World Cup 84- RP Thread (IC)

by **Hapilopper** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:10 pm

35,000 feet in the air, between Hapilopper and Oontaz
Some time after World Cup 84 Qualifier Match 19: Hapilopper v. the Sultanate of Oontaz
At this point, the Hapilopper National Football Team needed a miracle if they were going to qualify for the 84th World Cup, but that miracle would not come. It was over. Their hopes of making the World Cup were gone was Darkmania and Darmen both scored crucial victories on this match day. All Hapilopper could do at this point was go to the Cup of Harmony, which was promising to be a pretty competitive tournament. But the question of “would they go” was still unanswered.

Dominic Probst, the head of the Hapilopper Football Association, was hearing it from all sides. The players wanted to go. The coaches wanted to go. Representatives from other national associations, such as those from Port Ember and Kelssek, expressed disappointment at Probst’s comments about the Cup of Harmony being a “consolation prize.” Even the Hapiloppian government was pushing Probst to change his mind and send the HNFT to the tournament.

Probst could have worded his comments a little better, but it was clear that what he had said was out of frustration. The Haps had trained for weeks, make that months, to join the elite squads in international football. Observers had pointed to the Haps as the team to break out in this qualifying stage, but here they were, getting ready to watch the World Cup proper on television, and possibly stay home instead of participating in a Cup of Harmony that they could potentially win outright.

The team was flying home on a Hapilopper Airlines chartered jumbo jet, and many of those on the plane were dejected. One week from now, the team would likely hold its last match for about a year before getting together for the 85th World Cup. Probst sat at his seat, reviewing the latest news headlines from Hapilopper and drinking a cup of hot tea. Head coach Thom Perkins and striker Ernie Stevenson walked over to Probst, wondering if he might be able to talk.

“Dom, so we’re out,” Thom said.

“Yeah,” Dom replied. “I know what you’re going to say. Let’s go for that Cup of Harmony and kick everyone’s asses to show what we could have done. Spare me. I’m not going to reward failure. We had a real chance to show the world what we could have done and we didn’t. So spare me your bullshit about going for a trophy, because I don’t want a consolation prize.”

“Uh, we did show the world something,” Thom replied. “We beat Equestria in their home grounds, didn’t we? We kicked the defending World Cup champs’ ass, didn’t we?”

Dom looked over, with a look that almost suggested he didn’t want to hear what was coming next.

“You know, not many second-year programs can say they went into the home of the best team in the multiverse and stomped a mudhole in them,” Thom continued. “We’re a second-year program. We’ll make the World Cup in year three. Trust me on this. You sign off on letting us compete in the Cup of Harmony and it’ll be the best thing that’s ever happened to us. Hell, next year when we qualify and go far in the World Cup, it’ll be because of what we’re about to do in that tournament.”

“Hell, if we’re invited,” Ernie stepped in. “You know, I don’t know if Banija and Xanneria really took well to what you said about that tournament. I can’t speak for them, but I don’t think I’d be too happy if I heard someone trashing a tournament I was about to hold.”

“You done, Stevenson?” Dom snapped.

“What he’s saying is you might want to issue a mea culpa and apologize for your comments,” Thom said. “Hell, we may not even be invited because of what you said.”

Dom shook his head, waved the two men off and went back to whatever he was doing. He didn’t like being told what to do, but the fact was, however, was that they were right. He had hurt Hapilopper’s standing, and for all everyone knew, they might have burned their bridges with Banija and Xanneria in openly snubbing a tournament they were hosting. It didn’t matter that he had made it clear that not attending the Cup of Harmony was any reflection on the nation’s view of the two nations. What mattered was that he had made it clear that he saw the tournament as beneath him, and that attitude had to change.

About an hour later, Dom walked back to Thom, who was already reading scouting reports for the next match, the last match of the qualifying stage, against Nomoterra. He wanted to make sure the Haps were prepared for this last match, even if it was, for all intents and purposes, a glorified friendly.

“Thought about what you said, Perkins,” Dom said, sitting down next to Thom, who wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. “You know, I said what I said because I was pissed off. This team is too good to not qualify for the World Cup. We’ve got some damn good players here – hell, all of our players are damn good – and I couldn’t believe we’d be in a position to be in the Cup of Harmony again, you know?”

“Yeah.”

“But you’re right, we did whip those Ponies, didn’t we?”

“Yeah.” Both men started to smile.

“You know, if we could whip those Ponies, we can whip anyone,” Dom continued. “Make sure that team is ready to go to either Banija or Xanneria in a few weeks. I’ll put out a statement, and we’ll go there ready to kick ass and take names. But we’re not doing this every year.”

“Oh, that I understand,” Thom replied. “We’ll qualify next year.”

So, the next day, as the HNFT got ready for that last match against Nomoterra, the HFA put out a statement stating they were looking forward to the 76th Cup of Harmony, should they be invited. In that statement, Dom publicly apologized to the nations of Banija and Xanneria, and explained that what he had said was out of pure frustration over the team’s results from the last few weeks.

by **Darmen** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 6:52 pm

It's simple really.

Too simple perhaps.

Darmen must win.

And that is why I, Alberich Goldschmidt, am worried. The simpler this qualification business is, the easier it'll be for us All Greens to cock it up.

And who would blame us?

Me. I would blame us.

by **Pasarga** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:19 pm

"... Five minutes into this pivotal match in Group 12 of the World Cup Qualifiers between Drawkland and Pasarga and you can already tell that both sides know how big this matchup is. With a win, Drawkland would secure their qualification to Cassadaigua-Baker Park, while a draw would see Drawkland needing to get a result in their last match at Yttribia to secure their qualification. For Pasarga, this is the second of three must win games if the Wanderers intend to not miss out of the World Cup Finals for two cycles in a row, after a series of poor results in the second half of the qualifiers has put their qualification chances on a knife's edge. That sort of tension and drama is sure to make for an interesting night as both squads are putting in tackles and trying to break down each others defensive units to get the goals needed for the result."

--------------

"It's a quarter hour into the match and Drawkland has a corner after Gerber made a masterclass save of Mike Rodney's screamer from just outside the box, masterfully pushing the shot over the crossbar. Trevor Garnet is lining up the corner and sends in a deep inswinger and ... it's in the back of the net. Hard to tell who managed to get the touch to send it past Gerber, we'll look again on replay to see who might have just gotten the goal to eliminate Pasarga and send Drawkland onward! Alright looking at the replay it is Jaxon Madison who sneaks in front of Bader and gets the smallest of touches to send it into the top corner and give the home side the advantage that they were craving. You can see the frustration on the faces of the Wanderers' players as they know they now have a mountain to climb if they want to keep their qualification dreams alive!"

--------------

"Twenty seven minutes into this match and Drawkland have been the better side, pressing down on the Wanderers' defensive line with their high press attack. It is quite amazing to see how their three at the back and four attacking players is able to keep such a good defensive record when most teams with four at the back have more trouble. The Wanderers' are now on a counter after Gere managed to dispossess Hanson and starts racing down the wing. He gets to the byline and send in a quick cross and Mária Vöröss chests it down and hits it on the volley! It's to no avail though as Septimus Xander corals the ball with relative and keeps the ball close to his chest. It was a good opportunity for the Wanderers and one that they will wonder if they will rue that at the end of the day."

--------------

"At half time it's been a fairly one sided affair but there are some signs of life from the Wanderers that they might still be in it. They are going to have to change something though, with Drawkland having nearly pressed the Wanderers in their own half with that high press of theirs. The Wanderers' defense is doing its job and will feel a bit hard done by with the way the home side managed to grab their goal."

--------------

"Sixty-nine minutes and the Wanderers' are making their first change, bringing on Kárpáty for Vöröss, Jager is dropping down further to play as more of a playmaker. The Wanderers are starting to press themselves, getting a few balls past the the midfield of the the hosts. And here is Gere once more, making another darting run after Jager sends a hopeful ball down the wing. Gere doesn't wait for a run though and sends it back across deep into the Drawkland box and ... GOAL!!! Ádám Berecz hits it on the volley and puts a screamer almost through the top of the net. Winger to winger and the Wanderers have a lifeline now, this scoreline still means they will need some help but they will still have a chance on the last matchday if this result stands."

--------------

"Ninety minutes have come and gone and the two sides are still level. The Wanderers have been the better side in the second half, being able to finally able to navigate their way past the Drawkland press and exposing their three at the back, but have not been able to find the final touch. Drawkland is coming forward themselves though, looking for that goal to seal their progression into the Finals. And Berg puts in a crunching tackle on Hunter! The ball is skidding across the grass and... its straight into the path of the Gere as the winger is blazing down the touchline with the look of determination and grit. He nimbles his way past one challenge and nutmegs a second defender to get into the box... sliding the ball towards the middle of the box... and Alexander Kárpáty is there, moving the ball onto his stronger right foot... and THERE IS ANOTHER GOAL!!! Two one Pasarga! The elder striker puts it calmly into the bottom corner and has given the Wanderers the result they needed! Hope lives on for another ninety minutes for the Wanderers as they head back to Torgos, as the final whistle is blown here in Drawkland. The home side is stunned and the Wanderers are jubilant! HOPE LIVES ON ANOTHER MATCH!"

by **Free Republics** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 7:47 pm

Consul's Mansion
Republica

Scarlett Nicholls had the TV on. The latest World Cup qualifying match had just concluded with yet another victory by "Soccer General" Rule Theriault's team. She despised that title and, even more, she despised the fact that, thanks to Kyle Bolton, Theriault really was the "Soccer General" of the Free Republics. Speaking of Kyle Bolton, his impeachment trial was scheduled to begin in a few days time. His acquittal by the Senate was a foregone conclusion but the country had to sit through that farce because of one man and his desire to eliminate his political opponents. Now, that man was on TV announcing his run for consul. Scarlett changed the channel and ended up on a re-run of the infamous wrestling episode where the future Lucia Bolton caused an international incident, "Now, I know that I have said it repeatedly, but I just can't resist saying it again. Kyle, you can rape me any time you want. In fact, if somebody else on the National Team did, in fact, commit the so-called "rape," which wasn't actually rape since the Troll slut consented, then he can also rape me any time he wants. Furthermore, I wish certain politicians would stop cooperating with Trolls and just give the military permission to bomb them." And to make it even worse for Scarlett, she literally tuned in just in time to hear that infamous comment. She threw the remote in frustration and ended up throwing it straight through a window on the 3rd floor of the Consul's Mansion.

Shit. Now we're going to have to come up with a story to explain that one. At that moment, gunshots had rung out on the city streets below. When the consul's security detail discovered the broken window, they rushed upstairs. Scarlett confessed that she'd thrown a remote through the window out of frustration with the garbage on TV but asked them to help her concoct a story so the public never learned of this incident. The head of the consul's security, Martial Martinez, came up with an idea:

Martial Martinez - We'll say it was an assassination attempt, Ma'am.

Scarlett Nicholls - Why?

Martial Martinez - First off, you'd come off as a very sympathetic figure if you survived an assassination attempt which would be good for your approval ratings. Secondly, there were gunshots on the street so its easy to fabricate.

Scarlett Nicholls - What? You seriously think that's going to help.

Martial Martinez - Men have a thing for a damsel in distress. Besides, being shot at always makes you sympathetic.

Scarlett Nicholls - Ok. Do it.

No sooner had Scarlett finished talking to Mr. Martinez than Agent Steffen Maur showed up in her office.

Scarlett Nicholls - What is it this time, Agent Maur?

Steffen Maur - Bad day, I take it, Ma'am?

Scarlett Nicholls - You could say that.

Steffen Maur - Well, I bring more bad news. I've heard that the Harrington girl and that Leader guy have gone to the offices of Gossip Magazine.

Scarlett Nicholls - Are you sure they're actually at the offices of Gossip Magazine and not the Olympic Tower?

Steffen Maur - Yes, Ma'am. We spotted them arriving in Reco.

Scarlett Nicholls - Very well.

Steffen Maur - What if they kill Jasper Chuter?

Scarlett Nicholls - That'd be perfectly fine with me, to be honest. I hate that guy's guts.

Steffen Maur - I can imagine.

Scarlett Nicholls - The creeper used to hire young impressionable girls out of college or even high school and then overworked them. Once they inevitably made mistakes, he would pressure them into sleeping with his fat, ugly, tiny cock having ass.

Steffen Maur - Ma'am, I didn't realize you could talk like this.

Scarlett Nicholls - This must remain a secret.

Steffen Maur - What do you mean?

Scarlett Nicholls - All of it. Whatever the Ministry people do to that guy, make sure it doesn't become news until they're safely out of the country.

Steffen Maur - Yes, Ma'am. We'll make sure the press doesn't find out.

Scarlett Nicholls - That's not enough. Make sure the police don't get to the scene of the crime until Little Miss Harrington and Mr. Leader are both long gone.

Steffen Maur - I'll see what I can do.

Scarlett Nicholls - That's not enough. Get it done.

Steffen Maur - I will.

Scarlett Nicholls - Good. Only intervene if they cause harm to somebody other than those scumbags at Gossip Magazine.

Steffen Maur - Ok.

Scarlett Nicholls - Once they're out of the country, I want another report from you on exactly what happened and then we'll discuss what we should tell the public...

by **Euran Oceania Territories** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:01 pm

The Expat's last game of qualifying on home soil had been predictably chaotic. The now fully refurbished Flynn Arena was packed to the rafters - ok, not quite full capacity at 96,500 as it had been for the Nephara game, but mostly full. The visitors were this time were the rather less glamorous Aquitlita. Ranked 308th in the world, they were exactly the kind of team the Expat's should be beating comfortably, so of course they didn't. Two early sucker punch goals incurred booing and heckling from the crowd, whose loyalty to the gestating identity of Euran Oceania was being sorely tested by the national team and its sheer incompetence.

