Independents Cup 18 - Everything [Grand Finale 2/6 10pm SST]

[Juvencus]

ENTERING INDEPENDENTS CUP 18 IN STYLE?


The team has prepared ahead of the Independents Cup 18 to pack a punch

The sudden elevation in the importance of the Independents Cup for the team ever since co-hosting the tournament with Drawkland two versions ago has given the team the necessary goal of finally accomplishing what would otherwise be left behind. That is, lifting the Independents Cup. While the "regional" tournament of the indies has not had a particular prominence in Juven football society forever, last time we witnessed one of the most bittersweet hearbreaks that the team has experienced in its history. Losing to the semi-finals of what could be the closest to a prestigious interregional tournament Juvencus could participate in was a punch that the team swallowed fast by defeating Drawkland in the 3rd place play offs. But this time around it is different, as Madeiros has organised the squad even more, as witnessed by being the multiverse's best performing team in the qualifiers of the world cup.

So, what are exactly the strong points of this team heading into the Independents Cup(which is already under way) and what have we witnessed from the first two matchdays?

The first and most major thing is the depth of the pool of the squad, this meant life and death in the qualifiers of the world cup. Having consistent rotations between stronger and weaker sides while maintaining a form of consistency has been the break that was necessary for the team. This has not changed now and probably this will not change ever, not even in a post-Madeiros period. A stronger backline coupled with an INSANE attack is a recipe for success and a recipe that eventually should be giving trophies to the team. Special mention going to players like Callejon(a wall in the backline), Martell(who will be retiring after the Independents Cup) and Julio Campana.

Secondly, fan support has been growing more and more important for the team. While there have definitely been mishaps -for lack of a better term- of Juven fans abroad, their support is a driving factor for the teams' clinical performances. Enchanting support, organs, flares when allowed(and not allowed, it is the nature of Juven fans after all) all couple up for a passionate supportive fanbase. The power given to the players to come back from situation where they are down, to improve the league, you name it, the fan support has allowed la squadra to do it.

Last but not least. Madeiros has given the team to embrace the result of the games in a more natural manner as well as humbled the players' overconfidence in regards to achieving said results. Keeping level-headed interviews and players on the backstage has given the team the room to grow and the positive explosion of the performance of gli attaccanti on the pitch is proof of that. Alongside that, a bunch of 3rd place finishes in Cup of Harmony 84 and Independents Cup 17 are not bad results in hindsight and really showcase the growth of the team.

As for the current trends of the Independents Cup, many top tier independent teams were butchered by teams they would have otherwise beaten. TJUN-ia ending in a goalless draw against Hopal, Adab losing to the Spartan Dominion, Drawkland shockingly losing both of its games against Belnegau and The 14 Stars. One could argue that is is a tactic to get an easier bracket following the group stages and thus an easier road to the final, however Juvencus has been one of the top sides to survive this butchering in an extravagant fashion. While struggling to defeat the newcomers of Katten en Kittens van de Wereld, with a wonderful Portieri screamer to seal the deal, the match against Eshialand was different. A revenge for that one draw against them in a Cup of Harmony all those years before was served TOO HOT with a victory with 6 goals to 2. A hat-trick by Campana was enough to seal the deal but after that it felt like child's play against the former Baptism of Fire winners.

If current trends continue, we could see la squadra take the upper bracket and chase the gold the old-fashioned way. It should be noted that being the 4th highest ranked team in the competition easily lands gli attaccanti among the favorites to win the whole thing and as such should not be taken lightly. This competition is an even more legitimate opportunity at winning the Independents Cup. With that said, good luck to la squadra in its upcoming games.

[Kriegiersien]

Schoenwetter Dageblaad

“Kriegiersien Football Nationalteams has no style”, say experts.

Like Aust Scor and The 14 Stars, Kriegiersien Football is criticized for having no style and playing an inconspicuous game.

“That may be”, said Kriegiersien Football legend Viktor “Dashi” Vorontsov-dashkov, “but they are efficient. Two games, two wins, no goal against. What more do you want? Playing great and still losing? I think they have the right style now to finally win it and great players.”

Despite the team being at strife and every position leery against the players from other divisions in the other positions, Coach Carter made the system work.

After a 1:0 against underdogs New Master and Stevencousin in the IAC 18, now the decisive big matches against Saterun and the surprisingly until now hapless and disappointing Geektopia await. The first or second place in group F is needed to advance.

[United Adaikes]

Matchday 1 - Independents Cup 18
Cakranegara 1-0 United Adaikes
Borja (22' og) FT                    
HT 1-0

Bikarish Stadium, Bikarish
Attendance: 48,614

Cakranegara held on to start their IAC campaign with a lackluster win against United Adaikes, thanks to DF Charo Borja's early own goal.

After MF Gypsy Campana lobbed over when clean through, Roda Gila went ahead as Borja poked into her net when attempting to tackle FW Harun Muftadi.

"I tried to stick my foot in the way so that Muftadi would kick my foot instead of the ball, so it's a bit unlucky as I'd made up a lot of ground to get there," United Adaikes defender Charo Borja on her own goal.

That led to a better spell for The Crazy Wheel, who did not have a shot on target until FW Syaifullah Fatah's 65th-minute effort.

Later in the match, Astinaputra saved a Campana drive. Campana had five crosses and three fouls drawn, most in the match by a player on both statistics.

Borja compensated for her early fault by winning eight tackles in the match, the most by a player.

Despite only playing for 14 minutes, substituting for MF Mariano Gallego in the 76th minute, MF Jericho Fields was busy in defense, trying to get an opportunity for counter-attacks as he racked up four interceptions. DF Jaymes Padilla had the most interceptions in the match with 6.

The Adaikesians' next match will be a bye, with the third match still to be played in Bikarish Stadium against Valentine Z (17), and the fourth match against Toluiwa (70) to be played in Matty Horis Stadium in Dury.

The stats you don't need to know:

Cakranegara - United Adaikes
Possession
50% - 50%

Shots
9 - 9

Shots on Target
1 - 4
11% - 44%

Crosses
10 - 12

Corners
1 - 2

Offsides
1 - 2

Interceptions
19 - 29

Fouls
12 - 12

Yellow Cards
2 - 3

[Stevencousin]

Winewater Wasp FC's decline in National Super League (NSL) Season 4 was surprising. They only recorded 6 wins from 17 matches, one draw, and ten losses. Manager Carl Huitzenfeld has been rumored to have been sacked by the club's owners although no official news has been reported. Carl Huitzenfeld had a difficult season as many of his stars such as Christian Ermine, goalkeeper Jørgen Fidjestøl, and strikers suffered long injuries and were only featured a few times this season. but that is still not a strong reason in the eyes of fans.

When a football club experiences a downturn in performance, it's common for the fans to start looking for a reason. They often begin by pointing the finger at the manager and players, as they are the ones who are most visible and have the most direct impact on the team's success or failure on the pitch. The manager is the figurehead of the team, responsible for selecting the players, setting the tactics, and motivating the squad. As such, they are often the first to come under scrutiny when things start to go wrong. Fans may question their decisions regarding team selection, substitutions, or tactical approach, and they may call for their dismissal if they feel that the manager is not up to the task.

Similarly, players are also subject to intense scrutiny when things aren't going well. Fans may criticize their performances on the field, questioning their effort, skill, or commitment. They may single out individual players for blame, or they may criticize the team as a whole for not living up to expectations. In times of decline in a football club's performance, the blame game inevitably takes place, and fans are often the first to assign culpability to those deemed responsible. Although this can be an arduous process for both the players and managers, it is an inherent facet of the game and one that necessitates a level of resilience and adaptability if success is to be achieved in the long term.

Group F
MD1: Geektopia 2–4 Stevencousin
 Andre Saifi min. 28, Simon Armas min. 41 & 86 & Benjamin Spevar min. 77

MD2: Stevencousin 0–1 Kriegiersien
Nil

[Indusse]

Goal Guru
National Team Selections Commenced

After the nationwide protests during the Tea Cup Qualifiers and as the result to Shane Newman's letter to the federation. The Indussean Football Association decided to conduct the national team selection trials in the IFA Ground in the New Hind City Sports City. The IFA Ground as it's simply known or officially known as the Kala Bharati Campus Federation Stadium, was decided to host the selection trials since the home ground Adityavarma Kulashekara International Stadium has been under use. The trials were attended by hundreds of young football players from all over the country, hoping to catch the attention of the national team coaches and scouts.

The trials were conducted in three levels. Level One where the grassroot players would be tested their skills and valuated by the staff present there. The Level two consisted of the players who passed Level one and those players who plays the nation's First and Second Division. The Division Club professional football players gets direct entry to level two. The Level Three consists of those who passed Level two plus the First and Second Division Key Players. The Key Players here means those who gained awards or got to be in the season's best eleven. The players that get selected in Level three and passes the level makes into the national team camp and later to the team's playing eleven.

