World Cup 83 - Roleplay Thread

by **Kelssek** » Sat Aug 24, 2019 11:59 am

Sports ▶ Football ▶ Live reporting
Omerica vs. Kelssek: World Cup qualification playoffs

Words from Kelssek manager Kirk McDonagh: "The players can be really proud of themselves. This wasn't easy and we overcame a lot of adversity. They really dug deep and we have a huge chance to move into the World Cup. We have to keep the right frame of mind to get the job done. I'm really proud of the effort they gave, all of them."

"I'm not worried about this or that right now. We know we can always be better. There's always some things to work on. But you play the game on the field, and it's about how you handle these kinds of high-stakes situations. That's the hardest part."

Brayden Custworth is intercepted by the NSN cameras: "The cross came in, and I just saw the space there, had to hold off my marker. I just tried to get it on target and that was all I was thinking about really. This is huge for us, a big effort from everyone."

FINAL WHISTLE! Omerica 2-3 Kelssek Somehow Kelssek have won this. A big step that could see them in the World Cup, and a professional defensive display after losing a key centre defender.

90+3 mins A few corner flag shenanigans. Victor Clinton tried to run the clock down in the corner, and de Felice was having none of that, delivering hard shoulder charge that the referee saw nothing wrong with. Clinton and de Felice exchange polite conversation.

89 mins Omerica get a bit of sustained pressure from the free kick. Ashworth puts a shot agonizingly wide. The fourth official has indicated a minimum of five minutes of added time.

87 mins: CURTIN SENT OFF! But wait, there's more! Mason Curtin tangles up with Ashworth's legs from behind and immediately knows what's coming next. His second yellow means Kelssek are down to ten. Safety first as it looks like Christian Arbour will be sent on to replace an attacking player. But the officials won't let the sub be made just yet...

GOAL! Omerica 2-3 Kelssek (Custworth 84') Startlingly easy chance when it came. Omercia thought they'd dealt with Ó Tuathil's cross, but it was chipped back into the danger area by Halliger. Nothing Durant could do to stop Custworth's looping header.

81 mins Omerica are pushing for the win here and they nearly get it too! Substitute Lucky Ashworth beats two defenders but sees her effort thud into the side netting.

77 mins Bowler gets his head to the free kick but it goes high and wide. Replays showing Michelakakis did indeed let go of Dionne before the winger got into the box - there's a crafty player for you.

75 mins Kelssek want a penalty! Michelakakis was all over Dionne like a bad rash, and Dionne hits the deck inside the penalty area but the referee rules it was outside the box. Michelakakis is shown a yellow card, for their part the Omericans seem to be complaining that Dionne went down really easily.

71 mins Ó Tuathil puts a corner to the far post. Clinton gets an unconvincing header on it and the ball breaks free as three players scramble to claim it. Shaheen Taleb is first to it but Durant saves a certain goal with his fingertips!

66 mins Bolton is booked for going in late on Lapierre.

62 mins Tim Bowler gives the ball away, Affini's cross evades Curtin, and Halliger makes a vital tackle to stop Bouchard getting a point-blank shot away. Kelssek are in danger of unravelling completely here. A double sub as Victor Clinton replaces Ruslan Demetriev and Rémy Dionne is sent on for Blake McDonagh. Looks like it's the defensive reinforcements they're going for.

GOAL! Omerica 2-2 Kelssek (Bolton pen.) Smashed inches inside the left post. Nothing Kai Poirier could have done about that.

56 mins: PENALTY TO OMERICA Édouard Bouchard tries to get around Mason Curtin and is dragged to the ground. The referee points to the spot and gives Curtin a long lecture but in the end lets him stay on the field, much to the displeasure of the Omerican team and their supporters.

48 mins Omerica have picked up right where they left off. They're having trouble finding space in the danger areas, though. To Kelssek's credit the defence looks a bit more organized since the break, but it'd be a tall order to hang on for 45 minutes, or is it?

HALF TIME: Omerica 1-2 Kelssek The whistle couldn't come soon enough for Kelssek. Despite the score, they were desperately hanging on for the last 20 minutes. The stats show a 56%-44% possession advantage for Omerica.

44 mins An important save from Kai Poirier to deny Nelissen. She turned past Mason Curtin, who apparently remembered he's already on a yellow just in time.

40 mins: GOAL! Omerica 1-2 Kelssek (McDonagh) Completely against the run of play, Ruslan Demetriev links up with Blake McDonagh on a counter! There are half-hearted calls for offside but the replay shows he timed his run inch-perfect. Call it a smash and grab operation and the Everfree Forest winger uses his speed to good advantage.

37 mins Kelssek need to be careful about this as Mason Curtin is booked for a meaty tackle that sees the physio sent on to check on Nelisson. They're losing the midfield battle at the moment and it's much too easy for Omerica to get into the attacking third. Kirk McDonagh is waving him arms angrily on the sideline, presumably to make this point.

31 mins Omerica are now clearly on the front foot and win a free kick as Ruslan Demetriev sweeps Bolton's legs away. Demetriev gets the game's first yellow card, but the Omerica captain certainly thinks that's not enough.

29 mins: CUSTWORTH HITS THE POST! A horrific waste of an opportunity he did so well to craft for himself. Cutting to the right from the top of the box, he dribbles past Kayode and whips the ball towards the goal, but it smacks squarely off the upright and is grabbed by a grateful Durant. That should have been a goal.

26 mins Debate continues on Kelssek's jersey colour as BrentSxfe emails to say, "The blue shade is a bit of an illusion because of the trim on the sleeves. The main colour is definitely more of Pacific Pearl, but it could even be Silvery Moon because I'm not sure there's actually any blue there."

23 mins Omerica with a great chance on the counter! De Felice wins the ball and a through ball by Bianchi puts Bouchard past the defensive line. But he's gone too far wide, which allows Halliger to close him down well, forcing him into a tame shot that's easily gathered in by Kai Poirier.

19 mins After a breathless quarter-hour the match has settled back into a tense showdown. Omerica have been much steadier in possession, but can't seem to make much progress through the flanks. Kirk McDonagh will be pleased with this showing from Kelssek so far.

15 mins: GOAL! Omerica 1-1 Kelssek (Taleb)
Poise and composure from the young Sleepy Hollow striker to cap a excellent passage of play from the team. Liadon overlaps McDonagh on the right and his cross finds the feet of Ó Tuathil on the opposite flank. Great first touch beats the defender and dribbles into the middle. It looks like he's heading for trouble as the Omerican defenders converge but he squeezes the ball into space and Taleb pounces to place the ball past Durant!

11 mins Kelssek seem to have been jolted into action by that goal, and nearly get an instant response. A poorly-cleared corner falls to Gabriel Lapierre in space, and he rattles the crossbar with a powerful shot from the edge of the penalty box.

9 mins: GOAL! Omerica 1-0 Kelssek (Halliger o.g.)
Disaster for Damien Halliger! Nelissen drills a ball from deep looking for Bouchard's run at the far post. Halliger's on him like glue and gets desperately unlucky as the ball gets into his feet and ricochets into his own net.

4 mins: A cagey start to this match, perhaps not surprising with what's on the line for both teams. Iwan Smith chirps from Misawga, "Have just been to paint store. Kelssek's away colours are more of Morning Glory, maybe Baby's Breath".

Kickoff at the Capital Grounds
Omerica in blue and Kelssek in their white-bluish away jersey.

The lineups are in. It's a no-nonsense starting eleven from Kirk McDonagh, as he goes back to a tried and tested side. Form seems to have got Shaheen Taleb the start over Matt Lister.

Omerica: Durant, Boulos, de Felice, Kayode, Michelakakis, Soares, Bianchi, Affini, Bolton, Nelissen, Bouchard

Kelssek: Poirier, Liadon, Curtin, Halliger, Bowler, McDonagh, Demetriev, Lapierre, Ó Tuathil, Taleb, Custworth

Kickoff is at 11am Coastal, live nationwide broadcast on NSN1.

Greetings friends! Despite the name this isn't an elimination match, but with only three matches in this round-robin format each one will be supremely important. For the hockey fans, think of this as a Game One: the result won't necessarily be decisive, but it could make a huge difference for the fate of the two teams.

World Cup 81/82/83/84

© Sporting Times Weekend 2027
Brief Interlude for BP after WCQ
by Mindy Cartwright, National Soccer Writer

There was a feeling among the members of Commonwealth National Team following their 5-2 win at Sportsman's Park over Libonesia that closed out the World Cup 83 Qualifying Tournament that the immediate business had been accomplished, in a total effort by the entire squad.

The final table shows that BP dropped just 7 of a possible 36 points in this format used for the Finals to be played in Equestria and Banija, and that this was statistically the most impressive of the nation's record-tying 4th consecutive WCF qualification from their debut, which they now share with Drawkland.
The Bees scored 37 goals in the 12 matches--led by midfielder Jamari Bozeman, with 7 in 7 matches--and conceded just 17; the average goal differential (+1.6) is higher than the 3 previous tries, as is the average goals per game (3.08).

In another way of looking at the numbers, the Commonwealth outscored their two closest rivals in the group--Saltstead (31) and Eastfield Lodge (54)--11-10, their home and away draws with the Stallions and their 1 goal defeat against the Eastfielders pipped by their 2 goal victory on matchday 2 at President's Park and dropped no points to the rest of the group. In short, they upheld their ranking and their seed, the logical step in the progression from first-timers to the top 15 in the multiverse in 4 cycles.

Manager Pamela Scott has seamlessly transitioned the team from Trevor Richmond's leadership, and it certainly helped that she is reaping the benefits of the brilliant play from the midfield; Bozeman, who has 27 goals in 60 appearances for the national side, is surely on the radar of the most knowledgible soccer fans and media, and the central midfield pairing of

alongside

have developed into a dynamic playmaking engine for the Black & Gold, able to support the forwards, along with wingers Nick Haller (who has scored twice in this WC cycle so far) and Veronica Navarro (only 1g, 1a but she played only in 5 matches during qualifying) who typically log the most distance covered in a given match.

Up front, Alex Sandoval and Sabrina Patton have continued their partnership from the AOCAF, with Tyrek Jones (2) & DeAngelo Simmons (3) adding scoring during sport starts and substitute chances; the regular strike force have combined for 7 goals between them, bringing both of their career totals to 17 (Sandoval having played 7 more international matches than the Chenoworth Rovers striker) while keeping the defenses of the multiverse honest.

Defensively, Tracy Vasillias and Derick Briggs logged the most minutes in the back, with the former adding to her soon to be record tally for goals by a defender in NT play with her 6th score in the 5-1 away victory against Tulize, and the latter appearing in 8 of the 12 matches, getting an opportunity to wear the captain's armband in the reverse fixture against Tulize.

Caroline Gordon has solidified her hold on the #1 shirt, but both Jared Wyatt and Danielle Gaines shined in their opportunities to battle for the backup role.

Scott showed she could adapt the tactics to suit the varying opponents they faced--the Eastfield Lodge match notwithstanding--and appears to have a strong core of players who are able to take up any spot where they are needed.

by **Newmanistan** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 6:49 am

THE ROCKET REPORT

NOT THE CO-HOST BEATS ROCKETS; VENUES CRITICIZED

by Taylor Larson,

I was once an intern, like all of you know. Therefore, part of me finds it hard to criticize these new interns that we have here. Not one, but two of them asked me why Saltstead has to play in a playoff match when they are hosting the World Cup with Drawkland. Haven’t we crossed that bridge already? If they wanted to make a pretend tournament, they could at least have given more results then just two matchdays worth of it. I understand, though, these interns wanted to have a little fun and proved to not be very serious about landing a professional job, but if you want to create a tournament, at least go all the way with it.

