World Cup 85 || RP Thread

[Gyatso-kai]

.:: The Stone Tankard Public House, Shunyi District, Republic City, Gyatso-kai ::.
0140 hours, Republic Time (UTC+8) 30 May 2020.2

The Stone Tankard Public House, known in Mando’a as Choruk Galgai'ka was a frequent stop for many of the Mandalorian players on the National Team whenever a game would find itself in “The Bowl”. The Stadium of the Republics – the official long name for the arena so lovingly called “The Bowl” – stood far beyond the sight of the nightlife-centralised Shunyi District, located across Yue Bay in the historical Zhongyang District; however, as players knew so well, if you needed an escape from the media and the fans, all you needed to do was board the UG-17 Train to Shunyi, walk about a kilometre south of the station on Chaomei Road, and turn left on Juigui Street, only to walk four kilometres past countless businesses filled with drunk and disorderly crowds, blinding and flashing lights, and – at the one business that so few of the Bisons’ frequented – throngs of half-clothed and morally-deficient workers who are willing and more-than-able to satisfy any and all urges that their patrons would possess.

Far and between the most unique building on the whole of Jiugui Street…

On either sides of the Stone Tankard were two vastly different establishments, which would be frequently filled with exactly the crowds of the ‘more-civilised’ members of the Bisons would seek company with. On the west was the Brass Spindle, a club known for its high-class Earth Kingdom fashion; all hours of the night one would see men and women of various sundry of fashionable outfits and decadent décor. The drinks at the Brass Spindle were overpriced and underpoured, with the average cost of a drink falling close to 8¥, and most of the cocktails were over 12¥. The music played there was often electronic and heavy. On the east side, the Jade Latern found its place, and in its inner halls the ‘creatures of the night’ would gather there; the macabre, the black cloths and darker laces. The music sounded almost traditional, but with heavy metal influences. The drinks, with such frilly names as
“The Grim Reaper” and “Maleficent Revenge” were often in the 15¥ range and an average night of drinking could run you 50¥ or more on a night where you stuck to specials and house drinks.

Those prices are absurd… At the Choruk Galgai’ka a pint of near-perfectly brewed ne’tra gal ran you 2¥…

Booonnnggg

”About damn time,” Hisakawa Si Woo moaned as he finished his third tankard of the evening. He wanted to forget the embarrassment of the game prior, and had arranged to meet with another player to both work on moving on. He could not believe the outcome of the game; so far in the tournament, the Bisons had either drew their opponent or lost by a goal. Against Busoga, a team they had faced once before during AOCAF LIX, the Bisons had managed an early goal against the Busogans, but that lead was ended quickly in the 59th minute with a pair of goals from Ikshu Amitabh and Ibrahim Fatah that simply took Armok Hikaru by surprise. It was his second game, and his first start for the team, and all things considered, he did pretty well…

Which is why I invited him out…

”Sorry I am late, Si Woo,” Hikaru said as he took a seat from across from Hisakawa. The server, a young woman whose nails matched the deep gunmetal gray of the steel tankards in her hands, came to the table with another drink for Hisakawa. As she looked to Hikaru, a gentle smiled caught the goalkeeper off guard, and he smiled back. ”A Gi’vorpan, please.”

The server nodded and Hikaru turned back to Hisakawa.

”So you like that fish ale, huh?”

“They sell it at my old college bar. Grew to like it.”

“Does it taste like fish?”

Hikaru laughed as the server brought him his drink. He watched her place it down, and then gave her a single yuan. ”Not at all. It is just called ‘green fish’ because the river next to the brewery is known for these massive salmon that swim upstream every year.”

“Huh… you know your beer.”

“Like I said… Drank it in college, went and took a tour of the brewery in Enceri. Not a bad trip.”

Hisakawa nodded as he brought the new tankard to his lips. Gi’vorpan was a much lighter ale than the usual dark lager that Hisakawa favored after a loss. Unfortunately, Hisakawa had drank quite a bit of Ori’gal as of late, and he was starting to truly hate the taste.

”You did good today, Armok,” Hisakawa spoke as he held his tankard up. Hikaru – born in the Water Tribes, but having spent enough time around Mandalorians to understand – raised his own glass and slammed it into Hisakawa’s before taking a swig. ”You held your own.”

“And yet…” Hikari looked back to that server. ”We still came out with no points.”

“Not your fault. Games are won by a balance of offense and defence. We cannot always sit back on our keeper and think we’ll win.”

“Doesn’t help that I let in two goals in the same minute.”

“They caught you off guard. And besides,” Hisakawa smiled as he took another drink. ”We had nearly thirty minutes to score a goal. It’s our fault we couldn’t fight back for you.”

“I should be able to hold the net.”

“And we should be able to score,” Hisakawa reached out to put a hand on Hikaru’s shoulder. “Just look at our previous games. We were able to score four goals in two games, but then… they scored one more.”

Hikaru shrugged. ”I’m just not used to this.”

“None of us are,” Hisakawa sighed. ”Unfortunately, we are still gaining our feet. Ever since The Silence, we have not been able to regain our winning ways. And back then, we were so close to finally getting a Cup. We were so close to the quarterfinals… and yet, we had to take a step back. Even our ice hockey team is struggling… The world changed.”

Hikaru looked to his glass, and looked back to Hisakawa. ”I guess we have more work to do…”

“That we do. But first, we drink.”

[Timuria]

TIOC Takes Huge Lead as Banija Makes Nuclear Move

by Samet Uryanli

The first set of debates for the upcoming election were overshadowed by fallout from the Lukiiko as Timurian political parties responded to their neighbour's repeal of the Banijan nuclear-free zone which has caused strong reactions across the political spectrum, including in the top tier debate where a fiery clash ensued between leader of the oppositon Ahmet Yusupov who was fatally wounded by the accusation that he would end Timuria's own non-proliferation of nuclear weapons by incumbent Prime Minister Sabuktigin Imamoglu. Other topics were overshadowed by the intense exchange as people rally to the governing party in response to the Banijan action.

The secondary debate saw all three parties come off flat, with no leader being able to make any kind of progress during their debate whose format included audience questions. The TKP leader in particular floundered under pressure as his party had pushed for the proliferation of nuclear weapons in Timuria for the purposes of deterrent. While the BAHP leader struggled to get away from accusations from the SC that they were aligned to the Banijan governemnt, which was widely seen as racist leading to a hit toward the SC.

Mr Imamoglu released a statement saying "Timuria stands absolutely opposed to any proliferation of nuclear weapons and have worked for disarmament across the region, this move by our neighbours, if for the purposes of peaceful research and power generation as we use it here, is no threat to us or regional peace. If however, this is used as a pretext to push for a nuclear weapons program we will act in the interests of our citizens who come from all corners of the world, to protect them. Our party is opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and we will not tolerate the proliferation of weapons so close to our borders and our citizens."

The strong statement and debate performance has meant that TIOC has opened up an enormous 9.9 point lead over OK, who have slumped in the polls with a 3.6 point drop, seeing the party beginning to find itself in danger of being overtaken by BAHP, who despite falling 0.6 points are now closing the gap and will be on the debate stage with both main parties. The TKP suffered a strong drop as the nuclear issue gained salience falling 1.6 points after a brief rise in their numbers. The SC have also taken a hit after yet another racism scandal emerged in that debate. The beneficiaries have been ALTI who have gained from a quiet campaign.

These latest shifts have seen an astonishing upending on the political landscape with TIOC now on course, with regional analysis factored in, to win 441 seats, a majority of 332 with the two party preference leaning strongly towards TIOC. BAHP is now projected to become the main opposition with the collapse of the OK vote becoming fatal for them, BAHP are expected to reach 57 seats based on this projection. OK are now projected to get 39 seats, a drop of 194 from the previous poll. The TKP, SC and ALTI will now each enter parliament with 9 and solitary MPs respectively. A result that would give Mr Imamoglu a stunning mandate to perhaps persist to a fifth election.

The next major electoral event will be the debates between TIOC, OK and BAHP with a side debate for the remaining currently parliamentary parties engaging in a debate at prime time.

First Preference Voting Intention (Change from the previous poll):
TIOC 32.4% (+3.1)
OK 22.5% (-3.6)
BAHP 15.4% (-0.6)
TKP 11.8% (-1.6)
ALTI 9.5% (+1.1)
SC 3.1% (-0.9)

Seat Projection (Change from the last projection):
TIOC 441 (+150)
BAHP 57 (+29)
OK 39 (-194)
TKP 9 (+2)
SC 1 (=)
ALTI 1 (+1)
Ind/Oth 2 (=)

[Siovanija and Teusland]

10:30AM - Vrnovo, Siovanija

Grand Admiral Alfred Reinmann entered the shipyard in Vrnovo, accompanied by some of his main advisers from the Marine High Command. The High Command itself was based in the city of St. Jakob, but most shipbuilding was done at other shipyards such as this one in Vrnovo. The Grand Admiral had paid many visits to the city and base over the years.

Vrnovo, located in the southern islands of Siovanija, is best known as a vacation destination for many in Siovanija & Teusland. Vrnovo is both the furthest easterly island of the southern chain, and the biggest city in the islands. Stretching west, you find other resort islands such as Kaplice and Kunzak, before the island of Ankaran. Ankaran was one of the biggest air force bases in the country, while further west was the uninhabited island of Sozopol, once a testing site for the military. On the islands of Vrnovo, Kaplice and Kunzak, however, you could find vacation homes and beachfront properties everywhere, and in the summers the population would swell.

It was a chilly early fall morning on this day, however, as Grand Admiral Reinmann and his staff walked towards the building. The guard at the gatepost saluted them, and went into the building to find the director of the shipyard, who was expected to greet the Grand Admiral at 10:30. When the clock hit 10:31 before the guard had returned, one of the staffers spoke up:

“I thought it was supposed to be 10:30 standard time, not island time,” to the amusement of the crowd. The southern islands were well-known for their laidback style - a 7:00 dinner reservation at a Vrnovo restaurant could stretch as far back as 8:00. In Teusland, meanwhile, 7:00 meant 6:55.

The Grand Admiral smiled as he replied: “We have to be more patient with our island friends, it isn’t their fault they weren’t born with that Teus work ethic,” which drew more laughter from the crowd.

Within seconds, however, the door to the building was opened, and the group were greeted by Admiral Stefan Rezek, the commander of the Vrnovo naval base.

“Grand Admiral, gentlemen, welcome back to Vrnovo. I’m excited to showcase the progress that’s been made already on the construction of the new submarines.”

“It’s good to see you again, Admiral. I must ask, when does the Felsenkirchen return to base?”

One of the Marine’s Krake-class aircraft carriers, the Felsenkirchen had been the Grand Admiral’s last command before being promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral of the Marine. Whenever he was in Vrnovo, he enjoyed going back to see some of his old friends from the vessel.

“Still on exercises in the Sudsee alongside the Kaiserhaven group and the Vlaikograd group. Won’t be back in port for at least a few weeks.”

“Ah, I see. Next time, then, for I’m sure I’ll be visiting here quite often for the next little while.”

“Of course, Grand Admiral. Why don’t we head on in?”

The group entered the shipyard, and headed towards the area where construction of the first Facherfisch-class submarine was underway.

“There she is, UL-1,” said Admiral Rezek. Work was well underway on the first submarine of the class,

“It’s looking excellent, Admiral. Would you care to describe the ship to our other visitors?”

“Of course, Grand Admiral. Let’s go to my office upstairs, where we can get a better vantage point.” The group crowded into Admiral Rezek’s office, and took a look at the blueprints available on the table as work continued below.

Admiral Rezek began to speak. “Gentlemen, the Facherfisch-class submarines are expected to displace about 12,000 tons of water when submerged. We expect these to be the fastest ballistic missile submarines we have ever produced, with a top speed of over 27 knots when submerged.”

The collection of officers in the room glanced at each other, impressed. “The boats will be 155m in length, and of course, propelled by a nuclear reactor. I’m sure you’re all familiar with the concept of acoustic supremacy, these boats will be undetectable.”

Grand Admiral Reinmann smiled and spoke up from the back of the room: “Stefan, I’ve already told them most of that! They also know about the Lokke-1 missiles, already.” Reinmann noticed one of the younger officers staring off into space. “Captain Groth, how many missile tubes on the UL-1?”

The young officer was a bit taken aback, but answered: “16, sir.”

“That’s correct. Stefan, I’ve informed the President it will take about 2 years for the first ships to enter sea trials. Are we still on track for that?”

“Yes sir, we’ve made great progress already and to be honest, I wouldn’t be surprised if we can beat that target.”

The officers spoke further about the new submarines for another hour or so, before Grand Admiral Reinmann and his group left. Reinmann thought that he’d be coming back here quite often over the next two years, as the submarine continued development, and this was one of the most important construction projects for the navy since the Krake-class carriers had been developed.

As the group got back into their cars to exit the airbase, Vice Admiral Gunter Fechter turned to Reinmann.

“Alfred, this is really a game-changer for us, isn’t it.”

“It’s the biggest leap in technology for us, really, since the 1950s. The Schwertfisch-class subs were great, of course, but this is a new era.”

