Sporting World Cup 10 (U18 World Cup) Thread

[Trolleborg]

Trolleborg U18 team right now will play their second game at the championship, against Strayquestria and the Wolflands. Opposition lost their first game, and taking in mind overall situation ones who lost today is almost surely out.

Line up is as follows:

Despite a good sunny day, today the stadium is not even a quarter full, all the same matches of youth teams without the participation of the hosts, but our guys will have strong support, fans from Trolleborg accounts for about two-thirds of the total in attendance.

Teams just emerge from tunnel, and coaching teams exchange handshakes, game begin in a few minutes

FTST85:
Greetings and salutations!
We are here, in Taeshan. Less than months ago we are in jungle heat of Banija, and now in frozen snowy Taseshan – this is a life! The snow did not make itself felt today, the temperature is quite acceptable for walking, and we played snowballs with the locals, with a draw as result. Interestingly, the local population is almost completely unaware that a championship is being held in their country.

In the morning we warmly congratulated our teammate Morten Troger, who, as it turned out, visited all the away matches of our team in its history, a full cycle, starting from the previous championship for youth and ending with the current one. Unfortunately, he missed two home games, so he cannot be considered a person who has visited all the games, but his achievement is still very significant. Actually, two more people went to all away games, but could not get to this championship, and, therefore, will not share the laurels of honor with Troger.

Right now we are heading to X Island Metropark, a truly indescribable stadium with a capacity of 250 thousand spectators. I love big stadiums, there is enough space for everyone.

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS TAKE OPENER

by Alison Michaels, Intern

The Sporting World Cup began in the nation of Taeshan. I don’t know a lot about Taeshan, but I heard that there was a time a very long time ago that we used to beat them in everything. Must have been, because the only thing I remember is them beating us in World Bowl 34. It is good to see the nation taking on the hosting of an event like this which features a lot of young men and women around my age that makes it especially exciting to watch. Being Newmanistanian and all, the age of majority is 16, so if you are from one of those countries where it is 18 don’t go yelling at me because I am looking at some of these players in that way.

So far, the committee has failed to recognize our roster with official linkage. That makes me pretty sad, so if you missed it, it is right here. I thought it was a fine roster and all, but maybe it gave Taeshanis nightmares of the 50,000 World Baseball Classic tournaments we eliminated them from. I don’t know the exact number, but it’s probably close. Hopefully they still gave us our bonus for that, whatever that might mean. Well, we still won the opener, 2-1. That’s cool and all, from what I saw, Jordan Cooley justified being such a highly touted player. That’s all the time I have right now, because I have gotten a few Rocketgram updates. By the way, check out my Rocketgram page, linked below, for some great pictures of me. I learned that from Taylor Larson.

[Tamgu]

The Millions are paying off-ish

Tamgu 2-0 Notrumbia, Goals:K. Fastune 57', [P]72' Other: [] Notrumbia Center-back 72'

What a performance from the boys! That scoresheet makes it look like it was contested but let me tell you, it was clear who would be winning in the first few seconds. The Notrumbian goalie was tested within moments after the game started. The game plan was executed flawlessly. Shot after shot was fired at the target, however with the outstanding performance of their man between the sticks, they let out a sigh of relief when the referee blew for half time, they simply couldn't take it.

The second half started a little slower, but figuring out the opponents' new gameplan did not take long at all. Minute 57 and the brace-scorer Fastune saw a huge gap to the keeper's left and blasted it into the net to make it 1-0. A spectacular header by Arbun Dastro was cleared off the line, the Eyasses appealed the referee's decision of not giving the goal, thinking it had clearly gone in. Just a few moments later Notrumbia were caught off-guard with a run from Fastune into the penalty area. He was too quick for his marker and the center-back fouled him in the box, and recieved a red card as he was the last man. Fastune's penalty was too fast for the keeper, who couldn't save it despite guessing the correct direction.

The Tamguna players left the pitch with a big smile as they took their first multiversal win, and an important three points in the competition. This is sure to give them a morale boost for the more difficult incoming matches.

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
U-18 Northlights look to end Tomure’s hopes

DOCKTOWN (TAE) -- In their first international youth game, Savojarna ended with a convincing 1-0 victory over Xanneria thanks to a free kick conversion. Brygg’s goal leaves the Savojars in the pole position for one of the two qualifying spots in the group as a victory over Tomure would make it highly unlikely they still drop their lead. If the U-18 Northlights manage to beat their opponents, who have lost the opening game against Hapilopper, they would top the group with six points. If Xanneria do not win their own second-round match, a victory would see the Savojars through to the play-in round no matter what; a Xannerian victory may require Savojarna to score points against Hapilopper. The match will be taking place in the impressive Docktown Memorial Stadium, housing 250’000 people; we expect it to pretty much being a home game given the proximity of Taeshan and Savojarna. The Northlights Cruise has already brought 700 Savojar fans from Storevik to Algaer Island across the sea, and thousands more have poured in by air and sea despite the low attention youth football gets in Savojarna.

With this amount of attention on the U-18 side, the question is whether the team can actually stand the pressure. There has been no issue whatsoever in the last game, and Xanneria have been a strong opponent that has posed an aggressive challenge for the Savojars. The side has displayed an uncharacteristic patience rarely observed at this age range, and especially the forwards have proven not to get frustrated by the frequent fouls of the Maroons. This is a quality they may need again against Tomure, a balanced side with many unknowns. The Tomure team has lost to a convincing Hapilopper side, but they will still be a dangerous opponent to fight on the pitch. A clearly physically strong Little Haps team managed to suppress them quite heavily, and Tomure will struggle at least as much against the Savojars.

The U-18 Northlights should have three advantages tonight compared. First of all, the limited media attention the team has is diverted strongly as their groupmates play later tonight against each other. With Xanneria vs. Hapilopper being a long-anticipated grudge match, they will be able to play in the shadow of their opposition, and this may help them to stay calm rather than fall into a trap of wanting to perform that seemed to have afflicted the A side in its most recent campaign. The second advantage will be the loud, aggressive and most likely numerous Savojar fan group. The travelling fans have always been a great support for any Savojar side, and in the U-18 age group few players have actually played in front of a large support group - there is a solid chance the sheer number of visitors will throw Tomure off somewhat. Finally, the third one is the climate. Tomure is not a very cold nation, and many of their players will not be particularly familiar with Taeshan’s icy, snowy climate. On the contrary, Savojar players have grown up playing on ice and snow, and this should be of use to them tonight.

Now, what about the action on the pitch itself? This will be harder to say, as the Tomure side has no roster information whatsoever, but we are trying our best. In the back, Savojarna have proven their strength by shutting out the Xannerians, and Tomure have not seemed incredibly strong in this regard thus far, conceding three to Hapilopper. In particular, the strength of Nymark has been impressive as he withstood the assault of the Xannerian strikers last game, although he needs to be careful not to pick up a second yellow card. In midfield, Tedenby has proven again that she can probably dominate every opponent, and this will be the focal point in beating Tomure. The biggest issue on the pitch may be the right side: With Fjellberg lightly injured after the aggressive play of Xanneria, it is likely he will not play from the start tonight despite Christer Ljungberg declaring him cleared to play. The question hence is whether Trikhichev offers the security required to not concede unnecessary goals; the alternative would be to field Östberg on his off side, which we expect him to be capable of.

LINEUP:
Sharin - Karlov, Carlsen, Nymark (Y), Nielsen - Tedenby, Niskanen (Y) - Hartikainen, Brygg, Östberg - Jeraväinen. (Y) denotes a player that has been previously booked and would be suspended in case of another yellow card.

[Starblaydia]

[OOC: Continued from the WC84 thread posts... Sam, Daryl, Benny and Rick were happy boys playing a tabletop roleplaying game of Castles & Chimeras with Sam's older sister, Starblaydi youth international Hope Roshanak, as their GM. All was going fine, until some magic words made Darryl disappear and an evil voice spoke through Hope. Everything was then pulled into a swirling energy portal.

Prologue | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five

The last thing the three boys - Sam, Benny and Rick - had remembered was the queasy sensation of being turned inside-out by the force of whatever black-hole-magical-portal had sucked their GM, their table, and ultimately them into itself. There was only darkness and the feeling of air rushing past them as they tumbled forever through the space between dimensions. There's only so long that one can scream before needing to take a second breath and feeling silly about it, especially in front of your friends. They called out for each other, hearing familiar voices and knowing that at least they weren't alone. Just after the point where they wondered quite was what going on they suddenly-

"Oof!" exhaled Sam.

"Ow!" shouted Benny.

"Aiiee!" cried Rick.

All three had come crashing down to a hard packed earth with a various bumps, clangs, clatters and thuds. They stood, looked at each other, and immediately flinched. Then they all started shouting at once.

"Where's Sam and Benny?" Rick shouted, a feral snarl coming unbidden to his voice, "What have you done with them?"

"Quiet!" Sam boomed with a voice deeper than he remembered, "explain thyself, and why thou dost talk with Rick's voice. And what am I saying, thou dost? What in the heavens is occurring?"

"You should see yourselves," said Benny, only it was Benny with a woman's voice. The two major proponents of the arguing stopped and turned to look at who they knew - at least they thought they knew despite the deep, female voice - as Benny. Benny stood in the shadows, only barely visible, before stepping into the moonlight. Dressed from head to toe entirely in thick black leather armour, covered in unnecessary straps, buckles and blades, all under a long flowing dark blue cape with a hood. Two bright eyes sparkled under the hood, under a lock of silver-white hair that fell artfully across her face. This was not Benny, it was Sabine. The half-Elven Rogue stood before them, hands on hips, eyeing them both with amusement in her face. It's at this point you'd expect the imaginary half-elven rogue assassin in black leather to be dressed with thigh-high boots and be all breathy cleavage and fluttering eyelashes, but this was a character imagined by just a boy, and crucially for Sabine's outfit, it was not imagined by a teenage boy. Thankfully innocence still remained, largely, in Starblaydia's youth.

