World Cup 84- RP Thread (IC)

[Bolgano]

Bolgano Open Field, Property of Benjamin Mark

Benjamin: You came sweet dream

James: Straight to the point, how did you kill my parents?

Benjamin: Easy, cutting the brakes, the moment they crashed it was only a minor crash so I locked them in the door, threw gasoline into that car and ... BOOM

James: Boom I'm going to put you

Benjamin: It's true how I could forget, you didn't win against Lochario, it was a pleasure working with you, all you did was give us the Wonder Cup, go away

James: It's not over yet, why did you kill my parents?

Benjamin: I won't tell you

James: Are you a coward? I can call the police so you don't cry so much

Benjamin: The security I have will kill them in a two by three

James: You think, because right now everyone is dead * one falls in the window *

Benjamin: SHIT YOU DID!

James: Police, Regional Police and also the National Police, also the Guard Groups, everyone is here to take you to justice

Benjamin: You will fuck * Take out a gun *

James: Decide, you kill me, they kill you

Benjamin: I kill you, you will die, you are dead, you will SHIT!

James: There may be children here, so your son

Benjamin: HOW THE FUCK ARE YOU QUIET !!!

James: GO BOYS !!!

As is typical, break the door, catch the culprit and bring it to justice, on the other hand is Ryan Hirtsman, Vice President of the FFB, upon hearing this, he decided to come and talk to Razor, only to decide who will be the next president, Football crisis in Bolgano followed and Hirtsman was decided new FFB President, James Razor for his part left the national team, the coach to replace him will be Frenki Sarlest.

[TJUN-ia]

TJUN-ia Update: We Have A Win Streak Now?!

TJUN-ia has won two games in a row. How, we have no idea but what we do know is that we won 2-1 against 202nd ranked Galar.

We were in what appeared to be Wyndon for this game, and while we didn't keep a clean sheet Joe Green's brace in the 2nd half ensured The Jaguars went into the bye happy.

David Seems remarked on our first ever win streak. "Purely historic. We managed to bring the fire from the game against Geektopia to Galar perfectly. We just need to do that more often, then we can be serious contenders."

TJUN-ia remains in 6th in Group 11, but due to results elsewhere we are only 1 point behind both Geektopia and Jerusalem. The Jaguars have a well-earned bye before hosting another Top 100 team in 91st ranked Balqia.

[Jeruselem]

Kate:
This is Princess Katherine Annabelle Dallas for Naked News Jeruselem, we're back home at Dazza Dalla Stadium. I'm with our glorious leader Queen Chloe I of Jeruselem. She's taken time away from work to be here for a big game in our effort to qualify for the world cup 84. Or to just keep an eye on one of her children.

Chloe: Hello everyone, that's all my subjects and people who aren't my subjects.
Kate: Anyone who lives in Jeruselem is a subject by the way, unless they happen to be one of the royal family.
Chloe: That's just the nature of monarchy ...
Kate: So a huge game today in Group 11, well for us.
Chloe: Yeah, Taeshan visited. They are the best of the best in Group 11.
Kate: Along with Free Republics, but we face them later eh

Chloe: Yeah
Kate: Free Republics visited Savojarna and went home with 3-2 win for another 3 points
Chloe: It's going be hard to beat them as well. They are just winning everything
Kate: Schottia beat a stubborn Welzat 5-4 at home. Very interesting game. Welzat held us to 1-1 draw the last game.
Chloe: Yes, we really should have still won that game.
Kate: Balqia upset Geektopia 3-2 in Geektopia. Well well, that was unexpected given Geektopia was having another winning streak.

Chloe: That just made the group more interesting as we find out with the table later.
Kate: TJUN-ia beat Galar 2-1 in Galar.
Chloe: No one in Group 11 has no points, makes thing competitive.
Kate: Jeruselem vs Taeshan! This one was the one we wanted to do well in. But Taeshan showed their class and took down the Princesses 2-1.
Chloe: We weren't embarassed. 2-1 loss to such a good team is not a good result for us but it could have been far worse.
Kate: They sure put on their A game today.

Chloe: They know we aren't some no body team from no where. We can be very dangerous to anyone.
Kate: You know we could have had a draw if we had finished better.
Chloe: But against such a great team with real defense, it was always going be hard to beat them
Kate: Controversial 2nd goal from Taeshan, hard to call if it was offside or not.
Chloe: That was hard one to say to call, they weren't a mile out but it wasn't exactly clear.
Kate: A big effort from our team but no points and our first loss.

Chloe: I mean, I wish we put in such an effort for the other games where had draws.
Kate: Yes, I dunno why we kinda mentally switch off.
Chloe: I know it happens when I was in charge, hard to say why.
Kate: The table is Taeshan and Free Republics ahead of everyone. Schottia moved to 3rd with 14 points with Jeruselem 4th and Geektopia 5th on 12 points.
Chloe: That loss hurts us but we lost to best team in the group.
Kate: TJUN-ia moved to 6th on 11, not far from us now. Balqia 7th with 8 points. Savojarna having a shocker really back in 8th on 6 points. Then got Nahkistan, Galar and all on 4 points with 1 win, 1 draw and 5 losses.

Chloe: It's not looking good but we're competitive. And causing trouble still.
Kate: We'll need a better 2nd half of the cup
Chloe: Yes, but I hope we can hang in there in the top 4.
Kate: Now to some non-football matters. A rowdy lot on the Mann Network, you know that network of men.
Chloe: Yes, the people who hate matriarchies. They are men ...
Kate: They think it's time you just retired and handed over power.

Chloe: The economy isn't the best and we are having problems but it's not like we're the worse nation in the multiverse.
Kate: They've even got a list of demands which will fix everything
Chloe: I looked at that list and well, some of it is based on just false economics which doesn't fix stuff. Just to note of the measures hands more power to the agendas of their owners.
Kate: The Mann network is a powerful network which is backed by some powerful people and corporate interests.
Chloe: Actually they've been opposing us actually being the world cup for while, but they stopped that. I guess money buys everything heh
Kate: Why are we bothering to win the cup, we haven't been close.

Chloe: Not everything should be about money. Sadly to many people think that way.
Kate: Well, that's it from us.
Chloe: I'm sure us losing today will be more gloating at some network
Kate: We don't need to name them
Chloe: At least they have some football coverage now ...
Kate: Yes.

Group 11
Savojarna 2–3 Free Republics
Jeruselem 1–2 Taeshan
Schottia 5–4 Welzat
Geektopia 2–3 Balqia
Galar 1–2 TJUN-ia

[Nephara]

Nephara 5 - 3 EOT
(4-4-2) 12 - Rustwyth (20 - Senninger 37'); 2 - Stride, 5 - Thorn (vc), 22 - Lockheed, 3 - Close (c, 19 - Katarec 57'); 13 - Saroszi, 7 - Kuepper, 4 - Shone, 16 - Deventer; 17 - Bastable, 10 - Metzger (23 - Lovelace 76')
Goals: Bastable 11', Strong 17', Saroszi 49', Stride 52', Kuepper 72'

Today's was the story of Revolutionaries, and they didn't come much more revolutionary than Skorji Oslograd.
"It's strange," Strauss remarked, flicking through her phone.
"What?"
She glanced back over her shoulder to her goalkeeping coach, Rutger Kolar. Kolar was an average Premiership goalkeeper when the Premiership was an average league, but there were few who had thrown themselves into coaching with more vigour, drive and insight. "Michael Brandon just texted me. About Oslograd."
"Yeah? Can you tell him to drop Rowland off our doorstep, too? I miss her."
"Sure, I'll get to that. But right now, he's telling me Oslograd's a psycho. He's insane, without a shadow of a doubt, He's-"
Her phone blooped again.
"He lives up the reputation, and to bring- to bring a..."
"What?"
"A... needle?"

Roxelana Thorn was also a Revolutionary. Specifically, she played for the Goldleague club; 75% of its back four would be on the pitch tonight. She'd also played the last ten minutes against them six years back, and could faithfully report on their character and disposition.
"Oh... yeah, Christ, they're mental. Talking about balloons and shit all the time. And this whole, ugh, Skorjiball..."
"They sound like a right laugh!" said Kurtis Bastable.
"They sound," said Sigurd Rustwyth, correctly, "like a pain." He would be vindicated just forty minutes on from the conversation in the tunnel.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH FUCK FUCK AGH FUUUUCK," he celebrated.
Garrett Ramsey looked apologetic. The Harkdown striker was an adequate Silverleague striker at the best of times, with an odd knack for finding goals that was certainly an asset but did not mark him out as one of the world's greats. He was a nice enough man in his private life, and he had just inadvertently used the Nepharim goalkeeper's skull as a trampoline. Worse still, in attempting to cover the goalline, Roxelana Thorn had just followed her central defensive partner to become the second Revolutionaries player to score of the night. Wrong end, mind. For both of them.
Rustwyth was hauled off like a slab of meat, Fasolt Senninger hurled on, and the first shot on target he faced slipped between his fingers, smacked him in the face and was smashed into the net on the rebound by Ramsey's knee.
He didn't celebrate the most exuberantly. He had, after all, freshly Mario-stomped a man. Still, after glancing to the sidelines and seeing Oslograd pointedly doing pelvic thrusts, he sheepishly followed suit, before ducking for cover as a hail of coins was hurled his way.
Nepharim coins covered all denominations up to the hundred-pound mark, which was the size and aerodynamism of a small discus. This was not a good thing for Ramsey. It was, however, a good thing for the ball-kids who, by tradition, got to keep any coins they could carry out.
That made things 2-2. Bastable thought he'd struck again to make it 3-2, after Tammy Barton - less than stellar between the posts - misjudged a shot from the lively Kuepper and dropped it obligingly in his path, but he was rightfully called offside. The fans were in less than approving mood.
"Yes! Yes! We make our own luck here!" Oslograd gloated on the sidelines. "Oh, in the glorious layer of the virtuous pagans, yes - here is where dreams and legends are made!"
Strauss bit her lip.
"Gallop, lads! Canter to victory!"

