The 7 Nation Cup [Sonnel Invitational Megathread]

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

The 7 Nations

(1) Drawkland
(2) Almuzahara
(3) Silver Beach
(4) Ghirapur
(5) Juvencus
(6) Chartistan
(7) Sevendia

Play will resume tomorrow with the schedule given in the 7NC2 OP. The group order is as listed here. Good Luck!

[Sevendia]

(A fourth time, the following dialogue is translated from Sevenish to this more universal language for the sake of readability, and therefore doesn’t follow the usual grammar and seven usage rules of Sevendia and Sevenish. Sevendians would definitly still hate that, why would that have changed.)

„Good job Sean-Seven, we‘ve made it. This is the promised land. We are at the 7 Nation Cup. Of course mostly thanks to my brilliant coaching, you didn’t actually do all that great. You all had one good game, the one against Silver Beach. That was good stuff. The other three sucked, honestly, and I expect better work.”
“Yeah yeah yeah 91, I’ll be sure to do that. You were as important to this teams success as Sevendia is for Sonnel. Just fantastic work. Anyways, we move on to the actual 7 nation stage now. Do you know what that means?”
“Of course I do, I am stupid. Now, lets just assume you’d want to explain it to someone else, someone that is not me; how would you explain it?”
“So, we start on the first matchday with a game against Almuzahara. They cruised through their qualifying group with 4 wins, and seem to be one of the best teams in this competition. It’s going to be tough”
“Yeah, we’re going to be fine. What’s next?”
“Then we have a second meeting with our group mates, Silver Beach.”
“Ah, the ones we easily got the seven-goal game against? Will be easy again.”
"They've had the really mean chants though, they really scared our team. We were almost unable to move, they cursed us"
"Still got the seven goal game. Easy."
“After that, we’ve got the game against Ghirapur. They won the other group, so another tough game there. These guys have some sort of shape-shifting abilities –“
“Are they sevens now?!?”
“No?”
“Well then they are clearly out of their mind and will be very easy. Maybe nearly as easy as Pripet. I still cant believe you would do so terrible against them.”
“Yeah. Next, we got Juvencus. They were only second in their group, but that’s a serious team. They’ve been to world cups. I think that’s making that difficult as well”
“I see. What else is there?”
“Chartistan, that’s maybe the easiest one; then we get a bye and then we’ve got the big one. Drawkland”
“They love 7, right?”
“Oh, they sure do”
“Oh no, that’s not good. Plus, this isn’t a Round of 16, so its going to be really difficult for us. Alright, I can tell the media we’ll get second?”
“No!”
“Alright, first, even better”
“No! No! That’s a massive bunch of top teams, we will be glad if we don’t finish last!”
“Last? Seventh? SEVENTH! That’s perfect! That’s just what we want! I trust you, you can do this! Go get them! Hail Seven!”
“Eh… Hail Seven.”

[Pripet Socialist Republic]

ha i got reply 77 suckers

[Almuzahara]

Almuzahara 5 - 2 Zlevecky
Bekkaye; Delgado (Tamaziyt 63'), Bendahan (C), Tolosa, Boumediene; Averroes, Elias, Al-Qushayri; Fernandez, Ben Labrat (Tilimsan 78'), Blanco (Mansur 55')
Goals: Blanco 25', Al-Qushayri 39', Fernandez 45+2' (P), Averroes 53', Tilimsan 88'

Neo-Futurist Wyoming 1 – 4 Almuzahara
Al-Harrak; Tamaziyt, Ait, Tolosa, Youssef (Boumediene 62'); Bennani (C) (Elias 83'), Mansur, Elneny; Araz Fernandez, Tilimsan, Blanco (Al-Qushayri 74')
Goals: Blanco 11', Tolosa 23', Elneny 64', Araz Fernandez 70'

may 28, 1517
from the journal of Yahya Leónidas del Toro

An undercurrent of greed has swept its way beneath my ship, poisoning my crew with thoughts of slaughtering the hapless natives, seizing the Fountain of Youth, and making a fortune back in the Caliphate. My journey to ship's captain was already fraught due to my shameful Christian roots and my lower stature in the homeland's high society - yet now, as I attempt to convince them to continue our exploration, it seems I am losing them. While my fellow officers have maintained that the Caliphate's official position must be one of trading and friendship, a popular sailor by the name of Oumar Bennani has won over many supporters amongst my crew with his discussion of how best to seize this stretch of native land.

The situation will soon become untenable. The natives have sensed some hostility, and despite my best efforts, will no longer show us the way to the Fountain of Youth, nor will they continue to exchange gifts with us. Without them, our expedition is essentially frozen - I am starting to think we must brave the jungle alone, or sail upcoast, where there is more penetrable vegetation. Whatever I do, I may have to concede that much of my crew is no longer with me...

present day

Thirty minutes later, Dr. Herrera had pressed a vial into Mahmoud Casablanca's hand. "Right, well...that's the first dose. We'd like to have you take it in our clinic so we can better examine the effects, but after that, you'll be on your way with more."

Mahmoud held the vial up to the light, tilting his head as he examined it. "It just looks like water," he replied, squinting through the vial into the fluorescent lights above.

"Well, yes. Most of it is. But the rest...well, let's say we've recreated some native magic in there...unless you want me to explain three years' of chemistry to you right now."

"You really just expect me to drink this right now, huh? How desperate do you think I am?"

"Well, you came here, didn't you?" Dr. Herrera's reply was met with silence. "Besides, what do you have to lose? By the time Alaoui's out of the team, you'll be in your forties. It's now or never for your national team career."

Mahmoud sighed. "You're right. Show me to the lab, then." Dr. Herrera wordlessly held a door open for him, watched as he stepped through, and mumbled something to himself once the footballer was out of earshot.

"Like shooting fish in a barrel."

[Silver Beach]

Josiah Buba on the bench, as his team warms up before Matchday 1

"Well, we've made it." He said. A couple of his players were warming up. "Matchday 1. The 7 Nation Cup proper. The Inter-City National Team being our first opponent, on the other side of the pitch."