Tammy Barton did poorly for both goals as usual although the defence did the keeper no favours with their calamitous positioning and loss of concentration. Skorji Oslograd threw one of his trademark fits in response. Mercifully, it finally lead to what had been a long time coming - Barton being hauled off on his own club ground. It was rather cruel really, but he'd been so dreadfully poor since the retirement of Cooke that the line had to be drawn somewhere. On came Charlie Ross of Bakermouth, one of the early stars of the EOT League and a real prospect in the making, a rare silver lining in this dreadful campaign.

Jacob Hayden had scored a stunning solo goal in the last match and deserved to be on the pitch, but neither he or Jesus Moreno were getting on due to the three at the back formation. Hans Cabel wasn't even in the squad. Instead they got to watch the Expats three centrebacks struggle with no wing cover, only able to bear observing desperately through their fingers as Kurt Stong was forced to clear another shot off the line. Strong and Gerduns bad form for the national team was inexplicable given how they both played for elite Euran club Revolutionaries, and Strong looked particularly keen to preserve his reputation after the bad start. He stepped up accordingly and powered home a header from a Peter Chadwick corner to bring the score back to 1-2.

But they would be let down by the other defender, Freddie Law. Carsby's hard bloke at the back went in stupidly late on an Aquitlia forward late in the first half. Uproar ensued and a scuffle broke out, at the end of which Law saw red. Oslograd fumed and marched on to the pitch to berate the referee, before being politely told he'd have to join Law in the stands if he didn't pipe down. Surprisingly, he obeyed. The Expats manager glowered with anguish when the fouled forward lofted the resulting free kick into the top right hand corner from 30 yards.

Radical changes were made at half time. There was no choice but to withdraw Tom Duffy for Jason Potts to shore up the backline, while in midfield, Samuel Freeman was substituted for striker Garret Ramsey. Against all sensible reasoning, Oslograd opted to throw caution to the wind and play a 3-4-2 with his remaining ten men. His Expats were brutally exposed for a significant period of the second half and saved only by the formidable presence of Strong and a series of good saves by Ross. Just as fans were starting to leave, Kasey Fuller's shot through a crowded box clipped Ramsey's ankle and went in, a typically nonsensical goal. Some returned to their seats, hoping to see a late comeback.

The home side huffed and puffed to no avail for the next ten minutes until finally, in the third minute of stoppage time and with everyone forward for a free kick, Joel Conway's header against the underside of the bar pushed the ball just over the line and in. He celebrated like he'd just won the World Cup itself. On the sideline Oslograd threw a jubilant air punch. 'BALLOON SPIRIT TRIUMPHS YET AGAIN, I DARESAY! Have that Warren!' Warren Crust of the Fligsive Times looked on with disapproval as Oslograd gave him the finger and a not-so-subtle "wanker" sign. Oslograd didn't tend to be humble to arch critics. Unfortunately, the fourth official had been right next to the celebrating coach, who unintentionally caught him square in the jaw with his right hook. The official went down like a sack of potatoes and slowly but surely, Oslograd backed down the tunnel, waiting until he was clear before breaking into a galloping sprint away from the stadium.

by **Chromatika** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:34 pm

MD 21: Chromatika 0-0 Bloing
Goals: None.
Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Tioux; Ruth - Friedman - Rondeau - Nocturne; Limones - Dias; Thorben (C) - Sterling - Han; Andisori, B.
Substitutes: Ingalls -> Limones ('51), Reynolds -> Han ('72), Vidal -> Andisori, B. ('85)
Projected Lineup @ Zealandiana: Nichols; Xiao - Ken - Baugh - Rowles; Avis - Kim, M.S.; Etienne (C) - Kim, M.J. - Reynolds; Non.

Jillian Nier, Football Correspondent

A dud of a scoreless draw is hardly the way the Chromatiks wanted to qualify, but Ferret Tioux saved all four shots on goal and it was enough to preserve the point. Coupled with Mriin's victory, it places the Chromatiks second due to head-to-head, and will likely remain that way, but it's all right.

There was a rumor that Chromatika may play the Starting XI, but that didn't happen - thank goodness.

One last chance at Zealandiana for the reserves to play. Here's to hoping they enjoy it.

Part 20: The Excerpt

Part 21: The Bomb

A one cubic foot box, smooth, black, metallic. Dense. Containing antiessence - essence that can just get rid of everything, including time.

If this bomb is to go off, Chromatika will revert to what it was before everything. No Rainbow Revolution. No Chromatik Party. No national team.

Back when the isles were just inhabited bunch of land that Cosumar hadn't bother to settle yet.

That is why stopping the bomb is so important for the peoples of the country.

In the realm of The Enlightened, the bomb going off would sever any ties between The Hope, The Skilled, and their friends in Chromatika - which means that the doubt that has been growing unnoticed by The Enlightened will be vanquished, and The Three will be free to invade another country in another plane and do the same thing again.

For the futures of both worlds, the bomb must be stopped...

Rainbow League System Preview
21. Pùr

Nickname: Riders
Fans: Riders
Location: Pùr, Heartland District, Chromatika
Stadium: Riders' Arena (35,210)
History:

Manager: Mark Bignon, 52
Formation: (4-3-3)

Background: Pùr is the biggest city in the Heartlands, and the capital of the district. This is where most of Chromatika's farmland is located. It is from this district that the nation generates most of its domestic grains and livestock. Without Pùr, Chromatika would either starve or go even further into foreign debt. The arena is not a flashy stadium, but one that gets its job done, and a place that all Pùrites know about.

Preseason Grading: brought to you by ChromatikBet.com

Fanbase: 6/10: Riders fans still remember the glory days...
Manager: 3/10: Unproven, raw, Mark Bignon.
Keepers: 6/10: Bears has great reflexes.
Defenders: 6/10: Newsom is very good.
Midfielders: 3/10: They're old.
Strikers: N/A: Goudeau is really good.
Greatest Need: When the Chromatik League disbanded, all foreign players were let go. Pùr has some key pieces.
Next: Qet

by **PotatoFarmers** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:53 pm

BOLGANO 0
Poafmersia 1
Handaris 21'

Starting 11
Dikash Johikas;
Graciia Warisian, Alex Hoboson, Konile Trasa, Timothy Gausun;
Matthew Tibrise, Daas Taisg, Danill Trasa;
Hansel Tang, Shakira Handris (c), Pete Carisa

Substitutes
Dargis Walshor (for Matthew 61')
Alexri Timson (for Pete 77')

"Since when did we score 2 goals?" asked Shakira Handaris as he looked at the short article reported by the local BOLGANO news.
The team was at the airport waiting for boarding back home as the chartered plane clears its final check after a minor incident the previous night at the airport. Reading the local news about what is happening around in BOLGANO, Shakira was presently surprised to see that they reflected the result as 2-0.
"No Shakira," said Pete Carisa, "They agreed that the refree made a terrible decision in saying that my goal was offside when it was just by some fine margins. Clearly they are recognising that we should have won 2-0 and not 1-0 because of that offside shot."
"I thought we asked their manager after the match and they refused to comment about the offside?" asked one of the accompanying reporters for the Poafmer Times. "And now their newspaper is giving our team a goal? Nice one there."
"Time to ask the WCC officials to relabel our result as 2-0 then, with agreement from both sides," chuckles Adnan. "Also, the both of you are not playing the next match, am I right?" He pointed at Shakira and Pete.
"Wasn't that the agreement? We would let Nasir (Hansir), Alexri (Timson), and Santik (Manson), our 3 seniors, play up front. We are rotating for the final match against Nephara, no?" replied Pete. Shakira nodded in agreement.
"Yes, Shakira and Pete," said Adnan. He motioned for the two of them to follow him to the other side. Calling out to Bytia and Dargis and asking them to follow him, the five of them went to a quiet corner away from all the other players.
"I called the four of you here because all of you have been close friends of Joel. Do you know what happened to him?" Adnan asked.
"I thought he was attending his cousin's wedding back home?" asked Dargis. "Never heard anything much from him."
"The other day when he told me he could not make it for the match against BOLGANO, he was asking me about moving overseas to play club football. So I was wondering if he told any of you his plans about moving overseas," replied Adnan.
"Oh he wanted to transfer out?" asked Dargis. "I have been training with the senior team back with my club and I have not heard about Joel moving out at all. He seems to have kept this really private."
"He asked me before about the international transfer window thing. Never thought he was thinking of moving out at all," said Shakira. "He asked me whether playing in the domestic leagues of big leagues like Nephara's would be a better opportunity to improve his abilities and I was like "How do I know? I have never been there." He was pointing out that the "no foreign player" policy for 2 season does not mean players cannot move out of domestic clubs."
"I think he asked me the same question too, but I have absolutely no idea about it. I have no aspirations of moving out anyways so I just said that he could try if he wishes to, but maybe on a loan and asked him to discuss with you and his club coaches," added Pete.
"Hmm okay," said Adnan. "I think I will bring this up with him. Thanks for your input, you can go back to join the rest now. Don't tell anyone, okay?"
As everyone else stood up and leave, Adnan thought about the upcoming international transfer window. Probably some players do need more overseas experience.

Poafmersia 6
Manson 16', 22', 37'
Hansir 49'
Timson 70'
Taisg 88'

Monso 3
Player #4 30', 57'
Player #9 77'

Starting 11
Sandi Jaliaha;
Danzik Hoboson, Pasits Rikachz (c), Alex Hoboson;
Dargis Walshor, Gisiik Moonar, Daas Taisg, Bastia Hansilon;
Alexri Timson, Santik Manson, Nasir Hansir;

Substitutes
Daak Kalson (for Bastia 60')
Likarish Gyits (for Santik 77')

Sporting Daily: Poafmersia finishes last home game of qualification with a bang

Fiskadaha - No one expected this win to be such a huge one, but the team did it in a 9 goal thriller.
The game was a showcase of how much the players have improved. Even when playing a more attacking formation in a 3-4-3, which was the first time the players played in such a formation, the players did absolutely well. Among the three goals conceeded, two came from corners which were very well taken, and the last one was a brilliant long range effort from Monso's main striker. Apart from that, Poafmersia scored 6 goals and showcased firepower ahead of the final match of the qualification period.
The fans were unfurling banners of Adnan in the Libira National Stadium, thanking him for the hard work he has done to bring the Poafmersian national team to new heights and for brining Poafmersian football to the rest of the world. The cheers were louder than before, with people inside and outside the fully packed stadium cheering the team on. The players did not fail. Santik Manson scored 2 goals in a span of 6 minutes, first with a nice bicycle kick from a corner, and then with a nice solo effort which beat 5 outfield players and scored past the goalkeeper in a one-on-one effort. Though Monso got one back through a headed goal from a corner, Santik finished his hat-trick after catching the rebound from Alexri Timson's effort. The second half was a closer contest, but with a two goal lead, Poafmersia was not afraid to attack and score more goals through Nasir Hansir, Alexri before Daas Taisg scored one to round up the scoring and the match.
After the match, the fans had a standing ovation for the team, and the entire 35-player squad came out together to thank the fans for being so supportive. Though not all featured today or was on the bench, every player was thankful for this opportunity to be part of the experience, thankful to be the first squad sent for qualification. Regardless of the result against Nephara four days later, the team has done really well and are on their way to do really good things. Some may be playing in the IFCF and FFI competitions. Others may be playing in new clubs here and overseas, especially the second tier players who really shone throughout the campaign. Joel and Shakira are probably strikers that have caught the eye of some scouts from around the world. Poafmersian clubs may not be able to buy foreign players for this upcoming season, but they could sell or loan players to foriegn clubs.
Even our rankings has improved by a whole 100 ranks, climbing to 75th place with 9.50 KPB ranking points thus far. Win Nephara and we might even go higher in ranking, as our KPB ranking points will reach 10.10. Furthermore, with our team in 3rd place, 3 points ahead of The Macabees with a superior GD too, we have done better than expectations by completing with a 3rd place finish, one up from our target of 4th.
For now, it would be the new domestic season after the match against Nephara, and we wait to see what new things can happen as we await for a new chapter in Poafmersian football. Having headed into the unknown and found our rightful place in football, it is time to ensure that we do not freeze in place and go even further.

World Cup 81/82/83/84

We've come to the finish line of WCQ 84. 30 teams will move on to join Cassadaigua and I in our lovely nations. I want thank everyone who did excellent work on stories and match reports and all of the other types of RP that it has been my privilege to read these last few weeks. For the record, as of now, 109 of the 165 entered nations either posted a roster or submitted at least one RP (110 if you count my brief entry)

There was a time, when we started this out, that we cutoff for the first time. And now, for the last time for this tournament.

by **Main Nation Ministry** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:37 pm

The Twisted Fate of Jasper Chuter

(OOC: Post was made with help from Free Republics)

Keller Harrington and Dorbi Truman examined the building, in front of them as they entered. Truman had been meaning to wonder how Gossip Magazine would feel that they were being hunted down by a crazed dictator who wants to kill their editor in-chief and another journalist. Entering through the reception, Keller and Dorbi asked to meet Jasper Chuter for diplomatic purposes. Entering his office, he wasn't thrilled when Truman explained their intents. "Yes, who are you two? You here with an interesting story for us at Gossip Magazine?" Jasper Chuter asked from his desk, as Truman and Harrington tried to introduce themselves. "Mr. Chuter. I'm Dorbi Truman, Secretary of Foreign Relations from Main Nation Ministry. We need to-" Truman tried to say more, but he was cut off by Chuter.
"Oh just fuck off with this Main Nation Ministry shit! Though the girl can stay."