"Hey, great work, Roxi." Metzger clapped Thorn hard enough on the back to make her jolt. "You're right, they are psychopaths. And what was all that about balloons?"
They'd learn that soon enough, but a lot more had to happen first. That was useful, given that the Cormorants needed the three points. With a reorganised back line, two Treason defenders revitalised by Strauss' tender mercies flanking the unruffled Thorn, Senninger having rallied after his initial humiliation. And Tawny Shone was, of course, having great fun running around clapping heads together. It's what she lived for.
She also found time to chalk up an assist, clattering the venerable Willem Ajax and wasting no time clipping the ball down the right flank. Saroszi trapped it, Saroszi flicked it past Barton from 28 yards.
Three minutes later, she had another assist, clattering the venerable William Ajax and wasting no time clipping the ball down the right flank. Saroszi trapped it, Saroszi flicked it past Law, where there was nobody. Wait, no, there was Rovena Stride, going rather faster than her nickname implied and sliding first-time past Barton.
4-2, but that didn't last long, either. Though there was a brief interlude when Skorji Oslograd got into a fight with the linesman, accusing him of being intimidated by Nephara's false God. There was a shade of offside, in fairness, but not much more.
4-3 from Creed winger Joel Conway, who spoke with something of a Nepharim-tinged accent at this stage in any case. Nothing stupid happened, it was curled beautifully around his club teammate Senninger from the corner of the box with space won scandalously off the freshly-substituted Katarec. And then 5-3, Marica Kuepper, off a free kick. Somehow, every goal had either taken place outside the box or been a complete farce.
After a strangely calm final twenty minutes, interviewers swarmed in for soundbites. Compared to Strauss, Skorji Oslograd may not have been the greater manager but was certainly the better striker in his playing days, and certainly the one journalists wanted to hear from now. Strauss noticed everyone surging past her, sighed, and moved back towards the tunnel after an airy little wave at the home fans.
But Oslograd wasn't about to wait around. "Strauss!" he bellowed. "I give you one last chance to grovel at the master's feet."
Strauss glanced over her shoulder. "That's nice."
"But I bring a gift! A tribute! A--"
Strauss yanked open the door to her dressing rooms and gave, she would later have to admit, a rather undignified squeak. All manner of balloons poured out of the room, bouncing around, scraping static through her hair, some floating gently, others content to stay on the ground.
"A lesson," said Oslograd, clapping his hands together. "You see, the men of Fligsive are a stiff-sinewed breed, but dour, with a... yes, a penchant for failing to see the opportunity in the nuclear wasteland hellhole crater in which they spend their little lives. But! Men! What raises our blood!"
"BALLOONS!" his cult of followers - where the hell had they come from? - bellowed behind him.
"What rises without fail, no care for the world's troubles?"
"BALLOONS!"
"Behind which tight-stretched rubber can be found hope, dreams, sugar, spice? What is our muse, Strauss? What will remain despite your pathetic philosophy of the 'result', the ephemeral three points, chalked up in a logbook and fleetingly added to a coefficient and forgotten within seconds - who are we that you and yours shall never match? You and your dyed battalion of mullets and tattoos? Who are w--"
You couldn't hear a pin drop. But you could hear the balloon burst underneath it, Oslograd's haunted scream, Strauss's exultant cackle, and the sounds of flying fists and limbs as the two sets of players laid into one another as the referees tried desperately to intercede.
The Godhead was pleased that night.

NEPHARIM NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION - FORTNIGHT 5
Goalkeepers: 1 - Hesterine Mercator (Eastweald, COS), 12 - Konrad Matheny (Cranequin Wanderers), 20 - Fasolt Senninger (Creed United)
Defenders: 2 - Rovena Stride (AFC Treason), 3 - Marcin Close (Brinemouth, c), 5 - Cedella Verlander (Crisisbless United), 6 - Ilyana Brosch (AFC Corvistone), 18 - Valeri Longship (Crisisbless), 19 - Sander Katarec (Vermillion Rage), 22 - Gabriel Lockheed (AFC Treason)
Midfielders: 4 - Tawny Shone (Sabrefell Moths), 7 - Marica Kuepper (Jungle Strike, VIL), 8 - Malachi Chalk (Falourr, EUR), 11 - Marisha Staunton (Crisisbless), 13 - Monako Saroszi (Ulsa, EUR), 15 - Ferena Rauch (AFC Treason), 16 - Morena Deventer (Brinemouth), 21 - Swansea Reach (Sabrefell Moths, COS)
Forwards: 9 - Lilith Thornwood (North Laithland), 10 - Aristide Metzger (AFC Treason), 14 - Kurtis Laiota (Crisisbless), 17 - Kurtis Bastable (Hornchurch, EUR), 23 - Konrad Lovelace (Revolutionaries, EUR)

SCHEDULE
Nephara 1 - 1 Bolgano @ Phoenix Rise (Corvistone)
Monso 0 - 3 Nephara
[Bye]
Nephara 2 - 0 Squornshelous @ Ludd's Hammer (Stahlburg)
Aquitlita 0 - 2 Nephara
Nephara 5 - 4 The Macabees @ The Gauntlet (Treason)
Siovanija & Teusland 1 - 4 Nephara
Nephara 5 - 3 EOT @ Farham Arena (Sabrefell)
Anthor vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Lochario @ Godswatch (Crisisbless)
Poafmersia vs. Nephara
Bolgano vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Monso @ Ebony Lane (Cranequin)
[Bye]
Squornshelous vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Aquitlita @ The Iron Hill (Vermillion)
The Macabees vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Siovanija & Teusland @ Farham Arena (Sabrefell)
EOT vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Anthor @ The Gauntlet (Treason)
Lochario vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Poafmersia @ Eagle's Club (Brinemouth)

[HUElavia]

HUElavia shocked in upset defeat!

HUElavia came into Matchday 8 against Folmara, who are unranked, expecting an easy victory. So easy, that HUElavia decided to bring out the backup players to play at Estadio da Selva, in Natel (58,000) in what should have been an easy game. Unfortunately, it was not an easy game.

HUElavia took the lead in the 18th minute, when a foul by Ragno over Hamada in the box allowed Navarro to convert a penalty past Dagobert to make it 1-0. HUElavia played around with ease until an error by Toni in the 43rd minute allowed Feroardus to get the ball and slide it past Armelino to tie it at 1-1, which ended the half.

The 2nd half was a microcosm of a failure, with Smirnov being yellow carded and sent off in 5 minutes, after two fouls in the penalty box allowed Feroardus to convert two penalties in the 48th and 53rd minute to make it 1-3. HUElavia tried to score, but to no avail and ended up losing the game.

HUElavia now have fallen to 3rd place after Mercedini got a win against Schiavonia 0-4, thus HUElavia have to catch up, and will travel to Magnaterrica in what Los Amarillos hope that they can rebound with a win and keep pace. Up to now, HUElavia seem to play better away from the country than when at home.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Trolleborg]

Trolleborg: Gould, Laaste, Troger, Tro, Levenkrands, Zhita (Kolding,46), Valgren, Mogren, Finnsnes, Skaloed (Gulbranden,46), Kerr.

Our defeat by a hopeless outsider in the Atlantic Republic is to the same extent dependent on a long flight and uncomfortable conditions on the pitch. Our team has a lot of opportunities to score, but pkayers was clearly out of luck - five times the ball hit the posts and the crossbar, twice defenders clearing ball out of the empty net. The goal we conceded in one of the rather rare counterattacks by hosts, should clearly be assigned to the quality of the pitch, on which our goalkeeper, who made his debut in official matches, felt himself not best way.

At least four resignations of the coaches in the teams, that trying to make way to the WC, have already taken place, and many teams clearly feel the need for a new direction of development and new ideas. Trolleborg football leadership proposes to create an international labor exchange for coaches, for the convenience of selecting candidates not only from among home-grown ones.

[OOC: But I must vented my disappointing. I have a real difficult time commenting results that are clearly random in nature. And scores like 5-4, 6-4 and 4-9 is obviously not from the football realm.
Probably this is one of last my posts in this thread, I don't see any point in it]

[Apox]

The Independent Football Association (IFA) Headquarters just outside Dwile in the town of Hyton had evolved into a sprawling complex since its establishment after the hiatus. It tended these days to serve many functions - headquarters of the governing body, training centre and base for the national team, who had sixteen full sized pitches to practise on, as well as all manner of other things, including broadcast studio for many ANL games, rights for which were all tightly controlled by the IFA and streamed live to Youtube.

Lunar Dusk was sat in the back of her expensive personal car for travel around Apox, heading to the complex from her current home in central Dwile. She regularly made her way to the IFA Headquarters for training, meetings and just to attend to things in her office on site. Today was neither of those things, for she was meeting with the newly anointed Chairman of the IFA. Many distinguished former players had held the role since Apoxian football had been properly organised such as Miriam Whittaker (also a former WCC President), Sammie Puskas and the entertaining Jools the Sophisticated.

Now, one of the most famous Apoxians out of them all had taken on the role. It was of course, Dravid Scott, former superstar player and captain from the early days of the national side and briefly manager in an ill-fated short stint. He was also, somehow, following on from an ill-advised accidentally trip to the Dreamed Realm, the only Apoxian who it could be proved was immortal.

As her car rolled into the compound, with the looming shadow of the Stadium of Apox, the national stadium in the background, she felt, weirdly, quite nervous. The man was quite literally a legend in Apox, and she wasn't exactly sure how their meeting today was going to go today, or what would be discussed. The car rolled to a halt, and she got out and trotted through the front doors and, nod of recognition to the security guard manning the front desk, got into the elevator.

How would he be? Since returning to Apox and playing half a season with Urbanista, he'd disappeared from public life for a few years. Rumours had abounded, so much so that there were various true and faked "sightings" of him. Had he been seen running naked with Cocoabo in the forest in Atlantian Oceania? Had he successfully tamed a polar bear in the now closed off Polar Islandstates? Had he single handedly constructed a nuclear bunker in the foothills of the Northern mountains in Apox? She pushed these thoughts to the back of her mind. This was a professional meeting, and she was nothing if not professional.

She came to a door with a simple golden plaque reading "Chairman" on the outside. This must be the one then, and she rapped smartly thrice on the door with her hoof. A muffled "Come in" sounded from the other side and she pushed open the door.

Inside, it looked more like a library than an office, with an entire wall full of books, some football related but many not. The opposing wall had a framed Urbanista jersey on it, presumably from his playing days and a few pictures of Scott as a player - winning a trophy, celebrating with team mates, a smaller picture appearing to show him and Olim Benzari, sitting in shorts by a pool, drinks in hand, smiling and laughing.

Scott himself was sat at his desk, looking barely a day over thirty, his hair close cropped and no hints of grey in it - his face unlined and showing none of the signs of ageing that, by right, should really be all over the face of a sixty-eight year old man. He looked over from the monitor perched amongst numerous piles of paper on his desk, smiled and invited her to take a seat, which she duly did.

"I'm so glad you could come in to talk today. I felt it would be important to have a chat as soon as possible to ensure we're both looking for the same, uh, vision, going forwards."
"Of course." There was a slight pause, before Scott continued,
"As I'm sure you know, I've been hiding a bit out of the spotlight for a couple of years now. The, uh, news I received when I returned from my jaunt in the Dreamed Realm was a little overwhelming so I felt like it was a good time to go away and think about things, especially after rushing back too quickly to play for Urbanista"
"Yes, I can't imagine how confusing it must have been." Scott smiled, ruefully.
"Indeed. Anyway, I've kept up with things when I can and I've recently been intensively catching up with things." He paused, gesturing around him at the mountains of print outs, "One thing I haven't failed to notice, is how well you've been managing the national side to date."
"Thank you that's very good of you to say."
"Only being truthful. So, I think it would be good to let you get on with a large degree of autonomy. Obviously, I'd still like to be kept in the loop with the bigger goings on in the side, but I've made it clear to the team below me that, interference, wouldn't be in the best interests of our long time footballing ambitions going forward."

Another silence, before Lunar Dusk prompted,
"And what might those be?"
"A dynasty."
"A dynasty?"
"Indeed. I played for some very good sides while I was a player, both domestically and internationally, but we never had this sort of success or this level of potential success."
"I see. Well, it's my aim to keep this side at their highest possible level for as long as I'm able."
"I don't doubt. You see, when fears of the immediate future are removed from you, having a much, much, longer term viewpoint is kinda inevitable. I'm laying out plans which will keep the domestic scene climbing for years to come. In doing so, I hope that will feed through to the national side, who, under good coaching, there is no reason to say can't compete for the biggest trophies for years to come."
"I'm guessing that's where I come in?"
"Indeed. Or at least, you're the first and most important piece in the puzzle." He quickly switched tack, "How are the lads getting on at the moment? What's the vibe like?"
"Good. Spirits are high and we're confident that nothing will prevent us from being at the world cup in Cassadaigua and Baker Park next year."
"Excellent. I thought as much."