A few hours later, the Grand Admiral stepped back into the Marine High Command building in St. Jakob after a short flight back from Vrnovo. Upon reaching his desk, he found a note from one of his aides - Chancellor Meier had called. The Chancellor probably just wanted an update on the construction plans, he figured - the press conference to announce the Lokke program was tomorrow, after all. He’d have to give him a call back.

ZSeparatists 4-4 Siovanija & Teusland, @ ZSeparatists

Starting XI: Zhelyaskov; Karapetrov, Maksimov, Thierse, Vesele; Bahr (Brotzmann 80’), Mihailov, Bliznakov (Kramer 46’); Segert, Gaspersie (Romanov 46’), A. Dimitrov
Goals: Anton Dimitrov 24’, 72’, Ivo Romanov 55’, Thorsten Kramer 67’
Man of the Match: Ivo Romanov
Report: A tough night for the Goldhorns in ZSeparatists, as they could only manage a 4-4 draw with the home side. The national team knew they would be facing a skilled attacking team going into this one, which makes one question the open style the Goldhorns player to start the game, particularly on the road. ZSeparatists got the better of the first half, going up 2-0 quite quickly as they shocked the Goldhorns early, but Anton Dimitrov would bring the score to 2-1 with a goal in the 24th minute. It didn’t seem to change things, however, as ZSeparatists would get another goal on the brink of halftime to go up 3-1. Gavin Hughes made two changes at the half, bringing on Ivo Romanov and Thorsten Kramer, two of his veterans, and they would make an instant impact on the game. Romanov got his 50th goal for his country with a great effort from just outside the box that made it 3-2, before assisting on Thorsten Kramer’s goal to make it 3-3. Many Goldhorns fans watching on back home must’ve thought that that was the turning point, but what followed was a wild few minutes: ZSeparatists scoring a goal just 4 minutes after Kramer’s, followed by Anton Dimitrov getting his second goal almost instantly off the ensuing kick-off to even things up again at 4-4. Siovanija & Teusland would get one good chance in the final minutes, Linus Segert just missing the target, but take away 1 point from this match. Fortunately for the Goldhorns, many of the other top teams in Group 10 also dropped points on this matchday, and they’ll get an opportunity to make up for this one back at the Nationalstadion as they welcome Trolleborg to Stelburg.

[Valanora]

Lost

Woe rolled in a broken tide
Bits of floatsum cluttering a gloomy shore
Driftwood and reeds mark the way
Imprinted sand collected on the bare
A silver lining lost amidst the black and grays
Veiled eyes glossed over a ruined skyline
What was once painted gold in majesty
Has been left torn bitter in steel and travesty
Where a pilgrim might have roamed in a road less traveled
Now is a pitch black lighthouse shrouded in shadow
Hair like seaweed in a tangled mane
Steps are heavy and weighted as if in a stupor daze
Where direction could be found if not for the floundering
Its a world gone mad
And all the men are drowning

[Ancherion]

With the first quarter of matches done, Ancherion have started to pick up the pace with 3 match unbeaten streak after a win at Blouman Empire and Jamestownn and a draw against Fujai. However the poor start did not lend us help and we are currently in 7th, 10 points of second, 11 from first. So this is going to be a difficult mountain to climb if the top teams don't start dropping points majorly including us beating them.

In the match against Blouman Empire, the first half was not acceptable at all as we went into the break with a 2-0 deposit. In the second half the team were playing much better and a hat trick from our very own Herve Aydin set us up with our first win in this world cup campaign, something to finally look forward to now. However our next match wasn't great either. With only one goal for each side this time, Ancherion come out with 1 point with another upset being caused. It was Taylor with the goal for the national team however an equalizer in the second half by Fujai lead the game into a deadlock and they held onto this scoreline. We got close to scoring several times but with no success. After that we went travelled to Jamestownnnn, where we played a more defensive game than usual as the manager tried to shake things up for the team. This change seemed to have worked well as Ali Roberts scored and took home the 1-0 victory for the team in what was a pretty dominating game outside of goals. Their defense held out very well according to the Ancherion manager after the match.

We are going to go into our second quarter for the qualifying campaign so we have hopes that we can continue this unbeaten streak going at South Concepthuania. The hope is that this quarter will prove vital and having wins against South Concepthuania, Vdara, Kandorith, Mongelechabagb and Lo Santano will improve the teams morale and form before the closer for the first half of qualifying against Xanneria which is a must win situation for us if we want to survive past this group.

Opponent			Home	Away
Nooooooooooooooo		3-3	MD14
HUElavia			MD15	2-3
Equestria			3-4	MD16
Blouman Empire			MD17	3-2
Fujai				1-1	MD18
Jamestownnnn			MD19	1-0

South Concepthuania		MD21	MD8
Vdara				MD9	MD22
Kandorith			MD23	MD10
Monglechabagd			MD11	MD24
Lo Santano			MD25	MD12
Xanneria			MD13	MD26

[Kandorith]

Shinonome Kyoai - International
News From The Empire

---

Matsuda, Tanaka Leading By Example

*   Group 11                              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Equestria                               7    6   1   0    26   12  +14    19
 2 HUElavia                                7    6   0   1    27   15  +12    18
 3 Xanneria                                6    5   1   0    19   12   +7    16
 4 Nooooooooooooooo                        7    2   3   2    11    9   +2     9
 5 Kandorith                               7    2   3   2    15   16   −1     9
 6 Fujai                                   6    2   3   1     8   12   −4     9
 7 Ancherion                               6    2   2   2    13   13    0     8
 8 Vdara                                   7    2   1   4    14   17   −3     7
 9 Lo Santano                              6    1   2   3     8   14   −6     5
10 Jamestownnnn                            6    1   1   4     5    9   −4     4
11 South Concepthuania                     7    1   1   5    11   17   −6     4
12 Blouman Empire                          6    0   3   3     7   11   −4     3
13 Monglechabagd                           6    0   3   3     5   12   −7     3

Tenkyo, heavy rain poured down the Empress Masumi Stadium as Kandorith prepared to face the Blouman Empire. A turn around from previous matches, confident but still lingering with some weariness from the match against Equestria. For Hayabusa the match mattered to keep true to his promise, turning Kandorith around from the less than optimal start of the qualification campaign. The match start could not be any worse for the Lotus Warriors, partially because of the weather but also because of lack of communication on the field the Kandorese side mad costly mistakes throughout the first half. The team should have been able to avoid both level goals easily but were unable to cope with the Blouman attack in the first half of the game. During the second half of the game however, Kandorith was able to recollect the spirit of the team and took control of the game. Shorly being shaken and being able to cope with tough matches is starting to become a signature look for the Kandorese team, which is improving on being less shaken by any opponent after the draw against Equestria.

Tanaka showed exactly why he is the captain during the game, orchestrating most attacks and doing his best to keep the midfield play flowing and attacking. Matsuda however filled a very different role; the main goalscorer in the entire tournament but especially in this match. With clinical precision he scored twice in the match to secure the final victory for the team. Always thinking ahead and prepared to rush the goal was his game plan throughout the match and it worked, brilliantly. In the upcoming match Matsuda will once again start the match and surely he will be looking to increase his number of goals scored once again.

The Kandorese national team is more confident and more expertly dealing with situations than when they started this qualification campaign. More and more it is looking to be returning to the former glory Hayabusa reached with the team. Fans around Kandorith are glad to see their team win again but still are a bit cautious as the wins are still somewhat lacking and very tight wins.

"Scoring only one goal more than the opponent to secure the win is a risk and not optimal of course." Hayabusa commented on the match. "Although the important thing is, we did secure the win. In the end football is about scoring one goal more than the opposing side. As I have said before things need to improve if we want to reach the World Cup and I think we are improving quite a lot in comparison to previous games. I am really proud of the team and how they are growing into a strong and stalwart force to be reckoned with. The only concerns I still have is our defense and some parts of the midfield, but I am very confident we can iron out the mistakes we make. Tanaka and Matsuda were brilliant in this match; they are the show of force and can-do this team has access too. If we continue performing like we have done in the last two matches, we should be able to overcome most of the games ahead of us and secure a spot for sure."

Optimistic words from both Hayabusa and the players in the team are a positive tone towards the upcoming match. The next match for the Kandorese team will be against Fujai, the number six. Beating Fujai would be a huge leap for the Kandorese in extending their point total and indeed taking distance from the lower side of the table in the campaign. It would also mean a gain on Xanneria and HUElavia who play against each other. For Kandorith a draw would be the best outcome as it would mean the greatest gain on both teams, if Kandorith wins. Most fans, if not a draw, prefer Xanneria winning over HUElavia.

The next stage is set and the Kandorese team is ready to get on the field again as all main starting eleven players are fully rested and have recovered from the match against Equestria. Fujai is currently ranked 164th and on paper should be another win for the Kandorese team. The team is mildly optimistic about the upcoming match, but still a bit careful. The carefully looking at games is because of the fact the team is not performing at it's best. Hayabusa has addressed these concerns and has told the media he is sure the team is performing at it's old heights again. Where fitness and mentality were a concern in the first games, slowly but surely the team is turning towards a very well performing and focussed team. Kandorith will be looking for the win and will try even harder to keep a lead in the upcoming game. Most upcoming games can be seen as all-or-nothing games, if they still were to qualify for the World Cup.

[South Newlandia]

ELEPHANT VALLEY MAIL
Sports -> Soccer
South Newlandia - Bliuji ends in exciting draw

Walstreim is one of South Newlandia’s more boring cities, despite being among the 5 biggest ones. The city is mostly industrial, with less cultural offers than the rest of the country. Despite this, the city’s soccer arena, the Walstreim City Stadium, was selected to host two of South Newlandia’s qualifier matches, against Bliuji and Kuriko. Now, on matchday 7, the first of these two would be played, and the Elephants were confident after a 2-0 win in Valanora.

South Newlandia 3-3 Bliuji

South Newlandia looked very confident in the beginning and started pushing early on. In the 3rd minute, it was Corban Green leading the ball on the left side. He saw an opportunity when Brandon Irving got away from the Bliujan defense. A nice pass and a strong shot later, Andriy Pyatov had conceded the first goal of the day, and the Elephants were up 1-0.

Bliuji would not give up so easily. After three white sheets in a row, Mikhail Trischuk was overcome again in the 21st minute. A nice double pass between David Izmaylov and Daniel Lyskov got the latter into a great position, and he equalized the game.

In the 34th minute, Bliuji received a corner. Vitaly Aksakov got the ball into the penalty box, and both Mikhail Trischuk, the South Newlandian goalkeeper, and Roman Aksakov jumped for the ball. The two collided in mid-air with their heads and went to the ground. Both players seemed hurt, and neither one could play on. At this moment, he don’t have exact information on either players injury, but we wish both of them a great recovery. Because Mikhail Trischuk caused the collision, the referee also decided on a penalty for Bliuji.

Rufus Rigby went into the game for Mikhail Trischuk in the 36rd minute after some discussions, and Manuel O’Neill would be the captain for the remainder of the game. Rigby’s day began unexpectedly and with a hard task, a penalty shot by Erik Belov. Rigby jumped to his left, but Belov kept his cool and put the ball right into the middle to give Bliuji the lead.

Even after the second conceded goal, South Newlandia seemed mostly concerned about their injured captain, and barely got anything together. In the 41st minute, Bliuji had yet another good attack after they caught both O’Neill and Anderson sleeping, and Andriy Pyatov was once again alone against the goalkeeper. Like he scored against Trischuk, he scored against Rufus Rigby as well to put Bliuji up 3-1.

It was half-time now, and the Elephants seemed glad they were there now only two goals down. Coach Robert Wolverine clearly had to build his team back up, and apart from words probably said in half-time, he also made his second substitution. Bjorn Cohen came into the match for Ricardo Rayner.

In the 51st minute, Bliuji had a first chance in the second half. They had received a free kick from the left side, and Daniel Lyskov shot the ball into the upper corner. Rufus Rigby got a good safe in to keep South Newlandia in the game.

South Newlandia seemed more focused now, and they got another good chance in the 62nd minute. This time, Finnley Wallis had a free kick, and he decided on a flank towards Marcos Pit. He got his head on the ball, but his header went above the crossbar.

South Newlandia kept pushing, not giving up yet. After a long ball by Raphael Moreno in the 70th minute, Patrick McMora had the ball on the right side. He played a pass to the side, and Bjorn Cohen’s shot went from the crossbar right into the goal. Andriy Pyatov had no chance, and the score was 2-3.

The Elephants pushed even harder for the equalizer now, and they got it in the 87th minute. After another corner by Corban Green, Patrick McMora managed to get the ball over the line with his knee to secure a point for South Newlandia in this exciting game.

South Newlandia can be satisfied with the draw, as they had a great comeback in the second half. The injury of Mikhail Trischuk will certainly cause problems though, as the South Newlandian captain is the key point of the team.

Player Rankings

Mikhail Trischuk (GK, Captain) 6
Insiders told us that he might have suffered a concussion. Wolverine announced that he will miss the game in Juvencus.

Marcos Pit (LB) 6

Manuel O’Neill (LCB) 7

Tommy Anderson (RCB) 6

Raphael Moreno (RB) 6

Kevin Mohamed (DM) 6

Corban Green (LM) 8
Two assists are a solid record.

