Baptism of Fire 49

[Licentiapacisterra]

PIR-1
Cuboneland 1–1 Ogedei (1–1 AET) (4–5 pen.)

[Cuboneland]

The Cuboneland Times

We apologize for our failure to publish anything yesterday, because the publishers were all drunk and riding on the printing press in their underwear like the poor machine was a horse. Needless to say, we've sobered up and replaced our printing press.

To begin, Cuboneland shocked the world by winning 3-0 against Austenersey. It got off to a good start at 12 minutes with a goal by Cuboneland's strongest forward Alex Jolt. Twenty-three minutes later Xavior King of the Raging Cubones scored their second goal. Cuboneland's strong defense resisted any Austenersey efforts to score, following through with another goal by Jolt at 85 mninutes for a big win for Cuboneland, putting them into a game versus Ogedei for a chance to make it into the Round of Sixteen.

The match in question happened today. Cuboneland's defense could stand up to Ogedei's offense.

It began with Ogedei and Cuboneland locked in a period of boredom that many have come to associate with Cuboneland's football. However, at 47 minutes Ogedei's forward Loki evaded Frederick Bender to score a goal past DJ Holloway for the first goal.

Cuboneland's relatively weak offense struggled to make a goal against Ogedei, but at 79 minutes Elias Flash managed to score off Ogedei's backup goalkeeper Torunn after Solveig took a ball from Jolt in the ... family jewels, which put him out.

The game ended in a 1-1 tie. Overtime was played, but no more goals were scored.

Cuboneland lost, unfortunately, on the penalty kicks. While all of Cuboneland held its breath, Jolt, King, Tokugawa, and Flash each scored their goals. However, while Ogedei scored all their penalty kicks, Chris Savior choked and missed the goal, leading to a group of angry Cuboneland fans attempting to storm the field to attack Savior.

Cuboneland might be out of the Baptism of Fire, but the Raging Cubones hope to appear at the World Cup.

[Thaulandi]

Bet online today with TH-Bet.com!

The best ratings, the best odds, the most matches!

We have the Champions' Cup, the TNL, the KNL, the BoF!

Just some odds (after 90 minutes):

Swyftlandre - East Shippensburg, 1,50 - 4,67 (draw 3,50)
Yelvoldia - Azox, 2,25 - 3,10 (draw 1,95)
Thaulandi - Falcania, 2,75 - 3,05 (draw 3,45)

[click]

Odds explained:

Thaulandi are in the better position here. They have a +6 GD, while Falcania have +5. Of course, Thaulandi have had the advantage of the blowout 7-1 win, but then again, Thaulandi has 12 points from the group stage, while Falcania has 11. That's 2-0 for Thaulandi in our book. Falcania did win their group without any losses, Thaulandi lost against Fanchnopolis. That's the only match Thaulandi lost points, while Falcania lost four points (because of two draws). Still, this statistic makes it 2-1 right there. The stadium, Estadio Sobresa, can even amplify the weakest of chants: no advantage for any fanbase here: 3-2. We put the odds on 2,75 vs. 3,05 because of the small difference between the teams, while a draw after 90 minutes gets you 3,45. Guaranteed the best odds out there!

[Falcania]

"Did you see it?"

"Of course I did, youngblood, the whole fogging country saw it. Did you see it?"

"Uh, sort of."

"Sort of?"

"Yes, dad. There was this... uh, there was this fogging lowland bitch in the room next door, she banged on the wall and I missed it."

"Did you give her what for?"

"Yes, dad, marched right in there."

"Wish I'd seen the look on her face!"

"Yeah, she was witless, dad..."

"That's my girl! Ha, that's my girl."

"So will we see you tonight?"

"Look above the Falcon end, me and Dann and Bobb Warnar from accounts, we've brought the big flag."

"Sky above, you're flying the flag behind the goal?"

"You betcha. We're going to try and scream out the acoustics. Proper battle-screech. Dann was in the Skymarine, he taught us how. There's about four hundred of us, the papers are calling us the Stupid Flockers."

"Nice. I wonder where they got that."

"Give them a break, if they were any good at anything they wouldn't be in the press. Anyway, they say the police in this country are even more corrupt than Morningstar. So we're expecting a good ruck after, your mum's posted bail in advance."

"You've got your dragon claws?"

"Course I do. Gonna ruin someone's day. Send him back to Thaulandi in a fogging ambulance."

"Listen, dad, I gotta go. I'll call you after the match, OK?"

"You'd better. I love you, youngblood."

"Love you too, dad." Maxile hung up the phone, and sat on the bed. Eklen was still out. And, really, she didn't know anyone else in this city. She suddenly felt very lonely, and very homesick. She wrapped her flag around her and lay down on the bed, silently contemplating sleep. She was out before her head hit the pillow.