He stood up and leant forwards across the desk, hand outstretched,
"I look forward to working with you!"

[Starblaydia]

Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two

"Ok, Rick," said their GM, "what is Lyku going to do?"

"Lyku's gonna kick some ass!" Rick said excitedly, grabbing his dice from the table in front of him and shaking his hand. "Acrobatic leap the thirty feet up, charge forward, unarmed strike, palm to the face, keeey-ya!."

The dice went clattering across the table before anyone could question the validity of this decision. All eyes followed the polyhedral plastic, and on Darrly and Sam's faces there was more than a hint of worry. Hope would always give them advice for when they shouldn't really engage something because it was too tough for them.This had been one of those times when she'd dropped the hint, made it possible but extremely unlikely for them to hit the guy, but Lyku's abilities made it possible. Charging in like that wasn't a great idea, Bbt what's done was done, the unbreakable table rule was ano taking things back after you declared and rolled for them. The die was cast. It landed on a number in the high teens, much to the delight - however hesitant - of all, and Rick did some quick maths to yell out his attack score.

"Twenty-three! That's gotta be a hit."

"A solid hit," his GM allowed, knowing what was to come next but seeing if she could distract him away from doing it, "rolling damage?"

"Nope," Rick replied, with a smirk on his face, "I'm going to make it a Stunning Strike."

"With a point of Ki?" Hope confirmed the inevitable.

"Ki-Rela!" Rick corrected. "By the holy orange orb of magic, built to defend the realms of men - and women, of course."

Rick brought his palms together in front of him, almost in prayer, and bowed his head solemly. He delicately and purposefully picked up a die and rolled it slowly, coming to rest easily above his desired number.

"Stuning strike!" Rick called triumphantly. "This guy can't move for a turn. Now, Flurry of Blows oughta-"

"Legendary." Hope interrupted softly, taking a long pause before her second word, fixing them with a steely glare and slightly pursed lips that enthralled them entirely, "Resistance."

"Woah!" they exclaimed, as one.

Lyku the Monk, the five-time champion of the Arena, slayer of monsters, healer of the lame and defender of essentially everything, had just thrown his customary attack at their ordinary-seeming enemy. This was an attack combination that, though rarely used, brought out the best of the Monk's class abilities. By draining Ki-Rela points, Lyku would batter the oppoent with a flurry of deadly blows, move wherever he wanted, and even heal his allies in tirn. It had ended many a tough boss fight and was one of the highlights of the session when used correctly.

But this enemy, this simple-seeming hunter NPC, had jsut pulled out a Legendary Resistance, something that only the toughest of creatures in the handbook could have. What in all of Castles and Chimeras had they come across?

"Mister Lopez," Hope said with a resigned look on her face, "did not like that. At all. 'Do I not like that' were his precise words. You guessed correctly from the markings on his face and arms that he was a hunter, but you couldn't quite identify of what. The answer, unfortunately for you, is overeager adventurers who dare to challenge him and his eldritch magicks."

The four boys didn't entirely know what an eldritch magick was. They were about to find out, and they knew they wouldn't like it.

"Speaking words in a tongue you don't recognise, he extends his hand and points a gnarled finger at you, Lyku, and gibbers the words that make all of your blood run cold. Spectral lions appear from behind him, leaping forward at you in a diamond shape and doing - thirty three points of spectral damage - as they pass through you."

"Ut-oh,"! said Rick.

"The etherial lions, glowing edges of a white blue light like ghsots in the night, leap through the air and make as if to crush your three friends below when they land on them, but just when it seems the spirits will flatten you into a fine paste the tether on the magic ends and they vanish as quickly as the appeared. Before you realise what's happening, he has drawn a sword from his back, a long wicked-looking blade that shines with the light of the sun itself. The blinding blade whips across your chest and you feel, Lyku, the white-hot pain of your skin being parted and your flesh being sliced through to the bone. You take - thirty-six points of holy damage - but it's not over yet."

"Um," Rick began.

"Taking a bonus action," Hope continued, "the hunter drops his shoulder and slams into your wounded body, smashing you with twelve points of damage and knocking you over the railing and crashing to the marble floor below where your friends stand, taking another thirty points of bludgeoning damage."

"Oh." Rick said, looking a little sad. Darryl immediately knew why; he'd already done the maths in his head.

"Lyku's, um..." Rick struggled a little and re-checked his additions, "dead."

Sam and Benny looked at each other in shock. The GM had just killed one of their party! No more Ki-Rela, no more Orange-Blue monk, no more terrible-on-purpose broken English roleplaying from Rick and, crucially, this meant that this campaign was different. This campaign was going to be deadly.

There was no arguing with Hope, they knew, there was no way she would undo it, take it back, or work out that Lyku was just faking it. Dead was dead. They didn't have the skills or the gold or the influence to be able to undo this, either. Dead was dead. There was no messing around here, she had warned them before the first game of the autumn had begun, they were old enough for a true challenge of their tabletop roleplaying skills. This had brought it all into focus for them; they had to take it seriously from now on.

"Never mind," Rick said, "I liked Lyku but he was getting a bit dull, doing the same thing all the time of blocking blows and unleashing a single strike to win combats. Besides, I have an amazing idea for a Druid, one who's covered in green and orange tatoos on one arm and blue and brown tatoos on the other. He'll be awesome, and I want his forms to be a vicious jungle cat and, um, and, an eel!"

Well, maybe not too seriously.

[Zwangzug]

Kairothletes: ambiguous referents

Next inverter is "complete randomness," for altering linchpins that don't fit neatly into the hosting or individual-match categories.

Because Raq has already left the timeline, we no longer need the alternate WC13L'. trelisua, however, will need the original voodoo dice of WC13. So let's go ahead and restore history so that the Frosty Cup goes forward after all. That "nullifies" the WC13L patch, removing it from play.

And we draw...another restore-history inverter. Again, no patches, so we'll have to do a careful check of what linchpins we want to tinker with at this point.

There really aren't that many linchpins we want to flip to their alternate history right now, sadly. We could meddle with WC33 and prevent the Zwangzug team from originally forming, but both Sâálvó and Susanna, who we're working on right now, don't want that to happen. So we should probably resolve them first.

That leaves WC79. Jimaddo wants the real one, trelisua wants the alternate one, and it's not clear who we'll get to next. But...at some point, if all goes well, we will need the patch, so what the hey. We Reverse Fate in WC69 so that Osarius win the Eagles Cup, with the "old girls" from Bassabook succumbing in extra time. This paradoxes WC79, since Forbridge does not open a new Eagles Club branch.

Now a patch, but one we don't need--it's the alternate WC42 (version c) where Zwangzug never amount to much, and it's the Archregimancy defeating Valanora in the final. Fun for the "Holy Monks, Superstars" reprises, but not for this game.

And now, welp. A patch we do need, WC36' where Errinundera win the Golden Haddock Award. Specifically, it's trelisua who needs this. But like I just said, we don't really want to get into the alternate WC33 era until Susanna and Sâálvó's patches have come around. In retrospect, maybe we should have used the "hosting nonsense" card to deal with WC8 instead, bcause it's pretty useless now. So let's discard that and hope for something better.

And it's another generic "reverse fate." Dare we flip WC36, get trelisua's patch down, and hope that the WC79' patch comes up before Sâálvó's and Susanna's so that that character can go home? By "that character" I mean trelisua, who is probably Errinunderan, and I don't know if they're a he or a she or a they or something else. I mean, look, I'm always a fan of singular they in unknown situations, like "the manager of the opposing team looked like a genius after their substitutions paid off," but some people will use that as a wedge to put words in my mouth and I ain't bout dat life, you know? I'm also definitely not being paid to say this by conservative hacks in Bassabook, ha ha, why would you ask that.

Anyway, we will deal with trelisua by procrastinating on this decision until next time.

--

Wesley and Naomi were embarking on a tour of some of the other groups, both figuratively and literally. The schedule had worked out for them to get time off and foreign currency, so they were left to follow Zwangzug vicariously. Castanya's substitute had come up with a late equalizer to cancel out Amos' goal, and Wesley was displeased.

"We gotta sack Willow," he concluded. "I mean, everybody else is doing it."

"Firing Willow?" Naomi asked. "I didn't think they were allowed to do that."

"No, I mean, sacking their own managers."

"If all the other countries jumped off a bridge--"

"What would a country be doing on a bridge? Like what kind of a bridge would you need?"

"Never mind."

"I'm not saying we should do it to be bandwagon-hoppers, I'm saying, there would be a lot of good candidates to take over. And other countries where Willow could go."

"What would he do over there, skim their leagues to try and come up with a new and bad formation?"

"I mean, whatever the federation who hired him wanted, that's kind of how it goes."

"And what would a foreign manager do with our team and their...issues?"

"Reaven Laynee managed. I mean, managed as in 'did okay,' not 'was the manager,' that's obvious."

"Speaking of word choice, why do you say 'sack'? It's 'fire,' no one says 'sack' in Zwangzug."

"Well, we're not in Zwangzug at the moment, now are we?"

"You still sound weird."

"In gridiron football they sack people all the time."

"That means, like, tackling them and beating them up."

"So what? That might get results."

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

The Knights of the Oblong Table In....

THE QUEST FOR THE HOLY GRAIL
of World Cup qualification

Extracts From the Journal of Sir Anguish of Anguish

Though our 6-4 victory over Mareibat was most pleasing, I feel anguish over whether we are any closer to our goal in our quest for the Holy Grail of World Cup Qualification. The good Tzimisces has rightly pointed out that while our attack is most puissant - that is 17 of these 'goals' we have scored in but three games - our defence remains a point of concern. We concede too much; why that Mubaaraka Durtch alone scored three goals in defeat last night, a feat apparently most rare (though I concede that I have yet to see the connection between scoring three goals in a single match and hats).

Yet, is it not right that we are open about our weaknesses? If we are to achieve the Grail of World Cup Qualification, we must be pure of heart, willing to address our sins, and repent. Thus it is that by acknowledging that our defence needs work, by being honest on this clear and basic truth, we can improve as knights, and better overcome the obstacles that stand in our way.

Speaking of obstacles, I must record a strange incident that occurred as we left Hope Stadium in Halholzer last night to return to the portal that would take us back to the Holy Empire.

We came to a flimsy bridge across a chasm, which seemed to be guarded by a filthy old mad whom Sir Alexander the Criminally Underused (whom we really must make better use of) remembered as cheering for the home team in the 24th minute of the game. Why the 24th minute specifically escapes me, but I assume that there is some mystical significance to our Grail quest.

To our consternation, he declared that "Who would cross the Bridge of Death. Must answer me these questions three, 'ere the other side he see." Sir Dodinas le
Savage, a knight both wild and brave, offered to answer these questions. "What is your name?" asked the old man. "Sir Dodinas le Savage", he replied. "What is your quest?" asked the old man. "To seek the Holy Grail of World Cup Qualification!" replied Sir Dodinas. "And what is your favourite colour?" asked the old man. "Gamboge" replied Sir Dodinas. "Right, off you go then" said the old man, waving Sir Dodinas across the bridge.

