Cup of Harmony 79: Everything Thread

[Jeruselem]

In Cassadaigua, Concord Heights where Jeruselem played San Ortelio for Match day 1 of the Cup of Harmony 79.
Jeruselem manager Peko Dancer and Naked News Jeruselem's Akai Hanto after losing to San Ortelio 2-1.

Akai: Not the best day at the office Peko?
Peko: You can say that again
Akai: What happened?
Peko: Well, if we took the opportunities we were given, we would have won.
Akai: I guess that late goal by San Ortelio was the killer for us.
Peko: That was a result of us not finishing off the game

Akai: They did look a little tired
Peko: We kinda got here later than expected so some were probably jetlagged
Akai: We didn't get much training done here
Peko: That was the plan but that didn't happen
Akai: I guess quarantine incident at our airport caused a few delays
Peko: You know, the usual wankers who refuse to follow procedure.

Akai: You're not supposed to get on a plane if you have ... flu like symptoms
Peko: Maybe in the past before this pandemic shit happened, but not now. You're not getting on that plane.
Akai: Hence why we're two days late, because of those idiots.
Peko: That chucked our schedule out a bit ...
Akai: We just got here in time ...
Peko: Barely

Akai: Err, so ... losing one game in 3 game qualifying group isn't a great start.
Peko: Considering we lost to the lowest seed in the group was well.
Akai: So the next two best seeds we play
Peko: This one was the game we were supposed to win.
Akai: So ... we need to win the last two
Peko: Pretty much, as two teams have 3 points already. We have none.

Akai: Xanneria also won against Netop, so we have two teams who could get to 6 points next round.
Peko: Mind you we could have all teams on 3 points too
Akai: I guess a draw isn't that useful ...
Peko: Better than losing but still pretty not what we need
Akai: But a loss would be booking early tickets home
Peko: Yeah ...

Akai: I tell ya those Jeruselem airport police don't muck around
Peko: If you want to sprout your fake COVID propaganda, keep it to the Internets and not the airport.
Akai: YEAH, FUCKWITS
Peko: Those girls are pretty ruthless, they took down idiots real quick.
Akai: They did overdo the tasering a bit ...
Peko: But some of those guys were rather aggressive and well ... uncooperative

Akai: The only issue was they had to go deep clean that part of the airport in case the idiots had the virus
Peko: I guess it was easy to get samples while they were unconcious ...
Akai: Still it ruined a lot of people's travel plans
Peko: Yeah like ours ... if they did have the virus, we might not even be here.
Akai: Far too much selfish people out there.
Peko: Yes sadly there's always people like that.

[South Covello]

Disastrous Tru-D Final Campaign Rally Seals His Fate

Tru-D held a disastrous campaign rally tonight at SuperNerd Wants To Fight Computer and Video Game Store Arena in New Manechester which may have sealed his fate. Although Tru-D has few supporters left, the 20,000 seat arena normally used for basketball was sold out by people wanting to see this abomination of a candidate. Millions more watched on TV, even if they knew they weren’t going to vote for him. Below is a transcript.

“Good evening ladies, gentlemen, and sapient cocoabi, which I am told by a talking turkey is the plural of cocoabo. It is I, Tru-D, yinz new President. That’s right, a source very close to me told me that minz is gunda gunda win tomorrow. And guess who that source is? That’s right yinz, it’s; minz, Tru-D! Now have some solid gold platypode statues!”

Hundreds of solid gold platypus statues are dropped from the rafters onto people’s heads. Some of them are knocked unconscious. However, Tru-D’s entourage refuses to allow ambulances to treat them. As the entourage fights with the medics, Tru-D continues his speech.

“All right, yinz, it’s time for me to run around the stage screaming like a banshee to show minz love for South Covello!”

Tru-D does exactly that, running around the stage screaming like a banshee before slipping on a banana peel from a banana he ate before the rally. He falls on the ground, and despite nobody being near him, screams “STOP PUMMELING ME!” at the top of his lungs six times before geting up and continuing.

“All right yinz, see what it’s like to be minz? Well that stops if I get elected Lord - I mean King - I mean President. Pummeling will be illegal and punishable by submersion in boiling chocolate for 16 hours followed by eating of yourself. If yinz die, minz will eat yinz. So no pummelling please! Speaking of which, every night, we’ll all go on a giant panty raid together across this great nation of winz. Winz will go on a colossal panty raid with all our fun rabies and babies and shit and it will be so awesome. Who doesn’t like a good panty raid? I do. We’ll throw all the panties on a boat in the middle of a nearby lake. It will be fun. Won’t it baby? Oh yes. Panty raids are glorious, we shall be victorious, I am so euphorius, tonight is gunda gunda be glorious! Now have some solid gold panties!”

Tru-D throws solid gold panties belonging to his wife Sin-D into the audience. They are revolted and disgusted. At least the solid gold panties are clean as gold doesn’t tarnish.

“All right yinz, winz gunda gunda win. I am Tru-D, I am awesome, bring in the Luisa Benitez effigy!”

One of Tru-D’s few remaining supporters and aides wheels in a cake looking exactly like a life sized Luisa Benitez. Tru-D speaks again, to the cake.

“Hi Cakey Luisa, yinz gonna lose soon, winz gonna be President. Now let me eat you to defeat you!”

Tru-D leaps onto Cake Luisa and begins shoveling giant pieces of her into his mouth. He has eaten half the cake and then Sin-D comes out to help him. They finish off the entire cake in about 15 minutes. Tru-D then continues his rally speech.

“I am told by someone very close to minz, who is actually minz minzself, that that cake of Luisa Doom was in fact a chocolate cake. Chocolate is God as you know, which is why I will be renaming our country Chocolatecakeisgodistan if minz is elected. Minz might be joking, yinz will never know unless yinz votes for minz so yinz should vote for minz if yinz wants to find out the truth. Otherwise yinz will die not knowing and that would be a damn shame.

“Tomorrow, when you are sealed in the voting cubicle, be sure to vote for me, President Tru-D. We shall go forward into the future riding our sapient ponies to our doom in Equestria, or we shall go forward to a path of victory and turning ourselves into sapient immortal ponyfish. Which shall yinz choose? If yinz wants victory and immortality, vote for minz, Tru-D. If yinz wants to die as a pony in three days, vote for the cake I just ate. Now here comes the funcooker!”

At the last line, Tru-D pulls down his pants and moons the crowd. He then moons the camera, flashing the moon on the jumbotron and to millions watching at home, including small children. Mooning as political speech is constitutionally protected in South Covello as free speech, so there is nothing any police or censors can do about it. Tru-D continues to shoot the moon for ten minutes as the disgusted audience boos and leaves and TV networks try to figure out whether to cut away from this newsworthy moment or show it. Some cut to the studio or hastily to commercial, while others figure the public deserves to know Tru-D is a lunatic and show it. Finally, he lets out a colossal fart, pulls up his pants, knocks over the podium as has become his signature concluding move, and walks off the stage.

[Xanneria]

Maroons come out on top of Netop
excerpt from http://www.xtrasports.san/nationalteam.html

CASSADAIGUA - The Netop opener is a key game for the Maroons. A newcomer in San Ortello is lurking and thus the first two games are to be key for the survival of the Maroons in this Cup of Harmony. Netop came in with aspirations of upsets after a surprise surge in their qualifiers early. They had also sent intentions to play in last years Cup of Harmony but had apparently used the Quakmybush fax machine and missed out. That sucks too, because we sure would like to have faced them in the Cup of Harmony round of 16 rather than Sylestone. Anyways the game was played in a sunny sunny Cassadaigua, a place in Rushmore familiar to many fans of Xannerian sport as the crossover there between the Cassies and the Xannerians is fairly common and several sports personalities from the nation are media darlings in the other respective nation.

As for Netop, a slightly more defensive 3-3-4 formation centered around a more defensive play structure, but still enough of an offense to do damage on command when necessary. Netop was lead by fiery goalkeeper Johnny Howells and all around Center Mid Savanna Park. Park looked great but the defensive roster of Bernardo Fransisco-De La Tomosa and Nikolai Brown kept the two wingers of Zoe Kinney and lyla Wormald from doing harm to the Maroon cause, while Ian Turner starting for the first time since the second WCQ versus Quakmybush, kept star Teddy Riggs from doing any damage. Goalkeeper Markus Portsman has been a breath of fresh air, now that he's finally made it on the team. Portsman was stellar and showed why he's been a Galacticos nominated player, he kept the Netopian players that did get by the suffocating defense from doing any damage.

Now you may be noticing the talk so far has been all about defense, well thats for good reason, I can't say a lot of good things about the offense, or at least in context about the offense in the noted high energy playstyle usually associated with the Xannerian footballing tradition. Xannerias offense was pretty flat. But I could argue it was to some extent by design. especially towards the end. It wasn't for lack of trying that the game only had one total goal, coming from Maroons striker Andrew Gasey in the 85th minute. It was a more or less designed attack to only focus on sure fire shots. This has been a tactic randomly exploited by Myrone Rhule as to confuse opponents who would be expecting the more high energy run towards goal and hope for the best. The goal came in the 5th minute, with sub Andrew Gasey coming into the game as a starter over Bray Feltzer, who was absent do to some stiffness in his hamstring. That goal got the Keeper, the fiery Mr. Howells worked up as he was seen belittling and angrily slobbering in the face of left back Beau Hendricks. Mr Howells must have some pull, enough where Hendricks was pulled for Ellie Pitt almost immediately. In the end though to say Karma caught up would be correct as Netop couldn't score a goal and for the most part was playing a game of follow the Xannerian ball handler as the keep-away strategy that Rhule had created has made a wonderful win for the maroons and although it wasn't pretty like we like, it worked and all that matters is that it did.

XANNERIA - 1
Gasey 5'

NETOP - 0

[Transvolcanic]

The Transvolcanic Federation loses 2-0 to Lorrana

Transvolcanic has finally got into it’s first Cup of Harmony, or denomined by its people as “You didn’t qualify to the WC Cup”

However, a terrible surprise left the team bad, just after finishing a “good” campaign in the World Cup Qualifiers, an old known surprised the team, it was Lorrana, a team which Transvolcanic defeated two times in group 12 last WC Qualifiers, now they avenged the results by simply putting Transvolcanic in a very hard situation

What happened?

