Independents Cup 17

[TJUN-ia]

By Peter Davis

Yep. Oof.
Fair play to Geektopia, they certainly came here to play and they deserved the dub.

We'll be back for WCQ, looking to try and make a 3rd WC in 4 Cycles.
The only real change will be at the top.
David Seems will be on paternal leave for WCQ, taking care of Amethyst Li Seems. Li Xiu Ying will return to steer the side.

Mark my words: We will come back stronger.
Our journey back to the World Cup starts right now.
GO JAGS!

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SCHEDULE (Group 2)
MD1: vs Toluiwa (UR) - The Pentagram Underworld, West Barack and East Obama W 3-0 (1st)
MD2: vs West Barack and East Obama (32) - The Pentagram Underworld, West Barack and East Obama L 1-2 (2nd)
MD3: vs New Portland Republic (UR) - Holy Immaculate Stadium of Saint Grapefruit the Anomic, Quintessence of Dust D 0-0 (2nd)
MD4: BYE
MD5: vs Abanhfleft (15) - Holy Immaculate Stadium of Saint Grapefruit the Anomic, Quintessence of Dust W 3-2 (1st/2W-1D-1L/7pts/+3GD/#10)
-----------------------------------------
Ro24: vs StrayaRoos Barrier Islands (A3/#23) - BobBank SkyPark W 4-3
Ro16: vs Geektopia (F1/#7) - BobBank SkyPark L 1-3

[Juvencus]

"KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON" DUDU MADEIROS REMAINS LEVEL HEADED AS GLI ATTACCANTI STORM PAST KRIEGIERSIEN


No nonsense shown on the pitch by the players as la squadra defeats the 4th-ranked side Independents-wise in the Round of 16 of the Independents Cup

Another matchday, another victory for la squadra. This time yet another clean sweep was delivered against arguably the most dangerous competition the side has faced so far in the competition, Kriegiersien. With the first victory against a convincing side in the competition, odds are that the fanbase's outlook on the team performance this Independents Cup is starting to change for the positive, seeing as how comfortably they maintained control over the majority of the game. Even saving a penalty in the process. To top it all off, a magnificent couple of goals by Etxeberria and Limene was more than enough to seal it.

Entering the game, it was obvious that Madeiros had slapped some sense to his players as they were playing very seriously, remaining focused on their game without mistake. With several changes to the lineup, including experienced Etxeberria in the place of Pereyra, Limene in the place of Campana, as well as Sissoko in the place of Portieri and Coste in the place of Puig, this served as a lesson to said players for playing too arrogant against Belnegau and the matches after, despite the emphatic victories. The replacements played a sound Pomenienze and with a gorgeous Etxeberria rocket on the top left corner, the young Seing Giu Kim could not react on time, thus this served as an ice breaker. This did not phase the Kriegiersien side as they pushed forward and were dangerous on a number of occasions. Most notably, a Dakota Di Bradini lucky dribbling sequence was abruptly cut by Ibarra resulting in a penalty to be called. Despite several Juven players gathering around the referee to change the decision, the penalty would remain the decision taken. Di Bradini would be taking the penalty but Ungaro kept his composure and deflected it to the top bar after performing a series of mind games to throw her off. Thus the first half ended in a 0-1 for la squadra.

The game kept unfolding perfectly, almost too perfectly in the second half. A near one-sided second half with little fluctuation, with the Kriegiersien team unable to break through the chain that gli attaccanti had created. The pressure was too much for them and frustration followed with several fights that by serendipitous circumstances never escalated into cards for any players. With the time passing and the advantadge remaining for la squadra, they decided to put forth more pressure and go onto the offensive. A barrage of opportunities followed, including a dangerous Limene header that hit the right post. That would indeed work as a spiteful boost for the Garden City striker as he would once again be given the opportunity to score by none other than Martell. A quick turn of the back and his shot was unstoppable to make it 2 for la squadra, which would be the scoreline to remain until the end. With a second straight quarter-finals qualification, the team is finding itself in another predicament against Indusse, India's finest side and another favorite to lift the trophy.

"It is important to maintain a level-headedness until the end." said Dudu Madeiros, completing "We need to keep calm and carry on. This tournament is not over, it was an exciting win over a strong side but now the sides are becoming stronger and better than before and we should remain vigilant, stick to our plan and to go for the victory. Indusse are a dangerous team and we are already laser-focused on creating the best possible plan to face them and defeat them, if we want to lift the illustrious trophy of the Independents."

---

Other News:

Politics: Elections on the horizon, with Salvatore Domenico Garcia's popularity drastically reduced, could we be seeing a new Prime Minister?
The Pandemic: The Pandemic, which has been an ongoing thought for the nation for the past 10 years now, has officially been declared an epidemic due to herd immunity. Cheers across the nation follow as all remaining measures are lifted.
Sports: Why la squadra's Cup of Harmony 3rd place victory might be the best sports achievement of the nation for the years to come:
Juvencus: Demene declared Juven Cultural Capital for the year of 2036

[Abanhfleft]

DISCLAIMER: Gaelic Gamers is an independents sports blogging website created by four cousins with a common liking and passion for sports of all kinds and is in no way or form affiliated with or organized by any official news organization in the Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft. All statements and opinions posted here are our own and not anyone else's.

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Gaelic Gamers
Presents...

The Football Fallacies
with The Man from Markovsky

WAIT A MINUTE, THIS WASN'T IN THE SCRIPT!

Hello and welcome to The Football Fallacies. Right, so this was an outcome that I wasn’t really expecting to happen! No, seriously, I did not expect a victory over HUElavia at all, not even via penalties! But you gotta put this result in context as well because in all of the other times that we’ve met HUElavia in the Independent Associations Championship playoffs (and also a handful of other sports for that matter), the team in yellow have always emerged triumphant. Heck, I would even say that HUElavia have always seemingly had our number since time immemorial. I can’t even remember the first time that we met them in football, but I’m pretty sure that we lost that one as well! I’m telling you all, the words “loss” and “HUElavia” have been etched together in my mind because of all the times that we’ve lost to them, which is why I didn’t even try to make a bet about eating dog food when I found out that the winner of the game between Abanhfleft and Nassovia would face the yellow bastards next! If we had lost against Nassovia, I’m sure that that would have pushed me over the edge that eating dog food would probably have been the only legal thing that I would have committed afterwards. But against HUElavia, I’ve come to almost always expect a loss against them, the victory in the Jenna Raven Cup Final notwithstanding. That’s why I didn’t say I was going to eat dog food if we lost to HUElavia because it was more like when we lose to HUElavia, but now I can already hear the people in the comments asking me why I didn’t say I was going to eat dog food if Abanhfleft won instead…

To this day, honestly speaking, I’m still not really convinced that we actually won the Jenna Raven Cup against this lot. Every day I keep half expecting to see the news that someone on our team like Hiroko Kellerman or Ina Pendergraft or whoever would turn out to have had illegal amounts of ripperonin in their system at the time of the final and so we’ll have to be stripped of the title, meaning HUElavia were actually the real winners of the Jenna Raven Cup. That’s how convinced I am that HUElavia is actually better at football than us. Again, I’m not trying to say that they’re not because they clearly are, and anybody who says otherwise should just go join the quote-unquote “Real Fans of Abanhfleft” and kidnap the Saint Kanye ambassador once again. But now that the ladies have actually managed to beat HUElavia in Baker Park, are we about to see a shift in the balance finally? Are we going to see ourselves win over the yellow team a few more times now? Maybe, maybe not. But I don’t think we’re as afraid of the HUElavians now as we were before. And I’m not talking about just the fans here. In the last few times that we’ve played them, I’ve noticed that our own players look like they’re deathly scared of going up against HUElavia. Like, what the fuck? They may have beaten us more times than I can count, sure, but at the end of the day they’re still humans just like us! None of them are serial killers, at least as far as I’m aware, but then again, what do I know about these footballers?

Now I know that the scoreline says zero goals scored in 120 minutes, but this isn’t one of those games where literally nothing happened. Yes, those games do exist, but this is nothing like that. Both teams actually had chances to break the deadlock, and there was definitely a feeling in the air that whoever scored the first goal was going to win the game. I mean, that’s just common sense, but you know how there are some games where one team scores a goal then the other team scores an equalizer and then both sides start trading goals and before you know it, the game has become a 5-5 bloodbath. Yeah, there are some games that just stick out in your memory, and that semifinal between the Fhulghamous Peninsula and Nova Anglicana is one of those games. And this one might just find a place in my memory banks as well even if it didn’t have any goals in it at all. I guess you don’t really need goals in a game to make it a memorable one. It probably won’t go down as an all-time classic, but it will go down in history as the moment when Abanhfleft finally conquered one of its demons in the Independents Cup. Speaking of which, can someone go down to the dugout and check on Heinrich Wurzmann? Something tells me that what the girls played out there is not Wurzmann-ball at all. If it was Wurzmann-ball then we wouldn’t even be talking about an Abanhfleft victory. Someone might have just replaced Heino with a clone or a body double who actually knows how to manage a football team!

This game was just chances galore, and if someone on either side had actually managed to put on their shooting boots during regulation or the extra 30 minutes then they could have scored the winning goal for their team. Both teams had at least 20 chances, but at the end of the day, the combined shots on target for both Abanhfleft and HUElavia didn't even add up to ten. Fine margins and all that. Cristiano Aveiro Junior could have given his side the lead in the 10th minute if he hadn’t sent his free kick straight into the woodwork, and Milia Amezcua had a header from another Aveiro free kick saved by Ina Pendergraft and her shockingly fast reflexes. I mean, Ina is indeed a good goalkeeper, but because she has the acceleration of a granite boulder, she often gets overlooked in the conversation for great keepers from Abanhfleft because sweepers are the in thing at the moment. But as long as Ina stays inside her box and has trust in her defenders (which, to be fair, she does have with both Margo Kahn and Rose Bane), she’s good enough to guard the sticks for the blue, orange, and green. Abanhfleft’s center backs also did a good job of snuffing out dangerous threats like they were firefighters stopping a forest fire from getting started in the first place, but that wasn’t to say that a few things still managed to escape them. If it weren’t for Ina Pendergraft being alert to the danger, David Navarro-Hamada could have won it for HUElavia in the 85th minute with a thunderous screamer.

That wasn’t to say that this was all HUElavia. Hiroko Kellerman was always going to be a threat to the other side, and now that Heino actually looks like he now knows how to properly utilize her, Hiroko has been getting more and more chances in front of goal. Unfortunately for her and for us, she forgot to put on her shooting boots, or else she could have very much had a hat trick against HUElavia once the clock hit 60 minutes. And when it wasn’t Hiroko who was taking shots at the HUElavian goal and missing, it was her fellow forward players. Mae Wilbanks had the pick of the bunch from these almost goals as her own free kick 59 minutes in smashed into the crossbar. Tatiana Tos could have and should have won the game for the Lady Revolutionaries in regulation when she had a literal open goal in front of her as a result of Ignacio Casillas saving a rocket from Mavis McGlamery, but somehow Tatiana put it into the side netting instead! Look, I get it. As a defensive-minded central midfielder (basically a midfield enforcer), Tatiana has much better accuracy going against opponents’ legs than she has in front of goal. But Christ above! She was literally just a yard or two away from the back of the net when she missed that chance. Even my grandmother would have scored that goal, and she’s been dead for twenty years already!