Then the old man said again "Who would cross the Bridge of Death. Must answer me these questions three, 'ere the other side he see." Our coach Juan Tzimisces stepped forward, confidence etched into his gait. "What is your name?" asked the old man. "Juan Tzimisces", he replied. "What is your quest?" asked the old man. "To seek the Holy Grail of World Cup Qualification!" replied the coach. "And what is the capital of Assyria?" asked the old man, cackling. "Well, that depends", replied Tzimisces "on whether you mean the Old Assyrian Empire when the capital was usually Aššur (though with Shubat-Enlil briefly taking on that role for a few decades), the Middle Assyrian Empire when the capital remained Aššur throughout, or the Neo-Assyrian Empire - when the capital was variously Aššur, Kalhu, Dur-Sharrukin, Nineveh, or Harran. So which particular period of Assyria do you mean?" "I don't know that!" said the old man, who disappeared into the chasm.

Thus were we reminded again of the great sagacity of our coach.

[Bears Armed]

Bears Armed vs. Lisander
Venue:Soria, Lisander
Score: 4-0.

Goals
Bears Armed: Kuthbearrh (#10) @ 01’ (assist: Fane [# 2]); Barris (#7) @ 42’ (assist: Bruin [#6]); Brent (#11) @ 52’ (assist: Kuthbearrh [#10]); Brent (#11) @ 76’ (assist: Fane [#12]).
Lisander (0): (none)

Red Cards
(none)

Substitutions due to Injury
(none)

Misc. Notes
Lisander has a dark green ‘first’ kit, so the Belles were in their white-based ‘second’ (or ‘away’) kit instead of their own usual dark-green ‘first’ one.

______________________________________________________________________________

Location: Wimbley Stadium, more specifically the Belles’ changing room there
Time: Four days after the match reported above; later afternoon, after a training session.

_______________________________________

(Lurrsee Fane) “And yet another verry early goal for Urrma; Straight through the middle, straight through the middle…”

(UrrmaKuthbearrh) “Ayyuh, well, I couldn’t have done it if Harroya hadn’t taken the ball off of that Lisandrian forward — hwhat was his name, Camden — hrright after their centre forward took the kick-off.”

(Harroya O Sarrndale) “Thank you.
“That sort of thing will probably be harrder in the rreturn games next year, though, with opponents who have already faced urrs this year and know better hwhat to expect… and we’d better bear that in mind. Hrright?”⁽¹⁾

(Errinth’hrra Russett [Captain]) “Hrright.”

(Karra) “So, another win ‘away’ but still none at home. If one of our defeats hadn’t been at NorthPort hrrather than at Wimbley, I might have started to wonder hwhether Wimbley had somehow been jinxed now… like Plumtrees Park was.” ⁽²⁾

(Lurrsee) “Fleas-and-fur-loss! Now there’s an idea we’d better hope isn’t so…”

(Errinth’hrra) “Don’t worry. Word from the management is that it’s been checked, and that that isn’t the case.”

(Karra) “Whau! That is a hrrelief.
“So, that apparent ‘pattern’ was just a matter of chance, after all.”

(Steffannee Bruin) “So, maybeso, we can break the ‘pattern’ and win over ‘Ouna’ on Donk’s-day.
“Hr’rmm, they’re a ‘rranked’ team, but they’re rranked seven places below[/i] Lisander and even more behind Xanneria so that doesn’t necessarily mean much. Hokay, they’re currently one place above urrs in the group table, on one more point, but we have a better goal-difference than them. Hwhat else do we know about them? ”

(Karra) “They lost to Lisander; they lost to Valanora , but then everybearry else hwho’s played against Valanora during this set of qualifiers lost as well, anyhow; They beat Kelssek, the group’s third seed, but only narrowly; tied with Appalachian Nation; tied with Five Cities too; and they’ve just managed a narrow win over Xanneria...
“From hwhat some other people have said I think that they’re another of the all-human nations, but I’m not an EightSquared in the Yonkh certain of that so don’t quote me on it, hokay?” ⁽³⁾

(Lurrsee) “I asked big sister about them, and she said that the Necc’s files were pretty vague on the subject as well… except that, apparently, their national government collapsed shortly before these qualifiers began!” ⁽⁴⁾

(Urrma) “Hwhat?!”

(Karra) “Ayyuh, and that’s hwhat cousin Bark toldme, too. Still, they must have at least some organisation left around at least one of their stadiums, anyhows, because they have hosted some ‘home’ games this year hokay.”

(Errinth’hrra) “That’s true. Still, though, I have to wonder hwhat the situation will be like next year, hwhen it’s our turn to visit them…”

(Your view of this discussion, as an observer from beyond the ‘Fourth Wall’, fades to black…)

_______________________________________

OOC Footnotes

1. For the Bears, IC, the qualifiers are spread over the summers of two years with the break between those two series being—as you’d probably expect — halfway through the schedule.

2. Plumtrees Park, which is located even nearer to Council Groves, was the site of the stadium (borrowed from National University) that the Belles used for home matches during their first five or six World Cup cycles. It became jinxed due to malign energies spreading from the demon-destroyed nation of Dancougar through a trophy (the ‘Shirt on a Stick’) for which our national teams had been competing against each other, which led to a string of surprisingly bad ‘home’ results for the Belles. Consequently the stadium was exorcised and demolished (with the rubble exorcised [i]again before disposal as hazardous waste…0, and its site was turned into an artificial lake with a flow of running water through it to wash away any lingering traces of the problem. Fortunately work on Wimbley had already begun before that, so it was ready for the Belles’ next home game a couple of years later on.

3. “an EightSquared in the Yonkh”: “EightSquared” and “Yonkh” are both ways in which the Bears say sixty-four, so this colloquial expression is comparable to our “100%”.

4. “the Necc” = ‘The Bear Necessities’, the important Council Groves-based newspaper for which Lurrsee’s elder sister Florise works as an ace reporter.

[Filindostan]

FILINDOSTAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION
78 Calle Sturiaga, Benevido District,
City of San Marco, Filindostan

OFFICIAL STATEMENT

The Filindostan Football Federation is a body that governs the nation's footballing affairs and sanctions the development of its football clubs. Today, we are announcing that Mr. Xavier Rinoso has stepped down from his position as manager of the Filindostan National Football Team effective immediately.

Mr. Rinoso informed us of his decision minutes after the final whistle at Filindostan's World Cup 84 Qualifying match against Mitra and Soma, which resulted to a 2-4 loss for the team. The Federation was due to discuss his future with the team today, but his decision necessitated this announcement, and we respect his decision to step down from the job. We thank him for his efforts and wish him well in future endeavors.

For the meantime, Iqbal Prasetyo will be the caretaker manager for the next three matches against Flavovespia, Mustardy, and Vakolicci Haven and Celeria, and the Federation will search for a new manager before the second half of the qualifying campaign. Mr. Prasetyo will also be considered as one of the candidates for the job.

No other communications will be announced by the Federation as of this time. Thank you for your understanding.

sgd
Estrelitta "Estie" Barzagia
Chairman

[Balqia]

-...yes...yes...understood, bye.
The manager ended his hour long call with a grim face. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He looked to the coach and smiled, his green eyes, however, were too tired to be happy.
-So, our team reached a victory after all. Oh, those geeks. We played with them in the Baptism of Fire. Can you remember it? More than a decade ago, wow!
-Yes, a nice victory in our curriculum.
Mark’s deep voice always seemed a bit angry, he spent some time in the navy, but even soldiers where friendlier than him most of the time. Behind him his young assistant stood still, the secretary and the team’s physician were sitting in the large white sofa.
-So, Laqlo was very direct in his orders. As always he said we must win and get classified if possible, however we must at least win enough matches to put a good propaganda. The government will pass some laws that may cause an uproar from the public. We just need to get them happy enough with the cup to forget about this.
-As always there’s politics behind everything. I wish we could just play for the sake of enjoyment and sportive spirit.
-An idealist, I see. Unfortunately everything in this world revolves around politics. But that don’t make your precious sport less enjoyable. I mean, the players don’t know that they are just propaganda devices, but they can still enjoy their job anyway.
Mark stood in silence, it was his assistant that spoke.
-About that, sir… our team is a bit, err… how can I put it…
-They hate each other.
The coach returned to the conversation.
-Well, if that’s the case just make them hate each others less. What’s the problem?
Roman answered, now with a trembling voice.
-They… they they are discontent bout the management. Some of them believe that we are too strict with our rules and routine.
The manager seemed astonished, his eyes showed concern, but his mount only expressed a forced laughter.
-Oh, these young men. In my days we would be sent to working camps if we did a job as poor as them.
He nervously laughed it off, later he was going to call the Secret Service and politely ask them to improve security measures.
-Yes, we know, the good old days of Volta and how we orderly died of hunger. But we must do something, if the Team stays like this we will return to being losers. A good beginning would be to stop treating them like government officials and putting such amount of security agents in their side.
A direct approach, the coach was a direct man when it came to solving problems, that’s why he was chosen to his office.
-You know that the government will…
-Stay paranoid and not bare to see a citizen that’s not under constant surveillance. Yes, I know, I didn’t say to get rid of the security, I said to get rid of the security by their side, you will maintain the agents, but now in a place where they can’t see them.
Unfortunately this directness came with the idea of being already right. Most of the time he didn’t accepted criticism and dismissed it every time it showed up.
The manager nodded and noted it in a notepad. He read something there, and addressed the people in the office with another smile.
-Now, to the next topic… Nonoms absolutely beautiful goal. You must praise him in the next time you see him, it was absolutely well done, made in the last ten minutes, just when another draw was expected. The propaganda ministry is already disseminating it in the Internet and Sport Report will make an spectacular use of it in it’s next cover, “Nonoms, the savior of Balqia(?)” will be the title of the news.
-Indeed.
The coach quickly dismissed this, he never had patience to propaganda and other shenanigans involving public image. He left the room accompanied by his secretary and his assistant. Only Koln, the team’s physician, stood there.
-So, what do you want, Munster?
The physician walked to him and gave him some sheets of paper, above them all there was Nonoms exams.
-So, our “savior” can be using some illegal substances, I don’t think it’s forbidden by the World Cup organization, but it surely violates some of our laws involving narcotics.

[Flavovespia]

Qasden 3-0 Flavovespia

Flavovespia were never likely to take much from this game, however their 3-0 defeat will still be a disappointment for all involved in this. The match seemed to show exactly how far Flavovespia still need to go to establish themselves as a potential World Cup qualifier, and was another reminder of the frustrating of this cycle so far.

Qasden lined up in their red and blue halved shirt in Stade de Solis, Fyre. Flavovespia made two changes, Nigel Humphries replaced Alan Holt in the midfield, and Tony Gardner returned from suspension to replace Neil Wright, but other than that, the same 4-4-2 formation was deployed by interim manager Marcus McCormick.

Despite shaky performances in the qualifiers so far, Qasden looked confident against Flavovespia. Their midfield 4 were enjoying possession much more than the midfield 4 of Flavovespia. The early momentum was with the hosts, who got 2 shots on target within the opening 10 minutes, with Meehan forced to make some good saves to keep them out.