They were standing in the moonlight of an empty harbour, with low, wide buildings at their back, and a path leading through a forest, beyond which an imposing mountain range stood, ominous and foreboding like an unspoken threat. In front of her, Sabine saw a Druid arguing with a Paladin. The Druid wore an animal skin of indeterminate origin over his shoulders and had two of the brightest full sleeve tattoos that could be imagined. One was orange and teal, trimmed in navy blue, while the other was blue and white, trimmed in brown. This would be Inaki, Rick's character, and both ears and teeth seemed slightly pointed, suggesting an excessively feral nature. The Paladin, however, was of course Victarion, Sam's character, standing at what appeared to be six feet five, and almost the same width at the shoulder. Gleaming armour, a flowing purple cloak, a frankly awesome beard and tied back hair combination, Victarion stood their gleaming like a beacon in the moonlight. Slowly it began to dawn on them what had happened - or at least what appeared to have happened. They didn't have long to talk about it, however, as cackling, inhuman cries came from the treeline, and thick, black-fletched arrows began to land at their feet, skittering across the cobbled street.

"Run!" Sabine shouted and the three sprinted away as fast as they could. The beastly noises got closer and closer, however, catching up to them no matter how fast they ran. Finally, panting and out of breath, Victarion could no longer run in his plate armour. He pulled up, resting his hands on his knees as he tried to suck in as much air as possible. Sabine and Inaki, who had much more running still in them, turned and looked back to see four grey-skinned, evil looking humanoid creatures with twisted, pointy faces bearing down on the Paladin. Victarion could only cower as they sprinted towards him, raising wicked-looking hand weapons to strike him down. In a flash, knives flew from Sabine's hands, so fast that even Inaki had not see where they had come from, or how many she had thrown. Three of the four creatures fell to the ground, exploding into puffs of deep red smoke that quickly vanished into thin air. There was still a fourth, however, who screeched with glee as it brought a rusty-looking cleaver down in a deadly arc from above its head. Inaki opened his mouth, baring long pointed canines to call to his friend to look out, but it was too late.

CLANG.

Nothing happened.

CLANG.

"Hey guys," Victarion called.

CLANG.

"I'm totally fine," he continued, "this doesn't hurt a bit!"

CLANG.

CLANG.

"Will you just kill the damn thing?" Sabine called.

CLANG.

"Okay," Victarion called back, "I'll try!"

CLANG.

CLANG.

CLANG.

CL-THWACK!

It had all happened so fast, despite the long wait. Summoning his courage, Victarion had eventually grabbed his hammer and taken a swing with all the might he could muster. A holy choir had seemingly called out at the moment he swung the heavy piece of metal through the air, slamming into the little grey monster with an effortless motion and sending it sailing through the air at shoulder height, coming to rest fully twenty yards away before dissolving into the deep red mist and fading away into nothingness. Victarion looked pleased with himself, if a little shocked. There was barely any time to bask in the glory, however, as more cries from the same type of little goblin thing were coming from the trees they had run from. This time, however, there were many more of them.

"You think we can take them all on?" Sabine asked, readying a knife in each hand.

"Sure. Maybe this time I should use my shield, too." Victarion said.

There was a moment's silence as they waited for Inaki to say something. Instead there was the sound of magic, and the sound of bones stretching as sinews and muscles regrew to match their new form. Beside the Rogue and the Paladin now stood a jungle cat on all fours, green with orange and navy markings. It growled acknowledgement at them, before bounding off at the creatures. Victarion and Sabine looked at each other, then gave chase themselves, uttering their first battle cry. The game was on.

[Hapilopper]

Old Club Stadium, Algaer Island, Taeshan
Just before Sporting World Cup Match 2: Hapilopper v. Xanneria
To say the least, the interest back home in Hapilopper in a Hap-Xan match was high. Enormously high. It didn’t matter that it was between the under-18 teams. It was Hapilopper and Xanneria. To understand the significance of the match, a little backstory has to be told.

Before the incident at Hamilton Square in downtown Hapilopper City in 1980, when insurgents from the True Wreckerians opened fire on a crowd of people celebrating the start of the Hapilopper National Exhibition, the Hapiloppians had been close with Wreckeria. Consequently, the Hapiloppians had always had some sort of issue with Tonissia, dating back to the 1930s when their leader, Darrell Hackney, started a war of words of sorts with Wreckeria. Hapiloppians, many of whom came from Wreckeria, felt offended by this vendetta, and not putting two and two together, lumped Xanneria in with Tonissia’s issue with the Wreckerians.

But that was then, and this is now. The advent of modern communications has made it easier for Hapiloppians and Wreckerians to understand this once-strange nation from Esportiva that, for one reason or another, always had some kind of history with them. Tonissia is in the past, as well as whatever tensions existed between the two – or four – nations. In fact, rumors speak of a standing invitation exists between the leaders of Xanneria and Hapilopper concerning a strong alcoholic beverage. Whether or not that rumor was true remained to be seen.

How big of a deal was the match? Well, consider this: William Mathis, the president of Hapilopper, wasn’t the biggest fan of football. His favorite sports were automobile racing and baseball. Yet, here he was, having flown to Taeshan in the Rushmore region, just for this match. Sure, he had seen a few of the HNFT’s World Cup Qualifiers, but he was a casual observer. He couldn’t tell you the offside rule in football, nor could he explain how a corner kick was won. But he was here to watch Hap-Xan.

Even if you overlooked the historical significance of the first Hap-Xan match, it promised, on paper, to be an exciting match between two attacking and physical football teams. Xanneria, of course, was Xanneria, with its hyper-offensive and physical style of play, and the Little Haps, like the senior team, was starting to take on an offensive and physical style themselves. Players like Ashley Stanford and Jerold Dickman were known to get rough with other players, and attackers Peter Robson and Toby Bryson were more than willing to score at will. Robson already had two goals to his credit, having scored in the 15th and the 77th of the Haps’ 3-1 domination of Tomure, while Bryson scored in the 87th to wrap the match up.

The two starting forwards, as well as the rest of the Little Haps, sat in the locker room as they got ready for Hap-Xan. They were trying to filter out the ballyhoo that was quickly becoming associated with the match. For the time being, it really didn’t matter to them that millions across Hapilopper and Wreckeria, as well as many, many more across the multiverse, were going to tune in to watch on television. It didn’t matter to them that President Mathis had come to Taeshan just for this match. It didn’t matter that the Hapiloppians and the Xannerians had history. It didn’t matter that the Wreckerians and the Tonissians had history. There was 90 minutes of football to be played, and whatever happened, happened.

Jerold Dickman sat at his locker, wrapping his hands in tape. He was deathly silent and had a look on his face that could scare people. He had heard that the Xannerian team was a physical team, and he had heard that they would be there to win, the cost be damned. He relished in the opportunity, and to the untrained eye, it kind of looked like he was spoiling for a fight. Maybe he was. Head coach Garnett Sydney looked at Jerold and went over to him. He was concerned that the taped fists could send a message.

“You planning on something, Jerold?” Garnett asked after kneeling down to talk to him.

“I’m planning on winning a fucking football game,” Jerold said quietly and intensely, his eyes still trained on the hand wraps. “That’s all.”

“Listen, I need you to behave,” Garnett started.

“Whatever happens happens, coach,” Jerold snapped. “If we got to misbehave to win, I’m gonna misbehave. Period.”

Jerold looked up at Garnett and said nothing further. It was clear that he was getting himself ready for anything and everything that was going to come his way. Garnett gave Jerold an understanding look and went on his way.

Jerold, typically known as the Little Haps’ resident miscreant, was not alone in harboring a kind of intensity. The rest of the team held a vibe that almost resembled a group of soldiers about to go to war. They had heard of the reputation that Xannerian football had across the multiverse, and they were more than ready to dish it right back to them. Typically, the Little Haps were calm, loose and almost jovial as they got ready for a match. Not today.

Max Greenwell, the interim president of the Hapilopper Football Association, walked into the locker room and was instantly blown away by how tense the atmosphere was in the room. He could sense that the Little Haps were ready for more than just a football match. They were ready for war. There was nothing he needed to say.

[Vdara]

Just before the next match
The Dressing Room

“Right lads, it appears that we’re back in here.” the manager started off, slurred.

A few murmurs broke out among the players. Phrases such as “Wait, how did we get here so quick?” and “It’s almost like we’re characters in a lazily written RP post!” rang out across the room.

“Yeah, yeah, shut up. Point is, I’m drunk. Point is, I’m supposed to keep you all managed, since I’m the manager. Ya dig?” the manager retorted, speech still slurred.

“Yeah, I dig!” Scafididis shouted.

“You- urp know, I like you, Manousos. You always give it your allllll...”

The manager slumped onto the ground, drunk as all hell.

“Well, boys, looks like I’ll be your acting manager.” said Florentios Antoniades, the Assistant Coach who I totally didn’t make up just there.

“Who the hell are you? I’ve never seen you before!” Gounaratos exclaimed.

“Yeah! It’s almost like I was made up for a joke that’s just come to someone’s head!” said Antoniades.

“But, do I care? Nah. I’m here to help you, but the problem is that I am also very drunk.”
Antoniades faints to the floor.

“Oh no! A calamity! This story arc feels like a badly written RP post!” said Cosmidis, who was gobsmacked.