"Why can't Truman stay? He works with Foreign Relations?" Harrington asked Chuter as Truman knew things weren't going so well already. "Because I think you're the best kind of gal, who can win over my interests.." Chuter started to smile, unnerving Truman. Princess Keller Harrington couldn't help, but wonder if Chuter had something planned for her. Gossip Magazine did do an article on her. But they recognize her. She did have her knife, in case things got rough.
"Truman. Wait outside of the office. I can handle him."
"But..but.."
"Trust me." Harrington gave a quick smile of confidence to Truman. Truman only nodded, as he left the office of Jasper Chuter, which Etoile saw him as he left the office. Jasper leaned down back into his chair, as Keller got a seat in front of him.

"So what brings you here?"
"I'm here, because our dictator wants to kill you."
"The Leader? I was not informed of it."
"You do realize that your previous office at the O'Reilly Tower burned down?"
"Yes, of course! A direct act of terrorism by him to directly harm our kind readers. He did it, knowing that the time of O'Reilly meant a lot to Free Republics."
"Didn't you watch the interview with Jeremiah Lynch?"
"Why yes! Lynch's overall sex tapes, coupled with the Leader's own are visible to the nation and the multi-verse!"
"You do realize who I am, right?"
"Well... not really.."
"You didn't bother to view any of the "sex tapes" you published I believe.."
"The tapes we make are authentic in quality to be known as a newsworthy source."
"Right. "Made" as you say."
"There is nothing wrong with making sex tapes, gal. It's just the part of business."
"Let me try to piece some stuff to you. The Leader wants you dead, because he had gotten a sex tape or two that pissed him off. He went to Free Republics to try to kill you and ended up burning down the O'Reilly Tower. Then, the Leader returns after you went to make some more. Including a sex tape with me and another stranger."
"It's not like we hired a lookalike!"
"So the tapes were all fake?"
"I told you, girl! It's just the part of business! I can offer to make sure you're aren't a lesbian, as we claim. You just got to do me some favors, actually.."
"Like what?"

Jasper Chuter leaned forward towards Princess Keller Harrington, as he was trying to seduce her. "How about you and me head to my room back at my pad, so I can see how true the sex tapes are? I mean, what's your position? If you have any kinks or whatever, I'm happy to oblige." However, Keller who had Jason Masami as her boyfriend disagreed immediately.
"Are you...are you asking that I have sex with you?"
"What's the problem with that?"
"You do realize I'm 17."
"Age of consent isn't low here! A little grinding with me and I can do anything you like!"
"Is that blackmail?"
"Come on, I just want to fuck you! How hard is that?"
"I have a boyfriend! And I'm not going to have sex with some creep who is also a pervert!"
"Come on! You're glad that our tapes and stories didn't reach your presses! We gotten international copies of The Truth News and not one thing mentioned us as a source! Not one thing!"
"Because your sources are fake.."

This seemed to piss off Jasper, as he revealed some of his true intentions to Keller.
"Oh fuck off! You think I'm still happy, after your nation outed me to get fired from my job at Sporting World?! We had professional journalism there with my help, until crybabies like you complained!"
"Is this what this is about? You deliberately made lies to annoy the Leader, because he got you fired?"
"I don't fucking know what they did to Gloria! When she came back from your nation, she told people they open up her throat with some needles and extract some juice or shit! He was involved with getting me fired!"
"You do realize you're trying to start a war with us, right? The Leader isn't afraid to use nuclear warfare as defense. Plus, we have more armed forces than this nation."
"What are you planning on doing to stop me? It's not like people take news seriously!"
"Just leave everyone in my nation alone. Some of them who you covered with stories and sex tapes had nothing to do with you. Jessica Madden introduced."
"She's a fucking whore and a tramp! Women like here are disgusting with her muscles and showing her tits off to her fans! If anything, she deserved to be embarrassed! And you know what? I hope she knows what we been writing about her, so she can cry about it!"
"She's a kind person. She doesn't like the Leader, also. If she was here, she would try to reason with you more. But seeing how you don't seem to have any respect for everyone in both Free Republics and Main Nation Ministry, the only advice is to just cease this nonsense at once."

"Or else what?" Jasper taunted Keller, as she started to realize why the Leader despise him so much. "You have a bounty on your head by the Leader, Jasper! I dragged myself and Truman all the way over here, just to save you!" "Calm down, Keller. You want a drink? All of that traveling is making you perched." Jasper Chuter said, trying to stay calm, though he knew what to do. Chuter sat up for a second, as he went over to a mini-fridge inside of his office. He pulled out a bottle of what appeared to be wine, as he was getting some cups from a corner of his office. Unknown to Keller, Jasper had slipped something in one of the cups, as he was pouring the wine. "I'm not thirsty." Keller told him, as he was getting the cups. "No, I insist you drink. I think a little loosing of the nerves helps with the conversation."

Chuter put down the cups of wine, after pouring it on his desk, where he gave one to Keller. "I don't drink. I'm still too young."
"Alcohol laws are different here in Free Republics! Come on, Keller. I love to hear your interview."
"Interview?"

Harrington immediately stopped and looked into the cup, immediately thinking something is wrong. "Come on, drink your poison!" Chuter told her, where Keller immediately came to the conclusion that Chuter had something up his sleeve. "I already told you. I'm not thirsty. And I don't drink alcohol." Harrington put the cup down on his desk, until Chuter suddenly grabbed her hand, where she immediately reached for her holster, where she kept her knife. "Let me go."
"I insist you drink, you dumb bitch!"
"I said, let me go!"

Chuter disobeyed Harrington by pulling her closer to him, where Keller was forced to get him to let go by pulling out her knife, where she swiped it at him. Jasper staggered back in pain, as a red line appeared on his face. "You bitch! You cut my face!" Chuter yelled at her, where he was putting his hand over his face. "What did you put in her drink?" Harrington immediately demanded, as Etoile Quenneville entered the office to see that Jasper was hurt. "What did you do!?" Etoile yelled at Harrington as she went to help Jasper, as he looked at Harrington.
"He tried to do something to me!" Harrington told Etoile, until Jasper spoke out. "You couldn't handle a taste of roofies, Keller!? You just had to take a drink!"
"...You..you were planning on actually.."

Keller Harrington felt rage inside her. She had tried to reason with Jasper Chuter, however all he tried to do was try to be nothing, but a twisted pervert to her. Keller could just kill Chuter right now, since she is starting to feel that intense power she had, when she was possessed by that parasite. "Well, you deserve it, if my boss Chuter is taking an interest in you! You think you can just walk in here and just present yourself like a model?! Bitches like you deserve whatever Chuter dishes out." Etoile told Keller, as Keller gripped her knife tighter. This woman is defending Chuter, even though he confessed on trying to drug her?!

Dorbi Truman entered the room, immediately with a terrified look on his face, as he was trying to say something. "Uhh...guys?" "Truman, do something!" Harrington immediately wanted to have Chuter get his ass kicked, but Truman seemed to have something on his mind. "I don't think I can.." "I told you to fuck off, you fucking foreign bureaucrat!" Chuter yelled at Truman, until...

All of the sudden, Truman immediately moved out of the room, as Etoile looked to see who was behind him. Etoile was about to say something, but a sudden gunshot went off that was heard by everyone in the room. Chuter and Harrington looked to see a gunshot wound appear on Etoile's chest. A perfect shot coming from the door leading into the office. Chuter looked to see who fired the shot. "Aw fuck!" Chuter yelled in horror, as he saw who had just entered the office.

The Leader stood at the door with a loaded pistol with a rather pissed off murderous grin on his face. Truman immediately ran away from the scene, while Harrington couldn't register what had happened. "Harrington. Leave. I'm taking it from here." the Leader said, almost calmly to Harrington.
"Leader?"
"It's over. You can kick my ass later."

Harrington hesitated at first, until she immediately left the room, where she closed the door to the office. Now it was just both the Leader and Jasper Chuter in the room.
"What are you doing in here!?"
"Jasper Chuter! They hired you here after we had you fired from Gossip Magazine?"
"Oh fuck off! You already killed one of the people I slept with! What are you doing now? Going to kill me?"

The Leader immediately pointed his gun at Chuter, pulling back the pin, trying to aim at Chuter's head.

"Yes."
"Free Republics will kill you for this! You do realize that?!"
"Drop the act. You think having Etoile write articles of making fake news of this nation's finest is going to give you support after you die? I'm already planning on leaving the gun here, so it looks like a murder-suicide."
"They will know that you killed me!"
"I know. They will know. And they will just dismissed your death as a suicide."
"What the fuck is this all about?!"
"You think you can have a tape of my princess and make her look like a whore?! She's the only one that she.."
"She what?"

The side of the Leader's face started to twitch, where it looked like a forced smile was appearing on him.

"Chuter, can I share you a little story? You're glad that you didn't try to make fake rumors about our nation itself. If that happened, you accidentally tell the truth. And you will be responsible for the deaths of millions of people that will spread to this nation and others."
"Why her?"
"I guess I can share you this. Seeing how you didn't bother to put security cameras in the room. And it's just the two of us."
"Why your bitch princess?"
"She's the only one who reminds me of a good life. A life that I was comfortable for once! You made Keller look like an absolute prostitute, even after I done for her. She did nothing wrong and this is how you treat her!?"
"Princess Keller deserves everything."

"Rose didn't deserve anything!"

"Wait what?" Chuter said, until hearing what the Leader said.

The Leader immediately realized what he said. It looked like the Leader was breaking down a bit, until he started to shake almost violently.

Leader: I.. I..heheheheh..

The Leader immediately started to laugh, where Chuter tried to creep away from him, only the Leader to look back at him, where he can see the glare that he gave to Chuter. The Leader was clearly enraged, but he gave a smile that looked like he was smiling through pain.

"Chuter! You get what you fucking deserve!"

The Leader immediately shot Jasper Chuter, where he told a moment to get himself back into his proper side. He immediately let his smile fade and gave the look of simple stoic. It was almost like something from a Dr Jekyll and Hyde situation. Two personalities from him appeared to have shifted. The Leader went up to Chuter's body and put the gun in his hands. Chuter had his brains leaking onto the floor, so he was already dead.

The Leader immediately left the office, where Keller was waiting for him outside of the building. "Where's Truman?" the Leader asked Harrington, where he was satisfied with what he done. "He left to have his men escort us back to the airport. We using some of our money to give to the nation."
"How much?"
"Enough to give benefits to those that you killed at the O'Reilly Tower."
"I have to get our fine workers to get extended weeks, Keller!"

Out of nowhere, Keller immediately kicked the Leader in the gut, as he felt the pain and let himself drop to the sidewalk. "We're making sure we don't give them a reason to come invade us and get killed."
"I felt a rib get strained. Nice job." the Leader joked, as he laid on the sidewalk in pain.
"This isn't funny." Keller said, as she stepped on his hand.
"Alright, alright! Just help me up!"

"...No. You wasted my time enough. I was a middle of something and I probably already missed a movie, thanks to you!" Keller said to the Leader, as she walked away. "Hey, Keller! Come on! I own the studios! I can arrange a private screening for you!

"Keller.. Keller!" the Leader tried to call her over, but Keller just walked without him.

"KELLER!" The Leader screamed for her, as a soldier from Main Nation Ministry had arrived to collect the Leader. "Come on, sir. We need to return. We treat you on the plane."
"Let me go, you little shit!"
"Please, sir. For your safety."
"Ah fine!"

The Leader couldn't do anything. He let the soldier drag him back to the airport, as both the Leader, Truman, and Princess Harrington left Free Republics to return home. Later, Princess Harrington had the Leader sent a somewhat financial apology to the victims of those who died by his antics back in Free Republics by providing chips that could be converted into foreign currency, such as thalers. It was enough to pay for the funerals for everyone.

For Jessica Madden and Charlie Huxley, none of them knew what happened at Free Republics, though when Keller arrived, she asked the two to join her and Masami for a movie that the Leader arranged. Both, who were a bit bored agreed. Though, Masami and Harrington noticed that both Madden and Huxley were getting a little interested in each other. No one seemed to be unaware of the events of one night with the latter two.

by **Hapilopper** » Mon Jan 06, 2020 11:09 pm

Capital Stadium, Hapilopper City
World Cup 84 Qualifying Match 20: Hapilopper v. Nomoterra
The final match of Hapilopper’s World Cup qualifying campaign would go down in history as one of the most depressing nights in the history of Hapiloppian sport. The team had come in to raise hell and kick ass, and for the first 19 matches, it had been in the hunt to become one of the 30 teams to qualify for the 84th World Cup. But after that 19th match, the team had been eliminated. For the second year in a row, Hapilopper had tried, but failed, to make the World Cup.

With that in mind, that 20th and final match carried a much different atmosphere than the others. Every other home match for the Haps had been loud, boisterous and insane. The Haps fed off that energy to the best of their ability. The supporters had brought everything they could bring to support their fellow countrymen, and what resulted was an insane circus-like atmosphere that the Haps reveled in. This match, however, was different.

Players looked around a few minutes from the start of the match to see huge swaths of empty seats all over the stadium. The energy was gone. The excitement was gone. The fun was gone. These were two teams that had already lost. Nomoterra never stood a chance. They had been knocked out of contention a long time ago and held a solid lock on last place in their group. Hapilopper, meanwhile, would be treating this match as a friendly and a chance to check out players that usually didn’t get playing time. Most of the starters weren’t playing, and in fact, several players, including Ernie Stevenson, Bobby East and Murray Hunnisett, never even dressed for the match. They spent the match in a luxury box, partially not even paying attention to the match.