And the chaos would continue on in the extra 30 minutes. Sometimes HUElavia would look like they had the advantage, and then it was Abanhfleft who looked most likely to score. Jordyn Bernardino really should have done that in the 100th minute with a crazy bicycle kick attempt, but Ignacio Casillas literally said, “You shall not pass!” and managed to get just enough of his fingertip onto the ball to push it wide of the post. I don’t really blame Jordyn for not wanting to get up off the ground after that save because it really makes you think that if even she couldn’t get past Casillas then who could? Of course, spot kicks would be a completely different matter altogether, but for the moment, it really did look like we weren’t keen to let this game get that far. Abanhfleft’s shootout record is a bit meh, “not great but not terrible” as the chief engineer of Reactor Number One of the Oktyabrskaya Nuclear Power Plant in Pridnestrovia once said. But the game went to penalties anyway, and everyone had to brace themselves for either joy or pain. We also had the inevitable argument on whether this is actually a good way to settle a draw in football if the competition needed a clear winner, but we’ll get to that later. Abanhfleft kicked first, and both Jordyn Bernardino and Mavis McGlamery made their kicks, as did Cristiano Aveiro and Milia Amezcua. But then things got a little bit complicated when Casillas saved Josefine Vitagliano’s spot kick and Raul Nascimento made his. Is this going to be how Abanhfleft was going to fall to the yellow team this time?

No, said Ina Pendergraft. Or words to that effect. She was definitely saying something while Gabriela Yamada was setting up the ball, and that probably made the HUElavian midfielder slip up and miss her shot. And the way Ina celebrated the miss, you would think that she actually put a hand on the ball and stopped it from going in. Yeah, no, don’t count your eggs until they’ve hatched, mate. Abanhfleft are still down on the count and—oh, yeah, right. Christy Mireilles actually scored so both teams are actually equal once again. But we still have to score the fifth spot kick and stop HUElavia from scoring theirs—and Ashley Jaxson actually scored her spot kick. I mean, I had my doubts about her ability to take penalties simply because I’ve never seen her do it before, but Christ above! The way that Ashley just went for the top left corner, the technique that she displayed, the poise! It was just like watching Addie Singh doing it for both Ludogorets Markovsky and the national team all over again! But it still wasn’t over! Ina Pendergraft still had to make a save against the latest HUElavian kicker—and she just did it. Abanhfleft are through to the quarterfinals of the Independent Associations Championship for the first time in a very long time, and at the same time the Lady Revolutionaries have finally slayed one of the dragons that have been tormenting us for a long time. Finally! Maybe this is the day that I’ll finally stop expecting to see a title reversal on the Jenna Raven Cup.

But the job isn’t over just yet. Oh, no, sir, it is not over at all! In fact, you could even say that it’s just beginning. The Lady Revolutionaries are going up against Squidroidia in the quarterfinals, and though they don’t look like much, don’t you all dare make the mistake of thinking that this is going to be a Nassovia situation. No, this is more of a HUElavia situation because, even though this is probably the first time that we’re playing against Squidroidia (I think), they’ve already made it to one IAC final, which from my last count is one more than we have ever achieved! Squidroidia are a threat, no doubt about it. And even if we somehow make our way past them, the field beyond is still stacked. We still have the likes of Drawkland, Geektopia, and Juvencus waiting in the wings for whoever will survive this quarterfinal encounter. Yeah, I am definitely not looking forward to what happens in this game at all. I’ve been burned too many times to know that this is not good for my health, physical or mental or emotional. Anyway, that’s all that there is from me now. If you’ve got any thoughts or comments of your own about the game against HUElavia or predictions against Squidroidia then feel free to leave them down below. Until then, I’ve been the Man from Markovsky, truly and desperately hoping that I won’t be disappointed in my country once again.

        HUELAVIA 0 - 0 ABANHFLEFT            
                 (aet)
      AVEIRO [✔]      [✔] BERNARDINO
     AMEZCUA [✔]      [✔] McGLAMERY
  NASCIMENTO [✔]      [✘] VITAGLIANO
      YAMADA [✘]      [✔] MIREILLES
   BROUSSEAU [✘]      [✔] JAXSON

[Squidroidia]

At least HUElavia is gone. The mortal enemies and fiercest rivals to the red hot Squidroidians were dumped out of the Round of 16 at a more-QoD focused IAC due to Fleftic shenanigans and Margaret changing her mind. At the very least, it was an easier path back to the Semi-Finals for the third time in the history of the Inklings team, but Abanhfleft are still a dangerous team, after all. In the IAC you have to juggle between strong opponents on a match by match basis that, regardless of whether or not their success at the Indies stage translates over to success when qualifying for the World Cup. Squidroidia hadn't won an IAC title yet, but they were already namestays in the upper tier of international football, getting into conversations for potential winners due to how Rachel Coltfield managed her team through qualification and the final tournament.

Getting through as the 8 seed for the knockouts did bring with it the dreaded bye that Coltfield knew was enough to damage her team and could've sent them packing against Montaña Verde. What does a break allow a manager to do to keep up match sharpness? The answer, she thought, was for the team to split into threes and conduct a 7-a-side series, with two 30 minute halves In order to fill out the subs, of which every team had one on standby, the Tinhamptionian elected to ride the bench for one of the three teams. The hope was for this secret weapon to essentially act as if Squidroidia had played a Round of 24 match without actually playing a Round of 24 match. There was no reward for coming on top in the tri-series, only bragging rights.

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SQUIDROIDIA 7-A-SIDE PREPATORY SERIES

Team Itō
GK - Kaede Akiyama
DF - Tapiwa Dalgaard
DF - Greta Ivanković
MF - Tomomi Hamasaki
MF - Kaya Toyoshige
FW - Sho Itō (C)
FW - Kyou Ueno
Sub - Florianne Meeuwessen (MF)

Team Tetsuo
GK - Hoashi Gonshiro
DF - Kishi Kensan
DF - Muto Toki
MF - Shiba Tetsuo (C)
MF - Amaru Stefánsson
FW - Marianne McKay
FW - Tajima Noritada
Sub - Kawabata Toshitsugu (DF)

Team Bertolini
GK - Arata Chiba
DF - Baldric Bertolini (C)
DF - Herbert Byström
MF - Sora Iwai
MF - Kichirō Matsuda
MF - Charlie Colbert
FW - Makino Hideo
Sub - Rachel Coltfield (FW/MG)

Game 1

Team Tetsuo 2–4 Team Bertolini
Scorers
Stefánsson '35 (TET)     Iwai '5 (BER)
Noritada '60 (TET)       Hideo '25 '31 (BER)
                         Colbert '30 (BER)

Even though Makino Hideo was getting old, he showed Coltfield that he still had the stamina in him to last to at least the end of this current cycle, drilling in two goals through the 60 minute match, both of them being scored 6 minutes, and one whole halftime break, apart. Sora Iwai and Charlie Colbert also contributed to put Baldric Bertolini's team up 4-0, a lead that even Shiba Tetsuo, the Squidroidian captain himself, couldn't cut open. Octoling Amaru Stefánsson, however, ended up with the opening score for his team, going through the Bertolini defense like a hot knife through butter before sliding the ball to the back of the net.

Game 2

Team Itō 1–0 Team Tetsuo
Scorers
Itō '17 (ITO)

What does a team captain gotta do? With a big chunk of the Squidroidia staring XI by his side, the Shamrock Cathair star scored the only goal of the second game, knocking Team Tetsuo out of contention for the bragging rights that come with securing this bye match series. Not even the wizardry of Marianne McKay was enough to stop the 7-a-side Blue Wall, helmed by Kaede Akiyama, from getting rid of everything. At the very least it was a way to learn from mistakes and to do better.

Game 3

Team Bertolini 0–1 Team Itō
Scorers
                   Ueno '26 (ITO)

At the very least the team captain didn't hog all of the goals to himself. Although Team Itō only scored two goals on their way to claiming the bragging rights, Sho was kind enough to get an assist to pair with his goal he scored in the previous match. This time it was 11-a-side substitute Kyou Ueno who got the goal for his team. Is Midnight a bad team in domestic Squidroidian football? Maybe. Do they have a good 7-a-side player? Yes they did.

Final Results

Prep Series            Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Team Itō               2   2  0  0    2   0  +2    6
2 Team Bertolini         2   1  0  1    4   3  +1    3
3 Team Tetsuo            2   0  0  2    2   5  −3    0

Makino Hideo was the top scorer for the entire prepatory series with his two goals, which was the exact number that Team Itō scored throughout the entire thing. The 33 year old's talent even with such an old age caused Coltfield to change how she was going to do things for the Round of 16 match. While Hideo was now moved to be a potential substitute himself, he wouldn't get on the scoresheet. Instead, an Inkling turned her mistakes into opportunities.

IAC 17 Round of 16

Squidroidia 1–0 Montaña Verde
Scorers
McKay '29 (SQR)

She's Spartansville's own, she's Spartansville's own. Marianne McKay, she's Spartansville's own.

Up next - Gaelic Games like you wouldn't even know. Abahnfleft in the Quarter-Finals, with a chance to take on the Elite Eleven for a trip to the Final.

[Trolleborg]

Greetings, compatriots!
It’s TTV from Quintessense of Dust, just before the game of our national football team against Belnegau begins. Teams already made a warmup and right now our players go into the locker room to heard last minute additions to the game plan. Brave knights from Belnegau found it unnesessary,
gathered at his bench and discussed something. Probably they find comforts of locker room as too
distracting and redundant in such a situation. Their path to this game was long, they did it in difficult conditions - probably no other culture from the teams represented at the championship have need to be so thoroughly adapted to the situation, travel such a long way because of the difference in ... everything ...from the food to social relationships, from means of transport to the methods of communication. The fact that a team that has been participating in international tournaments not so long ago, in such difficult conditions, also achieves results, defeats more experienced teams, beating much more experienced teams that don't even need to spend energy adapting to an unfamiliar environment should in itself command much respect. And we hope that our players will not indulge in dreams before the threshold of the semi-finals, but will treat the opponent as they should for a team that can do such things and adapt so quickly.

As far as we can judge, our head coach intends to put on the field today the optimal lineup, without any experiments. In the last game with the same opponent, he, I remember, preferred to put on the bench many experienced players in favor of fast and agile players, but there was a group stage, and here, apparently, the price of a possible failure is such that it seemed safer to play your game, and not try adapt to the enemy, which proved himself so good in finding ways around anything thrown against them.

In the meantime, as the teams have not ready to begin game yet, let's get inspired by the footage from the last game, against Octapolis. This opponent, in terms of the specificity of its players, approaches the players from the Space team, so our AI for 3D broadcasts again had to work hard to present the image from the match as something intelligible and understandable, suited well to the classical football world. It's good that before that there was already experience of such work and our computer had already adapted to its specifics, so this time it did not take so much time as before. True, again, there was a loss of quality and all sorts of absurdities, and we managed to get a picture of our only goal only from a point outside the goal and manipulations with light and shadow were required. But at least we can see a clear picture of how, in the middle of the first half, Pathmoor masterfully made a shot on goal by his clever head after a corner kick.

Fortunately for our team, this goal turned out to be the only one in the match, and the second ever game against the skillful team from Octapolis, which climbed far in the playoff bracket for the second time in a row, also ended in victory for our lads. Ah, here's the referee goes to the field, and that means the match is about to start. Cheer for ours!

