Cup of Harmony 76 - Everything Thread

[Xanneria]

This is the Cutoff for Groups E-G

Oh and for Music, how about some Bowie guys? - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-z6u5hFgPk

Group E
Vdara 2–2 Trolleberg
Brusseldorf 4–3 Busoga Islands
Bolgano 3–2 Newmanistan

  Group E                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Trolleberg                        3   2  1  0    5   3  +2    7
2 Brusseldorf                       3   1  2  0    7   6  +1    5
3 Bolgano                           3   1  1  1    7   7   0    4
4 Newmanistan                       3   1  1  1    4   3  +1    4
5 Busoga Islands                    3   1  0  2    4   5  −1    3
6 Vdara                             3   0  1  2    2   5  −3    1

Group F
Kelssek 3–2 Hapilopper
TJUN-ia 3–4 Sarzonia
Sajnur 1–4 Schottia

                          Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Kelssek                 3    2   0   1    11   10   +1     6
2 Sarzonia                3    2   0   1     9    8   +1     6
3 TJUN-ia                 3    1   1   1     5    5    0     4
4 Sajnur                  3    1   1   1     3    5   −2     4
5 Schottia                3    1   0   2     8    7   +1     3
6 Hapilopper              3    1   0   2     4    5   −1     3

Group G
Kandorith 4–3 Squornshelan Remnant States
Savojarna 1–2 Hampton Island
Euran Oceanian Territories 3–5 Potato Farmers

  Group G                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hampton Island                    3   3  0  0    9   3  +6    9
2 Savojarna                         3   2  0  1    4   3  +1    6
3 Kandorith                         3   2  0  1    7   8  −1    6
4 Potato Farmers                    3   1  0  2    6   6   0    3
5 Euran Oceanian Territories        3   1  0  2    6   8  −2    3
6 Squornshelan Remnant States       3   0  0  3    5   9  −4    0

[Banija]

This cutoff, of course, is brought to you by Mkango beer! The Ziwana sensation that has taken Banija by storm, our favorite imported African beer will make sure you get to celebrate your team's victories in good taste, or drain away the sorrows of a loss.

Group A
Razneta 2–1 Bears Armed
The Sarian 2–2 Xanneria
Terre Septentrionale 1–1 Filindostan

Group A                  Pld   W   D   L    GF   GA   GD    Pts 
1 Filindostan             3    2   1   0     8    3   +5     7
2 Terre Septentrionale    3    2   1   0     4    2   +2     7
3 Xanneria                3    1   1   1     5    5    0     4
4 Razneta                 3    1   0   2     3    4   −1     3
5 Bears Armed             3    1   0   2     5    6   −1     3
6 The Sarian              3    0   1   2     3    8   −5     1

Group B
Jeruselem 2–2 Lisander
Ziwana 3–1 Saintland
Appalachian Nation 1–1 New Lusitania

Group B                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Lisander                  3   2  1  0    7   3  +4    7
2 Ziwana                    3   2  0  1    9   7  +2    6
3 Jeruselem                 3   1  2  0    5   3  +2    5
4 New Lusitania             3   1  1  1    5   6  −1    4
5 Saintland                 3   0  1  2    1   4  −3    1
6 Appalachian Nation        3   0  1  2    5   9  −4    1

Group C
Pasarga 2–2 Squornshelous
Gyatso-Kai 1–1 Timuria
Geektopia 2–4 Ancherion

Group C                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Pasarga                   3   2  1  0   11   7  +4    7
2 Ancherion                 3   2  0  1   11   9  +2    6
3 Timuria                   3   1  1  1    7   7   0    4
4 Squornshelous             3   1  1  1    5   6  −1    4
5 Geektopia                 3   1  0  2    5   7  −2    3
6 Gyatso-Kai                3   0  1  2    5   8  −3    1

Group D
Tamgu 1–1 Flavovespia
Mattijana 1–1 Mercedini
Mkabia 3–4 Balqia

Group D                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Balqia                    3   2  1  0   10   7  +3    7
2 Mattijana                 3   1  1  1    3   4  −1    4
3 Tamgu                     3   0  3  0    9   9   0    3
4 Mercedini                 3   0  3  0    6   6   0    3
5 Flavovespia               3   0  3  0    5   5   0    3
6 Mkabia                    3   0  1  2    7   9  −2    1

[Jeruselem]

Princess Katherine Annabelle Dallas dressed as Vera from the Caramella Girls of Caramelldansen meme in Xanneria ...

This is Princess Katherine Annabelle Dallas for Naked News Jeruselem.
I'm covering the Cup of Harmony 76 in Xanneria.
It's match day 3 of qualification stage of the cup.

Yes, another day of intrigue.
Group B had some interesting results which left the group open and no clear leaders.
Jeruselem took on current ladder leader Lisander, Ziwana faced off with Saintland and Appalachian Nation met New Lusitania.

Ziwana took 3 valuable points as they beat Saintland. A crucial win for Ziwana who haven't met Jeruselem or New Lusitania as yet.
For Saintland, they need to get some wins before it's all too late.
I guess Saintland defensive structures didn't work on the day and well conceding 3 goals for a team which mostly defends it is not desirable.

Appalachian Nation grabbed 1-1 draw with higher ranked New Lusitania.
For them it's a good result, other than a win.
For New Lusitania, they needed another win push up the table given we're past the halfway point of qualification.

Which left the clash between 1st and 2nd on the table, Jeruselem vs Lisander.
Well, both teams weren't here to have a holiday but neither could get the 3 points in decisive blow.
In the end, it was 2 - 2 and both teams got something out the game.
Jeruselem's defense which isn't the most reliable leaked goals when under pressure but we punched back when it was needed.

Lisander are an attacking team and unlike Saintland, weren't afraid to go forward.
So the game moved back and forth with both sides attempting to contain each other.
No playing for a draw, but it ended up that way anyway.

How does that leave the table in Group B?
Lisander are still number 1 on 7 points. Ziwana jumped to 2nd spot with 6 points. Jeruselem slipped to 3rd with 5 points. New Lusitania hover back in 4th on 4 points. Saintland and Appalachian Nation are 5th and 6th on 1 point.
So with 2 games to play, any team can still make 3rd spot but the bottom 2 need more help than the others.

Checking in Group E, Newmanistan are in the fight in 4th spot on 4 points. Trolleberg lead Group E on 7 points so only 1 win between Newmanistan and top spot.
Group A, our friends Bears Armed sadly lost 2-1 today. Filindostan are the group leader on 7 points with Terre Septentrionale also on 7 in 2nd. Bears Armed sit down in 5th with just 3 points. Only 4 points but with the top looking strong, they'll need 2 wins I think.

Fun fact, all teams have points except Squornshelan Remnant States who have lost all 3 games. Only Hampton Island have maximum points, with 9. They look strong in their group.

So in Group B, any of the current top 4 with a win is on contention. Any win from now on is so important.
Two games, 6 points. So the current leader can only get 13 while we can do 11 at best.
If you're the bottom 2, the best you can do is 7. But if any of the top get wins, then you're just about eliminated.

People do ask if there's any kind of VR football game for those who don't have near a park or are stuck in apartments.
Sadly, no. If you think about it a full body football VR game is hard to make, given you have a actually have a moving object to move around.
And you couldn't actually run properly either as you're kinda stuck in a small area.
If you had some kind VR room maybe but current tech is too limited.

Hey, that's it from me. I'll be announcing something special soon but you'll have to wait for that.

Jeruselem 2–2 Lisander
Ziwana 3–1 Saintland
Appalachian Nation 1–1 New Lusitania

[Trolleborg]

Vdara – Trolleborg 2-2

Trolleborg TV again brings game right into our homes and flats.

0-1 Gulbranden,21.


1-1 Fotellis,31.


2-1 Lazelis,37.


2-2 Gulbranden,67.

FTST85: A draw, and only one point. And this means that our chances of reaching the playoff have greatly decreased. But our own successes and sorrows should not overshadow the whole world for us. Our hospitable hosts are now seriously worried about their team, playing at the World Cup, and so far things are not very good. At the right time, it is especially valuable to have a friend’s shoulder nearly. As a dean of fan community, I call all my compatriots cheer for the Banija team as much and passionately as for our own. Everyone who shares my idea, tie something orange to their Trolleborg paraphernalia. We wish you success, Banija!

It was at last known to our newspaper, what suddenly take Jovan Tro back to the Trolleborg from the team camp. He took his final exam at the University of Trolleborg. As you all know, education in it, in addition to the standard-for-everyone programs, under certain conditions, is provided in a format at the request of the student. Jovan Troger – sit back so you won’t be knocked down by surprise – completed an MD course in “Being Tribal Khan”. It’s not yet known where and how he is going to apply the acquired knowledge, but such news instills pride in our education.

[PotatoFarmers]

[FYI: For a complete list of RPs for the CoH, you could refer to my roster page for details. 1 year would have passed between WCQ/BoF and CoH in our calendar.]

Euran Oceania Territories 3-5 Poafmersia
Venue: Star Field, Herzegovina City, Moravica, Banija
Goals: Shakira Handris 6', 48', 85'; Pete Carisa 20', 60'

Starting Lineup:
Sandi Jaliaha; Alex Pickford, Danzik Hoboson (c), Pasits Rikachz, Denise Pickford; Matthew Tibrise, Gisiik Moonar, Jessie Mchargarita; Joel Haodao, Shakira Handris, Pete Carisa

Substitutes:
None

Herzegovina City, Moravica, Banija

Group G
Kandorith 4–3 Squornshelan Remnant States
Savojarna 1–2 Hampton Island
Euran Oceanian Territories 3–5 PotatoFarmers

  Group G                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hampton Island                    3   3  0  0    9   3  +6    9
2 Savojarna                         3   2  0  1    4   3  +1    6
3 Kandorith                         3   2  0  1    7   8  −1    6
4 PotatoFarmers (Poafmersia)        3   1  0  2    6   6   0    3
5 Euran Oceanian Territories        3   1  0  2    6   8  −2    3
6 Squornshelan Remnant States       3   0  0  3    5   9  −4    0

