The Freisan Farf Freitball Francitian hereby presents the Farf roster for the 89th Edition of the World CupNation Name: The Oulandish Lands of Farfadillis
Demonym: Farf (plural Farves)
Team Nickname: La Vherderoja
Honours: World Cup 84 and AOCAF Cups 43, 48 and 57 Winners
STYLE MODIFIER: +5STAFFMANAGER: Lele Manguele - Age 39Silver-tongued Lele Manguele should not be here. His past is shrouded in mystery: for all we know, he was a run-of-the-mill Farf until he turned up to a Royal Rumiatzi interview one day, uninvited, and convinced them to hire him as manager. He bedazzled fans and neutrals alike with his gung-ho attacking style, and eventually got sacked because he couldn't win the league to save his life. He
did break the league record for most goals scored in the process, however, and nobody thinks of his stint there as a failure. He then convinced the FFFF to send a squad to the Di Bradini Cup after about two decades, and then took over as manager there. The team performed dreadfully, but Alex Terán, the FFFF's president, liked Manguele's initiative and style of play enough to hand him the senior team. He's even been given full control, no questions asked. With a penchant for the bizarre, even by Farf standards, we will have to wait and see what he brings to the table this cycle.
ASSISTANT MANAGER: Lele Manguele - Age 39Manguele does not believe he needs an assistant manager.
TEAM MEDIC: Lele Manguele - Age 39He is not a licensed physician, but that is not going to stop him.
STARTERS
#1 - Dieje Ibrelaná - GK - Age 30 - Urbizania Wanderers Ibrelaná is pretty good. Not super good, sure, and not quite at the level of Farfadillis' past goalkeepers, but he'll have to do for now. He's acrobatic and his positioning is good. Yes, he can be shaky when playing as a sweeper keeper which is—perhaps—not ideal in a team like this. He'll be sitting in the bench for some of the less important matches as Difgueroa is given a chance to show what he's made of, in the hopes he turns out to be better than Dieje.
#6 - Loxjilo Exihosahar - LB - Age 28 - Royal Rumiatzi When Lele Manguele, then at Royal Rumiatzi, signed an unknown Farf amateur from Induja, nobody expected him to actually hold his own. But hold his own he did; he went from "who is this guy?" to "hey, he's actually pretty decent!" to Galáctico longlist in a remarkably short time. He's fast, pacey, rapid, swift, speedy, brisk, fast-moving and quick. He is also ok defensively and can cross the ball pretty well. Rumoured to be insecure about his height, too. Manguele will want to field him as often as possible, on account of having discovered him.
#2 - Gëngüdó Pìgülôçô - CB - Age 24 - Rülândéá Kôstä Rumoured to be dumb as bricks, Gëngüdó is nonetheless very fast, very tall and very strong. He's also fairly decent with the ball at his feet. This means that he'll be starting, since all decent Farf centerbacks are now way too old and Manguele wants to shake things up. Despite his menacing appearance, Pìgülôçô is very docile. Not that that will ever make him shy away from a rough challenge when he needs to make one, but don't expect him to get into unnecessary trouble.
#4 - Têrçêr Ànáxímane - RB - Age 27 - Dí Maozöxê Very pacey, with good technique and defensively somewhat okay. He doesn't crumble under pressure, and scores surprisingly often for a fullback. He's also got plenty of experience at the highest level, as key piece in one of the best teams in the S-FPL, having won two league titles there already. Expect to see him flying up and down the pitch relentlessly now that Manguele's in charge, as he will want to fully exploit his offensive capabilities, defense be damned.
#5 - Mbogo Nørgaard - CM - Age 23 - Revolutionaries Half-Banijan, half-Fröndti, Mbogo's undoubtedly very talented. He's got a gifted physique and good playmaking skills. Bit of an all-rounder, but not quite a specialist at anything. He'll be expected to provide balance in midfield, while his partner Çí Xôrí will be more free to do his own thing. Still, don't be surprised if you see him marauding up the pitch out of nowhere, since it's exactly the kind of thing Manguele will be asking him to do every now and then. He's fast and he's technical, and he's got a pretty mean long-range shot, so he could surprise more than one team.
#3 - Ígnîgo Çí Xôrí - CM - Age 28 - Mâ Âlâmëómë Quietly one of the best players in the squad. He's got astonishing technique and fantastic vision, and is quite decent defensively to boot. He can be inconsistent, however, which has proven frustrating for fans (both at club and international level). When he's on one of his good days, though, he is completely unplayable. He's capable of single-handedly grabbing a game by the throat purely by utterly dominating in midfield. If only he could be made to care enough to do it often...