Simply, Sergio Bautista played a very defensive game, instead of using an attacking strategy, which would have been the most correct
-Pablo Colín, is just passing his worst moments of his career as of now, he isn’t the “next Lev Yashin” as he was considered
-Lack of experience in attack, they decided to include Andrés Vassi and replace Keinri Öctagôn for this cup, as Öctagôn was sanctioned by the AFT after making several agressive comments against his teammates and insulting his opponents
-Bad management of the midfield, literally Transvolcanic just created three opportunities during the entire match, they played super defensive still and everytime they tried counterattacks, they passed it to Lorrana

How did the fans act?
Everyone got upset as it was supposed the match was for a win, and well... nope
However not all was sad emotions, after all, the fans cared more for the World Cup and well... they didn’t like the decision of entering the Cup of Harmony, as thinking that they already finished a cycle in a good state, and if they entered, they wanted them directly to win, a thing that is almost impossible as of now, according to most of the experts

The fans obviously didn’t want to lose, but the views of this game were of only 2 million people out of 36 million that saw the first match against Lorrana and 44 million in the second one, a significant decrease, it is expected that only 4 million will watch next matchday and other 6 million on matchday 3, as the fans, according to media like Score.index or Would you prefer? Aren’t interested as they consider the Cup of Harmony an invitational cup, this may have its roots in these factors:
-lower quality of teams
-consolation tournament
-the team needs “rhythm”
The AFT and Sergio Bautista however, have defended the CoH as an important tournament not just to continue at a good level, but as well to prepare for the next WCQ campaign if they are able to qualify to that round, and why not? Win it

Now the question is... Is this a bad sign of what will happen to the team? We got to observe this

Other news:
-+10 cities you should visit: Lozkdańz, Teufelstür, Techichipan...
- Keinri Öctagôn: “They can all play their tournament, I prefer to train by myself”
- The Duffensdorf laboratory inauguration: all you may want to know

[Saint-Domingues]

Squidroidia 0–1 Saint-Domingue: A time for experimentation
HT 0-0

---

With the World Cup qualification cycle over, many eyes are already looking forward to the next one when Saint-Domingue will get another shot at appearing in the multiverse's most popular sporting competition. With that in mind, head coach Camilo Canisbro has declared that, while the Avengers fully intend to take the Cup of Harmony seriously and respect the competition, that their time in Cassadaigua and Northwest Kalactin will be a "time for some experimentation."

As one can see from the lineup, there have not been wholesale changes. Canisbro relies on a rather fixed squad and there are plenty of ever-presents (or players who appear so frequently they may as well be). However, we did get the chance to see a slight change in both approach and personnel for the opening game against Squidroida. Jamel goalkeeper Slyvain Deforest, ostensibly the third-choice, was between the sticks to pick up just his second cap and make his first start for his country (his only other appearance being as a last-minute substitute way back in the Wonder Cup). We also got a new debutant, a Deforest teammate at Jacmel in the form of winger Alexandre Tailler. Tailler lined up for his multiversal bow on the left, with Raoul Gimenez also starting and being moved from his favoured left to the right.

With the left-footed Tailler on the left and the right-footed Gimenez on the right, Canisbro had thus gone from his typical selection of inverted wingers (or even inside forwards) on each side, and tried to use conventional wingers to provide width and offer opportunities on the overlap when combining with the wing-backs.

It was this tactical set-up which created the only goal of the campaign. Emilio Campos advanced into the Squidroidian half, matching up with the opposition right-back, Toujou Shihei. Tailler ran ahead to offer an option for the overlap, and then once in space looked up and played a delightful cross-field pass to Gimenez. The winger won the aerial duel with Yoichi Shigeko, nodding the ball onwards for Mathieu Ahearn to run on to. Despite the tight angle, he was able to beat Takemoto Shingen at his near post. That was his first goal for his country.

Deforest also took a chance to shine on a rare appearance, pulling off a fine double save to preserve the lead. He was able to parry a forceful volley from Makino Hideo, before just about smothering Yoneda Toshikun's follow-up with his body. Chances were at a premium in the match and the contributions by Deforest and Ahearn proved decisive.

Ahearn can proudly boast that he was effective at both ends of the pitch. In addition to his match-winner, the defender won back possession five times, made four successful interceptions and had more touches than any of his teammates. The right-wing-back was central to the victory.

In terms of other tactical tweaks, we got to enjoy Giuseppe Cojuangco having forty-five minutes playing the sweeper role - a pre-planned substitution - whilst Vignon also had about half an hour paired with Sanabria in a two. Further changes are expected to follow, with Canisbro already confirming that Pozo will take the place of Babesco for the next game.

Saint-Domingue head coach Camilo Canisbro: "There were a few players with unfamiliar roles today, but everyone coped marvellously. When you become too wedded to one system, things can get stale. I wanted to show some more flexibility in how we can use our forward players and wing-backs. There were not too many chances but in the second-half we did not need to create, as we were already leading. I am very pleased with the manner in which we controlled the second-half and managed the game."

---

Lineups:
Deforest
Cotilla
Boleyn <- Cojuangco 45'
Le Guen
Ahearn
Campos
Sanabria
Carpeña <- Vignon 61'
Gimenez
Babesco
Tallier <- Palacio 81'

Squidroidia: N/A
Saint-Domingue: Ahearn (56')
Venue: Cocoa-bo Stadium, Starksville, Cassadaigua

[TJUN-ia]

By Peter Davis

After everything we have been through in recent weeks, from the wins to that crushing loss, it's nice to have the warm embrace of the Cup of Harmony to come to after all that fuss. We're in the rugby town of Coffs and their Habour Coliseum, one of the 4 arenas in use for Northwest Kalactin's side of this large tournament. We all know how our group is, so I won't divulge you in the details, so let's just get on with the action here at this big stadium. Our first match was against Pluvia and the Saxean Isles, the lowest-ranked team in the group.

But it wasn't that simple at all. Pluvia, led by manager Lucian Hammerschmidt, came to play in this one and TJUN-ia was happy to meet that challenge, taking part in a cracking contest here on opening day. Both halves would see goals and both halves would see tight football played out - and, to the neutrals, this would be a fun game to watch. It began simply enough in the 34th as, after many chances from both sides, the Jags finally broke the deadlock through Kepo Ulawaya. Everyone thought this would be the beginning of the end for Pluvia...but that wouldn't be the case as, just before the 44th minute, Keir Gilbride (or Kilbride, depending on who you believe) finished some superb team play to mean we entered the break tied at 1-1. Huh.

Once everyone came back, this oddity of a contest continued to throw up surprises. Otto Pearce broke threw our defence in the 56th and managed to take an unexpected lead in this contest. David Seems did not like that at all and he brought on Prince Carter and Archer Andrews to try and bring this game back. They certainly helped in the 76th, combining for a goal that was finished by Andrews and tied up this contest. The final few minutes were spent on looking for a winner at both ends of the pitch but in the end, the scoreline would stand. Pluvia takes a famous point and TJUN-ia has to settle for one on opening day.

Sylestone and Yuezhou drew as well, 0-0 in the other game, meaning all 4 of us are still on level pegging after 1 game. We play Yue Zhou, now in blue, on MD2. In other news, Eura somehow thought that choosing certified Mad Lad Skorji Olsograd was a good idea. I'm sceptical, but we'll see. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group D, all matches at The Harbour Coliseum, Coffs)
MD1: vs Pluvia and the Saxean Isles (150) D 2-2 (T-1st)
MD2: vs Yuezhou (Yue Zhou) (94)
MD3: vs Sylestone (72)

[Tequilo]

TAPALUPÉ, Tequilo - The Agave-Blues started with a win but no-one is fooled into thinking this was the start of something beautiful...

It's the Cup of Harmony in Northwest Kalactin and Cassadaigua… and Los Pitxileros are under way! Want to know what's going on in the world's second best football tournament? Let the GOLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL-a!!! Daily keep you up to date with the action - all your favourite bits, in brief - plus the usual generous amount of extras. All this week: Our traditional Copametro - every Tequilo match, covered. Stats, ratings, reports, line-ups and more. Plus - Rúi de Los Rovas: season 3 reboot of the famous old comic strip, only in your Daily issue of GOLa; Postcards from The Multiverse: our dedicated followers of Los Pitixileros, the Ultra-Mariachi supporters band and Basilico the Cactus Terrier are on tour, and they'll be letting us know what the food is like in NWK; and of course our regular column, Letters To The Editor. You can write in too, if you want to - address your fascinating texts to spambucket@gola.teq or drop a letter in the mail to PO Box 654353583.2, Grand Central Post Office, Tapalupé¹

But first, part two of the new serialised story from our sister publication, the Extra: how a former national team goalkeeper became Tequilo's Most Wanted. And we don't mean on the transfer list!

---

EL COYOTE
Part 1/3: Recruiting

---

Part 0 - Previously on García de Corcoles

Nobody, including García himself, is quite sure how long he’d been on the beach at Plume, outside the city of Cuiredor, on the main island of Antivador. After sailing with the mad Polarian captain Sven Deranger out of the Underverse and back into reality, they hit a storm in the Gulf of Tequilo and Captain Deranger’s tub was taken down to Pythagoras Jones locker, as they say in Bonesea. What became of Sven and the crew, García could not say, but he was rolled up by the storm onto the beach that he later learned was back in his homeland, and not that far from home, specifically. But, apart from wanting privacy for his ablutions, he never left the beach. Trained by the Narrative Agents to wait patiently for the story to catch up, and to meditate in the meantime, he may have been there for weeks, perhaps months - who knows… maybe even years. He was meditating on this very matter when the story finally did catch up - and three men in military uniforms came down from the car park in broad daylight, ignoring the well-known letter-writer Norm who was walking his dog on the beach, and a smattering of kids using García as a goal-post. The three men marched straight to the beach bum, shooing the kids away, and one placed a cloth bag over his head. Though García was by now in peak physical condition, and well-trained in martial arts, he offered virtually no resistance, and was marched back to the car park and a van into which he was bundled.

Thirty minutes later, still hooded, and having spoken not a word or been spoken to, García was transferred to a plane and only when the plane was up in the air did his captors take off the bag over his head and cut the ties around his wrists. After some adjustment, he could see that he was back in the company of the Narrative Agents, Boca & Tranquilo in the native language; Messrs. Couth & Ruly from Wight, to you and me. They smiled their deadly grins, twirled their mustachios, and adjusted their fine garments.