[Charruterra]

Apuestas PURÉ

Here we are once again at Apuestas PURÉ, to tell you the odds of every Round of 16 match. Remember that the bets will be accpeted only in NSDollars and you must call to the following number to get your bet accpeted through the internet: 2-700-WE-STE-WEMEAN-TAKE-YOUR BETS or also 211111888990000223311223434, whichever you like the most. You can also bet at our local in Stealing Avenue 2200.

The Holy Temple of Bacon Strips 1.22 - 2,04 High Heels
Thaulandi 3,04 - 1,20 Falcania
Swyftlandre 1,14 - 4,50 East Shippensburg
Yelvoldia 2,00 - 1,78 Azox
Svengarda 1,12 - 10,60 Ogedei
Estope 1,50 - 1,50 The Javahe Islands
Fanchnopolis 1,14 - 4,02 Charruterra
Kintratar 2,30 - 1,90 Super-Llamaland

Happy betting!

[Falcania]

---

"Reports coming in that the odds on Falcania winning their first round of sixteen match vary wildly depending on whether the nation is competing against Falcania in their first round of sixteen match."

"That's right, Jack. My insiders tell me that Joha Kruppie has bet a lot of money on Falcania in this coming match."

"Not all of it his own money, I'd imagine."

"No doubt, Jack. It's an open secret that Joha Kruppie is connected to Falcanian crime syndicates throughout the world."

"That's a lot of cut-and-shut money being laundered, Tom."

"It sure is, Jack."

"My dad always taught me you don't gamble with another man's money, Tom."

"Bet you wish he taught you not to go around banging prozzies, eh, Jack?"

"Where the hell did you even get 'insiders', Tom, you're like twelve years old and you have no friends."

"Being 'inside-er' was the problem, wasn't it, Jack?"

---

[Azox]

Azox National team update:

Azox found out their path of fate at the Baptism of Fire playoffs. As the 12th seed of 16 remaining teams, the Triangles will face 5th seeded Yelvoldia, who only lost to the prohibitive favorite The Holy Temple of Bacon Strips by the score of 4-5. it will be an interesting clash of styles, as Yelvoldia had the 3rd best offense in the group stage, and Azox was tied for the 2nd best defense. On the other side, Azox was tied with Cuboneland for the worst offense, amongst the playoff teams, and Yelvoldia did allow just 5 goals in 5 games. If Azox is to win this game, they have to maintain their stiffling defense and hope they can get a lucky break or two on the offensive side. Not many people are placing any stock in Azox to advance, unfortunately, I can't see it either. My Prediction: Yelvoldia 2- Azox 0.

[Fanchnopolis]

Since the match for the round of sixteen wasn't played yet, it isn't time for the players of the Fanchnopolis team to write another entry in the team's diary, which is our only way to discover more about the impression of the players about the competition and their opposition. But I am an expert in Fanchnopolis football. My name is Valdecir Malfanti, and I follow every round of the Fanchnopolis national league, so I can talk more about the style of the team... give you more footballing information about the country, since it seemed to become more known due to incidents not really related with the sport, but more with our culture.

Império Vazio are the current champions of the league, and we have three representatives of their team in the National Squad, all of them starters. They are a slightly offensive team, which relies on the extremely good team chemistry between the players and their knowledge of each other's styles. Due to this, the team chemistry also carries on to the National Team, since both the starter offensive midifelders are in the Fanchnopolis team. With Marino and Sandra together to create the goalscoring chances, they can work together and with talent. Danizinha is other member of the team in Licentiapacisterra, the slightly clumsy and pessimist winger who is, however, tall and talented by using her head and strong shots. She is a much likeable person, following the idea that Império Vazio has nice people as members.

Uni-Ribs were champions of two seasons ago and arguably the best team of the nation. The team has four players in the National Team, but only two of them are starters. The others are reserves Nustron and Yara, who can appear and some matches and are very talent. But we have to notice that Uni-Ribs are very agressive, with strong players which try to score in the first minutes. So, the fact that the other two strikers of the starting eleven, Vlasevic and the star player Lynn, are of this club, make us understand why the Fanchnopolis team attempts to be agressive in the playing style, trying to attack with strength. This is why the attack was usually seen as the top sector of the squad, and we were surprised to discover that Fanchnopolis is having a much better performance on the defensive side.

Rua Augusta, third place in the league, also have four women in the National Team. And all four of them are starters! That's why it's Rua Augusta, and not the champions Império Vazio, the ones that appear in the discussions in which its questioned which team is the best of the country, getting compared with Uni-Ribs. Of the four players, Renitt is the least popular, but if we think that Fanchnopolis' defence is being sensational, then she should receive more praise. Nratzel is essential in the attacking moves of the team, since she links superbly the moves with Vlasevic. But the other two are the most popular. Idol and diva, the goalkeeper Divara is a legend inside the country, while the team captain Frots is responsible for the National Team's entire organization, acting also as the coach... she is seen as the founder of the Fanchnopolis football team. Rua Augusta rely in rigid strategies and formation, so they play focused and with a lot of order and prepared moves, always using refined moves and lot of interaction between the players.