The Association also prepared the list of those players in the current team camp who's planning to quit or retire from professional football. The list divides it into three sections namely Code Red (Those who are set to play their last tournament in World Cup 94), Code Yellow (Those who are set to play their last tournament in IAC 19) and Code Blue (Those who are not planning to extend their career beyond World Cup 95). Many of the long time key players of team are set to retire soon and has got themselves in the Code Red and Code Yellow Category.

Code Red
Steve Leghourn - Goalkeeper (#1)
Alexis Budjetdson - Midfielder (#9)
Aaron McMuller - Defender (#4)
Kishan Rajpoot - Forward (#55)

Code Yellow
George Horsehood - Defender (#86)
Sampath Singh Aksinwala - Defender (#6)
Gregor Temptson - Defender (#41)

Code Blue
Xing Hong Taw - Midfielder (#16)
Abdul Khaseem - Midfielder (#18)
Sadin Al Kharushi - Defender (#69)
Akbar Ali - Goalkeeper (#34)

With the retirement of a few players, some of those who have been in the bench for a long time may get their chance to be in the main eleven. The association with the help of the manager and coaching staff has set a list of those players too. The List is not yet finalized and is said to change with the arrival of new players in the camp.

Goal Keepers [2 - 1]
OUT : Steve Leghourn, Akbar Ali
IN : Jahangir Shehzad, [Awaiting Selections]

Defenders [5 - 1]
OUT : Aaron McMuller, George Horsehood, Sampath Singh Aksinwala, Gregor Temptson, Sadin Al Kharushi
IN : Mark Millwood, [Awaiting Selections]

Midfielders [3 - 2]
OUT : Alexis Budjetdson, Xing Hong Taw, Abdul Khaseem  
IN : Mahadev Bhattacharya, Raman Srivastava, [Awaiting Selections]

Forward [1 - 0] 
OUT : Kishen Rajpoot 
IN : [Awaiting Selections]

Departing Players : 11 Players
Considered Players : 4 Players

[Valentine Z]

Part 1 – Victories and Defeats come in many different HUEs.

A heartbreaking defeat followed by a draw, the Valentian Kittens were not exactly off to a good start. It was going relatively well as much as they thought they could playing against one of the more well-known and best teams in their bracket. As early as the 9th minute, they would see Cristiano Aveiro Junior kicking and scoring a goal against the Kittens, with Josief A. Yandi Eko Yohanes Dharmawijaya being unable to block the goal shot. The favour was then returned by one Kortnev Grigoriy (Grisha) Konstantinovich, who kicked the ball a little too hard that the non-Valentians and the staff thought that he might tear away at the net of the goal post. Miraculously, and for the relief of the Valentians, it did not happen and that the game went on as usual. Mateo Rossi-Rigoni scored one goal for HUElavia, which in turn was returned by Katarzyna Violetta Zofia Aleks Polańska at the 80th minute. It would have ended there with a tie, but as Fate and luck would have it for HUElavia, their defender, Diana Tarragona, scored an extra goal at the overtime, Josief being unable to react in time to the ball being kicked into the goal. And so, for that particular day, Diana was cheered and mobbed on in a positive way, while the Valentians simply ate a piece of humble pie as they always did; sure, the loss was absolutely heartbreaking, but this being their very first match, along with the fact that they were playing against one of the best teams to ever grace the international and interdimensional scenes, all made it a match that they did not exactly mind losing out to. "There's always a next one."

Then the next match resulted in a tie between the Kittens and the Roda Gila (The Crazy Wheel, as it was called), with a score of 1–1. They would have taken a win, but a draw is also acceptable; after all, losing both of the opening matches was going to be a damper on things, and so with 0-1-1 for the time being, on top of having cleared up their match against HUElavia first and foremost, they are ready for what is coming ahead with the rest of the teams and players. "Other than that, to be extremely honest, I don't know if I have much to say in this matter!" Clarissa remarked, with a tone enough to ensure, reassure, and cheer up the Kittens, while also being honest that she really did have nothing much to say. The matches were not too extraordinary, at least not yet. "We could definitely work out a bit of that Valentian magic and go for those long offensive kicks. We have the height advantages, after all!"

[Katten en Kittens van de Wereld]

Part 1 – MEOW.

Whatever the audience were expecting, they most likely did not expect a literal bunch of cats of varying breeds, colors, age, and size, to make their way out of their locker rooms, slowly walking with mid-section wiggles, all of them in their little adorable uniforms. One could hear a bunch of awws and oohs from the audience, and perhaps even a few cat-related comments from the commentators and announcers. They are slightly larger than the usual ordinary cats that people have come across, but they are not as big as the ones in Valentine Z, and perhaps for the better. They don't always communicate in meows, but by usual cat behaviour, including but not limited to the typical cat sounds, facial contact, whiskers, even a bit of smell here and there, but for the most parts, they do most of their communication by whiskers, and meows when they are in the field and far apart from one another when contact communication is not possible for the most parts. The 11 cats made their way to the center of the field, whereby they started trilling a little at one another. "This is our first match. Let's do it well and proper." Norsk, one of the midfielders, communicated in the form of a soft meow. The Whiskers are unique not just in the fact that they are actual cats, but also because they focused A LOT on the defensives – with only 1 forward, 2 midfielders, and a whopping mess of 7 defenders. It was going to be as tedious as it can get, but the Whiskers are going to try and go ahead with this. Meowing at the Juven players as a form of handshake, the Whiskers and Gli attaccanti went off.

Fast forward to the end of the match, with a lot of the Whiskers panting and sticking their tongues out in the air, it amounted to a defeat of 1-0, with the 0 for the Whiskers. Their magic kicks, while magic and seemingly impossible for the cats to do, still are limited by the honor system and the rules of the game. In other words, the cats can use this magic to kick as hard as a human player, but nothing more than that; they did not come here to play a game of cheat, after all. Having a bit of experience playing casually and domestically with one another in their own cat planet, the Whiskers have had experience when it comes to passing the ball from one cat to another. With another team full of people, however, it was going to be problematic, and problematic it did. The Whiskers' defensive measures were not enough to fend off the ever offensive goal kicks from Gli attaccanti. They then meowed at Grey, to check on him and to see if he is still able. He gave a positive response, in the form of licking his left paw. "I am good, let's continue." The Whiskers were unable to fire off as much as their opponents, and as a result, the match then came to a conclusion with a 1-0. Ally growled a little in general, perhaps a little peeved and angry at this lack of victory, but she was then reassured and given a small pep talk to by Sir Maestro and Luna. "We get them next time."

Though next time, it was yet once again another draw, and with a 0-0 score. The Whiskers did not score any, and neither did the team of Ile de Richelieu / Richelois / Cardinals. They were not as offensive as the Gli attaccanti from the last matchday, and as a result, the Whiskers were able to fend it off. Still, being able to score a goal would have been nice, and they wondered as to if it was just them starting off, or that they have committed way too many to the defensive lines. "We just started, these people are new after all," The Small en Cute en Cuddly Orange Tabby :3 talked to the team a few hours after MD2 was done, "We have the next match day against Sannyamathland, then we will be able to rest for one day. We will train or rest on that day, anything you all want." The Whiskers nodded and acknowledged in agreement, all of them going back to the lounge, which they found out it was to their liking.

Image credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cat_caf%C3%A9

[PotatoFarmers]

Cutoff.

As of today, out of 40 nations, we have 31 rostered nations.
For the 2 MDs, we have a total of 23 RP posts.
Among them, 17 of them are above 70%.
Unfortunately or fortunately, single line posts are nowhere near proper grading for roleplays, there are lots of other good Roleplays in here that are very good examples.

Notes:
1) Next cutoff should be 17/5 10pm SST. Further changes to the schedule have also been updated there as well.
2) Rosters have been updated on the Opening Post.
3) Reminder that top 2 qualifies for the next stage. Work the permutations out on your own

---

Group A
Matchday 3
Aust Scor 0–1 Trolleborg
West Barack and East Obama 1–0 Hopal

Matchday 4
Trolleborg 1–0 West Barack and East Obama
TJUN-ia 0–0 Aust Scor

# Group A                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Trolleborg                        2   2  0  0    2   0  +2    6
2 West Barack and East Obama        2   1  1  0    2   1  +1    4
3 Aust Scor                         3   1  1  1    2   2   0    4
4 TJUN-ia                           2   0  1  1    0   1  −1    1
5 Hopal                             3   0  1  2    0   2  −2    1

# Group A                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Trolleborg                   3   3  0  0    3   0  +3    9
2 Aust Scor                    4   1  2  1    2   2   0    5
3 West Barack and East Obama   3   1  1  1    2   2   0    4
4 TJUN-ia                      3   0  2  1    0   1  −1    2
5 Hopal                        3   0  1  2    0   2  −2    1

Group B
Matchday 3
Cakranegara 0–1 Toluiwa
United Adaikes 5–3 Valentine Z

Matchday 4
Toluiwa 0–1 United Adaikes
HUElavia 0–0 Cakranegara

# Group B              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Toluiwa                2   1  1  0    1   0  +1    4
2 HUElavia               2   1  1  0    3   2  +1    4
3 Cakranegara            3   1  1  1    2   2   0    4
4 United Adaikes         2   1  0  1    5   4  +1    3
5 Valentine Z            3   0  1  2    6   9  −3    1