#8 - Emiliano Gallegas - LW - Age 28 - Energija Chernovets A winger with insane pace and a lot of attitude. His pace alone makes him hard to control, but add in good dribbling, good crossing and nerves of steel and you've got one of the best players in the team (and, arguably, the Multiverse). He's a Galáctico! He's got a very direct style—both on and off the pitch—so expect him to cause trouble to any slow defenders or bothersome journalists. Gallegas is arguably the most consistent player in the squad, and is one of the few players who can hold their heads high after last cycle's debacle.
#10 - Faragó rue Cazade - OM - Age 35 - Brinemouth Despite his age, Faragó is a notoriously difficult player to contain, and is arguably still the best player in the squad. Why do you think Brinemouth destabilized the Szoirsian economy (admittedly not that hard) in order to sign him? He is great at timing his runs to always get that elusive chance at a shot from the edge of the box with some space to spare, and he is deadly when gets these chances, to say nothing of the fact that he is quite tall and a considerable aerial menace. This cycle, due to his age, he will try his hand at playing as an offensive midfielder. He should be thought of more as a second striker of sorts, who tries to make late runs. However, he can and will be creating chances for his teammates.
#11 - Tôsgo Alxíkí - RW - Age 26 - Revolutionaries Astonishing pace, great technique, a good shot and fantastic dribbling—coupled with an "indomitable will" if you're into cringey descriptions—make him one of the best players in the squad. However, one can't help but feel like he just hasn't lived up to his potential: many genuinely thought he could become as good as, say, Wínrôuge or Dandalleion. Not a big problem, though: he is still world class, and he will still be causing problems to pretty much any defense he comes across, at least if the rest of the team manages to give him good service. If anyone on the team is going to create that "spark" needed to break the lock in a very even game, chances are it will be him.
#9 - Edmün Çídh - ST - Age 29 - Raynor City United Edmün played a huge role in World Cup 84, scoring the winning goal against Banija in the group stage. The win eventually let
la Vherderoja advance to the knock-outs, and the rest is history. He is a very complete player. Fast, good at dribbling, good at playmaking and good at finishing. A complete package. He is reportedly not a great influence off the pitch, however, and apparently has a very cold relationship with his brother, who has now been relegated to the bench by Manguele. Edmün is rumoured to be ecstatic. He'll be expected to play as a supporting striker, since he's a much better playmaker than Bastanchury, but don't be surprised if he disobeys Manguele and does his own thing.
#18 - Horacio Bastanchury - ST - Age 25 - La Nueva Avenida Farf players are like cockroaches in that they can pop up anywhere, so it was not such a surprise when some nineteen-year-old started banginng them in in Siovanija and Teusland for some middling club. He's now signed for La Nueva Avenida and has been restless at banging them in. He's fast and good at finishing. It's a simple, but very effective combination. However, when facing defenses where the battering ram approach is expected to be more effective, Manguele is likely to field Röémün Çídh instead.
SUBSTITUTES
#12 - Rogerio Defigueroa - GK - Age 21 - Avenida Leal Rogerio's only here cause Avenida Leal's goalkeepers all started playing like shit one season and they had to recur to some youngster they hadn't thought of giving playing time to for a couple more years. He's done fairly well since, so he's here now. He played horribly when first given a chance, but his club form of late has been good enough to warrant him another chance. Expect him to feature here and there. He's tall and has great reflexes, and is not half bad at timing his runs out of the box.
#23 - Lís Âllásí - GK - Age 24 - Lonngeylin Coast Another one of those players that popper up out of nowhere. Âllásí, at best, rang a bell to some obsessed Farf football fan when he started putting in decent performances for Lonngeylin Coast. There's a dearth of goalkeepers, and in that context it's impossible to pass up on one who is starting for a V-League team. Lís has a knack for unpredictability, which is a decidedly bad trait for a goalkeeper, but he makes up for it with great reflexes and great speed to come out of his line.
#15 - Éskïr Bêrndèvôî - LB - Age 23 - Dí Maozöxê An average Farf fullback. You know the type: good joining the attack, pretty defensively irresponsible, very fast, very tireless. He won't be getting much playing time because Manguele will play Exihosahar as much as he can. If Loxjilo gets injured or suspended, expect not to notice too much of a difference: Éskïr is basically Loxjilo but worse at defending and with somewhat better dribbling skills. He's got age on his side, however, so he can, with some luck, just wait things out and eventually get into the starting eleven. So long as a better, younger player doesn't make an appearance in the mean time, at least.
#14 - Vyacheslav Khavarin - CB - Age 27 - La Nueva Avenida Vyacheslav is, in fact, Savojar. Through and through. Born and raised in Savojarna, signed for La Nueva Avenida aged 21. He had quite a lot of trouble picking up the language, though by now he can speak it (with a thick accent). He has never identified as a Faroleran, Farf or whatever. However, since the Farfadillis national team does not strictly represent any national entity, eligibility is very easy to attain: anyone can represent Farfadillis. Since there's a terrible dearth of good centerbacks at the moment, and Khavarin didn't look likely to get a call-up from his country of birth, Manguele got to business and convinced him to wear red and black instead. What does the Savojar have going for him? Well, he's massive. Like, almost two meters tall. He can also defend.
