World Cup 86: Roleplay Thread

[The Gothanita Isles]

Note that this RP is split into 2, between The Gothanita Isles and Poafmersia. There will be RPs in the future that are split like this one, so to read the complete story, you have to go on to the other side of the RP. This is Section A of the RP, Section B will be posted later with Poafmersia.

Previous RP (TGI - Ch 2 Part 4)
Previous RP (Poafmersia - Ch 2 Part 5)
Part 6b (Poafmersia)

RP Series: Getting to the top
Chapter 2: A tale of 2 nations
Part 6: Forging plans (Section A)

The Gothanita Times

Football: Yellow Lions struggle in qualification continues

Pripet Socialist Republic - It seems that the strategy of defending deep and coming out on the counter-attack is not working for the Yellow Lions, after they struggle to defeat 2 opponents that have came out of the Baptism of Fire with them.

3 days ago, our Yellow Lions waited till the 83rd minute to score through a late goal against the Free Republic of Hong Kong, as the players struggled to keep tempo with our opponents' strategy of putting 10 people behind the ball. It felt like the strategy the Isles was playing, but more extreme, as they refused to give our players any chance of making it deep into their half. It was through quick thinking of Tyler and the cooperation of Barros did the Isles managed to get a goal and 3 points, in front of the 48 thousand home fans present for the match.

Today, against the Pripet Socialist Republic, both sides employed really defensive strategies, choosing to play it safe. However, it was the home side who broke first, scoring a nice goal in the 10th minute. Yevstigney found a really long clearance which the Isles wasn't able to defend, and Vitomir took hold of the ball, and steered it nicely towards goal. With that, the defence came on, with both sides not willing to let the other near the goal, causing chances at goal to be sporadic and really precious. In the 69th minute, Kartal managed a penalty after Fyodor fouled Kartal in the box. Fyodor got themselves a red card, as Kartal converted the penalty to let The Isles equalise. However, with the 10-men advantage, the players still couldn't find a second goal past a resolute Pripet Socialist Republic, and had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Co-manager Rudolf Rostami commented that the poor showing by the players was due to a lack of confidence. "After the 2 opening losses against Banija and Chromatika, the players seem to be really scarred of losing, and don't dare to make attacks and push forward. Maybe it was the strategy that we lined out early on. We have to really go back and iron some things out, before moving on to our next 2 matches." Captain Bolkvadze also highlighted that there was an "overemphasis" on defence that led to the poor results. "The defence, as compared to our first match against Banija, clearly improved, but now we are not scoring enough goals. If we can find the goal scoring abilities that has helped us achieve a good result in the Baptism of Fire, maybe we can be putting in better performances against other opponents."

 # Teams                        W   D   L   GD   Pts 
 1 Banija                       4   0   0  +18    12
 2 Chromatika                   3   0   1   +3     9
 3 Blouman Empire               3   0   1   +2     9
 4 Xanneria                     2   0   2   +2     6
 5 Quakmybush                   1   2   1   −1     5
 6 Tamgu                        1   1   2   −3     4
 7 The Gothanita Isles          1   1   2   −4     4
 8 Free Republic of Hong Kong   1   0   3   −5     3
 9 HAIKU                        0   2   2   −6     2
   Pripet Socialist Republic    0   2   2   −6     2

What is next for our Yellow Lions? The Gothanita Isles will next play Xanneria at home, in North Handoria, before a regional trip in Atlantian Oceania where they play Quakmybush away. For The Gothanita Isles, they would aim to grab at least 4 points from these 2 matches, hopefully keeping their unbeaten run to 4 matches by drawing against Xanneria and defeating Quakmybush. Only with that, will The Gothanita Isles move forward to catch up and move into the top half.

---

The Season 25 calendar just shows how congested the domestic football situation is when you put in regional football competitions into the mix. Sometime last year, the Gothanita Isles Football Confederation had to call an emergency meeting calling for its members to agree to format changes to the domestic scene in order to ensure that GFL clubs can have maximum support for in the respective regionals. For Otksarin, the changes were much needed. Clubs from Otksarin could potentially explode themselves with participation in multiple regional competitions - the CMFA Champions' League; the FFI Liga dos Vencedores/Taça das Confederações; the IFCF Champion's League/Challengers' Cup; as well as the Cup Winner's Cup, all on top of the domestic competitions. Imagine playing 3 to 4 games every week. If the domestic competitions retain their original format, then surely there is no way the season can end on time.

The agreement started with attempting to cut the number of matches of the GFL. Some proposals floated include removing the preliminary round of the end-of-season playoffs, but it was firmly rejected because that reduced the chances of mid-tier clubs squeezing into the playoffs and aiming for a spot in the regional competitions. The other proposal was to merge the two sides of the divide into 1 entire league, but that would clearly reduce the number of teams in the top tier. Teams are not willing to accept a larger top division - the current format with 26 games in the regular season, followed by up to 4 sets of home/away fixtures in the playoffs, totalling end up with a 34 game season, is something which is unlikely to see a "better outcome". What was seen as the problem is the Royal GI Cup - a competition where teams play every match home and away, starting with the Preliminary Round, then the 4-team group stage round robin, followed by the Round of 16, Quarterfinals, Semifinals and Finals, all 2-legged. The member associations agreed to cut the Royal GI Cup to a 8-match competition, starting with a Preliminary Round, into a First Round with 32 teams, a Second Round, and then the usual Quarters, Semis and Finals. Only the semis and finals are played as 2-legged home/away fixture, the remaining matches were held as one off matches in a random team's home stadium, played straight into extra time and penalties. That proved to be a start for the reforms in football in the Isles.

One season has past. As the nation continued into the World Cup Qualifiers, understanding more about football in the multiverse, the question re-floated again. Are the teams playing too many matches? There is an argument around in the Gothanita Isles that one of the reasons for the current slump in performance was that the players are not bonded enough. Teams not playing in the same regular season league only have chances to play against each other rarely - either in the Royal GI Cup or the GFL playoffs. That is a possible angle to understandin the currenn slump, considering that currently, the players took some time to gel together rather nicely and adapt to playing alongside each other. Maybe, the argument goes, the notion of home/away fixtures shouldn't be taken so seriously, and instead, the tournament can be switched to a 2-part system, where a large league gets converged into mini "playoff groups" at the end. Maybe that strategy would work, but clubs refuse to change away from the status quo. And so the argument stays - is it actually time to forge new plans about how the domestic structure should function?

---

The Gothanita Isles 1
Marino Barros 83' (assisted by Ladislava Tyler)

Free Republic of Hong Kong 0

Starting 11: Thulile Bolkvadze; Jeanette Ross, Saif al-Din Kartal, Adolf Stenger, Gerhard Abraham; Sardar Chaplin, Remus McQueen; Grigorii McCrory, Ladislava Tyler, Cyneburga London; Marino Barros
Substitutes: Charlee Harel (Abraham 60'); Vladan Bloxam (London 76')


Pripet Socialist Republic 1
Azhishchenkov Vitomir 10' (assisted by Yakimov Yevstigney)

The Gothanita Isles 1
Abdelkader Kartal 69' (penalty)

Starting 11: Thulile Bolkvadze; Jeanette Ross, Saif al-Din Kartal, Abu Bakr Ekmekçi, Charlee Harel; Sardar Chaplin, Remus McQueen; Grigorii McCrory, Ladislava Tyler, Cyneburga London; Abdelkader Kartal
Substitutes: None

[Mercedini]

86th World Cup Qualification MD3 LIVE
Baker Park vs. Mercedini
@ BBP Stadium - Belle Haven, Baker Park

Good evening one and all and welcome to the beautiful Belle Haven in Baker Park. I'm sitting here in the gantry of the BBP Stadium as we await one of the biggest games for the match day, and Dini's toughest test in the entire qualification calendar. Baker Park haven't been on the World Cup circuit for a long time, but they have certainly made one of the biggest splashes in recent memory, and sit eighth in the World Cup rankings as of the most recent publications. A match between the top two teams in the group is always likely to draw the crowds, and tonight is not exception with he BBP Stadium packed to the rafters, as Mercedini fill their away application and have some of the surroundings seats in the home end, not too sure how that has happened. Anyway, a win for Baker Park will put them in the driving seat for the group with three wins in three, while a Mercedinian win would mean they are back in contention for a top two spot following their 2-1 loss at home to the Orion Islands last time round. The last time that Mercedini beat a Pot 1 side away from home was two cycles ago, where they ran out 2-1 winners in Starblaydia following a blistering first half in the Stadii Di Bradini. Let's see if Mercedini could repeat those feats as they take on The Bees in Belle Haven.

---

0' - Out come the teams into a cauldron of noise and fanfare, both sets of fans are ready for this match in their distinctive colours. The stadium is mostly black and gold, with the red, yellow an blue seats peaking through in each of the stands, while the away area is in it's distinctive black and blue home kit, despite the team coming out in their red and white away kit. Baker Park have been ruthlessly clinical on their way to the World Cup knockout rounds, and they are showing no signs of stopping on the evidence of the opening match days. It could be a long night for the Golden Eagles on paper, but there is always the chance of a freak result.

8' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - We're approaching the ten minute mark in this match and it's already clear that these two teams will fight a hard fight in this game for those three points. The Bees' midfield seems to be keeping the through balls of Nymark at bay thus far, the same can be said for the Mercedinian defence, with their attackers plus Garzallo and Presic combining well to hold the ball up and flush out any quick counter-attacking opportunity that Baker Park try and muster up. Both sets of fans are trying their best to make noise to spur on their side, with the home fans clearly the louder hanks to their numbers advantage. The only real chance of the game fell to the home side, where DeAngelo Simmons found space but was off-balance as he flashed a quick shot across the face of goal. The two teams cancelling each other out at the moment, as it remains goalless early on.

15' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Mercedini can see the prize ahead of them in this game and they are beginning to ramp up the pressure on their opponents, but Baker Park are withstanding everything and then some. Dostalok went close on the edge of he box, but his scuffed shot curled viciously and whistled wide of the post, not really giving Coffey in the BP goal any real trouble with the effort. As stated before, both sides are locking horns in the midfield with no sign of any team on top just yet, although both sets of attackers are working well with the scraps are offered. Tense times in this match with both teams looking capable of getting a result from this match, it's no wonder they're both fighting for a commanding spot in qualification, with those beneath them in the group also looking for an opening.

23' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Time is ticking away much faster than I anticipated in this match, the frantic action has been a great distraction from the clock which is a credit to both of these teams. Baker Park look slightly on top in this match due to the attackers having more chances on goal, but Dini have threatened on occasions, so don't count them out just yet. BP had a chance from a corner which was worked well to Taborn who sat just outside of the box, dangerously lurking in space. Nobody picked him up as he lashed at a ball which made it's way through the crowd, on target. A smart save from Hosset meant the ball was parried out and the danger was effectively cleared shortly after that. Half of the time has gone in this first half, and it's already turning out to be a classic in Belle Haven, can someone capitalise?

29' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Mercedini now ramping up the pace of this match as the fitness of their players are really beginning to show when it comes to the two teams. High pressure has been adopted by Billic, a format that Mercedini were famous for adopting during their Golden Years. It was forcing their opponents to make riskier passes to keep it away from the Mercedinians, giving the team in blue and black a better sight at goal in recent minutes, but they have nothing to show for it as the home side dig in their heels. The match has gone up a gear, with both teams coping with this play so far, although fitness looks to be fading as each minute passes towards the half time whistle. Dini have about fifteen minutes left to score if they are to go ahead in the first half, it is a match of fine margins.

34' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Just when you thought the match were fading, the Bees go and have a series of chances which seriously threatened the Mercedinian goal for the second time in this game. The first was a laced shot from Patton which flew majestically, the keeper was beaten but the shot just wasn't quite on target as it skimmed the top of the crossbar and out, some of the fans behind the goal thought it had gone in as it nestled on top of the net, but that joy was short lived. A couple of minutes later a quick one-two put Patton through on goal yet again, but he took one touch too many and the ball was smothered by Hosset in the Mercedinian goal. A wake-up call for the Golden Eagles, but they have survived and look to move forward once again with the clock ticking away.

40' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Time is running out for Mercedini in the first half as both teams jostle for position on the pitch. The midfield has been where most of the battles have been fought, and it is where the ball is now has Nymark fights with his counterpart for the ball, but he lays it off to Karlovic who can look up to spot a pass. Neither team have utilised their wingers that much with Garzallo and Presic looking relatively isolated throughout this first half, let's hope they have some more action in the second half, still goalless in Belle Haven.

44' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Just when you thought that was all for the first half, a major chance for Baker Park goes begging, and it's Simmons who is left looking at the sky. With less than a minute to in regulation time for the first half, it was Patton (who has been in so much of the action in this first half) who sent a lofted pass towards Simmons who was making a run. Appeals for offside were waved away as the Mercedinian defence just stopped as Simmons had the freedom of Belle Haven to pick his mark. Hosset came out to narrow the angle but in the end it was all left to Simmons who inexplicably shot wide of the mark. Whether it was a poor contact or whether the ball bobbled across the turf is up for debate, but a goal kick was given as Dini got out of jail with that miss. It looks like it's going to end up goalless after all, 0-0 as we enter added time. What a chance!

45+3' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - After a frantic first half, the referee draws proceedings to a close with the first half whistle. It's been a game which has lived up to it's hype as one of the most watched matches in these third match day fixtures. Both teams have gone close multiple times but neither team have anything to show for it so far. Whether it be a spectacular save from the goalkeeper or a shot off target, Baker Park and Mercedini have had plenty of golden chances in front of goal, and wasted just as many. Plenty to think about for both managers but at the end of the first half, it's Baker Park 0, Mercedini 0.

HALF TIME
Baker Park 0 - 0 Mercedini

An intriguing first half for the fans ended with neither team forcing the initiative. Plenty of positives from a defensive point of view but the end product is sadly lacking for the teams who are likely tipped to go all the way if they can win this one. Plenty to keep an eye on in this second half with the attackers hoping to break the deadlock for their respective teams, whether they will or not remains to be seen, but this match is sure to be an encapsulating match for the fans and the neutrals. One goal could do it, the margins are as fine as that.

51' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Over five minutes gone in the second half and it begins in much the same vein as the first half did. Tentative passing to draw the opposition out of their given positions, but no one is biting just yet. Baker Park were the team on the ascendancy at the end of the first 45, but Mercedini looked to have turned it around in the early stages of the second half so far. Chillotov recorded his first shot on target of the match, with his low driven shot easily collected by Coffey, just to settle a few nerves on the pitch and in the stands.

60' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Surprisingly, the Bees look to be fading in this match which only spells good news for Mercedini in this game. The midfielders are finally beginning to prove their worth in this match are sending some decent balls through to the target men up front. The wingers are beginning to get a bit more action and are sending a series of crosses into the mix, but they aren't being converted into a guilt-edged chance as of yet. Mercedini are looking comfortable, which is a weird thing to say when playing the world number eight, Dini have withstood the opening series of chances in the first half, and that seems to haven everything out of Baker Park currently. A chance for Baker Park would beneficial at this point, although it could very well be a tactic to lull the Golden Eagles into a false sense of security.. Things aren't over just yet, as long as it remains goalless, either could very well nick a goal or more with both looking capable of doing it.

66' - (BKP 0-0 MRC) - Karlovic goes down in the box... oh and the referee blows for a penalty! It looks to be a very cheap spot kick for the Mercedinians but they don't mind as Karlovic gets to his feet and the Baker Park players surround the referee in protest. The fans certainly aren't liking that decision and, to be honest, neither would I if it was the other way around. The coaching staff are hounding the fourth official and the players continue to swamp the referee who is in the centre of it all. The foul in question began when Karlovic picked up the ball in the box and was making a run towards the by-line. The faintest of touches, when I mean faintest, I mean faintest, was made by Monaghan on the shoulder of Karlovic as the two jostled for the ball. The Mercedinian who plays in Spartangrad was angling for a while before finally going down under the pressure, and the referee took an age to respond to the lacklustre protest from the visitors. The ref blew his whistle for the penalty, and it's fair to say the Baker Park fans and players didn't react too well. He is now running over to the VAR podium, we might be here for a while folks...

69' - (BKP 0-1 MRC) - ... the decision stands! I'm stunned by that. After all of that, it will be Mercedini who have a chance to snatch he lead with just over twenty minutes to go. Chillotov stands over the ball as whistles echo around the BBP Stadium. A short run up... and he scores! He coolly slots the ball down the middle as Coffey dives to his left, as Chillotov jogs over to the Dini fans who are celebrating in the corner, where he is joined by his teammates who embrace him. It may not be the opener that Dini would have ideally liked, but it is an opener nonetheless regardless of the fortunes. That decision may spur Baker Park to get revenge in the match, they have about twenty minutes to do it. 1-0 Dini, what a stunner!

