---

Jok was on a roll. They were nearing the end of their speech, & they could already envision the reaction it would have amongst the news media, the shockwaves it would send across Qusma politics, the reverberations that would be felt for centuries: all of which would be traced to this very moment. But first, they had to finish the job. They had to make it a moment worthy of that mantle.

“My friends, today we are gathered here to witness an extraordinary moment in our country’s history.”

“For decades, our nation has debated whether to join the Common Rushmori Community. There have been sharp divisions, amongst both parties, over what course our nation should chart. In our party, this has never been a settled issue; we have always had a vigorous debate, as we do over all issues that affect Qusmi’y so profoundly. In the past few days, however, that debate has coalesced into a single viewpoint - but not a single vision.”

“What is the vision of the Progressive Traditionalist Party? We envision Rushmori markets opened to Qusma businesses. We envision Qusma farmers being able to sell their crops across Rushmore. We envision Qusma workers free to move abroad to earn high wages for themselves & their families. We envision Qusma businesses & communities growing as a result of Rushmori investment. We envision a Qusma economy that, after years of stagnation & neglect, finally grows strong. Our party envisions a better, stronger future for all Qusmi’y!”

“Our opponents may accuse us of becoming the party of Rushmore. But no; we are the party which will embrace technology. We are the party which will promote innovation. We are the party which will support new & small businesses. We are the party which will create jobs. We are the party which will raise wages. We are the party which will stimulate our economy. We are the party which will achieve prosperity. We are the party which will create a stronger Qusmo. We are not the party of Rushmore; we are the party of Qusmo! &, soon enough, we will be the party of government!”

“Today, I am proud to announce, in order to achieve the aim of a stronger Qusmo for our countless future generations of Qusmi’y, that the Progressive Traditionalist Party officially supports the State of Qusmo’s ascension to the Common Rushmori Community!”

The crowd, filled with party faithful, went into raptures. Instantly, Jok knew it; they had done it. This moment would live on in the history books. They paused to bask in the glow, the noise, the adoration, the history in the making. They scanned the audience - but one figure was not moving. One figure was not jumping, not yelling, not waving a Prog Trad sign in the air. Near the very back of the crowd, Jok could spot the distinct figure of Wanar-Ulutu Eva cutting through the fracas like a blade. As their eyes locked, Eva flashed a vicious smile. & then, as quickly as Jok saw them, they were gone. No, not gone; they simply left.

They wouldn’t be gone that easily.

[Eura]

It was under overcast conditions and glowering floodlights that Eura were tangling with bottom of the group Western Bjornaic, the latter having taken a shock lead in the first half. Eura's team, made up of many of the less frequently used players in the World Cup qualifying squad, had struggled to establish the kind of dominance Michael Brandon hoped to see from his side. The score was 2-2 after sixty minutes following a frenetic start to the second half where quick goals from Damion Bowman and Morgan Fox - their first for Eura - were cancelled out by another one for the home side. Brandon wanted some authority in the tie, someone who would calm the midfield down, hold the ball, and put in crunching tackles on the Western Bjornaic playmaker who kept breaking free of Harry Gravesen. The board went up and Gravesen realised his number was up. He trudged off, drenched in a mix of sweat and moisture from the air, shaking his head as he came off to a reassuring pat on the back from the manager. The Euran fans roared when they saw that his replacement would not be Harry Humphreys, or even John Talbot or Liam Armstrong. Monica Rowland was being sent in to the line of fire.

Her debut had been hotly anticipated by the whole country, though maybe this fixture wasn't the idea most had in mind for her debut appearance in a Euran shirt. Nevertheless Eura's opponent was putting up a determined fight and a player of her calibre was required to make sure her new side didn't fluff their lines come the end of the match. She jogged on, that jog quickly becoming a sprint to the centre as the noise levels escalated to greet her entrance to the fray. She was partnered with Frank Bevan in midfield - Eura had two central midfielders today rather than one to allow two forwards to play. He was a rather different player, explicitly a technically orientated player in function and style although he was a deceptively physical player as well. Rowland would add steel and energy to complement his attacking vision and passing range. Rowland had a quick word with her midfield partner, agreeing how to proceed based on Brandon's latest instructions. Eura had won a corner just before Rowland came on, giving her an early chance to score a debut goal much like she had for Bastion in Gold League. What she got instead was an anti-climax. Before she had even touched a ball, Bevan's corner had been flicked on by Dean Steele at the near post and headed in by John Fletcher.

Minutes later Brian Bond (another substitute) took the game out of Western Bjornaic hands with a brilliant run and finish, set up with some skill by Stanley Burns. Rowland had got a couple of touches on the ball by this stage but in the end her thunder had been thoroughly stolen. Whatever her more idealistic visions of a debut performance had been, she was strong enough not to worry too much about this and focus on the fundamentals. She won every tackle, dominated the space in front of the defence, clattered at least one of her opponents in a way she could get away with and kept her short pass completion above the 85% Brandon expected of all his midfielders. A few minutes remained with Eura leading 4-2 and Rowland having been a key background player in ensuring Eura closed out the win. Another corner came which was cleared not so safely to Moira Woakes, well outside of the box but in a good position to cross. Rowland turned to retreat from the penalty area, thinking of her team first ahead of glory to give Woakes a passing option. Woakes did not feel the same way. She rather selfishly opted to shoot low and firm into the bottom left. Yet her shot was skewered and was heading wide, until it cracked off Rowland's right boot and fortuitously deflected into the right corner instead, leaving the home side's goalkeeper with no time to correct his dive. Rowland had a debut international goal for Eura in the most unexpected fashion. She didn't celebrate much given the nature of the goal, but on the inside she hadn't felt more alive in the international game for a long while. Brandon looked on from the sidelines, pleased that his gamble had come off.

