Under 18 World Championship (SWC 11) Everything Thread

[Savojarna]

PitchNerds - Savojarna’s footballing blog
A Tale of Two Wingers

Written by Alexander Japarov | @japa_A

Savojarna woke up to shocking, although fairly pleasant news last week: Euran top club Directus offered a whopping transfer sum of 24 million NSD for Farrenton Athletic’s right winger Mikhail Jashkin. The contract went through yesterday and was announced on social media and a press conference almost immediately, making it one of the big early attention-grabbers for this transfer window. The sum tops Krister Voynov’s record transfer from Admiral to Vanorian top side Raynor City United by nine million, making Jashkin the most expensive Savojar player in history. The move immediately sparked a debate on football twii.tur: Who is the best Savojar winger?

Voynov has been the classic answer to the question. Sleek and fast, with an insatiable drive to the goal and a precise free kick, almost anyone in the youngest generation of football fans grew up with the idea of the left winger being the cornerstone of the national team. It fit in too well with a good narrative: Savojarna, a left-wing nation, simple and direct but also capable of devising brilliant technology, would thrive on the pitch with a left winger who was running on simple, direct runs to the goal interspersed with dazzling technique. But we at PitchNerds, and me in particular (to the ire of twii.tur) have been promoting an alternate view. For me, Mikhail Jashkin has been the best winger of Savojarna for a while now, although his playstyle is significantly less flashy. Jashkin displays an incredible skill as well, but more in the intellectual department, excelling at being at the right place in the right moment and finding that one deadly cross to prepare a goal or playing a brilliant through pass. To illustrate, here is a video of a goal scored by Morten Poulsen in the pre-qualifying match against Zeta Reka.

Jashkin starts off the ball, as it is with Maersk, but on his side; on the right side, Skov is overlapping as well. The reason Savojarna can push like this is because Zeta Reka are collapsing their wingers back when the Northlights overlap, allowing them to seek overloads on the side of the ball. Sensing that Skov is pushing up, Jashkin drops off a little towards Maersk, and promptly receives the ball. This is where the two wingers differ: Voynov, who often plays more tucked in, is in this position regularly, and usually carries the ball up the pitch looking for goal. But Jashkin, patient, waits for Skov to overlap before swinging to the inside, drawing the left midfielder away as he tries to cover the ball and opening a gap for Skov. This is what allows the right back to take a relatively free run towards the Zeta Rekan defender, and cross before the defender actually reaches him. Jashkin’s job, however, is not yet over: He cleverly drives back to the sideline again, forcing the midfielder to still cover him; only this allows Poulsen to drift wide and be open for Jotansson’s headed pass, as otherwise Savojarna struggled a lot with the dense Zeta Rekan defence.

Plays like this are what makes me think of Jashkin as absolutely worth the 24 million sum, despite not being as flashy or score-oriented as Voynov. He is a monster in improving his teammates and opening up spaces, and the fact that he consistently showed up in the top assist statistics of the Euraleague support this assessment. He will still have to fight at Directus, and it’s not necessarily certain he will play as consistently as he did at Farrenton, but it’s a massive step up for what may just be Savojarna’s best winger in a generation.

However, there is some competition creeping up on the left, not from Voynov, but from an eighteen year old Finn. Ilari Milvonen, part of the U18 team and a player at Kallora IF in the Nationalligaen, almost rivals Jashkin in skill, although (as is expected of an 18 year old) not in positioning and tactical intelligence. Take this goal in the NL against eventual promotees FK Odin Kjaershavn, where he plays around the left wing very calmly. Milvonen (number 7) gets the ball three times, each time opting for a different play. First, he sees an option through the centre with the 10 further up, but the play is a dead end as Odin’s centre-backs immediately advance to isolate the remaining striker. The ball circles back to Milvonen, who waited with starting a sprint up the pitch, judging correctly that he couldn’t be sure if he may run into a dead end. Then, he looks for a shift with the pass to the far central midfielder, who again can’t find an opening; only at the third attempt (after he passes his direct opponent off the ball) can Milvonen go into the 1v1, which he wins, and find a pass to the centre forward to score. He displays similar patience and skill to Jashkin, potentially threatening the latter’s position as best winger in Savojarna in five to seven years.

Milvonen has also been displaying these qualities in the U18 team, being crucial to the Savojar victory over Northwest Kalactin last night as he scored one and assisted the other, in what was so far his first point in the tournament. Savojarna are currently on three victories out of three games, being able to lock in fourth place, and thus KO qualification, with a victory in the upcoming game, if other games go their way. PitchNerds follows the Savojar games over on our collective twii.tur account, @PitchNerds_off - feel free to discuss along with us!

HejaSavojarna91 - 3h ago - +87
Good luck Misha Jashkin at Directus! May well lift the Champions League one to be proud of, I agree with Alex!
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TheRealSergey - 8h ago - +76
Krister is a flashy boi, sure, but come on he scores the goals. We all know SVJ are fucked without the man so show some respect to him. I know you guys are all about that passing game but there is a beauty in his drive and I love it!
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Harri_Simonsen - 56m ago - +72
Don’t think we have to compare, really. We’re blessed to have so many amazing players right now. Ilari is a beast, the play against Odin was so good and I think that he can carry us far as well. Hope that we’re gonna see two Savojars in the CL finals next year may well be if Misha plays good at Directus!
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[Megistos]

Megistos goes 3rd...

Megistos 1-1 Eraman

---

In a great match, 2 good teams face each other, but only one could win, or draw.

In the 6' minute, Megistian striker Ben Robertson scored a goal from 35 yards out, trying out his knuckleball which just got past 18 year old Kesuma's fingers. The Megistians were cheering for their nation right from then! Hitting the sixth of the hour, 10', the Megistians had another scoring chance. Lukovic passed to Robertson who smartly backheeled to Fri, which hit the crossbar and it clearly went in, but the referee stood where Lukovic and Kesuma blocked the ball, making it hard to tell for a goal. The watch didn't say goal, so the ref said no goal.

The Megistians complained, and the Eramanians took this as a chance. They dribbled up the field, with only one Megistian defending right now. Beladau passed to Johnson, who passed back to Beladau, who takes the shot and it rattles off the crossbar and was on the line with Becks making an unneeded save, and that proves it should not have been counted goal, as you could have seen even from the back of the stands, and yet the ref called it a goal! Disgraceful! The Megistians kicked off the ball after the goal, and they started passing the ball to tire the Eramanians, and it slightly did, but not much. They settled for one more shot on the half, with Lukovic shooting a stunning ball that barely deflected off Kesuma's fingers, the ball went outside the field, and the 1st half was over.

In the 64th minute of the game, something serious happened. Dest Royen had come on, and out of anger, he booted Beladu in the shin, and he went down. The scuffle started, with both Dest Royen being redcarded. It was now 10 v 11, with Beladu being severly injured, he had to come off for Tambul.

In the 90th minute, the game had ended, both teams glanced at each other with angry expressions and a rivalry might have just began, says Bakti.

[Megistos]

For the game against Nagore, here is the the new formation for the Megistian U-18:

Roberston
Lukovic-------------Frett-------------Cringan
Howard--------------Jorgenson
Kellingrad------Callimolo----Jackson------Willams
Becks

Skill Mod: +1.75

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Freie-Universitat Stelburg - Faculty of Arts

HIS 2125 - Sectarianism in Pomorie/Marzig

Professor Emily Hausner

An Overview of the History of the City of Pomorie/Marzig - Part II

In the year 1417, the Teus Empire had officially annexed Siovanija, which meant that the city of Pomorie/Marzig was now a part of the Empire. At the time, it consisted of the town of Pomorie, located on the left bank of the River Drai, and Fort Marzig, located on the right bank and a military outpost of the Knights of the Order of St. Gustaf.

After the Three Years’ War, there was a great push with Teusland to send settlers across the mountains into the Siovanijan territories. Teusland had a larger population than Siovanija, and it was believed that if a significant Teus population could be fostered within Siovanija, the chances of it revolting or breaking away in the future were very low. Teus settlers arrived firstly in the south, in cities such as Chernovets (Karnowitz) and Siovanska Gora (Siowenienberg). And, of course, they arrived in the northeast, along the River Drai.

Settlements were founded at what are now the sites of the towns of Ternau and Bainitz, as well as around the old Fort Marzig. It was Marzig that saw the largest population of settlers, by far - the city’s position as a port city was key to the plans of the Empire, and the region had very favourable farming conditions in the area around it. Very quickly, the town of Marzig was just as big as the town of Pomorie across the water. Where did these Teus settlers come from? Many were people who wanted to get away from bigger cities such as Stelburg and St. Jakob, or to create a new life in what was a relatively new frontier. In addition, a large number of devoted Teus Catholics, believing it a mission to spread their religion in the new territory, moved to the area.

Marzig became quite quickly a centre for the Teus population in Siovanija. Given the status the Battle of Marzig had in Teus legend as the ‘place the Empire was forged,’ the city became seen as a bastion of the Empire. The Teuslandplatz became the city’s main square, the Three Years’ War Victory Column built right at the waterfront - so it could be seen in Pomorie. And as the Teus Empire continued to expand across the globe, the city of Marzig grew with it, becoming arguably the 4th most important port of the Empire at home.

On the Siovanijan side of the river, in Pomorie, this glory was not felt. Siovanijans were often restricted from upward mobility in society, and their affairs were not treated seriously by the Teus Empire, who saw them as another conquered people. In 1545, the city of Pomorie caught fire - it took over a week for the Empire to respond to the crisis, by which time the city had been almost completely ruined. While Marzig was getting richer and richer, Pomorie was becoming poorer and poorer.

That same effect was felt across Siovanija for centuries. While the Empire had its prized colonies of Sankt Konrad and Prinz-Eugens-Land to look after, the land right over the mountains was often overlooked or intentionally ignored. Throughout the 1500s and 1600s, a sentiment grew in Siovanija that one day, they would need to rise up and take their lands back. In 1643, the Duke of Marzig decided to merge the towns of Pomorie and Marzig into one, for the purposes of expanding Marzig’s access to the sea. As a result, there was a bit more prosperity in Pomorie - and many from across Siovanija migrated to the city. This brought its population up, balancing the city about evenly between Siovanijan and Teus.