75' - (BKP 0-1 MRC) - Time is ticking away on Baker Park's equaliser, and it's all hands on deck for the team in red and white to hold out from another Bees' barrage. Simmons went close from a corner as his bullet header went straight down the throat of Hosset, anywhere else and it was a certain route back into the game. The tie has gone from Mercedini being comfortable to Baker Park fully in control once again in this match. Every ticking second brings the away side closer to a big win which will blow the group wide open, and show that Dini can still hang with the best of them. The Bees come forward once again, it's all set up to be a big finish in a match which was certainly billed as such.

86' - (BKP 0-1 MRC) - Four minutes plus what is likely to be a hefty chunk of added time thanks to the VAR check earlier in the half. The Golden Eagles have just had the chance to settle it following a two-man counter attack featuring Chillotov and Garzallo in accompaniment. It came from a Baker Park which was caught by Hosset and immediately released towards Garzallo who was bounding forward, Chillotov joined him, meaning it was a 1-on-2 in favour of the Mercedinians going forward. Garzallo was entering the box and was looking to suqare it to Chillotov who would have had an open net to shoot at, but a brilliant sliding tackle from Monaghan denied him the chance. It remains 1-0, but Baker Park have kept themselves competitive with that brilliant goal-saving clearance.

90+7' - (BKP 0-1 MRC) - ...and that's all she wrote here in Belle Haven. Mercedini have done it and have beaten their first Pot 1 side in three cycles! A Chillotov penalty was the only thing to decide these two teams who combined to provide the fans and neutrals with one hell of a match. The Chillotov penalty which decided the match may be disputed for years to come, but it is the result that matters, with the Golden Eagles recording a 1-0 win against eighth ranked Baker Park in Baker Park. That will certainly lift the spirits of the team for future matches, and puts them in with a fighting chance to qualify with that result. Up next for Mercedini will be TOTEL in Zoloroni, but it's finished here in the BBP Stadium; Baker Park 0, Mercedini 1!

FULL TIME
Baker Park 0 - 1 Mercedini
Chillotov 69' (P)

[TJUN-ia]

By Peter Davis (OOC Note: Any players mentioned for Port Ember are based on their teamsheet for CoH77)

After 2 brilliant victories in their first 2 games, David Seems' Jaguars were leading Group 11 by goal difference heading into the next 2 games, both on the road. TJUN-ia had never led a WCQ group before but now we were there, the aim was to try and keep up this pace as best as we can. Our first game was in Natanians and Nosts, our bogey team of the last WC cycle and a team many wanted to beat.

Unfortunately, the Stadion Nacional saw witness to a very drab affair as both teams struggled to find a way past the other. Both Harold Gylfisson and João Foster showed their worth to their respective sides as many attempts were saved in both halves and their efforts ensured the points would be shared for the first time this campaign. N&N always find a way to keep TJUN-ia at bay and today, they did it again. The fixture in Szensky will be all the more important when it arrives in a few weeks. The leader of this group, however, was still us due to Mriin also tying 0-0 (to Filindostan), so at least N&N didn't cost us the group lead.

The 2nd game was against the team that lost so much during the last WC cycle: the Dragons of Port Ember. PE has never been the same since the brutal murder of captain Ray Reddington and even though Major Ken Block has led his team well since then, he didn't score a single victory in the first 3 games of this campaign. Seeing PE in 9th was something no one really expected but considering the group leaders heading into this fixture at Lilly Black Memorial Stadium were...us, I guess this whole group is nothing but chaos.

Still, they were ranked 38th in the WCC so Seems was not going to take this matchup lying down. In the Megalopolis which gives this land its name, TJUN-ia sought to give it more misery and the chances came flying in. PE was supposed to be an attacking threat but in their first full WC campaign without their star player, they seemed to not have that urge anymore. TJUN-ia looked to exploit that, but GK Peter Smith kept that scores level for the first 65 minutes of this game. Then Joe Green decided to finally give this match some thunder and he scored a nice goal just inside the box, telling his league side in Farfadillis that his talents are great are they might struggle to keep hold of him in the next transfer window. The rest of the game was a pure defensive effort and PE looked to try and set another point to their tally but in the end, TJUN-ia held on to consign the Dragons to their 2nd defeat of the campaign.

TJUN-ia is somehow the consistent side of the early games in this group, and more chaos reared its head in the other games. Another draw for Mriin, this time 2-2 against Se Vende Skooma, meant that a 3-2 win over the Southern Palm Islands shot unranked Union Europae to 2nd in the group, only a point behind the Jaguars. TJUN-ia and UE were not the favourites for Top 2 when this campaign when it began but both have started well and now comes a collision course. Up next are 2 important games that might help decide who has the true advantage in this group: a home game against UE in Szensky and a trip to Maal to take on the 16th ranked team in the WCC. The games against the Pot 1 and Pot 10 sides might turn out to be the most important - who would have thought that?! GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group 11) - lines indicate when next edition of Boot It! will be released
MD1: @Filindostan (50) W 3-2 (T-2nd)
MD2: vs Se Vende Skooma (344) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City W 5-2 (1st)
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MD3: @Natanians and Nosts (114) - Stadion Nacional (?) D 0-0 (1st)
MD4: @Port Ember (38) - Lilly Black Memorial Stadium, Port Ember Megalopolis W 1-0 (1st)
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MD5: vs Union Europae (UR) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky
MD6: @Mriin (16) - Haven, Maal
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MD7: vs South Newlandia (87) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong
MD8: @Southern Palm Islands (310)
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MD9: vs Tikariot (243) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City
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MD10: vs Filindostan (50) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong
MD11: @Se Vende Skooma (344)
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MD12: vs Natanians and Nosts (114) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky
MD13: vs Port Ember (38) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky
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MD14: @Union Europae (UR)
MD15: vs Mriin (16) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City
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MD16: @South Newlandia (87) - Jecken Arena, Newport
MD17: vs Southern Palm Islands (310) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong
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MD18: @Tikariot (243) - Dhaencunor Arena, Tikariot City

[The Jovannic]

The Jovannic and Maccian to agree on a deal to help clear the oil spill.

After the oil spill in the south Jovannic yesterday, The Jovannic and Maccian have jumped to an agreement to coordinate their efforts to clean it up. Emperor Jov and the Maccian Leader discussed the agreement via phone call just hours after the reported accident. "We want to coordinate your efforts with Maccian, make it more efficient, make the effects temporary." He said in a interview today. "We will start our cleanup in hours time."

[Ko-oren]

Fantasy Update : MD2 Edition

Jarongi Sports Statistics

The outlines of the season are clearing up. With four matchdays played, just short of 25% of the qualification campaign, teams might not know where they end up on the table, but Fantasy-wise, we're starting to get an idea what's possible. The best users are currently on 140 points. Users in the exact middle of the table have 125 - that's just a gap of 15 points and nothing a matchday or two could erase. Still, some of the more opportunistic picks have either panned out or not at this point - it's hard to believe that 'cheap' teams like Vdara will completely implode from here on out. That actually leads us to a short list of 6 sub-15 points nations that you'd be very happy with if you chose them. All six have scored 11 points or over in their first four matches:

1) Vdara 12.13 KPB, 13 FPTS
At 3-1-0, Vdara would have just fallen outside of this list at only 10 points at the minimum. It turns out, however, that if they win, it's by insane numbers, giving them a bonus point for each of their victories - that's 13. 5-2 twice, 3-1, they can do it all, and even that draw was a ridiculous 4-4 scoreline. The strength of their victories is a concern though, yet to face Pasarga, Acronius, Timuria, or the big one, Eura. They've done the necessary - and then some, looking at the 'goals for' column - but now they have to back it up by posting some results over the big names. Like the Ko-orenite national team a few years ago, most players appear in the local Vdaran league - but those that do play elsewhere play in some stunning leagues: Nephara, Schottia, Audioslavia (including Minne van Schelven's 1830 Cathair teammate/defencemate Vlahiades), Taeshan, Kita-Hinode, and South Newlandia.

2) Quebec 10.43 KPB, 13 FPTS
Slightly more impressive is Quebec, who might not have taken as many bonus points, but instead won every single game so far (4-0-0) at a slightly lower KPB cost. Hard to say what you would prefer: a team that wins more games, or a team that wins games by more goals? Quebec don't come with the same caveats as Vdara, necessarily: they might have destroyed unknown side Ihilthracna (6-3), but then they continued their form against massive Cassadaigua (2-4 away win). They keep tormenting their storied opponents, including a 4-2 win over Electrum and a 3-4 away win at Main Nation Ministry. Their strength of victory is incredible, and only have Flavovespia and Devonta left on their schedule (from pots 3 and 4) as big opponents. The team that's closest to us, geographically, has all of the well wishes from the Dragonfly Archipelago they need - maybe those have done the trick after all. The one last thing to wonder is: why aren't many Quebecois playing in Ko-oren? We only have Tjessem for Bruncester.

3) Plane of Possibility 0 KPB, 12 FPTS
And even more impressive, though ironically further down the list again, is the Plane of Possibility. At 4-0-0, with zero ranking points, that's a considerable achievement coming absolutely free. It's hard to see this streak continuing, however, though that (to a lesser extent) also goes for the teams in first and second. Much of the following goes for Yuezhou, in sixth place, as well, given they're both in group 14. The PoP popped off against Eraman and Overseas Sylestone, albeit by small margins, then followed that up with wins over Graintfjall and Nagore - not exactly the big name opponents, but a win is a win. Strength of victory can be an issue down the stretch, as they have Farfadillis, Northwest Kalactin, and Sarzonia still on the menu.

4) TJUN-ia 11.22 KPB, 11 FPTS
This 3-1-0 team has done right what needed to be done right. Beat the little guys beneath you, hope to knock off points of pots 1 and 2 - and they've done so by beating Filindostan, Se Vende Skooma, and Port Ember (two of which are away wins!), and tying Natanians and Nosts. South Newlandia and Mriin are still excellent adversaries in group 11, but they've already faced the two other top seeds anyway. David Seems is hoping to continue the light-blue-and-yellow's ascent on the rankings, and should just be able to do so under leadership from captain Donaldson. Keep an eye on starting striker Ulawaya too - you normally see him in a different kind of blue: the almost-indigo of Straudum VV.

5) Savojarna 13.26 KPB, 11 FPTS
Savojarna is the most expensive team in this shortlist, and have recorded the exact same results as TJUN-ia: 3-1-0 with one cracking victory in there. It also feels a bit wrong to put Savojarna (or TJUN-ia, for that matter) in the list of 'cheap' nations - to our tastes, these two nations have been battling away in the WCQ for a while and deserve a step up. Savojarna have mostly faced other middling sides: West Angola, the Busoga Islands, new revelations Twicetagria, and the surprising Orion Islands (the latter being a team that generated some hype but are still stuck on one win only). Mercedini and Baker Park are the ones to beat however, and Savojarna will see them in rounds 5 and 8. In other words, their next game has something in store.

6) Yuezhou 0 KPB, 11 FPTS
I'll be honest here: this is one name I did not expect here. Like Plane of Possibility (which at least had some hype over its name to back it), Yuezhou have come out of nowhere to win three times and draw once - and that draw was to open the campaign - to give whoever chose them 11 points for a price of zero. Like their unranked group 14 counterparts, Plane of Possibility, they've got every other opponent to 'look up to', rankings-wise. That said, Yuezhou have taken poits off Sarzonia (2-2) and Northwest Kalactin (1-4 away win for the bonus point). After that, they had Eraman and Overseas Sylestone on the schedule as well - so they've faced all the high ranking teams outside of Farfadillis - which means that Yuezhou could keep the consecutive wins going versus other lower ranked teams. And remember, that PoP versus Yuezhou game is coming too, on matchday 9.

[Sarzonia]

Kevin Connelly wasn't usually late to the press room after Sarzonia matches. Win, lose, or draw, he would always walk in at the prescribed moment like clockwork.

Not after Sarzonia's 2-0 defeat against Græntfjall. He was 15 minutes late, and saw some reporters beginning to put their laptops into their backpacks and briefcases.

"Sorry I'm late," he began with a tone of voice that betrayed his irritation. Speaking of his voice betraying him, the rasp made clear to assembled media that Connelly just exploded on his players.

"That was one of the worst performances I've ever seen from this team," he said. "We've gotten off to a piss poor start and we're looking like a team that believes it belongs in the World Cup without having to break a sweat. They're forgetting that we had to fight and scratch and claw to make the proper last time."

Connelly simply pointed, not wanting to expend his voice to say he'd take questions.

"Coach, can you explain why your team lost to a team you just defeated 5-0 in a friendly?"

"I just fucking did," Connelly snapped. "We didn't take this match seriously enough, nor did we take the match against the Overseas Territories of Sylestone seriously enough. We're 1-2-1 right now against teams we should have beaten easily. We're going to have a hell of a time against Farfadillis if we play like we did tonight."

The Stars will face the 12th ranked La Vherderoja away after a home match against unranked Nagore. However, the Sarzonian manager didn't issue his usual warning about trap matches. He could have warned his team about the Dave Wilson Stadium crowd, which has taken to letting their displeasure be known at Sarzonia's performance thus far.

"If I were in the stands, I'd boo me, too," midfielder Brady Reynolds said. "We need to wake the fuck up."

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

OOC - as with my previous match, I'm RPing a situation where one opponent has anti-pandemic RP instructions; I hope again that I've squared the circle, and have allowed my opponent to more or less ignore the MARG-20 pandemic. But I've also TG's EOT separately.


MARG-20 Probability Virus Pandemic: Analysis of Second Set of World Cup Matches
Report to the Imperial Secretariat of the Purple Inkwell and the State Bureau of Imperial Security

Sirs, Madams, and Miscellaneous Others

This is the next in my continuing reports on the impact of the MARG-20 (the 20th known Moderately Aggressive Reality Garbler) probability virus on the Holy Empire's progress during the 86th edition of the more prominent of the two multiverse World Cups (the edition we have only won four times - and is thus somehow seen as 'fairer' - as opposed to the alternate reality version we have won 86 consecutive times, and last won a final by fewer than six goals in WC 27).

Key issues that you have asked me to report on include:

1) Is MARG-20 either contagious or dangerous to those charming little mundies?

2) What impact are MARG-20 probability disturbances having on World Cup qualification?

3) Are there any other probability pandemic issues that I think might be worth bringing to your attention?


Point 1
Still nothing really to report on this front. The Poafmersia media mentioned in passing that their team believed themselves 'unlucky' to lose, and Silver Commonwealth network SNN Sports at least acknowledged the MARG-20 pandemic, but neither nation has made any mention of whether their citizens are in any way susceptible or whether the virus is spreading within their nation following contact with the Holy Empire. There are similarly no reports from Southwest Eastnorth - though here national media do not seem to have fully grasped events in the Holy Empire - nor Euran Oceania Territories, though we have yet to find specific reaction to the latter's 4-2 home loss to the Empire in local media. Note, however, that according to studies of EOT data from beyond the Imperial Panopticon's Fourth Wall, it appears that EOT may - like Poafmersia - be completely immune to MARG-20. This is slightly disappointing as we had reason to believe that EOT manager Skorji Oslograd, 'a man who can bend reality with his sublime words' according to local sources, might have already been infected; sadly, this doesn't in fact seem to be the case.

I would raise the possibility that mundies may not in fact be able to detect margaretites, and therefore may not be able to diagnose MARG-20 should an outbreak occur in their country. I raise the example of Poafmersia, who were aware that events in their match against us involved bad luck on their part, but seem to have been otherwise blissfully unaware of the nature of MARG-20 (though this is perhaps a bad example; there is good reason to believe that the people of Poafmersia are wholly immune to the virus).

I shall nonetheless continue to monitor outbreaks of unlikely events across the World Cup, particularly in nations that have had direct contact with the Holy Empire.

Point 2
There's no denying that mildly improbable events continue to follow the Holy Empire across qualification. The third and fourth qualification matches involved the following unlikely events:

* Six of the nine Holy Empire goals were scored by Alán Belmores, including all four against Euran Oceania Territories; this means that Mr Belmores has now scored 12 of the 15 Holy Empire goals this qualifying campaign. I ask again, what are the chances that one player would score this high a percentage of the team's goals, and keep scoring them? Furthermore, what are the chances that our freakishly lucky top-scoring forward would have a name so similar to a freakishly lucky goal scorer of tournaments in the distant [subjective] past?

* Alán Belmores did not score all five goals against Silver Commonwealth. He merely scored two. However, the first of these seems to have been scored directly from an inswinging corner taken by Mr Belmores himself. The second goal was attributed to Michael Mouzalono, but - somewhat oddly - the shot was taken by Belmores, and fortuitously deflected off Mouzalono's left buttock. The third goal was scored by Alexander Ceraluso following a blistering counterattack which finished with Belmores inexplicably refusing to tap the ball into an empty Commonwealth net, and instead passing it backwards to Ceraluso. The fourth was a perfectly normal goal by Belmores, and the fifth - here quoting Silver Commonwealth media 'Constantine Curcuaso used the diversion of goalkeeper's attention by Alán Belmores to score a goal after a pass' from our bizarrely prolific forward.

