Episode 4 - The LastS01 | E01 | E02 | E03As the nation co-hosts the World Cup for the very
first time, it's time for one legendary star to finally
bow out, but he's not going without a final hurrah. Simeone Di Bradini
Striker, World Cup 20 (pictured in World Cup 18)
Narrator: "In the Twentieth World Cup, the multiverse descended on Starblaydia and Druida for a landmark edition of the undisputed greatest sporting event in existence. Starblaydia, qualifying as co-hosts with fellow Atlantian Oceania nation Druida, would set out the team that they hoped could take them all the way to the top in their own back yard. Guylain N'Dumbu-Nsungu selected his strongest possible team, which contained one name that stood out; it was at once entirely predictable, but also came as a total surprise.N'Dumbu-Nsungu had, for World Cup 20, a comparative wealth of talent that no Starblaydi manager had been able to work with up until that point. He had picked three men in the starting eleven who would go on to be the SFA's nominations for the World Cup Hall of Fame within the next twenty years or so. Jerome Montefalcon, who played in the Melmond Premier Division for Cali Purples and anchored the mifdield diamond so brilliantly, was at the peak of his powers at 28 years old, a man who'd captain his country four years later. Nick Matranga, at 23, was coming into the best years of his life for club and country, who could play either side of midfield with ease. Khim Azanulbizarn, who'd later lead Starblaydia as captain before taking up the managerial position to lead the team to a top three-finish at the World Cup on three separate occasions, was the dominant full-back on the left-hand side, so dangerous over short distances. These three were undeniably good and are in the frame for being in any all-time Starblaydia Elven.
Added to those you had players like the captain, Jean-Pierre Durand, who was so languid and elegant that he often looked like he was just having a warm-up while being the most competitively physical defender, who was so good on the ball. Tetsuo Naoki, playing for Floral FC in the Bedistan Premier League, was this explosive dynamo at the tip of the diamond. Marco Del Blanco and Darius Belizaire were a formidable partnership up front at national level, and Belizaire was in the mold of the ideal Starblaydi number 10 which Del Blanco constantly working hard just off his shoulder. Geraint Evens, who'd scored that magical AOCAF Cup-winning goal eight years earlier, sat squarely on the right of the midfield, supported brilliantly by Roberto Di Bradini behind him, using all the experience he'd picked up at PARANOiA UNiTED in Dance 2 Revolution.
The larger squad had a blend of experience from around the world, in the Vilitan Stellar division, Giant Zucchini Premier, and more, and overall this was arguably better than any Starblaydi team who had taken the field before. The way N'Dumbu-Nsungu rounded off his 23-man squad, though, was a huge long-shot gamble, but at the same time was also absolute genius. For the number 23 shirt, he picked the 39 year old Simeone Di Bradini.
Narrator: "It had been thought that Di Bradini had signed off on his international career four years earlier, as he captained the defending regional champions in the fifth AOCAF Cup, while also having special dispensation to turn out for the 'A' team in the qualifying campaign for World Cup 19."Back in the old days, the AOCAF was held pretty much at the same time as the World Cup. It was almost impossible for Starblaydia to send their best team to both tournaments, so the AOCAF became something of a 'B' team, where you try out the youngsters first, while giving the older players who have just lost that yard of pace a final chance to lend their experience to the new guys, as well as letting everyone on the fringes of the full squad to stake a claim for the next tournament. It's all different now, of course, but back in the day everything was a little more fast and loose with the timelines and the SFA did the best they could at the time.
So when, for AOCAF Cup 5 and World Cup 19, Simeone Di Bradini had, on one hand, the number 10 shirt and captain's armband for the AOCAF, he would fly back and forth to swap for the 23 shirt with the World Cup side. now this had never happened before in the previous four cycles that the SFA had entered, so essentially everyone thought that was his last hurrah - and what a hurrah.
Narrator: "Di Bradini would make seven appearances in the World Cup 19 campaign, scoring only once on the opening Matchday against Dead Rockstars - the third of a 3-1 victory. In the 5th AOCAF, however, he was nigh-on unstoppable."This was an aging squad, for the 5th AOCAF Cup, only two of the starters were under 30, and it was definitely seen as the last hurrah for that first full generation of players who had started in the third Under-21 Cup. Da Silva, Salisbury, Stark and Carter were all there alongside the captain, Simeone Di Bradini. It was their last chance, as they aimed to defend in Legalese the trophy that had been one on home soil four years before.
