Cup of Harmony 76 - Everything Thread

[Banija]

Tears at a funeral, tears at a funeral I might pray....

Angry at all the things, angry at all the things I can't change...

When you're losing in the tournament, losing in the tournament, don't lose faith...

You know this cutoff's in the hands of Mags!

Eliminated
Has clinched berth in Round of 16

Group A
Bears Armed 2–0 Filindostan
Xanneria 3–2 Terre Septentrionale
Razneta 0–1 The Sarian

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

Group B
Lisander 2–2 New Lusitania
Saintland 1–0 Appalachian Nation
Jeruselem 3–3 Ziwana

Group B                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Lisander                  4   2  2  0    9   5  +4    8
2 Ziwana                    4   2  1  1   12  10  +2    7
3 Jeruselem                 4   1  3  0    8   6  +2    6
4 New Lusitania             4   1  2  1    7   8  −1    5
5 Saintland                 4   1  1  2    2   4  −2    4
6 Appalachian Nation        4   0  1  3    5  10  −5    1

Group C
Squornshelous 3–1 Ancherion
Timuria 2–4 Geektopia
Pasarga 1–0 Gyatso-Kai

Group C                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Pasarga                   4   3  1  0   12   7  +5   10
2 Squornshelous             4   2  1  1    8   7  +1    7
3 Ancherion                 4   2  0  2   12  12   0    6
4 Geektopia                 4   2  0  2    9   9   0    6
5 Timuria                   4   1  1  2    9  11  −2    4
6 Gyatso-Kai                4   0  1  3    5   9  −4    1

Group D
Flavovespia 0–0 Balqia
Mercedini 1–0 Mkabia
Tamgu 2–1 Mattijana

Group D                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Balqia                    4   2  2  0   10   7  +3    8
2 Tamgu                     4   1  3  0   11  10  +1    6
3 Mercedini                 4   1  3  0    7   6  +1    6
4 Flavovespia               4   0  4  0    5   5   0    4
5 Mattijana                 4   1  1  2    4   6  −2    4
6 Mkabia                    4   0  1  3    7  10  −3    1

[Brusseldorf]

Match Reports

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January 20th

Brusseldorf 4–3 Busoga Islands

Three rounds in, Brusseldorf finally registered their first win. An especially excitable home crowd witnessed a dramatic 7 goal display that showcased the considerable skill of both teams. Brusseldorf scored 3 goals in the first half, thanks to a hat trick from captain Teddy Wolfenden. He was clearly enjoying himself, making the third goal a cheeky scorpion kick to beat the Busoga no.1. Busoga was not beat however, and came out firing in the second half. Across 30 minutes, Busoga methodically dismantled the Brusseldorf back line, Birla, Amitabh, and Khano sharing the goals. Teddy Wolfenden silenced the travelling crowd in the 89th minute, with a last-ditch sliding effort to push Brusseldorf ahead, concluding an incredible game. Man of the match was Teddy Wolfenden, final score 4-3.

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January 19th

Newmanistan 0-0 Brusseldorf

Los Aldredores travelled away to the upstart fortress of Newmanistan. They were unfortunate to not make it to the World Cup finals - and they looked to take out their anger on Brusseldorf from the kickoff. Teddy Wolfenden again showed his hallmark flair and style, with several one-on-one victories that edged him close to Newmanistan’s net. Teddy looked to have made it 1-0 in the 22nd minute, but much to the displeasure of the travelling fans, the officials were resolute in ruling the goal offside. Ximénez and Sidi put in a brilliant half of football, getting the fans out of their seats with several inhuman displays of footwork. A long ball from Sarah Pickett fell perfectly in front of Sidi, who looked to net his first goal of the Cup, however Aaron Scarpa made a solid save to keep the score 0-0. The second half continued with Brusseldorf dominating the pitch, however with an in-form Scarpa locking down the opposition net, nothing was going in. A world-class save from the Newmanistan keeper topped off his performance, and earned him the man of the match. Final score 0-0. Next Brusseldorf come home to face Busoga Islands.

[Filindostan]

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FOOTBALL
Cup of Harmony 76: Filindos' Round of 16 dreams slowly being realized

Catalan City, XANNERIA - Filindostan continued their good start in their quest for the first Cup of Harmony title.

After a narrow 2-1 win over Razneta and a 5-1 demolition of The Sarian, the Pula Garuda had to settle for a stalemate against Terre Septentrionale, 1-1, when the two teams faced each other in the Air Catalina Dwight Stadium in Catalan City. Filindostan scored the first goal via Shai Escobido in the 22nd minute, after a sequence of passing from the Filindostani midfield was not able to be intercepted by the opposition. Juanda Weici made a near-perfect cross to the Venividicci forward and the latter did the rest, scoring from point blank range. However, Roksana Kolodziejczyk equalized for the 58th-ranked team after lady luck went to their side due to the imperfectness of the Xannerian pitch in the stadium - when Damaris passed the ball to King Tisang, the ball hit the pitcher's mound and was intercepted by Yannick Ksiezniakiewicz who caught the Filindostani defense off guard and scored a wonderful goal past Tonyo Vera.

Both sides had a chance to win the match, however, the pitch conditions played a major part in the outcome of their chances, as several passes were not completed and were intercepted quite easily. It also caught some players unattended and caused several injuries to the players. Wlodzimierz Pietruszewski of La Tribune said that he never saw anything like it in his 45 year career as a journalist.

Filindostan will face the ursines of Bears Armed the next matchday, while Terre Septentrionale faces Xanneria next.

FFF apologizes for Steve Stevenson fiasco, but criticizes Xannerian pitches

After Filindostan's match with Terre Septentrionale, the Filindostan Football Federation issued a public apology to Xannerian writer Steve Stevenson, as the 'unfair advantage' was referring to the first opponents Razneta instead. The FFF have reminded media outlets to be 'responsible' in their reporting and not 'make up issues for the sake of profit'. However, they also criticized Xanneria's preparation in the host stadiums, as the pitches have baseball mounds and bases still intact during the second most important tournament in the multiverse, labelling it as 'unacceptable standards'.

Filindostan travel to Palace City to face the hosts on Matchday 5, which is sure to bring huge implications on the outcome of proceedings in Group A.


Written by FSNA Staff.

Schedule - Cup of Harmony 76
MD01: vs Razneta (at City of Hawthrone Stadium, Hawthorne, Xanneria) - W, 2-1
MD02: vs The Sarian (at Golden Gopher Casino - Palace City Stadium, Palace City, Xanneria) - W, 5-1
MD03: vs Terre Septentrionale (Air Catalina Dwight Stadium, Catalan City, Xanneria) - D, 1-1
MD04: vs Bears Armed (at City of Hawthrone Stadium, Hawthorne, Xanneria)
MD05: at Xanneria (Golden Gopher Casino - Palace City Stadium, Palace City, Xanneria)

[Xanneria]

This is the cutoff for the groups E-G games. So here, have a song - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ViN2bRGrBx8

OOC: When Scoring these games I discovered something rather unfortunate. Apprently TJUN-ia had mistakenly been given a KPBRank of 78.2 when it should have been 7.82. Due to this I had to rescore the TJUN-ia / Sarzonia match. So when I re scored the game it turned into a Sartzonia 4 TJUN-ia 3 scoreline. APologies to both parties involved, but I had to go back and fix this to make the game more fair. Both of you guys will still retain your RP Bonus from this game but the results have changed in the score line in MD3 and basically now Sarzonia and TJUN-ia will have swapped places.

Apologies for this mistake

Group E
Trolleberg 2–3 Newmanistan
Busoga Islands 1–0 BOLGANO
Vdara 3–2 Brusseldorf

  Group E                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Newmanistan                       4   2  1  1    7   5  +2    7
2 Trolleberg                        4   2  1  1    7   6  +1    7
3 Busoga Islands                    4   2  0  2    5   5   0    6
4 Brusseldorf                       4   1  2  1    9   9   0    5
5 BOLGANO                           4   1  1  2    7   8  −1    4
6 Vdara                             4   1  1  2    5   7  −2    4

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

                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Kelssek                 4    3   0   1    15   12   +3     9
2 Sarzonia                4    2   1   1    12   11   +1     7
3 Sajnur                  4    1   2   1     6    8   −2     5
4 Schottia                4    1   1   2     9    8   +1     4
5 Hapilopper              4    1   1   2     5    6   −1     4
6 TJUN-ia                 4    1   1   2     7    9   −2     4

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

  Group G                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hampton Island                    4   3  1  0   11   5  +6   10
2 Kandorith                         4   3  0  1   10   9  +1    9
3 Savojarna                         4   2  0  2    5   6  −1    6
4 Potato Farmers                    4   1  1  2    9   9   0    4
5 Euran Oceanian Territories        4   1  1  2    8  10  −2    4
6 Squornshelous Remnant States      4   0  1  3    8  12  −4    1

[Jeruselem]

Princess Katherine Annabelle Dallas dressed as Wonder Woman 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 4 of qualification stage of the cup.

One game left. This round was very important!
Lisander and New Lusitania faced off, and a win to any of these teams might have secured a top 3 spot.
As it happened, it was a 2-2 draw meaning no one really got the maximum.
There's been a lot of draws recently in group B. Which I guess makes things quite close with qualification.

Saintland and Appalachian Nation were on 1 point and well, needed to win at any cost.
Saintland beat Appalachian Nation and Appalachian Nation are eliminated.
A win for Saintland does mean they can make the top 3 if they win the last game.

Well that left Jeruselem vs Ziwana, and guess the result. Yeah a draw.
In the world cup we had boat load of draws at the start.
Yes another draw.
But it was an exciting 3-3 draw. Our draws aren't boring.

Well, I guess we didn't lose. But if we had won, we could have jumped into the top 2 but that didn't happen.
Obviously our offense did do their job but our usual defensive frailities showed up and it cost us the win.
We do play Appalachian Nation last game which I guess is the saving grace.

Yes, the table gets messy after this as there's like 5 teams in contention.
Appalachian Nation are eliminated on 1 point. Nothing can save them.
Saintland are 5th with 4 points.
New Lusitania are 4th on 5 points and just above them are us on 6 points. 6 points with 1 win and 3 freaking draws.
Ziwana are 2nd with 7 points and Lisander lead on 8.

Last day matchups! Ziwana vs Lisander, Appalachian Nation vs Jeruselem, New Lusitania vs Saintland.
Somehow we got lowest seed as last game. Lucky us.
The top 2 face off in the last game. That just makes a draw so interesting with these two.
Saintland need to beat New Lusitania, saying all that New Lusitania need to beat Saintland. These two don't want a draw.
The goal difference for the top 3 are positive and the bottom 3 are negative. So you'd want to get through on points and not gamble.

Speaking of a mess, Group A.
Bears Armed beat Filindostan, and well we have three teams on 7 points and the Bears on 6. They can qualify!
Newmanistan lead Group E with 7 points, we hope they can get through from here.

The big news is I'm getting my own segment.
Every week on Naked News Jeruselem, there's just me handling stuff relating to just me. There's no set agenda for this segment, it's viewer driven.
I answer questions from people, and I help people anyway I can.
Of course, I'll be screening out the trolls because I get them anyway.
I can't think of a name for this, so on my web site - there's a competition what to call it.