[Quintessence of Dust]

Cutoff for the quarterfinals.

Abanhfleft 1–1 Squidroidia (2–2 AET) (2–4 pen.)
Drawkland 1–1 Geektopia (3–1 AET)
Trolleborg 2–0 Belnegau
Juvencus 2–1 Indusse

Semifinals

Squidroidia v Juvencus
@ BobBank SkyPark

Drawkland v Trolleborg
@ The Arena of Dreams

[Juvencus]

MADEIROS IS KING! SECOND STRAIGHT SEMI-FINALS APPEARANCE FOR LA SQUADRA FOLLOWING REVERSE SWEEP!


Madeiros doing his characteristic onwards to victory gesture

La squadra has done its first step towards the impossible, Madeiros' leadership is unparalleled. One of the most finely executed Pomenienze strategies by gli attaccanti was put in full display in the first half following a scare for the majority of the game. The unlikely, yet destructive partnership of Oliveira and Pereyra lead to one of the country's greatest victories in the sport of football and the greatest of gli attaccanti in the Independents Cup which has led to a series of soaring cheers across the nation and beyond.

The start of the game was less than ideal however. Perhaps the pressure of never having been past this stage of the Independents Cup before or external factors could be to blame. Either way, Indusse entered the game as one of the Indies' finest sides and they did not fail to deliver. Rahul B Kumar, arguably the star player of the team took the initiative early on solo leading a siege on the backline of la squadra. Firstly, in the 17th minute, a rocket on the top left corner was miraculously saved by Ungaro, erupting the stadium in cheers and earning much earnt applause by both the Juven fans and the Flocking Blues. Following that, another attempt by Kumar hit the left side of the post after previously being slightly touched by Ungaro's fingers. However in the corner that followed up, a Djetson Hazle cross found Kumar's head as he jumped higher than everyone else to make it 0-1 for Indusse, despite Ungaro once again having a touch of the ball. This more or less served as a wake up call for gli attaccanti as its engines started to work immediately upon the whistle blow. Oliveira and Pereyra had a brilliant one-two getting through most of the Indussean defence and with a gorgeous Pereyra cross, Garcia took the volley to put it in following a deflection onto the crossbar. With the equaliser and the tide of the game back to equal footing, the first half ended in a stalemate.

But positive results are no accidental feat and it was obvious that Madeiros had slapped some sense to his players during half-time. They entered the game with a much more possession-based gameplay. The goal was clear to turn the tables and keep the result as it was until the end. An extremely tight Pomenienze line forced the Indussean side to play safe otherwise losing possession was a guarantee and indeed it seemed to work like a charm. Putting Sissoko in the place of Portieri and Carlos Coste in the place of Ibarra for a fresher line made it even harder to get past for the Indusseans who seemed to be fatigued from not breaking down the wall. Using the mental advantadge that had been stacking up the entire half, Pereyra and Oliveira managed to have another gorgeous cooperative effort with the latter passing the ball to Garcia who one-shot it to the left side of Leghorn, rendering him unable to react and finally twisting the fates of the game. After that, more possession-based play followed, which frustrated the Indusseans at the end of the game.

With the victory against Indusse, it is gli attaccanti's first appearance in the Indepents Cup's semi-finals after multiple years of failed efforts and miserable fails. Next up is Squidroidia, 6th-ranked between the Independents but an even more dangerous side than either Indusse or Kriegiersien, as they are the multiverse's number 7. With revenge on la squadra's mind, this could be a semi-finals bout for the ages.

"This is another victory for the books, for sure. We should remain vigilant however, this is all but over and it will only be over in the final whistle. Each opponent from now on is even tougher than the last and we will not hesitate to stick to our plan and go in for the win. Squidroida might be one of the multiverse's finest sides, but at the end of the day, so are we and we will be maintaining our focus till the very end if we want to bring the trophy home." said Madeiros in the post game interview.

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Other News:

Politics: As multiversal sports participation of Juven sports teams and clubs is on the rise, people urge the government on easier travel and immigration agreements with multiversal nations outside of Sonnel
Religion: West 88% religious, East only 34% religious. Never-ending East/West divide is shown on all fronts and religion is no exception
Sports: It is almost handball world cup season, can the original gli attaccanti outperform all expectations?
Juvencus: Massive heatwave warning for the cities of Vinceti and Santo Domenico as temperatures could be in excess of 45C

[Squidroidia]

This was Sonnel's IAC to lose. Often seen as the minor "sixth" sporting region, the 7-loving fanatics were the only region to lodge in 2 IAC Semi-Finalists this go-around. Another Sonnelian nation, West Barack and East Obama, also got to host games at this "semi-multi-nation" tournament. Sure Drawkland has gone and won the exact number of IAC Finals as times their signature number has been mentioned. In fact the ammount of previous IAC winners in this final four is the same number as the times that number has been mentioned. You know it, you love it, it remains all the same.

Doesn't mean that Squidroidia didn't make the road to the Semis not nerve-wracking. The Fleftics usually differ in terms of who they send to the two big international tournaments. For the World Cup, Abanhfleft usually send their men's team to do qualifying and maybe the Finals or Cup of Harmony. For the IAC, however, they send their women's team to do battle against the best of the Indies. It's certainly a practice, but this team that played Squidroidia for a place in the IAC Semis were the reigning Jenna Raven Cup champions. Maybe the practice did work to their favor. Maybe that's why, for only the second time in the history of the Inklings, the game went to a penalty shootout.

Despite making the shortlist for the Testículos, Kaede Akiyama opted to instead stay in Quintessence of Dust with his Inkling teammates to see out the rest of the IAC knockouts. Maybe the thoughts about being (unofficially) one of the best goalkeepers in the entire multiverse crept up to the number 1 against Fleftic opposition. Squidroidia led 1-0 after Sora Iwai tapped the ball into the back of the net thanks to an errant McKay cross. Heinrich Wurzmann's team wanted to get a goal back bad, as they pressured the Inklings and made chance after chance, either being deflected by a member of the Blue Wall or being sent out wide. With 7 minutes to go in regulation, not counting stoppage time, another Fleftic attack was flaming up. The cocky Akiyama knew that it probably wasn't going to result in a goal, but it was his duty to try saving it anyway. Josefine Vitagliano moved the ball into the edges of the box, finding Herbert Byström wasn't really marking Mae Wilbanks all that much. As she slid the ball over to the right winger, Akiyama got into position. Her shot did hit the back of the net. All of a sudden it was a tied game, and this tied game went into extra time.

Annnnd then Abanhfleft made it two thanks to Kishi Kensan finding extra time to be the right time to tackle Tatiana Tos in the box. Hiroko Kellerman would convert the penalty in the 96th minute, and all of a sudden Squidroidia were trailing in their attempt to get to a third IAC last 4. Someone had to put the Wow! in Wow! Football Park, however. 5 minutes into the second half of extra time, Tomomi Hamasaki intercepted the ball and the Squidroidians pounced. From Hamasaki to Tetsuo to Matsuda, the ball ended up at the feet of Marianne McKay who, owning up from her crossing mistake, squared the ball to Sho Itō, who scored the tying goal. The game went to penalties shortly after.

Abanhfleft won the coin toss and took their first penalty before the Squidroidians. Kellerman, one of the main offensive units for the Fleftic side, did end up scoring first, but Squidroidian star Sho Itō made things level. Josefine Vitagliano was up next, with her facing the pressure of a Kaede Akiyama who knew he messed up earlier in the match and had nothing to lose. Josefine went left, and Akiyama followed the ball, producing a save that the Squidroidians would capitalize on. Tetsuo and Wunderbar Toyoshige scored, while Sasha LaRue put her ball wide of the posts. Lily Natividad did end up scoring, but the Fleftics had no hope. Marianne McKay, the Inkling with a passion, stepped up and got the ball just right enough to avoid a last-ditch Inocencia Pendergraft save. Squidroidia were going to the IAC Semi-Finals to face Juvencus.

BobBank SkyPark wasn't unfamiliar territory for Squidroidia, having played a couple of their group games over there, but it felt a bit foreign to be playing someone on the caliber of competition as Juvencus. They were, by some counts, the third or fourth best team in Sonnel, maybe even the second. Squidroidia, of course, were 50/50 in IAC Semis throughout their history, so it could honestly go either way. Did Rachel chill out? Of course not. The training was the same as it usually was - Hard, brash, able to turn pressure into diamonds if one worked at it enough. The Squidroidians knew their goal.

Whether their Final opponent was Drawkland or Tolleborg, they had to compete for the Cup.

Bring on La Squadra.

[Trolleborg]

Greetings, compatriots!
It’s TTV from Quintessense of Dust, where our national team about to begins semifinal game against Drawkland. We have a few more minutes before the players take the field, and in the meantime, let's brighten up our wait with memories of a glorious, albeit difficult, victory in the quarter-finals. Indeed, in the previous game, our lads coped with a very difficult opponent, which known as great experts to adapt in difficult circumstances.

The knight’s army led by Berthold von Ebeling has already thoroughly proven itself in fights on football fields, and the ability to play football at a decent speed without removing rather heavy (as those who try to wore it in this during a visit to Belnegau say) armor, weighing much more than ours from museums and historical reenactment. Perhaps it will not be very fun for all opponents if the players start playing even without armor, which will greatly speed them up. In the meantime, the advantage in speed and maneuverability was on the side of our team, and players actively used it, they did not hold the ball too much, but neither they didn’t send ball somewhere forward for long-range passes, realizing that in the melees, often developed when using such passes, advantage will not be on our side. Our players goes through the middle of the field usually due to short passes, but when not then they send balls to the running players of attacking line. Well, our players were lucky that the defender of the Belnegau gates not the fastest goalkeeper in the world anyway, and he was not in good shape that day. Unfortunately, we still can't show you the highlights of the game in 3D. It would seem that after success in calculating and interpreting space creatures and monsters, it will be not so difficult to cope with the calculation of people simply chained in iron, but, as it turned out, things are not so easy. If we're lucky, we'll see everything after the semi-final, no matter how it ends. But, once again - if we're lucky.

In the meantime, we have a much more pressing issue: the experienced and formidable Drawkland team as next opponents. The second generation of all-around super players we can remember, to be precise. Looking at the world, I must say, somewhat condescendingly, but having reasons for this. It will be very difficult to fend off the intimidating mighty fist of her 3-4 attacking players, but judging by the training tasks in the warm-up, our head coach is aware of this better than we are and suggests taking action. We lost, made a draw and won against them one time each. Right now at stake is the opportunity to reach the IAC final for the third time in history, although it will be extremely difficult to win this match, Drawkland's movement to the final resembles the movement of a high-speed bulldozer. Will Morten Troghil find a way to counter this bulldozer? We'll find out soon.

At this point, the reportage was supposed to end in connection with the arrival of the teams on the field, but so far this has been delayed. Therefore, there is still time to congratulate our clubs on the (relatively) successful performance in the FFI tournaments, although once again the inability to realize the home advantage and the habit of losing heart in case things go badly affected performance.

Ah, here are the teams. Well, let's wish luck to our lads, they will really need it!

[Drawkland]

IAC-17: THE SEMIFINALS AWAIT
Written By: Sam Brenson and Albert Gallode

---

This is when the going gets tough. This is where things get serious. Once again, the Kick Corps sits within striking distance of another Independents Cup final appearance.