Di Bradini was a revelation, even at 35. He banged in four against Big Pimento, another two against Druid, one against Sarzonia, and then another one versus Druida in the double round-robin of a group stage. Starblaydia cruised that group with just a single 0-0 against Sarzonia on the final matchday when they'd already easily qualified. They came undone in the two-legged quarter-final against Turori, though, losing 3-1 in a game where Di Bradini scored yet again, then being dumped out with a 0-0 draw that kept the aggregate score at 3-1. It was slightly disappointing for the team to go out that early, but they'd acquitted themselves really well, and it although not quite the farewell the players had wanted, that's the way that international football goes more often than not.
So when the World Cup 20 roster is announced four years later, not all that many people are clamouring for 'SDB' to be in the side. At thirty-nine, player-managing for Kiiarana City as they were bouncing between the Vilitan Stellar and Declasse divisions, he was something of an afterthought. 43 goals in 82 appearances was a Starblaydi record and no-one was even close to that at the time. Belizaire was a lock, without question, and Del Blanco another definite, whether up front or vying with Naoki at the tip of the diamond. Squad players announced were the veteran Jakkinho, playing for Dawson Springs FC in the BPL of Bedistan, and the up and coming Juan Silva De Souza, because Corinthian Spirits always know how to coach a forward in their academy. But that wouldn't be all, because three strikers and a transitional Midfielder-Forward is just not enough for a tournament squad.
The other options open at the time included a thirty-five year old Eomer Hall, still big and bruising but not really fitting this squad's kind of style. Syku Lyku-Agbayani was still a teenager and, again, would be vying with at least four players across two different positions to get any game time at all. There was little to choose between for Kurt Recinos, Ilias Provatidis and Julio Matis, none of whom were really considered as the next big thing, very much journeymen in the grand scheme of things. So who would this fourth out-and-out striker be? The SFA and GNDN left it until the absolute last minute to announce their decision, and how long before they'd made the decision is still up for debate to this day, but they announced it with a ton of fanfare.
Narrator: "To the surprise of almost every journalist, fan and observer both inside and outside the game, the number 23 shirt was given to Simeone Di Bradini. Thirty-nine and all but retired, it sent a wave of excitement and disbelief across the country."Before this, the number 23 shirt was the ultimate afterthought of the Starblaydi national team roster. Sometimes a goalie, or a defender, or maybe a striker, or a player who just frankly wasn't expected to get all that much game time. After both World Cup 19 and now this stunt, the number 23 shirt was suddenly cool. Seemingly both retro and cutting-edge at the same time, it immediately became the shirt that every striker in the squad wanted if they weren't part of the manager's starting places.
The whole thing was certainly a PR stunt, at it's core, because a fifth-choice forward will rarely get any games in a World Cup - maybe only a few minutes here or there at absolute most. The key thing in the World Cup is just win the games, manage the injuries, get through everything with the starting eleven as best you can and see what happens. There's no room for emotional picks when it comes to the on-field action, but this inclusion was definitely an emotional pick.
It picked up the fans' interest even more, brought more casual eyes, domestically, to this festival of football that Starblaydia was co-hosting. They were guaranteed to fill the stadia already, but now there was a clamour and a buzz around the team as this aging warhorse came into the squad. The guy was already the all-time record top scorer for his country, record appearance maker too, so if you're the likes of Raphael Delgado, just twenty-one, and you're sitting on the bench next to a living legend, then you can't help but up your game to prove yourself.
Simeone Di Bradini didn't play in the first match, which although full of noise and vibrancy and celebration, was a 0-0 draw with Svecia. The dream debut just wasn't to be, and there was something of a frustrated fanbase that Starblaydia hadn't kicked off the opening match of the World Cup with a real bang. Next up was The Belmore Family.
