Baptism of Fire 77 [rosters/RP/results]

[Dispertag]

The Referee's Bulletin
Your source for dispertagués football latest news

Chronicle of a first conquest for the "aguileña" as related by Team Captain: Tomás de Andrade Cisneros 15th December 2021

---

Minutes after the final whistle of the game, our reporter in charge of traveling to Tumbra in the heat of the afternoon, Carolina Aparicio Manjavacas, was able to interview the captain of our team who today celebrated his first and deserved victory in the BoF for a more than enough 0-2.

CAM: How does it feel to win for the first time in the Dispertag National Soccer Team jersey in an official international match?

TdAC: Well, I can't, we couldn't be happier, today is a day of joy and celebration for us as players because we have fulfilled our duty, which is to win, win and win again, and it is also an exciting and special day for our country. At last Dispertag can say that it has won a match, right? So we are proud and to continue working the classification.

CAM: We have seen the great goals you have scored here today, that of Monrós Saldaña and especially that of Cruz Aranda. Tell us a bit about the goals and the game in general.

TdAC: Yes the truth is that there have been two great goals that have allowed us to be calm during the rest of the game because they came early both ... minutes 4 'and 12', without a doubt a good start to the match. The first from Cruz Aranda came due to an opponent's error, we were having a great game and we were able to take advantage of a misdirected pass in the center of the field to steal possession and attack; When we caught them by surprise, we were able to advance quickly but they had retreated and given the impossibility of entering the area, which seemed like there was no gap anywhere, Alberto threw a blow with effect from outside the area that entered the squad. Goalkeeper Gaella Bodiou couldn't do anything against such a shot. And ... then the second came from Ignacio who simply received a good pass from Rafa running between two rival defenses and beat them in the race and was able to shoot low with his left between the legs of Gaella Bodiou. Certainly a great euphoria at the time. The rest of the game we were able to worry more about possession and keep trying but hey, it wasn't the same any more.

CAM: The rival then, The Karodin Tetrarchy, was it easier than you expected, did they have a bad day or how do you explain your dominance of the game?

TdAC: We never underestimate our rivals. We consider them all equally difficult and as you already know in this sport, the one that seems to be the best postulate can fall against the underdog and vice versa, so we prepare the same for all matches, with the same effort and desire and seeking to show our best game. Martín always tells us when we are in the locker room: "If one day you think you are someone, remember that you are only someone in the eyes of the State, nobodies!" It is very funny, and what reason is he then! LOL. It may be that The Karodin Tetrarchy have gone through worse moments, maybe it has been a matter of luck, that has smiled at us, but I only know that we worked hard and that is what the results reflect.

CAM: Unbeaten for the moment, a draw and a victory, but the next game you will face the group leader, Pekoland, what can we expect from such an exciting battle of the titans?

TdAC: They have two victories and so far the results have been very favorable for them, they have won both games handsomely, even making 5 goals to the rival today so we have reasons to fear them but we are more than prepared and we are going to give everything to the end. Let no fan doubt what this team is capable of because we will amaze the world if necessary. There is still a long tournament ahead and, despite always pursuing victory, we could accept a defeat and it would also serve us to fail to learn from our mistakes. In any case, I hope there is nothing to learn and we can simply continue to celebrate the victory.

CAM: Thank you very much Tomás for attending us at TRB now, surely you will be exhausted from the game so we let you go already and we wish you and everyone good luck for the next match. Win for Dispertag!

TdAC: Thanks to you Carolina as always a pleasure.

Signed: Carolina Aparicio Manjavacas (sports commentator and reporter)
on behalf of his Majesty the King: Augusto Santamaría Úzqueda

[StrayaRoos]

Https/SFLFootball.com.ST

National Captain Retiring Next Summer
Panem Olympic and StrayaRoos Captain Harry Cahill has announced he is leaving the International Arena after World Cup 90 in Vilita and Baker Park following his leg injury against Soldera (WIP)

[Guanacasteca]

Servicio Guanacasteco de Noticias

Alarm Set in Snooze Mode

José Murillo, at Græntfjall for the 77^th Baptism of Fire.

The snooze button was activated for today’s matchday on Group B of the Baptism of Fire. As for Guanacasteca, there’s no surprise on holding up a zero and scoring a big zero, usual business for this team. What was not usual is the fact that the entire group ended with three 0-0, doughnuts galore! Sleepy matches? Let’s ask the fans if, in fact, they were falling asleep with the lack of punch from every team in the group.

I took, as a personal duty, some minutes in order to break the ice with some Græntfjallers about their thoughts concerning to the matches, those varied from “Eh, you’re a foreigner and I don’t have anything to talk with you” to “Do they played football or just killed time passing the ball senselessly?” Blunt answers from a blunt populace as they are. But that shows a broader scope of the quality of the group overall, there’s some lack of action compared to Group A, B or D but, despite that, there’s more tactical order as it can be seen. Who will triumph after all: tactical order or creative freedom? We will know it, for sure, throughout the course of the tournament.

The Guanacastecan Pigs, as usual, didn’t disappointed nor surprised anybody in the República Guanacasteca. We don’t expect goals, Han Ruoyang isn’t the kind of manager that loves teams scoring wildly, neither the fans that love to score enough and then defend the zero as it’s a matter of life or death. According to our traditions, our customs, counterattack is something that we will do sooner than later, the match against Ardengard proved it. David Monterroza led the team to do a standard Guanacastecan performance, zero goals against, zero goals scored; the Ardenganian team looked to be quite a threat due to their first match, which was a solid performance against their rivals, but didn’t counted that The Pigs would resist strongly to their attacks.

The line of five defenders placed by Han was great, this time they didn’t moved so close to the middle of the pitch as they did against Metherwoll, instead, the line of attackers moved back some meters in order to create a compact scheme for the team. The rivals weren’t able to break deep into the defense because the constant fast recoveries made by Ricardo Linton with some helps from Kenneth Ingram and Sean Fuller. Said trio was able to collect balls and start counterattacks that ended with some execution problems, as precision with the last shots wasn’t the best we would’ve wanted; this because many shots went wide the goal.

There’s some work to do by Han with the team, there’s a gap to cover through continuous improvement in training sessions focused to secure better precision with the last touch of ball in the area. Both Ingram and Fuller are able to adapt to those routines and put it into practice in order to make República Guanacasteca take more initiative into the score line and, also, being more effective while taking those chances. Many rivals in the World Cup Qualifiers won’t forgive us failing those, so it’s a critical matter to improve and correct that kind of situations before it’s too late for The Pigs.

As I’ve said before, the Baptism of Fire is more like a testing ground like a place to put lessons learned in practice; by no means I’m underestimating the efforts of the FGF and its camp in Huayramarca, instead, I mention that the learning effects and outcome can be maximized by combining those into a wide variety of scenarios that Han can take into consideration.

Today’s match proved that breaking the ice in the field can be a matter of gaining more initiative through midfield control and also boosting effectiveness from our strikers up in the rival’s box. Han can work on that, also in some other stuff such as physical stamina, which settled conditions for the outcome of this match. The Ardengardians were a solid side because they managed to take advantage of fatigue from Monterroza, Orellana, Góndola and Venegas specifically, they managed to leak through gaps and test Sergio González with some dangerous shots that aimed to score past him.

It also helped that González reflexes turned to be quite decent, enough to quit some balls trajectory to the upper sides of the goal and also some shots sent near the posts; those shots are, often, the most complicated ones to stop due to their power and the risk that the goalkeeper faces in order to block them.

As we are getting closer and closer to the first half of the Baptism of Fire, República Guanacasteca could try to find their best version through training intensification in certain key topics such as finishing, physical readiness and mental preparation. Finding it may result in getting rid of the snooze mode and deliver some quality football, enough for the quite high prices that the Græntfjallers and Guanacastecan people that has traveled has spent in order to support their national team in a quite remote place in the Rushmori geography.

[Estorvipa and Estorpiva]

It felt somewhat strange to finally be back in the old country after so long, Kirill Fedorchuk thought to himself as he stared out the window of the private jet that was carrying the president of the Federation of Estorvipa back to his homeland. Well, it hadn't been a really long time, just two years, but in those two years Fedorchuk knew that Estorvipa had changed for the worse under the heavy hand of the Imperium and their puppet clients. The Imperium had claimed that all of their Estorvipan clients would be treated equally and fairly, but recently it had come to the attention of the Pridnestrovian Committee for State Security, or KGB, that the Imperium was devoting more and more resources to propping up the anarchist regime in the northern part of Estorvipa, the breakaway state known as the Estorvipan Commune. Fedorchuk had heard nothing but bad news about the Commune lately, and as president of the Federation of Estorvipa, he was in a unique position of being able to receive news from the old country before they had been fed through the Pridnestrovian propaganda machine, and what he was hearing was both shocking and saddening to say the least.

There was widespread unrest throughout the Estorvipan Commune. The people under the rule of the Communards did not like that they were the ones being saddled with securing the integrity and loyalty of the other Imperium-backed states in the country, and the people had taken to rioting in the streets to express their displeasure. This had resulted in the Tarkovska Syndicate, the ruling body of the Estorvipan Commune, conducting brutal crackdowns on "dissident activity" and approving the deployment of units of the Estorvipan Revolutionary Army, the Communards' military wing, into the other Imperium puppets. But, if the reports were to be believed, the ERA had been sent only to the Estorvipan Social Republic, the fascist state in central and eastern Estorvipa led by gangsters and cartels from the Vipan diaspora. The ERA did not deploy their units to the rump Estorvipan People's Republic because they did not want to fight for Vissarion Zhivkov, the man against whom they had rebelled initially. As for the State of Estorpiva, the ERA simply didn't bother sending any units there because they did not think that the Pivans were worthy of their protection. That, and the fact that the Imperium basically didn't even bother sending aid and supplies to the Pivans as soon as the Pridnestrovian invaders left Estorian soil, was the reason why Kirill Fedorchuk was now flying back to the old country in a private jet.

"Pilot says that we're five minutes away from Feuerstadt, Mr. President, so it's time to put on your seatbelt," said Grigoriy Dmitriyevich Umalin as he emerged from the cockpit of the private jet and walked into the cabin. Umalin was officially a major in the Pridnestrovian Army, specifically the Military Intelligence Directorate (GRU), but tonight, he was serving in an unofficial capacity as the head of security for the president of the Federation of Estorvipa. It was for that reason that Umalin was wearing a black ballistic vest with tactical webbing over a white shirt and olive cargo pants.