Saltstead, ranked 31st in the world, is most definitely not the co-host and needs to qualify into the World Cup like most everyone else. They got to a good start, defeating the Rockets 1-0 at Caesaria Field, a small venue that would be dwarfed by many college stadiums in Newmanistan, let alone major stadiums. Silver Beach has bigger stadiums in the country, but has elected to put the Rockets in the smaller capacity stadiums for the two non-games against Eura. This led to criticism by Prince Matthew, who overseas the national Newmanistanian soccer program. “We worked so hard to get here, and you are putting us in stadiums with capacities of 23,000 and 25,000. Matchday 3 is particularly insulting, as we will be in Zion, but forced to play at 25,000 seat facility in the same exact city that has a 47,000 seat facility, but they give that to Eura. Eura gets all of the larger stadiums, and that is slap in the face to Newmanistanian fans. Our two games not against Eura are in the smallest places they are providing. But a little sister stadium in Zion, that shows what they feel about us. They see a rank, and not the passion of sports fans. They have obviously forgotten the passion of Newmanistanian sport fans. We have fans that wanted to travel, and would have traveled, but can’t get tickets because we are in micro stadiums. In fact, we have high school fields with greater capacities. What a downer for our players to play in high quality stadiums in qualifying, and then come here to these places.” The Prince went on, “Who wants to be in Silver Beach more right now, fans from Eura who expected to finish first and be in the World Cup already, or fans from Newmanistan, who are elated by the chance to have advanced to this level. They have seriously dropped the ball on this one.”

Further criticism about the venue came from Robert Coffman, a Putnam Lake soccer expert, “I got to this place, and thought it was a training facility. No, they told it was the actual stadium. It’s a nice little 23,000 seat facility, but it is amazingly inadequate to be hosting a World Cup playoff match between Newmanistan and Saltstead. Look, if you want to have home qualifying games here for your national team for your own fans, be my guest. It’s actually a nice facility but it’s a minor league facility, in my book. It’s not even used for professional soccer. I’m told it’s just being rumored to be part of national league soon. Great, if that comes to fruition, but use it for a friendly, not a playoff.” Coffman also criticized the matchday 3 assignment, “I agree with His Majesty that this a major slap in the face to us. You are telling us to go to the same city as the main stadium, which is the national stadium, but we have to play in a stadium that has just a little more then half the capacity. If you threw us a bone on matchday 1, and gave us the better venue, then the matchday 3 assignment is better, but it is clear that the organizers wanted to make things as smooth for Eura, and treated us an extreme after thought. Maybe we won’t get a point, but that doesn’t mean our fans deserve this. There are no tickets available for our fans that want to travel. Maybe it is a meaningless game when it comes, but if the Eura game is meaningless, who’s fans want to watch the meaningless game more, then ones preparing for the World Cup at that point, or the ones happy to be a part of the playoff? We didn’t even get any information about this Port Authority Stadium. It’s all about the main stadium. Definitely getting second class treatment when we go to Zion.”

Prince Matthew made a request: “If the matchday 3 game is meaningless for all, switch the stadium assignments. We’ll fill it up while the others go home.”

The players themselves have stayed away from making comments about the mini-stadiums that they are forced to play in. At this small field (which is probably all I should call it), Newmanistan and the not-the-cohosts engaged in a defensive stalemate for 77 minutes, with each teams playing well and having chances, but unable to find the back of the net. Haråud Haråudssen would end up the hero for his home nation and home fans (and let’s be fair, they probably had more home fans that wanted to make this trip, too) in the 78th minute on a beautifully arced shot that snuck just underneath the crossbar in the top left corner, giving even the tall Ryan McNamara no chance. Coffman, the soccer expert called it, “a very pretty shot, the type of shot a lot of forwards would love to perfect. Haråud Haråudssen did exactly that.” Newmanistan could not answer, and now prepares to play Eura.

About Eura, Coffman told me that, “They are a well prepared team. They are not coming into this playoff group thinking that they can just show up and win the group. Due to that preparation, and a manager in Michael Brandon who is in his first World Cup, they will come to play against Newmanistan and treat us like a top-20 team not a top-240 team like the organizers did in host stadium assignments. We have played well, but this is the best opponent we have seen since our return. If we have to play Eura, this is when I went them, when we still have a chance to win the group, and are playing the best that we are capable of playing. It might not end in a point or three, but it will give us a chance to see where we do stack up.”

OOC: Venue criticism is IC only and should not be seen as being OOCly complained about.

by **Brusseldorf** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 7:19 am

News

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Composition Competition Results
August 26th

This morning FFB CEO Hakeem al-Araibi presented the premier of Suite No.1, a musical piece commissioned in the honour of Los Alrededores' successes to date. The piece was composed by the famous Sir Theodore Wolfenden III, and played by world-renowned pianist Michelle Daechini. The classical piece aims to capture the essence of the joy and spirit of Brusseldorf's national football team.
You can listen to it here

by **Juvencus** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:34 am

Brusseldorf 4-6 Juvencus

Heads up, we want to head to the World Cup!

Exciting matchday saw the Squadra barely clinching out with the 3 points after first matchday of the play-offs stage

Brusseldorf XI:
GK:Antony Providence
CB:Ricard Sciolan
CB:Andrea Zidane
RB:Boronia
LB:Gabriel Lellouche
CDM:Sarah Pickett
CDM:Vindark Al Maghribī
CAM:Michael Hernández(Assists 12', 42', 88')
CAM:Giroud Sidi(Goal 42', Assist 66')
CF:Teddy Wolfenden(Goal, 66')
CF:Santa Dominguez(Goals, 12', 88')

Juvencus XI:
GK:Taddeo Bulgari
CB:Dudu Madeiros(Assist 51')
CB:Priscilla Herbert(Subbed off for Nicolò Bassi, 62')
CB:Izotz Ibarra(Assists, 18', 39')
CDM:Nino Russo
CDM:Clovis Bret
RM:Júlien Cantù(Goal, 55', Assist, 81')
LM:Tore Christian
RF:Patxi Etxberria(Goal, 51', Assist 68')
LF:Joaquim Martell(Goal, 68')
CF:Santo Silvestri(Goals, 18', 39', 81')

The playoffs began with a blast, a back and forth game between gli attacanti and los alrededores. A nuclear explosion filled with a lot of goals by both sides, however with the gli attaccanti emerging victorious in the fallout of matchday number 1.

The game started with both teams really determined to win, something obvious, since a ticket to the World Cup is on the line. Los alrededores gave fire to the game early on as Hernández found Dominguez on a cross with the latter scoring a header and thus breaking the ice. The Squadra wouldn't let this be, and soon afterwards, after great teamwork which culminated in an Izotz Ibarra cross to the middle of the box, seeing Silvestri scoring the volley soon afterwards. The game would still remain a back-and-forth bout, with one team barraging the other's side. Firstly with Wolfenden shot from inside the box hitting the post, and the reoubnd from Dominguez would be body-blocked by an incredible Ibarra. On the counter-attack that followed, however, Etxeberria's weak foot shot wouldn't find the net, as it would be saved by Providence. Towards the end of the first half, Ibarra would find Silvestri's head this time, with Silvestri changing the tide of the game, although temporarily, as 3 minutes later Sidi would equalise for Brusseldorf.

With the first half ending in a 2-2 scoreline, everything was on the line in the second half. Something Madeiros could capitalise on the 2nd half, perfectly placing a cross for Etxeberria to power in, giving gli attaccanti the advantadge once more. Soon afterwards, a cannonball from long distance by Cantù would find Providence unable to react. The deal wasn't sealed though, as an opportunity by los alrededores would be cut off by Ibarra himself once more. A calmer play ensued and the Squadra played slightly more passively, which was something they'd soon pay for, as an interception by Sidi and the following through-ball would see Wolfenden reducing the difference to 1 goal again. But the celebrations by los alrededores would be short lived, as in the first opportunity gli attaccanti got, it would score again with a nicely weighed-in curved shot by Martell. But victory was secured only after a Cantù through-ball would see Silvestri scoring a hattrick. All los alrededores could do was reduce the difference with a Dominguez header a bit afterwards. With their heads up after matchday number 1, the gli attaccanti will play The Maccabees, a team the gli attaccanti has faced twice and has proven to be a very tough opponent.

by **The Macabees** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 10:36 am

THE WITCH EMELIE, XVI
Previous: I, II. III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV

"Ready to try this again?" asked Ineke, who sat beside Leender.

On the other side of the table, inside the large, empty room, was Janis, this time with an attorney sitting next to her. The ex-analyst nodded. Her attorney said, "As long as we all understand that she is under no obligation to answer any question that goes against her interests or otherwise she's unwilling to answer."

Right," said Leender.

Ineke looked at the rotund, balding man. "The only thing that goes against her interests is not giving us what we want," she answered.

The lawyer was nonplussed. "Just ask your questions, detectives."

"Take a look at this photo," said Ineke. Leender passed a black and white freeze screen of Janis leaving the apartment building Frapto Nevara and Klasos Derag were murdered at on the same night. "Where were you on the night of the murders of Mr. Nevara and Mr. Derag?"

"It seems you already⁠ kn⁠—" started Janis.

But, her attorney cut her off. "You don't need to answer that."

Leender arched an eyebrow and pointed at the photo. "Looks like she might want to."

Janis gulped. Then, she breathed deeply, and recounted, "I ate dinner at my apartment that night, with my roommate. Afterward, I went to visit a friend who let me borrow his gun. I told him that I had been threatened by another guy and that I felt unsafe, so he let me borrow his handgun for the night until I could get my own. I went to the apartment where I knew Frapto Nevara would be at and—"

The lawyer eyed her nervously but said nothing to stop her.

"And what?" asked Ineke. "What happened?"

"You don't need to answer that," said the attorney.

But, Janis nodded, and answered, "I took the elevator up to his room. And...and...and when I got there..." she began sobbing, the tears strolling down her cheeks. "When I got there...they are already dead. So, I took the elevator back down and I ran. I've never hurt anything in my life. I didn't want to kill anybody. I just wanted to scare them," she went on frantically.

"Why did you run?" asked Leender, his voice much smoother and calmer than Ineke's.

Janis looked at him. "I was scared. I didn't want to go to prison."

Ineke looked at her, and asked, "Did you recognize anybody else at the apartment building that night?"

Janis nodded her head. "Yes, although he didn't see me. He was just leaving."

"Who?" asked Leender, leaning in.

The girl looked at him. "Donal Jerispo."

The guard looked at the doctor sleeping on her cot. The woman was made to share a cell with a woman whose face was covered in tattoos and whose body was built like a bull's. There was a third inmate in the cell, a drug addict who was bone thin and had a sickly appearance. The doctor had been thrown in here overnight, with the intention of being interrogated the next day by some detective and her investigator partner. Usually, people like her, people brought in overnight and not necessarily likely to stay for the long haul, would be left in a cell on their lonesome.

She, the guard, pulled out a wad of cash that was in her pocket. Thumbing through it, she started to whistle. Looking inside the cell again, she pulled out her baton and lightly tapped on one of the steel bars. The woman with the face tattoos woke up and looked out toward the door, the white of her teeth showing as she smiled.

The guard left the hallway directly outside.

A click, several paces away, signaled that a door had been shut as the guard left the area.

The woman with the face tattoos rose to the edge of her bed, where she sat for a moment. With her left hand, she felt underneath the mattress for something. Within a few seconds, she pulled out a makeshift blade made out of a shard of mirror glass. Its point glinted in the little sunlight that came in through a minuscule window at the very top of the back wall of the cell.

She rose and walked over to where the doctor was sleeping.

The noise of the blade going through Emelie's throat was hardly audible.

Then, the woman walked across the cell to the other cot, where the drug addict was twitching while sleeping. Blood was dripping off the piece of glass. With the same movement, the woman with the face tattoos slit the drug addict's throat, as well. Then she dropped the piece of mirror on the floor, jumped into bed, and rolled over to go to sleep knowing that she'd be executed but her two children would be taken care of for life.

In court, the woman would plead insanity. The face tattoos certainly helped give her credibility.

When Penzlon Security finally got its warrant to search Dr. Emelie Reverie's apartment, they found a stache of all the drugs and chemicals used to synthesize the compound that had caused the deaths of Frapto Nevara and Klasos Derag. Some of the compound was already made and packaged.