For those who are just now tuning in, we're providing a recap of the Elite Eleven run in this holy 17th edition of the IAC, before discussing their chances in the remaining matches.

ROUND of 16 vs VALENTINE Z
To say Drawkland ripped through the group stage is an understatement. The Elite Eleven's Kick Corps went undefeated, only missing the #1 seed by a single goal to the #1 ranked team, HUElavia. As Drawkland is currently slotted at #2 in the IAC rankings, this comes as no surprise. Still, this was a performance none saw coming. This 12-point outing actually clocks in as the best IAC group stage in team history, even comparing directly to the few group stages that were longer than 4 matches. Most importantly, this run featured a 2-0 defeat over the other contenders in the group, Valentine Z.

That group stage match turned out to merely be an appetizer for the events to come. The #2 seed in the playoffs earned a bye for the Elite Eleven, while the Kittens had to gut out a 2-1 win over Poafmersia in the Round of 24. That set the stage for this rematch in the Round of 16.

Of course, the Kick Corps looked good in this game. With enough time to look over film and analyze their prior performance, it was clear that Valentine Z's squad was going to look better. The Kittens had fought valiantly in the first meeting, but the Corps' experience guided them to a shutout victory. The sledding would not be so easy this time around. Holly Annemiek Gerrieke Van De Hoogte started the scoring early with a goal in the 19th minute of the game, a looping shot that floating over the hand of Septimus Xander in the net.

After a little time to regain their bearings and pick at the Valentian strategy, the Elite Eleven locked down and shored up the defense. Once again, the offense was hard to come by. Drawkian players are used to being a couple heads taller than the competition. People from Valentine Z are usually even taller than Drawkians, but they shrink down to more competitive sizes when competing in sporting events. Funnily enough, that lands them shorter than lads like the Elite Eleven, but they're still larger than what Corps players may be used to in international matches. This causes a lot of strategy to go out the window: high-pointed passes are more likely to be contested, and the Valentians can hold their own in body-to-body contact.

It took a little too long for the Drawkian squad to figure things out on offense, with horrible finishes and lost passes plaguing the forward line for the entirety of the first half. The 0-1 halftime score worried Drawkian fans and gave hope to Valentians, but deep down everybody knew that score wouldn't hold. Finally, Roger Apollo got a shot to go soon after halftime, nailing a shot fed to him from Mike Rodney, who got the assist. Merely 55 minutes in, and the game was back to tied.

With more pressure, the Kittens found it harder to move the ball against the energized Drawkian back end, and that in turn gave more opportunities back to the Kick Corps. A particularly errant pass by Clemente Kenneth Evans L. Jiang Guanyu was knocked by Richard Hanson and gave an opening for a counterattack. Hanson kept up with the ball and poked it to a waiting Ross Hunter, who deked the defender Nathaniel Orla Hayden Johnstone McMahon and buried his shot well past the arms of Eveline Valeria Annalise Tiêu Xuân Ngọc.

There was still about 20 minutes left to go in the game, but the Corps defense held firm. Valentine Z had a valiant effort, with a couple shots nearly equalizing the game late, but fate was not on their side that day. The final whistle blew with the 2-1 scoreline remaining, and Drawkland was on to the quarterfinals.

QUARTERFINAL vs GEEKTOPIA
The Elite had avoided the disappointing loss and built on their excellent group stage form, but one could argue that they were helped by getting to face off against a familiar opponent they'd beaten soundly just a week prior. Could they keep the performance up against their quarterfinal opponents Geektopia?

Geektopia were fresh off routing TJUN-ia 3-1. The Jags are always a formidable opponent, maybe not for contending for titles, but as a measuring stick for a good team. Bad teams typically don't slip by TJUN-ia, and Geektopia defeated them pretty impressively in the Round of 16. This was bound to be a gritty matchup, and the winner would be whoever made fewer mistakes.

For all of regulation, both teams held their ground well. Both defenses looked solid, and both teams only gave up a single goal. Both goals scored were from penalty kicks, and otherwise the back lines were very disruptive. Nobody could get into an offensive rhythm. At the end of full time the game was tied 1-1, and it would go into extra time. It was really a question of who would crack first, and that ended up being Geektopia. The last 20 or so minutes of full time had been rather slow and methodical, not wanting to give up a late goal. With that in mind, the Elite decided to burn right out of the gate, pressing hard as soon as the whistle blew to begin extra time. The Geektopian defense was not prepared for the sudden change of pace, and Jaxon Madison got through to score the go-ahead goal just 2 minutes in.

With the score now 2-1 and time quickly waning, Geektopia were forced to go to drastic measures. With their forwards pressing hard and their defense abandoned to try and score a tying goal, Elias Keys managed to step in front of a pass and boot it deep the other way. The counterattack was swift and unexpected, the crowd rising to their feet in seconds. Once again Ross Hunter was in the right position and perfectly picked up the pass, sprinting to the other end and burying the dagger. The remaining 9 minutes of extra time were just a formality as the Kick Corps parked it and earned a berth to their third semifinal in the last three IACs.

SEMIFINAL PREVIEW
For many Drawkians, this is when they decide to start tuning in, apparently. Let's be honest, Drawkland has been prone to cruising right through the IAC group stage. The only exceptions happen to be in the early history of the Kick Corps, when they were still young and untested. Before this tournament, the Kick Corps (across both eras) was 62-17-24 in Independent play. It's only reasonable that some fans just assume the group stage would be fine. The cynics assume they'll lose early and don't bother getting invested, and others wait until the games get really high-profile to start tuning in.

The expectations are oddly high. The Kick Corps is prone to streaks: the first few IACs were terrible, early and ugly losses. The next few IACs were bittersweet, featuring 4 straight championship game appearances yet only a single title won. After IAC-8, the Kick Corps fell into a deep rut. It wasn't until the sudden sprint to the title game against HUElavia in IAC-15 that the Corps even made a semifinal appearance. Now the Elite have followed that up with two more semifinal appearances, but they couldn't win it on home soil either.

Now Drawkland is back to being the cream of the crop in the Independent world, but will that actually materialize in a title win? Over seven prior semifinal appearances, Drawkland only has one championship to speak of. The Elite face off against Trolleborg, one of the top-ranked Independent nations in the multiverse and especially the IAC. Over three meetings (IACs 10, 11, and 14), the head-to-head record is 1-1-1. The hope is to secure the IAC trophy's passage to Sonnel by facing against Juvencus in the final, but Trolleborg will not be an easy task. The last time Drawkland faced against Trolleborg, the Corps lost 0-2. That was also the most recent time the Corps was eliminated before the semifinal.

Ultimately this is going to be a high-profile matchup in the indie world, and one that we can only hope will live up to its billing. The Elite Eleven can win games, but can they be truly clutch in the playoffs? It all comes down to the line tonight.

[Quintessence of Dust]

Cutoff for the semifinal.

Giving advance notice that contrary to the initial schedule, I plan on scorinating both 3PPO and FInal at the same time, 2 days from now.

Semifinal results

Squidroidia 2–1 Juvencus
Drawkland 0–1 Trolleborg

3PPO

Juvencus v Drawkland
@ Eli F. Baker Memorial Stadium

Final

Squidroidia v Trolleborg
@ BobBank SkyPark

[Juvencus]

Following a second semi-finals defeat in a row, Juven people have been in a constant state of denial. It has affected their psyche and their pride to be hurt this much twice in a row in the same period of time. One such common form of denial is treating the upcoming Revoda Sea Derby for the 3rd place playoff match against Drawkland as somewhat of a final in itself.

"IT IS THE SONNEL FINAL, INDEED." is all people seem to be chanting on the streets. And perhaps that served as a reality check as to what the level of the team truly was to them all. The team itself needed work, but the fanbase needed more than just to work. An optimistic, even arrogant fanbase, one that was not used to seeing la squadra losing major tournament semi-finals had just seen its light lose two in a row and it was obvious in the chants and how they were treating this 3rd place playoff.

The players themselves had given it their all on the pitch against Squidroidia, but the Inklings were too much this time. All they could do was focus on the match against the Corps. Martell's goal was just not enough to push the team after being down, despite all efforts it was not meant to be. His leadership proved to be pivotal on the pitch regardless, the players did play out of their minds and overdid any expectations. Next time was to be their time.

Madeiros gave them a strong talk, nobody took notice of what he said as it was so captivating that even interviewers stopped recording it. But what mattered in the end is that after all those tears were wiped, everyone was determined to sacrifice themselves for Madeiros. Madeiros was seen like a godsent both in the eyes of the players and especially the people regardless of the outcome of the competition. He, most of all, was given the opportunity to build a team and avert it from its crisis, despite the rocky start. If anything, even featuring in the semi-finals of either Cup of Harmony or Independents Cup was considered an achievement. To him, it was just the start.

There was more to tell about Madeiros' state of mind, however, being an ambitious manager, just as he was as a player, he knew he had to give it his all in his role and give his own players and nation the happiness he gave them back when he was a player. A song made by MouSakho an unknown rapper from Porcara, asking for the players to lift the trophy back at home, was played by all of the players of la squadra throught the entirety of both the Cup of Harmony and the Independents Cup. While it may not be true anymore, a lot was at line here. That same song was stuck in Dudu Madeiros' mind as well, due to the exposure.

Eh ça c'est MouSakho de Porcara
Casse la démarche comme Carlo, Carlo Callejon
Casse la démarche comme Carlo, Carlo Callejon
Casse la démarche comme Carlo, Carlo Callejon
Casse la démarche comme Carlo, Carlo Callejon
Et si y'a drah on peut toujours appeler Izotz et Puig
Et si y'a drah on peut toujours appeler Izotz et Puig
Ramenez la coupe à la maison
Allez Juven, allez
Treize ans après c'est le moment
Allez Juven, allez
Ramenez la coupe à la maison
Allez Juven, allez
Treize ans après on est champion
Allez Juven, allez
Qui contrôle le terrain? (Santini)
Miche Santini, eh (Santini)
Avec lui on est serein (Santini)
Miche Santini, eh (Santini)
Qui contrôle le terrain? (Santini)
Miche Santini, eh (Santini)
Avec lui on est serein (Santini)
Miche Santini, eh (Santini)
Passement de jambe, crochet à gauche, à droite
Julio Campana
Accélération, virgule, petit-pont, frappe
Julio Campana
J'sais plus si j'suis gaucher ou droitier
Je tire des deux pieds, Joao Pereyra
J'sais plus si j'suis gaucher ou droitier
Je tire des deux pieds, Joao Pereyra
Ramenez la coupe à la maison
Allez Juven, allez
Treize ans après c'est le moment
Allez Juven, allez
Ramenez la coupe à la maison
Allez Juven, allez
Treize ans après on est champion
Allez Juven, allez
Mais comment il s'appelle? Kouyaté
Didier, Didier Kouyaté
Mais comment il s'appelle? Kouyaté
Didier, Didier Kouyaté
Mais comment il s'appelle? Kouyaté
Didier, Didier Kouyaté
Comment il s'appelle? Kouyaté
Didier, Didier Kouyaté
Maestro JoaMartell, JoaMartell, JoaMartell, JoaMartell
JoaMartell, JoaMartell, JoaMartell
Le milieu est assuré
Attaquant, défense
Josef, Josef Josefina Portieri
La Pioche Josef, Josef Josefina Portieri
Ramenez la coupe à la maison
Allez Juven, allez
Treize ans après c'est le moment
Allez Juven, allez
Ramenez la coupe à la maison
Allez Juven, allez
Treize ans après on est champion
Allez Juven, allez
On est ensemble
Patxi Etxeberria, pénalty
On est ensemble
On est ensemble
Edu Coste, Garcia
On est ensemble
On est ensemble
Agnelli, Quaranta, Sissoko
On est ensemble
On est ensemble
Wright, Urruchi, Limene
On est ensemble
On est ensemble
Conte, Acqua
On est ensemble
Carlos Coste, Zuñiga
On est ensemble
Adamantina Campana, Armando
On est ensemble
Et ça c'est MouSakho de Porcara
Dudu Madeiros, merci beaucoup
On est ensemble
On est ensemble

As for the third place playoff, he could wait for the time being. But he knew that la squadra is determined to take revenge from the fiercest rivals from across the pond.