That's it from me, see you all later!

[Vdara]

A win! Finally!

Group E
Trolleberg 2–3 Newmanistan
Busoga Islands 1–0 BOLGANO
Vdara 3–2 Brusseldorf

  Group E                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Newmanistan                       4   2  1  1    7   5  +2    7
2 Trolleberg                        4   2  1  1    7   6  +1    7
3 Busoga Islands                    4   2  0  2    5   5   0    6
4 Brusseldorf                       4   1  2  1    9   9   0    5
5 BOLGANO                           4   1  1  2    7   8  −1    4
6 Vdara                             4   1  1  2    5   7  −2    4

From the table you’re seeing here, you may think qualification is off the table for Vdara, but you’d be wrong!
If all other results go in our favour, we can coast our way into the Cup of Harmony! I think. Anyway. The match. The winning match.

Our terrible run of form was finally beaten away by a victory against Brusseldorf! I’m sure that they expected to beat us, but who cares! The dream is still alive!

Vdara has been down 2-0 for the whole match, but the comeback started in the 87th minute, when a costly Brusseldorfian mistake led to a goal from Alexis Fotellis, who pounced on the opportunity to score. 2-1.
Then, in the 89th minute, an amazing strike from David Xeniadis led to his first international goal and the score line becoming 2-2.
Then, finally. The 90+2nd minute. A Vdaran counter attack commenced. Brusseldorf had no chance against the extremely co-ordinated and determined Tryfon Vlahiades who blitzed through and scored the winning goal to make it 3-2 to Vdara.

Celebrations at the final whistle were wild, with the Vdaran team seen crying with glee on the pitch. The dream was not dead. It may have been a rocky start, but the Vdaran team were determined to get that win. Let’s hope that determination transfers to the game against Bolgano, eh?

Anyhow, after the match, winning goal-scorer Tryfon Vlahiades had this to say:
“Oh yeah, it feels fantastic! We’ve been quite lax over these past couple of games, but that draw was a turning point! This win shows that we are good enough to qualify, and we just seize this opportunity! Carpe diem! Forza Vdara!”

The captain, Matheios Pardakis, said:
“We’re a good side, there’s no mistake in that, but we must be humble about our form. We can very much maybe perhaps qualify, but it’s not entirely possible. That’s my take. But we need to beat Bolgano tomorrow and show them what we’re really made of. Come on! Let’s go! Hard work, honesty, intensity!”

The manager refused to comment, probably due to the fact that he’s still crying with joy at the fact that we won against Brusseldorf and that the dream isn’t dead.

The dream will never die!
Forza Vdara!

In other news, Vdaran kit designers are reportedly interested in a new kit, but that’s not saying that they dislike their current one. They’ve just seen the Rangers 1996 kit with Joachim Bjorklund and like the look of it.

[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.]

Squornshelan Remnant States 3-3 Poafmersia
Venue: Albert III Stadium, Dodoma, Bunyoro, Banija
Goals: Shakira Handris 62'; Pete Carisa 55'; Joel Haodao 88'

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:
Daak Kalson (for Jessie 55')
Alex Hoboson (for Pasits 67')
Bytia Hisel (for Shakira 80')

Herzegovina City, Moravica, Banija
Poor defending cost the Poafmersian team 2 points when they had to rely on a late equaliser from Pete Carisa to grab a draw, ending any realistic hopes of Poafmersia qualifying for the Cup of Harmony knockout rounds.
Stumbling against a side not at their best, It was Alex Pickford who conceded a penalty after a rash tackle, giving the Squornshelan Remnant States a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute. Barely 4 minutes later, a screamer by Ali Roberts from 30 yards saw the States get a second goal to keep them 2-0 up. A goal in the dying stages of the first stoppage time came from the Squornshelan Remnant States, giving them a 3-0 lead. However, Poafmersia was very willing to fight on. A rash challenge by Kolos Haynes saw Jessie getting injured in the 55th minute due to a ankle sprain, so Adnan had to put Daak Kalson on in place. But it meant that that defender got a red card, so Poafmersia was playing against 10 men. Pete converted the free kick, and 7 minutes later a nice pass from Gisiik Moonar found Shakira and they went 2-3. However, the States dug deep to defend, leaving Poafmersia with no choice but to press higher up. Perseverance paid off, and Poafmersia got a third goal with Joel finding a break in the defence to score from just outside the box.
Head Coach Adnan Suliaha was not happy at all. "I don't think conceding 3 goals in the first half is a good sign, and clearly that cannot be tolerated. I think the goalkeeper and defence is making too many mistakes and something needs to be done. For now, it is too late considering we do not have much to play for any longer, but we certainly will try and beat Hampton Island two days later to get the result into the bag and pray things go our way."

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

  Group G                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hampton Island (Q)                4   3  1  0   11   5  +6   10
2 Kandorith (Q)                     4   3  0  1   10   9  +1    9
3 Savojarna                         4   2  0  2    5   6  −1    6
4 Poafmersia                        4   1  1  2    9   9   0    4
5 Euran Oceanian Territories        4   1  1  2    8  10  −2    4
6 Squornshelous Remnant States (E)  4   0  1  3    8  12  −4    1

Is there hope? Unable to catch the top two sides, Poafmersia needs to rely on a miracle in getting top 2 best third-placed teams. That needs a huge win against already qualified Hampton Island, together with lots of other results to go their way. For now, it looks rather impossible, as they would need Savojarna to lose against Squornshelous Remnant States, which has been doing terrible thus far. The draw against SRS would go down as one of those "why did I not win" matches, but it spells the death of Poafmersia's run in the Cup of Harmony, signaling a disappointing end to a debut season in the international front.
Elsewhere, things happened. The Sarian, Razneta, Appalachian Nation, Gyatso-Kai, Mkabia, and Squornshelan Remnant States were all eliminated, while Pasarga, Kelssek, Hampton Island and Kandorith were the first 4 to qualify. The full tables could be found on our microsite (link below), as well as the tabulations from the World Cup.

Lineup for MD5 match against Hampton Island: (4-4-2)
Jabik Henderson; Alex Pickford, Danzik Hoboson (c), Pasits Rikachz, Denise Pickford; Matthew Tibrise, Gisiik Moonar, Daas Taisg, Jessie Mchargarita; Bytia Hisel, Santik Mason

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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) Draw (3-3)
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

[Tamgu]

Mattijana: Beaten, Revenge: Taken, Forza: Tamgouu, YEP, IT'S TAMGU TIME.

Tamgu 2-1 Mattijana; Goals: M. Hojberg 18', A. Nekir 21', P. Soros 63'
Other: Helena Neumann 56' [+] (Broken Elbow)

This win was perhaps one of the most important wins of Tamgu's multiversal footballing history. Mattijana, a team that we were bested over and over again, is finally beaten by the Tamgeishi. After the final whistle, everyone in the United States cheered as a single body. The famous Paloversa Square came to life as half-drunken football fans started a party that would last all night. Dancing, singing, and drinking even more to celebrate this monumental win. The cleanup is still going on, these guys make a mess every time they come but it is a joy to watch.

The match itself was a spectacle, it was much more thrilling than the score suggests. Both keepers were on top form and it wouldn't be wrong if you were to say the shot-stoppers decided the fate of the match. It started fast from the start, only 18 seconds were needed by the Hawks to create a goalscoring chance on the Mattijanan goal. Lucija Handanovic was quick to react to a shot directed to the bottom right corner taken by Ante Nekir, who found shooting space after a through ball played by Yann Ulsima. Tamgu and Mattijana exchanged chances until the 18th minute. A corner was met with a half-clearance and Marko Hojberg saw an opportunity to slot it home from outside the box, using his situational awareness. Keeper Sami Felter could only watch as he was caught flat-footed. 1-0 Mattijana.

Tamgu responded with a classic speeding-up of the play. The center three (Ulsima, Mantes, Leima) swiftly carried the ball up the pitch. Leima came up with a brilliantly threaded pass to Reki Reizo, who saw no difficulties crossing the ball to Nekir. The striker leaped into the air and hit the ball with a bicycle kick. Handanovic smirked, shook his head and applauded Nekir to say "well done mate" as she took the ball out of the net. 1-1. After this goal, the midfields became easier to pass as both teams were solely focused on being the ones to put the ball in the back of the net. Sami Felter and Lucija Handanovic became giants in goal, saving attempt after attempt.

The whistle that ended the first half came before anybody knew it, the first forty-five minutes were full of excitement and time flew by. Both coaches gave their team instructions to try and break the stalemate. They simply couldn't keep relying on their keepers as it was too risky. The players enjoyed every bit of the break as they were exhausted in the previous three-fourths of an hour.

The second half was slower compared to the first. The fatigue of the players is one of the bigger factors. Another one was Mattijana's Manager switching to a more counter-attacking gameplan. Tamgu held control of the midfield because of this. A long-distance shot by Aleida Leima was stopped with an incredible leap by Handanovic and the corner following it was also parried by her. The ball fell into the feet of newly-substituted Daniella Alaba. Her 90-meter run was fruitless as Sami Felter had no problems facing her on a 1v1.

A cross played to the penalty spot was met by two players, Soros and Neumann. Soros' push with his shoulder was not considered foul play, but Helena Neumann was injured in the challenge. He quickly helped her get immediate medical treatment as he suspected that she may have broken a bone (or two). The medical team confirmed his suspicions and quickly got her substituted out. Soros was applauded by both his and rival fans for his sportsmanship. Another opportunity came from a cross, again picking out the tall striker Soros. This time he jumped higher than his marker and slotted the ball home.

This goal and the injury of Helena Neumann broke Mattijana apart, they looked clueless on how to respond to this goal. They had a few opportunities but none of them were great. Tamgu, on the other hand, started bombarding the Mattijanan goal to get a 2-goal cushion. Handanovic stood strong until the final whistle blew, saving shot from any angle. Tamgu's 14 attempts on goal only produced 2 goals.

We wish Neumann a swift recovery.

[Sarzonia]

Kevin Connelly already had the answers swirling in his head. His Sarzonian national football team were shitting the bed against a TJUN-ia side ranked below it in the world rankings and the team's defence was leaky like the bad faucet at his hotel room.

Then the 67th minute happened. Midfielder Brady Reynolds ran onto a cross from Ernie Mabree and banged it into the net.

All of a sudden, the scoreline read 3-2, and the navy-clad Stars supporters and the contingent of rainbow wearing Delaclavs cheering the Stars on with them at least had a slimmer of hope. Five minutes later, that leaky defence would begin to redeem itself when Charlie King won a ball and sent it forward to Reynolds. He found substitute Mek'hi West with a long ball that saw Connelly screaming since he favoured the possession game that every edition of the Stars were used to playing.

The screaming turned to disbelief when the ball seemed to hone in on West's forehead for a spectacular goal to draw the score level at 3-3.

At least we might get a point out of this, Connelly thought. He began working on his answers to questions about a draw that would have still left the Stars frustrated against a team they felt they desperately needed to beat.