The result of the match was a 2-0 victory for the Haps. Claire Randall scored both goals in a match where the Haps pretty much had their way. Sadly for her, though, nobody was really paying attention. The focus of Group 6 was on that match between Darmen and Darkmania. The Darmenis won that match, 4-3, and heartbreakingly, it meant that Hapilopper was one point shy of qualifying for the World Cup. Regardless of how they could have done on this sad evening in Hapilopper City, there was no hope for them to qualify for the World Cup.

But they had shown some incredible things this qualifier. They had traveled to Equestria to take on the defending World Cup champs and put up some measure of revenge for that awful night in Manehattan when the Equestrians took them down 8-1 in an AOCAF match, and what would you know, Hapilopper kicked their asses. They showed they were capable of taking anyone down at any time. Maybe that’s what was so frustrating about the team. They could go to Equestria and run roughshod over them, but a week later, only muster a draw against a side that should have had no hope against them. If they could refine their play to put on a more consistent performance, this team would be in the World Cup. If they could be consistently hot, rather than hot one match and cold the next, the Haps would be traveling to either Cassadaigua or Baker Park to raise some hell.

Maybe, by some chance, in between this evening and the start of the upcoming Cup of Harmony, or before the 60th AOCAF, or even the start of the 85th World Cup qualifiers, the team could learn a thing or two about consistency. It would help them go a long way in the future.

The next morning, the Haps held one last meeting. There was no training that day. There would be no preparation for an upcoming match. It was a meeting to debrief this entire qualifying run, and to look forward to the upcoming Cup of Harmony. After that meeting, though, the players would go their separate ways for the next few weeks.

Ernie Stevenson drove back to his parents’ house after the meeting concluded. The next morning, he was on the first flight back to Nephara. So was Nathan Ellis. When Ernie sat down in his seat, he spotted Nate sitting in the seat next to him. The two shared a quick laugh and spent most of the flight reflecting on the last few months. They had been teammates, and pretty soon, they’d be facing each other in one of the top football leagues of the multiverse.

Meanwhile, Fernie Fairburn decided to drive straight back to Surrey from the HNFT Team Center. Two hours into the trip, he stopped at a convenience center where he realized he had fallen back to reality. Nobody recognized him. They might have recognized him if he was wearing that number six jersey, but to everyone else, he was just another person stopping for a quit break from the stresses of the Trans-Hapilopper Highway. Three hours later, he had returned to his dorm at Surrey Perimeter. He went right to his shower, sat down and contemplated the last several months of his life. For those last few months, he had been a national hero, one of the most famous people in the Dominion. Now, he was back to just being a college kid who put on some real bomb-ass parties on the weekend.

The Midnight Express, meanwhile, headed to the airport together. Bobby East, Stan Long and John Cornett would not be headed back to Garvinson. Bobby was getting ready to catch the next flight to Siovanija and Teusland. John was about to head off to Valanora and Stan was about to fly to Xanneria. The three spent a long time together, drinking their favorite adult beverages and thinking back. There was a chance that this would be the last time the three teamed together, and Cornett was likely going to get the boot. The HFA had decided there was no need for four forwards on a team with a 4-2-3-1 formation.

Other players went their separate ways, knowing that before long, they would get back together and raise hell in the 76th Cup of Harmony. Their roads would take different paths for the time being, and the story of the HNFT would continue at a later date.

Hapilopper will be back.

by **Port Ember** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 12:56 am

Port Ember Times
Sports Journal

We've Done It!!!!

Port Ember 5 - 1 Lisander

By Erica Davies - Port Ember Times Sports Section

The Port Emberian Dragons pulled off yet another consecutive victory in the second half of the World Cup 84 Qualification Season, when they defeated the Lisander National Team in an away match this past Match Day 22.

The second half of the qualifier season saw Port Ember facing off against all the teams they have allready faced in the first half, allowing the oppertunity to exact revenge on lost matches - or reprove themselves. This second match against Lisander was a chance for our young team to exact a manner of revenge against their oppenents, as they have drawn against our national team in their previous encounter at home, with a 1 - 1 final score.

This grand victory has resulted in Port Ember hitting a new personal record of recording a 10 game winstreak, and more importantly - Port Ember has officially qualified to compete within Word Cup 84!

This away match was played at a sold out Lisander International Stadium, - the traditional home of the Lisander National Team, located in the capital city of Lisander.

The Game - Summary

This match marked the tenth and final match of the second half of the qualifier season for our national team, and was a truly entertaining match as both sides gave it their all on the pitch.

The entire match was categorised as a total thumping - with really only our team truly in the game from the offest. The Port Emberian Dragons displayed superior technical skills, fitness, strategy, chemistry and teamwork and ended up dominating play from the start.

Star striker Danny Nicovic slotted home two goals in the first half, in minutes 21 and 36 - both scores assisted by captain Ray Reddington - who led his midfield into an extraordinary performace.

Lisander picked up their only score for the day in minute 43 when Afonso Heretier scored a header-goal from a corner kick.

The second half followed the same picture of Port Emberian dominance, especially within the midfield. 'Golden Child' Danny Nicovic picked up his hatrick when he and winger Eric Tosaír from the Tribe of Waterford burst through the flanks in minute 49.

Striker Leon Moult wanted in on the action and pulled of two scores of his own in minutes 59 and 77, rocking the opposition as the final score pulled off to a devastating 1-5 score for the visitors, and the home crowd being visibly depressed.

Overall this match displayed a new side to the young team, demonstrating excellent technical skills and master class strategy.

The Fans

The 10 000 Port Emberian fans in attendance were back to their standard noisy and passionate antics, cheering and energising their young team.

Port Emberian Player Scores

Goalkeeper (GK)(#1): Peter Smith - 7/10. The 'Rock' had a quite day between the sticks as the midfield and defence held firm. Allowed only one goal past him.

Center Back (CB)(#2): Josh Richards - 7/10. Josh was a solid defender, executing brilliant tackles when required for the full 90 minutes. Although not the most technical player, his physical strength and fitness got the job done in a manner which could inspire many future footballers.

Center Back (CB)(#3): Jason Lee. 8/10. 'The Backline Prince' did what he does best for the full 90 minutes - organise and rally the backline. Surely responsible for assisting his side in keeping the opposition's score so low.

Full Back (LB)(#4): Alex Kuhn - 6/10. The opposition mostly avoided the left backline for most of the match, giving Alex a peacefull match, which was not his mistake. When shots were taken into his reach, Alex managed to hold up his own.

Full Back (RB)(#5): Russel Pierce - 7/10. Was a solid defender, executing brilliant tackles when required for the full 90 minutes. Although not the most technical player, his physical strength and fitness got the job done in a manner which could inspire many future footballers.

Attacking Midfield (AM)(#10): Ray Reddington - 10/10. Brilliant day for the Captain on the field. Never failed to exploit potentiol gaps during offences and managed to create gaps when there was none. Assisted in 3 excellent goals due to good midfield-striker chenistry. This was a true 'midfielder's game' and can be credited for this victory.

Defensive Midfield (DM)(#6): Steven Packard - 8/10. Great day for Steven as he worked hard, and managed to link up well with Reddington to create counter attack oppertunities. This was a true 'midfielder's game' and can be credited for this victory.

Wide Midfield (LM)(#8): Jason Chamberlain - 7/10. This was a true 'midfielder's game' and can be credited for this victory.

Wide Midfield (RM)(#11): Eric Tosaír of the Tribe of Waterford - 7/10. Had a excellent field day and proved his worth as the newcomer to the team. Assisted in two excellent goals due to good midfield-striker chenistry.

Central Forward (CF)(#7): Leon Moult - 8/10. Seemed to be back to his normal and brilliant form as he posed constant threats to the opposition defence. Scored two excellent goals.

Central Forward (CF)(#9): Danny Nicovic 8/10. Proved to the world that he is deserving of his Star Status, picking up a excellent hatrick.

Match Stats

Match: Port Ember Vs Lisander

Location: Republic of Port Ember

Result: 5 - 1 Win for Port Ember

Goals - Port Ember: Danny Nicovic x 3; Leon Moult x 2

Goals - Lisander: Afonso Heretier.

Man of the Match - Port Ember: Danny Nicovic

Aftermatch word from the Coach

"What a great day to be the manager of this team! Not only did we dominate and decimate the pitch today - WE QUALIFIED!!!!" Coach Baxter

Article by Erica Davies
Port Ember Times
Sports Journal

by **PotatoFarmers** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 1:25 am

Eagle's Club, Brinemouth, Nephara

Nephara 2 Poafmersia 0

Starting 11 for Poafmersia:
Sandi Jaliaha
Alex Pickford, Danzik Hoboson (c), Pasits Rikachz, Denise Pickford;
Dargis Walshor, Gisiik Moonar, Jessie Mchargarita;
Joel Haodao, Shakira Handris, Pete Carisa

Substitutes:
Alexri Timson (for Pete 76')
Daak Kalson (for Jessie 84')

The players gave it their all.
Despite losing 2-0, the team showed a much different composure as compared to the last match where they were heavily trashed. They had few bright chances but the threats were often nullified by the solid Nephara defence. Having been into this unknown, they came back much more prepared to deal with Nephara's threats and kept out a few attempts. However, the team still fell to the more experienced and skillful side with 2 bright goals.
The fans were not upset. As compared to the first half where Poafmersia only had 12 points, they took home 22 points in the second half, losing only to eventual qualifiers Nephara, Siovanija & Teusland, and making one 0-0 draw. They beat The Macabees, defeated Monso, and a won a whole lot of other matches. In fact, the fans were very willing to join the Poafmersian team in give a standing ovation to the home side when they came out of the tunnel, congratulating them on being group champions and getting their ticket to the World Cup proper. The players treated the match seriously, despite the atmosphere not being as tense as before and everyone was rather cheerful.
The coach fielded a strong lineup, in respect of the match and to the visiting fans. It is not easy to schedule a match with a top tier side in a friendly anyways, so this could be a test for the players. The players performed okay, though there were still room for improvement. Regardless, it was a nice experience out here in the open, trying to qualify for the first time in a relatively okay group. Although the team missed it by inches, they had 3rd place to show everyone. Besides, it was estimated by the major sporting newspapers, together with PFFA, that Poafmersia would move to Rank 76 in the International Rankings, up by 99 ranks, so they at least had something to showcase to the people.
As for now, it would be the business end of the transfer window back home, before the Premier League and Super League starts. The Super League had agreed later to move the start time to align with the Premier League, giving less pressure to teams with players getting their international caps, so both would play their first few matches in 2 weeks. But the domestic season comes with a chaotic scene in the new IFCF tournament. How would Poafmersian teams do there? Besides, will players start to leave the domestic league for greener pastures? There have been rumors about Joel, though Joel has not told anyone including his friends like Shakira or Dargis. Others are saying Shakira might be picked up by foreign agents, but who knows what? (OOC: This is open invitation for anyone to come and pick my players off if they want, just tg/dm me)
Adnan said after the match, "I am happy to have picked this group of players and made it through this campaign in such a manner. I guess we can take a well deserved rest before the next cycle? I don't know about of Cup of Harmony but in any case we can go to that tournament and earn some honor if we get the invite. Otherwise, whoever leads these players to the Independents' Cup or the next World Cup Qualification cycle can enjoy coaching them." Does this mean that he would be leaving after the cycle? That is for another time then, but otherwise, congratulations to all who qualified and for the rest, we might see you in the Cup of Harmony then.

by **Timuria** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 5:11 am

Skornedir.tmr

Match Summary:

Melbergia 3–1 Timuria
Martin Sovos (15), Simon Carr (40), Jason Gray (58);Kartal Unal (71)

Player Ratings:

Murat Yigithan 5/10

Ozbek Sarikaya 6/10

Eyup Mustafa 5/10

Metin Boz 5/10

Gokdeniz Dag 6/10

Atilla Acar 6/10

Yusuf Ihsanoglu 5/10

Tekin Yavuz 6/10

Caner Turan 5/10

Ertan Renda 6/10

Vatan Ercetin 6/10

Substitutes:

Kartal Unal 7/10

Altan Seyfi 6/10

Berker Balkan 6/10

by **Vdara** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 7:05 am

A... decent performance

It had been over for Vdara since the start, but the 6-1 defeat to Equestria cemented the fact to Vdaran fans that it would take many World Cup cycles before qualification even had a chance of being achieved.

Having been in good spirits after the 5-1 demolition of Acapais, Vdaran fans were immediately humbled with a 6-1 defeat against group leaders Equestria. Nevertheless, the National team players were hailed as heroes when they arrived back in Chania following their flight home from Equestria.

“We didn’t finish last! We didn’t finish last! Now you’re gonna believe us, now you’re gonna believe us, now you’re gonna believe UUUUUUSSS, WE DIDN’T FINISH LAST!” was one of the many chants that rang out around cities across Vdara.

They were correct in that they hadn’t finished last, but they had finished 3rd bottom. Not exactly a glistening performance, but good for a nation who has literally never played in a World Cup before.

“We’re simply the best! Better than all the rest! Better than anyone!” was yet another chant, but that was quite ironic considering our actual finish.

The Vdaran players were decently proud of their performance, with Vdaran captain Matheios Pardakis being quoted as saying:
“We did well, not good, not bad, but well. Just need to outperform next time, y’know?”

The manager, however, was less than pleased.
“We could’ve had a higher finish was it not for the team’s antics! 4 of our players ended up OUT OF THE TOURNAMENT for being on DRUGS! Fucking numpties. The rest of the players deserve credit though, especially Xeniadis and Fotellis.”