It must be the venue.
Anyone who has seen football in Poafmersia would know that every stadium in Poafmersia is huge, and on matchday there would be lots of loud cheering fans, who just stomp their feet, do chants, unfurl banners, and shout ole at every single good tackle. Today, the Red Panjias recieved just that. Against a familiar opponent in the Euran Oceania Territories, the 31,672 fans from Poafmersia (per official records) came together and cheered the team on. The fans knew very well that after two losses, the team needs a win to boost the morale and also boost qualification chances, so they came out in full force to cheer the team on.
The fans were happy that the announcer called the nation by their original name of PotatoFarmers. After all, it is still the name that the fans and people of Poafmersia use even till now. The name Poafmersia was only given during the reformation and the globalisation period (story about that for another time), which the leaders agreed to use a name that was not as "childish" and sounds more "nation-like". And the players were promptly rejuvenated as Shakira started the scoring 6 minutes in, with after Gisiik took the ball from a midfielder and rushed forward to beat the 3-men defence, before passing it to Shakira and letting him take the first goal. Pete added a second one in the 20th minute, after Jessie made a nice cross from the halfway mark to find Pete. Although a screamer from the opposition strikers came at the 40th minute, Poafmersia went into the half time brimming with confidence.
After the break, Joel Haodao made a nice one-two with Shakira, setting Poafmersia to be 3-1 up. 12 minutes later it was a solo effort from Pete Carisa which broke the defence of Euran Oceania Territories. They came back with 2 nice goals in the 67th and 79th minute, but Shakira sealed the game after getting a nice through pass from Gisiik Moonar.
Adnan was happy for the team with the win. "Well three points is some morale booster for everyone, and we are happy to have finally found our scoring touch. Shakira getting back her goals is very important considering we have another do or die match against the Squornshelan Remnant States. Top seeds at the bottom? I believe they would want a reaction and we need to be at our very best to stop that reaction from hurting us. I am fielding the same team, and hopefully they can go there and grab another three points to keep our hopes of reaching the knockout stages alive."
Shakira was also excited to get a hat-trick once again. "After our past two losses, despite them in very different manners, we had to come back stronger and work on our mistakes. The 5 of us (Joel, Shakira, Pete, Santik and Bytia) practiced shooting and finishing really hard over the past few days, and having found our scoring touch today, I think we can go forward in an even stronger manner to beat two other really strong teams. First up is Squornshelan Remnant States, which has not been doing well in the Cup of Harmony, but they would be out for blood. That team needs really full focus and I believe our team has the capabilities to send them home. Next would be high flying Hampton Island. Looking at their shock performance so far, we need to really prepare well for the match. They are using their surprise factor to stun everyone, but we can rewatch the replays and see their performance."

Lineup for MD4 match against SRS:
Sandi Jaliaha; Alex Pickford, Danzik Hoboson (c), Pasits Rikachz, Denise Pickford; Matthew Tibrise, Gisiik Moonar, Jessie Mchargarita; Joel Haodao, Shakira Handris, Pete Carisa

---

Fixture List for Poafmersia:
MD1: Kandorith vs Poafmersia - Lwanga City Arena, Lwanga, Buganda, Banija (cap 26,500) Loss (2-1)
MD2: Poafmersia vs Savojarna - Eastern Stadium, Istria, Moravica, Banija (cap 39,000) Loss (0-1)
MD3: Euran Oceania Territories vs Poafmersia - Star Field, Herzegovina City, Moravica, Banija (cap 70,000) Win (3-5)
MD4: Squornshelan Remnant States vs Poafmersia - Albert III Stadium, Dodoma, Bunyoro, Banija (cap 48,600)
MD5: Poafmersia vs Hampton Island - Star Field, Herzegovina City, Moravica, Banija (cap 70,000)

For complete list of matchups, tables and KPB rankings for both the Cup of Harmony and World Cup, please visit our microsite: https://bit.ly/WC84CoH76

[Hampton Island]

Scenario: Another phone call between the Stafford City Stadium CEO (at home) and manager Hannah Sanders in Banija

CEO: Hello Hannah, congratulations on another win!

Sanders: Thank you this is like totally so amazing!

CEO: I have a special surprise for you today.

Sanders: Oh yea? What’s the surprise?

CEO: First let’s talk about the game and how it happened.

Sanders: Ok but I am like really in suspense about what this surprise might be I hope it is a good one and not like a bad one because then I would be excited for like no reason and that wouldn’t be good.

CEO: It is a great surprise. So what did Brittany (Carter) say to the ref in the 73rd minute?

Sanders: Yeah she was like oh my God that guy just punched me. He’s wearing number two. So then like the referee took out his red card. It like made the guy wearing number two so mad because he didn’t do anything to Brittany really but like Brittany just wanted to get him out of the game because he was like doing really good or whatever so of course if would be good if he got a red card.

CEO: Yes I saw that he was really pissed.

Sanders: Like totally enraged. I mean because he felt it was unfair but I thought it was unfair about how he was doing so good against us so like we had to do something. Brittany then scored a minute later and it then like really got them pissed not just because we tied the game. They were getting so angry that I almost started laughing.

CEO: Very cool.

Sanders: Even like the real soccer players on this team who hate it when we do things like Brittany did seemed to like it and I thought that was really cool. Like they knew that the Savojarna team was like totally angry and might not be focused on the match now or whatever so we took time to strike.

CEO: Then we almost got a second red card them in the 79th minute.

Sanders: Yeah so that guy wearing number five I don’t know their names sorry I have a list but I don’t think anyone really cares what their names are so I don’t bother learning them or whatever gave Brianna a two handed shove in the back and told her that if he was going to get a red card he was going to like, earn it.

CEO: Interesting.

Sanders: So then like the referee started taking out his red card but then he stopped. It was like a higher power somewhere was telling him like, referee, there are special rules here that like say you can only give Savojarna one red card so like he put the red card back in his pocket and took out the yellow card but he still awarded Brianna a penalty kick which was kinda cool. And then Brianna scored and like we had the lead and then the Savojarna people were like getting really angry then.

CEO: Very good. So, time to tell you the surprise.

Sanders: Yay! A surprise!

CEO: The Ambiguous Insurance Company, one of our bigger sponsors, has created a special bobblehead of you that they are going to sell for $12 each and you will get $3 for each one sold. They already have a pre-order of 14,000 units sold.

Sanders: Yay! Sounds cool! Like what’s a bobblehead?

CEO: It’s a small characterization of you, like a doll, with a head that moves.

Sanders: Does it look like me?

CEO: Kind of. Anyway when you get back from Banija I’ll give you one and a check for whatever your royalty is.

Sanders: I am going to be royalty? Like what?

CEO: Not that kind of royalty, it’s another way of saying it’s the amount of money that you get per each bobblehead sold.

Sanders: Oh, okay. I like that royalty too!

[Flavovespia]

Tamgu 1–1 Flavovespia
Paletar Soros 66' - 44' Dano Teilar (og)

Flavovespia play out another draw in their Cup of Harmony, giving them a 0-3-0 record so far. The result doesn’t particularly help the chances of Flavovespia qualifying, especially with games against the current Top 2 of the group coming up, but it does mean they still have a chance of qualification to the Round of 16.

Tamgu lined up in their orange home kits with a green stripe down the middle. This necessitated the need for Flavovespia to line up in their all black away kits, their first outing of this tournament. There were a few to the line-up. Ian Johnson was shuffled to centre back, and Stephen Shepherd replaced Mark James in the line-up. In midfield, David Michael returned in place of Jonathan Feld on the left hand side and Jordaan Wolfson for Alan Holt in the middle. Other than that, the same players remained as before.

A cagey start to the game for both sides, as neither were able to create any decent chances. Even with a slightly more attacking line up, Flavovespia couldn’t get good balls into the dangerous areas. Tamgu meanwhile were struggling to play the long balls and through balls needed, and the Flavovespian defence was holding up strong. A game that didn’t seem to be exciting the neutrals, and many hoped for action.

Tamgu went close in the 34th minute. Sayken Ilko sent a great pass over the top towards Ante Nekir. Nekir got there just ahead of Johnson, and absolutely put his faces through the ball. It beat Meehan for pace, but the shot flew just over the bar and out for a goal kick. Tamgu were disappointed to blow their first clear cut chance.

It looked like it would be 0-0 at half-time, but a goal came from nothing it seemed. David Michael was pushing down the left flank, and whipped in a low cross. It looked like it was well covered, but Dano Teilar was caught out by the pace of the ball. He scuffed his clearance, and sent it looping past Sami Felter. 0-1 to Flavovespia, in a somewhat fortuitous fashion in the forty-fourth minute.

The second half started out much livelier than the first. Tamgu knew they now had to score, Flavovespia knew they had to try and not concede, something they hadn’t exactly excelled at recently. Both teams had shots deflected away in the early part of the second half, and Tony Gardner was unlucky to have his header from a corner palmed away.

It was Tamgu however who would get the second goal of the game in the 66th minute. Aleida Leima played a good ball towards Ante Nekir. Nekir was forced out wide by Gardner, but turned and hit a cross back into the box. Paletar Soros rose highest to head it down hard, and beyond Meehan. 1-1 now in a closely fought game.

Both teams for the final parts of the game had a cautious optimism in their play, they were looking to attack but not in numbers. For Flavovespia, Humphries replaced Wolfson and Mason replaced Daley up front. Mason had a good shot in the 80th minute well caught by Felter. Nevertheless, Tamgu were also looking close to scoring, and Johnson was subbed off for Wright, bringing a centre back by trade into the defence.

Despite pressure from both teams towards the end, neither could carve out a good goalscoring opportunity, and there were no wonder goals or blunders. The match would finish 1-1, a fair result on the balance of the game, although one neither side would particularly have wanted. Flavovespia and Tamgu both remain with 3 draws from 3 so far.

For Flavovespia, their last 2 games are against top side in Group D Balqia and second side Mattijana. The next game will almost certainly be a major decider in whether or not Flavovespia can make it into the Round of 16. A win against Balqia would by no means guarantee them qualification, but give them a very high chance of being in contention before the final Matchday. A draw makes the task a lot harder, and a loss almost certainly means Flavovespia will go out of the Cup of Harmony. Although the tournament so far has been decent enough for Flavovespia, the dream to get that first Cup of Harmony victory, and with it a high chance of a Top 100 KPB ranking remains unfulfilled as of yet.

A History of Football in Flavovespia

Part 22

9BU saw Westwood Garden City of the GWNFA Challenge League, and Apsbrooke of the United and Eastern Alliance Premier Division (the first and only season it was technically independent of the GWNFA) play in the first promotion playoff. The 2-legged series was won 4-3 on aggregate by Westwood Garden City, but Apsbrooke only needed one more goal in the second leg to have taken it on away goals. Viewing figures were high for the match, and the follow up playoff series, where Carston Green emphatically beat Apsbrooke 7-0 on aggregate to hold on to their GWNFA Super League status. That year also saw the GWNFA effectively abandon it’s non-CCGW exclusion policy, as Hopford were allowed to take their place won via promotion in the GWNFA United and Eastern Alliance Premier Division for 8BU.