"Good luck to the Corps.." he muttered to himself "...for you have to face the rising stars of the multiverse at once"

[Squidroidia]

"Here's Pedro Rôa again! And that is the dagger in the heart for the Inklings! Los Pitxileros have almost certainly won their first IAC title!"

Oh what a difference nine, ten years even, makes. On that day in Urbego, Muralos, for the IAC 12 Final, Tequilo denied Squidroidia their first ever major title in heartbreaking fashion. Not a lot of players remain on that Squidroidia roster today in the one that sat in the home locker room of BobBank SkyPark. Shiba Tetsuo was one of those that saw the Inklings fail on the final hurdle. He was there to see the dramatic rise of Squidroidian football, living through the IAC run of edition 12... The four consecutive World Cup qualifications... The amazing highs. The terrible lows. He was the captain of this team, after all. Putting away his earbuds and heading to the pitch for warmups, he was met by the rest of his Squidroidian teammates. They all had their pep in their step, as if they were born for this moment. They weren't. Making the IAC Final was a dream. A dream not as big as winning the World Cup, but still.

Amaru Stefánsson was perhaps the only one who was nervous out of the entire group of 23 players. This was his first time being called up to the Squidroidian national team. The first time an Octoling had ever been called up to the Squidroidian national team. The Octoling population, mainly based in Octo valley, weren't really that into football. They were more into sepak takraw, a mix between the footwork of football and the back and forward, fast paced nature of volleyball. Only a couple of Octolings ever went to youth teams that weren't OVFC's. Amaru was deemed good enough to venture past his homeland and went through to the nuclear energy heartland of Newton. He was even good enough to become one of their star players at just the age of 18. In any other system, he would be a good enough player for the Di Bradini Cup.

He glanced over to the captain, Shiba Tetsuo. It was perhaps meant to be a quick interaction. Stefánsson opened his mouth first.

"IAC Final... Biggest match an Octoling has ever been a part of."

"Hey look, Amaru." Shiba had a wide smile on him. "It's always nice to see a trailblazer on this team. Your people are watching you back home, you know. Win or lose, you will have people looking up to you."

Amaru was humbled, but still knew the weight he had on his shoulders. "Thank you, Tetsuo. It's been an honor even being able to be here."

Stefánsson breathed in and out and rushed back over to do his warmup drills. BobBank SkyPark had been almost entirely decorated in gold for this occasion. Other than the seats, of course. Even in QoD, painting the seats gold is worth a fortune. The players could see the black, red, yellow and gold IAC 17 Final video boards every which way they looked. Marianne McKay thought it was tacky. Herbert Byström said it felt too regal. Third choice goalie Arata Chiba?

"It looks fine."

Truer words had never been spoken.

Ever since Trolleborg outsmarted the Elite Eleven to confirm the Final matchup, it had been billed as immovable object versus a semi-unstoppable force. A grudgematch filled with defensive masterclasses and every man for themselves mentalities that would make the Ko-orenites that traveled to Quintessence of Dust feel like they were in heaven. Morten Troghi's attacking double edged sword versus Rachel Coltfield's Blue Wall. Trolleborg's all-or-nothing versus Squidroidia's iron resilence. Stuart Kerr disiple Torben Kranforde versus one of the best goalkeepers in the multiverse in Kaede Akiyama. Mindgames versus mindgames.

How did both teams get here?

TALE OF THE TAPE - IAC 17 FINAL

TROLLEBORG             MATCH      SQUIDROIDIA
3-1 (W) v Hopal        Gro. 1     BYE
BYE                    Gro. 2     2-0 (W) v STR Bar. Isl.
1–0 (W) v Burikinia    Gro. 3     1-0 (W) v Adab
2-0 (W) v Space        Gro. 4     3-0 (W) v Srubnaya cul.
3-0 (W) v Aquatian     Gro. 5     0-1 (L) v Stevencousin
BYE (3 Seed)           R.O. 24    BYE (8 Seed)
1-0 (W) v Octapolis    R.O. 16     1-0 (W) v Montaña V.
2-0 (W) v Belnegau     Quar-Fin    2-2 (4-2 pen.) (W) v Abanhfleft
1-0 (W) v Drawkland    Semi-Fin    2-1 (W) v Juvencus

Contrary to the Squidroidian defense's "Blue Wall" moniker, Trolleborg had the stronger wall. They hadn't conceded a goal in 576 minutes at the IAC, when, in their opening game, Hopal's Tommy Sanchez headed the ball in the right way to put it past Trolls netminder Morten Kerr. From there, it was all perfection - 1-0 wins against Burikina and Drawkland, 2-0 wins against Belnegau and Space, and a 3-0 banger against Aquatian. Squidroidia, by comparision, had conceded 4 goals. They even lost against Stevencousin, in which another couple goals for the opposition would have been enough for the Inklings to have to play in the Round of 24. 1-0 wins against Adab and Montaña Verde, a 3-0 win against Srubnaya culture, a nervewracking penalty shootout win against Abanhfleft and a Juvenus semi-final in which, in the first 15 minutes, the Squidroidians unleashed their own kraken.

"Here's Matsuda, he scored Squidroidia's first goal in this Semi-Final... to Iwai, to Itō, OH, OH MY GOODNESS! WE MIGHT JUST HAVE SEEN SQUIDROIDIA SIGN, SEAL AND DELIVER THEIR TICKET TO THE FINAL!"

IAC 17 SEMI-FINALS
SQUIDROIDIA     2-1     Juvencus
Scorers
Matsuda '3 (SQR)        Cantù '28 (JUV)
Itō '14 (SQR)

With the help of Wunderbar Kichiro Matsuda and Sho Itō putting the pressure on La Squadra, the Inklings made it back to the IAC Final.

Everyone knows that winning this tournament is the validation one can get that can really make them say that they are the best of the rest, a definition that had been shrinking ever since Mandalanusa formed their own regional competition. None of the major heavyweights deemed as "Indies" other than #7 Squidroidia, however, were in this IAC. The Holy Empire haven't competed in the IAC, and the reigning World Cup champions Zwangzug weren't present. The next-best team from the World Cup KPB rankings were Drawkland, far and away the best team in the sporting sub-region of Sonnel. They were 23rd.

Naturally, the teams had to return to their locker rooms in order for the business of this match to be done. Of course, there was the Closing Ceremony, an event usually filled to the brim with music and pagentry leading up to what seemingly every camera in the Indies world would be pointed to when broadcasting this one match - The walkout. The trophy in between the Trolls and the Inklings. Shiba Tetsuo knew the rest, because he had been in this position before. Same for Itō, Hideo and a handful of others that were given the "home" locker room at BobBank SkyPark for this occasion. The only player who had played in a bigger match? Sho Itō, when his Shamrock Cathair side from Audioslavia walked out onto the pitch at the Stadium of the Restoration in Banija for the 4th IFCF Champions League Final. That felt like forever ago. It was almost like he forgot that was a thing.

Rachel Coltfield walked up to the Inklings team much as the same way she did against Juvencus. A guiding light through this treacherous tournament, like Adam Johnson beforehand she had reached the Cup of Harmony Final. Unlike Adam Johnson and Barunia, however, she won the title, that time when the final destination was Canterlot, Equestria, oddly enough beating Juvencus 2-1 to lift the crown, with two players scoring the goals to put them over the line against Juvencus - That time it was Louise Whitbread and Peter North.

Maybe she happened to be a witch when playing against La Squadra at major international tournaments.

Without hesitation, she sat down on a chair and read the starting lineup she had crafted to take on Trolleborg for their first IAC crown.

"Akiyama. Dalgaard. Toki. Kensan. Ivanković. Hamasaki. Matsuda. Iwai. Tetsuo. McKay. Itō."

As if on cue, the starters stood up when their name was called. Akiyama was stern like a fox. Dalgaard had a smile on her face. Toki, while deemed a substitute with such an old age, was brimming with confidence that his veteran expertise would be enough to guide the team to glory. Kensan and Matsuda, the Wunderbars, were dead silent. So was Greta Ivanković, Sora Iwai, Shiba Tetsuo and Sho Itō. Tomomi Hamasaki and Marianne McKay joined the contingent happy that they got the nod.

"Between this unit of eleven players, you all span generations old and new. Some of you walked onto the Urbego pitch for the IAC 12 Final and tasted bitter defeat. Others simply didn't have the chance to represent their team on the Independent scene's biggest stage. Some are ready or almost ready to retire. Others have whole careers left before hanging up the boots. You all played amazing, defensive football just to get here. Just to get to the IAC Final, you had to ask yourself after Stevencousin... "This ain't good enough". You had to ask yourself before you kicked the penalties against Abanhfleft... "We can work better." You are good enough. You worked better. But in the Final, you have to be great. You have to work the best you can.

"I could take a page from your old manager Johnson's book and say that I have been in a Final before... But that would be a bit tacky. Besides, I have a Cup of Harmony win to my name, so saying that I had been to a final would be redundant... I won in a Final. I brought a team of amateurs to the cup of Harmony title. If I can do that with players who aren't payed a dime, I can win the IAC with all of you. But winning a trophy isn't easy. There's still one more opponent to face in order for you to lift the trophy. Trolleborg isn't easy. They have experience at finals like some of you. They were in two of the last three IAC Finals. Like you, they have tasted defeat, first to Adab, then to HUElavia. They want victory, you want victory. The feeling is mutual.

"But you have to be better than Trolleborg. You have to be great against a team like them and to break their wall. They've only conceded one goal on their road to this moment. One. One goal conceded on your end may be all it takes for the Trolls to win their title. Hamasaki, Matsuda, Iwai, Tetsuo, McKay, Itō and the midfield and attacking substitutes, your goal is to break into that wall and to make sure they feel the agony of conceeding a goal. Akiyama, Dalgaard, Toki, Kensan, Ivanković and the defensive substitutes, your goal is to make sure the Trolls don't break the Blue Wall. When they find an opening in an opposition's defense, they will exploit it and plug in their own wall so soundly that nobody has a chance to break it.

"If this tournament is a war, this is the final battle. Soldiers in white and blue versus soldiers in green. Both down to their skeletons and wanting the other to surrender. Both will go all out, but, by the rules of warfare, no, the rules of nature, only one can survive. And so, Squidroidia Inklings, on this day at BobBank SkyPark in Quintessence of Dust, for the 17th Independent Associations Championship Final between us and them, Inklings and Trolls, stern defense and blistering attack...

"The time has come to an end."