"Thank you, Major," Fedorchuk nodded as he secured the belt around his lap before he resumed looking out of the window at the dark night sky.

"Kopek for your thoughts, Mr. President?" asked Major Klaudia Fridrikhovna Glaser. She, like Umalin, was a GRU agent and operator who was also currently serving as part of Kirill Fedorchuk's protection detail. And although they were almost of the same age, Umalin held seniority over Glaser due to him having attained his rank earlier than she did.

“Excuse me, what was that again?” Fedorchuk asked back.

“You look very pensive right now, Mr. President,” Glaser replied. “Is something bothering you?”

“It’s not really bothering me, Major, just a thought that I had,” Fedorchuk shrugged. “I just think that it’s strange that this is how I go back to the old country, in a private jet on a secret mission instead of on the back of an armored column.”

“Ah, that is to be expected, Mr. President,” Glaser said. “Everyone dreams of making a triumphant return to Estorvipa in order to reclaim your country from the Imperials and their puppets. But we can’t do that, not just yet. The Imperium may have retreated back to their own borders but we must still tread carefully if we want the Federation of Estorvipa to stick around for longer this time around.”

“And I understand that completely,” Fedorchuk nodded. “But why me? Why did they surrender to me and not Victor and his Republic?”

“But they actually did,” Glaser said. “The leaders of the State of Estorpiva have reached out to us and told us that they intend to surrender themselves and the territory that they control to the Republic of Estorpiva. And since the Federation of Estorvipa is an ally of the State of Estorpiva, you will represent the Federation when the State signs the instrument of surrender with the Republic.”

“And who will represent Pridnestrovia in the signing of the terms of surrender of the State of Estorpiva?” Fedorchuk asked with a mix of both sarcasm and genuine curiosity.

“We’ll get the Instrument signed by the Vipans and the Pivans first, Mr. President,” Major Umalin replied from across the cabin. “Once they’ve signed it, then we will worry about getting the Instrument to Tiraspol for President Stepanenko and the others to sign.”

“Of course,” Fedorchuk nodded. He started to gaze out of the window again, and then he turned back to Umalin and asked him, “Remind me again why Victor and I are traveling on separate planes.”

“It’s just a precautionary measure, Mr. President,” Umalin said with a shrug. “We don’t want both the President of the Federation of Estorvipa and the Prime Minister of the Republic of Estorpiva to lose their lives at the same time should the Estorvipan Revolutionary Army fire a surface-to-air missile at one of our private jets.”

“Do you think that the ERA would actually do that?” Fedorchuk asked.

“With the Communards, anything is possible,” Umalin said. “But we all understood the risk when we accepted this mission.”

“All right, then, Major. Say that the Communards don’t try to shoot us down,” Fedorchuk said. “What’s stopping them from allowing us to land and then shooting us all dead once we’re on the ground?”

“If that was the Communards’ plan then we wouldn’t even be flying back to Estorvipa at all,” Glaser replied. “We sent a few operatives ahead of us to make sure that the State’s offer of surrender is legitimate and not a plan to stage your capture and/or assassination. They’ve confirmed that the offer is legitimate, and that is why we are now about to land back in Feuerstadt.”

“Feuerstadt? Isn’t that supposed to be the capital of the State of Estorpiva?” Fedorchuk asked in surprise.

“Exactly, Mr. President,” Umalin nodded. “Should everything go according to plan tonight, when the sun rises over Estorvipa once again, it will find the State of Estorpiva gone and replaced by the Republic of Estorpiva.”

“If everything goes to plan,” Fedorchuk repeated with more than a hint of uncertainty.

The private plane landed on the single paved runway of Feuerstadt Airport with barely a squeak of its tires before quickly heading across the tarmac into one of two massive hangars at the end of the field. As soon as the plane stopped inside the hangar, Fedorchuk made to stand up but Major Umalin stopped him with a hand on the shoulder. “Not just yet, Mr. President,” Umalin said. “Let’s wait for the Prime Minister to arrive. In the meantime, you should put on your gear while waiting.” Umalin then handed Fedorchuk a ballistic vest and a military-grade helmet for the President to wear; the Pridnestrovians were taking his safety very seriously.

Fedorchuk waited for a few more minutes while the Pridnestrovians talked to each other via radios about the position of the plane carrying Victor Traianescu, Prime Minister of the Republic of Estorpiva. There were some similarities between the Pridnestrovian Russian that the operators spoke between themselves and the Vipan Russian that Fedorchuk had grown up with, but given how quickly the Pridnestrovians were speaking, it was no wonder that he couldn’t catch everything that they were saying. He could however determine that they wanted Traianescu’s plane to come into the same hangar where the plane carrying Fedorchuk currently was. He heard the distinctive sounds of plane engines approaching the hangar and then entering it, and then finally the engines spooled down and powered off. But it would be a few more moments before Major Umalin nodded his head at Fedorchuk, who took it as the signal to finally stand up and get off the plane.

Two large cars painted in sleek black were waiting for Fedorchuk in the hangar. One of the cars was already on its way out of the hangar, while the other had its rear doors open and waiting for him. “Come on, Mr. President,” Umalin said. “If we get going now then the instrument of surrender can be signed before midnight.”

“Then what are we waiting for?” Fedorchuk said as he got into the car. Major Umalin got in the back seat with him while Major Glaser rode shotgun, and the car went off towards Feuerstadt’s city hall.

 ESTORVIPA AND ESTORPIVA 3 - 1 KINGDOM OF ATLANTIA 
 PRASUTAGUSIC (25', 65')       KRASNENKO (77' o.g.)
           DAVYDOV (39')

STARTING ELEVEN VS. NEW JEHOVA
GK: Enin; DF: Kessler——Birkov——Krasnenko——Krastenkovic; MF: Vinogradovsky——Potritskij; Roberto——Davydov——Roberta; FW: Prasutagusic

[The Karodin Tetrarchy]

Donasian Morvan had ridden his favourite horse into the Argouez the morning after young Alar’s return, and there was no doubt that he was a little worried.

Of course, there was the concern that what he would find was not the friendly, exciting world that his son spoke of, but a dangerous place that his son survived through some miracle or blessing of the Gods. But then, niggling in the back of his mind, was the concerns that would arise if Alar was correct. Of course, this could be a way for him to earn more money for his wife and son, but that also might draw attention to them. He knew that the tithe collectors were intelligent, and that they could well work out that there was something going on at the Morvan farm. He did not like the sound of that.

Nonetheless, he rode deeper into the Argouez, passing much quicker than his eight year old son could have. That meant that what took young Alar a few hours went by in only half of an hour for his father. Eventually, he found himself at the place where Alar had described coming across the patrol from “Mertagne”. There was nobody around, and the wilderness that surrounded him only spoke through the voice of birds and their prey.

He shouted a greeting into the forest, breaking the relative calm. He decided he would wait a while for a response: it might be that they, whoever they were, had heard him and had to come from afar to interact with him.

Eventually, people dressed similarly to what young Alar had described as “his new friends” greeted him. The greeting was in a language that Donasian didn’t understand, but he and Paolina had seen this coming. His wife had handed him a drawing of Alar completed by a former farmhand, hoping that it would indicate that Donasian knew the boy that these people had met two days prior.

They were immediately friendly, even prior to Donasian showing the drawing of young Alar. After that, they were intrigued by this new man in their neighbourhood. Donasian had a few more drawings with him, of his family altogether (drawn by the same farmhand) and then a drawing of Paolina’s, intending to indicate that he wished to trade with these people.

Donasian was a farmer, but as with many farmers in the Tetrarchy, he had a variety of wares to trade. Some were simple: apples and pears from the orchard, root vegetables like parsnips and turnips, and potatoes. Others were of his own creation, the sort of thing that allowed him to trade back home, where everyone could get the simple stuff relatively easily. He had long brewed his own cider from the orchard, a mix of apples and pears that really packed a punch if you left it long enough, which he usually did. As well, there was a sort of cured meat popular in Nevezant: boar meat cured for months in salt and whatever spices the maker could procure. On this occasion, the spices had been difficult to obtain so this was a more simple cure, but nonetheless, it was popular amongst those in the city.

As Paolina had suggested, it was the more unique items that interested the strangers the most. Donasian allowed them to taste each, opening the cask of cider for a small sip and slicing small chunks from the cured boar leg. Unless there were some major cultural differences between the Karodinians and whoever these people were, Donasian thought that they were going down well. He handed over the boar leg and cask, along with some of the root vegetables, and received coins in return, with depictions he didn’t recognise, along with a bottle of liqueur crafted by the strangers that they seemed to indicate was crafted from some of the trees that surrounded them. Whatever it was, Donasian liked it.

At that, he said his goodbyes to the group with sign and symbol, indicating that he would come back soon with more to offer. As he left, he was called back by a younger gentleman amongst the group, who took an interest in something on the lapel of Donasian’s overcoat. It was a small broach carved from wood in the shape of a deer, a common symbol amongst Karodinians. Donasian indicated that he would not trade that particular one (it had been a gift from Paolina when they first met), but that he would instead return with similar objects in the future. That seemed to satisfy the young man, and Donasian set off back into the distance.

When he returned home, he gave Alar a bear hug: his son truly had found an opportunity for the family. He also showed his wife the haul that he had returned with, particularly excited by the coin. A fruitful relationship might well have been born that would entirely change the lives of the Morvan family.

[Ardengard]

Ardengard keeps possession of the ball, passes it around the penalty box. When a slight gap opens up, the player with the ball passes it through and the nearest teammate tries to make a run for it and score. The Guanacastecan defenders get there first and pass it out of the box. The midfielders and attackers rush forward while the Ardengardians run back to the goals. The Guanacastecans get themselves into an excellent position to score, shoot and… miss. The Ardengardians pass the ball back up the pitch until they’re outside the other penalty box again.
Simulate the above narration. Play it on repeat – and you get the Ardengard vs Guanacasteca match down to the second.

---

“Fucking hell” said Jalio, after the whistle was blown. “Didn’t expect scoring to be one of our problems.”
“It’s fine everyone. Don’t get disheartened,” said Uditi Banerjee in a consoling tone.
“Where are we in the table now?” asked Saul.
“Well… here’s the thing – the table is exactly the same, with everyone’s points increased by one.”
“Huh, everyone drew?”
“Yep.”
“But goals for – that doesn’t change things?”
“Aside from the fact that goals for isn’t a tie-breaker, no-one’s goals for has changed either.”
“So… that means…”
“There were three goalless draws.”
“Wow – the sheer suspense of which game would have the first goal should be enough to keep viewers on the edge in my opinion.”
“We got close once.”
“It wouldn’t have come that close if the offside was spotted earlier.”
“Yeah well, fuck VAR.”
“I’m gonna record that and play it back when VAR works in our favour, okay?”
“Fuck you.”