Narrator: "Among the greatest names in the world in those early days was Alan Belmore. He, and a host of identically-named Belmore players, captured the multiverse's imagination. Whether they were all one man, a cohort of clones of the ruler of billionaire ruler of The Belmore Family, or simply lazy naming on the part of parents all across that nation, The Belmore Family and their national team were inseparable from the name Alan Belmore."Alan Belmore was one of the original "godmods", those players who seem to be able to effectively 'see the Matrix', understand the individual lines of code that makes up the rules of the world, and then well and truly break them for their own benefit, as and when they feel like it. This was a term that had applied to Simeone Di Bradini throughout his career and it's a legend that only ever really grows with time, as people who never saw him play have these grandiose ideas that every touch was a goal, or some such nonsense. Just as the likes of Alan Belmore or Jenji Y didn't score a game-winning hat trick every match, neither did SDB.
The expected Starblaydi starting eleven lined up against The Belmore Family's strongest side, and suddenly things went into overdrive. Starblaydia ran absolutely riot, it was like watching them play a kids team, it was unreal.
Narrator: "As the Foundation Road crowd in Starblaydia's captial city, Jhanna, raucously urged their team on, an exceptional game - from the home side's point of view - unfolded."Bang, Darius Belizaire, 1-0. Bang, Marco Del Blanco, 2-0. Alan Belmore pulls one back, but bang again, its Belizaire with a second and a three one lead. Foundation Road are in dreamland and Starblaydia are in almost complete control. Finally, this top-twenty side are absolutely thrashing someone in their home World Cup. It completely brings the tournament alive, as you're always relying on good performances - but not too good - from the home teams to get the atmosphere in the streets going, get everyone in the mood and up and bouncing, which transfers itself throughout all the visiting fans on the away trip of their lives. Everyone makes the most of it, and everyone in white was making the most of their opportunities. It was four-one once Geraint Evans had scored, and Starblaydia were in complete control of the match.
Archive footage wrote:"Foundation Road is in dreamland, here in the Starblaydi capital," said the SCB:Sports commentator Sven Motsonsson, surveying the sea of White and Purple in the stands who were singing and dancing in as Starblaydia were in the final minutes of a famous victory again The Belmore Family, "the fans are quite obviously delighted by this four-one scoreline, with around three minutes of normal time left."
The fans are having a real party, vastly outnumbering the visiting Belmore Family supporters. Then, with just minutes to go the main Starblaydi commentator, Sven Motsonsson, was nudged by his co-commentator Trevor Collins, who points down to the touchline, in front of the Starblaydi dugout. Most of the fans in the stadium can't see this going on, but slowly word goes around and there's this wave of realisation that starts to bubble up from one side of the stadium, spreading around like a living organism.
Archive footage wrote:"And It appears," Sven said, "that none other than Simeone Di Bradini is preparing to come on. This is incredible, Trevor."
"Indeed," Trevor Collins, former NEWI Cefn Druids midfielder and co-commentator for the game replied, "Guylain must think there aren't enough Godmods on the pitch, so he's bringing one on."
"Ha ha," Sven stifled a groan, "so, wearing number twenty-three, at the age of thirty-nine, can you believe it, Simeone Di Bradini is coming on to play in his fourth different World Cup.
"He's played in Kaze Progressa, Eauz, Turori and now in Starblaydia itself, taking the field: it's Simeone Di Bradini!"
People are standing up out of their seats and pointing, they're cheering, they're in disbelief at what they're actually getting to see. Tucking his shirt in, tying the cord at the front of his shorts, having his studs checked by the fourth official, and just hopping from side to side as a final warm-up is the man, the legend. The stadium announcer was so used to having called SDB's name when he was an Iskara Daii player - and let's not forget SDB had left this very stadium, the majority of the fans here had been his fans at club level twenty years earlier - he left this stadium as a club player to go to Alan City of The Belmore Family for a world-record fee at the time of forty million Alans. He was the original Galactico of the transfer window and there was absolutely no doubting that this was fate, this was history. Like poetry it was rhyming, as Simeone Di Bradini came on to face The Belmore Family with only a few minutes left on the clock.
Archive footage wrote:Sven was drowned out by the roar of the Starblaydi crowd as their ageing hero came on for Starblaydia's third and final substitution of the game.
"Could he, Sven?" Trevor asked, no-one needing to be told the question.
"It'd be 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff, certainly, if it did happen."