It was third time lucky in the 13th minute. Jerry Bostun got goalside of the Flavovespia defence, and hit a fierce shot down low. The outstretched leg of David Meehan initially kept it out, but only knocked it into the path of Onyx Foster. He didn’t need to even try, as he simply knocked the ball into the net, to give Qasden the opening goal. 1-0 to the hosts, and it felt like it was deserved.

That goal did seem to kick some life into Flavovespia. Feld and Hall were starting to get behind the defence at times, and Barkes and Daley were both unlucky to not quite get the ball in the position they best needed for a shot on goal. There were signs Flavovespia had the potential to make a comeback. That’s not to say Qasden weren’t also pressing on, but for the rest of the first half, it seemed relatively balanced.

Flavovespia hoped to build on a promising end to the first half after the break, and it initially seemed like they could. Feld put in a deep cross that flew over everyone. Hall got to it, and then hit it back into the box. Barkes just outjumped Petro Rees, and the ball was tipped by Macron Abbott, nicknamed Brickwall, but only into the path of Terence Daley. He however couldn’t keep his shot from only 5 metres down, as it flew over the bar.

That mistake would prove costly in the 56th minute. Valentijn Munson sent in an early whipped cross from the wing. Mark James was winning the foot race ahead of Jerry Bostun to get the ball in the box. However James stuck out a leg to try and clear it, only to get an awkward clip on the ball. This sent it out of reach of Meehan, off the post and in. 2-0 to the visitors from an own goal, and Flavovespia’s attempts to come back looked futile now.

McCormick was unimpressed, and Mark James was subbed off for Alexander May. Steven Hall was them sent up front, with Terence Daley subbed off for Jordaan Wolfson, making a somewhat surprise appearance as a right midfielder. McCormick at least wanted to send out a statement he was not happy at all with their performances.

That second goal seemed to have taken the wind from Flavovespia. With Hall now up front, Flavovespia struggled to move forward, even when their captain dropped back to pick up the ball. Qasden were making it hard to find any space, keen to preserve their 2 goal lead having struggled through a tough campaign so far. Marc Sharratt would come on for Edward Barkes, to limited effect. The missing Scott Coleman was definitely being missed by Flavovespia

85 minutes in, and Qasden got their 3rd. A clever free kick routine saw the ball played out wide to Lloyd Tokobo, only for him to immediately switch it back to Icarus Darsten. The Qasden captain now had space to hit a strong curling shot, beyond the reach of Meehan and into the net to make it 3-0. The hosts were delighted, Flavovespia left to ponder how they let that happen, and McCormick sitting back down looking resigned to another defeat.

Flavovespia now lie 10th out of 11 in the group. Although many have been taken by surprise by Ziwana, Mustardy and Mitra and Soma, there’s a real sense among Flavovespians that this would be a disaster of a campaign if this was anywhere close to the real finish. In terms of the new manager stakes, Crawford, Cromwell and McCormick look to be the most likely 3. Henderson has completely ruled himself out, and the FFA are said to be somewhat uninspired by Badger. After the next game, home to Filindostan, Flavovespia should know more.

A History of Football in Flavovespia

Part 7

In the 67BU tournament reached 128 teams, which meant everyone went into the draw in Round 1, with no change to the format. However, the disparity between teams was clearly growing, and complete thrashings, including double digit victories were becoming increasingly more common, including in the final itself. 13 gamesin the first round alone had a winning margin of 5 or more goals. This included results of Vitarias Legion 3–13 Langmere Green Rovers FC, St Astons City FC 14–0 AFC Parmoians and in a record that still stands to this day for the highest margin of victory in a professional game Waldster FC 26-0 Buchraston and Co. Packers.

The GCC was fed up with this, alongside grievances from teams that they had to battle their way through round after round, regardless of past performance. A new rule was introduced to combat this. From 66BU tournament onwards, the 16 teams who qualify for Round 4 begin the tournament for the next season with a home match in Round 3. This was a controversial move. Although it would usually benefit the bigger sides, many thought it was an unnecessary benefit for them. Additional criticism came from pointing out this massively benefitted sides who got lucky draws, and could allow weak sides to get into later rounds without deserving it. The GCC were keen to point out the increasing disparity between teams meant at some point, the old system was increasingly unviable.

This change knocked back the number of competing teams in the tournament proper from 128 to 80. Entry numbers were still much greater than this, which lead to the GCC deciding who of all the applicants deserved a place. Although some form of sub-national qualifiers were played, these weren’t officially endorsed. The GCC would give automatic first round places to anyone in a professional league, but outside of that, there were always disputes over which teams deserved their place.

For the Waldster League, after the boom came a bit of a bust. In the years leading up to 63BU, Stanmorn Miners FC, GW Motors, Waldster Park South FC, Vale Valiants, Beacon View FC, South Point FC, North Waldster Amateurs and Waldster Football Excellence all left the League, and only one of them had any part in the modern era (and even then, there’s some discussion over how much North Waldster Amateurs and FC North Waldster are the same side only renamed). Other teams would join to take their place, but the league was capped at 16 teams. Unlike the Eastern Alliance, it remained a closed door.

A similar trend could then be seen in the Eastern Alliance. The first 3 relegated sides, Captonbridge Industry, Elgress Elevenses (who’d be a one season side) and Buchraston and Co. Packers would never again play a significant role outside of amateur football. Loxthorpe Brewers FC would also leave the league during this point. The teams that were coming in were beginning to take the names of local areas instead of coming from a factory background, with Sutsyridge FC and Batchingtonwood FC (now Batchingtonwood Rovers FC) for example. Sutsyridge Sellers who joined the league were still a factory team. Boll Lake Mariners FC were an interesting example, originally formed of the maritime industry in (at the time the Boll Lake area of Sutsyridge), it’d later become the de facto team of Boll Lake, with increasingly less ties to the jobs.

The rise of the city team against a backdrop of discontent towards the GCC wold lead to changes in 63BU, that some who have looked back at the history of football in the nation believe made a very clear change in the nature of the game in the nation.

[Ko-oren]

MVFT

Most Valuable Fantasy Team. For those nations unlucky enough not to make it to the World Cup, there is always the opportunity to... make the Cup of Harmony. For those that don't go there either, you might just become the next best thing: the most valuable fantasy team. Of course, winning a lot means you go to the World Cup, and it puts up a lot of fantasy points as well. Obviously, then there must be a nation that doesn't go anywhere after qualification is over, but still is a pretty good Fantasy choice.

The game doesn't allow you to swap out nations halfway through qualification or anything, but if it were allowed, these are the nations to swap for. It shouldn't surprise you that this is a list of dead obvious group leaders.

1) Valanora (29 p)
Group 9's leader, over such fantasy darlings as Ethane and Port Ember, not to mention Bears Armed, Valanora is the most valuable team in Fantasy so far - and they've already had their bye as well. Seven straight wins, by an average 4-1 score line, they've done more than enough to get those win differential bonus points.

2) Banija & Eura (27 p)
Eura is going on a very Valanora-like run in Group 13. Over pretty much the most often picked team, Recuecn, Eura has had its bye week already, and keeps winning by an average 4-1 over everyone else. It's a shame that nobody picked them. Banija is first in Group 2, with seven wins, one draw, and no bye yet, slightly overinflating its score and value. They somehow put up a scoreline of 9-4 over Casta Marina, so that's an extra 5 points for the two lucky choosers.

Yeah, these teams are rarely selected because just the three mentioned so far cost 117,89 points - that's well over half the budget.

3) Mriin (24 p)
Picked by absolutely nobody, Mriin are on a great run in Group 7, just three points ahead of Chromatika (who have been picked 11 times) and are worth 16 fantasy points. Those three points in the table are a whopping 8 points in fantasy apart and a lot of it is due to insane scorelines. Mriin have opened the campaign with two straight 6-2 wins, and followed it up with 2-0, 1-0, and another 6-2. They were then done with not getting the +2 five-goal-difference points and won 0-5 at Zealandiana. Since then, they've collected just a single point in two games following a loss and a draw. They could've easily topped the MVFT table!

4) Starblaydia & the Holy Empire (23 p)
Back to the veterans, nations whose names have appeared in the annals (retold by Jeremy Jaffacake as we speak) as far back as the first ten or so World Cups. The purple menace have had a bye, won six and tied one (against the Sarian, really) and normally can be expected to score about 3 goals per game (but not against the Sarian, somehow). The Holy Empire are recording similar figures on offence but concede about four times as much as Ko-oren - and then again they're still first. 6-4 wins over Mareibat do that. There are similar ice hockey scores against Osarius, Volinovia, and Nirvacana. I get it, if you only watch the Dragonflies you'd think there's a punishment if you score more than twice in a game, but the Holy Empire are taking it the complete opposite way - and I'm not sure if it's actually more entertaining. Anyhow, an offensively-minded top 20 KPB nation is a worthwile Fantasy pick, more news at 8.

Shame nobody wanted to spend 35 points on them.

5) Nephara (21 p)
Four people did pull the trigger on Nephara, who are definitely happy with the 21 points. They are also first in their group, over Siovanija and Teusland, the Macabees, Squornshelous, and Euran Oceania Territories - and the most popular team of that group, Poafmersia. Whoa Nephara are good at football, who saw that coming.

Next installment of Fantasy should include a point for a clean sheet, which is definitely going to raise Ko-oren's stocks. So far scoring a lot of goals is something celebrated - and it shouldn't surprise you that the top 20 nations are doing a lot of that - but now all of the defensive teams are getting overlooked. Next Fantasy - may defence rise again.

Oh shit, Valanora have only allowed four so far. I'm already calling them as most overpowered team of "Fantasy, year 2". Turns out not all teams on this list are all-out attack all the time. Anyway, for next season, keep an eye on Taeshan and Ko-oren.

[Kita-Hinode]

Day 1

I've arrived midday, hungry like hell. We've decided to leave Museion for the week for some placed called Shinirigamishima. Never heard of it before but father said that the place was pretty nice.

Honestly, I disagree with his opinions of the place from top to bottom. The bed is hard, the fan is noisy, bugs keep trying to get into my room and I'm fed up of trying to get them out. You could say that it's just life in this section of Burakuriri but I disagree vehemently.

The locals are in a trance over some footy game between the Hinodejin champs and the Morrissey champs, it's a friendly but it's deemed important for cultural reasons. What a football game has to do with culture, I don't know.

I've been having a hard time to do anything, the locals are rather annoying and they don't leave me alone for whatever the reason.

I swear if this tosser says "the mister" another time, I'll hack his head open with a katana.

[Timuria]

Last Second Error Costs Red Wolves

Timuria 2–2 Fujai
Vatan Ercetin (21), Ozbek Sarikaya (51); Arin Salberg (41, 90+3)

by Tufan Nursultan

The Red Wolves seemed to have turned a corner, until a goal from Arin Salberg brought them crashing back to Earth as Bekir Altingunes' position feels more under threat than every, with a senior player coming out to defend him against the press, he still has not lost the loyalty of his players a factor that will be in the mind of the Football Federation as they begin to make decisions regarding his future.

The Red Wolves came out on the offensive, throwing caution to the wind, creating many early chances forcing many saves from Nehal Parekh, Ertan Renda had the best effort of this early period with a long range effort the clipped the bar on its way over. However, shortly after this chance Vatan Ercetin scored from a diving header that left Parekh unable to do anything about it.