---

The sun shone down brightly on the grass as the Ardengardian players stepped onto the field of the Florus Stadion for the first time.
Looking towards the stands, Shahee said “Uhhh, I thought we were playing football, not chess?”
The players chuckled, as Jalio broke into the chorus of Black Or White by famed Ardengardian musician – Samuel L. Jordan.
“Where’s coach?”
“Someone called me?” sprang a voice out of nowhere.
||Queue shot of all players turning around in perfect synchronisation to see Roy standing behind them.||
“Hey coach, didn’t see you standing there.”
“Reality works in mysterious ways. Especially when it’s not.”
“Wha…t?”
“Nevermind, we need to talk about yesterday.”
“What about it?”
“It was terrible,” Roy fired back.
“Hold on, we were losing the first game and everything was fine but we drew against the only other team to have won a game till now and it’s terrible?”
“Which part of that do you want me to repeat?”
The players looked at each other, nodded in agreement without actually nodding and turned back towards their coach.
“None of it.” “Crystal clear sir.”
“I’m going to assume you mean a very cloudy crystal and explain anyway. Guanacasteca is an extremely defensive team – you guys know that best. They’re almost our inverse. They’re the Darth Vader to our Luke; the Joker to our Batman…”
“Where are these references from? whispered Shahee to Jalio.
“Never heard of them in my universe.”
“…they’re that seat (points to a white seat) to that seat (points to a black seat); they’re…”
“We get your point coach.”
“Right. So, facing them was a test of how we faced a polar opposite. Getting a draw is fine – that means we more or less cancelled each other out. But getting a goalless draw – now I worry about that. Their aim was to hold the zero. Being able to do that may not have given them three points, but I’d say it gave them a win.”
Slowly and hesitatingly, the players gave grunts of agreement.
“So conversely, a loss for us – and thus it was terrible. Any questions?”
“How do we improve on it?”
“The same way I managed to type out the entirety of the Constitution with my eyes closed. Practice!”
He said the last word with a triumphant gesture of raising his hands in the air with the fingers spread out. Almost simultaneously, all the players spotted brand new bandages wrapped around Roy's right hand thumb.
“Coach are you alright? Did you cut yourself?”
“What’s that?”
“Your… thumb..?”
“Oh, don’t worry about that. It’s just a burn.”
“From what?”
“From… cigarettes. Don’t bother about it. Practice!”

The players dispersed to start warm up drills individually or in pairs. Jalio and Shahee were about to start theirs together when Roy shouted out "Jalio! A word?"
"Sure coach." Jalio came jogging back to him.
"Can you shoot a free kick?"
"Can I shoot a free kick? Uh, yes? I took the one last match."
"Yeah, sorry. Wrong question. I meant - Can you score a free kick?"
"Uhh, I mean, I have.. before. I may not.."
"Cause you haven't scored some in a while now. The last one was in a friendly months ago."
"Yeah, no, I.. I'm in a dry patch right now, it won't be long."
"Yeah cause I thought you were our free kick specialist lad. It goes like this for a while longer I'm gonna have to give that to Shahee, at least until you find your rhythm back. Understood?"
"Yes, I understand coach. It won't take long... I promise."
"Ok, good. Go warm up now."
Jalio walked back to Shahee.
"What was that about?"
"I.. uh.. nothing, just a note."

[Graintfjall]

RP cutoff for MD3 (Groups A&B)

News

Háttmark

• While there are still a few protestors on the street, they're now outnumbered by those celebrated the Pardon Act, which has pardoned hundreds of Græntfjallers convicted under the old communist sodomy laws. Homosexuality was decriminalized in the post-communist era but not all old convictions were vacated. The pardons have met with little opposition, even from the Catholic Church.
• A rare Verdean Lesser-Spotted Tapir is the new star attraction at Háttmark Zoo.
  Altendalur
• Days after the launch from GANAX Cosmodrome, ground control has made successful uplink with the satellite.
• One of the region's largest opera festivals is beginning in the city.

Weather: Strong winds, light freezing rain and sleet, heavy morning fog clearing later in the day.

Group A
New Jehova 0–1 Estorvipa and Estorpiva
The Republic of Western Sol 1–3 United Adaikes
Dod Rava 0–1 Magnecia

  Group A                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Magnecia                         3   2  1  0    7   4  +3    7
  United Adaikes                   3   2  1  0    6   3  +3    7
3 Estorvipa and Estorpiva          2   2  0  0    4   1  +3    6
4 The Republic of Western Sol      3   1  0  2    6   9  −3    3
5 New Jehova                       3   0  2  1    2   3  −1    2
6 Dod Rava                         2   0  0  2    2   4  −2    0
7 Kingdom of Atlantia              2   0  0  2    3   6  −3    0

Group B
Metherwoll 0–0 Rhubarbton
Ardengard 3–0 Takeshwar
Taksylvania 0–2 República Guanacasteca

  Group B                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ardengard                        3   2  1  0    5   1  +4    7
2 República Guanacasteca           3   2  1  0    3   0  +3    7
3 Rhubarbton                       2   0  2  0    0   0   0    2
  The Finntopian Empire            2   0  2  0    2   2   0    2
5 Metherwoll                       3   0  2  1    0   1  −1    2
6 Takeshwar                        3   0  2  1    2   5  −3    2
7 Taksylvania                      2   0  0  2    1   4  −3    0

[Tumbra]

MD2 Cutoff - Groups C and D

Here's your MD3 cutoff for Groups C and D! It's a bit cooler today as winds sweep in from the north - will your team feel the chill of the sea wind?

Group C
Allahai 2–3 The Karodin Tetrachy
Pekoland 1–0 Winnebogan
Kingdom of Voidstania 2–0 Surgeius

. Group C                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pekoland                   3   3  0  0   10   3  +7    9
2 Dispertag                  2   1  1  0    4   2  +2    4
3 Kingdom of Voidstania      2   1  0  1    3   4  −1    3
  The Karodin Tetrachy       2   1  0  1    3   4  −1    3
5 Surgeius                   3   1  0  2    3   7  −4    3
6 Winnebogan                 3   0  2  1    4   5  −1    2
7 Allahai                    3   0  1  2    4   6  −2    1

Group D
Acceptably Normal 1–0 Jeeves Land
StrayaRoos 3–0 Texkentuck
The Cordian Isles 1–0 Soldera

. Group D                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Cordian Isles          2   2  0  0    8   3  +5    6
2 Soldera                    3   2  0  1    5   3  +2    6
3 Aerodon                    2   1  1  0    4   3  +1    4
4 Acceptably Normal          3   1  0  2    2   4  −2    3
  StrayaRoos                 3   1  0  2    8  10  −2    3
6 Texkentuck                 3   1  0  2    5   8  −3    3
7 Jeeves Land                2   0  1  1    0   1  −1    1

[Kingdom of Voidstania]

Excript from: The Voidstania Weekly

VICTORY!
In a thrilling match, Voidstania soundly secured victory over Surgeius! While the Surgeiusian team started strong the chill ocean wind blew over, reminding the Voidstanians of their home isles. This boosted moral and in the, 35th minute, Cortez flew down the wing, passing to McBride as he went. He then crossed it to Wise, who made a clean shot into the goal. This ruined the Surgeiusian moral. In the second half, Wise and and a Surgeiusian had a tumble, and while the Surgeiusian was fine, Wise had to come off. Ian Sutton replaced him, and in the 83rd minute, was passed to by Mcbride and scored. In the end Voidstania secured a victory over Sureius, earning themselves a needed win.

[The Cordian Isles]

Hannah Andersen sat in the dressing room, looking up at the ceiling, amazed. It had felt like everything was leading up to this match, and now she and the rest of the team could breathe. Soldera had been the biggest threat in Group D outside of them, and now they had the tiebreaker and a game in hand with the victory. It wasn't just the win that felt amazing, though.

It was that her goal was the game-winner.

And it only cemented the idea of her as a clutch player who came out to play in the biggest minutes of matches, starting in the Cordia Cup. She'd taken a pass from Karjalainen just outside the box and launched a shot to the far post. George Rollings was running to the near post to save the anticipated shot; he didn't have time or momentum to get back for the save. The reaction from Nantwich Stadium was strong and immediate, with the 82nd-minute goal likely to decide the outcome. Cordians and neutral fans in attendance cheered, excited for the goal and what was sure to be an exciting finish to the match. Solderans groaned loudly or cursed. The goal meant a probable loss for them, a setback with the group stage halfway done for them. They were still a favorite to advance, but the coming matches would be made much more nerve-wracking. With each voice drowned out as the shouts echoed off the stadium's walls, all the noise added up to just one thing: GOAL!

She'd pumped her fist, taking the congratulatory hugs and high-fives as she walked back to her position for the kickoff. Nothing too extravagant; she didn't want to look stupid by celebrating and then conceding. There were eight-plus minutes of football to play, and anything could happen yet. But when the referee blew the final whistle, signaling the end of the match, Andersen celebrated not only for her team and for her nation, but herself as well, for this goal on this stage was her rebuke to Thor's Rest's narrative. Actions speak louder than words, and she could say anything in the world, be the most eloquent speaker, and have it not be worth as much as those twenty seconds.

Sitting there in the dressing room, she realized that Rasmus had been right. Who cared if the Storm didn't like her? The nation did, and that was all that mattered. She'd already committed to transferring out-of-nation, so who honestly cared about what the Storm thought? If anything, they were happy. This meant a better transfer price for them. Still looking up at the ceiling, she came back down to earth and smiled. The rest of the team was smiling too, slapping each other on the back, cheering the victory. Every player had had a good match, made a good save, created a good chance, and so on. When Diandra Ballard announced that many of the backup players would get a chance to play against Texkentuck, they got into the celebration even more.

Hannah stood up and walked over to Rasmus, who had separated himself from the celebration, standing at the side of the room. "You were right, all I have to do is play well here and nobody'll give a shit what management says."

"Of course I'm right. I'm always right. When have I ever not been right?"

"Ah..."

"Don't answer that."

"Kay."

"Nice goal, though. For real, it was a nice shot. It also won us the match, which helps."

"Always good to get the win. That was an intense one."