No matter how long it takes to qualify, the fans will always stand by the team.
Forza Vdara!

by **Sarzonia** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 7:46 am

The scoreline is going to be a letdown for Sarzonia.

After the form they've shown since Matchday 10's 1-1 draw with The Sherpa Empire began their impressive run of seven victories, three draws and one loss to world No. 5 Banija, the Stars finished the World Cup 84 qualification cycle with a clunker, a 1-1 draw against bottom of the table Atlantic Republic.

In the extreme short term, the Stars (8-7-5, 31 points) will fume over the fact that they gave up an own goal in the 33rd minute when Brady Reynolds attempted a pass toward defender and team captain Russ Howard and the ball caromed off Howard's left ankle and awkwardly bounced into the next past goalkeeper Clayton Sandt. For his part, the young keeper quickly diffused the tensions between Reynolds and Howard, telling them "shit happens. Don't worry about it."

Sandt didn't give much reason for the Stars to worry about much. He made five saves, with a breathtaking effort in the 66th minute to rob Atlantic Republic's best goalscorer of yet another tally and a surprising 2-0 lead against their fellow unranked Group 2 side. He even helped set the events in motion for Sarzonia's equaliser in the 74th minute with a booming goal kick that found Reynolds between midfield and the Atlantic Republic 18-yard box. He turned around and faked his way past a defensive midfielder and prepared to launch a shot when he fell victim to a cynical challenge, drawing a furious response from manager Kevin Connelly.

Fortunately, that fury was relatively brief as Reynolds was OK, even though he had to be helped off the pitch for a couple of minutes. The Stars would play a man down for four minutes until Connelly sent on Erik Swann to replace him. In the meantime, Ernie Mabree was called upon to take the ensuing penalty as the defender who challenged Reynolds drew a direct red for his exploits. Mabree converted the kick, deciding to go with a cheeky right-booted shot, catching the Atlantic Republic goalkeeper completely unaware. He was expecting Mabree to shoot with his notorious left boot, and pretty much the entire stadium was shocked by Mabree's decision to go with his right boot.

"I just wanted to try something different. Be deceptive for once," he said with a smirk after the match.

Connelly said Reynolds could have played if the Stars were fighting for a place in either Cassadaigua or Baker Park, but with the upcoming post qualifying friendly at Bears Armed, he wanted to ensure Reynolds would be healthy. He added that he and the team's training staff spoke with Reynolds and announced he would not suit up for that match in order to be ready for a potential Cup of Harmony appearance.

The Stars made the unexpected decision to start their full starting 11 except for Sandt because Connelly said he wanted the team to finish with the best record among unranked sides. However, the draw against Atlantic Republic, coupled with Squornshelous's 2-1 home victory over Lochario gave the newly minted Sarzonian rivals that honour. They finished with a mark of 9-6-5, good for fifth place in Group 5. They finished eight points behind second place finishere Siovanija & Teusland with their 33-point total. Their most impressive victory came on Matchday 14 when they earned a clean sheet over group winners and world No. 16 Nephara 2-0 at home.

For Sarzonia, their highlight was obvious: Their 3-1 victory away to Brenecia on Matchday 20 that knocked the world's 19th ranked team out of contention for the Group 2 crown, even though the World Cup 80 champions still qualified for the proper. Either way, Squornshelous, Sarzonia, and Bears Armed all finished qualifying with winning records despite their statuses as unranked teams entering this World Cup cycle.

And now, the Stars will prepare for at least one more match. Connelly announced that Sandt would start the match against Bears Armed.

Even with the Stars failing to qualify for the proper, the interest and excitement in Woodstock and other cities with the re-emergence of Sarzonian football would remain long after the scores faded into the mist of time.

"People may or may not remember our record or most of the scorelines," Sandt said after the match. "They will remember that we played much better football over our last 12 matches (going 7-4-1 after a 1-3-4 start). They'll remember our victory over Brenecia. They'll remember how much fun this all was."

And that's really the biggest story to emerge from this cycle. This was fun.

by **Bolgano** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 9:23 am

Some facts about WCQ84

Team with more goals: Vilita (79)
Team with fewer goals: Saintland and Yttribia (15)
Team with fewer goals against: Taeshan (9)
Team with more goals against: Furby Island (60)
Team with the most wins: Free republics, Vilita and Eura (18)
Team with fewer wins: Furby Island (0)
Team with more draws: Squornshelan Remnant States (9)
Team with fewer draws: Mareibat (0)
Team with less losses: Eura (0)
Team with the most defeats: Furby Island (16)
Team with the best goal differential: Eura (+48)
Team with the worst goal differential: Furby Island and Monso (-35)
Best Team: Eura (56 pts)
Worst Team: Furby Island (4 pts)
Top ranked team in the KPB Ranking that did not qualify for the World Cup: Cosumar (18th)
Worst ranked team in the KPB Ranking that managed to qualify for the World Cup: Port Ember (86th)

by **HUElavia** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 10:25 am

HUElavia Finishes Qualifiers on a Sour Note

HUElavia finished the qualifiers on a sour note, after suffering a 5-3 loss to Eastfield Lodge at City Memorial Stadium in New Lodger City, where it was decided that a majority of the starters would be part of the B-Team, in order to give the starters rest. Needless to say, it was a sour loss, as HUElavia found themselves 2 or 3 goals down.

The first goals were scored in the 15th and 18th minute, where Berretti took corner kicks to meet the heads of Accardi and Murray to make it 2-0 easily. HUElavia would respond with a blast by Navarro in the 23rd minute to cut the lead to 2-1. Right before half-time, in the 43rd minute, a blast by Farrow went past Armelino, who just stood there, and made it 3-1 for the end of the first half.

The second half was filled with goals as well, as HUElavia got another one in the 48th minute, as Gallego passed to Ramirez, who slotted it in with ease past Couch to make it 3-2. But, in the 55th minute, a pass by Dockson deflected off Smirnov for an own-goal, making it 4-2. Los Amarillos responded with another goal, this time a corner taken by Ramirez met the head of Marchena, who put it in past couch to make it 4-3 in the 75th minute. It looked as if HUElavia was going to go for the tie, when a counter-attack had left the HUElavian defense caught off guard and a pass by Dockson met the right foot of Berretti, blasting it into the net in the 86th minute, effectively deciding the game at 5-3.

Despite the loss, HUElavia qualify to World Cup 84 with a record of 13-3-4, totaling 42 points. Los Amarillos scored 48 goals (a record high) and conceded 38, to finish with a goal difference of +10. While the defense needs much improvement for the future, the attack is very consistent, and not once was HUElavia shut out from scoring, which is an all-time best. Out of the 18 possible points available against the three best teams of Group 3 (Starblaydia, Mercedini, and Eastfield Lodge), HUElavia got 10 points, notably getting at least a point in all 3 series. The most notable moment of these qualifiers were the historical sweep against Mercedini and gaining a point on the road at Starblaydia, the #6 ranked team in the world and the reigning runner-up of the World Cup.

For now, HUElavia is seeing commemorative merchandise being sold throughout the country as they celebrate the qualification. As of now, HUElavia is the 2nd worst-ranked team to qualify for World Cup 84, but certainly Los Amarillos will move up massively in the World Rankings after their phenomenal performance filled with suspense, agony, bravado and ecstasy. They will be in Pot 4, and projected to go out in the Group Stage, but this team wants to make some more noise, especially with massive crowds coming in to support the team for the tournament. Once again, all we can go right now is up.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

by **Bears Armed** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 11:18 am

Bears Armed vs. Kelssek
Venue: Stadium Konoha, Burnaby, Kelssek
Score: 1-3.

Goals
Bears Armed (1): Norr-Vurra (#24) @ 64’ (assist: Brent [#11]).
Kelssek (3): Custworth @ 21’ (assist: Demetriev); McDonagh @ 44’ (from direct free kick); Langelier @ 88’ (assist: Ó Tuathail).

Red Cards
(none)

Substitutions due to Injury
(none)

(reporter’s notes…)
Hosts coming into this from a 3-3 draw away against Xanneria, at 4th place in group to our 5th, but unlike urrs they could still scrape through to a qualifying place… IF they beat urrs, and Port Ember loses against Lisander (Unlikely! But if that DOES happen then Kelssek go above P.E. on HTH wins) and Ethane loses against Valanora (more likely…)
(If the first two of these games go thus, but Ethane only draws with V., K & E are equal on both points and HTH wins, so what is next decider? CHECK!)

Anyhows, Kelssek’s players are definitely trying for a win here tonight; they win toss and take kick-off (Lister, back to Demetriev), they press hard, almost as much so as Belles, and prove better skill than our girls have at maintaining possession; messy game, several fouls & free kicks, but referee apparently not keen on handing out yellow cards; Custworth’s goal, lofted high over Ursine defenders from nearly 30 yards out to dip down just beyond K. Ulgha’s surprised last-instant lunge, is actually first shot anywhere near ‘on target’ for either side; Belles counter-attack, but best they can do is hold Kelssek at bay almost until half-time; tackle by Mead on McDonagh @ 33’ sees game’s first card [still only, and rightly, a yellow one] issued, and resultant free kick sees McDonagh send ball on curving path — almost around ‘wall’, as well as over it — to defeat K. Ulgha again and give hosts a “spare” goal in their paws.
Belles no changes at half-time; Kelssek withdraws McDonagh, replaces him with Ó Tuathail.
After the break, during which we gather Urrsarra had something STRONG to say to the girls, Belles kick off (Norr-Vurra [replaced Barris] sideways to Brent) and press forwards again but are more careful about passes that might get “poached” and dominate possession until Norr-Vurra receives pass from Brent through defender Halligan’s leg’s / spins around almost 180^o with astounding speed/ hammers it home at ground level from just 2 yards out. Belles are back in the game now…
But it doesn’t last… Mead is lucky to escape a second yellow [and thus a red] in 72nd minute, this time for a tackle on Lister; Urssarra replaces her with Oldcastle, maybeso to reduce chance of Belles getting reduced to only ten players on the pitch (again!); Kelssek make changes too, shortly after that, Lister off, Langelier on. Back to to-&-fro play, mostly around middle half of field’s length, neither side dominant, no shots on goal, looks like Kelssek are “playing it safe” now rather than trying to rebuild their lead back up to two goals more than our girls have… Belles push forwards, keeping control of ball with series of long dribbling runs & short passes…
O Sarrndale passes to Brent — Brent shoots! — Brent… scores?
Brent was offside.
Offside… by the length of a toe…
Fleas-and-fur-loss!
Poirier kicks the ball out and away from his goal, almost to feet of Ó Tuathail nine yards inside Belles’ half, who wins possession contest against Oldcastle; another high pass, Ó Tuathail to Langelier, who is out on the right and closer to the corner than to the face of the goal… Langelier shoots anyway, and bounces ball off of far post into net! Belles play on, still trying, but can’t pull back any more successes.

Elsewhere in group: Valanora beats Ethane (3-0), but Port Ember beats Lisander (1-5) so qualifying teams are Valanora and Port Ember but Kelssek does climb back above Ethane into 3rd place.
Xanneria beats Appalachian Nation (2-3: close!), and thus climbs back above Belles, too: We end run at 6th place in group, rather than 5th as would otherwise (even if we’d won today…) have been the case.
Ouna beat Razneta (1-0), bye day for Five Cities.

And so
Not the qualifying place for which some people here had (maybeso a bit too over-optimistically) hoped; not even the 5th place that our girls held for several weeks, which would at least have been clearly in the group’s “top half”… but 6th place out of 11 is still better than as many teams as it’s worse than, and the Belles’ final total of threeEights-and-five points is only one point below what they’d have gained if they’d won exactly half of their games (actual record: 9 wins, 2 draws, 9 losses) which I’d say is pretty good if you bear in mind that as an ‘unranked’ team they were originally seeded at joint-10th [& thus joint-lowest] out of that 11… and the Belles’ final goal-difference was ±0 rather than actually negative.(Xanneria’s was negative…) They won more points than any other group’s 6th-place finisher, and more points than seven higher-placed teams (six at 5th, one at 4th) as well, and matched two 5th-placed sides on this (better GD than one of those, but worse than the other’s). Thus, arguably, they showed that they are better than somewhere around three-fifths of all the other teams involved. Not a bad start, for a “first time” (even though, technically, that was our second “first time”…) really…
Really?
Hokay, of course I wanted them to qualify!

So, maybeso, next World Cup?

Our region-mates New Lusitania also failed to qualify, but managed to attain 3rd place in their group on 36 points (both qualifying teams were on 44!) with a GD +15.

Oh, and while I’m looking at stats, there were actually two other ‘Unranked’ teams – each in a different group — among the ones that did even better than urrs overall on final position (although both of them fell out of contention before urrs): Sarzonia, 4th in its group on 31 points (GD +6) and Squornshelous — not to be mistaken for the more experienced ‘Squornshelan Remnant States’ — 5th in its group on 33 points (GD +5). So, “established” teams, beware!

by **TJUN-ia** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 12:16 pm

TJUN-ia Update: We Bow Out In Style

TJUN-ia's first WC campaign ended in style, as The Jaguars beat Welzat 1-0 in TJUN-ia City.

The only goal of the game came from Peliniho in the 63rd minute.

The enitre team celebrated a great campaign with the fans at full time. Sure we were not moving on to the big time, but The Jaguars did really well: 6th place in the group in our first ever WCQ. That's nothing to keep quiet about. That 2-2 draw with Taeshan in MD1 remains our biggest win so far.

David Seems had done a great job at the helm of The Jaguars, no question about it.

Overall, this is the beginning of something new. With new players coming in from a dead land, and some players moving to professional footabll in Schottia, the future of TJUN-ian football is there for the taking.