Patrick McMora (RM) 9
He finally got his first goal as well as one assist.

Finnley Wallis (OM) 6
That was not his best game.

Brandon Irving (ST) 8
It was another solid game for him.

Ricardo Rayner (ST) 6

Rufus Rigby (GK) 7
The 19-year-old played a nice game, he couldn’t do much for either of the goals he conceded.

Bjorn Cohen (ST) 8
Cohen also played a nice match, including a goal.

Starters against Juvencus

Wolverine announced this starting eleven for the game in Juvencus.
Rufus Rigby will replace Mikhail Trischuk as goalkeeper, and Manuel O’Neill will be the captain. Dhruv Roy also makes it back into the starting rotation, replacing Marcos Pit. Other than that, Abdurahman Bishop and Bjorn Cohen are back in the first 11, instead of Finnley Wallis and Ricardo Rayner.

Results from Matchday 7, Group 13

Pangurstan (311) 0-1 The Kytler Peninsulae (UR)
The Kytler Penisulae stopped Pangurstan.

Mavinet (218) 3-3 Juvencus (39)
Mavinet managed a draw against the next South Newlandian oppoents.

Tamgu (79) 0-0 Valanora (15)
Tamgu managed to hold a draw as their situation keeps improving.

Pasarga (25) 2-3 Plane of Possibility (148)
The Planers got a surprising upset against Pasarga.

Eraman (63) 1-0 Ottoman Syldavia (338)
Eraman got the win expected from them.

South Newlandia (228) 3-3 Bliuji (99)

Kuriko had their bye day.

Current standings

Group 13                              Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Valanora                                7    5   1   1    15    7   +8    16
 2 Eraman                                  6    4   1   1    14    9   +5    13
 3 Pasarga                                 6    4   0   2    11    7   +4    12
 4 South Newlandia                         7    3   3   1    13   11   +2    12
 5 Ottoman Syldavia                        7    3   1   3    10    9   +1    10
 6 Mavinet                                 7    3   1   3    18   17   +1    10
 7 Pangurstan                              7    3   0   4    14   16   −2     9
 8 Bliuji                                  6    2   1   3    18   16   +2     7
 9 Juvencus                                6    2   1   3    18   18    0     7
10 The Kytler Peninsulae                   6    2   1   3    12   18   −6     7
11 Plane of Possibility                    7    1   3   3    12   14   −2     6
12 Tamgu                                   6    1   2   3     6   10   −4     5
13 Kuriko                                  6    1   1   4     5   14   −9     4

Schedule for Group 13, Matchday 8

Plane of Possibility (148) vs. Eraman (63)
Can the Planers upset Eraman as well?

Valanora (15) vs. Pasarga (25)
The top matchup between the two top seeds is finally here. This is the most interesting matchup of the day.

Bliuji (99) vs. Tamgu (79)
A duel between two underachievers and both teams will need a win.

The Kytler Peninsulae (UR) vs. Mavinet (218)
Mavinet should be the clear favourite here.

Kuriko (330) vs. Pangurstan (311)
This matchup will hardly matter for anything.

Ottoman Syldavia will have a bye day.

Juvencus (39) vs. South Newlandia (228)
South Newlandia will visit the world number 39 and third seed for their eighth match day. Juvencus has not performed so far, with only 7 points and 9th place after 6 played games. South Newlandia will have a hard time there, but maybe, they can make something happen.

[Jeckland]

JECKLAND CLAIM SECOND WIN OF QUALIFIERS

Jeckland won 3-2 against Necosia at Jecken Stadium to record their second win of the campaign after six matches.

The Spuds stuck with the same eleven that gained a surprise draw away at New Lusitania, aiming to put together a run of form after an inconsistent start to their qualifying campaign. Necosia, who have not provided their players names to date, were looking for their first win of the campaign and took advantage of a slow Jeckish start to take the lead after just seven minutes, with their striker slotting past Clemens at his near post. The Jeckland keeper should probably have done better to save the shot and was visibly frustrated by his efforts.

Whilst those watching at home and in the stadium were likely fearful of a shock defeat, the Jeckish side remained calm, knowing there was a lot of time left in the game and backing their ability over their opposition. The Necosian keeper was kept very busy over the next twenty minutes, making two saves from Stack and one from Dane before the latter turned home a Graves cross to bring the inevitable equaliser. Necosia started to give a little back after the goal, with a long range shot passing narrowly over the bar, but found themselves pinned back into their half once more, with Martel this time forcing the keeper into a flying save.

Whilst the run of play showed Jeckland as deserving of a second goal, the manner of it will have left Necosians feeling hard done by. A low drive from Blanchard took a wicked deflection off the centre back’s boot, arcing in the air over the keeper, who was off his line. Stack stole his way round the keeper and got the final touch on the ball; despite it already going in, he made sure the goal was registered as his, with replays showing it would have been given as an own goal with Blanchard’s shot heading wide.

The second half came and the game seemed much the same. Jeckland were a little more patient, looking to create higher quality openings rather than shooting from range. Blanchard did have another long range effort, but this time there was no deflection to distract from how poor it was. Ross appeared visibly frustrated with the decision to shoot, and Gibbs replaced Blanchard soon after.

The third goal came from some lovely quick passing on the left hand side of the pitch, with Dane, Sanderson and Pain all involved before the latter fizzed the ball across for Martel to slam home. With twenty minutes left the game looked done and dusted, but a rush of blood changed the dynamic. A miscontrol by Sanderson left the ball running away from him, before he wildly lunged to win it back, earning himself a red card. Sanderson was visibly gutted, knowing that he would miss the game against Turori as a result. The fans also didn’t relish the thought of facing the group’s strongest team without their key attacking player.

Fortunately, despite a late goal from Necosia, the striker scoring again, Jeckland were able to comfortably secure the three points with ten men on the pitch. Attention will now turn to the team selection against Turori, with Ross having a decision to make. Shepperd would be the like-for-like replacement, but given the strength of the opposition Gibbs or Deadman may be selected to create a more defensive midfield.

Kayden Ross: “The most important thing today was that we got the three points. I’m pleased with the way we played overall, it could have been better but it was enough to get the job done. Losing Reuben [Sanderson] is a big blow and I’ve reminded him of his responsibilities to the team. I will assess the boys in training before we head off to Turori and make my decision on the starting eleven then.”

ELSEWHERE IN GROUP 1

It was a day of high scoring games all around, with three teams managing six goals and all away teams winning bar Necosia. Euran Oceanian Territories suffered a nightmare 6-2 home defeat to Muradil in the most surprising result of the day. Another team with a poor start, TJUN-ia, showed the multiverse what they were capable of with a 6-1 drubbing of their hosts Villablanca. Turori were unsurprisingly the other team to hit half a dozen, with second placed Sajnur on the receiving end of their first loss. Astograth’s strong start continued with a comprehensive win over Porticalia, while Natanians and Nosts losing their unbeaten record being defeated by New Lusitania.

RESULTS

Euran Oceania Territories 2–6 Muradil
Porticalia 0–3 Astograth
Sajnur 2–6 Turori
Jeckland 3–2 Necosia
Natanians and Nosts 2–4 New Lusitania
Villablanca 1–6 TJUN-ia

TABLE

-  Group 1                                     Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Turori                                        6    6   0   0    21    6  +15    18
 2 Sajnur                                        7    4   2   1    21   18   +3    14
 3 Astograth                                     6    4   1   1    13    5   +8    13
 4 Audioslavia                                   6    4   0   2     9    4   +5    12
 5 New Lusitania                                 7    3   2   2    15   13   +2    11
 6 Natanians and Nosts                           6    2   3   1    14   11   +3     9
 7 Muradil                                       6    2   2   2    11   11    0     8
 8 Jeckland                                      6    2   2   2    13   15   −2     8
 9 TJUN-ia                                       7    2   1   4    13   13    0     7
10 Porticalia                                    7    1   3   3     5   11   −6     6
11 Villablanca                                   6    1   2   3     6   12   −6     5
12 Euran Oceania Territories                     7    1   1   5    14   25  −11     4
13 Necosia                                       7    0   1   6     7   18  −11     1

MATCHDAY 8 FIXTURES
New Lusitania (5th) vs. Villablanca (11th) - Despite some blips the hosts are looking a decent team and should easily win here.

Necosia (13th) vs. Natanians and Nosts (6th) - Necosia will be looking to get their first win here, but their opposition aren’t beaten easily.

Turori (1st) vs. Jeckland (8th) - Jeckland are heavy underdogs here, especially without Sanderson. But who knows what could happen?

Astograth (3rd) vs. Sajnur (2nd) - This should be a good test of where this Astograth side are at right now. They should be able to compete but I can’t see them getting a result.

Muradil (7th) vs. Porticalia (10th) - Muradil haven’t had the best results lately, but this is a big chance to get back on track.

Audioslavia (3rd) vs. Euran Oceanian Territories (12th) - On paper this looks like an easy home win, but I’m sure I don’t have to remind Bulls fans about what their opponents are capable of.

TJUN-ia have a bye day - which they probably don’t want after their thumping win.

OOC: Lineup for game vs. Turori is as follows (4-3-3) - Clemens; Hodson, Lovell, Gilbert ©, Pain; Graves, Gibbs, Blanchard; Martel, Stack, Dane

---

THE CHICKEN CHRONICLES - PART FIVE

“No team has managed to take points off the Eels so far in this World Cup Qualifying Campaign. Tonight, we find out if the Spuds will be the first.”

By tonight, the news anchor meant in three hours time, when the final whistle blew. But Woody Hamm knew it was also tonight right now, and was also fairly sure the Spuds would not get a result tonight, certainly not without Sanderson.

He had been watching the World Cup Qualifiers with interest as both a fan and a sponsor. Whilst he cheered Jeckland’s first win away at Villablanca, he was even more happy when Necosia were defeated, as this happened in the stadium bearing his company’s name. He was sat there thinking about who Ross would replace Sanderson with when the television distracted him.

“Of course, there have also been headlines regarding Turori about the use of the drink Cocoa-bo. Led by The Holy Empire captain Sir Barsanaphus The Bold, there have been claims that the drink is addictive and contains performance enhancing drugs, which the manufacturers deny.”

The news had cut to the armour-clad captain ranting about his dreams of a Cocoa-bo free world, but Hamm was once again in his own mind. Cocoa-bo. They had achieved everything he was trying to do with Jecken - build a multiversal brand. How had they done it? He would have to study their business model in more detail, but that could wait until after the match. Then a more sinister thought occurred to Hamm.

Whilst they weren’t in the same sector, Cocoa-bo would suffer if these allegations gained steam, right? Could that create an opportunity for Jecken?

It was probably too risky, he decided, before reclining in his chair and flicking the channel to the match build up. But the seed of a thought had been sewn.

---

Seven

It had been three weeks since the first time I’d cried, and every day was a struggle now.

Here’s how things went. I’d get up, lie in bed for as long as I could get away with, shower, get dressed, go wherever I needed to go, show my face, contribute the bare minimum, leave, eat, sit in my room watching TV shows to pass the time, sleep.

Not exactly like that all the time, but that was the gist of it. I’d still go out to the club with my flatmates when they were going. Then I could be sociable, kick back and enjoy myself. The alcohol helped with that I suppose. But the hangover combined with grieving over my dead father? Not fun.

I’d constantly find myself exhausted despite doing nothing much with my time. This was often because the times where I wanted to cry weren’t just when I was in my room on my own. Sometimes I’d sit in the back of lectures or seminars, my body present but my mind miles away. I wasn’t just stressing about Dad of course. Once I was in that state everything became a source of anguish - the dishes I hadn’t done last night, the fact I’d swerved talking to Cornell this morning because I was feeling down, the fact that the underwear I was wearing had already been worn twice. Despite it all I managed to hide it from everyone, including my mother - no benefit in making other people suffer worrying about me.

The one great release for me was the five a side. Now an established member of the team, I put in some great performances as we rose to second in our mini league. Of particular note was the time where in the last minute of the game with our team one goal up, a shot hit me square in the testicles. Despite being in unimaginable pain (surely giving birth can’t be worse than that), I had the presence of mind to stick an arm in the air in hope as the rebound shot came in, and by some miracle I made the save to secure the win.

So in conclusion, being hit very hard in the balls was the highlight of the month.

[Vdara]

What a bore!

Coming into this match, Vdara had just won their second game all tournament, with a record of 2 wins and 4 losses in all. Now, Vdara had a chance to better that record and climb up the table by another three points. All that stood in their way was Fujai.

“Hello lads,” Væñøœrëñbérghüïś began, “good to see that you’re all here, and presumably in tip top form, no? Anyhow, today should be a day where our bad form disappears! We’ve disappointed the fans too much during this qualifying campaign, and we need to right our wrongs by not fucking losing, ya hear? Good. Now, of course I’d love you all to go out and win this game, but Fujai aren’t the worst side in this group, so I’d at least like a draw. Got it? Good. Now, let’s get this bread, allons-y!”

