Baptism of Fire 79

[Mertagne]

BAPTISM OF FIRE 79 - MERTAGNE AND KO-OREN

Bid link

Welcome to the 79th edition of NationStates' premier footballing tournament for new players, the Baptism of Fire [BoF]! This edition is being hosted by the nations of Mertagne and Ko-oren, and this thread is the in-character [IC] and roster thread for the tournament. If you are a confirmed participant (as per the list in this post), then you may begin posting rosters and roleplays into this thread. If you are not a confirmed participant or if you wish to make an out-of-character [OOC] comment, please do not post here. OOC comments should be posted in the World Cup Discussion Thread [WCDT].

The BoF is a tournament for new nations about to enter their first World Cup [WC]. What follows is a brief summary for the newest of newcomers, as well as a quick guide to this particular edition of the BoF.

Welcome to NS Sports

This is likely your very first step into the multiverse of NationStates Sports roleplaying. Congratulations on taking such a successful first step such as signing up to this tournament! Now that you are confirmed to be taking part, your next step is to post a roster in this thread. As this is an association football (soccer) tournament, you will need some association football players to represent your nation on the multiversal stage! In its simplest form, a roster is a list of names of members of your team. To create these names, you can use your imagination, name generators, or even specific player generators out there on the internet, and you have free reign to build your team of players, and develop their roles. Does your team contain a star player? A manager with a particular personality? A player known for their drama?

As a part of your roster post, you can also include a style modifier. This is a number, which for the purposes of this tournament can be between -5 and +5, which describes how defensive or offensive your team's style of play is. -5 describes a maximally defensive team, and +5 describes a maximally attacking team. These style modifiers will be included in the scorination process, which is how scores are generated here on NS Sports. Three factors influence the final result of a match:

• RANK - A coefficient number that describes how your team stacks up to other teams across the multiverse. This can be earned by participating in tournaments, and is different for each sport. The BoF is within the World Cup family, so any ranking points you earn in this tournament will be carried over to World Cup 92. Currently, all nations in this tournament will start with a ranking of 0.
• RP BONUS - This is arguably the largest part of the 'game' here on NS Sports. If you want to go far, you must RP. RPs are graded by the hosts of a tournament, and will influence your performance. The more you RP, and the higher quality RPs you post, the better your team will fare. RPs are graded each matchday, and there is a set max bonus for each matchday, so RPing frequently across matchdays is a good strategy to improve your performance in this tournament. RPs can be on anything you choose - commonly, users will write match reports of the previous match they have played in, but you are welcome to roleplay pretty much anything - an interview between political opponents, the death of one of your public figures, or an alien abduction in your nation, to give just a few examples.
• RAND - This randomness ensures that the very best RPers are never guaranteed to get a win, they simply have better chances, and keeps things interesting and competitive. As a result, you can never truly write your team off until they are statistically eliminated, and RAND has been the saving grace of many a team's campaign, and the ruin of many others.

Finally, in your roster post you will need to include your RP permissions. These detail what you can and can't do regarding players on other nation's teams. The permission box, an example included below, shows a format with which to display these permissions, and it is important to read the permissions of other players before including them in your own roleplays -- those roleplays may be ignored if permissions are broken! Furthermore, the permissions box also discusses 'godmodding', which is to control another person's roleplaying beyond the usual RP permissions. Examples of godmodding include unlikely events, such as a goal being scored by bouncing off of a passing seagull, or a player being injured by plane debris falling from the sky. If in doubt, check those permissions!

Throughout the tournament, cut-offs will be posted. These are when the hosts (Mertagne and Ko-oren) post saying cut-off, and maybe add something to the post so it's not too drab. It means that no more RP’s will be graded for that matchday. Soon after the cut-offs, results are posted. Often, they’re edited into the cut-off post, so refresh the page frantically, check the discord for a message from the hosts (linked below), or be patient. Whichever is more your style.

Don’t forget to check the stickied threads! They’ve got some important information in them.

If you're interested in what other, smarter people have written to introduce BoFers to NS Sports in the past, feel free to check out the following: 1, 2.

Here is an example of a roleplay permission box (with no permissions yet set):

Code: Select all

[box][b]My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:[/b]
Choose my goalscorers: Yes/No
Godmod scoring events: Yes/No
RP injuries to my players: Yes/No
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes/No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes/No
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes/No
Godmod other events: Yes/No[/box]

Tournament Information

Teams will be randomly sorted into 3 groups of 6. Each team will play each other team in their group once, and the top two teams from each group plus the best two performing third placed teams across all three groups will advance to the quarter finals, which will be seeded. Draws will be permitted during the group stage. The final standing in each group will be according to the following tiebreakers:

• Points
• Goal difference
• Head-to-head result
• IC coin flip/drawing of lots (OOCly, matches are scorinated using the RP bonus accrued by each nation)

At each stage, tiebreakers will be applied successively until one nation is eliminated, then will be reapplied (starting from the beginning) as needed until all ties are broken.
Cut-off time will (mostly, we're only human) be between 21:00 UTC and 22:00 UTC. Matches in Mertagne will be scorinated by Mertagne. Matches in Ko-oren or Koroa City will be scorinated by Ko-oren (all the K's!), with the exception for the third place play-off and the final, which will be played in Ko-oren and Mertagne, respectively.

Matchday Schedule
2022-08-29 - Matchday One (1v6, 2v5, 3v4)
2022-08-31 - Matchday Two (6v4, 5v3, 1v2)
2022-09-02 - Matchday Three (2v6, 3v1, 4v5)
2022-09-04 - Matchday Four (6v5, 1v4, 2v3)
2022-09-06 - Matchday Five (3v6, 4v2, 5v1)
2022-09-08 - Quarter-Finals
2022-09-10 - Semi-Finals
2022-09-11 - Third Place Play-Off
2022-09-12 - Final

Group A - Mertagne
The Republic of Covelandia
West Barack and East Obama
Loyo
Talannua
Elmyia
Mystylands

Group B- Ko-oren
Harmonia
Tecoia
Captina Island
New South Yukon
Ganes Ame
Ingont

Group C - Koroa City
Kethsi
Yakk
Canadian Dominion
Cap Nord
Koronavia
Atetancillo

And finally, a few more housekeeping points of information:
Discord. NS Sports has a Discord server. Here's an invite. It is not an official NS function and not all users are members of it. As such, all tournament updates will be posted on the forum.
Etiquette. Any user breaching etiquette by spamming OOC comments, blatantly disregarding others’ RP permissions, engaging in plagiarism, or otherwise breaching NS Sports etiquette, will receive a warning from the hosts. Any user who continues after being warned will have their RP bonus reset to zero.
RP permissions. The hosts strongly encourage all users to, at a minimum, set their ‘Choose goalscorers’ RP permission to Yes. If you do not, do at least provide instructions for how goalscorer should be picked. If you do not do this either, we will not look upon it positively.
General restrictions. These are examples of godmodding events that we don't wish to see. No user may RP destructive damage to the people or infrastructure of the host nations e.g. stadium collapses, unless they have cleared these things first with both their opponent and the relevant host. No user may introduce COVID-19 or any such pandemic to the host nations or to other users’ nations.
Style modifier changes. Each nation may change their style modifier once during the tournament. Contact the hosts by telegram to arrange this.
Everything else. Other than issues to be resolved by NS site moderation staff, or by the World Cup Committee and its Executive, the hosts’ decision will be final on any other issues.

I, like my predecessor before me, cribbed most of this from a previous BoF post. Credits to: Graintfjall, Sylestone, Farfadillis.

[Ko-oren]

Welcome to Ko-oren!

Ko-oren is an island nation in Anaia's west with a little over 27 million inhabitants. With our 11 languages and nearly every climate under the sun, you'll find there's something here for everyone. From glistering, modern cities to quiet mountain retreats, from quaint, old towns to the actual middle of nowhere. Ko-oren is a pretty familiar face to everyone in sports ranging from football (soccer) to football (American), to football (rugby union), to football (rugby league), to football (Aussie rules), to football cricket, baseball, hockey, ice hockey, and more. You can find most of what you need on the map, factbook, or in the info on the Top League.

History
What we're proud of: no wars, no civil wars, no armed conflicts, at any point in our history. We have several millennia of a continuous government, that started with a confederacy of four cities - which are still our capitals (yes, multiple capital cities) - and branched out along the Bay of Ko-oren to eventually encompass the entire archipelago. Slightly isolationist (not always by choice) for a while, then moving to the region of Anaia where, all of a sudden, our international side came out in full force.

Money
The Korona has been getting stronger and stronger as Ko-oren's economy keeps developing. One NSD gives you about 110 KOR these days. Public transport is very cheap (the Willowbourne metro takes just 1.1 NSD (or 121 KOR) for a journey), groceries (especially luxury goods not native to Ko-oren) are a little on the expensive side - for a Ko-orenite. Wages, pensions, and costs are rising quickly due to our growing economy - which started growing before the Anaian move but since then growth at least hasn't slowed down. Government policy makes sure that inflation doesn't get out of hand, while protecting workers' rights and the environment are huge priorities.

Tourism
Tourism is a huge sector of the Ko-orenite economy, so there will be enough hotels and things to do for everyone. Public transport is very advanced with good coverage, so you shouldn't need to rent a car while you're here.

Politics & Laws
We're a meritocratic nation, so almost all important positions are appointed. We have separation of powers - four of them, executive, legislative, judicial, and auditory. That last one is a democratically elected parliament who check the work of the meritocratic legislative branch. Two other themes dominate our politics: 1) solarpunk/green futures (having our environment thrive, while working with technology to give everyone a great place to live), and 2) a digital/international presence (as a technologically advance, benevolent country, working with nations around us and far away - though we're starting to learn not everything can be done with soft power alone. We are fiercely pacifist, though).
We'll just say it: alcohol is banned in Ko-oren. And so are other drugs. For the rest, we're fairly chill. Except when it comes to littering. Do not litter.

Climate & Weather
You're best off checking the local information for the city or subdivision you're visiting, as climates vary wildly from place to place.

Languages
The archipelago is home to many languages, some of which are only spoken in Ko-oren (Gehrennan, Tarrashall, Altioran and Aviansolan). Other languages were brought in from abroad (English, Dutch, French, Japanese). Two major languages were brought in from abroad, but the varieties spoken in Ko-oren do not closely resemble the foreign form anymore (Finisterran, Mawr). For this tournament, you're fine knowing just English (though Mawr helps if you play in the southwest - and Tarrashall, Gehrennan, or French help depending on how far west, north, or east you play your warm-up matches).