"Did you know their players were chosen by popular vote?" Said one of his scouts.

"What- really?" Josiah Buba replied. "Well, that's kinda cool. I get the fact that they're running out a second choice team- they've gotta put everything into the Baptism of Fire. Should mean an entertaining game tonight, for sure though."

"Well, think- we want to get ahead of the crowd." The scout said. "It's pretty important that we get three points tonight, don't you think? This is not an easy group."

"Yea, of course." Josiah Buba said. "The players have their instructions, and it's not like they're robots- they've seen the schedule. We've got some tough games coming up. Drawkland on Matchday 3. Juvencus hasn't done much in a while, but they're a strong team and are WCC members. At their height, they can cause some serious damage. We're going out for the win tonight."

"Everybody's well rested, too." Josiah continued. "We've had a couple of months. Couldn't have them non-stop training since May though, right? They need to get rested- as soon as this tournament is over, players will be flying off to their clubs for the club season. So they had their six weeks off. That's why we only got back to Zion for training camp starting in mid July. The players understand what's at stake. We're all healthy, and we're all ready to play."

"You know, the middle is going to be so very clogged up." The scout replied. "They play a trio of central midfielders. They've only got three in the back though. There's only one strategy here- having our center backs fall back and press high up the flanks. Put pressure on their wide midfielders to defend, and looping in crosses. Make their centerbacks peddle backwards, don't let them control possesion because they overload the middle."

"Hmm. We can do this. Our instructions to Miri Herzl and Rosenstein will be clear- you've got to stay wide, we've got to stretch them in the back." Josiah said. "There are no easy matchups at the 7 Nations Cup- but we are a good team as well. We've going to pull them wide to create gaps, and then we have to exploit them. Somebody like Lachman is capable of making those runs. We're going to have to keep our central midfielders fresh, anyways. Orin Set can probably only play for a half at his age against a team with so many central midfielders- I'll go talk to Shapiro, tell him to be ready for extended second half playing time no matter the situation."

Josiah and the scout shook hands. "We've all got faith in you coach." Said the scout. "As far as I'm concerned, we're the lineal unofficial world champions. Either way- if it counted as a defense on Matchday 1 of Qualifying, we've won it that way. If it didn't count until Matchday 5, then we beat Al Qurija. We've got the faith in you to hold onto it for a few more matchdays."

Josiah chuckled. "Well, we've only done one job- qualified. That was the bare minimum. It was a bonus that we looked good doing so. None of that matters now- nobody's going to be talking about how we beat the Sevens by 3 in Qualifying if we bomb out of the actual 7NC. Which game are you watching today?"

"I'm going to Drawk City Stadium." The scout replied. " Almuzahara v. Sevendia should be a good one. And, of course, see if Sevendia is going to implement any changes against us after our Qualifier." They wished each other luck, and the scout left. Buba walked over to Lazarus Shapiro and started a conversation with him. He would do whatever he could to ensure Silver Beach could get off to a strong start here at the 7NC...

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

Matchday 1

---

Almuzahara 3–0 Sevendia
Silver Beach 4–1 Chartistan
Ghirapur 2–1 Juvencus

# 7NC2                 Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Almuzahara             1   1  0  0    3   0  +3    3
  Silver Beach           1   1  0  0    4   1  +3    3
3 Ghirapur               1   1  0  0    2   1  +1    3
4 Juvencus               1   0  0  1    1   2  −1    0
5 Chartistan             1   0  0  1    1   4  −3    0
  Sevendia               1   0  0  1    0   3  −3    0

[Almuzahara]

Almuzahara 3- 0 Sevendia
Bekkaye; Delgado (Tamaziyt 73'), Bendahan (C), Osman, Boumediene; Averroes (Bennani 70'), Elias, Al-Qushayri; Fernandez, Ben Labrat, Blanco (Alami 76')
Goals: Blanco 17', Al-Qushayri 37', Bendahan 67'

june 3, 1517
from the journal of Yahya Leónidas del Toro

I have managed to convince my crew of a compromise of sorts. Since the natives are no longer cooperative, it may not be in our best interest for me to continue to be so friendly with them. At the same time, since we need more information, it may be prudent to launch an expedition into the jungle ourselves in order to study the Fountain of Youth more closely. I have no doubts that this has sated the crew for now, although the question of who to bring on the journey would be tricky. The crew seemed insistent that I go, but I have trust in my first mate to maintain order, and Oumar Bennani, who has come into his own as a leader, will be making the voyage as well. It was decided that we would choose three more sailors for the mission - I selected Abdel Simon, a grizzled Catalan who has served by my side for eight years, and the young, sprightly Tarik Elias. Oumar, for his part, was insistent that we bring his friend, Hassan Saqat.

We will tell the natives that I am sick with the Jungle Fever while my first mate controls our relations efforts with them, and hope that this apparent change of pace will appease them. Simon, Elias, Saqat, Bennani and I will then start our journey tomorrow at dawn.

present day

"Bottoms up," Dr. Herrera intoned, after setting up a few scanners aimed at Mahmoud's body. Mahmoud inhaled deeply, popped the vial open, and drank its meager contents. Just as he'd suspected, absolutely nothing happened. Dr. Herrera stared at the scanners' outputs for a few seconds, nodding, before he spoke up about it.

"...was that supposed to do anything?"

"Just a bit of calibration, if you will. We'll up the amounts for the next few doses, and you should start seeing more results then. Until then," he added, holding up a small notebook and what inexplicably appeared to be a golf pencil, "I want you to write in this journal any, ah, adverse symptoms you might feel. Sound good?"

"Sure," Mahmoud said. "...wait, so this is a thing now?"

"If it makes you feel better, it's free if it doesn't work," Dr. Herrera chuckled, passing him a slightly bigger vial. "Take that in a few days, then come back in a week for examination and the third dose." And so, confused and mildly uncomfortable, Mahmoud was sent on his way.

