WC72 RP Thread

[Jeru FC]

Naked News Jeruselem's Laura Cashman (nude) and a policewoman

Laura: This is Laura Cashmanf for Naked News Jeruselem. I'm in front administrative HQ of Jeru FC and as you can see, there's plenty of

activity with people being lead away and police taking computers. I'm with Commander Bates from the police here.
CMD: Hello everyone
Laura: This is a big operation, this must have been planned
CMD: Yes, we've been planning this for a while.
Laura: The CEO of Jeru FC corporation is one of our targets, I assume he wasn't working alone
CMD: Yes, we can't have worked alone. We've worked out who his associates are.

Laura: Jeru FC lost 1-2 to some medieval team today. This was planned after the game.
CMD: Yes, we wanted the game to finish first.
Laura: What's the main crime being committed by your targets
CMD: Mainly fraud by financial deception by senior executive staff of Jeru FC
Laura: Stealing money from Jeru FC for personal gain
CMD: Yes, that's basic thing.

Laura: What about players and coaching staff. Any of them to be questioned?
CMD: No, I think they weren't in this scheme. It was in inside job, all using dodgy paperwork.
Laura: What does this mean for Jeru FC, can they continue to function?
CMD: Yes, the football side will still go. We don't want to get their way.
Laura: What about money, will the players and coaching staff get paid.
CMD: I'm here to get justice. The auditors will determine what happens to the money.

Laura: What sort of money are we talking about today?
CMD: Millions, I can't say. We don't know really how much.
Laura: Given the dire situation, can be expect more arrests?
CMD: We've got our plan and I can't say who's next
Laura: Did any of the people resist arrest?
CMD: No, they know better we don't like that sort of thing. Our people are allowed to shoot on sight if threatened.

Laura: Will you be asking former coaches for interviews about this
CMD: We've looked into everyone in Jeru FC and who could have been involved. We won't be needing to ask former players and staff.
Laura: Do you think this would have an impact on current campaign
CMD: I'm sure but not directly. Things might be different when administration is concerned but that's for the paper pushers to determine.
Laura: Thanks you for your time
CMD: I stress to viewers, there's been no wrongdoing with the team. We think they have been the victims of these crimes.

[The Royal Kingdom of Quebec]

Waters North of Yellow Bay

The Quebecois fleet sat right north of Holy Republican borders near Yellow Bay. As much as the Quebecois were allies to the Gregoryisgodistani, they were going to be doing a separate operation to wipe the scums out. This was in part because Commonwealth Forces Commander Sidlik knew very well about the news down south, on how the Battle of Nejax has been unfolding, and they weren't too positive for his 700,000-men fleet drawn all across the Commonwealth. Seeking to minimise the loss of life, he instead decided to deviate his forces and use them to enforce the key forces up North: Legion of Lucifer and Progressives up in Amolotopia and Vorita. Not only the fatality would be far less in taking over the North with such allies, but it'd also lead to Quebecois doing what it's been most known for: Earning people's respect and popularity.

There were 28 aircraft carriers off the coast, each carrying 68 jets each. Unlike with Gregoryisgodistani jets where humans were stored for their "famous" human Blitzkrieg, they were stored with endless amount bombs that would be used to bomb the key structures where the Republican soldiers and governments were positioned in. The Royal Quebec Intelligence Service, on a co-operation with conspirators in Yellow Bay, had already obtained the map on where to exactly bomb and destroy, and where not to do so. Since the people would stay relatively tame to the Commonwealth liberators, based on the information received and gathered over last decade, bombing the entirety of city's not only a stupid but also a ridiculous option. With that being said, the plan afterwards was quite straightforward: once those structures and people involved were eliminated, the artillery and the infantry would simply blitz and take over the city. Due to relatively low and tame Voritan population, that's all they would need to do.

But before actually taking over the town, there was one thing that they had to do. Within hours of landing in their current position, 600 jets took off from their spot. 40,000-feet high and deep into the night, the fearless soldiers launched, for hours, at the Republican naval, army and air forces at Vorita. Separated into various groups depending on how far the bases were situated, they dropped their payload simultaneously, before reloading and repeating the same for hours. The military structures had little time to respond or communicate as they were attacked by the highly regular showers, before meeting their inevitable demise.

Now with the Voritan military crippled, the Quebecois were set for a journey..

Montreal Charles Merton Regimbault International Airport

It was a normal day at Montreal Airport. Being one of the key gateways to Atlantian Oceania, and home of the two strongest carriers in sporting realms of the Multiverse, it was filled with thousands of flights coming in and out of the city. There were no chronic problems that plagued other airports across the Multiverse today- the services, machineries and workers were known for being highly efficient and dedicated, and they worked as expected today. Sans passengers trying to find their way to eat and rest before getting on to their flights, the airport staff and employees were just as busy doing their jobs, the restaurants filled with customers and workers.