The match report is as follows:

1: It’s kickoff here at the VdarArena, as the hosts Vdara play Fujai, a decent team from a small archipelago. Let’s see how this game goes!
6: Vlahiades is making a good run out from the left side, he’s cut inside, taken a shot and... it’s gone in! What a lovely goal from Tryfon Vlahiades!
8: Hellem has rounded the defenders here, she’s through on goal... and it’s in! Fujai have equalised, and it’s only been two minutes.
45: Well er, I don’t know what to tell you here, it’s half time here at the VdarArena, and nothing of note has happened! Nothing at all! It started off well, and just kinda dwindled into boredom. Onto the next half, I suppose!

Væñøœrëñbérghüïś was a bit miffed as he walked into the dressing room, having just watched the most boring performance by his team that he had seen so far. Even the 6-4 loss to HUElavia was more interesting to watch.

“Lads... what’s happening? Can any of yous elaborate? Why has nothing happened for most of this half? Why was the last thing of note a goal for them? I’m confused. Please get on with it, I can’t stand boring matches, even when we’re not losing.”

46: And the game kicks off again, still at 1-1.
56: Well, this game is turning out to be a spectacle, not because of how good it is, but how boring it’s turning out to be! When will this game get interesting?
62: Vlahiades. Passes it back to Giannakos. Passes it back to Vlahiades, who passes it forward to Karalas. Karalas losses possession... zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz
89: ghn... ugh.... did I miss anything? No? Jesus, what’s been happening? What time is it... Jesus, 89 minutes in and we’re still at 1-1? Jesus Christ!
90: Oop, that’s the game over! If any of you changed channel, I don’t blame you, that was a rubbish game.

Following that dreadful game, Væñøœrëñbérghüïś was not just miffed, but frustrated. Football is supposed to be a source of entertainment for many, and this game was just the opposite of all things entertaining.

”Jesus f**king Christ, could that game have been any more boring? I don’t think I’ve been this bored since my flight was delayed for 13 hours and I was stuck at the airport for way too f**king long! Where was the passion? Where was the f**king passion? I know where it is, you left it in fucking Blouman. You’ve gotten complacent, haven’t you? You’re a group of idiots, I’ll tell you right now. If you can’t beat Fujai, can we beat f**king Jamestownnnn? I’m telling you now, we better f**king win that match, otherwise you’re all getting heavily punished, ya hear? HEAVILY!”

[Oberour Ar Moro]

All throughout the cabinet meeting Conmore des Paveillons had been smiling smugly and looking over at Collas d'Arcueil, and d'Arcueil was sick of it.

The IPR had made some kind of discovery, and des Paveillons knew about it, and d'Arcueil didn't. Or wouldn't, if it wasn't written on de Paveillons face.

After the meeting ended and the ministers started to leave, the Minister of Research sauntered up to the Minister of Foreign Affairs. "My office is going to sending out a press release. Do we have your office's information on file to make sure you get a copy?"

If d'Arcueil could take a swing at des Paveillons he would. "You wouldn't have anything without me Conmore. Where do you get off-"

Collas was cut off. "And you never had anything, Minister d'Arcueil. The Ministry of Foreign Policy could never run the Institute of Particle Research. And I'll be forever grateful for bringing this matter to my attention. Perhaps when I'm Chancellor I can appoint you to the Ministry of Research. Have a good day Minister!" With that, des Paveillons wheeled off and started humming an off-tune song. All d'Arcueil could do was seethe.



Bye Bye Bye
By Daniel de Bourgogne

The Oberour Ar Moro national team had its first bye of the World Cup qualification, and not a moment too soon. A respite after losses to Qasden, Krytenia, and Newmanistan have the Dragoons down in the dumps, and the moment to regroup is always welcome.

Gildoun Roux has expressed some concerns with the Dragoons' defense. Gwion du Bourc-la-Reyne and Lunen Margas have been long time starters, but Roux is going to bring new blood into the defense in hopes to reduce the goals they have been giving up. Donatien Calenge and Perien de Carenton will be the starting left and right backs for the next few matches, while Gilduin Sireu, Daniel l’Estuve, Maudez d'Annet, and Tivio de Malhortye will try to get time as backups.

Oberour Ar Moro welcomes Drunk People at the Local Tavern to the Parade Grounds. The Drunk People are riding a wave of momentum after scoring a win against Newmanistan in their own literal backyard. The Dragoons will try to end their poor run of form, while preventing the Drunk People from carousing in Regium.

[Pasarga]

Tobias Möller was taking a moment to let it all sink in, to savior that sweet taste of triumph. It had been such a long time coming, to prove that his methods were right and could be used to great success and now after over two decades of putting in the work, he could finally enjoy the fruits of his labors. At age thirty-six, fresh off of his retirement in his playing career Hellinic Rouge had contacted him with an offer to take over their vacant managerial position. The club did not demand much, to merely keep the Spartans in contention for a top half finish and work towards constant challenging for the ICCs places, with a look to the future to develop the youth academy into something respectable like Baskita, CAP, or Tani's academies. Evenfar was far from one of the most populous or popular cities in the dual islands and the board knew that the reach of the club was only so much, that they were going to have to work to build the club up if they were going to be battling to be among the best in Pasarga. From the word go, this was always going to be a long term project but one both the club and Tobias thought could benefit from his name attached to the club, with being the leading scorer for the Wanderers' at the time.

Enjoying some success ahead of schedule, Tobias was recruited to take the reigns of the national team on top of that of the Spartans. It was thought to be a perfect match, the prodigal son of the national team returning to manage it after a very good start to their club managerial career. It turned out to be something of a disaster, as the success that had been part of Tobias' generation had slowly began to ebb away at that point, despite the presence of some very skillful players for the manager to pick from. There was something missing, something that Tobias feared was still missing from the Wanderers squads even now, and despite all the success that he had with Hellinic and with the skillful players at his disposal, success with the Wanderers never came his way before the parties agreed to split. He was granted a second chance with the Vanorian national team but seemed to find the same frustrations with the Marauders as he had with the Wanderers and eventually saw out his contract with them and did not have it renewed, leaving him to focus solely on the Spartans.

The last two years were the culmination of twenty years of his work, of recruiting the right youngsters to come and sign with the team and making the shrewd moves for players when the need arose. The acquisition of club legend Fox Charnwood was part of Tobias' push to move the Spartans from contenders for international places to contenders for the title itself. Everything though fell into place two summers ago, with the signing of Eastfielder national team striker Nya Murray to partner with an aging Charnwood. The pair seemed to gel naturally and the rest of the team played out of their minds behind them, with many club trained players coming good for the squad. It was not the most beautiful type of football but it was effective, it was brilliant in this last season, and it was a lifetime of hard work coming good for Tobias and vindicating him. It had taken a few more years than he had anticipated but the Spartans had won silverware for the first time in their history in the last three years, starting with a Copa victory and the last two seasons being the best team in the SuperLiga.

A lifetime of work, yes that what it had been for Tobias and he knew that as much as part of him wanted to stay on and see how long he could keep this run at the top of the SuperLiga going, it was time for him to finally call it quits on the managerial career. In this way he could retire at the top, of feeling that elation of being the very best that Pasarga had to offer and knowing that all of his work to get them this far was worth it. His sixtieth birthday had happened in the last year and it was time for him to pass the torch, let someone else try to get the Spartans to contenders in the international competitions now that they had finally conquered their domestic league. Perhaps the next chapter of Pasargan footballing history would be centered around this little club in little ol' Evenfar that a disgraced national team striker had built up... Wouldn't that be amusing?

[Bushkrub]

Bushkrub's losing streak continues in its latest match against Baker Park which finished in a spectacularly embarrassing 7-3 score against them. Despite three great goals from Yong-um, Mom, and Messy, the team's performance fell short. In the locker room, Mr. Barnacle shouted at the players, "I CAN'T BEIEVE Y'ALL DINGI ARE EVEN CAPABLE OF PLAYING THAT BADLY! I think it would be best if we change things up a bit. Next match, we're going to use a 4-4-2 formation and rethink our strategy."

Starting Lineup for Next Match
Goalkeeper Johan Johnson
Left Back Gofa Kurseff
Center Back Panchelli Chorelli
Center Back Walter Halter
Right Back Tracy Vegan
Left Midfield Joe Birdkiller
Center Midfield Edwin Footburger
Center Midfield Lion Messy
Right Midfield Horseman Fricker
Striker Larry Lettuce
Striker Your Mom

[Trolleborg]

Previous parts of the story: 1 – 2 – 3 – 4 – 5 – 6 – 7

After the ice cream was eaten, Wesley and Naomi decided to walk around, make a circle around the area and return to the main square to take pictures there and watch the famous, as rumored, and extremely old, watches on the building of the former city administration.

When their circle was almost completed, they came across a small and rather modest building with the inscription "Historical Museum of Trolleborg".

“I think this would be a good place to pass the time. At the same time, I think we’ll learn something about local history without resorting to their robots and automatic machines” – and Wesley expressed the feelings, which at that moment had also visited Naomi. After a conversation with Keith, for some reason they felt themselves a little awkward, as if by their questions and tasks they distracting a busy man with some nonsense.
"Yes, and the building is very small, we will quickly manage to see everything" Naomi nodded in agreement, and the travelers moved along the path and entered the entrance hall, which was quite cramped and completely not reminiscent of the entrance to the museum with such a big name.

Inside, they were greeted by a middle-aged rosy woman in a suit that looked like a tidy and cleaned version of the clothes that the reenactment participants, whom they meet at morning, had worn.
"....!" she said in her own language, and right there, from somewhere in the area of her ear, some device translated: “Here, please!”, and following the movement of her hand, the guests from Zwangzug went through the door.

Which led, as it turned our, into the space underground, that was so huge that at first Wesley thought they can return to their hotel, or even to the airport without going to the surface. Five floors, at least, was visible from the entrance, and the halls stretch in all directions.

Well, we was here, and it’s impolite just to retreat, especially after the face that appeared on the nearest wall, smiled and notified "Today the entrance is free."

Having smiled in response, the guests of the country moved forward, walked past an empty counter with a cash register terminal and hesitated for a second in front of the museum plan.

“What would you like to see?” - asked the same face, appearing on the next wall.

Then Naomi herself was surprised what they did next. After all this ends, he don’t understood fully, why she did such a decision. She just lost temper, as she sometimes did, this time being apparently already overwhelmed with an irrational feeling of dislike for the constant virtual characters and their “what do you want?”. She, after all, is not a small child to be led here and there. Therefore, she grunted “thank you, we will figure it out ourselves!” - and dragged Wesley to the nearest door to the exhibition, one of five in this room, on which something was written in large Trolleborg runes and smaller letters in English. She did not read whatever was written here, but just opened the door and entered.

It was light inside. More precisely, there was forest inside, shrouded in thick fog. Right under feets there was a blown up and ragged forest soil.

At some distance right in front something screamed in a really loud – in fact, VERY LOOOOUUUUUD! – insane voice, with three or four something like alarm sirens responding to that. And then a threatening multiple clang came from somewhere, the earth trembled, the sound of gunfire was heard, and the fog cut through by the bright lines of tracers that someone was shooting, trying to get into the travelers. Naomi, totally shocked by this, turned, trying to get back through the door, but there was no door ...

[Recuecn]

Even at the best of times, when it was functioning as intended, the reçuecian government was a confusing mess. It seemed ironic then that the ministère des affaires étrangères, which was on paper so much simpler than any other part of the government, was the site of the most backbiting, drama, and deadlock. In such a historically isolationist nation, the ministry ought to have had less to worry about. In reality, however, there was a perfectly logical reason—not, per se, a good reason, but a logical one, at least—that such was the case.

The nation of Reçueçn, due to its unique origins, held that the various states which constituted it were sovereign and equal. The national, "federal" government was in no way greater than the sum of its parts. Therefore, since the deposition of Carl "le III" and his subsequent execution, Reçueçn, as a nation, had never had a head of state, or even a head of government in a form that would be recognized in most other countries. "Plus grand qu'un homme" was the slogan bandied about and repeated in speeches, translated for anglophones alternately along the lines of "More than just one man", or "Greater than a single person". Reçueçn wouldn't limit itself by choosing just one representative to the world.

That, at least, was the philosophy. The rest of the world couldn't sit down at a negotiating table with a philosophy; the rest of the world expected a representative. As the reçuecians recognized this, the ministre des affaires étrangères became the nation's default figurehead, the person to whom the country turned to present its voice to its neighbors, allies, and enemies. And so the ministre des affaires étrangères became the most hotly contested job in Reçueçn.

Parties fought long and hard to have their choice take the spot, in exhaustive, all-out political combats that wracked the chambre des pairs and fatigued the country. So intense were the battles that often a minister sat for no more than a few days, a couple weeks, or a month, or, when at last a suitable compromise was reached, the chosen candidate would be allowed to retain the position until he died in office, so much did the nation dread reigniting the conflict over the post.

After 150 years of this constant bitter struggle, which so exhausted the legislators and politicians that it detracted from their ability to govern, the post fell empty yet again with the death of a great man. The last minister was such a respected figure, with such universal appeal, that the thought of replacing him seemed impossible. After he had stood in those shoes, who else could dare to attempt the same, much less resume the old partisan bickering to put one of so much less stature in that now-hallowed place? And so, just as their forebears had refused to name just one person as a head of state, now the chambre des pairs refused to elect a foreign minister. And because, if there was just one person in charge of the ministry they would become the de facto foreign minister just as the foreign minister had become the de facto head of state, the peers now put in place an entire slate of deputy foreign ministers, so that no single one of them could claim preeminence. The compromise was tense, but it held, and once more reçuecian politicians had the freedom to turn to governing their nation. Everything was better.