Then, just as the fourth official signaled for four minutes of stoppage time, Jake Campos had another moment of drama when he launched himself in the air and fired a bicycle kick into the net, turning the last four minutes into a tense affair. When Connelly heard the final whistle, his Stars had a stirring comeback for the second consecutive match.

The subsequent 3-3 draw against Sajnur was a let down as the Stars conceded the final goal in the 79th minute to rob the team of two important points, but with the drama of the past few days, the Stars were now in position to claim one of the guaranteed knockout round places in the Cup of Harmony.

It still didn't change Connelly's answers about his intentions of retiring, but it definitely gave Sarzonian football a major boost. Sarzonia were expecting to field a team in the next World Cup cycle and the team was going to come in with some momentum and a batch of memories that would last a lifetime.

The reverie of an exhausted, defence-oriented manager was suddenly broken by seeing a commotion in the hotel lobby.

Connelly heard a rumour that a woman with grey hair and a ragged silver dress claimed to have psychic vision and insisted on speaking with Connelly.

"Oh, she just pratted on about talking to spirits and said President Sarzo wanted the team to host the World Lacrosse Championships," an apologetic Banijan police lieutenant on the scene explained to Connelly. "She also said something about a trade deal with Kelssek. She doesn't know what she's on about. We'll have her taken to the psychiatric ward."

"NO! I must talk to Connelly!" the woman screamed. "I have a message for him from Bryan Ostrom!"

That sent chills down Connelly's spine. She claimed to speak with the dead and now she claimed she had a message for him from his former boss and friend. He thought for a moment as she tried to wrest herself from the vice like grip of Banijan police to get to Connelly.

"I'll talk to her," he said. Post a guard outside that meeting room."

"But sir," the lieutenant said. "She's certifiable." Connelly put his right hand up in a stopping motion.

"It's fine." I'll talk to her. Let her go." The two officers holding her hesitated until the lieutenant said, "you heard him." They did and the woman walked briskly into the room with Connelly.

"Good evening," Connelly said with clear tension on his face. The woman started talking about visions of the team playing its upcoming match against Schottia and Stars signing contracts to play internationally.

What did I agree to? Connelly thought.

"Uh, thank you," he said, standing up from his seat across from the woman.

"There is something else," she said. "Bryan Ostrom appeared to me in a dream two minutes after the Sajnur match went full time. He told me that it was urgent that you change your mind and accept the managerial role with the Stars."

"I've already decided not to," Connelly said, trying hard not to betray his irritation.

"That's just it. Bryan doesn't want anyone else to manage the team. They aren't going to have the history with these players that you have. You're going to get your time to heal mentally. I know you're exhausted. But your team's success has a lot to do with how you handled Bryan's suicide and how you managed your own shortcomings.

"Anyone can manage a football team tactically, but only you can manage this team with everything that it's been through. Bryan was insistent on letting you know."

Connelly wasn't in any position to make a decision on changing his mind, but the conversation's dramatic turn would stay with him long after the results of any football matches were forgotten.

Sure, the woman prattled on about a lot of nonsense, but she was surprisingly coherent about Bryan. That part would stay with Connelly no matter what.

[Timuria]

Injury Bug Strikes As Red Wolves Dangle By A Thread

Timuria 2–4 Geektopia
Vatan Ercetin (38), Tekin Yavuz (82);Tetrargantrituul (41, 56, 77), Ennaeloctoldeus (68)

by Tufan Nursultan

The Red Wolves' fate is out of their hand as they fell to a disastrous defeat at the hands of Geektopia with many demanding the resignation of Bekir Altingunes over the result. The result leaves them with a narrow path to advancing with their final match against Ancherion being little more than a match for pride. Squornshelous has leapfrogged Ancherion after their encounter with Squornshelous running out 3-1 winners while Pasarga has ensured their progression with a narrow 1-0 win over Gyatso-Kai.

The early part of the first half would see a golden chance fall to Vatan Ercetin, who would see his shot saved well by the Geektopian goalkeeper. While the opposition wouldn't be able to muster much of an offensive threat in the first 30 minutes. The deadlock would be broken by Vatan Ercetin with a powerful header hitting the back of the net from a Tekin Yavuz corner. Tetragantrituul would equalise three minutes later, slotting the ball past Murat Yigithan meaning the teams would go into the break level.

Tetragantrituul, would draw the first blood of the second half both literally and figuratively, his header leading to him landing awkwardly on Berker Balkan who will miss at least one match. Another injury would befall the Red Wolves as Ozbek Sarikaya had to leave the pitch with a dead leg meaning Izzet Timur would get his debut for the national team. A hattrick of injuries would be completed with Ertan Renda needing to leave the pitch after a head-to-head collision meant he had to enter the team's concussion protocol before Ennaeloctoldeus scored in the 68th minute.

The injuries would leave the defence disorganised, meaning that Tetragantrituul would earn his hattrick, making Izzet Timur look a step slow before slotting home. Tekin Yavuz would get a consolation from a well struck effort from the edge of the box, but it would be far too little, far too late.

What They Said After The Match:

Bekir Altingunes: "Look we're obviously really disappointed and there's nothing more to say. At this point with the injuries piled up in this match we're going to evaluate some of the younger players and ones we don't see much of in the next match."

On becoming Vizier: "Some former colleagues have clearly had too much to drink or smoke if they think that's something that's going to happen. You'd think we'd have a system where a candidate would have to consent to being nominated, but we don't and that's happened I can only hope that the parliament comes to its senses and doesn't elect me. I doubt I could job share between Vizier and manager of the football team and as I understand it, the vote has been delayed so I wont worry about it for a while."

Player Ratings:

Murat Yigithan 6/10

Ozbek Sarikaya 6/10

Eyup Mustafa 5/10

Berker Balkan 6/10

Gokdeniz Dag 5/10

Atilla Acar 6/10

Yusuf Ihsanoglu 6/10

Tekin Yavuz 7/10

Caner Turan 6/10

Ertan Renda 6/10

Vatan Ercetin 7/10

Substitutes:

Yildiray Sabuktiginoglu 6/10

Izzet Timur 6/10

Metin Aytacoglu 6/10

Man of the Match: Tetrargantrituul - What more can be said for a player who took control of the match? A hattrick alone merits this award.

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 L 4-2
MD 5: Ancherion

[Vdara]

Back at the training ground, somewhere in Banija

The players were working harder than they ever had. They wanted to qualify, and they would qualify. They would try their best to qualify. The dream was not dead.

“Come on, boys!” Sideropoulos shouted, determined to win the next game against Bolgano. “Lift those knees when you run! Swing those arms! Pretend a defender is behind you!”

At that moment, Vlahiades broke the Vdaran National Team player speed record, with a top speed of 33.2km/h. Not like anybody knew, since they weren’t using speed cameras.

“Impressive speed, Tryfon! Make that better!”

“Will do, boss!”

Although delighted at Tryfon’s speed, Iosif was nervous. His job was in jeopardy, and the board wanted better than a last place finish. To keep this job, he was gonna have to good and god damn get that higher than last place finish.
Problem was, that the board had already selected his replacement in the event that he finished last. Not that Iosif knew, but the board had a man.
A man by the name of...
Lükækš Væñøœrëñbérghüïś.

Væñøœrëñbérghüïś was a foreign-born Vdaran international who retired before this World Cup cycle. He was never that good, but boy was he a good tactician.
He had been the assistant coach for the National team for a while, and seemed keen to take the job.
However, if Sideropoulos qualifies for the Cup of Harmony, he’ll keep his job.
Væñøœrëñbérghüïś knows that Sideropoulos can’t even qualify in the first place, so his spot as new Vdaran manager and head coach is safe.

The question remains, however...
can he continue the dream?
will he dare to dream?
does he like macaroni?

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
Knock-outs hanging in the air following two bitter defeats

Savojarna have hit one of their hardest moments so far in their football career in the Cup of Harmony following a late defeat at the hands of Kandorith. The underdogs from Pot 5 have started out well with an early goal by Matsuda, who found a gap to the bottom left of Petrova after Kjaer had mistimed a tackling and missed the ball on the foot of Matsuda. They could pick themselves up and get another goal back before the break as Otalainen found a brilliant gap between the lines to launch Jashkin, who laid the ball back onto the foot of goal scorer Freya Sigurdsdottir. The Ejanan bashed it home strong, and could celebrate the goal that, had it remained the final result, would have seen Kandorith and Savojarna tied on seven each - a great position to qualify for sure. This great position must have been why, despite the aggressive push of the Northlights right before the break, they retracted themselves afterwards.

The retract came as a bit of a surprise as Sigurdsdottir had headed the ball against the bar, and Otalainen missed wide right before the break. There had been one more good chance for Savojarna after they switched sides, with Hoyberg being denied after a corner by the goalie. But they were then getting more and more pushed into their own half, supporting the move backwards by substituting out Hoyberg for Ljungberg and bringing on a more defensive back in the person of Arjonsson. This made it harder to react to the increasing pressure of Kandorith, and while the Savojars held on long, they eventually cracked. It was again Matsuda who pushed forward, and dribbled past Ljungberg before sending down his colleague. This time it was Katano who got the honours, sending the ball flat past Petrova into the net. The Savojars collapsed in the remaining nine minutes, failing to make an impression against a seriously motivated Kandorith side and being held back by the defensive outlook of the Savojar side towards the end of the match.

The loss puts Savojarna into a delicate position, needing to not only beat the top seed Squornshelan Remnant States (although they were quite clearly off the pace thus far) but also into hoping for support from other teams. To make things worse, upon review it looks like manager Rune Zackrisson will be suspended following comments made after the loss against Hampton Island. The Savojar manager had stated in a press conference following the match: “It’s really a disgrace that we get incompetent refs here while the best ones are at the World Cup, and I think that it undermines the value of the competition what we saw today”, referring the incident where left back Lars Jensen saw a red card against Hampton Island following a claim of an Island player that the defender had punched an opponent. The TV pictures showed clearly that there was no punch by Jensen, nor a punch-like motion. The defender had held back his opponent at a corner, after which the Hampton Islander had pushed off his hand, and Jensen ripped it free from the grip of the Islander - an action that SFS referee and SavojarSports.sj expert Ingvald Hornqvist called “a common interaction at a corner, really - maybe something I’d issue a caution for if it happens a lot, but not a card, and definitely not a red. And definitely not if I hadn’t seen it myself”.

Following the conference, Zackrisson received an individual warning by the WCC. He had then gone on in an interview with STV to call the decision “highly regrettable, and something I have absolutely never seen before” and requested that the referee in question should no longer be allowed to arbitrate any further game. He then proceeded to say that the team would give an answer on the pitch, before muttering to himself, but still live: “The fuckers will see what this brings them, sending donkeys to ref us”. The organisers, upon receiving this tape, have then decided to ban Zackrisson for the two remaining group stage games, however the penalty was delayed by a protest of the SFFB. Having rejected the protest, the WCC banned Zackrisson for the next two official matches played by the Savojar national team, which means he will watch the game against the Squornshelan Remnant States as well as a potential octofinal from the stands. No Savojar official wanted to comment on the decision, with rumours surfacing that Zackrisson had received an official order to stay silent on the manner. Our stance on the issue remains that the decision was a scandal, and the Savojar team was treated gravely unfair; the SFFB seems to agree as they have lodged an official protest on the pitch which was initially declined due to the decision being a decision made on the pitch by the referee, which could not be reverted after the fact. However, the SFFB has pledged to explore further avenues for legal pressure, claiming that the Cup of Harmony had serious monetary implications for every federation and this mistake may significantly cost them, given the fact that the scoreline reversed following the red card that has been at the centre of the controversy.