The elites of the city were still 100% Teus, however, and as the years progressed, the Siovanijan population in the city began to become more and more rebellious. The situation wasn’t helped by the fact that more was being done within the Duchy to limit the Siovanijan population. The language was banned in public gatherings, and thus many theatres were forced to close down. Many names were also forced to be changed to Teus-sounding surnames. These restrictions were not found nation-wide, only in the Duchy itself, which was an attempt to deal with the fact the city was so evenly split in population. In other cities such as Karnowitz and Siowenienberg, the Teus number nearly 80% of the population.

Of course, all of this tension would eventually boil over. The Golden Age of the Teus Empire is generally considered to be during the 1700s, when it won a series of major colonial wars to establish its dominance as a large naval power. During this time, however, it was slowly losing its grip at home - Siovanijans were organizing, and looking for a moment to rebel. In 1808, that moment came.

The Siovanijan Revolution is a topic that we could spend months on - and as our class focuses on the history of Pomorie/Marzig, we’ll explore its basic tenets here. In late 1807, peasants across Siovanija rose up in rebellion against the Empire. The rebellion was largely led by a group of intellectuals from Borograd, Anton Dialikov most prominent among them, who wrote a paper entitled ‘The Rights of All Men.’ Influenced by natural right, it defined several rights that were held to be universal at all times. Its adherents greatly opposed the Empire, naturally, and led the uprisings.

The Siovanijan rebels became known as the Republican Guard, as their goal was the establishment of a ‘free, Siovanijan Republic.’ In cities across Siovanija, such as Borograd and Vlaikograd, there were uprisings, and on April 5, 1808, the Republic was declared. The Teus Empire had fought hard to put down the revolt, but sensing it would not be able to stop the rebellion at this point, retreated from much of Siovanija. A new border was drawn through the Mittelgebirge, and then from the River Drai northwest until the River Elz, which ran to the sea to the west of Pomorie/Marzig. Thus, the Pomorie/Marzig region was still a part of the Teus Empire, but now on its frontier.

During the Revolution, there had been a rising in Pomorie, but it had been quickly put down by the Duke’s levy. For much of the time afterwards, the Pomorie half of the city was on virtual lockdown as Teus Army troops took control of the streets to prevent any uprisings in the town itself. After the declaration of the Republic, some Siovanijans in the town left and moved into the new country. For many, however, the idea of leaving their homeland, the place their family had lived for hundreds of years, was too much, and they remained in the country.

Many Siovanijans would return to Pomorie quickly, however, as the new country faced a great internal crisis. Some members of the new government felt the revolution had not gone far enough, and sought to eliminate the moderates. During ‘The Terror,’ many were executed and many more fled to Pomorie. In the early years, Siovanija had adapted a new calendar based on farming cycles, a new writing system (Cyrillic), and a total ban on the Catholic Church. The Terror would soon end, however, and the new country focused on building itself up.

In Marzig, the Teus Empire became committed to developing the city’s defences, recognizing it as a possible front line city in a future conflict which both sides felt to be inevitable. Massive fortifications were built in and around the city, and along the River Drai boundary marker. Siovanijans in the city were looked upon with suspicion, many were imprisoned or executed as foreign spies.

During this time, the ‘cold war’ between Siovanija and Teusland continued to increase. As Teusland fought a series of colonial wars to keep hold of its armies, Siovanija worked to grow in strength. In 1815, the native population of Prinz-Eugens-Land rose up in revolt against the Empire, and a large number of resources had to be spent to deal with this. By 1821, the revolt had been put down, but at great cost. There were also wars for the control of Sankt Konrad, which due to the discovery of oil in the seas nearby had become a prized possession.

In Siovanija, the country rose in strength during this period. The military was built up, and the idea that Siovanija needed to launch a war against Teusland to take back the disputed territories (including Pomorie/Marzig) rose amongst the people and the government. In 1865, a nationalist faction took control of the Siovanijan parliament, and embarked on a program to further bring the military up to modern-day standards. In addition, noticing Teusland’s weakness at the time as it was involved in foreign conflicts, made demands. The Siovanijan government demanded economic rights of Siovanijan ships and merchants in Marzig, as well as a few villages in the western part of the border to be turned over. Teusland, knowing it couldn’t fight a war at the moment, granted many of these demands in the 1873 Marzig Declaration.

The Siovanijans were not finished, however, and the next demand was Marzig itself. The Teus Empire rejected, but the mere suggestion led to a great many changes within Marzig itself. On the site of the Battle of Marzig, where the Empire had been born, a massive statue of Ferdinand the Great was built along with a memorial - which just happened to be directly facing the Siovanijan side of the river. Marzigers took to the streets often to proclaim their loyalty to Teusland. Patriotic songs were written - the most famous of which was Die Wacht am Drai, or ‘The Watch on the Drai,’ which pledged that Teusland’s soldiers would always defend its so-called 'natural border', the River Drai. The song quickly rose in popularity across Teusland as a protest against Siovanija’s rising power.

There was great tension in the city at this time. In Pomorie, many citizens joined the Pomorie Republican Guards, an organization ostensibly devoted to protecting the Siovanijan population in the city, but which in reality carried out attacks on Teus businesses, homes, and sabotage against military installations. In response, the Knights of St. Gustaf was founded, a Teus organization with a similar goal. Claimed to be ‘the citizen’s defence force of the Teus in Marzig, calling back to the days of the Order of St. Gustaf,’ it instead carried out similar attacks on Siovanijan citizens and businesses.

In 1888, events would happen that would change the city forever. A group of Siovanijans were protesting in the main square on the Pomorie side of town, and when things became a bit violent, three protestors were shot by the ducal troops present in the city. The Siovanijan Republic immediately blamed the Teus Empire for this, and demanded it be allowed to send in police and investigators. Teusland denied this request, saying that it would be willing to co-operate, but not to that level. In response, the Siovanijan Army seized several rail networks connecting Marzig across the mountains with Teusland.

It has often been speculated by historians that Siovanijan President Anatoli Selnikov took these actions deliberately to provoke a war, which he felt was absolutely necessary. Teusland, however, did not immediately respond to this provocation - instead sending troops to the pass, where they faced down the Siovanijans in a standoff. Then, one evening, Siovanijan troops fired on the Teus, and a battle began. Four days later, claiming the Teus had fired first, Siovanija declared war on the Teus Empire. The Great War officially began on August 13, 1888.

This subject is another area that we could spend months on. For our purposes, let’s note that the Teus Army advanced deep into Siovanija, only about 45km east of Borograd, before being pushed back towards the mountains. There was relatively little fighting in the Marzig area, as the Teus invasion had pushed far away from the region. When the Siovanijan ‘Dialikov Line’ of trenches held their advance, the Teus retreated to the mountains, where they had defensive fortifications of their own. What followed was a 7-year war, the bloodiest ever fought on these lands, that saw thousands die for very little territorial gains in seemingly endless battles. The war changed public opinions in each country, and by the end of the war, led to great discontent in both countries, which would eventually lead to the Unification in 1896.

In Pomorie/Marzig, while the war was not at the doorstep, there were constant precautions taken. The city was often the target of bombs from the Siovanijan air force, and there was always concern about spies and saboteurs. Fences and checkpoints were established around Pomorie, and Siovanijans were not allowed to leave the town at all during the war. Corrupt guards, however, would often let Order of St. Gustaf members into the district. Frustrated by the war, they carried out vigilante attacks on Siovanijan citizens, burning down shops by night as revenge for the bombing campaigns. In 1892, Siovanijans attempted an uprising, but it was put down within a week by the garrison in the area.

The war ended in a virtual stalemate. Each side claimed to be victorious on the battlefield - although Teusland probably have more of a claim to have won militarily, given their successes in the final few years of the conflict. After 1893, there were virtually no Siovanijan victories in the field. Each side, however, was starving due to food shortages due to the war, and thus neither wanted to impose a harsh peace, as mutinies were beginning amongst the armies. On the home front, too, the situation was less than stable, and both Borograd and Stelburg saw angry mobs of protestors demanding an end to the war. And so, the Treaty of Stelburg was signed. The treaty restored nearly everything to pre-war conditions, but pledged that the two nations should never fight again. Referendums were to be held in the Pomorie/Marzig region to determine which country it should belong to.

The results of the treaty outraged the population of both nations. 3.4 million soldiers had died in the conflict, only for everything to go back to the pre-war era. Siovanija saw 3 governments fall afterwards as the public were outraged, and in Teusland, there were revolts against the Empire by the Sparta-Korps, which wanted a Teus Republic. For the first time in history, the general feeling across Siovanija and Teusland was one of unification: after all the sacrifice, all the blood shed, it was time to come together and build a better country.

In Pomorie/Marzig, however, the exact opposite was felt. The referenda went about as expected: in the eastern districts, overwhelmingly for Teusland and in the west overwhelmingly for Siovanija. In the city itself, the vote was split about 53% for Teusland and 47% for Siovanija. The land changes were made - about half of the Vest-Marlebucht province being handed to Siovanija. Sectarian conflict in the city increased, as each side sought to dominate the other and take control.

By the end of 1895, however, the situation was changing. The Kaiser had abdicated in September, and by the start of 1896, the Sparta-Korps had declared a Teus Republic. Immediately, it sought unification with Siovanija. To sweeten the deal, they offered the entirety of the Vest-Marlebucht region as ‘a goodwill gesture,’ saying that since the two nations would be unified as one country, they shouldn’t worry about petty territorial squabbles. On May 4, 1896, the United Republics of Siovanija & Teusland were declared. The inter-republics border ran along the mountains, with the city of Marzig now in Siovanija. It was renamed to Pomorie/Marzig, and became capital of the new State of Korjava.

The people of Pomorie/Marzig, however, cared deeply about this move. In Part III, we’ll take a look at the consequences of this decision, as we analyze the city’s history in the modern era.