# Group B              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 United Adaikes         3   2  0  1    6   4  +2    6
2 HUElavia               3   1  2  0    3   2  +1    5
3 Cakranegara            4   1  2  1    2   2   0    5
4 Toluiwa                3   1  1  1    1   1   0    4
5 Valentine Z            3   0  1  2    6   9  −3    1

Group C
Matchday 3
Squidroidia 1–2 Abanhfleft
Archalit 0–1 Delaclava

Matchday 4
Abanhfleft 1–0 Archalit
Muralos 2–1 Squidroidia

# Group C              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Delaclava              3   3  0  0    5   2  +3    9
2 Abanhfleft             2   2  0  0    4   2  +2    6
3 Squidroidia            3   1  0  2    2   3  −1    3
4 Archalit               2   0  0  2    0   2  −2    0
  Muralos                2   0  0  2    3   5  −2    0

# Group C              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft             3   3  0  0    5   2  +3    9
  Delaclava              3   3  0  0    5   2  +3    9
3 Muralos                3   1  0  2    5   6  −1    3
4 Squidroidia            4   1  0  3    3   5  −2    3
5 Archalit               3   0  0  3    0   3  −3    0

Group D
Matchday 3
Sajnur 3–3 Indusse
Germenia 0–0 Space

Matchday 4
Indusse 1–0 Germenia
Montaña Verde 3–4 Sajnur

# Group D              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sajnur                 3   0  3  0    6   6   0    3
  Space                  3   0  3  0    4   4   0    3
3 Indusse                2   0  2  0    4   4   0    2
  Montaña Verde          2   0  2  0    3   3   0    2
5 Germenia               2   0  2  0    1   1   0    2

# Group D              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sajnur                 4   1  3  0   10   9  +1    6
2 Indusse                3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5
3 Space                  3   0  3  0    4   4   0    3
4 Germenia               3   0  2  1    1   2  −1    2
  Montaña Verde          3   0  2  1    6   7  −1    2

Group E
Matchday 3
Poafmersia 3–0 The Spartan Dominion (Scorinated by South Newlandia)
Srubnaya culture 0–2 Harry Islands

Matchday 4
The Spartan Dominion 1–1 Srubnaya culture
Adab 4–2 Poafmersia (Scorinated by South Newlandia)

# Group E              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Poafmersia             3   2  1  0    4   0  +4    7
2 Harry Islands          3   1  1  1    4   5  −1    4
3 The Spartan Dominion   2   1  0  1    2   3  −1    3
4 Adab                   2   1  0  1    5   4  +1    3
5 Srubnaya culture       2   0  0  2    0   3  −3    0

# Group E              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Poafmersia             4   2  1  1    6   4  +2    7
2 Adab                   3   2  0  1    9   6  +3    6
3 Harry Islands          3   1  1  1    4   5  −1    4
  The Spartan Dominion   3   1  1  1    3   4  −1    4
5 Srubnaya culture       3   0  1  2    1   4  −3    1

Group F
Matchday 3
Kriegiersien 0–0 Saterun
New Master 1–3 Stevencousin

Matchday 4
Saterun 4–2 New Master
Geektopia 4–1 Kriegiersien

# Group F              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kriegiersien           3   2  1  0    2   0  +2    7
2 Stevencousin           3   2  0  1    7   4  +3    6
3 Saterun                2   1  1  0    4   1  +3    4
4 New Master             2   0  0  2    1   4  −3    0
5 Geektopia              2   0  0  2    3   8  −5    0

# Group F              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Saterun                3   2  1  0    8   3  +5    7
2 Kriegiersien           4   2  1  1    3   4  −1    7
3 Stevencousin           3   2  0  1    7   4  +3    6
4 Geektopia              3   1  0  2    7   9  −2    3
5 New Master             3   0  0  3    3   8  −5    0

Group G
Matchday 3
Ile de Richelieu 1–0 Eshialand
Sannyamathland 0–0 Katten en Kittens van de Wereld

Matchday 4
Eshialand 0–1 Sannyamathland
Juvencus 2–1 Ile de Richelieu

# Group G                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ile de Richelieu                  3   2  1  0    3   0  +3    7
2 Juvencus                          2   2  0  0    7   2  +5    6
3 Katten en Kittens van de Wereld   3   0  2  1    0   1  −1    2
4 Sannyamathland                    2   0  1  1    0   2  −2    1
5 Eshialand                         2   0  0  2    2   7  −5    0

# Group G                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Juvencus                          3   3  0  0    9   3  +6    9
2 Ile de Richelieu                  4   2  1  1    4   2  +2    7
3 Sannyamathland                    3   1  1  1    1   2  −1    4
4 Katten en Kittens van de Wereld   3   0  2  1    0   1  −1    2
5 Eshialand                         3   0  0  3    2   8  −6    0

Group H
Matchday 3
Drawkland 1–1 Snow And Ice Caps
Belnegau 0–2 The 14 Stars

Matchday 4
Snow And Ice Caps 0–1 Belnegau
Sudilia 1–3 Drawkland

# Group H              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The 14 Stars           3   2  1  0    4   1  +3    7
2 Belnegau               2   1  0  1    1   2  −1    3
3 Snow And Ice Caps      2   0  2  0    1   1   0    2
  Sudilia                2   0  2  0    1   1   0    2
5 Drawkland              3   0  1  2    1   3  −2    1

# Group H              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The 14 Stars           3   2  1  0    4   1  +3    7
2 Belnegau               3   2  0  1    2   2   0    6
3 Drawkland              4   1  1  2    4   4   0    4
4 Snow And Ice Caps      3   0  2  1    1   2  −1    2
5 Sudilia                3   0  2  1    2   4  −2    2

[Harry Islands]

First Harryan Victory, and cheering crowds in another IAC game

The Game against... Uh, a nation whose name we can't pronounce, ended with the victory of our national team, in another game in the IAC-18, stay below with the most important excerpts from the game.

"We start again here, IAC, in the 18th edition of this championship, welcome to our broadcast... Harry Islands advances on the right side of the field, T. Oliv advances on the right with the ball, he crosses into the area.. Matt scores a header, GOAL!! in the 34' minute, Matt scores for harry Islands to take the lead! Srubnaya's player, he gets a yellow card, at least, no injuries around here... Oh! GOAL!! He kicked with his left leg, it took effect and fell quickly almost hitting the crossbar in the right corner of the goal at 86' minute, great goal!"

Right after the first goal, the fans both in Poafmersia and in Harry Islands exploded with joy, and celebrated together, Harryan style! With chips, and lots of soda, it might not be the healthiest way to go, but it was the cheapest item on the menu besides water, the Harryan fans who were in the stadium, started singing as loud as the speakers announcing the goal, chanting, and celebrating together. In the second goal, as we say: "the joy multiplied by 2 added by 1 trillion" (We are terrible at creating phrases) with our millenary techniques to disrupt the team always being used, if you see a Harryan with a vuvuzela, testing the flash of cell phones, and with bags of potato chips, you can expect intense noise and pressure in the stadium.

Article written by Josh Mendez

[Kriegiersien]

IAC 18 Group F – How to reach the next round as Kriegiersien



The situation:

After a draw against Saterun, getting them into a good position on place 2, Kriegiersien lost against Geektopia. Geektopia, who were not only playing terrible, as if not existing until that point, but were already out of the competition, when the game began. They couldn't advance anymore, having not enough points by now. (2)

But suddenly the Geektopian squad emerged and played as if freed from pressure and smashed the Kriegiersien team 4-1. What confirmed its critics. (1)
While the Kriegiersien players were arguing and blaming each other for the loss, fans of statistics began already looking at the odds.

Now Kriegiersien has no chance to influence the outcome anymore, how hard they train or not doesn’t matter, it is only in the hands of Saterun and Stevencousin (99), who are playing against each other on the last match day, while Kriegiersien has a bye. Who to support now?


What could happen?

If Saterun wins Kriegiersien is through. Easy. (2)

Even after a draw between the two Kriegiersien should go on, because they won against Stevencousin and have more points in direct comparison, despite the much worse, even negative, goal difference of 3-4.

So Kriegiersien fans should root for Saterun. (3)

But…
Should Stevencousin suddenly emerge victorious, the Kriegiersien fans must hope for a great victory. A really big one. One that is so high that it blows up the scale, higher than what we have seen here before. A win for Stevencousin with 7 goals ahead. Possible? Maybe. (4) Funny enough (not really) this is the exact number of goals Kriegiersien scored and conceded combined. (5)


Advice:

If Stevencousin doesn’t start exploding in skill and scoring many goals at the beginning, back up Saterun, hope for at least a draw, better a win for Saterun and cross your fingers for them until it hurts.



Or don’t watch it live to prevent a heart attack. (6)






Sources:

(1) 'The unimportance of the pathetic Kriegiersien football' from Nina Nosport

(2) 'Bigger is better' - Math for Dummies.