"That it was. Still committed to the transfer? We could use some of that magic this season."

"I thought that we'd finished talking about this. I'm not playing for the Storm after those ridiculous negotiations, and I'd look wishy-washy as hell."

"Fine, fine, I'll stop bringing it up. Good job today."

"Thanks, you too."

With business settled, Hannah went to join the rest of the team. The media wanted an interview, but that could wait. These were her people.

[Peko-land]

Pekoland had just gotten their third win in the group, giving them a massive advantage in qualifying for the knockout rounds. For a debutant team, this was enough, but the Princess had other ideas. The team went into their room knowing that they were going to get yelled at. A lot.

---

"ONE??? WE HAD ALL NINETY SOMETHING MINUTES AND WE MANAGED TO SCORE ONE PEKO???????????" The Princess started the team talk with fury.

"B-boss, we're sorr-" Moona tried to calm the Princess down but there was no calming this woman down.

"OH, YOU'RE SORRY? YOU'RE SORRY PEKO??? WHAT ABOUT THE REST OF YOU, YOU'RE SORRY TOO???? DO YOU THINK YOU CAN ""I'm sowwy boss" OUT OF MISSING AN OPEN GOAL, HITTING THE WOODWORK THRICE, FAILING TO SCORE IN TWO ONE ON ONES AND MISSING A PENALTY PEKO?????? TODAY'S WAS DISGRACEFUL, A SHAME ON PEKOLAND, ARE YOU AWARE OF THE DISHONOR YOU'VE BROUGHT UPON THE COUNTRY PEKO???????"

"B-but boss, we won, right?" Bun Bun Cha tried to reason with the rabid rabbit.

"OH, DID WE PEKO?? THANK YOU BUN-CHAN, I HAD NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO IDEA PEKO!!! GUESS WHAT, YOU'RE FIRED PEKO!"

"You can't fire me-" Bun Bun Cha had chosen the worst words he could have.

"OH? IS THAT A CHALLENGE PEKO? YOU CHALLENGE YOUR CAPTAIN, YOUR COACH, THE F-CKING PRINCESS OF PEKOLAND PEKO?" She grabbed Bun Bun Cha and threw him outside the locker room's door.

"Now, does anyone want to challenge my authority here peko?" The Princess asked calmly. Everyone frantically nodded no in fear.

"That's great to see peko! Now, let's talk some business peko. If I don't see at least THREE goals scored next match, all of you, I MEAN ALL OF YOU, are fired peko! Understand?" Everyone nodded yes. The Princess left the locker room to let the team digest that team talk and also kick Bun Bun Cha in the balls. She then headed to the cafeteria.

Moona was the last to leave the locker room and get to the cafeteria, where she was noticed by the Princess. She had a soft spot for Moona, and her heart (yes, it exists) could not handle seeing her sad and demoralised. The Princess watched her until she sat down alone and then approached her.

"Oh, h-hey boss." Moona said in a trembling voice. She was about to cry. The Princess gave her a big hug and ran her fingers through Moona's hair. Tears started coming down her eyes.

"It's okay Moona, none of this was your fault peko. You were amazing today, you know peko?" Moona clearly felt better after this.

"Boss, I don't know if I can handle the pressure of being in this team." Moona said after wiping the last of her tears.

"You are the best goalie I know, Moona. Plus I pay you to play here so it's not like you have a choice peko." The princess said in an unfittingly cheerful tone. This made Moona giggle like a child.

"I guess you're right, boss." Moona said with a smile.

Once again the great man-management abilities of The Princess had saved the day. Truly an amazing coach.

[Kingdom of Voidstania]

A soft breeze passed over the night sky in Voidville, capitol of The Kingdom of Voidstania. A fairly unremarkable plane, the Red Star, is preparing for take off. Its passengers were only 3, King and Head of State, King Void, and his two bodyguards. As the king began to board, he was stopped by his Vicelord and best friend, Stephanie Rock.

"Void, are you sure about this?"

"I am very sure."

"I don't know, it just seems to me like you'd be a bit more.... upset.... to be entering a foreign country with only two bodyguards..."

"I'm not that paranoid"

"It's just that, would you risk your life to see a sports match?"

"It'll be a private box, and the Tumran government will keep me safe"

"But... your a communist! How do I know they won't arrest you"

"Stephanie, if they arrest me our whole country will be at arms. I'll just be in the capitol for a quick match. I just need to support our team"

And with that, Void entered the Red Star, as Stephanie walked away. She worried that he wouldn't return, worried that she would lift the country on her shoulders, and lead it into a new era. She realized something then, she was not ready to lead. And as the Vicelord, it was her role to fill if something were to happen to Void. Just then the plane took off, a Red Star in the sky.

[Estorvipa and Estorpiva]

This was definitely not how Alyosha Damiric thought he would be returning to Estorvipa.

Alyosha was born in Tarkovska to a Vipan father and a Pivan mother, but even though his family moved to Pridnestrovia when Alyosha was four, he had always felt a deeper connection to the old country than he did for his new place of residence. Thus, when Pridnestrovia announced that it was intervening in the Estorvipan Civil War on behalf of Vissarion Zhivkov and the Estorvipan People's Republic, Alyosha wholeheartedly supported the decision. He had been completely convinced by Pridnestrovian propaganda that the Estorvipan Commune and the other Vipan rebel states were seeking to tear apart the old country and bring chaos to the land. Alyosha immediately sought out a Pridnestrovian Army recruiter in order to enlist, but upon finding out about his Estorvipan ancestry, the recruiter instead instructed Alyosha to go to an address and inquire about his options to contribute to the war effort there. The recruiter had to push a confused Alyosha out of his office and tell him that the location on the address was looking for Estorvipans looking to fight in Estorvipa.

Alyosha eventually went to the address that the recruiter gave him, which turned out to be the headquarters of the Military Intelligence Directorate in Tiraspol. The GRU, as it turned out, was looking for ethnic Vipan and Pivan volunteers, but they were looking to send them into Estorvipa not as part of the Pridnestrovian invasion force but as deep-cover agents to infiltrate the numerous rebel factions in Estorvipa and gather intelligence about their strength, leadership, and alliances. Those four months that he spent training in the GRU were perhaps the worst in Alyosha's life. He spent the first six weeks in basic training, learning the basic skills of being an infantryman, and while that was definitely tough and grueling, it was nothing compared to what he had to go through during the GRU's "psychological training." During "psychological training," the GRU kept its Estorvipan recruits in small cells separate from each other with no means to contact one another at all. Alyosha and the rest of the recruits were then tortured by their instructors by all the various means such as waterboarding, electric shocks to the nipples and genitals, and the good old-fashioned beating. Throughout this torture, the recruits were told that they should never reveal under any circumstances the word that was given to them at the start of their "psychological training." The word that Alyosha got at the start of his training was "zolotoy," or "golden." That was the word that his torturers tried to extract from him during his "psychological training," and for whatever reason he was able to keep his mouth shut, and he never revealed the word to anyone else. Even today, long after the end of his training, Alyosha still couldn't bring himself to use the word "zolotoy" in casual conversation, instead saying the English equivalent "golden."

After one month of "psychological training," the Estorvipan recruits were taught escape and evasion tactics, tactics that they were soon forced to use in real life as their instructors told them that if anyone was captured during this particular exercise, their torture would be twice as severe as before. Alyosha did the best that he could, and come the end of the exercise, he was among the last of the recruits to be "recaptured," so to speak. But despite that, his instructors also tortured him twice as severely as before. That was how he learned the final lesson in his espionage training: never believe anything your captors tell you. But once that was over, Alyosha was told that he actually passed his GRU training with flying colors, and that he was now ready to return to Estorvipa as an agent of the Military Intelligence Directorate of the Pridnestrovian Republic. Then, armed with the appropriate papers and with a mission to gather as much information and intelligence as possible, Alyosha Damiric was sent off to Rybolovlev to spy upon Vissarion Zhivkov’s Estorvipan People’s Republic. But then things started to go wrong.

Alyosha had barely even set foot in Rybolovlev before he was immediately conscripted into the Estorvipan People’s Army, the military of the Estorvipan People’s Republic. And then Field Marshal Petar Antonic decided that he didn’t want to serve under Vissarion Zhivkov anymore, so he decided to establish the Democratic People’s Republic of Estorvipa and ordered the sacking of Rybolovlev while at the same time moving to St. Paulsburg and declaring it the capital of the new DPRE. Antonic also ordered his second in command, Colonel General Trayko Nikitin, to go to the Army barracks in the town of Supskij and give the commander there two options: join Antonic and Nikitin in the Democratic People’s Republic or perish. Alyosha Damiric had been sent to Supskij to receive basic training with the rest of the People’s Army conscripts when Nikitin and his army arrived with the offer, and the commander of Supskij barracks decided that discretion was the better part of valor and switched sides to the Democratic People’s Republic. Unfortunately, this now meant that Alyosha would have to fight against the Pridnestrovian invasion with the rest of the new Liberation Army of Estorvipa, who had declared war against the DPRE and was now mounting an offensive on Supskij from their base of operations near Feuerstadt and Durdenville.

Alyosha now had to balance fighting alongside the Liberation Army and trying not to fatally hit any of the Pridnestrovian invaders who were actually his secret allies. He didn’t have to worry much about the latter because the Liberation Army conscripts practically folded under the onslaught of the well-trained and experienced Pridnestrovian troops who were veterans of numerous small-scale conflicts. But even as the Liberation Army surrendered in droves against the seemingly implacable waves of Pridnestrovian invaders, Alyosha had to keep himself embedded within the Liberation Army in order to continue providing information about the DPRE’s next moves. But as the world grew smaller for Petar Antonic and the DPRE, with enemies surrounding his rapidly shrinking rebel state on all sides, he ordered the Liberation Army to make a last stand in St. Paulsburg and deny the city from the Pridnestrovians for as long as possible. Alyosha Damiric tried to make his way into Antonic’s camp in order to continue his mission of providing intelligence to the Pridnestrovian invaders, but while he wasn’t able to make it into the Field Marshal’s inner circle, he was able to pick up on what he believed to be a very important factoid: Petar Antonic and/or Trayko Nikitin planned to evade capture by disguising themselves as conscripts of the Liberation Army in the hopes that the Pridnestrovians would ignore them and believe that they had escaped while the Liberation Army fought to the bitter end in the streets of St. Paulsburg.