Bofetadas' biggest star is full-back Baloto, but she is not the preference of all the Fanchnopolis fans for the position. She plays for a club that values creative freedom, and this doesn't fit much with the more rigid style of the Rua Augusta team mates. In the end, we could then consider the fourth force of Fanchnopolis football to be Atlética Central. The team known for its strong defence, giving a lot of value to determination and will to fight for the ball. The players are encouraged to risk themselves in order to get the ball or to find the best opportunity to score, which can lead to mistakes. The team has three women in the Fanchnopolis squad, just one of them a starter: Mile Cremezi, who rose to fame thanks to her participation in the incident involving Fanchnopolis players' tradition of playing naked. But she proved her talent also on the pitch, since she is one of the main responsibles for the good defensive record of the team. Palspar also got popular, and many hope to see she playing more games as a starter.

So, this is the combination that created the Fanchnopolis National Team. A core composed by Rua Augusta players, with more popular individuals who can then organize the team following the style of their own club, which praises well-formed tactics and rigid formations. There is space for creativity, but it must be creativity focused for success in the match, not for just the sake of playing beautifully. In the end, Fanchnopolis train hard set pieces and innovative moves, but ones that will get repeated and be part of a strategy. This idea of rigid organization helps to control all the rivalries inside the squad.

The presence of the Império Vazio players help in this point, since they are encouraged to play in harmony with their team mates and to improve the team chemistry by being loyal to both opponents and members of the squad. So, they help to improve the climate inside the dressing room, and to avoid conflicts. With this, the aggressive identity of the Uni-Ribs team doesn't get reflected on the players from the team that are members of the National Team. They would be more prone to get engaged in arguments with other people in the squad. Instead, this aggressive nature is diverted to the pitch, so they attack with determination... which also gets reflected in the prized defence of Fanchnopolis, with the leadership of Cremezi. This is the style of Fanchnopolis. Individuals with their personal styles, combined in domestic clubs that have their personal views on the game and valued characteristics, which then reunite themselves in the National Team to form this unique, and so far successful, strategy of playing.

[High Heels]

From the journal of 19-year-old starting keeper Kaisa Cuban:

Bacon for dinner, anyone? I heard our next opponents are for sale!

As for our pigs, our team is now up for sale to any willing party, with prices starting at £1000 (Where else are you going to get Meat that can play football?)!

Pig #30200 looks delicious! (But if we lose we won't be able to stand the smell of pork for weeks.)

This can't be any tougher than playing that robot team in Starblaydia. Wait, we lost to the robots on spot kicks. Better watch some piggy video.

[Svengarda]

Sub Thommason's late winner seals superb comeback

Although qualaification had been secured for the Ice Hawks after their 3-2 victory over Neuseeland, the team still had one more game to play, against another already qualified team, Ogedei. Simon Adfossen decided to ring the changes, making 7 changes to the side that beat Neuseeland, including Pal Lorensen replacing Toms Holt in goal.

Ogedei came out all guns blazing and instantly put the pressure on the Svengarda side who were looking to sit deep as usual. The first chance came on 5 minutes, when Bothvar's low swinging shot was easily parried by Lorsen and smashed away by Jarvinen. But the Ogedei came again, this time in the form of a rapid run from Kaetil down the right, and he placed a perfect cross right into the six yard box, and a mix up between Lorsen and Raske left Loki unmarked and unchallenged as he slid the ball into the open net. Pal Lorsen looked particularly unimpressed with the goal.

Svengarda tried to bounce back, but were hampered by poor control and were often guilty of not taking chances against a defence that looked weary at the best of times. Waaserson and Boghos Danielsen got frustrated in front of goal, whilst the defence were caught off guard several times during the half. None more so than on 32 minutes when a long ball from the Ogedei defence split the Ice Hawks open and playing in Loki who slammed the ball past Lorsen and silenced the still voal Svenga fans.

Things looked dismal for the Ice Hawks as the rain began to fall and they kicked off again, and they needed a spark from somewhere. That spark, thankfully, came from Boghos Danielsen in added time on the end of the first half. A ball from the byline from Jazpes Vang landed at the feet of Danielsen, who moved on the inside of the defender and charged into the box, before picking his spot and placing it with gentle precision into the top right corner.

Half time, and despite clawing a goal back, Andfossen gave the team an earful. The rain came down heavier as the second hlaf kicked off as the Ice Hawks were determined to get some goals.

There was a much better showing from the team. They played with more vigour, and looked to expose the gaps in the Ogedei team, who were tiring already at 60 minutes, but still no goals.

70 minutes ticked by, and the Ice Hawks had had several chances to equalise. Finally, on 74 minutes, the ice broke. A counter attack off an Ogedei corner set Truls Waaserson off at a gallop in a three-on-two situation with Vang and Danielsen. He unslefishly slid it to Vang, who clipped it over the keeper and bobbled into the open goal. 2-2, and the fans were in raptures.