On her phone, once it was unlocked by the provider, they found texts to her from the two players. Apparently, they had broken up with her in the previous days. "Broken up" may have been too strong. They were young, rich, and, most obviously womanizers of the highest degree. Neither of them was truly interested in the beautiful doctor. To them, she was just a dime a dozen. She had become angry and planned retribution. Whether she meant to cause them their deaths, no one knew. It may have been that she simply did not recognize the potency of her concoction.

There were some irregularities in that interpretation, and in the evidence, but they were all minor and nothing could dissuade the investigators that it was a shut case. Ineke and Leender, who vehemently disagreed, had been pulled off the case the morning that Dr. Reverie was found dead in her cell. In fact, they were given month-long leaves.

According to Penzlon Security, Dr. Emelie Reverie had murdered Frapto Nevara and Klasos Derag.

by **Kita-Hinode** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 11:21 am

MOSTLY BENEFITIAL
Chapter One: Constelado Hokuto (Part Two)
Written by sportswriter and general office room weirdo Shinji Boisbriand-Kagawa

Last time, we got ourselves a brief intro on the state of affairs of Hokuto, the Kingdom as a whole and also learned about the person who started Noot-Noot Mishinogayama. Now, you must be wondering why on Earth (or whatever planet or dimension of reality you live at), I'm talking about Constelado Hokuto. Truth be told, there's one interesting thing about this team that nobody brings up: before Shaolin Saitama disbanded their activities last season, there was only a single professional football club in all of the Hinodejin Empire that called it quits. And unlike Shaolin Saitama, they didn't do it on the higher echelons of the sport...

CHAPTER TWO - THE TEAM SUCKED HARD

Jun Kabira, the voice of Hinodejin football in radio wrote:I've never seen such a situation, ladies and gentlemen, but as we started our works today here in the Hokuto Main Stadium, the home team failed to sell a single ticket! No supporters from Constelado Hokuto, former top tier team came here to watch this Jewel of the Déesses' First Round match against the major side Mashu Hellowenia! This is basically an away game in all but name for Constelado, by all accounts. You have to wonder what is on their minds, the team from Hokuto.

Things didn't immediately sour, locals were somewhat hopeful over the fate of their city but they knew that things would at least not be the same. There was a feeling of pride being destroyed there and then but they knew better than to argue with the Queen. Namely, because she wouldn't budge regarding the move and challenging the Queen to a fight ended up getting one a duel with the Queen... to the death. These days, Empress Satomi gets about an average of thirty battles per day for her crown, a result of previous leaders preferring to go forth towards a less deadly route. Queen Mai had a grand total of five challenges in the year Constelado Hokuto disbanded.

All five of those were regular people with interests towards the crown, planning to lead the Kingdom in their own preferred direction... only to see their souls depart their own bodies after what usually amounted to three or four slashes by the Queen. Let's not mince words, Queen Mai was a killer. A sword user with very little, if any, flaws; she wouldn't hesitate to take one's life away if requested a challenge. A master of at least seven different weapons, Queen Mai notoriously chose her style before a duel by examining her opponent's face. If the opponent looked afraid, she'd use a shorter weapon like a knife while keeping her traditional katana or even a naginata for those that looked a bit more serious.

Her legend inspired at least a couple of games, like Tochigi's Samurai Royale.

By the time the Queen made her announcement, Constelado Hokuto wasn't in a respectable state. In fact, they were one of the worst teams in all of the Empire. In 2073, the Stars were a second-tier side, having been there for the past three seasons after some really dodgy business saw two of their best players leave for nearby Hinode Shiranui on a free while the team itself failed to acquire any of their transfer targets. Constelado tanked from there on and slowly found themselves going down the pyramid. It's hard to tell what goes inside one's mind when you consider that a good chunk of the players that, not too long before, had been playing against the finest men and women in Hinodejin football found themselves now playing against teams in the borders of the ever-growing kingdom that would soon be an Empire on its' own right.

You thought they stopped their activities because of the geographic move that doomed Hokuto? No. They ceased their activities over something related to that, but in all fairness by that point, the team sucked hard. In a league with teams composed of the lesser players of the Empire, teams from small-time towns and widows of war, Constelado Hokuto went down in the year 2085 above Maelstrom Syogame, Felicité Kotobuki and Atami Jianshi, but behind many, many others. And in that climate, the news that the city would lose their status as the capital city hurt like hell.

And it was in that mood that the board of directors of the team decided to have a meeting to discuss what to do next season, following the declaration.

CHAPTER THREE - #NOTIMEFORCHFC

@CHFC, Constelado Hokuto's Chirpy profile wrote:We're not moving, the leak was created by a teenager with nothing better to do with his time.

Even without the news, Constelado would be facing something new that season, the prospect of having to play the Southern Hinode League for the first time in years. However, some of the board had heard been contacted about the possibility of moving the club to play out of the former Hwangju Kingdom, becoming their hand-picked giants of the future. To these days, nobody really knows exactly who made the call for the attempt of moving the club, though the preferred culprit to public opinion was that someone from the court believed it'd help to bring the team to the other side of the ocean, despite current status as a fallen giant.

Most members of the board were smart enough to understand that things wouldn't be so simple and that the city needed a team to help them through life as a city that lost its' status, voting against the move. Which then led to the logical move of the directors that were in favour of the move to... leak the news to several journalists before taking the first plane to Kanshiro. They did, however, omit the part where the vote was against the move and that the team would be staying at Hokuto. The team suffered a massive boycott as a result, indicating that the local fans would refuse to back up the team. They failed to sell season tickets, the entire youth squad (back when Hinodejin teams had a youth team) flat out quit on the club, their friendlies also saw a blackout and in the end, the remaining members of the board came to the conclusion that the team was more or less dead. There was no goodwill from the locals, any attempt of explaining what had happened ended up being moot as nobody had the time to even care for it. When even a hashtag at Chirpy (#notimeforCHFC) is stronger than your pleas to be able to explain yourself on the television? You might as well cease to be.

by **Mercedini** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 3:37 pm

The Fallout Of Schottia vs. Krytenia
Cy'un Site Hacked Following Goalless Draw
@ Cy'un Headquarters - Emberton, Krytenia

Where there is smoke, there is fire. That seemed to be that case in Schottia as the green-and-white saved the skin of their fellow IAC flag-barers as they held autoqualifiers-elect Krytenia to a goalless draw which allowed the Golden Eagles to sneak through to the World Cup on goal difference, which prompted jubilant celebrations in Zoloroni, Langtree and the rest of the country as Mercedini punched their ticket to Banija and the Equestrian States without kicking a ball. Mercedini's comprehensive 4-0 victory over Sinyal put the home side's head above water, edging the Golden Eagles up to the top spot by a single point, but the large margin of victory meant Krytenia had to win their final game of the campaign, as goal difference and head-to-head tiebreakers were no longer available to the Cyan army to bail them out.

In the end, it was the fallen giant facing off against the fallen juggernaut for a place in the World Cup, and while Schottia were no longer contesting anything of importance during this cycle, the match between the two titans was something to relish for fans of football history, with the added significance of a more contemporary power waiting in the wings, wholly invested in the match's outcome. It seemed inevitable that a goal was coming from either side, considering what was on the table, but goalkeeping heroics from both teams resulted an exhilarating match with a rather drab score line. Krytenia just couldn't force the issue and put themselves back into the big time, players were collapsing all over the pitch following the mammoth match, the players in white and cyan were down but not completely out. Their biggest opportunity to qualify had just vaporized in front of their eyes.

Dini finished top of the table, prompting a frenzy on social media and domestic news cycles. Mercedini were quoted as the top seeds for the first time in their history and was given the scare of their lives by both Krytenia and HUElavia on their way to qualifying for the World Cup, even if only just. If to rub it in a little more, tensions between the group's top two teams were frayed even more when Krytenia's premier sporting publication, Cy'un, was hacked by Mercedinian fans and trolls, placing a mock match report on the front page of it's main site and taking control of it's social media profiles, directing messages to several Krytenian playmakers with less than harmonious reviews of their performances;

HA HA HA KRY ME A RIVER
By Rammy Nibbledick in Emberton

Krytenia completed the biggest bottle job in history by failing to score against some random Schottian farmer lmao. Sad. The Isserson Olympic Shed will be torn down and replaced with a giant statue of our lord and saviour Ben Chillotov, pretty krytenian women will be queuing up to kiss his seven mile diameter concrete ballsack. rami cry rami cry rami cray rami cry rami cry rami cry rami cry. I bathe in Krytenian tears. Try again next year? 2 years? 4 years? who knows at this point lmao. You are the weakest link, goodbye

The win sees the best team in the multiverse, MERCEDINI, go through to the WORLD CUP... AGAIN. Drawkland didn't, lanky bastards, see you at the Cup of Harmony if they even invite you, I wouldn't personally lmao. Good job Dini boys, onto the next one.

KRYBABIES - 0

AFC SCHOTTIAN FARMERS - 0

When pressed for a comment, Cy'un executives declined to comment on the situation regarding the hack and the security of the publication's archives. However, the articles were deleted with twenty minutes of them going live on the site and social media, with normality restored a mere half-an-hour later on all digital platforms. It was clear that Mercedinian fans were excited and passionate of another chance at the big time, especially for the side that is only in their ninth cycle as a professional side.

We will see Mercedini back in action in either the Equestrian States or Banija for the group stages of the World Cup. The playoffs for those remaining spots will be decided in the coming days. Following that, 32 teams will be left standing to fight for the title of the world's greatest. Hopefully Mercedini can go one better than the group stages this time, which would mark their best ever performance at a World Cup for now. Anything can happen, and they generally do. Andiamo!

by **Krytenia** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 4:59 pm

Hacked Off
By Rami Niblick in Busukuma, Banija

A SUN-DRENCHED backdrop, four hopefuls, and only one place in the showpiece event available between them. This isn't a play-off tournament; this is World Cup 83: Judges Houses. Krytenia's first performance, sadly, failed to nail the high notes, and the Dragons are left with it all in the balance after an entertaining but unsatisfying three-all draw.

Any perceptions this match would be a cagey affair were way off the mark. Savojarna aren't that sort of side, reliant on physical prowess and speed to dominate the opposition, whilst Kryteniaplay a more technical but still frenetic game. It shouldn't come as a surprise, then, that things started off at an almost reckless speed. Freya Sigurdsdottir had clearly done her research, giving Miguel Torres the runaround in the early exchanges, and was unlucky not to score when put through. Only a sprawling save from Marcus Washington denied her, and Ellis Ducaine-Petit thumped a header away from the resulting corner. Chris Naismith and Selaphiel Kennedy both narrowly missed the target with early sighters, and the question was not whether there would be a goal, but simply who would score first.

As it turned out, that would be Savojarna. A mistimed Will Vasser challenge resulted in a free-kick out wide, and Kryster Voynov's whipped ball led to Alexey Nurkanen rising above the maelstrom of blue and orange to open the scoring. A rare goal for the full-back and one he'll surely treasure; Vasser, meanwhile, will not be happy with his error.

The goal did nothing to slow down the pace for either side. Sigurdsdottir was unlucky not to double the lead with a crisp shot that arced narrowly over the bar, Perttu Karjanen shot straight at Washington to waste another effort, and Joshua Coquelin rattled the bar with a long-range rasper. This was certainly a game for the neutrals to enjoy, and it would get better for both them and the Dragons' faithful just after the half hour mark when Kennedy's flicked header fell perfectly for Naismith to thump a volley home from twenty yards. No disrespect to the Savojar side - Viktorija Petrova had barely moved when the ball sped past her - and a match once again delicately poised. The fire wouldn't dim for Krytenia either, as they kept the momentum going to take the lead. Once again Kennedy was the provider, sliding the ball between two Savojarna defenders for Stephen Mariner to latch onto and beat Petrova with a shot of great finesse and guile that left her clutching at air. The Dragons on top, then, as the teams headed into the tunnel for a well-deserved rest after a breakneck first half.