“Got you!” said Mister Couth. Or was it Mister Ruly?

“It’s like I have never been away,” said García, with only a hint of sarcasm, because any more than a hint might upset the jovial fellows - and no-one wanted to upset the Narrative Agents, least of all on a plane.

He noted the rest of his surroundings. Very fancy and undoubtedly expensive private jet. Three less jolly fellows, the militia, had joined them on the plane and were eyeing García suspiciously. Though they were no Narrative Agents, and he was now a trained combatant, still they made him a little nervous.

“You are now in the company of the Tönjes Rúler Sect,” said Mister Ruly, as if that explained everything. Or was it Mister Couth?

“¡Salve Rúler!” chimed the brothers in arms, at the name of their Sect, thrusting a hand up in the air. To quote the famous song, a hand raised up that way never took the future in it’s palm.

García, baffled as he was by this turn of events and probably expecting the worst, knew better than to second guess the Narrative Agents, or to question them. The more you asked, the less they told you. All in good time.

Down at the hangar where the plush private jet had taxied after landing, they were met by a tremendously well groomed gentleman in black combat fatigues that didn’t look like they’d seen a days combat in their 180 thread count percale cotton lives. He had gold-rimmed sun glasses, a magnificent gloss to his skin, and he sported a black beret trimmed with shimmering gold ribbon. He was entirely enthralling to look at as he paced over to the disembarking group from a very fancy Skyrmion SUV. He flashed his brilliant smile and took the hand of García firmly, but with genuine, it seemed to García at least, friendliness.

“Welcome! Welcome García de Corcoles! Welcome to the Tönjes Rúler Sect, and the battle of our lives to preserve the Asyluum from Ao-ism and the dirty Rushmoris and Esportivans! Forgive me, I forget myself - I’m Tönjes Rúler. So pleased to meet you, Señor de Corcoles, quite an honour. Are you with us?”

“You had me at dirty Rushmoris, Sir” said García, knowing in fact he had fallen before Tönjes Rúler had even said ‘welcome’.

A WIN IS A WIN IS A WIN - APPARENTLY

CHARTISTAN 0-1 TEQUILO HT: 0-0
Location: @ Kempsey Centre, Kempsey, Northwest Kalactin
Attendance: 48,658 and the Ultra Mariachi Band (8 sombreros+dog)
Scorers: Blêxu 78' (pen.)
Assists: Alexandro Calvoecheaga 78'
Booked: Ecuador, Noxochinoch
Injured: Eolo Sorozar (severity 7/20), Ecuador
Tequilo Line-Up: (4-1-3-2) Oscar Bienvenida (VC) | Blêxu, Antton Machinena (sub: Noxochinoch 88'), Tol Chicote, Eolo Sorazar (sub: Huachalla 11') | Ixtub Tün | Vilca Hualla (C), Niño Pinto, Ricardo Bailén | Tlacolotl, Ecuador (sub: Alexandro Calvoecheaga 71')
Player of the Match: Niño Pinto (Tequilo)

---

NERVES? WHAT NERVES?

Stand-in coach August Toset, two-time Cup of Harmony finalist with his home nation of Juvencus and one-time winner of the competition, found himself in a defensive position for the post-match interview in Kempsey after pundits summarised a tricky opening tie with Chartistan as 'nervy', with one going so far as to suggest "new coach, same problems for Los Pitxileros". The perception has always been that as outsiders Tequilo often bring their A-game and give much better teams a right old dingdong battle, but undo all that good work by getting complacent in games where they think they have a divine right to claim three points without the same effort. It was that attitude which proved the killer in qualification, as they threw away vital points in games they should have managed better. Here at the Kempsey Centre last night they once again found themselves flummoxed by an up and coming team, a considerable distance behind them in the rankings, who will feel in the end they deserved more from the game. There was very little in the match until substitute striker Alexandro Calvoecheaga caused late panic in the Charts' box and was felled by Little Exnash for a penalty, neatly dispatched by Blêxu for what turned out to be the deciding goal. It was tough on the Musicologists.

At interview August pushed back on the claims of negativity and complacency, assuring worried Tequilo fans that this is a building exercise and that his squad are fully respectful of all teams, no matter how bad, even Havynwilde. Although they are not in the Cup of Harmony. So not them. All told it was statement of intent from coach August, the Assistant Director of the national team in Tequilo who is filling in for this competition before going back to the Unión to help develop a plan for world dominance. That determination will be tested in the next game as Tequilo face The Gothanita Isles needing a win to reassure the travelling fans - all eight of them plus Basilico the Cactus Terrier - that it has been worth the trip and they will be there for more than a week. After that comes top seed Mercedini, a handy comparative study since this is the third consecutive Cup of Harmony in which they have been drawn together in the same group - both ending in ties and both teams progressing out of the group on both occasions. If both the Agave-Blues and 'Dini' win the next game, they are assured of a berth in the round of 32, and then it will just be a matter of seeing if Tequilo have improved enough over the years to get one over on an old ally.

Huachalla is recalled to the starting XI for the Gothanita tie following the injury to Eolo Sorazar, another recurring story of playing brilliantly and then getting injured - in qualifying he won three player of the match awards in four starts, but missed most games through long-term injuries; he is now out again for at least the group stage and probably beyond (if there is a beyond). Already his career in the national team is being framed as a 'what could have been' story which will be demoralising for him. Ecuador is also rested after his knock but he'll be on the bench, Alexandro Calvoecheaga in to replace him.

---

TEQUILO STAT SUMMARY

Competition goals: Blêxu (1)

Competition assists: Alexandro Calvoecheaga (1)

Competition PoMs: Niño Pinto (1)

Competition cards: Ecuador, Noxochinoch (1)

---

Confirmed Line-Up for TEQUILO vs. The Gothanita Isles
@ Kempsey Centre, Kempsey, Northwest Kalactin

(4-1-3-2)
Oscar Bienvenida (VC) | Blêxu, Antton Machinena, Huracan, Huachalla | Ixtub Tün | Vilca Hualla (C), Niño Pinto, Ricardo Bailén | Tlacolotl, Alexandro Calvoecheaga

---

THE ULTRA MARIACHI BAND
Eight sombreros and Basilico the Cactus Terrier

---

We have a postcard from one of our dear friends in the Ultra Mariachi Band, following Tequilo to the sixteen corners of the multiverse! Mardelio writes:

According to band tradition we managed to catch up with the team at their base, the National Kangarooms chain in Kempsey, for a friendly chat and a bowl of spicy bubble & squeak - very delicious - and the new man on the team, Eolo Sorazar, was just a first class entertainer. Hilarious - Perderiko will never live down an incident best left off a postcard - but ask him about the misunderstanding with the bombona when you see him next. Shame Eolo’s out for the next few games, he’s a gentleman entertainer.

Yesterday we sharpened our trumpets, primed our guitars and clicked the safety catches off our violins ready for action - and headed down to the Kempsey Centre. Ramon was given the task of buffing up the sombreros and did a magnificent job, while Tisi briefed Basilico on appropriate behaviour for a Cactus Terrier when in Kempsey - Basilico had a few questions about the matriarchy in these parts, but we reassured him that Northwest Kalactin is nothing like South Central CH.

He was mighty relieved and barked his little heart out all match.

¡Hasta la próxima! Mardelio Colibrí (Director y Guitarrón)

---

RÚI DE LOS ROVAS
The Comic Strip Legend In A Fantasy Football World - Season 3

---

Exclusive to the Daily - we bring you the rebooted version of the ancient comic classic, with ex-world class footballer and manager Rúi Raza now 144 years young and still going strong running his family football business, The Raza Agency, with son Roque, grandson Ronaldo (aka Roni), great-granddaughter Rita and her son Rodi Raza-Shearer.

Coming up in this episode… we continue our global pandemic theme with news that new mutations of the Corona Beer Virus arouhdn the world are putting minor league football at risk of another complete shutdown, and that could mean the end of play for this season for Rodi, who is in his first season at minor league giants Celtic. While he’d like to carry on building his early career in the hope of matching several generations of legends and will be gutted if play stops, for the rest of the team and the fans, a shutdown couldn’t come soon enough in a forgettable season with Celtic in the relegation zone behind deadly rivals Queens Rangers in the two-team Scottish Premier League.

Meanwhile, back at the office… with the mid-season transfer window closed, the Agency can concentrate on placing their clients who will end up as free agents at the end of the season, including Bromley Town’s Billy Bingham, Selwyn Froggat at Stockett Sunday Morning FC, and Lionel Messi of Barcelona.

---

[1]Or TG Tequilo and we'll be sure to publish you in the next edition of the DAILY!

[Lorrana]

https://www.newsbit.ln/sport/

Lorrana beats Transvolcanic in CoH Opening

Lorrana: Kiyon 34', 72'

Lorrana defeated Transvolcanic at Gold Coast International Stadium in Northwest Kalactin in the first match of the 79th Cup of Harmony on two goals from Lorrana attacking midfielder Kiyon. After a number of first half opportunities, Lorrana's breakthrough came after a well-placed pass from midfielder Em'du Em'kavaon. Kiyon let loose from just outside the box and left Transvolcanic GK Pablo Colin stunned. Kiyon, who also scored in Lorrana's first match against Tranvolcanic during World Cup Qualifying, extended the lead in the second half with a tap-in from inside the box.

Lorrana will play their next Cup of Harmony game against the Squornshelan Remnant States, who defeated group favorites Krytenia 1-0 today. Coming off of such an upset, they will most certainly make life difficult for Lorrana.

[Chartistan]

Welcome to the Cup of Harmony. Stuck in Kempsey, the Chartistani national team were placed in a nervy group, and their status as "newcomers" was there for everybody to see. Their first match? You may confuse Chartistan's first CoH opponents for a nice alcoholic beverage, but the Algave-Blues of Tequilo were no pushover... Turns out someone did the push along the way.

---

TEQUILO
A parody of Tequila by The Champs

[Announcer]
We welcome you today to Northwest Kalactin
For the start of Charistan's endevour
In the second biggest competition in international football
This... Is the Cup of Harmony!