The balance had really shifted now, and Ogedei were desperately trying to hold out for a point, but the third goal seemed inevitable. The Ice Hawks attacked again, and Truls Waaserson was hacked down by Haefnir, earning him a red card and Svengarda a free-kick in a great position. Pekkanenn promptly floated the ball in and it bounced all the way to substitute defender Thorvald Thomasson, who smashed it under the Ogedei keeper and made it 3-2

The game ended that way, and the fans and coaching staff were certainly pleased with the team's performance. But guess who'd the play in the next round because of their number 2 rank? Ogedei...

[Licentiapacisterra]

Cyan-and-Gold Observer

Road To Abingdon Kicks Off In Earnest Today

Following the conclusion of the play-off game in Rofi and St Bart’s, 16 teams now know who they will be heading against on what has been named “The Road To Abingdon” on the Media Boulevard. With big names such as Falcania and High Heels and surprise packages like The Holy Temple of Bacon Strips and Super-Llamaland fighting each other for the two places at Gardiner-Stewart Stadium.

There is only one flaw in the plan to hold the Final in Abingdon. As soon as the RLFA made their announcement, the Gaelic nationalist group Abingdon United, who marched on Group E matches at the Coliseum of the Gaels over the last couple of weeks, announced that they would stage a protest at the stadium. There will be the obvious security army out in force at the ground to stop any serious sabotage, but is this simply giving a dangerous, possibly terrorist, group a stage ?? We’ll find out when the tournament reaches its final stages...

...and this is the cut-off for the Round of 16 in the Licentian half. Scores will appear below shortly.

[Aguazul]

La Verdad

"We're just gonna take their word for it, I guess"

A few Baptism of Fire fans are remembering that Licentiapacisterra did indeed play in Aguazul three tournaments ago. "The entire group stage? Seriously?" said one fan. "...Huh, I guess you're right. So apparently I should say something about coming full circle or a nostalgia kick or, like, something." "Are you sure?" another one asked. "Did we, you know, manage to spell their name right on the scoreboard and everything? Wow, I guess we did. Hmm, maybe we're better at this hosting job than we give ourselves credit for."

The Holy Temple of Bacon Strips 1–2 High Heels
Thaulandi 0–1 Falcania
Swyftlandre 6–0 East Shippensburg
Yelvoldia 3–5 Azox

To play:
High Heels vs. Falcania (Estadio Peluque, Ciruelas)
Swyftlandre vs. Azox (Estadio Conabora, San Pablo)

[Licentiapacisterra]

R16-1
Svengarda 5–2 Ogedei
LTI Stadium, Montfort, Montfort Parish

R16-2
Estope 0–2 The Javahe Islands
Gardiner-Stewart Stadium, Abingdon, Abingdon Parish

R16-3
Fanchnopolis 0–1 Charruterra
Adamson Park, Montfort, Montfort Parish

R16-4
Kintratar 3–0 Super-Llamaland
Barton Software Arena, Colesham, Colesham Parish

So, the quarter finals for the Licentian half are:

QF-1
Svengarda vs The Javahe Islands
LTI Stadium, Montfort, Montfort Parish

QF-2
Charruterra vs Kintratar
Gardiner-Stewart Stadium, Abingdon, Abingdon Parish

[Yelvoldia]

YBC Sports News - Football - Yelvoldia 3-5 Azox

Written by Tom Nitwick

We are out of the 49th Baptism of Fire after losing a 5-3 thriller to Azox - a team who consist of shapes - in the tournament's round of 16. We can still be happy about our overall performance at the tournament, though.

We were the ones to take the lead, with our star striker, Roger McLeod, dinking the ball over the Azoxian goalkeeper - who we believe is a trapezium - to give us a 1-0 lead. This was after just 112 seconds (1 minute 52 seconds).

However, Azox stormed into a half-time lead - 3-1 being the score. Their two strikers (both rectangles) volleyed home in the 5th minute and headed past our goalkeeper, Herman Barton, in the 11th minute, making it 2-1 to Azox. The two strikers got one of those goals each. And, in the 27th minute, one of Azox's wingers (both of their wingers are diamonds) smashed past Barton to make it 3-1. We desperately tried to get a goal back before half-time, but Azox's 'keeper was in fine form. The closest we came to equalizing was when Connor Evans (a badger, and our other striker) had a toe-poked shot palmed away brilliantly by the goalkeeper.

We started the second half fantastically, with two goals in five minutes at the start of the second half putting us level at 3-3. A header from Evans and a free-kick from Aaron Bïndel put us level with 51 minutes gone. These goals sparked us into life, and, for a while, it looked like we might go ahead.

However, it wasn't meant to be, as Azox scored twice in injury time to win the game heartbreakingly.