* The somewhat unlikely surrounding the third goal against Euran Oceania Territories, involving the duck, the molehill, and an opportune glint of sunshine, have been reported on so many occasions by so many different media outlets that I need hardly elaborate on them here. Why the duck chose that particular moment to land on the edge of the penalty area remains unexplained; and how could we have known that two members of the opposing team would had a mild duck phobia?

Point 3
Two meteorites fell on the Holy Empire's accommodation in the Euran Oceania Territories in a single night. Fortunately, no one was hurt, though the smaller of the two meteorites left a hole in Miguel Tzanicites's pillow, and the the larger fell through the roof of the team bus. Whether this was related to MARG-20, or just a remarkable coincidence caused by unusual astronomical conditions in the host nation remains unresolved.

[Kohnhead]

Only one point from two matches sees Kohnhead drop



For the third match of qualifying, The Brains would travel to the Parade Grounds in Oberour Ar Moro for a decisive match early on. It was expected to be a very close match as while we were considered the better squad, they were at home. At this point in qualifying we sat tied for 3rd in our group at 4 points, a very respectable total from 2 matches played while Oberour Ar Moro had beaten Libonesia but lost to pot 2 squad Kelssek.

The final scoreline of the match would be 0-0 which was a good indication of how the match had gone. It was really a defensive battle which was pretty surprising considering our offense normally does not have trouble scoring goals. An improved performance from the defense especially CPL was needed after allowing 3 goals to Geektopia in that 3-3 draw.

While it was defensive both sides still managed to have some decent chances with Orberour Ar Moro recording 2 shots on goal, we recorded 1 but missed a few chances other than that. In the 17th minute, Orberour Ar Moro had a good chance to make it 1-0 after Mathieux Helleu received the ball in space but his shot from just outside the box curved over the bar keeping the match tied at 0.

In the 32nd minute, Linus Rallyton took a free kick from his good range but Laurens Desainctvictori saved it, as that was our only shot on target the entire match. Rallyton is deadly on these free kicks but Desainctvictori did well to save this one and the score stayed at 0 goals a piece.

The second half brought good chances for both sides with Erin Maltos sending a long shot just past the post, and for Oberour Ar Moro, Taran Bele who we have some history with had the best chance of the match sending a deadly strike at the goal but Sanders tipped it out. Taran Bele suffered an injury against us in the 2nd Wonder Cup which we won when these two teams met.

In the end as the final whistle blew, we knew we had played okay not great just okay. The defense had been great but the offense which is supposed to be our strength only got one shot on goal and failed to score for the first time this tournament.


In the next match we welcomed 15th ranked, and pot 1 side Equestria to Kohnhead City Park for our fourth match of qualifiers. While this is a team that's getting better and better as we speak, I think Equestria is still a good amount above our skill level and it showed in this one as we walked out after a 3-0 loss.

I can't be too mad as Equestria are a very good team yet at the same time you can't ever be remotely happy with a 3-0 defeat especially with the lofty expectations we set for ourselves. It took Equestria just 11 minutes to find the net with Miranda Atkinson making a mistake and being responsible for this one.

Equestria would put the second in just 12 minutes later in the 23rd, and this wasn't anyone's fault just talent and class that got them the goal. This really deflated us and we would fail to register a single shot on goal for the first of the first half before getting two on goal in the second. Speaking of the second Equestria would add a 3rd for good measure in the 71st as we were attacking desperately trying to get something going. When the final whistle blew we knew we had work to do if we want to make a serious push for qualification this tournament.

The current table has us down in 6th tied with 5th place Geektopia on points.

Group 13                             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Equestria                              4    2   2   0     5    0   +5     8
 2 Sultanate of Oontaz                    4    2   2   0     5    3   +2     8
 3 Kelssek                                4    2   1   1     7    5   +2     7
 4 Oberour Ar Moro                        4    2   1   1     8    4   +4     7
 5 Geektopia                              4    1   2   1    13   13    0     5
 6 Kohnhead                               4    1   2   1     5    7   −2     5
 7 Bostopia                               4    0   3   1    12   13   −1     3
   Indusse                                4    0   3   1     6    7   −1     3
 9 Woryand                                4    1   0   3     9   14   −5     3
10 Libonesia                              4    0   2   2     2    6   −4     2

Our next match has us traveling to take on the Sultanate of Oontaz, the 257th ranked team yet they sit in 2nd place with 8 points coming off of an upset win against Kelssek. We should be able to beat them but this is no longer a game we can take for granted. The lineup will be the same with CPL still as the starter in the left back position.

[Riennic Isles]

The Riena Sentinel

---

Kanata Shiranami's position secure - for now
RFA president Oda issues vote of confidence in manager despite latest setback

---

Riena Football Association president Tamaki Oda today denied that he is sounding out potential replacements for under pressure Riena manager Kanata Shiranami.

Speaking after co-hosting a panel for grassroots football development sponsored by the RFA, Oda was quick to play down media reports that Shiranami was on the verge of being sacked, instead indicating that the young manager has the full support of the RFA board. Shiranami, who was widely considered to be untouchable after guiding Riena to the verge of qualification to the World Cup finals in the previous cycle, has found herself under significant scrutiny amid a dismal World Cup qualifying campaign that has so far been characterised by disjointed performances and unexpected setbacks.

Despite being proactive in making a rash of tactical and personnel changes, Shiranami has so far been unable to deliver the lift Riena need to escape their run of dismal form. Instead, she has overseen a similarly disappointing start to Riena's World Cup qualifying campaign this cycle. A narrow 1-2 defeat to third seeds Trolleborg was held up as signs of progress by Shiranami's supporters, but familiar flaws in midfield and attack once again undermined Riena in an ineffectual draw against World Cup newcomers Springmont and gave Shiranami's detractors fresh ammunition to use against her. Against fellow Esportivans the Grearish Union, Riena were able to grind out an unconvincing 3-1 victory courtesy of a Rion Kanzaki masterclass - and yet the illusion of recovery proved to be ephemeral as Ziwana outplayed and outfought Riena at the Wavelet Arena en route to a 1-0 win for the visitors.

Oda was adamant that Shiranami was still the best person to lead the national team at this stage, and expressed his confidence that results would start to take a turn for the better sooner rather than later. "I believe in the hard work of the manager and the coaching staff, and I believe that the lessons learned during this rough patch will be invaluable in the development of the team," said Oda. "The RFA remain committed to the long-term project in place, and I can categorically refute the completely unfounded speculation that we are looking to replace Shiranami as manager. A knee-jerk sacking would only undo all the progress we have made since the start of the last cycle."

Asked if there was any truth in reports claiming Shiranami had lost the confidence of the Riena dressing room, Oda was dismissive of such reports. "I have not heard the players complain about Shiranami or any member of the coaching staff. As far as I am aware, Shiranami still commands the absolute confidence of her players. The players know that they have to share the responsibility for the predicament we find ourselves in at the moment. They have to work together with the coaching staff and fight tooth and nail so that we can achieve the goals we set before the start of the cycle, and we at the RFA will give them our unwavering support as they do so. As for the media, they would do well not to report on such flagrant speculation, lest it has a negative impact on the team's performances."

Having received the backing of the most powerful man at the Riena Football Association, it appears that Shiranami is in no danger of losing her position imminently. However, it is likely that she will have to oversee improved performances in the next round of qualifiers in order to dispel the persistent speculation over her position. Riena travel to the Tentai National Stadium to face the Hinodejin Empire in the next qualifying fixture, before welcoming Savigliane to the Wavelet Arena in Nagato.

A spokesperson for Shiranami refused to comment for this article.

Who is Kanata Shiranami?

---

At twenty-six years of age, Kanata Shiranami is by some distance the youngest manager ever to helm the Riena national football team. The daughter of the celebrated midfielder Mia Shiranami, the junior Shiranami was a talented footballer in her own right, but was forced to retire from professional football aged just twenty-two after being diagnosed with a congenital heart problem. Barely two years later, Shiranami found herself thrust squarely into the spotlight. In the wake of the Riena Football Association's massive restructuring exercise, Tamaki Oda - then the acting director of the RFA - elevated Shiranami to the position of senior national team manager, despite her lack of professional coaching qualifications and a reported reluctance on Shiranami's part.

Shiranami immediately set about making her mark, acting quickly to put together a coherent squad in time for the Baptism of Fire. Under her leadership, Riena turned in a commendable performance in the Baptism, progressing all the way to the semifinals before suffering the heartbreak of a penalty shootout loss against eventual champions Mavinet. However, it was in the qualifiers for World Cup 85 that Shiranami and Riena truly came into their own. Early hiccups against unfancied opponents were quickly forgotten as Riena strung together a run of brilliant form, defeating the likes of Vilita, Qasden, Krytenia and Newmanistan en route to a sustained push for Finals qualification. However, it was not to be for Shiranami and her Wavelets as they missed out on second spot on the final matchday in agonising fashion, dropping into third place by a single point thanks to Qasden's draw against the Southern Esportivan Union (now Esportivan Darmen).

Dropping into the Cup of Harmony, Riena continued to press their case as an insurgent team intent on disrupting the upper echelons of multiversal football. Shiranami managed to negotiate a difficult group including Darmen, Balqia and Jeckland without much issue, remaining unbeaten with two wins and two draws to progress to the knockout stages. However, they were edged out by the odd goal of five in the round of 32 against Kandorith, who would go on to be crowned Cup of Harmony champions. Despite the exit, Shiranami was widely lauded for her influence on a callow team who significantly outperformed depressed expectations in its first cycle of multiversal competition. She was credited with injecting pace and invention into a moribund attack and shaping Riena into an immensely watchable team playing a progressive style of football, all while drawing from a pool of untested and inexperienced players from the youth ranks.

Why is she under pressure?

---

With a tremendous amount of credit in the bank from her debut cycle, few would have expected Shiranami to be in the position she is at the moment. However, under her stewardship, Riena began to show signs of regression in the Campionato Esportiva, which has continued well into the current World Cup qualifying campaign. A closely contested defeat against Vdara's under-eighteen team was swiftly followed by a far more comprehensive thrashing by Ancherion, to the tune of three goals to nil, which confirmed the team's group stage elimination with a game to spare. Riena did manage to pick up a meaningless victory against San Jose Guayabal in their final match, but even then the team failed to convince, and could count themselves lucky not to have lost.

In the wake of Riena's abrupt Campionato Esportiva exit, Shiranami took decisive action, shuffling her pack by calling up a number of promising youngsters for the first batch of World Cup qualifiers. In defence, Hinata Yukihana came in for the serially underperforming Emi Himemori. Central midfielder Rie Akamatsu, who had impressed in flashes but proved too inconsistent to mount a sustained challenge for a starting spot, found herself dropped in favour of Arisu Mano. It was in attack that Shiranami dropped the biggest bombshells, unceremoniously turfing out national team mainstays Tsumugi Suenaga and Shizu Samukawa for thoroughly unproven alternatives in Hareru Miyano and Towa Amatsuka.

However, the changes in tactics and personnel have so far been ineffective in arresting the slump in form that has the team in its thrall. Four points from four winnable matches has significantly dented Riena's hopes of challenging for the top two spots in Group 12 which would set them on the path towards qualification for the Finals. Instead, the team are languishing in seventh place, with an eight point gap to early pacesetters the Hinodejin Empire already looking insurmountable even at this early stage. With far more difficult matches against the Hinodejin Empire and Taeshan yet to come, it is hard to see how Riena can fight their way back into contention without a miraculous run of form.

[Sargossa]

He stood, absolutely rooted to the spot. He wanted to pace. He always paced when he was nervous. He wanted to be prowling the technical area like a caged beast but instead had his feet firmly planted on the white line that marked the edge of his permitted area, arms crossed tightly against his chest. He wouldn’t display to all and sundry the turmoil in his mind. After defeats in the opening two matches of the campaign Juan José Barreto needed a win here in the Kaiser Arena, desperately. And with the minutes agonisingly slipping away it was indeed becoming desperate. The scores were locked in a goalless stalemate. In a game of few chances Transvolcanic, the hosts, had come closest, Phil Van de Nainssen rattling the crossbar with a sweetly struck freekick. Mauricio Sainz had looked to have the Corsairs’ best opportunity before his run on goal was ended unceremoniously by Ulisés Rivera. The referee showed the Arsénico centreback a yellow card prompting a fury response from the Sargossan bench. Barreto and his staff believing a straight red would have been far more appropriate. As it happened Rivera wouldn’t see out the match, a clattering challenge on Carlos Carter in the seventy fifth minute earning him a deserved second yellow and an early bath. But still, with a man advantage, the Corsairs were making heavy weather of it.

It came from a mistake. Pietro Pelatto, a highly regarded right winger in this part of the world but now forced into an unfamiliar wing back position as the red card forced Augusto Campuzano to shuffle his pack. As another Sargossan attack came to nothing the ball was cleared to Pelatto. Instead of hoofing it away the Zheiphang Dinamo midfielder attempted a tricky pass to Ruben Casquillo inside of him. Casquillo didn’t read it. Diego Alejandro Costa did. Costa intercepted the pass and acting on instinct slid the ball ahead of his strike partner Sainz. With just Pablo Colín to beat the big forward calmly side footed an effort beyond his despairing dive. It rippled the back of the net, breaking the home fan’s hearts. The Cat’s had been riding the crest of a wave after an unbeaten start to the campaign but, with mere seconds left on the clock, they were now staring down the barrel of their first defeat. Which was indeed confirmed by the final whistle. A glorious sound to Barreto’s ears. At the third time of asking the Corsairs were off the mark, off the foot of the table and had even managed to claw some points back on The Sarian, after their qualification rival’s shock home defeat to Staypuftonia. Barreto didn’t want to think of shock home defeats. Not with Sargossa’s next fixture being at San Marquez’s Estadio Silva for the visit of unheralded Jamestownnnn.

[Flavovespia]

Flavovespia 1-2 Main Nation Ministry

Flavovespia couldn’t banish the demons of their past, as once again they fell to a loss to Main Nation Ministry. The team in black and white are becoming a thorn in the side of Flavovespia, and are one of many obstacles it seems for the Hornets to finally find their way into the World Cup.

A few changes for Flavovespia, with David Blythe coming in at right back and Brian Buttery slotting in as defensive midfielder. However, no major formation changes for the team in yellow, keen to try and keep their winning run going after their win in Electrum.

Sadly, the game didn’t go to plan at all. From the opening minutes, Flavovespia looked flat footed and second best, and just 8 minutes on, it took an acrobatic save by Aarif Muhammad to prevent the opener going in. The save was all for nothing, straight after from the corner, poor defending left their centre back unmarked, to easily head in the opener, with Aarif Muhammad and the defenders angrily looking at who was to blame.

Flavovespia’s struggles continued through the first half, as they seemed shaky in defence, and when the defenders got the ball, rushed clearances and passes meant little service for the attacking players. Coleman, Martin and Hall, for all their efforts, were visibly frustrated by a lack of service to them, and the best that could be said at half-time, was it was only 0-1.

The second half looked like a reverse of the first half. Fired up, and with Feld replacing Buttery (King dropping into the DM slot), Flavovespia looked more fluid and composed. There was a sense if another goal would come, they’d get it first and they did. 62 minutes in, and Hall’s pinpoint through ball found Scott Coleman on the run. Coleman had stayed just onside, then beat the defender before pace, before beating the keeper with a tidy finish. 1-1, with 28 minutes to go.

For much of the second half, the game looked in the balance, but the defence of Flavovespia looked nervy. Just before injury time, Main Nation Ministry struck the killer blow. Alexander May couldn’t stretch enough to intercept a through ball, and the Main Nation Ministry striker was able to finish a one on one with Aarif Muhammad. Main Nation Ministry probably deserved the winner on the balance of things, but it was a bitter blow for Flavovespia. 2 home games, and 2 losses so far for Flavovespia, albeit against the two sides seeded higher than them.

Squidroidia 3-2 Flavovespia

Flavovespia failed to heed the warnings going into the game, and another early blow was dealt to Flavovespia in Squidroidia. The surprise package so far of Group 15 took a 3-2 win after an entertaining game (for the neutrals at least), moving up the table, but leaving Flavovespia down at the wrong end.

The start was fairly even, with both Itoh Hoshi and Ramon Martin getting a shot on target. Flavovespia seemed to just be building a little momentum as the 15th minute ticked by, but then they made a critical error. A poor pass back from Brian Buttery left Alexander May unable to get to the ball ahead of Makino Hideo. Hideo was away, and then put the ball low and hard past Aarif Muhammad, to open the scoring. 1-0 to the hosts, who could now dream much more of an upset.