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

Matchday 2

---

Chartistan 2–3 Ghirapur
Sevendia 2–2 Silver Beach
Drawkland 2–2 Almuzahara

# 7NC2                 Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ghirapur               2   2  0  0    5   3  +2    6
2 Silver Beach           2   1  1  0    6   3  +3    4
  Almuzahara             2   1  1  0    5   2  +3    4
4 Drawkland              1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
5 Sevendia               2   0  1  1    2   5  −3    1
6 Juvencus               1   0  0  1    1   2  −1    0
7 Chartistan             2   0  0  2    3   7  −4    0

[Almuzahara]

Drawkland 2 - 2 Almuzahara
Bekkaye; Delgado, Bendahan (C), Osman, Boumediene (Youssef 73'); Averroes (Elneny 56'), Elias, Al-Qushayri; Fernandez, Ben Labrat, Blanco (Alami 84')
Goals: Al-Qushayri 17’, Delgado 59’

june 7, 1517

"Three days in the jungle, and all we've got to show for it is malaria," groused Abdel Simon. In fairness, it had been an incredibly miserable journey. As planned, the five of them had left at dawn, traipsing bravely into the jungle. But Simon's skill as a navigator was severely tested by their general lack of information about Almuzahara, and the heat, humidity, and mosquitoes contrived to make all five of them miserable.

"Well, it'll all be worth it when we find that damn spring for ourselves - isn't that right, Captain?" replied Oumar Bennani with a grin, as Hassan Saqat chuckled in the background. Yahya Leonídas del Toro waved the quip off. "As I said, we'll figure things out if we find it. But that's a big if right now. Simon, you have any idea where we're going now?"

"I'm trying my hardest here, but there's not much to go off of," replied Simon. "Just a few notes I took when the natives were showing us around - but obviously we're not taking the same path again, or they'd find us snooping around in the jungle."

From disturbingly nearby, the men heard a shout.

"...I wouldn't rule that out so soon," Bennani said, his grin gone. It was at that moment that Yahya realized that the fifth member of the party, young Tarik Elias, was gone.

present day
from the journal of Mahmoud Casablanca

So Dr. Herrera's got me journaling now. I'm supposed to go into his office again in a few days - still not convinced anything is happening, but it could be worth giving him another chance before I just go find an anabolics guy.

I took the second dose yesterday. It did taste a bit sharper than water, I guess, but I can't quite track the scent. It must be whatever chemicals Dr. Herrera added to it. For all I know, it's just mineral water, but I'm still giving him the benefit of the doubt.

In terms of side effects? I haven't noticed much. I was pretty tired and floaty today, but part of that is just being unemployed right now. The club team's off due to the international break, and, well, the international break is off because I'm too old for Yusuf Alaoui's wrinkly ass. So, yeah, I guess I might as well go in tomorrow - nothing much else is going on here.

[Silver Beach]

Silver Beach v. Sevendia match, 88th minute

The referee blew his whistle harshly. "Free kick!" He yelled. THere was no way Josiah Buba was going to here what he yelled in a stadium with as much noise as this one. Sevendian fans and Silverian fans and players did not get along due to the aggressive chants that Silverian fans levied at the Sevendian fans and players. But instead of a blowout in favor of Silver Beach, this match was instead a tightly fought, very physical match.

The chants seemed to cow Sevendians last time, seemed to get to their heads. This time, however, they were more ready for the derogatory chants about 8s. It led this game to being quite the chippy affair. Hard fouls from both sides, as Silverian fans yelled their chants more and more aggressively at the Sevendian players. Neither team was happy with each other- the anger seemed as if it could boil over.

The game was 1-1 in the 88th minute. A foul had been committed by Seth-Seven Joudlven, and he was to earn his second yellow card of the game. Some of the Silver Beach players, egged on by their fans, simply waved goodbye to him as their opponents were reduced to 10 men. It would be a chance for a free kick at the top of the box. The "Wings of a Sparrow chant" started eminating from the Silverian side of the stadium, aka behind the Sevendian goalkeeper's net.

Buba had faith in Natalie Lachman to run up and drill the free kick. And she did just that- taking it up and over the wall, bending it into the upper left hand corner. A brilliant finish, and the crowd behind the goal exploded. She ran leaping into the crowd. The Silverian goalkeeper, on his half, simply turned around, faced the Sevendian fans behind him, and put up five fingers on one hand and three on the other- clearly calling them eights. This, naturally, enraged Sevendia's fans and they started chanting things at him.

It made for an interesting scene. The 7NC committee would later give the goalkeeper a fine after the match for taunting for that moment. But still- 2-1, just a few minutes left. "C'mon Silver- let's hold this!" Buba yelled. He paced up and down the sideline as Sevendia continued to attack the goal, searching for their equalizer. The referee had given originally 5 minutes of stoppage time. But in stoppage, Ishmael Lachman had suffered a minor injury, ensuring that stoppage would continue.

Stoppage was extended from +5 to +7. And Sevendia would use every moment of it. In the 97th minute, a looping cross found the head of Sean-Seven Raven, who headed the ball home. An equalizing goal. The Sevendia fan section exploded with euphoria, and the Sevens sprinted toward the corner with him. Josiah Buba, Silver Beach's manager, simply looked on with his players. A chance at three points- gone like that. And then, the Sevens chants started.

The final whistle was blown as soon as the restart happened. And the chants continued. "SEVEN!" SEVEN! SEVEN!" Booming through their half of the stadium, celebrating the 97th minute equalizer. How fitting as well- they had scored the game's opening goal in the 7th minute. And Josiah Buba knew that his team had left points on the field, only earning one when they could have earned 3. A big game would happen for them next- taking on the hosts, favorites, and defending champs, Drawkland.

He would need to get his team over this loss, and prepare them for the giants of Drawkland. A team they had faced six times, but had never beaten once. Could Matchday 3 be that day?

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Trophy

Also called: "The Silver Sonnel", "The Big 7", "The 7 Nation Cup"

For a tournament of such valor and prestige as the 7 Nation(s) Cup, it's only natural that the physical prize for winning such a competition should be equally glorious. Thus, the trophy itself was born. Despite the tournament being named the 7 Nation Cup, the trophy itself is not actually a cup, though this is surprisingly common throughout the multiverse.