(3) 'Why Sateruns defense is so strong' from Sebastián Vecenes

(4) 'The unbelievable unlimted power of Stevencousin' from Steves Cousin

(5) 'The boring books of Sport Statistics for Time Travelers' from Biff McFly

(6) 'Sport is a drug! Don’t do drugs!' from Nina Nosport

(99) 'The beautiful game and how it works' from Margaret

[The Spartan Dominion]

This ain’t over yet
Even though the spartan dominion tied in there second game they were placed fourth in group E the spartan national team has decided to amp up there training and take a visit to the Alexandria athletic academy and undergo a two day training treatment to make it out of the groups.

[Stevencousin]

CEOS AND WORKERS: A STUDY

When Peter Moskiv took over Brilliant Books as CEO, Brilliant Books was a very troubled company. After he did his research, he found that the main problem was his less-than-satisfactory customer service. Customers simply enter and exit the store without buying anything. To overcome it, Moskiv implements a policy which is; every employee must be within ten feet of every customer and help them find what they need. After almost six months of the policy, the results are still the same. Moskiv reviewed his strategy and found where the policy went wrong. Finally, he found that the store executive, that is, the Manager and Assistant Branch Manager, only explained the policy to his staff without them participating. For them, going down to the field to help customers is not included in their list of tasks and they feel inferior when doing the work that is usually done by their staff. And it feels like a waste of their precious time. This makes their subordinates feel that this policy is not that important, so no one does it

Realizing that fact, Moskiv returned to the field by convincing his subordinates that the policy he was trying to implement was important. Every day the store executives and subordinate staff can see Moskiv as the CEO of their company also serving customers and arranging books on their business premises. What is the feeling of the store executive who said he was ashamed to serve customers when he saw their CEO doing the same job? Since then all of Moskiv's staff knew that he was very serious about implementing the policy. Store executives started implementing the policy, subordinate staff also did the same. Towards the middle of the year, sales recorded a sharp increase and the number of regular customers increased so drastically that Brilliant Books was recognized as a customer-friendly company. This success would not have been achieved if Moskiv had not acted wisely by reassuring his employees and setting an example of a leader who is dedicated and willing to be on the front line to face any eventuality.

There are several other stories that tell the story of a successful CEO or high-ranking officer of a company also going down to the field to help subordinates to realize their objectives or policies, among them is Adam Vestas. Vestas is Giant Food's Head of Operations for the Eastern Region based in Brigketh. In 2005, Giant Food declined its business in half - half of the areas, especially in the Eastern Region. Their closest competitor is MarcusPizza. As the Head of Operations in one of the regions where his income was declining, Vestas began to formulate a strategy to raise their income again. For that, he started visiting from one premise to another of his business premises. Vestas will do anything to increase sales, if the premises he visited lacks a pizza chef, then he will also help cook the pizza until the vacancy is filled, as well as if he found that other premises he visited lack cashiers, he would take over the job until there was a replacement. For him, none of the work is useless and every task must be done efficiently by all employees regardless of their rank and position.

The character he showed permeated the hearts of his subordinates until one evening when an office cleaner at the Headquarters was doing his job when the phone rang. On the other end of the line is a manager of a Giant Food branch. When the cleaner answered the call because all the workers had gone home (he could have ignored the call because it wasn't his job, but he answered it anyway) the branch manager was desperate to get the head office to send a supply of cheese to his branch. He also stated that if the supply of cheese could not be delivered that evening, he would have to close the branch and this would make Giant Food suffer a lot of losses that night. Hearing the news, the cleaner immediately took the truck key from the Transport Officer's desk and drove it to the company's Depot and loaded the truck with a supply of cheese, and drove the truck to the problematic branch. Keep in mind that the cleaning worker did not get permission to do the work involved and he can ignore it. But on the nature of responsibility, he managed to deliver cheese supplies to the branch in question even though he had to drive a long distance and the branch in question was not closed and was able to do business that night. It turns out that what Vestas applied was practiced by his employees.

Appreciation or gifts to employees is one of the secrets to the success of a company. This is because employees who are appreciated for their efforts will increase their motivation to continue working hard for the company. For example, Jules's company awards an award in the form of a holiday visit to its branches that manage to make a lot of profit. What is surprising is that when the staff at the branch in question goes on vacation, Jules's Board of Directors will take over to take care of the branch in question until the staff returns from vacation.

Group F
MD3: New Master 1–3 Stevencousin
Leon Voloshyn min. 4, Arnaud Zubar min. 61 (pen.) & Válter Folha min 74

[Delaclava]

OOC: This is written after MD3. Obviously, there are things we've since learned on MD4, but it wouldn't make sense for me to reference those things when recapping Delaclava's match in the immediate aftermath.


Phoenixes remain perfect in Poafmersia, advance to R16

Alexander Temirkanov's 48th-minute strike was all Delaclava needed to notch a 1-0 victory over Archalit and secure its first berth in the Independents Cup round of 16.

This was Delaclava's third consecutive victory by a single goal. The Phoenixes looked relatively unbothered in dispensing with Archalit, winning possession 62%-38% and deliberately wearing down the younger Pirates across the first half, although they would not reap the rewards until the start of the second half. Coming off a quick Delaclav corner, a harmless cross from Vangelis Anagnakis was rather clumsily cleared by Myst Magica, and Temirkanov was in the vicinity to recover the ball, create space with a touch out to the right, and line up an unimpeded 17-yard shot that zipped low inside the post and past Damien Looke.

Manager Elidyr Lyndainium would bring in defensive veterans Rahmonberdi Zhusupov and Ben Romeijn as well as Sanson Eisen in the closing minutes of the contest, securing the win with relative ease.

"I think that's one of our big improvements over the past few years," captain Lukas Meyer said. "We've resisted the urge to 'park the bus,' to tamp down and abandon all sense of attack. We've stayed strong and resilient, continued to press, smartly looking for that goal that'll put us up two without getting reckless. It makes it a lot harder on the opposition to really generate chances."

Squidroidia's 2-1 loss to Abanhfleft guarantees that only Abanhfleft could better Delaclava's record, securing one of the top two spots in Group C for the Phoenixes. Both Delaclava and Abanhfleft are in play for the first and second spots in the group, with their meeting on the final day of the competition likely to play a large, if not decisive, role in settling the two teams. It actually appears that winning the group might be advantageous, as the Group C winner will run up against the Group A winner and Group B runner-up—for now, that is likely to be top-ranked Trolleborg and third-ranked HUElavia.

In any event, the mood was jubilant as the Phoenixes wrapped up its own victory and then awaited for word to come across Trimidau Island, confirming the Squidroidia-Abanhfleft result. Within seconds, the assistants got the notification and sent up the celebration. Delaclava had never reached the Round of 16 in the modern era while competing in the Atlantian Oceanian championships. In its first IAC competition, Delaclava was bounced out of the group stage with a dismal 0-2-2 record in Quintessence of Dust.

Asked about the benefit of advancing deeper into the regional competitions, Meyer explained, "Obviously we've been able to do well without it. We've won big matches at the World Cup level and in the Cup of Harmony. But consistency is a skill, playing with pressure is a skill. Getting those opportunities here will only make us better down the road.

Lyndainium was noncommittal regarding his approach to the Abanhfleft match. "I will rest guys who might have some niggles, could use one less intense day in the schedule. But the eleven guys who take the field are some of the finest players in the world and will play their hardest anyway... I'm not sure much good can come from stopping our momentum so we can strategically pick or avoid opponents."

Phoenixes fans, will, of course recall the events of Cup of Harmony 84, a home event for Delaclava and Lyndainium's first tournament fully in command of the Phoenixes. In the last match of the group stage, Delaclava was level with Mertagne, a result that would drawn Delaclava against Cardenao; the Phoenixes instead pulled ahead with a late goal to win its group and go against the more highly-regarded Brenecia. Regardless, the Phoenixes would stamp out the Patriots 6-3 to reach its first Cup of Harmony quarterfinal.

Elsewhere for Sonnel's teams, Drawkland was virtually eliminated after drawing Snow and Ice Caps 1-1 to compound two shocking opening losses. Conversely, Juvencus remains in strong position after winning its first two games of the tournament (La Squadra has a Round 3 bye) and will potentially benefit from the Kick Corps' loss of form in the pool stage. West Barack and East Obama moved into position to advance with a 1-0 victory over Hopal; they remain a potential adversary for Delaclava in the pool stage. The Phoenixes are winless in three matches against WBEO (0-1-2) and also trails their head-to-head against Juvencus (2-0-3).

Archalit 0–1 DELACLAVA
Temirkanov 48'
James; Gouin, Champagne, Barker; Martin; Anagnakis, Lindblad (Romeijn 75'), Bartoš (Eisen 80'), Temirkanov (Zhusupov 80'); Khautov, Meyer.