Stadiums
Group B will play in three different stadiums.
The first match listed (1v6, 6v4, 2v6, 6v5, 3v6) will be played in the Hazel Arena in Straudum, home of our current champions, Straudum VV. That club is also the first Ko-orenite club to win an international trohpy (and also the only Ko-orenite club to do so. Straudum isn't a huge city, but it's easy to get to from Schemerdrecht or Sterrenwolde, which are the bigger/more well-known cities in the north. It's a hardworking town that pours into the Hazel Arena once every other weekend to see their (extremely defensive) club play. The stadium seats 25400, all with a good view and nice surroundings.

The second match listed (2v5, 5v3, 3v1, 1v4, 4v2) will be played in the Estádio Marítimo in Santa Teresa, home of once-great-but-now-quite-frankly-not-very-good Branvon CD. Branvon CD are one of two clubs that have played every single season at the highest level of the football division system, and the fans are hellbent on making sure they will continue to play in the Top League in the future. It's the loudest stadium/fanbase in the country, and the only one that sometimes has/needs a police presence. The stadium seats 28000, with every seat close to the action. It's not the largest stadium in the city, that's Miradela GD's Estádio Fortaleza, and the two clubs enjoy the country's fiercest rivalry, as the only city with two good football clubs.

The third match listed (3v4, 1v2, 4v5, 2v3, 5v1) will be played in the Spider Stadium in Alara, home of the very attacking Advance Alara. The wide field normally shows the red-black club's young, fast, creative wingers and strikers, and the club is pretty ancient. 27100 fans fit in the stadium, who have very high standards of the level of play and level of entertainment.

The Quarterfinals will be played in:
Stade Amandine, Étouille, Cote Austral, Ko-oren (30000), home of Tanques AOE, the only club in Ko-oren to win a title and then relegate (a few seasons later). They're also the only club to promote back up after that - with a couple of clubs on the cusp of doing the same. Étouille has the perfect climate and weather, or that's the image it has (and heavily focuses on in tourism campaigns), with its friendly year-round conditions.

Rikalathen Arena, Maethoru, KCT, Ko-oren (44000), home of Maethoru SC, the record champions of Ko-oren, having made multiple IFCF CL semifinals (also counting the ancient UICA Champions Cup in this) and generally just being the best, most stable club in the country. Located in one of our capitals (Ko-orenite Capital Territory) there's plenty of old culture to look at as well.

Welcome to Koroa City!

Koroa City is a city located on an island in the Ocean of Ayes, in the region of Anaia - a young city on a young island in a young region. Created as a neutral site for just about any event imaginable - think of a permanent World Expo mixed with a permanent Olympic village - it's the perfect place to host a group when the Mertagne and Ko-oren organisations can't agree on which of the two nations should host two groups (you can't divide three groups evenly across two nations - at least, not without complicated logistics).

History
It's very difficult to fill this topic: Koroa City is less than a decade old.

Money
You can use both Ko-orenite Koronas and Mertagne's Dukats... as well as nearly every other Anaian currency. Prices for most of these currencies are listed, making it quite difficult to find exactly what you're paying on your trip to the grocery stores.

Tourism
Tourism is the only reason Koroa City exists. There's hotels and bars and restaurants and things to do on every corner. There's a permanent Expo with a sizable Ochre Islands section with all local goods and foods. There's a slightly shady bazaar run by Mriin nationals. There are conservation projects going on which are run by Cobre scientists. More importantly, there are stadiums and race tracks and even a snowy mountain to run every sports event imaginable.

Politics & Laws
There's only a government in the sense that there's an organisation that maintains the parks and roads. You won't find people with 'Koroa City' passports. Laws are fairly lenient and mostly exist to enable the industries on the island to thrive. Gambling, drinking, partying, noise pollution - not a problem.

Stadiums
Group C will play in three different stadiums.
The first match listed (1v6, 6v4, 2v6, 6v5, 3v6) will be played in the Bazaar, named after the nearby Mrii bazaar. Famous for its food stalls and merch stands - with fans often not returning for several minutes after half time ends - it might not be a massive stadium but it caters to fans extremely well. Any kind of amenity, you'll find it here.

The second match listed (2v5, 5v3, 3v1, 1v4, 4v2) will be played in the Pavilion, a grand old stadium with a grand old grandstand where all the posh old people sit. Meticulously maintained grass, cut into beautiful patterns, accurate down to the millimetre, an absence of some of the ugliest forms of advertising around the field, and a lot of people saying that 'things were better when they were young'. Sportsmanship is encouraged - no, it's mandatory - and diving is met with the sound of thousands of 'locals' tutting.

The third match listed (3v4, 1v2, 4v5, 2v3, 5v1) will be played in the Arena, a beautiful modern stadium, with a sleek design, fitting more fans than any other venue in Koroa City. It still smells new. The seats still glimmer in the sunlight. The grass was recently brought in from elsewhere - nothing really grows under the partial roof that protects the fans from the sun - never mind that.

[Mertagne]

Welcome to Mertagne!

Mertagne is a nation of (very) roughly 66 million people located on the continent of [Nova] Calania, in Anaia. Mertagne consists of nineteen provinces, and is a nation of varied extremes; from its settlements, some sprawling cities and others frontier towns, to its people, some loud and outgoing while others are more shy and reserved. Whatever you're hoping to get out of your Baptism of Fire experience, you're likely to find it in Mertagne, a nation that is, in its own way, stepping back into the limelight of sporting competition after a long hiatus.

History
The nation of Mertagne was formed in response to the events of the Corvidae War, a terrible regional conflict that saw the former lands of The Inevitable Syndicate (which today exists as the Euran Oceania Territories) fall to the evils of fascism. A plucky group of rebels and refugees crossed the Lake Bekk in search of a land free from those evils, and discovered an abandoned city state that would become the nation's first capital, Neorudo. In the ensuing years since the end of the conflict, which resulted in an enemy defeat and transfer of The Inevitable Syndicate to Mertagnian custodianship, Mertagne has grown from a city state to a fully fledged nation, aided by an aggressive immigration and construction campaign funded by the sale of the Former Inevitable Syndicate to the Rushmori nation of Eura.

Today, Mertagne stands shakily yet proud as an example of the success that can come from collaboration. Democracy and patriotism are sacrosanct to the average Mertagnian citizen, after many years of it waning away in a troubled period known as The Insulation, as is the concept of international camaraderie and friendship - as evidenced in it being one of the founding members of the Anaia movement.


Tourism & Transportation
Mertagne is only just getting to grips with the idea that people might want to visit the country for a reason other than coming to work, or coming to start a family. As such, its tourism industry is in a fledgling state, and perhaps not as advanced as you may find in other parts of the sporting world. The nation does have several landmarks, including the Vessel of Victory, a large, copper statue of a ship that can be found in the bay to the north of the city of Keers, and the Road of Remembrance, a winding path that runs across the hill crest of the Veritas Valley, the largest valley in the Forkelands province to the north of Neorudo, which is lined with grave markers denoting the names of every allied civilian and combatant that lost their lives in the Corvidae War.

Transportation around Mertagne is primarily done by car, as the nation's high-speed rail infrastructure is present yet fractured. The Trans-Calanian railway runs through the centre of the nation, and is the backbone of the nation's rail infrastructure, but its international status means that domestic trains are often slow. Coaches are your best bet for provincial scale travel, as routes between major cities are commonplace. Mertagne, like its neighbours, drives on the left side of the road.

Culture
Mertagne is quite the melting pot when it comes to culture, with many Mertagnians having an ancestry embedded in other nations. Expect the cities of the nation to have a variety of smaller communities with their roots in other nations, and one of the many benefits of this is that you can always find some food in Mertagne that is to your tastes.

Mertagne is a federal tricameral republic, a unique system of bureaucracy which means that some minor laws vary from province to province, however federally mandated laws exist for larger issues. Some of the big laws that may be relevant for your nation's athletes and sports fans are:

- The age to buy alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana is 18 years.
- Tobacco and marijuana products such as cigarettes and e-cigarettes cannot be consumed in public areas. Bars are permitted to designate a smoking area, however many of these are an afterthought from the proprietors, so expect a dingy lean-to more than a lavish garden.
- Other drugs are permitted, and are sold publicly in specialist stores. However, purchasing limits are federally mandated, and a background check must be completed before you are permitted a 'narcotics license' (which is a subject of much ridicule among foreign nations). This hasn't stopped a black market from occurring, however, and the import of drugs does occur.
- The majority age of consent between adults is 18 years. Prostitution is legal for those above the age of 18, but not regularly publicised - much of the marketing for that sort of thing is performed over the internet or as graffiti in a bar toilet or phone booth.
- Mertagnian citizens are allowed to purchase weapons for personal use, however the category of weapon an individual is able to purchase varies wildly depending on the province, with rural provinces typically allowing larger weapons and open carrying. Ammunition is regulated, with a similar system to the narcotics quota in place in Mertagne's weapons shops. A pervasive culture regarding guns as dangerous tools for hunting has meant that firearms are rarely adopted in more 'civilised' areas, such as the nation's major cities.

Mertagne's currency is the Mertagnian Ducat, which has an exchange rate of approximately 1 NSD to 5 MDU. Sales tax varies on province, but is always included on the price of the item on the shelf.

More information surrounding Mertagne is available in its factbook, and a map can be found here.

A map of Mertagne's fifteen largest stadiums. Your nations will play in some of these depending on the group they've been drawn into.

Host Cities
For each match, the first listed game will be played in the first stadium, the second listed game will be played in the second stadium, and the third game will be played in the third listed stadium. The selection of host cities for this group stage are all within or surrounding Mertagne's capital, Dannin.

Flynn Ar3na, New Fligsive (Capacity: 88,750)
A project that could be considered the crucible of New Fligsive, Mertagne, the Flynn Ar3na (named as it is the third stadium to bear the name) was built as a multi-year construction project between regional construction giant Flynn’s, and the Mertagnian government. The Flynn Ar3na boasts a unique design that iterates on the design of its predecessor, the Flynn Arena in Fligsive, Euran Oceania Territories. This incarnation of the stadium has sacrificed some of its seats in order to incorporate a unique art section - where the old Flynn Arena’s upper ring would have been, here instead sit thousands of individually cast faceless metal statues, each inscribed with a names of Fligsivi civilians and combatants during the Corvidae War and associated Fligsive Incident. The unique acoustics that these metal statues cause in the upper ring creates a scintillating echoing effect when sound is broadcast from the top, which provides unique opportunities in this multi-purpose stadium, home to club side New Fligsive’s Memory. It is said that sometimes, the statues create the echo of a crowd lost to time.