Flavovespia knew they needed something before half time to change the momentum of the game, and they managed to do that with 3 minutes to go. Steven Hall was left relatively unchallenged, with the defence trying to put men behind the ball to stifle any passing opportunities. However too much room was given to Hall, and he shot from a little outside the box.

Flavovespia were on the offensive out of the break, and took the lead in the 52nd minute. James King’s free kick into the box wasn’t dealt with well, and after a bit of a scramble, Scott Coleman’s snapshot flew into the net, to give Flavovespia a lead. 1-2 up, they knew that to get their qualifiers back on track, they had to hold on.

Sadly they couldn’t. David Blythe’s error was to blame, he was easily beaten to the ball by Ohashi Kiichi, who was able to cut into the box. Kiichi’s curling shot was taken well, leaving Aarif Muhammad no chance to deny the equaliser for Squidroidia. 2-2, and the game was back on for both sides.

Then, with a minute to go before injury time, Flavovespia conceded a winner again in consecutive games. A good cross from Yoichi Shigeko opened up Flavovespia. Itoh Hoshi took a shot on, that was fairly close to Aarif Muhammad. However, the Flavovespian keeper could only parry it, towards Makino Hideo. The young striker took the shot with the composure of a seasoned veteran, to give Squidroidia a 3-2 lead at the death. There was no route back into it for Flavovespia, who fell to a 3rd loss in 4 games.

The next 2 games

3rd from bottom Flavovespia have one blessing going into their next 2 games, it’s the two teams below them they face. Devonta are their next opponents, playing in St Astons. 76th in the world and Pot 4, they’ve had a horrible start so far, just 1 point in a 0-0 home draw with unranked Kulefati. Devonta will likely be gunning hard for that first win sooner rather than later. For Flavovespia, with just 1 win and 3 losses, they’ll be looking at this game as one they’ll dearly want a win in, to try and get the qualifiers back on track.

An away match at Kulefati follows. Kulefati have drawn their last two, at home to Squidroidia and away at Devonta. They’ll face Flavovespia after hosting Wymondham, having a fairly decent campaign so far. Away matches are harder to win, and Flavovespia don’t always start away well. They’ll need to avoid a loss here however, after misfortunes in Matchday 3 and 4. Changes are likely in the starting XI, as Richard Crawford tries to claw back the lost ground. Realistically, it’s hard to see him not expect at least 3 or 4 points from the next two games, ideally 6 points. If not, he could find himself out of a job sooner rather than later, if the patience of the FFA has worn too thin. It’s too soon to really call something “make or break”, but if Flavovespia are still 8th or below after another two games, these qualifiers could quickly become their worst ever, if not statistically then at least compared to expectations.

The Football Clubs Of Flavovespia

Out in the north-west of Flavovespia lies the third largest city-region, St Astons. One of the oldest settlements in the nation, St Astons’ major city is of course, St Astons City. There’s an even more distinct divide between St Astons City, and the more rural parts of St Astons, even if there’s still a proud regional identity. There’s 15 clubs that call the city-region of St Astons their home, in the top 6 tiers of Flavovespian football.

______________________
Tier 1	Super League
	St Astons City FC Formed: 85BU Stadium: Saints Park (60000) Rivals: Waldster FC, Hadford Hill FC (major) St Astons City are the other members of the traditional “Big 3” of Flavovespia. A club with more than a century of history, and much of that has been played at the top level of football in the nation, everyone knows this club. A club that probably saw their better years in the classic era, notably the 20sBU decade, but nonetheless they’ve had plenty of success elsewhere. The modern era saw them play their one and only season in the second tier in 13AU, but with 2 Super League and 3 major cup wins in the modern era, St Astons City still have a fairly enviable record since 0U.
Tier 2	Challenge League
	Millsea FC Formed: 31BU Stadium: Millsea Park (4598) Rivals: Vitarias Legion (major) Millsea are a newer team by the standards of St Astons. The Millsea suburb in St Astons City is home to this club. Largely an amateur and small-time semi-pro side for the first decade or so, by 13BU they had made it to the United and Eastern Alliance Division 1, at the time the top tier in that pyramid. They entered the GWFA pyramid in the modern era in 2AU, part of the third tier National Division 2. The first 2 decades of the modern era saw them bounce around the second and third tier, but in the last decade, they’ve become more and more established in the second tier. Recent years have seen them upset St Astons City in the Flavovespia Gold Cup, reach the quarter finals of said competition twice, and make the Challenge League promotion playoffs. The dream of the Super League is alive for them.
Tier 4	National League Division 2
	Vitarias Legion Formed: 82BU Stadium: Vitarias Colosseum (3187) Rivals: Millsea FC (major) One of the older sides of not just St Astons City, but all of Flavovespia, Vitarias Legion have plenty of history, given their non primary city side status. Vitarias itself was the former name of the settlement that became St Astons City, and the club lean on the historic cultural aspects of the city as part of their identity. Formed way back in 82BU, as an amateur side, they competed in the first Gold Cup of 79BU, and were founders of the Western Association in 54BU. Often ranked in the 30s in The National ranking era, they ended the classic era as a middling United and Eastern Alliance side. Vitarias Legion have spent much of the modern era as a lower second tier or upper third tier side, but do start 29BU in the new fourth tier. Their ground is little more than a half-hour walk from Millsea FC’s ground, and the two sides have a fierce local rivalry.
Tier 5	Alliance D1
	Maltsterbrack FC Formed: 39BU Stadium: Maltsterbrack Park (1905) Rivals: Hilt Wood FC, Torstermound FC (minor) Maltsterbrack is a small coastal town, a fair distance from St Astons City, with the urban area of Binclestead Wood closer to Malsterbrack. The team existed for almost 4 decades of the classic era, but were of a small stature, never making it into Round 1 proper of the Gold Cup, or out of the St Astons State League. In the modern era, they’d be one of the 64 Alliance D2 entrants, but thanks in some part to the expansion of the League from 48 to 64 teams, achieved a double promotion to enter the Western League in 9AU. Staying in the league consistently has been a struggle for Malsterbrack, their last Western League appearance of 28AU lasting just one season, but the club has a fairly decent local following and financial support.
	Walbert Street FC Formed: 71BU Stadium: Walbert Street (1666) Rivals: Prince Street Wanderers (major) Walbert Street celebrated their centennial year recently. The club, which is now generally the local club of the suburban outskirts of St Astons City, takes the name from one of the historic roads in St Astons. An amateur side to begin with, 59BU saw them qualify for the Gold Cup for the first time, and they went all the way to Round 4, the final 16. 8 seasons they’d spend in the United and Eastern Alliance D2, by this time a semi-pro side. 15AU saw Walbert Street spend their one and only season as a league side in the Western League, but they went down bottom of the division. Their maroon, white and lime green kits are quite a distinctive combination in Flavovespia.
	St Astons Athletic Formed: 1AU Stadium: Heston Street (1893) Rivals: Old Saints FC (major), St Astons Abbey and Cathedral, St Astons Striders FC (minor) Formed at the start of the modern era, the club were originally known as “St Astons Amateur Association”, and as the name suggested, were comprised of the best amateur players in St Astons. Despite their amateur status, they did well enough to make it into the Western Alliance in 3AU. Finalists in 11AU of the Alliance Shield, the struggles to remain competitive as an amateur side caught up with them, as they drifted away into the Alliance D2. In 22AU they rebranded as St Astons Athletic, turning semi-pro. The as of yet unrealised ambition for them is to try and make it to the league.
Tier 6	Alliance D2
	Old Saints FC Formed: 70BU Stadium: Sunnysiders (1000) Rivals: St Astons Abbey and Cathedral, St Astons Striders FC, St Astons Athletic FC (minor) Old Saints FC are the alumni team of the University of St Astons. 70BU is given as the date a team of ex-students first played, but football has been played at the university prior to that, the uni side playing in the early Gold Cups. Due to being run by the university and a “closed shop”, Old Saints only played sporadically for many decades. However, the modern era allowed the team to enter the league system, and in 4AU they qualified for the Alliance D2, with current students also eligible to play. 21AU saw them finish 6th in the Western Alliance D1, but a shock playoff win promoted them to the league. They did only score 12 points in the Western League in 22AU, but it was a memorable season nonetheless. The distinctive kits are the traditional colours of the university.
	St Astons Abbey and Cathedral Formed: 62BU Stadium: Abbey Lane (670) Rivals: St Astons Striders (major), Old Saints FC (minor) The famous Abbey and Cathedral of St Astons is one of the landmarks of St Astons City. The club is linked with the Abbey and Cathedral, with a distinctive spire like pattern on it’s kit, but maintains a small but dedicated local support to the ground. A small amateur side in the classic era, with sporadic appearances in the Gold Cup proper, their early years saw their close ties to the Abbey and Cathedral a barrier to growth. Increased outreach to become a more local side in the modern era has seen them bounce between the two tiers of the Alliance, but no further than that so far.
	Bridge Hill FC Formed: 55BU Stadium: The Heath (664) Rivals: Palace Wood Village FC (major) Bridge Hill’s etymology is supposedly from the hill not far from the Walbert Street bridge, although this has never truly been verified. The side, representing the small settlement nearby, were an amateur side for decades, but were strong enough in the early modern era to make it into the Alliance D2. It seemed like for years they’d be stuck in the basement tier for a long tier, but following a Round 1 Gold Cup appearance in 24AU, they went on to win the Western Alliance D2 the next season, to make their one and only Western Alliance D1 appearance. The side have since returned to the Alliance D2 level, however the fledging side have a brighter future now, with a little more local support appearing.
	Prince Street Wanderers Formed: 66BU Stadium: Prince Street (1513) Rivals: Walbert Street FC (major) Prince Street Wanderers lie not far from their fierce rivals Walbert Street, but sadly don’t have as impressive record as them. Amateur for many decades, they never made it into the Gold Cup, defeated in the qualifying arounds at all attempts. In 11BU, they won a surprise promotion from the St Astons State League to the United and Eastern Alliance D2, but were relegated straight back. In the modern era, despite being a Western Alliance founder in 3AU, they’ve never progressed into the league. 22AU was probably one of their finest modern seasons, despite only 6th in the Western Alliance D2, they took FC North Waldster all the way to penalties in the Alliance Shield final, before an agonising loss.
	Hilt Wood FC Formed: 56BU Stadium: Autumn Avenue (1405) Rivals: Malsterbrack FC, Torstermound FC (minor) Hilt Wood lies up in the hills right on the outskirts of St Astons, with the small town of the same name the only break in the woodlands. A team that made several appearances in Round 1 of the Gold Cup in its later years, but only once against Walbert Street did they win at that stage. Strong in the St Astons State League at the end of the classic era and start of modern era, they qualified for the Western Alliance. The expansion of the league from 48 to 64 teams at the end of 7AU benefitted Hilt Wood, their 9th place enough to promote them to the new Western League. Sadly, relegation soon followed, and they’ve never reached that level since. Hilt Wood are currently struggling somewhat, mired in the Alliance D2, and with little growth in finances or crowds.
	St Astons Striders FC Formed: 6BU Stadium: Striders Park (560) Rivals: St Astons Abbey and Cathedral (major), Old Saints FC (minor) St Astons Striders were known as a multisports club, but it was only 6BU when they finally branched into football. The club are based in St Astons City, and still use the multisports complex for their home games. St Astons Striders fully separated as a distinct side at the start of the modern era, stadium aside, and entered the Alliance D2 upon it’s founding. They were relatively successful, to the chagrin of the older St Astons sides. They’ve had multiple appearances in the Alliance D1, although struggle to sustain that level, with the rather crowded environment of St Astons lower league sides. Another side who take a shade of blue and a shade of yellow on their kits, colours commonly associated with St Astons.
	Torstermound FC Formed: 62BU Stadium: Torstermound (724) Rivals: Malsterbrack FC, Hilt Wood FC, Oakwoods FC (minor) A village of a little more than a few thousand, it was originally known for its lumber and woodcrafting factory. Torstermound FC formedfrom the remnant of the defunct Torstermound Tinkerers factory side. They were an amateur side for much of the classic era, until they gradually became relatively more successful. Not one of the 64 who made it into the Alliance D2 initially, they won a playoff competition to replace Woodlee Farm for 6AU. Their relative isolation means that their support and ability to sign players is always limited, but they’ve managed to at least make Round 1 of the Flavovespia Gold Cup on a few occasions
	Oakwoods FC Formed: 43BU Stadium: Oakwoods Arena (815) Rivals: Torstermound FC, Palace Wood Village (minor) Oakwoods, a small town near the border with the city-region of Bincelstead Wood, had a successful first decade Ambitious ownership saw them go semi-pro quickly, and twice they made Round 3 of the Gold Cup. Unfortunately, the club couldn’t move beyond the St Astons State League, with the Western Association a closed shop, and the money dried up. The club almost collapsed entirely in 26AU, only a local fundraiser saving them, and they reverted to amateur status. They’d join the likes of Palace Wood Village in the Western Alliance D2 in 8AU, but much like their minor rivals, have struggled to move much beyond the bottom of the table in the following 2 decades.
	Palace Wood Village FC Formed: 58BU Stadium: The Palace (880) Rivals: Bridge Hill FC (major), Oakwoods FC (minor) One of the smallest side, even by non-league standards to make the Alliance, Palace Wood Village have had a limited history above amateur level. The village, fairly close to Claychester, spent the classic era as an amateur side, occasionally appearing in the St Astons State League, but usually relegated quickly after. In 7AU, they placed high enough in said league to qualify for the Western Alliance D2, as 16 places at Alliance D2 level opened up with the restructuring of the league and non-league. Sadly, they spent 2 decades kicking around the bottom of the division, and were one of the first 8 to be relegated from the Alliance D2, when the league introduced relegation to the 8 associate leagues below it. 29AU however saw them bounce back as winners of the St Astons State League, to return to the Alliance D2 for 30AU.

Code: Select all

OOC: Tier 1-4 kit graphics taken direct from my domestic newswire

[Northwest Kalactin]

Why Are the Kalactanians Doing so Bad?
Well, there really isn’t a way to hide it anymore, the Kalactanians are playing terrible so far during this World Cup, and it is clear to anyone watching. They have failed to win any matches so far, and they lost their first 2 games to unranked teams that they should’ve been able to beat easily on any other day. 9 out of 10 times we should’ve been able to beat any of the other teams that are out here right now, but we just aren’t there right now. Let’s see the top 4 reasons why we are not playing well right now.

Inexperienced Squad
After the last World Cup, many of the players that had been mainstays of the team since the beginning of WCC went on to leave and retire from play on the National Team. Many of these players were replaced by guys that are much younger and do not have the experience of playing in big games like this like the others did. Some players like Thomas Butler and Lamar Hall even haven’t been playing at the highest level of domestic play for 2 years, so they lack the big game guts that most of the guys on the team have.

New Tactics
After the midpoint of AOCAF 61, manager Damon Schecter decided to change up some of the tactics of the national team. Instead of playing a 4-3-3 formation that they had played for multiple years before, Schecter decided to play a 3-3-4, which was a relatively new concept to the team. This brought much of the support that Mark Romero used to have up onto the front end of the field, and it would show, as the Kalactanian team has been focusing so much on scoring goals, rather than defending them lately.

Defense
Like we mentioned earlier, the Kalactanian team has decided to focus much more on the offensive aspects of the game rather than defense. This is good for the offense, but it seems to be very troubling for a defense that has always had a rough time trying to defend the ball already. This showed in the game against Farfadillis as the Kalactanians lost the game by 5 goals. Mark Romero simply doesn’t have enough help on the back end, and this hurts the Kalactanians greatly.

Thomas Butler Struggles
Thomas Butler is the wonder kid of Kalactanian football and already possibly the best player on the team, only at 18 years old. He is known to have the best skill and physical attributes ever seen in a Kalactanian player, and he is the future of Kalactanian football. He has been struggling to produce good stats lately, only having one goal the entire qualifying time so far. He is very young, so the bright lights of NT play can be very overwhelming for a player his age. He has great skill but he has had a hard time using it so far.

[Mavinet]

© Bóng Tròn Magazine
Know Your Government – WC86 Edition: Hello World!
by Dang Duc Tri, Associate Sports Editor

Another pair of qualifying matches has been played, and another issue of the magazine has come to deliver you the periodical civic lesson you didn’t know you need. Before we move on to the main topic of today, let’s recap how our national team did in the latest two matches in the World Cup qualifying stage.

The two opponents for this second set of matches were New Lusitania and Hwiccemark. Mavinet started the second set away at New Lusitania, the 48th-ranked team of the world and one of the major contenders for the top 2 spots of the group. The home advantage gave New Lusitania plenty of chances to establish a comfortable dominance over Head Coach Minh Quan’s squad, but the Water Buffaloes did not play passively. Two common characteristics of the national team under the current management team have been active defending and clinical counter-attacks. Once more, that tactic proved effective against higher-ranked team. Mavinet scored both of the goals before half time: one for Vu Tien Linh (30th minute) and one for Tran Hoang Minh (44th minute), both coming from counter-attack situations. The Water Buffaloes stayed compact in the second half to protect the lead, and New Lusitania failed to find a way back in the match. Mavinet grabbed an important away win and all 3 points with a firm hand.