Everywhere, that is, except the ministère des affaires étrangères, now sans ministre. Nowhere else, as it might be imagined, did the old proverb about cooks and broth hold more true. Twenty years without unified guidance did strange things to the ministry's bureaucracy, which came alive as its own entity like a moldy cheese ignored too long. The ministry needed a firm hand, but none of the deputy ministers could provide that, lest they risk being removed for the sin of daring to aspire to that vacant title.

Strangely, more than a decade after the compromise had first been reached, one young man found that there were conditions under which it was possible to take decisive, individual action to accomplish what needed to be done. The conditions were two: first, no one outside the ministry could know your name (it was Émile Rougemont). Second, your title had to be as unimpressive as possible (his was stagiaire). The beauty of being known only to his bosses, and only for the work he did, meant that Émile found himself the perfect neutral name and face to put at the end of a diplomatic cable or appear at an important gala. And usually, that went very well.

This time, the ministère had not been so fortunate. It began with an invitation to an inauguration: a far-off country, rebuilding from a war, would be to see its first peaceful transition of power. Reçueçn had no consulate, no ambassador, but of course someone must be sent to celebrate the success of democracy, and that someone would be Émile.

From that point on, everything went wrong. A GSW-AO staffer brushed him up on Banijan politics and culture—Émile received a handout with a list of translations of Banijan political terms that he'd seen a million times. But Émile was confused.

"I didn't think there was a transition happening in Banija right now?" he asked.

"What? No, there's not," said the staffer, and continued the briefing unfazed. It certainly had to be admitted he knew his stuff.

Perhaps someone had given the staffer the wrong name. Or maybe he had confused them himself; after all, 'Banija' and 'Busoga' were such similar names, and the countries so close to each other. It would be an entirely understandable mistake to make, if you didn't work in a branch of the foreign affairs ministry expressly concerned that that specific part of the world. (Of course, if that was your job, you could expect that after making that particular mistake, it wouldn't be, afterward.)

The one saving grace was that apparently whoever booked the tickets had better reading comprehension than the rest of the ministry. Émile's flight took him to the right place, although he didn't notice the mistake until he had already been waved through security with his diplomatic passport and was standing in the terminal, trying to find his flight. He pulled out his tickets, and there it was, sure enough, printed in those weird block letters airlines still feel obliged to use, "LKS-LAKISKA". Well, merde.

It made a lot more sense, Émile realized as he thought about it. There was an inauguration in Busoga for him to attend, and besides, there was already a reçuecian ambassador in Banija. They wouldn't have had to send another person all the way to Atlantian Oceania just for a ceremony. But on the other hand, the more he thought about it, the more the mistakes compounded on themselves. He'd been extemporaneously appointed "Special Ambassador to Banija", which was not only useless to him, but also definitely stepped on the actual ambassador's toes. The gift he'd been given to present came with a little plaque that said "consacré à l'amitié reçueço-banijain", so that was out. Émile called the ministry for an emergency conference.

So it was that only minutes before touching down in Lakiska, with only a couple hours to spare before the inauguration ceremony, that Émile received a text through the usual encrypted channel on his work phone from a foreign ministry that had clearly panicked. It read: "You are hereby temporarily appointed Acting Foreign Minister." Émile didn't know whether to laugh or to swear at his phone. This was ridiculous.

The flight itself was uneventful. On arrival he duly removed his badge proclaiming himself "Special Ambassador to Banija" and replaced it with a small reçuecian flag pin. Delbin Kasekende, the new president of a newly free nation, referred to him by name as the reçuecian Acting Foreign Minister in his inauguration speech. Émile could already imagine the newscasters being given a "preferred translation" to use by the administration back home, to make sure no reçuecians got confused by what they saw on TV. If anyone was watching—if the foreign ministry itself couldn't be bothered to get it right, it was expecting a lot to hope that any average reçuecians would be tuning in.

To be honest, the ministry almost got away with their blunder. The inauguration was fine, of course no one noticed—Reçueçn were never the focus there. But when, the moment it was concluded, Émile received another message informing him that his temporary stint as "Acting Foreign Minister" was already over—the ministry was taking no chances—it turned out that the course correction was too much, too soon. At the inaugural ball that evening, Kasekende went around the room and spoke to all the foreign dignitaries individually, and Émile knew it was impossible to escape. He made it through the conversation without a slip—Kasekende was very polite and managed to at least appear personally interested in everyone—but only moments after it was over, Émile overheard Kasekende talking to an aide. Émile's name came up incidentally, and the aide sealed his fate—and the fate of Reçueçn's self respect, let alone the ministry's. "Oh, Rougemont? The intern? They sent him?"

Émile caught Kasekende's eye for a split second and saw the look of confusion on his face before looking away in burning shame. He left the ball early—there was nothing he could say to make amends for such a blunder. When Banija announced the next day that it would be developing nuclear weapons, Émile almost wanted to breathe a sigh of relief. At least the Busogans had something to worry about besides an accidental insult from Reçueçn.

[95X]

95X 2, Cosumar 0
(95X: Madison :57 :78)

95X soundly defeated Cosumar, two to nothing.

With Zedex Sinclair filling in for Alix Ajax (and Jalisa Ninetyfour filling in for Sinclair's starting spot), the star of this game was Summer Madison, who scored both goals in the game.

Due to a power outage caused by a thunderstorm, timely reporting of the match was severely limited.

[Zwangzug]

~witty cutoff message~
Scores for groups 9-15.

[Port Ember]

Sweat, Blood and Glory - Part 4

This follows the events leading up to and immediately following Match Day 4

After an absolute steamrolling victory over Indusse, the Port Emberian national football team were in high spirits. In one match the young Dragons have managed to restore the lost confidence from their Coach and the fans. A 6-1 victory would seem to be the cure for all the ails of the world's problems. Unfortunately for the team, the coach and the fans, this marvelous victory only served to reawaken the age old problem which managed to plague this young team since its inception- over confidence. Immediately after the game was concluded the team went to visit a local nightclub en masse, with the exception of Frazer Murray and a select other few, who decided to rather head home and spend the aftermath glory at home with their family and loved one instead. At the club, bottles upon bottles of Rum and beer were consumed by the players in attendance and lines upon lines of cocaine were snorted down nostrils. All legal and fair game within the tropical island Republic. The hard partying players also attracted a large group of young women who were attracted to the abundance of substances, fame and almost mechanically sculpted bodies. It did not take long for the party to turn into a steaming hot affair, human flesh entwined into human flesh, whilst the alcohol, drugs and music set the mood of euphoria and pure entertainment. Late in the evening (early morning to be technically accurate), a scuffle broke out between Ray and starting defender Alex Kuhn. Ray seated on a plush leather couch within the VIP lounge of the club, a random but extremely attractive lady was straddling his lap, the pair communicating in the universal language of lips and lust. Alex, returning from the bar - a fresh bottle of rum in hand, observed the spectacle taking place, angered beyond belief instantly. He plopped down on the couch next to the pair, addressing Ray, not bothering to conceal the anger and agitation in his tone, "The Hell brother? You know this is my squeeze! I called dibs." Ray laughed in response, "Perhaps yeah, but she got bored whilst waiting on you during your bar run. I'm just keeping her busy for ya mate. You can have her back now.." Not impressed with the response, Alex's eyes turned a dark shade as he responded, "That's a shitty move mate. You can have any girl you want in here. Why would you steal mine? You suck as a friend." Ray laughed once more, "You're right offcourse, I can have any girl I want. And right now I want Janene here. It's not about me being a terrible friend, it's about me being more famous, attractive and generally more awesome than you." Before Alex could respond the girl interrupted from her lap seat, "Actually my name is Sarah...". Ray snapped back "Not now sugar - the lads be speaking. Besides your name does not matter." Alex jumped to his feet, rapidly throwing the full bottle of rum past Ray's head, smashing into pieces against the wall behind him. Without waiting for a response, he turned around and walked out fuming. Ray laughed and shrugged the events of, continuing to pay attention to the girl seated on his lap. As the night dragged on, Ray waved Sarah off and moved his attention to more ladies whom was busy spending time with his fellow teammates- resulting in much the same result as before. Ray was seen leaving the club with four young lassies attached to his arms - vanishing from the face of the earth for three days.

Ray rocked up at the stadium four days later about halfway through the day's session, having already missed two official practice sessions, and he looked like shit. He was dirty and unkempt and reeked of a combination of foul smells. Furthermore he was clearly still under the influence of a variety of mind altering substances. Coach Stuart Baxter paused the ongoing session and immediately called him into his office. Constant loud explosive but inaudible shouts, threats, insults, curses and obscenities were thrown back and forth between the two occupants, the players outside the room pacing around nervously. Twenty minutes later Ray stormed from the office, slamming the door shut behind him and continued to storm out of the stadium. The team were sent back to the pitch without any explanation to continue the training session when the coach emerged from the office, looking defeated instead of his normal angry self.

Later that evening Stuart was accompanied by Connor Davies, the Assistant Coach for the Port Emberian National Team, and lifelong friend of Stuart, at a quaint local pub situated not far from the stadium. The two graying men were seated at the bar counter each sipping an ice cold beer, looking quite sullen. Stuart finally broke the long silence, "What the hell has happened to the lad Connor? He used to be such a good kid. He was always talented, but he used to be a hard worker. Friendly. Kind. Disciplined. Heart of gold. It seems that all that has dissapeared over night. He is ruining his career and his life, and its unfolding right before my very eyes." Connor took in a deep sigh, raising his shoulders helplessly, "Fame I guess. Kid's an orphan, so the slightest amount of attention and love has an psychological impact on him. Not to even mention the fact that the entire country loves him now and showers him with attention." Stuart shaked his head in a defeated manner, "But I knew the little shit since he was fourteen. I have always but always treated each and every one of these forgotten children with respect, dignity and love. I have treated them with love always." Connor looked up at his friend, forming a soft but sad smile, "Yeah true mate - but you dont have tits.." Both men chuckled. It's true, the magical and trancelike effect a women's magical aura can project has been the downfall of many legends in history. The two aged gentlemen finished their beers and headed home, none the wiser with a possible solution to their rebellious Captain problem.

After a particularly difficult training session, Frazer's body was starting to complain due to the ever constant pressure Frazer has been placing on it, demanding ever more, day, month, year after one another. His body was tense and aching and knew it needed some reprieve, thus he reluctantly forced himself towards the office of Sally Jones, the massage therapist of the team - and also the women whom he has loved with his entire heart for many years, even though he has almost never spoken to her in the eight years they have worked together. He quickly found himself standing in front of Sally's door, his arms feeling abnormally heavy, too heavy to lift in order to execute a simple knock on the door. After much determination he finally managed to do so finally, and he could hear Sally say with her angelic voice a simple "Come in", which made heart sink into his feet. He mustered all remaining courage and entered. Sally wore her long auburn hair into a single simple pony which was only emphasizing her sparkling green eyes which always held a sprinkle of excitement within. She wore a loose fitting white top and a pair of very tight fitting jeans. She was the very definition of perfect in the eyes of Frazer. After exchanging simple greetings and a short conversation about the status of Frazer's battered body, he found himself laying shirtless on his stomach on the massage table. When Sally Jones touched his chiseled hard skin for the very first time, it caused shivers to run down his spine. Her hands were soft as silk and he could feel an absolute feeling of pure magic eminating from those angelic hands. He knew at that very moment that he would kill and die for this women. After an hours session, Frazer felt like a new man and celebrated by going on a 30km run that night when he returned home. Sally Jones would receive a massive bunch of roses delivered to her office the following morning with a simple card which was messaged with a simple "Thank you - the body is an all new machine thanks to you"

The team eventually left for Tequilo onboard the PEFAS Argie SilverPine, with a tense atmosphere hanging thickly onboard. The coach was still angry as hell at his Captain, and so was most of the team due to his after-work antics directly affecting them. Ray used to be a role model to them all and a great popular friend. Lately he was just a pure asshole. The onboard parties and orgies were a thing of the past as the Coach ensured that the normal privelage of onboard alcohol, drugs and escorts were revoked until the players could prove that they were mature enough to handle the pleasures the world had to offer. That tense nature and discontent within the team were carried over into the match itself, which directly led to the team drawing 1-1 against Tequilo- yet another match which was supposed to be an easy win.