---

The 17th IAC Final - Rules of Nature

With the yell of all twenty-three players as Rachel got out of her chair and pushed it to the side, they began to walk out together. You could basically read the emotions of the Squidroidians as their starting eleven stood one after another, leaders of this squadron to the biggest fight of the tournament. Their blue and white Mako Designs uniforms, emblazoned with the Squidroidian flag, were on full display. On the center of their chests was, naturally, a wordmark dedicating the occasion, emblazoned in gold.

SQUIDROIDIA VS TROLLEBORG
INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATIONS CHAMPIONSHIP 17 FINAL
BOBBANK SKYPARK, QUINTESSENCE OF DUST

As the players got out of the locker room and went to their own, left-hand side of the tunnel, they could already hear the cheering. They couldn't see anything other than a small chunk of the pitch, the ball and the trophy, but if a Final was an astetic, this was it. The cheers of both the Squidroidians and Trolls in attendance were loud. Surely the fanfare of the closing ceremony was enough to keep them excited, right? Shiba Tetsuo, being the first in line, heard most of it. The farther one went away from him, the noise got quieter, but not full on silent. The Squidroidians had to wait for the Trolls to get to their side of the tunnel.

There they were.

"The time has come to an end.
Yeah, this is what nature planned."

Decked out in green were the Trolls themselves. Morten Kerr led the line for Squidroidia's final test, standing next to Inklings captain Shiba Tetsuo, two sides of the same coin of football divided by a razor thin line. One was attack, one was defense. Tit for tat. Tomayto, Tomahto.

"Being tracked by a starving beast,
Looking for its daily feast.
A predator on the verge of death,
Close to its last breath..."

Between the two lines of players came the referees. Clad in their own uniforms, they were the regulators of this game. The main leader's whistle alone determined what happened next after a specific event. Their cards dished out punishments for unruly plays. Two of them had flags that ruled if a player stepped out of line. One of them even controlled the ammount of time the game was played for.

”Getting close to it’s last breath...!”

There was one thing they could also control as the game’s regulators. No taps on the shoulders could remind the players of it. Their presense alone was enough to remind the players that it was time... To walk onto the pitch.

”Rules of nature!!
And they run when the sun comes up,
With their lives on the line!
(Alive!) For a while...
(No choice!) Gotta follow the laws of the wild...!
(Alive!) With their lives on the line!
(No choice...!) Out here only the strong survive!

The regulators of the game grabbed the match ball for this occasion, allowing the Independents Cup to glisten in front of the players with a better as they walked towards and then past it. The Independents Cup was an allure that brought the best from the non-sporting regions to fight for their own slice of glory. Schottia, Bonesea, Free Republics, Mercedini, Drawkland, Omerica, Reçueçn, New Lusitania, Poafmersia, Tequillo, Indusse, Adab and HUElavia already had their names etched onto the Cup. A foureenth name was going to be etched onto there when the final whistle blew... Whenever that was.

The two teams were careful not to touch the trophy as they walked passed it, almost like touching it before the game even began harbored some sort of curse. Whatever supersitions one believed in, they had to be followed. Alas, with the big flags of the two nations held up by volunteers and the crowd cheering and on their feet, there was some emotion to it as the two teams took their sides. For Tetsuo and his Inklings, if they panned just a little bit left, they could see the trophy they oh so wanted to win. It was saying to them... ”Come and get it.”

“What's done is done, survived to see another day,
The dance of life, the hunter and the agile prey.
No guarantee which of them will succeed,
Strong or weak....!”

The national anthems blared through the stadium as per usual, and after each nation had their turn reciting their gospel, the final preparations began. The handshakes for fair play, of course, were meant to be futile. This was supposed to be an aggressive IAC Final after all. Each player could seemingly count the seconds down until the ball was kicked, even if it was seemingly a minute away.

With the Independents Cup taken out of the pitch and into safer hands and the large flags and other furnishings being tucked away, the pitch was open. Each of the teams took to their sides in earnest, with the managers watching them on. Rachel Coltfield, in her last words before the game kicked off, looked back at her team.

“If this unit can’t prove themselves to be winners, some of you will have to bolster the line!”

The Tinhamptonian turned back to the pitch as the countdown sounded.

Ten.

After over 420 goals.

Nine.

Across 123 matches.

Eight.

With 48 heartbreaks.

Seven.

7 periods of extra time.

Six.

And 5 penalty shootouts.

Five.

It all comes down to this.

Four.

Two teams who have never won it all.

Three.

And only one of them.

Two.

Can lift.

One.

The Independents Cup.

Zero.

Tweeeeeet!

[Trolleborg]

Greetings, compatriots!
It's TTV and we start our broadcast from BobBank SkyPark in Quintessense of Dust, where final of 17th edition of IAC will begin shortly. While the teams is under stands receiving the latest instructions and due words from their coaches, we have a few minutes to enjoy the finally finished 3D highlights of our team's fights in the quarterfinals and semifinals. These were difficult games, with skillful and brave opponents, and, rather fortunately, it must be said, our lads achieved victories in both cases.

As you all, of course, remember, the brave knights of Belnegau were let down by what makes them so different from everyone else – their armor. As you can see, even in the presented 3D processing, which instead of armored colossus draws usual footballers, albeit heavy ones, you can see how sometimes the constraint of movements does not allow them to react to the actions of our players with due speed. And the actions of the goalkeeper, not the fastest at all in this tournament, also confirm this. Yes, in the episode when the first goal was scored, Skrta made a brilliant shot - but if the defender who figured out his plan had another fraction of a second, ball probably would have hit him and flew off into the field without any problems whatsoever. Yes, and the goalkeeper, probably, could have jumped a little higher, if not for the iron which hung on him, and would have beaten off the ball.

The same is true in the second scoring episode: the lack of maneuverability prevented the defenders to either intercept ball or block moving forward, and 3D AI very correctly calculated the moment, showing, in the new version, instead of the fighters rattling with iron chasing our fast forward, some inactivity of the defenders, and, again, the somehow limited mobility of the goalkeeper.

Yes, our lads had a very tight defense, and it took Miran Fizer, who entered the field for the first time in the tournament, being called right before the quarterfinals, with his ability to directly and without sentiments to deprive opponents of the ball, in order to hold back the pressure of the armored players from Belnegau, especially at the corner kicks situations, where advantage in maneuverability is not so important. Our defender won a good two dozen air fights with the knights and deprived them of the ball uncountable number of times, but was forced to go to the hospital after the match with two broken ribs and a very decent set of bruises. Yes, Fizer, without a doubt, played a crucial role in the fact that our team retained its hard-earned advantage, and bravo to our coach that he guessed whom to put in the center of defense.

Having healed their wounds to some extent, the team entered the semi-final duel with the superteam from Drawkland, in which the completely parity balance of wins, losses and draws between our teams was bound to change. Most of the fans still hoped that it will be changed in our favor, but almost everyone believed that the battle goes to be very difficult and the victory would come at a great cost to the winner. And so it happened.

The teams have almost equal indicators of possession of the ball and the number of corners and shots on goal. And almost zero they earned in terms of the number of fouls, since the game went on, albeit at high stakes, but without any superfluous and superficial things at all, only football in its main sense, so to speak: combinations, passes, shots, correct fight for the ball.

The teams were worth each other, and as a result, the fate of the match was decided with only one goal scored: ten minutes before the end of the episode, in which the Drawkland players turned out to be only a little less self-collected than they should have been, and then Kranforde decided the outcome of the match, spending a moment of the freedom to move the ball as he felt more comfortable and made a shot without interference.

By the time the final whistle blew, both teams seemed to have exhausted almost all their energy, and our lads were forced to sit and lie down where the final whistle caught them, wiping sweat and trying to regain breath, before going to shaking hands with opponents and move to greet their fans, so much effort was spent by them on this victory. All in all, decent game came out, to be sure.

Now let's move on to today's match, and it also promises to be extremely difficult. Yes, our team proved they can won against many formidable opponent, but with today's opponent, Squidroidia, our lads met twice, both times in the IAC playoffs, and both times gave way, not succeed even to score a goal. The history of meetings is not encouraging, but in world football, as we know, although much, but not everything is determined by the number of games won before. As you know, the current line-up of the team is called “Second Generation”, and its players have not yet managed to emerge from the shadow of their great predecessors, the “First Generation”, who won three trophies for the country - all three trophies in the sports arena ever won by our teams in all sports outside the Olympics. Today's game is their second opportunity to add something to Trolleborg's sporting glory. For the second time in a row, the team reaches the IAC final, and it is unlikely that there will be a chance to replenish the collection in the near future apart from this one, so, given the vicissitudes of world sports, it is very likely that this is the only opportunity for the “Second generation” for many years to somehow move in line with "First". Let’s hope that this perspective will give them additional edge. National leader find a time to travel from SRS, where he coached our national hockey team, and join fans on the stand behind the gates as casual fan with scarf.

And now the teams take to the field, under the deafening roar of the stands (roar was definitely deafening, with “Trolle-borg! Trolle-borg!” chanting heard very good). On the way to the field, Morten Trogil is still explains something to his team. Stadium is full, and fans of both teams is trying to compete to see who makes the most noise. What the view on our stand – a sea of green-and-white flags, and in addition one well known giant crowd surf flag with a red dragon was unfurled, the same as in the finals of BoF and CoH! Just a minute was remain before the game begins. The players line up in the center of the field, the orchestra is already ready to play the anthems of the countries ... Just a seconds remain before three traditional bagpipes will sound, from which the melody of our anthem begins... The whole our country is watching the game, forgetting about all the affairs and worries while passionately wishing team victory. The duel is about to start, good luck to our lads!!

[Quintessence of Dust]

Final cutoff of IAC17.

Juvencus 2–2 Drawkland (3–2 AET)

Squidroidia 1–0 Trolleborg

Congratulations and commiserations as appropriate. Thanks to everyone who contributed, especially group stage hosts, and see you all again after World Cup 93!

[Squidroidia]

Text commentary provided by sbnsport.sqr/livetext

‘1
“And we’re underway in the IAC 17 Final between Squidroidia and Trolleborg! Squidroidia is in blue and white, Trolleborg is in their traditional green. Both teams have made IAC finals in the past, but never won. Only one of these teams will win their first IAC title.”

‘5
“WIDE from Trolleborg! The first real chance of the game falls to Kendall Woldring who puts the ball just past Kaede Akiyama but a bit too left for it to do any damage. Still 0-0.”

‘8
“Marianne McKay is quickly becoming a victim of this suffocating Trollish defense. Foul on William Schendel, free kick Squidroidia.”

‘9
“Sho Itō didn’t exactly capitalize on his free kick chance! Blocked by a stern Trollish wall, his follow-up attempt is saved easily by Morten Kerr of Trolleborg. A lot of chances, but still nothing on hand for either team!”

‘13
“SAVE BY AKIYAMA! Torben Kranforde thought he had the goal to open up the IAC Final, hell he blitzed through the Blue Wall to have his shot... But Kaede is not having any of that. The Trolls might have their plan to attack.”

‘21
“We’ve been hearing word throughout Rachel Coltfield’s bench that she thinks that Marianne McKay will not be able to make it to the end of this game with how the Trolls have been marking her. Multiple players on Trolleborg have been fouled, but no cards have been given yet...”

‘22
“And right as I say that, William Schendel has recieved the first yellow card of the IAC Final for a tackle on McKay! This is perhaps the most agressive we have seen this Trolleborg team play throughout this tournament, and it shows no signs of stopping.”