Arin Salberg would come close shortly after with a header of their own, well head by Murat Yigithan, they would however equalise in the 41st minute with a long range effort that wrong footed Murat. The half would come, but not before a penalty taken by Tekin Yavuz was sent into the stands, many in the stadium watching in disbelief at what had just happened. The halftime break came at the perfect time for the Red Wolves to reflect on why they still hadn't made the breakthrough they wanted to in this match.

The Red Wolves came out flying for the second half with Atilla Acar's shot needing the attention of the goalkeeper yet again, tipping it in front of Ertan Renda who couldn't turn the ball in despite the open goal before him. It would take a stunning goal from an unexpected source to break the deadlock again, with an errant clearance from the defence leading to an improvised Ozbek Sarikaya volley from long range finding its way into the back of the net. Murat Yigithan would have to deny Salberg again, with their ability clearly showing as the match went on and the Red Wolves appeared to wane.

With the Red Wolves beginning to wane and Bekir Altingunes struggling to motivate his team, screaming at them from the sidelines, they began to adopt a more defensive posture and invited pressure onto themselves. This unfortunately allowed the visitors several opportunities to try to pull apart the Red Wolves' defence, leading to a last second goal from Salberg a looping header the escaped the grasp of Murat.

The match would end in a disappointing draw, with the Red Wolves leaving the pitch to a chorus of boos, fans quickly losing patience with the poor quality of the performances on offer.

What They Said After the Match:

Bekir Altingunes: "I can only apologise and say that these players are doing their best, I have to accept that these results, at the end of the day are on me. It may take time, but this will be resolved, one way or another."

Ertan Renda: "I just wanted to come out in support of Bekir, he's who we want to be leading us and I hope he will be long beyond this World Cup cycle."

Player Ratings:

Murat Yigithan 6/10

Ozbek Sarikaya 7/10

Eyup Mustafa 6/10

Metin Boz 6/10

Gokdeniz Dag 6/10

Atilla Acar 5/10

Yusuf Ihsanoglu 5/10

Tekin Yavuz 5/10

Caner Turan 5/10

Ertan Renda 6/10

Vatan Ercetin 7/10

Substitutes:

Altan Seyfi 6/10

Tayyar Ozel 6/10

Man of the Match: Arin Salberg - Two excellent goals and a credit to their country tonight, putting the team on their back.

Schedule and Results:
MD1: @ Pasarga W 2-0
MD2: vs Yttribia D 1-1, Halkın Güneş Çiftliği Stadium
MD3: @ Polkopia L 1-0
MD4 vs Drawkland L 3-0, Genel Sendika Stadium
MD5: @ Farfallidis L 7-0
MD6: Bye
MD7: vs Fujai, Madenci Stadium D 2-2
MD8: @ Gyatso-Kai
MD9: vs Libonesia, Dev Halk Stadium
MD 10: @ North East Asia
MD11: vs Melbergia, Halkın Güneş Çiftliği
MD12: vs Pasarga, Dev Halk Stadium
MD13: @ Yttribia
MD14: vs Polkopia, Genel Sendika Stadium
MD15: @Drawkland
MD16: vs Farfaillidis, Dev Halk Stadium
MD17: Bye
MD18: @ Fujai
MD19: vs Gyatso-Kai, Madenci Stadium
MD20: @ Libonesia
MD21: vs North East Asia, Madenci Stadium
MD22: @ Melbergia

[Sarzonia]

Charlie King thought his trip back to the hotel from the bar would be uneventful. He paid his tab, hailed a Lyft, and got in, cruised past the front desk and into the elevator.

Once he got to his room, however, he saw Mek'hi West standing in front of his door with his arms folded and an angry expression on his face.

"What the fuck were you thinking, Charlie?"

King looked bewildered. He had no idea what West was on about until West showed him his mobile phone with the headline from SNN.

"Breaking News: Squornshelous expels Sarzonian diplomats in comments row"

"We're not here to play fucking politics!" West snapped. "We're here to play football."

"I know that, Mek'hi," King said, and West knew straight away how serious King was. Normally, King called him all kinds of joking nicknames, West, Mek, Mekkie, Mekk, Mook, almost anything BUT West's given name. The fact that King chose to call the reserve Stars forward by his given first name meant King was well aware this was no joke.

"Look it up on your phone. The SNN app," West said befoe shooting King a glare and walking back to his own room. King walked into his room and began to read the story about his own intemperate comments and how they were leading to a snit between Sarzonia and Squornshelous.

King only got through the first three grafs of the story before his mobile rang. He looked. It was Kevin Connnelly, the Stars manager.

"Skip!" King said, trying hard to keep his voice from cracking with emotion.

"Charlie, this is fucking serious," Connelly said, and King could tell by the tone of his manager's voice that he was trying hard to keep his own composure and not snap at his starting defender.

"I'm reading about it now," King said.

"Right now, I've got the External Affairs Department on my arse looking for an explanation for why we're suddenly sticking our nose where it doesn't belong," Connelly said.

Meanwhile, Senior Vice President and External Affairs Officer Bryan Conway was awakened from his slumber at his official residence in Little Catherina by a frantic phone call from Vice President for Health and Athletics Carter Marshall. Marshall himself was awakened by a call from deputy vice president for consular affairs Kathy Ridge after she'd gotten word of 70 members of Sarzonia's consular staff being detained for deportation back to Sarzonia, citing "expired residency visas."

"I checked into that personally," Ridge said in a subsequent phone call to an exhausted and increasingly furious Conway. "We made sure all visas were renewed properly and on time. And our information was entered accurately and in a timely fashion," she said. Conway didn't see her cross her fingers as she said that last sentence, as she was aware of a contractor in the consular office who'd neglected to update the fact that the visas were properly renewed until she'd personally ridden herd on him. She'd made a note to talk things over with the contractor's supervisor, but decided to hold off since it wasn't the result of the visas being properly updated.

"Wait, so you're telling me the embassy didn't fall asleep at the switch?" Conway asked Ridge.

"No, of course not! Ambassador Dabrowski is on top of this shit and has been since Parliament confirmed him three years ago."

"Of course. I know Carroll really well," Conway said. "If the visas didn't expire, then this is really the Imperium overreacting to the intemperate remarks of a football player at a bar."

"That's exactly it, Mr. Senior Vice President," Ridge said. "They got pissy because we don't tell our citizens what to say and what not to." Before Conway could respond to that, he saw President Grant Haffner and a much older gentleman, whom he knew to be Damon Hodges, the deputy vice president for international affairs in the Department of Defence.

"Yes, Mr. President?"

"Bryan, I have Damon here. He's been looking into the situation between the Imperium and the Squornshelan Remnant States."

"Damon, your thoughts?"

"Well, they're not shooting at each other. At least not yet," Hodges said as he fidgeted with his glasses. "There's a lot of tension there and both the Remnant States and the Imperium claim to be the legitimate government of Squornshelous.

"What's our official position?"

"We haven't taken an official position, but our dealings with the Imperium have been limited to mainly football-related matters, some minor imports, except they do import an inordinately high amount of Sarzonian tea. We also import a good amount of coffee from them."

"What about West Squornshelous?" an aide asked before Conway glared at him.

"The Squornshelan Remnant States," he retorted. "West Squornshelous is the name the Imperium assigned to Chalesm. They call themselves the Squornshelan Remnant States. Calling them West Squornshelous invalidates their claim as an independent country." Like calling Ukraine The Ukraine, Conway thought. He saw the aide slink away with an apologetic look on his face, but turned his attention back to Haffner.

"So what do you suggest, Mr. President?"

"I was coming to get advice from you," Haffner said. "They want us to apologise for Mr. King's comments and want us to 'exercise better control' over his remarks moving forward."

Conway looked at Haffner and almost literally saw the sarcasm in his eyes. He knew that wasn't an option for Sarzonia.

"Fat chance of us doing that," Conway said. He then saw a faint smile briefly crease Haffner's mouth. He knew Haffner well enough to know that was the sort of response he was hoping he'd get.

"Let's expel some of the Imperium's consular staff as a response," Hodges said. "If they want to react to that, we're simply responding in kind to them."

"That would escalate things too quickly," Haffner said. "Pretty soon, our conversation would be about our chances if they declared war on us. Let's not have THAT conversation unless it becomes absolutely necessary."

"I recommend at least calling Mr. Dabrowski in to Woodstock for a consultation," the aide, who had previously been corrected for referring to the Remnant States as West Squornshelous offered.

"That's still a little too much of an escalation," Conway said.

"That's on the right track, though," Haffner said. "Perhaps you could call Mr. Dabrowski and request a 'temperature check' via secured video connection?"

Conway leaned back slightly with his mind in deep thought. He liked that idea. It was an unofficial back channel that would allow Sarzonia to get its point across without formally escalating matters. Besides, Sarzonia had a few other cards it could deal if it felt the need to really escalate matters.

"Let's do that," Conway said. Haffner nodded his ascent, then walked back out of the office.

There was still the matter of the communicade from Ambassador [Ketil] Medved demanding Sarzonia apologise for King's comment at the bar.

"I'll handle that," Conway said.

Within two hours, Conway was standing at the lectern in the External Affairs press room in front of dozens of assembled media.

"We have received the communicade through Ambassador Ketil Medved, the Squornshelan ambassador to Sarzonia," Conway said. "We are aware of the Imperium's objections to Mr. King's comments made in an off-the-cuff and informal manner on the night of Sarzonia's national team's bye prior to their match at Joe Gibbs Stadium against Brenecia.

"Sarzonian tradition does not permit our government to intercede in the comments of its citizens, regardless of whether or not they offend another nation's government. We in Sarzonia value, and have always valued, the fundamental freedoms of speech and expression that allowed Mr. King to make his comments about the Squornshelan political situation without concern for how they would be perceived, or even without concern for whether anyone would even be aware of them and their intent.

"To suggest that we apologise for Mr. King's comments or ask his team or ask our government to rein him in is, frankly, an insult to Sarzonia and to Sarzonian values. We will not apologise for Mr. King's comments, nor will we ask him to refrain from making future comments about the geopolitical situation."

When a reporter asked what Sarzonia's response would be diplomatically, Conway said, "we are looking through the visa applications of every member of Squornshelous's embassy and consular staffs. There are 1,200 here in Sarzonia, so that could take a while. I have scheduled a conversation with Carroll Dabrowsky, the Sarzonian ambassador to Squornshelous, to do a temperature check on the current situation and on whether or not he believes there should be any concern over a possible escalation beyond what's already happened."

"Will you expel any Squornshelan consular staff?"

"We haven't decided on that step yet, Travis," Conway said as he addressed Travis West, The Woodstock Daily Mail reporter who had earned the trust of many a Haffner administration staffer over the years. "If there are any with expired visas, we'll send them home. If anyone's application wasn't renewed, we might take a further look."

After Conway left the dais and headed back to his office, one thing was clear. The fault lines between Sarzonia and Squornshelous were beginning to show, and it potentially could lead to a less than pretty situation.