Siovanija & Teusland 0-0 Trolleborg, @ Learfield Park, Baker Park

Starting XI: L. Kaberle; Volf (Kornberg 65’), Listner, T. Kaberle, Hausseger; Traeger, Vacek; Lubeck (Stepanek 65’), Jagr, Schalle; Unger (Hovlak 78’)
Goals: N/A
Man of the Match: Reinhard Listner

[Terre Septentrionale]

Terre Septentrionale beats Sarzonia

Coolville, Baker Park - On game 4, Terre Septentrionale was back in Coolville after playing two games in the smaller Kellerville to play against Sarzonia, considered to be one of the best team in our group. Gabriel Pinsonneault was back in the starting XI after serving a one game suspension for missing the curfew but Nicolas Gariépy was suspended for his tackle against a San Jose Guayabal player and was replaced with Kylan Anderson-MacPhee. The Nordiques attacked at the 9th minute when Krešimir Grujević-Komšić passed the ball to Urszula Więckowska who passed to Léina-Anne Bellefleur-Deschamps. Bellefleur-Deschamps dribbled with the ball and made a cross to Slawomir Blaszkowski who shoots and he scores! It's Blaszkowski's 1st goal of the tournament and Terre Septentrionale is leading 1-0. Sarzonia attacked at the 14th minute when Coy Reynolds passed to Sheila Carson who dribbled with the ball but when Kristóf Rácz-Takács was coming to steal her the ball, she quickly passed it to Kristine Lynam who kicks and it's a goal, the game is tied at 1-1. The Reprezentacja Nordycki attacked at the 39th minute when Kristina Kovacevic passed to Anne-Frédérique Bellefleur-Deschamps who dribbled and passed to Urszula Więckowska just outside the penalty area and she's tackled by Cam Vargas. The referree doesn't think it's a clean tackle and blows the whistle. He gives a warning to Cam Vargas and Terre Septentrionale gets a free kick. Gabriel Pinsonneault kicks the ball and it goes directly into the net, this is the winning goal and Terre Septentrionale is leading 2-1 at the halftime.

The Northmen added another goal at the 77th minute when Krešimir Grujević-Komšić passed the ball to Anne-Frédérique Bellefleur-Deschamps who dribbled and tried to pass pass to Włodzimierz Walaszczyk but Cam Vargas steals the pass and tried to pass to Coy Reynolds but Xavier Turgeon-McGee intercept the pass and dribbles with the ball and shoots from 25 meters and it's a goal! Terre Septentrionale is leading 3-1 and this is the final score.

BOXSCORE

9th minute: Slawomir Blaszkowski assisted by Léina-Anne Bellefleur-Deschamps
14th minute: Kristine Lynam assisted by Sheila Carson
39th minute: Gabriel Pinsonneault (direct free kick)
77th minute: Xavier Turgeon-McGee (unassisted)

YELLOW CARDS

27th minute: Urszula Więckowska
57th minute: Kristóf Rácz-Takács

RED CARDS

None

1st place!

With this win against Sarzonia, Terre Septentrionale is in 1st place in the standings with 10 points in 4 games. The Nordiques are currently the team with the most points in the tournament, but 7 teams have 9 points and three of them have them in just 3 games. Terre Septentrionale will stay in Coolville for matchday 5 against Vdara but they will play in Christian Lundqvist Stadium rather than the College Stadium. Nicolas Gariépy will be back from his suspension. Kylan Anderson-McPhee played well in his absence but coach Mieczyslawa Gorzelak-Borkowska preffers to use Nicolas Gariépy. After the game against Vdara, the Reprezentacja Nordycki will have a bye and will play against Chromatika on the final matchday of the group stage. These two games will be determining for the group standings. Other games that will be determining are Sarzonia vs Chromatika on MD5, Chromatika vs Vdara on MD6 and Sarzonia vs Jovannic on MD7. Wow, Chromatika's remaining schedule is Sarzonia, Vdara and Terre Septentrionale. Let's post all contenders's remaining schedule, only one of them won't advance to the knockout stage:

Terre Septentrionale (1st): Vdara, Bye, Chromatika
Vdara (2nd): Terre Septentrionale, Chromatika, Jeckland
Chromatika (3rd): Sarzonia, Vdara and Terre Septentrionale
Jovannic (4th): Bye, San Jose Guayabal, Sarzonia
Sarzonia (5th): Chromatika, Jeckland, Jovannic

Katarzyna Krzykowska,
La tribune Septentrionale

[Hopal]

Hopal Herald Sports

Another defensive game as Hopal beats Libonesia 1–0
Hopal today played a largely defensive game today trying to keep the ball away from the net after the mess in net that was last game. Only letting 9 shots on net compared to 14 last game. At 30 minutes in Kevin Bird scored the lone goal of the game. Once again Bird played the whole field sometimes acting as the 4th CB and sometimes acting as a 2nd CF or 3rd if you include Uma Frey. Bird was later named Hopal's player of the game for the second time straight.

Offensive Coach Halmin Rashsada Fired
After a mostly defensive game Offensive Coach Halmin Rashsada was seen departing for Hopal while Fraser River High School Coach John Ashcroft was seen preparing the offence at a practice today. Rashsada later said he wished to pursue a career in finance the team and Ashcroft are yet to comment. Ashcroft, male, 46 was the former director of operations for Hopton College's soccer program before it was scraped. Ashcroft ran for a seat in parliament as a Liberal in the town of Fraser earlier this year before narrowly being defeated by the previously unknown Free Trade Party candidate. Ashcroft was later offered a position as head coach of the Fraser River High School where he had previously coached and teached before being offered to run Hopton College's baseball program and soccer program.

[Kohnhead]

Tiny Brains advance to three wins in three matches



Taking on a strong side in Sylestone at Jamestown The Tiny Brains were faced with a Minipliances team that had won two out of three games for a respectable six points, same as us just we did it in one fewer game. While The Brains have not faced the appliances in competition they have come to respect the side and have heard good things about them. The game was quite close, and Wells continued his dominant performance in goal. He allowed a goal each in his first two matches but had a clean sheet in this one in a 1-0 win. We have won all three games by one score but hey, three points is three points.

The game started off well for the opposition as in the 9th minute Spoon ripped a shot toward Wells and it went in for what looked like a goal. But before Spoon could celebrate he/she/it looked over and saw the yellow flag for offside down. Intentional or not, the back four had played the offside trap to perfection. The offside trap is a risky game to play as FIFA commentators will tell you and this time it payed off.

In the 27th our opposition would get another good look on goal with this time Spatula sending in a header that forced Wells to have to dive. The ensuing corner was dealt with though by Bertua, and The Mini Brains dodged a bullet. It was clear we were being out played yet they just couldn't finish.

In the 49th minute we would finally manage an attack and lucky for us a mistake by Egg-Timer (OOC: Lol). Egg-Timer attempted to clear the ball but his clearance went right to Korkson who was on the corner of the box on a run. He shot a one timer brilliantly into the goal to give Kohnhead the lead and ultimately the win. Here's the table:

Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Baker Park                   3   3  0  0    8   2  +6    9
2 Hopal                        4   3  0  1    7   3  +4    9
3 Kohnhead                     3   3  0  0    5   2  +3    9
4 Sylestone                    4   2  0  2    6   8  −2    6
5 Equestria                    3   0  1  2    4   7  −3    1
6 Greater Vakolicci            4   0  1  3    5  10  −5    1
7 Libonesia                    3   0  0  3    1   4  −3    0

As we can see the top four are leading by a lot. Considering the top four all make the next round it is already pretty clear who the likely teams to make it are. The big thing here is who gets the first round bye, will it be us?


The lineup for our next game is the same as this game. We will be taking on last place Libonesia who have three losses to their name in three games and so 0 points. I hope we can as expected get the win back at Jamestown.

[Sarzonia]

Kristine Lynam sat on the stool in front of her locker long after the rest of Sarzonia's Under 18 national football team finished showering and getting dressed. Baby Stars manager Diogo Avarel had already finished talking with the media, showering and getting dressed.

She would have had reason to crow a bit. After all, she was the only Baby Stars player to beat Arkadiusz Kaczmarczyk with her 14th minute tally on a Sheila Carson assist. It gave the Baby Stars a brief lift after Slawomir Blaszkowski put the Nordiques on top just nine minutes in.

Assistant coach Matt Lynch just finished counting the players assembled on the bus back to the hotel and realised that Lynam wasn't among them. He quickly disembarked and returned to the dressing room and saw Lynam still sitting on her stool.

"Kris! C'mon it's time to go!" Lynch called out. He saw her slowly gather her bag with everything shoved haphazardly inside. She raised herself slowly from the stool, not stopping to pick it back up after her bag swung into it and knocked it to the floor. Lynch noted the smell of Lynam's body odour and realised that she didn't even shower.

He let her sit next to him on the bus and soon realised that she was disconsolate from the team's defeat against the Nordiques. The fact that she scored the team's only goal didn't mean jack shit to her. She wanted the full three points for a result, and now the Baby Stars had an uphill climb with Sarzonia's next match being against current third place side Chromatika.

They'd already played the top two teams in the table and earned just one point for their troubles. If they wanted to qualify for the knockout rounds, they would have to light a fire under their own arses.

***************************

Avarel decided that he wasn't giving enough playing time to reserve defenders Von Page and Ben DiSoto and decided to insert both players in the starting 11 for the Chromatika fixture.

He thought for a moment about the story Von Page told him about why they were so close to Ben DiSoto. They were all friends with Ben's brother Kenny, but the ties weren't quite the same. He wondered about that, but Ben DiSoto didn't really offer much of a reason other than his outrage over Von's father deadnaming his child and kicking his child out of the house for refusing to stop wearing dresses and makeup.

Ben, and his brother Kenny were both raised to respect everyone's expressions of themselves, but it was Ben who was the most vocal and the most forceful about supporting Von. Fortunately for Ben, his father was equally supportive of Von. He wouldn't have said a short and direct "get in the car," as his first, immediate response to Ben telling him about Von's father if he weren't. Plus he wouldn't have nearly come to blows with Von's father.