In the whole drama, more drama was added back home as a flurry of twii.tur messages were washing down over the Savojar team as Matts Pedersen was playing a great game against Kandorith, re-igniting the small debate that had existed previously about Pedersen’s status as a substitute and making it into a much, much bigger deal. The young left-back had been wildly successful at Pasargan top club Tanrısal, securing himself a starting spot and regularly playing in the club’s Champions League run while Lars Jensen has played a not particularly spectacular season on a CASK side that missed international football entirely. However, in the national team Rune Zackrisson had reverted to Jensen as he took over the Northlights, sparking the ire of twii.tur’s hobby analysts. Initially put into position to stabilise a shaky defence, Jensen has been singled out as uninspired and not sufficiently aggressive to crack defensive teams or keep up pressure the way Pedersen has done, and that Zackrisson was showing favouritism towards his former CASK player.

Pedersen himself decided to remain quiet on the issue, whereas Zackrisson commented that Jensen had been playing well until his unfortunate dismissal against Hampton Island, and that he was lucky to play with a superb left side that he had to choose someone from. The online community has taken the opportunity to highlight a general issue with foreign leagues, claiming that too many players abroad do not get sufficient recognition. They have been quick to expand the problem to Victoria Maersk, regular over at North Sabrefell in the Nepharim Premiership but not a regular player in the Savojar national team mainly because of her limited compatibility with Zackrisson’s system, and goalkeeper Iiro Pakanen who played in the Champions League with Banija’s Jinja City FC. Data shows indeed that the Savojars abroad have been surprisingly unlikely to be called up, and that the SFS structurally overlooks talent if it doesn’t fit into the speed-and-strength SFS style, such as with Niina Kivistö (considered too small and feeble for the SFS but playing regularly in the ANL) and Maersk herself. The discussion will certainly continue in the new year, as a record number of Savojars leave the SFS.

[Xanneria]

Xanneria suddenly thrust into spotlight!
By Steve Stevenson

HAWTHRONE - With one game left, Xanneria has gone from desperate to in the lead of their group at the CoH Qualifiers. A special 3-2 win over Terre Septentrionale saw two goals from Glenn Hailey and an absolute rocker from reserve striker Johnny Wright. The game was played before a near capacity crowd of 72,000 with most fans donning the Maroon. The weather which had been quite a talking point with several matches messed up by rain and poor pitch conditions was beautiful and sunny. The western Xannarian coast offered up some great summer weather and beautiful temperatures. Despite the recent problems that befell the FLOX community with both the discovery of a referee with anti-Razneta bias and the issue with Dwight Stadium having poor groundskeeping records.

So the game was a fairly decent Xannerian affair, with a 3-2 scoreline being the final score, you could say it was a traditional Xannarian game if not a slightly low scoring one. With Glenn Hailey's immenent retirement from International Football coming up, people were wondering when he would have his final hurrah, Maybe this was it? Hailey looked amazing and like his younger self when he played for Capital FC. His technique looked like it was his old self, and the Septentrionalian defenders couldn't do much about it. Even if they RTS team did get up to a 2-1 lead in the first 45 minutes, Hailey came back and took his team on his back with two late goals beating up on the RTS team. Also with Devonelle Laymore out with a facial injury incurred from the Sarian game, it was Johnny Wright who took his place. Wright who plays in the Mushroom Kingdom for AMK Powerhouse ASC Toad Town, did well and scored a goal in the early minutes. The last game of qualifiers is against Filindostan, who are coming off of an awkward loss to Bears Armed (welcome to the club guys). Along with Filindostan's collapse against Bears Armed, this means there's an absolute banger of a three way race between Xanneria, Filindostan and Terre Septentrionale. A win and we're in, but a tie or loss to Filindostan means we have to rely on Terre Septentrionale slipping up against Razneta, and with all three games being played at once, that will be interesting to see as to what happens.


XANNERIA - 3
Wright 27'
G Hailey 56' 84'

TERRE SEPTRENTIONALE - 2
Cwierczakiewiczowa 15'
Fontaine 42'

[Sarzonia]

The night of Sarzonia’s 3-3 draw against Sajnur, which left the Stars in a potentially favourable position to qualify for the knockout rounds of the Cup of Harmony was a restless one for Kevin Connelly.

There was the comeback victory over TJUN-ia that saw the Stars yet again snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, but in a way that left his team’s defence in shambles. The defence. Connelly’s calling card as a coach was suddenly a liability after it proved the team’s strength during qualifying. The same defence that held a top-five team in the world to two goals in each match. The same defence that limited a team that by now has automatically clinched a spot in the World Cup knockout rounds to one goal in a stirring victory for the previously unranked Stars was now in tatters.

And an offence that struggled mightily in the early goings of qualifying for the proper was now its strength. Jake Campos made the adjustment to the top level. Mek’hi West had a couple of critical performances that raised his profile. And now, the Stars were quietly sneaking up the rankings. The latest statistical data suggest the Stars have reached double digits with a rank of 94, a far cry from the 255 places the Stars had to leapfrog to get there.

It wasn’t just the wins or even the draws. It was also whom they beat or drew, and when. There was the draw against Abanhfleft that dealt their chances a critical blow. There was the shock 3-1 away result that officially closed the door on Brenecia winning Group 2 of qualifying. There was the comeback victory over Kelssek that called into question the defence of the 41st ranked team in the world. There was also the epic comeback against the Jaguars that saw a team that was all but dead in the water suddenly roar to life and bring the Stars a victory. There was also the roller coaster of emotions from a team still grieving over the suicide of their manager and still smarting over the political furor with Squornshelous.

Connelly stepped away from the mini kitchen in his hotel room after washing the cup he used to heat some milk in an effort to aid his sleep. He then got into bed and turned off the light and closed his eyes.

But not for long.

“Kevin,” he heard a voice say. It was low, and it was somewhat distorted, but he bolted awake. He knew that voice.

No way. It can’t be.

“Kevin.”

“Bryan?”

“It was,” the voice said, then what appeared to be a somewhat transparent version of his late manager walked into the room.

“Buh-wha?”

“What am I doing here?”

“Yes!”

“Did Gladis talk to you?”

“Who’s Gladis?”

The ghost gave Connelly a look like you know who she is. Connelly’s eyes widened.

“The old woman?”

“Well, she’s 64, so she’s not exactly Shady Pines-bound, but yes. I appeared to her and asked her to convey a message to you.”

“But why? She’s crazy.”

“She has her mental challenges, that’s for sure,” the ghost said. “But I knew she would be able to convey my message to you, and if I can’t convince you of the importance of your staying on as Sarzonia’s manager, I’ve got a few more people in mind.”

“Like who?”

The ghost paused for a moment.

“I’d better not say. But let’s just say a few people from Sarzonia’s past all agree with me that you need to be the manager. One of them, in fact, played an instrumental role in the nation being founded.”

“You don’t mean—“

“If you’re thinking what I’m sure you’re thinking, yes.”

Connelly looked down at the floor to his left for a moment, stunned.

“But didn’t he have more important things to do in life?”

“In life, yes,” the ghost replied. “But he was always an avid sport fan, and he’s rooting for this team now. He believes you will have ample time to heal after the Cup of Harmony and the World Cup are finished and well before the next cycle begins.”

“Any other clues who it might be?”

“I can’t say anything more than that,” the apparition declared. “But I can say this: You have helped this team, this country heal in ways you can’t begin to imagine. And this team will help you heal the way you’ve helped them, but only if you carry on as manager.”

With that, the ghost turned and left, leaving Connelly to think for a moment. Almost at random, Connelly opened his laptop and saw pictures of Franz Braddock and Dave Wilson appear instead of the usual ones of his daughter and wife. The images disappeared a second or two later, but Connelly realized his story as manager was no longer approaching a period. Instead, a semicolon was about to appear.

[Bears Armed]

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

_______________________________________

Bears Armed vs. Filindostan
Venue: City of Hawthorne Stadium, Hawthorne, Denalia, Xanneria.
Score: 2-0. (Bears Armed win.)

Goals
Bears Armed (2): Kuthbearrh (#10) @ 42’ (assist: O Redbank [#23]); Brent (#11) @ 83’ (assist: Thunderbolt [#21]).
Filindostan (0): (none)

Attempts
Bears Armed: 16
Filindostan: 9

Shots On Target
Bears Armed: 5
Filindostan: 4

Red Cards
(none)

Substitutions due to Injury
(none)

(material by Arrieth Grey, for ‘The Bear Necessities’, composed before the game)

Back to Hawthorne, for the second of the Belles’ three scheduled group-stage matches there. Yet another morning-time game, to the slight discomfort of some of our people, players, fans, and — ayyuh,, hokay, I do admit it — reporters, alike: Still, at least the ‘simultaneous games’ schedule for MD5 means that the team’s next match will be an afternoon one.
Two good things about this stadium: (1) the pitch here doesn’t have a raised “pitcher’s mound” for the sport called ‘Baseball’ — which, in case you haven’t already heard of it, is apparently a variation on Rounders — obstructing the footballers’ paths and shots through one area, like the pitch at Catalan City where this group’s MD3 games took place; (2) it’s large enough that the Filindostan fans with their megaphones trying to outdo our own fans with their drums and unamplified voices isn’t completely deafening.
Filindostan’s team is known as the ‘Red Garuda’, which invokes the name of a bird-like supernatural being from their traditional beliefs. From what I’ve heard about their earlier matches in this Cup they seem to favour a less ‘attacking' style than the Belles, but still one that’s not as heavily-weighted towards defence as some teams that our girls have faced… and they are capable of speedy counterattacks when they smell an opportunity for one. Their current ranking on the NSWCC’s tables is at exactly One-EightSquared’th, almost halfway between the Belles’ own current position and the very top of the list, and they’ve won just over half of their matches so far — in all international competitions — which is around the same share that our girls have enjoyed. So, this should be an interesting match.