8BU saw Hadford Hill won their 3rd consecutive GWNFA Super League title. Sporting Towerhaite were relegated to the GWNFA Challenge League, replaced by Binclestead Wood, and Carston Green won a playoff against Captonbridge Rangers to avoid relegation. Meanwhile, the GWNFA United and Eastern Alliance Division 2, was dissolved into 2 regional level divisions. The teams at that level didn’t support the fact there was one fourth tier division, citing costs of running that, and there was a push to return that tier to a regional level .Although there were structural grumbles about the parallel systems in the second tier, alongside some differences in the rules applied to sides in the two systems, it seemed as if the pyramid was finally working out for the sides.

There was trouble brewing under the surface however. The two separate leagues, although joined under the GWNFA barrier, still had differences regarding commercial rights and financing. Despite the apparent better results of the GWNFA Challenge League sides, there was consternation about the running of the league, and the lack of opportunities in the media that league seemed to have compared to the GWNFA United and Eastern Alliance Premier Division. There was a sense that the GWNFA did little more than co-opt the brand name, whilst still doing nothing to change.

This kind of indecision and unease with the system would see Langmere Green Rovers, relegated in 10BU to the GWNFA Challenge League, and Rumlington Rovers, the only one of the old Eastern Alliance sides to join the inaugural GWNFA Challenge League, to move across to the GWNFA United and Eastern Alliance. There wasn’t a huge amount of support amongst the GWNFA board for this, but fearing that the GWNFA United and Eastern Alliance, plus the two sides in question could go it alone if they disagreed, this was agreed. The GWNFA Challenge League would by 6BU, simply continue with only 10 teams, unable to agree a solution to bring up the numbers back to 12, and somewhat aware of the drama with Marthorpe City.

6BU saw the GWNFA United and Eastern Alliance finally break the top tier ceiling. Havermilly were surprise winners of the GWNFA Challenge League, and faced off against Croxlich. Although Havermilly won the first leg at home 2-1, in the reversal, Croxlich scored in the 81st minute to make it 1-0, and for the final minutes held on to take an away goals victory. Havermilly weren’t to be denied promotion, and won their playoff against Stanmorn.

This lead to yet more trouble for the GWNFA. They thought it was only fair that each relegated side goes into one division. However rivals Stanmorn and Sporting Towerhaite were relegated together. Many thought that as much as possible, those types of matchups should be preserved. However, the decision was taken to move Stanmorn into the GWNFA United and Eastern Alliance Premier Division. Stanmorn themselves had briefly played in the United Football League a few decades ago, but there were many who still felt their spiritual home was in the GWNFA Challenge League.

[Timuria]

Poor Draw Sets Back Red Wolves

by Tufan Nursultan

Gyatso-Kai 1–1 Timuria
Song Kaoru (43);Vatan Ercetin (57)

The Red Wolves have slipped to third in the group after a laborious draw with cellar dwellers Gyatso-Kai who have continued their record of being a thorn in the side of the national team with a tough and at time bruising performance against a Red Wolves team that really failed to get going. Group leaders Pasarga were held to a 2-2 draw by Squornshelous who sit level on points with the Red Wolves, while Ancherion saw off Geektopia leapfrogging our national team to occupy second place in the group, the Red Wolves must keep pace with them by winning against Geektopia in order to then have a chance at leapfrogging them in the final match.

Both sides struggled to gain a foothold in the early stages of this match, with Song Kaoru forcing Murat into a routine save with an awkwardly struck effort from the edge of the box. Ertan Renda would have the Red Wolves best chance of the first 30 minutes with a volley from a corner saved excellently Aki Kio'los who palmed it safely over and punched the ball clear from the ensuing corner.

The Red Wolves' best chance of the first half would come from a penalty, a foul by Hashimoto Isamiru, awkwardly bringing down Caner Turan as he cut inside from the flank leaving him in a bad position resulting in the foul and the yellow card. Caner would take the penalty and see it careen against the bar and safely out of play. The Red Wolves would quickly regret this mistake as Kaoru would find themselves in space in the box and at the second time of ask would put the ball past Murat Yigithan into the net. The sides would go into the break with Gyatso-Kai ahead 1-0.

With the second half well under way, the 50th minute would see Yu Shichiro's long range effort take Murat Yigithan by surprise and force him to tip the ball over. The ensuing corner would see a Song Kaoru effort gratefully collected by the keeper. A mere 7 minutes later, Vatan Ercetin would find himself one on one with Kio'los and would calmly chip the ball over the helpless keeper, bringing the Red Wolves level.

The final stages would see both sides throw caution to the wind with several chances needing the attention of both defences and their goalkeepers. The best chances would fall to Kaoru whose volley needed to be tipped onto the bar and Tekin Yavuz whose effort cutting in from the wing hit the underside of the bar and was safely cleared by a defender. The match would end with both sides level and very much deserving of a share of the points.

What They Said After The Match:

Bekir Altingunes: "Every point is going to matter and there are no easy games at this level, so we can't complain even though we obviously want to win every match. The sad fact is that sometimes things don't gel well on the day and to be honest, in this format we can't afford too many of those days. We still have two matches though and our fate is in our hands, so let's see what we can do."

Player Ratings:

Murat Yigithan 6/10

Ozbek Sarikaya 6/10

Eyup Mustafa 6/10

Berker Balkan 6/10

Gokdeniz Dag 6/10

Atilla Acar 6/10

Yusuf Ihsanoglu 6/10

Tekin Yavuz 6/10

Caner Turan 5/10

Ertan Renda 6/10

Vatan Ercetin 7/10

Substitutes:

Tayyar Ozel 6/10

Altan Seyfi 6/10

Man of the Match: Vatan Ercetin - He came back from his bruised shin and needed time to fully get going, but he did get the important equalising goal that secured a potentially vital point for the Red Wolves.

Schedule and Results:

MD 1: Squornshelous W 4-2
MD 2: Pasarga L 4-2
MD 3: Gyatso-Kai D 1-1
MD 4: Geektopia
MD 5: Ancherion

[Xanneria]

Maroons barely make point in matchday three
By Steve Stevenson

CATALAN CITY - If only the Xannaria game was the night cap. If only Devonelle Laymore didn't get hurt, if only we won! The Host nation Maroons played young upstart nation The Sarian to a 2-2 draw in front of a capacity crowd of 48,000 fans in the popular Dwight Stadium. There were some issues with the stadium though. Dwight Stadium is duel use and due to a previous days game involving the baseball team that plays at Dwight Stadium, the Catlina Islanders. This meant not only were the basepaths left in the stadium to create a dusty mess, but more erroneously, the pitchers mound was left pretty much intact, leaving the stadium with the pitchers mound still in the middle of the field. Despite that huge gaffe, the games went on without much of a hitch as Razneta beat up on Bears Armed 2-1 in a fun and rauscous thriller, then afterwards Terre Septinorale and Fillindostan, the two teams ahead of the Maroons tied up at 1-1. Sadly that game could have had bigger implications on the Maroons had the Xannerians actually pulled out the win. With the Maroons struggling in their first two games, points were needed to catch up. But now the Maroons set three points behind with two games left in the CoH qualifiers.

The game overall was another hard fought "traditional Xannerian game" as the Maroons with their highly offensive formation played the Sarian's super defensive formation to a draw. surprisingly it was a four goal game with the game ending 2-2. Although that could easily had been a 2-0 win for the Sarian had their defense not worn out towards the end. GLenn hailey looked lost as his retirement tour hasn't been going to plan exactly, and Devonelle Laymore had a broken nose he garnered after an errant elbow from Sarian forward Wera Paulwelz. This set up the normally more pass freindly Henry Clay-Thorton two play the role of hero as he snuck an assist on the first goal to Presintino and scored the equalizer in the 88th minute. Clay-Thorton who was on Capital FC's super squad that somewhat fell flat domestically last season has done pretty well internationally and could seek some looks from the outside world as a transfer.

Meanwhile Jed Gyorko has stated he is in touch with the Stadium management in Dwight Stadium to help them improve the stadium for matchday 5. Gyorko said he will send out as many volenteers as needed. Meanwhile online pundits have noticed that even the Nortonshaw City stadium, which is another multi-purpose stadium, and long considered one of the worst in Xanneria, did a better job hosting group B's second matchday way better than Dwight Stadium did.

XANNERIA - 2
Presintino - 67'
Clay-Thorton 88'

THE SARIAN- 2
Aucs - 37'
Bruux - 62'

[Sarzonia]

Even though it was his first, and, he suspected, his final go round as a national team manager, Sarzonia manager Kevin Connelly knew something like this was bound to come.

Just two nights after his Stars pulled off their massive upset of group top seeds Kelssek, they took on the one team in Group F that was ranked lower and, to use a colourful metaphor one would expect from former Stars ice hockey goaltender Matt Peterson, they shit the bed.

Sarzonia lost 3-1 to TJUN-a with only an Ernie Mabree strike from distance to show for an otherwise lacklustre effort that left Connelly furious.

"I could live with a poor result," he said he told the team, albeit "in sanitised form. I don't want the Banijan equivalent of the COC [OOC: Sarzonia's Communications Oversight Committee, the closest equivalent to the RL US Federal Communications Commission] to fine me.

"I can live with being outplayed and outclassed, even by a team ranked lower in the KPB than we are. What I can't live with is a complete lack of effort."

The Stars got that in today's match as Mateo Sandoval was victimised by poor play by the defence in front of him, which Connelly said he would "absolutely have to straighten out" for a team that prided itself on defence during World Cup qualifying. All of a sudden, a team that only conceded 1.35 goals per match during 20 qualifying matches, four of which included fixtures against world No. 5 Banija and No. 19 Brenecia now was on the hook for eight goals in three matches, including seven in the last two.

Granted, one of their opponents was Kelssek, a team no one even on the Stars roster expected to seriously contend with, let alone defeat. But to concede three goals against a team the Stars were ranked higher than was "inexcusable," Sandoval said. The Stars goalkeeper took blame for the three goals, even though defender Russ Howard dispelled that notion by saying the defence "left Mateo out to dry."

"We can't have an effort like that," defender Charlie King said. "We need to play with a lot more pride and poise and not penalise ourselves with a lack of effort."

Sarzonia (1-0-2, last place in Group F) don't have much recovery time as they face Sajnur, the 61st ranked team in the world coming into the Cup of Harmony. This match will take place after at a quick jaunt to Jinja City.

Connelly said he was approached "yet again" last night by the Incorporated Football Federation with an offer to remain national team manager and simply be "on hiatus" with assistant manager Kevin Wilson serving in the interim.

"They haven't given up yet," Connelly said before adding, "I haven't changed my mind yet, and no amount of money and no stated willingness to provide me with a 'leave of absence' is going to change my mind."