Krytenia came out for the second half looking to double the lead and seal the game; their eagerness, however, left gaps behind for Savojarna to exploit. Karjanen clearly doesn't need to be told twice, muscling Christopher Joel off the ball and creating for himself a chance he duly buried to level the scores. Things were to get worse for the men in orange, too, as their defensive shape began to falter. Ducaine-Petit was perhaps a little unlucky to concede a penalty, but his arm was in a raised position, and he didn't protest too loudly. Karjanen didn't care; his spot-kick was simply unsaveable, thrashed into the top corner to put Savojarna in the lead for the second time.

The Dragons, though, still had time to salvage the game. When Joonas Andersson was forced to limp off, you could almost hear the sigh of relief emanating from Coquelin. Victoria Maersk, though by no means inept, was simply not as specialised to snuff out the threat of players like the Coq, and the chances soon started to come in bunches for the Dragons. As time ticked on, though, it looked like Savojarna would escape with the full complement of points...but they were to be mistaken. The scoring started with a free kick, and it would end with one. Ironically, it was opening goalscorer Nurkanen was the one to concede it; Jake Hansen whipped the ball in, it somehow missed everyone - including Petrova, who'd been caught in two minds as to whether or not to collect the ball - and ended up nestling almost apologetically in the net.

Honours even is, if we're honest, a fair result in a game that both sides came to win and neither deserved to lose. It does mean, though, the pressure is on Krytenia when they face Kelssek in their next game. Doubly so, in fact, as Kelssek surprisingly beat Omerica in their opener, and can put themselves in the box seat with a win of their own. Onward!

KRYTENIA - 3
Naismith 32
Mariner 43

SAVOJARNA - 3
Nurkanen 19
Karjanen 49, 62 (p)

by **Chromatika** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 7:23 pm

Recap of Playoff Group Game 1: Ethane 2-7 Chromatika
Goals: Thorben '14, Andisori, K. '36, '45+1, '59, Victoriane '51, Conrad '68, Montague '86
Starting Lineup: Nier; Ruth - de Aea - Ibex - Ilya; Thorben - Mora - Montague - Dragana; Andisori, K. (C) - Victoriane.
Substitutes: Conrad -> Dragana ('51), Kelly -> Thorben ('67), An -> Ruth ('79)
Recap: Ethane hung with the Chromatiks for a grand total of twenty minutes - actually having a 2-1 lead - before the Chromatik machine took over as Keira Andisori's hat trick led the team to a 7-2 thrashing in their first match of the Playoff Group Stage. This new stage requires the Chromatiks to finish in first place if they are to qualify and make it to the World Cup Proper in their return from hiatus. With the +5 goal difference advantage, and the next game being against Main Nation Ministry, the other team that took a victory in the first instance, the Chromatiks can make that a reality before the third match.

Preview of Playoff Group Game 2: Chromatika vs. Main Nation Ministry @ Crystopolis Coliseum, Crystopolis, Crystal Empire
Starting Lineup: Nier; Ruth - de Aea - Ibex - Ilya; Thorben - Mora - Montague - Dragana; Andisori, K. (C) - Victoriane.
Preview: If it isn't broke, don't fix it. Chromatika looks to all but clinch their berth in the World Cup Proper with a win here. Keira Andisori really brought on her best performance against the Red Kites, and will be looking to continue her form.

Hotel Room
Crystopolis
Crystal Empire

It had been a week since the visit from... The Messenger, as that being had called itself. Keira could still remember each and every word that The Messenger had instilled into her head, as if it was yesterday. Apparently to them, Venom was The Black Mark, The Rainbow Revolution had been an idea from The Enlightened to make sure that Venom couldn't fully take over Chromatika, and things were only going to get worse.

The Messenger had clearly stated that Keira would be contacted within twenty-four hours of waking up; was it that they had a different consent of time? Or was the extraplanar help also being stopped by what The Checkers Party were doing? Less than nothing had been found regarding Trenn Rien and Jordan Lawless.

At least the games were going well. Seven to two was a score almost unheard of. She'd really come to form and added three to this campaign's goals total. But it'd be a lie if the whole team was more concerned about their nation right now.

They really needed some help...

by **Saltstead** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 7:43 pm

Note: I would like to submit Haråud Haråudssen for consideration for the Tournament XI. On an unrelated matter, I’ve based the Mytanija team on their CR roster.

stallion.stable.co.ha
All Saltsteadish! All football!
Haråud Haråudssen: living his best life in this strange new spotlight

Never before had a Saltsteadish striker looked so composed and so integral to the team as Haråud Haråudssen looked against Newmanistan. The position had for so long been an afterthought, not just to head coaches of de nationalė footballėsplug, but to clubs all across Saltstead. Yet, with the nurturing of a Saltsteadish powerhouse and the vision of a Qusmi, he was in prime position to shine.

In the working-class neighbourhood of Aleksandershaven, the redundantly-named Haråudssen grew up in a poor household. The last Haråud in the family line came long ago, a distant cadet of the royal house who had fallen out of favour with the Crown. But it was decades of financial mismanagement and reckless spendthrift that felled the Haråudssen clan to the lowly station the modern Haråud found himself in. By the time of his birth, the royal stature of his ancestors was but a distant memory, dating back even before the unification of the realm; the Haråudssens had to labour to survive.

“Mama and papa always did their best for us,” Haråud told the Stable in an exclusive interview. “We didn’t have a lot and we had to split it so many ways. It was hard, but we made it work. My older brothers would tell me stories of when papa got laid off from the factory and he’d skip dinner once a week so everyone else would have enough to eat.”

For Haråud, the capital’s prestigious Grandstraxe was an ideal, a place where dreams came true, but not a place where his family could afford to visit—even on the terraces. “Football was something we played on the streets. We had a couple nets if we were lucky, but you played for fun and maybe to show off a little.”

But in the majestic cradle of Grandstraxespark sat a club known for their bohemian attitude: Sħip-in-Straxe Footballsclub. Named to spite the Gregist-controlled football league of what is now South Covello, the club stood in stark contrast to the other Grandstraxespark’s other tenants Grandstrasse Football Club, not only pushing the bounds of what could be considered serious, but more fundamentally representing a systemic critique of the orthodoxy of Saltsteadish football—SIS FC, under the watchful eye of Gay Ware, made the offence an integral part of the club’s identity.

And they were the ones to give Haråud a chance.

“Someone submitted my name to the club,” Haråud said with a chuckle on his throat, “but I thought it was a joke. People from the club came down to the school and that’s when I realised it wasn’t.” To his surprise and the surprise of his parents, Haråud was admitted into the club academy, where he’d blossom into a mainstay of the SIS FC’s youth teams. With the creation of the Såutstedisħ Mästerheid, SIS FC solidified their place at the top of Saltstead’s domestic football food chain, competing toe-to-toe with Cherrygrove City for dominance thanks to their unique approach to the game.

“It could very well have been so different,” the club’s director of football Adelhart Es told the Stable. “We had this attitude that we’d rather lose than sell our soul. We got to keep our soul and win trophies, which is a real blessing so many clubs don’t get to enjoy.”

Ware left the club to coach the national team, as so many will be aware. Under Ware’s successor at SIS, Michael Swarthus, Haråud got his first start in the senior Mästerheid. “I kept my head down and just did the work. I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes.” Coming close to SIS’s fifth national title, the club will have Haråud’s skill and dedication to thank.

The pressure to conform got the best of Ware, conservatively sticking to the guns of the ever-popular Jan-Peter Wiėtdal; Ware’s reign with the national team was brief, with Tlanx-Nulzk Hal brought in from Qusmo to replace her. The former Qastyr head coach immediately emphasised the importance of youth, moulding young players with an attack-oriented (at least by Saltsteadish standards) style of play—and Haråudssen’s exploits at SIS were just the kind of thing the Qusmi was looking for in their striker.

“I’ve had people say I’m more popular than the King,” Haråud joked. “My answer’s always something along the lines of ‘What did he do wrong?’. The only two people I need to be popular with are the coach and myself.”

But on the training pitch, fellow members of the national team, including veteran and captain Ann-Marine Crabshaas, have admired Haråudssen’s dedication. “The worst part of being around Haråud is that he snores like an alarm siren,” veteran goalkeeper Julian Lyksdal openly admits. “He gets a little grouchy when you wake him up abruptly, but who doesn’t?”

“Life’s definitely different,” the striker happily admits. “Getting to play in all these far flung places is amazing and something I could have hardly imagined a decade ago back in Ashwell. Getting to face the best players from Newmanistan and having the chance to meet stars from Mytanija and Eura is fantastic.” And, as Haråud puts it, the money doesn’t hurt. “If they said they wouldn’t pay me, I’d still do it, but giving back to my family is nice.”

Haråud’s only complaint about international duty, though: “everyone mispronouncing my name, no doubt. Pretend it’s French and you’ll be closer than you are right now.”

██ Mytanija predicted starting XI: Pedja Kasun; Srdan Vukovic, Mojmir Anac, Zelimir Apostolov, Petr Isaev; Branko Brkljacic; Tahir Fejzuli; Brajko Gavrilovic, Boris Kalinic; Jezdimir Ocokoljic
██ 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
— Christianė Vesħandler from Silver Beach

by **Omerica** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:04 pm

blogdefootball.co.om
All the football news that’s fit to print!

The next Independent Associations Champions: Kelssek
By Christine Halleran

Here lie the ruins of Omerica’s qualification campaign

Dearly belovèd, we are gathered here today to lay to rest not a man or a woman, but an idea. The great wish of all the adherents of Omerica’s great national religion—football—: to see Omerica qualify for the World Cup once again. And as is our custom here, here in the Church of Orthodox Gamers, we press F to pay respects to the hopes and dreams of Omericans everywhere, for they have been killed dead. They have been killed dead by the knaves of Kelssek!

But seriously, mates, come take us on. Clearly you have the guts and the sick skillz (editor’s note: this hasn’t been kewl in decades) to beat the Incorrigibles, noted tournament winners now. If you can do that, then I reckon you’re already in with a great shot at winning the IAC. After all, it’s already been literally won by trash, so I don’t imagine you—as a good team—would have a tough time of it.

The Independents Cup just hasn’t been the same since we lost the blotwine swigging that followed the Bonesea national team everywhere or witnessed the Schottians fail at spot kicks. The Free Republics haven’t been showing up as of late and Mercedini actually didn’t show up in Drawkland. Drawkland long ago peaked and Juvencus got shithoused twice by the Incorrigibles… For some bizarre reason, the United Republican Soccer Federation is the only national FA that seems to care about this tournament that has so many names.

Not to disparage any of these three nations, but Omerica, Reçueçn and Kavagrad aren’t going to be enough to save the tournament. We have a hunch that the Holy Empire shan’t involve themselves with the mundies in this Championship—the lack of sand and of tasty beach hunk calendars may play a part—, but Kelssek could be the new powerhouse that brings glory and prestige back to this tournament. (‘Cause we ain’t doing a hot job at that, honestly…)

And genuinely, you may claim your win against us was against the run of play, but… we actually agree. Although, if it came against the run of play, it was just barely. Do not disparage your talents, fair Kelssekians. Having already put yourself in position to win a place at the World Cup finals, you are proving yourselves to be a team deserving of a place among the elites of global football. If you can qualify for the finals, surely you can win a trophy at the Independent Association Championship.

Others who write for this somehow-relevant rag of a sport blog have argued before that if the IAC’s relevance is based on the prestige of its participants, the tournament is ******. We need more than a handful of teams who can make it to the World Cup finals (because evidently Drakwland and Omerica ain’t doing so any time soon) and we need at least one of those teams to actually give a damn. If you show up with a microgram of genuine interest, I’m pretty sure the IAC Organising Committee will simply give you medals.

Seriously, have a go. It’s getting boring over here and I’m going to go put in a request for a beach hunk calendar to pass the time while you consider.