Momentum continued into our second match with Hwiccemark. This time facing a much lower-ranked team, the approach switched to overwhelming the opponent and dominating the match. Despite the control of possession, Mavinet found it hard to penetrate all the way to the opponent’s goal. Hwiccemark fought bravely to protect their net the same way Mavinet did in the last match. It took 62 minutes for Mavinet to find the net thanks to a lapse in concentration at Hwiccemark’s back line. Ho Vu Thanh Hoang made good use of the chance and beat the keeper with a lob shot. Substitute striker Tran Duc Vinh sealed the victory in the 86th minute. A good yet difficult win that reminded our squad the importance of perseverance and staying focused for the whole match.

My colleague Pham Ngoc Le will bring you a detailed highlight of the matches on page 4, which you may have passed through on the way here, unless you are reading backward.

The headquarter of the Ministry of Foreign Affair viewed from Hoang Hoa Tham Street.

For this issue, we will look at one of the most important ministries in the government, one that can be considered our “face” to the world: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MiniFA).

One of the oldest ministries in the country, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs traces its origin back to the Ministry of Rites under monarchy’s rule of the past. Officially established under the Republic in 1887, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for representing Mavinet on the international scene. The agency’s main activities are formulating foreign policies, diplomatic decisions, foreign affairs documents, and statements. It also negotiates and signs bilateral and multilateral foreign treaties and agreements. The agency also maintains the diplomatic corps at other countries. Unlike some younger ministries, the MiniFA has not experienced many changes throughout its history. The agency has expanded in size along with the wider network of countries Mavinet has relationships with, but the internal structure has remained largely intact.

We were unable to get a hold of the Minister of Foreign Affairs for this article, so instead we spoke to the Deputy Minister Ho Hoang Anh at the Ministry’s headquarter, 10 Hoang Hoa Tham Boulevard, Dai Hoa, to get an insider’s view of the MiniFA and its operations.

1. People tend to think about Foreign Affairs as fancy people wearing fancy suits and going to fancy events. What do you think about this?

“There is certain truth to that. The most important mission of our agency is to represent Mavinet in other countries, and one common way to do so is organizing or attending diplomatic events. These events always require attendees and dignitaries to be in the most formal dresses, so of course the diplomatic corps usually get to look sharp in the spotlight. But a lot of our other works are not so public or fancy, such as consular services or intelligence. Communication between countries most of the times occurs in the background, so in our daily operation we are not that fancy. Just imagine any typical office environment and you already know how the Ministry looks like everyday.

2. Obviously the common people don’t interact directly with the MiniFA everyday so there are questions about how the MiniFA is affecting people’s lives. How do you answer those questions?

“The most obvious interaction probably happens overseas. If citizens need support with their travel documents, citizenship or citizen rights in a foreign country, the embassies and consulates are of course the first place for them to report to. We also serve as the protection agency for citizens abroad in cases of political instability. Domestically, the MiniFA can be considered the first protector of our citizens’ rights and lives. Political and economical disputes with foreign countries are always handled diplomatically first, and that’s our job. And another that is less obvious is we indirectly provide more options in a lot of aspects in people’s lives: international trade deals can bring foreign goods to stores and supermarkets, while travel agreements help citizens to enjoy travelling to other countries hassle-free. There are other benefits that citizens get to enjoy when the country has an efficient Foreign Affairs agency, and we are striving to become just that.”

3. How have participating in international football changed Mavinet’s Foreign Affairs activities?

“We have had more countries with which to establish connections thanks to Mavinet’s rising reputation in international football community. If before we joined the World Cup tournaments most of the interactions were conducted with regional countries, then now we have many more inter-regions relationships. Countries from Atlantian Oceania like Baker Park, Banija or from Esportiva like Hinodejin Empire or South Newlandia among many more are the countries we are working on building long-lasting relationships with, in addition to the ones we have with Rushmori countries. With this expansion, the scope of operation for MiniFA will definitely be a lot larger.

In addition to that, people, both Mavineses and other countries’ citizens, are travelling between our countries a lot more frequent now than before. With that, our Consular Services now need to be upgraded to handle a bigger workload more efficiently. Although rare, issues and incidents related to our football fans as well as others do happen and when they do, MiniFA have to deal with them fast and effectively to ensure the safety of everyone involved. That requires us to streamline the communication processes, which is a good thing. An interesting fact is we have seen many more cases of lost passport and legal violations by Mavinese citizens abroad since the participation in international football. Although it’s good to see our fans are enjoying our country’s presence on the international stage, we really want to urge our citizens to enjoy it safely and responsibly.”

4. With the current form and results, what is your prediction for the national team in their qualifying campaign? And who do you think will be the next World Cup champion?

"The team are doing a good job I believe. I didn’t get to watch the games personally, but I read the reports and we are standing quite high in the group ranking. As a fan of the national team, I hope the good performance continues. I don’t think I can predict anything about the team, but let’s say my hope is the team can finish 3rd or 4th in the group. They are certainly capable of that. As for the next World Cup champion, I think Banija are currently the highest-ranked country? I am not an expert, so I will just pick the one on top."

Just like last time, we picked out the most relevant topics from the meeting to publish in this issue. For the full interview, please check out our video and transcription on bongtron.com.

With that, your civic lesson for today is concluded. Thank you again for Mister Deputy Minister for the time and you for staying with me through this whole article. We will see you next time at the Ministry of Defense.

[Trolleborg]

Greetings, compatriots! It’s TTV with a recent news from the football fields.
The news this time is not very inspiring, we must admit that.

TROLLEBORG – TAESHAN 1:1.

This time the opponent is one of the two favorites in the fight for a ticket to Newmanistan and Drawkland, and the chances of our team for a high place in the final table in no small measure depended on the outcome of the fight. Burning question for everyone was is our national team, which is starting its way in world football, able, with the support of fiery fans, to compete with Taeshan, who have not very convincing start to the tournament? Also, our guys are used to attacking and combining on the field, while the guests have a completely different style of play, and it was interesting, abstracting from the result, to see how this clash would look on the field.

Most experts predicted correctly how the events would develop: Trolleborg was trying to siege opponents' penalty box, and the guests focused on preventing this, meeting our players 30 meters from the goal and competently blocking all directions of attack. They themselves almost never crossed the middle line of the field, but everyone knows that they do not need to do this often and in large quantities, and the opponents who gave them a chance often can safely count on starting from the center of the field immediately after that. Despite the density and quality of defense, our guys still had chances to score, once Troll shook the left goalpost with a sudden shot, twice Gulbranden jumped on the long balls, but the goalkeeper played well, and in the other episode he could not help, but the ball flew just above the bar. Then our players tried to stretch the defense - Kerr, who, for obvious reasons, was patronized with redoubled attention, stepped back, dragging the guardians with him, and in his place there Finnsnes, Valgren, or even Kolding move, but also without much success. We must admit that experience is experience, and although most of the opponents' players are young, after many years of practice at the international level Taeshan has met everything and learned how to find an antidote to almost anything you can throw at them.

However, in the first half, our team still managed to use one of the rare chances for a score – Kolding made a pass from the flank, which the visitors' defender was late to cover for a fraction of a second, and in the center of the penalty area Gulbranden, being securely taken under guard by two players, cleverly allow the ball to roll up farther, and Kerr took advantage of a moment of freedom to send the ball into the net with one touch, to the joyous delight of the fans.

But otherwise “Taeshan plate-mail” worked perfectly, all the shots of our players had to be delivered from awkward positions and they were mostly goes far away from the goal or did not pose a danger to the goalkeeper. But it can be noted that even in the first half Kerr could have scored a double, and in the second one Troll shot well once, but one of the defenders put his foot up and the ball missed the goal a little due to that, and not so long after Levenkrands receiving a ball right near the goal, but while choicing between shoot from an acute angle or try to pass along the gate, hesitated too much and was covered by the defenders.

And in the second half, Taeshan took advantage of a rare opportunity for a counter-attack and equalized the score from the penalty spot. It seemed to us that the referee hesitated a second before announced his decision, but nevertheless at the end punished our team. Wilhelm Nkitilina did his job as expected: calmly and without emotions, and did not even express any joy.

The incident did not knock our team off the course, but lads did not manage to achieve a positive result at the end.

A draw 1:1. As one of the specialists apparently summing up the general mood, “If I were the head coach and before the game fate and gods would have promised me a draw, I would definitely agree, but now it seems that we have missed points”.

FLUVANNIA – TROLLEBORG 2:2

After the first game of the series, the question remained, who was lost two points at the last game, we or Taeshan, or which of two teams gain one point? In this game, our lads were themselves favorites - and now the budding football power has taken away much needed points from us. We can blame this unfortunate result on the absence of Kerr, Valgren and Troger, on underestimating the opponents or their exceptional efforts to distinguish himself in front of their fans, and looked that all three factors will be at work at once. But one way or another, our team lost points where everyone thought it would take them without much difficulty.

It's all started very promising. After several decent quality attacks, Troll, this time leading the team onto the field in the role of captain, in the middle of the mess inside the box managed to strike a savory shot, the goalkeeper parried the ball with some difficulty, but Severin reached it first and skillfully shot right into the near corner.

Then, after a corner kick, the same Troll cleverly got rid of the guardians, picked up the ball knocked out by the defenders to the center of the field and delivered a beautiful shot right under the crossbar.

Our guys could have brought the score to a devastating one, before the break Severin can make it, and after the break Heggheim and Mogrin have such a chances, but they didn't make it.

And then came the 76th minute, when the hosts' sharp attack on the right flank ended with a pass along the goal and the Fluvannia forward literally brought the ball into the net.

As, unfortunately, often happens with our guys, a sudden blow of fate drives them out of senses, and, they almost immediately conceded the second goal. Altought it’s not possible to single out someone for errors in this moment, the shot was too good.

Having lost all the advantage in three minutes, our guys, fortunately, did not fall into complete prostration, and the match ended 2:2, to the obvious delight of local fans.

A number of experts after the game suggested that it might be necessary to give more time on the field at various tournaments to the second line of players, so that they gain more experience and we would have a quality reserve. But it is quite obvious that neither in the IAC, where a truly desperate situation developed, nor in the Melayu Cup, where it was impossible to play with the second line-up, since it was necessary to justify the hopes of those who invited us to the tournament, there was no real opportunity to try the substitutes in battle.

Let's summarize the second two-game stretch: since the favorites lost points at the beginning of the tournament, there are chances for every other teams to break out into the first rows, but for this you need to win matches like in Fluvannia. Everything, in general, will be determined after the next two-game round, both matches of which we are playing at home and the team will have to prove in them their readiness to claim at least something.

[Saltstead]

Asħwells Tijden
Vor Saxlandes en Såutsteides Königlik Stad

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Saltstead 1−3 Jovannic: Woman arrested for pelting Saltstead’s head coach with a sausage roll during Stallions press conference
Martijn Grönveud from the Borough of Grandstraxe

The Royal Ashwell Police have confirmed the arrest of a woman suspected of assaulting Saltstead head coach John Rosencrants with a sausage roll after the national team’s humiliating loss to the Jovannic.

The Stallions, who had lost their first three qualifying games in a row and failed to score a single goal in any of them, went two goals down in the half at the King William VII National Park thanks to Rivilia Yunsala and captain Jovan Ilohil. The captain would score early in the second half to extend the visitors’ lead, with Saltstead only managing a solitary Benni Sħåul consolation goal in stoppage time. Sections of the stands at the national stadium were empty by that time, with the Saltsteadish supporters who had stayed behind forming a booing chorus for a national team that looked like a mere shadow of its former self.

Saltstead’s defeat to the Jovannic marks the first time in history that Saltstead have lost five consecutive matches; Saltstead’s longest previous losing streak was a four-game run that covered the nation’s first AOCAF Cup appearance—losing to Yesopalitha, Mriin and Cosumar—and extended to the Stallions’ World Cup 80 qualification opener against Pasarga. The Stallions have also avoided defeat just once in their last seven matches, with a scoreless draw against Sarzonia being the only points Saltstead have picked up since a 5−1 shellacking of neighbours Legalese.

“Unfortunately, this temporal anomaly the nation has just emerged from has wreaked havoc on our status as a football nation,” Rosencrants stated during the press conference when attempting to explain why Saltstead were doing so poorly. “Football has moved on in the years we’ve been absent and our ranking has not been immune from dropping, so we got a much more difficult draw as a result. It was never going to be easy, but I understand why people are so frustrated with the results so far.”

After finishing with that answer, a then-unknown person in the audience tossed a sausage roll at the Omerican. Security camera footage in and around the King William VII National Park and the National Square was ultimately used to identify and track down the suspect.

Tossing foodstuffs at targets of displeasure is an centuries-old means of protest in Saltstead, dating all the way back to the First Saltsteadish Civil War, when the deposed King Michael was pelted with rotten vegetables during his public hanging for treason. Sausage rolls in particular are heavily associated with frustrated football fans after the Saltsteadish team were assaulted with them after their first Baptism of Fire group match, which they lost 2−0 to Loynn; despite that defeat, Saltstead would go on to win the tournament.

Every full-time Saltstead head coach has been the target of a sausage roll assault at least once in their term. Jan-Peter Wijtdal’s first assault came during the country’s sole Baptism of Fire defeat. Gay Ware was pelted by furious Saltstead supporters after a scoreless draw against Sorrentopia that nominally knocked Saltstead out of World Cup 81 qualification, though the country would get a second chance in the playoffs after Garifunya failed to file the necessary paperwork to compete. And finally, Tlanx-Nulzk Hal received their first pelting at the Silver Regional Transit Arena in Silver Beach, where a 2−0 defeat to Eura—Saltstead’s only loss of the World Cup 83 qualification campaign—resulted in the Stallions’ relegation to the Cup of Harmony. Only Christiane van Åupħen, who temporarily took charge during the 74th Cup of Harmony after the firing of Gay Ware, has never been assaulted with a sausage roll as Saltstead head coach.

Rosencrants, though, has taken his inaugural sausage roll pelting in good humour.

“Thanks for the snack,” the Omerican stated in his native Anglian after being hit in the face with the food item. “I’m surprised it took so long for me to get one of these.”

The Royal Ashwell Police have not publicly released the name of the suspect due to privacy laws. The suspect is scheduled to appear before the Central Ashwell District Court to be read charges within the next twenty-four hours in accordance with Saltsteadish law. ⁕

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In other news:

• Loft Såutsteid and Loft Saxland set to resume regular international flight services after the Saltsteadish Temporal Anomaly
• Thingstead Watch: The Chamber of the People votes to request a Royal Commission into the Saltsteadish Temporal Anomaly
• Austerholm residents celebrate recognition from the Atlantian Oceania Cartographic Institute as Saltstead is restored to maps

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★
The Royal Saltsteadish Football Association
Royal House of Sport, Ashwell

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Cheetahs and Reptiles Coalison 1:0 Saltstead
World Cup 86 qualifying group stage — Matchday 3
Unknown Stadium, Unknown City, Cheetahs and Reptiles Coalison
Saltstead goalscorers: (none)
Opposition goalscorers: Jan-Pijr Åudenberg (78’ og)
Saltstead lineup (5–4–1): Marianne Åudershof; Micħäl Aurelius, Pijr Josefssen, Serena van Middelkamp, Victoria Rothöüf; Wim Amistad, Benni Sħåul, Adelaide de Jong, Nicholas Tiberius, Thomas Lions; Reinhard Åubreħtssen
Substitutions: Tiberius > Zacharias van den Slåp (46’); Josefssen > Jan-Pijr Åudenberg (60’); De Jong > Haråud Haråudssen (76’)

Saltstead 1:3 Jovannic
World Cup 86 qualifying group stage — Matchday 2
King William VII National Park, Ashwell, Saltstead
Saltstead goalscorers: Benni Sħåul (90’+2)
Opposition goalscorers: Rivilia Yunsala (16’); Jovan Ilohil (39’, 52’)
Saltstead lineup (4–5–1): Marianne Åudershof; Micħäl Aurelius, Pijr Josefssen, Serena van Middelkamp, Victoria Rothöüf; Wim Amistad, Benni Sħåul, Adelaide de Jong, Nicholas Tiberius, Thomas Lions; Reinhard Åubreħtssen
Substitutions: Amistad > Natasħa Aħterop (52’); Josefssen > Maxime Crabshaas (52’); Tiberius > Haråud Haråudssen (70’)

---

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★
The Royal Saltsteadish Football Association
Royal House of Sport, Ashwell

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Mattijana : Saltstead
World Cup 86 qualifying group stage — Matchday 5
Garijo Ales Struna, Puljanka, Mattijana
Saltstead lineup (4–5–1): Robert-Jan van Daal; Richard Christopħe, Pijr Josefssen, Maxime Crabshaas, Catharine de Vriħt; Natasħa Aħterop, Benni Sħåul, Zacharias van den Slåp, Nicholas Tiberius, Thomas Lions; Haråud Haråudssen

Krytenia : Saltstead
World Cup 86 qualifying group stage — Matchday 6
Tickford Park, Ellisham, Krytenia
Saltstead lineup (5–4–1): Robert-Jan van Daal; Richard Christopħe, Pijr Josefssen, Serena van Middelkamp, Maxime Crabshaas, Catharine de Vriħt; Natasħa Aħterop, Benni Sħåul, Zacharias van den Slåp, Thomas Lions; Haråud Haråudssen

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[Squornshelan Remnant States]

Difficult as it may be to believe now, there was a time when Kaalia Gerstlauer was viewed as an overhyped fraud, and one of the biggest bust prospects in recent memory. She was one of the cadre of women who joined SCFA sides in its momentous third season, marking the beginning of the end of the league's male-dominated era. She had been a dominant player in the semi-professional West Algolian Women's league the preceding season. With little following beyond Jaglan and Vassilian though, the league had not been her primary source of fame at that time. Most knew her better as Kaalia Kicks, the name of her ____ channel, dedicated to videos of juggling, ballhandling techniques, and trick shots. Her most popular video, featured a long juggling sequence synchronized to a popular EDM track. At the time she signed her SCFA contract with Jaglan Royals, it had already been viewed over 10 million times.