(extracts from notes made by Arrieth Grey during the game)
Belles are starting Serranna Orchards (#14) as goalie, due to K. Ulgha’s suspension, with Sarrathee Thunder (#30) on the bench: I’d thought beforepaw that they might maybeso go for the other way around, but couldn’t find out for sure… Maybeso this decision was left pretty close to last moment, anyhows?
Belles win toss, take kick-off. (Good; They seem to win slightly more often when that’s the case… Might be coincidence, might give just that little extra boost to their morale, maybeso even indicates [at least sometimes] whether the Spirits are favouring them?) Kuthbearrh kicks ball back to O Sarrndale… Belles press high and hard, as usual, but the Garudas are aggressive defenders. Verrry active game…
Orchards does good work… but so does Filindostan’s staring goalie ‘Vera’ (#1). F.’s players are being surprisingly “physical” for Humans playing against Bears, our girls are having to be careful not to treat them like other Bears instead: We don’t want to get anybearry else suspended! (Hokay, we don’t want to injure any of the other team, neither… Much…)
O Redbank takes the ball from F.’s RB ‘Tessin’, kicks it high over the “skirmish” to Kuthbearrh, who heads it into the top left corner: 1-0.
Active play for the rest of that half, the ball’s goes right down the pitch & up again five times in just five moments (2 of ‘standard time’, 3 of ‘added time’).
Belles don’t make any changes at half-time; Filindostan replaces ‘Escobido’ (#10) with ‘Sampaga’ (#24) in front row.
To & fro, to & fro, up & down the field, and back, and back… Attempts for both sides, some each on target; Garudas are starting to look tired, replace ‘Teterisa’ (#9) with ‘Batara’ (#15), also in front row…. And onwards… Eightieth minute [SevenEights-and-one’th moment] Belles take Kuthbearrh off, bring on Thunderbolt (#21) also — it seems — in front line. (No reason obvious…Find out after game, if can…).
2 moments later: O Sarrndale dispossess Batara, long pass to Thunderbolt, Thunderbolt dribbles ball along inwards towards F.’s penalty box, through the defence… flicks it waist-high between two Garudas, one of whom flinches visibly away from line of shot, to Karra, who traps it against her chest and down to her feet, up to her head, off of the right crossbar, and IN!
2-0.
Filindostan are never coming back from that, not at this state of the game and after all their exertions so far... Surely?
For true! So it goes… The Garudas still defend, but no more counter-attacks.
The final whistle blows, and it’s still 2-0 to Bears Armed.
And so, that’s a much-needed win for our girls.
________________________________________________________

This brings the Belles up to 6 points and to fourth place out of six in the group, with all three of the higher-placed teams on 7 points each. This means that we can still progress for this Cup’s knockout rounds if our girls win their concluding group-stage game — against The Sarian, yet another side whom they’ve never faced on the playing field before, who are ranked at TwoEights-and-seven places above urrs in the NSWCC tables but whose 1-1-2 record so far here leaves them a place (and 2 points) below the Belles in this group — too… but that depends on the results of the group’s other two MD5 matches as well. A win for Terre Septentrionale over Razneta and a win for either side in the game between Filindostan and hosts Xanneria — rather than a draw, there — would give those two winners 8+2 points each, which is to say 1 point above the 8+1 that Bears who beat The Sarian would have and so those teams would take the group’s two definite places in the next round. On the other paw a win for the Bears and either a draw in the Xanneria/Filindostan match or T.S. not beating Razneta (loss, or even draw) — or even both of those things happening — would give the Belles one of those definite places instead.
And otherwise? There are places in the next round for the two “best” third-placed teams from the groups, too, and neither of those places are already beyond our girls reach — anyhows, not if they beat The Sarian — neither…


(continued at viewtopic.php?f=7&t=479512&p=36653999&hilit=wings#p36653999 ...)

[Timuria]

Vizier Election Delayed

by Demet Yildiz

The long anticipated vote for Vizier in the parliament has been delayed in light of the suspension of party groups being lifted because, of the emergency budget being proposed by the governing TIOC. The emergency budget is being brought forward due to reports of infrastructural issues related to several provincial bridges being unsafe and another that reported that several city apartment blocks are falling below the expected standard of living. In a statement Prime Minister Sabuktigin Imamoglu said, "Nothing can detract from our duty as politicians to take care of the welfare and happiness of our people. In light of the time available before the current Vizier's time in office coming to an end we feel we can deal with these urgent issues as well as provide our economy with the adjustments it needs."

The proposed budget has raised eyebrows with a large amount of "development funding" being added to the budget, usually taken to mean the building of leisure facilities, though recently it has been used for sporting infrastructure sparking rumours of a potential expansion into other sports besides football or a bid for a tournament. This comes as the six month countdown to the Vizier's term coming to an end has begun, failure to nominate a successor or the indication that a successor could not be nominated by the current parliament would result in a snap election.

The Candidates for Vizier:
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)

[TJUN-ia]

TJUN-ia Update: The Winged Jaguar Flew Too Close To The Sun...

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

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

OOC: When Scoring these games I discovered something rather unfortunate. Apprently TJUN-ia had mistakenly been given a KPBRank of 78.2 when it should have been 7.82. Due to this I had to rescore the TJUN-ia / Sarzonia match. So when I re scored the game it turned into a Sartzonia 4 TJUN-ia 3 scoreline. APologies to both parties involved, but I had to go back and fix this to make the game more fair. Both of you guys will still retain your RP Bonus from this game but the results have changed in the score line in MD3 and basically now Sarzonia and TJUN-ia will have swapped places.

Apologies for this mistake

Wow. Just Wow.

Has this ever happened before: A game played where a result we all thought happened....didn't exist? (OOC: I'll ask Audioslavia)
It turns out that the game we thought we won in Istria...didn't exist. 3-1 never existed. 3-4 did.

Kelssek won 4-2 against us in Lwanga. We fall from top to bottom.

Hapilopper: Show us mercy.....or end us all. Either is acceptable to us...

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) Lost 3-4 (3rd)
MD4: vs Kelssek (41) @Lwanga City Arena, Lwanga Lost 2-4 (6th)
MD5: vs Hapilopper (50) @Hangaza Unified Stadium, Aissa

[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
Part 3: https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=479512&start=125#p36645864
Part 4:https://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=479512&start=150#p36649433

Jeruselem 3 - 3 Ziwana : Akambuku Hold Off Jeruselem in Thriller

By Chosadziwa Botolo

ZCOMM Sport @ Nortonshaw Professional Sports Stadium,Nortonshaw, Hampton (Att: 40,000)

The match against jeruselem was a must win or draw match. Jeruselem being a stronger opponent, Ziwana was going to play defensively in a 4-4-2 formation. The football was not going to be very entertaining at times but the Akambuku had to hold onto their qualification spot. It was a cold evening in Nortonshaw and the pitch looked horrible as the players walked out of the tunnel. Jeruselem were first to sing their national anthem followed by Ziwana which saw the players and supporters sing the Unity from the bottom of their heart passionately. After the national anthems the players shaked hands and the referee blew her whistle to start the game. The game started with Prince Hamish Harry Dallas passing the ball to Jason Massa who run down the right flank and crossed it to Reece Banister who shoots the ball wide from a distance. That chance shows Jeruselem's attacking intent as they need a win against Ziwana to get a chance of direct qualification to the Round of 16.
Ziwana played with a low defensive line forcing Jeruselem forwards to shoot from a distance and these shots were easily cleared by centre backs, Rateau and Kaphale. Jeruselem winger Daenerys Taragon tried to stretch the Ziwani defense by running on the left flank, hugging the line but the ball run out of play for a Ziwani throw in. Harry Ngonamo's defensive tactics seemed to be working, Jeruselem always struggled to break down defensive teams and it was working towards the Akambuku's favor at this point.
In the 21st minute Taragon tried to stretch the Ziwani defence by running down the left flank but as she gots pressured by Ah Fok she crossed the ball towards an unmarked Prince Hamish who headed the ball past Jean kane to put Jeruselem in the lead. The goal silenced Ziwani fans and got the Jeruselem fans stirred up as they celebrated. The first half ended with Ziwani players looking dejected.

The second half started with Jason Massa crossing the ball into the box but the ball was too high for Prince Hamish and it was easily punched out by Jean Kane. Jeruselem won the corner and it was taken by Jeremy Corky, Ziwani defence failed to clear the corner and small guy Reyna Castillo headed the ball past Jean Kane. The second goal gave the Jeruselem players more confidence and they controlled the game leading to their third goal in the 70th minute from a Prince Hamish bicycle kick . With jeruselem 3 goals up, Ziwana changed up tactics to an attacking 4-3-3. Jean-Marc Mourgine and Hashaan Casimir come in for Jean Wilder and Haqawi respectively. In the 72st minute Hashaan Casimir blasted through the right wing, cut in and passed it to an unmarked Charles Payen who slided the ball between Belle Maestrom legs to give Ziwana their first goal in the 73rd minute. Belle Maestrom should have kept her legs closed. The goal seemed to boost Ziwana who 5 minutes later scored another goal from a Jean-Marc Mourgine 20 yards shot that was hit the crossbar and bounced down over the line. With Ziwana catching up jeruselem changed tactics to play more defensively but were unable to stop the Akambuku from scoring. In the 89th minute Casimir was brought down by Jamie Damma in the Jeruselem penalty area. A penalty was given and Mourgine stepped up to take it
Belle Maestrom saved it. The save had Jeruselem players celebrating but it did not last long as the ref ordered the penalty to be retaken as Maestrom hadn't stayed on the line. Prince Hamish got furious with the ref and as he argued with her pulled on her shirt forcing her to send the Prince off with a red card. The penalty was retaken by Mourgine and this time he put it in the top right corner to complete Ziwana's comeback. This goals had the Ziwani fans jumping up and down.

After the match Ziwani manager, Harry Ngonamo said that he was happy at the character the players had shown to come back from 3 goals down. When questioned about nervous he responded that the match was a really nail biting experience and he was still shaking. he went on to say that for this comeback to count the players had to focus on winning the next match against Lisander.

[Trolleborg]

Newmanistan once again showed us the benefits of experience in international matches. Most experts predicted such an outcome. Yes, we all hoped for a better outcome, but, alas, luck did not favor us this time. Our players do what they can, fighting valiantly, but it’s not enough. Now it all depends on the last match of the group stage, in which we are opposed by Brusseldorf, the most highly-ranking team of the whole group. Vdara gave us a royal gift, beating them, and allowing Trolleborg to stay on the second place, keeping hope to continue the fight. Now our group in a difficult and confusing situation, and under certain conditions any of the teams may be in the coveted two first places. But, it must be admitted, situation in group A is much more confusing, here first three teams have equal number of points.

TTV again give us a full picture of what and how happened and how things looked like on the field.

Chapman, 22(0-1)



Kerr,26(1-1).



Chapman,29 (1-2)



Beyer,67(1-3)



at 74' as it seemed to many, our team scored a goal, but, unfortunately, this is not the case, since the ball probably did not cross the goal line



Gulbranden,77(2-3).

[Bolgano]

Bolgano 3-2 Newmanistan
Bolgano 0-1 Busoga Islands
One day a dream, the other day a nightmare

Bolgano 3-2 Newmanistan
NEW: Chapman '27
BGN: Evans '30
BGN: Frizzel '54
BGN: Evans '67
NEW: Beyer '75

It is only our first time, again, Newmanistan known for being dangerous in our group, we must be clear that the Rockets had many opportunities to have a place for the Playoffs, Bolgano dreamed of that same goal, in a game to remember Bolgano before Brusseldorf, they hoped to repeat it, but, I'm sorry, the narration of the game has just begun, just beginning and the emotions arrived here in Banija, Chapman opened the score for the Rockets for a good goal impossible for Nines, who has not had a match with the arc at zero in this Cup of Harmony, seeing only how the celebration and happiness would last a short time, was Evans the spoiler for Newmanistan and the hope for Bolgano, with a good long distance shot, Scarpa did not even have the minimum opportunity before this shot, 1-1 the break, at a time in the second half, Daniels Frizzel managed to get after a center of Birgot, a shot from Razor, Scarpa stopped him but the shot I am in the hands of the national 9, 2-1, 13 minutes later, a free kick committed by Tim Marley plus a Yellow Card receipt, in that free throw Tom Evans managed to score a super goal, in addition to the discount that scares Bolgano, Jerome Beyer managed to get a good pass from Stoddard, Bolgano took the time to the defense and managed to survive this match.