‘30
“SAVE BY KERR! SQUIDROIDIA ALMOST HAD THE LEAD! It practically came down to FINGERTIPS for Shiba Tetsuo, who worked the ball into the box and shot towards the right-hand post hoping for the ball to get left of it, but Kerr’s fingers are just enough to put the ball out of harm’s way. Could this have been Squidroidia’s golden opportunity?”

‘37
“OFF THE POST FOR TROLLEBORG! Both teams have been getting chance after chance but neither of them have broken this deadlock. Kenneth Pathmoor this time found Kranforde’s technique to beat the Blue Wall but couldn’t get his chance right to get the ball past Akiyama. Off the post and out of harm’s way.”

‘45+1
“Fourth official lives up to their name - 4 minutes of added time for this first half. As of now, we’re hearing that Marianne McKay will likely not be present in the second half in any capacity. According to sources, she’s been talking about how battered she has got due to the Trollish Wall.”

‘45+2
“At least McKay has the wiggle room to actually let in a chance! Trolleborg’s back line have finally laid low and haven’t gotten any trouble, and Marianne, complete with a through-ball from Tetsuo, got her ball just too high to make any mark. Unfortunately, this is likely the end of the IAC road for the talented Inkling.

HALF
“And there’s the halftime whistle! Still 0-0 in this IAC Final. A stat for you to ponder while both teams get ready to adjust - 621 minutes. Not counting stoppage time, that’s how long Trolleborg have gone thus far in this IAC without conceeding a goal! Nobody for the life of them, other than Hopal in their opening game, has gone through the Trollish defense and bagged in a goal. Will we see Squidroidia beat the clock tonight?”

“News from the Squidroidians which we honestly expected though - Marianne McKay will be substituted for Makino Hideo in the second half. No other substitutions are planned for the time being.”

‘46
“Kickoff for the second half of this IAC 17 Final.”

‘53
“Squidroidia have been playing a little bit more offensively to break Trolleborg’s stranglehold on defense while shoring up their own defenses themselves. That’s mainly why Coltfield opted to sub on Hideo for McKay - His veteran experience can help drill the offensive space needed for the Inklings to strike.”

‘59
“SAVED BY AKIYAMA! And Trolleborg ISN’T LETTING UP! Once again it was Kenneth Pathmoor who thought he had the goal to break this deadlock, but once again Akiyama denies the Trolls the opportunity! Okay, it was an easy save by Kaede’s standards, but it was a decent chance.”

‘64
“Coltfield may be preparing for a second substitution, and in her eyes it’s about strengthening the Blue Wall. She’s already told Inkling defender Baldrick Bertolini to get ready to come onto the pitch. Our sources thing that he will replace Muto Toki, but we aren’t sure yet.”

‘68
“Okay, we were right. Baldrick Bertolini on, Muto Toki off. Second of three substitutions for Squidroidia, one is left for them and then they can only get another player on if this game goes into extra time. It’s looking like it’s a possibility that extra time will happen unless someone responds...”

‘75
“SAVE BY KERR! BARELY! Makino Hideo is certainly punching right now, and he had all the room in the world to make a run that could’ve brought the lead to the Inklings! He even had Tetsuo to square it to if nothing was okay, but it felt like everything was golden! Then you realize you’re up against Morten Kerr. It is not ending well.”

‘78
“SAVE BY KERR AGAIN! SQUIDROIDIA HAVE FOUND THEIR RYTHMN!

‘81
“GOAL SQUIDROIDIA! GOAL SQUIDROIDIA IN THE IAC 17 FINAL!!! THE SIX HUNDRED AND FIFTY SEVEN MINUTE LONG COMBINED CLEAN SHEET FOR TROLLEBORG IS OVER! TOMOMI HAMASAKI WITH THE DEADLOCK BREAKER! LEFT FOOTED SCREAMER PAST MORTEN KERR, ASSISTED BY MAKINO HIDEO! ALL THOSE YEARS OF WAITING MIGHT FINALLY, FINALLY BE OVER!!!”

‘88
“Third substitution for Squidroidia - Kaya Toyoshige for Sora “No Time” Iwai. That’s all the substitutions Squidroidia can make, and now they have to focus on keeping this lead and winning the IAC!”

‘90+1
“We are three minutes away from Squidroidia winning the Independent Associations Championship!”

‘90+2
“DESPERATION MODE FOR TROLLEBORG! They are going all out with seconds remaining in the IAC 17 Final. We haven’t seen this much desperation in a long time for the Trolls, and the chances of them making things level is slim as it is...”

FINAL - SQUIDROIDIA ARE CHAMPIONS!
“IT’S ALL OVER! IT IS FINALLY OVER! THIRD TIME IS NOT THE CHARM FOR TROLLEBORG, BECAUSE THE SQUIDROIDIA INKLINGS NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM HAVE CLAIMED IMMORTALITY AS THE FOURTEENTH UNIQUE INDEPENDENT ASSOCIATIONS CHAMPIONS! TOMOMI HAMASAKI HAD THE WINNER AND NOW HE’S CELEBRATING WITH HIS TEAMMATES! DO NOT ADJUST YOUR MONITORS, YOU ARE SEEING IT FOR YOURSELF! CHAMPIONS OF THE INDEPENDENT WORLD!!!”

“Trolleborg only conceeded two goals throughout the tournament - One in their first game and one in their last. Any team that had this mark would have likely been champions. But for the third time in four editions of the IAC, they fall on the final, final hurdle. Absolute heartbreak for them.”

“But for Rachel Coltfield and the Squidroidian team... Absolute jubilation. They nearly got knocked out at the Quarter-Final stage to Abanhfleft. They survived La Squadra to prevent Juvencus from becoming the second Sonellian team in three editions. And now, for the first time in their history, at the seventeenth IAC and their seventh time taking part, the Inklings rule the roost!”

---

Trophy Ceremony - A Sky Full of Stars

After the initial celebrations from the Squidroidian team on their first triumph came the real deal itself. It took several volunteers no more than 20 minutes after the final whistle to construct the podium on which one of the Independent shining stars would be grandfathered into the cosmos as one of the fourteen Independents Cup holders. The stage didn’t have any LEDs like one would find in a World Cup Final, but it still had at least some gravitas backing it up. Standing behind the stairs that would lift twenty-three players to the cosmos were three figures that meant so much to the Squidroidians in finishing this journey - Leader Yusuke Fujiwara, the anarchist head of state of the Dominion, Itoh Hoshi, former Squidroidian international and President of the Squidroidian National Team Association, and Squidroidian Football Association head Fukuhara Himeko, along with footballing officals from Trolleborg, Quintessence of Dust and the other nations that helped play a part in crafting this tale. Himeko, along with the delegates from the other 8 host nations, were only there to see everything come to an end. Hoshi and Fujiwara would hand out the medals alongside the Trollish and QoD delegates.

”Cause you’re a sky, cause you’re a sky full of stars...
I’m gonna give you my heart...
Cause you’re a sky, cause you’re a sky full of stars...
Cause you light up the path...”

The Trolleborg national team, as per custom, were first handed the silver medals as runners-up. The look on their faces felt like deja-vu - In four tournaments, the Trolls reached three finals. They hadn’t won a single Independents Cup yet. The Trollish delegate felt their pain as well. Not since HUElavia had a team gone to the final hurdle only to fall down time and time again. Morten Troghil glanced at the Cup with at least a bit of sorrow, especially since, at such an old age like Rachel Coltfield, it would be one of his last opportunities to win it. He was Trolleborg’s only manager in their history thus far, but yet it would be another two year wait to even have a chance to see the trophy again, never mind have it in his hands.

”I don’t care, go on and tear me apart...
“I don’t care if you do... Oo-oooo... Oooo...”

As Aien Troger and Morten Troll took their silver medals, the remaining Trolls supporters in the crowd gave them a standing ovation. For Troger, this was his last real tournament full stop, as he was bound to hand up his boots for the team when he arrived at Trolleborg City. He was a veteran in every sense of the word, there from the very first moments that Trolleborg competed in international football. He was a legend calling time on his career, enshrined in the same halls of Trollish lore as Stuart Kerr. He wouldn’t have another chance to get here. He knew it. The fans knew it. The fans could at least see him one last time sporting the green shirt of his country. As for Troll, perhaps named after the country he played for like the Murphys in Murphtannia, this wasn’t the full on end of his international career, but perhaps his last IAC playing for Trolleborg. There was still World Cup qualification ahead, but his career was winding down. He would likely retire or not be in the squad once IAC 18 rolls around.

”Cause in a sky, cause in a sky full of stars...
I think I saw youuuuuuuuuuuu.....”

With the silver medals given out, it was time for the Squidroidian stars to shine. Grabbing the first gold medal from the twenty-four on offer was manager Rachel Coltfield. This was her second gold medal in her collection, after leading her home country of Tinhampton to glory at Cup of Harmony 73. She, like Troghil, was aging, and had three years left in her before eventual retirement. As would the players when they had the chance to collect their medals, shake hands and hug the Squidroidian delegation in attendance, Coltfield walked through the stage, past the Independents Cup, and onto the stage of champions. All she could do was look in the direction where the trophy was, and where her team would meet her.

The substitutes that didn’t play in the IAC Final were next to be called up. One by one, those were as follows: Arata Chiba, third-choice goalkeeper. Hoashi Gonshiro, Wunderbar and second-choice goalkeeper. Kawabata Toshitsugu, one of the two Wunderbar centerbacks. Herbert Byström, Inkling rightback. Florianne Meeuwessen, fellow Inkling at leftback. Charlie Colbert, an Inkling midfield general. Amaru Stefánsson, who, with thunderous applause, became the first Octoling to not only partake in an international tournament, but win a piece of silverware. Tajima Noritada, yet another Wunderbar who winged lines didn’t see much action. And Kyou Ueno, an aging winger who was just happy to be here. All of them got their medals, their handshakes, and a glimpse of the very trophy they poured blood, ink, sweat and tears like their bretheren to win.

”Cause you’re a sky, cause you’re a sky full of stars...
I wanna die in your arms, ooooh, ooooh...”

Then came the substitutes who stepped up when their country needed them. First was defensive Inkling Baldric Bertolini, who came on for Muto Toki. Experience helped in securing the Blue Wall through the early stretch, but Muto was on his last legs. Coltfield thought wisely to bring on fresh defensive legs as the Trollish pressure got harder and harder on them. Baldrick bent but didn’t break. Kaya Toyoshige came on too late to make any difference, but he still got good treatment - Itoh Hoshi gave him a pat on the back as soon as he got the medal.

”Cause you get lighter the more it gets dark...
I’m gonna give you my heart, oh...”

And then, with an entire nation watching and cheering him on, Makino Hideo got his medal. He was the one who stepped up for a beaten and battered Marianne McKay at the start of the second half and was the cog that led the Inklings to eventually scoring against the Trolls with not much room left in the game. The man who gave Tomomi Hamasaki the chance needed to give his nation the jubilation they deserved. He started at poor old THS, now known as Inkopolis Wave. He built Walstreim Lions from championship glory to giving them the money to experience Champions League highs. He propped up Murphtannia’s biggest club in Villa, challenging for titles. He learned a thing or two down at the Vilitan Cove for Makosile United. But the national team was his true home. Been there, done that. With solid gold on his chest, he got the hug he wanted from Fujiwara, awarding him for his support. As he joined his other teammates in waiting for Tetsuo to arrive with the trophy in his hands, he had the opposite experience that Troger and Troll had. He was going to leave the national team on top.