Good luck to all the qualified teams, and we'll see you all in WC85! :bow:

by **Ko-oren** » Tue Jan 07, 2020 12:49 pm

NS World Cup Fantasy Qualification

The first edition of Fantasy is over! Thanks to all for participating!

This is the final table:

Ko-oren	612
Poafmersia	602
Eternal Empire	597
VilTur	594
Banija	591
EFL	575
Xanneria	567
Drawk	562
Mriin	561
The Sarian	558
Reçueçn	554
South Covello	553
Filindostan	545
Hapilopper	543
Chromatika	542
Hinode	541
Flavovespia	533
Taeshan	522
EQS	497
Darmen	494
Geektopia	437

A sign of a successful game is that the hosts have won it. Yeah, that's going to win over the neutrals.

The most valuable pick was Eura, scoring 80 points in total, including the points for their qualification for the World Cup. Which was never really in doubt, but it's nice to give them 12 extra points for both qualifying as well as topping the group halfway. Vilita came close with 78 points.

Hapilopper was the most chosen team, appearing in 14 selections, and rewarding them with 53 Fantasy points. Group 6 had other great teams to offer, but Equestria was seen as a too expensive choice, people apparently forgot about Darmen (but then again they were a more expensive choice and would have only netted you 3 additional Fantasy points), and people were right to sleep on Bongo Johnson (just 29 Fantasy points).

Bears Armed were among the cheapest options, unranked teams that still upset a lot of their group mates, but in the end it was Squornshelous who provided most Fantasy points; 37 in total! That's a lot better than many ranked options. You also would have fared well with Sarzonia at 35. Other great cheap options (that will come at a much higher price for the WC85 Fantasy Game) were Ziwana, Noooooooooo, and Poafmersia, the latter not being ignored by the football cognoscenti at large - appearing in six selections.

Cosumar, Crystalline Caverns, and Valanora were awful options, the former and latter through sheer cost (and disappointing results, in the case of Cosumar), while the Crystalline Caverns weren't that expensive but just failed to get much done.

The recipe of champions include: Hapilopper, Chromatika, Juvencus, Schottia, and Zwangzug. These were chosen by all three selections that would end up in 1st, 2nd and 3rd on the final table.

Again, thank you all for participating, and we'll see you in the 2nd edition of the Fantasy Game!

No actually, we'll see you in the 84th World Cup. Which we qualified for. Scrubs.

by **Sarzonia** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 12:19 pm

Before the Sarzonian national football team could take a well deserved break prior to the Cup of Harmony, they had one more match to play.

Kevin Connelly knew his team were exhausted after their efforts at a miraculous comeback to qualify for the World Cup proper fell short. However, he wanted to see more of his reserves get a chance to play after deciding to wrap up qualifying with mostly his first choice side playing.

The team's 3-1 away victory over Brenecia turned the final matches into a race to see who would host the friendly between two unranked sides who once held positions of glory in the footballing world. If the Stars (8-7-5) fell behind Bears Armed, they would host the match at Dave Wilson Stadium. As it was, since they concluded their run with a run of five consecutive victories, snapped by a drab 1-1 draw against fellow Group 2 unranked side Atlantic Republic, they earned the right to play the match at NorthLands National Stadium in NorthPort in the Ursine Northlands.

The Stars came up short, losing a match for the first time since Matchday 14 against Banija in a 2-1 defeat to the Bear Belles. Goalkeeper Carlton Sandt would start for Sarzonia again, conceding goals to Sarranna White and Amarr’hrrree o Redwood in the 19th and 32nd minutes, respectively. Paolo Gomes played the second half for the Stars. Holly Cambrio notched the Sarzonia goal in the 47th minute of play.

The Stars saw the match as an opportunity to develop chemistry among the reserves who didn't play as much as they'd expected to, and Connelly announced that mission was accomplished.

"It was good for our players to get out there in a match that wasn't about trying to get a result," he said.

The team's plans after the match would be to get a couple of days rest before the start of training for the Cup of Harmony. The team would do mental drills prior to learning who their opponents would be.

"Right now, we just want to make sure we don't burn ourselves out," he said.

by **Zwangzug** » Sat Jan 11, 2020 5:45 pm

BORING SEGUE GUY: Coming up: Martin Scallop on whether the law of conservation of quantification explains the domestic transfer market, and Elmer Parkins on players to watch at the Cup of Harmony. But first: Enitan Maclaurin talks to us before the group draw.

INTERVIEWER: Say something.

MACLAURIN: Something? About what?

INTERVIEWER: Anything.

MACLAURIN: Anything? Well, uh, I don't believe I'll be able to attend the draw in person, but I hope it goes well, I'm sure the hosts will arrange things just fine.

INTERVIEWER: Talk about the teams!

MACLAURIN: The teams? Well, Caissadagua, sorry, Cassadaigua are very experienced, and the Commonwealth--

TALKING HEAD IN A STUDIO (#1) Now, as we've seen a couple times in the baseball realm, the influence of the church of Caissa in Zwangzug making that an easy slip of the tongue. And agua suggests some Spanish influence, probably via Aguazul, but casual parlance as well.

MACLAURIN: --of Baker Park would also be an exciting country to visit.

THIAS 2: Of course the strong northeastern accent there, Bakuh Pahk.

THIAS 1: I think you swap the order.

THIAS 2: The order of what?

THIAS 1: The order of Han names, it would be Pak Bae-ko.

THIAS 2: That's...that's not a personal name.

THIAS 1: Sure it is, I think she was a center back for Joseon FC.

THIAS 2: You're just making this up.

INTERVIEWER: Are there any teams you'd like to match up against?

MACLAURIN: Well obviously you can't underestimate any of these teams, I think we saw in qualifiers that any squad can excel when given the chance.

INTERVIEWER: Since you can't be drawn against them in the first round, at least, can you tell us about some of the other sides in group 3?

MACLAURIN: Well, we saw Ko-oren and Nephara last time around, the Dragonflies quite defensive while Brenecia more physical. Taeshan and of course Audioslavia storied nations that predate us, while Qasden and Kita-Hinode--

THIAS 2: Did he just pronounce Hinode with two syllables? That can't be right.

THIAS 1: I think there was a nice glottal stop for the dash in Ko-oren.

THIAS 2: No, he paused, it's treated like a word boundary.

THIAS 1: Word boundaries are myths!

THIAS 2: Now, the diphthong in the first syllable of Taeshan, I think that's pretty standard--

THIAS 1: But he pronounces the Q in Qasden as if there was a u there, I mean, why bother?

SEGUE GUY (on the phone): Hello?

ANNOYED LISTENER (on the other end): This is supposed to be a sports broadcast!

SEGUE GUY: Yeah, and?

ANNOYED LISTENER: I mean, it's Zwangzug, right? If you can't give any informed football commentary, at least do something mathy or pseudo-numerology. I don't come here to listen to all this IPA garbage.

SEGUE GUY: Now listen, just because I don't have a formal backround in linguistics doesn't mean I don't hold my guests to high standards.

ANNOYED LISTENER: Can you get someone who can talk about the team and how they plan to regroup after some of the defensive issues?

SEGUE GUY: I wound up TAing it in grad school, but that was kind of an accident--

ANNOYED LISTENER: That, as the cool kids say, is a needless humblebrag, now--

SEGUE GUY: --plan to do a feature on Kukiseso's freak injury and his recovery next.

ANNOYED LISTENER: What were you even in grad school for? I didn't know they gave degrees in hamfisted segues.

SEGUE GUY: Now look here--

(Kukiseso 14, Banach 37, Sayle-Bren 45+1, Cherenkov-Nguyen 57, Levi-Gold 90+3)

by **South Covello** » Sun Jan 12, 2020 4:20 pm

Press Conference of Peter Pieper and Patrica Lawrence:

Peter Pieper: Good evening, press, my name is Peter Pieper and to my left is Patricia Lawrence. We are calling this press conference to comment on the lawsuit out of Free Republics against us. Recently, a jury found in our favor against Maria Polus in a case where we apparently were accused of conspiracy to commit pieing, in South Covello, which Sister Polus, being a batty old nun, thought was grounds for a lawsuit in the Free Republics. Thankfully, a jury thought otherwise and awarded us court costs, causing Sister Polus to have a nutty freakout like the batty old nun she is. We would like to thank the jury for coming to this just ruling. Although Sister Polus claims she will appeal, I do not think she will be successful. Additionally, I am pleased to announce that by a 289-10 margin the Legislature has approved the SISTER POLUS Act, which is short for the Supporting the Intention of Stopping Tyrants and Enemies of the Realm by Pieing Odious Losers' Ugly Skulls Act. President Benitez has just signed it into law. What this law does is establish a legal right for citizens to pie Enemies of Freedom in defense of liberty. Simply put, Sister Polus is an Enemy of Freedom, and if she travels here again, it will now be the legal right, and arguably duty, of every citizen of our country to pie her in the face in protest of her freedom hating. South Covello will, as always, be the land of freedom, the land of fighting tyrants, and the land where Enemies of Freedom go to die, or at least to be pied. We will continue fighting this case on appeal, now that Sister Polus has appealed, but this will only result in her racking up more legal costs, both for her and us. And since she is obligated now to pay our legal costs, she will have to pay for both. I will now turn it over to Patricia Lawrence to continue this conference.

Patricia Lawrence: Again, we are truly grateful to the Republican jury for coming up with the correct ruling. And let me be clear here - I think I speak for all South Covellans when I say Sister Polus is not wanted here. We do not tolerate Enemies of Freedom such as herself who want to turn the entire Multiverse into a Christian theocracy that would promote sexism, homophobia, and more. Of course, she is not banned from this country and can visit again if she wants to, but our Legislature has ensured people are free to protest her in appropriate ways and fight back against Enemies of Freedom such as her. And should another Carter Redwin-type candidate ever arise, he or she will be dealt with the same way. Here in South Covello, we do not tolerate Enemies of Freedom. If you are an Enemy of Freedom, do not come here, you are not wanted. Thank you. I will now open it up for questioning.

Paul Underwills: Paul Underwills, so extreme that Tox News fired me and I got hired by Blightfart.

Patricia Lawrence: Do you have a question?

Paul Underwills: Don't you realize that you are the real Enemy of Freedom? You support censorship by pieing? How about if we pie you yourself, little girl?

Patricia Lawrence: I'm 18, I'm not a little girl, and if you don't see the difference between someone who speaks in favor of oppressing women, gays and non-Christians and someone who speaks out against such a person, then you are part of the problem.

Paul Underwills: No need to be so uncivil.

Peter Pieper: I think she was being quite civil.

Paul Underwills: Oh, arere you two kids in love? Is that why you're defending her? How adorable. Kissy kissy.

Peter Pieper: Mr. Underwills, please leave. I will not let you ruin another press conference.

Paul Underwills: Oh, so another conservative voice is suppressed. I bet you're going to pay Twii.tur to shadowban me too, right?

Peter Pieper: I'm not answering any more of your questions. Get out or I will have security do so.

Paul Underwills: OK, have security do so, you feely weely baby coward.

Security escorts Paul Underwills out kicking and screaming

Peter Pieper: Any other questions?

Anna Hassen: Anna Hassen, Morning News. How much exactly were the legal costs Sister Polus is forced to cover now?

Peter Pieper: I'm not going to comment on that, and I don't have an exact number anyway.

Anna Hassen: But most of your costs were pro bono so is it really that much?

Peter Pieper: There's also the cost we incurred in traveling to the Free Republics, staying overnight at hotels during the trial, and so on. And pro bono expenses might be covered by legal costs under Republican law, you'd have to ask an expert there.

Drew Vold: Drew Vold, Pies of the World Magazine, is it fair to say that South Covello is now the Pieing Capital of the Multiverse?

Peter Pieper: I don't really know about how common pieing is in other nations, but I guess you'd know better than me.

Drew Vold: I do. Pieing isn't nearly this common in other countries.

Peter Pieper: Then I guess we are the Pieing Capital of the Multiverse.

Drew Vold: And do you consider that a good thing?

Patricia Lawrence: If it stops Enemies of Freedom from controlling our country, then of course.

Peter Pieper: The foremost duty of every South Covellan must be to stop Enemies of Freedom from ever again gaining a hold in this country, however many pies it takes.

Patricia Lawrence: That concludes our press conference. Thank you and have a pleasant evening.

by **Taeshan** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 3:35 pm

"Miles, the draw is Port Ember, Equestria and then Apox. What are your initial feelings about this draw"?

"Well I think we got three very interesting matchups. Port Ember will be hungry, they are the surprise qualifier of the group. We were a little bit pushed, but they were punching way above their weight. They are happy to be there, and that could mean on opening day they could give us a bit of a surprise. Equestria are the champions. I don't think we have a great chance in this game, but if we surprise, like we did in the friendly during the run up to the last world cup, we can definitely do something. A tie in this game, and a win in the first could be enough. Then there is Apox."

"Apox is the home of Geoffrey Klingenberg, and historically beat Taeshan. Our record being 3-1-5 all time."

"Yes. It is interesting. Our combined record against members of our group is 3-1-6, with our loss to Equestria so...I think we'll have to do some work. The good news is we start with the so-called weakest link. If we don't overlook them, and get a victory, and say the other two tie. Then we go into Equestria with momentum, get a result, and then continue that momentum and get a result in the final match, we have a good chance of advancing. "

"Any other comments you have about the groups in general."

"It's nice to see Darmen back in the World Cup, but even nicer to see them get a tough group. I like to see them lose. They really do make winners possible."

"Wilhelm the transfer drama is over. You expected to move to AFC Mayville in the last window, but Atlantea sent the paperwork into the official channels wrong. Now Mayville is relegated, and the Hurricanes still are willing to sell you. How do you feel moving into the World Cup"?