“Yeah, that’s probably because it is.” replied Gounaratos.

“Wait, what? So my life isn’t really real?” said Cosmidis, turning white at the thought of being an afterthought of a 15 year old schoolchild.

“Nah, I’m just kidding ya. Your life’s real alright.” chuckled Gounaratos, who was chuckling and chuckling. Such chuckles. Very wow.

“Hey, Panteleimon, can you stop laughing? You’re scaring me!” shouted Mallelis, who had been silent up until now.

“HAHAHHAHAHJAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA” chuckled Gounaratos.

At that point, the game was nearing kickoff, and a swift punch to Gounaratos’ face snapped him out of it.

“Oh, er, sorry lads. I was a bit out of it there.” said Gounaratos, no longer chuckling to his hearts content.

“It’s fine. Now, let’s get out there and make these drunk dumbasses lying there proud!” shouted Mallelis.

“YEAH YEAH YEAH!” the entire squad shouted.

The acting manager was going to have to be the goalkeeping coach for the U-18s, who was also the first team goalkeeper for Vdara. Markos Moustakakos.

“My time has come, lads! I’ll keep y’all in check in this match, trust me!” Moustakakos exclaimed, not slurred. He was not drunk. Just hungover.

[Cassadaigua]

Time to coach the kids,
by Jessica Curran, manager

There are a lot of us who are still disappointed about advancing further in the World Cup. Watching Farfadillis win at Concord Heights was soothing because there was so much emotion that was associated with that. They have had a strong World Cup history, having had so many longer runs but had never won the World Cup. I don’t know who you were rooting for in the match against Vilita. I know that there is a bit of a love-hate relationship with Vilita in our country. On one hand, I know there is a ton of respect for them, given our head to head battles in not only soccer, but also in auto racing. They’ve won the World Cup five times, and were looking to make it a record sixth. Either you root for them to do that, or you didn’t. Traveling fan bases from each side into the Dagan Airways Stadium made it a fantastic atmosphere.

The Sporting World Cup is not supposed to be so intense, but there will be a lot of nations who try to make it that way, sending their national medias and providing detailed analysis about why a 16-year old decided to do something. Why did the 17-year old not pass instead of shoot? How dare the 16-year old get faked out by a striker! That 18-year old made a mental mistake, cut them from the team now, they’re supposed to be the leading the other ones. It sometimes pains me when I read some of the articles that international media sources put out. Other national media sources seem to get it. And I am more grateful for them. Our own reporters seem to get it. No one is shoving microphones into my face asking me to detail how we could lose 5-1 to Baker Park.

Here’s how we lost 5-1 to Baker Park: a group of kids from one nation outperformed another group of kids. Chances are they got to hang out together a lot after the game. I openly encouraged our players to talk with the Baker Park players after the game, but one topic was off limits: talking about the game. I told their manager, Darren Kirby about it and he only smiled. Their kids and our kids had a fantastic experience being able to see their home country host World Cup games. Those experiences and stories could be shared, and we could talk the international language of sports. The kids of Baker Park and our kids will turn out alright. Some will make it, others will not. Some will really turn out to be amazing. That’s the beauty of the Sporting World Cup.

That’s why we’re here. Let’s have fun and get a little experience on the side.

[Taeshan]

This is your matchday 2 cutoff. Results, groups, and maybe some tiebreakers in maybe the next bit....or longer...you never know.

MATCHDAY 2

Group A
Appalachain Nation 1-1 Taeshan
Poafmersia 3-1 Equestria

Group A Standings

   Team                    P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Poafmersia              2  2 0  0  5  1  +4  6
 2 Taeshan                 2  1 1  0  2  1  +1  4
 3 Appalachain Nation      2  0 1  1  1  3  -2  1
 4 Equestria               2  0 0  2  1  4  -3  0

Group B
Baker Park 1-0 Ziwana
Cassadaigua 0-2 Oberour Ar Moro

Group B Standings

   Team                 P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Baker Park           2  2 0  0  6  1  +5  6
 2 Oberour Ar Moro      2  1 1  0  2  0  +2  4
 3 Ziwana               2  0 1  1  0  1  -1  1
 4 Cassadaigua          2  0 0  2  1  7  -6  0

Group C
Trolleborg 0-2 Strayquestria and the Wolflands
Sovirizst 1-2 Darmen

Group C Standings

   Team                                 P  W D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Darmen                               2  2 0 0  4  2  +2  6
 2 Strayquestria and the Wolflands      2  1 0 1  3  2  +1  3
 3 Sovirizst                            2  0 1 1  2  3  -1  1
 4 Trolleborg                           2  0 1 1  1  3  -2  1

Group D
Notrumbia 1-0 Terra Septentrionale
Tamgu 3-1 Chromatika

Group D Standings

   Team                      P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Tamgu                     2  2 0  0  5  1  +4  6
 2 Notrumbia                 2  1 0  1  1  2  -1  3
 3 Chromatika                2  1 0  1  3  4  -1  3
 4 Terra Septentrionale      2  0 0  2  1  3  -2  0

Group E
Filindostan 1-1 Gergary
Jerno 1-2 Havynwilde

Group E Standings

   Team             P W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Filindostan      2 1 1  0  4  3  +1  4
 2 Gergary          2 1 1  0  4  2  +2  4
 3 Havynwilde       2 1 0  1  3  4  -1  3
 4 Jerno            2 0 0  2  3  5  -2  0

Group F
Lisander 0-1 Newmanistan
Imperial Joseon 1-2 Vdara

Group F Standings

   Team                 P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Newmanistan          2  2 0  0  3  1  +2  6
 2 Vdara                2  1 0  1  3  3  +0  3
 3 Imperial Joseon      2  1 0  1  3  2  +1  3
 4 Lisander             2  0 0  2  0  3  -3  0

Group G
Busoga Islands 2-0 Free Republics
Islas Aaland 0-1 Bolgano

Group G Standings

   Team                P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Busoga Islands      2  2 0  0  3  0  +3  6
 2 Free Republics      2  1 0  1  4  5  -1  3
 3 Bolgano             2  1 0  1  4  4  +0  3
 4 Islas Aaland        2  0 0  2  0  2  -2  0

Group H
Savojarna 2-2 Tomure
Xanneria 4-1 Hapilopper

Group H Standings

   Team            P W D L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Savojarna       2 1 1 0  3  2  +1  4
 2 Xanneria        2 1 0 1  4  2  +2  3
 3 Hapilopper      2 1 0 1  4  5  -1  3
 4 Tomure          2 0 1 1  3  5  -2  1

Group I
Facroa 1-0 Starblaydia
Croblade 0-1 Mavinet

Group I Standings

   Team             P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Mavinet          2  2 0  0  3  1  +2  6
 2 Croblade         2  1 0  1  1  1  +0  3
 3 Facroa           2  1 0  1  1  1  +0  3
 4 Starblaydia      2  0 0  2  1  3  -2  0

Group J
Abanhfleft 5-6 Sarzonia
HUElavia 3-2 Schottia

Group J Standings

   Team            P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Sarzonia        2  2 0  0  11  8  +3  6
 2 HUElavia        2  2 0  0   5  3  +2  6
 3 Abanhfleft      2  0 0  2   6  8  -2  0
 4 Schottia        2  0 0  2   5  8  -3  0

Guaranteed to Win the Group
Guaranteed to Advance
Eliminated

FYI cut-off for MAtchday 3 will likely be 10 or later EST on Friday.

[Sarzonia]

Anyone who watched Sarzonian football and found it bereft of high-scoring affairs and too much defence would be interested in watching a Diogo Avarel-managed Baby Stars team in this 10th edition of the Sporting World Cup, a competition for 18-and-under football players.

The Baby Stars used a high octane offence to beat Abanhfleft 6-5, punching their ticket into the knockout stages of the World Cup behind four goals from Ian Clarke and one each from Kristine Lynam and Tommy Marcus.

Goalkeeper Timothy Raintree made three saves, but found himself out of position on goals by Fleftic striker Shane Alli four times in the first half, which resulted in three goals by him and a 4-3 lead for the Fleftics heading into the half.

Sheila Carson got tangled up with Fleftic midfielder Rodrick Pratt and the two exchanged pushes and shoves, resulting in each player getting booked by the Trolleborg referee. The two players made up after the match.

"We just got tangled up and it was a combination of us both being tired and frustrated," Carson said after the match. "We hugged it out. No intent there to do anything bad."

The same couldn't be said of a reporter from a Saugerties radio station who accosted reserve Baby Stars sweeper Von Page, confronting them about their gender non-conforming status and calling them by their deadname. Taeshani police arrested the man and defender Ben DiSoto, charging DiSoto with assault and battery for "knocking his ass the fuck out," according to his brother Kenny DiSoto." Sarzonian police officials said the reporter intended to press charges once the team and he returned to Sarzonia, but Ben DiSoto was released on his own recognizance by Taeshani police.

"We're subject to Taeshani laws while we're here," Avarel said. "If they tell us Ben has to miss a match to go to court, he'll certainly be expected to do that." Avarel said he had "no plans" to discipline Ben DiSoto any further for the transgression.

"Spending a night in juvenile detention is punishment enough," he said. "Besides, he was standing up for Von. That reporter's subject to Sarzonian hate crimes laws and we intend to pursue those charges against him."

The Baby Stars (2-0-0) and HUElavia are both guaranteed to go through to the knockout rounds, with the only suspense being which team goes through as Group J champions. It's a decision Avarel won't leave to fate.

"We'll play everyone who's available, and if Ben is available, he'll start," Avarel said.