Bolgano 0-1 Busoga Islands
BUS: Khano '18

Before the game the great disadvantage was already known, Busoga Islands players are accustomed to playing in Banija, all these places are positive for them, Busoga players play in the BSL (same acronym as the Bolgano Soccer League, coincidence?) where to play in these stadiums as I said, is favorable for them, starting the game, Khano in the 18th minute managed to score a goal with a good game of passes, ended with a low shot where Nines stretched but it was impossible for him, the only goal of this match where Busoga won but it cost.

Group E                         Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Newmanistan                       4   2  1  1    7   5  +2    7 Playoff
2 Trolleberg                        4   2  1  1    7   6  +1    7 Playoff
3 Busoga Islands                    4   2  0  2    5   5   0    6 Third Place
4 Brusseldorf                       4   1  2  1    9   9   0    5
5 BOLGANO                           4   1  1  2    7   8  −1    4
6 Vdara                             4   1  1  2    5   7  −2    4

How Bolgano can classify?: It may be impossible but the key to success is the following: Bolgano must win if or if Vdara, Busoga Islands must lose to Newmanistan and Trolleborg must beat Brusseldorf, although qualifying through the Third-Party Ranking will be another problem.

[Geektopia]

Geektivities
*Be cool, be woke.
Matchday Chronicles: 2-3

Squornshelous
|1| - |0|
1': YC for #1 Hexacthularxitet (GEE) and #6 Pentacthulitercubor (GEE)
14': ⚽ Goal from #6 Ralf Tjaeder (SQU)
16': #15 Else Breiner (SQU) -- replaces -> #2 Dorthe Stroll (SQU)
23': #70 Brantley Ence (GEE) -- replaces -> #5 Hecta-ennaxis (GEE)
27': #20 Juhani Ljungman (SQU) -- replaces -> #5 Anselmi Voronin (SQU)

---

[HT] 1-0 [HT]

---

"They've played us pretty well, I have to admit. Now Squornshelous are probably going to park the bus on this one, so a defeat would be humiliating."

---

[FT] 1-0 [FT]

---

"The defense was like a Flat right up until the 14th minute. The Squornshelan mind games were only beginning. We've spent all that time ironing out our defensive row and Squornshelous just then parked the bus. This defeat is inexcusable! I love you lads, but we're going to have to grind out these results focusing on our attacking and defending alone. Once Ancherion have managed to go through the forward side they'll be disillusioned by the low-quality play at midfield and think our defensive side is just as bad until they're confronted with the reality that we didn't come here to get a bus parked on our turf. The defensive alignment will look for crosses or long balls and dispossess at every chance, then the midfield and attacking sides will warp into a 2-1-3, and that's how the counterattack leading to goal works. Now, did you all get that down?"

Hecta-ennaxis - "But this totally goes against what you said about 'Attacking Pass Formations'!"

"Just try and make it work."

Ancherion
|4| - |2|
1': YC for #7 Ennaeloctoldeus (GEE) and Christina Leech (ANC)
14': #23 Kolby Wamboldt -- replaces -> #7 Ennaeloctoldeus (GEE)
15': YC for #3 Googolplexidudexithrex (GEE)
16': #21 Ira Tuckerman -- replaces -> #9 Octuple-hyper-terinngathordeus (GEE)
19': RC for #5 Hecta-ennaxis (GEE)
24': ⚽ Goal from Ali Roberts (ANC)
34': ⚽ Goal from Kolos Haynes (ANC)

---

[HT] 2-0 [HT]

---

"Come on team! We may be 2-0 down from a Ranked 62, but we can turn the tide! You guys know what that flag looks like? You didn't need to answer, you all know it's Savojarna, that's a rhetorical question. We beat a side that was better than Ancherion in the midst of WC qualifying pressure, if anything, that was the highest-ranked side that we bested, and we did it without a prior knowledge of tactics. If you all can apply what I've taught to you since than it should be an easy turnaround."

---

63': ⚽ Goal from #21 Ira Tuckerman (GEE)
69': ⚽ Goal from Courtney Petro (ANC)
75': ⚽ Goal from #8 Pentacthulteron-turreted-horriocterated Pentacthuldekon (GEE)
83': ⚽ Goal from Chrisanna Leech (ANC)

---

[FT] 4-2 [FT]

---

"Remember what I said about focusing on our attacking and defense? Well, I wouldn't say you should just focus on that per se. The passing was HORRENDOUS. In fact, this game alone cements our worst pass accuracy and least possession of all time. Thank GOD it wasn't a WC qualifying game! Take this advice, you'll need it. Focus on your passing as well but don't let it get in the way of the Attacking Pass Formation that will ultimately put you to 4th place."

---

Attacking Pass Formation Used:

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

Squindeed

Position: Head Manager, Confederacy of Squornshelan Remnant States National Team

Are you interested in coaching football internationstatally?

The Squornshelan Confederate Football Association is looking for an individual who has a passion for failing to meet our fans expectations. Under the guidance of the SCFA's executive board of extremely stable geniuses, the Head Manager will lead a roster of overpaid prima donnas to a likely first-round exit at the Ninth Independent Associations Championship while making appropriately optimistic excuses and putting in countless hours of work to little or no effect. The Head Manager will be responsible for running the day to day operations of the Confederate national football team. Specific duties will include, but are not limited to: predicting a deep run in the IAC, which will no doubt spur us to qualification for World Cup 85; losing the opening match of the IAC group stage by at least three goals; shuffling the roster after each match in an effort to "build player chemistry" try a new formation in the second half; and hold postgame pressers to explain how well the team actually played, and how they were unlucky not to take full points. Blowing three goals leads in must-win matches is not required, but will be appreciated.

The Ideal Candidate Will be able to:

1. Recognize a football
2. Spell "Squornshelan Remnant States" (you get two tries)
3. Find a goalkeeper under the age of 30
4. They don't have to be a good goalkeeper
5. Just anyone under 30
6. Misuse substitutions
7. Not use substitutions
8. Find out where the real Jzeovak Vladcik has been hiding the past two years
9. Prepare the fans for the day when the Imperium passes us in the rankings
10. Recommend their own replacement (approx. 1 year from now)

Required Experience:
None - Entry-Level Position

Contact:
Just go hang out at your local sports bar. That's apparently where we found the last guy.

Apply Now!

[Hapilopper]

A practice field, somewhere in Banija
Leading up to the last match of the knockout stage of the Cup of Harmony: Hapilopper v. TJUN-ia
Considering the Haps were in danger of being knocked out of the group stage of the Cup of Harmony, they were actually rather relaxed about it. Rather than stressing out over it, the team’s players were actually enjoying their time in Banija, feeling that before long, they would be on the plane back to Hapilopper and back to their domestic teams for the start of their league seasons. But maybe they were being a little too relaxed.

Dominic Probst, president of the Hapilopper Football Association, was watching the Haps about as relaxed as could be and was not the slight bit happy about it. To him, this explained everything. It explained the draw against Schottia and the losses to Kelssek and Sajnur. The team was unmotivated and not performing to the level that they should have been. They were underachieving, and it seemed like they didn’t care. He watched as Ernie Stevenson and Fernie Fairburn were joking about possibly doctoring the ball, or possibly the pitch, for the Hapilopper-TJUN-ia match coming up.

“You see, what I’ve done here is I’ve borrowed several superballs from my brother,” Ernie said. “This thing bounces and it’s gonna fly. You talk about a wild match, we doctor this thing and you’ll see the match of the year in the Cup of Harmony.”

Fernie, a huge smile coming over his face, wondered if that was the only thing they could do.

“Maybe we could put in a pitcher’s mound there on the field,” Fernie suggested. “We could use it as a launching ramp for some fan in the upper deck to catch a ball.”
Ernie laughed at the suggestion and saw Dom walking their way.

“Hey Probst, catch!” Ernie shouted as he fired the ball towards Dom’s way.

“Now, listen here, Stevenson…” Dom started. The ball was traveling a little too quickly for Dom to properly react to the ball. Ernie had put a little too much “oomph” to his kick and next thing he knew, the superball-laden football smashed Dom right in the nose, before bouncing wildly into the air and over the fence on the other side of the pitch. The ball was gone, but fortunately, the second Hapiloppian nose of the World Cup 84 cycle had not been broken. The first time, of course, was when Nathan Ellis, having pissed off the Vdarans, got a kick to the face courtesy of chief striker Alexis Fotellis, who had been provoked by the controversial Hapiloppian defenseman to his breaking point.

The impact knocked Dom out and added another complication to a very unpleasant trip to Banija. His exploratory research into Hapilopper hosting an international tournament had been broadcast across the nation by a reporter from the Hapilopper City Herald. He had been rebuffed by multiple government officials and had possibly ruined the HFA’s goodwill with the nation’s largest city. The national team had underperformed on an international level and now would likely be on their way out in the group stage.

And now here he was, laying on the ground of this practice field, the result of some stupid impetuosity from his chief striker. Ernie and Fernie ran to check on the HFA president, helping him up. To thank them for helping him up, Dom shoved the two off of him, staring a hole right through Ernie.

“You and I are going to talk after this tournament is over,” Dom said. “I’m not going to have you directly contradict me to the media and I’m not going to tolerate what you just did. All of you need to start taking this more seriously.”

“So are up to two ‘Come to Jesus’ meetings now, Probst?” Ernie asked with a wiseass tone in his voice.

Dom stared at Ernie with an even more deadly glare. It was obvious that Ernie’s wiseass response was the wrong thing to have said in that situation.

“Don’t push me, Stevenson,” Dom said coldly and calmly before storming off the pitch.

As he stormed off the pitch, he pointed to Head Coach Thom Perkins that as soon as training was over, the two needed to have a conversation.

Dom Probst’s hotel room, the Hapilopper Team Hotel, Busukuma, Banija
That evening
That conversation took place that evening, and unfortunately, it was not a positive meeting. Dom had put two and two together and recognized that the team had been unmotivated, out of shape and as a result, underachieved pretty badly. Instead of committing to drills and the proper bit of training that would have put the Haps in the right frame of mind against TJUN-ia, Dom saw Ernie Stevenson and Fernie Fairburn talking about superballs and pitcher’s mounds. He saw other players joking around, not really caring about the fact they were likely headed for an early exit.

“And that one’s on you, Thom,” Dom said. “You know, a couple of years ago, when we started out, we had a hard-working group of players. Everyone was ready to get up before the crack of dawn, train all day and do the work they needed to do to get ready. You cracked the whip, got everyone going, and we went undefeated in the Baptism of Fire. Now, I see a group of players who look like they don’t care. Care to explain?”

Thom looked around uncomfortably and looked out the window to find five or six Hapiloppian players misbehaving in a fountain several stories below.