[Ile de Richelieu]

Île de Richelieu 2nd in group after matchday 4

Mancodas, Poafmersia - Île de Richelieu has two wins, 1 draw and 1 loss after 4 games at the Independents Cup 18. On matchday 1, the Cardinals beat Sannyamathland 2-0. The score was still 0-0 at halftime. At the 68th minute, Ragnhild Austad made a cross to Jean-Christophe Gouin who kicked the ball and it's a goal. Île de Richelieu increased their lead at the 81st minute when Asbjørn Lillegard-Omdahl scored on a free kick and the final score was 2-0.

On matchday 2, the Richelois played against Katten en Kittens van de Wereld but let's just call them kittens or the whiskers as they call themselves. The game was strange, with the Cardinals playing against real kittens and it looked like we were affraid to attack. Île de Richelieu only had 5 shots, which only 3 were on target and the game ended with a 0-0 draw.

On matchday 3, the Cardinals beat Eshialand 1-0. Marc-Antoine Desgroseilliers scored at the 36th minute from 20 meters and Île de Richelieu won 1-0. Rasmus Hammer had 2 yellow cards and will miss matchday 4 against Juvencus. Hugo Denommée will replace him in the starting XI.

Île de Richelieu suffered their first defeat of the tournament on matchday 4 against Juvencus. The Gli attaccanti took the lead at the 14th minute when Michelangelo Santini made a header pass to Ganymede Garcia who heads the ball into the net. 1-0 Juvencus. Juvencus increased their lead at the 24th minute when Simon Oliveira scored o a free kick. The score was 2-0 Juvencus at halftime. Île de Richelieu cut Juvencus' lead at the 55th minute when Asbjørn Lillegard-Omdahl made a cross for Rose-Émilie Bouthillette who kicks the ball in the net and the score is 2-1 Juvencus. This is the final score.

Île de Richelieu has a bye on matchday 5 and have to wait for the outcome of the game between Sannyamathland and Juvencus to know if we advance to the opening round as a 2nd place team or not. If the Cardinals do advance, they will play against the winner of group H, which will be either The 14 Stars or Belnegau. Surprisingly, Drawkland has been eliminated from group H.

[Archalit]

Discussions

---

Soon after Matchday 3

"Ey, I can't perform when I gotta carry my team," Ethan sarcastically quips, hoping to lighten the mood after their bitter third loss in a row.

"Nah man, shouldn't have been playing all those chess games last night," Terry responded, matching his energy.

August let out a chuckle, his broad shoulders shaking slightly. "Chess or not, it's not like we're facing grandmasters on the pitch," he remarked, trying to inject some levity into the conversation. "Maybe next time, we should challenge our opponents to a chess match instead. It could be our secret weapon."

The group laughed, the tension from the recent defeats momentarily fading away. Ethan grinned, appreciating the camaraderie. "Yeah, who needs fancy footwork when we can checkmate our way to victory, right?"

Terry playfully rolled his eyes. "I don't know about you, Ethan, but I'm pretty sure my chess skills are superior to my dribbling skills. Maybe I should consider a career change."

The lighthearted banter continued as they exchanged humorous anecdotes about their previous games. It was moments like these that reminded them of the joy and passion they shared for the sport. Despite the setbacks, they were determined to persevere and turn their luck around.

Leaning back in his chair, Ethan's expression turned more contemplative. "But in all seriousness, guys, what do you think is really going wrong on the field? We can joke about chess and all, but something's off, and we need to address it if we want to salvage this tournament."

The room fell into a brief silence as everyone pondered Ethan's question. Terry, ever the analytical thinker, spoke up first. "I think our midfield coordination has been lacking. We're not creating enough chances and struggling to control the game. Maybe we need to work on our positioning and passing to regain control of the tempo."

August nodded in agreement. "And we can't ignore our defense either. We've been conceding goals too easily. Our backline needs to communicate better and tighten up our defensive shape. We can't rely solely on Damien to save us every time."

Ethan looked around at his teammates, their determination reflected in their eyes. "Alright, then. Let's focus on those areas in our upcoming training sessions. We might be down, but we're not out. We've faced tougher challenges before, and we've come out on top. This tournament isn't over until the final whistle blows, and we'll fight until the end."

With renewed vigor, the group nodded in unison, a shared sense of purpose settling among them. Despite the initial jesting, they knew that it was time to put in the hard work and turn their fortunes around. They were a team capable of great things, and they were ready to prove it.

As they dispersed, the room was filled with a mix of determination, hope, and a sprinkle of excitement. The road to redemption would be challenging, but with their spirits lifted and their focus reinvigorated, they were ready to face whatever obstacles lay ahead.

Soon after, the team went on to lose matchday 4, locking them out of qualification with the worst provisional goal difference in the group...

[United Adaikes]

Matchday 3 - Independents Cup 18
United Adaikes 5-3 Valentine Z    
Greenwood (10', 61'), Skeates (51', 85'), Lacy (86') FT Konstantinovich (21', 23'), D'Elia (41')            
HT 1-3
Campana (10'), Gallego (51'), Skeates (61', 86'), Sherburne (85') Assists D'Elia (23')                                                     

Bikarish Stadium, Bikarish
Attendance: 31,591

United Adaikes came from two goals down to stage a remarkable second-half comeback and beat struggling Valentine Z.

FW Krystina Greenwood fired the Adaikesians ahead, but two quickfire Kortnev Konstantinovich goals from corners and an Elisabetta D'Elia curler made it 3-1 at half-time.

FW Sadie Skeates and Greenwood netted to level things at 3-3 before Skeates and MF Terri Lacy struck twice within a minute to settle the game in the United Adaikes' favor.

The defeat sees Valentine Z drop to last place, exchanging places with their opponents.

Valentine Z was 17th in all Independents in the multiverse but was behind after 10 minutes when Greenwood swept in from Gypsy Campana's cross.

Valentine Z then took control of the first period, with Konstantinovich capitalizing from two set pieces. He turned in after D'Elia struck the bar before converting from close range following another dangerous corner from Katarzyna Polańska.

D'Elia gave Valentine Z a two-goal lead with a well-placed free-kick from just outside the area.

However, the game turned after the break, with Skeates slotting home from Lacy's set-up and Greenwood sliding in from a tight angle to make it 3-3.

GK Esme Johns saved from Holly Van De Hoogte. Lacy struck the post before the Adaikesians claimed the points inside the final 10 minutes as FW substitute Frank Sherburne's cross set up Skeates to volley in. The Wrarnerbadshot Watcher forward-turned-provider set up Lacy and complete the turnaround.

---

Matchday 4 - Independents Cup 18
Toluiwa 0–1 United Adaikes
FT Sherburne (72')
HT 0-0
Assists Gaines (72')

Matty Horis Stadium, Dury
Attendance: 51,301

Adaikesian substitute Frank Sherburne scored his first international competitive goal as Toluiwa were left to rue missed chances on defending the top spot in the group.

Sherburne powered in a header 13 minutes after replacing Krystina Greenwood.

In front of a good crowd, Hendrawan Ashar fired over from 12 yards, and Faisal Siswantyo and Faturrachman Saleh saw shots saved before the break.

They were costly misses as the Adaikesians struck and comfortably defended the lead.

With that, United Adaikes has taken over the top spot in Group B of the Group Stage in the 18th edition of the Independents Cup.

Their next opponent is HUElavia, 3rd in the multiverse for all Independents, occupying the second spot in Group B. With Cakranegara already playing four matches, they failed to qualify for the Dual Group Stage.

If they win against HUElavia in their next match, still to be played in Matty Horis Stadium in Dury, they will face the team occupying the second spot in Group A in the Dual Group Stage. However, if they lose, they should hope that Toluiwa won't win against Valentine Z, or the Adaikesians will fail to qualify for the next round. It will be more complicated when they draw against HUElavia, and Toluiwa wins against Valentine Z, as the Adaikesians need a better goal difference than Toluiwa. However, if the Adaikesians draw against HUElavia and Valentine Z wins, the Adaikesians retain the top spot in Group B.

[TJUN-ia]

After our 1st half only ended up with 1 point, the Jaguars of TJUN-ia were in a bit of trouble - trouble not helped by our bye on MD3. Nobody could really argue that things have been good on our side of things so far but there was certainly still hope in the air that things can be turned around for a team that should be at a high standard in this competition. David Seems and Li Xiu Ying knew that things weren't looking good at the moment, but they still had time on their side...right?

They returned to action against Aust Scor, #62 in the IAC Rankings, back at the Theatre of Light in Kistina...and this game was fucking frustrating. Fucking. Frustrating. Ignacio Edmondson basically became the bane of our existence as he kept on blocking shot after shot after shot - from Malhrani al-Kalhrani, Jackson Smith-Scott, Yomakaji Shimigatsu, Max van Oosterend, Captain Kim Choi-ya, Fernandino and Jose Lozano de la Cruz. That GK certainly earned a hot drink and a cookie after this game because my fucking word, he was blocking everything! They had a few efforts themselves, mainly through Todd Tierney and Bilal Pratt, but our GK Sputnik Brykilawa was too good to let them trouble him. In the end, a 0-0 draw was a deserved reward for Edmondson's efforts - but it certainly didn't put us at ease at all.