[Ancherion]

Before we go to where the Ancherion team is right now in this World Cup, we will start from the beginning. Due the to lack of domestic matches going on recently, the national squad was kept mostly the same with some new replacements due to international retirements. This includes both goalkeepers, Augustus Miles and Alois Clarke, being replaced by Morgan Benly, returning goalkeeper from the national team debut a few cycles ago, and Clyde Zenin, a back up goalkeeper that never got a national cap for Boring Paradise. The biggest lost was the retirement of Joris Fuller, Ancherion's top goalscorer throughout the whole of the team's international presence. The starting striker has been placed onto Sameer Jaklim Jr, whilst Sami Taylor has been added to the reserves bench. In other news, this will also be last qualifying some players will experience as they start questioning their retirements, these people include Indin Salivlo, Simon Ado, Jamie Szocsit and Gary Hasle. If we do qualify for either the World Cup or the Cup of Harmony, De Mequites will have some tough decisions in his hands to make about squad.

Now onto the actual group that got, this time round there are 11 teams in each of the 15 groups, with only the top two qualifying with no chance of playoffs. We were placed in the 5th pot which does say a lot for our chances of qualifying as we are going to have to beat the top 4 teams to get into that spot, which includes the top of world, Vilita, Zwangzug, Krytenia and Mattijana, behind us is Tamgu, who we played in the last qualifying stage which resulted in two wins, 3-2 and 3-1, for Ancherion. At best we will finished 3rd, but getting a qualifying spot here would be very surprising given the opposition we have to deal with.

Our first match was against Castanya away, not a big Ancherion crowd went with them to the match. The match was a dominating match for the most part with Sameer Jaklim Jr scoring the opening two goals within in the first 30 minutes, one being from a corner kick, Afeefa Colley kicking it to far side of the box where Jaklim was waiting and volleyed in it past the keeper. For the rest of that half the team played more defensively to try and keep that goal difference. De Mequites made some changes including subbing on Jacob Bosnar and Fabiano Moon, to keep up the defensive play. In the second half Lander Garcia got a clear shot on goal and took after Jaklim's shot got deflected by the keeper which Garcia took advantage of and made it three. In the closing ten minutes, Castanya got a goal in with a very well played counter attack and with that we unfortunately couldn't keep the clean sheet. In other matches this week, Mattijana drew their match against a lower seed, Alenberg, and Tamgu also losing their match to one of the unranked nations in our group.

Then came the rough challenge, well the second hardest match in this group. We hosted Vilita at Paradisian North Park, Boring Paradise, for our second match. The scoreline, 1-4, says what everyone was expecting, Vilita was going to beat us. It was a very one sided match in which Tzufarei had scored the opening goal within the first minute. Devmiko got the ball off Salivlo soon after kick-off and booted the ball forward where Tzufarei was and ran through the defense and scored. It wasn't that much later when Milaaso had scored from outside the box into the top corner. In the 38th minute, it was Jaklim who took the first goal for Ancherion from a free kick, the ball swerved from over the wall to the bottom left past the arms of the keeper. In the second half, Tzufarei and Milaaso were dominating the second and it was surprising how strong our defense was. With the amount of attacks they had, we had only conceded two further goals when it could easily have been four but Benly had made some very good saves.

Next time we will go through more matches as time goes on. but right now we are in third place with 8 games however most teams around us have a game in hand over us as we have our bye matchweek very soon.

[Banija]

Kabaka - King
Luguba - Queen Consort
Sarauniya - Queen Mother
Isebantu - Crown Prince
Omugabe/Omugaba - Prince/Princess
Omulangira/Kyabazinga - Duke/Duchess
Kagere/Kiweewa - Lord/Lady
Katikkiro - Prime Minister
Waziri - Foreign Minister
Lukiiko- Parliament
Kiongozi- Leader of the Opposition

Setting is Mujaguzo Palace

Kabaka Mwanga was sitting in the meeting room at his Palace. He had just gotten back from Rosaria- it had been quite an eventful trip. He had good, productive meetings, he felt, with President Bennett of the Echani Republic. Of course, the world did not stop going on around then- there was an eventful moment in Chromatika, and he knew that, after Lubabalo had been attacked with an egg by anti-Democrats within Chromatika, that he would have to give the Chromatik election much more personal attention.

Meanwhile, he was getting ready for a meeting with his son. Once the door was opened, his son, Isebantu Mutungi, walked through the door. "Your Majesty," the Isebantu said, as he bowed. "It's great to be back in Banija, isn't it? But what a fun trip it was to Rosaria."

"Yes, I think we did a lot to re-establish and re-strengthen that particular relationship." Mwanga said. "Now, of course, we can truly begin to focus our efforts into really expanding beyond our traditional alliances. Our alliances with our traditional allies, the Commonwealth of Baker Park, the Echani Republic, and the Royal KIngdom of Quebec, are secured. It has taken some time, but our relationships will remain strong for the foreseeable future. And now, of course, we can go beyond that."

"The timing on this is perfect, your Majesty." Said Isebantu Mutungi. "There is a letter, I received, from the newly elected Chancellor of Siovanija & Teusland, Dominik Meier."

"From Borograd, eh?" Replied the Kabaka. "That's not that far away. I've met President Fleiss, he came to the World Cup 83 Opening Ceremonies. What a good man. I like him. And, of course, it was Siovanijan & Teuslander engineers that built the brand new Stadium of the Restoration. But what did the letter say?"

"An open invitation for me to pay a visit to Stelburg, for a Banijan/S&T state summit. Between him and I, personally. Discussing tightening of relations, economically and politically."

"This is great news!" Said the Kabaka. "So the campaign promises I read about that they'd end international isolation are seemingly coming true. You know, we have solid relations with our neighbors, but our greatest allies are from outside the subregion. Nothing wrong with that, necessarily- but it is about time we focused on really improving our relations with our neighbors. And Siovanija & Teusland is a great place to start. Within the Glorious Southwest, some similar qualities in us both having a rich, Christian heritage, and both of us looking outward at the same time. "

"This will need to be treated with great respect." The Kabaka continued. "You will attend. Bring your wife. Show the importance that we place on these talks. I myself, will be here, but following closely. A Kabaka cannot be globetrotting around the world all the time, and anyways, I want to keep a closer eye on the situation in Chromatika. But you are empowered. Let's see what we can get here."

To: Dominik Meier
Chancellor of Siovanija & Teusland

Chancellor Meier,

I would like to thank you very much for the invitation that you have written me to visit for a Siovanija & Teusland summit with the Kingdom of Banija. I would gladly like to accept. I look forward to a good, productive summit. As a nation that hosts a large Banijan ex-pat population, and as neighbors, we are destined to be in each other's political and economic circles. Let us make sure that these links can be strengthened and ensured as positive for all involved.

I look forward to seeing in your country.

From,

Isebantu Mutungi
Waziri of Banija

[Recuecn]

Mister Minister | Ch. 1 | Monsieur le Ministre
Mister Minister | Ch. 2 | Monsieur le Ministre
Mister Minister | Ch. 3 | Monsieur le Ministre
Mister Minister | Ch. 4 | Monsieur le Ministre
Mister Minister | Ch. 5 | Monsieur le Ministre
Mister Minister | Ch. 6 | Monsieur le Ministre
Mister Minister | Ch. 7 | Monsieur le Ministre
Mister Minister | Ch. 8 | Monsieur le Ministre
Mister Minister | Ch. 9 | Monsieur le Ministre

---

Before IAC 7--Jean-Luc Lassalle sat at his office in the Ministry of Sport, bent over a sheet of paper in front of him with his head in his hands. He had come in this morning to find the paper had been delivered to his office, and rather than being placed in the tray on his desk with a little sign that said 'inbox,' or being put in a second with another sign that said "priority," it had been laid face up, right in the middle of his desk, so that he couldn't begin work without at least acknowledging its existence. And given what was on the piece of paper, it seemed that it was important enough to warrant the extra attention. It was a letter from the RNFA.

Jean-Luc Lassalle
National Minister of Sport
Reçuecian Ministry of Sport
45 Rue des Barons
Reçueçn, Reçueçn

Dear Mister Minister of Sport,

We write this letter in regard to the recent meeting to which some of us were invited, as well as a subsequent memo sent by your office concerning the resumption of Reçueçn's participation in international football competition. We were extremely disappointed by your indication that you plan to revoke the status of the Reçuecian National Football Association as the official governing body of the sport, along with its powers of administration over the Reçuecian National Football Team. Unfortunately, we are aware that under the recent amendment to the Treaties of Alliance, the Minister of Sport has full authority to unilaterally create, dissolve, and administer any sporting organization in the nation, and we are aware that we have no legal recourse or power to reverse that decision. Therefore we wish to make it known that we protest the presented plans of the ministry in the strongest terms.

The Reçuecian National Football Association, even if it is an association of for-profit clubs which itself turns a profit on the operation of the Reçuecian National Football League, is still the first institution in Reçueçn in promoting and developing the sport in Reçueçn, assisting amateur teams, and regulating the game. Professional football clubs in Reçueçn would simply not be where they are today without the assistance of the Association. The Association holds its clubs to a high standard of responsibility, both on and off the pitch. We make sure that the game is played fairly, and that clubs handle their money wisely.

How does this apply to the situation with the national team? No other institution in Reçueçn has the experience or expertise that we do. Creating a new organization would only be to start over from square one when an organization already exists with resources and infrastructure. Competition between multiple footballing organizations or governing bodies in the same country would lead to less competent staff, uneven geographical saturation of football development programs, and decreased interest in the sport.

Not only does the Association boast years of experience administrating domestic football in Reçueçn, it has also functioned as the body in charge of the RNFT itself and has seen the RNFT entered, under the Association, in the Baptism of Fire, two World Cup qualifiers, and the Cup of Harmony. The RNFA has worked with the people and assets necessary to train a world-class Reçuecian National Football Team. And the Association has past experience as a body in affiliation with the World Cup Committee, although not a voting member. Entirely changing the nation's connection with the WCC would be a logistical disaster.

For these and other reasons, therefore, we protest the Ministry's plan and urge you to reverse your decision. Unfortunately, if a new administrative body is created, we also intend to announce to our players that if they play for the new "national team," their contracts will be void and they will lose their spots on our teams. This boycott, when combined with your law that domestic players must be Reçuecian citizens, will essentially kill either the RNFL or the RNFT, as players are forced to choose between one or the other. However, we believe that players will choose to keep their jobs and that the sport in Reçueçn will survive.

We urge you to reconsider your decision.

Reçuecian National Football Association
1125 Carl III Road
Reçueçn, Reçueçn

At the bottom of the letter were thirty-six signatures: those of every single club representative for a club in the RNFA. And since that figure included every professional club in the country, their unanimous threat of boycott couldn't be taken lightly.

Jean-Luc put his hands over his face. He had no clue what to do next.

[Mattijana]

Ministry of Sport, Petrovijanka

"Oh for god's sake..." said an exasperated Polona Struna.

After holding more damage limitation meetings during the last 2 years than it was possible to count, it was pretty rare to have a meeting in the context of a good run of form for the national team. The marmots had just beaten Gopnikea to claim their 4th win in 5 games and sat in a promising position in group 14. The problem was that every time the Mattijanan public recognised this, it would spark an absolutely cataclysmic capitulation.