Connelly thought for a moment, then chuckled.

"They must not have gotten any applications for the manager role."

That's not true, a spokeswoman for the IFF said.

"We've met with and interviewed three domestic candidates for the role," Katie Barnham said. "We're still putting out feelers for potential foreign candidates."

So why the continued interest in Connelly.

"We feel he's done such an admirable job given the extraordinary circumstances the team's been under that he deserves to manage the team if he should change his mind."

Even if the chances that he would have a change of heart are "slim and none," as he put it.

[Appalachian Nation]

Appalachia slugs along in CoH
By Troy Butterson


During a dry moment midfielder Bryan Pearson takes a shot at goal

NORTONSHAW, XANNERIA - A 1-1 tie versus the powerful New Lusitania team saw Appalachia finally score points int he group stage of the Cup of Harmony. A long range snipe by Cleetus about a third of the way through the game turned out to be the only goal for the Hillbillies. Nortonshaw in and of itself weas a controversial choice for a stadium as most Xannerians consider it a horrible soccer stadium as the sightlines are terrible and getting from one side of the stadium to the other is noticeably complicated, but given what he heard about in Catalina City, at least they were able to convert the Nortonshaw stadium to a proper soccer facility overnight. THe Nortonshaw Pro SPorts Stadium is a dual purpose stadium like Catalina city as it is the home stadium of the Nortonshaw Norties of the Big League Baseball Association. Meanwhile the game proper was probably one of the best the Hillbillies played as Lusitania is the second highest rated team int he group at 47 (in fact they are rated higher than Xanneria who was the Pot 1 team in Group A). Lusitania though did noticeably play a more defensive style for this match but likely this was due to rains in the area that crept in during the Ziwana - Saintland match. But the rains did effect the tri-attack of Cleetus, Bubba and William Robert. Several times during the match the star strikers had footing issues and it kept the game to the low scoring defensive mudfest that it became, especially during the end.

In the 33rd minute the scoring started. Rui Horto sent a pass to Bernardo Veiga, Veiga was a little behind the pass but slid right into the pass and knocked the ball by ol' "Jello" Collins who had slipped on a wet patch of grass trying to get the save. Collins is still in for the ill Calvin Throckmorton who was still suffering effects of an inner ear infection. Meanwhile the Hillbillies scored on a similar goal as a sliding Cleetus shot that the Lusiatanian goalie Rui Patríce slipped trying to get. Overall in their first CoH Appalachia is tied with Saintland for 5th place in the group. but could make some progress as they have yet to play Saintland in a game so far.

Appalachian Nation - 1
Cleetus - 65'

New Lusitania and the Algarves - 1
Veiga - 33'

[Schottia]

The Wedding

Part Eight.

The shit table.

Connie was surprised how little emotion she had felt watching the wedding ceremony. For someone - who had just last week punched a hole in a door because she couldn’t find her kit-bag - she knew a thing or two about high emotions. Weirdly though, she felt like a cold and objective observer, watching from the back of the hall.

She hadn’t been able to stop staring at Ross’ mother, Barbara, who was wiping a few tears from her eyes with a paper handkerchief in the front row. She wondered if the Renshaws were relieved that they had dodged a bullet with her. They were a down to earth family, normal people, who wanted a nice down to earth daughter-in-law. Christ, she should have given them Kevin Belgrave, they would have loved him!

Connie reached across for her wine glass, nearly lifting it to her mouth, before realising that it was completely empty. Unsurprisingly, the seating plan had positioned her at the table furthest from the Bridal Party. In fact, Connie’s table was so far from the back of the hall, she could barely even make the Bride and Groom out. At least she didn’t have as far to walk to the toilet, her seat was practically backed up against it.

She was sat at the far end, with Belgrave to her right, and an empty space (intended for a hospitalised Chad Duquez) to her left. After the gap sat Anna Riquerzes who was already off her pus, and then Chaire Hanson and her family. This table was definitely the rubbish bin, the one they kind of wished was behind bullet proof glass.

‘Claire!’ Connie shouted over to the Schottia Physio, who was busy arguing with her youngest son. ‘Claire! Is there any more wine up at your end?’ She needed to get at least a bottle down her throat before the speeches started, or she would never get through them. She could also feel that sort of “greyness” descending – one of those moods where she just stared, glazed over, into the distance. She had Belgrave to entertain (or at least acknowledge), and a belly full of wine might kick start her.

‘We’re out!’ Claire replied at last, seeming equally distressed at the news. ‘I sent Enrico of to find a that waitress ten minutes ago, but he never came back.’ She rolled her eyes in frustration.

Connie issued a loud grunt of anger, sliding her chair back noisily as she prepared herself to get up.

‘Let me go.’ Belgrave insisted, placing a hand on her shoulder, to prevent her from rising. Connie nodded in reply; he might as well make himself useful. She watched him closely as he headed off in the direction of help. She promised herself that she would try and talk to him a bit more when he returned. She’d think of some interesting conversation starters… somehow. Maybe that was something her phone’s internet search engine could help with..?
What’s a fun fact about you that nobody knows? I’m on four different anti-depressants.

What do you like to do in your spare time? Sit at my kitchen table, alone, drinking beer and listing to Cosumarite metal music.

What makes you laugh? Watching other people fail.

What was the last meal you cooked? Frozen pizza.

On second thoughts, she’d let him start the conversation…

‘I’m surprised to see you here.’ Claire Hanson commented, sliding into the vacated seat. Despite being a world-class Sports Physio in her own right, Hanson’s main claim to fame was being married to fast living, womanizing, former Quebecois forward, Leonardo Conovacio. The couple had a sizable brood, which included up and coming youth players Enrico and Hazel of Manechester City and Kazama All-Schools respectively. From Connie’s assessment of the situation, it always seemed as if Hanson had her hands full with the kids, who seemed barely better at decision making than she was.

‘Hmmm…’ Connie shrugged, staring longingly at her empty glass.

‘I knew you and Ross were still on speaking terms, but is this not a bit much..?’ Hanson continued to probe.

Connie felt a twitch in her eye starting to develop – never a good sign. God, she could have done with a drink. ‘Yeah…’ She answered at last. How bad would it be if she snatched Hanson half glass of wine from her hand and drank it? What would the general reaction be? ‘We still chat, we’re still friends… I’m cool with it I guess.’ She thought for a second. ‘I’ve moved on too, I’m with Kevin now, so… it’s all good.’ To say that her and Belgrave were together was a bit of an exaggeration, but at least her walking distraction was coming into his own.

‘Kevin… Belgrave..?’ Claire followed up. ‘He’s Daniel Belgrave’s son? Yes..?’

‘Aye.’ Connie answered.

‘Speak of the devil…’ Claire nodded towards the Directus keeper, who was approaching the table with Enrico and a sheepish looking Waitress in tow, complete with another two bottles of wine. ‘You star!’ Claire’s entire demeanor had changed, welcoming the addition of more booze like a returning friend.

‘Sorry,’ the Waitress looked embarrassed, trying not to make eye contact, as a grinning Enrico took his seat. ‘Can I take an order from the table, beer, spirits, coffees..?’

‘Yes.’ Connie answered decisively, as Belgrave retook his seat beside her. ‘Two bottles of beer, and a round of shots for the table.’ There were a few raised eyebrows, but no one at the table put up much protest. With the two newly acquired bottles of wine, there was enough to go round, and the glasses were gladly replenished. There was still no sign of movement from the Bridal table (not that it would have been possible to be certain without a telescope), and it seemed that the speeches were still some way off. No doubt Ross, Conjure and Co. needed a little more time to limber up their talking muscles.

‘So…’ Connie turned towards Belgrave, ready to bite the bullet. ‘What do you like to do in your spare time?’

[Bears Armed]

Material in grey is purely OOC notes during the basically-IC portion of the post.
Material in blue is the character's handwritten notes, rather than either speech or [IC] "printed" material.

_______________________________________

Bears Armed vs. Razneta
Venue: Air Catalina Dwight Stadium (Catalan City, Catalina, Xanneria.
Score: 2-1. (Bears Armed lose.)

Goals
Bears Armed (1): O Sarrndale (#5) @ 22’ (assist: Barris [#7]).
Razneta (2): Hanavila (#4) @ 19’ (from direct free kick): Tolokovska [#9]); @ 84’ (assist: Golodiva [#10]).

Attempts
Bears Armed: 14
Razneta: 5

Shots On Target
Bears Armed: 8
Razneta: 3


Red Cards
Bears Armed (1): K. Ulgha (#1) @ 16’.
Razneta (0): (none)

Substitutions due to Injury
(none)