[Little Exnash]
It was a sunny day in Kempsey
And the team went out to play
The purple and the blue in full force
No heatwave was in our way
The grass was green and the stands blue
With Billboard's greatest fans
But not only did our fans go through
There was the Algave-Blues
Tol Chicote!
Tlacolotl!
Vilca Hualla!
They only went by one nation's name
Tequilo

[Olisa Rodgers]
The game and ball both kicked off
But there was nothing to say
The defense did play okay
They gone showed them how to play
Seventy-six minutes of football
Came and went away like nothing at all
The scoreline said Chartistan 0
Tequilo 0, it looked like a draw today
But then the whistle, the loud deafening whistle
The sound was heard throughout the air
And what do I see?
A blatant penalty
And Little Exnash
He gave a penalty to the name

[Little Exnash]
Tequilo

[Olisa Rodgers]
Blêxu converted the shot
Tequilo now led by 1
The 1 point was now gone
The game was essentially done

[Narrator]
The final whistle blew from Kempsey and Tequilo barelty got the 3 points.
Chartistan played as hard as they could, but the penalty given away by Exnash was enough for the Agave-Blues in the end.
It ends Tequilo 1, Chartistan 0.
Doctor Lucas heads to the dugout, knowing that he had more to play next.
It might as well been a stroke of genius for...

[Little Exnash]
TEQUILO!!!

[Garifunya]

Presidential Palace, Frederykvil, Garifunya

President Immanuel Prins was watching Garifunya's Cup of Harmony match against Ibixa, the protectorate of Krytenia that used to be a desert until quite recently. Life here may not be perfect, but give me green grass, cool breezes, and sparkling waters over a damned desert, he thought. Still, they're doing some impressive terraforming there that would be nice to have.

It was late in the second half and the score was tied 3-3. Les Gaseles and De Dolfijnen had played an up-tempo, back and forth match so far. Then, quick as a flash, Sonel Agustin, the young Haitian emigrant turned citizen, seized the ball, slashed into the box and blasted a shot past Ibixa's Didac Marines. Yes! Prins pumped his fist. Garifunya led 4-3 and the few Dolfijnen fans who were there celebrated in wild ecstasy. When the camera panned to them, Prins almost winced. What if De Dolfijnen won and some rowdy ultra clocked someone? That could start an international incident, and what with Northwest Kalactin being a functional anarchy and the tendency of some Garifunyan fans, he really hoped everything turned out all right. Who could have believed that the Frederyvkil attackers had links to popular football supporter groups? Was nothing safe in his country? Well, at least a win would boost national morale. Only ten minutes and stoppage time to go...

There was a knock at the door. Prins frowned. He'd left orders for him not to be disturbed while he was watching the game, so this could only be extremely good or incredibly bad. Francois entered, his chief of staff. He bowed. "Mr. President, we have captured several of the Frederykvil attackers."

Prins sat bolt upright and turned off the television. "Francois, this is wonderful news! Where, when, how?"

"Mr. President, they were apprehended only a quarter of an hour ago in the basement of a house on the outskirts of Frederykvil. The police and the Jandaams were able to identify one of them outside of the house and tailed him back to the premises. From there, it was a simple matter."

Prins smiled. "Excellent, excellent!" Then his face drew tight. "Nobody was hurt in this raid, I trust? Francois, we cannot have the Jandaams involved in any kind of brutality or misconduct. Even an accident could sink the already-low level of trust they have."

"No, Mr. President," Francois replied. "The attackers surrendered when confronted with the overwhelming force of our law officers."

"Good, good," said Prins. "Where are they being taken? Will they give up the rest of their gang? Can we learn anything about their motivation or whether they were working for anyone?"

"All in good time, Mr. President," said Francois. "For now, they are being taken to the police station in Frederykvil Central District. I have been assured that the police will use all legal and humane methods possible to gain any additional information from them. In the meantime, the police and the Jandaams will continue their search for any other conspirators or links to other groups. I suggest that we, along with your communications staff, work on a statement to the nation about this."

Prins nodded. "Of course, Francois. The nation needs some hope." Inwardly, he sighed. Duty calls. I wish I could watch the rest of the match, but they probably won't blow a lead in the last ten minutes, right?

[Valladares]

The National Kickoff
The Online Home of Valladar Football!

Sorry for Party Pooping!
(Actually not)

By: Laura Palma

Hello, lovers of Valladar football and other casual readers and welcome to the first Cup of Harmony entry of this poor yet honored blog! The Valladar national football team are again at a Cup of Harmony, this time being held in Cassadaigua and Northwest Kalactin. While the overwhelming majority of Valladar fans including me wanted to be in a group in Cassadaigua for obvious reasons of geographic proximity and potential support (remember, our coach is a Dagan!), the luck of the draw resulted in us being sent to Northwest Kalactin placed in group A, along with teams like Frestovenia, Indusse and co-hosts Northwest Kalactin...an utterly disgusting and unpleasant group from any point of view with three horrible rivals, although I guess I should thank having avoided groups such as G (obviously standing for "garbage"), L ("losers") or E (you've got two seconds to find out what that letter stands for, starting now). Anyways, La Nacional seemed to use that frustration to their advantage and started the 79th Cup of Harmony on the right foot, edging past Northwest Kalactin in the opening match of the competition in front of 100,000 stunned locals at the Gold Coast International Football Stadium.

Going into the match itself, the Valladars only needed a couple of minutes to strike with Myana midfielder Arley Barrios, who after receiving a throw-in from Christian O'Brien dodged a couple of rival defenders, and positioned himself to fire a powerful shot into the back of the Northwest Kalactin net, for a classic early goal for Valladares. The Kalactanians, as expected, mounted a reaction to find a quick equalizer with seven men on the offense, however they had a really hard time trying to get past the 5-man wall mounted by Jessica Curran at the back, moving midfielders Bryan Castillo and Christian O'Brien back to support the Valladar defense. Seeing themselves unable to break through, Northwest Kalactin striker Jimmy McCarthy tried his luck with two mid-range shots, both of which were deflected by Paulo Gaviria. But La Nacional would not spend the remainder of the first half shielded on their half of the field, oh no! Whenever Valladares decided to speed up, they were able to give a scare to the hosts, which was shown between the 25th and 35th minutes of play when La Nacional had three chances to double their lead: a shot by Wilfried Baume was too strong that it went wide, while fellow striker Thibault Benezet and Cristian Benítez gave keeper Mark Romero some work to do by deflecting those shots and saving his team from conceding again. All in all, the first half of this match with a non-existent midfield ended up with Valladares holding a narrow lead.

The second half started with another bucket of cold water being thrown on the Kalactanians (which might or might not have been so refreshing in this context) as the Valladars were able to double their lead 3 minutes after the match resumed. Thibault Benezet was the last Valladar element involved in that collective play from which the 2-0 emerged, being assisted by Cristian Benítez to score his first goal in the competition. With the 2-goal gap, and considering the squad's heat wear (imagine Canalave in the middle of the afternoon) gaffer Jessica Curran opted to refresh her squad with substitutions: Ronald Mickel, who apart from participating in the play that concluded in Benezet's goal went largely unnoticed in the match, was called back to the bench after 60 minutes and replaced by Fabio Betancourt, while Leandro Martelli entered in the 65th minute to replace Bryan Castillo who had battled hard to keep the Kalactanian strikers at bay and away from the Valladar goal (and had already been booked for it!). Needless to say, the hosts' resolve to score a goal that would get them back to the game was stronger, and the Valladars were slowly retreating to take care of that 2-0 score as a treasure. However, so much insistence from the hosts would have its deserved reward, as they were eventually able to cut the gap back to one goal thanks to Keith Torres, who took advantage of a defective rebound in the Valladar box to score for Northwest Kalactin with 15 minutes to go. Fortunately for the interests of Jessica Curran and the Valladar NT, Pablo Gaviria was able to close his goal to further Kalactanian attempts, but an injury time goal by Aymeric Fortin that could have been the 3-1 was disallowed as the 1830 Cathair player was found offside.

And that's how we celebrated our first win in this Cup of Harmony, while also spoiling the party for Northwest Kalactin, who hoped to kick their tournament off with fireworks but in the end had to sit down and watch us stealing the spotlight. Meanwhile, pot 4 team Frestovenia started off their campaign in Group A by upsetting Indusse in the last match of the day at Gold Coast International and now find themselves leading the group with 3 points and a goal more than La Nacional. The next rival for Valladares will be Indusse, who will be looking to avoid an early elimination from the competition while also preventing us from clinching our ticket for the knockout rounds. I'm sure La Nacional won't let that happen, of course...¡Adelante, Valladares!

---

Valladares 2–1 Northwest Kalactin
(Barrios 2', Benezet 48'; Torres 75')

Valladares: Gaviria (8) - Marrugo (7), Delgado (7), Fletcher (6) - Castillo (8), O'Brien (7), Mickel (6), Barrios (8) - Benítez (8) - Baume (6), Benezet (7)
Subbed Out: Mickel 60', Castillo 65', Baume 81'
Subbed In: Betancourt 60' (6), Martelli 65' (6), Fortin 81' (not rated)
Unused Subs: Chamoun, Brown, Hossiner, Vargas, Mariner, Durmisi, Zamudio, Germain, Araúz
Manager: Jessica Curran (Cassadaigua)

Stadium: Gold Coast International Football Stadium, Gold Coast, Northwest Kalactin
Attendance: 104,000

[Sargossa]

It was Quin who reacted quickest. The twenty year old product of Mapletish’s National Football Academy nipped in front of Esteban Pomar to latch on to the loose pass from Juan Sebastián Varela. He didn’t even hesitate before clipping an in-swinging delivery towards the inviting target presented by Fernando Gauvain. The big forward had already scored once in this match and rose majestically between Juan Esnáider and Raúl Dengra to loop a header toward goal. Alejandro Martínez could only watch, rooted to the spot, as the ball drifted over him and clattered against the crossbar. To then be summarily dispatched out of the penalty area by Dengra.