Today, however, was one of those unusual days back in the international terminal. All day long the enlisted entered the terminal, waiting to board their flights over the course of the day. It first occurred in 4:30 a.m. when 251 men, lower-class youths with their dark uniforms, entered the terminal. There they bought and ate some meals before waiting by Terminal 12 for their Greglord Air flight, which would start boarding in 6:15 for 6:40 takeoff. They were enlisted men and women who all had one mission: to sacrifice their lives on the war. Among the earliest of the batches to enlist in the Gregoryisgodistani Forces, they were immediately ordered to move to Gregoryisgodistan, where they'd be given minimal training before being served as part of the human blitzkriegs. Soon they would be followed and continued by a series of men and women, as they waited for the 24 direct/one-stop flights (to Gregoryisgodistan, Gloriax, Chiata, Gregoryisgodistan or Patistan) to take off.

The news of 50,000 people leaving the country, over the course of last week, hit the news and attention of masses. But this would not last in the eyes of many. As surprising this was, this was inevitable on the eyes of many people. The unemployment rate was slightly higher than in previous years and ethnic tension, with the international stage getting more heated and heated, were hitting all-time high. People were having identity issues all across the country and many sought to resort to a solution by fighting for what they had thought to be the more just, With the great war about to happen, thousands of people left in droves to join the journey where they could either be rewarded or at least meet their end on a very satisfying note.

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Foreign Affairs


Soluca Announces International Partnerships, Condemns Euran ‘Arrogance’


At the Foreign Ministry today Minister Carizzo announced the signing of an important strategic partnership between Sargossa and Electrum. The agreement, jointly finalised yesterday in Centralis by Electrumite Senator Takumi Itsuki and Sargossan Ambassador Maria Cassaventés, will see Sargossa offer extensive training and technological support to Electrum’s existing security forces and the construction and subsequent lease of an airbase to the north of the city of Prescott. Foreign Minister Carizzo was ‘delighted’ the agreement had been signed. ‘Electrum is becoming an increasingly influential nation in Rushmore, with a government that has admirably pursued a policy of peace through diplomacy and dialogue. Unfortunately in these troubled times in which ultra-aggressive forces pursue their own agendas with little care for the consequences dialogue can often go unheeded. Therefore it is the responsibility of those with the advantage of a strong military infrastructure to offer assistance to nations whose strengths perhaps lay elsewhere. Which is why we are delighted to have concluded this mutually beneficial agreement, increasing ties with an important trade partner, strengthening Electrum’s own internal security and providing our own forces with a wider area of deployment in which to pursue a policy of greater regional stability.

While greeted with enthusiasm in both Soluca and Centralis the announcement met with a perhaps inevitable backlash from the authorities in Eura. A reaction Carizzo described as ‘typical heavy-handed Euran rhetoric’. The Minister was not finished there, condemning the Euran description of Sargossa as ‘hostile’ and their overt attempts to browbeat and bully Electrum into some kind of submission. ‘The arrogance of the government in Bastion is staggering’, he told the assembled media. ‘their belief that they can dictate who the Electrumite authorities deal with and that an agreement between two sovereign nations somehow requires Euran approval is sadly emblematic of how Bastion views the wider region. The project will go ahead as planned, despite these unimpressive and downright petty attempts at intimidation. Attempts that included a thinly veiled threat of military intervention, something that is entirely unacceptable and displays for all Rushmore to see the true face of Euran policy towards Electrum and the wider locale.’

Electrum wasn’t the only item on the agenda as Carizzo announced the signing of a second military agreement. ‘It’s very satisfying to be able to announce that after much negotiation Sargossa has entered into a military cooperation pact with the nation of Olastor. With war and chaos raging across Esportiva strengthen ties with key partners at home is crucial to our own national security. With the signing of this agreement the citizens of Sargossa can walk the streets today safe in the knowledge that their government has their security and safety right at the top if its agenda.’ The terms, similar to those struck with Electrum, included the lease of an airbase in the south of the country and the introduction of various cooperative initiatives, including officer exchange programmes, joint development projects and combined training exercises, commencing with a joint naval operation in the Goose Sea. The warming of relations between Soluca and Olastaryn brings closer together two of the largest military and economic blocs in Western Rushmore, if not the entire region, and could be seen by observers as a counter balance to growing Euran ambition in that area.

The announcements mark a continuation of the regime’s evolving foreign policy, with diplomatic strategy progressively looking beyond Oygruppen and the nations of Olde Rushmore to the increasingly influential wider region. And President Emparán hopes to visit both Centralis and Olastaryn in the coming months to further solidify ties and foster additional trade agreements with the nation's new partners.


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[Greater Watford]

Chapter 5: Western Alliance D1, Watling Street FC

Moving on up the ladder, we travel to Watling Street in St Albans, to explore Watling Street FC and the tales of the Level 4 teams. The team play in an unusual maroon and pale green strip, one that certainly stands out among others in the league. However, it’s not uncommon place to see strange and colourful strips in the lower levels, many teams using them as a way of standing out among the crowd.

The team play at Watling Street Stadium. As a ground that’s been used back in the teams amateur’s days, it has a traditional feel to it, on 2 sides there are houses backing on to the side of the stadium. One side is empty save for some car parking, and along the south side is a covered stand. It boasts some good changing room facilities, enough food and drink outlets for all the fans and a covered commentators box with good viewlines.