The base of the trophy is made from solid marble, while the rest of the trophy is made from silver. There's multiple bases and pieces to the trophy, as you can see here, but they're all made of the same material separately, then fastened together. The exterior of these sections are polished with a special permanent sheen that gives the trophy a slight green tint, meant to resemble the green color of Sonnel's planetary flag.

The midsection of the trophy is the most interesting. It has the name of the tournament, with a large seven engraved prominently upon it. On the reverse side, it contains small engraved icons representing each nation in each edition of the tournament, with stamped marks to indicate the host and champion of each edition. Right now there's only two rows of said icons on the trophy, but this will expand as time goes on.

As with most trophies, some may assume that this trophy is just an insert piece of precious materials, but it's much more than that. The midsection also includes a magnetic-based levitation generator within, which is a common Drawkian technology. To further separate Sonnel's greatness from other regions, the trophy utilizes technology that, right now, no other region possesses in a large scale. This is exemplified with the top of the trophy: with a bottleneck to cap the body of the main trophy, it doubles as an emitter for the maglev technology inside the midsection.

The top of the trophy, of course, is the highlight. A spherical model of Sonnel, also made of precious materials, floats above the trophy, suspended in midair a few inches above the base trophy. If one watches closely, the model planet also rotates at a rate consistent with how the planet rotates in real time - about one rotation per day. A model of Sonnel's beautiful rings are also included, generated by the emitter of the trophy when the planet is in place.

The Sonnel model is also removable. The maglev technology is strong enough to keep the planet in place indefinitely barring a mechanical failure, but weak enough that someone could remove the planet easily to show off or clean. When the planet is removed, the rings disappear, to reappear when the planet is replaced.

One thing underestimated about the trophy is its size - the model Sonnel ball is exactly 7.7 inches in diameter, which is a little larger than a team handball. The trophy base, excluding the model Sonnel, is exactly 21 inches tall, nearly two feet.

Rather than some trophies, which one is minted and passed from champion to champion, a new 7 Nation Trophy is minted for each edition, so that champions can hold on to the trophy they won forever.

With the next 7 Nation Cup now officially underway, the number of teams vying for the trophy and the glory grow ever-smaller. Who will hold the Silver Sonnel when the tournament is all over? Only time will tell.

[Sevendia]

Screw the disclaimer

„We’ve done it, Sean-Seven! Brilliant!”
“Yeah, it was a tough game. Really not that easy for us, with these guys, dare I say, eight sympathizers, chanting all these curses. Heresy! I couldn’t believe my seven-shaped ears. This is the purest evil I can imagine. In Sevendia, you’d go right to jail for this shit, and sit behind seven-shaped bars for good! It’s making me so irrationally angry! Unbelievable heresy, I tell you! But we got through, we showed these ungodly clowns, we got that late goal!”
“At just the right time, too! That puts us at seven total goals for the 7NC. Brilliant! That’s the stuff I like to see. Even against those eight-loving lunatics, the team stayed strong. It’s great stuff!”
“Hail Seven! The gods will shine down on our performance.”
“All thanks to you! Have you heard that the trophy has a ball that is exactly 7.7 inches in diameter? It is brilliant. Say what you want about the Drawkians, but they are clearly god-fearing, upstanding people. They know what’s good.”
“Hail Seven. Now, what’s next? Do we still have a shot, coach?
“The gods will be on our side. I cannot imagine anything going wrong from here. They helped us to come back in that last game when we were terrorized with this filthy, disgusting affront, and they will help us again. All hail seven!”
“Let us have a prayer. The gods, we will have to appease them. Hail, hail, all hail seven!”
“Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven! Seven!”
“Se-ven! Se-ven! Se-ven! Se-ven! Se-ven! Se-ven! Se-ven!“
(both of them fall to their knees)
“All hail!”
“A-ha-hall ha-i-i-il!”
“May the gods be on our side!”
“Great work, this should do the trick for now. Alas, do you want to come with me and drink a seventh of seven?”
“Is seven odd?”

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

Matchday 3

---

Silver Beach 1–1 Drawkland
Ghirapur 1–4 Sevendia
Juvencus 1–0 Chartistan

# 7NC2                 Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ghirapur               3   2  0  1    6   7  −1    6
2 Silver Beach           3   1  2  0    7   4  +3    5
3 Almuzahara             2   1  1  0    5   2  +3    4
4 Sevendia               3   1  1  1    6   6   0    4
5 Juvencus               2   1  0  1    2   2   0    3
6 Drawkland              2   0  2  0    3   3   0    2
7 Chartistan             3   0  0  3    3   8  −5    0

[Sevendia]

Sean-Seven and 91 play a game of 7-ball, as you do. It’s the national sport of Sevendia. I mean, what did you expect? Also the disclaimer, you know it by now.

“Alright, so, one more game, coach. You’re going to win this one, I know it.”
“You said that six or seven times already. Eh, here goes nothing. By the way, congrats on that goal you hit in that 49th minute, it was almost as good as the one in the 77th.”
“Thank you, coach. We really needed the comeback after Seattle scored in our net there in the 8th.”
“Yeah, and you dunked four goals on these weird shapeshifters. I told you not shifting into sevens had to be a terrible tactic!”
“And look at their formation. 4-4-2? Only weirdos play such an even system. Couldn’t be us!”
“For sure!” (Sean-Seven knocks one of the balls in the pocket) “Absolutely brilliant work, honestly, Sean-Seven. You really got them!”
“Oh, thanks coach! I’m really doing my best.” (another ball falls into the pocket) Now, we’ve got a real shot at the final four. We just can’t slow down at this point, we got this!”
“Whats next, that actual football team from that one country? Juventus or something?”
“Just right, coach, Juvencus.” (Sean-Seven knocks another ball in. 91 hasn’t yet got a single ball in) “They also won their last game, but you know, 91, we should have this. Did you know that the guys we just beat won both of their first two matches?”
“Yep, I looked it up!” (91 accidentally hits the ball with the seven into the pocket) “Well, good game, you got me again.”
“Thanks coach! Now, for the next game, against Juvencus, have you considered benching Seattle? Not for the full game, but for like a bit? We could try to make a substitution, that might be an idea.”
“We have that? Well, we were fine seven games in a row without them, so switching that now would be… extremely weird. I’m going to think about it.”
“Thanks, coach. I’ve got to go now, see you!”