The other one of their wingers scored to make it 4-3 in the 1st minute of stoppage time, before one of their defenders - their defenders are all circles - headed home a corner to make it 5-3 in the 3rd minute of added time.

We are disappointed that we are out of the Baptism of Fire. The way we went out (conceding two in injury time) is also disappointing. However, you needn't worry - we did OK, and we will always see you later this year in World Cup 62 qualifying!

[The Holy Temple of Bacon Strips]

Number One Team in the BoF 49 Eliminated[/align]
After a large round of embarrassing other teams in their group, The Holy Temple of Bacon Strips met with High Heels and unfortunately, our Career ended there.

On a brighter note, our team has now been sent to the Slaughterhouse. (A Brighter Note for bacon eaters, not for the team). It's been fun guys, see ya' round.

[Swyftlandre]

(The countries (for the Police Chiefs) selected are merely random and will be changed upon request)

Swyftlandian Police
Shelton Tate

No deaths in the last 48 Hours, that means Bryson Kody or Felix Viktor are the main sources...although, the news that Felix Viktor had been imprisoned was made public, so that only complicates things at this point. However, I still believe, judging by the evidence, especially the dust, the scientists haven't been able to link it to anything, including death, but it's only been found in Bryson's house. If the link is made he'll be instantly made the number one suspect, but no, we need results quickly, it's obvious the longer this go's on, relationships with other nations will collapse and we'll probably end up in a state of tension, especially if the murders continue...there's got to be a quick way to solve this, we could release Felix Viktor and record the actions...no, the foreign police would never consent to that, plus we have to do it in a way where no one could become a potential victim...No, is that really the only way?

Shelton had been sitting at the table, awaiting the arrival of the world Police Chiefs for a short while now. Usually Shelton was an impatient man, but this mystery had taken his interest to the level where he'd take every moment to think about it. Once the table began to fill, Shelton began the discussion,
"Hello, now, first things first, I know you all have little trust in the Swyftlandian Police Force, but if you're willing to put trust into me today, I believe we can capture Mr. York? I'd like a decision on this now, because's there's little reason to continue else..."
"Listen, it's true you're under suspicion right now, but so far your deductions have been correct...I'm willing to listen to what you have to say." The Apoxian Police Commander declared
"I'll have to agree with Mr. Lawson, you have one chance Mr. Tate, don't mess it up..." The Slembanan Police Commander returned, quickly, the whole room albeit one two Police Chiefs agreed.
"So, on a vote of twelve to two, you're willing to trust me. I guess I'll continue then." Shelton cleared his throat, then continued, "As you know, we've discovered no leads on any of the suspects and the Media announcement was unavoidable, considering the circumstances in which he was arrested. But it came to my attention that the deaths nearly stopped while Felix Viktor was imprisoned, for this reason, I have deduced three possible circumstances, either the Crime Syndicate received word of the arrest from Viktor before he was captured, the Crime Syndicate are independent from Viktor and merely received word of the death or in my eyes the most probable, that Bryson Kody is indeed, the head of the Crime Syndicate."
"Eh, we've already deduced all of this! Is that all you called us here for!" The Slembanan Police Commander scowled
"Well, there is one new piece of information in there, why is Bryson Kody your number one enemy all of a sudden?" The Fanchnopolis Commander said
"Yes, well, I've come to link the Swyftlandre Football Deaths to the Mr. York case. Simply put, on the day the Gunman broke into his house, the neighbor of his, who lived down one floor, could hear the screaming for five minutes but the gunman only shot himself, considering he was mentally strong enough to pull the trigger suggests this was an act, especially since, on the same day no deaths occurred, except for that of Samuel Smith, who had died of a heart attack put to natural cause, due to the divorce he'd received after a twelve year strong marriage. The other reason I feel I have to suspect Bryson is because of that dust, although it's not been put as anything dangerous yet, I have reason to believe it somehow links to the case, considering it's outer-worldly traits."
"Yes, that does make sense...I had put some thought into the gunman myself, if he did get an order from Mr. York, then it seemed too perfect to have occurred at such a time for the Premier, Felix Viktor, considering he's been apprehended for a long time..." The Estopian Commander added
"Anyway, I want to prove or disprove my theory about Bryson as quickly as possible, so I have a plan..."