Dannin City Stadium, Dannin (Capacity: 85,750)
Dannin City Stadium sits in the heart of Mertagne's capital, and its unique look ensures that it's both an art piece, a functional stadium, and an eco-friendly statement all at once due to it's assortment of solar panels, which wax and wane with the passing of the sun. Home to top-tier domestic team Century Mertagne, the patriotic lime and dark green seating is sure to excite any nation that comes to play here.

Spectrum Stadium, Dannin (Capacity: 37,000)
The Spectum Stadium is a cavalcade of lights and sound, and this modern stadium decked in red and blue is home to bombastic side Signal Dannin. The stadium is littered with LED panels and large screens, ensuring that the stadium's very own fleet of camera drones is able to capture every moment of the game, from the beads of sweat on your goalkeeper as the opposition lines up for a penalty to the cheeky elbow that players of home side Signal Dannin are prone to whipping out against cocky opponents.

Keers Dock Pitch, Keers, Plitterland (Capacity: 68,750)
The Keers Dock Pitch has stands on three sides only, with the north side exposed to the coast and waters of the Grinshem Sea, which sits to Mertagne's north. Keers Kannoneers, of which the stadium's yellow and white seating commemorates, are known for having a betting pool amongst their players as to when the next ball is going to be punted by an opponent out of the stadium and into the ocean, with the added bonus and complexity of a series of large floating navigational buoys on the waterfront with point values painted on them. The nearby beach at Keers is regularly visited by children in the hours after a match, to search for these lost footballs. Finding one bobbing on the ocean currents usually means you have to have a kickabout with the other children. Just watch for seagulls - if your white seat at this stadium doesn't quite match a pattern with the seats around it, you now know why...

Nine Star Arch, Webster, The Forkelands (Capacity: 66,500)
The nine large spotlights that adorn the Nine Star Arch’s titular arch have many uses; two of them during games played at this stadium are to spin and provide a light show whenever a team scores, and to provide those living in and around the city of Webster with a live score graphic, with a number of lights on opposing ends of the arch lit with the corresponding team’s home colour depending on how many goals they have scored. Many teams that play here have the dream to 'capture the arch', which is achieved by scoring more than five goals in a game, so that a majority of the nine lights on the arch are in your team's colours. The first international team to achieve such a a feat was Bollonich, in the 83rd Cup of Harmony - who soundly beat Gortolekua 8-2 on Matchday Six of the group stage. Will your team be the second to achieve such a feat?

[West Barack and East Obama]

West Barack and East Obama National Football Team

A Brief History of Obaman Football

Football as a sport is prohibited in West Barack and East Obama, along with other team sports such as cricket, rugby and paintball. This is because the prevalence team sports has a strong correlation to organised crime, violence and political dissidents, so all attempts at forming groups are prohibited. However, West Barack and East Obama has established an official national football team to help promote Obaman values on the international stage.

The debut of the Obaman team at the recent Independent Associations Cup in its 16th edition was a success, with the team reaching the knockout rounds. Stellar performances from the players and expert tactical decisions has ensured that the team has retained their status of 'being alive' for now.

The Coaching Team

Head Coach: Buck Obamafinakis
Assistant Coach: Tuck Obamafinakis
Goalkeeping Coach: Chuck Obamafinakis

The Obamafinakis brothers are legendary throughout Southeast Obama. Known for their law firm 'Obamafinakis, Obamafinakis & Obamafinakis', these triplets are known for their expert litigation skills and have reduced countless death penalty sentences to paltry life imprisonment with hard labour and without parole sentences. Now, they're putting their persuasive skills and tactical knowledge to the real test by becoming the coaching staff of the inaugural West Barack and East Obama national team for the IAC. Rumours that they were forced to take the job so that the government can distract them away from practicing law to better suppress dissidents are false.

The Players

The players of the football team have been selected based on a variety of factors. The team that has been selected is the one that will maximise winning in competitions whilst minimising the possibility of bonds and teamwork being formed.

Goalkeeper: Dwayne Obama, 36

Captain Dwayne Obama is a fighter pilot for the Glorious Obama Air Forces. Known as 'Dwayne, Destroyer of Planes', Obama has taken down more enemy aircraft and blown up more secessionist state hospitals than can be counted. His reflexes and quick thinking helps him to get out of sticky situations, and his incredible muscles from intensive training means he can stop a powerful ball with just his pinky. The perfect goalkeeper candidate.

Left Centre Back: Trent Vobama, 37 (Captain)

Trent Vobama is the venerable captain of the team. His performance in the recent ODI World Trophy led to his call up for the football team, with many applauding his leadership and wondering if this old dog has some tricks up his sleeve. A very respectable figure, Trent's experience as a PE teacher will help him command the team to a victory.

Centre Back: Barack Denovitz, 29

A feared mob enforcer in downtown New Barack City, the Obamafinakis brothers convinced the Obaman courts to let Denovitz out for the competition, and if he succeeds could earn 10 years off his 150 year sentence (with hard labour). The definition of a hard man, he doesn't tackle, he just scares them away. Suspended on his international debut and he'd do it all over again.

Right Centre Back: Bark Obamallama, 31

Door-to-door llama salesman Bark Obamallama has really thick skin. You'll need it to if your day was spent dodging llama spit and verbal abuse from disinterested buyers. Described as being devoid of any emotions, Obamallama will have no second thoughts about ending that opponent's career with a devastating (but legal) slide tackle.

Left Wide Midfielder: Jenny Barracki, 27

Being a professional sprinter, Jenny Barracki is the fastest woman alive. In West Barack and East Obama. She can outrun most of her opponents down the wing, delivering crosses to waiting strikers.

Left Central Midfielder: Harvey Chobamya, 28

Harvey Chobamya is not your average gym bro. He spends all of his days and nights on the treadmill at Anytime Obama in New Barack City, as well as doing all of the leg and feet exercises. The strongest lower body in the whole of the nation, he can send balls out of the stadium with just a slight tap. Leg day skips this guy.

Central Midfielder: Wolfgang Obamadeus-Mozart, 24

Better known by his pseudonym "DJ Momo" of the rap duo "Momo and the Obamasaurus", Obamadeus-Mozart has very unpredictable movement patterns to match his crazy beats. He can bamboozle, flabbergast and dumbfound any of his opponents to get the ball from one end of the pitch to the other.

Right Central Midfielder: Charles Obama, 27

Royal Butler to The One and Only Barack Horatio Obama, Charles Obama is also a very skilled footballer. A holding midfielder, there's no room for nonsense when this guy's on the pitch. His commanding presence and knack for providing service to his fellow players will come into handy.

Right Wide Midfielder: Brett Pogama, 29

Brett Pogama has a lot of sports experience, participating in one of the most popular sports in the country (since team sports were banned) in greyhound racing. He plays the role of the rabbit, where he has to run as fast as he can to escape a pack of vicious greyhounds. Most of the time he gets out with only a flesh wound or two, showcasing his excellence for evading opponents to bring a ball into the box.

Left Centre Forward: Lily Chobamya, 19

Sister to Harvey Chobamya, Lily is good at free kicks and penalties. Inbetween her courses at Frederick Obamatown National Health University, she practices her set pieces, which aren't technically illegal as there's only one player playing. She can't do much else, but if you foul someone, say bye bye to your fragile lead.

Right Centre Forward: Fred Olibama, 30

Fred Olibama is one powerful forward. He is a cobbler by day, but in his spare time makes some of the best sports shoes known to man. Being both the striker and the kit guy for the team, his experience in bring in the shoes of a footballer will definitely be a big help to the team.

Reserves

1. GK: Walter Oblmao
2. GK: Reagan Jean-Page
3. CB: Bogdan Obammus
4. CB: Yeray Obáma
5. CB: Obama Baker
6. LM: Juan Bama
7. CM: Otto Obama-Richards
8. CM: Benjamin Barracks
9. CM: Chester Lobamas
10. RM: Jean-Marie Ouibama
11. ST: Lasse Sobama
12. ST: Andrew Vobama

Set Piece Takers

Penalties:

1. L. Chobamya
2. H. Chobamya
3. Olibama
4. Obamadeus-Mozart

Left Free Kicks:

1. L. Chobamya
2. H. Chobamya
3. Olibama
4. Barracki

Right Free Kicks:

1. L. Chobamya
2. H. Chobamya
3. Obamadeus-Mozart
4. C. Obama

Left Corners:

1. L. Chobamya
2. H. Chobamya
3. Barracki
4. T. Vobama

Right Corners:

1. L. Chobamya
2. H. Chobamya
3. Obamadeus-Mozart
4. C. Obama

Other Stuff

Nickname: Obamen, The Obama Carers

Kit Colours: Red and Yellow

RP Permissions: As long as you TG me beforehand about any potential serious wackiness, do what you like. Red and yellow cards should not be issued too liberally though.

Style Mod: -1.5

[Elmyia]

Beaucester Gazette
Shock as Varisco Quits
Football Federation face scramble to appoint successor

In a move that has blindsided most observers, Giovanni Varisco has tendered his resignation as the manager as the Elmyian Nation Football Team. He leaves having led the team through 6 international fixtures, winning two and losing four.

Despite a disappointing Independents’ Cup campaign, in which Elmyia could only manage two goals and one victory in four, Varisco had retained the backing of the power brokers at the FF, and there was no speculation that he might leave before the Baptism of Fire. His sudden departure leaves only a few days for a successor to be nominated and a squad to be selected. The favourites for the job with the book makers are the iconoclastic Scolastico coach, Benni Massi, and the no nonsense Mosfleet Albion manager, Paul Reynard.

In leaving his post Varisco left a statement saying that whilst it remained ‘the honour of the lifetime’ to coach his nations side, it had put an ‘unacceptable strain on family life’. Internal sources suggest he very much drove the decision himself, and a desire to spend time with his family and not be away for long stretches of time, caused him to reconsider whether he was suitable for the role.

Varisco cleaved to a pragmatic style of football whilst in charge, playing the system the best players felt most comfortable with. His affable personality was also considered a boon in managing some of the big personalities in the squad. Whoever follows will likely mark a departure in one way or another. Reynard is known for a much more disciplinarian style of man management, and is known for having a shorter fuse. Massi, meanwhile, is both more tactically demanding, and slightly more distant from his players, remaining somewhat of an enigma even to those who’ve served under him a long time.

[Ganes Ame]

Selección Nacional de Fútbol de Ganes Ame

Nickname: Los Santos (The Saints)
Formation: 3-4-3
Style Mod: +2.9
Seleccionador: Jael Ramón Ríos
Asistente de Seleccionador: Baldo Quintero Solórzano

OOC: English abbreviation translations for positions provided in () before the :. Ages in () after the names. Per custom in the español speaking world, the second name is the surname and the third name is the mother's maiden name.