[Saltstead]

stallion.stable.co.ha
All Saltsteadish! All football!

---

Tlanx-Nulzk Hal fires themself… up for victory against Eastfield Lodge

Let’s be honest, Saltstead’s campaign has not been off to a great start. The red-and-black hoops have not been particularly inspiring, nor has the revolution the ex-Qastyr head coach and Galacticos Manager of the Season Tlanx-Nulzk Hal was supposed to inspire materialised on the field.

Eastfield Lodge were billed as the biggest winners of the group draw, facing down a second-seed that had never before placed as winners or runners-up of a qualification group and that view was vindicated by Saltstead’s embarrassing opening form, with draws against expected group also-rans Tulize and Benjamin Mark putting Saltstead in a vicious hole straight off the mark. Eastfield Lodge, on the other hand, were able to claim a win off Libonesia to begin their campaign and played Baker Park valiantly in their second match, despite falling to defeat.

It’s little wonder that satirical publication The Beet jokingly suggest setting their country’s head coach on fire as a means of “motivation”, which met with some humorous response in the Qusma media. Hal, who had given an interview with The Beet earlier in the campaign, even acknowledged the article, continuously using the world “continuously” to continuously poke fun at the article’s suggestion that they be “continuously fired”.

Hal even changed their attire to humorously poke fun at The Beet’s ramblings, switching out the Voukensclörn-inspired black jacket, white shirt and blue trousers they had been previously been wearing on the touchline with their red-and-gold suit from their Qastyr days. But even more notable was the red-dyed hair Hal was sporting, replete with orange highlights and gold specks. Even captain Ann-Marine Crabshaas was in on the action, switching out the white-and-blue armband Saltsteadish captains normally wear with the home kit for a specially-made fire-inspired armband.

“We have to get fired up if we want to win again,” Crabshaas said in her pre-match interview. She later went on to joke that “The Beet is always a very inspirational publication and we’re very lucky that we have this great Saltsteadish cultural institution to motivate us.”

As silly as it was (and still is), it clearly worked. Buoyed by a hard-earned draw in Baker Park, Saltstead’s final home game before the mid-qualifying break was a veritable romp over an Eastfield side that was disappointingly underwhelming. With the players starting to grow into the new balanced style Tlanx-Nulzk has moulded, Haråud Haråudssen easily paid the head coach back for the incredible trust they placed in him by scoring the first (and only) goal eighteen minutes into the match and getting an opportunity to double the lead in the seventieth minute, denied only by the heroics of Jam’Aan Couch.

Now Eastfield Lodge had their chances. Nya Murray was able to pester Robert-Jan van Daal at the other end of De Nationalėpark, but Van Daal was more than up for the task. Denied three times by the home goalkeeper, her colleagues Raquel Accardi and Swift Curse were also unable to get one over on Van Daal, despite the opportunities. All-in-all, however, Saltstead made the match unexpectedly easy work and it’s sad that it appeared so simple—we all wanted Eastfield Lodge to show up so badly, but instead they proved why they have their reputation as perennial failures.

We were looking forward to a tense, back-and-forth match which would be decided by the finest details. Instead, it never seriously looked like the Stallions would lose. Now the Stable doesn’t share the opinion expressed by the Walland Daily Press that “Eastfield Lodge will never qualify again” if they fail to advance from this group, but Saltstead might just finish in the top two of a qualifying group for once if this kind of thing keeps up. The qualifiers just feel kind of empty if Eastfield Lodge aren’t here to give us a run for our money.

None of this means we can rest on our laurels, mind you. Saltstead’s position remains incredibly shaky at best thanks to those opening draws and victory over a San Felix that has failed to live up to its potential is a must, lest an inexplicably good Libonesia threaten to sneak up from behind or Eastfield Lodge climb back up the table. Libonesia wrap up the first half of qualification against Baker Park, you shall say, but in the qualifiers, anything is possible, so each and every point is of the utmost importance.

Let’s just pray that Hal can keep the flame alive and bright for the second half of the qualifiers.

██ San Felix predicted starting XI: Carlos Villegas; Franco Hurtado, Richard Correa (c), Marcos Vargas, Pablo Marapacuto; Diego Molina, Ronnie Navarro, Manuel Sarmiento, Gabriel Sanz; Juan Manuel Vera; Bryan Laguna
██ Saltstead predicted starting XI: Robert-Jan van Daal; Otto Frederickssen, Emmet le Duc, Maxime Crabshaas, Anne-Elisabeth Smid; Nicholas Tiberius, Benjamin Sħåul; Ann-Marine Crabshaas (c), Adelaide de Jong, Natasħa Aħterop; Haråud Haråudssen
— Aleksander Mathiassen from Ashwell

---

[Banija]

This year, of course, was the most watched Women's World Cup ever.