On the touchline Sargossa coach Brian McAllister shock his head and muttered something under his breath. It was unlikely to be complimentary. A mix up between Martí and Pomar had led to the first Mapletish goal and a collective brain fart from the defence had allowed Leonde Patrick to ghost in unmarked for the Dragon’s equaliser. Now the Maplish had so nearly taken the lead for the first time in this fixture, another defensive error gifting them the opportunity. And that had been the hallmark of the entire World Cup qualification campaign, a defensive unit that simply could not keep out the goals. The tactician had been quietly pleased with himself, and rightly praised by fans and pundits alike, at how he’d managed to implant his attacking philosophy on the side since his arrival from his native Tikariot. But at the back they were as leaky as something that leaks. A lot. Some drastic changes to his entire tactical blueprint may be required. But not now though, not in the throes of a major competition.

The size of this particular major competition meant dropping points in the opening encounter was inadvisable. Normally a Cup of Harmony group stage allowed for a slight slip-up, but given the size of the field across Cassadaigua and Northwest Kalactin momentum might be crucial so there was really no room for maneuvering. Out on the pitch Diego Cazalla gave Henry Tomomi no room to manoeuvre either. The Miruan City forward got tight to the Dragon’s midfielder, forcing him to trip and then nipping the ball away from him. The Maplish players paused for just a heartbeat, waiting for a referee’s whistle that wasn’t coming. Cazalla instead drove down the right hand side before firing a low cross into the box. The delivery was behind Mateo Manzanares but Varela was arriving late into the penalty area, not breaking stride as he side footed the ball into the bottom corner.

It was a goal that broke the resolve of this young and talented team from Mapletish. They’d battled so hard but could find no way back into the match as the final few minutes trickled away. The final whistle was greeted warmly by the crowd in Winchester. Fans from both nations appreciated their respective side’s efforts and the Dagan neutrals had enjoyed an exciting matchday experience before hitting the bingo halls. Next up for Sargossa is a first ever fixture against Twicetagria. With both nations having won their opening fixtures a second win would ensure a foot firmly planted in the last thirty two.

[Krytenia]

Emberton Hessenthaler Airport, a few days before the Cup of Harmony

Airport lounges, even executive ones, are not the most interesting of places. This would explain why Rami Niblick was spending his time idly flicking through video hosting sites with his phone.

"Top ten cats jumping off sheds...no...'Why Simeone di Bradini is secretly twelve sheep'...I mean, creative, but no...'I set my hair with superglue'...really, humanity? Oh, new Idiot Project. Not one of mine, sadly, but it'll do."
Simon cocked an eyebrow. "How...how did you end up narrating one of those?"
"Now that would be telling. Possibly also breaking a few contracts, or subpoenas, or...well, that would also be telling."
"You're having me on."
"Yes. Yes I am."
Simon rolled his eyes. "You're incorrigible."
"No, but I have been to Omerica."

[HUElavia]

HUElavia's 'Big 3' Opens the Cup of Harmony with a Bang!

North Japan 3–5 HUElavia
(Son 34', Ah 61', Ae 87' | Navarro 6', 39' (P), 78', Hamada 50', Sol 90+2')
(Ferguson Stadium, Rutland)

Once again, HUElavia was participating in the Cup of Harmony. While this was not what the National Football Team wanted to participate in, they chose to go in it, and go all in to possibly win a title and increase their ranks in the Multiversal Ranking. HUElavia had their opening match against North Japan at Ferguson Stadium (64,000) in Rutland, where they were clear favorites for the match, and about 55% of the stadium was filled with HUElavians draping the stands with Yellow, Green, and Blue. State flags, and other flags of other nations where HUElavians descend from were around the stadium. Despite being the designated "away team" for the match, the Home Alternative was worn for the match. The A-Team was playing, with Ramos starting in goal, and Navarro starting as Captain for the team. Once the anthems were played, the ball rolled and the match was underway.

From the very start, HUElavia wanted to show that they meant business, especially after the horrible World Cup Qualifiers. The opening goal came in the 6th minute, when Duran got the ball from Son, and went on the attack. Being pressured from Kah, she passed it to Navarro, where with his left foot, he set a curving shot that had Chanwook reaching to stop the shot, but it went into the top corner of the goal, making it 0-1. Navarro celebrated in the corner flag, doing a dance, while celebrating with his teammates and finally sharing an iconic hug and kiss with his wife, Hamada-Navarro. North Japan went on the attack, and shots from Ah and Hwan had Ramos making saves left and right. Although, in the 34th minute, a cross from Mo went into the box, and up came the head of Son, who won the ball over Castro-Bitencourt, and headed it past Ramos into the goal, making it 1-1. The North Japanese went crazy with the goal, cheering in Jeong, while the HUElavians were furious of letting in a goal like that. A few minutes later, in the 39th minute, Hamada was going one-on-one against Kah, when she tried to nutmeg him, and was clattered down by Kah in the box. The referee blew the whistle for a penalty kick, and Navarro came up and took it. With his right foot, he sent Chanwook the wrong way and sent the shot into the top corner of the goal, making it 1-2. Navarro celebrated once more with his teammates and shared a hug and kiss with his wife, while the HUElavian crowd was jumping and cheering with joy for the goal. In the second half, HUElavia kept on attacking and wanted more in a game they knew they could dominate. In the 50th minute, Conti-Esposito sent a low pass past the legs of Gyeong and it reached the feet of Hamada, where she was one-on-one with Chanwook, got around the North Japanese goalie and chipped the ball into the goal, making it 1-3. Hamada shared a hug and kiss with Navarro once more, while she was congratulated with hi-5s and pats from her teammates. North Japan began putting pressure, and would finally get a chance in the 61st minute, when Ki sent a short pass to Ah, who got past Mariño and gave a low shot. Ramos got fingertips to the ball, but the blast was too much and the ball went into the goal, making it 2-3. Ah got the ball and ran back to center circle with it, while getting pats from his teammates, all while the North Japanese were celebrating with joy for the goal. HUElavia would keep pressuring and eventually get their chance in the 78th minute, when Moutinho-Figo (in for Hamada) had the ball and was covered by Namgung. He sent a cross into the box, and up came Navarro, towering over Kah to head the ball past Chanwook, who stood still, and the ball went into the goal, making it 2-4. Navarro celebrated with his teammates and then went to the bench to hug and kiss his wife once more. The HUElavian crowd jumped and celebrated with passion, jumping and screaming to make Ferguson Stadium rumble from the celebrations, all while the crowd chanted his name for his hat-trick. North Japan kept attacking, and wanted to keep the game close, eventually culminating in the 87th minute, when Pang (in for Somun) sent a long pass to Ae (in for Hwan), and got past Grunberg (in for Castro-Bitencourt) and gave a chip past a sprawling Ramos, as it went into the goal, making it 3-4. Ae got the ball and ran back to try to get something more, while the North Japanese wanted to get another goal. They tried to attack, but in the 90+2nd minute of the match, Mantovani-Jardim (in for Duran) got the ball from To, and sent a cross into the box. Out came Sol, who gave a volley and blasted it past Chanwoon into the top corner of the goal, making it 3-5. The crowd jumped up with joy and passion, jumping and cheering with loud passion that no commentator could be heard from how loud it was. Sol was mobbed by his teammates and the bench as he scored a spectacular goal to put the game away. Shortly after, the referee blew her whistle and the match ended in a 5-3 victory for Los Amarillos/Os Amarelos.

With the Victory, and South Covello and Euran Oceania Territories ending in a 0-0 draw. HUElavia lead Group N with 3 Points. The next match will be South Covello, which will take place at Dagan Airways Stadium (83,000) in Concord Heights. HUElavians will be flocking to the stadium, where they look to cheer on the team and adorn the stadium with the team's colors. The team continues to train hard and study their opponents well, looking to turn this victory into much needed momentum against the direct rival for HUElavia in Group N. The main XI will start once more, with Ramos in goal and Navarro as Captain. The Away Alternative uniform will be used for the match. Once again, it is time for the team to shine in a must-win match.

Here's to hoping what can be a fun and entertaining match in the coming days.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Squidroidia]

Saint-Domingue have the ball now, here's Campos, finds Tailler, Tailler on the ball... Crosses it, finds Gimenez, and here's Ahearn....! My oh my it's Mathieu Ahearn, his first goal for Saint-Domingue, and the Avengers take the lead in their first Cup of Harmony game!

It was a loss that the Inklings weren't expecting. A sudden goal for Saint-Domingue already put Squidroidia in a hole, exactly what manager Ryūzaki Mito didn't expect. He didn't expect the tactical change the Avengers had, he didn't expect how good Mathieu Ahearn was in that play, he didn't expect anything that was on the pitch for that game at the Cocoa-bo Stadium. He trained his team expecting the same old Avengers that played that win against Chartistan to end their first qualification campaign. He was tactically outmatched.

In such a nation like Cassadaigua, one that puts women first, most people in the stands weren't cheering for Squidroidia's stars - No Itō chants, no love for Shingen, everybody was cheering for the 2 Inkling girls on the roster - Henriette Brooks and, if the time would arrive, Florianne Meeuwessen. The Dagan populace in the stands for that game was mostly women, something that didn't feel off at all since the national team did play a qualifier game against Cassadaigua in their first World Cup cycle, but were outclassed by the girls in pink back then. Even now they would probably be outplayed by the Cassadaiguan national team now, even with the newfound experience. They knew their way around the country, and as such, didn't get into any serious trouble, not then, and certainly not now.

Manager Mito, however, was in trouble. His hot seat was lit after the game, and the match against Omerica in Rutland could cost him his job. The Squidroidian national team never dared sack a manager, mainly because Ryūzaki was the only manager the Inklings ever had. He provided a soul for this national team, and a sacking due to a poor performance in Cassadaigua was the last thing the SFA wanted to do, but it was clear from the time qualification ended that he didn't do as good as he did in his first qualification campaign - There was no sweeping of a top tier team, no daunting away win against Darmen, there was the home win against Kelssek and that was it. His job came down to this Cup of Harmony group, and the Avengers complicated things.

Now, the Omerica game was not only a consolation for the IAC boycott Omerica had, but it was a must win game for Manager Mito's job. If he were to lose, Squidroidia would be out of the World Cup and, therefore, be sacked for poor performance. If he were to win, however, his fate would have to rest on the Hebitaka game. Rutland was going to be where his job would be tested, he needed to win more than Omerica to keep his job. If not, the vicious cycle of the managerial carousel was going to bite him. He might have to pack the bags, but the football gods don't care if you're a first time manager or a veteran, the sack is a sack.