[Hapilopper]

“Whatever happens happens, coach.” -Jerold Dickman, just before the match

Old Club Stadium, Algaer Island, Taeshan
The 62nd minute of Hapilopper-Xanneria
It had been a great match up to that point. The Haps and the Xannerians had played a physical, intense, but still close match, at that point 2-1 in favor of the Xannerians, with C.J. Jackson scoring two goals in the 15th and the 48th. There had been some chippiness, but it was still manageable. It was a matter of two offensive-minded, physical teams bouncing off each other. But then it boiled over, and of course it had to be Jerold Dickman bringing the heat.

Jackson was rushing toward goal with all due speed. Jerold had decided that Jackson was not going to get that third goal, and decided he was going to take matters into his own hands. Jerold put up his arm and fired it towards Jackson’s face, dropping him to the turf. Jerold stood over him for a brief moment and started shouting at him, pointing his finger at Jackson’s prone body. But Jackson wasn’t prone for long. He got right back up, and before long, both players were throwing punches at each other.

It was hard to say who had won the fight. All 22 players on the field rushed towards the mayhem, and pretty soon after, the two sidelines – the coaches and the bench players – rushed towards the scrum. It was the ugliest scene in the Sporting World Cup up to that point, and it was certainly not something the Haps needed. Worse, Jerold got a red card and Jackson didn’t. The referees agreed that Jerold had started the situation and he had been spoiling for a fight anyway, and all Jackson had done was defend himself.

Jerold didn’t help his case after being red-carded. He flipped the referee off, told him to “go fuck yourself” and on the way back to the tunnel, went over to the Xannerian players, who were giving him some obscene static and pointing to the tunnel to tell him to just go away. Jerold responded by giving them the middle finger and stormed off. Head coach Garnett Sydney was incensed, screaming at Jerold as the player slowly walked back to the tunnel.

“I thought I told you to behave yourself!” Garnett shouted. “You’ll be lucky if you ever play again!”

“Screw you, coach, I told you whatever happens happens,” Jerold snapped.

The fans were incensed as well, and some had taken to throwing garbage at the defenseman. Jerold responded to the fusillade by picking up a plastic cup and throwing it into the stands, flipping the fans off and walking back.

Sitting in a luxury box, Hapiloppian President William Mathis and Max Greenwell, the interim president of the Hapilopper Football Association, were irate with what they had seen. Max stormed out of the box to meet Jerold in the locker room, to inform him that he was off the team for embarrassing both himself and the Hapiloppians in one of the most eagerly-anticipated matches in the history of Hapiloppian football. But Jerold wasn’t there when Max got to the locker room. Jerold had picked up his things, put them in his bag and left the stadium, having picked up a ride to the team hotel.

The incident completely wrecked Hapilopper’s momentum, and the Xannerians scored two more goals pretty quickly after, with Xanneria winning 4-1. By the time the rest of the team got back to the hotel, the entire team was furious with Jerold – for his insolence and for his consistent disrespect of everyone around him. The next morning, Garnett and Max informed Jerold that he was not only suspended for the next match, but he had been removed from the Little Haps for this and other incidents throughout the last two years he had participated in the Sporting World Cup.

“We’re not going to tolerate this sort of behavior,” Garnett explained to Jerold. “It’s obvious you need serious professional help. GET IT.”

It was not the result the Haps needed going into the last match of the group stage, against Savojarna. Savojarna led the group with four points, with an opportunity to really pull away skewered by an unfortunate 2-2 tie with last-place Tomure. The Savojar team was a great team, and the Haps had to be on the top of their game if they were going to have a snowball’s chance in hell against them. They had to put on a giant-killing performance if they were going to advance.

While the Little Haps started training for their third match of the group stage, Jerold went back to school, where his guidance counselor pulled him out of class to speak about what had happened.

“Look, I got into the heat of the moment, and I guess it was just too much,” Jerold explained. “You know, I really want to be a professional footballer, and I want to be able to do this by any means necessary.”

“You’re a great player,” his counselor explained. “But you don’t need to involve yourself in that sort of violent behavior. Your career will get overshadowed by those sort of incidents if you keep it up. The HFA won’t have you in their league and you won’t be a part of any sort of national team. You’ve got to control yourself.”

Jerold thought about what his counselor had said. The fact is, she was right. He needed to calm down, or he’d have to find a new calling in something other than football.

[Xanneria]

The Kids Are Alright pt 3

What made Tonissia and Wrecker go into a rage when the others name was brought up? What made a feud that never went hot? Well natural resources of course? What else could it be? So long ago a land existed. This land was known to several powers as simply "Tundra" unlike its name would suggest Tundra had a lot going for it. After its discovery around the turn of the Tonissia century (Or most nations equivalent of the 1890s for reference) it was discovered. So several people rushed the land, but by the time Tonissia got there they had discovered the most unfortunate discovery in the "Tundra" a caravan of Wreckerian naval ships had laid claim to most of the area that had been scouted out by Tonissia. There was nothing that could be done, Tonissia had to retreat with their tails between the legs.

That might not have been such a big deal but Tundra blew up shortly afterwards. Multiple of the supposedly bland and poruous mining stations turned into massive quasi independent states. The mining colonies Hendrick Mining Company Outpost #2448 and J Gordon Mining Colony #24 Both took off so rapidly they were able to become independent of there companies nation of origin. There was even a SWC 10 tie in here. Not Xanneria though, nor Happilopper, but rather Newmanistan a nation who ended up with a sizable portion of land in the Tundra mines. Newmanistan was a power in that region and a lot of Newmanistans might rests on the shoulders of the old colony in Tundra.

While the original President at the time was Gustav Roth, but as the history books tell us, that while he as on decent terms with the Wreckerites, it was his successes in 1940, Darnell Hackney that built up the dislike for Wreckeria. It was his disdain for them that lead Tonissia down the bad path of a 40 year downslide that would see the nation implode. In 1977 an explosion in a munitions factory near the capital of Tonissia, Port David City, killed hundreds, that was the start of the end as soon a coalition of angry citizens began an uprising and as you well know, 1978 was the last year anyone heard from Tonissia.

Twelve years later Wrecker ran into their issues, but unlike Tonissia, they have since pulled out of them. Although some people think that the True Wreckerians had a couple of Tonissians in their ranks operating a false flag Operation. Afterall crazy stuff has happened under Tonissian rule, Hackney's successor Matthew Kennedy did cut off all trade with Xanneria in hope they'd give up their independence back to Tonissia. That being said there is absolutely no proof and it's actually been proven false on more than one occasion.

The last place that is thought of as being a descendant of Tonissia exists out in the either somewhere. People heard of a group of large ships that escaped in the early 1970s a group said to be heading "South, East, North or West escaped Tonissia, it is said that people escaped to only the next day see the faint outline of mushroom clouds on the horizon where they had sailed from. It would be the Tonissian way to end, with a self inflicted nuke. Xanneria sadly has no information on these ships although rumors around Esportiva suggest a Newmanistani operative was onboard one of those ships meaning that with some research into the Newmanistan archives could prove weather or not this nation existed.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

BP through to knockouts at SWC
by Oliver Stanley
The Post Soccer Correspondent

On an afternoon of high emotions, the Commonwealth Under-18 National side put in what manager Darren Kirby called "a hard working, gritty 90 minutes" to defeat Ziwana 1-0, on Matchday 2 of the Sporting World Cup at Greenville Sanitation Park.

The emotion was primarily a function of the lineup changes brought on by Kirby for this contest; Freddie Altman led out a team with seven players making their first U18 starting appearances, in a lineup that was a bit of a demonstration of the broadening diversity of the country's immigrant pool.

Defender Magda Kucera became the first naturalized citizen to play for Baker Park in 27 years, after just taking the oath five weeks ago; Park Jae-sung, who came on as a sub in the previous match, and Phan My Kieu, both first generation teens born to immigrant parents, along with Peter Obulundi, rounded out the World Assembly portion of the lineup; and Gillian Albertson, who was the 3rd keeper at the last tournament; Danny Todd, the 16 year old who is the youngest player in the squad, and Stacy Milner, another newcomer this time out, made up the rest of the debutants that joined Carly Logan, Lucie Shanahan and Shelby Engels in Altman's first XI as captain.

From the kickoff it was clear that the instructions given were to set the passing speed at eleven and deny possession to the Leopards, who seemed content to soak up the pressure in their own half. Logan's presence in the starting XI was the only anomaly to this tactical plan; the midfielder from Springfield is a physical, ball-winning counterpoint to generally technical attacking midfielders that predominate Baker Park's national setup.

When Ziwana did manage to have the ball, they showed their own smart passing game, although a reluctance on the part of their fullbacks to venture too far into the attack saw breakdowns and a lack of cutting edge in the final third.

The whistle for oranges and juice boxes brought a close to a dynamic, although not necessarily exciting, first half that saw neither side register a shot on target; BP had a pass completion rate of 87% from their 426 touches, but just one corner kick and two shots off the mark.

The second half began at a pedestrian crawl relative to the opening of the match, as a shift in alignment of the midfield by Kirby produced a much more difficult defensive shape for the Leopards to try and solve from their 4-3-3. The Commonwealth 18's choked off the passing lanes that could lead to quick counterattacks and pushed higher upfield without the ball.

Kirby made his first change on 62 minutes, a like for like move as Joe Finnegan replaced Todd in defense, and soon afterwards the balance of play swung towards the Bees, as Altman took advantage of mistake by the left fullback & got free to cross into the box, where Obulundi's header was straight at the keeper.