But how did we get to this point? We're gonna take it back 8 years, to the greatest moment in Asian football history and one of the greatest(or worst, depending on where you're from) moments in the history of women's football- the 2011 Women's World Cup Final.

You all remember the 116th minute equalizer from Japan to win on penalties. But how did we get to that moment? What's the story behind it? What's the drama? How did the players get there, and why did the buildup in the years leading up to that tournament make it mean so much? We're gonna take this cutoff to take a deeper dive into one of the most epic moments in the history of women's football.

[The Authoritarian Republic of Lochario]

NEW COACH, NEW WINS!

Locharian team got back into the winning ways after beating a stronger Eshan side 1:0. The coach changed the tactics completely and entered some new players into the national team's squad so that they would fit his new tactics. The next match is against the outsider Fevhader, who surprisingly has beaten Ouna in the previous match. The fans are hoping to have a first win at home as it will still continue their fight for the first ever World Cup.

[Main Nation Ministry]

Libel: A Simple Misunderstanding

(OOC: Free Republics helped give me ideas on what they wanted the scene to go out via TGs, but they deserve some credit towards this RP post.)

"There we are! The O'Reilly Tower! Huh.. I do admit it looks like a good place to have some offices. Though, we're here to murder someone after all." the Leader said, as they got out of the bus they took to get to the building. "The P.O Box also lists the floor of which floor they occupy. On the 37th floor. Shouldn't be too hard." a soldier said, as they had the Gossip Magazine in their hands. Entering through the revolving doors, the Leader and his men went up to the receptionist's desk to explain his intentions. "Hello! The Leader from Main Nation Ministry here. We're just going to be off to kill Jasper Chuter today, so it's best that you let us head to his offices and our day will run smoothly. I like how you did your hair, though." the Leader casually said to the female receptionist, who immediately showed the sign of worry, as the Leader and his men went towards the elevators. The receptionist immediately called the offices on the 37th floor to warn them about the Leader's arrival.

As they went up the elevator, no one seemed to want to enter the elevator with the Leader. Possibly had something to do with the armed soldiers that are directly next to him. When he got out, he casually walked to the doors of where Gossip Magazine was located. "I'm sure they are really to agree that this is a personal matter and that they will understand this will be handled with a sledgehammer than a scalpel." the Leader said to his men, as he opened to the doors. Suddenly, in a moment that surprised both the Leader and his men, the secretary in the offices pulled out an actual shotgun and fired a shell or two at them. Immediately, they ducked for cover, where the Leader was caught off-guard. "Miss! Put down the gun right now!" a soldier yelled to calm her down. However, another worker from inside of the offices pulled out a pistol and proceeded to fire at them, as well.

"Why the hell are these people shooting at us?! We just only arrived!" the Leader yelled, as he gave the order for his men to exchange fire. "Sir! It looks like every worker here in these offices have firearms!"
"What kind of gun control bullshit are they ignoring here! Shoot most of them in the legs or arms, if possible! We're here for Chuter!" the Leader ordered, as the soldiers were starting to incapacitate most of the workers. The ones that didn't' have guns, they just let them go running out of the office. The Leader had his men breach the doors towards Jasper Chuter's own office, where all they found was an empty chair and desk. They did find, however, another worker who tried to clock one of the soldiers in the face with a butt of a gun. Unfortunately, this failed immediately, as the worker got butted with the end of an assault rifle. Having a soldier pin him to the window of the office, the Leader done a bit of some improvised interrogation.

"Where's your boss, Jasper Chuter?" the Leader asked the worker.
"Stop wasting your time! You guys are going to get arrested, anyways!" the worker yelled, before the soldier pinning him started to headbutt him against the window.
"You and several others tried to assassinate a ruler of a nation. Attempted assassination is straight-up treason."
"We are just doing our jobs, before we got the call that you were planning on killing Chuter!"
"So where is he?"
"He's not here, so piss off!" the worker said, where the soldier headbutted him again, this time the window was starting to crack.
"I need a location or they scrap you off the pavement."
"Look! Jasper left the offices a hour ago, before you guys showed up! He knew that he was going to get heat from some articles, so he had us bring guns to work! I don't know where he went, I think he just skipped town for a couple of days!"
"And where's Etoile?"
"She's harassing the teams that are playing here! Now, just let me go!"

The Leader had the worker let go, where he proceeded to start running out of the office. The Leader only sighed in frustation, as he had taken major interest in killing Jasper Chuter. "Sir, what are we going to do?" a soldier asked the Leader, as he saw copies of Gossip Magazine lying around. "We get Etoile and take her to Main Nation Ministry. I be the one who grills her. We might as well send a message towards to not fuck with us again. Anyone got a lighter or some matches? We might as well set this place on fire." the Leader said, as he had his men make a pile of magazines to add as kindling. Anyone who was injured or dead were dragged out of the offices, where the Leader took a lighter from a worker with bad habits and dropped it on the paper trail.

"Come on, guys. Let's take the stairs."

---

"Uhhh...Leader?" a soldier asked, as they started to leave through the lobby where people were busy freaking out at the fire alarm to notice them. "Relax. We just set the offices on fire. It's not like we going to blow up a whole skyscraper." the Leader re-assured his men, as they exited the building, where they heard an explosion above them to see something rather surprising. Whatever flammable material was in the O'Reilly tower has caught on fire quickly, as several floors were engulfed in flames. Several fire trucks were pulling up, but it wasn't going to be enough to douse the flames.