Despite being a relatively capable team at this level, at the moment their squad has 6 full-time players, they’ve yet to make it out of the Alliance. For many teams at this level, especially the 32 original teams who joined in Season 3, this is considered the goal, and with the restructuring of the League for the start of Season 8, creating 16 new places in Level 3, when the National League split into 2, then more and more teams are sensing an opportunity.

I asked one of these professionals, Ryan Lockhead, 24 whether he thought the team could do it. “Yeah, I don’t see why not. We’ve not been lucky these past few years, never got a good run to have a go at promotion or the playoffs, but times should be changing. Our ground is capable of hosting games above non-league level, we just need to get there”. (For readers outside of Greater Watford, Level’s 1-3 are considered “League” teams, Levels 4 and 5 are commonly known as “non-League”.) Among the clubs in Level 4, there is much more desire and passion, and a real sense that anyone could make the break into the League.

Despite being semi-pro, Watling Street FC still struggle from some non-league woes. Finances, a bit of a taboo topic sometimes, can be tight, especially for the professional players. Travelling is harsher for the amateurs, as the league is more spread out at this level, and sometimes teams have to cross from North to South, not a fun journey through B and C roads in the hills and mountains of Greater Watford. Finally, attendances, while better than the Level 5 teams, can still be low, especially if the team hit a bad patch of form.

What many of the semi-pro teams have though, is a great sense of community spirit. Supporter’s liaison officer Timothy Daniels, is in charge of organising community events. “It’s wonderful, 3 times a year we host a fundraising event on the pitch itself and at the end of the year we have a celebration gala, and all season ticket holders get a free invite along with a guest.” Timothy Daniels continues on, discussing the support and connection between the players and fans. “The players enjoy meeting the fans, at this level it’s not easy to get the support, so the players really do appreciate all the fans that come out week in week out to support the side, and it builds a strong community spirit. We’ve had players remain here since we started in the Alliance because of how much they’ve enjoyed the club”. Even if results on the pitch aren’t great, it seems off the pitch Watling Street FC have a happy future.

Robert Rainshaw

[Polar Islandstates]

Kiriyenko-who?
As fellow East Franz athletic fans, I'm sure there was little in Rasmussen's squad announcement that pleased you more than the somewhat surprising omission of that leech Alexsandr Kiriyenko in favour of less fashionable players like Klemmensen, Geirsson, and Wolff. Wolff? Yeah, I guess that just about works, we'll stick with Wolff. But only because he's usually a more attacking player than the way he gets deployed by Rasmussen. Which is odd, because a slightly less defensive Wolff is basically Kiriyenko. And yet, for whatever reason, Rasmussen opted not to include him. Still, if that's the thanks he gets for ditching us for Northbrook like that then I'm all in favour.

I hope he was watching last night, mind. I really do. Not that I hold a grudge or anything but I'm really quite hopeful that he was watching with gritted teeth as he saw three East Franz players line up in the back four, Miroshnichenko score the first goal of his international career, and Espen Erevik pick up the man of the match award. His cross for Lefebvre to open the scoring was quite delicious, and he never put a foot wrong all match. More than that, though, I hope Kiriyenko was watching as Konigstein and Gunnlaugsson produced an absolutely flawless performance in the engine room. I hope he's wondering how he's going to get into this team. I hope he never does.

Now, with that unpleasantness out of the way, where were we? Ah yes - Mr van Sorensen...

---

Alexsandr van Sorensen

I'm not sure what I was expecting from van Sorensen, but I don't think this was it. CFM doesn't have a setting for synaesthesia, perhaps understandably, so I had to replicate his condition in the stats as best I could. I opted for making him unpredictable, a little bit of a hot and cold form players, and susceptible to injuries as a result. I think that's fair. Was that fair? Tell me I'm wrong in the comments section if you disagree, I suppose, but it's done now. All the same, I don't think I was expecting his coaching career to be a longer list of clubs than his playing career...

Being born in the RL nation of Denmark, I suppose it was always a natural assumption that with his talent he'd be moving to a bigger league quite quickly, and indeed his youth career at FC Copenhagen had barely started by the time he was contacted by Dutch giants Ajax. In fact, none of the RL equivalents intended to emulate parts of the Valhallan Union appear to have football leagues of any significant strength whatsoever. What's that all about? Anyway, the original users behind Denmark and Netherlands were quite good friends through supporting the same actual football club, if I recall correctly, and so cooperation between their two nations in a sporting faculty was always quite high. You quite often see Danish internationals at Ajax in CFM, and I think van Sorensen was playing alongside a couple of them for most of his career.

Relatively short for a Polarian, van Sorensen was always quite a slight player, and it is of little surprise to see that by the time he was signing a professional contract with them, Ajax sent him out on loan pretty rapidly to the rather more rough-and-tumble English and Scottish leagues to gain some physical experience playing for Norwich and Celtic.