When she joined Royals, it was hailed as part of a retooling that would rejuvenate a stagnant attack, and raise the team out of a long run of mediocrity. She was partnered with Starling product Erik Mevlya, and while neither of them was bad, they weren't able to deliver the attacking numbers the team had hoped for. The year after that, there was incremental improvement. Gerstlauer recorded nine goals, good enough to be part of a many-way tie for seventeenth in the league, and she was a runner-up for Young Player of the Year. During this time, she earned her first callups and caps for the national team, but still seems to have been a fringe player in the SCFA's estimation.

Royals, however, apparently were regretting the lucrative contract she'd been offered. Still mired mid-table, their thinking seemed to be that they ought to cash in on her potential now, before her transfer value started to fall. Fan groups were also quite vocal in their criticism, dismissing her as an internet sensation, but not a real footballer. Some even suggested that her videos were faked, and that she had essentially defrauded the club, signing under false pretenses. And that was how she found herself on the transfer list, and eventually, headed to Blacklake, Taeshan, with a cool five million headed in the opposite direction.

It hasn't all been roses in Taeshan, but you have to think she's a lot better off there. The Blues have had their share of mid-table finishes and disappointments as well, but for Kaalia, it truly has seemed like a rebirth. Freed from the restrictive tactics practiced by Royals, she broke out in a big way, and has now entered her prime as a truly dynamic goalscoring striker, coming off a Golden Boot-winning season in the TPL, though Blacklake's senior team failed to qualify for any international competition.

Even with her recent success, wresting playing time away from Ajao and Petrov is a tall task, so the chance to start against When U Die was a big opportunity for Gerstlauer. The unheralded home team were perfect through three matches, and had scored more than twice as many goals as any other team in the group. The Black-and-Reds, on the other hand, were a ways down the table with a 1-1-1 record following their loss to South Covello. The team was a little apprehensive going into the match. No one had known what to expect from their hosts, but once on the field, the long hours spent in training paid off. Comfortably in control of possession for most of the match, the Confederates pressed forward, testing and probing the Deathie defense. Gerstlauer found a fruitful partnership with Naqvi on her left, and the right side of the defense looked ragged from trying to follow their technique and passing by midway through the second half. With the group's most potent attack lacking enough of the ball to put much pressure on Krieven and company, The attack eventually broke through, and it was Gerstlauer who would pull the trigger on both late goals.

It makes you wonder sometimes though. What if Royals had pulled the plug on Famt a year early, and kept Gerstlauer around? For that matter, what if they'd also hung onto Mithya Hashemi? Change, albeit slow, has been coming in Jaglan in recent seasons. Imagine how scary this team would be if, in addition to Ridenton and Dalso, they had Hashemi and Gerstlauer. Just shows how important it is not to lose patience with your prospects, and how the wrong manager with the wrong tactic can absolutely hold a player back.

Team Selection for Matchdays 5 and 6 against Legalese and Liberal Democratic Socialist States:

GK: Stovar Krieven, Dagmund Zarek, Marzanna Furnadjiev
LB: Valda Harkhan, Jirar Malgos
RB: Reuter Storsjo, Bruenna Savo
CB: Rudi Dalso, Walda Harkhan, Svardo Vrboska, Aryel Ciernik
DM: Shrike Hagaz, Selvala Tabur
LM: Jzeovak Vladcik, Lavanya Naqvi
RM: Naiva Storrev, Oliwer Starosta
CM: Iuri Takala, Jirar Lomidan, Mithya Hashemi
ST: Lyzolda Petrov, Kaalia Gerstlauer, Damaris Nebojsic

SRS Qualifying Schedule:

MD 1: SRS 2-2 EUS @ Green Heart Center (cap. 20,760), Han Wavel, Han Dold, SRS
MD 2: ZWZ 0-1 SRS @ City Athletic Venue, Arlington, ZWZ
MD 3: SRS 1-2 SCO @ Albrechtsson Park (cap. 65,400), Damogran, Algolia, SRS
MD 4: WUD 0-2 SRS @ TBA
MD 5: SRS  v  LGL @ The Lutenstaad (cap. 75,000), Lutenblag, Molvania, SRS
MD 6: LDS  v  SRS @ TBA
MD 7: SRS  v  FVR @ Emerald Coast Colosseum (cap. 31,200), Vassilian, Algolia, SRS
MD 8: BAU  v  SRS @ TBA
MD 9: SRS  v  AFT @ Viltvodle Civic Arena (cap. 58,300), Viltvodle, Megabrantis, SRS
MD10: EUS  v  SRS @ TBA
MD11: SRS  v  ZWZ @ Raftel Park (cap. 59,870), Chalesm, Megabrantis, SRS
MD12: SCO  v  SRS @ Revolution Stadium (cap. 42,000), Riverview, SCO
MD13: SRS  v  WUD @ Henkmar Field (cap. 29,850), Brasta, Sivolvia, SRS
MD14: LGL  v  SRS @ TBA
MD15: SRS  v  LDS @ Flanoil Arena (cap. 50,350), Traal, West Flania, SRS
MD16: FVR  v  SRS @ TBA
MD17: SRS  v  BAU @ Olympiastad (cap. 47,550), Arkintoofle, Megabrantis, SRS
MD18: AFT  v  SRS @ TBA

[Krytenia]

An Uncomfortable Truth
By Rami Niblick in Jhanna, Starblaydia

ONCE again, it is time for another chapter in the longest-running melodrama in the world of international football, as Starblaydia and Krytenia meet for Beckside bragging rights. It's a classic tale, weaving over two and a half centuries, filled with bravery, cowardice, deceit, intrigue, love, hate, and many other strong emotions that tend to draw...interesting responses from fans on both western and eastern shores.

You'll forgive me, then, for skipping the rhetoric and historical tubthumping for once.

There's good reason for this, of course; a notable tone shift of both the KFA and SFA towards the future of the sport. It's here that you begin to see how the nations differ. Project 87 is looking increasingly like a white elephant, words on a page not translating to improvement at the elite level. Yes, there's the campus at Walton, but behind all the mirrored glass and fancy computers, there's the same crumbling edifice there always was. The Oberyn Park complex, meanwhile, is simply another brick in an ivory tower built on a ruthless pursuit of success. It's the same story no matter how many rings deep you cut into the tree. Valrauncion in Starblaydia is just another footballer, knowledgeable enough to steer the youngsters, but with his ego firmly checked in at the door for the sake of the white and purple. Valrauncion in Krytenia, meanwhile, was a player revered as a God-Emperor before his unchecked ego exploded in the face of the KFA.

This brings us to the crux of the problem. Krytenia are rabid to defeat Starblaydia on the pitch without thought or planning of the long-term consequences. There's a reason "you beat us, we're still better" is a common idiom in Jhanna, and the reason is a simple one. For Starblaydis, it matters not if the cyan get bragging rights for a couple of weeks, months, or even years. It's still five-nil to them regardless of ninety minutes of football.

There's a singular and simple difference between the two peoples, one that translates into not just football, but all walks of life. In Krytenia, we respect other cultures to the point that we assimilate them. Not through appropriation, but through the simple fact that what it means to be Krytenian is to hug the world with open arms, to build a bridge to others through tolerance and justice. Noble goals, all of them, but it translates to toothlessness on the pitch. Krytenia are too quick to deign to a better opponent, to pass themselves off as the plucky underdog as a way of softening the blow of defeat when it inevitably comes. Failure is fine if the effort is sound. Which is all well and good, but that's not how you win tournaments.

How you win tournaments is the Starblaydi way. Those on the eastern shore of the Beck aren't so much educated as indoctrinated in the supremacy of the nation. The tricolour isn't flown; it's brandished, a symbol of success and superiority, backed by a rhetoric that wholeheartedly rejects the notion that there is a better place to live in the multiverse. Call it aloof indifference; hell, call it arrogance if you will. The thing is, though, you can't argue with success. The Men in Mauve's march to another AOCAF title is proof positive of this. Starblaydia knows that one result won't matter in the long run, that a defeat is only a speed-bump in their inexorable march, whereas Krytenia would take a loss with much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

So what does this mean? In the short term, it means the result at the Stadii di Bradini simply doesn't matter. The same goes, at least for now, for the return match at the Isserson Olympic Stadium. What matters, in the broad scheme, is that Krytenia improve. And to do that, to truly compete among the elite of the football world, they're going to have to be a lot more Starblaydi in their mental approach. Onward!

[Sylestone]

Juvencus 2-1 Sylestone
Although the result of the game suggests it has reasonably evenly matched, it really wasn’t. Juvencus were on top for the entire first half and Sylestone only began to match them in the second. Goals in the 18th and 33rd minutes sealed their Appliances fate as they grabbed hold of their second loss.

Juvencus were on top from the start, pushing the Sylestonean defence until something broke. The Dishwasher was too busy clogging up the field to realise Tore Christian had passed him. With the Brick Wall charging at him, Christian calmly chipped the ball over the goalkeeper’s to put the scoreline 1-0 in Juvencus’s favour. A second goal came fifteen minutes later as Taddeo Bulgari smacked a drop kick over the Sylestonean defence, over the Brixk Wall and into the goal. The Juvencan section of the crowd was cheering like mad while the Toaster was fuming.

Sylestone came back from the break with a yelling from the Toaster and met Juvencus in their skills. Neither side could defeat the other as Sylestone got more desperate in their attacks. Finally, they managed to break through. The Stove kicked a free kick high into the air and the Bar Stool deflected it with a header into the goal in the final minute. So the score was 2-1 as the final whistle blew.

JUVENCUS - 2
Tore Christian 18’
Taddeo Bulgari 33’

SYLESTONE - 1
Bar Stool 90’

Sylestone 0-1 Poafmersia
In the two sides’ third encounter, Poafmersia successfully dispatched a good Appliance side 1-0 to keep their perfect streak alive. Sylestone should have scored in the fifth minute, but the Mixer somehow missed a shot at goal, hammering by over the crossbar. The 41st minute also brought a major mistake when the Ironing Board broke through the defence and probably would have scored. Instead, he has to pass the ball to the Tumble Dryer, standing there metres offside. So 0-0 at half time.

Poafmersia came out like a side possessed as they ran all over the Sylestonean defence in the second half. Only some Brick Wall heroics could stop them. But finally, Danzik Hoboson got through and wrong-footed the Brick Wall, sending the ball to the back of the net. 1-0 Poafmersia, and that was how it stayed.

SYLESTONE - 0

POAFMERSIA - 1
Danzik Hoboson 76’

Predictions
Lovisa 0-1 Sylestone
Sylestone 3-1 Silver Commonwealth

[South Newlandia]

Football talk live (South Newlandia One, between MD4 and 5)

Simon Battaglia’s lines written by me with permission, and approved by Tikariot. Thanks again!