"Well first off I apologize to any Mayville fans that saw me as an opportunity to avoid relegation. I have to move on up, and I'm hoping to use this World Cup as a jumping off board. This is my second chance to show my skills, and while the last one wasn't the greatest offensive output, I hope to score some goals this tournament."

"Who do you blame for the transfer mishap"?

"I mean how do the Hurricanes send in the paperwork wrong. I honestly just feel like they did it to f me over. They didn't want to leave. I don't think they understand how important us moving abroad is to helping the national team, and the league grow."

"Geoffrey, Apox is on the tab for this World Cup. How does it feel to play against the country you play in, and what can we expect"?

"It will be a tough affair. Especially as many will expect this to be a battle for advancement. We want to return to the knockouts, and this is a big chance. Apox is a great team, but they haven't been that great recently. Even with our second half struggles in qualifying we did better than them, and I have to think we can prove something in this game."

"What will it be like playing against your home country"?

"Well, hopefully I don't score the winning goal that knocks them out and advances them and then I get fired. But hopefully since I play defense now that won't be as much an issue."

by **Port Ember** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 10:36 pm

Port Ember Times
Sports Journal

World Cup Fever Strikes Port Ember

By Erica Davies - Port Ember Times Sports Journal

The entire nation came down with a serious case of "World Cup Fever" from the very moment the final whistle sounded in the impressive Lisander vs Port Ember match which ended with a final score of 1-5 in favour of our national team. Cheers and celebrations erupted from the thousands of Port Emberians in stadium attendance at the away match, and even moreso from the millions of fans who watched the game live all over our tropical island paradise - whether at home, assorted pub & bar establishments or from the large screens at the numurous city squares. The cheers was obviously caused by the smashing victory their team just clinched against Lisander - but the true joy came from the fact that our underdog team qualified for the World Cup proper with that victory.

The event was marked with extreme joy and passionate celebrations as it seemed that the entire nation was having a party, with the local pubs and bars reporting record breaking sales for the evening.

"It was a storm of chaos at me pub - I sold more alcohol in this one eve than I did in total for the last three months! And the crazy thing is, we did not even have a single bar brawl! The entire nation was just so happy and united." - Unnamed Bar Owner

The evening also saw a massive fireworks display take place in the Lilly Black Memorial Square, hosted by the city government, where close to a ton of fireworks were shot into the tropical night sky.

As a further show of support to the national team, the President of the Republic had declared the day following the Lisander vs Port Ember match a public holiday - and it was a welcome reprieve, seeing that majority of the nation was either hung-over or still partying as the sun rose!

As author of this article, I do realise that these celebrations might seem excessive to an external observer - our national team only qualified for the World Cup - not win it! (Yet?) Thus let me share with our readers why this is actually as big a affair as our nation is treating it as:

♤ 165 Nations from all over the multiverse attempted to snatch one of only 30 available qualification spots, which we did.

♤ Thus this means 135 other teams attempted to achieve what we did and failed.

♤ This World Cup Cycle is only the second ever international season in which we have participated before achieving qualification. This is by no means a record - yet it remains highly commendable. There are many other stronger, more established teams than our own whom have failed to ever qualify after many attempts.

♤ Our national team is the lowest ranked of all the qualified teams, coming in with a KBP ranking of 86 (closest to us is HUElavia ranked 55th), making us (once again) the underdog team who is running with the giants of the sport.

Thus, it is of this humble journalist's opinion that our national team - and nation as a whole, has every right to feel proud and celebrate at this moment. I wish our national team's manager Coach Stuart Baxter and our entire team a warm congratulations - and goodluck with World Cup 84!!!

Article by Erica Davies
Port Ember Times

Port Ember Times
Sports Journal

A Reflection On The Road to World Cup 84

By Gerhard Black - Port Ember Times Sports Journal

This article will focus on the matches played by the Port Emberian Dragons in order to take a reflective look at our team's performance as we prepare for the largest sporting event in our history.

Review of Matches Played:

Match Day 1
Ouna 1 - 0 Port Ember

Quite an embarrasing loss for our team, as it was expected that we will crush this side. Our national team struggled to find their rhythm and looked out of place. This might be due to this have been the first time this side have played together since the previous World Cup Cycle. Although the team did not make any serious mistakes, they just did not have their heads into the game.

Match Day 2
Port Ember 2 – 4 Valanora

Pundits predicted that the Port Emberian Dragons would be anihilated in this match against the 8th best team in the world - and 5 time World Champions, especially due to their uninspired performance in the previous match.

Although our team did concede a staggering 4 goals to the soccer heavyweights, our team played their hearts out, especially in the second half. Although a defeat - it was not an humiliating one, and one which taught our team invaluable lessons and experience.

Match Day 3
Kelssek 3 - 0 Port Ember

A game where our team was totally slaughtered. Again we failed to find our rhythm, and the lessons learned from our previous encounter against Valanora seemed to be long forgotten. We played poorly here, no excuses to be had. Whats worse however, is the fact that this loss marked a 3 game losing streak for us, the worst in our young history.

Match Day 4
Port Ember 1 - 0 Appalachian Nation

So in this match day we faced the Hillbillies - a team still fresh from the lastest Baptism of Fire Cup, and thus newcomers to the international football scene. We did win this derby, thus breaking our terrible losing streak - but did so in yet another unconvincing manner. We entered this match as strong favourites, yet we only achieved a narrow victory against a determined and passionate team.

Match Day 5
Five Cities 3 - 4 Port Ember

This match is labelled as "The Most Contraversiol" match in our young history as a physical brawl broke out on both the pitch between the players, and between the fans on the stands. We achieved a narrow win here, but due to the pigmanure type of game which was played by both teams - it cannot be realistically analysed.

Match Day 6
Port Ember 2 - 1 Xanneria

This match saw our team finally return to form as we saw proper chemistry between the team. We lacked the technical skills and experience of our strong opponents, yet our superior fitness and passion brought us the win - the type of win which we all know and love.

(The 'type of win' I am refering to is a game where it is abundantly clear that our opponents are a far better team than our own, yet we use our superior fitness levels and relentless determination to grind our opponents down. Classic Port Emberian football).

Match Day 7
Bears Armed 2 – 3 Port Ember

This match day took place against actual, sentient, talking, football playing bears. Read that again. And now again.

Okay so now that the shock had settled..

Again our team played on-form in a very tough and physical (but not really dirty physical) matchup. It was quite an even matchup which we won only due to our relentless determination until the very end - again classical Port Emberian football.

Match Day 8
Port Ember 1 - 2 Ethane

This time our lack of technical skills and experience could not be overcome by sheer passion ansd determination - although it brought us close! This was a very hard fought for matchup against the second strongest team in the group (following Valanora) and we were simply outclassed in the end.

Match Day 9
Razneta 2 – 0 Port Ember

Another upset as predictions again heralded that we would smash our opposition - yet this unranked team outclassed us in every way as they held a superior gameplan. Following this match our team manager came under fire for poor playmaking.

Match Day 10
Bye Day for Port Ember

Our team was on Bye for Match Day 10, and reportedly used this oppertunity to 'rest' by participating in an infamous 'Pub Crawl' back home.

Match Day 11
Port Ember 1 - 1 Lisander

Altgough facing a team which we should have easily bested - we struggled against them and barely walked away with a draw. Our team started showing cracks in their chemistry and union as players were seen arguing on pitch. Many describe this match as the 'All Time Low' moment in our teams history, as a series of bad games had build up and took their toll.

Season Wide Holiday Break

The season wide holiday break saw our team head home to spend time with their families and loved ones and also attending a moralw boosting group camp.

Match Day 12
Port Ember 4 - 0 Ouna

The first match of the second half of the season saw the return of a brand new looking team as they devestated their opponents whom have defeated them in the opening match. It seems that the holiday break was exactly what our team needed, as they displayed a fresh passion and chemistry to their game.

Match Day 13
Valanora 2 – 4 Port Ember

The most talked about game of this season for our team as we managed to spectacularly defeat the strongest team in the group in their own backyard. Our team displayed their known passion amd determintion (but tenfold), but also suddenly improved technical skills and strategy. It seems that all our previous losses lessons have finally stuck.

Match Day 14
Port Ember 4 – 2 Kelssek

In this match our team took sweet revenge on the team whom humiliated us with a 3 - 0 score in our first encounter. Our team carried the high spirits and morale gained from beating Valanora in their previous match over to this derby - and we had superior skills, fitness, chemistry and strategy to show for it. An overall brilliant performance.

Match Day 15
Appalachian Nation 1 - 2 Port Ember

In this match we did not nearly display the same good form as in our previous two matches as the team seemed to slow down (wrongly!) against a passionate side. We still had enough gas to steal a narrow win thankfully.

Match Day 16
Port Ember 4 – 2 Five Cities

This match, unlike the previous pigmanure performance, went off without a hitch as both sides played professional football. Our recently acquired blend of new technical skills and strategy saw our team dominate the opponents.

Match Day 17
Xanneria 2 – 6 Port Ember

A game where we outclassed a stronger opponent once again with our new found technical skills and strategy. A textbook performance from our team as they completely dominated the pitch from start to finish.

Match Day 18
Port Ember 3 – 1 Bears Armed

An overall excellent performance from our team yet again, dominating play against a very strong team whom seemed to struggle immensely with our tropical weather. They also obtained an injury after using all 3 sub picks, forcing them to play with 10 players for most of the second half.

Match Day 19
Ethane 1 – 2 Port Ember

Our recent good form and new strategies caught the second strongest team in the group offguard as we dominated play in a difficult match. Our midfield displayed such superior technical skills and strategy, that I still question where the hell this came from!

Match Day 20
Port Ember 3 – 0 Razneta

Yet another revenge match as we smashed a team who completely outclassed us in the previous encounter. The magical like midfield performance from our previous match again came to light.

Match Day 21
Bye Day for Port Ember

Yet another Bye day enjoyed by attending a pub crawl. Kids will be kids they say.

Match Day 22
Lisander 1–5 Port Ember

The same outstanding tactics and skills was displayed again to utterly destroy oir opposition.

I do not know what magic potion Coach Baxter drank to be able to plan out his new strategies - or how he managed to install technical skills into his players almost overnight - but I hope he keeps drinking it!

Review of Overall Performance:

The qualifier season started of terribly for our national team, losing three games in a row - our worst losing streak yet. We started to recover after this demorolising stretch with a valiant display against the legendary Valanora squad. However after this once off display we continued playing poorly - no longer displaying our previously known for passion and determination.

Do not get me wrong - I do not unrealistically believe we can win every game we play. I have been blasted by critics after my comments on our poor performance, claiming I have unrealistic expectations for our young team. This is not true - I know and except that our young and inexperienced squad will lose games on the international scene, but its the way in which we lose which counts. And frankly many of our lost games was inexcuseable as we played poorly. Plain and simple.

However, with that being said, the second half of the season following the Holiday Break saw a brand new side emerge from our team. A side which can be categorised as a hard working, passionate, hungry, fit, technically solid and strategic genius. It is simply amazing to see how drastically the team improved - seemingly overnight. I believe this can be atrributed to our Manager finding his rhythm in majority, however the drive leading our young players to grow as they take in new experience is also a massive factor in their new found success.

Its abundantly clear that our team is still not the greatest that it can possibly be - many players still have a long journey ahead of growing and gaining experience, but its a good start. If our team continues on its current path with their displayed passion, and continues to soak up experience and lessons learned from the footballing legends whom they will soon face, they can surely become legends themselves in the future.

Review of Individual Aspects:

Offence:

Our offence have looked on fire in the second half of the season. The team has showcased the ability to be able to switch offensive styles between matches, giving the team a edge in unpredictability and versatility. Good chemistry and skills shared between our midfield and our strikers makes our signature "Bait Ambush" play still relevant and potentially devestating. However some teams have unlocked the secret to this play's demise, thus our team have evolved in other offensive ways, which we saw about midway through the season, where the entire team pushes forward and launch a barrage of rellentless attacks, using our speed and fitness to our advantage in an attempt to overwhelm the opposition. This can (and has!) proven to be a worthy tool in our team's pockets. The latest offensive innovation has been the "Midfield Lockdown Offense" (dont qoute me on that!), where our midfield locks down play, attempting to competely outplay the opposing offence, creating gaps in the opposition defence eventually, and finally using our strikers to burst through and do some damage.

Its very good to see how our offensive play continiously evolves and adapts, and it remains clear that Port Emberian football philosophy will remain offensive minded in the future.

Midfield:

The midfield is currently the most impressive aspect of our team, in my opinion. The entire midfield has a legendary chemistry amongst them, including with the strikers. This, combined with solid (but still improving) technical skills, have given rise to the new "Midfield Lockdown Offense" (again - dont qoute me on that!). The performance of our midfield is directly equal to the performance of the entire team, as our team utilises the midfield to set up attacks, dominate posession and act as the first line of defence. Our counter attacks are also launched from here. All in all our midfield is a solid component currently.

Defence:

Our defensive performance have been criticised from the very moment we have entered the international football scene, thus its time to take a close and honest look at this aspect.

Firstly our backline has always carried the majority of the blame for our poor defence, and whilst there is merrit to this argument, its not the only problem here.

Our backline does indeed require either a change of lineup or a drastic improvement of skills. The only true solid backline player we have is Jason Lee, aka "The Backline Prince". This lad holds the unofficial title of second captain in the squad due to his responsibility of being in command of the backline, organising and rallying the remainder of the backline during defensive sorties. The remaining backline players is not actually as bad as some like to say. They do in general lack the required technical skills, which they make up for with their physical statures. This works - however it has cost us plenty a penalty kick in the past.