Hm? England and Scotland? Oh, two parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The other two parts being Wales and the Republic of Ireland. Some douchebag who talked his way into maintaining four separate leagues and four separate national teams purely due to the complexity of his national structure. In the end everyone just gave up arguing and let him have his way. He even stole a bit of his younger brother's nation, Ireland. What a douchebag.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, it is there out on loan that I think the first big difference between our van Sorensen and the RL van Sorensen started to occur. If you look at the render that CFM has produced for us up there, it appears that he was given the number eight jersey by his nation, and the stats produced by the game throughout his career seem to back up the idea that in this simulation he ended up playing a much more central midfield role than the one we saw him fulfil for the Terns and Jan Mayen. At Petardos S/A he was played as an out-and-out striker at some points, and at Bezieres I think he may have been a full-on midfielder - or, alternatively, the other way round - but for the Terns and for the bulk of his career, we always knew him as a number ten. But not so in CFM, no. My theory is that during these loans he learned a bit more of the box-to-box engine-room role, and that he ended up playing there for much of his later career.

The first half season loan to newly promoted Norwich didn't set any records alight, admittedly, but just look at that stat from his time at Celtic. Nine goals in sixteen league matches! From midfield! Now, the Scottish league isn't as strong as the Dutch league, but there was more than enough evidence in that half season in Glasgow to show his bosses at Ajax that he had what it took to flourish, and flourish he did.

In nine seasons at the club, he scored a seriously ridiculous amount of goals. Like, more than one goal every hundred and eighty minutes. Over nine seasons. From midfield. Even if he was drifting higher than my theory - admittedly based on little more than a shirt number - that is a ridiculous record. No surprise, then, that during these nine seasons Ajax an astonishing seven times in a display of complete and utter domestic dominance. With five league and cup doubles included amongst that haul, Ajax at one point had won three consecutive doubles, and it was no surprise to anyone that the bigger clubs in bigger leagues were queueing up to obtain the services of their midfield maestro. he remained committed however, and neither Manchester United nor Barcelona could tempt him away. Defeat at the semi-final stage of the Champions League for three seasons out of four were tortuous for van Sorensen and for Ajax, but eventually, both the transfer saga and this run of bad luck would have to finish.

In the end, a high profile move to Real Madrid for $35m was arranged, and van Sorensen managed to finally, and for the only time in his career, lift the Champions League trophy as team captain in his last match for Ajax.

And then, the injuries I built into his simulated stats swung into action.

In the supposed peak of his career, a repetitive neck injury kept him out of the Real side and out of the spotlight. Upon returning to fitness he couldn't break into the squad any longer, and after a disappointing season that saw Real finish fourth and sack their manager, van Sorensen was the scapegoat according to the fans and was sold back to Ajax for just $8m. Other teams were offering more, but a homesick van Sorensen only had eyes for one team.

If the hot weather in Spain didn't suit van Sorensen, then the damp and drizzle of Amsterdam and Denmark fitted him like a glove, and upon returning to Ajax he picked up where he left off - Scoring goals and conducting things from the middle of the park. Two more defeats in Champions League finals took the shine off a further three league championships and another cup win, but when an ACL tear ruined his short-term chances of getting in the team at the age of thirty-four, van Sorensen called time and what would otherwise have no doubt have been a much longer career. In the season of his retirement, he'd still scored nine goals in twenty appearances and assisted plenty of others, no doubt.

His international career was just as unfortunately riddled with "almost" moments as his domestic career however. Though we can see he scored a huge sixty-one goals in a hundred and twelve appearances for the Danish national team, and I can tell you he was his country's captain for the final eight years of his career, I can also tell you how far Denmark got in the tournaments during that time. It isn't pretty reading.

Just as our real life van Sorensen was defeated in consecutive World Cup finals, and never won the Champions Cup, our RL van Sorensen had already seen what could have been six Champions League trophies turn into just the one, despite his almost unparalleled domestic success. This luck continued into the international scene, as even though he scored twice in the 2022 World Cup semi final, Denmark were knocked out by Chile and went on to finish third. Despite a goal in extra time on both occasions, his side were beaten by France in the final of Euro 2024,and then again in the final of Euro 2028 by the Netherlands. And even though he scored five goals in the group stage of the 2030 World Cup, he couldn't to anything to stop Brazil beating Denmark in the semi-final. A goal in the third-place play-off win over Croatia wasn't enough to see him win the Golden Boot, either, as a hat trick for a Spaniard in the final took even that accolade away from him.

In awards, too, we can see that he picked up top three finishes in the Ballon D'Or on five separate occasions, winning only once. This, despite sweeping the board in the equivalent domestic awards.

Nonetheless, despite being a nearly man with an early retirement, he was a legend who had won everything there was to win. Almost. Surely that luck would change with his coaching career, no?

Oh dear.

Fallenmark Islanders, look away now.

It would seem that CFM doesn't much rate the managerial potential of our dear AvS. Nope. Four years coaching at Ajax lead to him being offered the managerial position at then-newly promoted Fulham in the Premier League. It was something of a coup for Fulham at the time to get the still highly internationally respected van Sorensen, and this was to be his most successful managerial appointment. In four years at the West London club he was able to take them charging up the table, qualifying for the Europa League by the time of his last season there, and employing an excitingly attacking philosophy as he did so.

So successful, was he, that direct rivals Chelsea were encouraged to swoop in and pinch him at the earliest opportunity after dismissing their own manager. Excited to get his hands on an almost limitless transfer budget, and with the chance to win league titles, van Sorensen jumped at the chance. And that's where things started to go wrong.