[Darmen]

Rademacher and Liberals Win Election!
Agreement with National Labor to Carry Us into Government!

Rademacher has silenced all of his doubters and critics!

SCOTT CITY - The 2049 Darmeni general election has been entered into the history books and with it a new era of Liberal governance has been ushered in!

The Liberal Party, led by its presidential candidate Joshua Rademacher, finished atop the parliamentary polls with 26.52% of the vote; a whopping nine and a quarter percent increase over the tally four years ago! Rademacher also finished first in the inaugural presidential election conducted by popular vote, with 55.4% of Darmenis at the polls ticking the box next to his name. He'll be inaugurated as Darmen's next President in sixteen days time in an event which will surely draw a crowd of enthusiastic supporters excited about Darmen's future as a member of the Common Rushmori Community.

Our coalition partners, the National Labor Party, had mixed results on election night. Although they gained four seats in Parliament, they lost 5.28% of their vote from 2045. It is yet unclear whether this represents those supporters who left the former United Left to join the People's Communist Party, or whether some former center-left voters have moved further to the center and joined our own party. Perhaps we will find the answers at today's Labor Day parties and meetings?

Meanwhile, our adversaries in the listless Republican Party have woken up today to a disaster: they continue to bleed votes to parties who support the CRC and they lost 45 of the 100 parliamentary seats they had held. Many of those losses came in urban areas, where support for the Liberals greatly increased. However takes the helm from the disgraceful Donald O'Donahaue will be faced with a tall order to steer the Republican ship through the Liberal tidal wave without capsizing.

Parliamentary Election Results

Presidential Election Results

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.
Election Maps

L: Pluralities by Municipality. R: Pluralities by Region.

[Mavinet]

Why Mai Trung Hải is the most exciting face to watch in coming years
by Võ Thành Trung, Associate Editor

The Cup of Harmony 79 has officially kicked off in Cassadaigua and Northwest Kalactin. Since Mavinet’s introduction to international football three cycles ago, football has never been closer to home. With our neighbor Cassadaigua hosting half of the matches of the group stage, Mavinese football fans who prefer to enjoy the exciting atmosphere of a football match right where it is played now have the option to just cross the border and see the multiverse’s (second) best national teams compete for silverware. For those who want to watch the Water Buffaloes, they will need to travel farther, to Atlantian Oceania, where Northwest Kalactin are hosting the other half of the group stage’s matches. It was here that Mavinet opened the Cup of Harmony 79 journey with a 3-2 win against Sharktail. Amidst the uncertainties of the post-Minh Quân time, a win was an encouraging sign, both for the fans and for caretaker head coach Phan Vinh Hiển. The 3-2 scoreline already tells half of the match’s stories, but the other half will perhaps need a more detailed narrative, one that focuses on Mai Trung Hải, one of the most exciting new faces in the national team right now.

Optimistic fans might think Mavinet have a favorable schedule when we don’t have to face the top seed of the group, 22nd-ranked Newmanistan, until the last matchday, by when the top two teams will have already been decided. But for Phan Vinh Hiển, a new head coach that is still learning to lead a group of players that don’t have much time to train with each other, the first two matches are crucial to make sure Mavinet at least make it to the knockout stage. Any points dropped against Sharktail or Garbelia will mean a much higher stake in the last match with Newmanistan. For this reason, Vinh Hiển played it safe with a first team selections consist mainly of veterans. The biggest change to the lineup he made was dropping Trần Hoàng Minh for Mai Trung Hải at the attacking midfielder spot. With retrospect, it was definitely the best decision made by Vinh Hiển that day.

Mai Trung Hải is usually deployed in the central midfielder position behind the main attacking midfielder. This position generally allows him to avoid the tight marking from the opponents and make use of his ability to drift away to the half spaces to provide a passing option and bring the ball forward. However, his frequent breaks from the assigned position and audacious personality can easily create a gap in the midfield that opponents can take advantage of. By bringing him up to the attacking midfielder position, Trung Hải is relieved from much of the defensive duties of the central midfielder role, and this helps maximize his creative power. This was exactly what happened during the match against Sharktail, where he played a role in all 3 Mavinese goals: scoring 2 himself and assisted Hồ Vũ Thanh Hoàng with the other one.

Against Sharktail’s 4-4-2 formation, Mavinet’s 4-3-2-1 created a midfield advantage for the Water Buffaloes. Sharktail’s 2 central midfielders were frequently occupied with dealing with Trịnh Hoài Linh and Bùi Thế Hiển, leaving the space between their midfield and defense open. For a player like Trung Hải, this is the optimal playing condition. He utilized this gap to the maximum extent, roaming all around the area outside the box to receive the ball and pick out passes to speedy teammates like Hồ Vũ Thanh Hoàng and Vũ Tiến Linh. His crucial winning goal in the 82nd minute was a product of his fluid one-touch passing game where he was constantly moving between Sharktail’s defenders to receive pass after pass after pass from teammates around him. The final flick from Võ Thanh Hải found Trung Hải already free in the box, with the Sharktail’s players still confused as to how he got there, and the ball was squarely put in the back of the net with an elegant last touch.

Obviously, the win against Sharktail was far from perfect. 2 goals conceded in the first 10 minutes of the second half once again showed how fragile Mavinet’s defense is. The usual issues were still prevalent: The lapse of concentration, the lack of cohesion in defensive movement, and the overall low level of commitment in getting the ball back. We can spend many more hours and articles dissecting the flaws of the current national team. At the end of the day, however, a win is a win. And the biggest positive about our first win in the Cup of Harmony is the rise of a new talent, Mai Trung Hải. It’s not a coincidence that Siovanija & Teusland’s Olympia Borograd recruited the 24-year-old recently. His young age, creative talent and future development at a developed football league all point to an exciting career for Trung Hải. As the Cup of Harmony heads toward the second matchday, head coach Vinh Hiển might have just found one of the keys to solve Mavinet’s attacking problems.

SHARKTAIL - 2
47’ Khairul Amirin
53' Gaby

MAVINET - 3
23’ Mai Trung Hải
44’ Hồ Vũ Thanh Hải
82’ Mai Trung Hải

MD2’s lineup against Garbelia: 4-4-2
Manh Cuong (GK) / Khang Anh (LB), Quang Dang (CB), Hung Dung (CB), Nhat Quang (RB) / Chi Tho (LM), Hoai Linh (CM), Trung Hai (CM), Thieu Van (RL) / Thai Gia (LF), Hoang Bach (RF).

[Blouman Empire]

THE EMPIRE TIMES

Flinn Shines As Freltron Scores

Stand-in skipper Ty Freltron scored the only goal as the Blouman Empire won the opening match of their Cup of Harmony campign with a 1-0 win over Flavovespia. Freltron, given the armband by manager Lewis Parry with both the Captain Luke Cousins and Vice Captain Henry Polinoir watching from the stands both carrying injuries, finished off the rebound after Oliver Eastall’s 23rd-minute shot had been saved. Flavovespia had chances to level but Blouman keeper Rory Flinn making his international debut denied them with three excellent first-half saves and both Ramon Martin and Scott Coleman were off target with free-kicks in good positions after the break.

Winning their first group stage match against an opponent many pudints predicted would be the Eagle’s toughest group stage opponent put the side into a good position to qualify past the group stage since the 66th Cup of Harmony. The three points came even without Cousins and with the returning Ryan Hunter restricted to an hour's action on his first appearance since injuring himself during a trial match for Junction Athletic. Hunter escaped a caution after placing his arm on the assistant referee’s neck as he argued against a decision.

Parry has of late been showing his technical brilliance which we saw towards the end of the World Cup Qualifiers and last night was a tactical blitz. At one point, Issac Cupstran was operating as striker and Eastall was sitting deep in midfield. After Hunter’s exit, James Tinkery briefly went into the false nine role as both men tried to keep the opposition guessing. The big star was Flinn who showed that maybe he should be first choice keeper over Polinoir. It may have been that Martin’s shot from an angle was going over as Flavovespia tried to respond to Eastall’s opener but Flinn took no chances. However, his two saves at the end of the first half were superb. Martin was again the man denied by a feet-first stop when the experienced veteran found himself clean through after playing a one-two with David Clark. Within minutes, Flinn was denying Clark with an even better save. As the flag immediately went up to signal offside, there appeared nothing in it. The true value of Finn’s work was not apparent until the Video Assistant showed the assistant referee's ruling was incorrect. Without the keeper's intervention, Flavovespia would have been level. Flinn made another save, from a Martin header, at the start of the second period, although compared to what had gone before, that was fairly routine. With Flavovespia unable to find their range with a couple of free-kicks either, Flinn's efforts ensure the full three points would be retained by the Eagles

Parry praised Flinn’s performance post-game and indicated that with Polinoir still not expected to be 100% before the next match that Flinn will no doubt be starting again. Parry also defended winger Hunter, who put his arm on the shoulder of assistant referee after disputing a throw-in call which went against him early in the second half. After arguing his case Hunter put his arm on his shoulder as he began to walk away - actions which drew attention from the commentators with former team-mate Richard Miller on BSN stating "he should know better".

The next group match stage sees the Eagles face Murphtannia who performed well managing a 1-1 draw against Juvencus in their first match, a win could see them go top of the group, while the Eagles will be hoping to make it two from two and cementing a spot past the group stage.

[Barunia]

OOC: this follows on from my WC RP.

Emmanuel Carter stood on the aft deck of the ferry as it left Edwards Bay, bound for Delmars, and home. The training camp was over, and he was going home without a contract. A few of the kids had gotten signed, but Emmanuel had been overlooked. Shocked and confused, a tear rolled down his cheeks as Edwardton began to disappear from view, leaving behind his dreams, and his girlfriend Kate. They were both 15, in love for the first time, and now they were broken-hearted at the thought of being pulled apart. Kate lived in Porthaven and Emmanuel in Delmars, two cities separated by hundreds of kilometres of land and water.

The first few weeks at home were great. Emmanuel saw all the people and things he’d missed while he’d been away, and he spoke to Kate everyday. But as the weeks went on, he heard less and less from Kate, and everytime he looked at his football trophies, he wondered if it was the end of his dreams. He began to sink into sadness and depression.