TL: Good evening viewers, welcome back to yet another edition of Football talk, here live on South Newlandia One! My name is Tommy Lambert, and as always, I have some interesting guests here! Meet Simon Battaglia, the, uh, Chef d’Equipe? from Tikariot. I know he was at group draw, so he surely is important somehow. And here is Luke Rutherhonda, a… an… It just says expert here?
LR: Yeah.
TL: Luke Rutherhonda, a... South Newlandian football expert, I guess. (under his breath) Who wrote these dumb descriptions? (out loud again) Before we start with the games, Simon Battaglia, what was your first thought after the group draw revealed that the Snowy Owls would play the Elephants?
SB: “Well, six easy points for us” No, I am just kidding. I thought it would be exciting to further our rivalry a little bit, and that we were going to have two close and exciting games. At least the first one delivered for sure.
TL: Tikariot seems to be for the Elephants what we were for a certain other team, I guess. Anyway, let’s dive right into the first game: Tikariot versus South Newlandia!
(some highlights from the South Newlandian games are now shown, with commentary by Brandon van Simonson. Of course, this is the live commentary from the games; he isn’t actually present in the studio. Occasionally, someone talks over those highlights. You know the drill)
BvS: Here we are, the first away game for South Newlandia in this qualification. And what can I say, the stadium in Tikariot is one of the most impressive ones I have ever seen, and as always, the fans are here to support their team, putting the few South Newlandian fans to shame with their flags, and that looks like face paint too. Is that war paint? Wow, they are really here to support their team. That is very impressive. Here come the teams, led by Mikhail Trischuk for the Elephants. South Newlandia is playing almost the same players again, just with Bishop and Glossman today. The Snowy Owls, following their first two defeats, have changed a few players, but they will have a lot of an offensive power as always. Trischuk will have stuff to work out today. The fans are getting louder and louder, and the game is going to kick off every second now. Tikariot will have the first touch, and we are off! The Elephants lined up as always, with the 4-4-2 diamond.
TL: Do you believe that playing the same formation every time is a weakness?
LR: Maybe it is. Opponents can exploit that, but at the same time, the team is just performing very well with this formation.
BvS: Early free kick for Tikariot from the right side, the ball is coming in, and there is chaos in the penalty box! Trischuk, Anderson and a few more players are signalling for the medics, what happened? Looks like Schroeder is on the ground, he is knocked out cold! The medics are here, helping him, but he certainly cannot play on like this. He is carried off the field, but what happened? Looks like he was in an unlucky collusion here with Vincent Liniack from Tikariot; no ill intent, but Ouch! He received the elbow right into the temple, that looks really bad. That’s a concussion if he is lucky, multiple broken bones and the end of his career if he isn’t. He will be on his way to a hospital as fast as possible.
TL: We now know that he has indeed broken bones in his skull as well as a severe concussion, and will likely not be back anytime soon. If he is lucky, he might be able to get in a few more minutes at the end, but the odds aren’t looking too good for him. He is in a stable condition now, but broken head bones are nothing to play around with. Wolverine has decided to let Philip Gurero on the pitch; a surprise, isn’t it? That is his international debut here.
LR: I agree, Sloah, O’Neill and even Li were other likely choices. I would have personally decided for O’Neill, but Wolverine seemed to have something in mind here.
SB: I would also like to apologize on behalf of Vincent Liniack for the injury, he is very sorry about it. He also visited Schroeder in the hospital yesterday, and apologized to him personally.
BvS: Tikariot is stronger now in this phase of the game, and Mikhail Trischuk has already needed to make multiple fantastic saves. The South Newlandian defense isn’t working as well as it should at the moment, but that was to be expected after losing Schroeder like that. Here is finally a South Newlandian attempt at an attack, with Patrick McMora with a nice pass for Abdurahman Bishop, and he takes a good shot, but Romain Chatelet makes a good save here.
TL: Really not enough pressure here. Multiple South Newlandians just aren’t doing well today, especially Green and Irving are almost invisible. Glossman isn’t having a good day either. On the one hand, the players aren’t doing well, but on the other hand, Tikariot is defending well.
SB: We are known for quick attacks, but we can defend.
TL: The Snowy Owls are certainly a force in the making.
SB: Maybe. We try our best.
BvS: A very quick kick here by the goalie for the Snowy Owls catches the defense off guard! Players are quickly scrambling back, Gurero stumbles over his own feet, and Iain Aspinall gets a great pass here, he is all alone against Trischuk! The goalkeeper is running towards him, but Aspinall with a very cool chip over the goalie, and Tikariot leads 1-0. That was some bad defending right there.
SB: Of course also well exploited by the Snowy Owls.
BvS: That’s the half. Players are leaving the pitch under the applause of the fans from Tikariot; they have seen an excellent half from the Snowy Owls. There will certainly be changes for the Elephants here.
TL: Disappointing half.
LR: Credit where credit is due, Tikariot completely outclassed us.
BvS: Only one change for the Elephants, but that’s already the second one of the game, too. Corban Green, who played poorly and looked like he might be having some problems with his knee, again, is replaced by Donald Lancaster.
TL: John Li isn’t tested here just yet.
BvS: Lancaster is doing much better than Green did; he is really bringing some more power to the left side. I’ve noticed that while Roy and Green often play well together, Roy is staying a bit further back now, which is probably a good thing. Here is Mohamed with a free throw, some quick passes, and good control here by Michael Glossman, with a flank to Irving, but it finds Lancaster instead, and he jumps over the defender, and scores! 1-1, we are all tied up again! Lancaster here with a nice header, catches the goalie off guard, and the game is completely open again!
TL: Really nice goal at just the right moment.
SB: Didn’t help in the long run, of course.
LR: A bit of luck involved, as always, but still a nice goal. Lancaster’s first ever for South Newlandia!
TL: The assist for Glossman is also a first.
BvS: Tikariot, after this brief phase of weaker minutes, is now the better team again. Bishop here, maybe, but he is tackled well, and the ball is running in the other direction again. Morris Nighthorse has now received the ball, makes a fool of Anderson, and has only Gurero left now. Good pass to the side, that’s Aspinall, and boom! 1-2. The Elephants are down again, absolutely no chances for Trischuk here.
TL: Once again, the defense is under pressure. If they can’t keep Tikariot at bay, what can they do?
SB: It’s not that the Elephants played bad.
BvS: Tikariot has made a few changes, and for South Newlandia, John Li is now in play for Dhruv Roy. Here are the Snowy Owls again, another chance for an attack. Nighthorse here, sees this beautiful pass through the middle to Ellis Wagstaff, he just got subbed in, and a shot! And 1-3, the ball bounced in from the cross-bar, no chance for Trischuk again, and this game is over. Not actually, but basically, there is no chance for the Elephants to catch this up, especially with this heat.
TL: He was right, nothing else really happened.
LR: I was surprised that the Elephants got outclassed by the 243rd ranked team in the world like that, but it just shows again that rank isn’t everything. Tikariot with their first win is now better than South Newlandia in the standings. Certainly not the start the Elephants hoped for after three games, sitting on just two points.
SB: It would get better.
TL: With that, we move on back to South Newlandia, with the game between South Newlandia and Filindostan.
BvS: Here we are again, another game of the World Cup Qualifiers. South Newlandia versus Filindostan. The third seed caught a decent start with four points ahead of this game, and they will now meet the Elephants in an all-Esportiva duel. The entire day, it has been raining a lot in South Newlandia, and despite the best efforts of the employees of the stadium and a bunch of volunteers, the pitch is almost unplayable, so this might be very interesting to watch. Here come the players, with South Newlandia having made a few changes again. Trischuk is in the goal, as always, but Schroeder is obviously missing. For today, the back four will be Roy, Anderson, O’Neill and Wright; with O’Neill getting his first minutes of the tournament today. In the middle, we have Mohamed, Lancaster, McMora, and Wolverine has decided to take Wallis again. Irving and Michael Glossman will start as the strikers. The players will kick off in a few seconds, and they are already wet from the rain. This will be fun.
LR: Of course, rain like that makes organized play almost impossible.
SB: It certainly is interesting to have a game falling in the water like that after just playing in the heat of Tikariot. A sudden change of pace.
TL: Yeah, it was fun. They had a quick break in the middle of each half to try to get the water away from the field, but you can only do so much.
BvS: Almost twenty minutes have been played here, and what we saw so far barely qualified as football. The ball keeps getting stuck in the puddles, so both teams have taken to long, high balls, rendering organized strategies impossible. That is Brandon Irving here, on the left side, receiving a high pass from Mohamed, and he tries to take it volley, but he is instead brought down by a defender from Filindostan! He falls, and the referee points to the penalty spot! What an opportunity for the Elephants here, but who will kick it? The fouled player rarely does in South Newlandia, and Michael Glossman doesn’t seem to want to, so Finnley Wallis is next in line. He steps up to the point. Short run-up, a precise shot, and a goal! The Elephants are in the lead!
TL: A very nice shot, right into the bottom right corner.
LR: Almost impossible to save for the goalkeeper.
SB: It would have been impossible even if he would have jumped to the correct side. A fantastic penalty shot.
BvS: It’s almost half-time, and this game might be the game with the fewest chnaces I have ever seen. There were a few shots from afar, with Filindostan putting up a bunch in the last ten minutes, but that is no problem for Trischuk, who was been plucking these from the sky one after the other. The Elephants haven’t gotten a lot of chances either; with a shot for Irving a few minutes ago being the most dangerous, but even that went a few metres past the goal. And the referee ends the half, almost half a minute early. South Newlandia is still in the lead, we all need a break now. Let’s hope that the rain ends at some point.
TL: It didn’t end.
LR: Obviously very bad conditions for football; in this case, that’s good for the Elephants.
BvS: The second half is beginning soon, and Wolverine has decided to make a change here. John Li is going into the game for Donald Lancaster. It just wasn’t his game today, because of this weather. Li is a bit taller than him, so maybe, he can use that to his advantage. He will be moving into the Left Midfield, different to his first games.
TL: John Li is interesting. Definitly a talent we might see more in the future?
LR: I am not too sure about that, his positions are basically completely filled up already. Roy, Green and Lancaster won’t make it easy for him.
BvS: After more than an hour played, South Newlandia is still in the lead, but here is Filindostan with an attack over the left side. The winger here, going past Wright, with a pass into the middle, and… it gets stuck in a puddle. South Newlandia now in possession. This has nothing to do with football at this point.
TL: At least that looked really funny.
SB: We can barely see the game at this point because all of the cameras are littered with rain drops.
LR: Yeah, we almost have to guess what is going on here. Definitely not a pleasant game to watch.
BvS: The game is almost over here, and South Newlandia is trying to build a metaphorical wall. Two more substitutions, with Gurero and Sloah coming in for Glossman and Wallis, and South Newlandia is now basically playing a 6-3-1 formation, and they are doing nothing but trying to stop Filindostan from getting another goal. So far, that is working. Sloah is also now playing his first minutes in a WCC-tournament, so that is a notable achievement. Less than a minute to play, the ref is going to end this rainy nightmare soon. I am standing well under the roof, so I am not literally wet, but I feel with all the players that got absolutely showered today. Poor guys, most of them will probably catch a cold today. But what can you do, that’s football. The Elephants are in possession and kind of just standing around, and that’s the final whistle! We can go home! And South Newlandia won, that also happened! 1-0 over Filindostan, in what was supposed to be football, but really was.. I don’t even know.
TL: van Simonson on point, as always.
LR: Not a lot we could add to that. Anyway, now South Newlandia is in 6th place now with five points, right in the middle of the pack. Not exactly what we had hoped for, but it isn’t terrible, I guess. There is still a lot of room for improvement, which brings us to the next game week.
TL: We are first heading to the nation of Se Vende Skooma, currently dead last with just a single point, so getting all three is basically required for us here. After that, we host the Natanians and Nosts, the pot six team. They also have five points at the moment, so it will likely be much closer in this one, to be played in Walstreim. Not easy to predict this one.
LR: Agreed, it could really go either way.
TL: Here is the South Newlandian starting formation for those games.

LR: Quite a few surprises in there.
TL: Absolutely. Sloah gets the start instead of O’Neill, despite the injury for Schroeder and O’Neill playing well in the game against Filindostan. Wolverine probably wants to test some strategies. Green back on the left side, and Lancaster starting as Defensive Midfield for the first time, that’s a new one!
LR: I don’t get it. He played this position a few times for the Walstreim Lions, but not really too well, and he just proved that he can be dangerous up front. I do not get it.
TL: McCabe back up front, and so is Wallis as Offensive Midfield. If these changes work, we will have to see, I guess. The Elephants could really use some points if they want to get anywhere, it doesn’t look that great at the moment. Meanwhile, Tikariot has Port Ember and Filindostan ahead, so the pot two and three teams, so things might get tougher. On the other hand, neither of those teams really played well so far, and Tikariot proved their power in the last games. What do you think?
SB: The Snowy Owls will be the outsider for sure, but maybe, we have some outside chances. Let’s see, it will be exciting for sure.
TL: Sadly, the time is already running out again, so that is it for today’s edition. Thank you for watching Football talk here on South Newlandia One, and we will see us soon again, hopefully.

[Drunk People at the Local Tavern]

Drunk people gathering at the local tavern

Nephara: Hey, we're good, we only lost one in 4 games so far!

Valanora: We still haven't won, I wanna win!

Banija: Yeah we know that

Gregory Covello: We need Free Republics on the team, they will make us win!

Kita Hinode: NO!

Gregory Covello: Why?

Kita Hinode: He's some fascist asshole, I'm glad he's gone!

Audio Slavia: Please stop talking about it

Farfa Dillis: Let's talk about Margaret!

Drawk: She's not real

Star Blaydia: Yes she is!

Vilita Turori: She's not but cocoabo enhancement is real!

Eura: Well, who we're playing next?

Kelssek: Grand Québécois at home and Fujai on the road

Cassie: Cool, I always wanted to play against the Royal Kingdom of Québec

Kelssek: No, not Québec, it's Grand Québécois... another nation.

Cassie: Oh!

Mriin: We can beat them, they're unranked.

Tavern Owner: Gregory is gonna start in goal against Grand Québécois, I keep to keep Equestrian Breeze fresh for the game against Fujai.

Main Nation's Leader: I'm gonna bomb y'all!

Valanora: What?

Main Nation's Leader: Haha nevermind, I'm joking.

Equestrian Breeze: Well that's good, I didn't expect to play all 18 games.

Reçueçn: Yeah that's a lot.

Baker Park: We played 26 last year.

Michael Newman: And we beat Newmanistan, I still can't believe we did it.

Nephara: Yeah.. hope we beat Pasarga this time.

Valanora: Lol.. we actually lost against them.

Cassie: We play them again on matchday 13, at home this time.

Ko-oren: It's gonna be fun!

*someone new enters in the tavern*

Huayramarca: Yo what's up guys!

Mriin: Do we know you?

Huayramarca: My name is Huayramarca but I was known as San Jose Guayabal before!

Gregory Covello: Holy shit, San Jose it's you?

Huayramarca: Yes it's me!

Zwang Zug: Well, take a seat

[Mattijana]

Mattijana 'Huge Underdogs' Despite Strong Start - Stefanidi

MFO SPORT

Mattijana head coach Zala Stefanidi said that her side were still "huge underdogs to qualify" despite them sitting third in group 16 after four matches.
The marmots bounced back from their first defeat of the cycle - a 1-0 away defeat to the Jovannic - to thrash Krytenia 5-2, also away from home. A brace from Kara Lorenzic, alongside goals from Mattias Hoffman, Katarina Jakupovic and Jessika Struna, sealed the big win against one of Mattijana's main qualification rivals.
Fellow rivals Darmen, ranked 32nd in the world, have also dropped points early on in the cycle and sit 5th in the group, whilst group favourites and leaders Starblaydia have not been invincible either, leaking a couple of points in an outrageously thrilling 6-6 draw with Zeka Reka and Hugeltaldom.

Being a Mattijanan football fan has been a frustrating pastime in recent years, with near-misses and abject disappointments coming in equal measure as the marmots, now under their third manager, have continued to fall short in their quest for World Cup Qualification. Three wins from four is excellent starting form from any side though, let alone one that has recently struggled to produce that many from half a qualifying campaign.

Still, Stefanidi was cautious when asked about her side's chances in the post-match press conference, and perhaps rightly so. How many times have we bigged-up the team's chances of making it to the holy grail of football before being cruelly denied or just straight-up proven wrong. With hopeless optimism turning to despair more often than not, going for the underdog tack could be a successful way of keeping the pressure off, in doing so, allowing her team to develop and hopefully flourish in peace.
And after all, who doesn't love a David vs Goliath story, or in this case a medium-sized David against multiple Goliaths of varying sizes story? The softball team captured hearts at the Olympics with their gutsy run to bronze and Stefanidi is perhaps trying to channel that energy rather than the recently channelled negative energy that has afflicted the hockey team as they continue to not win anything.
Even if Stefanidi isn't expecting her side to defeat the higher-ranked teams, she will still have the not-always easy task of dismissing those ranked lower. A slip-up, albeit not a huge one, happened in the Jovannic, but in general the Marmots have been clinical against the minnows. They so far have two wins and two lesser-spotted clean-sheets against Rangers and Cheetahs and Reptiles Coalison. A must-win tie against an out of form Saltstead side is next at the Garijo Ales Struna, before Mattijana travel to Aleiusa for a tougher encounter against the Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom side that have impressed so far.
The Rekans buried everything in their ridiculous draw with Starblaydia, threatened Darmen away from home and beat the Cheetahs 3-1 back at their home ground for a deserved maiden World Cup win. Their position in the table certainly doesn't reflect their form.
It will also be interesting how Stefanidi sets her side up for the match. She's so far favoured a more defensive, counter-attacking approach against the bigger sides, something that worked wonders against Krytenia and the naive attacking of Rangers. When a team like Cheetahs and Reptiles Coalison decides to sit back and park the triceratops, they aren't really interested in committing too many players forward and a more attacking style is needed.
Of course when the opposition says they have 'a good chance of scoring from set pieces', you can be confident that they're the sort of side that just sits back and lobs grenades into the opposition box for big people to head. That will also influence Stefanidi's selection - the best way to beat a team who want to cling onto the ball is to press high and fast and with the pace of Lorenzic, Hoffman, Struna and Bisrali at her disposal, the Mattijana boss has the right tools.
Of course we're falling into the classical Mattijanan football fan trap of getting ahead of ourselves here. The tie with Zeka, Reka and etcetera is after a home match against a Saltstead side that Mattijana really have to beat if they are to regain their credibility as a team that could actually qualify. Saltstead are a team in dire straits and one that need a good result to themselves regain some dignity - especially after manager John Rosencrants lost his thanks being hit by a sausage roll during a recent press conference. Mattijana are a team that have provided such teams with such results in the past, and have also struggled against teams who like to sit deep behind the ball and watch us play pretty passes in front of them. At the moment, the Stallions are attacking like donkeys and have been spooked often enough in defence as well. They should be there for the taking, but this is Mattijana we're talking about.

Mattijana vs Saltstead
Garijo Ales Struna, Puljanka. Kick-off at 17:00 Mattijanan time

Rosencrants has announced a radical seven changes from the side that lost 3-1 to the Jovannic, with 4 of those coming in goal and defence. Robert Jan-van Daal is in for Marianne Åudershof between the sticks whilst Richard Christopħe, Maxime Crabshaas and Catharine de Vriħt come in for Micħäl Aurelius, Serena van Middelkamp and Victoria Rothöüf. In the midfield, Wim amistad and Adelaide de Jong are replaced by Natasħa Aħterop and Zacharias van den Slåp whilst Haråud Haråudssen returns up front, replacing the so-far scoreless Reinhard Åubreħtssen.

Mattijana make two changes from the team that beat Krytenia 5-2, with Sofiane Bisrali replacing Sophia Velezia on the left wing. Dominik Illisevic replaces Kevin Krychowiak at right back, the latter picking up a ankle problem in training.

Mattijanan XI: Lucija Handanovic, Dominik Illisevic, Katija Burnisovic, Rikard Illicic, Helena Neumann, Sofiane Bisrali, Katarina Jakupovic, Marko Hojbjerg, Jessika Struna, Mattias Hoffman, Kara Lorenzic

Mattijanan Stats:

Top Scorers:
Kara Lorenzic (3), Jessika Struna (2), Mattias Hoffman, Katarina Jakupovic, Rikard Illicic (all 1)

Assists:
Katarina Jakupovic, Jessika Struna (both 2), Mattias Hoffman, Kara Lorenzic, Sophia Velezia (all 1)

Clean Sheets:
Lucija Handanovic (2)

Yellow Cards:
Marko Hojbjerg, Rikard Illicic (both 2), Mattias Hoffman, Helena Neumann, Kevin Krychowiak (all 1)

Red Cards:
0.

[Grand Quebecois]

Chapter 2: Coming together

"Look guys, I don't really know what to say. We can try our best and say we'll win every game and sometimes, it just doesn't work out that way." The players nod as Coach Perezhogin speaks. "Sometimes you just get the short end of the stick. And when you get that short end, you have to fight for the bigger end. Never be content with what you have, boys. Never."

Coach Perezhogin sits down at his desk. Things aren't doing good for the Quebecois. They lost their first two games, they've let in 9 goals opposed to putting in 3. It doesn't look good for them. He looks at his notes. What can he do to make this team better? He wonders.

"Hey, Coach, you in there?" A player talks from behind the door.

"Yeah, come in."

"I just wanted to talk to you about my play. It bothers me that i'm not doing as good as I know I can be." Evan McJesus walks into his room, without a goal or assist to his name.