"Who designed this building, by the way? There was only one stairway that appeared as a fire escape?"
"Uhhh..Sir? I think this building is not built, in case of a fire like this."
"Are you kidding me!? We have better safety codes in our nation! How hard is it to install the most basic and simpliest of safety functions?! God.." the Leader grew frustrated, as some more firefighters arrive. It was best to leave. He return to his own nation, where he have his own men extract Etoile. After that, he make sure that he got his point across to Jasper Chuter.

For the Leader, it will serve Jasper right.

[Flavovespia]

Western Bjornaic 1–2 Flavovespia

Flavovespia finally overcame their biggest hurdle, and won an international match for the very first time. Against the bottom placed, Pot 6 team with no points, it was always going to be a good opportunity for the Hornets, but after some disappointing matches, they finally have achieved a big goal of the campaign.

A couple of changes were made, with Ronald Maddox replacing Charles Winward, and Guoliang Fu replacing Andrew Mason, but aside from that Nick Cole didn't seem too keen to rotate the squad massively. For the first time Flavovespia lined up in their all-black away strip, somewhat to avoid a potential clash with Western Bjornaic, who's kit was only really described as having light colours. In any case it turned out to be largely white.

Despite playing away, Flavovespia showed a keenness to get forward and attack a side who were struggling to avoid shipping goals, having conceded an average of 4 in their previous group games. In just 5 minutes, Flavovespia nearly got an opener, as Maddox's driven cross had just a bit too much on it for Fu to get a good shot on it.

Western Bjornaic weren't to go down without a fight either, and in the 12th minute a surprise counter attack saw Mark Games put in a good block on a fierce 20 yard shot, that could have beaten Conor Harrington. The Flavovespia centre backs were holding firm against the sporadic, but strong attacks from the hosts.

It was the 21st minute when Flavovespia got the opener. Scott Colemand and Fu played a lovely one-two which carved open the defence. The keeper saved Coleman's high shot, but the rebound fell to the path of Steven Hall. He was given far too much time by the defence, as he played a good shot into the back of the net. 1-0 to the visitors.

Flavovespia kept up the pressure, and saw out the first half in the lead. A second would have been ideal, however the performance was hard to pick any considerable flaws with, certainly the attitude of the team looked positive coming off the field, and the hopes for 3 points were looking good.

Unfortunately for Flavovespia, they conceded an equaliser in the 58th minute. A long range shot from a midfielder spun off the pitch, and Harrington wasn't able to gather the ball in his hands. John Calvert slid in to try and clear, but his clearance only hit the chest of an incoming striker, who let the ball drop for a drilled volley. 1-1, and Flavovespia had it all to do again.

Flavovespia kept the pressure on down the flanks, with Maddox and Stephen Moore continuing to put in the balls into the box. Guoliang Fu was replaced by the more aerial threat of Andrew Mason, linking up with Stanmorn teammate Coleman at the front of the attack. This looked to pay dividends with a goal in the 71st minute, but controversially the referee called for a foul in the box by Mason. He then suffered a slightly embarrassing yellow card, when video referee caught him making a gesture behind the referee, implying the referee liked to spend some 'alone time' with himself.

Mason was fired up, and got his reward in the 81st minute. It was a cross from Maddox that looked overhit. However Coleman got his head onto it to knock it back across goal towards Mason, and the #9 put his head fiercely onto the ball, knocking past the keeper. 2-1, and Flavovespia had just 9 minutes plus injury time to hold on.

Flavovespia for once managed to see out the game. Maddox, after a great stint which looks set to secure him a place back in the starting XI, was subbed out for the defensive minded Patrick Cannon, and Jordaan Wolfson came in to provide defensive support in place of James King. With such a defensive set of players on the field, Western Bjornaic had no way though, Harrington having no shots on target to face in the final 10 minutes of the game. As the full-time whistle blew, the Flavovespian players, coaches and fans all celebrated their first international win. A small win in the grand scheme of things, but a very big milestone for the nation.

Next up for Flavovespia is the double-header at the Hornet's Nest. Eura followed by Ko-oren. Realistically Flavovespia will just hope to be competitive, but they should never rule out the possibility of an upset. Flavovespia move to 5th and 5 points in the group, just 3 off 3rd placed Freeport, and tied on points with Dreamplanet and Torisakia, the former of those 2 very unfortunate it seems to be so far off the top of the group.

Domestic News

Langmere Green Rovers have announced their new logo, after much speculation. There was talk of a full rebrand to a new colour scheme, but the club have decided to keep their white with various shades of green, which has served them well in the modern era. They have announced however, that grey, their kit colour for much of the classic era, will return in their away strip, which will be launched shortly.

The logo itself has raised a few eyebrows, but is generally seen as an improvement from their old logo. Previously the old logo was criticised for having little design elements, and cramming in too much text. Now the club have leant heavily on the LGR abbreviation, by using it in the logo. The shades of green have also been darkened, and the logo itself bears a clever resemblance to an angled view of a football pitch.