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

Matchday 4

---

Sevendia 3–1 Juvencus
Drawkland 2–0 Ghirapur
Almuzahara 1–1 Silver Beach

# 7NC2                 Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sevendia               4   2  1  1    9   7  +2    7
2 Silver Beach           4   1  3  0    8   5  +3    6
3 Ghirapur               4   2  0  2    6   9  −3    6
4 Almuzahara             3   1  2  0    6   3  +3    5
5 Drawkland              3   1  2  0    5   3  +2    5
6 Juvencus               3   1  0  2    3   5  −2    3
7 Chartistan             3   0  0  3    3   8  −5    0

[Almuzahara]

Almuzahara 1 - 1 Silver Beach
Bekkaye; Delgado, Bendahan (C), Osman, Boumediene (Youssef 85'); Bennani (Averroes 53'), Elias, Al-Qushayri; Fernandez, Ben Labrat, Alami (Araz Fernandez HT)
Goals: Fernandez 33’

june 7, 1517

As soon as they'd heard the cry, they'd been off - clumsily crashing through the jungle in a desperate attempt to evade detection. Not really the most reasonable way to do so, but it had certainly gotten them away from what had to be the cry of a native scout.

"You think they got Tarik?" Saqat exhaled nervously. The other three exchanged glances and nodded.'

"Well that means they know at least more of us are in the jungle. It's not like we'd send one guy off. And that means..."

"They're going to ask for me," Yahya tacked on grimly. "Hopefully the boys can play it off, but things are going to get real intense with the natives otherwise."

"So when they find us, they'll kill us," finished Abdel Simon, swatting at a mosquito as he did so. "Probably force the ship away, too. Looks like your ship is looking around upcoast, after all."

"Not if we get them first!" pointed out Oumar Bennani. "We've got weapons they wouldn't even dream of! Four of us can take all of them, no problem."

"We've hardly got the ammunition for that," replied Yahya. "And even if we did, they'd just sneak up on us somehow, or starve us out. In either case, if we don't make it back to the ship by tomorrow, we're done for."

"Well, we'd better get to that Fountain quickly, then."

"Captain's orders. "

"Ah, well...Saqat and I will just find the Fountain of Youth on our own, then. Blast the natives out if we have to. Live off the land," he added dismissively.

"Don't be ridiculous. The two of you, with that much ammo and no way to get back? You wouldn't last a month."

"Well, in that case, you'll have to explain why the two of you left us here when you cover four days' worth of ground overnight. I'm sure nobody will challenge your authority after that," Oumar replied, winked, and then turned and kept walking forward.

present day
from the journal of Mahmoud Casablanca

Just got back from my second appointment with Dr. Herrera at his office. Took a larger dose there while he was watching me with the scanners, and then he gave me two more doses to take at home. Again, it pretty much just tasted like sharp, vaguely metallic water. Not sure what he's doing with it, but I don't have to pay him unless anything happens, so, you know.

I really can't describe how I'm feeling. It's starting to become noticeably different, but it's not like I feel any younger at this point. I guess it's just a vague sort of nebulousness, vaguely like I'm starting to fray at the edges - but not in a bad way? I genuinely don't know how to describe it. Dr. Herrera mentioned a sort of 'transitional state' before the real effects started kicking in, so I guess this is where we are. He certainly seems confident about whatever he's giving me.

Ibrahim from the steroids clinic just returned my call, so I guess I have another option too. It's not like Herrera's going to know if I mix anything with his Magic Water anyways, so might as well try to cover all my bases.

[Sevendia]

Yeah, the disclaimer. You know the drill.

„We’ve got it! We’ve got them, 91! These actual football teams are nothing to us!”
“A stunning performance, and a brilliant win! We’re rolling now! 7 points so far, 7 goals scored in the last two games, this is brilliant! The Sevens are doing just fine.”
“That means there’s two games left, and we have all the chances to reach the semis. I mean, we are currently in the lead! How awesome is that?”
“It really is! We’ve overcome a team that might something called a World cup in the past. I’ve heard that they play that in groups of eight. Disgusting. Who would want that heresy in their lives?
“Only insane people, clearly. Couldn’t be us – we are serious about football.”
“We only play in normal tournaments based on numbers that are not cursed.”
“Yeah, like the 7 Nation Cup, where you play 6 group games, then one semi-final, so that makes seven, and then.. oh no. Oh no, this is bad.”
“What?”
“To win, we would have to play… eight games. Eight! How did the organizers miss this! This is a terrible oversight! Who would have done this! The gods will curse this tournament beyond repair! It’s cursed!”
“Oh by the gods, that’s really bad. Is it too late to withdraw?”
“I guess so, we’re too deep by now. What do we do?”
“Well, if we go and play eight games, our lives will forever be tainted, stained, cursed! We can’t let that happen.”
“Well, 91, we could try to lose on purpose in the semi-finals. As far as I am aware, there’s no game for third, so that would save us from the unthinkable shame”
“That sounds like our best bet. Phew, glad we dodged that bullet. Want to hear a joke?”
“Of course.”
“You know puns are dumb, right? But math puns are number.”
“…”
“Come on, I went seven days without a pun; that makes one weak.”