But now, an important revelation: Although our defence can and should improve - it will never be as godlike as some critics are demanding our kids to be. And thats because of one simple reason - we cant. Why? Because we play an offensive game, and our entire team philosophy focusses on offensive play. We tend to play deep down the field with our entire team, attempting to match our defenders with the opposition midfield, leaving our midfield free to harrass the opposing defence. This brazen style is what helps us to be so successfull on the attack, and is also the reason why our defence is open to crack once a gap is discovered, and even the greatest backline players in the world will struggle to be 'godlike' in such a play. Please know that I am not saying we should change our play however - its this style which makes for interesting games; goal scoring games.

Goalkeeping:

We have a star goalkeeper in Peter Smith. Despite the many goals conceded, probaly 90% of those scores could not have been stopped by any other keeper in the multiverse. This lad posesses tiger like reflexes, and has a nuclear powered boot which can launch the ball almost to the other posts after a restart! The only real problem we have here is the fact that we do not play our sub keepers, meaning if Peter Smith becomes unavailable to play, we might sit with a massive challenge.

Substitutes:

No complaints here. We have very talented players in the sustitute role, and they generally get tons of playtime in order to make an impact and farm international level experience. The decision to have, our Assistant Coach spend 90% of his time and effort on developing these players was a brilliant one.

Fitness:

Probally our single strongest aspect in the team. Our young lads are some of the freshest and fittest players in the world and seems to be able to sprint for the full 90 minutes. This superior speed and stamina is a core tenant to our general strategy.

Technical Skills:

Our team is not known for their excellent technical skills, and seemed to be quite a challenging area for quite some time. However this is improving rapidly, especially amongst our striker and midfielders. There is still large room for improvement, but its looking promising.

Review of Individual Player Performance:

Goalkeeper (GK)(#1): Peter Smith.

I have allready written about this lad in this article. This kid posses the agility of a tiger and the sturdiness of a rock under pressure. I do not foresee him being replaced from his starting position in the near or distant future, bar an injury.

Center Back (CB)(#2): Josh Richards.

I am a bit sceptical regarding this player's performance currently. Whilst he does a decent job during defencive sorties, he does this relying on his fitness and physical stature. Whilst this works sometimes, it has cost us unneccesary penalties. He also does not posses the neccesary vision to support the midfield during counter attacks - which is a vital aspect of our playstyle.

Center Back (CB)(#3): Jason Lee.

Nicknamed "The Backline Prince", he is a very impressive player on impressive form. In my opinion he is forced to spend too much time organising the remainder of the backline, which weighs his personal personal performance down.

Full Back (LB)(#4): Alex Kuhn.

He is a solid player with solid technical skills, fitness an physical stature, yet he lacks vision and strategy, failing to appear at places where he is needed, forcing the remainder of the backline to cover for him, and failing to exploit counter attack oppertunities. He needs to wake up or be replaced. Simple as that.

Full Back (RB)(#5): Russel Pierce.

I am a bit sceptical regarding this player's performance currently. Whilst he does a decent job during defencive sorties, he does this relying on his fitness and physical stature. Whilst this works sometimes, it has cost us unneccesary penalties. He also does not posses the neccesary vision to support the midfield during counter attacks - which is a vital aspect of our playstyle.

Attacking Midfield (AM)(#10): Ray Reddington.

Our captain is arguably the best player in our team currently. This lad is a true general on the field, especially in his role of commanding and organising the midfield. Besides his 'captain' duties, he excells perfectly in the Attacking Midfield position, as he continiously shifts the remainder of the midfield into dangerous positions and manages to find and/or create gaps, which he uses to link up with our strikers, leading to goals time and again.

Defensive Midfield (DM)(#6): Steven Packard.

Another brilliant player who excells in almost every game. His technical skills are some of the best in the squad and he posesses great vision and a head for strategy, leading to countless counterattacks as he shares great chemistry with Captain Reddington

Wide Midfield (LM)(#8): Jason Chamberlain

He is a solid midfielder, in both offensive and defensive sorties. He is quite good at shutting down attacks on his flank and stealing posession, yet he lacks the vision and pace to capitalise on gaps on the flanks, giving away possible goals.

Wide Midfield (RM)(#11): Eric Tosaír of the Tribe of Waterford

This player is the biggest surprise of the squad as he came from nowhere to be selected for the national squad - and our coach took a lot of heat for this decision. However those critics have been silinced as he had proved himself to be one of the fastest rising talents on the squad, especially by capitalising on gaps in the flank. He managed to burst through the flanks for quite a number of shocking goals - either scoring himself or by great link up play with the strikers.

Central Forward (CF)(#7): Leon Moult.

A world class striker with world class skills. Enough said!

Central Forward (CF)(#9): Danny Nicovic.

Not only our team's best striker at the moment - but arguably one of the hottest and most wanted strikers in the entire multiverse right now. He is one of those "once in a lifetime" players in my opinion.

Team Roster - Reserve Squad

Goalkeeper (GK)(#12): Jack Allwick.

Have not played a single match in the qualifier season, so hard to write anything meaningfull about him. He did pretty well in the Premier League though.
Goalkeeper (GK)(#13): Trevor Carson.

Center Back (CB)(#14): Bruno Martins.

Although he is quite a fit, fast and physically strong defender, he still lacks proper technical skills and vision. This makes him an excellent 'Emergency Player" in case of an injury - yet does not seem to possess starter potentiol as of yet.

Center Back (CB)(#15): Victor White.

Although he is quite a fit, fast and physically strong defender, he still lacks proper technical skills and vision. This makes him an excellent 'Emergency Player" in case of an injury - yet does not seem to possess starter potentiol as of yet.

Full Back (LB)(#16): Theo Hermandez.

Although he is quite a fit, fast and physically strong defender, he still lacks proper technical skills and vision. This makes him an excellent 'Emergency Player" in case of an injury - yet does not seem to possess starter potentiol as of yet.

Full Back (RB)(#17): George Lindsey.

Although he is quite a fit, fast and physically strong defender, he still lacks proper technical skills and vision. This makes him an excellent 'Emergency Player" in case of an injury - yet does not seem to possess starter potentiol as of yet.

Attacking Midfield (AM)(#18): William Carvello.

One of the top substitute players in the squad. He is not nearly as good as his starting counterpart, yet has proven to be still capable in his own right. He is a bit more offensive orientated when compared to Reddington, yet he lacks the organing and captaining skills required to fill the position as a starter.

Defensive Midfield (DM)(#19): Liam Grimshaw.

Although this player seems to have decent all rounded skills, he is barely used during international matches due to him being outperformed by his counterpart. A good emergency backup however.

Wide Midfield (LM)(#20): Fraser Murray.

A very talented player with all the needed bells and whistles - and a serious contender for the starting position due to his counterpart's struggling form. However, still lacks the sufficient required international experience.

Wide Midfield (RM)(#21): John Swift.

He is a solid winger and it was quite a surprise for him not to be picked as the starter. However due to his surprise counterpart's brilliant performance and ability to play hard for 90 minutes, I do not foresee him getting much fieldtime.

Central Forward (CF)(#22): Ryan Bowman.

A talented striker with lots of potential. Currently however he seems to lack the required concentration needed in order to play the full 90 minutes, thus will not be considered for the starting post. He is regularly used as an energetic impact player late games, making him a valuable tool to the team.

Central Forward (CF)(#23): Jason Status

A talented striker with lots of potential. Currently however he seems to lack the required concentration needed in order to play the full 90 minutes, thus will not be considered for the starting post. He is regularly used as an energetic impact player late games, making him a valuable tool to the team.

Players To Keep An Eye On

Due to their excellent skills/talent/form, the following players have great potentiol to great things:

- Keeper Peter Smith

- Defender Jason Lee

- Midfielder and Captain Ray Reddington

- Striker Danny Nicovic

Article By Gerhard Black
Port Ember Times

Port Ember Times
Sports Journal

Group Draw of World Cup 84 Concluded!

By Erica Davies - Port Ember Times Sports Journal

The Road to World Cup 84 is rapidly coming to a close as the actual tournament is now just around the corner. The group draw took place this sunday within The Matriarchy of Cassadaigua - one of the co-hosts of the cup (the other co-host being the Commonwealth of Baker Park). This Draw Ceremony was attended by the President of the Port Ember Football Association (PEFA) - Peter White, and our team's Manager & Head Coach - Stuart Baxter.

Here is the result of the Draw:

Group A:

Cassadaigua (4)

Chromatika (37)

Ko-oren (20)

Turori (11)

Group B:

Valanora (8)

Eura (7)

95X (39)

Kita Hinode (17)

Group C:

Zwangzug (26)

Farfadillis (9)

Banija (3)

HUElavia (45)

Group D:

Brenecia (19)

Darmen (31)

Mriin (14)

South Covello (5)

Group E:

Baker Park (10)

Nephara (18)

Free Republics (16)

Drawkland (34)

Group F:

Vilita (1)

Siovanija & Teusland (43)

Sargossa (13)

Audioslavia (23)

Group G:

Port Ember (48)

Apox (12)

Equestria (2)

Taeshan (24)

Group H:

Qasden (21)

Recuecn (32)

The Holy Empire (15)

Starblaydia (6)

* Please note that the bracketed numericals indicates the team's current KPB Ranking.

Group's A - D will be hosted within the nation of The Matriarchy of Cassadaigua, whilst Group's E - H will be hosted within the Commonwealth of Baker Park. This means that our national team will spend the group stages of the World Cup within the Commonwealth of Baker Park.

Let us take a closer look at the competing teams of our group (Group G):

Equestria

Thats right folks - we are thrown into a group containing this guys.. The reigning world champions themselves!! This legendary and almost unbeatable team dominated their qualifying group, picking up a total of 49 total points, with 16 wins, 1 draw and 3 losses. They scored a total of 72 goals whilst allowing 26 goals to be scored against them. The total scored goals in 20 games seems almost magical!! Not only is this team the group favourites, but its highly suspected that they will probaly hold on to their title at the end of the tournament. This legendary team have picked up a average of 3.6 goals scored per game in the qualifier season, whilst achieving a average of 1.3 goals conceded per game. This is some of the most impressive stats of all the teams in the Cup.

Apox

This team is rated as the 12th best team in the world currently. They topped their group in the qualifying stages, picking up a total of 44 points total, with 14 wins, 2 draws and 4 losses. They scored 43 goals whilst allowing 23 goals to be scored against them. This team have picked up a average of 2.15 goals scored per game in the qualifier season, whilst achieving a average of 1.15 goals conceded per game.

Taeshan

This team is rated as the 24th best team in the world currently. They clinched the second position in their group in the qualifying stages, picking up a total of 43 points total, with 13 wins, 4 draws and 3 losses. They scored 28 goals whilst allowing 9 goals to be scored against them. This team have picked up a average of 1.4 goals scored per game in the qualifier season, whilst achieving a average of 0.45 goals conceded per game. This team have achieved one of the best defencive records in the season.

Port Ember

And finally our own national team... This team is rated as the 48th best team in the world currently - and the lowest ranked side whom managed to clinch a qualification spot. They clinched the second position in their group in the qualifying stages, picking up a total of 43 points total, with 14 wins, 1 draw and 5 losses. They scored 51 goals whilst allowing 31 goals to be scored against them. This team have picked up a average of 2.55 goals scored per game in the qualifier season, whilst achieving a average of 1.55 goals conceded per game. Our young underdog team have achieved the second highest offensive stats within the group - a miniture sign of hope in this difficult upcoming times.

Exclusive Interview with Coach Baxter following the Draw

The Port Ember Times have managed to conduct an exlusive interview with the Port Emberian Dragons' Team Manager & Head Coach - Stuart Baxter. Here follows the interview:

Erica Davies:

"Good Evening Coach! The draw resulted in some.. interesting results for us didin't it?"

Coach Baxter:

"Good Eve Erica. Indeed it has! I know you are hinting at the fact that we are drawn together with Equestria.. This might sound strange to you, but I certainly had a strange feeling that this will happen - so it did not really surprise me all that much."

Erica Davies:

"So coach - now that you have opened that can of worms.. Be honest, how do you feel about playing against Equestria?"

Coach Baxter:

"Well Erica, your only mentioning Equestria. Your forgetting to mention the likes of Apox and Taeshan - both legendary and brilliant teams. I will be honest, offcourse I'm daunted to face all three of these brilliant teams - but let us be realistic. We are the lowest ranked team in the Cup, so it does not matter in which group we were drawn into, as we would be outclassed everywhere. Habitual underdogs we are!"

Erica Davies:

"Tough words!! Understandably realistic views, but it does seem a bit cynical. Is it safe to say that you have no hopes to go far into this cup?"

Coach Baxter:

"The media will probally have my neck in a noose for this.. But yes, you are quite correct Erica. As you very well know, I did not aim to qualify for this cup, only push the lads to their limits in order to force them to grow and gain international experience. They shocked everyone, including myself by snatching up a qualification spot. And as impressive as that is, we are truly not ready yet for the level of competion. So we will most probally get slaughtered and be eliminated from the group stages. Yet again - do not mistake my realistic opinion as a sign of despair and defeat. As you know - A Port Emberian ALWAYS dies bloody, and we will give this football heavyweights a reason to never underestimate a underdog!"

Erica Davies:

"Thank you as always for your brutally honest yet inspiring words. Good luck coach! The nation is rallying behind you."

Article by Erica Davies
Port Ember Times

World Cup 84- RP Thread (IC)

Chapter 4.10: Rounding up the story

Chapter 5: The end of a chapter

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