A minute later, Phan won a free kick from 23 yards out; Shanahan, Logan & Altman stood over the ball, with Logan walking away a moment later, and Altman picking up and replacing the ball, then leaning over to point at a spot on it, only to be waved away by Shanahan, who didn't hesitate when the whistle was blown, finding the upper far corner. The celebration, although not over the top for this or previous U18 sides, was halted by the captain prematurely.

Ziwana shifted their approach following the kickoff, with 22 minutes remaining to find an equalizer not an unreasonable task. BP pulled back from the higher line that had stymied their opposition for much of the previous 20 minutes; it still proved difficult to pass the ball through midfield on the ground for the team in green.

Paul Vetter replaced Logan in the 75th minute, with the formation reverting back to a four across midfield, with Phan now dropping to position more akin to a defensive mid, Engels & Obulundi giving only token pressure on the back line. With just 4 minutes remaining, Rob Donahue replaced Engels, becoming the 21st and final field player to get into a match at this SWC; at the final whistle, Kirby shook his fists in celebration before accepting the congratulations from the Ziwanan staff.

post match comments:
goal scorer Lucie Shanahan: (when asked if she and Altman were at odds over the free kick) "noooo...(laughter) he thinks he's such a know it all about free kicks. That was actually him mocking me, because I pointed at a spot on the ball to him in training last year. In fact I even moved it just so slightly and pointed at it a second time. It was an inside joke. We've been on this team now for so long, and those kind of things will be what I will always remember best, just the fun and banter, busting on each other and the friendship we've developed."

manager Darren Kirby: "this is the fourth time I've been on staff in this tournament, and honestly, this is the first squad that I am actually frightened of. (room laughter) I use every one of the locks on the hotel door here. But none of you can imagine what it's like to have a chance to lead these young men and women on an everyday basis. You tell them something, they listen; at halftime, I said to the defense--all of them in their first U18 start--'do you understand what I'm telling you?'. all them nodded their heads and said 'yeah', then went out and showed that they did."

defender Magda Kucera: (asked about her emotions during the walk out and the anthems) "Unbelievable pride, happiness. My family have lived in Baker Park for 12 years, so for us to become citizens at the same time was one of the biggest joys of our lives. And being able to do so ahead of the tournament so I could take part means a lot too."

Kirby: "There is still a long way to go here, and we aren't just going to ease back for the last group match. We have won our group every time we've participated in the SWC, except for our second appearance. Just as with the senior team, we put great stock in being able to say we were group winners at a major competition."

lineup vs Oberour Ar Moro:
Murray; Slater, Jones, Jorgensen; Syzmanski, Vetter, Boyle, Ryan; Knight (C); Donahue, Moorman

[Imperial Joseon]

조선황국 (Imperial Joseon)
한양방송국(Hanyang Broadcasting Station: HBS)
태산도, 태산 (Taeshan Island, Taeshan)

================================================================================

(TRANSLATION IN ENGLISH)

Hello, we bring you live the second match of the tenth season of the U18 Sporting World Cup: Imperial Joseon versus Vdara.

[CAMERA SNIPS TO FIRST HALF]

(10th minute)

Manousos Scafididis rushes into the Joseon penalty zone as Apollon Kairakos makes a stretch pass to him. He receives the ball and shoots low to the left of the goalkeeper and scores. 1-0 Vdara. Wait....Joseon players are calling this play offside. However, the referee has not raised the flag. VAR is not utliized in this tournament, so, unfortunately, the linesmen cannot determine whether the play is offside or not. So, the offside line technology from Joseon will be shown in this channel. (http://d11p0alxbet5ud.cloudfront.net/Pi ... ffside.jpg) Yes, clearly offside. It's disappointing the call hasn't been made.

[CAMERA SNIPS TO SECOND HALF]

(56th minute)
Scarfiddis receives the ball from a long pass by Vidalotis, and dribbles the ball into the penalty zone, and the ball is clearly offside, and Joseon players call the infraction, but the play goes on, and Vidalotis just puts the ball into the net with a low kick to the right.
(http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2016/08/ ... 744767.jpg) Once again. Joseon offside line technology shows this is clearly offside, but the goal is made. This is unbelievable. Both goals shouldn't have been allowed. It has been long debated VAR should be used to regulate the matches in this tournament, but it hasn't been approved for some obscure reason.

(87th minute)
An undeserved 2-0 trail by Joseon, but F Roh Gi Seok slowly meanders into the center of the penalty zone. He is met by the Vradan defensemen Mallellis. He dekes to the left and fires a ballistic shot high into the left part of the net. The goalkeeper dives, but it's a goal! A wonder goal, but F Roh Gi Seok! What a finish! This is Imperial Joseon! What a strong kick and a deke to make this play enormous for his team! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4AyXlkkLJk4)

(93rd minute)
Final whistle blows, and the score is 2-1 trail, but Imperial Joseon has put a stunning effort late in the second half, despite the false calls made by the officials in the early two "goals" by the Vradans.

[Vdara]

The Dressing Room, following the victory over Imperial Joseon

“HEEEEEEEEEEEEY,
HEY BABY!
(HOO, HAH!)
I WANNA KNOW-OH-OH-OH-OH,
WE’VE HAD A WIN!”
The room was filled with emotions, specifically joy. The squad was chanting and shouting and crying with joy, with Markos Moustakakos in the centre. He had masterminded their victory while the manager and assistant coach were still sleeping on the ground, drunk. He wasn’t even a manager, but the first team goalkeeper for the normal squad. He had zero managerial experience and yet he had a victory as acting manager for the U-18 squad. Moustakakos was euphoric.

“Well, boys! Looks like you can teach an old dog new tricks, eh?” Moustakakos said gleefully.

“Yep, sure looks like it, gaffer!” shouted Zerveas.

“I feel like this is a sign of things to come, lads. This is the turning point of our story, where we begin winning more often! Forza Vdara!”

The dressing room erupted into a sea of chants and shouts.
“FORZA VDARA! FORZA VDARA! FORZA VDARA!”

[Sarzonia]

Vondell Page had a complicated relationship with his child.

When the current reserve sweeper on the Under 18 Sarzonian national football team was born, he eagerly gave the baby his own name, dubbing the child Vondell LeRoy Page, Jr. He was eager to show off the child on his social media pages and dressed the child in all sorts of boys clothes and signed him up for every masculine activity he could think of.

When Von's mother Lisa died in an automobile accident four years after Von's birth, Vondell had to assume both roles. He had to learn to cook. He had to help Von with their homework. He had to handle some of the tasks Lisa was a natural at. He was willing to do those things because he loved his child.

However, when Von approached Vondell at age 13 and told him he didn't feel "100 percent like a boy" and did not cave in when Vondell tried to tell him it was just a phase and all that, it made adjusting difficult for a man who had visions of only manhood for his child. He still insisted on calling Von Vondell or Junior, even though Von asked his father to call him Von.

The last straw for Vondell was seeing Von walk out of his room for the junior prom wearing a dress.

"Vondell LeRoy Page, Jr. you take that fucking thing off RIGHT NOW!" he recalled screaming at his child. He remembered hitting Von, but he also remembered Von hitting back. He kicked his child out of his house and told Von to never come back or "come back when you're ready to be a man." The first tearful phone call was to Ben DiSoto, whom they met at a football camp four years ago. Ben immediately liked Von and they became fast friends. They were so close, in fact, that Ben was the first person Von told about being gender non-conforming. Ben accepted without a moment's hesitation and apologised profusely the one time he slipped and referred to Von as "he" after he came out.

Ben and his older brother Kenny soon took Page under their wings, and their parents soon followed suit. Ben's father Matt greeted the news from Ben about Von being kicked out with a simple, "get in the car. We're going to get Von right now."

When Ben and Matt got to Von, they saw them sitting in front of a tree in the front yard crying. Ben went to console his friend while Matt and Vondell began arguing. Finally, after Ben and Von got in the car, Matt told off Vondell, then drove the two kids back to his house.

"Dad, can Von share my room?"

"Of course," Matt said. "If Kenny doesn't fight you for it," he said, causing both kids to laugh.

It took several months, but Vondell finally began to come around a bit. He still called Von by their deadname and still referred to Von as his son, but he began to make the commitment to accept his child for who they were.

So it was with that in mind that he rang up Matt DiSoto and told him, "I'm going to go bail out Ben." He got to the holding cell and posted bail and put his right arm around Ben DiSoto.

"Thank you for looking out for Vondell."

"Thanks, Mr. Page. It's Von."

"Vond, uh, you're right. Von."

Vondell and Ben DiSoto drove to the stadium where the team began gathering and Ben soon joined his teammates as the team began their final preparations for the important Group J match between Sarzonia and HUElavia with first place and a more favourable position in the knockout rounds in the offing.

The rest of the team had a chance to think of the ramifications of beating Abanhfleft. They'd learned the Fleftics were among the more successful teams in the competition's history. They hadn't lifted the trophy as the champions, but they were contestants in multiple finals. For a team that was playing just its second match in history, that was quite the successful feather to add to their caps. When Ben DiSoto finally reached the team's dressing room, he was all but tackled by Von Page.

"Hi Von," Vondell said after waiting for Von and Ben to finish their hug, making it a point to address his child by their preferred name. "You have great taste in friends," he told his child with a smile before leaving for the return flight to Portland.

[Mavinet]

Hoang Khang's house
Dai Hoa City
8pm

"Honey, can you check the fridge? It's broken again." Hoang Khang's mom looks into the room-temperatured fridge with a worried face.

"Leave it babe. I'm watching the news. This is important."

"What can be more important than keeping the foods from spoiling, huh? you wanna eat tomorrow or what?"

"Come watch this, hon. Our boy is on TV."