(reporter’s notes…)
Slow start, both sides just “testing” each other: Reportedly the Belles have been advised against over-confidence despite both their past record against Razenta and Razenta’s record so far here, and if so then it smells⁽¹⁾ as though that advice got into their heads hokay… while Razenta typically favours a defensive style anyhows.
Belles are pressing hard, but Razentan goalie Mazioka (#1) is living up to his reputation as a “legendary” keeper. 15th minute, he saves a high shot from Brent and clears it, kicks it up and over the bulk of play almost to the halfway line where ‘wing back’ Hanavila (#4) (despite his positional title, the only R’n player not all of the way back in their box at that point) is waiting; Hanavila catches ball on his chest, down to his feet, pirouettes, and kicks it past our LB Irrumerrhabarra (#2) then runs around her to catch up with it… Nobody else between him and our goals except K. Ulgha (goalie, #1) herself, as our RB Mead (#3) was up around halfway line too but on opposite side of pitch and is still trying to catch up… K. Ulgha comes forwards a few yards to meet Hanavila, rather than let him pick his shot at leisure, slides in to tackle him, just outside the box, and kicks ball right away over the touchline for a Razentan throw-in… but Hanavila goes down, and clutches his left ankle. Was there contact? Ulgha got the ball, and obviously wasn’t trying to take him down…
URRGAH! Bear-on-a-stick!
The referee has shown Ulgha the red card, straight away! I could smell a yellow card as maybeso appropriate, but NOT a red one. From the sound of it, our contingent of fans there agree… LOUDLY.
Now several of our other players are coming back to “discuss” the fact, as well… and the referee doesn’t like it. That’s a yellow card for Mead, a yellow card for Irrumerrhabarra… and even a yellow card for O Sarrndale, too! And that’s with everybearry knowing that Harroya is the “voice of reason”, and verrry careful not to break rules…
And now a yellow card for Karra’harrna Thunder, the Belles’ current Chief Coach, because she accidentally put a toe over the touchline onto the playing surface when she came along to try and calm our girls down again?
I really hope that this ref doesn’t decide to test our country’s hospitality towards foreign tourists any time soon, because if he gets recognised…
Anyhows, Thunder does get the girls to calm down — a bit. Ulgha leaves the pitch, head high, and Serranna Orchards (#14), who’d been chosen as the [potential] substitute goalie for this match comes on.
Some groups of spectators (Are they all actually Razentans? There seem to be quite a lot of people on that side of the stadium, more than I thought had accompanied that team here… Maybeso some of the audience are local Xannerians, seated with the Razentan fans — rather than in the “neutral” section — because they hope to see urrs defeated here today as “revenge” for our girls beating their team, instead?) are booing Urrsa as she walks towards the tunnel. Stewards are gathering along the edge of that section…
Obviously this means a free kick for the Razentans — fair enough if one accepts that it was a foul, I suppose — and which Razentan is going to take the shot? Oh, look, it’s Hanavila: His team-mates helped him to his feet while that disagreement was in progress, and despite the fact that he was hobbling around & groaning dramatically just then he now strolls casually along as if nothing had happened. He turns and gives a jaunty wave to the Razentan supporters, then goes towards the penalty spot: He seems to be claiming that the tackle happened just inside the box, but at least the referee sets him right over that point.
The wall is formed.
Hanavila feints right, and then shoots left, arching the ball over the wall… Orchards guesses the direction correctly, but the ball comes down short, and bounces over her head just as she’s reaching out to gather it in. 1-0 to Razenta. Urrgah!
The girls are really fired-up now, and it takes them only a couple of moments to manage an equaliser: O Sarndale passes to Barris, who acts as though she’s going for goal herself but then — faced by a rather solid block of Razentan players — passes back to Harroya who’s at the 18 yard line… and whose next kick sends the ball straight between two of the defenders (who actually collide with each other while both trying to intercept it: Ouch! That looked painful…) and into the bottom left corner of the net just inside the post. 1-1.
Razenta goes back onto the defensive and, a player down as they are, the Belles can’t break through successfully again… although they do get five more attempts, four of them on target, before the break.
Razentans make two changes during interval, replace Mazioka (who needs it by now?) with Litovino (#41) and Hanavila (ankle genuinely playing up a bit by now, or just [unwarranted] concern for his continued safety out there?) with Talamun (#81); Belles make one change, Irrumerrhabarra replaced by Oldcastle (# 31).
For most of the second half, continues as before: Belles press as hard as they can, allowing for being a bear down and for keeping at least three outfielders in own half in case of Razentan counter-attack, while Razentans concentrate fully on defence… playing for the draw, thinking that a single point is probably the best they could hope for really anyhows?
But then, only four moments from the ned of ‘normal time’ and with little ‘stoppage time’ likely to be added to that half of the game, Golodiva gets the ball and sees an opportunity to make more of it: He manages to get most of the way upfield himself, although our girls — who remember his ability from previous meetings — try to intercept, and then — when he’s just crossed the 18-yard line and has drawn most of the defence towards himself — kicks the ball back to Tolokovska [#9] who’d been “following” him forwards but is about twelve yards off to his right — who continues his own run in, kicks the ball between Oldcastle’s feet back to Golodiva, runs around her, receives a return pass from Golodiva… and curls it past Orchards, who seems to think that it will go straight across the face of the goal, to bounce off the inside ned of the far post… and in! 2-1 to Razenta.
Hokay, that goal I will agree was a “good” one — a furless brilliant one, in fact! — but Hanavila’s… Urrgah!

_______________________________________

OOC Footnotes

1. The bears tend to use “smells” instead of “sees”, remember?

[TJUN-ia]

TJUN-ia Update: ERROR 301: Title Not Found

Our next game is on Sunday against the Stars of Sarzonia at the Eastern Stadium in Istria, which has somehow become a must-win game for both of the triple digit ranked teams. This is the biggest game of our lives, so far. GO JAGS!

WTH is going on. No seriously, WHAT THE HELL!

The Eastern Stadium in Istria was the backdrop in a critical game for the lowest-ranked seeds in Group F, but it was The Jaguars who prevailed in a 3-1 victory over the Stars of Sarzonia.

TJUN-ia (which, for the record, is pronounced Tah-JUN-ee-a) dominated the ball from the get go and it showed. A first half brace from David Johnson of all people (his first ever goals in international play) all but finished the game immediately. The 2nd half had another debut goal, this time from substitute Prince Carter (weather or not he is an actual prince is unknown). The Stars did get a consolation through Ernie Mabree, but this game was decisively ours.

Elsewhere is the Group Kelssek won the battle of the top seeds, beating Hapilopper 3-2. Also Schottia got their first win, a 4-1 destruction over the team we were tied with - Sanjur.

These results mean the Jaguars are, somehow, leading this Group, one point ahead of our next opponents: Kelssek

The Nordic-Canadian(?) Voyagers are former champions of this tournament, and the top seed in this group. In fact, TJUN-ia has to play BOTH top seeds in our final 2 games as Hapilopper will meet us on MD5.

We don't know we got here, but we're leading. Time to defend that. Onwards to Lwanga! GO JAGS!

MD1: vs Sanjur (61) @Electra Stadium, Mynda Drew 0-0 (T-3rd)
MD2: vs Schottia (90) @Tiones Lumber Field at the Wolf's Den, Busembe Won 2-1 (T-1st)
MD3: vs Sarzonia (110) @Eastern Stadium, Istria Won 3-1 (1st)
MD4: vs Kelssek (41) @Lwanga City Arena, Lwanga
MD5: vs Hapilopper (50) @Hangaza Unified Stadium, Aissa

[Trolleborg]

So, this is our penultimate game on the tournament, and our opponents in the last two games will be the favorites of our group, and even whole CoH. Newmanistan, with which our country is connected by bonds of friendship, will be our opponent tomorrow. Blue-and-whites (second blue-and-white team in row on out path) team traditionally played carefully, prefer to have it safe, and this tactics often works well. Our opponents in the last WCQ held first place for a long time, but then lost leadership to Audioslavia, Newmanistan was terribly unlucky at the finish of the tournament, and in the end team did not get a ticket to the World Cup, missed it by just a few points. It is interesting that Brusselseldorf, our next (and last opponent) in the tournament, ended up in a group with her both at that time and at CoH. Newmanistan realy very needed victory, so Trolleborg will have a difficult times.

Our team will play in the following line-up

FTST85: This time we are on the way to the next breathtaking stadium, “Electra” in the Mynda. It have rather unusual, albeit lovely, layout and amazing roof. But you will see it all in 3D, so we don’t need to waste time describing it. Now we have much more important business, especially if taking into account that now we all fighting on the two fronts, having cheer for both Trolleborg and Banija. But we receive a real serious reinforcements, because finally our mascot Sabretooth Squirrel arrived and will be on the stadium – right now not running around and interacting with everyone, as you may expect, and only standing and dancing with other our fans. It’s his debute in the international football and it will be seen, are his presence is good omen or not

Game will be extremely difficult and we need to put everything we can in order to help our team.

[Busoga Islands]

The Busoga Chronicle
The Islands #1 News Source!

2 losses in first 3 CoH games put the chances of the knockout stages for the Busoga Islands 'on thin ice'


An Islander player goes down in the team's 4-3 loss to Brusseldorf

RUKUNBI, ISTRIA, MORAVICA- It has been a rough Cup of Harmony for the Busoga Islands so far- which is how this event tends to go for the Islanders. It is a tough tournament to win, with motivated lower seeded sides commonly punching up against higher seeded teams that have disinterest or are not that motivated. But then, you also have the middle class of the Cup of Harmony- not wide eyed newcomers, not quite a fresh set of eyes, but not really among the top teams there either. Didn't get that close to the World Cup Finals, aren't that close to doing much damage in this competition, and find themselves stuck in the middle in terms of international football. The Busoga Islands finds themselves in that middle- not quite good enough to compete for a spot in the World Cup every cycle, but good enough to do so once in a while(see World Cup 83). It is up in the air to see if they have the skill to compete in a major tournament, as they have not done so in a number of years.

And so while it is disappointing, their current predicament is not necessarily unsurprising. Starfire's star is shining just a little bit less at the moment after the Islander's latest loss, where the supposed strength of the team, the back line, wilted in the face of the Brusseldorf. Of course, Brusseldorf shouldn't be underestimated- they are the group's highest seeded side, of course. But the Busoga Islands are not going to get into a shootout with a team and be able to escape from it with a victory- our team simply doesn't have the offensive firepower to do so. A lot of the leaders on this team will have to dig deep into themselves, and look into others, and find some way for the team to recover in this tournament. Leaders like Marie Sonko are going to have to step up, and the type of stifling defense that gave them a 1-0 win against Vdara is going to have to show itself again at this great stage.

Around the Grounds

- Archbishop Jibril Kah of Jinja City, a member of the College of Bishops for Banija's official religion(Puritan Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), created a quiet storm of controversy when he harshly criticized a Kelssek Yourtuber who mocked the church's ban on coffee products, which is reflected within Banijan law. The Archbishop in a press release said that the Kelssek Yourtuber should be asked to 'apologize immediately', and that while he respected the fact that this one man did not speak for Kelssek, that a disavowal from Kelssek authorities would be appreciated. "These international tournaments are created in order to help foster international cooperation, and create friendships across borders. The potential for these tournaments to do that is strong- see Banija's and Equestria's unprecedented cooperation, within one generation of a literal war, in putting on a successful World Cup 83. And Banija is accepting of different beliefs, of different faiths- though our laws, rightfully, reflect our desire to serve God. So the blatant disrespect to mock our people, mock our faith, is deeply disrespectful and offensive."
- The Archbishop's harsh response created a quiet storm of controversy. While the video had gone viral in Kelssek, it had not gotten much attention within Banija until the Archbishop's comments- and now, it has gone viral in Banija. Some pundits criticized him for getting 'too involved in politics' by asking for a diplomatic apology, and many said that this was something that could, and should, be ignored. His defenders, however, largely agreed with his harsh response, saying that the video series was uncalled for. Nobody in the Royal House, nor anybody in the Banijan Foreign Ministry, or in the Katikkiro's office, could be reached for comment.
- A storm of controversy has been created in Xanneria, where a dual use baseball stadium was used for a Cup of Harmony match with the pitcher's mound still in place. RBSA officials repeatedly refused to comment on the miscue, referring all questions regarding the state of play of Xannerian fields to the Football Association of Xanneria, although a spokesman expressed full confidence that the issue would be fixed by the next time the stadium would be used.
- Banija lost their first World Cup game, 3-2, to Farfadillis. Good riddance to them, right? Banijan fans are already the worst- giving them a trophy would make them near unsufferable. Hopefully HUElavia can dump them out of the Finals tomorrow night, which would be an undoubtedly hilarious way for their World Cup to end.