PS: Hey, Incorrigibles. Can you maybe consider getting to the Cup of Harmony semis, at least, possibly? We may have a reputation now, apparently, and this campaign hasn’t been helping with that. kthnxbai ◇

Uniting Omerican sport fans across the United Republics — blogdefootball: a proud member of the Gryphon Pride network

United Republican Soccer Federation
6 Jacques la Rouge Road
Port Alexandre, AM 18-A40
UNITED REPUBLICS OF OMERICA
Omerica 2–3 Kelssek
World Cup 83 qualifying playoffs — Matchday One
Capital Grounds, Busukuma, Banija
Goalscorers: Damien Halliger 9’ (og) – Red Bolton 56’ (p); Shaheen Taleb 15’ – Blake McDonagh 40’ – Brayden Custworth 84’
Omerica line-up: Drew Durant; Julie Boulos – Aristide de Felice – Charity Kayode – Fernand Michelakakis; John Soares – Elise Bianchi; Clemente Affini – Red Bolton (captain) – Maria Nelissen; Édouard Bouchard
Substitutions: Édouard Bouchard > Lucky Ashworth (46’), Michelakakis > Marine Roldan (81’)

Omerica v Savojarna
World Cup 83 qualifying playoffs — Matchday Two
Capital Grounds, Busukuma, Banija
Omerica line-up: Drew Durant; Julie Boulos – Aristide de Felice – Charity Kayode – Marine Roldan; John Soares – Elise Bianchi; Clemente Affini – Red Bolton (captain) – Maria Nelissen; Édouard Bouchard

by **Equestrian States** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:33 pm

WORLD CUP 83
EQUESTRIA & BANIJA

Playoff Groups 1-3 - Match Day 2 Cutoff

Tonight's cutoff tunes, are for those who might be eliminated tonight.

Results

by **Eura** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 8:49 pm

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5

ENS Lord Baker
Straits of Mareibat, Endemien Ocean

Sailors and aviators alike were enjoying the best of a thirty five degree summers day on the deck of ENS Lord Baker, lazing about like they were seals on a big metal rocky outcropping. The hulking nuclear aircraft carrier had most of its distinctive flat top clear today as the sun beat down upon it and the ocean remained calm. There were no flight operations, much to the delight of the crew, who were taking full advantage. Lord Baker formed the centrepiece of a whole carrier group that had been deployed to the Straits of Mareibat in light of the crisis in the island country, yet you could have been forgiven for thinking this was an all-expenses paid cruise. Even a few of the senior officers on board could be seen taking in the sun or playing an ill-advised game of cricket. Torel Hain, an intelligence officer based on the ship, was not particularly impressed, especially when one of those sailors playing cricket reverse swept one of their few balls into the ocean.

He was working today, and needed to clear some space up top. A few words were put in and the stern area of the deck was cleared. Hain went out in his shirt and tie to wait for some new arrivals – they would be his work. Three Rabarra Merlin helicopters were touching down, having flown all the way from a massive Euran military encampment at Russo in the former Sameba. Dozens of soldiers disembarked with their large kit bags and the crew immediately sought to direct them to their quarters. These were no ordinary men and women. They were Marine Commandos, the best of the best, and their presence was a sure sign of an imminent and important operation. Hain tried to identify the senior officer, a Major Walker he’d been told. It didn’t take long. Major Walker stood out like a sore thumb with his cap and a physique that reminded Hain of a wolverine; compact and tough as nails.

Hain scuttled towards Walker and introduced himself in the most flustered way possible. ‘Major Walker! It’s good to see you, great. Are you Walker? Sorry, I might have got the wrong man.’ Walker removed his sunglasses to reveal the most piercing eyes Hain had ever seen. They were almost black. ‘No, that’s me. You are?’
‘Ah, good, wonderful, thought I might have got the wrong man for a second. I’m Torel Hain, the lead planner on the operation. How are you feeling? How are your people? I’ve heard your outfit are impressive.’
‘We’re fine. Are we going to talk about that plan?’
‘No. Sorry, not yet I mean!’ It didn’t help Hain to have the helicopter’s whirring blades blowing his tie about in his face as he tried to yet. Walker was ice cool by comparison. ‘Ok then. We’ll go settle in. We’ll assemble when you’re ready.’ Hain simply nodded as Walker strode past him and motioned for others to follow. They all looked terrifying, and Hain had no intention of staying to chat either, so he got moving back to the operations centre at a brisk pace.

Only a few hours would pass before the Commandos were being directed into a large briefing room within the underbelly of the carrier. Hain had planned to initially brief the officers only, but on Walker’s insistence he had adapted the briefing for the entire cohort of operators. Filing in one at a time, it struck Hain him how uniform they were in how they carried themselves. There was a swagger of sorts underneath a strictly professional exterior. Walker came in last and sat at the front next to the spot Hain had vacated himself while standing. He wondered why the Major had wanted the details of the operation to be conveyed to everyone at once, with no filter or intermediary discussion. Was it an innocent protocol designed to ensure everyone was on the same page, or some kind of tradition? “All for one and one for all” could have been their motto after all if they had one. Walker knew exactly what Hain was thinking as he pondered this. ‘If I’m taking these guys into combat, I want every single one of them to find out what they’re facing at the same time I do. The same pace. You understand?’ Hain nodded politely, understanding what was meant but remaining unsure that it was a good idea.

The Commandos were settled down now, allowing Hain to get to work. ‘Ok, good to see everyone here. Before we start it goes without saying that this is a need to know only operation. Any information gleaned in this briefing should not be shared outside of this room until the operation is underway. That operation is…’ After an awkward pause he clicked onto a presentation slide on the wall. ‘…Operation Backfire. We will be launching an aerially inserted mission on Bellight, deep into Bellight People’s Army or BPA territory for short. There are a number of good reasons to be doing this but all you need to know right now is that this is our main target.’ He clicked again, and a mugshot of General Cain flashed up on the screen. A simmering hostility emerged in the room as one of the most infamous figures of the Sameban hardliner regime confronted the Commandos. Cain was not only one of the targets that got away, he was also despised by Euran special forces for his role in executions of Euran operators during the war. Hain recognised this and played into it. ‘I know, I know. I’m sure you are all chomping at the bit to get this guy. For those of you not in the know, this man is General - or formerly General – Cain of the Sameban Republican Army. An extremely experienced soldier and above all a massive piece of shit. His name is also very similar to mine so just remember to get him and not me!’

Many in the room picked up on the contextual implications and cut to the chase. 'When do we get to kill the fucker?’, one of them yelled out to laughter. This unusual outburst from one of the operators incurred a swift glare from Walker across the room. Heckling suggested a lack of professionalism, and lack of professionalism within the ranks is not something he would tolerate. ‘Everyone, let him finish, or I’ll cancel your leave for the foreseeable. Mr Hain.’ Hain took the cue to go on with his presentation. He took them through Cain’s record and how, as far as the Euran government was aware, he had ended up on Bellight. The information was not complete but it was enough to get a picture of who the man they intended to find had got to this point. ‘This site in the eastern part of Bellight near the town of Floricon is a BPA complex. It’s situated in a steep valley with only one natural entry point and is home to at least fifty of their militia. It also happens to be where Cain is hiding, if our intelligence is correct.’ That was a big if. Eura’s intelligence network was notoriously formidable but no spiders web can catch every insect that strays by it.

He turned to the specifics of the site. ‘The primary target building at this site is the central compound, which lays at the centre of four other buildings arranged in a square, a bit like the five side of some dice. If he’s there, Cain will be housed in this building. Operation Backfire’s central objective is to seize the site and extract Cain, dead or alive. Their preference is alive, meaning stand-off kinetic options such as an airstrike are not acceptable. So we need to get in there and grab him. To achieve this you will be deployed by helicopters inside the valley in spots where you can move quickly on to the target.’ Hain showed a slide with detailed photographs of the BPA facility and its natural surroundings. ‘We’ve picked out landing sites that are least likely to be vulnerable to RPG fire. It means a brief jog, but you’ll be safer. We don't anticipate they'll have any vehicles but their infantry are well equipped with modern small arms. They are dangerous and should not be underestimated. Its up to you how to handle the attack when you're on the ground, however I would advise you exercise caution rather than charging in.’ Walker nodded along sagely as if he agreed with every word. This was reassuring to Hain as it would be Walker directing the final assault, not him.

After running through what aerial and naval support would be available (or in most cases not available) and what vehicles would be used to both insert and extract the Commandos from the target, there was a detailed breakdown of the photographic evidence of the site and other bits of depth. In the end, Hain signed off with a final request. ‘When you get in the room with Cain, please take him alive if possible, no matter what your more base instincts try to tell you. This is consistent with the government’s plans. It’s really, really important we don’t miss this one.’ A brief Q&A followed with a few issues raised and addressed, and then the briefing was over. Walker tapped Hain on the shoulder as he started making his way back to his quarters. ‘That was strong, thanks. We’ll boil down into the detail and plan our precise final approach accordingly. We’ve got forty eight hours after all until go time.’
‘Brilliant.’ Hain paused and nervously swept his fringe away as Walker made a move as well. He had to ask him something. ‘When your people are in there, they do realise they can’t just shoot the guy right? We really need him alive. Even the Prime Minister is interested.’ Walker shrugged and dodged the question. ‘Let’s just get ready for the operation first, and then we can worry about that.’ Hain took this as a cue to leave and returned to his quarters, pleased that these Commandos were almost ready to go on command, even if there were doubts about what exactly they’d do when they got to their destination.

by **Banija** » Sun Aug 25, 2019 9:17 pm

So... I would like to say this. Scrolling through my own old phone pictures, I saw a picture of myself at my first music concert... The performing artist at that, of course, was American Idol's first ever winner.

So for the memories she gave me, and the memories she gave all of us, let's listen to her sing about our feelings for NS Sport during this penultimate cutoff of World Cup Qualifying, eh?

by **The Macabees** » Mon Aug 26, 2019 8:27 am

THE WITCH EMELIE, XVII
Previous: I, II. III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X, XI, XII, XIII, XIV, XV, XVI

Ineke walked into the Golden Throne's National Football Team's temporary headquarters in Beda Fromm in the early morning, three days after the murder of Dr. Emelie Reverie in her jail cell. There was something suspicious about the whole thing that she simply could not get off her mind. The math of the investigation's final conclusions simply didn't add up. How had Dr. Reverie delivered the drugs to the two players? Why did she kill them over their callousness through text? Did that fit her personality? Ineke thought, no. She was convinced someone else had done the deed and pinned it on the doctor. The final piece of evidence that convinced her the most were the comments made by Janis Mariko during her interrogation. What was Mr. Jerispo doing at the scene of the crime on the very same day as the murders?

She was at the headquarters to speak to him. Penzlon Security may have finished their investigation, but she hadn't finished hers. But, when she asked for the director, they told her, "Mr. Jerispo has gone on a 'wellness vacation' after the events of the previous weeks. He was severely affected by the murders of two important players and that of Dr. Emelie Reverie."

Sure, thought Ineke. She asked, "Where did he go?"

"We don't ask for those sort of details," they answered. "We know only that he went on vacation."

Ineke ground her teeth in frustration. Donal Jerispo would not get off so easily, and if she didn't make sure of that then surely karma would. For, "injustice is always punished by mortal powers or higher beings, but one way or another an unjust man will meet a just end when his soul is weighed against the divine standards that mankind is held to," as the great ancient philosopher Hermakatanoa had once written.

Janis had been released 'into the wild' three days prior, on the day following her interrogation. She had initially spent the night in a cell she shared with two other women, but in the last minute she had been transferred to her own cell due to the need to place a recently arrested woman. It was a lucky break because she was tired and under no condition wanted to deal with the fil that lined these blocks.

Returning to her apartment, she took a long, hot shower. Then, she went to sleep. She must have slept for more than fourteen hours because she woke up just before noon on the following day. Waking up, she got up to make herself some coffee and spent the rest of the day looking for new employment. Her resume would shrewdly avoid mentioning her work experience for the national football team. She didn't need anyone asking about that.

Three days later, she found herself walking home from a day out at the museums in Beda Fromm. It had been a long series of weeks and she needed some time to relax. None of her applications had earned her a bite yet and she was becoming stressed over the prospect of long-term unemployment, especially after so much of her money had been spent on the foiled attempt to escape into Safehaven. Dario had taken whatever was left of the cash and he was nowhere to be found, probably long gone south of the Frontier. Janis wished she knew how to reach him to tell him that the coast was clear, the case had been solved, and he could come back without having to fear arrest or prosecution.