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

Matchday 5

---

Ghirapur 0–1 Almuzahara
Juvencus 1–2 Drawkland
Chartistan 0–1 Sevendia

# 7NC2                 Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sevendia               5   3  1  1   10   7  +3   10
2 Almuzahara             4   2  2  0    7   3  +4    8
3 Drawkland              4   2  2  0    7   4  +3    8
4 Silver Beach           4   1  3  0    8   5  +3    6
5 Ghirapur               5   2  0  3    6  10  −4    6
6 Juvencus               4   1  0  3    4   7  −3    3
7 Chartistan             4   0  0  4    3   9  −6    0

[Almuzahara]

Almuzahara 1 - 0 Ghirapur
Bekkaye; Delgado, Bendahan (C), Osman, Youssef (Tolosa 61'); Mansur, Al-Qushayri, Elias; Fernandez, Ben Labrat, Blanco (Averroes 53')
Goals: Al-Qushayri 39'

june 8, 1517

Since leaving Tarik for dead, the four remaining members of the expedition had grudgingly continued onward. While Abdel Simon's maps were less than perfect, they had managed to roughly stay parallel to the main trail, checking that it was within range whenever they stopped for the day. One of the few advantages of staying in an area with such dense vegetation was that it was incredibly easy to remain undetected, as long as you moved relatively carefully. Of course, this meager advantage was balanced out by the mosquitoes, the humidity, the wildlife (much of which appeared to be poisonous), the constant threat of natives catching on to their plan and hunting them down, the heat, the oppressive amounts of vegetation there was to slash through, the insects, the difficulty of navigation, and thoughts of their probably-dead crewmate.

Yet they pressed on, and apparently, their efforts were soon to be rewarded. If Simon's maps were correct, and they were traveling as quickly as they thought they were (having already accounted for the density of the vegetation), they would reach the Fountain incredibly soon.

"Well, it should be coming up any moment now," Abdel Simon noted. "We've been walking for three hours, so at the rate we were going, we're just about here. We'll have to just cross to the main path now until we find the side path."

"Seems awfully risky," countered Saqat. "Even if we only stay there for half an hour, I'm sure there'll be native scouts in the area."

"Well, the side path was way too well-concealed for us to find it from across the main path. We'll have to take our chances." And so, they switched back over to the main path, watching in all directions as they moved along it.

"Hang on," whispered Yahya as they skulked along the far edge of the path. "What are we doing once we find it?"

"Save up as much as we can in these gourds they gave us, then bring the lads back and destroy the village," came Bennani's incredibly quick reply.

"We're not doing anything of the sort! We can get the water and take it to the Caliph, but no more."

"Come on, Yahya - you're passing up the opportunity of a lifetime. I can't believe you would-"

"I can't believe you would kill them before we can see what else they've got here!"

As it turned out, that would not be their biggest issue. They had already been discovered.

present day

from the journal of Mahmoud Casablanca

Something's up with the water Herrera's had me drinking. I haven't felt right all day. He says I'm still in the transitional period, and that the symptoms I'm having are just short-term, but I'm not sure if I trust that. Maybe it's mixing incorrectly with the more...traditional PEDs I've started shooting up? In any case, I've felt weak all day. With the international break over soon, I really don't have time for this. I'm going to go in tomorrow and give him a piece of my mind - maybe figure out if I can get some straight answers.

I've also been having the weirdest dreams lately. They almost feel like they're from a different time.

[Silver Beach]

Josiah Buba in a press conference before Silver Beach's Matchday 6 tilt with Ghirapur

Silver Standard: "Josiah. What was your team's approach to the bye? Was that bye well placed, was it helpful? How will that inform your preparations for tomorrow's big game?"

Josiah Buba: "Unlike in Qualifying, a bye on Matchday 5 for this group stage is absolutely perfect timing. We play four games, we know how we're doing, we've had a chance to establish ourselves, and then we get a much needed extra few days off. And then, if things aren't going well, still two more games to right the ship. We were fortunate to have our bye right in the middle on Matchday 5, and I am grateful for it."

"This bye was useful. Give everyone a chance to rest their bodies- heal up, get healthy. You can't go through a tournament like this with everyone at 100%- there's too much at stake. Everyone's got nicks and knocks, and everybody's bodies could use the extra few days to heal. And now, we've used ours. We've played well so far- draws against the three teams ahead of us, showing that we can indeed play with anybody in Sonnel. Including, of course, a draw against Drawkland, right here in Drawkland."

Zion Post: "What do we need to do to punch our ticket to the next round?"

Josiah Buba: "Well, the only thing we can do is control how we play tomorrow. Ghirapur is a tough opponent. Shape shifters of the best kind- I've seen Ilman Jawara on a number of occasions, and the resemblance is canny. They've got the same amount of points as we have. Just like we like our chances, they surely like our chances against us. It is going to be important for us to take three points. If we lose, we fall into a spot that doesn't make the semifinals, and could jeopardize our chances of silverware.

If we draw, we still control our own destiny, but there will be so much pressure against a tactically astute Juvencus squad. The easiest path to the semifinals is a win tomorrow night. That won't clinch anything- we could still miss it. But it would go a long way towards achieving our goals, which have always been, since the beginning of Qualifying, getting back to the Semifinals."

Aviv-Yafo Eagle: "Mr. Buba, who is our X-Factor tomorrow?"

Josiah Buba: "Everyone is equally important, of course. This is a team sport- you need all 11 playing, together in concert, if we want to make some real progress in this tournament. We've got all sorts of strong squads in this tournament, and we will do whatever it takes to try and advance. A key player for us, I think, will be Benjamin. Robero is a talented #10, and that is seen by his successes in the Banijan Northwestern League. But we're going to have to generate some offense.

We play through our playmaker. There's talent everywhere. But when he is playing well, he unlocks us and can help elevate this team to another level. There's a lot on the youngster, but he's confident and talented, he's capable of carrying this weight on his shoulders."

After a few more questions, the press conference was over. Josiah Buba went back to his dressing room, and convened his regularly scheduled all-coaching staff. He would make sure that his team was ready to succeed, and that everyone was united on the gameplan. Unity was the key to success, and he would make sure that everyone was on the same page, ready for success tomorrow night at Corps University Hub...

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

Matchday 6

---

Drawkland 5–3 Chartistan
Almuzahara 3–1 Juvencus
Silver Beach 3–3 Ghirapur

# 7NC2                 Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Almuzahara             5   3  2  0   10   4  +6   11
2 Drawkland              5   3  2  0   12   7  +5   11
3 Sevendia               5   3  1  1   10   7  +3   10
4 Silver Beach           5   1  4  0   11   8  +3    7
5 Ghirapur               6   2  1  3    9  13  −4    7
6 Juvencus               5   1  0  4    5  10  −5    3
7 Chartistan             5   0  0  5    6  14  −8    0

Due to tiebreakers and Ghirapur having a bye on the final matchday, the semifinal field for 7NC2 is officially set. All that's left to play for is seeding.