The mom walks over to the living sofa, where her husband and mother are closely watching the anchor of the daily evening news. She sees why they're so entranched! It's the sports section, and the Mavinet U18 team is being covered. To be honest, she hasn't followed the news of the team for the past few days. In fact, most of the country didn't, until the win over Starblaydia got the attention of everyone. Mavineses simply never expected their national football teams to advance far in any internation competitions, if they can get in them at all. Plus this is just an U18 tournament. But perhaps this time, it is different. And this time, her son is in the team.

"The Mavinet U18 team continue their fine form with a win over Croblade in the 2nd matchday of the Sporting World Cup in Taeshan. Coming into the match after an impressive and hard-fought win over Starblaydia in the last match, Head Coach Tran Tuan Hung fielded a more balanced lineup against Croblade. The match was eventful with back and forth actions between the teams. The game ended with the score 1-0 to Mavinet after winger Vu Hoang Khang scored a goal from a freekick just outside of the box in the 56th minute." the anchor presents the highlights of the match as the visuals being played.

"There he is! That's my son. Ma, look at him." Hoang Khang's dad gets visibly excited as the news play the highlight of Hoang Khang's goal.

"Is that him? Why does he look bigger?" Hoang Khang's grandma adjusts her glasses, trying to get a closer look.

"Of course it's him Ma. How many Hoang Khang are playing in the national team? He scored a goal too. See, hon, you could have missed him being on TV."

She smiles at the image of her son celebrating the goal with his teammates. She misses a lot more than just him being on TV. She misses her son. It has been several years since he left for the academy. Aside from his occasional leave to visit home, she has not seen him much for long. She has always worried about Hoang Khang more than any of his siblings: he is mischievous but naive, and he had never lived by himself before. What would happen when there is no one around to take care of him? What good is being a professional footballer? Why can't he just study something useful like maths or physics or engineering?

But seeing him playing for the national U18 team on TV, all of those questions seem to have disappeared. There he is, her son, with a tiring but happy face, doing the thing he loves more than anything else. "I'm proud of you, my son" she says to herself.

"That was nice. Can you go check the fridge now?" she turns to her husband as the news switch to another topic.

"Alright, alright. Jeez can't I have bit a free time at night." the husband gets up with heavy steps and heads to the garage to look for his tool kit.

"Say that to fridge hon."

And with that, life moves on.

--------------------------
Lineup for Matchday 3

[Tamgu]

Tamgu Snatches Knockout Place Early

Team                         P  W  D  L For Ag Df Pts
 1 Tamgu                     2  2  0  0  5  1  +4  6
 2 Notrumbia                 2  1  0  1  1  2  -1  3
 3 Chromatika                2  1  0  1  3  4  -1  3
 4 Terre Septentrionale     2  0  0  2  1  3  -2  0

Tamgu 3-1 Chromatika; Goals: [TMG] D. Rasvana 15', V. Marino 18', A. Dastro 67' [CTK] W. Eliott 85' Other: A. Bastuvo 67'[+]

We...qualified...top of the group?? That's a rare sight. But boy was it deserved. The boys are on fire! This game could've ended with so many more goals, unfortunately, the goalkeepers we come up against seem to all open godmode. The Eyasses are determined to win, even if in the end, they do not end up doing so, I believe they will not go down without a fight. Their levels of concentration and dedication are the things all the fans are complaining of is missing from the Seniors. The manager Erkan Balada is sure to be considered for the Senior Team if his team keeps up this run of excellent form. He has told the media in a press conference

Stats: [TMG]-[CTK]
Possession:    59-41
Passes:       340-192
Pass %:        92-84
Shots(ot):  27(19)-6(2)
Fouls(os):   9(4)-12(8)
Cards:          0-1

that he would love to manage the Seniors one day, it's definitely a possibility.

The next game against Terre Septentrionale is probably going to be a chance for the substitutes to prove their quality. Especially Meno Taxieri will be closely watched by the boss as he has shown an impressive performance after coming in for Axelo Bastuvo, who was injured during the match and will miss the next. Gonce Lassemo will also be a "one to watch" as he was brilliant coming off the bench as well.

The first two goals came in rapid succession, from two spectacular shots from outside the box. Dariyo Rasvana was first to strike, he trimmed the pitch's grass with the ball and left the keeper watch as the ball went in. His assister Kriton Fastune should get some credit for the goal, as his sight let them break the more-defensive-than-usual Chromatika's park the bus strategy. The second goal was a beautifully curled shot to the top corner, this goal woke the Chromatik team up, but they were already 2-0 behind. They had a memorable chance in the thirty-fifth minute, but keeper Yann Gosdin-Tüleno had no problems saving the shot intended to chip him.

The second half went in the same way as the first, the Junior Tamgeishi kept on trying to score more goals, the Chromatik defense struggled to get a tackle in while their opposition kept on passing the ball away. At minute sixty-seven, a badly timed tackle led to right-back A. Bastuvo getting injured. The free-kick was given as well as a yellow card to the offender, Miro Passaint. Arbun Dastro scored with a shot curled over the wall to make it 3-0. Chromatika managed to get something out of the game from a corner kick, the ball was played in by Miranda Andersen, who picked out a player in the far post. The goalscorer's celebration didn't have much joy as they had already lost all hope of getting anything out of the game. Despite their manager Han Myung's attempts to get them forward, they just wanted to hear the final whistle.

[HUElavia]

HUElavia narrowly survives against Schottia for a Knockouts Berth!

HUElavia once again played a match where a spot in the knockout rounds was in play. This time around, Los Amarillos played against Schottia, who had lost in their opening match against Sarzonia, 5-3. Both teams brought out their best eleven players, with HUElavia wanting to get the direct qualification, while Schottia was looking to avoid elimination. The crowd was mainly Pro-HUElavia, but there were quite a few fans from Schottia in the stadium.

The first half was very quiet, with only a few shots narrowly missing, with Navarro and Hamada getting shots hitting the post or being saved by Forres, while Schottia had O'Brien and Schultze meet the hands of Vallares to prevent any goals from coming in. The first half end 0-0, with fans from both teams being very annoyed from the lack of goals.

The second half was mainly the same and things seemed as if the match would end 0-0, but in the 75th minute, the game got very intense. In the 75th minute, a pass from substitute Nakayama met the foot of Sissoko to slide it in past Forres to make it 1-0. A few minutes later, in the 78th minute, a cross from Koop met the head of Schultze to tie it at 1-1. In the 81st minute, a cross from Ramirez met the foot of the substitute Moutinho, who volleyed it into the net to make it 2-1, with the crowd jumping up and celebrating like crazy while Moutinho got mobbed by his teammates. This lead was once again short lived, as in the 87th minute, a shot by Ayoub hit the hands of Vallares, who fumbled it into the back of the net, making it 2-2. The game seemed as if a draw was going to be the final result, with both teams going it at for most of the 5 minutes of additional time, and in the final 30 seconds, Carmichael gave away a corner, and in the final seconds, Ramirez sent a cross in, with Fernandez heading it in, making it the definitive 3-2. Fernandez was mobbed, while the sizable crowd went crazy, and the stadium rumbled. The referee blew the whistle, and HUElavia qualified for the knockout stages.

With their 3-2 victory, as well as Sarzonia's 6-5 thrilling victory over Abanhfleft, Matchday 3 will be a winner-take-all match against Sarzonia for 1st Place in Group J. The winner of the group will directly play in the Round-of-16, while the runner-up will play in the playoff round to attempt to make the round of 16. As it stands, should a draw occur, Sarzonia would win the group, while HUElavia would go to the Playoffs. Both teams seem to be fielding their best players, in hopes of winning the group and not leave it to a playoff match to make it to the direct knockout stage. Regardless, fans are backing this team, much like the senior team, and there is hope that Los Amarillos will win Group J.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Newmanistan]

THE ROCKET REPORT

YOUTH PLAYERS WIN AGAIN

by Brianne Henry,

I have not been feeling that well, as after all those of you who read my colleague Taylor Larson’s submissions are aware that I got sick with a bad case of food poisoning in Free Republics during the World Bowl. It was best then for me to return here to Newmanistan, which is where I am right now. The World Bowl is pretty interesting, both Ko-oren and Banija were eliminated in the first group stage, and even Terre Septentrionale went down after being badly humbled by Drawkland. Taylor is covering the World Bowl from this point. We had an intern do some work here an present what she considered to be an article after our first game, but she decided to quit her internship yesterday. Evidently, because of her submission here to The Rocket Report, she got a modeling offer from some agency that does that thing. So, we lost an intern, which means I have to work while I am still recovering from my illness. I was expecting NSSCRA to be the next thing I was assigned, but I’m going to take you through the Sporting World Cup until we are no longer playing. Speaking of no longer playing, there are some very interesting names that have been eliminated after two matchdays, proving that success at the junior level does not mean success at the senior level, or vice versa. Meanwhile, our Rockets are 2-0-0 after a 1-0 win over Lisander. This puts in a good position, but the group could still see that dreaded three way tie at 2-0-1 that sees one good team not advance. That was something that was referenced a lot in the Free Republics while I was there, since that is how they were eliminated in the World Cup.