This follows the events leading up to and immediately following Match Day 5

The atmosphere within the Dragon's Lair - the Lilly Black Memorial Stadium[/i] were the darkest it has ever been since the inception of this team - the very team who have been groomed from when the boys were only 14 years old. The very same team who managed to shock the multiverse by storming the Cup of Harmony as a bunch of inexperienced but hungry 18 year olds, snatching the bronze in the end. The same squad who failed to qualify for the World Cup proper that same year - but still managed to defeat a few of the best and most established teams in the game by relying on their absolute fitness levels, passion, team cohesion and hunger for success. The same squad who were invited for the esteemed Cup of Harmony that same year, where they again managed to shake the foundations of the establishment when they grabbed bronze here too. The same team who again kicked the establishment in the face when they qualified for the World Cup Proper on their next attempt, outperforming better nations who have attempted this same feat for many years past. They same team who kept true to their impressing nature when they grabbed yet another Bronze during the last Independent Association Cup. And now they were falling apart. 8 years of living, training, playing and evolving together was busy falling to pieces overnight. The team started to unravel due to the antics and terrible example and attitude eminating from their Captain, but he was no longer the sole cause for the division. Constant partying together seemed to be largest source of the division, as the players became involved in arguments when they were intoxicated or high, constantly leading to brawls in public. The local media and paparazzi loved every moment offcourse, finally having some juicy stories to post about the normally well behaved team. Teammates smashing each other in the face in the streets made it on the cover pages of local papers, magazines and tabloids almost every second day. This snowballed into members of the media and social media at large picking individual sides, driving the wedge between the team even deeper. This ill feelings spilled over onto the training pitch where players were actively hurting one another during training sessions. The select few times which Ray was sober enough to actually care, he failed to regain control and unison between the team, as he have long lost the respect of his teammates. The severity of the problems within the team was highlighted during match day 5 when they lost against a very weak team hailing from the nation of Quakmybush- at home within their mystical brand new stadium. The hope of the team to build a mystical fearsome reputation for the stadium was killed alongside the last remaining shred of loyalty to one another. The media was continuing to have a field day due to the terrible state of affairs within the team and their poor performance- in a Qualification season where the nation had demanded a Qualification spot from their team. The publics anger was fueled by the constant media bombardment and soon calls to fire Coach Baxter was being voiced. The man who single handedly build the national team from scratch and led it to the success it was today - the man who caused the so called Football Revolution within the Republic - the man who was appointed as the Man of the Year the year before by the Port Ember Times, were now one of the most hated men in the nation almost overnight.

Meanwhile, Frazer had discovered a new surge of confidence and was actively pursuing the affection of Sally Jones - no longer just loving her from afar. He started visiting her after every training session for a massage - her touch becoming the most euphoric drug he has ever experienced. He made constant small talk during their sessions, learning all the personal tidbits of this angel. He had learned that gray was her favorite color, she loved orange roses, sushi was her favorite meal, the local canvist artist Selena Paige was her favorite artist, the Port Emberian folk rock band was her favorite music and that she loved nature and animals. He would give less and less money to his family, and instead spending it on gifts to Sally - a dozen orange roses delivered daily, sushi delivered every lunch time and even a new kitten.

This follows the events leading up to and immediately following Match Day 6 & 7, and the build up of Match Day 8

The poor cohesion and conflict within the Port Emberian camp led to yet another casualty in the form of losing yet again to a weaker opponent during Match Day 6. The loss against Petroslovania was a bitter one, with Ray Reddington and Alex Kuhn openly fighting each other on the pitch after the match, punching each other in the face without hesitation. The calls to sack Stuart Baxter was now no longer murmurs on social media - it became a demand which was nearing a riot. These demands become so serious that the chairman of the Port Ember Football Association- Peter White was forced to hold a press conference to beg for calm from the fans and afford the team a oppertunity to recover and regain their trust. This from a man who held a strong hatred against speaking to the media. The public loved and respected Mister White, as it was due to his vision and determination which managed to establish the Youth Development Program eight years ago which directly became the carriers of the Football Revolution within the Republic- despite the stiff opposition he faced when he initiated the program. The fans decided to stand behind their once loved team for a llittle while longer due to the respect held for Mister White. Peter immediately placed immense pressure upon Baxter and started throwing threats into the arena, that the coach might not see a renewed contract proposal coming forth if he could not get control over his misfit team. Coach Baxter in turn issued the same threats to the ringleaders of the rebellion within the squad, combined with a constant punishing training regime, the likes of which was unseen to this point in their history. This seemed to have a somewhat positive impact on the team as they managed to finally break their losing streak when they defeated the national team of Atheist Democratic Freehold. Although the victory worked well in terms of pleasing the angry public, the team and analysts alike knew that the teams troubles were far from over. Their victory was far from being impressive against a weaker opponent, and it was clear that the passion and hunger which this team has always been known for is now long gone. This was particularly worrisome as their next opponents would be Ko-oren, a much more experienced and stronger team, following a hyper defensive playstyle- the same system employed by the team of Taeshan, who managed to break break the spirit and confidence of the young Dragons during the previous World Cup proper. Although the team have never faced Ko-oren on the pitch before, the Republic's populace held a large amount of respect for their nation, as one of its native businesses - Loro Language Schools, was very active within the Republic and held a very positive public image. Furthermore this nation was a partner nation of the Global Free Trade Consortium, of which Port Ember was the founder nation. This economical cooperation led to a strong feeling of respect towards their future opponents.

Meanwhile the conflict between the Coach and Captain had reached boiling point after weeks of conflict. The bubble finally burst when Ray skipped two more practice sessions and once again reported late - and drunk on the third. After an hour of verbal conflict, Coach Baxter did the unthinkable- he benched his Captain for the following match, until when he deemed Ray has once again deserved to form part the team again. Whilst this was unavoidable, the media and fans alike was angered beyond belief - everyone knew Ray was the best player on the team, and felt it unwise to bench him for the toughest match of the season so far, yet Stuart was adamant not to change his mind. The biggest surprise of them all was that Ray was replaced for the following match against Ko-oren by none other than Frazer Murray.

Frazer physically fainted when the news was broken to him. Once he awoke, the entire team laughed at their team mate - but followed it up with a massive applause. They all knew he was not a social type, and never spend personal time with the team, but ironically this counted in his favour as he was never involved in the after work conflict, arguments and brawls. The players also knew that he might not be the most talented player, but he was most definitely the hardest working one on the team. Frazer used his new found confidence to make a move on Sally Jones, inviting her to join him to attend a live concert of Sally's favorite band the evening after the upcoming match day. She gladly accepted.

[Kohnhead]

Kohnhead get their third home win in as many games



Kohnhead players "dab" after scoring

Kohnhead have thrived at Orange Bull Arena winning three of three games there with the latest a 2-1 victory over 193rd ranked Torisakia. Kohnhead have surprisingly scored 11 points in 6 games with an astonishing 9 of those points coming at Orange Bull Arena and I hope it is starting to become a place teams fear to play at. The main question would Madison Richards perform good enough against the Ice Birds to allow Kohnhead a chance to win or would she be a massive liability in goal once again. That question was answered in the 7th minute when she made a brilliant save off of a Kelso shot. She didn't have to do too much but she did just enough to allow Kohnhead to win 2-1.

I already talked about the nice save from Richards in the 7th and just three minutes later in the 10th minute of the game Charles Laker would get a nice goal off of a long range shot in which he rolled the ball over to his preferred right foot and fired a shot into the top right corner for a brilliant goal. For the third straight game the sellout crowd at the Arena roared in delight.

It didn't take The Brains long to double the score as in the 19th Nicholas Radison would score a header off of a corner kick. Rallyton always places the ball in a position where his teammates in the box can go up and get it. The Brains not having much confidence in Richards played very defensive which to be fair was the right call by Kohnhead. Heading into halftime the Ice Birds had just one shot on goal and it was the one by the captain Kelso who had that early chance.

The second half for the first 35-40 minutes was very much like the end of the first half, defensive football designed to keep the lead and to secure three points. The Ice Birds managed one consolation goal in the 87th minute with Kelso getting behind the defense and burying it. Ultimately it was too little too late for the opposition and Kohnhead walked out with an upset victory. Kohnhead have really been defying expectations, and are expected to beat Balaslandia on the round with them being 342nd ranked, a good 99 ranks behind Kohnhead.

Jackson Newcastle has been placed as a game time decision but there is really no shot of him starting the next game. With that in mind here is the projected lineup:





Here are the group 2 standings:

Group 2                                     Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Kita-Hinode                                   6    6   0   0    19    6  +13    18
 2 Busoga Islands                                6    4   1   1    18   10   +8    13
 3 Squornshelan Remnant States                   6    4   1   1    23   17   +6    13
 4 Drawkland                                     6    4   1   1    11    7   +4    13
 5 Donnacona                                     7    4   0   3     7    5   +2    12
 6 Kohnhead                                      6    3   2   1    15   11   +4    11
 7 Torisakia                                     7    3   0   4    13   11   +2     9
 8 Jantor                                        7    2   2   3    14   17   −3     8
 9 Gyatso-kai                                    7    1   3   3    14   17   −3     6
10 Lochario                                      7    1   3   3     8   13   −5     6
11 Wreckeria                                     6    1   1   4    11   17   −6     4
12 Balaslandia                                   7    1   0   6    13   23  −10     3
13 EGM                                           6    0   2   4     6   18  −12     2

[Eastfield Lodge]

Taken from https://petitions.parliament.efl/petitions/ic/12863402

Petition Title

Disband the Eastfield Lodge national football team to prevent further embarrassment

As it is clear that the Eastfield Lodge national football team has indeed gone backwards as of late, and performing worse than ever after losing 4 of their first 6 games in this qualification phase for World Cup 85, it is imperative that the team be disbanded in order to save the Imperial Commonwealth their international dignity.

The Imperial Commonwealth is a proud nation of nations, and we have much to be thankful for, whether it be our quality of life, our strength of faith, the way we are a world leader in aspects such as the safety of our citizens and the manner in which we deal with others. However, there is one aspect of our nation that exists only to bring shame upon us and ridicule from nations the world over, and that is the national football team. They are an embarrassment, a disgrace, an affront to the meaning of what it means to be an Eastfielder - that is to strive and better ourselves in the face of adversity. This nation has gone through so much and emerged a changed yet improved populace, but no matter how you look at it, the national team has not improved one iota in decades. Indeed, one can argue that we have even regressed, as evidenced by the pitiful performance this team put in on our home soil, somehow contriving to exit the tournament in the group stages - a tournament that took place in the Imperial Commonwealth, no less! And by doing so, they deprived children across this nation the chance to celebrate their heroes success, as they have been doing for decades beforehand. Eastfielder children are supposed to be inspired by these men and women representing the country, and yet more and more are turning away from the screens in shame, degraded by denizens of the multiverse on online forums and chat rooms who seek to mock us.

And so, I have decided to initiate this petition to disband the Eastfield Lodge national team once and for all, and I am sure that I will be supported in this matter by the vox populi who verily have been vindicated in their voracious vexation of late. How fitting, perhaps, that I am writing this petition as these so-called representatives of the nation's favourite sport are embarrassing themselves in the Memorial Stadium, conceding a fourth goal to Taeshan in a fashion suitably typical of this band of cowards, a performance that does well to exemplify exactly every essence of embarrassment entailed within.

This petition has received 1,325,185 signatures.

[][][][][][][][][][][][][]
[]Sign this petition[}
[][][][][][][][][][][][][]

As this petition has reached 500,000 signatures, it will be considered by the Petitions Committee of His Majesty's Parliament of the Imperial Commonwealth.

Response from the Petitions Committee

This matter has been raised several times before the petitions committee. As with previous petitions of a similar nature, it is not the place of the Parliament of the Imperial Commonwealth to infringe upon such matters without due consideration of the evidence at hand. The Football Association of the Imperial Commonwealth of Eastfield Lodge answers to Parliament via the Secretary of State for Culture and the Select Committee for Culture. As always, they will scrutinise ICELFA as to whether this is an endeavour worth continuing, in light of several different factors, before a decision is made.

This petition requires 3,674,815 more signatures in order to achieve the 5 million signatures required for a petition to be considered for debate in Parliament.

Petition submitted by: Rui Sturgess
This petition will remain active for 152 more days.

---

MD5: Eastfield Lodge 0-4 Taeshan
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Couch - Hargreaves, Mackenzie, Holding - Nagi, Jeremiah-Dockson (<> Din 73’), Dad - Accardi, Stepanov, Harry (<> Cousin 45’) - Stepan (<> Murray 62’)
Goals (Assists): N/A

MD6: North Quadana 2-1 Eastfield Lodge
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Persson - Whitfield, Aas, Tierney - Nagi, Din (<> Qwivotic 64’), Salam (<> Shan 72’) - Foley, Farrow, Berretti (<> Cousin 79’) - Murray
Goals (Assists): Murray (53’ - Farrow)

MD7: Eastfield Lodge 2-1 Maccian
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Harvey - Whitfield, Carr-Ponce, Aas - Nagi (<> French 73’), Qwivotic, Shan - Foley, Farrow (<> Jewell 68’), Berretti (<> Harry 82’) - Murray
Goals (Assists): Foley (24’ - Murray), Carr-Ponce (89’ - Harry)

Line-up to play Flavovespia (3-3-3-1)
Harvey - Hargreaves, Carr-Ponce, Whitfield - French, Qwivotic, Shan - Foley, Farrow, Berretti - Murray
No injuries or suspension

[Astograth]

Previously

Porticalia 0-3 Astograth
Location: ???