Thankfully, and by some miracle, our fate is still in our hands - as all we have to do to advance over Aust Scor is beat West Barack and East Obama in Cochin by potentially more than one goal. This isn't a good sign for the WC to come, that we are struggling this much with what was supposed to be a simple group, but we still aren't dead yet. We have to continue the fight, no matter what - no matter how unexpected this IAC has been so far. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group A)
MD1: vs Hopal (34-IAC) - Stadia Cochin, Cochin D 0-0
MD2: vs Trolleborg (1-IAC) - Theatre of Light, Kistina L 0-1 (T-4th)
----------------------------------Boot It!----------------------------------
MD3: BYE (4th)
MD4: vs Aust Scor (62-IAC) - Theatre of Light, Kistina D 0-0 (4th)
----------------------------------Boot It!----------------------------------
MD5: West Barack and East Obama (20-IAC) - Stadia Cochin, Cochin

[Juvencus]

WORRISOME FAN BEHAVIOR AGAINST ÎLE DE RICHELIEU KEEPS FEDERATION ON EDGE


Despite gli attaccanti's victory over Île de Richelieu, Madeiros could not hide his frustration following extremist Panjuvenist chants

La squadra has locked on tight to the top spot of the group after defeating Île de Richelieu with a 2-1 scoreline at the Camp of Power stadium. A blitzkrieg performance in the first half saw Garcia and Oliveira score goals in the 14th and 24th minutes respectively. In more detail, Garcia was provided by a well-weighed cross by Santini following a build up offense led by Sissoko to score a header. Oliveira on the other hand managed to score a direct free kick following a finesse shot to the top right corner of Grendahl-Kalberg's goal. Despite the comfortable 2-0 lead at half-time, the Richelois team picked up the offense in the second half and managed to reduce the difference to one following a Rose-Émilie Bouthillette volley. While la squadra was close to making it 3 with substitute Urruchi's shot hitting the crossbar at the 89th minute.

Knowing the stakes of the victory, it would be celebrated very intensely by the passionate Juven fanbase. However this would not be the case this time, as Île de Richelieu is known to be a romance-majority nation. Upon news of playing the Richelois, Panjuvenists took to the pitch to chant several chants throught the game. Most were obscene, some outright irredentist with no particular backup. Madeiros seemed to the man most frustrated by this behavior, having seen how it led to strict measures against Juven fans in Delaclava and Ceni and putting the whole Cup of Harmony 84 campaign at risk. Memories of that still haunt the players themselves, despite performing their hearts out on the pitch. Madeiros himself tried to calm the fans down himself, but eventually resulted to being angry and returning to focus on la squadra's play during the game.

In an interview following the game, this was what Madeiros had to say.

"This is shameful behavior. You look at those people and think: What a shame they are bringing to our nation on the international stage. They were demeaning towards our opponents who treated us with nothing but respect throught the game, they are disrespectful to themselves but most of all they are disrespectful to the team they are meant to support. I have said this before and I will say it again, support the team in a nice, polite manner. Politics not based on historical facts have no place on the pitch. Football is meant to unite us, plain and simple. Let us play, support us from the sidelines and simply put, end this nonsense."

This alarming behavior has put the Juven Football Association at high alert, knowing the repercussions the team faced and was about to face in Cup of Harmony 84 and seeing as their measures at reducing fan violence have only worked -to an extent- at the domestic level. With that said, tracking of several well-known culprits and extreme Panjuvenists among the ranks of the fanbase is under way and by the game against Sannyamathland will hopefully be caught. Seeing the importance of the game and the vengefulness the team has against Sannyamathland, the Juven Football Association is considering a man hunt towards non-related fans as well, likely ones with more violent pitch behavior to avoid any shenanigans in Poafmersia.

With that said, gli attaccanti being top of the group has given the team a spot at the dual group stages in this strange format the nation is hosting the Independents Cup with and will be waiting for its opponent following the match against Sannyamathland. With Madeiros' and la squadra's aims being set high, the team will be looking for an upper bracket spot and a run all the way to the end of the tournament, as such many top players will be given rest.

[HUElavia]

HUElavia 0–0 Cakranegara
Bikarish Stadium, Bikarish, Poafmersia

Date with Destiny

A scoreless draw against Cakranegara sets up for an enticing must-win match against United Adaikes on Matchday 5!

Once more, HUElavia enters the Final Matchday of the Group Stage facing a must-win situation. While Matchday 1 was filled with plenty of goals in a dramatic victory over Valentine Z, two back-to-back scoreless draws against Toluiwa and Cakranegara has HUElavia sitting in 2nd Place with 5 Points (1-2-0), a point off Group B leader United Adaikes with 6 Points (2-0-1). Cakranegara sits in 3rd with 5 Points (1-2-1), depending on Matchday 5 to see whether they advance or not. Toluiwa is in 4th Place with 4 Points (1-1-1), while Valentine Z is in 5th Place with 1 Point (0-1-2), already eliminated from the tournament.

So, two matches will determine how the group will shake out: Valentine Z vs Toluiwa and United Adaikes vs HUElavia. There are several matches that can determine who could end up advancing. HUElavia advances with a win or Draw, the latter only if Valentine Z and Toluiwa draw with each other. United Adaikes needs to Win or Draw to advance, but a loss with a Toluiwa would see them out. Toluiwa needs to win and hope that either HUElavia or United Adaikes does not win in order to advance. Cakranegara needs to hope that Toluiwa and HUElavia lose their games and that they can surpase Valentine Z in Goal Difference in order to advance. These are essentially the scenarios each of the 4 teams in contention needs to have happen in order for the to advance to the knockout stage.

For HUElavia, the team looks to make more history, advancing once more to the knockout stage once more. The team has been training hard, focusing particularly on attacking and scoring, in order to ramp up their scoring and win Group B. Coach O'Reagan had this to say: "It's been a weird two matches, not conceding any goals, but also not scoring. For a team that takes pride in lighting up the scoreboard, it's been a quiet tournament. But, sometimes we need this one game, one where it becomes a must-win in order to light up something special. These players are hungry for a good game, and I have faith we will display it on the pitch against United Adaikes. HUElavia takes pride in their flair and scoring, and we ought to start showing that moving forward."

4 different dreams will dwindle to 2 tomorrow night, with Group B closing with their double-headers, as all is on the line for two spots for the knockouts. Here's to hoping we can win and clinch our spot in the knockout stage.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Belnegau]

Narratio Belnegensis Angustiae
Prima Pars, Secunda Pars, Tertia Pars
Quarta Pars

Landgraf Hartwig von Belnegau brushed a hand back through his hair, clearing a few errant locks from his eyes. As he brought his hand back down, he noticed a hair caught between his fingers. White already? Hartwig had not been a young man for many years, and had long ago become used to seeing gray in his hair. Indeed, it had become a rarity to find brown in his locks. But white? He had often not thought to live long enough to see pure white in his hair. These two years have not been kind.

His days had been eaten up with endless negotiations with the Great Guild of the Mühlenfurt burghers. Worse than that, the peasant revolt in Heidingen was still unquelled, and his old friend Johann's widow, Adalheid was still held as their hostage. It was much because of that state of affairs that he had become so entangled with the merchants. He needed more than his retainers and levies from the villages around Ziegelstein in order to finally crush the rebel forces and bring their leader, Algirdas, to justice. He needed an army.

But armies, professional ones, do not fight without pay. Neither did they march on empty stomachs, or do battle without arms and armor. Belnegau was a fertile land, and could feed multitudes, but the coin needed to pay thousands of mercenaries could only be found in one place. And so, Hartwig was once again across a table from Burgermeister Herbord Lanza, patriarch of the Lanza mercantile family. There were others present of course. To be absent from such an important meeting would be an insult to these other men, Baldewin Dürr, Erloman Burgsteller, and Peter Königsmann were among the merchant delegation, and Hartwig's chamberlain Gustaf was on his side of the table, along with Freiherr Heintz von Heidingen, son of the late Johann. Still, Hartwig and Herbord were the two that mattered.

For the third time this evening, the matter of the tax due to the Landgraf by the Great Guild had been mentioned. Hartwig had grown weary of repeating himself. "Burger Peter, the tax paid by Mühlenfurt to Ziegelstein has remained unchanged and inviolate since first the town was granted its charter. It was so under my father and forefathers, and it shall remain so in the time of my heirs. Mühlenfurt enjoys very great privileges and the protection of both Landgraf and Emperor. This tax is your due, and you must make your peace with that."

"But we are now told that this tax is not enough. And that in order to protect Belnegau from the rebels in the south, more money is needed. Why then, must we pay both uncomplaining?"

"More money is needed, money that shall be repaid."

"Nonetheless My Lord," Herbord Lanza forestalled any further comment from Königsmann by speaking up, "it is a very great deal of money that you ask. We do not ask surety of repayment. My Lord has always been faithful with his debts in the past and we have no doubt of the future. But this money would have built ships and warehouses, bought goods for shipment and paid to send young men to study at great universities and cathedral schools. These things must now be forgone."