Badly wrong.

A disastrous season at Chelsea lead to him losing the confidence of the changing room, the fans, and finally, the board, and he was sacked just three weeks away from the end of the season.

With a now fully experienced Alexsandr van Sorensen in the managerial market, teams were tripping over themselves to forgive his experience at Chelsea and offer him a position there, but only one club would have stuck out to AvS. Ajax. The Dutch side were almost embarrassingly dominant domestically by this point in the simulation, and even though he won the league in his first season, the nature of the wins were not as emphatic as the fans had hoped to see. Certainly, there would have been nothing here so eye-raising as his runs with Fulham. Two disappoint runs in the Champions League and a 'mere' cup win later, van Sorensen was told he was free to find employment elsewhere should he wish to do so. VfB Stuttgart were willing accomplices in this job search, and with what must have been a heavy heart, Alexsandr van Sorensen left Ajax for a third time with two pieces of silverware as manager, but not a lot of confidence.

His first season at Stuttgart was a reasonable success, securing Europa League football at a canter and two very decent cup runs in the latter half of the season. However, with a disastrous start to his second season, with only two wins from their first ten matches, Stuttgart dismissed van Sorensen, and once again he found himself out of a job.

Never let it be said that football club chairpersons are swayed more by reputation than by information, though. Spanish club Valencia offered van Sorensen a job to replace their own sacked manager, though this period in charge would be his biggest disaster in charge to this point. No wins at all in the six matches before the winter break meant van Sorensen was sacked by the tempestuous club in turmoil even before he'd found a place to rent. Chastened, he packed up his suitcases again and took up the offer at Championship club Bradford City. Then-promoted into the English second tier, Bradford found themselves on the brink of going straight back down again. Desperate, they approached van Sorensen, and to their surprise he said yes.

Thus began the rebuilding of both Bradford and van Sorensen. Saving them from relegation comfortably in the end, he worked his magic in the transfer market the following off-season, and in a great season that saw two significant giant-killings in the FA Cup, he got Bradford as far as just outside the playoff positions.

When the fallen giants of Everton fell into the Championship that same season however, their spending power when it came to appointing the right manager to take them back up again was simply too much for Bradford to compete with, and they allowed van Sorensen to move. Two seasons at Everton would further cement van Sorensen's recovering reputation for management, as he not only helped them sweep to the Championship trophy, but also guided them to a top ten finish in the Premier League the following season.

As the simulation finishes, we see him at Italian club Sampdoria performing a similar task to the one he undertook at Everton. Getting a newly-relegated club back into the top flight again, and then guiding their league finishes ever higher. Defeat to Juventus in the Italian Cup final and a seventh-place finish in the 2049-50 season marks a resounding success overall for van Sorensen, and, who knows, maybe there's enough in these shoots of recovery for him to lay down a marker and turn himself into a very successful manager.

The signs are there, Fallenmark Islanders, chin up.

---

Right, enjoy that? Good. Next time, I'll think we'll go with one of East Franz's legendary players - only, I've not decided which one yet. Henning Blonqvist, Diedrich Kvitchenko, Felix Saarinen, Julius Oyen-Spekke, Demy de Zooijt, Jorgen-Franz Bru, Steffan Pekarik... I might do them all at some point, I've just got to decide who to start with, really. I've also got some ideas for some foreign players, and I might stick a few of our current youth crop through the simulation as well, just to see what CFM reckons will happen to them. And yes, we'll get to Timo Skye eventually. Eventually.

Pip pip!

Henrik. x.


Part 1: Kohev Küngas-Vaga
Part 2: Alexsandr van Sorensen
Part 3: Felix Saarinen
Part 4: Jean-Eric Villeneuve
Part 5: Tolgus Tregajorran
Part 6: Lee Sharp
Part 7: Henning Blonqvist
Part 8: Steffan Pekarik
Part 9: Petter Bielsen
Part 10a+b: Niko Marek + Ernesto Farías
Part 11a+b: Zacharias Juul + Mateus Carvalho
Part 12a+b: Timo Skye + 'Laborious Hawk vs Valrauncion'

[Gregoryisgodistan]

OOC: IC-ly, this speech happened yesterday, immediately following Part 1.

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People, Part 2

"Yesterday, at the Gregoryisgodistan-Kaboomlandia soccer match for World Cup Qualifying, the wicked Guayabalense troops detonated several bombs outside Lord Almighty Gregory National Stadium shortly after the game. At that time, every Gregoryisgodistani fan was coming out of the stadium, so it was very crowded. 1,203 fans were killed, of whom 1,201 were Gregoryisgodistani and two were Kaboomlandian, and over 4,200 people were injured. It was an extremely deadly terrorist attack and we will not rest until we catch those fools who did it and publicly execute them with the Brownie Cutter of Death. The Guaya Beans have attacked our shore, but they will not get away with it. We must fight back, both against the soldiers who did this and against the country in general. We will bomb every city, every town, and every field. We will destroy that wicked nation once and for all. We will turn them into goons and we will wipe them off the map.