After the DiSoto brothers and Page returned to their hotel room, Avarel called Ben and Von to his. He told them both of his decision to play both in the starting 11.

They would get a test in their start against Chromatika, but Avarel was sure they'd be up to the challenge.

[Sylestone]

Group A:
The top three in Group A are effectively in, all they need is for us to beat or draw with Equestria and the same goes for Libonesia's game. They don't need to worry about their result. Indeed, if we beat Equestria and Libonesia doesn't win, then we also earn our spot in the top four, which will be decided with still two matchdays to go. However, the race for the top spot is on and unfortunately, it probably won't be us who gets it. But Hopal, Baker Park and Kohnhead are all fighting for it; who will get it? Hopal is at a disadvantage here as they have played one more game than Kohnhead and Baker Park and their 2-1 loss to us might end up crucial.

Predicted Finish:

Kohnhead
Baker Park
Sylestone
Hopal
Greater Vakolicci
Equestria
Libonesia

Group B:
This group is a little harder. Terre Septentrionale looks as though they've all but progressed, but Vdara and Chromatika, just a win and one less game away from them are hot on their tails. The Jovannic and Sarzonia are in an immense struggle for that fourth spot, but San Jose Guayabal and Jeckland's youth products don't look so good and both sides are already effectively out.

Predicted Finish:

Vdara
Terre Septentrionale
Chromatika
Sarzonia
The Jovannic
Jeckland
San Jose Guayabal

Group C:
Another group with immense struggles on its hands, only two points separate 1st from 5th. Below that, Poafmersia and Northern Sovereign Islands will be looking for a win to propel themselves back into consideration. Matchday Five will prove enormous and whichever teams win will have virtually asserted themselves a position in the knockout stages.

Predicted Finish:

Springmont
Error 458 No Nation Found
Siovanija and Teusland
Trolleborg
Independent Athletes From Quebec 
Poafmersia
Northern Sovereign Islands

Group D:
A group in which one side is almost certainly out, Group D is more like Group A. There is a clear top four in Savojarna, Northwest Kalactin, Oberour Ar Moro and Free Republics and Devonta and Rwekaza nearly out. Lovisa stands in the middle, but they will need to play some brilliant football if they are to progress. Savojarna, unbeaten, look to take out the first place, especially having played only three games.

Predicted Finish:

Savojarna
Free Republics
Oberour Ar Moro
Northwest Kalactin
Lovisa
Devonta
Rwekaza

Group E:
Tequilo is in a similar position to Savojarna. They are unbeaten, but Starblaydia, their closest opponents are on the same amount of points as them, just having played one more game. Those two sides look to take out the first two, but who out of Krytenia, HUElavia and Cassadaigua will get the other two? Mavinet, after getting a reputation for having a brilliant underage side, have just two points, so they look out of the running. Sharktail, with three losses from three, seems to be going the same way as Mavinet.

Predicted Finish:

Tequilo
Starblaydia
HUElavia
Krytenia
Cassadaigua
Mavinet
Sharktail

Group F:
Rounding out the SWC, Group F looks to be an interesting one. Xanneria looks in, and Eraman and Megistos are also a win and a draw above fifth place. Megistos, in particular, looks promising, having not lost a single game, the only team in their group to do so. Nagore has a slight advantage over Darmen and Lochario for that fourth place but those two countries have played one less game than Nagore, so that stance is debatable. Abanhfleft, though, with one point from three games, looks done and dusted.

Predicted Finish:

Megistos
Xanneria
Eraman
Lochario
Darmen
Nagore
Abanhfleft

[Chromatika]

When Chromatika's U-18 team takes on Sarzonia, the team will be coming off of a 1-0 victory over San Jose Guayabal that was entirely different from the first two matches. In the first game, Hank Killian and Ippo Onni both had a hat trick apiece; in the second, Whitney Elliott's long range shot got the point against The Jovannic.

Against San Jose Guayabal, it was Van Enax's turn to shine, as the young Tihon keeper stopped all six shots on goal and needed Jack Inge's header to seal the deal. Pretty crazy, how things have gone in the first three games.

However, Sarzonia will be a different kind of test. Just coming off of their first loss against Terre Septentrionale, the young Stars will be looking to right their ship.

It'll be a true test for Potter Emmanuelle and other midfielders.

[PotatoFarmers]

Group C
Error 458 No Nation Found 4–1 Springmont
Northern Sovereign Islands 0–1 Ind Athletes from Quebec
Siovanija & Teusland 0–0 Trolleborg

  Group C                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Error 458 No Nation Found    4   2  1  1   10   3  +7    7
2 Springmont                   3   2  0  1    6   6   0    6
3 Ind Athletes from Quebec     4   2  0  2    5   5   0    6
4 Siovanija & Teusland         3   1  2  0    7   4  +3    5
5 Trolleborg                   4   1  2  1    3   3   0    5
6 Poafmersia                   3   1  0  2    1   3  −2    3 
7 Northern Sovereign Islands   3   0  1  2    2   6  −4    1

Adnan Suliaha made a surprise visit to Baker Park, looking at the new look U18 team. A defensive national team in Poafmersia was something Adnan didn't expect to see in his time, though he knows that Nelson Sanchez knows how to play slightly defensive style too. Interested to hear the progress, he visited Nelson Sanchez in his hotel room, the night of the bye matchday.
Both of them sat down over tea, with the Matchday 4 results coming in behind them. "How is the tournament?" opened Adnan. Nelson smiled, just as the newscaster was reporting about Group C results. Spingmont got their first loss from Error 458: No Nation Found (what is this nation name?) while Quebec got their 2nd win over Northern Sovereign Islands. This resulted in a crazy group table with no clear winner, and Poafmersia drops straight to 6th place. "Cancerous. With absolutely lack of international experience, the players don't really have the fighting spirit to come back after going down. Especially with their talents - they certainly can make better results than these. This manner of passing football feels like ball hoarding, but they are very used to playing in this style, keeping possession and then using possession to press forward."
Adnan smiled. The senior players would not have such nonsense, preferring to push forward while grabbing tempo to find breakthrough, and taking the initiative to score. "The players need to understand that they need to initiate more attacks. I think they are doing okay, but without initiating attacks, they can never get ahead. After all, 1 goal in 3 games is a ridiculous measure for Poafmersia."
Nelson just laughed. "We are practicing pushing the ball forward and finishing, and hopefully the players can get more initiative to score more goals when they play that nation."

(OOC: Lineup posted in previous RP remains the same)

[Vdara]

A Solid Little Off Day

Since it was Vdara’s bye day, Moustakakos took this chance to take his players on a trip around Baker Park.

”Right, so the plan is that we’re gonna take the bus to Ezriquay and potter about there for a little while, alright? We’ll stop at Salisbury so that you guys can go for a piss or grab some food or that, but other than that it’s straight to Ezriquay! Sound good?”

Some of the players looked a bit confused, but still happy to go somewhere.

”Erm, gaffer, what’s in Ezriquay?”, said Tolakis.

”I heard that it’s very nice, plus it’s got some sort of zoological garden with plants and shit, plus a museum of industry, all of which sounds hella cool!”, replied Moustakakos, reciting words from a leaflet he had picked up at the airport just a few days ago.

”Ah, cool, alrighty.”

With that response, Moustakakos felt validated in his choice, and the bus trip began. As with the last time there was a bus trip, a sing-along started. It was the same song as last time (Dancing In The Moonlight - Toploader), and the players seemed to be enjoying it. During the bus ride, many of the players chatted about the previous three matches, as well as things they saw on their travels. Multiple games of ‘I Spy’ were played, with the most common words being “road”, “tree” and “dumbass”. It felt a bit like a school trip, although considering the ages of the players it was always going to feel like one.

Once the bus reached Salisbury, the driver pulled into a petrol station to fill the tank up a little bit more and to allow some of the players (and coaching staff) to do the toilet. The driver later got into an argument as to why he was overcharged by a penny, as his total meant that he would have to get a penny as his change, which isn’t possible in Baker Park. After that kerfuffle, all the players headed back onto the bus to continue their trip to Ezriquay, while the stingy bus driver was still miffed about being overcharged by a penny.

After another while of driving, the team finally made it to Ezriquay. While everybody was getting out of the bus, Markos asked them where in Ezriquay they wanted to go. To nobody’s surprise, there was no answer. After all, nobody had heard of this place before the manager suggested going there.

”What about that zoological place you mentioned? It sounds quite cool!”, piped up Frangoglou.

”Seeing as I don’t think anyone minds where we go, sure! Off to the zoological garden!”, replied Moustakakos, who seemed genuinely excited to see all the plants and animals that were there.

To be continued...

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

MD 5 means we might be saying goodbye to some of friends, so think of them while they are dancing in the ruins of their Under 18 experience this time.