"And, Master Lanza, you will no doubt tell me that the defense of the true faith and the destruction of bloodthirsty rebels is not worthy enough a cause for you to gladly forgo your own goals?"

"The rebels must be destroyed as you say, and the Great Guild will do its part in this task. We ask only some consideration of our sacrifice be made by you, my Lord, and that of the people of Mühlenfurt, to whom we must bear this news upon our return."

"What then would you have of me, if not reduction of your tax, which I have now thrice said I will not countenance?"

"If not money for money, perhaps there is something which my Lord might grant to Mühlenfurt which its people have long desired. For these several years, the practice of football has been denied to the common folk of Belnegau. My Lord's knights and their exploits are an inspiration to the people, and they too wish to practice this new pastime. My Lord cannot deny the importance of football to Belnegau, as even now, with rebellion festering in Heidingen, several of your finest knights have departed to once against compete against the wider world. We would ask only the privilege to hold our own matches with our own teams, rude and clumsy though we might be in comparison."

"A charter to hold your own football matches, and you will grant the loan I ask?"

"Every ducat."

"Very well, Gustaf, have the scribes draw up the necessary documents. Henceforth, the town of Mühlenfurt shall be granted the privilege of holding football matches, and organizing its own teams. Further, the Great Guild of Mühlenfurt shall appoint a body to oversee these activities, which shall be called the Gräflich Sportverein Mühlenfurts."

[Geektopia]

:: Rōczwijyrcqa Kemmelkins Zv̄mkeiyawiōhr ::
What the "Ancients" were as a people and how we may be underestimating their comeback in football now, a short analysis.

Just as how it is a miracle that our body is composed of atoms and that the most common elements that make up these vessels are sulfur, phosphorus, and nitrogen, there is another case for the R.K.C. first coming into it's most infant-like form around April 1st, 5100 under the creation of a few people who on their best day only got as far in their morning routine as waking up, getting in their shoes, and not making their bed. As it was back in the early five thousands, a man who had spoken the first sentences of New Geektopian not told to another person by the maker of that language, Rsifseh Meszhszrōh, was making people question if the classification of "monarchy" as it's called was a good thing to even call Geektopia at all by being elected in a public spectacle by the Biszwōhyagir Lzōhjciewī, or "Table of Dukes" as it's called in Terranean. What's even stranger about how all of this had happened is that the dukes weren't elected, but were passed down the title by any of their family that had died with it or resigned, like they should have been in a monarchy. This form of election is sustainable and will continue to be used after a more open-to-the-public referendum had most in the country saying "yea" to it being.

By that time, sport with other social institutions and companies which are looked at with fondness in any ongoing crisis were enforced into a comprisement of two systems: an eastern system interconnected by folks born in eastern parts of the nation with the same going for westerners. These were abbreviated as E.K. (Eauiwiyariw Keiryahszmerīw) and N.K. (Nīrhszeauikeiryahszmerīw) (or Eastern Cooperative and Western Cooperative respectively). Geektopia's modern territory on the continent is twelve and a half percent covered by the proposal map for what laid west, for while Rsifseh Meszhszrōh made a law dividing for-profit and non-profit companies into two bases, he left the decision of boundaries and borders to the ever-trusted Biszwōhyagir Lzōhjciewī. They also chose to accommodate this western area to be one which only three percent of the population at that time lived. By the end of 5640, new hires in the E.K. districts amounted to seven thousand two hundred people for every ninety-two Terranean years that make up a year in the Kwandoa continent, almost all of which was inferior to the rate of interest and hurried applications (628,098 by the time previously mentioned) Rōczwijyrcqa Sports Trust had received from citizens of Offtsutare, Truatsuina, Musek, and those from the more southern cities which made up for a still small population of 1,528,000 people.

Coasting on this popularity, the RST decided to tear down their base in what was the eastern column of Rsifseh's map, leaving theirs in the western column still unchanged while provoking an unprecedented crowd of easterners to apply for jobs where they wouldn't be allowed to work. Around the next one hundred eighty four years going forward, large yields of these industrially clever easterners, mainly interested of what more was to come from the stint in World Cup 82 qualifying, accounted for forty-five percent of the application storm in the Eauiwiyariw Keiryahszmerīw; people were doing anything to stick one to the king Rsifseh, who was trying not to pay attention to this as he let the other strange law he made up himself, named "Īreaurdawōhngyhw lo Zīgyaw Lvneauhszwehcsczzkeiyangāno" (in Terranean: Homeless and Imprisoned for Armed Forces), pass.

The Nīrhszeauikeiryahszmerīw proved and provided their worth in diamonds to their counterparts to the left of them: the Eauiwiyariw Keiryahszmerīw, and spent more than ninety-seven percent of the electricity supply over the remaining time, this while Rsifseh was maintaining Geektopia and acceding to demands of his advisors and advice from his counselors, on the site hszeauirlīnōhm.com.gee to send videos of Rsifseh supposedly looking frustrated and smashing several varieties of vase with religious imagery on them; this would concede to the crime of destroying religious property with ill intent toward the individual or group associated with that property. Rsifseh's last dive, which was a pretty good ploy to say the least, had been planned for months as the seizure of Rōczwijyrcqa Sports Trust, by the time of execution in Truatsuina, to "halt permanently the hiring, whether accidental or not, of The easterner." This royal seizure of the football, rugby, and tennis associations of RST had been in effect from the end of the 76th Cup of Harmony and until the beginning of World Cup 85 Qualification, around 6033, where Rsifseh subsequently took a shot at ending his life successfully by drinking paint after running from his royal quarters in Torah Ora to Truatsuina, approximately two hundred miles on foot.

From 6033 to 8101, quite a lot of components of Geektopian society comfortably practiced in the five thousands and six thousands are seen as lesser things to do as a result of thousands of years having settled down and having rested unmoved in military affairs save the independence of Aimena in 6087 from Geektopia's northeast. One of the establishments which is slightly baffling to outsiders is that of Ngyoōhreiyahszwir Hsziyanjciewōhngāreir lo Mīrhszineiyahcsczwir Īmneirohsz (called in New Terranean as the Preservation and Citizen Cloning Effort of Ancients). This fund has been trying to get it's logo on rugby and football shirts, with the board of the NHMĪ aiming for ten sports associations that will agree upon sponsorship deals with the consequences being mentioned earlier in the sentence being implemented as such by 8429.

NHMĪ, through it's board never forgetting the namesake and importance of these "Ancients" has stigmatized a revival with their fund, producing a 50:1 ratio of "cloned ancients" to "ancients that live among Geektopia as citizens who aren't cloned", with sixteen thousand five hundred twenty three being produced in labs every ninety-two Terranean years, or one Kwandoan year. More than 35% of customers who have a cloned ancient child to adopt have been supplied tariffs by the non-profit for not complying with the "ancient naming process" that looks an awful lot like New Geektopian that's communicated in the New Lingo region. As the non-profit have begun the process of shifting base to another country as recently as eighty-four years ago to Campo de Ervas, these tariffs would be a legal action by the company's part and technically enforceable by the end of the moving in and finalization of placement of assets, predicted at 8575. As we can see with the successful recruiting system R.K.C.'s football elite and the Geektopian national team deploy, more Ancients such as Ama Bengodav, Szocsdagjcie Nizeihszdaszw, and the most significantly talented among these, Ldavōhng Szemya, are coming to light in the football world and may even be called up to represent the home they truly want to in future.

Its chairman is multifaceted and humble (among other traits discussed at the end of this paragraph), thinking himself as we talked to him never able to have assumed his chair without having had more than one job in the past. In where he had other matters just as recently ended as 276 years ago such as a referee who had a long stint in the second division of Geektopian association football (called the R.T.N.), Nyarjcieīl Meingōh Gmurijcie worked where he had to in the regions of upper central east Geektopia, also where Kunyakie would be. His leaderly yet cruel disposition in the interview this online paper's Sotiyolōhministereaui (social minister in Terranean) Ngisznōhyin Ehyarjcieyoīw conducted would have to be due to it being that everyone was very rigid at school to him in both the fields of physical control and administrative powers of robotics he had tried to attain mastery for. In explaining the issue at hand in providing cyber bodies for organizations, he gave up the task and labored onto a different footpath as far as what he wanted to do for a living goes.

---

Game summaries to come after I'm done with HS finals! Wish me luck.

[The 14 Stars]

Starsian Surprises

As the first two matches went pretty well the training was made harder to increase the capabilities of the players and also give the reserves a run for their money as they wouldn't play in matches usually anyway.
However Kira Blade's arrival before the first matches did not only shock the team but also had a very positive impact on the teams mood as they had a small party that night without alcohol ofcourse to celebrate her return.
They gained good results and took the lead, but getting a lead is once thing but keeping a lead is another thing and it hadn't been earlier that the Starsians had such good results early on.
Most of them thought it was because the Tea Cup had proven to be a very good training, this made them wonder if with more training they could perhaps even have a chance to get beyond the group stages.