La Lista

Alineación inicial

Portero (GK): #1 Armentario Medina Garay (19)
Lateral Derecho (RB): #2 Valdo Pina Salcedo (21)
Central (CB): #3 Casiano Mayonga Zúñiga (25)
Lateral Izquierdo (LB): #4 Joab Coronado Estrada (18)
Pivote (DM): #5 Stefano Armijo Ceballos (21)
Extremo Derecho (RM): #6 Giorgio Ochoa Nevarez (23)
Extremo Izquierdo (LM): #7 Anastasio Heredia Veliz (22)
Volante (CAM): #8 Marón Arteaga Callas (23)
Delantero (ST): #9 Natan Mena Muñoz (23)
Delantero (ST): #10 Duarte Domínguez Polanco (21)
Delantero (ST): #11 Meulén Espinal Fernández (26)

Reservas

Portero (GK): #12 Zaqueo Rubio Corral (21)
Portero (GK): #13 Néstor Valencia Pichardo (23)
Defensa (DEF): #14 Raguel Escobar Betancourt (23)
Defensa (DEF): #15 Leandre Santillán Arreola (19)
Defensa (DEF): #16 Tehuel Alba Arévalo (27)
Centrocampista (MID): #17 Laurencio Puga Perea (19)
Centrocampista (MID): #18 Malaquías Ballesteros Alonzo (21)
Centrocampista (MID): #19 Wenzel Botello Soria (26)
Centrocampista (MID): #20 Oriel Vanegas Paredes (23)
Delantero (ST): #21 Huberto Navarrete Aponte (26)
Delantero (ST): #22 Gianluca Garza Esquivel (26)
Delantero (ST): #23 Anicet Villareal Guardado (18)

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes (no deaths or long term injuries without discussing it with me first)
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes (for anything major that would affect my nation or my team, discuss it with me first)

[Elmyia]

Mark Pratt shifted nervously in his chair. Gio’s put me in a right spot here. He readjusted his tie, sighed and called in his deputy. Alexia Sanchez glided in, impeccably turned out as ever, she took a seat opposite him “Mark, let’s cut to it, who are we going to call?”

“Well, we’ve lost what was the consensus appointment, that leaves us with people who will divide,” he scratched his nose, some dry skin fell off.

“I’ve had a thought, what about Paula Kidd? She was good with the under 18s, she’s tactically flexible and generally well liked.”

“Does she have the experience though? She’s never managed at the top level.”

“Well, true, but those two who have are notorious arseholes.”

Mark nodded in agreement, those two were arseholes, “let’s get her on the line, patch her through”.

He punched the numbers in and let it ring. She picked up “hello Mark, surprised to hear from you, how are you?”

“Well, thank you Paula, yourself?”

“Aye, not too bad, just got back yesterday from the tournament, resting up. Sorry to hear about Gio, that’s a pain in the arse timing wise, how’s the recruitment search going?”

“Well, actually, that was what I was calling about. We’ve been very impressed with the progress you’ve made quite an impression coaching the younger group, consequently we’d like to invite you in to interview for the main squad, what do you think?”

“Mark, I’m incredibly flattered! That’s very kind of you, but I’m not sure. All my experience is with the younger groups, and I’ve only had the one tournament.”

“Very true, but you did a sterling job, so can I twist your arm.” There was a long pause.

“Thank you Mark, but I think I’ll turn it down this time. I feel I’ve not finished with the age group sides just yet.”

“Well thanks for your time Paula, and thanks for your continue work with them.” Mark hung up and banged his head on the desk “do I have to call them Alexia? They’re such arseholes. Then I’ll have to interview them, and talk to them more. I don’t want to. No, I don’t want to”

“Well we already know a lot about the both of them, couldn’t we just appoint on merit?”

Mark murmured in approval, he liked this idea. Anything to save him from tedious hours of discussing ‘vision’ with those two. Being subject to just one tirade beat being subject to two “well which of the two would you pick then?”

“Hmm well they both have their obvious merits and drawbacks. Massi is clearly a sharp tact, but people think he’s a smug bastard. Reynard, good motivator, the papers love him, but can he cut it at an international level?”

“Alexia, I know this already, so how do I pick one? Personally I can’t stand either of them”

“Flip a coin?”

This seemed the fairest option left “heads Massi, tails Reynard?”

Alexia flipped the coin, heads it was.

Mark huffed “I’m not happy, I don’t feel happy, I want to not have to call him, can you do it?”

“Well, if you insist.” Mark packed up his things, and walked out to the room next door. Leaving the lights off, he slumped in a chair and started massaging his temples. Five minutes later and Alexia shouted in “Mark, he has some demands.”

“What demands? This is the best job in the country.”

“He has two: 1) total control over the players 2) no minimum targets for the first three tournaments.”

“That’s bloody cheeky, that arsehole.”

“Mark I have him on speaker”

“Oh sod… hello Senor Massi, we find these demands slightly unreasonable. I feel we can demand knockout stages in the Baptism of Fire and qualification for the Cup of Harmony. As for total control, what does that involve.”

“Do not concern yourself with what that involves, I know what I am doing, trust me. Your other conditions will be met. You have yourself a deal.”

“Thank you and goodbye”

…

Paul Reynard’s heart beat was finally returning towards normal, the feelings of fury was finally dissipating towards a form of cool clarity. He walked across the shattered carpet of crockery in his kitchen and picked up the phone. Time to call them, the players, my players. They’ll be fuming about this as well. He punched in Jackie Froggatt’s number. She picked up on second ring

“Senor Reynard, why are you calling at this time”

“I’ve got news, some bad news Jackie”

“Oh?”

“They’ve made Massi manager, I’m not taking charge as we’d hoped.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that, that’s a huge error, they’ve got the wrong man”

“Agreed. I’ve got a favour to ask you”

“Anything Gaffer”

“Withdraw from the squad”

[Tecoia]

If my opponent roleplays first, they may:
Choose my starting lineup: Y (although make it realistic, don't just simply switch the starters and the bench)
Choose my goalscorers: Y
Godmod scoring events: N
RP injuries to my players: Y
Godmod injuries to my players: N
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Y
Hand out red cards to my players: Y (if multiple, please send a TG to either Tjorl or Tecoia first)
Godmod other events: N

NS-Verse Tecoia Lore

GOALKEEPERS
#1 | Rafael Catubig
#23 | John Mark Manansala
#55 | Enrique Fonseca

---

DEFENDERS
#2 | Sergio Amaral
#3 | Izabel Corte-Real
#4 | Raul Queiros
#5 | Santiago de Freitas
#13 | Terrence Fernandes
#27 | Angélica Gonsales
#33 | Danielle Serad

---

MIDFIELDERS
#6 | Fabio Sequeira
#8 | Artur Santos
#14 | Matias Guerra
#17 | Pearl Baldedara
#20 | Corey Torres
#31 | Paulo Tuazon
#44 | Eliza Serrano

---

FORWARDS
#7 | Liam Masangkay
#9 | Mariano Simões
#10 | Derick Simabang
#11 | Nelson de Sa
#16 | Erica Gomes
#22 | Jose Braga

---

STAFF
Manager | André Mendoça
Assistant Managers | Rúben Limangco, Rosaline Caparas
Fitness Coaches | Brian Fernandes, Lauren Matung

SQUAD ROLES
Captain: Fabio Sequeira
Short FK: Nelson de Sa
Long FK: Fabio Sequeira
Penalties: Mariano Simões
Left Corner: Izabel Corte-Real
Right Corner: Liam Masangkay

NICKNAME: Os Marítimos (The Seafarers)
HOME ARENA: Estádio do General (Capacity: 88,590)
DEMONYM: Tecoian, Takoy (colloquial)
TRIGAMME: TAC
MAIN FORMATION: 4-1-3-2
RANK: Unranked
STYLE: +2.2
HISTORY: Debut

Kit made by Tjorlish Supplier Antoner

Kit made by Tjorlish Supplier Antoner

Kit made by Tjorlish Supplier Antoner

[Canadian Dominion]

Team Canada Goose

Style mod: +3.2
Formation: 4-3-3
Manager: Arthur Peters

POS       STARTER	    2ND	
G	Alex Gosling	Alex Thomson		
RFB	Colton Baldwin	Killian Ewart		
MLB	Nate Walker	Gavin Brant		
LFB	Aidan Irwin	Cohen Hogan		
ROMF	Rhett Todd	Malik Irving		
RDMF	Leonardo Norris	Josiah Molson		
LDMF	Weston Murray	Zayden Macdonald		
LOMF	Zander Todd	Oscar Marcus		
RF	Rory Irwin	Zayn Young		
CF	Robert Tillsley	Axel Wilkinson		
LF	Daniel Jones	Gabriel Dawson

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

[Talannua]

Talannua national kicks team

Nation Name: The Past Lands of Talannua
Region: Atlantian Oceania (located on the landmass of Cyanea)
Three-letter code: ATA
Background: Recently, the United Republic of Delaclava moved to the planet of Sonnel in such a way that it tore up the existing cities, people, and infrastructure and folded it into multidimensional space on its new planet. The transformation left behind the same lands and surface waters, with next to no development. The people of Talannua currently consists of two types: 1) small towns who voluntarily tethered themselves to the underlying land, remaining in Talannua largely untouched; and 2) fragments of people and towns who were left behind either by accident or by design. There is currently no central government or army, but there are plenty of frontiersmen who are ready to stand up to invaders.

Nickname: Wild Horses
Formation: 2-3-5
Style Modifier: +3.5

Manager: William Shore
1. GK - John True
2. LB - Jason Hill
3. RB - Michael West
4. CM - Alan Farmer
5. LM - David Waters
6. RM - Joseph Jester
7. LW - John Stable
8. RW - David Woods
9. LF - Matthew Plant
10. CF - Thomas Brook
11. RF - Mark Waters

12. GK - Ash Flint
13. DF - Patrick Judge
14. MF - Joseph Hand
15. FW - James Bull
16. FW - Leo Bard

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

[Captina Island]

The Captina Company Football Agency

The Captina Company Football Agency (TCCFA) controls all levels of football in the nation, issuing licenses to groups wishing to form teams. The Captina Company Super League consists of 14 teams playing every opponent once between April & June then following a 2 month break, play every opponent again between September & November.
STYLE: -2
Tactics: 4-3-3 classic Italian system—right wing shuttles back & forth from front to back, left back pushes forward, left midfielder attacks into forward areas, central & defensive mids control the center.
Lineup: Numbers 1-11

Manager--Timoteo Greco
Coaches—Donato Pagano, Abele Ricci

Since the end of the Copa Rushmori, where the Captinian National Team failed to earn a point while going scoreless in group stage play, changes have come to the squad as younger stars have been brought in the provide a spark on the offensive end.