Bryson Kody

Why do they suspect me, no, there's got to be another reason I'm in here...but why now, is there something I missed? The Death Notes are in a secure position, the dust is harmless, plus no neighbors would have seen it being delivered, as the Shinigami died inside...but maybe their just keeping me because it's not an element. I'll just tell them I started collecting it if worse comes to the worst, I'll claim I was studying it

Bryson sat back and pondered the possibilities and came up with a way to tackle each and every mis-fortune. Eventually, a foreign police officer came to the door.
"I am Mr. Jameson of the Apoxian Police Agency" Bryson's eyes told a different story. why would he lie about his name, they haven't found the Death Note's have they?, Harold Carter, "I am under orders to release you!"
I knew they wouldn't suspect me, haha, fools. The false name is obviously just a pre-caution all members here are using
"Thank you Mr. Jameson"
"NOT SO FAST! We will release you under one condition, if you lead a Crime Syndicate, what gain would you get out of targeting Football matches?"
"I'm not in charge of the Syndicate, so I couldn't tell you"
"Just theoretically?"
"Can I leave then?"
"Of course."
"Ok then, football matches are famous for their hooliganism, it wouldn't be out of place for a gun attack to happen there...anything else?"
"No your free to go, follow me please."

Harold Carter lead Bryson out of the building, about two hours later, he'd found himself settled in his apartment again and ready to get back into Politics, just for a small while.
Heh, wonder what's been going on recently

He switched on the TV and his eyes widened to the BREAKING NEWS,
"Premier Felix Viktor has been cleared on suspicion of being the elusive Mr. York..."

THIS! THIS IS BULLSHIT! THERE'S NO WAY HE'S BEEN CLEARED, NO MORE DEATH'S SINCE HE WAS APPREHENDED, WHY WOULD THEY DO THIS...Calm down Bryson, this is perfect, I can start killing again, just for fun...he won't be able to save himself two times, they'll want to solve the case quickly and efficiently and all of the evidence will point to him...

---

For anyone who's seen/read Death Note, I've decided that Bryson can be compared to Higuchi from the Yotsuba group in terms of intellect.

[Charruterra]

Fáju took the ball once again. He was much more concentrated than any other player of the team. They were facing Fanchnopolis, one of the best, if not the best, team around for this baptism of fire. When he took the ball, he had no pressure, the game had just started a couple minutes ago, and he didn't believe it was his duty to honour Sharuujpán, he just played for fun. He thought of dribbling players as entertaining, and he soon dribbled a couple of players, before seeing himself in front of the goalkeeper. He wasn't expecting the defense to be that easy to surprise and "trespass". But he did, and when he found himself in front of the goalkeeper, he just dribbled him as any other player and didn't even shoot, he just walked with the ball until he crossed the line. It had all been too easy.

"I was expecting something more.... difficult.", he thought.

What he wasn't expecting was that he would soon get something more difficult. The goal was like an alarm clock for the entire Fanchnopolian team, they soon found themselves being much more incisive and overal better than Charruterra. They kept possesion, defended better, marked Fáju man-on-man and had much more chances. However, Charruterra went to half time with the lead, convinced that they were there to keep it, and everyone except him, thought it was because of Sharuujpán.

He wmad when he heard Cloyan giving the half time speech about how Sharuujpán had given them this opportunity to win, completely ignoring the fact that it was thanks to his goal that they were winning. It had seriously upset him. The thing that annoyed him the most was how noone seemed to even have noticed his goal, they just thought it was some kind of miracle that they were winning such a tough match. He even thought of faking an injury and asking for a substitution, he thought the team wasn't thankful enough to him, for a moment. However, Cohújaan, the only other one who was a bit skeptical about Sharuujpán, maybe not as much as Fáju, congratulated him about the goal, and told him that he admired him and to ignore all the stupid bunch, he was by far the best of the team. Fáju felt much better, he overlooked the stupidness of the entire team and heard that the time to enter the pitch once again had come.

The second half saw Cohújaan and Fáju passing, dribbling, shooting, creating chances and performing really well. However, it also saw the entire team play defensively, as Cloyan had told them not to waste the chance Sharuujpán had given them. Fanchnopolis once again took the lead, with Cohújaan and Fáju wondering what the hell was happening with everyone else. Then, Fanchnopolis scored after a long ball. It hadn't been a surprise. However, he saw the linesmen raising his flag. The goal had been taken back.

Controversy arose as everyone in the stadium saw in the replay that Janguje was a few steps behind the Fanchnopolian striker, and that the goal should've been given. However, the charruterrans ignored that and continued playing as rough as ever. Sepé soon saw the red color, after a foul only a beast would commit, he stepped over a player's face on purpose. The referee had seen him and sent him out. There were ten minutes left for Fanchnopolis to score and equalize, or maybe even win.

Everyone was nervous, except the Fanchnopolian players, they constantly attacked and humiliated the non-existant charruterran defense. They soon saw themselves inside the box shooting, only to have Máj stop all their shots.

In the last minute was when the most shocking event of the match occurred, Vlasevic entered the box, dribble Janguje and.... got fouled inside the box by Zoba Má. A penalty was given to Fanchnopolis, for them to equalize. Lynn took it. She took it Pancake Style (Panenka Style, but let's remember there was no Panenka in NS). Máj got tricked and dived to his right side. He saw how the ball hit the post. It bounce in the line and Danizinha run to score. He quickly got up and, instead of trying to get the ball, tried to knock Danizinha down, the only thing he could do in that situation. He did, he got yellow carded, too. This caused much controversy, but another penalty was given and Fanchnopolis could still score. Lynn took it once again and saw as Máj guessed her intention this time, shooting violently to his right corner. He stopped it and sent it out to an off-ball. He then heard the referee blow his whistle. They had won and he and Fáju, along with Sharuujpán, according to Cloyan, had become national heroes.