Group A
Sylestone 6–2 Equestria
Libonesia 2–2 Kohnhead
Baker Park 1–0 Hopal

  Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Baker Park                   4   4  0  0    9   2  +7   12
2 Kohnhead                     4   3  1  0    7   4  +3   10
3 Sylestone                    5   3  0  2   12  10  +2    9
4 Hopal                        5   3  0  2    7   4  +3    9
5 Greater Vakolicci            4   0  1  3    5  10  −5    1
6 Equestria                    4   0  1  3    6  13  −7    1
7 Libonesia                    4   0  1  3    3   6  −3    1

Group B
San Jose Guayabal 1–0 Jeckland
Sarzonia 2–2 Chromatika
Vdara 1–3 Terre Septentrionale

  Group B                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Terre Septentrionale         5   4  1  0   11   3  +8   13
2 Chromatika                   4   2  2  0   12   6  +6    8
3 Vdara                        4   2  1  1   10   7  +3    7
4 Sarzonia                     4   1  2  1    8   7  +1    5
5 Jovannic                     4   1  1  2    9  11  −2    4
6 San Jose Guayabal            5   1  1  3    1   8  −7    4
7 Jeckland                     4   0  0  4    4  13  −9    0

Group C
Ind Athletes from Quebec 2–5 Siovanija & Teusland
Springmont 3–1 Northern Sovereign Islands
Poafmersia 3–0 Error 458 No Nation Found

  Group C                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Springmont                   4   3  0  1    9   7  +2    9
2 Siovanija & Teusland         4   2  2  0   12   6  +6    8
3 Error 458 No Nation Found    5   2  1  2   10  10   0    7
4 Poafmersia                   4   2  0  2    4   3  +1    6
5 Ind Athletes from Quebec     5   2  0  3    7  10  −3    6
6 Trolleborg                   4   1  2  1    3   3  +4    4
7 Northern Sovereign Islands   4   0  1  3    3   9  −6    1

Group D
Rwezaka 1–1 Oberour Ar Moro
Savojarna 3–0 Free Republics
Lovisa 1–5 Northwest Kalactin

  Group D                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Savojarna                    4   4  0  0    7   1  +6   12
2 Northwest Kalactin           5   3  1  1   11   5  +6   10
3 Oberour Ar Moro              4   2  1  1   10   9  +1    7
4 Free Republics               4   2  0  2   13  10  +3    6
5 Lovisa                       4   1  1  2    6   9  −3    4
6 Devonta                      4   0  2  2    6  10  −4    2
7 Rwezaka                      5   0  1  4    3  12  −9    1

Group E
Krytenia 0–1 Cassadaigua
Sharktail 2–1 Tequilo
HUElavia 2–2 Starblaydia

  Group E                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Starblaydia                  5   3  1  1    9   5  +4   10
2 Tequilo                      4   3  0  1   10   5  +5    9
3 Cassadaigua                  4   2  1  1    7   6  +1    7
4 Krytenia                     5   2  0  3    5   9  -4    6
5 HUElavia                     4   1  2  1    8   6  +2    5
6 Sharktail                    4   1  0  3    4   9  −5    3
7 Mavinet                      4   0  2  2    6   9  −3    2

Group F
Nagore 0–1 Megistos
Abanhfleft 1–4 Darmen
Lochario 5–2 Xanneria

  Group F                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Megistos                     4   3  1  0    7   4  +3   10
2 Xanneria                     5   3  0  2   13  13   0    9
3 Eraman                       4   2  1  1    8   3  +5    7
4 Darmen                       4   2  0  2    7   6  +1    7
5 Lochario                     4   2  0  2    7  10  −3    6
6 Nagore                       5   1  1  3    9   9   0    4
7 Abanhfleft                   4   0  1  3    9  15  −6    1

advanced to knockout stage


Reminder: Thursday is a Double MD, and Friday is an off day before the knockouts on Saturday

[Springmont]

Chapter 04

MATCHDAY 5 [Group C]
Springmont 3–1 Northern Sovereign Islands

Lineup
Joubert De Beers, Gerhardus Williams, Arnold Matsumoto, Rynold Van Schoor, Luca Van Niekerk (Angus Kordys 81'), André Le Roux (Wikus Van Schalkwyk 90'), Ravencloud Fjetland (C), Franco de Gil, Gonzalez Thudd, Noah Crownfish, Adriaan Verdoorn (Groen Langenhoven 71')

Springmont Scorer: Franco de Gil, 35' & 51' | Noah Crownfish 77'
Franco de Gil (35'): Northern Sovereign failed to clear and Fjetland took advantage of this as he won the ball in the area and squared it to de Gil who side-footed it low and wide of Northern Sovereign goalkeeper
Franco de Gil (51'): He slotted home from ten yards after being sent clear on goal by a clever pass from Verdoorn.
Noah Crownfish (77'): Crownfish capitalised on a poor back pass to nip in the score from inside the area
Springmont Cards: Noah Crownfish 78' (yellow)

Northern Sovereign Islands Scorer: Northern Sovereign Islands MC#7 28'
Northern Sovereign Islands Cards: Northern Sovereign Islands DEF#2 79' (yellow)

First eleven vs. Siovanija & Teusland[MD6.1]
Joubert De Beers, Gerhardus Williams, Arnold Matsumoto, Rynold Van Schoor, Luca Van Niekerk, André Le Roux, Ravencloud Fjetland (C), Franco de Gil, Gonzalez Thudd, Noah Crownfish, Groen Langenhoven

First eleven vs. Trolleborg[MD6.2]
Marco van Thebits, Gerhardus Williams, Arnold Matsumoto, Rynold Van Schoor, Luca Van Niekerk, Zander Oosthuizen, Ravencloud Fjetland (C), Franco de Gil, Groen Langenhoven, Noah Crownfish, Grog Christiaan Bezuidenhout

Club in Spotlight

The football academy is an important element of modern football philosophy. Talented young players from all over the state can be assembled and shaped according to the standard module set. The importance of the football academy to a club is seen as a legacy of the club's legacy and history in driving glory. It would not be too much to say that the football academy is a contributor to the club's financial stability. Take the example of a club in the English Premier League, West Ham United, which has a good football academy and can provide the best players for England while boosting the club's economy through the sale of teenagers.

That's what Danford FC Football Club does. At Danford FC a full-fledged football academy has been set up to gather young talent who will wear the Blue Orange jersey. This is part of the Danford FC project under the auspices and outlook of the club's chair, Vito Oda. Danford FC Academy is an academy of international football accommodation, education and, football-related facilities ranging from B-12 to B-21. Coaches not only need to be skilled in football but also in their respective fields of study.

In addition, the coach also emphasized the same training and tactics and tactics as Danford FC. They also have the opportunity to train together and to increase their motivation to perform better. The development of this young player has taken a long time and this is why Danford FC is planning the Danford FC Academy to become a football talent factory not only for Danford FC but for the country. It is now evident that the foundation of an academy is talent and education. Everything should go hand in hand with developing smart players on and off the field. Additionally, the academy can also act as one of the club's sources of income.
Source: Link

Springmont Player Tracker

NAME	POSITION	PLAY	GOAL	ASSIST	RED	YELLOW
Marco van Thebits	GK	3	-	-	-	-
Rynold Van Schoor	DEF	2	-	-	-	-
Andries De Waal	DEF	3	-	-	1	1
Luca Van Niekerk	DEF	4	-	-	-	-
Angus Kordys	DEF	3	-	-	-	-
Arnold Matsumoto	DEF	4	1	-	-	-
Gerhardus Williams	DEF	3	-	-	-	-
Zander Oosthuizen	MID	3	-	-	-	-
Ben Clugston	MID	1	-	-	-	-
André Le Roux	MID	3	-	-	-	-
Ravencloud Fjetland	MID	4	1	2	-	-
Franco de Gil	MID	4	2	1	-	-
Groen Langenhoven	FWD	4	-	1	-	-
Noah Crownfish	FWD	4	5	-	-	1
Gonzalez Thudd	FWD	3	-	-	-	1
Grog Christiaan Bezuidenhout	FWD	3	-	1	-	-
Adriaan Verdoorn	FWD	2	-	2	-	1
Joubert De Beers	GK	1	-	-	-	-
Wikus Van Schalkwyk	MID	1	-	-	-	-

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Freie-Universitat Stelburg - Faculty of Arts

HIS 2125 - Sectarianism in Pomorie/Marzig

Professor Emily Hausner

An Overview of the History of the City of Pomorie/Marzig - Part III

On May 4, 1896, there were parades across the new United Republics of Siovanija & Teusland. In Borograd, Vlaikograd, Stelburg and St. Jakob, citizens celebrated the new country, and what was proclaimed as ‘lasting peace.’

In the newly named city of Pomorie/Marzig, however, the scenes were a little different. In the Siovanijan side of the city, fireworks shot off, and there were parades to celebrate ‘Reunification with our Siovanijan Brothers.’ In Marzig, there were mass demonstrations against the unification, and a new song ’Teus ist Marzig immerdar!’ - “Marzig is Always Teus!” was sung by large crowds in the Teuslandplatz. It was clear that for many in the city, this new arrangement was not welcome.

In the immediate aftermath of the war, politics in the United Republics were largely driven by ‘revenge-politics.’ A series of Siovanijan nationalist Presidents held power in the early days of the new country, and they used gerrymandering laws to limit the influence of Teus voters. They also, under a program of ‘national balancing,’ moved many industries out of their heartland in Teusland. What this meant was economic hardship in Teusland, and it created a very tense atmosphere in the young country. Nowhere was this felt more than in Pomorie/Marzig.

Many factories that employed mostly Teus speakers were shut down and moved. Despite making up 52% of Pomorie/Marzig’s population, Teus speakers only had 40% of the seats on city council, and in regional elections their powers were even more limited. The same was felt in other Teus-speaking cities now in Siovanija, such as Bainitz and Ternau. What this created was a continued feeling of mistreatment, and of rising conflict within the city.

After the war, the Order of St. Gustaf group had continued to exist, although in a limited form. While previously it had enjoyed a somewhat protected status under the Empire, tolerated by the local police, its activities were now highly monitored by new Pomorie/Marzig Constabulary. During the war, however, Marzig had been one of the most loyal cities of the Empire in terms of soldiers sent to the army - the 3rd highest number per capita, behind only number 2 Stelburg and number 1 Wilhelmstadt, the capital of Sankt Konrad. And many soldiers who had returned still felt a loyalty to Teusland, and under their leadership, the Knights of St. Gustaf soon saw a revival in the late 1900s decade.

Historians usually point to the Republic Day Riots in 1911 as the beginning of the wave of ethnic tensions in Pomorie/Marzig that would come to ultimately define the next century. On Republic Day, a celebration of the new country and its new values, Teus demonstrators clashed with police in the Teuslandplatz - and when shots were fired into the crowd, a battle began between the Knights of St. Gustaf and units of the Pomorie/Marzig Constabulary. This brought the tensions in the city back to the forefront.

The Siovanijan Republican Guards were re-founded shortly after, with weapons of their own and combat veterans on their side as well. This led to several battles in the neighbourhoods between the competing groups. As technology developed, however, so did the style - bombings of buildings and restaurants on both sides became common. By the 1930s, the city was firmly divided into two camps, and the situation was under control.