The nation seeks its' first ever international win at the Baptism of Fire, buoyed by the success of the Under-17 Campeonato Rushmori Juvenil squad in the tournament hosted in the Armed Republic.

GK
 1  Pierluigi Neri		GK	29	AC Geneva City
20  Bernardo Rossi		GK	28	Calcio Captina

DEF
 4  Paolo Marchetti		CB	31	IMA Port Genoa
 2  Gianluca Vecchi		RB	30	Flint AC   Captain
 5  Emilio Coppola		LB	27	TCC Geneva
17  Alfonso Vastano		L/CB	26	Punto Nord AC
 3  Emerson Coverdale	        CB	28	SEC Fairmont
18  Isaia Caruso		R/CB	27	Club Rosso Oro Nero
22  Tonio Harold Owenby	        LB/RB	26	Brandstadter Clarksburg

MID
 6  Santos Abrego		DM	29	Clarksburg FC
 7  Lazzaro Garganese	        RM	28	Calcio Captina
16  Emilio Rizzuto		L/CM	25	Brandstadter Clarksburg
20  Emanuele Valentini	        R/CM	27	AC Geneva City
11  Daniele Vozzo		LM	29	CNO North Point
 8  Samuele Vozzo		CM	29	Port Genoa Calcio
13  Charleston DiCanio	        W/RM	24	TBG Big Flint
21  Barnabas Morningstar	DM/W	23	SEC Fairmont

FWD
12  Alesandro Mercardi	        CF	26	Flint AC
10  Guiseppi Overstreet	        ST	24	Fairmont City SC
14  Vincenzo Villa		WF	27	TCC Geneva
 9  Pietro Illuminato		CF	31	Calcio Captina
15  Giorgio Fontana		ST	26	IMA Port Genoa

The Captina Company Sports Ground in Geneva City hosts all Captina Island National Team Fixtures

Brief informational summary
Captina Island is the southernmost nation in Rushmore, made up of 6.3 million people of which approximately 31% are ethnic Captini--the native Polynesian type peoples who occupied the island prior to discovery--and 42% Italini, descendants of the settlers who arrived after 1922, with about 20% identifying themselves as mixed. The remainder are of other ethnic backgrounds and nationalities.

Captina Island thrives in all aspects of life thanks to the rigorous discipline of “The Plan” (officially known as The Captina Island National Community Operation Master Plan [CINCOMP]) which organizes the priorities, agenda, and the day to day running of proper society within the Armed Republic.

All economic affairs are controlled by the five major privately owned corporations that operate under the provisions of The Plan, holding exclusive license to conduct the nationwide administration of the following areas:

Captina National Organization (CNO)--Defense/Health & Medical/Education
State Economic Corporation (SEC)--Retail/Banking/Transportation/Technology
Industrial & Manufacturing Alliance (IMA)--Production/Raw Materials/Wholesale
The Captina Company (TCC)--Social/Entertainment/Utilities
Brandstadter Corporation Authority (BCA)--Food/Agriculture/Construction

Any remaining areas that would be under the control of a constituted government are handled by The Burkett Group, which is owned in equal shares by the five main corporations and a public ownership scheme funded by a 50 crown (about NS$10) per week deduction from the wages of all citizens. TBG functions as a bureaucratic administrative body, coordinating inter-company affairs in addition to providing the personnel for things like police/fire protection, vital statistics record keeping, public spaces maintenance, and other public services.

TBG operates from the National Capital District of Big Flint which has a population of 84,000, while the other corporations each have their own headquarters city, although they have nationwide operations; within each major city, the 'affiliated' companies have satellite offices to handle the daily business.


In the event my opponent RPs first, they may...

Choose my goalscorers: YES
Godmod scoring events: YES
RP injuries to my players: YES, but those that would be for just the duration of the match (TG in advance would be appreciated as well)
Godmod injuries to my players: See Above
Hand out yellow cards to my players: YES
Hand out red cards to my players: YES, but again, a heads up in advance is appreciated, as I would do for you.
Godmod other events: TG what you have in mind, I'm easy to come to an understanding with

[Loyo]

The People’s Republic of Loyo | National Football Team

Manager: Han Tamada, 58
Captain: Tsujii Matashichi, 33, GK
Formation: 3-4-1-2
Style Modifier: -2

---

Starting XI

•GK Tsujii Matashichi, 33
•LB Takara Coca, 29
•CB Luka Devayne, 28
•RB Shinzo Liucci, 26
•DMF Fletcher Spadini, 27
•DMF Clint Cetti, 31
•LM Harrison Smithini, 28
•RM Joss Saturnalis, 29
•CAM Osuma Jinaowa, 30
•LST Cora Takeshi, 31
•RST King Blanche, 29

Bench/Reserve Players

•GK Soetanto Honghai, 28

•WB Ithamar Ambarita, 26
•WB Matias Sastre, 21
•CB Stephen Hutasuhut, 25
•CB Sebastian Bilbao, 22

•MF Seth Lambosa, 26
•MF Ali Cemal, 25
•MF Mo Guanyu, 25
•MF Jasper Celadon, 23

•ST Hakan Risamasu, 28
•ST Jeremi Argayagoyena, 27
•ST Ichinomiya Yoshiaga, 25

Loyo isn’t a nation known for football. Baseball was her first love, and the traditions of the ancients hold her citizens in a captivating grip. Still, the game has found a new popularity since the nation opened itself to the world again. Children play the game in the streets, kicking plastic bottles around in lieu of proper balls. Passionate fans crowd around fields that were once used for farming, but now host traveling groups of footballers that thrill locals with the foreign game. Small-town celebrities have been made overnight with stellar performances loudly applauded, and schools are abuzz with talk of domestic and international stars.

Many find in football a return to sport for sporting’s sake, allowing for men and women alike to participate in the joy of the beautiful game after a long week’s work. Yet more see opportunity in the social gatherings that accompany the game, with the more casual atmosphere more conducive to recreation and relaxation than the rabid energy of Loyo’s baseball league.

It is in this growing footballing culture that Loyo sends a team to the 79th Baptism of Fire. Manager Han Tamada has been the driving force behind the team’s appearance, and his connections within the Communist Party of Loyo have played a part in ensuring the national team will be supplied with the meager essentials to compete. Plans to construct a stadium befitting a young national team have been held up, but success on the pitch may free up the project’s roadblocks.

The team itself is a mixed bag of talent from the country’s touring semi-professional clubs. Captain Tsujii Matashichi will lead the team in its debut, selected for his management skills on and off the pitch. He functions as Tamada’s right hand, carrying out the will of the manager, whom he has known for his entire life. The manager was a close family friend of Matashichi's father.

The best player on the pitch is likely to be creative attacking midfielder Osuma Jinaowa, who caught the eye of the manager while playing a pickup game only a month before the tournament. Jinaowa has a natural gift for the game, and has impressed manager and teammates alike with his crafty movements. His growing connection with lucky lefty Cora Takeshi has made the duo fast friends, as the two develop a fondness for strategy analysis.

Tamada's efforts in training have focused on the back three, which will be crucial if Loyo expects to advance in the competition. Luka Devayne has been performing well, but neither Shinzo Liucci or Takara Coca are set-in-stone starters.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes, please check to see if I've posted a RP with a lineup in the last cutoff. If not, use the Starting XI provided above
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes, keep it reasonable please
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes, see above
Godmod other events: No

[Loyo]

"I’m From The Government, And I’m Here To Help”

Tsujii’s face grew flush. His mind boiled with rage and his hands began to shake. To steal someone’s lunch was one thing. But to shove someone into a river was a reality he would have never imagined even in his most horrifying nightmares. The child knew that many people in Baisu City had been swept away by the rising tides just last year. His father had read the report to him and his siblings aloud after they had played too close to the stream by the green mill. Yet he could still see the tattered pink shirt of his friend whip and fly around in the torrent.

Luckily, an eagle-eyed classmate had lunged for his friend’s hand, and managed to brave the muddy banks to pull the coughing boy to shore. Tsujii stomped up to the bully, whose back was turned to him, and pulled back his arm. He knew that he wasn’t supposed to hit another person, but in his anger decided that such a violation of etiquette was necessary.

The older boy never saw the blow coming, and tumbled to the ground with a booming thud. Tsujii fell on him, pounding his fist into his target over and over again, finding himself screaming a garbled mix of half-learned obscenities. If he didn’t learn his lesson from the first blow, perhaps he would by the third, the seventh, or the fifteenth. Tsujii lost count before he was thrown back by the muscled arm of the school’s cafeteria cook, who frankly didn’t understand what had happened, and saw the younger boy as the aggressor.

Now he found himself in a small room, writing a series of sentences that he did not believe, apologizing to the boy that had thrown his friend into the dangerous currents that he knew could kill. Tsujii didn’t understand what he had done wrong. The way he saw it, he was standing up for what was right. He could hear frustrated mutterings through the thin wood separating his room from the office where the adults spent their entire day. They didn’t understand at all what it was like being a kid, he thought. They must have forgotten when they graduated from being young. He assumed that the closer someone got to death, the more stupid and mean one became. That was the only way to comprehend why he was being punished for doing the right thing.

The muttering stopped as Tsujii heard the creaking door swing open.

“Tsujii…”

He had expected to hear the voice of his mother, or perhaps the rough grating noise of the principal’s. It was neither. He had never heard the voice of this man before, and the tone of the one speaking gave warning that something had gone horribly, horribly wrong.

“Yes sir?” He turned around to face a rather large man in a fine suit, of which was already smelling of sweat. The man’s brow was perspiring heavily, and his eyes quickly darted away from the boy’s. Tsujii’s heart fell. This was not someone from his school. His attention was drawn to the man’s chest, where a small red and silver hammer and sickle clung with desperation to the stretching fabric.

“Your father has had an accident,” the man said, pausing awkwardly as if he had more to say, but stopped himself at the last moment before the words poured out of him. “I’m here to take you home.”

“Dad had an accident at the mine? Is he going to be alright?”

Tsujii noticed how the man responded, lips pursing slightly in a not-so-hidden grimace.

“I’m here to take you home. My name is Han Tamada. Could you tell me where you and your mother live?”

“My mother is no longer living, sir. She died when I was very small.”

A shocking realization arose in the man’s eyes.

“Oh.” The man’s face lost all color, even his rosy cheeks turned stark white.