Of course it wouldn’t be a launch event without some transfer news, and Langmere Green Rovers took the opportunity to unveil £14m defender Alexander May from Vale FC, alongside £2m Thaddeus Thorp from Challenge League relegated Cartswood FC. Manager Robbie Redfield said “Both these players bring quality and depth to the side, as we look to go that one very important step further and finally win the Super League”.

[South Covello]

Carter Redwin’s Victory Speech

“Good evening, folks! We’ve done it! We’ve finally really done it! We finally blew the whole system up! Great work folks, now it is time to get to work. I am told I will be inaugurated in 14 days, at which point I will immediately get to work on Making South Covello Great Again. Well, things are going to be a bit different around here with me in charge. For starters, we’re bringing back the death penalty! Those awful awful Halebots say I can’t do it, because of a stupid thing called the Constitution, but fuck the Constitution! And maybe the Legislature will try to stop me, but Fuck Them Too! In fact, on my first day in office, as soon as I take office, I will order the entire Legislature arrested and dissolved! We cannot allow the Legislature to get in the way of Greatness anymore! They have stood in the way for too long and only I can stop them!

“Yes, that’s right, I will be the only leader you have, and the only leader you need. And yes, Presidentress al-Jabari will be the first to meet the new death penalty, which will be by firing squad, followed by all of his stupid allies and supporters, and of course, the Legislature. We will make South Covello for South Covellans Again, the Muslims, Jews, immigrants, homosexuals, atheists, blacks, and all others who aren’t real South Covellans will meet the same grim fate that awaits the transgender gay Presidentress Muslim al-Jabari. Yes, we will go forward into the future knowing that we have a Great Nation, free from the vile stains that are the impure. I know that you will support me, am I right?’”

The crowd gives a thunderous cheer and starts chanting “CARTER! CARTER! CARTER!” at the top of their lungs.

“Yes, folks, let us strive in the name of Greatness to Make South Covello Great Again, to Make South Covello Pure Again, and to Make South Covello For South Covellans Again! Yes, it is all thanks to you, my loyal voters, that I will be able to move forward with this plan. So give yourselves another round of applause!

The crowd gives another thunderous round of applause and chants “CARTER! CARTER! CARTER!” again. It is perhaps for this reason that nobody saw or heard the gunshot being fired, but all of a sudden Carter Redwin was lying flat on the stage, his chest blown open and bleeding out. EMTs rushed to try to save him, but it was too late. Redwin was pronounced dead at the scene, throwing the country into chaos as to who the next President would be, or what exactly would happen next. Meanwhile, police, actual police this time - the National Security Service had insisted on having agents protecting both candidates now that they were so close to being elected President - almost immediately arrested the shooter, who surrendered peacefully and dropped his weapon almost immediately.

The shooter was later identified as Jacob Brackers, who immediately confessed to the crime but claimed he was justified in protecting the South Covellan democracy against a tyrant like Redwin. Brackers also immediately retained high-profile civil rights attorney Dalia Scottson, who stated that her client pleaded to assert a necessity defense at trial. South Covello law allows a necessity defense when the defendant can show, by the preponderance of evidence, that his actions were necessary to avert a greater evil. Brackers plans to assert that his actions were necessary to avert the rise of another tyrant, and furthermore that such an evil would be a greater evil than the assassination of Redwin would be. The case will be handled by national prosecutor Daxter McLean, as assassinating a President-elect is a crime handled by the national courts rather than the local ones. Meanwhile, the case has already been assigned to Judge Lucinda Pringle. The prosecution and defense agreed that in lieu of bail, Brackers should be held in protective custody pending trial for his own protection, in case any Redwin supporters attempt to retaliate against him. As such, Judge Pringle ordered it done. Judge Pringle also denied McLean’s motion to preclude the necessity defense, saying it’s reasonable enough that a jury should handle it. This earned her several death threats from Redwin’s supporters, and she has been assigned a security detail for the duration of the trial.

Both sides will attempt to expedite the process in order to obtain a quick closure on the matter given its nature, and jury selection is set to begin in just a few weeks, with the trial itself following.

[The Macabees]

THE WITCH EMELIE,VII
Previous: I, II. III, IV, V, VI

When Dario Gertona opened the door to Detective Ineke Marissi he looked as if he'd been hit by a train. His hair was completely disheveled, eyes were dim and bloodshot, and there was a general air of putridness to him. He had a black eye that was only freshly healing. When he opened his mouth to speak it took all of Ineke's and her partner's, Leender Zuilek, energy to not recoil.

"Can I help you?" he asked, lethargically.

"Yes," answered Ineke. "I'm Detective Ineke Marissi." She looked at Leender. "This is my partner, Investigator Leender Zuilek. We're with Penzlon Security. We'd like to ask you a few questions. Can we come inside?"

Dario turned to look somewhere inside his apartment. He frowned, then turned back and said, "I don't think you want to, trust me."

"We'll manage," said Leender, voice deep, muscles rippling from under his tight dress shirt. "This is important."

"Uh, okay then," said Dario, who opened the door wider to let them in.