It was Alyosha’s information which allowed the Pridnestrovians to find Trayko Nikitin among the captured and surrendered Liberation Army troops at the end of the Siege of St. Paulsburg, but there was little time for the Pridnestrovians to celebrate their victory as the forces of the Estorvipan Commune and their Imperium puppet allies were bearing down upon St. Paulsburg to crush the invaders and send back to where they came from. And when the Imperium offered Pridnestrovia the chance to evacuate all of their troops on Estorian soil before they continued their offensive, Alyosha (along with hundreds of captured conscripts who were afraid that they would be executed for assisting the socialists just by fighting for either the People’s Army or the Liberation Army) joined the Pridnestrovians in their exodus back to their homeland.

And now, two years later, Alyosha was back in Estorvipa, but now he was more well-armed than the last time he was here. And he was no longer alone when he came back to the old country; he was now part of a unit of GRU operators sent to make sure that the State of Estorpiva’s offer to surrender to the Republic of Estorpiva and the Federation of Estorvipa was legitimate and not a trap by either the Imperials or the Communards. The GRU unit that Alyosha was currently a part of had been airdropped over Feuerstadt to make contact with anti-Imperial guerrillas and then keep an eye on the leaders of the State of Estorpiva to make sure that they weren’t in touch with ISS agents and/or Communard military leaders and plotting to capture and/or kill the pro-Pridnestrovia leaders of the Federation of Estorvipa and the Republic of Estorpiva. Once the GRU had made sure that the offer of surrender was indeed legitimate, they made the call to Tiraspol, and now Alyosha Damiric found himself standing in the middle of an empty plane hangar waiting for the arrival of two HVIs.

The first plane arrived without incident. Once the engines had spooled down, Alyosha heard a crackling on his radio as someone tried to talk to him. “Hotel-Five, this is Alfa-Two, how copy?” the voice on the other end asked.

“Three by five, Alfa-Two. Go ahead,” Alyosha replied.

“Give me a sitrep, Hotel-Five.”

“Hotel Team is with the Statesmen. All clear of Purples or Blues so far,” Alyosha said.

“So far? What do you mean, so far? You mean you think the Purples or the Blues will be here soon?”

“Negative, Alfa-Two, negative. There is no sign of Purple or Blue forces in the area,” Alyosha said immediately. “That was a poor choice of words on my part,” he admitted.

“Then make sure to choose your words more carefully next time, Hotel-Five. Very well. Alfa Team will be staying with Face until Dacian arrives. Report when Dacian and Bravo team have arrived,” Alfa-Two said.

“Copy, Alfa-Two,” Alyosha said.

A few minutes later, a second plane entered the hangar and parked beside the first plane. Alyosha could hear another radio conversation going on between Bravo Team and the driver of the other car in the hangar, and then the cabin door finally opened and two members of Bravo Team stepped out, followed by Victor Traianescu, codename Dacian, Prime Minister of the Republic of Estorpiva. The two members of Bravo Team who went out with Traianescu led him towards the other car in the hangar, which immediately sped off once all of them were inside. “Dacian and Bravo Team are away, Alfa-Two,” Alyosha reported over the radio.

The door on the first plane opened up, and the first person to step out was one who was familiar to Alyosha. She was Major Klaudia Fridrikhovna Glaser, and she was familiar to Alyosha because she was one of the instructors who helped train Alyosha and the other Estorvipan spies who infiltrated into the old country during the Pridnestrovian intervention. She wasn’t there during Alyosha’s “psychological training,” but she was there to give Alyosha his mission to infiltrate the Estorvipan People’s Republic, and she served as his handler even while he was fighting for his life during the Siege of St. Paulsburg. Glaser walked up to Alyosha and said, “Welcome back to Estorvipa, Sergeant Damiric,” referring to him by his rank with the Estorvipan Defense Forces, the military arm of the Federation of Estorvipa.

“It doesn’t really feel like a welcome homecoming, Major, you know what I mean?” Alyosha asked in reply.

“Care to elaborate on that?” Glaser asked.

“I don’t know,” Alyosha shook his head. “It’s just this feeling that I have in the pit of my stomach telling me that there’s something big and bad is about to go down right here in Feuerstadt.”

“Calm yourself down, Alyosha,” Glaser said. “The only big thing that is going to happen here in Feuerstadt is the signing of the Instrument of Surrender by the State of Estorpiva and the return of both the Republic of Estorpiva and the Federation of Estorvipa on Estorian soil.”

“I sure hope so, Major,” Alyosha muttered.

“How is Six-Eight-Nine?” Glaser asked. “Is he still treating you well?”

“”If he wasn’t then I wouldn’t even be here,” Alyosha replied with a small smile. “And how about Five-Seven-Three? How is she?”

“She’s still here,” Glaser replied. “To tell you the truth, Alyosha, she’s actually more excited for this than I am, so if you think I’m getting a bit too happy about what’s happening here, it’s probably her personality leaking through into mine.”

“Ah, that probably explains it,” Alyosha nodded.

“And how about Three-Four-Six? Is she and Anna Sergeyevna getting along?”

“Like two peas in a pod,” Alyosha replied. “The lieutenant has even gone as far as saying Three-Four-Six’s arrival was the best thing that happened in her life.”

“Good, good,” Glaser nodded. “We’ll keep talking about this on the way. Right now, let’s get President Fedorchuk to the City Hall to witness the signing of the Instrument of Surrender.”

“Of course, Major,” Alyosha nodded.

 NEW JEHOVA 0 - 1 ESTORVIPA AND ESTORPIVA
                  PRASUTAGUSIC (10')

STARTING ELEVEN VS. THE REPUBLIC OF WESTERN SOL
GK: Vidanova; DF: Kessler——Birkov——Krasnenko——Krastenkovic; MF: Vinogradovsky——Potritskij; Roberto——Davydov——Roberta; FW: Prasutagusic

[Dispertag]

Dispertag's National Football Team features

The mascot:

The mascot, as could be deduced, is the national animal, the eagle. This friendly fellow who travels with us every game is in charge of flying over rival areas in search of meat to hunt. When he locates his prey he swoops at 240 km / h to attack and kill it. That is the spirit that represents our players, our team and football and our country. The eagle, the Dispertagueños, devour their prey with pecks without mercy. Win, win and WIN.

The motto:

Our Team receives the nickname of "aguileña" (the columbine) due to a curious play on words. It consists of the following: on the one hand, the national animal is the eagle, shown on the flag holding the shield. Due to this there is an adjective in Dispertag "aquiline/a" that arose to refer to the long and thin faces due to the resemblance to eagles. Since the citizens of Dispertag were very aquiline, the team began to be called like that; On the other hand, the dispertagueses landscapes are in turn full of a flower, common throughout the country, also called aguileña (columbine), paradoxically. For these two reasons we receives this nickname "La aguileña".


The badge:

The shield consists of a round with the orange and the white cross characteristic of our flag. At the top, representing the Royal Household, the crown of the ruling lineage in Dispertag. In the middle, the columbine flower, an unequivocal symbol of the dispertagués athletes. Behind, the cascade of undulating white and blue lines typical of our shield. Below, the mascot, the national animal, the eagle, holding the name of the nation with its claws.

The tradition:

It is common in Dispertag, in the sports tradition, to commemorate those players, coaches and great sports figures who have perished with columbines in their burning chapels, on their statues and on their tombstones. For this reason, the columbine has a very important symbolism in Dispertag that, despite representing gloomy and mournful moments, conveys to the citizens the pride of someone who has achieved a feat, has done a great job and has served their country with dignity.

Some chants that can be heard in the stands:

DIS-PER-TAG
demonstrate to the opponent fans
WHO-IS-THE-*** (homophobic insult)

Dispertag campeón
demuéstrale al rival
quién es el ******* (insulto homófobo)

---

The columbine without compassion
moves the ball with speed,
pecks the illusion
of the opponent who ruthlessly destroys
scoring a final goal
ROM-POM-POM
Neither compassion nor pity
THE AGUILEÑA TO THE END

La aguileña sin compasión
mueve la pelota con velocidad,
rompe a picotazos la ilusión
del oponente que destroza sin piedad
marcando un golazo de colofón
ROPO-POM-POM
Ni compasión ni piedad
LA AGUILEÑA HASTA EL FINAL

---

Dispertag ahead
withering eagle
here is what you deserve
to the already surrendered enemy
withering eagle
Dispertag forward!

Dispertag adelante
águila fulminante
al enemigo ya rendido
aquí tienes tu merecido
águila fulminante
¡Dispertag adelante!

[Peko-land]

The Wanderer in a Pink Jacket - Chapter 2

Chapters
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2

(From the perspective of a mysterious Demon Lord subject.)

Ah, The Demon Lord's Realm. Possibly the most beautiful place in the world. The river that splits the capital in two is clearer than ever. People are walking around the main street, going to work or to pray, or just to enjoy the scenery. Despite its scary-sounding name, The Demon Lord's Realm is a small city-state and a subject of Pekoland. There is no demon army or tyrannical ruler to be afraid of.

A place this pretty obviously attracts visitors, one of which is a mysterious man wearing a pink-colored jacket. His presence is known to be cursed, inexplicable things happen around him, a man like this simply cannot be allowed to ruin the peace and quiet of the Demon Lord's Realm.

I know he is dangerous, I have warned everyone I could see about him but no one has listened to me. Without a care, he goes around and talks to everyone, learns about them, and becomes their friend. I know his black magic will show itself eventually, so all I have to do is wait.

Somehow he even managed to meet the Demon Lord, who hates talking to men. He went inside the Demon Lord Castle and came out with his pen and paper in hand, presumably taking notes to write in his travel book. He then visited the Grand Shrine, took more notes and walked away.

A couple days passed, nothing weird yet but I'll keep watching him. I know he wants to ruin this place, when he casts his magic I will stop him immediately, and be a hero.

He brought in a friend. A heretic missionary from Pekoland. The two look to be planning something around the river, his time to strike is soon. He has fallen into my trap.

There are huge signs around the river, I can't read them from the distance I am from but they are surely not for any good.

I learned from a friend of mine that the missionary was planning a boat race in the river, it's unacceptable, such a thing would ruin the peace and quiet of this town.

I wanted to warn everyone about the preposterous project that is the boat race, but everyone seemed excited about it. Damn wanderer, he cast his magic before I could even realize. How foolish of me to think that he wasn't 2 steps ahead of me.

Today is the day. Everyone took their places to watch the race unfold. The Demon Lord has a special seat towards the end.