"Now, our thoughts and prayers are with the 1,200 lives lost in Capital District yesterday. Therefore, for the remainder of this qualification cycle, inclduing the World Cup or Cup of Harmony, our soccer team will wear a black memorial patch with 1,200 written in white on the top left corner of their uniforms. This is to symbolize the 1,200+ people killed in this horrific terrorist attack just outside the stadium. Some may call for us to move our home games to a neutral site after this incident, as they will say it is unsafe for us to host. But we will not. We will continue hosting and maintaining one of the greatest home field advantages in the multiverse. We will win at home, we will vanquish our opponents, and we will fight back against San Jose Guayabal.

"As a result of this incident, I am increasing the bombings of San Jose Guayabal. We will now be bombing every city and every town in that country. Our Air Force is very powerful and will do their jobs. Guaya Beans have gone too far and this time we will stop them once and for all. The Guaya Beans are dirty, rotten terrorist scum and I am confident our military will defeat them once and for all. We will also seek to invade the Royal Palace and behead Queen Margaret, then behead the new queen, and repeat indefinitely until there is nobody left in the royal line of succession and they have no Queen. Won't that be great? We will kill everyone who could be King or Queen in addition to the bombings. Perhaps we will even bomb the palace. Guaya Guaya World is a wicked nation where they launch terrorist attacks against innocent civilians, including two from an uninvolved country. That is simply unacceptable and we condemn it in the strongest terms.

"I long for the day when the whole Multiverse recognizes me as God. But that day will not come for a while. Until then, I just wish that nations would stop attacking us. The Guaya Beans must stop attacking us or we will destroy them. They have been warned. They have wronged us and we will retaliate in the harshest way possible - bombings and possibly even a nuclear attack. But I doubt we will see a nuclear attack due to the proximity of our nations. Maybe one on the West Coast if the wind is blowing out to sea. We shall see. But for now, all our energy must be focused on destroying San Jose Guayabal and the Holy Republican Empire through bombings and human blitzkrieg. We will not rest until they are both destroyed. Death to Consul Kulseth! Death to Queen Margaret! Death to the terrorists who attacked our stadium! Death to the Guaya Beans! Death to the Wee-publicans! Death to all who dare threaten our Glorious and Holy Nation. I am the Lord Your God, who created the Multiverse on November 5, Year 0000. Respect me, praise me, bow down to me, but do not attack my nation. Or you will die. That is all."

[Electrum]

Centralis Herald - News Section - Janine Connell

Suarez government under trouble after just two years of government, snap election called

Cynthia Suarez in parliament after appropriations bills were rejected by parliament

In a stunning sign of backbencher revolt, the Greens Society, disappointed by the recent military announcement by Sargossa, the destructive desalination plant north of Junin and further mining operations from various Quebecois consortiums have decided to vote against a government appropriation bill, just 4 days before the mandated submittal date. What this means is that the government can no longer function correctly, since the Greens Society were a crucial part of the Senate majority that the government had. Taking into account the government senators, the Labour Party (38) and Liberty Party (15) only combined for 53 votes, just two short of a required majority of 55. As a result, a Constitutional mechanism went into effect whereby the Prime Minister, Cynthia Suarez would have to call a snap election on the budget, as it was clear that they didn't have the confidence of the Parliament.

A strict schedule has been put into place, with the writs for election being called today for a double-election by Governor-General Wunderlich, whereby all the seats in both the House of Representatives and the Provincial Senate (usually half of the seats are up for election) are standing for election. The House of Representatives are elected on an alternative-rank system on evenly populated divisions, and the Senate Elections (since this is a double-election) where each Province elects 18 senators (instead of the usual 9) and Territory gets 2 each through the Single Transferable Vote. This double-election might potentially make the parliament more unruly as the threshold to get elected to the Senate is just 5.26%, instead of the usual 10%. Aside from the six usual dominant parties in Electrum politics, new parties are looking to gain a foothold including the New Centrist Alliance, the Electrum National League, Compassionate Workers, the Pirate-Party-Surprise Alliance and the Endemian Union League, a party that believes that Electrum should be part of Eura.

From the electoral authorities, a week has been set aside for the rolls to close and the submission of nominations for all seats, with the cost of applying to be reduced as it is a special snap election, then there will be another week set aside for campaigning before the actual voting day. The Conservatives are looking to take advantage of the government's disunity and will try to capture a majority government, but the last time that has happened was over two dozen years ago. With the hugely fragmented political make-up of Electrum politics, from single-issue parties, to parties covering every single ideology possible, and the ultra-low quota, things are going to get a bit more hairy. Whichever party wins the election will have the unfortunate task of negotiating with each of the parties for confidence and supply. It was fortunate that the government formation last election took just a week, with the Liberty Party, Greens Society and the Labour Party each signing an agreement.