The Belmore Family players were half-heartedly knocking the ball around, looking for an opening. They had three goals to make up in three minutes and as much as there's never truly a lot cause in a sport like football until the final whistle goes, they were deflated and staring down the barrel of a heavy defeat that would scupper their chances of making the next round. Still, they attacked with a reasonable amount of intent. Down the left they went, but the ball was picked by Roberto Di Bradini in the right-back position, forced into the corner by the Belmorans, having to snatch at the ball to clear it away so it's not a corner or an attacking throw. Just get it down the field.
Archive footage wrote:"Roberto Di Bradini, with a quick clearance from the byline, under pressure from Paul Belmore. Falls to his older brother, excellent first touch of the game by Simeone, he's knocked it out wide for Matranga on the left.
Roberto just hoofs it down the pitch, and it curls inwards slightly into around the halfway line. Simeone is there, having not touched the ball yet, just making a vague nuisance of himself jogging around. He does that trademark technique of shielding as the ball arcs downwards, arms out to the side, backside nudging the defender, jockeying for position, and as he's made himself some room with his back to goal, instead of heading or chesting it down, he waits to volley it. Simple as anything, left foot, out wide to the left. It's a lovely little pass as Nick Matranga just takes it in his stride and spints away. You wouldn't think he'd been on the field for 90 minutes up and down that left flank, but he just
goes. The rest of the team follow him, but Simeone has already turned and breezed past his man, running hell for leather towards the box in support. He's lost that yard of pace that Matranga still has even while dribbling, but he's that crucial yard ahead of the Belmoran defender trying to track him.
Archive footage wrote:"Matranga, goes by Rick Moore, a great turn of speed, toward the box, a left-foot cross. Nodded back by Del Blanco for... Di Bradini! With an incredible goal! Twenty yards out, and he's found the back of the net with his second touch!
Del Blanco was in the box, but in an awkward position. Instead of trying an overhead kick, or twisting and turning with the defender on him, he sees that white shirt. It's a simple cushioned header to put it into Di Bradini's path. He's still outside the area but at full tilt he just unleashes this first-time right footed shot, and it's an absolute piledriver. As the crowd are in complete raptures, Di Bradini just puts his arms out to the side, and runs towards the corner. He's got the smile, the impossibly cool hair, and though there's a few more wrinkles than before, it's unmistakably the celebration of a player who's content in their existence. He even makes it most of the way before being absolutely mobbed by his teammates.
Archive footage wrote:"Its now Five-One for Stablaydia and the crowd here at Foundation Road have gone absolutely mental! This is some of the loudest celebration I've ever heard from a crowd! Its taken SDB four years to get back on the scoresheet since AOCAF Five, and now he's moved on to Forty-Four International Goals, extending his record yet further!"
44 goals nowadays, you're not even in the top ten. Thanks to the elves, thanks to a much more crowded international fixture list, tactical innovations, advances in nutrition and technology and all that, thanks too to there being much, much better Starblaydi squads in subsequent years providing their strikers with far more and far better opportunities, you're on the wrong end of an xG arms race with some of the players that have been before. At this moment, however, it's a record that no-one can conceive of breaking. After all, who could be as good as SDB?
Archive footage wrote:"And there it is! The final whistle, and Starblaydia have crushed The Belmore Family by Five goals to One. Two from Darius Belizaire, Marco Del Blanco and Geraint Evans with one each, and the match rounded off by Simeone Di Bradini with the fifth, from just his second touch of the ball. What a victory, as Starblaydia move up to Four points in Group A of the Twentieth World Cup. From Foundation Road this is Sven Motsonsson, for Trevor Collins, saying goodnight."
"-bitches!" Trevor managed to get in at the last second. "I've always wanted to say that, y'know."
Final score from Foundation Road (75,000):
_Starblaydia_ 5-1 _The Belmore Family_
_Belizaire (2), Del Blanco, Evans, S Di Bradini_ - _Belmore_
Narrator: "Simeone Di Bradini would play in one more match for his country, trying to repeat the marvelous trick in the Second Round match of that tournament against Bedistan. He failed, however, as Starblaydia were defeated 2-1 in Extra Time by Bedistan and knocked out of their own World Cup. His legacy, however, would remain for as long as people still played football, and he retired - and remains to this day - one of the most famous and recognised players in the history of the game. For all the subsequent achievements of later players, including several from the Di Bradini family itself, there would never be a Starblaydi player quite so iconic as 'SDB'."