The race was "fun" to watch, it finished close between 2 racers. The wanderer took off to the sunset back towards Pekoland. I lost completely but this will not be the end. I will take revenge on that damned man.

[Graintfjall]

RP cutoff for MD4 (Groups A&B)

News

Háttmark

• Protests have died down. As the winter chill sets in only the hardiest political agitators are out on the streets now.
• A Papal delegation is in town. You can expect to see increased security, and churches will be packed as Catholics vie for a blessing.
  Altendalur
• Much of the country's fishing fleet is in Altendalur harbor as fierce storms churn the seas to the north. Some environmentalists blame the harsh conditions on climate change.
• The annual Tattoo, a military parade featuring drumming and fire-dancing, will take place this weekend.

Weather: Very strong winds, driving wind, first touches of snow in the air as temperatures fall.

Reminder: tomorrow is an off-day for everyone.

Group A
United Adaikes 3–2 Dod Rava
Estorvipa and Estorpiva 3–0 The Republic of Western Sol
Kingdom of Atlantia 0–1 New Jehova

  Group A                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 United Adaikes                   4   3  1  0    9   5  +4   10
2 Estorvipa and Estorpiva          3   3  0  0    7   1  +6    9
3 Magnecia                         3   2  1  0    7   4  +3    7
4 New Jehova                       4   1  2  1    3   3   0    5
5 The Republic of Western Sol      4   1  0  3    6  12  −6    3
6 Dod Rava                         3   0  0  3    4   7  −3    0
7 Kingdom of Atlantia              3   0  0  3    3   7  −4    0

Group B
Takeshwar 2–3 Taksylvania
Rhubarbton 1–3 Ardengard
The Finntopian Empire 0–2 Metherwoll

  Group B                        Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ardengard                        4   3  1  0    8   2  +6   10
2 República Guanacasteca           3   2  1  0    3   0  +3    7
3 Metherwoll                       4   1  2  1    2   1  +1    5
4 Taksylvania                      3   1  0  2    4   6  −2    3
5 Rhubarbton                       3   0  2  1    1   3  −2    2
  The Finntopian Empire            3   0  2  1    2   4  −2    2
7 Takeshwar                        4   0  2  2    4   8  −4    2

[Tumbra]

MD4 Cutoff - Groups C & D

It's the fourth matchday of seven — please take note of the 48-hour gap between this match and the next.

Group C
Winnebogan 1–2 Kingdom of Voidstania
The Karodin Tetrachy 0–1 Pekoland
Dispertag 3–0 Allahai

. Group C                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pekoland                   4   4  0  0   11   3  +8   12
2 Dispertag                  3   2  1  0    7   2  +5    7
3 Kingdom of Voidstania      3   2  0  1    5   5   0    6
4 The Karodin Tetrachy       3   1  0  2    3   5  −2    3
5 Surgeius                   3   1  0  2    3   7  −4    3
6 Winnebogan                 4   0  2  2    5   7  −2    2
7 Allahai                    4   0  1  3    4   9  −5    1

Group D
Texkentuck 1–2 The Cordian Isles
Jeeves Land 0–3 StrayaRoos
Aerodon 1–0 Acceptably Normal

. Group D                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Cordian Isles          3   3  0  0   10   4  +6    9
2 Aerodon                    3   2  1  0    5   3  +2    7
3 Soldera                    3   2  0  1    5   3  +2    6
4 StrayaRoos                 4   2  0  2   11  10  +1    6
5 Acceptably Normal          4   1  0  3    2   5  −3    3
6 Texkentuck                 4   1  0  3    6  10  −4    3
7 Jeeves Land                3   0  1  2    0   4  −4    1

[Soldera]

The bye couldn't come at a better time for Soldera.

Sure, they were 2-0-1 in three matches in the Baptism of Fire Cup and were within striking distance of a knockout round berth heading into the bye for all teams. But a deflating 1-0 loss to Tje Cordian Isles as Hannah Andersen notched the clutch goal for Cordia took "a lot" out of the team, midfielder and team captain Joey Westway said.

"It was a tough result for us, especially against a team we're likely to be in a dogfight with for the group title," Westway said as he looked down at the floor. The bank of video cameras and microphones stared back at him as he recounted the 82nd minute Andersen tally.

"George [Rollings, the Snakes goalkeeper] was just caught out of position," he said. "Give Andersen credit. She did a phenomenal job to get him to guess wrong on that."

As for Westway, he played the full match despite his age and his tendency to tire toward the end. He'd hobbled from the shower to the stool sitting in front of his locker in the Snakes dressing room. He sat down clad only in his towel and drops of water still danced on his bare chest, and the effects of the water still pressed down on his leg hair. He'd sit and patiently answer questions from media, even if they were absurdly inane questions. Each reporter noted the somber look on his face as his eyes stared at the floor.

Rollings, for his part showered, dressed, and exited the dressing room in record time, not waiting around for the media. He would get a scolding from manager Norm Carricker for not answering questions from "dudes who couldn't hold [his] jock," as he'd crudely explain to Carricker. Still, Rollings issued a statement apologizing for not answering questions, and for leaving Westway to answer for him.

"I really don't know what Rollings saw before Anderson scored," Westway said. "You're going to have to ask him that question," he said without realizing that Rollings wasn't around to ask the question. After the team had gotten back to the hotel and Rollings reached his hotel room with reserve goaltender Jeff Bannister, Westway was waiting outside the room.

"Man, you put me in a difficult spot," Westway told Rollings.

"I was in no fucking mood to talk to the media," Rollings said, punctuating his statement with a glare that made clear to Westway that he wasn't joking around. "You're the captain. It's your responsibility."

"It's EVERYONE's responsibility," Westway said. "Coach wants you to call him."

Rollings rolled his eyes as he pressed his key to the fob and opened the door. He saw Bannister sitting on his bed with his own somber look.

"Coach wants you to call him," Bannister said. "I'll head down to the lobby if you need privacy."

"Good idea," Rollings said sharply. Too sharply, he thought immediately after he'd spat the words out of his mouth. Bannister said, "see ya later. Text me when you're done."

"OK," Rollings said. Then he called Carricker.

"George, what the fuck were you thinking leaving the dressing room tonight?" Carricker said as soon as he'd answered the phone. No "hello?" No small talk. Just "What the fuck were you thinking?"

"I wasn't in any fucking mood to talk to the media," Rollings said.

"I wasn't either. I know Joey wasn't," Carricker said. "You think any one of us want to talk to the media after a loss like that? That's still a responsibility we all have. Not just me. Not just Joey, but all of us."

After a few heated moments, Carricker finally calmed down enough and the phone call ended tersely. The next morning, after both men had a chance to calm down, that's when Carricker delivered the news. Bannister would start for the Snakes against Texkentuck. Carricker had always intended to start Bannister for at least one match and he'd also hoped to give third choice goalie Nestor Gomez an opportunity to start during the group stage, but this wasn't just a "let's see what he's got start." This was punitive. Like Bannister's not starting the second match against StrayaRoos was punitive. Carricker always intended for Rollings to start the Cordia match, but he was willing to stick with the hot goalkeeper after that. Now? Carricker had a message to send, and Bannister would be the beneficiary of that message for one match at least.

As for Bannister, he'd learned his lesson from being out on the town following the opening victory against Acceptably Normal that was suddenly beginning to feel like a faded memory. He was not going to go out drinking and carousing, and he certainly wasn't going to be on the patrol for some off-pitch action until the time came for the break between the end of this Baptism of Fire Cup and World Cup qualifying.

As for the Snakes, their offense was of concern with the team scoring only five goals from three matches, even though they couldn't complain too much about conceding three goals from three. They'd done just enough against StrayaRoos to retain the tiebreaker against that side, even though Cordia had the advantage over Soldera. Still, there were only eight teams that would qualify for the knockout rounds in this tournament. For this edition of the Snakes to become the first one to advance out of the group stage in Solderan footballing history, they still had a lot of work to do.

[Kingdom of Voidstania]

A storm rolled over the Capitol of Tundra, rain hitting the Voidstanian players. The half had just ended, and Voidstania was losing. Team Captain Hugh Mcbride and the others were gathered around Salvatore Miller as he began to finish his speech "Men, we've fought hard this game. I can see the fight in you all. We cannot give up! For Voidstania!" With that the players went back onto the field. It had been a rough game without Wise, Mcbride thought. Day hadn't gotten into a groove yet, and he had yet to score. In the 62nd minute Day went off, and Ian Sutton went on. But as the 70th minute approached, Voidstanian moral went down, and as Cortez went down the wing, Mcbride doubted his ability. But something saved him. In one of the booths, Mcbride noticed someone he had not expected to be here. Void. The King. And that gave Mcbride the boost he needed. As Cortez made the cross, Mcbride made perfect contact and cracked it, the poor goalkeeper standing no chance. And with that, moral was back. In the 85th minute, Owen had the ball and dribbled just into the box, passing to Sutton, who was at the edge of the penalty arc. Sutton took the risky shot and with cheers from the Voidstanians, they were winning. And it was a win, they needed.


AFTER THE GAME
McBride opened the door to the roof of the hotel they were staying at, surprised to see Ian Sutton already there, smoking a cigarette. "Hey Ian, some game." Mcbride said.
"Eh, if Wise was able to play we'd have steamrolled 'em,"

"True, but at least we gave them a chance,"

"We almost lost Hugh."

A silence filled the air for a second, the hum of fans working to cool the hotel was the only thing to be heard.

"You know the next game day right" Sutton said, dropping his cigarette and stomping on it. "Pekoland vs Dispetag, Voidstania vs Karodin Tetrarchy. In two days, we make or break. And if we play like we did today, we break.'

'Ian, there is no need to be pessimistic"

"I'm not being a pessimist. I'm speaking the truth. You know it, I know it. We only won that bloody game because the king showed up! If we play like we did today, we lose. Plain. Simple. Easy. Now I suggest you get some rest. The team needs its captain in perfect shape for our biggest game yet."