However, things started to get awry, when the Quebecois consortiums started mining in Electrum, but it seems that the Greens Society let that go for sake of holding onto government. But things really got to a head when deals made by the Electrum government, especially by Senator Itsuki compelled them to stop supporting the government. In a statement, leader Marco Lombardi said that, "We can not stand idly by while the Electrum government consistently ruin the environment through the mining and desalination processes, as well as ruining our image as a peaceful and pacifist nation by doing that deal with Sargossa." Liberty Party leader, Jane McCallahan said that, "Whilst I am sympathetic to the Green's views, this deals were done to support the economy and jobs -- and we prioritise the economy above all else." The Greens Society betrayal was the quickest of backstabs too. When the government called for the bill to be considered in the Provincial Senate, they had essentially voted against the motion to debate it, gagging the bill and therefore the whole thing. This came at the same time as the Labour Party Prime Minister Cynthia Suarez was sitting in a foreign affairs committee meeting, the photo above was her immediate reaction - one of resignation.

The opinion polls have been fairly mixed, of course, due to the fragmented politics situation. It seems that both the combined left and the combined right will not be able to make a majority once again, with the Liberty Party being the kingmakers (having been in government for the past two elections, first with the Conservatives, and now with Labour). It is a troubling time for Electrum -- the outcome of this election will shape policy responses to the current situations in both Rushmore and Esportiva, and it will definitely need to find a new way to reinvent itself in an ever-changing world. With two rival powers bordering Electrum, Eura and Valladares, it is a hotbed of geopolitical tension. Meanwhile, in a stunning show of unity, both Eura and Valladares opposed Sargossa building a base in Electrum. Despite that fact, it looks like the military co-operation deal might just go ahead regardless of the election, because the Conservatives have in principle supported the deal. The Conservatives, however, have not ruled out "reconsidering the other deals which were made by this government."

It's time for the priorities of each of the other parties to be known. Should Electrum lay over with the Rio Oscuro conflict? Should Electrum continue with the desalination project? Should Electrum continue to reach out to Sargossa? The people are scared witless, even though the economy has been doing just fine, and the government has been doing a valiant effort to mitigate the effects of the drought on farmers. The new government needs some stability -- but it looks like that won't be afforded with the current political system Electrum has at the moment.

[Associated Godlands]

Associated Godlands News Wrap
Welcome to another edition of Associated Godlands News Wrap, our wrap of the news!

Associated Godlands Fall to Unranked Nandezia

Associated Godlands's World Cup Qualification campaign continued to spiral downward last night as they played their worst game yet, losing 2-1 to unranked Nandezia despite a goal from The Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Who scored for Nandezia? I'm not sure. I don't know any of their players. But I do know that Associated Godlands should have won this game.

"God is clearly taking his wrath out on us by making us lose, so there is only one conclusion I can make," says coach Shirley Phelps-Roper. "There is a homosexual in our team."

God declined to comment on whether this is true.

Locker Room Dispute For Associated Godlands National Team

It has recently come to attention that there is a very large locker room split going on behind the scenes for Associated Godlands. It started when newcomer David Duke accused Martin Luther King of being the homosexual that was destroying Associated Godlands's chances.

"There's something just so... off about him," says Duke.

Some Associated Godlands players sided with Duke, also citing the odd quality of King that could be homosexuality, while others, mostly friends of Billy Graham, were against Duke. Duke replaced Billy Graham, an event that caused a lot of outrage due to Graham's popularity within the team.

"I, unfortunately, cannot comment on this situation," said Coach Phelps-Roper. Also declining to comment was God.

Sailers Try to Enter God City

Yesterday, some awful heathen people attempted to enter Associated Godlands's capital city, God City, and dump their unclean-ness on a clean, holy, land. They were sailers, who entered God Island on a life raft, both very thin with long, dirty beards. They looked very happy to be polluting a holy city, but, luckily, they were quickly shot to death once they entered the city limits.

"I am just so sad that humanity has come to the point where someone would try to do something like this. No, this isn't humanity. These people are animals," Queen Phelps-Roper said in her speech to the people.

God declined to comment.

[Gloriax]

Gloriax joins the party!
South Esportiva fires up...

As the various nations of the SETO have already declared war on the inhuman nation of Gregoryisgodistan and its allies (namely, Royal Kingdom of Quebec and Patistan), Gloriax follows suit. Being one of the foremost founding nations of the organization, President Rory Mason looked quite confident in his address to the nation earlier today. "Today, we declare a war. A war for justice against blatant terrorism. We declare war against Gregoryisgodistan and all of its allies!" he exclaimed in his passionate speech.

Getting ready for the war, the preparations have stirred up the already greatly present patriotism in all of the Gloriaxian citizens, and of course, the army. With an infantry 20 million strong, an air force and a navy on standby - the Gloriax Army is going to be a crucial addition to the SETO arsenal, according to experts.

With the Guayabalense army already advancing into Gregoryisgodistan and conducting bombings outside a World Cup qualifying venue in the nation, and their dictator Gregory not being impressed with the act, Gloriax is certainly in for rough times.