#13 - Kolejes Marajis - RB - Age 21 - Gortz United "But mister, I'm a winger!" Kolejes complained when informed by Manguele that he would be played out of position throughout the entire cycle. Kolejes is a fast, slippery, technical and somewhat selfish winger who's actually quite good at crosses when he can bother to attempt them instead of trying to dribble his way into the box. Manguele is hoping to retool him into a fullback, with defensive responsibilities and all. He'll also want him to make a
lot of crosses. Kolejes is dreading this, but he can't really complain: he probably shouldn't even be here to start with. We'll have to see whether this is a stroke of genius from Manguele or just downright daftness.
#16 - Lőrensz Ziczi - CM - Age 26 - René Skaé When the FFFF submitted a fully amateur team to the Eagle's Cup, everyone would've thought they'd lost the plot if anyone had at all believed they'd ever had it in the first place. However, that team's surprisingly good performances, only barely falling short of winning the tournament, led to the call-up of the guy who showed the most promise. He's now one of René Skaé's best players. A complete player with no clear weaknesses when it comes to technical play, and with sometimes quite astonishing playmaking skills. Unfortunately, though, he can be a bit slow and he hasn't got nearly as much gas on his tank as the other players on the team.
#17 - Fujanej Moloses - CM - Age 24 - Turoki Tide Another Indujan who's come out of nowhere, much like Loxjilo. Fujanej looks like another possible takilante, which Farves insist is really a thing. He's got a great physique and is surprisingly good at dribbling. Also, he can defend! Expect him to replace rue Cazade occasionally, specially when more control is needed in midfield. It's a shame he's not a particularly gifted passer of the ball (though he's by no means bad!), because that would immediately make him enter world-class territory.
#19 - Tè Xüwân - TK - Age 20 - Rülândéá Kôstä Xüwân has been taking the S-FPL by storm lately. He is the first pure
takilante (yes, we Farves still insist that's a thing) to have come out of Farfadillis. He's been trained as one since he was at the academy, and he's brilliant at it. He's tireless, he's got great dribbling skills, and he's great at smelling out chances to score by making late runs. If Manguele fancies adding more dynamism to the midfield at the cheap cost of not fielding the best player in the team, Xüwân will be taking playing time off rue Cazade. Still, he's here more as an exciting young prospect than as a player expected to make an immediate impact.
#20 - Folgore Alaminos - LW - Age 26 - Jungle Strike The son of ex-NTer Santos Alaminos. His father used to be a sensational fullback for Farfadillis. He was, in fact, arguably Farfadillis' first world-class fullback. Folgore is nothing like his father, however. They share their tactical astuteness, but Folgore can't tackle to save his life. He is, however, a fantastic playmaker and a dangerous presence inside the box. A very typical offensive midfielder, really... although Manguele is insistent on retooling him as a left winger, and is entirely unwilling to listen to what Folgore has to say about that. We'll see how he fares.
#19 - Çè Sêwansé - RW - Age 26 - Rülândéá Kôstä A dependable winger who has consistently been above-average for his club, to moderate success. There aren't many other good options out there, so Çè gets the call-up, and is sure to be ecstatic. However, he's got Alxíkí ahead of him in the pecking order... so, well, good luck, Çè! If you think of him as a downgrade of Alxíkí in every possible sense (but not a
massive downgrade in any gvien area), you'll get a good idea of how he plays. They are remarkably similar players, only one is much better! They're even the same age.
#7 - Röémün Çídh - ST - Age 27 - Rülândéá Kôstä The less-talented-but-slightly-taller-and-stronger-and-that's-gotta-count-for-something version of his older brother Edmün, Röémün is a very hard-working player who you'd be forgiven for thinking is not Farf at all based on his personality. His great poaching skills actually had him outscoring his more talented brother for a good bit. He can be quite wasteful, but nonetheless seems to always carve out some chances for himself when no other player can. Even now, having been relegated to the bench after playing quite dreadfully last cycle, you should expect him to feature quite heavily, specially when the team is looking for an equalizer/winner.
#18 - Eötrenois Rigozsoldos - ST - Age 19 - René Skaé One for the future, this one, at least with the competition he'll be facing. Still, there's a lot to be excited about: he seems to relish pressure, and is not afraid to carry his team when needed, as he demonstrated at his boyhood club Rákospalotai. He's devilishly fast, very technical and stunningly clinical for his age. It wouldn't be surprising to see him breaking into the starting eleven within two cycles, specially if he continues his meteoric development.