[StrayaRoos]

MD3-Gillman
StrayaRoos 3 (Cahill 34,81,Juric 90+3)
Textentuck 0
HT 1-0 Att.39801
StrayaRoos-Realaw-Okuna,Poalian,Jedinak,Forsberg
Fitzsimmons,Bale,Hazard,Guala
Cahill,Juric
Textentuck-Unknown

MD4-Gillman
StrayaRoos 3 (Juric 9,Kewell 39,Kaiplo 81)
Jeeves Land 0
HT 2-0 Att.16908
StrayaRoos-Yesak-Okuna,Poalian,Jedinak,Forsberg
Fitzsimmons,Bale,Hazard
Kaiplo,Juric,Kewell
Jeeves Land-Unknown

Cruz Kaiplo,Our new Star?
Cruz Kaiplo,the 34th international player capped for StrayaRoos Has made an impact in tumbra with 2 goals in 3 games,with many foreign clubs f;lputting him on their interest lists as the Union Zalk Striker scored 12 Goals in 18 Games last season in SFL2 that earnt him an call-up to The BoF Squad and has gotten several goals in his short international career

Cruz Kaiplo Statistics
Club
2017:Menai FC 1 (0)
2017-19:Real Menai 6 (1)
2020-:Union Zalk 31 (15)
2017- CLUB 38 (16)
International
2016-17:StrayaRoos U13 1(0)
2017-20 StrayaRoos U20 4 (1)
2021- StrayaRoos 3 (2)
2016- International 8 (3)

[The Cordian Isles]

The Cordasfjord Post

---

Cordia Stays On Top

---

Couno, TUMBRA- It was a win over Texkentuck last night for the Cordians, who were playing a mix of reserves and starters for the match. While it was expected by most to be relatively easy, it turned out not to be as one of their strikers (the roster has not been released, and their jerseys have only numbers, no names) took a pass from a midfielder on the side of the net early in the first half, shooting high enough to avoid a desperate jump from Jordi Jongen. Cordia responded quickly, with Jorie Rounds leveling the score at one eleven minutes later. Rounds took a pass from Nicholas Eriksen, cutting to the middle and releasing a shot which the Texkentuck keeper would be unable to stop.

The match was tied at one going into halftime, and that was concerning. Texkentuck was supposed to be an easy win, and a loss to them would not only kill momentum but also set them back in the standings. When the match restarted, Cordia gradually built momentum with solid passing and possession play, not giving Texkentuck an inch of space to use to their advantage. With shots on goal came corners and set pieces, which only added to the momentum. Texkentuck seemed in desperation mode, even as they were tied up with the North Stars. Nicholas Eriksen, fast turning into one of the team’s star players, took the fateful corner. As the ball sped across the box, it was Rasmus Karlssen who read its path perfectly, heading it in for the match-deciding goal.

This victory puts Cordia on top of Group D by two points, with an undefeated Aerodon sitting at 7 and Soldera and StrayaRoos each at 6 with two wins. Three teams remain with perfect records: Estorvipa and Estorpiva of A, Pekoland of C, and our own Cordians, of D. Next up for the North Stars is Jeeves Land, a side who have only managed a draw and one point, though this came against an Aerodon team currently at second in Group D. The race to qualify in Group D looks to be an interesting one. Cordia has the advantage, with three wins and the head-to-head over Soldera, but Aerodon is looking like a tough opponent and currently has the points lead on Aerodon. The two play on the final matchday in a match that could essentially serve as an extra knockout match depending on how things shake out over the next few days.

Statwatch

---

Cordian Points Leaders:
Eriksen      5
Voll         3
Osterholt    2
Andersen     2
Karlssen     2
Karjalainen  2
Rounds       1

Cordian Goals Leaders:
Eriksen      3
Voll         3
Osterholt    2
Andersen     1
Karlssen     1
Rounds       1

Cordian Assists Leaders:
Eriksen      2
Karjalainen  2
Andersen     1
Karlssen     1

Eriksen is one of the tournament's biggest surprises, with three goals and two assists making him the points leader overall. Sebastian Voll follows, with three goals in three matches, a solid performance from him. Hannah Andersen is on the list too, sitting tied for third as she looks to make a statement in the Baptism to not only increase her transfer prospects but also to take the sting out of the fallout that still remains from her transfer request announcement.

---

As the team celebrated their victory in the dressing room, a few voices were to be heard, coming from outside the room. They sounded vaguely like a drunken man trying to make a bird call. Harmless. The team went back to celebrating. But as people began to think about leaving for the hotel, the bird calls were still to be heard.

Then the door opened. Everyone in the room looked towards it, wondering who might be coming into the room at this time.

It was a Texkentuck fan. Very drunk, too. “KAWL! KAWL! KAWL! I’ll drink the champagne from your cup!”

Sebastian Voll was the first to respond. “Two points. First, we don’t have a cup, this match wasn’t the final. You can tell because Texkentuck played in it.” The man was visibly confused. “Second, you really don’t need any champagne right now. For the sake of your safety and that of every person in Tumbra, don’t drive yourself to your hotel.” Voll grabbed his shoulders and shoved him out the door.

“Well, that was interesting. The celly may continue. Or end. Preferably end, let’s get some sleep for tomorrow.”

[Peko-land]

OOC: I uh, I accidentally pasted my new post into the old one and hit submit...
This was awkward...

[Dispertag]

The Referee's Bulletin
Your source for dispertagués football latest news

Two clean sheets and a job well done 17th December 2021

---

Who was going to say to our players, and to all the dispertagueños, that Dispertag could remain undefeated in the first three qualifying games, with a draw and two resounding victories, despite being a debutant. There is no doubt that the dream that is being lived throughout the country and, especially, in football circles and close to the Aguileña is the result of a job well done. It was known to all the efforts that had been made from the beginning by Martín Galán Expósito and the entire technical team and the Federation so that Dispertag would jump to the fore and that, hopefully one day, our nation will reach the top of the podium to rub shoulders with the greats of this sport. Was this challenge too big for us, this kit? Maybe. What has been shown, however, is that they have grown more than enough to deserve to wear this jersey and be proud of the road they have traveled. There is still a wide horizon ahead, but "caminante no hay camino, se hace camino al andar"/"walker there is no path, the path is made by walking" (Antonio Machado, renowned poet from Dispertag).

Yesterday's match produced great sensations in the Aguileña game and great feelings in the hearts of the fans. The illusion for the quarterfinals is growing and getting closer and closer. After a heated reception by fans at the gates of Couno Port Stadium amid shouts of: ¡La Aguileña fulminante, Dispertag adelante! ¡Viva la Aguileña! and ¡Viva Dispertag! The team went to the locker room to prepare for their exit to the field of play. The Couno Port was packed with people, it was packed to the brim, with almost 51,000 spectators, including thousands of Tumbrans eager to enjoy a great confrontation between Dispertag and Allahai, for which they had the winning impulse that the Aguileña brought from its last game.

Three are the goals that served to give victory to ours. Three out of three different players. Among them, the second of them, a defender. Do not go away if you want to know who the scorers were, how the goals were and how the ranking of the national team's top scorer and top assistant is going for now.

The game started with the usual starting eleven and a very calm game. Although the rival did not reach our goal, we were not able to do much more until after the first half hour of play. Then, as if by magic, perhaps because of the anger that Martín showed in the band with the constant screams and gestures, the game style changed and the team regained the usual offensive drive with the support of a fireproof central midfield. At the hands of the star Monrós Saldaña the first goal came thanks to a cross pass from Cortés Quintana, with whom he has very good chemistry, which helped him to finish off a bounce early against the goal. Opportunities continued, including a shot from Solís Suárez to the post and another great attempt from outside the area by Maldonado Fernández that went just over the net.

At the end of the break, received the necessary motivation not to get out of the line they had already reached, they jumped onto the field with the same offensive start. And this paid off. Just six minutes after the mandatory break, a shot came in 51 ', receiving the ball from a corner kick taken by Andrade Cisneros from the right corner, with a header that put the ball in the lower left corner of the goal, where it was impossible to reach for the rival goalkeeper. The lucky scorer was Heredia Prieto, central defender of the dispertagués defense. Definitely deserved the celebration.

In 65 'the changes commanded by Galán Exposito took place. The coach decided to rest the two men of the match: Monrós Saldaña and Andrade Cisneros, as well as Buenaventura Tomillo; whose places were occupied by Guillén Bolaños, Arias Infante and Ayala Carrascosa respectively. The match unraveled placidly for the dispertagués team who saw how the opponent, powerless, tried to break the team's winning game but their attempts fell on deaf ears. To top off the game, recently joined forward Guillén Bolaños scored a remarkable goal from the left edge of the area after a deep pass from Arias Infante. The euphoria in the stands was total and the joy of the players supreme.

After the match ended, at the press conference, Martín expressed his personal satisfaction with the team and the two clean sheets achieved, and warned against the incipient match, where he will have to face against the leader of the group, Peko-land, who has not still been defeated. He commented on the difficulties it will be to reach Moona's impregnable goal considering the great lineup of said opponent, although he also said that he would rejoice very much to beat Usada Pekora, Her Majesty The Princess.

Top Scorers(Pichichi):

1. Monrós Saldaña ³
2. Solís Suárez ¹
   Cruz Aranda
   Heredia Prieto
   Guillén Bolaños

Top assistant Providers:

1. Cortés Quintana ²
2. Zúñiga Echevarría ¹
   de Andrade Cisneros
   Arias Infante

[Estorvipa and Estorpiva]

"How's the situation in Feuerstadt, Alyosha?" Major Klaudia Glaser asked Alyosha Damiric as the latter drove from the airport of Feuerstadt to the town's city hall. Also in the car with Glaser and Damiric were Major Grigoriy Umalin of the Pridnestrovian Military Intelligence Directorate and Kirill Fedorchuk, President of the Federation of Estorvipa. "Do the locals know that their leaders plan to surrender to the Republic of Estorpiva?"

"Not yet, Major," Damiric shook his head. "But if they were to learn about it, I suspect that the majority of the people, both Pivans and Vipans, would actually love that it was finally happening."

"Would you like to elaborate on that, Sergeant?" Fedorchuk asked, referring to Damiric by his rank in the Estorvipan Defense Forces.

"Well, Mr. President, remember how the Pivans originally sided with the Pridnestrovian invaders during the beginning of the Civil War?" Damiric replied. "It seems that our anarchist friends in the north did remember, and thus they've been blocking the flow of Imperial aid and supplies to the State of Estorpiva, and there isn't a thing that the leaders of the State can do anything about it. Not if they want to keep their positions and their lives, that is. And after two years of living in denial, Denys Ihorovych and his cohorts have finally admitted to themselves that the Pivan people would have been much better off had they remained allied with Pridnestrovia."

"And they came to this realization all on their own, yes?" Fedorchuk asked. "You and our Pridnestrovian friends did not help them make this realization?"

"Of course not, Mr. President," Damiric shook his head. "Much as they would have wanted to do it, the Pridnestrovians held their silence until it was the Pivans who made the first move and made contact."