It was at one of his worst moments that the unexpected happened. Kate had broken up with him a few days before, unable to cope with the distance. His parents were getting increasingly worried, as he’d barely left his room since. Then the phone rang.

“Hello?”
“Hello, is that Emmanuel Carter? My name is Sarah, and I’m calling from the San Baptise Sea Lions Football Club. I’d like to talk to you about a possible opportunity with the club.”

[Krytenia]

Matchday One: The New Semifinal
By Rami Niblick in Ballina, Northwest Kalactin

THE inevitable has happened once again. In the past, Krytenia were infamous for their atrocious luck when it came to tournament semi-finals; nowadays, that poor fortune has attached itself to the other end of competition. Though it is true that the Dragons' first game of the Cup of Harmony was their most difficult of the three, the fact remains that their inability to take three points from their opening game once again leaves them on the back foot in Group G.

When the sides met in Emberton, Paul Davis moved to a 3-4-1-2 to counter the Squornshelan midfield; this time, he reverted to the mean, feeling his usual 4-3-3 would have enough in terms of skill and positional ability to overcome the Black-and-Reds. He was at least partially correct. Cormac O'Neill, so often the string-puller in the centre of the park, was excellent at marshalling his troops; he was ably assisted in this by Ross Okano, who played more as a libero than an out-and-out centre back, providing an extra body in midfield as required. The first half thus turned into a cagey affair, with the SRS lacking the penetration to really test the Krytenian back line, whilst at the same time comfortably constraining the limited attacking efforts from the men in sky blue. What chances on goal that transpired were half-chances at best, with the most clear-cut being a Curtis Sunday effort from the edge of the box which was straight into the hands of a waiting Stovar Krieven.

The second half offered little more in the way of progress, with neither side seeming to be willing to take the risk of unbalancing the midfield. Lyzolda Petrov cut a lonely figure up front, starved of the oxygen of chances thanks to the duel upfield; Alun Belmwr had the same despondent look as Krytenia struggled to create anything meaninful at the other end.

Eventually, someone had to be bold, and in the end, that someone was SRS manager Anne-Sophie Groothuis. Withdrawing defender Svenja Baste could have been suicidal, but replacing her with the energetic Isperia Marrish was a masterstroke. The midfield duel swung in favour of the Black-and-Reds, and Krytenia found themselves pinned back. It was not a question of if the Squornshelans would score, but when and who. In the end, it turned out to be Petrov, who skillfully separated herself from Okano with her first touch before advancing into the box and beating Damien Carpenter with a low drive.

This finally pushed Davis into action, replacing Sunday with the engine-room talent of Stuart Kuipers. This restored the balance in the game, but with the cushion of a lead, the SRS side were happy to let Krytenia have possession and simply shut up shop. It may not have been the most positive way to play the game, and is anathema to most Krytenians, but there was no denying the tactic's effectiveness. The end result was a one-nil victory that puts the SRS in pole position to advance.

As for Krytenia? Transvolcanic and Lorrana are sides that the Dragons really should be beating. This result simply changes the "should" in that sentence to "must". Onward!

KRYTENIA - 0
- no scorers -

SQUORNSHELAN REMNANT STATES - 1
Petrov 71

[Pluvia and the Saxean Isles]

Royal Marienburg University, Marienburg, Pluvia and the Saxean Isles

Prof. Charles Cunningham of the history department at the Royal Marienburg University was ready to go home. Spending the last couple of nights either at the Marienburg Arms or in his office had been horrendous. He needed to go back and have it out with his wife. Really talk about why this diary meant so much to him and why she needed to support him in this time of such exciting and important research. He would be firm, lay down the law. He really would, no fooling. But maybe there was time for him to read one more diary entry...

The last diary entry saw William II's meeting with the Lord Treasurer, Lord Blackburn. This was his first individual meeting with a member of the Praesidium. William II hoped that by meeting individually with each member of the Praesidium, he could convince them to support his plans. Together they could put up a united front, but individually, perhaps he could break them down. The Lord Treasurer was resistant to the idea of changing the tax system, but after William II lost his temper, agreed to at least study the issue. This was progress.

January 25, 1885

My next meeting with a member of the Praesidium was with the Lord Ambassador, the Lord Breckenridge. I decided to meet with him second because I thought he would be the easiest opponent of mine to defeat. While the Lord Blackburn is a friend of our family, everyone else on the Praesidium is mostly on it for self-serving reasons. I do not have any particular goals regarding the outside world except the development and promotion of trade, but I need him to either be on my side or to begone. I know that in my last entry, I resolved not to lose my temper and to flatter and cajole rather than threaten. I must break that vow, at least initially, with the Lord Ambassador. He is wont to agree with the last person whom with he has spoken, and even more if he is cowed by that person.

When the Lord Ambassador entered, I bade him sit and made him feel welcome. We chatted pleasantly about my studies for a few minutes before I told him, in no uncertain terms, that he was weak, of little use, and that I was not even certain that he should remain on the Praesidium. I castigated him for his vacillation in council and for his inability to take a proper position abroad of promoting Pluvian interests. The man is a chameleon, and I told him so. He stammered and blustered for a bit about being a loyal ally of my family and the necessity of give-and-take in international diplomacy, but I gave him what I thought was my best withering stare, and he trailed off eventually. It was here that I changed tactics, flattering him. I told him I knew what a difficult job being the chief diplomat for a small country is, and that sometimes he had to make accommodations. I told him I knew that others on the Praesidium hated him and ran roughshod over him. I could help him to get back at them, or to be regarded as an equal, not as a whipping boy. And all he would have to do is support me with regards to my plans for industrial development, trade promotion, and military reform. The look on his face changed from one of fear and embarrassment to one of desperate hope. Like a drowning man clutching at a rope that is thrown to him, he seized hold of this idea and declared that he would, indeed, like a chance to stick it to some of his enemies on the Praesidium and that, of course, he would offer his unreserved support.

Time will tell if this is a true conversion or one of necessity. Too often has a drowning man submerged one of his fellows in his desperate attempts to survive. All I care about is if he backs me in council. I need all the allies I can get until I am able to achieve my goals to make this nation stronger.

[Gyatso-kai]

An ASPN Production, Brought to you on ASPN.co.gki

Brattleboro, CASSADAIGUA – Diep Trang Kim Duc

Group O - CDG

MD 1 vs Balqia₁₂₅ – 5-3
MD 2 at Reçueçn₁₇
MD 3 vs Electrum₅₅

Regulation Win
OT / SO Win
OT / SO Loss
Regulation Loss

Well, so much for that streak…

The Bisons ended their four-game winning streak in a somewhat-demoralising defeat to 125th-ranked Balqia yesterday. It was a hard fought game, with Balqia taking the early lead and the Bisons fighting back, however, a pair of late game goals by the Balqian team saw the Bisons with their first defeat since Matchday 13 in World Cup 87 Qualifying.

It speaks volumes to our team’s success when we get so excited over a four-game win streak and speak about it as though it were decades long…

Why the Bisons fell apart this game is a mystery to me, as all signs pointed to a strong team coming into the match.

Perhaps it was the late lineup changes, with Head Coach Tay’haai wanting to give several younger players more experience on the multi-verse stage; there have been calls by many in the National Sports Council to begin training the next generation of players to prepare for upcoming retirements, specifically in the midfield positions as both Takahashi Hikaru and Ma Haijiang both push not only the 100-cap mark, but also over 30-years-of-age. Ma sat this game out, and instead we saw Takahashi paired with Fei’kao Song, who is listed as an attacking midfielder; playing a role he normally does not and shifting Gyatso-kai’s focus from defence could be seen as a fault here. Also of mention was Dag’da Skirata who, after sufferinga lower-body injury during practice the day prior, is currently listed as day-to-day. As such, Kim Vinh Lành made his ninth cap for the team opposite of Song Kaoru and that might be a reason for the lower scoring game: Kim is known for his ball-handling and agility, however, he is not known for his stamina, and a late substitution in the 83rd minute speaks volumes to his inability to keep up with the older, yet more fit Song at the front of the pitch.

Perhaps it was a time change, with the Bisons having drawn the lot to play in Cassadaigua – in Rushmore – as opposed to our Atlantian Oceania neighbor Northwest Kalactian. Hardly a good enough excuse, but a factor to come into effect nonetheless, is jetlag, however, with the day off in between matches, the team might be able to rest up.

Speaking of… Let’s take a look at the game ahead.

◄ ◄ ◄ ◄ MATCHDAY TWO ► ► ► ►
12 February in Winchester, CDG
At the Winchester City Lottery Stadium (Capacity: 59,000)
ATReçueçn₁₇
Style: - π (4-3-3 Formation)
WC 87 Record: 12-3-3, 2nd Place, Group 1 (Knocked Out in Playoffs)

Coming off of their own surprise shutout against Electrum, the Unicorns of Reçueçn will likely being looking to gain their first victory and keep the hope of advancing alive. It will likely be an exciting game for both parties, though for the Bisons, something to be nervous about is our team’s history against Top 25 Teams in the last few campaigns. Of course, you cannot expect a sub-100 team to truly beat a goliath with mountains of history and a ranking in the low-teens…

But everyone loves an underdog.

Look to see the Bisons re-energised and ready to play when they take the pitch in Winchester in their away whites.

---

Copyright 2021.1 Avatarian Sports Programming Network. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
URL: http://www.aspn.com.gk/articles/ahl/23210023
© 2021 Avatarian Sports Programming Network

---

[Northwest Kalactin]

Kalactin-Mart Headquarters
A knock at the door of Conner Lawrence’s office is heard at 11:00 on a sunny morning in Gold Coast.

“Hello? Who is it?”

A familiar face walks into the room, the fifth richest man in Northwest Kalactin, that is, Zac Johnson, the Owner of Air Kalactin.

“Hello Conner. I have a question for you.”

“Okay then, ask away.”

“Do you like this?”

“Like what?”

“This. The Private Security Guards instead of Police. The non existent government, and absolutely no Economic Regulation. Or, in simpler words, the Anarchy.”

“Well not really. I don’t really know if I will be safe at night, and there are usually just 1 company with a monopoly over everything in their department of sales. And I’ll be honest with you, I don’t like being the only big store in Northwest Kalactin! I loved competing with other companies, even if they were smaller, it helped improve our work astronomically.”