"Keep your head high, kid. You'll find your touch soon."

"Soon isn't quick enough. If I don't find it now than we'll be watching the rest of the tournament on our asses back home. That's not what i'm here for. I'm here to win."

"Look, Evan. I know you're frustrated, but we've got a great group of guys with loads of talent. But what matters more is there attitude. And if one guy has a bad attitude, then they all have a bad attitude. And that's not what we want on our team. OK?"

"Fine."

"Now go back out there, i've got a message for the team." Evan walks out of the room as the coach rises from his seat. He steps into the locker room so that he can see the players.

"I don't have much to say. I'm hoping that maybe the message needs to be short and sweet. I know how much you guys want to win. I feel it too. But not a damn thing will get done if we keep playing like we are. It's either string together a couple of wins, or watch the rest of the tournament on our asses back at home. Let's regroup next game." Coach walks out of the room, hoping he has become the spark that lights up the Grand Quebecois National team.

[Valladares]

(OOC Disclaimer: The "Pasquín de la Oveja Negra" is nothing but a sensationalistic tabloid and as such, is not a reliable and/or serious source of information. Reading discretion is advised.)

EL PASQUÍN DE LA OVEJA NEGRA
Believe us, we always say the truth!

Electrum and The Turnip headquarters to be stormed by hordes of killer fluffy bunnies!!!

METROPOLIS and CENTRALIS, VALLADARES - Following the publication of an inflammatory article in which the grand name of the United Kingdom of Valladares and its holy pronounciation was utterly soiled and disgraced by a bunch of bigots and tuber-lover fanatics, specifically of the kind that only serves to feed cattle, Their Royal Highnesses, the totally sane and definitely not crazy Kings Marcus and Cyrus of Valladares, absolutely fed up with the illegal and destabilizing political activities against the wise and blessed rule of the United Kingdom of Valladares that are constantly carried away in the Rebel Province of Electrum, which is part of the federal subject of Río Oscuro, have ordered an invasion of killer fluffy bunnies to be started at midnight today.

The decision, which was announced after Their Royal Highnesses ended a videoconference with almighty and high-profile political figures such as the Prince of Valladar Darmen, the Emperor of Huayramarca, and others less mighty such as the leader of the Vegan Party of Quebec, was long expected by every patriotic and decent Valladar citizen, who considers that Electrum should be brought under Valladar iron-fist rule once and for all, with every dissent being swiftly and properly disposed of, starting with The Turnip precisely. Replying to the question of why are killer fluffy bunnies specifically being used for this long-awaited military move instead of regular soldiers, Minister of Defense Raymond Pittot stated that "the Valladar armies of killer fluffy bunnies have proven to have an incredible prowess as soldiers. They run fast, they can hide easily in the ground, they're hungry, they're a plague that destroys crops, and best of all: they've got a special liking for human flesh and blood, one you will never find in a regular bunny, or a regular solider for that matter. They can overwhelm nations easily, and could even destroy Eura if we bothered to try!"

Regarding the invasion itself, Pittot stated that the Valladar military expected it would be a quick deal. "Since our invasion is going to take place in two fronts: from Rio Oscuro in the west, and from Junín in the east, there's no much the Electrumites will be able to do to resist. Eventually, they will get to The Turnip's offices and will kill and eat everything there...including the turnips themselves, because there's no other sane animal in the world that would dare to eat that disgusting thing. However, do not worry, because once the subversive elements polluting Electrum with their filthy existence have been duly eliminated, there will still be enough food to feed every honest and decent Valladar citizen from Junín to Scott City and enough Electrumite labour force and slaves to harvest it all! ¡Vivan los conejitos peluditos y asesinos! ¡Y viva Valladares!"

This announcement was received with collective joy by all sectors of the Valladar society, from the richest nobleman to the most miserable homeless person, and everyone in the country took to the streets to celebrate and gather on the public screens of the main cities to observe the development and success of the invasion. One of the sectors most interested in observing the performance of the killer fluffy bunnies has been football, with several clubs already setting plans to replace their worst players with killer fluffy bunnies to see whether they will finally able to improve their poor campaigns in the leagues they are competing in.

It has also been known, through one of our most reliable sources, that at the Valladar Football Association people are very upset with the current performance of the national football team in the current World Cup qualifiers, and that the entire team has been faced with an ultimatum. If, in the coming matches against Siovanija and Teusland and NorraLesse, La Nacional fail to win, all the players will be replaced by a team of killer fluffy bunnies, and coach Jessica Curran will be packed in a very small box and sent back to Cassadaigua by cargo flight, with a ferret taking up her place at the helm of the team. We at EPON tried to confirm this information and, to that effect, contacted VFA chairman François Boudou to ask him on the matter. Unfortunately, Mr. Boudou hung up the phone upon finding out it was us requesting said information.

---

Valladares 1–1 Blampano
(Baume 41'; unknown scorer 89')

Valladares: Gaviria - Marrugo, Delgado, Rueda - Castillo, Malicki, Mickel, Padilla - Baume, Alexandre, Benezet
Subbed Out: Padilla 67', Alexandre 75', Rueda 84'
Subbed In: Barrios 67', Pearson 75', Démont 84'
Unused Subs: Dussan, Brown, Matheus, Martelli, Mariner, Lachlant, Fortin, Germain, Chamoun
Manager: Jessica Curran (Cassadaigua)

Stadium: Estádio Estadual Armando Bozzeli, Campo Grande, Chiquito
Attendance: 51,131
Weather: 15°C, clear

Turori 5–4 Valladares
(Mungwaii 13', 36', Aikiki 42', 85', Iretziia 65'; Mickel 16', Benezet 29', Barrios 51', Germain 76')

Valladares: Gaviria - Marrugo, Delgado, Rueda - Castillo, Malicki, Mickel, Padilla - Baume, Alexandre, Benezet
Subbed Out: Padilla 46', Benezet 70', Marrugo 83'
Subbed In: Barrios 61', Germain 70', Brown 83'
Unused Subs: Dussan, Matheus, Démont, Martelli, Mariner, Lachlant, Fortin, Pearson, Chamoun
Manager: Jessica Curran (Cassadaigua)

VALLADAR NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM SELECTION - MATCHDAY 5 & 6: SIOVANIJA & TEUSLAND/NORRALESSE
Goalkeepers: 1 - Paulo Gaviria (Nacional), 12 - Pierre Dussan (AS Bezieres), 23 - Lucien Chamoun (Fontvielle Impact)
Defenders: 2 - Jonás Romero (AS Bezieres), 3 - Martín Delgado (Port Sebastian, SCT), 4 - Santiago Rueda (Nacional), 13 - Daniel Brown (Bohemians Metropolis), 14 - Thiago Matheus (Metropolis Alligators), 15 - Pablo Núñez (Marinos Metropolis)
Midfielders: 5 - Leonardo Rojas (AS Bezieres), 6 - Christian O'Brien (Tanrısal, PAS), 7 - Ronald Mickel (Kitara Athletic Association, BNJ), 8 - Mateo Padilla (Fontvielle Impact), 16 - Leandro Martelli (Avenida Principal, FFD), 17 - Gaëtan Malicki (Syneca AC, SRS), 18 - Fabio Betancourt (Hondo FC, VAL), 19 - Arley Barrios (Myana, CMT)
Forwards: 9 - Wilfried Baume (AC Izotz Zubia, AUD), 10 - Aiden Pearson (RGS Athletic, EFL), 11 - Aymeric Fortin (1830 Cathair FC, VLD), 20 - Alfred Valdivia (Bohemians Metropolis), 21 - Pierre Vasseur (Burnaby SC, KSK), 22 - Thibault Benezet (Sabrefell Athletic, NPH)

(OOC: Players 1-11 are starters; 12-23 bench/reserves)

[Astograth]

Previously

It was a dull, grey day in Rumiatzi. A leaden blanket of clouds swept over the western hills, down into the Leizaran valley, and then lazily crept over the eastern edges of the city. The pale light of the sun followed them. Below, a warm breeze warned of rains to come.

On his balcony at the FAF High Performance Centre, sunglasses on, Aire Epherra bobbed his head to the beat of HAU DA EGUNA (RIGHT NOW) (feat. Manta Izpia), the newest hit single from Arro-K 47. The tiny speakers he’d brought along on this national team excursion struggled to blast the bass, but they’d do for now. Next time he would have a proper sound system, he mused, even if Vaudrail didn’t like it. What was the manager going to do, kick him out of the team? 4 caps and 2 goals, baby. He was the team.

His roommate Urre Remondegi, a good friend and teammate from Urbizania Wanderers, was inside with a pillow over his head. Lame. Officially, this was their allotted post-lunch rest period, which included a mandatory 20-minute nap time. The team’s training regime had been meticulously designed over Vaudrail’s more than 20 years in management, in consultation with countless coaches, nutritionists, physicians, psychologists, shamans, physical therapists, acupuncturists, meterologists, bodybuilders, MMA fighters and sports historians – but Epherra just wasn’t about all that. And what were they going to do? Kick him out of the team? 4 caps and 2 goals, baby. That’s 1 goals for every 2 caps, which are very good numbers. Everyone on the news said so.

HAU DA EGUNA (RIGHT NOW) (feat. Manta Izpia) came to a shrieking, bombastic finale on Epherra’s speakers, and he was quick to grab his phone and hit replay, as he had the last fourteen times. He bobbed his head as the beat picked up again. It was a good song. Made him wish he was back home in Urbizania hitting the clubs, or on a yacht on the Iturributan coast living it up. According to his agent he was the seventh best paid player in Astograth. Above him were a bunch of foreigners, Duarte and Urdanibia – and Urdanibia was out of the picture. Internationally retired! Past his prime. 34 years old. Epherra was a spry 31. He should ask for Urdanibia’s wages +1 diru on his next contract. The renewal was just last year, but still. What the foreign-based players were making, he neither knew nor cared. Almost certainly more, but how anyone could enjoy watching or playing for unpronounceable teams like “Felsenkirchen” or “Mâ Âlâmëómë” or “Izotz Zubia” he would never know.

Inside the room, Remondegi’s phone alarm beeped, and Epherra glanced at the time. 14:25. Five minutes for the specialised afternoon sessions to start. Also time for one of the Wellness Shots™ his agent had sent him, plastic pods in bright colours containing antioxidant stimulant superfoods. He popped one open, gulped it down, grimaced and read the label. “Kombucha, cider vinegar, kale and Sargossan sea salt”. OK. Damn, wasn’t he supposed to take a picture for social media? And give a shoutout to the brand? Or was that the yoga mat company? Eh, his agent would take care of it. What were they going to do? Sue him? 4 caps and 2 goals, baby.

“What’s your sesh?” he shouted out to Remondegi, who was making his way to the bathroom to wash his face.

“Uh, movement, I think. Defensive movement,” said his roommate, stifling a yawn.

“Lame,” called out Epherra, still bobbing his head to the music.

“Oh? And what’s yours? Short passes with Duarte again?” asked Remondegi from inside the bathroom, his voice echoing against the walls.

Epherra snorted. Vaudrail had recently insisted that, because Duarte and Epherra had never played together before, they had to practice playing passes to each other, ad nauseum. The two would stand around and pass the ball back and forth, back and forth, dozens upon dozens of times, then while moving, to the foot, in depth, with one defender, two defenders, three defenders. It was mind-numbing. And the joke was on Vaudrail: they’d only played together in two matches, and the result was 2 matches, 2 goals. 1 each, baby. Too easy! And the training had nothing to do with it.

“I’ve got shooting practice,” said Epherra, and did finger guns to nobody, since Remondegi couldn’t see him from the bathroom.

“With Arana and Karazatorre?”

“Yeah. And some of the midfielders. I think we’re trying out the new keeper, too.” Arano Ilaria had a good pedigree as a star of Sporting Iturributa’s youth system, but on the national team he was just some green kid from Blue Mountain Range. Out of his depth if he ever stepped into a real match with Olibondeka, and Epherra planned on letting him know. Like he hadn’t already in the league, ha. He smirked to himself at that thought. 37 matches and 25 goals, baby. It had been a good season. Better than Urdanibia’s. Better than Karazatorre’s, almost twice as better. And that punk thought he could start ahead of Epherra? No. 4 caps and 2 goals, baby. Epherra had arrived to stay.

[Cassadaigua]

Stop looking at group tables, please.
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

If you are like me, you find yourself reading a lot of articles from different nations that participate in the World Cup. You may do this because you are genuinely interested in what is going on with other nations teams to get a real feeling of what is going on in qualifying. Perhaps, you just do this because you are bored and looking for something to kill some time. I’m sure there are even some people out there who feel like they have some sort of obligation to read everything that gets produced and then give them some sort of grade. Regardless of your motivation to read these articles, you have probably noticed that the group table analysts are already out there. Please, if you’re doing that, just stop. Take the time to learn how to pronounce the names of the nations properly, instead. After four games, things are so skewed on schedule, that it is a pointless venture. Get a team that has had four weak opponents to start off with, then they will look better. You will have nations that have had a tougher schedule and maybe not seem as good as they will be either. Here’s a thought: over an 18-game span, pretty much everyone will have a 2-1-1 span at some point. If it comes early, then people will get all concerned (or excited) based on their expectations.

Cassadaigua’s 2-1-1 clip after four games is not something to be excited about, mainly because there is a draw to Ihilthracna involved in the mix, but if you’re thinking, “Oh my God, we’re five points behind Quebec, this is terrible!”, then please get over it. The group table will only be best analyzed at the midway point, once everyone has gone through the cycle of playing the same opponents at least one. After four games, it is safe to look at things that may have gone wrong because there is time to correct them. For the Fillies, we know that the biggest issue that the team faces is a lack of toughness out on the pitch. That cannot be correct with the current lineup, so manager Stephanie Sweeney has three choices: get Lupe Enriquez to reconsider her retirement from this team and back out there; get someone like her out there even if they might not be as good as the current players in the spot; or deal with it and move on. The approach right now is option three, and the team is trying to cope with it. Lupe Enriquez posted on Spacebook after the draw to Ihilthracna that, “The team is going to be okay. They have all the talent in the world, and they will be able to overcome things, and they can do that without me going back out on the field.” That was clearly a response to some fans or other local media outlets asking her if she would consider joining the team. The most feasible option would be for Sweeney to call on someone else, but right now that is not the issue.

Another thing that needs to be corrected is the fact that Madison McClain does not have a goal yet. The up and coming forward was placed alongside Rachel Schanke, and it was envisioned that she would be a secondary or tertiary scorer to Schanke and prolific midfield scorer Meghan Wolcott. McClain was kept off the scoresheet against both Flavovespia and Quebec, and against Ihlithracna, she managed to hit both the left and the right goal post square on with different opportunities. The Fillies dominated Ihilthracna in all departments but finishing. McClain struggled, and the team was left with a 14th minute goal by Rachel Schanke on the board for the longest time. This was good enough for the longest time, but after Tiffany Nelson fanned on a 71st minute shot by the team’s most hyped potential scorer (name not provided), the score was ugly, 1-1, and the Fillies could not push ahead. It would mark the second time that Nelson fanned on what should have been an easy save. That, too, is something that might loom as a problem. She has been given the reins as our top goalkeeper, but if that continues, 35-year old Kelsey Morgan might be getting regular starts. There was not supposed to be a goalkeeping controversy this Cup, but Nelson must be better.

Against Wymondham, Cassadaigua earned a 4-1 win but it was not as if all their ills had been cured. Reading the information about the Wymondham lineup, you could see the theme frequently in it that they had players that could be pushed off the ball. Therefore, they would not be the type of squad that could exploit our weakness of not being physical. Sure, they have some people, especially in their midfield, which could enforce their gameplan a lot better, but that is not the spot in the field where we would be most concerned with. This is how things played out, and the Fillies seemed a lot more relaxed about things. Rachel Schanke got the team going offensively with an 11th minute goal, and Meghan Wolcott added one in the 18th. This was beginning then, much like things had in World Cup 85 qualifying, and even though you want to see other names start scoring (did I mention Madison McClain here yet?), the Dagans would take it out of their top two threats. The towering Phil Oldman would score in the 40th minute off a header (we’re guessing he’s done that before), and that could have given Wymondham some momentum into the break, but a 45th minute (plus one of extra time) answer by Schanke off a great long ball from Preston Newfeld stung the hearts of the opponent.

Cassadaigua dictated the style and pace of play in the second half, but were not able to find a goal for much of it. McClain increased her goalpost count to three in the last two games in the 60th minute, and Schanke was robbed in the 66th of a hat trick. Eventually, Ashley Dahlin, in for McClain, got Cassadaigua’s fourth goal in the 84th minute. Overall for the match, Tiffany Nelson was better in goal, and hopefully all will be well after this game. No, we’re not where we would like to be on the group table right now, but there is still a lot of soccer to be played. It’s not as if we’re down by seven in the bottom of the ninth and needing a miracle.