Inside was a scene of devastation. The coffee table was covered with empty and half-full bottles of liquor, including whiskey, vodka, rum, and anything else the mind could conceive. There were burnt cigarettes in an ashtray...and outside of it. A box lay three-quarters empty. A wrinkled sheet covered part of the couch, although it draped down to the floor where it brushed up against dust and other filth. Papers and clothes were everywhere. Farther to the left, the kitchen was in just a poor of a condition. Dishes piled up in the sink like porcelain towers and flies hovered around food, with small maggots crawling across the vinyl floor.

Eyeing it all, Leender said, "You had quite the bender last night, didn't you?"

"Last night?" asked Dario. "More like the past two days straight."

"Lovely," said Ineke.

Waving his hand toward the couch, Dario invited them to sit. "I'm going to make some coffee. Want some?"

"No thanks, and no thanks," said Leender, sarcastically. Ineke shook her head.

Dario chuckled. "Suit yourselves. So, what's up? As you can see, I'm a busy person with a lot of work to get done."

"We know that you got laid off from the national football team," said Ineke. "We were informed that it was over a sexual harassment complaint. While I detest sexual harassment and don't blame the team from firing you, I do hope you get back on your feet soon. Now, let me ask you, do you know Klasos Derag and Frapto Nevara?"

His eyes narrowed at the mention of their name. "Yeah, I know those assholes. What did they say about me?"

Ineke and Leender looked at each other. She turned her head back to Dario. "When was the last time you spoke to them?"

"I don't know if 'speaking to them' was what I did last," he answered. "I saw them two days ago. Frapto sent me a text asking me to meet him and Klasos in the locker room, where they'd apologize to me. What an apology. They were both fuggin' Emelie Reverie, one from behind and the other from the fr—"

"Spare us the details," said Ineke, waving those last words away. "Why would they do that?"

Dario was obviously angry. He rose his voice and his tone began to change. "Why? How the hell would I know? Those guys can have anyone. And they know I like Emelie! Hell, it isn't the first time they bullied me like that. Frapto gave me this black eye!" He pointed to the purple ring around one of his eyes. "I don't like her anymore, anyway. I've moved on." He eyed one of the bottles that still had liquid in it but poured himself a cup of coffee instead.

"I don't think he knows they're dead," whispered Leender to Ineke. She nodded.

The detective said, "Dario, Frapto and Klasos were found dead in their apartment. We suspect suicide, but we have to leave room for other possibilities until we know for sure. Do you know of anyone who'd have a vendetta against these two players or another reason for hurting them?"

Eyes wide now, Dario was clearly shocked by the news, although not sad. "No," he said, breathless. "Dead? Gods. I mean, they deserved it, but holy shit. Dead!"

"Dead," repeated Leender. "We said this was serious. No one you can think of who had personal beef with them?"

"No," he repeated. "The only person I know receiving any beef was Emelie."

"Thank you for your time, Mr. Gertona," said Ineke, then. "We may be back with more questions. I appreciate your candor."

"Of course," he replied, as they walked out.



"Gods, that guy smelled like ass," said Leender, shaking his head.

Ineke nodded. "Indeed, he did. But he was useful."

"He was," answered the investigator. "So, Emelie's relations with them were more...dramatic than I thought. Sleeping with both of them at the same time? That's interesting."

"Keep it in your pants," said the detective. "But, it's interesting. I wonder if she's sleeping with any of the other players."

Leender looked at his partner. "Into the drama, are you?"

"No," she retorted, "because if she didn't then don't you think it's coincidental that the two players she is sleeping with are dead?"

"Let's not go crazy with assumptions. Should we interview her about it?" he asked her.

"In due time," Ineke responded. "Let's go talk with this Janis Mariko first. Emelie mentioned her name."

[Tamgu]

The Hawks Are Hopeful
The national team of Tamgu thought it was over after three losses but their recent form of a win and a draw shows they may be able to qualify after all. Obviously there is no guarantee this is going to last forever but the hawks think it is possible to join the group stages. The coach and a few players have spoken about the subject:

Albin Nerovod, Manager: In the past our morale and our belief changed a lot. I believe it, the boys believe it, everyone in our country believes it. We may not make it at the end, but we are not going down without a fight, I tell ya! We are not! We will make our home a castle unpenetrable! (- But Mr. Nerovod, haven't you been beaten 4-0 at home?) SHUT UP! THAT WAS EARLIER!

Takra Resak, Striker: I don't play as much as i did before, so i try my best to be a sort of big brother to my fellow teammates, especially the younger ones. I would love to lift one last cup with Tamgu, but I think we should set realistic expectations and not fly off to dreamland. Me and my friends will try to show what we are made of out there. Gaffer said it himself, we're not giving up just yet.

Aleida Leima, Number Ten: LETS GOOOO!!! We may have drawn, but did you see the goal I scored?? IT WAS AWESOME!! JUST LIKE I AM!!!(-Thanks for your insightful comments, Mr. Leima.) Oh, no problem. Anytime.

Eren Postas, Right Center-Back: *cringing at Leima* I'm sorry for that. He's a little...y'know. Whatever. I'm so happy that I was picked for the WC squad. I really hope we join the groups, but I think we need to focus on the games we have ahead of us instead of the goal. I've been learning so much from my older teammates and I think I improved so much during this competition. So even if we don't end up qualifying I won't care, the experience was what it was all about.