In 1940, after years of attempts to suppress their political voice, the ultranationalist Teus leader of the Party of National Salvation, Marwin Laufer, was elected President of the United Republics thanks to winning an overwhelming majority of the Teus vote. Under his reign, he worked to attempt to restore the Teus Empire and crush Siovanija. Covertly, weapons were provided to the Knights of St. Gustaf in Marzig, which enabled them to continue their campaigns and gain the upper-hand on the SRG. In addition, many members of the Knights who were arrested would be released soon after with all charges dismissed.

When Marwin Laufer left office in 1944, after a struggle for democracy in this country, President Milan Dimitrov took over as President. This marked the end of the ‘revenge-politics’ period, as Dimitrov began to focus on bringing the country together. New policies and political changes removed many of the hardships and discriminations of the past, and combined with economic success in this era, the late 40s and 1950s became sort of a ‘golden era’ for the country. What this meant was that in Pomorie/Marzig, many people became less likely to join the Knights or the SRG - their lives were better, and they didn’t need to worry about some of the other issues.

So, the two groups needed to keep their strength. They already had the sympathy of their respective populations, but were declining members. Thus, both groups turned into more mafia-like organizations, offering businesses and neighbourhoods ‘protection’ and in some cases turning to running illegal black market operations to make money to continue funding their fights.

While open gun battles in the streets were less common, and the bombings slowed in number, it was still a dangerous time. The SRG launched a bombing attack on the Church of Sankt Peter in 1962, which the Knights responded to with a week straight of reprisal attacks. It was the worst violence in the region in years, and signaled that under the surface there were still troubles. The Pomorie/Marzig Constabulary launched massive operations in the 1960s to reduce their power, but without community support - the SRG and Knights were seen as heroes in their respective halves of the city - they couldn’t end things.

In 1971, one of the more significant events of modern United Republics history took place in the city. Evgeni Antonov (the politician, not the footballer) had been elected President in 1968. As part of his campaign, he supported increased action to end the violence in the city. He planned a visit to Pomorie/Marzig in mid 1971 to support this policy. A member of the Knights, however, shot him as he rode through the city's streets. Antonov was killed, the first and only President of the United Republics to be assassinated. The Knights claimed responsibility - and there were unconfirmed rumours that the SRG had helped them plan it, both groups putting continuing the conflict, and therefore making money, above their hatred. There were riots in the city for a week after, but in the rest of the country, the sentiment grew: this conflict needed to end.

For the rest of the 1970s and into the 1980s, the police launched numerous campaigns against both the SRG and the Knights. New surveillance technologies enabled the police to easily identify members of the groups. And efforts and resources were put into education in the city to reduce the support in both groups from the community. More religious and linguistic freedoms were given to the Teus community in Siovanija. By the mid 1980s, the city appeared to have a bright future.

The SRG and the Knights, however, would not go away without a fight. Community support for the SRG, however, eroded when they bombed a bar on the waterfront in Marzig - it turned out that the bombing killed more Siovanijan speakers than Teus. The Knights fought the police to the bitter end, never giving any quarter - but were doomed to defeat.

In 1992, the Peace of Ternau was agreed to. The SRG and Knights agreed to surrender all of their weapons, and agreed to various provisions in exchange for amnesty for some of the imprisoned. The city, scarred by this conflict for over 80 years, finally had peace. In the years since then, there have been changes in the city - it is one of the fastest-growing in the country, and now the 7th largest in the country. Economically, it is also a quickly growing city, and due to the bilingualism of the city, many important companies are putting offices in the region. Splinter groups of the original SRG and Knights still exist, but their power is drastically reduced, and violence is very rare.

One other area that is important to consider in the story of Pomorie/Marzig is the role of sport. Football and cricket became symbols on both sides of the conflict. Cricket, played nearly exclusively in Teusland, became an important symbol in the Teus nationalist community of Marzig. The Marziger Oval often counted Knights members among its attendees, and there were even reports of Knights of St. Gustaf supporters parading around the Oval with guns during major holidays. Siovanijans, however, didn’t care about cricket - so there was no rivalry to be found here.

Football, however, was a different story. In 1874, SV Marzig joined the Teusliga, the top tier of football in the Teus Empire. Marzig were somewhat successful in the league, winning the league title in 1892. After the war, however, Marzig had to join the new Siovanijan regional league system. They added a ‘T’ to the club’s name: Teus Sport-Verein Marzig. Across town, FK Pomorie were founded in 1897. The clubs initially weren’t enemies - even playing a charity match to raise funds for war veterans in hospital.

As the troubles in the city ramped up, however, and violence grew, Marzig vs Pomorie became a battle for the identity of the city, a life-or-death struggle. And as the two clubs were by far the most successful in the Regionalliga Northeast, every match between them was important. TSV Marzig were the more successful side - managing, in fact, to win 8 Siovanijan championships and 8 President’s Cup titles. Pomorie, meanwhile, managed 4 and 3 respectively. The culture of each club, and the rivalry, was shaped by the city.

TSV Marzig supporters sang old songs like ‘Marzig’s Walls,’ ‘The Watch on the Drai’ and ‘Marzig is Always Teus!,' songs of the Great War and the Knights. FK Pomorie supporters sang songs like ‘Hej, Siovani!,’ ‘The Fields of Pomorie,’ and ‘The SRG Volunteers’, songs of the 1808 Revolution and the Great War. TSV Marzig supporters held up banners declaring support for the Knights, FK Pomorie had banners for the SRG. There was always violence when the sides played - hooliganism a real problem, with riots when one side would lose. From 1962, after the Church of Sankt Peter bombing, away fans were banned for 4 years. They were banned again in 1971 after the assassination of President Antonov - and when they were restored for a 1974 Cup Quarterfinal, there were riots in the streets after a 4-2 Marzig win.

As times changed, so did the rivalry. Hooliganism isn’t as prevalent now - although the gangs, or firms, of both sides are still large forces in the city and organize fights before and after important matches. It’s a football rivalry unlike any other seen in this country, and unlike many in the world - flares and fireworks going off all game, with players on each side taught from the second they join the club that the other side are enemies who must be defeated, at any and all cost. It would be better to go 2-0-36 in the league, but beat the other side both times, than to finish in the top 4 of the league and lose both derby matches. They’d be happy to finish 19th if the other side came 20th. Some have argued this mentality has held the two clubs back - but Marzig supporters can point to their Cup success, continued into the new era with a surprise win in season 4, and long tradition of strong youth development, as other proud spots for the club. For Pomorie, who have always been underdogs, the 2008 Siovanijan championship team, which broke a run of 6 straight championships for Olympia Borograd and ended a 34-year drought for Pomorie, are heroes who proved that just beating Marzig isn't the only glory available.

In the modern day, the clubs aren’t as successful in the new Republikaliga - Pomorie have been relegated twice, Marzig have never finished higher than 10th. This has managed to make the derby even more important, however - when Pomorie were relegated in season 5, Marzig fans did a pitch-invasion during their meaningless match against VfB Launitz, celebrating as if they’d won the league. In the Republikaliga era, Marzig have been the dominant force - losing only three times in 12 matches. Players become heroes based on their performance in this fixture. For Marzig, that Cup win in season 4 was made even sweeter with a penalties in over Pomorie in the Quarterfinal. Winning a Cup, however - the 9th in the club's history - has been arguably the highlight of Marzig's time in the new Republikaliga era.

Still today, however, there are some issues. Sectarian chanting is often a problem, and the violence after key matches, especially a Cup tie, can get out of hand. While the STFA have put great effort into security for this fixture, as have the Pomorie/Marzig Constabulary, they have also been criticized at times. It has been suggested that the clubs are drawn against each other in the President’s Cup a little too often, and when FK Pomorie were in the second tier fighting for promotion, some of their rivals suggested some calls went in their favour. The Derby is a moneymaker, naturally - in ticket sales, of course, and also the fact that it is must-see TV across the country. A good old Siovanija-Teusland grudge match always gets attention, and on derby day, Pomorie has all of Siovanija in its corner, and Marzig has all of Teusland. Thus, the STFA have been accused of risking the safety of fans for the profit the derby brings. When it comes down to it, however, this is one match that every football fan in the country has circled on their calendar. The Pomorie/Marzig football rivalry has come to represent the history of the city in the modern day.

From its beginnings as a small port on the Nordsee, to its modern-day growth into a key hub city of the United Republics, Pomorie/Marzig has played a key role in the history of this country. Understanding that role is crucial to understanding the context of the city, and its future.

Independent Athletes from Quebec 2-5 Siovanija & Teusland, @ Tollgate Stadium, Baker Park

Starting XI: L. Kaberle; Volf, Listner (T. Kaberle 65’), Machacek, Hausseger; Trager (Vacek 70’), Spacek; Lubeck, Blumethal, Jezek (Schalle 65’); Hovlak
Goals: Michal Spacek 15’, Erwin Lubeck 24’, Marian Hovlak 48’, 62’, Thomas Schalle 84’
Man of the Match: Marian Hovlak

[The Authoritarian Republic of Lochario]

EPIC FOOTBALL DAILY

With Jami Korroger

Hello lads, my name is Jami Korroger and today I'm joined by my fellow friend and former Zun FC teammate Gyiri Nivil. Gyiri, what could you make of a stunning Ginger victory today?

Well, it was a brilliant performance. I especially liked the way Fousi tried to get to the penalty box and catch the Xannerian defenders of guard. Those 5 goals that went into the net were also stunning. However, I still don't like the way our GK's been playing. I mean, how can you concede those 2 goals so easily!? He must've been pissed or something! That's not how you should play in the championship.

I agree, m8. The way our GK's been playing is not acceptable. Someone has to actually take the responsibility of making him so shite during this championship.

Alright! That was epic football daily and see you tomorrow!