For our Rockets, the main objective is to do well while representing the Empire, but also to make themselves known to plenty of scouts as several of these players will be in the upcoming ENSL draft. The Hampton Knights own the #1 overall pick in the draft, with the Seminole Bay Gators picking second. The Knights are likely to go for anything, and have expressed a lot of interest in the logical #1 overall pick, Jordan Cooley. However Cooley recently told reporters that, “Going to Hampton is not something I would be looking forward too. I would sign with them, but I don’t know if I would be there long term.” Kyle Grant, a scout for Hampton responded by saying, “Jordan is 16, and knows that there is not a lot of prestige in being drafted by the Knights at the current time but we are looking to change that. I think is pandering for international teams to come in and sign him. He’s an incredible prospect, and he knows that it would be easier to transfer to a good program, even if it was a developmental team of a good program, is better then Newmanistan’s entry draft system.” Grant said that the Knights would still draft Cooley, but are also considering other options. Meanwhile, Seminole Bay could be interested in trading down, but do not seem to be setting their sights on Cooley. Matthew Tolliver, a scout for the Gators told me that, “We are not sure right now who we will take. We would love to solidify our defense, but if Cooley is there we will be very interested. That is the beauty of the Sporting World Cup. The people here in Taeshan have been very hospitable to us. I have enjoyed my time here, it is nice to be in a nation that appreciates various forms of sports. It would be great to see this team make the knockout stages, to see how they do in a pressure environment.” That was a thought echoed by Southport GM Jake Marshall, who is also in Taeshan even though the Tigers don’t pick until the 22nd overall selection. “There is prestige in this tournament. We’ll see who steps up to the pressure, and who falls under it. If they go on a run, it would be great. First thing first though, is the realization that this team could still be sent home after the next game and not even make knockouts. So we will certainly be watching to make sure that none of the players have a complacent attitude right from the get go.”

The final group stage match is against Imperial Joseon, a nation we do not have any history with up to this point.

[PotatoFarmers]

Last RP

Poafmersia 3-1 Equestria
Goals: Huerta 27', 40'; Elliott 71'

Lineup: Nicole Potts; Angel Ingram, Mitchel Rosales, Deidre Osborne; Quintin Gross, Sharlene Beltran, Rodolfo Middleton, Harriet Buck; Hassan Stevenson, Jordan Huerta (c), Bridgett Elliott (3-4-3)

Lineup for MD3: Nicole Potts; Angel Ingram, Mitchel Rosales, Deidre Osborne; Quintin Gross, Sharlene Beltran, Rodolfo Middleton, Harriet Buck; Hassan Stevenson, Jordan Huerta (c), Bridgett Elliott (3-4-3)

Sporting Daily: Young Panjias continue to strive for excellence in the Sporting World Cup
Report by Nasiri Dyrika
Taeshan - The Under-18 Young Panjias secured qualification to the Knockout Stages of the Sporting World Cup with a nice 3-1 win over Equestria's young ponies, surprising many including fans and the manager.
Manager Nelson Sanchez chose to stick with the same lineup without substitutions, making only one change to the side that defeated Appalachian Nation the last time round.
This time round, it was Bridget Elliot led the team by making a grand total of 7 shots on goal himself, with 5 on target. Jordan Huerta also scored to goals together with Bridget's one, bringing Poafmersia 3-0 up, before the Ponies scored a late consolation in the 80th minute to deny Poafmersia's 2nd clean sheet.
With a whopping 70% possession, the team dominated the match with the huge dominance in the centre. Perhaps because the manager adopted a more balanced format, so the players were willing to sit deep and defend if trouble came as that was what happened at the start. Nonetheless, they were calmly reacting and when they got back the ball, they were swiftly passing from side to side, front to back to front, and really kill off any chances of a comeback with two early goals from the Captain and one more from Elliot.
Bridgett Elliot, the man (or women, for real) of the match. How could you consider someone else? She made such huge contribution to keeping the ball and made so many shots. According to captain Jordan, Bridgett is really in form and will fancy her scoring one more against Taeshan for the next match. "She is really good! Cannot imagine a game without her." On the other hand, team manager Nelson was excited for the team's solid performance. "Never thought they would make the Knockout Stages, but their performance today has shown me that they have the capabilities to win the title. Now a draw would give us top seeds and our break when the playoffs occur, and really they can go and play for that draw. Not asking them to win, but we will see how it goes and play by ear. It would be difficult to beat Taeshan at home, but they drew with the Appy boys and morale would be definitely much higher in our camp."
"I would also like to call on the fans to show the team some well deserved support, and to cheer the team on," added Nelson. The fans responded to the press conference with a joint statement delivered to the team hotel, saying that they would want the FA to hold live screening sessions back at home to call on the support of the local people.

[Busoga Islands]

Busoga Islands U18 National Team

Information
Country code: BUS
Denonym: Busogans/Busoga Islanders/Islanders(Busoga Islanders is the formal term; many Banijans call them Busogans, while locals refer to themselves simply as Islanders, which will be the terminology used by the journalists of this country)
Association: Busoga Islander Soccer Association(BISA)
Manager: Trevor Yoenman(South Detroit). 43 years old. He has plenty of experience in management, having been head coach at the Islamic University of Busoga for the past 5 years. Of course, with the Islamic University having been ejected from the Banijan Collegiate Sports Group, alongside other Busoga Islands universities, the country's largest university regularly dominates sporting competitions within the country. After national title after national title, he wanted a new challenge, and was hired as the Senior Assistant manager for the World Cup 84 cycle. While Bethany Donnell decided to bring in her own staff, she put Yoenman in charge of the Islander youth teams, including their U18 side.
Manager of Senior Team: Bethany Donnell(Brenecia). 64 years old. A very down-to-earth manager who drills humility and discipline into her players, making sure they do the hard yards and don't get carried away with their status. That lead to turning Pikemouth into one of the larger second-tier sides into a consistent UICA challenger. Unfortunately, she lost her way somewhat at Northern Union. With the SRS, she consistently lived up to expectations for four years, but rarely exceeded them. She was let go in her fifth year after a poor start to WC84 qualifying, but a third place finish at IAC8 the year before remains a feather in her cap. The Busoga Islands hired hire as they felt things had grown stale under Starfire. She, of course, is not on the coaching staff for the tournament, but is travelling with the team, evaluating players both at training, in the film room, and at games. Out of respect to the actual youth coaching staff, she will not communicate with players on the team for the duration of the tournament.
Captain: Tansu Mirani
Alternate Captain: Cevdet Engin
Home Kits: Red
Away Kits: Black
Alternate: White


RP Permissions
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Choose Scoring Events: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
RP Injuries to my players: Yes(please state what injury they have suffered and how many games they will miss).
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes(please state what injury they have suffered and how many games they will miss).
Godmod other events: Yes
Style modifier: -1.5

Do whatever you want besides godmodding the actual goals(I prefer the actual goals to be real). If anybody dies, please TG me who so I can replace them.

Roster for Sporting World Cup 10

Starters: 4-3-3.
The six professional clubs on the Busoga Islands are all part of the Banijan soccer pyramid.
Players receiving their first callup for the national team are italicized.
Players who do not play within the Banijan soccer pyramid are bolded.
All players are male unless otherwise specified.
BSL = Banijan Soccer League, the top-flight for Banija & the Busoga Islands.
GK #1 Ashwin Ghatori. 18 years old. Plays for the Slobochia Bears in the Northwestern League.
RB #16 Asena Toslu. 17 years old. (Female). Plays for Lower Republican High School in Dukuma, South Island.
CB #5 Elgin Boztepe. 17 years old. (Female). Plays at the Islander Regional Academy.
CB #19 Naveen Tayal. 18 years old. Plays for the Kigagana Mountaineers in the Southern League.
LB #4 Tansu Mirani. 18 years old. Plays for Dukuma SC in the Northwestern League. Captain.
RM #17 Daniyal Zubairi. 17 years old. Plays for Barmos United in the Northwestern League.
CM #6 Cevdet Engin. 18 years old. Plays at the Islander Regional Academy.
LM #11 Olcayto Aldemir. 17 years old. Plays at the Islander Regional Academy.
RW #10 Esin Akyuz. 16 years old. Plays at Tripoli Christian High School in Tripoli, North Island.
ST #9 Hassan Dione. 17 years old. Plays for the Kitara Regional Academy. Busoga Islands/Equestria dual-national.
LW #12 Alkis Enver. 16 years old. Plays at Ebrahim Razav High School in Lakiska, South Island.
Bench
GK #35 Mustafa Taal. 18 years old. Plays at the Moravica Regional Academy. Banija/Busoga Islands dual-national.
GK #23 Tansel Ozgen. 15 years old. Plays at the Islander Regional Academy.
RB #2 Nazik Ozgur. 17 years old. Plays at Silver Oaks Preparatory Academy in Lakiska, South Island.
CB #18 Chandan Somani. 17 years old. Plays at the Islander Regional Academy.
CB #3 Sevgi Inal. 18 years old. (Female). Plays at the Islander Regional Academy.
LB #14 Lale Korkmaz. 16 years old. (Female). Plays at the Islander Regional Academy.
CM #6 Usak Kizil. 17 years old. Plays at Central Valley High School in Vdizi, Moravica, Banija.
RM #7 Adam Akar. 17 years old. Plays at the Islander Regional Academy.
LM #20 Tackin Tarcan. 16 years old. Plays at Tezirbu Renaissance High School in Tezirbu, North Island.
RW #8 Korkut Bilgili. 18 years old. Plays at Nezrouch Skyline High School in Nezrouch, South Island.
LW #21 Ayda Keskin. 18 years old. Plays at Rolling Hills High School in Busukuma, National Capitol Region, Banija.
ST #25 Aklan Onarici. 17 years old. (Female). Plays at Ravenwood School for Girls in Istria, Moravica, Banija.

Notes:
- Our free kicks are taken by Hassan Dione.
- Our penalty kicks are taken by Daniyal Zubairi.
- In terms of substitutions, anybody is OK to substitute off the pitch besides Hassan Dione.
- Any dual-nationals are not cap tied because of games played for a youth side.