Takra Resak at interview

[Jeruselem]

Princess Cassandra Elsa Dallas of Jeruselem (aka Princess Cassie) in Asdia with touring Jeruselem team for the game against the home team Asdia

This is Princess Cassandra Elsa Dallas for Naked News Jeruselem.
We're in Asdia for match day 6.
Last game, we beat Busoga Islands 2-1 at home for a well needed win.
This put us in the top 3 of Group X again.
We've been kinda floating around position 3 and 4 for a while.
Of course it's not where we want to be.

Well, today. Vilita thrashed Saintland 6-0 in Saintland and Busoga Islands beat out Vartugia 1-0 at home.
We needed points to keep up with the two leaders which have been Vilita and Busoga Islands.
Unfortunately, we didn't really come home with the win as we were held to a scoreless draw here.
Princess Bianca, yes that's the same Bianca Dallas from last cup.
She's now just a Princess by marriage ... well, did her job in keeping out the hoards.
Our attack who managed 4 goals in like 5 games, which sucks, didn't score today.

Two of those goals came in the last game, but nothing today. Well, we didn't lose ...
So we're still third in Group X, but actually if we won then we would still be third actually.
It's kinda of frustating, we have conceded four goals just like Vilita and Busoga Islands in six games.
We can't score enough goals, otherwise we'd be in the top 2.
All is not lost, as well the top 2 have lost one game each and we've lost two.
It means, they aren't invincible at all. We did lose 1-0 to Vilita earlier which wasn't a bad result.

This world cup, we've been doing a little promotional stuff after each game when we go overseas.
We all know, the kids loves their toys. So we've been giving away a few things to kids.
We give them a figurine of our current leader, Queen Chloe I of Jeruselem like these



Yes, that happens to be my sister. And her son .. and his wife is playing in this team but hey, it's all family.
Our team seems popular with young women, maybe because it does have a lot of young women.

And thank you for everyone who donates to our campaign, we didn't actually ask for money ... or crypto but people sent it anyway.
The way things are going, it will be tough with two the leaders showing the way.
Well based on rankings, we should be actually 2nd but then low ranked Busoga Islands is giving Vilita a headache.
We're the one of teams who haven't had a bye as yet, so our remaining game in the 1st half is very important. We kinda needed 3 points really.
That's it from me!

Group X
Saintland 0–6 Vilita
Busoga Islands 1–0 Vartugia
Asdia 0–0 Jeruselem

[HUElavia]

For Matchday 6 of the World Cup Qualifiers, HUElavia traveled to San Carlos Islands, all while utilizing the entire B-Team for their 5th Match. HUElavia expected to have a decent win, but they got more than the 3 points.

In the 2nd minute of the match, Eduardo took the ball and did a spectacular dribble past two defenders, blasting the ball past the goalie to make it 0-1. At the 35th minute, a foul done towards Nakata allowed Vazquez to blast a shot over the wall and past the goalie in a great Free-Kick goal to make it 0-2. Right before the end of the half, a corner whipped in by Prso ended up deflecting off the head of an Islander, and went into the back of the net as an Own Goal made it 0-3.

The second half started and at the 51st minute, a corner whipped in be Prso allowed for defender Gerets to head in his 2nd ever international goal, which made it 0-4. Fifteen minutes later in the 66th minute, a foul was committed on Tymoschuk in the penalty box and Prso scored a textbook Panenka kick past the goale, making it 0-5. In the 87th minute, Protasov was left wide open and a pass by Suzuki allowed the fullback to volley a spectacular goal past the Islander, making the Final score end at 0-6.

HUElavia finished their match with one of their highest amount of goals scored in one game and allowed themselves to keep themselves in the hunt for the direct qualification for World Cup 83. With a record of 4-0-1 and 12 points, HUElavia still lies a point off from Mercedini, who won their away match against Sinyal 0-1. HUElavia also has 3 point lead over 3rd place Krytenia, who had an off day for Matchday 6, leaving them with 9 points (3-0-2 record). Los Amarillos are also the highest scoring team in the group with 16 goals, as well as having the highest goal difference at +11, and have conceded the least amount of goals, with only 5 and having completed 3 matches out of 5 with a clean sheet.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Zwangzug]

"So, uh," said Riley, "run this by me again."

"Yeah," said Joshua, his voice low. "We're going to Krytenia."

"Krytenia?"

"We're not playing Krytenia, we're just going there."

"Right, we're playing Schiavonia. Who don't...have...a territory of their own yet."

"They're a bit of a diaspora side."

"A bit."

"Descendants and...stuff, and I use that phrasing in the literal sense. See, Schiavonia have links to all these other ancient countries. Druida and New Cefn, who were the ancestors of the people from this city, you know, and..."

"I know?"

"People know. The archivists."

"Yeah." Riley sighed.

She liked playing for Arlington, she really did. The kit was nice; the fans were loyal, when they weren't sneezing on you; the transit systems ran effectively. (The AI's sudden seizing of the means of production had threatened to alter this, but as far as she could tell there hadn't been much disruption other than a lot of virtual vagrants being forced into employment.) Best of all, after years of ignominy, they'd won the title the season before Keppal's latest triumph.

However, there were times when being part of City meant being caught between a rock and a hard place. The rock was the Collective, a furtive agency of historians dedicated to preserving the world and/or multiverse's sporting history.