[Springmont]

South Winbridge FC is preparing for the future by using talented young local players by Aiton Feria By the end of the third season, the South Winbridge team will begin training next month. Most players are retained and only the addition of one local player and 3 new import players will join the team. But what most fans don't realize is that South Winbridge is preparing for the future by using talented young local players from every position. Jim Scotson, 22, will be a key goalkeeper and will compete with Sam Jeh, 19. Both are fortunate to play alongside Salton Kingbury and coached by legendary Lincoln Relyea. On the defensive line, South Winbridge has Alan Matsumoto, 21 and Dominic Wingstrom, 22. Although young, they have vast experience both internationally and locally. Mark Fjetland, 22, Ramon Lamb, 19, and Franco de Gil, 18, will lead the center. Fjetland acts as the defending midfielder and Lamb is the attacking midfielder and de Gil will be South Winbridge's top planner. With three of these best midfielders, South Winbridge's front line led by Denis Rayo, 23, and Andrew Relyea, 22 will be easier and the chances of scoring will be higher. All of these local players will be assisted by experienced overseas players as well. Overseas players will also act as mentors to local players. This will complement the main draw that every competing team aspires to. Other News Axuson Petro refutes allegation of oil rigs shut down.- Axuson Petro has refuted allegations that it has shut down any of its rigs. Knoxdam business association chief tipped to helm PKC again.- KBA chief, Dr. Lynn Penfold has been tipped to be the new Port of Knoxdam Commission (PKC) chairman.

[The Jovannic]

Huli Maringar: Best matches of the season, part 1

Varla Crlak United 6-0 Club de Kirut

Stats:
Goals: 1
Assists: 3
Passing accuracy: 94.5%
Shot Accuracy: 75%
Tackles: 2
Interceptions: 3
Yellow cards: 0
Red cards: 0
Aerial Duels won: 46%

Probably the most dominant match in the season, Huli Maringar shined and got MVP. It started off well as Huli Maringar got a few good passes in, But the real action happened in the second half as Huli Maringar became the anchor of the Varla Crlak Team. This was the first game where Huli Maringar was actually put in the spotlight.

---

Giant Sea Cockroach among 7 new species found off Rienna Isles by a team of researchers from the BCPN JoCentre.

Kuji Nathan and his team has found 7 new species in their deep sea expedition off the coast Rienna Isles. The expedition was aimed at finding out more about our local waters. Other species found were a spiky red crab and a tiny lobster with a zebra shaped pattern. But one of the strangest found was a species of giant sea cockroach. It's actually a giant isopod, which was found scavenging off the remains of dead marine animals at the bottom of the ocean. The expedition will continue for a 6 more days.

The Crab nicknamed "Spiky Boi"

The Giant Cockroach

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
AFK sign youth prospect on the left wing

By Pavel Löfqvist
AFK Savojagrad, mid-table team in the SFS, open their announced transfer offensive with a bang. The side signed the U18 national player Ilari Milvonen for a reported sum of 365’000 Kronor from his current Nationalligaen side Kallora IF. The winger has been playing for Kallora’s first team in the past one and a half seasons, making him one of the youngest players in the league; now, he breaks another record as his transfer sum is the highest sum ever payed for a player from the third tier.

Milvonen playing for Kallora IF during their Savojarsk Cup quarter-final

Milvonen has been making a name for himself during his tenure at Kallora, most notably in the team’s cup victories over SFS B teams Elektron Harkka and Mir Nestrovo, but also in the Nationalligaen, where he gave the third most assists despite regular absences in order to attend the National Development Program, from where he graduated right into a core position at the U-18 National Team. He played himself into the heart of footballing experts, including football bloggers PitchNerds, who published a praising analysis of the young winger. The young Finn is known for astute tactical awareness for his age, and a crisp technique that has carried Kallora through many important games. Defensively, he has shown his worth in the Sporting World Cup despite clear limitations, but he has defended successfully against the counters of Lovisa and helped to shut out the Free Republics by using his speed to backtrack.

The most recent game against the Republicans was widely considered his best so far, scoring his first personal goal as a header by Ivanov was blocked and jumped onto his foot, allowing Milvonen to score from close range. He also assisted the second goal with a long diagonal pass into the feet of the inswinging Kaisa Gyldenström, who converted from short range. The main question will be if his somewhat lacking physique will be enough for the professional level, as AFK coach Emil Haraldson affirmed his intentions to play Milvonen in the SFS A in the upcoming season. “We still have a decent left wing with Shipulin and the opportunity to play Lyn Townsend in a more offensive position, but at the end of the day, what we lacked was a truly offensive and unpredictable element on the sides. This isn’t Olaf Hensberg’s strength, he is better when he can play in both directions and work for the team. So, Ilari is a great addition and we will definitely see him every now and then”, he stated in the signing press conference.

Given the play of Savojarna in the first four games, winning four games in a row and only conceding a single goal, there are multiple players in this side who may follow Milvonen into the SFS soon. The obvious choice is Adrian Klaebo, who continues to dazzle spectators with his clever playmaking from the back and likely to be assigned playtime with Lok Jarnstad, or go on loan for a year; but more surprisingly, Henning Svarthus has also made a name for himself. FK Metall’s rightback has been ruthless and clever in when to tuck in and play as an additional centre-back, and when to move forward; he has been important in completely neutralising the Republican forwards in Savojarna’s 3-0 victory. Similarly, Pontus Magnusson has been extremely stable in the defence, and it was a point of interest who would sign him before Partisan Sjoedrhavn emerged as favourites following an interview with the centre-back last night, unless a foreign club would snatch the man away. Aleksi Ontamäki also has been poised for greatness, but also has already been closely linked to his youth club, the recently promoted Metsuri Virkaja; once again, nothing has been confirmed.

[Hopal]

The Hopal Herald Sports

Baker Park edges out Hopal 1-0 in another defensive game
Both teams played a relatively defensive game but in the end it was Baker Park who managed to get past the goalkeeper. While there were many attempts to penetrate Baker Park's defence they held the line and was on Hopal's guard and whenever Hopal did get past the defence the goalkeeper was always ready. Hopal for the most part also held their line but at 76 minutes in Baker Park got an opening and scored, unfortunately for Hopal they didn't get an opening and a chance to score. Baker Park got 11 shots on net and Hopal got 7 with Helen Oburhabel getting Hopal's Player of the Game for being able to block all those shots from the number 1 team on the standings in group A despite being the backup goalkeeper, and the previous mess of a game in net.

Hopal to advance to the knockout stage
With last nights games despite it being a loss for Hopal the results of the other games of the night have confirmed Hopal's spot in the preliminary playoff round on Saturday, it is still yet unknown who Hopal will face but fans are already preparing for a win. Another thing that may help Hopal win is that Travis Durant may be coming back just in time for the playoff round, with Dr. Lee Moses saying "He is feeling better and will start training again soon." Durant, 16 grew in the shadow of his father Henry Durant a basketball player, turn businessman. He suffered a terrible loss when his father died at only age 52 and when Travis was only 15. Despite his father's objections Travis played soccer a sport he played since he was a toddler and had grown to love his father being a basketball player wanted him to play basketball but eventually soccer won out.

[Trolleborg]

Greetings, it’s TTV. Today our team has a day off, and we were planned to devote our broadcast to our fans' feedback on the tournament and our team's performance. However, a the end we decide to confine ourselves to the publication of the letter that our editors received.

Of course, we all wish our guys great success, but the statements of the author contains a lot of bitter truth and a set of reasonable arguments.

---

“As the chances of at least making it to the playoffs are dwindling, it's time to start counting the gains and losses from these adventures in so-called youth tournaments.

Earlier, as we all remember, the FA rejected the idea of sending the U21 team from Trolleborg to the Di Bradini Cup, seeing it as a totally useless. It’s known, that first version of wording include statement that players of the appropriate age did not show qualities that would allow them to represent their country in the international arena with honor. I’m not agree with such a terms and happy to see them removed in the last version. Problems lies not here, It’s not that the guys just played badly. And we can’t use such words as a “don’t show qualities”, since it was clear that key to things is not game as such, whatever bad or good. Whole international football system is perverted, in my view.

A good illustration of world football trends is the recent Cup of Harmony. Could someone say under oath that both finalists made real serious efforts to win, fight with unwavering tenacity and gave their best? Maybe they demonstrated some tactical innovations, exciting combinations, offered special new interpretations of football, having tremendous fan support? No, even themselves probably can’t say this – they were just lucky.

Luck, of course, is inconsistent, and if we try for a long time, probably she can smile at us, but long-term investments in a business whose outcome is determined completely by chance is clearly not what we all need. Everyone who think other way can prove his words by trying getting rich in the nearest casino resort.

If sum up performance of both U18 and U21 team at every tournament: they consistenty creating excellent scoring chances, not convert them into the goals, and thus to deliver disappointment to the citizens of the country, and is not what we expect from our youth. And since these trips do not give any return, except for disappointments, additional disappointments and even more disappointments, then why are they needed at all? To find out that our guys can play well and know how to move forward, brilliantly passing and perfectly shot on goal? We can do it in simpler ways than getting involved in games in which the outcome is determined by a combination of coincidences and not real efforts.

But if not for a country, maybe this tournaments are good for a footballers? But where’s a point to take part in them for players? Youth tournament is usually the place where young players prove themselves and see first-hand real international football. What our lads can learn from this U- championships? To see right in their youth that any efforts, whatever serious, most likely lead you nowhere in international football due to the fact, that luck is main deteminant of everything? To understand as clear as possible that team which will not putting any effort at all can easily move ahead yours just due to random on their side? Exchange of ideas? Seeing something new in football? New game styles, new tactical formations, any innovations at all? Bah, you see yourself third time in row right now that this is not the case. If you haven’t it already clear, you can check foreign TV, scan it’s output about tournament and make a conclusions yourself.

What else we can have from this “youth tournaments” in such circumstances? Thousands of heartburns and heart attacks? Receiving a hits to the national pride and self-confidence by looking at a great game with a totally inadequate result? Is this worth our florins and efforts?