Alas, she couldn't. Maybe he'd make his way back on his own one day.

She took the elevator up to her floor, walked down the hall, and put the key in the hole to unlock the door. Hearing the snap of the bolt leaving the tumbler, she turned the knob and opened the door. It was dark inside. Letting out a heavy sigh, she walked up to the kitchen counter and left her purse there. Then she walked back to the front door, closed it, and turned on the lights.

When she turned around, she saw the man sitting in the chair.

Anita, her roommate, was sitting on the couch next to him. A trail of red blood crept down from the open wound in her head, down to her shoulders, and from there all over the couch cushions. Janis' stomach suddenly felt like revolting and she, in fact, bent over to throw up by her feet.

"Now, now," said the man, who she did not recognize. "This will be quick and painless, I promise."

He held a handgun with a long silencer. Pulling the trigger twice, he put two rounds in her chest. Her eyes rolled back and suddenly she had great difficulty breathing, pangs of pain shooting up and down her spine. Blood began trickling from the corners of her mouth. He stood, put the cold steel against her forehead, and pulled the trigger again.

Crossing the Frontier had not been difficult. But, life after doing so was not easy.

Dario found the lands directly across the Frontier to be most unsavory. It was known that these were ruled by various warlords, most of them military officers of the ancien régime that had fallen apart after the War of Golden Succession. Violence ruled over peace, poverty over prosperity, and chaos over order. There was not a moment where Dario felt truly safe.

He paid for a truck laden with farm products to take him to one of the Havenic cities along the southeastern coast, where they said things were much better and there was work for all those who sought it — although, there were also mentions of the great economic hardships imposed on Safehaven by the ongoing conflict in the Sea of Ordena, Sea of Crowns, and around Krasnova. Regardless, that area was his best bet for survival both in the near- and long-term, and so that was where he went. Hiding in the back, it was a long, bumpy four-day drive before the driver told him it was time to get out. Handing the man a wad of bills, he went on with his odyssey.

How had he gotten here? Why had even agreed to escape with Janis? But, he figured that even this was better than imprisonment back home.

He wondered what had happened to Janis. Where was she now? To think that, in the end, she hadn't really done anything bad.

Then he thought about Emelie. He wondered if she was happy. Then he remembered that this was all her fault.

Somehow, from where he had been left alone by the truck driver, he made his way to the big city of Castañel. It was a tourist magnet that attracted visitors from the Atheism Islands, Guffingford, the imperial mainlands, Stevid, and elsewhere, known for its women, nightclubs, and drugs. Coming to the city by foot and hitch-hiking, he stumbled upon a resort town that sat on the golden shores just north of Castañel's most extreme suburbs. The beaches were covered with umbrellas, peoples, and vendors, and farther inside there were hotel buildings and businesses that all catered to the vacationers frequenting these beaches.

He was walking along one of these beaches, shoes off as he cleaned his sweaty legs in the saltwater of the sea when he saw Donal Jerispo laying on a cushioned bed, pink drink with a small umbrella in his hand, and a beautiful, bikini-clad girl no older than 22 in his arms.

When Mr. Jerispo saw him, there was a look of surprise on the man's face, and the director waved Dario over.

by **Banija** » Mon Aug 26, 2019 10:07 am

Scene at the Mujaguzo Palace

The Kabaka was at Mujaguzo Palace, alongside his son. He was reading a letter that had been hand delivered by the Commonwealth’s Ambassador to the Palace, and given directly to the Isebantu. It was an interesting letter at that. An invitation from Prime Minister Schoenlein to take a trip out to the Commonwealth, to help secure the alliance.

“How is it that Albert III never found his way to the Commonwealth of Baker Park?” the Isebantu asked.

“I’m, to be quite honest with you my son, am not sure.” Said Kabaka Mwanga. “But it is long overdue that a Banijan monarch take a trip to Belle Haven- there is a lot to do in Baker Park, and a lot to see. I like the proposed itinerary that I see. Getting to address the joint session, getting to go to Mansfield and visit the Banijan community, just in general all the pomp and honors of a state visit. And hey- you know what they say about the pomp and honors of a state visit to Baker Park.” And it was true. Even though they did not happen often, the Commonwealth of Baker Park had a reputation for hosting some of the grandest state visits in all of Atlantian Oceania. “This is a country, these are a people, who understand the importance of ceremony, the importance of maintaining and strengthening tradition. It, of course, would be quite an honor to visit the Commonwealth.”

“Your Majesty, of course we will accept this invitation. I will send word to our Ambassador in Belle Haven to respond to the Prime Minister in short order.” Said the Isebantu. And then he motioned to an aide to send word to Belle Haven. “Your Majesty, you know what protocol demands here- will you present the leopard skin?” Kabaka Mwanga, while having travelled abroad on a few occasions since his ascension to the throne, has never been on a state visit. In fact, this would be his first formal state visit of his reign on the throne, and he knew what tradition that called for. He, of course, still had the leopard skin that he had gotten on his coming of age hunt that was tradition among Banijan royal sons- he would hope that it would be accepted as a gift.

“Of course I will.” Said Kabaka Mwanga. “It is a tradition of great importance, a gift symbolizing the bond of our two countries. A gift that says that this family values that bond between Banija and Baker Park, that we appreciate what they have done for us.”

“Another important question my father- who will go with you?” Asked the Isebantu.

“Hmmm, that’s a great question, my son.” The Kabaka replied. And indeed, it was. Who would accompany the Kabaka on a visit to Belle Haven. “Naturally, of course, important members of the Royal Family need to come,” the Kabaka continued. “My wife, obviously, will be there. You and your wife must come as well, as the Waziri and as the first-in-line to my throne. Your sister, Omugaba Immaculate, and her husband should come as well. I think we should also emphasize the importance of family, so you should bring your sons as well. They are both under 10 years old, yes, but your oldest is a future monarch in this country. He is not too young to begin learning the duties of the Kabaka, and to learn to be on his best behavior, even in a foreign country. Have either of your sons accompanied you on any business trips before?” Asked the Kabaka.

“Neither have,” Said the Isebantu. “Just, of course, Namakula.” The Isebantu replied, speaking about his wife.

“OK, then this is a good opportunity. Your sons are small, and well behaved. They know how to eat, so they shouldn’t embarrass us. Make sure they’re ready.” Said the Kabaka. “Tell their instructor I have the highest standard for them. They’ll need to know their hellos and goodbyes, shaking hands, keeping themselves clean, how to sit still. Now, I think that’s a large enough travelling party of royals. That’s of us- my two oldest children, both of their spouses, and the two sons of my oldest child, my grandchildren. That’s 8, that is plenty.”

To: Rebecca Schoenlein, Prime Minister of Baker Park

Prime Minister Schoenlein, 

It is great to be in contact with you. Our two countries have an extremely strong bond, and it is a priority of my father’s and this country that the bonds between our two countries tighten. I have asked the Ambassador to make sure that this is hand delivered to your Foreign Office- this is to show the high value that we place on this relationship. 

We will gladly accept the opportunity for a state visit to the Commonwealth of Baker Park. Here is our list of attendees. 

Kabaka Mwanga and his wife, Luguba Katrina
Isebantu Mutungi and his wife, Omugaba Namakula
Isebantu Mutungi’s sons, Omugabe Ssekamanya(9 years old), and Omugabe Ssemanda(6 years old). 
Omugaba Immaculate and her husband, Omulangira Muteesa

We look forward to meeting you in short order.

From, 

Isebantu Mutungi
Waziri of Banija

Scene at Ssunna International Airport

The 8 members of the Royal Family who were going to Baker Park were all at Ssuuna International Airport, the ostensibly royal airport, but more commonly known as the airport for very important persons in Banija. The Royal Family used the airport, but it was also the airport used by members of the Government, the airport used by foreign diplomats and dignitaries, and always the airport used by foreign athletes whenever international sporting tournaments were held in Banija. But at this moment, of course, it was here being used for its original purpose.

“Is everyone ready?” The Kabaka called out. Everyone nodded their heads. It wasn’t that long of a flight to Belle Haven- just under 3 hours. Therefore, they were not planning to change on the plane. “Who has the leopard skin?” HE called out. An aide nodded, and held up a suitcase, presumably with the skin in it. He had his wife if he had a gift for both Prime Minister Schoenlein and President Gregson with her, and she held them up.

The plan, of course, was for them to give three gifts. One, was a painting of Prime Minister Schoenlein and the late Kabaka Albert III shaking hands in Busukuma. One, was a soccer ball with the AOCAF 58 logo on it that the Luguba was going to hand to the President. And the last, of course, was the traditional leopard skin, that the Kabaka would give to the Prime Minister. And it did seem as if everyone was prepared. As security started to guide the 8 towards their aircraft, the Kabaka was excited- what a moment it was going to be.

by **Chromatika** » Mon Aug 26, 2019 7:46 pm

Recap of Playoff Group Game 2: Chromatika 1-0 Main Nation Ministry
Goals: Sierra '74
Starting Lineup: Nier; Ruth - de Aea - Ibex - Ilya; Thorben - Mora - Montague - Dragana; Andisori, K. (C) - Victoriane.
Substitutes: Kuzami -> Montague ('52), Sierra -> Victoriane ('62), Damjana -> Ilya ('77)
Recap: Rowena Sierra's golden strike in the seventy-fourth proved to be the difference in a tight match between the Chromatiks and Main Nation Ministry as the Chromatiks inch closer to that berth to the World Cup Proper. Unfortunately for them, Busoga Islands also won their match against Ethane, meaning if the Chromatiks were to lose, they'll fall just short despite a +6 goals differential.

Preview of Playoff Group Game 3: Busoga Islands vs. Chromatika
Starting Lineup: Nier; Ruth - de Aea - Ibex - Damjana; Thorben - Mora - Montague - Conrad; Andisori, K. (C) - Victoriane.
Preview: Now faced with the Busoga Islands in the most important match of the Campaign by far, Aysu Damjana and Retta Conrad will get the starting nods. Ilya could use a break after some stressful matches, and experience in the back four is never a bad thing; Retta gets a chance to prove that she belongs with the big guns.

Couple Thousand Years Ago
The Palace of A Thousand Suns
Astral Plane

The Enlightened had existed as long as time had. In The Palace of A Thousand Suns, they looked over the nations below, learning about how people behaved and acted. Everyone lived in peace and harmony, following The Three's teachings, never really interfering.

That changed an iteration when a burst of Chaos came from the far reaches of the Astral Plane. One of The Enlightened, The Skilled, was doing a routine check of the surroundings when Chaos struck him. The next thousand iterations were of peace, but change was slowly occurring.

It was during the most inconspicuous time at the end of an iteration that The Skilled made their, no, his, move. It wasn't anything too drastic, except it was.

What did he do?

He disconnected from the consciousness of The Enlightened, and dove off the Plane into the world below.

What followed was utter chaos. The loss of a mind to The Enlightened was felt by every other member of the consciousness, and it took them far longer than expected to recover. By then, the-formerly-named The Skilled was gone.

The Skilled - who from that moment onward became The Black Mark - showed up thirty-three thousand iterations later in the land known as Chromatika. In a remote area, The Black Mark was creating a superweapon that could destroy the entire country, all in order to study death.

They'd stopped that, but it'd taken three members of The Enlightened. Somehow, independence had given The Black Mark further powers of mind.

How could they defeat him?

The decision was then made:

They'd let one unit go. To become his equal.

And so it was that The Hope left The Enlightened and became The Sword.

And so it was that she decided play a visit to one Keira Andisori, not aware that one iteration for The Enlightened was equal to about two weeks of Atlantian Oceania time.

by **Mattijana** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 3:15 am

Ministry of Sport Headquarters, Central Petrovijanka

With Mattijana once again failing to get through to the World Cup Finals after a dire attacking performance against Saintland, there was much to discuss at the Ministry of Sport. Fortunately, with the Cup of Harmony a little way away, it was some time before Mattijana might have to play again. That meant that minister for sport Julian Petrov, head of Football Polona Struna and some other less-important people could procrastinate any important decisions about the future of the national team and it's apparently permanently under-pressure boss, Dusan Vukoja, and focus on some of the lower-hanging fruit to be found in the office.