“I am very sorry.” Tsujii knew that he was. No adult had ever spoken to him like that. No adult had ever bowed to him before as that man did in that moment. No adult had ever stayed silent for as long as that man remained.

“Tsujii, would you please gather your things?”

“Where are we going, sir? And will I see my father?”

Mr. Tamada tried to hide the teardrops forming in the corners of his eyes, but Tsujii saw everything. He would never forget the look on his face.

“I don’t believe so.” That was all the man could say. Tsujii could not believe what had happened, and at that moment began to shake, as he had done prior that day. He did not boil with rage, however. His mind now felt as if it was a gaping hole that could not be filled. Mr. Tamada’s hand rested softly on his shoulder for a moment, before holding the back of the chair. The two sad in a weeping silence, absorbing the event as they mourned the situation.

After what must have been hours, the two emerged from the ramshack school building. Mr. Tamada lifted Tsujii into the side of a dirt-stained vehicle, and started the drive towards Baisu City. It was a slow and agonizing trip. Tsujii would never see his home village again.

[Cap Nord]

The manager of the team is Jon Froseth. From his time as a player, there are more stories about him off the pitch than on it, but his straightforward approach did make him an impactful presence along the touchline. Froseth earned his fame during his stint as architect of the Sandfjell Fotball dynasty, which saw them take six trophies in five seasons. But pundits do remark that lies more than a decade behind us and he never really replicated those days. In the press conference for his appointment, he claimed that this role 'was the only one for which he would have come out of retirement'. Something which sounds heartfelt if he hadn't used this exact same phrase with his last two jobs.

Under his guidance, one can expect Cap Nord to play rather defensive reaction-based football with a tough block of four in the heart of the organization and fast wings to fuel targetman Myrrheim. If the circumstances allow it, Froseth keeps his replacements few and late, claiming it breaks the rhythm of a team. Players with squad numbers over 17 can expect to barely feature. To keep those satisfied, the robust Froseth was paired with his younger assistent Van Nooten, a composed and sympathetic fellow who excelled with the Sporting Noordende U23 but couldn't convince at the helm of Stade Saint-Loic.

During their inaugural tournament, the Campionato Esportiva, the Whalers showed potential with a respectable trajectory that only ended in the quarterfinals against the hosts. Especially goalkeeper Siel Leuwert and striker Till Myrrheim featured in review pieces, having been instrumental for the satisfactory debut.

GK. 1. Siel Leuwert. Draiewikum Boys: a fine shotstopper with excellent reflexes but mediocre feet. The proverbial goalkeeper craziness limits itself to an unusual interest in pottery and ceramics.
RD. 2. Brian McLean. Clachonoch Rovers: the highest BMI of the selection but it will not stop him from doing the line a hundred times each game. Always has his heart in it, sometimes even his brain.
CD. 3. Patrick van Hilvaren. Sporting Noordende: elegant central defender from the Sporting academy. That means impeccably dressed, precise passing, lots of cunning and a bit of complaining with the referee.
CD. 4. Jonathan Peary. Sielhafen 1. FC: a bit of a journeyman for Capnordese terms, but the ideal what you see is what you get. A skinhead who can and will murder his direct opponent.
LD. 5. Erik Brymsaeter. SK Sandfjell: looks rather like a violinist than a football player. Nonetheless without remorse and a good first touch. Called 'The Pencil' for his feet, build, moustache and prose.
DM. 6. Carl Worbe. Sielhafen 1. FC: made a personal brand out of being boring, allowing 1. FC fans to call a characteristic, simple, 1-0 win a 'Worbe Dream'. Loyal soldier who does the extra yards.
DM. 7. Dirk Lemmeling. FC Waalterzee: if he is on your team, you call him a spirited engine with duelling power. Everyone outside of Waalterzee thinks he's a dirty bastard and a cheeky trickster.
AM. 8. Jonas Persson. FF Stennköping: the man with the plan, or at least, that is what the nation hopes. Whimsical and slow, but on his day he has brilliance in his vision and a catapult in his crooked left leg.
RW. 9. Rohan Williams. Sporting Noordende: in all aspects a beautiful footballer. Makes the covers of the sports section with his dribbles, of the newspapers with his podcast and of the tabloids with his flirts and cars.
ST. 10. Till Myrrheim. Sandfjell Fotball: two metres of unfiltered firepower, with a babyface on top. A gentle giant outside the game, Myrrheim shuns no duel and weighs on an opposing defense.
LW. 11. Dieter Scharf. Sielhafen 1. FC: a short ersatz playmaker who finds space when it doesn't exist. Known as an einzelganger and a fremdkorper. Believes that scoring is 'just for the simpletons'.

GK. 12. Pierre Le Vallez. Fallwich United: potentially better than Leuwert but his style is poorly suited for this line-up. Towering in the box.
CD. 13. Thomas Noble. Fallwich United: no nonsense but a lot of everything else: shouting, yellows, knee-high tackles and tattoos.
DM. 14. Andreas Hom. Lydholm Forened: former playmaker who slowly drifted back on the pitch. Good option to turn a game around.
AM. 15. Gitte Nilsen. Norreborg 59: the queen of the free kicks who can make difficult actions look amazingly simple. And the other way around.
LW. 16. Eduard Longlet. FF Stennköping: too tall for a winger, too nimble for a striker, too dumb for a playmaker, still pretty decent.
ST. 17. Murad Benkasar. Vereniging Huftstad: brings more football IQ to the pitch than the first choice but tends to miss those sitters.

LD. 18. Deirdre Barnett. Clachonoch Rovers: a fan favourite but a bit too slow to be great.
CA. 19. Pieter Valentijn. Sporting Noordende: a one-man battering ram and just as intelligent.
RM. 20. Steffen Haugen. SK Sandfjell: can be used as a crafty Swiss knife, but a little bit blunt.
CM. 21. Jip Corstjens. FC Waalterzee: hard worker who allows vertical play to happen around him.
CD. 22. Bengt Gustafsson. Lydholm Forened: bland, but Peary and Noble needed an alternative that's not a moron.
GK. 23. Johannes Marzinn. Sielhafen 1. FC: youngest player and mainly here for the long term.

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

[Elmyia]

Beaucester Gazette
Albion Players Refuse Call Up
Fringe Players Move into Squad as Players Snub Massi

In an extraordinary move, all players from Mosfleet Albion have withdrawn from the Baptism of Fire squad. In a joint statement they cited their disagreement with the appointment of Benni Massi as the national team manager as being behind the decision. Anonymous sources have reported that late night phone calls were made by Paul Reynard, snubbed for the national team job, to his club players. Massi has a history with these players, and has been known to criticise their style of play and footballing intelligence.

The loss of ten players who went to the Independents Cup is clearly a major loss, and fringe players, including some members of the under 18s squad, have been called up to represent Elmyia in their place.

This comes for Massi as he was given just days to prepare his squad for their most important tournament to date, and this further bad news will surely not be welcomed by anyone connected to the national side. Massi is know to be trying to impose his style of play on the squad, and will need to work overtime to get them playing his zonal marking 3-4-3 system. Switching to zonal marking abandons the previous national side policy of man marking, and coupled with the use of more offensive full backs there are concerns Elmyia may be left open at the back.

Under such circumstances, Elmyia’s odds of progressing to the knockout rounds look slim at present, with a tough initial test coming against West Barack and East Obama.
Usual Starters Numbered 1-11
Goalkeepers
1. Andrea Silver - 24, Italia Mosfleet
12. Tatiana Mikou - 27, Hellenic Sports Club
23. Redvers Johnson - 39, Diepfleet

Defenders
2. Andrew Awfield - 18, Diepfleet, Left-Back
3. Maria Grosso - 25, Hellenic Sports Club, Centre-Back
4. Mario Freschi - 30, Italia Mosfleet, Centre-Back
5. Antonia Chizzo - 35, Italia Mosfleet, Centre-Back
6. Jenny Scoular - 26, Italia Mosfleet, Right-Back
13. Nancy Savalas - 17, Hellenic Sports Club, Centre-Back
14. Sally Smith - 31, Munster, Centre-Back
15. Monica Rossellini - 29, Scolastico, Left-Back
16. Matilde Pizan - 27, AS Catamouge, Right-Back

Midfielders
8. Vita Speight - 19, Italia Mosfleet, Central Midfielder
11. Genesio Chapman - 25, Sablegaard, Central Midfielder
17. Valentina Galli - 18, Scolastico, Central Midfielder
18. Leonida Clifton - 29, Italia Mosfleet, Defensive Midfielder
19. Doug Reid - 21, Diepfleet, Attacking Midfielder

Forwards
7. Carlo Beluigi - 30, Italia Mosfleet, Right-Winger
9. Vesper Benedetti - 17, AS Catamouge, Centre-Forward
10. Sofia Katsouranis - 23, Scolastico, Left-Winger
20. Luca Blanc - 27, Scolastico, Right-Winger
22. Georgina Blight - 20, Munster, Left-Winger

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes

Style mod -2

[Cap Nord]

“We’ve marched down to Anaia
by train and boat and foot!
Fly and wave our colours,
plunder, steel and loot.
The geese they will be slaughtered!
We show them what’s aboot!
The Whalers marching on!”

Siel Leuwert clapped his gloves towards the fans behind his goal, who reacted with a loud cheer before setting in the same song again, just a tad louder and less coordinated. The goalkeeper could not imagine what the atmosphere would have been had Cap Nord been drawn in the Ko-orenite group, but right now, the roof was coming off. He smiled, thinking back of the opener at the Campionato Esportiva when only a thousand had made the trip. Now the travel distance reached far beyond that, but half the stadium was covered in red, yellow and blue. Being played on a party island evidently helped, but nothing like success to get the enthusiasm going.

”Roooooars the lion, all bow down. Leuwert is gonna get them!”

Now, his smile turned into a wide grin. The first time the Kop chanted something towards him, he had tried to wave it away, matching his usual shyness. For some reason, this had been interpreted as a ‘rawr’ gesture and considering the fit with his name, a better version of the song developed. Siel lifted his thumb but that made his grin a bit wry. Shit. Even a simple gesture like that ached awfully. During the warm-up, a seemingly innocent bouncy free kick from Williams had come his way. A bit of a shitty ball, so he touched it away but somehow managed to squeeze his thumb the wrong way. Straight away, Siel knew something was off. But it would be ok, he told himself. And he repeated that when he sat in the dressing room, listening to Forseth’s last motivation speech. And now… He ogled the bench. Now it was too late to panic and step back. ‘If I just don’t use it too much, it will be fine’. Even he barely believed himself.

[Ganes Ame]

OOC: Wasn't expecting the BoF to start so quickly. Just discovered today was MD1 at 17:00 UTC and had to rush this RP. Expect more detailed RPs for future MDs.