Having all this said, I nevertheless agree with need to have some patience, but only a little. Having example of U21 team fate, U18 team, nevertheless, have another chance to prove himself. With a rather inconsistent and unpredictable results, so abound in the international football, we must put a last hurdle; in the case of failure of the team to clear it it’s probably most obvious and reasonable way out of the conundrum. If performance of team will be below average, the U18 youth team must face the same fate as their U21 colleagues, i.e. complete disbandment – but again, FA must avoid tough words. Our players is real good, but they play on the uneven field, so it’s not completely their fault that things are not good for us all and we must avoid putting additional pressure with this awful and spirit-killing wording like “don’t show proper qualities”.

I have reason to believe that this not just my own position. And even more, looked like it’s near to how they in FA look at things. The long delay in registering team for the World Cup seems to indicate a desire to see how things will unfold and make final conclusions after the U18 WC. Games of luck is not popular in our contry, you know”.

---

Altought we in TTV not fully shared this view, but we must to acknowledge, that there was a reflection of strong sentiment in our society. And there was a things that must be said before beginning of wider dispute about fate of our international sport.

[Kohnhead]

Disapointing 1-1 draw sees Kohnhead clinch advancement



Taking on bottom of the group Libonesia, The Tiny Brains knew a good result would clinch them a spot in the next round as the top four are just plain and simple running away with it, and four teams advance. Yet this team wants a bye in the first elimination round, and to greatly improve their hopes, they needed to beat bottom of the table Libonesia who had 0 points heading into this game. I'm not going to harp at us dropping points for the first time in our fourth game, and now we sit in second with a game on hand over third and fourth. Plain and simple, we should have won but we just didn't.

The game started out well enough for The Tiny Brains as Santos almost scored a brilliant shot off of a volley from really far out but it just missed wide. Then in the 27th we drew a penalty as Barter would go down in the box. It was a ticky tacky call but it was a penalty none the less. Santos strode up and skied it right over the bar, it wasn't even close. That really hurt us, and took us out of the game for just a split second.

This allowed just three minutes later for our opposition to generate pressure and get a pretty lucky goal. The ball was played in, Broadsie and the offensive player went up for it. The header was saved by wells but it was a rebound goal for the opposition which just sucks. We had dominated the first half against a pointless team yet had no goals to show for it ad were down 1-0.

In the second half, Santos would sort of redeem the missed penalty with a goal. While that's cool and all, he really should have scored that penalty. Unfortunately despite more good chances to score we couldn't put the ball in the back of the net. Coach Godwin has also announced that Randall will be back in the lineup for Bullock as the young 14 year old played extremely well off of the bench.

The current standings for our group put us in second place two points behind Baker Park, clinched into the next round, and one point ahead of third and fourth. While Baker Park have also played four games, Sylestone and Hopal have each played five. Kohnhead need to win the group, or be one of the top two second place finishers in order to get a bye to the round of 16. As of right now, Kohnhead are the second best second placed team but have a game on hand compared to the best. It's looking good for The Tiny Brains.

Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Baker Park                   4   4  0  0    9   2  +7   12
2 Kohnhead                     4   3  1  0    7   4  +3   10
3 Sylestone                    5   3  0  2   12  10  +2    9
4 Hopal                        5   3  0  2    7   4  +3    9
5 Greater Vakolicci            4   0  1  3    5  10  −5    1
6 Equestria                    4   0  1  3    6  13  −7    1
7 Libonesia                    4   0  1  3    3   6  −3    1

Here's the roster for our next game against group leaders Baker Park at Riverside. A win here would mean we control our own destiny moving forward. Note Randall is back in for Bullock:

[Krytenia]

The Kids Are Alright?
By Rami Niblick in Endborough, Baker Park

KRYTENIA'S progress in the Under-18 World Cup has been a steep learning curve. A solid start has been followed by two heartbreaking defeats sandwiching an utter pasting at the hands of Tequilo, and the early promise has dissolved into a struggle to advance even to the second round repechage.

It's not been through a lack of effort. Every single one of the Wyverns who have made an appearance so far have acquitted themselves well in terms of workrate and determination. Occasionally they have fallen short in the talent department, however, and that's how we've ended up in this position. This is, perhaps, to be expected, given the lack of investment in grassroots football in the country outside of the last few years. It shows this investment is badly needed, and we would expect future U18 teams to push on and make a name for themselves in this competition.

Not that it's over for the current crop. Of course, they'll be looking at other results, but if they can beat Mavinet they might just creep into the knockouts. From there, it's a brand new start for every game. Let's hope the Wyverns can rise to the challenge. Onward!

[PotatoFarmers]

Poafmersia 3
Jordan Huerta 12', 44', 73'


Starting 11: Jarvis Cuyper; Dhaval Contreras, Demyan Lyon, Morris Marsden, Zak Kaloyanov; Plamen Naoumov; Leonora Hall, Vasilis Villaverde; Rodolfo Middleton; Jordan Huerta (c), Bridgett Elliott

Substitutes: Lovell Fiedler (Elliot 65'), Jessalyn Oliveira (Naoumov 79')

Confidence is everything, as they always say. Today, the Young Panjias found that confidence, and ran out 3-0 winners against previously undefeated Error 458 No Nation Found, upsetting the group pecking order and propelling the side to 4th place ahead of a tough match against Siovanija & Teusland.
Having came out of the bye matchday feeling more refreshed, the side played with lots of confidence and aggression. Though the side aren't a group of players who are forward-looking, aggressively pushing the line, they managed to keep the pace and intensity to make the opposition struggle to keep tempo. Nelson Sanchez moved captain Huerta back forward, instead choosing to drop Stevenson, who has been rather ineffective thus far. The gamble paid off, with Huerta opening the scoring within 12 minutes following a brilliant cross from Elliot.
Middleton, who came back into the starting lineup once again, pulled off a nice through pass past 3 players from the opposition to set up Huerta for a 2nd goal, allowing Poafmersia to take a 2-0 lead. Huerta then finished his hat-trick with a solo effort. This huge win meant that the Young Panjias broke their own record of biggest win, and Huerta became the first Under-21 player to score a hat-trick.
Nelson Sanchez was very excited about the result, and when he was interviewed, he was very glad that the players produced such a fantastic reaction. "They showed the true spirit of Poafmers today, being able to go for the win. Today's game was really a flawless game, in terms of how the players executed the game plan. We focused on defending and possession, but at the same time, tried our very best to ensure that we utilised each and every opportunity presented to us. Jordan (Huerta) gave a perfect captain performance, and I am sure with this result, they would approach the next 2 matches even better."

Group C
Ind Athletes from Quebec 2–5 Siovanija & Teusland
Springmont 3–1 Northern Sovereign Islands
Poafmersia 3–0 Error 458 No Nation Found

  Group C                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Springmont                   4   3  0  1    9   7  +2    9
2 Siovanija & Teusland         4   2  2  0   12   6  +6    8
3 Error 458 No Nation Found    5   2  1  2   10  10   0    7
4 Poafmersia                   4   2  0  2    4   3  +1    6
5 Ind Athletes from Quebec     5   2  0  3    7  10  −3    6
6 Trolleborg                   4   1  2  1    3   3  +4    4
7 Northern Sovereign Islands   4   0  1  3    3   9  −6    1

The road from here isn't smooth sailing. Poafmersia will have 2 matches in 4 days, against the Northern Sovereign Islands (NSI) and Siovanija and Teusland (S&T). One side is a rock-bottom side, still winless in 4 games, while the other is unbeaten. Hopefully, the Under-18 team can present a good performance to get a good draw in the Round of 24.

Starting 11 against S&T: Starting 11: Jarvis Cuyper; Dhaval Contreras, Demyan Lyon, Morris Marsden, Zak Kaloyanov; Plamen Naoumov; Leonora Hall, Vasilis Villaverde; Rodolfo Middleton; Jordan Huerta (c), Bridgett Elliott

Starting 11 against Northern Sovereign Islands: Starting 11: Jarvis Cuyper; Dhaval Contreras, Demyan Lyon, Morris Marsden, Zak Kaloyanov; Plamen Naoumov; Leonora Hall, Vasilis Villaverde; Rodolfo Middleton; Jordan Huerta (c), Lovell Fiedler

[Vdara]

Oh God, Oh Fuck

On the way back from Ezriquay, the bus broke down. Apparently the engine had problems, and the team were already going to be late, so Moustakakos got a bit flustered. They had called the Baker Park equivalent of the AA or RAC (or Green Flag or even AAA, depending on where you’re from), but they were yet to arrive.

”Fuck, when is this thing going to start back up?” asked a frustrated Moustakakos

”Well, I’m not sure. It should be starting, but the problem is that it is not, in fact, starting.” said a far too relaxed bus driver

”Why, thank you, captain obvious. You think I didn’t notice that the bus wasn’t starting up? I’m in the fucking bus right now, for crying out loud!”

”Alright, calm down. The real answer is that I have no clue what’s up with the engine. I can’t do anything here, we might just have to sit here and wait for the roadside assistance people.”

”Bloody hell, man. How long have we been waiting?”

”Twenty-two minutes.”

”And when did they say they’d be here by?”

”They said they’d be here in 25 minutes.”

”Fuck, we’re getting later by the second! At this rate, there’s no chance that our players will actually perform in the next game!”

”Again, I can’t do anything in this situation. I am the driver, I am not a mechanic, nor am I a player fitness expert or whatever you think I am. I drive buses. Step on pedal, make bus go nyoom, that type of thing.”

”Shut up, you smartarse.”

Following the long and arduous (from Moustakakos’ perspective) 3 minute wait, the roadside assistance team arrived, and promptly discovered that the bus had an issue with the spark plug, which was causing issues. After an even longer 20 minute wait involving the roadside assistance team fitting a spark plug and charging the bus driver money for their help, the bus was moving again. However, the team were late for their scheduled ‘return to hotel’ time, and hence the manager suspected that his players wouldn’t be in tip top shape for the next few matches.

He would be right, as a fatigued Vdaran squad lost 3-1 to Terre Septentrionale. As the manager put it:
”The players definitely looked tired as all hell out there. Heck, even I’m tired. At the end of the day, I guess we deserve it for the bye day cross-country bus trip. But I’m still disappointed nonetheless!”

Could Vdara clinch points in their last two games, or will the Young Magicians falter and crash out of the group spectacularly? Find out tonight!