The Head of Football at the Ministry of Sport was reacting to a video of Mattijanan fans chanting 'we are qualifying' after Mattias Hoffman scored their fourth in their recent 4-3 win. Given the World Cup cycles the fans had had to endure recently, it was hard to tell if this was ironic or not.

"To be fair, at least we're in the sort of position that gives them an excuse to sing that rather than launch a nationwide campaign to sack whoever's in charge." Max Kamnik showed a wry smile.

"I know, but it's like they're trying to completely jinx us... anyway, how was the big weekend, or whatever the PR department wanted to call it?"

"Good. Solid. Revinka reported a good turn out up at Jelovice. WestStrand likewise. Puljanka did ok as well considering it wasn't that warm. Whether they come back is another matter, but at least we managed to get some professional players to help out. Shame that despite us scheduling it whilst the national team had a bye, we couldn't get hold of any current Mattijanan footballers... I mean where actually were they?"

"Training camp in Shalkar…" Polona was a little sheepish.

"Shalkar? What on earth were they doing down there?"

"It's warm, it's quiet and it's good preparation for our next games. You'd be having a go at me if we'd held it in Petrovijanka and Jessika Struna had done a hamstring."

Max shrugged. "Fair enough. Could have done it in Revinka, or Antalja, or somewhere else warm, quiet and suitable for preparing for the next game that was somewhere near the biggest initiative for getting kids into football that we've ever staged... Come on Polona, what's stopping the players from taking one afternoon off to go and inspire the next generation?"

"We've had a good run so far. Doing things like that makes the expectations too great. It's best they focus on getting the job done and do stuff like that later, even if that does..."

"...Make them all seem like disinterested, cold hearted bastards?"

The silence that followed was definitely in the awkward category.

"Yes." Replied Polona curtly. "They're a well-polished sports team, not novelty entertainment."

Given the nature of some of their performances, calling the national team 'polished' was an exaggeration. Dominik wasn't going to go there though.

"They're also as responsible as we are for the future of football in this country, which Julian has told us is apparently more important than how we do in this qualifying cycle. If they have to juggle training and talking to the public, so be it. It's a sign of where we are at the moment that the media and the public haven't been bothered to go to Shalkar and find them, but if that's the case, we have to go and find them."

This time it was Polona's turn to shrug.

"All the better for that. In my experience, when the media get hyped about something, it's only a distraction. "

Max didn't respond to that, instead he opened his laptop and showed his superior a picture of the MFO SPORT homepage.

"Look at this. We're in the middle of the international Football season and all the headlines are for Winter Sports. The 4-3 win over Gopnikea shows up there, and that's probably just because the editor wanted something to break up all the white." Dominik pointed to a picture of Hoffman's celebration, two rows below the main headline on the domestic alpine ski cup.

"There's even a WGPC story on there and that's not even anywhere near starting. If we're keeping the media away, people don't see us and people go up to PuljanaBirjke or wherever and watch the ski racing instead."

Polona sighed. Maybe it was out of pity or maybe she'd just had enough.

"We'll sort all this out later. From my point of view, if we keep winning, that'll take care of itself. That involves our players not getting distracted and not bottling it like last time. We can do all this later."

Dominik's mouth said he understood. His head had other ideas.

Mattijana 4-3 Gopnikea
WesterStadion, WestStrand. Attendance 61, 107

-Lorenzic (18')

Trayhon (28')

-Hojbjerg (34')

Gronthell (45+1')

-Struna (52')
-Hoffman (73')

Uxorwill (88')

Mattijana lineup: L.Handanovic, Ljunovic, Illicic, Burnisovic, Illisevic (Krychowiak 80'), Velezia (Bisrali 65'), Jakupovic (Kovac 73'), Hojbjerg, Struna, Hoffman, Lorenzic

Gopnikea lineup: Garrison, Optyk, K.Willis, Mordobot, Garfield, Narcystol, Lambistol, A.Willis (Wendter 69'), Gronthell, Treyhon (Main 69'), Neesons (Uxorwill 80')

[Kandorith]

Shinonome Kyoai - International
_________________________________

Kandorith Falls Against Sargossa In Spectacle

Group 1
Acronius 2–2 Aimena
Pius Desurongcrandis 0–3 Islas Aaland
Audioslavia 2–2 Newmanistan
Sargossa 3–2 Kandorith
Greater Cebu 2–1 Brusseldorf

   Group 1                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Audioslavia                       7    6   1   0    16    7   +9    19
 2 Sargossa                          7    6   0   1    18    8  +10    18
 3 Newmanistan                       7    5   1   1    18    9   +9    16
 4 Greater Cebu                      7    4   1   2    16   14   +2    13
 5 Brusseldorf                       8    4   0   4    11   15   −4    12
 6 Kandorith                         8    3   2   3    13   11   +2    11
 7 Acronius                          8    3   1   4    14   14    0    10
 8 Joyea                             7    2   1   4    12   16   −4     7
 9 Islas Aaland                      7    1   2   4    10   16   −6     5
10 Aimena                            7    0   3   4     5   11   −6     3
11 Pius Desurongcrandis              7    0   0   7     5   17  −12     0

Tenkyo, In a 5-goal spectacle Kandorith eventually fell short of drawing against Sargossa. However the team and fans will not look back at the match in disappointment. The match as shown by scoreline was a joy to view. The Kandorese side has shown they can indeed play quite some football against larger sides. The team has learned a valuable lesson from the match and will be building on the current run in the qualification effort.

The star of the evening was Toki Matsuda, the striker of Hayazawa Vissel, scoring two goals in quick succession. After being outclassed for the first hour, Kandorith eventually started coming back into the match after multiple long range efforts. At first the strikes came up empty but slowly and surely were prying away at the Sargossa defense.

The result left Kandorith, looking for another win in sixth place, currently not all that worrying but the performance needs to be stepped up. The current qualification run is a very important test for the Kandorese team, which is an organized singular organization for the first time since 1965. The young side of the Kandorese team is a step up to become the solid team it has once been.

"We came under immense pressure from Sargossa and eventually the morale seemed to drop, our opponent surely seized control of the game after that. But, after the half-time we were able to bounce back and were just not able to seize the match completely. Regrettable, but a fine learning moment for the younger players," Kandorith's manager Moriyase said.

"Fatigue was certainly a problem, as we have been playing against two heavyweight opponents in succession and the Kandorese domestic season has just ended. This made our preparation not ideal, but the team is showing excellent form. I am sure we will do better in the upcoming matches as the focus is on fitness and teamwork. I am absolutely proud of the team and I am sure they will make the fans even more proud in the upcoming fixtures."

[Tamgu]

A TEAM ON FIRE...LITERALLY

Krytenia 3-1 Tamgu
Goalscorers: KRY: IDK 11', 42', 69' TMG: A.Leima 28'
T. Resak after match: "Now, Krytenia IS a better team than us. But is it acceptable that we just surrender the ball to them? No. Absolutely not. I am furious with this performance and I know that everyone in the dressing room is too. There were almost no positives to take from this game, other than seeing that Leima can still score screamers. However, do not think that we are not trying to solve our problems. There's still quite a lot of matches in front of us, and I will remind you that in a similar situation last World Cup, we won against Starblaydia. Do not lose hope, as I do not allow anyone to lose hope while I still fully believe that we can at least get another ticket to the Cup of Harmony. If we lose your support than we lose a player on the field. Just believe, as there is no other Tamgu."



FORZA TAMGOUU! IRRETEN TAMGOUU! UÇUUTEN TAMGOUU!

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKET PROJECT DRAWS AUDIOSLAVIA

by Brianne Henry,

Through the first six games, Newmanistan had been off to a 5-0-1 record but was not really intimidating Sargossans or Audioslavians. Each of them had been taking care of their own business, so the fast start of the Rockets was not all that concerning for them. Audioslavia boasted a record of 6-0-0 before the match, and Sargossa was also 5-0-1, with their only loss being to Audioslavia. As for Newmanistan, sure they had five wins, but they came against nations that they are ranked better then. Any soccer fan knows you still have to show up and take care of business in those matches, so Newmanistan could be applauded for that by their higher ranked rivals, but that would be about it. When Acronius knocked off the sky blue, it was an example of a team ranked better then us getting the win, so we would not step up and take care of business there. The third pot team, Brusseldorf, comes later on in the first half.

66 Stadium, which is also known as Arena Kirola (but I much prefer 66 Stadium), was sold out with fans ready to support the home side. You see, soccer is a big deal in this nation, almost like the wrong form of auto racing (yes, can of worms if officially opened!), and while their fans don’t need a reason to come and support the home side, they were aware of the group standings. They have been in this business for a long time, and know that slip ups can open the door for a nation they should be beating to sneak on by them at the end. Many of those fans could also be coming just for the atmosphere, given the shopping complex, the swimming pools, the saunas, and oh my, I really didn’t to leave after the game as I wanted to visit it all but I had to meet this deadline for all of you. I also have to give credit as they did treat us very well here, with a spacious media center and modern amenities. They are a welcoming sort, so I hope when they go to Pocono City at Emperor Michael I Stadium we can return the hospitality. That stuff is all for the pre-game, and during the game, everyone meant business. It was good to see some Newmanistanian fans were able to make it to Atlantian Oceania for this match.

The first half of the game was a bit of a chess match with the Bulls having the slight upper hand in all of the important categories. Our team was playing decently, but the class of the Audioslavians was showing. They scored once, coming at the exact half hour mark, courtesy of Rickson Marañón finding the rebound of veteran forward Desya Kuznetsov’s shot and firing it home for the early advantage. It seemed as thought that would be the trend in the second half, as this time Kuznetsov was the goal scorer, in minute 52, putting Bulls ahead by the score of 2-0.

Interestingly, Miguel Hernandez at the 61st minute, made two substitutions, calling off two forwards, Brent Chapman and Jerome Beyer. In came Jimmy Halligan and the speedy Antonio Cruz, a player that has not seen much action during qualifying. After the match, Hernandez said of Cruz, “I put him in on a hunch. He had a great couple days of practice for this match, and I knew that Audioslavia didn’t have the same type of scouting information on him. Down by two goals, you have to try something. I didn’t want to give in.” We can call Cruz then, the Rocket Project, as the member of the Penthoria Rivermen was eager to make his presence felt, and needed just five minutes to get his first career goal at this level. In minute 66 at 66 stadium, Newmanistan had some life. The Rockets were able to carry the momentum pretty well after the goal, and had the better of chances for the next 10-15 minutes. In the 82nd minute, a huge goal was delivered by Jarrell Connolly, sneaking down the right wing along side of Cruz. The score was tied at two, and perhaps at that time, for the first time despite our record through the first six games, a message was delivered for all of Group 1 to hear. Newmanistan is not a fluke, and their record may not just be a product of a softer opening schedule. The team held on to the tied score until the final whistle. WGPC 2, NSSCRA 2.

Through Group 1, after this match, other nations must look at this score, as a game that should have brought the Rockets down to reality in the standings, as a message that this team will not quit. In the World Baseball Classic, we are known for resiliency. That has not really shown up in the World Cup, and maybe even the opposite has been true. But for one game at least, our fans will have even bigger hopes of slipping through the top two and making our way to the World Cup.

There is no time to celebrate this. Up next: Sargossa in Jessicaville. After this result against the Bulls, certainly the Corsairs just picked up their preparations for the match a notch. Let’s make sure Jessicaville is rocking for the match!