"So this Qusmo business, what exactly's going on there?" With so much going on, Julian had to be up to date.

"Well I haven't found any plans for a pre-finals Qusmo friendly series, so we should have a window to try and book one in. They actually managed to automatically qualify for the finals, so it's quite a big window as well." Simona Zelesniska had been unusually in demand as general organiser lately and seemed to have a decent handle on when things were supposed to be happening.

"Right. So I think it would be worth getting onto them and seeing what we can arrange. Have the TujineBuro come back about the Qusmo PR?"

Polona Struna was rarely quiet for long.

"They've said that they'd be happy to send out some visit Mattijana merch to Qusmo, although franky, they're as confused as we are as to why this has anything to do with them."

"I see...well I guess that's all good then..."

"Good. I've also had something from the NSWC about nominating a player of the tournament, or something like that."

As the official PR man for the Ministry, Dominik Mirje for some reason felt this was his kind of area.

"Player of the tournament? Isn't that for players in teams who actually qualify?"

"Well it generally is, yes. But it's not totally unheard of for players from other teams to get in if they play well. I don't think there's any harm in at least nominating someone."

"Right. I suppose the question now is who are we going to nominate?"

"Well based on watching the national team so far, I'd go for either Kara Lorenzic or Marko Hojbjerg. Kara's made a massive step up from last cycle and scored a lot of goals, whilst Marko was consistently solid at both ends of the pitch. They'd both be pretty decent choice in my opinion."

"You know more about the national team than I do Polona, so it's down to you really. I was wondering if there would be more competition for a striker's place compared to in the midfield though."

"Well if you're going to work like that, then we may as well pick a full-back."

"I suppose we could do that..."

"Well I would Julian, but quite frankly, neither of them have been very good."

"Right..."

Once more, an awkward silence descended over the meeting room. One that was only eventually broken by PR Officer Dominik Mirje.

"I mean it's a balance isn't it. From an image perspective, it would be great to have someone in the team, regardless of who that is and the lengths we go to in order to get them there. I feel it would be less good to nominate someone who obviously wasn't our best player as our best player though."

It was a very true statement, but not a particularly helpful one. It was time for Julian to get things back on track.

"Look. Lorenzic has been great considering she was our third-choice striker not very long ago, but she's been inconsistent and she wasn't really there when we needed her the most at the end of the cycle. I think Hojbjerg would be a good pick and he's certainly been around the squad long enough. Why don't we just kill two birds with one stone and go with him?"

"To be honest Julian, I'm not sure I can really argue with that."

"Good."

To: Fuzpon Qusma
From: MattijanaFussBand
Subject: Pre-World Cup Friendly

In order to improve relations between our two nations, the MattijanaFussBand would like to invite the Qusmo national side to Petrovijanka and Puljanka for a two-match friendly series prior to your appearance at World Cup 83.

Your fans are of course also invited and we would increase the ticket allocation for your fans to 40% of capacity compared to the usual figure of 10% in order to rebuild relationships between our countries' citizens after recent suspicion.

We look forward to your response to our proposal.

Polona Struna, Head of Football at the Mattijanan Ministry of Sport.

To: NSWC
From: MattijanaFussBand
Subject: Mattijanan nomination for team of the tournament

To whom it may concern,

After much deliberation at the MattijanaFussBand, we have decided to nominate Marko Hojbjerg for team of the tournament.

The Central midfielder scored 4 goals and made 7 assists out of Mattijana's 18 goals during our qualifying campaign and was also a key figure in protecting the defence, helping the team notch up the most clean sheets of any qualifying campaign despite the shortened format.

We hope you will consider him for this huge honour.

Polona Struna, Head of Football at the Mattijanan Ministry of Sport.

by **Zwangzug** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 11:50 am

The Spenson Star
Twelfth match, eleventh hour, 73rd minute

Seventeen cycles ago, in the all-or-nothing thirty-group format of World Cup 66, it was substitute Rudolf Sternberg who lifted Zwangzug to first place in their group and made his hometown famous for something other than getting hit by a meteor.

Edwin Cherenkov-Nguyen is no Sternberg. He hails from the FTC and now plies his proverbial trade in Cham, and substitute midfielders are a less unlikely source for goals since the national team no longer has any true strikers. But in the seventy-first minute of the Pasarga match, it was #19 who added accolades to his ample appellations, breaking a tie to see Zwangzug to the proper.

The first half had been a close-fought affair, with Alexander Kárpáty's quickly equalizing after a Lucas Kukiseso header. Pasarga opened up more aggressively in the second half, depite, or perhaps because of, the vocal support of fans who waved banners urging them to overcome the Barunia Suns. After a short pass from Chevanthi Arokiaraj, Cherenkov-Nguyen broke forth on the counterattack.

"I'm thrilled with this result," said Tavish Willow, "but I can't take credit for it or any other specific game--everything I accomplish really comes from the playerbase. We were able to build momentum when we needed it...[Editor's note--snipped for cliches and inability to realize that every game counts the same. See his transcript online if you need more cliches for your football cliche bingo card.]"

Zwangzug can now rest up as the twenty-four second-place teams prepare to compete in neutral-ground playoffs for the right to join the group winners in Banija or the Equestrian States. For preview, see below:

Local bandwagon-hopper pledges to support BoF champs as soon as he can figure out how to spell their names
Rocket retort? How Newmanistan's multisport dominance could continue
How to buy a Chromatika replica kit without being intoxicated by their flag

by **Kita-Hinode** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 12:30 pm

He could hear the chants around him.
In front of him, laid a Vulpine Sportif ball. White with several black drawings over its' skin.
A couple of steps from that stood three men. Dressed in red shirts, white shorts, red socks and black football boots.
He adjusted his bandana, making sure his hair allowed him to see properly.
He eyed the goal behind them. The goalkeeper seemed worried, he was probably about his age but happened to be about thirty centimetres taller.
He grinned. He took three steps back.
He ran towards the ball and gave it a good kick.
The ball swerved upwards, going over the wall of defenders before reaching the top right angle of the goal.
The goalkeeper, his opponent, almost caught the ball but it was too high, even for him.

Lucas Monteiro stood in front of the crowd, hands extending his ears to hear the crowd.
...
And then, he woke up.

A man looked at his cellphone, checking the location via the map inside it.
He looked at the number, smiling before knocking the door.
Marie opened the door, examined the man and soon realized what he was gonna talk about.
He wore a navy blue scarf with the words "Let's Go, Caledon" emblazed on it.
Another football person. Ever since Matt had been dropped by Carnegie Helland, they had been visiting them way more often than she was used to.

MM: Yes?
SC: I'm Scott Cartwright, scout for the Caledonian Football Association.
MM: I see.
SC: Uh... can I enter, madam?
MM: Look, if it's about my son-
SC: Well, yeah, it's about your son.
MM: He already signed up for Kensington.
SC: Well, but that's not exactly what I'm here for.
MM: But you said it was about my son.
SC: Oh, well, yes. But I'm here for national football matters. I believe your son might have been dropped by Anglia due to his... incident. Can I come in? I promise I'll make my case quickly.
MM: ...Sure.

Matt was dressed in his usual sleeping clothes, an old Clifford Town jersey, black long shorts and sandals having breakfast with his journey partners. Ann was covered by a massive hoodie while Lloyd himself looked pretty non-descript, pretty much his usual clothes.
LL: Did you hear the news, Lucas?
LM: About my brother?
LL: Uh... yeah. A guy in the training section of the Centre told me that your brother was signed by that big-city team.
LM: Ah, yes. Kensington, I think? We played them once ages ago, but it was their under-15 squad.
AM: Huh. And here you thought you were just the team's mascot, the Massive Prick.
LM: Yeah, no, I played. And I was pretty good at it. Pretty sure we played every notable team from this part of the world.
LL: Hm? Serious?
LM: Yeah! Ask me any team and I'll probably remember something.
LL: Toonside United?
LM: Their team played in hand me downs because their chairman was cheap as all hell. We beat them 5-0. I feel sorry for whoever supports them.
LL: Well, cheers for that.
LM: Just being honest.
AM: Speaking of that, Wonderwall?
LM: Rivals of Stanford, massive pricks ever since that rich guy from Halreen poured money into them like nobody's business. Drew them 2-2 once and 1-1 twice.

Scott made sure to keep eye contact with the lady while being as respectful as possible, as soon as she returned from bringing him some tea.
He took a sip of the tea, clearing his throat before starting.

SC: We believe your son is a fantastic player...
MM: Heard that one before already, sir.
SC: I'm sorry?
MM: Lowbury, Stanford, Wonderwall, Vacantham, Platinum Tower... look, the only reason he signed up with Kensington was that their chairman promised they'd pay for the surgery to fix him up.
SC: Promised?
MM: It's written in the contract. I made sure to read it myself.
SC: W-Well, to be fair, madam, I'm scouring for a national team.
MM: Indeed. I'm just a bit tired.
SC: Well, anyway. As you may have heard, since the recent Union Agreements, foreigners that spent three years or more here are allowed to represent the national team of any of the regions located inside the isles.
MM: Well, yes, I remember hearing about it when we moved here.
SC: So, we believe that your son Lucas would be a really good member of the new Caledonian revolution and...
MM: Lucas?
SC: Uh... yes. Lucas Monteiro is your son, right?

The trio continued having their breakfast.
AM: Say, when we're done getting our tickets, what are your plans?
LM: Well... I don't really know. Battling has been pretty fun so far but I think it's been a bit uneventful.
LL: To be fair, this is just a journey. We get to see the rest of the islands but I don't think any of us are just going to be Pokémon Trainers for a living.
AM: Worked well for his father, no?
LM: Yeah, if you don't take under consideration the part about his students dying in a summoning ritual to bring Giratina to our realm.
LL: You don't think you'll be able to return to football? You just punched a guy in any case.
LM: Come on, Lloyd. Let's be honest.
AM: Let's be honest that you never were any good at it?
LM: I'll have you know I was good! Just not as good as Matt, which is probably why I don't expect anyone doing well to be interested in me.
LL: I think I get what you mean.
LM: Well, it's simple. You'd need to be very desperate that I'm considered a good player to get.

Scott almost spat out the tea, swallowing it in a rush to the point of almost choking.
SC: He's doing what!?
MM: He's training Pokémon. He wants to get tickets to a rock concert for a friend.
SC: Oh, goddamn it... I mean... Sorry, madam, it's just...
MM: It's fine, I imagine they were counting on you to get him to sign up for Caledon.
SC: Can't you just call him to give him the news?
MM: Honestly, sir, I couldn't even convince him not to go into this journey of his. You should go on your own and find him.

As they left the centre, now dressed properly and on their way to face their first Gym; Lloyd seemed to still be thinking about their chat.
LL: Shame about the football career, you could have been like the next World star or something.
LM: Eh, don't worry. By this point, I think I'm sure nobody will give me a shot. Let's focus on getting that badge.
AM: The first step on the path towards my tickets, right?
LM: Yeah. You got it.
LL: I hope this will be fun.
LM: Eh, something in my gut tells me it'll be eventful, at least.

by **Saltstead** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 5:53 pm

stallion.stable.co.ha
All Saltsteadish! All football!
Eura vs Saltstead: a match that shall write history

In what we dare call the single most infuriating campaign in Saltsteadish football history, a twelve-match unbeaten run was not enough to punch tickets to the World Cup final thanks to six unfortunate or inexcusable draws showing up in the place of the wins that Saltsteadish supporters were hoping for. Potentially, for the first time in more than a quarter-century, a team undefeated in the main stage of qualification could miss out on the final tournament.