[The Javahe Islands]

"Who the hell is Svengarda?" the man asked his boss.

"Well, I don't know, but they sound like the kind of people who would have incredibly dry and uncreative newspapers, which just recap the game over seven paragraphs, adding lots of detail, but providing no actual fun-ness-ish... maybe," the superior said.

"Huh." The worker looks confused. "The newspaper did an interesting little write-up on them." He holds a copy of the Ateer Post-Dispatch out to his boss.

"Oh, did they? Let me look at that... Hmm... Ah... Yes... They look to be quite aggressive in comparison to our squad. Oh, and look. They're playing in a 4-4-2. How pedestrian."

"Plebs. Every last Svengardan. Svengardan? Svengarda-ite?"

"Look here. It says that their backup goalie, Dagfinn Simoneit, has a model for a wife."

==TWO MINUTES LATER==

"Should have known it was a child model."

"Yeah, I think so, boss."

"We must never speak of this again."

[Super-Llamaland]

R16-1
Svengarda 5–2 Ogedei
LTI Stadium, Montfort, Montfort Parish

R16-2
Estope 0–2 The Javahe Islands
Gardiner-Stewart Stadium, Abingdon, Abingdon Parish

R16-3
Fanchnopolis 0–1 Charruterra
Adamson Park, Montfort, Montfort Parish

R16-4
Kintratar 3–0 Super-Llamaland
Barton Software Arena, Colesham, Colesham Parish

So, the quarter finals for the Licentian half are:

QF-1
Svengarda vs The Javahe Islands
LTI Stadium, Montfort, Montfort Parish

QF-2
Charruterra vs Kintratar
Gardiner-Stewart Stadium, Abingdon, Abingdon Parish

WELCOME TO THE BOBBY FINNIGAN SPORTS-SHOW!

Today's guest: Captain Trevor Duncan and Goalie Tyson DeJesus

BF: Hello young men. Glad to have ya with us today.

TD: Hi!
TD: Hey Bobby.

BF: Describe the run you've taken into the Ro16.

TDe: Well, it was nice, and it gives us a ranking for the big stage: World Cup 63.
TDu: Yep, we all did well, and I bet we have a rank now!
TDe: I didn't do so good in that last one, but overall I liked how this went for me.

BF: Thank you. Next, basketball player Rick Xando!

[Falcania]

Maxile was woken by the sounds of battle.

The officials in Aguazul hadn't been kidding - the acoustics in Estadio Sobresa were excellent. She looked up to see players moving on the pitch, cheering. Someone had scored - Sky above, at this rate she was going to sleep her way through the rest of the tournament. It was full-time, Todt Brost being borne aloft on the shoulders of his compatriots. But that wasn't what caught her eye - it was the fans.

Her dad hadn't been kidding, either. The fans that had come out from Thaulandi were giving a good go of it, but the Flockers had come in force. A lot of them were stripped, wearing traditional battle-jewellery. There was an almost palpable wall of sound, focused around a point just behind the Falcanian net: the battle-scream, the primal cry of Falcanian warriors since the days of the old heroes, the days of Falcon himself. An alarming number of them had brought caraks, and were waving the two-foot blades overhead as they screamed. The officials were maintaining a firm perimeter around the actual pitch, and no Flocker had yet attempted to cross this line.

She thought she caught a fleeting glimpse of her dad in the throng, but on the other hand, she surmised, could have been very easily mistaken. Still bleary.

She yawned and flipped the channel to Airsweep TotalSport 1 and the two bickering idiots.

---

"I'm Tommen Hond, and our guest in the studio is Falcons manager, Joha Kruppie"

"Joha Kruppie of course, last seen on camera throwing heated coins at poor people."

"That's right, gents. Harmless fun, don't see what all the fuss is about - we're winning."

"We are indeed. We understand you made a lot of money on this match."

"Just a bit of a flutter."

"Approximately seven hundred thousand talons, if our sources are to be believed."

"They're our sources now."

"All above board, I think you'll find."

---

She rolled over, fell out of bed. Well, at least we were winning. High Heels next. She had a pair, she'd never worn them. Maybe that was what the fuss was about.

[Azox]

Azox National team update:

Ok, we all know that soccer is unpredictable. To have Yelvoldia score three goals wasn't the big suprise of the match, but that Azox scored five, two in injury time to stun the #5 seeded Yelvoldians and advance to the quarterfinals against Swyftlandre. Roger McLeod started the game ending Trapezoid's 408 minute scoreless streak just 112 seconds into the game, and it looked like the rout that most everyone was predicting was en route.