"And Ihorovych and his fellow leaders? I trust that they are being treated fairly and well," Fedorchuk said.

"Of course, Mr. President," Damiric replied. "Major Pavlov is working with Captain Ciprian of the TPPF to make sure that nothing bad happens to the leaders of the State of Estorpiva."

"The TPPF? What's that?" Fedorchuk asked.

"The True Pivan Protection Forces, Mr. President," Major Glaser answered for Damiric. "They were members of the old Pivan Protection Forces who chose not to join their leaders in switching sides and thus turned themselves into a guerrilla force fighting to expel the Imperials and their Communard puppets from the rightful Pivan homeland."

"I'm surprised that they have managed to make it this far without having been beaten to submission by the Imperials," Fedorchuk said. "I remember the Imperials brutally cracking down on the secessionist movement of one of their recently acquired territories even while they were sending 'advisors' to Estorvipa to assist their puppets here."

"It would seem that the Imperials are now much more focused in propping up their anarchist puppets in the Estorvipan Commune than in cracking down on the other dissident groups in your country, Mr. President," said Major Umalin, speaking up for the first time in this conversation. "Anouchka Belicic and her merry band of gangsters are being forced to enact more brutal measures to keep their people from rising up against them, leaving them unable to act upon any unrest elsewhere in the Estorian lands, and their Imperial 'advisors' are also busy helping them out by snatching the more vocal dissidents of the streets of Tarkovska and Krasevets and the other cities under their control. This has meant that the other puppets have been allowed to basically run their own affairs and deal with their own dissidents accordingly. You already know about Vissarion Zhivkov and his Estorvipan People's Republic, and the fascist gangsters and cartel leaders in the Estorpivan Social Republic are handling it like the Mafiya bratva that they are. That leaves only the State of Estorpiva as being unable to get a handle on the dissidents in their own turf."

"In fact, Mr. President, you could make the argument that the TPPF is actually in control of more Estorpivan territory than the State of Estorpiva itself," Alyosha Damiric added. "That was how we were able to secure both the airport and city hall before you and Prime Minister Traianescu arrived. We made contact with the TPPF and had them secure the entire town of Feuerstadt before confronting Ihorovych about his intention to surrender. Once we had made sure that they were legitimately surrendering, we put the TPPF to work securing the city hall and the road to the airport and called it in. And now, Mr. President, this is where you and the Prime Minister come in."

"I see," Fedorchuk nodded, and then he kept quiet for the rest of the journey while he contemplated the situation as a whole.

They finally arrived at the Feuerstadt City Hall, which had been serving at the seat of government for the State of Estorpiva since the end of hostilities between the Imperium and their puppet states and the Pridnestrovian invaders and their puppet states. There were plans for the Imperium and the Estorvipan Commune to assist the State of Estorpiva in building a new facility to serve as the State's new seat, but the facility and the supplies needed to build it simply never materialized in the two years between the ceasefire and the present, so the State of Estorpiva was handling most of its affairs from the small and clearly inadequate Feuerstadt City Hall. Kirill Fedorchuk thought he could see men wearing military gear over civilian clothes walking around the city hall, but he didn't get a good look at them before Damiric drove the car into the city hall's underground parking lot. Just before he did so, Damiric called out on his radio, "Hotel-Five has arrived at Central with Face and Alfa Team."

"Copy, Hotel-Five. Hotel-One and Hotel-Four will be waiting for you downstairs."

Damiric drove the car towards the employees' entrance, where a man and a woman were waiting for them. They, like Damiric and the men patrolling the city hall that Fedorchuk saw, were wearing military gear similar to the ballistic vest that had been given to him by Major Umalin, and they were carrying Kalashnikov-pattern rifles. The car stopped in front of the man and the woman, but just as Fedorchuk made to open the door, Umalin stopped him. "We'll go out first, Mr. President, if you don't mind," Umalin said. "For your security, of course."

Umalin and Glaser went out of the car first, and then the other man and woman approached the door on Fedorchuk's side and opened it. They immediately flanked Fedorchuk as he got out to protect him from any potential attackers. "Hotel-One and Hotel-Four is with Face now," the man reported on his radio. "Proceeding upstairs."

"Go ahead, Hotel-One. We're waiting for you here."

"If you'll follow me please, Mr. President," the man said to Fedorchuk.

"Lead the way," Fedorchuk nodded. The man nodded back, and he and the second woman led Fedorchuk through the maze of corridors that made up the Feuerstadt City Hall. They went up an emergency staircase and into the third floor, where more men wearing a mix of civvies and military gear were standing guard. The man escorting Fedorchuk nodded at the guards, who nodded back and stepped aside while Fedorchuk and his escorts entered one of the rooms in the third floor. There were already three other people in the room, Prime Minister Victor Traianescu of the State of Estorpiva and his Pridnestrovian escorts.

"How did we manage to get ourselves into this situation, huh, Victor?" Fedorchuk asked as he sat down across the table from Traianescu.

"We both knew that there was going to be a heavy price to be paid when we took it upon ourselves to lead the Vipan and Pivan people out of the chaos that had been brought upon us by the anarchists and their Imperial masters, Kirill," Traianescu replied. "This is the price that must be paid."

"To tell the truth, Victor, this wasn't exactly what I had in mind when it comes to the price that must be paid," Fedorchuk sighed. "I never thought that we would have to skulk back to our homeland just to secure the surrender of one of the puppet states."

"On that, we certainly agree," Traianescu nodded. "Tea?"

"No thanks," Fedorchuk shook his head. "I'm already nervous as it is." I don't want to embarrass myself by having to answer the call of nature during these negotiations, he continued to himself.

Right at that moment, another man wearing a plate carrier and combat webbing poked his head into the room and announced, "Prime Minister, Mr. President, we're ready for you."

"That's our cue, Kirill," Traianescu said as he set down his cup of tea and stood up. "Let's restore order to Estorpiva and Estorvipa."

"I'll be right behind you, Victor," Fedorchuk nodded, and he also stood up and followed Traianescu into the next room.

 ESTORVIPA AND ESTORPIVA 3 - 0 THE REPUBLIC OF WESTERN SOL 
           ROBERTA (12')
      PRASUTAGUSIC (35')
           ROBERTO (53')

STARTING ELEVEN VS. DOD REVA
GK: Enin; DF: Kessler——Birkov——Krasnenko——Krastenkovic; MF: Vinogradovsky——Potritskij; Roberto——Davydov——Roberta; FW: Prasutagusic

[Guanacasteca]

Servicio Guanacasteco de Noticias

A Quick Analysis of What We Have Done

José Murillo, at Græntfjall for the 77^th Baptism of Fire.

The Pigs have reached the half of the Baptism of Fire 77 Group Stage as of now, despite some teams have faced four matches, our boys have only done three since they already had the bye day, while some teams such as Ardengard haven’t done so yet. In a quick resume of what The Pigs have done, the key word is “concentration” David Monterroza and company, with the support of a reliable Han Ruoyang, have managed to keep a solid wall between the midfield and the goal defended by the reliable Sergio González.

As of now the República Guanacasteca stands, proudly for us, as the only team that hasn’t allowed a goal during the tournament, this is because of three clean sheets in the same number of matches and also three goals scored. The management of tempo from Ricardo Linton has been successful enough in the midfield, as he has managed to conjoint in a great fashion with Víctor Calderón and Rodrigo Marín. Those three players have managed to pass good balls to Kenneth Ingram (scored against Metherwoll) and Sean Fuller (who scored two goals against) Taksylvania have demonstrated such situation.

Swift passes from them and then betting for a fast onslaught from the wings in order to close the grip and score past the opponent has been helpful, as their speed hasn’t been matched, as of now, by any rival trying to prevent this duo from scoring a goal (although they didn’t score past Ardengard). Also, offensive duties haven’t been a priority as the same Han has said before, he prefers to aim, for a team, that might resist offensive counterattacks or onslaughts keeping a zero than a team with tactical disorders. Monterroza and Linton have coordinated in a timely fashion themselves, surpassing the expectations of many fans that thought that their relationship would be marked by an ego fight, instead, cooperation has been noticeable as the hand of Han as well.

It doesn’t matter if you’re northerner or southerner is a common phrase in The Pigs’ environment, Han has betted a lot on creating said feeling in order to see the cooperation he loves to feel and perceive into his teams. The team has been working like a clock, where every gear has been working with excellent timing; from the keeper to the strikers, be it bench players, field players or staff, the feeling is there’s and it’s completely noticeable. Despite being the 5th team (tied) with less goals in the competition, having the capacity to score few but match-deciding goals is something that we must ponder properly rather than outscoring opponents and not showing a cohesive game scheme.

Possession hasn’t been our strongest part for us, as we have been averaging a 35% of possession in all of our matches, not good precisely but fitting into the Guanacastecan way of things in regards of football. Slowly but steady, the philosophy of keeping our goal as tidy as possible has helped our strikers and midfielders to be more efficient while planning, as they must be aware that the team will not have more chances than the rival, hardly possible considering our current state of things in football. Instead, being capable to score with a great proportion between goals scored a shot done against the rival goal, speaks by itself on how efficient is this team’s mindset while attacking.

Another interesting fact is on how accurate we have been with our passes. Guanacasteca has been averaging an 85% of precision, high compared against most of the teams taking part of this Baptism of Fire. This might help to explain on why the team has been able to take advantage of movements from the defense to the offense that conclude in risky situations for the rivals. It might sound a bit “karela” as the Rejistanian pundits have dubbed defensive football in the World Cup order of things, but still, Guanacastecan football doing its job with an efficient scheme.

Still, tad early to talk about the future, but it’s safe to assume that are in the right path despite not having a spectacular game style such as Pekoland or The Cordian Isles, instead, we have effectiveness in our side to counter that situations. Defensive football has proven to be the glue the team needed to collaborate between themselves in a better way, and I say this because I saw this team performing badly in Huayramarca against local teams while attacking (and not having Han as an official manager by then).

We must keep in mind that we are only in the first half of the Group Stage, there’s a lot to be done if Guanacasteca wants to keep their position or improve it, this if the team keeps an eye on getting a better rival in the next stage. Strategies and decisions have to be made and taken, the team has to be in the best shape possible in order to qualify for the next round and, of course, avoiding a hard rival that could put The Pigs into real issues. No matter what, the lessons are being clear and Han has been building a solid team with chemistry and reliability when it matters, let’s support them in order to continue in this same exact path for the rest of BoF.