“Well then, I have a proposal for you.”

“Okay then, what is it?”

“We can re-establish order in the nation, and create a functioning government with a democratic electoral system, and lower crime in the streets.”

“I would love to do that Zac, but I don’t know if it can be done. There are a few companies that basically control their entire industry, and are willing to resist it to keep that control. It would be a Herculean effort to find enough other businessmen to do it!”

“Don’t worry about that, we don’t have to really get every business owner in the nation to comply with us, we just need a few key industries.”

“Ok, well we better be able to get them, an airline business and a grocery store giant will be tough to restore order with.”

“I know. I already have 3 other business owners. The “big 3” owners of the major security companies of the nation. It was hard to get them to work together, and put the nation over profit, however these 3 people control over 85% of private security in the nation, if we can get them to help us, we can establish a sort of ‘police force’ for the nation.”

“And do we have any other companies of note helping us?”

“Well there are a few, but 1 major one to highlight. Wade Bradley is behind the Anarchy, he was the one that started it, and if we stop him, we can end it. His only major competitor in the industry that he is in, textiles, is willing to help us. In return, we will spread propaganda against Bradley’s company, which helps us also, because it lessens his influence around the nation. The main companies in construction and and Tourism in the Southern part of the nation are willing to help out. Are you in now?”

“I was skeptical at first, but I’m willing to go for it now. Shall we try and see if any close regional nations are willing to help us out?”

“Sure, I’ll call out to some today, and bring back a report tomorrow at 1, see you later.”

“Awesome, I am excited to see the report.”

As Johnson paced his way out of the room, both men knew that Northwest Kalactin may never be the same after that day, however, this was just the start of the battle.

The Next Day, Gold Coast
“So, do you have the report?”

“Yup, it looks decent, we have a nation willing to help us out with the takeover.”

“Awesome. Who is it?”

“It’s Quebec. They usually have a pretty good military, and an especially strong navy, so it is excellent we will have them helping us out.”

“That’s great, they are one of the best nations, and are pretty close to us also. Will surrounding nations such as the EOT and Mriin possibly be mad about the Quebecois around here?”

“Hopefully not, Mriin and EOT don’t seem to aggressive, and the Quebecois Naval Base will be in Coffs Harbour, where it will pretty much be the furthest away from most nations.”

“Ok then. It sounds like we have this under control. When do we start?”

“I say we start the reforms in a few months, try to get a few more companies on our side, and then we pounce.”

“Great.”

The reforms were starting, and they wouldn’t have to wait long for hope.

[Kandorith]

---

Shinonome Kyoai - International

---

Tough Match Leads To Proper Victory
"A tough team to play against but in the end we triumphed over Saltstead.
By Natsumi Miyasaki
Sports

^{SHARE THIS:}

---

NEW LAKELAND - CASSADAIGUA The players walked onto the international pit for the first time again after the untimely elimination from the World Cup Qualifiers, but the Kandorese team seemed unshaken from those events. A renewed pride and fitness seemed to be the way forward for the team under Watanabe's new rule. The Kandorese would face the first of their "tough" opponents, which are Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom and Saltstead respectively, it was Saltsteads turn on the very first match day of the 79th Cup of Harmony. For the fans and the team it would take some time to get used to the Qusmair Stadium as it seemed a little bit out of place. With a capacity of 77,000 surely not a small stadium but the atmosphere was nothing to write home about according to team captain Tanaka. Perhaps it would be a sign of things to come as a warning; for there have been words of warning considering other teams in the current group which are perceived as not so friendly nations.

Atmosphere aside, the game was an absolute success for the Lotus Warriors even though the Salstead side was a formidable opponent. Where the Kandorese lacked in strength and prowess they had to rely on agility and speed, something the team has been keen on ever since they first appeared on the international stage of football. It is well known that the Kandorese people are not usually build for strength but rather for athleticism and swift movement. The players seemed to enjoy playing against the Saltstead side and showed both professionalism and discipline when crossing the ball down the field towards the opposite goal. For the first time since Watanabe took over the team seemed to play as a unit, rather than excellent individuals. The match was deemed a success for that reason alone, even if Kandorith would have lost the game. For the new manager there is still room for improvement however.

"I think we have put up a great performance indeed, but we are not championship material yet." Watanabe said with a slight chuckle. "In the past weeks I have seen a lot of improvement on the training grounds and a more motivated squad than we had during the World Cup campaign. I really think we could become a very dangerous contender once again. In the end, winning is all that counts no matter how you play. I still believe we should play beautiful football of course and show the world that we are a very fair playing side. For me, winning is not just scoring more goals than the opponent, but scoring goals while not getting agitated by a possible foul-prone opponent. My philosophy comes down to fair play no matter what, even if we are three to nil behind; we should always keep our discipline and our cool.

On Salstead, I think they were brilliant. I have no other words for them. If we were not on the top of our game, I think the match would have ended a lot differently. I definitely think we have learned from each other even during the match. I especially want to commend their attacking side. For example Åubreħtssen is a gem of a player and very dangerous in the attack, luckily we have a solid defence and a good goalkeeper ourselves. In all honesty, I could have seen them take at least the draw with the passion they have shown, but we kept our team organized and were able to fend off their counter-attacks. We should have won by a larger margin in my opinion, but Saltstead's play surprised us and we were able to hold our lead to the very end and secure the win."

For Watanabe the first Cup of Harmony game he has ever managed ended in a success an doubtfully he has been thinking about the match a lot; as other opponents are awaiting to play against the Kandorese. Watanabe's Lotus Warriors are facing Bluecliff League and Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom in the upcoming matches, which are both two teams they have never faced before; two teams which Kandorith has never played against in any tournament. The question with these kind of first meetings is who can keep their nerves under control and which team can handle the pressure of international football more adequately than the other. The Cup of Harmony road map takes us to Starksville and then Brattleboro for the upcoming matches and nothing but a win is expected from the team. Currently Kandorith stands as the favourite to win the group and is regarded as a silent force which might as well be the contender for the prestigious Cup of Harmony title.

---

  Group K                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Bluecliff League               1   1  0  0    5   4  +1    3
2 Kandorith                      1   1  0  0    2   1  +1    3
3 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom      1   0  0  1    4   5  −1    0
4 Saltstead                      1   0  0  1    1   2  −1    0

[Mytanija]

’28 Election Part 1
’28 Election Part 2
’28 Election Part 3
’28 Election Part 4
’28 Election Part 5

MECAVA-CATIC IS MYTANIJA’S NEW PREMIER
JEDINSTVO FORM GOVERNMENT WITH EKOLOGIJA; RADNIKA AGREE TO CONFIDENCE & SUPPLY

by Mladen Sambunjak

Ana Mecava-Catic will be voted in as Mytanija’s new Premier in the House of Representatives tomorrow after only a day of coalition talks. Her party Jedinstvo and Radenka Kovacevic’s Ekologija wasted no time in agreeing a deal to govern with a minority coalition if necessary, telling Slobodan Acimovic and Radnika that they either had to tell the Mytanar people to go back to the polls and vote again or supply them with the votes needed to form a majority government. An informal confidence and supply arrangement has been reached, Radnika will provide the Jedinstvo-Ekologija government with support in motions of confidence and budget votes whilst retaining the right to otherwise vote how they please on legislative bills.

During the MKV coverage of the election night their political editor Ania Ivkovic remarked that all elections are by definition historic and she was absolutely correct to say that, but the caveat she added was absolutely right too: a victory for Jedinstvo and Mecava-Catic would be even more remarkable in historic terms because it represents a break in the hegemony of Radnika on the left of Mytanar politics. That is what has happened and Radnika must be licking their wounds as they finished down in 6th place overall with only 23 seats. To finish behind the likes of Zajedno Naprijed! and Spasenje is truly catastrophic and it would be no surprise to see Acimovic removed as leader in the coming weeks. Jedinstvo’s brand of left-wing populism blew the more centre-left Radnika out of the water in this election and Acimovic’s decision to fight the election from the centre ground has failed.

For Jedinstvo and Ekologija the question is what they do now. There may be people in both parties who never thought this could be possible, that believed they would have to build their voter base for years to ever have a chance of forming a government. They’re in a coalition which will now govern the country for the next four years and have an opportunity to remake Mytanija in their image following the Mytanar Conflict and the Provisional Government of the past few years. Ana Mecava-Catic and Radenka Kovacevic have lots of ideas on what they want to do and they now have the power to be able to put those ideas into action. They’ve a strong mandate, only 13 short of a majority between the two parties, but they now have to deliver on the promises they made in their election manifestos and voters will keep them honest in that regard. It will be interesting to see what this means for Mytanija’s presence in Rushmori diplomacy given Mecava-Catic and Jedinstvo’s Anserisceptic position towards the Common Rushmori Community; Ekologija were supportive of accession, but only if the CRC was ambitious enough on climate policy.

Mecava-Catic – a former nurse – was fierce in her support of a nationalised health service and that will surely be one of the first policies she seeks to deliver on, whilst Kovacevic will naturally look to deliver on climate change given that that is her party’s main focus. The two leaders will be kindred spirits in that regard, many commentators have said that they wonder if this coalition could be the beginning of a more formal arrangement between the two parties given the many things they seem to agree on. Sources within both parties have refused to comment on that idea thus far.

Radovan Stefanovic’s MNK will be the opposition, his party won 98 seats and are believed to be extremely disappointed with their showing. There have been few MNK representatives seen in public following the election, perhaps unsurprisingly given that they were buoyant about their chances of claiming enough seats to be the largest party throughout the campaign. It’s understood that Stefanovic will stay on as leader for now, perhaps in a caretaker role until the party decide which path they want to take from here. It would be a shock to see them go into the ’32 election with Stefanovic still leading the party, both because of his advancing years and his failure to lead them into government this time around.

Mecava-Catic has not held any press conferences as yet but is expected to speak directly to the Mytanar people later tonight. She is expected to speak in a conciliatory tone to try and unify the Mytanar people in the way she said her party wanted to during the campaign. The allocation of ministries between Jedinstvo and Ekologija is also expected to be touched upon in that message, with sources indicating that Jedinstvo will take up around 70% of the key ministerial roles in the new Government.

___________________________________

Gazeta Mytanija will keep you updated with all the latest news in Mytanar politics! Please subscribe for more.