[Almuzahara]

Almuzahara 3 - 1 Juvencus
Bekkaye; Delgado, Bendahan (C), Osman, Boumediene (Youssef 63'); Averroes, Elias, Al-Qushayri; Fernandez (Mansur 75'), Ben Labrat, Alami (Tilimsan 81')
Goals: Ben Labrat 11', Fernandez 45+1', Tilimsan 86'

june 8, 1517 / Present Day

The four men were able to find the side path, navigate their way through the vegetation, and locate the Fountain of Youth. Of course, in reality, it was just a small spring, mysteriously burbling up at the surface, but the real value was in the water, not the fountain itself.

They were midway through filling up the second gourd when they heard a horn sound in the not-so-distant jungle.


"I don't know what you've been putting in this," Mahmoud said, grabbing Dr. Herrera by the jacket, "but it's doing something weird, and I don't like it! I've been feeling weak, getting these headaches, and the nightmares-"

"Like I said," Herrera replied coolly, easily wiggling free of Mahmoud's somewhat-weakened grasp, "this process takes time. I know the international break is ending soon, but you'll have plenty of time to recover. I'll just take a look with the scanner, and-"

"What are you even looking for? I don't look a day younger, Herrera. You told me the transitional period would be over by now!"

"Well, some of these new varieties have some, uh, different effects that we're tinkering with."

"You didn't even give me the legitimate version of your magic water? I got the experimental magic water?"

"Well, we're working on the stability, and I figured you would-"

"You said this was all figured out!" Mahmoud shouted, shoving Herrera toward the wall. "What's this about stability now?"



"They're coming," said Abdel Simon coolly.

"Saqat, keep filling those gourds up. Everyone else, get your muskets ready. We'll take as many of them out as we can, then we'll run into the jungle," replied Yahya confidently. The three of them formed a triangle around the spring and Saqat, grimly standing their ground, as the horns continued to grow and the Earth began to shake.

"I hope you're happy, Bennani," Yahya spat. "We'd better hope the rest of the crew sent backup, like, a day ago."

"There's no way they did that," even Saqat piped up now. "Our only chance is to make a run for it. They'll be cutting off the paths back to the ship, so we'll need to cut horizontally, break through their perimeter, and hope the ship is still there when we're back."

Their final two minutes of peace were dead silent, with only the chirping of some unknown animal in the distance. Then, they started firing.



"Look, I didn't want to tell you this before, but we've had issues with the formula. The results haven't been quite what we expected, uh, one hundred percent of the time. But we really thought we had it figured out."

"Thought, like past tense? What the hell is happening to me, then?" Mahmoud tried to grab the doctor again, more out of desperation than anger. But as he reached to do so, his entire essence seemed to flicker off and on, bringing him dazed and to his knees.

"You're, ah...unstable. Look, when consumed properly, our water makes you physically younger. Five to ten years. But what we think actually happens is it brings your body from five to ten years ago into the present day, having it, uh, merge with your mind, as you will."

"Wait, what would...happen to your current body?"

"No idea," Dr. Herrera shrugged. "Maybe it goes forward, maybe it goes back and branches the timeline off. Point is, it makes your past body temporally unstable somehow, and then you're back on the pitch again in a Panthers kit. But, uh, when consumed incorrectly - and, again, we really thought we figured this out - it makes your current body unstable."

Mahmoud, already barely on his knees, sank to the floor, flickering in and out of view again.



It was no use, of course. The three men (and four, when Saqat eventually joined them) had the firepower, but they just couldn't clear the natives fast enough, especially not when there were a few coming from every direction. Eventually, they would be surrounded.

"Saqat, hand me a gourd," Abdel finally said, after exhausting his final round. "Might as well die young."

Saqat turned, only to discover the gourds were not only gone, but also being stuffed into Oumar Bennani's bag.

"Sorry boys," Oumar said, "it's been an honor to serve." And with that, he slipped off.

"Hey!" Yahya shouted. "Abdel, go after him! Saqat and I will keep firing."



Every word felt like it was being ripped out of Mahmoud Casablanca as he spoke through a sandpaper mouth. "Where am...I going...then?"

"No way to tell. Sometimes you end up in the past, sometimes," Dr. Herrera gesticulated vaguely at himself, "in the future. Sometimes you bounce around a bit, but usually you stabilize in one time. At least, we think. We haven't found anything to the contrary."

"You...'re from the past?"

"How do you think I knew about the Fountain of Youth?"

"Why...do this...then?"

Dr. Herrera looked down at Mahmoud, no longer with his previous pity, but with a grim determination. "One day, we'll figure it out - we'll not just stop aging in its tracks, but we'll know how to control time itself. The Fountain of Youth may be gone now, but we can recreate it." He then spoke the final words Mahmoud would hear.

"And when that happens, Oumar Bennani will go back to claim the glory he deserves."



Oumar grinned. "But first, I'll sample the merchandise," he said, taking a long swig, and then turning tail to run.

As Abdel and Simon chased after him, he seemed to flicker in and out of view. And then...he was gone.

"Captain! He drank the water...and vanished!" Saqat shouted in shock.

"Huh, maybe we should drink it too, then," Abdel replied. "It's still there, yeah?"

Yahya turned toward the two of them, shouted in the affirmative, then looked back. In front of him, another Almuzaharan had appeared out of nowhere.

"Who the hell are you?"

--to be continued--

[Silver Beach]

The Silver Standard
Silver Beach's #1 source for news!

Silver Beach clinches berth in the 7 Nations Cup semifinals with a game to spare in Drawkland


Silverian fans applaud the team following their 3-3 draw with Ghirapur at the Corps University Hub

DRAWK CITY, DRAWKLAND- The Hebrew Republic has worked towards it, but has finally today punched their ticket to the semifinals of the 7 Nations Cup following their fourth consecutive draw at this tournament. After opening the tournament with a dominating 4-1 win over Chartistan, the team's form dipped dramatically over the course of time. The team has still put out some strong performances, however. Notably, a draw against tournament favorites Drawkland, and another draw against Almuzahara, were highlights. While Silver Beach played to a 2-2 draw with Sevendia, this most recent draw was a barnstorming, 3-3 one with Ghirapur.