The Ganes Ame National Team arrived in Santa Teresa, Ko-oren shortly before their match with Tecoia was scheduled to begin with a small contingent of supporters. They had arrived in Ko-oren a couple days prior but due to the language barrier they had gotten lost after misreading some of the signs on public transit. It seemed that none of the locals habla español or understood Latin and very few people from Ganes Ame understood the bizarre languages of Ko-oren.

Until the missionaries had arrived around 20 years ago, Ganes Ame had been a much different nation than it was today. Once known as a tropical paradise of free love and leisure, Ganes Ame was now reborn as a Christian nation. While the missionaries spoke Latin, they quickly realized that the Español language was closely related. At first, the missionaries had trouble converting people to the Church but they found success converting politicians with offers of financial support from the Church and, due to the apathy of the electorate, were able to elect Rafa Rosas Garrido's Partido Sociedad Justa to majority control of the legislature. With their majority secure, Partido Sociedad Justa set about building up the police and military forces with both domestic and foreign Christians and, once they had sufficient power to enforce them, succeeded in imposing Christian law upon what had been an apathetic nation.

It certainly helped that the pace of conversion had picked up due to the government limiting social services to Christians and establishing new manufacturing industries which would only employ Christians. As the years passed by, more and more of society was closed off to the unconverted and, by the present time, most had converted. Now, Prime Minister Rosas and Patriarch Petrus (of the capital city of Castillo Bonita) felt comfortable enough to open Ganes Ame up to the rest of the world by entering the World Cup. Entering the World Cup meant entering the Baptism of Fire which is how the country's new fútbol team found itself in Ko-oren.

As they reached the Estádio Marítimo, the team from Ganes Ame knew only about its opponent's roster and that they were from a region called Mandalanusa that none of them had ever heard of. Before long, they'd walk through the tunnel to begin their bautismo de fuego in the Baptism of Fire...

[Talannua]

Continued from

I take a step forward with my right foot.
I plant down and take a step forward with my left foot.
I push off my left foot and lift my right foot.
My left leg buckles.
I fall.
I get back up, and I know I'll have to be more careful.
I take more steps forward, taking short steps with my left and slightly falling into my right steps.
I walk for minutes, for meters, for hours and hours and miles and miles, but I have no idea what I am looking for, because there is absolutely nothing, not a hill, not a pond, not a bird, not a cloud, not a soul in sight.
Suddenly, I collapse.
My face goes hot, my head swirls.
In my mind, I see wisps, hear faint shrieks.
It's like I'm trying to remember, but I can't, not yet anyway.
It stops.
I open my eyes.
The sun has gone down and is starting to come up again, and tears are running down my face, cooling my cheeks.
Slowly, gingerly, I stand up again.
I look around, and finally there is something on the horizon.
I turn to my right and begin to inch towards it with some determination.
I walk for minutes this time.
Off in the distance, I see brown dots appear and start to grow.
I stop and squint.
They are horses, unstoppable beasts hurtling towards me with the speed of a tornado.
I fold in place, cowering, waiting for the end.
I hear a burst of shouting, of whinnying, the clopping of hooves against the ground, suddenly squelching into the mud and longly skidding to a halt mere feet away from me.
I look up.
There are people on top of the horses.
One man, a weary soul with a wrinkled face turned supple with concern.
"Sharon?" I say faintly.
"Is that your name?" he replied.
I shake my head.
"What's happened to you?"
I stare blankly, unable to explain - after all, what has happened with me?
"Are you alone?"
I answer, "I think so."
He turned to his fellows, shouting, "Help me get him up, we've got to take him back."
Gratefully, I accept the aid, trying to help get up on the man's roan stallion myself, although I can tell I'm doing him no good.
We ride off.
I doze off, my head leaning off to the left, my eyes closing.
My eyes shoot open.
I look past my handless left arm down to my left leg.
It is not lacking for length, but absent some girth.
I can see it glistening with blood and humor, and that seems to be, no, that can't be right, on my hip and thigh, that can't be the bone, can it?
I slump over, my stomach turning, the last thing I hear is the pilot of my steed shouting, "We gotta hurry!"

[New Harmonia]

HARMONIA NEWS SERVICE sport

Canaan causes confusion at presser

The appointment of Domenique Canaan as manager for Harmonia’s first international tournament brought excitement, albeit with a bit of mystery about what was in store. Canaan has always been an enigmatic figure, willing to play mind games in order to keep his opponents on edge. His final presser before the match against Ingont was a prime example of this. The most notable part of the press conference was when the manager made unexpected decision to decline to not reveal his squad. “You will see who we have at our disposal when we take the pitch,” he stated. The decision to keep the plans for Harmonia’s first tournament on the hush understandably has some fans on edge. “I want to keep positive, but I have a sinking feeling that the choice to be so secretive may backfire” was the sentiment of one apprehensive fan on social media.

Canaan attempted to focus the press conference on his plans for the general tactics of the team. “We will play in a fluid way and keep the game moving quickly.” He mentioned that there will be a 4-3-3 formation with the wingers and full backs occasionally shifting places. The flow of the game will dictate the style of play, with a mixture of short and long passes played on the counter attack. Despite his best efforts, different members of the media kept bringing the topic back to the lack of clarity on squad plans. Tensions flared when the manger snapped, shouting “Ingont have not told you their starting eleven either, why don’t you focus on that?”

There are sure to be more answers to the questions we have as the tournament progresses. Keep checking HNS Sport for more updates on the national team’s fortunes at the Baptism of Fire.

Harmonia National Team
Style Modifier: +2
Formation: 4-3-3

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but TG first for approval
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes, but TG first for approval
Godmod other events: No

[Mertagne]

BAPTISM OF FIRE 79 - MERTAGNE AND KO-OREN
Matchday One Scores

Group A - Mertagne
The Republic of Covelandia 1–1 Mystylands @ Flynn Ar3na, New Fligsive
West Barack and East Obama 1–0 Elmyia @ Dannin City Stadium, Dannin
Loyo 2–1 Talannua @ Spectrum Stadium, Dannin

* Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Loyo                         1   1  0  0    2   1  +1    3
  West Barack and East Obama   1   1  0  0    1   0  +1    3
3 Mystylands                   1   0  1  0    1   1   0    1
  The Republic of Covelandia   1   0  1  0    1   1   0    1
5 Elmyia                       1   0  0  1    0   1  −1    0
  Talannua                     1   0  0  1    1   2  −1    0

[Ko-oren]

BAPTISM OF FIRE 79 - MERTAGNE AND KO-OREN
Matchday One Scores

Group B - Ko-oren
Harmonia 6–2 Ingont @ Hazel Arena, Straudum
Tecoia 3–3 Ganes Ame @ Estádio Marítimo, Santa Teresa
Captina Island 3–0 New South Yukon @ Spider Stadium, Alara

* Group B              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Harmonia               1   1  0  0    6   2  +4    3
2 Captina Island         1   1  0  0    3   0  +3    3
3 Ganes Ame              1   0  1  0    3   3   0    1
  Tecoia                 1   0  1  0    3   3   0    1
5 New South Yukon        1   0  0  1    0   3  −3    0
6 Ingont                 1   0  0  1    2   6  −4    0

Group C - Koroa City
Kethsi 3–1 Atetancillo @ Bazaar, Koroa City
Yakk 0–1 Koronavia @ Pavilion, Koroa City
Canadian Dominion 0–1 Cap Nord @ Arena, Koroa City

* Group C              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kethsi                 1   1  0  0    3   1  +2    3
2 Cap Nord               1   1  0  0    1   0  +1    3
  Koronavia              1   1  0  0    1   0  +1    3
4 Canadian Dominion      1   0  0  1    0   1  −1    0
  Yakk                   1   0  0  1    0   1  −1    0
6 Atetancillo            1   0  0  1    1   3  −2    0

Matchday 2 will be scorinated in roughly 48 hours from this post.

[Elmyia]

Traitors, treacherous bastards, children of satan. his children Benni muttered darkly to himself. Sat in the hotel room of Beaucester International Airport, the news that he had lost 10 of the most talented footballers in the nation had filtered through. He needed to compile a squad now. He got his assistant, Demi Branenoch, on the phone. Options were shifted through, calls were made and a squad was cobbled together. God it looked lightweight. But he knew, he could still whip this group into something, something just enough to present respectably at the Baptism of Fire. He, not like those other managers, knew this was a job to cover several cycles. There are no world beaters from Elmyia, not yet, they would need to be crafted.

But still. Losing the Albion players hurt, for all the guff he talked about patriotism, loving his country, accusing Benni of scheming. Well, here it was stated plainly, all before was projection. Clearly his hatred of Benni ran deeper than any other feeling. Simply we will muddle through.

Such was the disorganisation and chaos the FF had been thrown into that Benni would catch first sight of his squad at their training base, in a slightly down at heel hotel, adjacent to a small athletics ground. Far from ideal. Benni was never much for talking, he set out how he wanted them to play through designing training drills to groove them into his style. He liked distance from players, he felt a few words carefully tailored overcame the problems of over familiarity, he hoped his opening gambit worked as such.

“Good morning, thank you all for agreeing to be at the service of your nation. Over the next few days you will learn to play my football, football that will bring success internationally. We have lost 10 very talented players, you must prove you can step up. In my pocket I have the names of 5 players I know will not have what it takes to succeed at this level, you will be replaced the minute the Albion players return. We start with rondos, go”

His assistant shepherded the players into their circles to rondo. Benni stepped back and observed. In his pocket was a piece of paper, but it was blank. As far as he was concerned all of their names could well appear on it, they would take some work to get moving.

***

Two hours of gruelling drills passed by. Players instructed to hold an offside line, mark the space not the man, and endless set piece drills. Massi was clearly keeping it simple to start. But doubt swirled around the camp, who was on the list.

As they settled into the hotel bar, murmurs started to rumble. Who was on the list? Was there any getting off it? Why those players? Angelo Bernardini decided to break the tension, and tried to order a couple of bottles of wine to settle in for the afternoon, a tradition as old as Elmyian football. “Two bottles of house red and two of the house white per favore signor”

“I am sorry, but I have been specifically instructed to not serve your party any alcohol.”

“What?! By who?”

“I believe it is your manager, Signor Massi.”

Angelo walked back to his seat, looking too shocked to speak. He slumped in his seat and put his hand on his temple. Katsouranis chuckled “wait until you see what he has for dinner.”

“Is this a usual thing for him?”