“PERKINS! I’m talking to you,” Dom yelled. “I’d sure like to know why we’ve got a bunch of unmotivated players acting like they don’t care anymore.”

Thom thought about what he was about to say, fearing that his comments could risk a lifelong friendship he had with Dom. They had known each other since they were kids. They were there at Hamilton Square that day in 1980, 40 years ago, when those Wreckerian terrorists shot up the place. They saved each others’ lives that day. They went up through school together, teaming on the same soccer teams together in school, and then in the Hapilopper Football Association at a time when nobody in Hapilopper cared about the sport.

“Dom, I think the problem is with you,” Thom said slowly and haltingly. “You’ve been looking past this whole tournament. Hell, you told the multiverse it was a mere consolation prize and that you’d resign if we were in this tournament. I think the players took some cues from you. Honestly, I took some cues from you. Every other tournament, we’ve been at it with a gung-ho attitude, and it was because you were gung-ho about it. I’m sorry, but I’m not going to take the blame for this one.”

Dom thought about his friend’s response. It was true. Dom represented the HFA on an official setting, and his behavior, and the behavior of others as a result, hurt Hapilopper’s chances in the Cup of Harmony. The players saw what was happening at the top, and as a result, didn’t take the Cup of Harmony as seriously as they had other tournaments.

“So, in other words, everyone took what I said about the CoH to heart,” Dom said sadly.

“Yeah, they did,” Thom replied. “They wanted to play, but they just wanted to be here. Believe it or not, what you said resonated with them. I think we need to make some kind of statement before this last match so the multiverse knows we’re going to take this seriously again.”

Dom sat there on his hotel bed and contemplated his future. He then looked over to Thom.

“If you don’t mind, I need some time to myself,” Dom said. “I need to think about what’s happened.”

Thom respected that request and walked back to his hotel room. The next morning, as the Haps woke up to get ready for another day’s worth of training, he waited downstairs for Dom to join him to head to the practice pitch to get ready for the Hapilopper-TJUN-ia match. Dom never came. 10 minutes passed. 20 minutes passed. 30 minutes passed. Finally, Thom rushed upstairs to find a note stuck under his hotel room door.

FROM: Dominic Probst
TO: Thomas Perkins
RE: Leave of Absence
Thom,

After careful consideration to your comments tonight, I have decided it is in the best interest of the Hapilopper Football Association and the Hapilopper National Football Team to take an extended leave of absence from my position as head of the Hapilopper Football Association.

Until the team returns from Banija, you are in charge of the HNFT. A decision will be made concerning my position at the HFA upon the next meeting of the Board of Directors as soon as we return home from Banija.

I do not know when I will return from my leave of absence, but I do know that these last few months, particularly concerning our failure to qualify for the World Cup and our performance in this tournament has been mentally and emotionally exhausting. I just need some time off to get my head back in the game.

You have my phone number. Call me if you need anything.

Your friend for life,
Dominic

Thom looked at the letter for a very long time and thought about its meaning. Dom had taken a leave of absence, and he wondered if there was any further meaning to his words. Worried, he called his friend and erstwhile boss to see if he was OK.

“Thom, I’m fine. Thanks for your concern, but I’m back home in Hapilopper City,” Dom responded. “I caught a red-eye from Gonzaga International. Tomorrow I’m driving to Lake Eclipse and spending a few days out on a boat there. I just need to take some time away from the sport and from the HFA. I’ll be fine, Thom.”

[Sarzonia]

For one night, it was nice to hear Sarzonian English spoken as the primary language.

The Stars returned home to Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock for a quick friendly against HUElavia between the matches against Sajnur and Schottia.

It might have seemed to be a strange decision for Manager Kevin Connelly to arrange a friendly, in particular during the Cup of Harmony, and especially against a team competing for a spot in the knockouts of the World Cup, but Connelly said he wanted the team to tighten up its defence.

"We've conceded 10 goals in the last three matches," he said. He pointed out that only Group F leaders Kelssek have coughed up more goals than a team that prided themselves on their relatively stingy defence.

"We wanted an opportunity to see how we fare against a team currently in the World Cup," striker Jake Campos said. "We know we can compete at a high level, but we felt that this would be a good litmus test."

The best grade the team got was an incomplete. Sarzonia only scored a goal courtesy of a bad giveaway by defender Ismael Hierro that resulted in a Brady Reynolds goal in the 18th minute. Meanwhile, striker Mek'hi West tried to clear a cross from Patrick Petit out of danger in the 33rd minute, but his header struck the ball awkwardly and it caromed past Carlton Sandt and into the goal for a disheartening equaliser.

The rest of the match was about ensuring that everyone got important minutes and even the chance to try things they wouldn't during a match that counted. When the referee blew the whistle, the Stars walked off the pitch after exchanging pleasantries and jerseys with HUElavian players.

Little did any of them know they were going to get the real drama in the dressing room.

"Team, listen up!" Connelly said. After the team's murmuring died down, he cleared his throat.

"I've, uh, been doing a lot of thinking. I know I said at the beginning of the cycle that I was going to retire again." He became aware of murmuring again and raised the palm of his right hand out.

"I spoke with the IFF and I am not retiring after all." He waited for a minute and a half whilst the players applauded and cheered wildly.

"I will take some time off after our run in the Cup of Harmony is over to get some rest," he said. But let's just say I talked to a couple of people who convinced me to stay. "

Well, one person and a ghost, but who's keeping track?

The crux was that an opening the Incorporated Football Federation was looking in a dilatory way to fill never was truly open to begin with. The Stars had their choice and they didn't have to obtain a work visa for them.

And for a team that didn't play a match that counted, this was a real win.

[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.]

Poafmer Times and Sporting Daily Special Edition: Who is in and who is out?
It is that time of the year again, where we watch the World Cup in its full glory. This year is the year of the World Cup 84, as well as the Cup of Harmony 76. The Cup of Harmony is a competition for teams of nations which have shown great sportsmanship (OOC: Great RPing), who unfortunately failed to make it to the World Cup, and these nations will come together and compete for a separate trophy.
This is our nation's first full cycle, and also the first time we are reporting on the World Cup and the Cup of Harmony. We have done the same a few times last year, and at the start of this year, at different junctures of the World Cup Qualifiers. Today, we go deep into both the Cup of Harmony and the World Cup to find out who is making it out of their groups, and who stands a chance to do so pending the penultimate matchday in 2 days time.
We start with the Cup of Harmony, the "smaller" competition but definitely not small in terms of number of teams. A grand total of 42 teams are competing for the Cup, and with holders Main Nation Ministry choosing not to participate this time round, a new team would be crowned champions in Xanneria and Banija, where the competition is held. The competition starts of with 7 groups of 6 teams, with the top 2 teams and 2 best third-placed teams qualifying for the Round of 16.

Legend for all tables as shown (Head-to-Head Results may not be taken into consideration for the tables at the moment as the group stage is not completed)
Red (E) - Eliminated out of the World Cup/Cup of Harmony
Green (Y) - (For Cup of Harmony only) Unable to compete for top 2 positions in the group
Blue (Q) - Qualified for the Round of 16

Key Match in bold

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

Matchday 5 Fixtures
The Sarian vs Bears Armed
Terre Septentrionale vs Razneta
Filindostan vs Xanneria

Razneta and The Sarian are both eliminated from the Cup of Harmony, with The Sarian falling behind to Xanneria, Filindostan and Terre Septentrionale based on Head-to-Head (H2H) performance. The Sarian only managed to draw Xanneria and defeat Razneta, losing to both Filindostan and Terre Septentrionale. With that in mind, there is no way The Sarian could overhaul 2 of the 3 teams on a H2H Points tiebreaker. (2 of the 3 because at least one of Xanneria and Filindostan would get more than 7 points, with their meeting in Matchday 5).
We can always look at the form book for the remaining 4 teams:
Xanneria: LWDW
Terre Septentrionale: WWDL
Filindostan: WWDL
Bears Armed: WLLW
Xanneria is a team on the rise, having gone unbeaten apart from their opening-day loss to Bears Armed. On Matchday 4, Xanneria defeated Terre Septentrionale, while Bears Armed defeated Filindostan, giving both Xanneria and Bears Armed much momentum going into the final Matchday. Xanneria is definitely favourites to defeat Filindostan, while Terre Septentrionale should have a easy game at Razneta. Bears Armed should avoid slipping up at The Sarian, because even if Terre Septentrionale wins, and the Filindostan-Xanneria match ends in a win for one side, Bears Armed is likely to qualify as one of the best 3rd place teams around.

Group B                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Lisander                  4   2  2  0    9   5  +4    8
2 Ziwana                    4   2  1  1   12  10  +2    7
3 Jeruselem                 4   1  3  0    8   6  +2    6
4 New Lusitania             4   1  2  1    7   8  −1    5
5 Saintland (Y)             4   1  1  2    2   4  −2    4
6 Appalachian Nation (E)    4   0  1  3    5  10  −5    1

Matchday 5 Fixtures
Ziwana vs Lisander
Appalachian Nation vs Jeruselem
New Lusitania vs Saintland

Winner takes all in Ziwana vs Lisander, where Ziwana would be favourites despite having one loss to Lisander's none in the Cup thus far. A win for either side guarantees top spot and qualification, while a loss might put their qualification in jeopardy given that the top 4 is only separated by 3 points. Jeruselem plays bottom-placed Appalachian Nation, which have been eliminated, while New Lusitania plays Saintland. Saintland cannot get top 2, having lost to Ziwana 1-3 in Matchday 3, but they would be motivated to push for 7 points and hopefully qualify as one of the best third-placed teams. The likelihood of 7 points being enough? You can read about it later when we talk about current 3rd placed teams, but chances are, it may not be enough unless you have an excellent Goal Difference.

Group C                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Pasarga (Q)               4   3  1  0   12   7  +5   10
2 Squornshelous             4   2  1  1    8   7  +1    7
3 Ancherion                 4   2  0  2   12  12   0    6
4 Geektopia                 4   2  0  2    9   9   0    6
5 Timuria                   4   1  1  2    9  11  −2    4
6 Gyatso-Kai (E)            4   0  1  3    5   9  −4    1

Matchday 5 Matches
Gyatso-Kai vs Squornshelous
Geektopia	vs Pasarga
Ancherion	vs Timuria

Pasarga, top seeds and highest-ranked team in the tournament, qualified without much surprise. On the other hand, Squornshelous looks like favourites to defeat Gyasto-Kai and grab 2nd qualification spot. Geektopia needs a miracle against Pasarga, but Ancherion vs Timuria would be interesting. Just like Saintland, Timuria has 4 points. Unlike Saintland, they had a 4-2 win against Squornshelous on opening day, so they could qualify as 2nd place. Both Ancherion and Timuria would be rushing for that second place, so this could be the must watch for this group.