The worst fear of supporters the world over was to be drawn with the team who had unexpectedly finished second to Ko-oren in their qualifying group. Eura was top of everyone’s list for teams to avoid and, as if Tlanx-Nulzk Hal themselves had cut a witch doctor off in traffic, Saltstead was paired with the two-time world champions. Contrary to the musings of Newmanistani press, Saltsteaders didn’t see the group as a three-team affair, but a one-team affair; a number of pundits declared the campaign dead before the playoffs had even kicked off, with a rogue employee at Seelandes Nyren proclaiming EURA STRONK and Saltstead f*****d.

Saltstead was the team voted second-most likely to win Group 5, granted; the Stallions eked out a 1–0 victory over Newmanistan and destroyed Mytanija in an obscene 4–0 win, keeping their dreams of making it to the finals alive and well. But just as Group 5 has not only the sole team yet to concede in the playoffs, but also the most prolific goalscoring team in the playoffs thus far and you win today’s article if you guessed it was Eura. Currently, with the two teams yet to play and possessing identical goal differentials, Eura holds the lead over Saltstead on the very last of the tiebreakers: goals scored.

So as we enter the final day of the playoffs, the favourite goes in needing a mere draw, facing the only team that can usurp them. Unlike the decisive match against Qusmo at King William VII National Park two years ago, Saltstead now plays the role of the rank underdog who needs to claim victory to qualify and, with a Qusmi at the helm as coach, Saltsteaders will hope that the Stallions can do to Eura what Qusmo did to them. And after all, Saltstead emerging victorious from the worst possible playoff draw is nothing new, as Kick Corps supporters will not want to be reminded.

It is very much possible that the Stallions again find themselves undefeated, yet beaten into second, only this time without a second chance to qualify. Saltstead could be the first team to go undefeated in the main stage and fail to qualify since Jeruselem and the Archregimancy fell to Antoletia and the Sarian in the World Cup 69 qualifying playoffs; if Eura and Saltstead play out a draw, Saltstead would be the first team since Darmen in World Cup 67—who coincidentally also drew exactly half their games in the main stage—to go undefeated throughout qualification and still fail to make the finals and the first team in recorded memory to “accomplish” such a feat having also contested a qualifying playoff.

Saltstead aren’t unfamiliar with doing historically unusual things. The Stallions’ successful World Cup 81 qualifying campaign was reminiscent of Ossidiacqua’s campaign to qualify for the 65th World Cup: the group runners-up failed to submit the paperwork to take part in the playoffs, handing their berth down to the third-place team, who subsequently proceeded to win over two legs. But the sword of fate is double-edged and just as it sliced in Saltstead’s favour, it appears maybe ready to slice to Saltstead’s detriment.

Victory at Zion’s Silver Regional Transit Arena would be much sweeter than the draw in Drawk City which secured Saltstead first qualifying triumph. While this would not be Eura’s first failed qualification campaign, Eura’s qualifying streak right now is nearly six times as long as Drawkland’s was at the time of the Kick Corps’ playoff loss—if Eura lose in Zion, it will mark the first time in forty-six years that they will not be present at the final tournament. Furthermore, Drawkland was ranked 20th in the world with 25.84 ranking points at the time the team fell to the Stallions, thirteen places and nearly thirteen points short Eura’s pre-qualification rank of 7th and 38.54 rank points.

Eura has already lost nearly three ranking points and fallen to tenth in the most recently published edition of the rankings. This would surely be plenty to be overwhelming favourite to take the Cup of Harmony, but being in that tournament rather than the World Cup finals would entail a massive crash down the rankings that a fifth trophy would be hard-pressed to make up for. The Eurans will doubtlessly be coming out in full force to keep their qualification streak, second only to Vilita among active streaks and among the top ten all-time longest, alive and well for the next two years.

tl;dr: Defeating Eura would be a plainly more monumental upset than defeating Drawkland. Not doing so would be far more heartbreaking and/or blood-boiling than the loss to Qusmo in our sacred home ground. We shall shortly inscribe our names onto the stone of history either as giant killers, capable of bringing even Goliath to his knees, or incorrigible failures, destined to suffer one history-making humiliation after another. Let’s hope we follow in Ko-oren’s footsteps and beat Eura to the top.

██ Eura predicted starting XI: Robert Griffin; Ben Hall, Harvey Blake, Charles Roberts, Scott Coles (c); Liam Armstrong, John Talbot; Rhys Griffiths, Oscar Coltrane, Anthony Townsend; Dion Underwood
██ 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
— Christianė Vesħandler from Silver Beach
World Cup qualifying playoffs — state of play
  Group 1         Group 2         Group 3         Group 4         Group 5         Group 6  
MAC  5:1  6     CMT  8:2  6     RCN  4:2  6     KSK  7:5  6     EUR 11:6  6     HIN  5:3  6
JUE  6:5  3     MNM  2:2  3     STL  5:5  3     SVJ  6:6  2     SAL  5:0  6     HAP  4:4  3
BRU  8:8  3     BUS  3:2  3     NFX  2:3  3     KRY  6:7  1     NEW  4:7  0     BAU  1:1  3
CAV  3:8  0     ETN  2:9  0     AFT  0:1  0     OME  5:6  1     MYT  2:9  0     TIN  0:2  0

by **Kelssek** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 6:01 pm

Torrent of goals as Kelssek qualifies for World Cup 83

Kelssek have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in a generation after beating Krytenia 4-3 in a wild night in Busukuma. An instant classic, the match will go down as one to remember for Kelssekian football. Kelssek fans streamed out of the Mugisha III Memorial Stadium in a party mood and a lot of blue was on display in the nightlife districts of the Banijan capital.

With both teams out for a win and favouring the offence, the match turned into a frenetic goal scoring contest. Only one team could emerge from the group of four, a situation that Kelssek manager Kirk McDonagh said in pre-match comments makes a draw as good as a loss. Indeed, the draw between Omerica and Savojarna in the group’s other contest combined with the three points earned by Kelssek to eliminate both from contention.

Kelssek took the opening goal from a corner with Damien Halliger heading the ball into the net. The Hansen twins were a constant threat and nearly got the equalizer when Joe Hansen’s shot cracked against the crossbar from 30 yards and rebounded to Selaphiel Kennedy with Kai Poirier stranded. But Christian Arbour put in a crucial challenge, the highlight of an able shift replacing the suspended Mason Curtin who was sent off against Omerica.

Krytenia levelled the match through Freddie Hames six minutes before half-time, and took the lead through a lovely bit of skill from Joshua Coquelin to put Kelssek on the ropes. But then came the decisive moment as Krytenia leaked two goals in four minutes and never recovered. Colm Ó Tuathil showed the skill and pace that caught the eyes of the Oldem Knights scouts by nutmegging Will Vasser to set up hated Oldem Mechanical rival Brayden Custworth.

Krytenia were reeling and were put to the sword almost immediately from the restart as Cory Greenwood found space and shot the ball into the net past a diving Marcus Washington. Midfielder Mats Bogdanor scored the fourth goal to earn a vital cushion with a low placed shot from just outside the box. Krytenia’s Chris Naismith netted in the 89th minute to set up a tense period of added time. But Kelssek’s defence held firm as their travelling supporters spent most of the next seven minutes furiously whistling and making other high pitched noises.

Match statistics
Kelssek 4, Krytenia 3
Goals: Halliger (Ksk) 28’, Hames (Kry) 39’, Coquelin (Kry) 56’, Custworth (Ksk) 61’, Greenwood (Ksk) 63’, Bogdanor (Ksk) 81’, Naismith 89’ (Kry).
Ball possession: Ksk 53%, Kry 47%
Shots (on target): Ksk 12 (7), Kry 18 (6)
Player of the match: Cory Greenwood (Ksk)

Next match
Kelssek - Rank: 65 - Last 5: DXLWW
Savojarna - Rank: 32 - Last 5: LXLXX
Venue: Mugisha III Memorial Stadium, Busukuma, Banija
Team news: Gabriel Lapierre (Ksk) doubtful - lower body.
On paper, Savojarna are the highest-ranked team in the group, but the fact that this match is now effectively a friendly throws some unpredictability into how each team will approach it.

by **Newmanistan** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 6:18 pm

THE ROCKET REPORT

WE’RE STILL HERE

by Taylor Larson

In an offensive battle, the Rockets fell to Eura by the score of 6-4, thereby eliminating any chance of the team advancing to the World Cup. It was the expected ending for many, as only the most jaded Newmanistanian thought the team had a chance to qualify. Still, the played their hearts out during the qualification effort and into this playoff, and hopefully this will allow Emperor Michael V to provide the approval for continued entries into World Cup play. I have the feeling that he has seen the passion of our fans, and that if the team shows they can be competitive then we will come out for soccer. In the grand scheme of things, this team did not advance, but they were successful. The Cup of Harmony, which we now know will be hosted by Damukuni and Eastfield Lodge, and an invite should be heading our way.

The match against Eura was a battle, and our team really put forth a great effort. With the score 3-3 at halftime, there was plenty of reason to be excited. And when we responded in the 60th minute to keep the game tied, this time at 4, and Derek Schaefer completing the hat trick, our imaginations about an upset started to run while. Unfortunately for us, the class and overall talent of Eura took over in the final half hour, and saw them score twice, to which we could not respond.

With the loss, Newmanistan now has only a meaningless....

Meaningless?! Oh, hell no. Sure, it might be meaningless in terms of us advancing, but it is not meaningless in terms of national pride. This team has come far, and they are excited about the match. They believe that they have played well and are not about to finish in the cellar of this group. The fans have not gone anywhere. I have been talking to many of them around Zion, and they still plan on going to the small field they have to play on, waving the flag, and being loud. I can’t wait for it!

by **Brusseldorf** » Tue Aug 27, 2019 7:02 pm

MAKE OR BREAK

Brusseldorf are well and truly into the playoffs, with the national team still holding its head above water come Matchday No.3. Manager Craig Foster and Head Coach Tim Erikson have guided the team to the furthest extent in National Team history, winning the admiration of both football fans and the general public back home. Los Alrededores performed admirably at home on Sunday night, holding back Crystalline Caverns in a stunning goalfest. Teddy Wolfenden scored only his second international hat-trick to put Brusseldorf 3-0 up before half time. Beginning the second half, Brusseldorf's hopes looked to come crashing down, with The Frostac Wolves scoring two in quick succession thanks to a team goal and solo effort, both ending with the confident foot of Landen Smoker. Andrea Zidane was able to make the difference for the home side, scoring from a penalty in the 87th minute to secure Brusseldorf's place in the final round.

Brusseldorf's hero! Teddy Wolfenden jubilant as he scored his second international hattrick for Los Alrededores. Image credit: Irish Mirror

In a similar situation to the closing matches of the qualifiers, Brusseldorf have to win, with Juvencus preferably losing to Crystalline Caverns. Brusseldorf needs to win by a fair margin to resurrect the goal difference. Whilst it looks unlikely, miracles do happen, and Brusseldorf fans can only wait and pray for the best. Either way, football's image in Brusseldorf has certainly been elevated over the past few weeks, and fans of the national team have every reason to celebrate Los Alrededores' continuing successes. If the national team cannot make it to the finals this round, fans are confident that that day is just around the corner.

Andrea Zidane scored the final goal on the night. Image credit: Bavarian Football Works

Los Alrededores diehard fan Mario Sanchez was more than eager to make comment.
"De football team, all of dem, de arrre my angels, you see? Each ant eberrry one of dem is like an angel in jheaben to me. Dey arrre playing de most beautiful football in de worrrlt. One day, Got will see dat, ant den let dem into de Worrrlt Cup finals. But I am not complaining if dey arrre not derrre yet. To me, it is Got saying, watch! watch! Dey arrre going to play eben morrre beautiful football! JHe is telling us dat dey arrre not rrready yet, but dey will be one day, you jhearrr me, si. One day Brrrusseldorrrf will be in de Worrrlt Cup finals, ant den I will crrry ant sing with my family, you see, all de fans, dey arrre all my family, si? Den we will win de Worrrlt Cup! ant I will tell my childrrren of dis forrr many yearrrs! Biba Los Alrrrededorrres!"

World Cup 83 - Roleplay Thread

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