Lineup: Bedigax, Remondegi, Leskerre, Doyenard, Lizarza, Lekea ©, Urkizo, Berdesagar, Malkorra, E. Laurnagaray, Urdanibia
Substitutions: Arana for Urdanibia, Aragolaza for Malkorra, Sorrosua for E. Laurnagaray
Goalscorers: Malkorra, Arana, Berdesagar

---

Landerra Lazaga walked slowly through the empty concourse of Old City Stadium, taking note of the the great vaults of bare concrete and the black-and-white posters of great moments in the ground’s history – and that, obviously, these did not include its tenure as the Iturributan national team’s home stadium.

The national team were preparing for their match against Sajnur, who marched second in the qualifying table and were the group’s 4th seed. With Astograth in fourth and entertaining the idea of having an outside chance at qualifying, this encounter was do or die, kill or be killed. If Turori were going to keep winning, then Olibondeka needed to be consistently better than Sajnur, New Lusitania and Audioslavia. The away win over the Bulls had been gigantic, a moment of triumph straight out of another era, and propelled the team into a run of form that had now see them beat Euran Oceania Territories and Porticalia in convincing fashion. If they were seriously going to try and qualify, though, the moment of truth was this match against Sajnur. Did they have the momentum?

While the squad had a study session back at the hotel, Lazaga had scheduled an appointment to tour the place that would host the match. Just half a kilometre from the bay and the city’s most important beach, Old City Stadium towered over the surrounding blocks of the Old City, a very high-priced residential neighbourhood of narrow streets packed with low-rise apartments, shops and restaurants. The name refers to it being the original site of the city of Iturributa, which was burned down in a great fire centuries ago and refounded a kilometre north, forming the Walled City that is now the oldest extant portion of Iturributa.

Lazaga had been reading about infrastructure studies, and developed a side interest in how to incorporate the stadiums, and the networks that sustained them, into her research. The basic structure of Old City Stadium dated back to the 520’s, more than a century and a half ago, with many subsequent additions and modifications. It was half owned by Sporting Iturributa and Iturributa United, the two clubs that co-funded its construction and remained the ground’s main tenants, the groundshare arrangement serving as one more catalyser for their legendary rivalry. The state, whether this was the old Duchy of Iturributa, the current Grand Duchy of Astograth, the extinct Free Republic, the city government or the provincial government, had also funded renovations to the ground over the years, in the interest of promoting sport and having an adequate high-capacity venue in the city. The last renovation was in 673, to get the stadium ready for top-level First Division football again, and before then a 647-48 revamp to seats, boxes, dressing rooms and technical facilities ahead of Baptism of Fire. The Futbol Astograthiko Federazioa currently rates Old City with four out of five stars – suitable for hosting a WCC competition or an IFCF final, but lacking the extra polish and amenities to make it a truly top-tier stadium on the level of, say, Grand Duke’s, Royal Rumiatzi’s Knights’ Stadium, or Echegoyan’s Silanes Park, built for World Cup 62.

“Infrastructures configure contemporary politics, taking full account of how the contingencies of the everyday are fully implicated in this process,” stated Inès Brisbois in her landmark book (652), To and Fro: the Transformation of Arçon. “Considering the methods by which specific engineering projects are demarcated from a more enduring process of infrastructural development, and in particular the means by which the completion of said projects is performed, we are returned to the practices by which engineers engage the uneven, unruly, and unstable environments out of which infrastructures are made. Engineering practice requires a minute attention to the relational world, which resists the disciplined divisions that characterise the dominant paradigms of scientific work.

We are interested in the unexpected alliances and affiliations that emerge from different sources and at different scales, which together bring infrastructures into being and endow them with an aura of transformative potential. As we have demonstrated, infrastructures offer a powerful site for interrogating the waxing and waning of state politics.”

This weighed on Lazaga’s mind as she kept wandering through the stadium. She’d declined a guide, as this way she could keep her own pace. The existence of national teams offered, in itself, a “site for interrogating the waxing and waning of state politics”; Astograth had enjoyed its greatest moments of international relevancy in concurrent fashion with a strong state policy regarding sports and football in particular. She should cite that on her dissertation. The stadium was fed its spectators by a vast network of under and overground public transportation, and fed in a more literal sense through a long and varied supply chain. From one of the wide windows in the concourse she could look out into the Iturributan afternoon, the sun beginning to dip, and tried to imagine what sort of paths would form if she could see the trajectories of all the things and people that would come together in this stadium for the match against Sajnur. She imagined something like the roots of a tree stretching out through the whole city and beyond, to Sajnur, to all the countries the players played their club football, and all the places the chocolate, the coffee, the beer, the almonds and all the rest of the concessions came from.

What use wondering about any of this was to Lazaga she couldn’t tell right now, but it felt like a seed worth planting.

(Some text adapted from P. Harvey & H. Knox, 2015. Roads. An Anthropology of Infrastructure and Expertise. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press).

[Chromatika]

Chromatik City Courier
Jordan Lawless, Sports Columnist

Group 3 Matchday 7: Chromatika 2-2 Northwest Kalactin @ The Island Dome, Myana, Chromatika (Cap. 133,000, 35,000 seats
Chromatik Scorers: Thorben '19, Conrad '35
Starting XI (4-2-3-1): Williams; Xiao - Anderson - Friedman - Austic; Limones - Kim, M.S.; Thorben (C) - Kuzami - Conrad; Sierra.
Substitutes: Bird -> Kuazmi ('54), Croix-Pierre -> Conrad ('63), Rondeau -> Anderson ('71)
Projected Starting XI @ (70) Eshan (4-0-2): Ria; Xiao - de Aea - Will - Ilya; Armageddon - Dias; Victoriane - Mora - Dragana; Andisori (C).

THE ISLAND DOME, MYANA, CHROMATIKA -

Luke Dillan's strike in the eighty-third proved to be a detriment to the Chromatik hopes as the Anomalies dropped two key points in their attempt to get their affairs back in order.

The result drops Chromatika to four points in the group, a whopping ten points behind second place. At this point, there seems to be two camps about what the future of this campaign will be: Getting the best roster of players ready for what will hopefully end up being a deep run in the next Cup of Harmony, and hoping against hope that there is still enough time for the team to get back on track to make a comeback run.

Molly Thorben's free kick did give Chromatika the lead in the early game, but they weren't able to hold on.

[Terre Septentrionale]

Terre Septentrionale beats Adyatin and Jovannica

Vukosavljevica, Dalmatia - Terre Septentrionale travelled to Adyatin on matchday 6 and beat them 4-1. The Nordiques took Adyatin very seriously, played their best game so far in the group stage and beat them 4-1. Goalscorers for Terre Septentrionale were Sandrine Fontaine (14th), Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa (22nd), Élisabeth Normandin (61st) and Sandrine Fontaine with her 2nd goal of the game (79th).

The Reprezentacja Nordycki was back home for matchday 7 against Jovannica, also known as The Jovannic. The game was played in a sold out Spinut Stadium in Vukosavljevica. Before the game, Terre Septentrionale finally unveiled their new uniforms designed by No Nonsense Sportswear from Filindostan. There's a rumor saying the truck containing the uniforms was already in Terre Septentrionale for a month but the ASS who recieved it didn't know how to open it. By the way, ASS is for Association Septentrionale de Soccer. Before Ginette Dion sang the national anthem, 3 under-21 players paraded with the new uniforms. Arkadiusz Krzykowski paraded with a red and white striped uniform that will be used for home games. He was wearing red and green socks that looked ugly with his shirt, as you can see in this pitcure:



Local Hajduk Vukosavljevica player Nevenka Martinovic-Hasanbegovic was sporting the away uniform but she had Krzykowski's name in the back as you can see here:



Then, Catherine MacClintock, a beautiful dark haired 21 years old goalkeeper, paraded with the goalkeeper uniform with her name in the back. Not sure why she has the number 92, it's pretty weird for a goalkeeper:



We almost forgot our boys and girls also played a game and the visiting team was Jovannica. Terre Septentrionale started off the first half on the good foot with a goal at the 6th minute when Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz passed to Sandrine Fontaine who dribbled and made a header pass to Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa but she misses the ball and it gets lose. Wlodzimierz Waclawczyk takes the ball just before it goes out of bounds and passes to Élisabeth Normandin who shoots and she scores, 1-0 Terre Septentrionale! The Northmen attacked again at the 29th when Slawomir Skrzeszewski passed to Roksana Kolodziejczyk who passed to Sandrine Fontaine who passed back to Kolodziejczyk. Kolodziejczyk dribbled and made a short pass to Sandie McCracken who kicks the ball and it's a goal! Terre Septentrionale is now leading 2-0. Élisabeth Normandin had the ball at the 34th minute and she passed it to Wlodzimierz Waclawczyk who dribbled and made a short pass to Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa who faked to shoot but she passed backwards to Sandrine Fontaine who had a better angle. Fontaine kicks the ball and it's in! 3-0 Terre Septentrionale. The Nordiques added another goal at the 42nd minute when Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz passed to Roksana Kolodziejczyk who dribbled and made a cross to Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa who shoots and it's another goal! Terre Septentrionale is leading 4-0 and this is the halftime.

Jovan Ilohil scored at the 52nd minute for Jovannica and the score was 4-1. At the 69th minute, Przemyslaw Tkocz passed to Tymoteusz Swierczewski who dribbled with the ball and made a short pass to Wlodzimierz Waclawczyk who kicks and the ball is in! 5-1 Terre Septentrionale. Sami Ning and Jin Tze both scored for Jovannica and the final score was 5-3 Reprezentacja Nordycki. Jovannica outplayed Terre Septentrionale in the 2nd half.

BOXSCORE

6th minute: Élisabeth Normandin assisted by Wlodzimierz Waclawczyk
29th minute: Sandie McCracken assisted by Roksana Kolodziejczyk
34th minute: Sandrine Fontaine assisted by Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa
42nd minute: Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa assisted by Roksana Kolodziejczyk
52nd minute: Jovan Ilohil assisted by Ianu Fathe
69th minute: Wlodzimierz Waclawczyk assisted by Tymoteusz Swierczewski
75th minute: Sami Ning (unassisted)
84th minute: Jin Tze assisted by Gavon Simoli

YELLOW CARDS

18th minute: Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz
18th minute: Jin Tze
63rd minute: Wlodzimierz Waclawczyk
79th minute: Slawomir Skrzeszewski

RED CARDS

none

1st place

Adyatin tied 1-1 with Sanctanus and Eura lost 1-0 against Sabalonia and now the Northmen are in 1st place in the standings with 14 points in 6 games. Chromatika still aren't able to win and lost 5 of their 7 games. On matchday 8, Terre Septenntrionale will travel to Wanarpu, an unranked nation, and will come back home just in time to celebrate our national day. St. John the Baptist day, known in Terre Septentrionale as National day, is celebrated on june 23rd's eve and all day on june 24th with local bands performing in most cities and towns, fireworks and people getting drunk. Franciszek Niedzwiecki, who injured himself on matchday 5, is expected to be back in the line up against Wanarpu.

Wlodzimierz Pietruszewski,
Senior writer,
La Tribune Septentrionale

[Valladares]

The Green Palace's Royal Office, although not as magnificent and artifact-enriched as the Throne Room, had undoubtedly a charm of its own, with large windows that allowed a large amount of sunlight to illuminate the place as well as offering an unobstructed view towards the skyline of downtown Metropolis, a collection of fine oil paintings by renowned Valladar artists decorating each wall, three crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling, a collection of 20th century furniture, and a big carpet featuring the Coat of Arms of Valladares at the entrance. Traditionally the Royal Office has had one single desk, which had been used for usual daily matters such as signing of laws and meetings with the Prime Minister by all kings since 1910 when the federal capital and all State institutions (including the Crown) were moved from Columbus to Metropolis, however with the ascension of both of Charles IV's twin children Marcus and Cyrus to the Valladar throne, a second desk to be used by Cyrus was installed next to the traditional one.

"Marcus, I've got the latest reports on the Mega Bomba thing from Prime Minister Pratt. Apparently the test has been successful, it has caused a huge deal of destruction on that Quebec penal colony, and everyone at the Ministry of Defense is rejoicing because we've now got what could be the Father of All Nukes. I'd love so much to drop it on Scott City, Bastion, or even Soluca one day..."

"Slow down with that dream, brother. It's not really time to ruffle anyone's feathers now, especially now that politicians are so into this nonsense they call "regional integration". Speaking of which, has this news already spread to the general public, or is this still a State-only matter?

"As far as I know, the news haven't gone beyond the Royal Government. However, I think Pratt won't take too long to give the RMoD the greenlight to announce the news. After all, there's nothing better than a show of superiority to keep the patriotism of the people at a high level."

"I see. Speaking of international matters, how's Alexandrine doing in her temporary retreat in Quebec?"

"She's been fine. I gave her one special task before returning home: attending the inauguration of the President of the Busoga Islands on behalf of Valladares."

"I don't think the Banijans will like it that much."

"I couldn't care less..."

At that moment, King Marcus' aide entered the room with some paperwork, an usual daily sight at the Royal Office, with bills passed by the Royal Parliament being brought for royal signature and enactment on a daily basis. However, the bill to be signed on the day had something unusual on it, being no more and no less than the famed Law for the Secession of the Mountbatten State, which had been passed in controversial fashion at a joint session of the Royal Parliament the previous day.