Josiah Buba, the manager, had a number of words to say. "This is improvement for us." He told reporters. "We have done what we came here to do, and yet, the job is far from done. Our goal in Qualifying was to get top 2- and we went out there and won the group, taking 4 wins from four matches and earning all 12 possible points. Here, our goal was to finish top 4, in obviously a much tougher setting, and reach the semifinals. And we have clinched a top 4 seed, where we will slot most likely fourth, but possibly third, in the semifinal draw. Unlike our last appearance here, we did this with a game remaining, rather than relying on help from the outside. It's a good day for Silverian football, it's a good day for our players."

When asked why, as of late, Silver Beach had not been able to separate themselves from their opponents, he called it a storm of bad luck. "Look, there's no avoiding it- four straight draws in an international tournament is always going to be frustrating. Especially after we followed five straight wins, dating back to the beginning of Qualifying. Some of it is down to luck, some is down to discipline, some of it is because we wear down- there's a whole host of reasons. But not all draws are bad. Think about the matches where we were underdogs, against Almuzahara and against Drawkland. We stepped ahead to earn a point where many thought we'd earn none. We've shown- we can play with anyone in Sonnel, and we've earned the respect of our peers."

Orin Set, the captain, was asked what the team's mindset would be going into the final Matchday. Would they simply rest, or would they try to win? "Well, Coach Josiah told us since we have clinched, and it's unlikely we can change our seeding, we're going to rotate and rest the squad. Which is fine- getting more players a chance to play, getting oldies like me a chance to sit down and breathe. But whoever takes the pitch is certainly going to go out and try to win. We are going to try and execute our gameplan, but bring a winning attitude. We're about to go into the knockout stages. And if our goal here is to win, then going in with a mindset of 'it's ok if we lose' will only see us lose both now and later."

Silver Beach has one more group stage match left, and they will face off with Juvencus. The last time they played Juvencus, Silver Beach triumphed over the WCC nation in the last 7 Nations Cup, proudly earning ourselves a bronze medal at that tournament. But that was so long ago- nothing in that match has any sort of bearing on what will happen in their match upcoming. With all four semifinal berths confirmed, the eyes of many will be looking ahead on the calendar, but Josiah Buba will strive to ensure his team is focused on this match.

Silverian fans will be happy they are not going in with worries on the final matchday, and will relax a little bit. They will look to see energy and fire from the players though. You want to go into the knockouts on a confidence building high note, not on a sour note after a loss. As always, go Silver Beach!

[Drawkland]

7 Pieces of Worldbuilding for the 7 Nation Cup

If there's one thing I don't write enough of on NationStates, it's worldbuilding for Drawkland. There's a lot of canon where I've never put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard), so I decided I'd arrange some historical, geographical, or cultural tidbits of Drawkland that you might not have seen before, inspired by the other participants in the 7 Nation Cup. This will be split into three parts, since I have three more cutoffs left before the end of the tournament.

1. Sevendia: The Number 7

As many would know, the number seven is sacred to many of the Drawkian people. The obsession of the seventh numeral and its variants throughout the NS Sports world came from Drawkland, as many may know. Some historians even suggest that Sevendia was founded by true Seven Fanatics from Drawkland. But why is the number seven so important? Funnily enough, the number seven was not integral to Drawkland's early history. Some Drawkian history experts may even tell you that not seven, but five is actually the Drawkian lucky number. This is because five is the number of Drawkionels who founded this nation, attained immortality, and went on to lead the nation to present day. Thus, five territories were established, within them five districts each, and within those five states each.

It wasn't until magic users became much more common in Drawkland that the number seven began to be much more significant. In Drawkian magic theory, there are three subdivisions of magic, based on either the soul, the body, or the aura. With each subdivision, there are four styles of magic, for a total of 12. However, three plus four equals seven. Many magic recipes and spells rely on the number seven heavily by nature, thus it was favored among magic users. While the age of the magic subsided, the reverence for the number remained and simply became part of the culture.

2. Juvencus: Enrichment Tours

For nearly all of its history, Drawkland has been the most unified and advanced nation in Sonnel. Drawkland was one of the first to develop long range seafaring ships, those that could traverse oceans. Over the next centuries, Drawkland sent out dozens of expeditions in all directions to explore the globe, establishing colonies on every continent. In the process, they came across other civilizations, many nearly as advanced as the Drawkians. Trade was established, and many nations were excited to find out that there was a much wider world out there, filled with wild things they had never seen before.

It was common for Drawkland to offer nations to send their brightest and richest citizens overseas to view all that Drawkland had to offer. The idea was that they would one day return and bring new foods, technology, and ideas to help accelerate their progress and improve the quality of life around the world. They were known as Enrichment Tours. Unfortunately, many of these parties decided to stay in Drawkland, and many didn't get as much benefit as they wanted due to a lack of resources or interest back home. Other nations, once their merchants began building large seafaring fleets, ended up losing a lot of citizens due to mass emigration, most of which ended up in Drawkland.

[Drawkland]

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

Matchday 7

---

Juvencus 1–3 Silver Beach
Chartistan 2–7 Almuzahara
Sevendia 1–1 Drawkland

# 7NC2                 Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Almuzahara             6   4  2  0   17   6 +11   14
2 Drawkland              6   3  3  0   13   8  +5   12
3 Sevendia               6   3  2  1   11   8  +3   11
4 Silver Beach           6   2  4  0   14   9  +5   10
5 Ghirapur               6   2  1  3    9  13  −4    7
6 Juvencus               6   1  0  5    6  13  −7    3
7 Chartistan             6   0  0  6    8  21 −13    0

---

The 7 Nation Cup - Second Edition

Semifinal Draw

#1 Almuzahara vs #4 Silver Beach

#2 Drawkland vs #3 Sevendia