But Azox bounced back, with rectangle 1 tying the game up in the 5th minute and rectangle 2 giving the Triangles a 2-1 lead just 6 minute later. Diamond 2 scored in the 27th minute to make it 3-1 and everyone in the stadium, which included Azox Soccer President John Holsten and Azox soccer General Manager Abby Dearborne, were stunned into silence by the stunning offensive turnaround by the Triangles.

But Yelvoldia stormed back in the second half, as Connor Evans, a senient badger, and Aaron Bïndel tied the match within the first 6 minutes of the second half. For the next 40 minutes, the game swung back and forth like a pendulum in a hurricane, but neither team could get a winning goal in regular time. Just seconds after the side judge signaled that there was to be 4 minutes of injury time, Diamond 2 scored to give Azox a 4-3 lead. During the Yelvoldian counter, a nice tackle by circle 2 started a breakaway that would see circle 3 score Azox' 5th goal of the day, all but ending the match.

Up next is #4 Swyftlandre, who slaughtered East Shippensburg 6-0 in earlier action. Can the Triangles pull off another upset, or will the Swyftlandre attack swarm over us like the experts think.

[High Heels]

From the journal of 19-year-old starting keeper Kaisa Cuban:

We wore our new kits for the first time. Home kit, no danger of clash playing the pigs. It's too bad they're destined for the slaughterhouse, they have talent. Next thing you know their cousins may discover flight!

I think they're cute, you can definitely tell we're girls. Let me stick in a pic . . .



My strip is black with a white "1", the skorts are the same red and white. No crest at all, that's a surprise, not even ILH much less a sponsor.

In the quarterfinals we play Falcania who knocked out Thaulandi 1-0. They'll be tough but I feel good about our chances. Four in a row does that. With Thaulandi gone from the field I thought about calling 14-3652, they won't be as touchy with no match to play. But I'd better stay focused on winning.

And I must figure out how to tune out the battle-screech!

[Svengarda]

"What the FRACK is that?" moaned Elken, dragging himself from his bed and stumbling into the main room.

"Sorry, sorry, must have the sound up to high"

"Too high, it sounds like the flipping Great War"

"Sorry"

"Mah, it doesn't matter"

Elken was clearly hungover. He'd got back from the town at around 2am, and had almost passed out on his bedroom floor, but had managed to claw himself onto his bed. Not in any dignified or orthodox position for sleep. But sleep nonetheless had come. It was now around 7:30am, although he couldn't be sure. Last night he'd watched the Svenga Ro16 match against Ogedei which they'd taken 5-2, whilst Maxile had stayed back at flat, doing whatever she may have done. Bird stuff. Or something?

"Well, I'm not going back to bed now, do we have any juice? I'm thirsty as heck"

"Check the fridge. I finsihed off the orange last night, but there may still be some apple or guava left in the fridge"

"Guava? Eugh..."

Elken bent down and rattled the handle to the mini fridge. The fridge always seemed to have been old. Even when they bought it, new. The handle moved, but the fridge refused to open. He stood up and looked around the table. He picked up a spoon, and then jammed it inbetween the door and the fridge, prising it open. He scanned the layers and picked out a bright carton. He unscrewed the cap and drank straight from the bottle.

"Don't drink from the bottle, it's disgusting"

"It's fine. It's not gonna kill me"

He put the bottle back in the fridge and trudged off to his room again and turned on the radio on his laptop

That's right, we're playing the Jahave Islands. Some Islands we don't even think exist, and we've never heard of them before. They play spicy football, but no match for the yoghurt of Svengarda!

Dagfin Simoneit's house, Korska

"THEY SAID WHAT ABOUT ME?" Screamed Mara...

[Licentiapacisterra]

Cyan-and-Gold Observer

Yes, we did play in Aguazul...

Cyan-and-Gold fans are sighing yet again at the incompetence of their Aguazuleño hosting counterparts, after finding out that they had forgotten that we had played the entire group stage, along with some of our knockout round matches, in Aguazul.

“You’d think,” mused one passer-by in Montfort, “that they would make the effort to remember that we were there. You know, we had a long confusing name, we had bright kits and maybe the fact that we came fourth in the competition, you know, might remind them. It surprises me how glaikit foreigners can be sometimes...”

This reporter agrees with our random passer-by. It does surprise us how glaikit foreigners can be sometimes...

...and here is the cutoff for the Licentian half of the Quarter-Finals. Results shall appear below shortly.

[Licentiapacisterra]

QF-1
Svengarda 2-0 The Javahe Islands
LTI Stadium, Montfort, Montfort Parish

QF-2
Charruterra 0-2 Kintratar
Gardiner-Stewart Stadium, Abingdon, Abingdon Parish

So, the semi-final of the Licentian half is;

SF-1
Svengarda vs Kintratar
LTI Stadium, Montfort, Montfort Parish