[Timuria]

Vizier Candidates Confirmed

by Demet Yildiz

The members of the Gonulu Meclisi have finalised nominations for the soon-to-be vacant position of Vizier, the position of head of state of the Community of Timuria. Each candidate requires the nominations of 40 GMVs to be officially nominated as a candidate for Vizier before a preferential ballot is taken, by convention the speaker of the parliament does not nominate, while party affiliations and groups are formally suspended for this period though of course parties tend to instruct their GMVs gently on their preferred candidates to make the ballot.

The candidate with the most support, is the leader of BAHP, Rahim Muhadow, who has gained the support of his entire party group, the one voting independent and the support of 20 TIOC and the whole TKP group. Putting the left-leaning, civil liberties focused former lawyer at 138 GMVs putting him halfway to the required number of votes to see him ascend to the Viziership. Given the political terrain of the parliament, it looks very likely that he will manage to do.

His strongest competitor comes from the OK nominated candidate, Liberal centre-right economist Ayse Kafkasoglu, a staunch supporter of OK and an advocate of more liberal policies both in terms of the economy and on social issues. 130 OK GMVs have nominated her. While an unexpected challenge has emerged from a combination of disaffected OK GMVs on the right of the party, the SC and ALTI, who have put up a "Broad Right" candidate in the form of defeated former ALTI leader Ulku Guzelhayat, who was one of the more popular party leaders and was largely considered blameless for the overall result for her party at the election. She holds the nominations of 56 GMVs.

While the final contender is the TIOC leader and likely outgoing Prime Minister Sabuktigin Imamoglu, who sees his ascension as a potential way to settle his succession without descending into a potentially bloody leadership challenge at the party's next kurultay. He currently holds the nominations of 122 GMVs, but will likely struggle to breakthrough. One surprise candidate is national football team manager Bekir Altingunes who somehow holds the nominations of 50 GMVs, widely considered a protest vote against the lack of popular vote on the Viziership. While he is unlikely to win, his success in getting onto the formal ballot indicates that even within the often unbreakable alliance of interests that makes up TIOC cracks can start to appear. 54 GMVs including the speaker did not vote. The ballot shall be cast within the week, with the result, if it is an eligible result, announced shortly after its confirmation by the speaker who presides over the vote.

The Candidates:
Rahim Muhadow (138 GMVs) - BAHP
Ayse Kafkasoglu (130 GMVs) - Independent
Sabuktigin Imamoglu (122 GMVs) - TIOC
Ulku Guzelhayat (56 GMVs) - ALTI
Bekir Altingunes (50 GMVs) - Independent (formerly TIOC)

For information on the parties click here

[New Lusitania and the Algarves]

STL|Serviços de Transmissão Lusitana
Sport | Football|
Cup of Harmony

A DRAW DRAWS DRAMA NEAR
New Lusitania 1-1 Appalachian
@Nortonshaw Professional Sports Stadium, Nortonshaw, Hampton (Att: 37 765)

New Lusitania now looked to pick up some more points to get to the progression objective. Against them, a rock that would be hard to move, the Appalachians. They hadn't gotten off the ground yet but it didn't mean they wouldn't have tricks up their sleeve. New changes for New Lusitania. Vinagrete and Fragoso have chances as Jota returns to the starting eleven and Nevais is out as the team dons their white and blue kit. For the "Hillbillies", Throckmorton, Winecroft, Farmer and Washburn would all do their best to keep the ball away from the net today as Drew, Hawkins, Fuller and Pearson took up their positions in midfield with Cletus, Bubba and Robert making up the forward trio. Unlike in previous games, this one has the added element of rain and lots of it as the two teams took the pitch. Due to this everyone expected a few thrills with the added condition or the exact opposite, a low-scoring game. The tactics of both teams had made it as so it would be the latter with the Appalachians pulling their wingers back to a virtual 5-4-1 and the Lusitanians a counter-attacking 4-3-3. Despite this last one being one of those second-guesses, New Lusitania would provide a few good chances against a team that believed in themselves and that they could do damage. Within a half-hour, the Selecção would take the lead as Veiga slotted it in from a complicated pass to get a head start before halftime. As conditions on the pitch worsened at half-time with now torrential rain, the game would be delayed for ten minutes as officials attempted to figure out if playing on was an option - it was indeed and so the teams came back out once more. New Lusitania put the ball in the net again, this time by Silveira, but Veiga's pass was caught offside. The game carried on with a fragile one goal lead as the pitch was more comparable to a mud field, a condition some players seemed to thrive in. One of these players was, unfortunately for New Lusitania, Cleetus who tucked an equaliser with ease into Patríce's net. The Team would attempt to get the win that was stolen back, as Fernando hit the bar and Gama went just wide. In the end, it was to no avail as the Appalachians had made their first point and New Lusitania were starting to get in hot water. Ziwana's win against Saintland (3-1) meant that they would still be fourth but Jeruselem's draw with Lisander by two goals meant four teams including Santa Cruz's boys were in the hunt for qualification and even the group win. New Lusitania has, like all teams, two games remaining to get back on track. One of these is against Saintland which hasn't performed excellently but has been getting a footing in their last matches, and Lisander, current leaders of the group. Captain Fernando has made sure that the team doesn't believe they're out with such an open group and Veiga, man of the match for today, reminds anything is possible and the Cup of Harmony has been known for upsets. For now, who can say for certain. As the teams train, fans attentively glue themselves to the nearest screen as STL show not only the Selecção but coverage of the World Cup and Cup of Harmony matches... Live. (FULL TIME: 1-1)


THE HUB
GOALS:Veiga (2), Silveira, Cavalariça, Gama
ASSIST: Fernando (2), Horto (2), Gama
INJURIES:

LATEST STATS
World Cup 84 Quals
Top Goalscorers: Silveira (10)
Assists: Fernando (8)
-------------------------------------
Matchday: Internationals
coverage of the best
STL1 22:00 GMT
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World Cup 84
The best of the action on STL, your National Broadcaster.
New Lusitania in exclusive.
-----------------------------------
STL in association with FLF
MMXX

[Squornshelous]

Lyyti was in a strange place. She ought to be ecstatic. They had just taken a point off the 28th-ranked team in the multiverse, and the team had gone out to celebrate. She was happy, that was the thing. She was also terrified. The dinner with Melkochuk the night before hadn't been so awful as she was dreading. In retrospect she wasn't sure what she had expected. There was no evil chuckling or nefarious hand wringing. Melkochuk didn't ask her to sign a contract in blood or promise him her firstborn. (ugh) Instead, Melkochuk was his typical self: cloyingly ingratiating, vague, and just generally creepy. His manner was always so oily smooth, but once he latched onto you he hung on like a bulldog. Lyyti didn't think there was anything she could do short of physical violence that would put him off her. And even that might not work.

"Lyyti! Wake up Lyyti!" Vilde Martikainen shouted across the table. The team laughed as Lyyti looked around. She realized she had been staring at the table in front of her for quite some time. Exactly how long she wasn't sure.

"Sorry," she muttered, "I need some air." She stood, pushing her chair back from the table with a loud scrape, and headed for the door. She stepped out into the cool night air, and the smell of cigarette smoke. A few other bar patrons were outside, chatting quietly in two's and threes. She found a spot apart from the rest, and sagged against the wall, leaning her head back and closing her eyes. If only getting away from her problems were as easy as leaving the table and walking outside.

"Do you mind if I stand here?"

She opened her eyes and leaned forward with a frown. The voice speaking to her had spoken Squornshelan, but in an unfamiliar accent. A short, dark-haired man with olive skin and an easy smile stood a few feet away. He wore a gray knit jacket over a red shirt and jeans.

"Sure," Lyyti waved a hand vaguely, "just don't expect me to talk to you."

"Long day?"

"What did I just say?"

"Sorry, just trying to be friendly. You looked like you needed to do some venting."

Lyyti's eyes snapped open and she stared pointedly at the man. "Who the fuck are you, and what do you want with me?"

"Ok, you got me, take it easy." The man held his hands up and grinned ruefully. "I guess I should've expected an Imperial to be suspicious. I'm a journalist. Baral Karlov, Brantid Times."

"You're a Westerner."

"We prefer the term Confederate, but yes."

"What are you doing here? Isn't your team playing in Banija?"

"They are, but they're playing like shit these days, and our FA president attending your match? Now that's a story."

"What do you want with me?"

"An interview of course. No Confederate journalist has interviewed an Imperial citizen in living memory, and who do I bump into but the famed Lyyti Vang, shining star of the national team. You're quite famous you know."

"Is there anyone in the multiverse who doesn't want to use me for something?"

"Untold billions I'm sure." Karlov's grin faded in response to her glare. "Look, I'm not trying to use you, honestly, this is my job, my passion. I tell people's stories, share them with the world. In the Confederacy, hardly anyone really knows anything about what it's like in the Imperium. What better chance for them to find out?" Lyyti stared, still disbelieving. "Look, just a few questions, you don't like one, you can walk away. It's not like I'm holding a gun to your head."

"Fine."

"Ok," Karlov paused for just a moment, as if to collect his thoughts. "You weren't on the roster for the friendly at Cassadaigua, nor were any of your teammates. How did you join the Imperial national team?"

"Are you asking about me, or all of us, because I can't . . ."

"Just you for the moment Ms. Vang. How did you end up on this roster?"

Lyyti's thoughts flew back to that day, months ago now, when her world had changed. She felt a compelling urge to tell this stranger everything, to let out what she'd been holding onto all this time. "I was recruited by a man named Holmgren from the Ministry of Sport. He showed up at my home one day, said someone had seen me play and they wanted me for the team. He-" she caught herself, "he wouldn't take no for an answer."

"Wouldn't take no for answer? You mean to say you tried to decline the offer? Most Confederates dream of a chance like that."

"My family are . . . we're part of- Well, most would call us Luddites, we don't really have a word for it ourselves, but our beliefs make us outsiders. I didn't trust Holmgren."

"But he persuaded you."

"He made it clear that we'd all be better off if I agreed to play, my family and me. He-" her voice cracked, "he threatened my sister. I couldn't." She looked up in sudden horror. "You can't publish this. They'll kill her, kill my parents. Or worse. Please. Fuck I never should have talked to you."

"Woah, shit. I'm sorry. I never meant to put anyone in danger." Karlov glanced around quickly, then apparently satisfied no one was listening in, stepped closer and spoke in a low voice. "I might be able to help you, you know. Journalists like me who travel internationally. Let's just say we know people who can make things happen, work with them sometimes."

"Fuck do you mean?"