RESERVES
#24 - Agapeto Chayra - LB - Age 20 - La Nueva Avenida #25 - Ecésar der Efer - CB - Age 26 - Ausharmuj Marusi #26 - Agundí Tibanagogó - RB - Age 22 - Ausharmuj Marusi #27 - Tercero Yturri - CM - Age 18 - Avenida Leal #28 - Lésgöékëngüí Fwâás - CM - Age 18 - Dí Maozöxê #29 - Böávêntür Âgínsôgnó - OM - Age 17 - Dí Maozöxê #30 - Yonatoño de la Garza - LW - Age 17 - La Querida #31 - Mâát Trlimándã Wôl - LW - Age 24 - Mar Sara FC #31 - Mâánéràtö Jíí - ST - Age 21 - Antiguoko FC #32 - Ülì Èsàsè - ST - Age 25 - Jinja City FC FORMATION AND TACTICS Lele Manguele grew up watching the Farf teams of yore, and it's his intent to bring that playing style back. The plan is simple: attack, attack, attack. Yes, more than Pam Scott and Ichi Tuzzio used to. However, he will stick to some of the cornerstones of their playing style which he believes are fundamental for the modern game: pressing and counterpressing. Manguele will want his players to give 110% or die trying, but he will also want them to play with the precision of players who have not been running themselves into the ground.
In goal, Dieje Ibrelaná will play as a sweeper keeper. Though he's not got the best skillset for it, he'll have to adapt: any other kind of goalkeeper would be suicidal with this set-up. In defense, Gëngüdó Pìgülôçô will be tasked with plugging the many leaks in defense that will result from everybody else playing suicidal football. He will not be expected to join the attack, but
will be expected to not be useless with the ball at his feet. Exihosahar and Ànáxímane will help him out defensively, but they'll still prefer to play wide and will not shy away from joining the attack (specially Ànáximane). The two of them will be extremely tired by the end of any match, since they'll be running up and down the pitch the entire time, as well as trying to keep as narrow a defensive shape as possible. They'll both look to overlap when they join the attack, but are not afraid to mix things up. They are, in fact, expected to do exactly that.
Mbogo Nørgaard will play as a typical center midfielder, with a slightly defensive slant (for a Farf midfiedler). He'll be expected to dictate play whenever possible, or at least help his partner do it, but he'll also look to arrive late at the box and go for perilous long shots or some smart assist to surprise the opponents. Ígnîgo Çí Xôrí will be tasked with running a lot, recovering the ball, playmaking and generally dominating midfield. Manguele expects him to dictate the tempo, something he is not used to doing. Chances are he'll look for incisive passes every time, but he might very well adapt. On the left wing, Gallegas will be tasked with running up and down the pitch endlessly, but mostly up. He is an extremely dependable winger, and he will be expected to play as one. He can and
will make runs into the box and score quite a lot from those, though. On the right wing, Alxìkì will be expected to cut in more often than his left-footed partner on the opposite flank. He sucks at defending, so Manguele won't expect him to track back as much as Emiliano, but this is compensated by the fact that he can tear apart any defense at a moment's notice. Faragó rue Cazade himself will operate as an offensive midfielder who is actually a striker in disguise. He'll try to go for late runs and always be on the watch-out for scoring opportunities, while also supplying his teammates with assists if and when the opportunity presents itself.
Up front, Manguele will want Edmün Çídh to play the role of supporting striker, as he's the most complete striker in the team. Horacio Bastanchury, much more of a goal-oriented player, will be expected to score the most goals. Nobody's sure if Edmün will actually obey him. If he doesn't, then just think of Manguele's tactical set-up as featuring two out-and-out strikers.
The team will look to play a vertiginous game, with few passes wasted on recycling possession. Farves live to have the ball at their feet, but also to do something exciting with it. Manguele doubly so. Expect them to press, counterpress and generally look desperate to recover the ball. The further up the pitch you manage to go with the ball, the more in danger they are. However, if you do lose the ball while attacking them, they'll almost always try to start a counterattack. They're very adept at it with their direct passes and astonishing pace, so try to make your chances count. Finally, the three-man defense will obviously use the off-side trap, as it's a natural choice with such a high defensive line and three players.
When holding a lead, the team will be much more eager to recycle possession and wait patiently for a goal. In that case, passes will still be direct, but less so. When chasing a game, though, expect some of the most urgent football the Multiverse has to offer.
Also, players will be instructed to switch positions often. Manguele does not care about silly things like whether a striker can make for a good fullback. The element of surprise is important, after all. On that note, do bear in mind that Manguele is famous for being unpredictable, so nothing is set in stone beyond the fact that the team will be hellbent on scoring goals.