The hard place was Sydney Stefred, who was frequently, and vitriolically, on record with a desire for fogeys to just get over themselves already.

"There was some business with a Starman," Joshua reflected. "Read about it in a book, I mean, they had a lot from the early days, our early days, it--never mind."

"All right," said Riley. "Krytenia it is. Fine. Never had a problem with Krytenia."

"You've never been to Krytenia," Joshua pointed out.

"First time for everything," she said.

It was also the first time that Zwangzug had taken the pitch against a side containing a box of eggs, a jar of pickles, and a pair of dice, to say nothing of the goat. "Now, goats have a long history," Joshua pointed out, "there was that Sloopy incident--"

From the bench, Robin mentally willed him to shut up.

Fortunately, Sydney was not paying attention to him. Unfortunately, she had been distracted by the hosts' #23.

"Who the bleep do you think you are," she railed, "trying to follow in the cleats of some self-aggrandizing narcissist, you can go and bleep--"

"Sydneyyyyyy," Martin hollered to no avail, "he changed his name, they're not even related--"

Sydney kneed #23 in the groin.

"It's a fair cop," he admitted, skying the free-kick.

"Oh come on," said Sydney, as the annoyed Dagan referee hustled her off the field.

Despite their immediate setback on the defense, Zwangzug managed to hold the hosts to just one goal, from young Callum O'Connor. Ione and Jonah scored, Martin got one on the counterattack, and Joshua made a Sydney-like run in injury time to tack on the fourth.

It didn't really seem to matter, until they saw the tiebreakers. The trip to Pasarga suddenly loomed even larger.

[Balqia]

The jazz club was a calm place, the light music in the background and the way that people dressed made it look like a place stuck in the last century. Kalniq and his girlfriend were in a round table, drinking something pink and chating. Liene, in the other hand was in balcon, with a cup of coffee, hearing the conversation is silence.
-I thought you guys would lose. When that guy Ajax rennt right to the goal I was sure that we had already lost, but then you defended that goal, no one believed in that catch, it was amazing.
-Thanks Zoe. But it wasn’t a guy, it was… something else.
-What?
-Don’t ask me about it. However I must admit that most of the players believed we lost the match even before it started.
-Why? You play so well.
-Yes, but they are in the 36st place in the official ranking and are the second place on our group.
-But we only lost to Valanora so far. Now we are in third place, better than Kavagrad and many other teams.
-Yes, and that’s because we are giving our best, but the danger of losing is always near. Today I defended twenty shots, my arms are hurting a lot.
-You guys are obsessed with victories and championships, participating is what matters.
-That’s what losers say to themself because they can’t win.
-Shut up Steve. You all are doing very well.
-That’s not what the rest of the team thinks. Except Laqlo, but no one likes him.
-What’s the problem with your coach? He seems very nice.
Kalniq laughed, loud enough to attract attention to them.
-Oh, if you only knew how bad things are. We all hate the guy, he is arrogant, mean and has no sense of humor. I was surprised when I discovered the guy is married, who in the world would mary someone so nasty?
-You are being very rude.
-Forget it, I shouldn’t complain about my business with you. By the way…
-Hello lady.
Wait, this voice was too close. Liene turned around to where the strange voice came from and discovered a barman with a smile and a cup in his hands.
-You seem very interested in that couple there.
She got caught, fortunately she has some tricks prepared to situations like these.
-Oh, I am sorry, I got absorbed in my thinking and forget about the world around me. What time is it?
That was an old one, some generic excuse followed with a question to change subjects. She read about it in a romance about a spy, surprisingly the trick worked in real life too...
-Ten o’clock. I must admit most people get absorbed in their thoughts looking to more conventional places.
...Most times.
-Oh, you know, I think I was trying to look the band and something caught my attention in that direction. The music here is very good after all.
-Indeed… Do you like football?
What kind of question was that? Asking about her subject in the newspaper couldn’t be a coincidence, maybe he knew her from somewhere else. No, she was being paranoid, the subject was pretty popular around the country in the last days.
-I don’t really like it. But I know a thing or another.
-I am a big fan, our team is doing an excellent job, we tied against 95x and Kavagrad. If we manage to win some more matches and avoid a defeat against Valanora we can get classified.
-That seems very interesting, but the people working in the National Team don’t appear to be very enthusiastic, most of them think they are going to lose.
-They are scared from the last Cup. I think we lost just because they are too confident with the second place in the Baptism of Fire and because of bad management.
-I think the second is still a thing.
-Nah, Laqlo is a good guy, he only pretends to be strong and bad.
-You talk like you knew him.
-Because I do, we studied together in middle school.
-What? You are lying.
-No, I am not. He was a very nice guy, too much if I must say. Everyone treated him bad and joked about his height, even his friends mocked him about it. So he started to act like a moron so people wouldn’t talk to him, leaving him all alone.
-That’s pretty sad.
-I know, during those days I mocked him too, but with time I realized how cruel it was. Wish I could apologize to him, at least he is richer than most of our old classmates.
Someone in the balcon asked for a cup of water, and with that the barman returned to work.
After arriving home Liene wrote a bit and read some books. She never thought that the reason why most players disliked their coach was because of jokes about his height, very common in the country, at least not officially. “Jokes can make someone very bitter”, she wrote in her diary and went to bed.