”I don’t care, go on and tear me apart...
“I don’t care if you do... Oo-oooo... Oooo...”

The starting eleven beckoned. The players who started for the Inklings in this quest for championship glory lined up, one by one, ready to ascend like the Gods and Goddesses they were. Their names were called on the public address system like the others, but they got more of the applause than everyone other than Hideo.

Marianne McKay, perhaps the next great Squidroidian attacker and main woman for Spartansburg City in the Squidroidian Premier League. At only 24, it seemed like the future was bright for her. Only problem was that Trolleborg played too harsh for even her.

Muto Toki, who, like Hideo, was likely to have played his last game for Squidroidia and resided in the Vilitan league system, only for Tivali City instead of Makosile. He stepped down to let Bertolini maintain the Blue Wall, which might have been a symbolic changing of the guard.

Sora Iwai, or “No Time Iwai” as some called him when he punched Squidroidia’s ticket to the World Cup 92 proper. He left for the subtitutes bench with basically no time left for Trolleborg to punch one in.

Tapiwa Dalgaard, an Inkling leftback that, to the Blue Wall, acted as a seemingly indestructable flank. The Trollish attackers had to mercefully retreat to the middle in order to get their chances in.

Same applied for Greta Ivanković. The two of them were dubbed the “Squidback Sisters” to avid Squidroidian supporters, even though the two weren’t sisters nor related to a certain pop idol duo. She called the right flank her own turf.

Kishi Kensan was a Wunderbar through and through. Exceptionally young with an iron heart and titanium brain, he strapped the Blue Wall together with steel rods, reinforcing a strong defense.

Kichirō Matsuda was another Wunderbar and helped pratrol the midfield alongside Iwai and fellow Wunderbar Kaya Toyoshige throughout the match. He was a feeder from the defense to the attack and worked well against the Trollish setup.

And then came the heavy hitters.

Kaede Akiyama was a goalkeeper who knew no limits. Carrying Baker Park’s Llewellyn Turnpike on his back through numerous survivals from relegation, he knew that in order to be a good goalie he had to protect his line from fast flowing footballs. He was the last line of defense for the Blue Wall. A failsafe. And the best goalkeeper Squidroidia had ever seen. He was, in fact, so good that he was among the best goalies in the multiverse. He didn’t recieve the Golden Glove, Morten Kerr did instead, but he was one of the better goalies in this tournament.

Sho Itō needed no introduction. He plays his club football for the mighty Shamrock Cathair in the Audioslavian National League. He played in a Champions League Final, the first Squidroidian to do so. Winning the IAC was perhaps only a small thing on his resume. He was Squidroidia’s answer to Laborious Hawk - While not immortal, he was certainly a fine attacker, even if for club he played in a left midfield role. Like a father meeting his son, upon Hoshi giving Itō his medal, the two embraced before the 30 year old raced to the stage to his right.

The crowd roared louder when the second to last person showed up - None other than Tomomi Hamasaki of Octo Valley. With a left foot pounce past Kerr in the eighty first minute, that sucker gave the Inklings something that, for 15 whole years, eluded them - A trophy. Not the World Cup but still a trophy. Among the standing ovations, Hamasaki takes the medal and fist-bumps Fujiwara, before calmly shaking hands with Hoshi and going off to join the twenty-three people already standing there.

Watching and waiting for one man.

”Cause in a sky, cause in a sky full of stars...
I think I see youuuuuuuuuuuu.....”

Shiba Tetsuo. The captain of the Squidroidian national team. The leader of a victorious nation in its quest to sieze the Independents Cup. With nobody besides him, he singlehandedly charges up the steps into the gates of Independent football heaven. Yusuke Fujiwara puts the gold medal around his neck and embraces Tetsuo in a full on hug. Itoh Hoshi then grabs onto the attacking midfielder’s hands as both of them walked their steps, closer to the team. All of a sudden the two stop, conveniently in front of the Independents Cup.

”I think I see youuuuuuuuuuuu.....”

The SNTA President smiles to Tetsuo, and with three words, invited him to finally touch the trophy he had been chasing throughout his entire international career.

“It’s all yours.”

With the pressures of a nation of millions of inhabitants taken off of him, Shiba Tetsuo puts one hand on the metalic Independents Cup. The footage is seen throughout BobBank SkyPark and beamed throughout the multiverse via television cameras. The Squidroidians were ready to celebrate like they had won the World Cup. But Tetsuo, seemingly a whole different realm away upon the podium made for his team, doesn’t see the crowds in his homeland. He only sees the crowds in the stands. Wearing blue and white. Some of them bringing up teal smoke. In a seeming instant his other hand grabs onto the Independents Cup, before performing the right motion to take the trophy off its pedistal. Tetsuo turns to the other members of the team waiting for him to march over there.

The steps feel like they take him nowhere as he steps through the passageway. Tetsuo could’ve fallen at any moment, but yet he keeps marching to the platform created for his team. His face turns into a soft smile as he inches closer and closer, while the teammates are preparing for the one thing that would end the entire tournament entirely. Before Tetsuo knew it he had arrived at the platform. Twenty-three bodies were smushed up to him. Knowing the cameras were facing the podium, Tetsuo muscled his way through the crowd to the front. His ears rang with the echos of an entire country.

“oooooooooooooooooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO....”

With Tetsuo’s trophy, no, Squidroidia’s trophy in his grasp, it weighed down on him. Lower and lower it sank until it reached his knees. He knew, at some point, he had to lift it up and celebrate.

When he did, the trophy felt like thin air.

Tetsuo and the team screamed out in celebration, as did the entire nation around them, the trophy high in the air supported by the captain. Almost in an instant, the pyrotechnics got to work - Fire shooting up in the front, sparks in the back. Cannons mounted around the podium shot out golden ticker tape and confetti to the players, flying high and reaching the ground - Fast for the ticker tape, slow for the confetti. The celebration materials got onto the Squidroidian players as the confetti fluttered down to the ground. To the Squidroidians and to everyone else watching the quality of the broadcast got poor as tons of confetti rained down. They didn’t care.

Their team won.

The fireworks on top of BobBank SkyPark went off, lighting up the skyline in all sorts of colors. Tetsuo looked up at the stadium roof as he got the trophy down. Red, yellow, blue, white... The colors of the IAC. The colors of Squidroidia. They were matched together as if the two ideas were married. Independent Associations championship. Squidroidia. A sign that the two were meant to be together.

“Cause you’re a sky, cause you’re a sky full of stars...!
Such a heavenly viewwwwwwwww...
Such a heavenly viewwwwwwwww...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, whooo!”

Captain Tetsuo, with the last bits of confetti falling down and the pyro show done, passed the trophy to the other players as they got out of the platform and around the pitch. Makino Hideo lifted it high in front of the fans. Then Kaede Akiyama. Then Hamasaki, the goal scorer. Every player at the very least had the trophy in their hands as the team did a celebratory victory lap to honor their supporters. The Wunderbars had no emotion lifting it up. Amaru Stefánsson was in tears as he held the thing for the first time. Rachel Coltfield comforted him and helped the Octoling lift the trophy up. The Tinhamptonian almost felt like she regressed to some of her younger years. Maybe to when she first started coaching international football.

That was the joy and the spirit of international football. Representing a country feels more than something forced upon a person. It was an extention of life and of the country a person was born in or had strong roots in. To the twenty-three players that donned the Squidroidian blue and white on that day in Quintessence of Dust, they embodied the spirit of their country - Born from ashes and ready to intimidate and fight, no matter the cost. The fact that they had a trophy in their arms didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things... Or maybe it did.

When the Squidroidian national team was formed, their mission, led by founder and former Leader Higa Takanori, was to win the World Cup. Takanori died. Ryuzaki Mito left his national team post. Itoh Hoshi retired. As did the rest of the original team. Replacing all of those were Yusuke Fujiwara, Rachel Coltfield, and a team of players led by Shiba Tetsuo. They had won the Independents Cup, yes, but not the big prize. But why go for the big prize if they already have some glory? Why keep going when a nation has something to look back on? Why push on when things, eventually, won’t go the way people want it to go? Some people would retire if they were trophyless throughout their career only to win one trophy. Some members of this team wanted to.

But for this one night, all the thoughts went to the side. They had silverware in their hands. It felt like a conclusion to a long, 14+ year journey of victory, heartbreak and everything in between. The highs of StrayaRoos and the lows of Murphtannia. The glory of the night in Vilita and the disappointment of Turoki Isle. The wins against high quality opponents... The losses against low quality ones. it felt like it had to end here. One last high before everything tapers out. The team would return, at least someday. But for now they needed rest. If this Inklings team couldn’t win the World Cup in the long run...

This will have to do.

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THE END

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OOC: Thanks for a decent two and a half years or so in the NSS community! As previously discussed, this is my final international football RP in NSS for the time being. Due to circumstances that have been piling up, I will be downsizing my operations to help complement my life, not be a major force against it.

Squidroidia will now be mainly used in a pursuit to develop a serious Esports system simillar to IFCF, RUCT and other international club competitions, ICily using the StrikeForce tactical FPS video game developed by Studio Polaris. StrikeLeague Squidroidia seasons will come out after the IFCF cutoffs. If there is enough interest, I will be doing an IFCF-style competition for StrikeForce. The files themselves are located here in case anybody wants them.

ICily, Studio Polaris will maintain a 40% share in the league, but it is up to the nations or any national Esports organizations a nation has to define how the seasons will be run, how many teams there will be in their league, and what the name of their league will be. Information on this IFCF style StrikeForce competition will come when there is enough interest.

Chartistan, my main puppet, will focus on the Hot League, the famed 58-team domestic top flight. Teams will still enter the IFCF competitions, as well as dabble in the FFI. The first half of the season is already done, and the second half of the season will be done before the IFCF cutoff.

The NASCAR Cup Series, my secondary puppet, will have its purpose stay as is - The NSCAA.

For those with Squidroidian players - Age them how you’d normally age players. Whenever Squidroidia gets back (Might be years from now or never, it all depends), I’ll pick up where the IAC 17 team left off. Yes, you can transfer them wherever you want as well.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped with me throughout this past span - To the fellow members of the Class of BoF 73 (Græntfjall and Tikariot especially), Valladares, Quebec, Woryand and countless others. Without you, I wouldn’t have really adapted to NSS after that noobish incident at the very start with my domestic league. Again, I’ll still be here in some capacity, so don’t see this as a farewell, but instead an end of an era of Squidroidia.

With my status as an high-functioning Autist, I know things can be rough. NSS carried me through the end of my high school days and through to the start of college with some of the best support anyone could get. Once you get past all those growing pains with getting a start with the World Cup and IFCF processes, you can go far and be remembered by someone. But, at the end of the day, life comes first. I’m learning the hard way now.

Thank you for everything I have done so far. Seriously, thank you. I wouldn’t be writing this love letter without you all reading this. I don’t know when I will return for the World Cup and IAC. I have an actual life to deal with now. If this really is the end of my time roleplaying international football, I think this would be the perfect sendoff. Maybe the World Cup isn’t the be all and end all.

Maybe the World Cup is the friends, squids or kids, we made across the way.

-Squidroidia