[Trolleborg]

Another scandalous game we all see in Taeshan yesterday. Refereeing was seriously flawed in the first game, altought we put it to the side in lieu of our own unconvincing play, but in the second game everyone who has eyes had the opportunity to see themselves what the actions of an really biased judge look like.

No one is predicted that we will have only one point after two games with unknown entities, because our team having put serious efforts to win and our ranks is much higher. Nevertheless, this is it.

First goal we conceded after the pass from the man who was looked as in offside. From main stand it's not so obvious, but nevertheless

Because Taeshan don't have VAR and other modern amenities, we take one of the fans video from stand, and things now is clearly visible to everyone apart from referees:

And than we have a penalty without any justification at all. We in TTV see all available footage and it's absolutely clear, that foul, even if you see him, took place far beyond the penalty area

Nevertheless, protests hasn't any result at all, and opponents converted this "penalty" into 2-0

It's not worth anything to analyze such a game on scale for a football or measure our team performance in such a case.

It's real shame, that such a thing can happen in the international football.

[Taeshan]

Group A
Taeshan 1-0 Poafmersia
Appalachain Nation 1-1 Equestria

Group A Standings

   Team                    P  W  D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Taeshan                 3  2  1  0  3  1  +2  7
 2 Poafmersia              3  2  0  1  5  2  +3  6
 3 Appalachain Nation      3  0  2  1  2  4  -2  2
 4 Equestria               3  0  1  2  2  5  -3  1

Group B
Ziwana 3-1 Cassadaigua
Baker Park 3-2 Oberour Ar Moro

Group B Standings

   Team                 P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Baker Park           3  3 0  0  9  3  +6  9
 2 Ziwana               3  1 1  1  3  2  +1  4
 3 Oberour Ar Moro      3  1 1  1  4  3  +1  4
 4 Cassadaigua          3  0 0  3  2 10  -8  0

Ziwana on Goals Against

Group C
Strayquestria and the Wolflands 0-0 Sovirizst
Trolleborg 2-3 Darmen

Group C Standings

   Team                                 P  W  D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Darmen                               3  3  0  0  7  4  +3  9
 2 Strayquestria and the Wolflands      3  1  1  1  3  2  +1  4
 3 Sovirizst                            3  0  2  1  2  3  -1  2
 4 Trolleborg                           3  0  1  2  3  6  -3  1

Group D
Terra Septentrionale 1-1 Tamgu
Notrumbia 1-2 Chromatika

Group D Standings

   Team                      P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Tamgu                     3  2 1  0  6  2  +4  7
 2 Chromatika                3  2 0  1  5  5  +0  6
 3 Notrumbia                 3  1 0  2  2  4  -2  3
 4 Terra Septentrionale      3  0 1  2  2  4  -2  1

Group E
Gergary 0-1 Jerno
Filindostan 2-0 Havynwilde

Group E Standings

   Team             P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Filindostan      3  2 1  0  6  3  +3  7
 2 Gergary          3  1 1  1  4  3  +1  4
 3 Havynwilde       3  1 0  2  3  6  -3  3
 4 Jerno            3  1 0  2  4  5  -1  3

Group F
Newmanistan 0-0 Imperial Joseon
Lisander 1-0 Vdara

Group F Standings

   Team                 P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Newmanistan          3  2 1  0  3  1  +2  7
 2 Imperial Joseon      3  1 1  1  3  2  +1  4
 3 Lisander             3  1 0  2  1  3  -2  3
 4 Vdara                3  1 0  2  3  4  -1  3

Group G
Free Republics 0-1 Islas Aaland
Busoga Islands 0-1 Bolgano

Group G Standings

   Team                P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Bolgano             3  2 0  1  5  4  +1  6
 2 Busoga Islands      3  2 0  1  3  1  +2  6
 3 Islas Aaland        3  1 0  2  1  2  -1  3
 4 Free Republics      3  1 0  2  4  6  -2  3

Bolgano ahead on H2H

Group H
Tomure 4-3 Xanneria
Savojarna 1-1 Hapilopper

Group H Standings

   Team            P W  D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Savojarna       3 1  2  0  4  3 +1  5
 2 Hapilopper      3 1  1  1  5  6 -1  4
 3 Tomure          3 1  1  1  7  8 -1  4
 4 Xanneria        3 1  0  2  7  6 +1  3

Hapilopper advances on H2H

Group I
Starblaydia 2-1 Croblade
Facroa 1-0 Mavinet

Group I Standings

   Team             P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
 1 Facroa           3  2 0  1  2  1 +1  6
 2 Mavinet          3  2 0  1  3  2 +1  6
 3 Starblaydia      3  1 0  2  3  4 -1  3
 4 Croblade         3  1 0  2  2  3 -1  3

Facroa Ahead on H2H

Group J
Sarzonia 2-2 HUElavia
Abanhfleft 6-0 Schottia

Group J Standings

   Team            P  W D  L For  Ag +/- Pts
 1 Sarzonia        3  2 1  0  13  10  +3  7
 2 HUElavia        3  2 1  0   7   5  +2  7
 3 Abanhfleft      3  1 0  2  12   8  +4  3
 4 Schottia        3  0 0  3   5  14  -9  0

Sarzonia ahead on H2H

Group Winner Ranking 
   Team                 P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
1 Baker Park           3  3 0  0  9  3  +6  9
2 Darmen               3  3  0  0  7  4  +3  9
3 Tamgu                     3  2 1  0  6  2  +4  7
4 Filindostan      3  2 1  0  6  3  +3  7
5 Sarzonia        3  2 1  0  13  10  +3  7
6 Newmanistan          3  2 1  0  3  1  +2  7
7 Taeshan                 3  2  1  0  3  1  +2  7
8 Facroa           3  2 0  1  2  1 +1  6
9 Bolgano             3  2 0  1  5  4  +1  6
10 Savojarna       3 1  2  0  4  3 +1  5

Newmanistan won a Coin Flip with Taeshan

Group Runner-Up Table

Team                 P  W D  L For Ag +/- Pts
11 HUElavia        3  2 1  0   7   5  +2  7
12 Poafmersia              3  2  0  1  5  2  +3  6
13 Busoga Islands      3  2 0  1  3  1  +2  6
14 Mavinet          3  2 0  1  3  2 +1  6
15 Chromatika                3  2 0  1  5  5  +0  6
16 Imperial Joseon      3  1 1  1  3  2  +1  4
17 Strayquestria and the Wolflands      3  1  1  1  3  2  +1  4
18 Ziwana               3  1 1  1  3  2  +1  4
19 Gergary          3  1 1  1  4  3  +1  4
20 Hapilopper      3 1  1  1  5  6 -1  4

Ziwana, Strayquestria, and Imperial Joseon was a three way tie. To avoid a rematch with Baker Park Ziwana is given the 18 seed. Imperial Joseon won a coin flip with Strayquestria.


Which Means
Play-in Matchups
Match 1 : Busoga Islands vs Hapilopper @ Mort Field, China Island
Match 2: Mavinet vs Gergary @ Al Haxire Stadium, Wolf Island
Match 3: Chromatika vs Ziwana @ World Aquatics Park, Cape Island
Match 4 Imperial Joseon vs Strayquestria and the Wolflands @ Taeshan Educators Park, Taeshan Island

Round of Sixteen
Match 1: Baker Park vs Play-in 4 Winner @ Greenville Sanitation Park, Atlantea Island
Match 2: Facroa vs Bolgano @ Stairway to Heaven, Wolf Island
Match 3: Filindostan vs Play-in 1 Winner @ Stadium on the Lake, Lake Island
Match 4: Sarzonia vs Poafmersia @ The Haberdashery, Williams Isle
Match 5: Darmen vs Play-in 3 Winner @ X Island Metropark, X Island
Match 6: Taeshan vs Savojarna @ Atlantea Coliseum, Atlantea Island
Match 7: Tamgu vs Play-in 2 Winner @ New Capetown Memorial Park, Cape Island
Match 8: Newmanistan vs HUElavia @ Fadrön University Field, Taeshan Island

Reminder Play-in cut off is tomorrow.

[Trolleborg]

FTST85:
Yes, we cut short our visit to Taeshan, because our team eliminated at the group stage.
Nevertheless, everyone must admit, that our lads is playing well, albeit match officials is not on our side. Refereeing left much to be desired, to say the least; it is obvious that our the team deserved more than such a result in matches with two unknown rookie opponents, who themselves make not much efforts to win. Even our international experience, which was already visible in our seriously improved KPB rating, is counted for nothing in such circumstances.

But nevertheless we all almost happy to leave this country. Rather strange organization of the whole tournament is contributing heavy to this. On the halfway to our last match we find our friends, Sarzonian fans, whom we already berfriended in the WC-84 cycle, and they are busy trying to figure out where their next match will be, because no one was able to provide them with this information. For all time we spend here, we don't see even a single advertisement of tournament, and there was no official logo of it. So you don't need to wonder, why stadiums are half-empty.

But it's not what generated so much frustration and disappointment for us. I must admit, that we don't see every corner in the world, but Taeshan is pretty weird place. No tourist office. No any tourist information apart from that weather is mostly bad and snow is ever-present. No alcohol - it's OK for us, but nevertheless. Bland food without any national flair let alone national cuisine.
No books, factbooks or anything else about history or culture of Taeshan. Did you like museums, cultural highlights, historical landmarks? You probably find wrong country to visit. Maybe, there was plenty of them, but it's not possible to find something and no one on the ground can or will help you. It's not clear, for which reason Taeshanis burdened themselves with a world forum of such nature?

So in general, our fans are happy that we will soon depart from this place, with dissatisfaction from the loses on the field is compensated by pleasure of departing.