He took another step closer, his voice no more than a whisper. "I can help you leave the Imperium, if that's what you want."

"Bullshit."

"It'll be risky, but we have an embassy here in Xanneria, and I have contacts who can help."

"I can't, they kill my parents, and do worse to my sister. I can't leave them."

"Look, the people I know, one person or four makes no difference. You get them here to Xanneria and we can do the rest."

"How can I trust you?"

"You have to decide that for yourself. Think it over. If you want out, wave to the crowd with both hands when you're introduced against Ancherion. We'll find you."

Just like that, he was gone.

Fuck me bloody, what do I do now?

[Ziwana]

OOC: Part 1: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=479512&start=75#p36636500
Part 2: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=479512&start=100#p36639397

Charles Payen Double Puts Akambuku on Round of 16 Qualification Spot

By Chosadziwa Botolo

ZCOMM Sport @ Pfluger Stadium, Austin, Leitner (Att: 48,521)

The Cup of Harmony is a short competition to compared to the World Cup with fewer match days and this means that every match day is a must win for every national team. Ziwana came into this match off a loss to New Lusitania whilst Saintland came from a boring no goal draw against Jeruselem. It was still impressive for Saintland to hold top seed Jeruselem to a draw. Jeruselem being a highly defensive team that plays Cheka Cheka football was going to be a frustrating match for the Akambuku. However, Ziwana were finally going to feature their classic strong first eleven that had caught hearts at the world cup with Abdulaziz Haqawi and Jean Wilder returning.

The match took place in the City of Austin, Leitner Province in Xanneria. It was a sunny day, good for football. 26,686 Ziwani fans attended the match, dressed up in yellow and green, vuvuzela all around loudly being played and other beat their drums in support of the Akambuku. Before the match in an interview Akambuku fan Edith Alahaji said for the Ziwani national football team to recover from failing to qualify for the World Cup the fans had to support their team harder so that the morale and confidence of the Akambuku squad would return.

With a loud crowd supporting the Akambuku squad, they started the game well. They passed and moved the ball well up forward. In the 15th minute Western United's Louis Graham lobbed the ball forward as Jean Wilder ran to get to the ball but before he could reach the ball the ref called offside. This continued to happen several times as Saintland were setting up offside traps to prevent Ziwani forwards from getting the chance to shot on goal. In the 41st minute Charles Payen converted a free kick into a goal after Saintland had failed to clear it to put Ziwana 1 up. The celebrations did not last long as a few minutes later or 154 seconds later Saintland's Iacobus Sosia scored a goal to level up.

After half-time the Akambuku fans roared louder and a few minutes later in the 48th minute Abdulaziz Haqawi headed Harry Ngonamo's side ahead as he met Young Boys inside forward Charles Payen's cross to put Ziwana ahead.

Ziwani players celebrate Haqawi's goal

With a tight lead Ziwana tried to keep the lead by fully committing to attacking . Which lead to Saintland catching Ziwana on the counter and having a chance on goal but Western united's Jean Kane was ever present for the Akambuku saving them on more than 3 occasions. Finally in the dying minutes Charles Payen ensured Ziwani victory, as he cut inside the left flank before unleashing a power shot that Saintland keeper wouldn't stop.

This win puts Ziwana at position 2 on the table which is a qualification spot but nothing is certain at this point as the Akambuku face top seeds Jeruselem who will be a difficult challenge. After Ziwana faces them they face Lisander who have been terrific and will be another challenge. After the match Ziwani manager Harry Ngonamo said that for the next much Ziwana would be playing more cautiously with a low defensive line, inside forwards will drop into defensive winger positions and there will be no defensive midfielder instead Ziwana will play with two strikers. Most Ziwana fans agreed with Ngonamo's change of tactics as the next few games are a challenge that need new ideas if the Akambuku are to win them. To watch the next match against Jeruselem visit http://www.zcomm.com and click on Zplayer to watch the game.

[Terre Septentrionale]

Terre Septentrionale draws with Filindostan

Catalan City, Catalina, Xanneria - Terre Septentrionale and Filindostan fought for the 1st place in group A but no one won. The game ended with a 1-1 draw. The Nordiques controlled the ball 51% of the time and shot 11 times with 6 of them were on target. The Pula Garuda also shot 11 times with 5 of them were on target. Both teams played on a baseball field with bases and the pitcher's mound still on there, and in my 45 years career as a journalist, I've never seen this. On an international level! Filindostan attacked at the 22nd minute when Manny Jacob Lou Rivas, who plays defensive midfielder in a 3-4-3 formation, passed to His Excellency Tisang, who made a short pass to Juanda Weici who dribbled with the ball and made a cross to Shaina Louise Escobido who shoots the ball and it's a goal. 1-0 Filindostan. Terre Septentrionale attacked at the 36th minute when Zdzislaw Brzezanczyk passed to Élisabeth Normandin who passed to Pawel Wawrzynkiewicz who dribbles with the ball and he trips on the 3rd base. He injured himself. The score at the halftime is 1-0 Filindostan.

Filindostan attacked at the 67th minute when Casimir Likumahuwa passed to Damaris Cambo who dribbled with the ball and tried to pass to His Excellency Tisang but the ball goes into the pitcher's mounds and deviates. Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz intercepts the ball and passed to Sandrine Fontaine who dribbled with the ball and passed to Roksana Kolodziejczyk who kicks the ball and it's in! The game is tied at 1-1 and this is the final score!

BOXSCORE

22nd minute: Shaina Louise Escobido assisted by Juanda Weici
67th minute: Roksana Kolodziejczyk assisted by Sandrine Fontaine

YELLOW CARDS

4th minute: Slawomir Skrzeszewski
31st minute: Manny Jacob Lou Rivas
55th minute: Alicja Jedrzejczyk
78th minute: Abraham Janni Luiz

RED CARDS

None

Group A

Terre Septentrionale and Filindostan are both still in 1st place in group A with 7 points in 3 games, but Filindostan has a better goal difference ratio. Xanneria follows in 3rd place with 4 points while Bears Armed and Razneta both are in 4th place with 3 points. Bears Armed started strong with a huge win against Xanneria but since then, they lost against us and Razneta. Xanneria should have won against The Sarian but they dropped another game.This is good for us, we need a win against Xanneria on matchday 4 and we're qualified for the round of 16! If we lose, we would be tied with the Maroons but they would have the tie break. Pawel Wawrzynkiewicz, who tripped on the 3rd base, will miss the next two games with a nose injury. Alicja Jedrzejczyk will replace him against Xanneria while Wlodzimierz Waclawczyk will replace him against Razneta. It will be their first cap on the starting XI.

Wlodzimierz Pietruszewski,
Senior writer, La tribune Septentrionale

[Pasarga]

Petar Galić's good form through the first two games came up short against Squornshelous and it was all the opening that the manager needed to drop the striker in favor of the more in form Júlia Müller, despite the rumors going around that she was distracted by being involved in a transfer saga. Apparently all the rumors surrounding her move from Equestria in the Qualifiers had been true, as five squads had officially put in bids to her Equestrian squad to acquire her services in the domestic game. The manager had confidence though that the starlet could put such drama aside and concentrate on the team she was currently a part, and that was the national team looking to get one more result in their group to secure the expected advancement out of the group. The defense had finally shown its' teeth in the match against Squornshelous and yet it came about that it was somehow the great attack that had been lacking against a side that had been easily giving up goals. While a draw was far from the worst result, it did give reason to make changes that he had considered but decided against in the lead up to the tournament.

Besides the switch of strikers, the midfield was also getting a change, as the elder Benke was going to be given a start in the Wanderers' next game ahead of the younger Szalyk Földessy. Szalyk had not played poorly in the tournament but there was a certain feeling that a bit more experience would be needed in the last two games of the group and Benke was an excellent talent to bring on to try and help grind out the results that the team needed. Benke had been playing some of the best football of his career at CAP and had been rewarded with being part of the Qualifying pool and even given a few starts, now was the time to not only help the side get into the knockout stages of the tournament but for the midfielder to lay claim to a spot in the team for the Copa Rushmori and the next set of Qualifiers that were going to start in a few months time. Ones work to get a place in the national team does not stop when one makes the pool, it is an ongoing process of proving that you are among the best that the nation has to offer at your position and can do it with little time to train with the rest of the national team.

Srđan Jakšić knew that he had to keep his team tempered and not let one "upset" turn into two and then three and see the squad who had started so brilliantly be out of the competition so shortly after the gun had sounded to begin the race in the first place. The Qualifiers had started with a blitz of glam and glory before reality bit back and did so hard in that second and all that they had worked for in the first half had come crumbling down before them as dropped points started to add up. He would give Squornshelous its due, they had played above and beyond what the squad had seen thus far from them in the tournament from the scouting reports, they finally had managed to look a bit like the team of old that was in the knockout stages of the World Cup rather than fighting it out with other teams who had fallen short in the Cup of Harmony. At the end of the day, when a side is able to play above what should have been their ceiling, all you can do as a manager is tip your cap to them and then move on to the next and not let one poor result turn into a row of poor results and shattered form.

The match against Gyatso-Kai would be a tricky one, as it was the reverse situation that the Wanderers had in the match against Timuria. Like Timuria, they had been part of the Wanderers' Qualifying group, however unlike them, Gyatso-Kai had taken no points off of the squad and had looked quite inferior both on paper and once the game was being played out on the pitch. Yet it could lead to a situation like where the Wanderers have learned Timuria's tendencies and preference of tactics and formulated a plan to undo their strategy and sprung the victory over their group mates. If Gyatso-Kai had been paying that sort of attention in the two matches that had already transpired, then they too could spring a trap for which his side might fall for. That was the reason for the changes in the line up, on top of trying to nip any poor performances in the bud, to throw a curveball to their foes and force them to react rather than act. Fortune favors the bold and not those who sit back and react to the world around them, if the squad was to live up to their potential, then it would need to be proactive. Srđan Jakšić only hoped that such subtle changes would be enough to see a third victory from three engagements with their foes.

[Kelssek]

Kelssek 3-2 Hapilopper // Champetier cancels out howler to seize vital win

KELSSEK – 3
Custworth 11’
McDonagh 36’
Champetier 84’
HAPILOPPER – 2
Stevenson 51’
East 62’

Patrice Champetier gave Kelssek a vital win in the struggle to advance from the group stage of the Cup of Harmony as he calmly found the target after the ball squirted free from a late scramble in the penalty box.

It also possibly saved Kai Poirier from being virtually boiled alive by angry social media keyboard warriors after the goalkeeper spilled an otherwise harmless long range strike by Bobby East through his own legs and into the goal. All goalkeepers make errors sometimes, and they are inevitably costly, but what dark alternative futures could have been unleashed by that howler? Thankfully, we will never know.