“Yeah he’s pretty strict on health” a grumble emerged from most of the contingent. Two hours later, more emerged as they walked into the small dining hall. They sat behind a roped off area, on their plates were broccoli, salmon and rice. All boiled. No sauce. Next to him was two bin bags packed full of crisps, biscuits and sweets. Benni didn’t turn around or look up “I have these from your bags. You eat crap, then you’ll play crap. Sit, and eat. Bedtime at 8pm.” Further dissent ripples through the group.

***

In training and the players were being put through a series of drills on defensive transitions, sprinting back and closing down the space quickly. Angelo Bernardini did as he usually did, he lolloped back and placed himself to receive a pass. A sharp whistle cut through the air, the drill stopped and focus returned to set pieces. At the conclusion Angelo saw Benni gesturing over. He put his arm around him, and quietly growled “what is that Angelo? Why you not put pressure on the counter?”

“I need to preserve my legs boss, if I sprint like that I’ll do my legs in”

Benni nodded “well okay, if you cannot sprint like that you cannot sprint like that. But you’ll be on the first fucking plane home” Angelo nodded, and jogged back to the changing room.

***

Match day, tactical instruction given and the players set out. Benni takes his place on the bench. If they play well out of possession, mark zonally, show enough energy he’ll be happy. The first half proceeds and he feels his hairline might recede. Bad enough the midfield look clueless in possession. Bad enough that Chizzo keeps getting dragged up from the back three. But the worst thing, Bernardini wanders. Almost aimlessly. No application, no effort, only interested when we’re on the ball. Benni simmers, under no pressure and Barracks thread a pass down field to Sobama, who goes in behind Chizzo and finishes coolly. Benni is down the tunnel and digging something out of his bag before the team comes in. They all take their seats in silence.

“Angelo, what did I say yesterday?”

Angelo looked taken aback, expecting the general team talk to begin. He’d made some nice passes, had hustled between the lines, what was the problem “you said I must sprint.”

“And did you?”

“Well I said boss, I need to save my le…”

“AND I TOLD YOU YOU MUST RUN. You did not run, you can go home. Go home, your bag is packed, the cab is waiting, here’s the ticket. I don’t want to see you, go.” Angelo made a stunned effort to start a sentence, but no words came out. He took the ticket from Benni’s hand and walked out.

“Benedetti you are on. Chizzo, you come off for Savalas. Energy, energy, energy. I need it this half. Hold your shape, plan has not changed”

The second half was scrappy, a lot of effort, a lot of running about. The plan in possession still lacking though and no comeback was on the cards it’s a start. The players come back and slump, they look exhausted and unhappy.

“Better, that was better. No reward, but we can build from here. What I ask is you show me. SHOW me you can run. Show ME you will try. SHOW that you will give your all for our country out there. You rest tonight, day after I will work you harder than you ever have before.”

[West Barack and East Obama]

MOMO AND THE OBAMASAURUS: PUTTING THE FIRE BACK INTO THE BAPTISM OF FIRE

Uploaded 30th August 2022 by DJ Momo Official

OBAMADEUS-MOZART: Yo yo yo! It's your man DJ Momo, and today I'm debuting a brand new vlogging series! In this series of amazingly and beautifully crafted short form videos, I will show off my journey in the Baptism of Fire as part of the West Barack and East Obama national team, and maybe share some snippets of our upcoming fourth studio album, Obamania.

Yes... you may be wondering. "How the hell did this [CENSORED] idiot get permission to do this? I mean, aren't you guys heavily censored anyway?" Well, seems like our wonderful coach Buck convinced the football government guys to let me do this. Something about "PR opportunities". Whatever that means. But hey, access to exclusive DJ Momo content! Can't say no to that!

Sooo... yes, you've all been waiting for this. "What are the players like??" Well, I'm glad you asked that! Dwayne is such a softie... he saw a fan asking for an autograph and only punched him in the face! Some of the others were begging to throw him into the dungeons, but Dwayne really is sympathetic! Also, you'd never guess this, but Charles is too posh. He actually refuses to train with the rest of us. You'd think working with our glorious leader he'd be humble.. but I guess not!

Anyways, big news! If you haven't heard it already, we totally smashed Elmyia. Yeah, a huge 1-0 victory. At the last minute. It was a great goal though. Not everyone can pull of such a brilliantly executed tap-in like Fred. Okay, maybe he did shove two defenders onto the ground and threaten the goalie's family when the ref wasn't looking... but that's old news. We won! We won! We're bringing the trophy home! Of course, yours truly was performing the best. The Obamasaurus said I was man of the match. I was in full control that day, with my passes being cautious but striking at the opportune time. My midfield partners slightly disagreed with him over this assessment, but they sorted it out with a good old fistfight.

Speaking of which... here's an excerpt of the opening song of Obamania, "The Obama-Spangled Banner"! The beat I composed has such an amazing drop which I'll be saving for when the album itself drops!

Whose broad shoulders and bright eyes
Through the perilous fight
Over the Valorant games we watched
Were so disgustingly streaming on Twitch?

Now THAT's music I'd sing at a football game! Anyways,-

C. OBAMA: Pardon me young man, but I heard on the grapevine that you were slandering my good name by calling me too posh. Is that correct!

OBAMADEUS-MOZART: Uhh... no?

C. OBAMA: Very well then. Now stop this video frippery and get out of my private training room at once you plebe.

OBAMADEUS-MOZART: Well that's all for today guys! This was DJ Momo, and you just watched DJ Momo and The Obama-

C. OBAMA: NOW!!!!

[Ganes Ame]

OOC: I've edited my roster to add my team's nickname (Los Santos). Didn't think of that originally.

After both anthems were played, the match between Ganes Ame and Tecoia began. Ganes Ame was clearly caught unprepared as Tecoia went on the attack immediately. It didn't take Os Marítimos long to earn a corner as a Fabio Sequeira cross bounced off the chest of Matias Guerra and landed at the foot of Liam Masangkay. Masangkay's shot was on target and was only stopped by a spectacular save from Los Santos keeper Armentario Medina Garay. But Medina could not catch the ball and Los Santos had conceded a corner. Izabel Corte-Real launched a corner to the far side of the box where it was headed into the net by Sequeira. Os Marítimos had struck first.

The match soon bogged down into midfield and the two sides soon discovered that their languages were mutually intelligible. Eventually, Stefano Armijo Ceballos was called for a minor foul on Artur Santos, setting up a long free kick for Sequeira. Sequeira's free kick landed right at the feet of Nelson de Sa who quickly beat Casiano Mayonga Zúñiga, setting up a 1 v. 1 against Medina. Medina charged forward, diving for the ball but he missed it and de Sa was able to put the ball in an empty net. The score was Tecoia 2, Ganes Ame 0. Halftime would soon arrive and Ganes Ame was still waiting for their first shot on goal.

During the halftime break, Jael Ramón Ríos was visibly frustrated with his team's performance and whatever he said lit a fire under them. A 47th minute goal would come from Natan Mena Muñoz followed by a 51st minute goal by Marón Arteaga Callas. Mena's goal would be set up by a Corte-Real foul on Arteaga just outside the scoring area. Mena would take the free kick and aim it directly towards the net. Several minutes later, Mena would get a second shot off of a long pass from Stefano Armijo Ceballos and would ultimately earn a corner after it was deflected by Rafael Catubig. Anastasio Heredia Veliz would take the corner and set up an Arteaga goal that was eerily similar to Sequeira's. The match was now tied at 2 goals apiece.

Shortly after the hour mark, a bad back pass by Artur Santos gave Los Santos an opportunity. Giorgio Ochoa Nevarez was able to advance the ball on the right side of the pitch largely uncontested. Once he reached the Tecoia end, he was able to hold onto possession uncontested while waiting for his teammates to get set. Ochoa launched the ball into the scoring area, almost as if it was a corner, and none other than Natan Mena Muñoz was there for his 2nd goal of the match. Ganes Ame now had the lead.

A stunned Os Marítimos was still able to regroup after making some substitutions and had a few scoring opportunities that resulted in saves by Medina. But in stoppage time, Valdo Pina Salcedo would foul Sequeira in the scoring area. Or at least that's what the official decided though Ganes Ame's media and telecast disputed that it was a foul and argued that Sequeira had flopped. Pina would be red carded and Mariano Simões would get an opportunity for a penalty. Simões kicked it straight ahead, Medina dove and the score was tied. Moments later, the ref blew his final whistle and the first international match for Ganes Ame had ended in controversial fashion. Initially, things were tense but Jael Ramón Ríos visibly got in the face of some of his players, insisting that they show good sportsmanship even if they were frustrated with the result. After the words from his manager, Pina would go up to Sequeira and apologize for the foul but Sequeira misinterpreted "lo siento" as "I feel" rather than "I'm sorry" and thought he was being taunted by the guy who had fouled him. (OOC: I'm leaving the question of how Sequeira reacts to this misunderstanding up to Tecoia)

Following the match, the players returned to their hotel rooms. Jael Ramón Ríos sent his assistant Baldo Quintero Solórzano out to look for a local Church where Los Santos could go for Mass but he was unable to find any churches that were in communion with the Patriarchate of Castillo Bonita. Quintero informed his boss of this and was instructed to relay this information to his parish priest so that the Church could send missionaries...

[Captina Island]

a bit of confusion....

Historic Firsts for Captina
The Captina Company Press Association

Alara, Ko-oren--The first match of the Baptism of Fire here in Ko-oren saw the TCCFA National Squad achieve the first win in the nation's history, a 3-0 victory against New South Yukon.

Through two different appearances in the Copa Rushmori, the national team had failed to earn even a draw, having been outscored by a 14-2 margin over seven contests. The win at the Spider Stadium was the first ever shutout victory, the most goals scored by the team and of course the first points recorded in a tournament.

Giuseppe Overstreet scored on his debut for the Rosso e Oro followed by Daniele Vozzo becoming the first player to score a second goal. Emilio Rizzuto finished the scoring as a sub in place of Vozzo, and the team received the adulation of the 6,000 supporters who made the trip.

Ganes Ame will be the next opponent, coming off a 3-3 draw with Tecoia; the scene of that match will be the venue on day 2, the Estadio Maritimo in Sainta Teresa, which will also be where Captina will face the current leaders of the Group B table, Harmonia.

__________________________________________________________________________________________
(a bit of in-depth truth telling...)

Captina Island appears to outsiders as a clean, orderly, safe society where two vastly different cultures came together and blended into the current national identity.

There is always more than meets the eye in circumstances like this. Knowing where to find the reality behind the façade is the key.

The Corporation State, where there is a relative equality across an array of social and racial divides, wasn't formed for utopian ideals; it was necessary to keep people from killing one another over who would ultimately be in control.
On that front, it's held up pretty well.