"Your Highnesses, this is the most recent bill passed by the Royal Parliament and sent to you for signature. I brought two copies, one for each of you to read, but only the original must be signed. I'll leave them over your desks."

"Fair enough. Thank you."

The aide left the room and then both rulers started reading the final document.

"I heard the Parliament session in which this was passed was...interesting."

"Yeah, it's a shame the Royal Delegate was unable to attend. Let's see what has been the cause of all the recent fuss..."

LAW FOR THE SECESSION OF THE MOUNTBATTEN STATE
FOR WHICH: THE PARTITION OF THE FEDERAL STATE OF MOUNTBATTEN ON LANGUAGE GROUNDS IS APPROVED AND OTHER PROVISIONS ADOPTED

The Royal Parliament of Valladares, in full use of the attributions and powers granted to it by the Royal Constitution of 1910 and other laws that govern its operation,

CONSIDERING THAT:

Article 1. The federal state of Mountbatten, with its capital seat in the city of Carloburgo, is the most populated state in the United Kingdom of Valladares with a population of 10,484,303 inhabitants as of the Valladar Census of 2016.
Article 2. By linguistic grounds, the federal state of Mountbatten is populated by inhabitants with Spanish and English as mother tongues, with the former being a majority in the eastern half of the state, and the latter being a majority in the western half of the state.
Article 3. Both English and Spanish are official languages in the federal state of Mountbatten.
Article 4. The city of Columbus, former capital of the Valladar nation, located at the confluence of the Danubio and Aguablanca rivers, and forming a conurbation with the city of Maldonado across the Danubio river in the Chiquito state, is populated by both Hispanophone and Anglophone communities, at a nearly 1:1 proportion, with the former mostly based in the east of the city and the latter based in the western zones.
Article 5. The Royal Constitution of 1910 aimed at organizing a federal nation with linguistically-homogeneous subject states, a will expressed in the division of the historical region of Illiria into the federal states of Chiquito and Foix for the Lusophone and Francophone communities, respectively.
Article 6. Successive local administrations of the federal state of Mountbatten, based in Carloburgo, have largely neglected the needs of their inhabitants in eastern Mountbatten for long time, violating basic principles of equality established in both the Royal Constitution of 1910 and the Constitution of the State itself.
Article 7. It is the will of the people populating the municipalities in the eastern half of the federal state of Mountbatten to secede into a federal subject of their own in which they can achieve their own purposes of self-determination and governance, within the limits of state autonomy set by federal law, and expressed through a referendum as well as the passing of a Bill of Secession in the Mountbatten State Assembly.

THEREFORE, DECREES:

Article 8. The split of the current federal state of Mountbatten into two separate states, with the border between them following the thalweg of the Aguablanca river, from its source in the Southern Valladar Alps to the city of Columbus.
Article 9. The borders of the federal state of Mountbatten, outside of the zone between the Aguablanca and Danubio rivers, the District of Metropolis and the current southern border of the state, shall remain unaltered. The city of Carloburgo shall continue as the capital seat of the state.
Article 10. The borders of the new state created by this Law, henceforth to be known with the name of Angostura, shall be, clockwise, as follows:
NORTH. The current northern border of the federal state of Mountbatten, excluding the limits of the city of Columbus, following the course of the Danubio river upstream until the tripoint where the borders of the District of Metropolis and the Mountbatten and Chiquito states meet; from there, following the current border between the Mountbatten state and the District of Metropolis up until the place where it meets the Danubio river.
EAST. The current eastern border of the federal state of Mountbatten, following the course of the Danubio river upstream between the towns of Andalucía and Curzon up until the tripoint where the borders of the Mountbatten, Foix, and Alto Danubio meet.
SOUTH. The current southern border of the federal state of Mountbatten, from the Danubio river to the source of the Aguablanca river in the Valladar Southern Alps.
WEST. The border stated in Article 8 of this Law, excluding the limits of the city of Columbus.
Article 11. The municipalities whose limits are within the ones outlined by Article 10 shall become part of the Angostura state upon the enactment of this Law.
Article 12. The capital seat of the federal state of Angostura shall be installed temporarily in the city of Los Chorros, pending a future definition of the status of the city of Columbus.
Article 13. The future status of the city of Columbus shall be subject to a referendum with the participation of its residents who, in due course, shall decide which state they want to belong to.
Article 14. His Royal Highnesses, Kings Marcus and Cyrus of Valladares shall appoint a civil servant to serve as Royal Delegate for the federal state of Angostura within one month of the enactment of this Law, who shall oversee the formation of the institutions of the federal subject, in coordination with the Royal Delegate of the Mountbatten state and the current autorities of the Mountbatten state.
Article 15. The Royal Delegate of the Angostura state shall call elections for a State Constituent Assembly within one month of his/her appointment, which will have the task of drafting a Constitution for the new state, which in turn shall be ratified by the citizens of the new state.
Article 16. Elections for Governor of the Angostura state shall be held once the current terms expire. Until then, executive power of the state shall rest with the current Governor of the Mountbatten state.
Article 17. Elections for State Assembly of the Angostura state shall be held concurrently with elections for Governor of the Angostura state. Until then, legislative power of the state shall rest with the State Assembly of the Mountbatten state. In addition to this, all laws issued within the federal state of Mountbatten shall apply to the Angostura state until a new legislative body for the state is formed.
Article 18. The Royal Delegate of the Angostura state shall appoint five (5) members for the Supreme Court of the Angostura state, within six months of his/her appointment.
Article 19. The quotas for National Assembly seats to be assigned to the Angostura state shall be substracted from the current allocation to the Mountbatten state. The number of seats shall be established from the total population of the municipalities that shall become part of the state.

BE IT ENACTED, PUBLISHED AND ENFORCED.

Signed,


HRH, King Marcus of Valladares
King of Valladares


HRH, King Cyrus of Valladares
King of Valladares


The Honourable MP, Stéphane Bertrand
Speaker of the Royal Parliament

"So that's it? I honestly don't see what's the problem with it", stated King Cyrus after reading the document. "They're looking for self-determination, and they've got a solid point there: the Constitution is backing their aspirations."

"Neither do I."

Both Kings saw no problem in signing the bill into law. But the real bomb, perhaps more destructive than the Mega Bomba welcomed and tested thousands of kilometers away from Metropolis, was about to explode with unpleasant consequences for the entire country. Only that neither King was really aware of the real circumstances around the passing of the bill...

[Kita-Hinode]

The night seemed to slowly pass by. The two had already washed the dishes. Hinode was still watching the television, only to notice Canvas sitting by his side again, sighing. "Uh... Hinode, is it too early for us to sleep?" He looked at her and nodded. "I didn't think you were that excited for class." She frowned, placing her chin on her hands. "It's a little bit boring, yes." The dark-haired boy grinned. "Well... We could watch a movie together if you want to. Should be enough to pass the time until we go to bed, right?" She smiled, apparently remembering something from her infancy. "I haven't seen a movie since I was six..."

Canvas looked to somewhere uncertain in the room, smiling while reminiscing. "It was in this beautiful, beautiful room inside our main castle. My mother had arranged a fantastic session that featured the finest Earth classics we could get our hands on." Hinode seemed a bit surprised, curious over what they watched. "Princess Love Cure 3, The Ellesmere Girls and my favourite movie ever, The Bedroom." He scratched his hair, looking at her while trying to hold a laugh. "Anyhow, I don't imagine that what we'll watch is any worse than those, yes? So... what do you have in mind?" He placed a hand over her shoulder, dragging her close, causing her to blush, although he himself was focused more on the movie itself. "The Hunter! That's a classic, I'm sure you'll like it!"

(...)

Canvas couldn't sleep. The alien princess looked down her pyjamas, a cotton purple combo that Hinode managed to grab from one of his sister's long-since unused wardrobe. Every time she closed her eyes, all she could remember was the creature from the movie. The aforementioned Hunter was essentially a merger of a hideous fish and a man. Ever since his first scene, where the Hunter sprung from the sewers, snatching a helpless skateboarder into his den, quickly spitting out bones and his eyeballs outside once he was done feasting, it was set: he was going to be Canvas' designated nightmare creature of the night. She sighed, opening her eyes for a seventh time so far that night. She started to cry, something that she swore herself that she wouldn't do after she got dropped from the royal line.

The door of the room opened. Before she could imagine things, however, the familiar voice calmed her down. "I heard you crying. Need anything, Canvas?" Canvas got up from bed, almost instantly tackling him with a hug, sniffling. Hinode chuckled. "Anything I can do to help you calm down?"

Canvas looked to the floor briefly, blushing. "Well... there is something you could do."

(...)

It was four in the morning. Rienna had just woke up. She walked down the hallways, peeking through the door. Her eyes didn't fail her. The alien was nuzzled onto his chest, both sleeping as peaceful as possible. She shook her head, grumbling. "The Empress is not going to like the sound of this... not at all!"

[New Lusitania and the Algarves]

STL|Serviços de Transmissão Lusitana
Sport | Football|
World Cup 85

THE WIN ARRIVES AT LAST!
Natanians & Nosts 2-4 New Lusitania
@ Stadion Nacional, N-City (Att: 47 306)

After a disappointing result in Leiria it was back on the road for Victor Santa Cruz and the boys, this time to a historic team - Natanians & Nosts. "N&N" had fallen off a bit after a cycle hiatus in their international football and were looking to make up lost ground. Meanwhile, the Lusitanians also had their own motivation as a win here could elevate their possibility of staying in the game as the coach too had a lot on the line. Only one change as Horta returned to left-midfielder. N&N would put the usual suspects in play - Foster in goal, as Ret, Caius Fostar, Tralto and Ivanov composed the back four. Munteanu and Fostar composed a first line of midfield with Vit further up as Admélsson, Ápio Silva and Ninnio Gonçalo spearheaded the attacking efforts. Over at the Stadion Nacional, everything was set in what was an overcast day with the probability of rain later on in the match.
Both teams were doing pretty well, with New Lusitania getting more shots as was usual when they played against defensive minded teams. Fernando put in the best shot of the game until that point (fifteen minutes), but to no avail. The Selecção opened the tab quickly after however, as Horta passed the ball into Jota who scored his fourth goal of the qualifiers so far. The defence had been tricky up to this point to break, nonetheless, but the first goal did cause some damage towards its stability. Fifteen minutes later the second one arrived, this time from the opposite flank - Gama made the ball fly as it soared into striking distance of Veiga to put New Lusitania with a more comfortable lead. In stoppage time however, "N&N" showed their attacking side in a rapid counter. As the captain picked up the ball and passed it to Vit, who in turn reciprocated. The ball found its way in the closing stages of the play with Admélsson who would strike it well to pull one back as the curtain drew over the openin half to make it 1-2. The arrival of the second half brought more action and more goals but also the beginning of rain which had started to precipitate during the fifteen minute break. The condition left some unprepared meaning the restart was a bit messy from both sides who expected it to hold at least until the game's end. By fifty-five minutes, the Selecção would extend their lead once more - Nevais hoofed the ball upfield onto Fernando which was getting stuck in with a good run, which rewarded him with a nice goal for the Selecção. The home side hadn't given up just yet as first goalscorer Admélsson pass to a team-mate as he threaded a good pass onto Ápio Silva to restore a one goal differential at 2-3. The crowds cheered as the team seemed unfazed but the nail in the coffin soon came. In a situation where defender Ivanov was caught out, captain Fernando exploited the position by getting the ball onto Jota where the ball prodded neatly into the net for the final time of the day as the result finished on a good 2-4. Natanians & Nosts had the tools there on many an occasion but the fact that they spent most of the game peddling on the back foot cost the team a bit when New Lusitania pressed on in the midfield. The defensive nature of the home side also left few chances in a situation like this despite a few gaps left during the game which were well exploited. Nonetheless, New Lusitania will be happy to celebrate a victory for once in what has been an underwhelming road so far. FULL TIME: 2-4


Around the Grounds
After seven games, New Lusitania had collected a total eleven points back in fifth placing them just under their score of fourteen in second in the previous world cup qualifiers. Turori were leading the tables in the present with six victories in six following a 2-6 result away at Sajnur showing their clear favouritism to qualify. Following Audioslavia's rest week, Astograth had now made it to third following a win in Porticalia by 0-3. Natanians and Nosts are just behind the Selecção albeit the latter have one game more as Muradil creeps ever so near following a 2-6 result as well, against an underperforming EOT which seems to be having unstable internal politics, according to rumours, particularly in the finances department, meaning they're currently in twelfth. Jeckland were now eighth following their win with Necosia (3-2) which they had to work hard for. Ninth position was now in TJUN-ia's hands following a 1-6 win against Villablanca, New Lusitania's next tie in the qualifiers, at home in the Algarves - a tie which shows plenty of promise.


THE HUB
Goals: Jota (5), Silveira (2), Gama (2), Paciente (2), Veiga (2), Fernando (2),
Assists: Fernando (3), Mário (2), Gama (2), Horta (2), Azinheira (1), Jota (1), Paciente (1), Silveira [1], Veiga (1), Nevais (1).
Bookings: Cancela (2Y)
Injuries: Silveira (expected Return MD12)
Next Match: New Lusitania X Villablanca
(from AlgarveArena - 40 000)


MMXX STL