Group D                    Pld  W  D  L   GF  GA  GD   Pts 
1 Balqia                    4   2  2  0   10   7  +3    8
2 Tamgu                     4   1  3  0   11  10  +1    6
3 Mercedini                 4   1  3  0    7   6  +1    6
4 Flavovespia               4   0  4  0    5   5   0    4
5 Mattijana                 4   1  1  2    4   6  −2    4
6 Mkabia (E)                4   0  1  3    7  10  −3    1

Matchday 5 Fixtures
Mattijana vs Flavovespia
Mkabia vs Tamgu
Balqia vs Mercedini

While Balqia vs Mercedini would be an important match for both sides, it is definitely more important for Mercedini than Balqia. Tamgu would have an easier match at Mkabia, so Mercedini would need a win to match Tamgu. For Balqia, they could play for a draw and qualify quite comfortably. The more intriguing match would be Flavovespia vs Mattijana, where a win for either side is necessary to have a shot at qualifying for the knockout stages. Failure to win would signal the end of the road for them. Mkabia, despite the huge effort made by the team, is unfortunately out.

Group E                           Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Newmanistan                       4   2  1  1    7   5  +2    7
2 Trolleberg                        4   2  1  1    7   6  +1    7
3 Busoga Islands                    4   2  0  2    5   5   0    6
4 Brusseldorf                       4   1  2  1    9   9   0    5
5 BOLGANO (Y)                       4   1  1  2    7   8  −1    4
6 Vdara (Y)                         4   1  1  2    5   7  −2    4

Matchday 5 Fixtures
Brusseldorf vs Trolleborg
BOLGANO vs Vdara
Newmanistan vs Busoga Islands

We are not giving a must watch here. All three matches have rather interesting things in them, considering that everyone wants a win here in this group. It is complicated with regards to Top 2 slots. Vdara cannot qualify as Top 2 because they lost to Newmanistan and drew Trolleborg. If they are level with points with Trolleborg then Brusseldorf would be on 8 points and overtake the both of them, so either ways Vdara cannot get Top 2. They are, however, not out because a win for both Trolleberg and Newmanistan, together with a win for Vdara, is enough to bring them to third place and possibly a slot in the Round of 16. On the other hand, BOLGANO defeated Newmanistan but lost to Trolleberg. Assuming they get level with Newmanistan, this would mean that Busoga Islands won and moved to 9 points. It does not matter whether Trolleberg wins, draws, or loses. If Trolleberg wins they would be on 10 and top 2 would be Busoga Islands and Trolleberg. If Trolleberg draws they would be on 8 points, and top 2 is still Busoga Islands and Trolleberg. If Trolleberg loses then Brusseldorf wins and moves to 8 points, so top 2 would be Busoga Islands and Brusseldorf. Either ways, there would not be a BOLGANO, so they cannot qualify as Top 2 teams. Regardless, every match is important, even for Vdara vs BOLGANO, where the winning team could compete to be third place.

Group F                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Kelssek                 4    3   0   1    15   12   +3     9
2 Sarzonia                4    2   1   1    12   11   +1     7
3 Sajnur                  4    1   2   1     6    8   −2     5
4 Schottia                4    1   1   2     9    8   +1     4
5 Hapilopper              4    1   1   2     5    6   −1     4
6 TJUN-ia (Y)             4    1   1   2     7    9   −2     4

Matchday 5 Fixtures
TJUN-ia vs Hapilopper
Sajnur vs Kelssek
Schottia vs Sarzonia

Hapilopper's only saving grace is that they defeated Sarzonia on the opening day, and still has a chance at 2nd place if Schottia does the same, considering they both drew on Matchday 4. Despite Kelssek already qualifying, Sajnur should not expect an easy match as Kelssek needs all 3 points to secure top spot. The most important match would be Schottia vs Sarzonia, as that would likely dictate where the second spot is going, especially since Sarzonia needs to be wary of a Sajnur win while Hapilopper would hope that Schottia wins and for them to have a slight chance if their win is bigger. Meanwhile, TJUN-ia, which unfortunately lost to Sarzonia, would need to pop Hapilopper's hopes by winning to get any chance of qualifying as best third placed team.

Group G                           Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hampton Island (Q)                4   3  1  0   11   5  +6   10
2 Kandorith (Q)                     4   3  0  1   10   9  +1    9
3 Savojarna (Y)                     4   2  0  2    5   6  −1    6
4 Poafmersia (Y)                    4   1  1  2    9   9   0    4
5 Euran Oceanian Territories (Y)    4   1  1  2    8  10  −2    4
6 Squornshelan Remnant States (E)   4   0  1  3    8  12  −4    1

Matchday 5 Fixtures
Savojarna vs Squornshelan Remnant States
Euran Oceania Territories vs Kandorith
Poafmersia vs Hampton Island

This group steals the cake. The top 2 spots taken by the fifth seed and the sixth seed, while the top 4 are stuck playing ping pong with one another, hoping and praying that the best third placed team spots would come to them. Savojarna's matchday 4 loss to Kandorith literally sealed the group, and yet they still have a get-out-of-jail-free ticket by winning top seeds Squornshelan Remnant States and getting one of the best third-place teams, which is very likely with 9 points. Meanwhile, Poafmersia and Euran Oceania Territories can only blame their poor runs and have to rely on a miracle to get out into the Knockout stages. Poafmersia would need to beat a in-form Hampton Islands, which bamboozled everyone with their weird playing styles and strategies.

Current Ranking of third-placed teams
#  Team					P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD Pts
B3 Ziwana				4  2  1  1  12  10  +2  7
A3 Terre Septentrionale			4  2  1  1   6   5  +1  7
D3 Mercedini				4  1  3  0   7   6  +1  6
C3 Ancherion				4  2  0  2  12  12   0  6
E3 Busoga Islands			4  2  0  2   5   5   0  6
G3 Savojarna				4  2  0  2   5   6  -1  6
F3 Sajnur				4  1  2  1   6   8  -2  5

So is 7 points enough? Based on a look here, it is very unlikely as many teams can surge beyond 7 points. With only the best of 2 third-placed teams to qualify, it might be a tough cookie to bite if you are a 7-pointer. Nevertheless, you should try and aim for it, because who knows what is next?

Now we are done with the Cup of Harmony, let us move on to the World Cup. The groups of 4 teams are much easier and straightforward, so we do not spend much time here.

Group A                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ko-oren                2   1  0  1    3   2  +1    3
2 Cassadaigua            2   1  0  1    2   1  +1    3
3 Turori                 2   1  0  1    2   3  −1    3
4 Chromatika             2   1  0  1    1   2  −1    3

Matchday 3 Fixtures
Chromatika vs Turori
Ko-oren vs Cassadaigua

This host's group is really cancer. All 4 teams are on 3 points, with similar Goal Differences. Ko-oren and Cassadaigua's advantage is in Goal Difference, but no one can actually tell who would qualify. Theoretically, Ko-oren just needs to not lose to qualify, because they would qualify ahead of Cassadaigua on Goals For. Meanwhile, Chromatika needs a win to have any chance, as a draw would put them behind Turori on Goals For. Cassadaigua can qualify with a draw if Turori vs Chromatika ends in a draw, but they would also need a win to be more secure.

Group B                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Eura (Q)               2   2  0  0   10   5  +5    6
2 Kita-Hinode (Q)        2   2  0  0    6   3  +3    6
3 95X (E)                2   0  0  2    5   9  −4    0
4 Valanora (E)           2   0  0  2    3   7  −4    0

Matchday 3 Fixtures
Eura vs Kita-Hinode
95X vs Valanora

Commiserations to 95X and Valanora. Both of them are out and they would need to play another match for personal glory against each other in Matchday 3. Meanwhile, Eura and Kita-Hindoe play for first place in the other fixture, with Eura gaining an advantage of a superior goal difference putting them ahead in the case of a tie. Eura performed very well at the qualifiers, but Kita-Hinode are no pushovers, so although we predict Eura to win this decider, we think it might be a rather close match here.

Group C                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Farfadillis            2   2  0  0    6   3  +3    6
2 Banija                 2   1  0  1    4   3  +1    3
3 HUElavia               2   1  0  1    1   2  −1    3
4 Zwangzug               2   0  0  2    1   4  −3    0

Matchday 3 Fixtures
Farfadillis vs HUElavia
Banija vs Zwangzug

Group D                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Brenecia               2   2  0  0    4   2  +2    6
2 South Covello          2   1  0  1    4   4   0    3
3 Mriin                  2   1  0  1    5   4  +1    3
4 Darmen                 2   0  0  2    2   5  −3    0

Matchday 3 Fixtures
Darmen vs South Covello
Mriin vs Brenecia


Group E                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Free Republics            2   2  0  0    2   0  +2    6
2 Nephara                   2   1  0  1    2   1  +1    3
3 Baker Park                2   1  0  1    4   5  −1    3
4 Drawkland                 2   0  0  2    3   5  −2    0

Matchday 3 Fixtures
Nephara vs Drawkland
Free Republics vs Baker Park

Similar groups with similar permutations. We do not have to go down into "how many goals should X win by", since it would take a rather long time to calculate, but we know that Free Republics, Brenecia and Farfadillis needs to not lose. And it might be quite simple for Farfadillis, with a match against HUElavia, the fourth seeds. For Brenecia, maybe not so, since the opponents are Mriin, which are quite a strong team when they are at their 50% or so capabilities. For Free Republics, a draw may be good enough.

Group F                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Vilita (Q)                2   2  0  0    5   1  +4    6
2 Audioslavia               2   1  0  1    4   3  +1    3
3 Siovanija & Teusland      2   1  0  1    1   2  −1    3
4 Sargossa (E)              2   0  0  2    0   4  −4    0

Matchday 3 Fixtures
Siovanija & Teusland vs Audioslavia
Sargossa vs Vilita

Unfortunately for Sargossa, their loss to Siovanija & Teusland and Audioslavia in the first 2 matches means they are out. And Vilita's win against the same teams mean that they are first. Well then. So it's left to the two teams to fight for second place, with Audioslavia being the favourites. As for an upset, we are not ruling it out.

Group G                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Taeshan                   2   2  0  0    5   1  +4    6
2 Equestria                 2   1  0  1    3   2  +1    3
3 Apox                      2   1  0  1    2   2   0    3
4 Port Ember                2   0  0  2    0   5  −5    0

Matchday 3 Fixtures
Apox vs Taeshan
Equestria vs Port Ember

When Equestria lost to Taeshan the last time out many people were screaming "Defending Champions are out!" To us, we think that is as possible as Port Ember beating the talking ponies. It could be done, but the odds are low and we don't see how Apox and Taeshan can qualify at the same time. Assuming Apox wins Taeshan, and the head-to-head points goes down to 3 apiece. Head-to-head goals are currently at: Apox -2, Equestria 1, Taeshan 1. Apox needs to win by 2 goals for Equestria to get out.

Group H                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Starblaydia               2   1  1  0    4   1  +3    4
2 The Holy Empire           2   1  1  0    5   3  +2    4
3 Reçueçn                   2   1  0  1    4   4   0    3
4 Qasden (Q)                2   0  0  2    0   5  −5    0

Matchday 3 Fixtures
Reçueçn vs Starblaydia
The Holy Empire vs Qasden

Actually this is similar to those 6-3-3-0 groups, but The Holy Empire and Starblaydia has an advantage. Still, Starblaydia would need to not lose to qualify, while The Holy Empire would prefer a win lest Recuecn wins Starblaydia by one goal only. Apart from that, we have nothing much to say about this group, since tiebreakers may not be needed at all here.

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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) Draw (3-3)
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