Their next opponent was Belnegau, they only knew that it was a medieval country that they had met once during their hosting of one of the tournaments but the Starsian team is completely diffrent from then.
New faces, better technology while Belnegau is.......medieval, they call themselves knights and believe they actually have a chance against the modern teams but that is certainly not true as would be seen.
As they walked out on the field.....these people actually wore an armour while the Starsians had their usual kits like many other teams but with such a weight on you moving would be.....problematic which also would be seen later.

As the Starsians kicked off you immediately saw how slow those knights moved, where the Starsians passed to eachother quickly the knights had trouble asjusting to this fast game played by our players.
Sol was in command of the midfield, she gave a good pass on Bernard who passed by two knights who had barely moved a step before the stormed past them bring the ball to Joyce Villegas who was tasked with driving the defenders crazy.
Knights don't do tricks, so technical tricks like Villegas is used to doing alot in a small space is a real menace for those big sluggish defeners as the high pass was to Fourseasons who's header was stopped but the second shot from Bernard went in.
Within 10 minutes the Starsians had forced a lead on Belnegau.
Further pressure was applied on them as the time went on and you saw the knights getting more and more tired.

By halftime their entire team was exhausted, they were unable to continue yet they had to play a second half, in this second half the Starsian in the 64th minute scored once more this time it was Fourseasons who was able to score.
His current power as a striker is very welcome and with a bigger gap the last bit of motivation for the knights flew away as our team played out the match more defensively and calculated.
With their win now with two goals they currently take first place, the question is whether our team will end on top or whether they will meet an early end in the tournament despite very good effort here.

[PotatoFarmers]

Cutoff. Reminder only top 2 goes on to the next stage.

Note: There were a number of tied placings that did not affect entry into the next round. For simplicity sake, I would not attempt to tiebreak them using the score-using-RP-bonus method.

Group A
West Barack and East Obama 1–1 TJUN-ia
Hopal 0–4 Trolleborg

# Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Trolleborg                   4   4  0  0    7   0  +7   12
2 Aust Scor                    4   1  2  1    2   2   0    5 *
3 West Barack and East Obama   4   1  2  1    3   3   0    5 *
4 TJUN-ia                      4   0  3  1    1   2  −1    3
5 Hopal                        4   0  1  3    0   6  −6    1

*IC Coin Flip match: Aust Scor 3–0 West Barack and East Obama

Group B
United Adaikes 0–2 HUElavia
Valentine Z 1–0 Toluiwa

# Group B              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 HUElavia               4   2  2  0    5   2  +3    8
2 United Adaikes         4   2  0  2    6   6   0    6
3 Cakranegara            4   1  2  1    2   2   0    5
4 Valentine Z            4   1  1  2    7   9  −2    4
5 Toluiwa                4   1  1  2    1   2  −1    4

Group C
Archalit 0–1 Muralos
Delaclava 5–2 Abanhfleft

# Group C              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Delaclava              4   4  0  0   10   4  +6   12
2 Abanhfleft             4   3  0  1    7   7   0    9
3 Muralos                4   2  0  2    6   6   0    6
4 Squidroidia            4   1  0  3    3   5  −2    3
5 Archalit               4   0  0  4    0   4  −4    0

Group D
Germenia 2–2 Montaña Verde
Space 3–4 Indusse

# Group D              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Indusse                4   2  2  0    9   7  +2    8
2 Sajnur                 4   1  3  0   10   9  +1    6
3 Germenia               4   0  3  1    3   4  −1    3
  Montaña Verde          4   0  3  1    8   9  −1    3
  Space                  4   0  3  1    7   8  −1    3

Group E
Srubnaya culture 1–7 Adab
Harry Islands 2–2 The Spartan Dominion

# Group E              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Adab                   4   3  0  1   16   7  +9    9
2 Poafmersia             4   2  1  1    6   4  +2    7
3 Harry Islands          4   1  2  1    6   7  −1    5
  The Spartan Dominion   4   1  2  1    5   6  −1    5
5 Srubnaya culture       4   0  1  3    2  11  −9    1

Group F
New Master 3–3 Geektopia
Stevencousin 1–0 Saterun

# Group F              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Stevencousin           4   3  0  1    8   4  +4    9
2 Saterun                4   2  1  1    8   4  +4    7
3 Kriegiersien           4   2  1  1    3   4  −1    7
4 Geektopia              4   1  1  2   10  12  −2    4
5 New Master             4   0  1  3    6  11  −5    1

Group G
Sannyamathland 1–3 Juvencus
Katten en Kittens van de Wereld 1–1 Eshialand

# Group G                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Juvencus                          4   4  0  0   12   4  +8   12
2 Ile de Richelieu                  4   2  1  1    4   2  +2    7
3 Sannyamathland                    4   1  1  2    2   5  −3    4
4 Katten en Kittens van de Wereld   4   0  3  1    1   2  −1    3
5 Eshialand                         4   0  1  3    3   9  −6    1

Group H
Belnegau 1–0 Sudilia
The 14 Stars 2–0 Snow And Ice Caps

# Group H              Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The 14 Stars           4   3  1  0    6   1  +5   10
2 Belnegau               4   3  0  1    3   2  +1    9
3 Drawkland              4   1  1  2    4   4   0    4
4 Snow And Ice Caps      4   0  2  2    1   4  −3    2
  Sudilia                4   0  2  2    2   5  −3    2

---

Stage 2 Fixtures

Pool 1
Trolleborg vs United Adaikes @ Dalaris State Stadium, Dalaris
Delaclava vs Sajnur @ Sporting Dalaris Stadium, Dalaris

Pool 2
HUElavia vs Aust Scor @ Red Mudra Lane, Mudra
Indusse vs Abanhfleft @ Camp of Power, City of Mancodas

Pool 3
Adab vs Saterun @ United Park, Greater Mancodas
Juvencus vs Belnegau @ Mancodas Complex, Greater Mancodas

Pool 4
Stevencousin vs Poafmersia @ Rukiya Sports Stadium, Rukiya, Trimidau Island
The 14 Stars vs Ile de Richelieu @ Stadium of Legends, Didari

[TJUN-ia]

Huh. We're out already.

Malhrani al-Kalhrani scored our only goal...but that wouldn't be enough to see us through.

It feels...weird not to be in the IAC Knockout Phase.
Very Weird.

We can bounce back, of course we fucking can...but not today.

We go home already...confused more than anything else.

GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group A)
MD1: vs Hopal (34-IAC) - Stadia Cochin, Cochin D 0-0
MD2: vs Trolleborg (1-IAC) - Theatre of Light, Kistina L 0-1 (T-4th)
----------------------------------Boot It!----------------------------------
MD3: BYE (4th)
MD4: vs Aust Scor (62-IAC) - Theatre of Light, Kistina D 0-0 (4th)
----------------------------------Boot It!----------------------------------
MD5: West Barack and East Obama (20-IAC) - Stadia Cochin, Cochin D 1-1 (4th/0-3-1/3pts/-1GD)

[Stevencousin]

NATIONAL ECHO

---

500th Volunteer Regiment conducts military exercise in Holmdock

500th Volunteer Regiment G-60 tank during Exercise Hard Winter

It is the right time to conduct training when the Holmdock Figeraus Mountains are covered by accumulated snow. Recently, the 500th Volunteer Regiment under the 96th Volunteer Brigade of the Stevencousin Army took its troops to the snowy Figeraus Mountains to practice maneuvering, coordination, protection, and resistance in a lifelike battlefield environment set in a complicated area, so as to enhance its troops’ mobile operation ability in an arctic-alpine mountainous area. The exercise is also likely to involve other military assets such as aircraft, infantry, and artillery. This will allow for a comprehensive evaluation of the military's capabilities and readiness to respond to any potential threats. The Stevencousin armored vehicles, which have not been deployed in such a capacity for over two decades, are set to participate in a large-scale force-on-force exercise. This exercise is likely to involve a significant number of military personnel and equipment, as it aims to test the capabilities of the Stevencousin armored vehicles in a simulated combat scenario that stretches between major Army training areas. This will allow for a comprehensive evaluation of the military's capabilities and readiness to respond to any potential threats. Dubbed “Hard Winter” and expected to involve more than 6,000 soldiers from the 96th Volunteer Brigade, the exercise harkens back to a Cold War era of training when civilian land sometimes played a role. At the center of the exercise, which begins in earnest Saturday, is the 500th Volunteer Regiment and its G60 MBT. The regiment will be pitted against a training opposition force armed with mock aviation and armor assets, including a platoon of new GI-57 Fancer Recon APC. The deployment of these vehicles is significant because they are known for their advanced technology and superior firepower. The exercise will provide an opportunity to evaluate the effectiveness of the vehicles and their ability to operate in harsh environments such as the hinterland. Additionally, the winter season can provide an opportunity for soldiers to practice survival skills in the cold, which can be crucial during long-term missions in cold climates. However, it is important to ensure that proper safety precautions are taken during training in winter conditions to avoid injuries or health issues related to the cold.

Group F
Stevencousin 1–0 Saterun
Carlos Whitfield min. 69