The goal marred an otherwise much-improved defensive performance after the disastrous showing in the last match against Sarzonia. Mason Curtin gave a solid outing with a couple of key tackles and much less got past Damien Halliger than we’ve been used to seeing. One can’t help but think this was the kind of match that could have used a dependable defensive midfielder like Victor Clinton, whose omission from the tournament squad has been the major talking point.

With ten goals conceded, Kelssek are in fact the leakiest defence in the entire tournament with every team having played three matches. It’s not something that inspires confidence going forward. Still, at least the football Voyagers are finding the net. Youngster Colm Ó Tuathail continues to be a potent creative force down the left wing, laying on an incisive, bouncing, bending pass that gave Brayden Custworth a simple finish. Blake McDonagh then produced a highlight-reel free kick to take Kelssek into half time 2-0 up.

Kelssek embassy issues travel advice: energy drinks
The embassy of Kelssek in Banija is urging Kelssekian tourists to be prepared take caffeine by alternative means. Clerical leaders in Banija have failed to see the funny side of a video of a Kelssek football fan in meltdown after suffering caffeine withdrawal due to the illegality of coffee in Banija.

“Many options for keeping yourself in equilibrium exist in Banija, from tea to caffeinated soft drinks and ‘energy’ drinks, if necessary,” said newly released travel advice from the diplomatic service today. "Pharmaceutical caffeine is also widely available: seek out gum or tablets, and bring your own if you need to as Banijan law allows for most of these alternative options."

Martin Tamer, the man who featured in the video and drew divine condemnation, is already back in Kelssek after attending the match against Sarzonia and is reportedly recovering well thanks to returning to work, where the office pantry provides a constant supply of free coffee to employees.

[Hapilopper]

The Hapilopper Team Hotel, Busukuma, Banija
A few hours after Cup of Harmony Match 3: Hapilopper v. Kelssek
Dominic Probst sat at the hotel bar, not necessarily in the best of moods. At least he was enjoying what had become one of his new favorite beers, Mkango Beer, a Ziwani brand of beer that was being served by the bottle in the hotel. Dom looked up at the screen behind the bar to watch the latest news coming from the Cup of Harmony and back home in Hapilopper. Hopefully, it would get his mind away from what had been a very frustrating last few days for Dom both professionally and personally.

Somehow or another, the pitcher’s mound had been left in place at Dwight Stadium for the Razneta-Bears Armed match. Dom chuckled at the news, complete with footage from the match. But the joviality wouldn’t last long. That story from the Hapilopper City Herald which spoke of a possible new stadium in Hapilopper City or suburban Conyers had made the national news, as well as a report that the Hapiloppians had sent observers to Cassadaigua and Baker Park to watch the World Cup proceedings to learn something. To make matters worse, the Hapiloppian federal government had actually commented on the matter, before Dom was even ready to make a presentation.

“At this point, we are not interested in supporting a World Cup bid, as we are concerned with the financial contributions that would be required,” said Ashley Hammer, deputy press secretary for the Hapiloppian government. “We went to Banija to speak to Mr. Probst and we were not impressed with his proposal. He has stated, however, that he is in the beginning stages of his proposal, and we are looking forward to hearing from him if he feels such a proposal would be worth our time.”

It stung a little bit, almost as much as that goal from Patrice Champetier in the 84th minute of the day’s match. It was a beautiful goal, and Rod Hughes had no answer for it, but damn did it sting. Ernie Stevenson and Beautiful Bobby East had worked hard to erase a 2-0 deficit early in the second half of the match, and Bobby’s goal, in the 62nd was just unreal. He found an opening and kicked the ball as hard as he could. Kai Poirier had no hope of saving it, and the Hapiloppians were in nirvana.

That feeling of hope and optimism lasted 22 minutes, and Champetier stuck a dagger into the hearts of Hapiloppians everywhere. Dom was still feeling a bit of pain from it himself. As he took a swig from his bottle of Mkango, the television screen showed another replay of the Champetier goal. He found an opening, largely due to a move that seemingly broke the ankles of Kendrick Ayers, and made the most of it, fair and square. Dom turned away from the television and towards the hotel lobby where Hapilopper City Herald reporter Billy Alexander, looking somewhat on edge, was having a conversation with defenseman Paul Dibble. Dibble looked a little jittery as well.

Dom got up and walked to the two.

“Dibble, get away from him,” Dom snapped. “He’s an asshole who doesn’t understand the meaning of the term ‘off the record.’”

“What do you mean?” Paul asked. “We were just asking about where we could find a good cup of coffee.”

“Well, not here. They don’t sell coffee in Banija, but Mr. Alexander here has probably ruined any hope of us getting a World Cup for at least a generation,” Dom said, glaring at the reporter, before directing all attention to him. “When I say something’s ‘off the record,’ it does not mean you should run with it. I asked you to wait until we announced something official. We’re probably five percent complete on this plan and I’ve got every government official in Hapilopper City and Conyers screaming at me like this is a done deal.”

“Mr. Probst, first off, I didn’t quote you directly, and second off, I had this verified with a staff member in your office,” Alexander responded with an unusually tense tone of voice. “You don’t say something’s off the record after you’ve said it. I’m not some public relations shill, I get the answers, and if it means I got the answers before you were ready to polish it and make it sound good, well so be it.”

“Fine,” Dom responded. “You’ve cost Hapilopper anything resembling an international tournament. I hope you’re proud of yourself.”

“I stand by my story, Mr. Probst,” Alexander shot back. “I am not going to have you intimidate me.”

“Well, good luck ever getting press access to another HFA match,” Dom snapped. “That includes the national team, asshole. Dibble, talk to him again and I’ll throw YOU off the team.”

“Yeah, fine,” Paul responded, walking away from the reporter.

The next morning, the Hapilopper Football Association released an internal memo to all HFA office employees, as well as players and coaching staff for the Hapilopper National Football Team.

FROM: Dominic Probst
TO: Hapilopper Football Association employees, National Team staff, National Team players
CC: Thomas Perkins
RE: Hapilopper City Herald

Until further notice, all front office employees with the HFA and anyone working in any capacity with the HNFT, including players, are prohibited from socializing with any employee of the Hapilopper City Herald in any form or fashion, especially those working as reporters.

As you know, the Herald recently published a story from a Mr. Billy Alexander where a “high-ranking” official with the HFA indicated that we were pursuing a World Cup bid sometime in the future. In addition, the story also indicated that we were in the planning stages for a new national stadium potentially located in the Conyers area near the airport. I can confirm that all details of the story are indeed true, but none of those details were ready to be made public. We have requested that Mr. Alexander's press credentials be revoked due to this breach of trust with the HFA.

Mr. Alexander heard these plans in a conversation I had with Thomas Perkins. I asked Mr. Alexander that what I said in that conversation was off-record, and respectfully asked him to hold off on publishing said article until we were ready to make an announcement. He ignored my request, and as a result, has sabotaged any hopes, for the time being, of the HFA holding an international tournament in the future.

In addition, in a conversation last night, Mr. Alexander indicated that an office employee with the HFA independently verified what I told Mr. Perkins in that private conversation. The HFA will conduct an internal investigation into who told Mr. Alexander what, and it would benefit whoever spoke greatly to come forward and speak.

I will be meeting with Mr. Alexander and his editor at the H.C. Herald office as soon as we get home from Banija to discuss this article further and his future covering HFA and HNFT matches. Until then, and until this matter is resolved, do not speak to anyone that you recognize from that organization. Disciplinary action will follow any attempt at contravening this request.

Thank you for your time.
Dominic

[Kandorith]

Shinonome Kyoai - International
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When Everything Is Like A Puzzle

Group G
Kandorith 4–3 Squornshelan Remnant States
Savojarna 1–2 Hampton Island
Euran Oceanian Territories 3–5 Potato Farmers

  Group G                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hampton Island                    3   3  0  0    9   3  +6    9
2 Savojarna                         3   2  0  1    4   3  +1    6
3 Kandorith                         3   2  0  1    7   8  −1    6
4 Potato Farmers                    3   1  0  2    6   6   0    3
5 Euran Oceanian Territories        3   1  0  2    6   8  −2    3
6 Squornshelan Remnant States       3   0  0  3    5   9  −4    0

Aissa, Hangaza, Beyond belief. Pretty, no it was not. But the win fell in the favour of Kandorith. With the record they are going for nothing could ruin this party. The Kandorese team is a force to be reckoned with and they are showing just exactly why. The previous matches have taught the squad a valuable lesson; to be in control of the game means to win the game. The Kandorese side is a vision. Something that is alive in the home nation, hopefully watching the team perform. Slowly but surely the Kandorese team is a common name coming back to the world in her own style. In the past year Kandorith had some hiccups and failuress; but being a serious contender to any team in the world seems to be the only way to exist right now. The team of Hayabusa is shrouded in less conversation towards the press and more performing on the field, according to the manager himself. With the latest tight victory it shows; Kandorith wants to take a spot on the world's stage.

This match was the first match where Her Imperial Majesty, The Empress, Empress Masumi of Ashikaga attended the match. The fans from Kandorith following the team were eluded and in a cheerful mood when the Empress herself entered the stadium in Aissa. It is a safe assumption to attribute the victory to the empress herself. The morale boost and appearance of the Empress herself was a milestone for the Kandorese football. It has been a matter of general knowledge to know the Empress is a very dedicated fan of sports in general; golf, darts martial arts and in particular football. Whenever Her Majesty, The Empress has time to spare she can be found at national and international football matches. Empress Masumi also believes in making advances towards promoting football among the youth. "Why not start coaching young children when they show an affinity for sports or atletism.The Empress stated. "I think it is important to support and stimulate the youth. To make sure they are reaching for the heavens and beyond. It is beyond any doubt we are building a future for achievements to last, young and old will bask in the glory of our empire and I am here to ensure that we will perform at our very best and most exquisite." The Empress spoke harsh words and reminds us what to be proud of. It is not just a matter of sports, but a matter of national pride and achievements. The Kandorese nation has been residing in shadows for too long and now, now the nation will try and show what we are made off.

Winning against the Squornshelan Remnant States was a statement; a match this squad could not lose. Too be fair this team has to win the next match to, just to be certain. The Kandorese team find themselves in a clinch and Hayabusa is looking to field the very best players in a match to define and decide everything. A win would mean the team will advance to the next round; a draw might be disastrous and a loss would mean definitive elimination. The entire nation is looking forward to the next match and the players stand ready. For Kandorith this will be one of the greatest achievements in the history of the new empire; destined for greatness the entire nation prays for the outcome of the next match. Kandorith shall be the underdog once more.