Here is some trivia about the Gloriax Army:
(**All the following are approximate and unconfirmed by the Gloriaxian Army)

LAND FORCE
Tanks: 6,464
Armored Fighting Vehicles (AFVs): 6,704
Self-Propelled Guns (SPGs): 290
Towed-Artillery: 7,414
Multiple-Launch Rocket Systems (MLRSs): 292

AIR FORCE
Total Aircraft: 3,024
Fighters/Interceptors: 629
Fixed-Wing Attack Aircraft: 761
Transport Aircraft: 667
Trainer Aircraft: 263
Helicopters: 584
Attack Helicopters: 120

NAVAL FORCE
Total Naval Strength: 119
Aircraft Carriers: 2
Frigates: 15
Destroyers: 9
Corvettes: 25
Submarines: 15
Coastal Defense Craft: 46
Mine Warfare: 7

Will this be enough to defeat the oppsing forces in what would be one of the greatest wars in Gloriaxian histroy? Only time can tell...

[Barunia]

The National Herald

Suburb at centre of airbase controversy named
The shire of Greater Porthaven today received approval from the Department of Housing, Planning and Sustainability to create a new suburb around the Stirling Road/Trans-Barunia Highway intersection. The area has recently been the subject of some controversy after plans to build a military airbase in the area were leaked on the internet.

The new suburb, named Levinson after physicist Arthur Levinson, covers an area of roughly 30 square kilometres, and borders the suburbs of Marlin, Elm Park, Newcastle, and the James River shire. Formerly part of the suburb of Marlin, Levinson covers a region formerly classed as grade 3 state forest, which meant the area remained undeveloped. However, with the new highway going through, the DHPS has downgraded all grade 3 forest within the suburb's boundaries to grade 4, which opens the area up for wide-scale development. 13 square kilometres of lots have already been placed on the market, with about 2 of them already sold. However, many purchasers have already indicated that they wish to pull out of the sale after hearing of the Air Force's plan.

The Havenia State Department of Civil Planning halted plans to begin works on the suburb's road network, concerned that the area could be abandoned before it is even built. However, a source told The National that the DHPS was likely to overrule that decision in a bid to stop a further loss of interest in the region. Earlier this week, Planning Minister Gail Simons said in Parliament that the eastern expansion of Porthaven was essential to house the continued population growth of the city, and stressed the government's commitment to the project. Defence Minister Ron Armitage responded by saying that the military would work with the DHPS to find a solution, but would not back down from building an airbase within the Porthaven region.

Sport

Barunia on top of the world

The Barunia Suns have proven once again that they deserve their place amongst the best in the world, moving into illustrious company as one of only a handful of unbeaten teams in the World Cup qualifiers. Only seven of the 20 group leaders have pulled off the feat: Barunia, Audioslavia, Felix, Saintland, Pasarga, Legalese, and Nephara. This keeps the Suns on an even playing field with some of the world's best teams, including a two time world champion and the current world number two. Barunia is now back on even footing with Nephara and Saintland, two teams from the Sun's Baptism of Fire. Like Barunia, Saintland made it to the quarter-finals, where they were knocked out by Nephara (competing under the nation's old name of new Sideburn) on their way to winning the tournament. Since then, both have gone on to bigger and better things, while Barunia has been running catch-up. Over the last few cycles though, Barunia have been on the rise.

The rise is mostly due to Barunia's famous attacking style of football, with the relentless pressure on the opponent's goal yielding a high number of goals. In just five games, the Suns have scored 18 goals: an average of more than three a game, and the second highest in the tournament. Only Eura have more, with 19, but despite topping group 4 the former world champions have only managed 3 wins. That is the difference between the two teams: the secret to Barunia's success is that despite the attacking football, the defence is solid, and when the job is done and they're ahead, the Suns park the bus and shut down any opposition.

The Suns face their biggest test next game, taking on Kirisaki on the road. Kirisaki are 2nd in Group 2, and the only other team to have not lost a game, only losing points for a pair of draws. Their defence has been tight, letting in just two goals, but Barunia's attack has been an unstoppable force. The only team in the group to have a goals for statistic in double figures, the Suns have scored twice as much as Ceni, who have the second highest. Kirisaki are third with 8 goals, but will they be able to outscore the high-flying Barunians?

[Super-Llamaland]

FRIENDLIES TWO - What the Pre-Cup Matches Show About the Tigers

Super-Llamaland 3 - 2 Ceni ~ Ouranos Park, New Llama City, Super-Llamaland
---
SLL: Dickinson 7; Cartwright 43, 55
CEN: Noveth 29, Cossadel 46
---
POSSESSION - Super-Llamaland 58% - 42% Ceni
SHOTS - Super-Llamaland 13 - 8 Ceni
SHOTS ON GOAL - Super-Llamaland 7 - 5 Ceni
---
CAUTIONED - Lockwood 26
EJECTED - Carmichael 85
---
CENI (3-2-2-3) - Ryaden; Axakel, Travaran, Lockwood (Kerric 57); Celgis, Medina; del Olmo, Xasan (Daren 70); Noveth, Cossadel, Koromin (Zajon 62)
SUPER-LLAMALAND (5-3-2) - Finch; Meng (Carmichael 77), Myers, Bale, Smith-Reynolds (Herleksson 59), Karnstedt; Stanton, Player (Myers-Briggs 75), Reyshavic; Cartwright, Nilssen
---
Recap
Ceni and Super-Llamaland kicked off at New Llama, with the Tigers regarded as the favorites - shortly after the match again, the Tigers went on the attack, and when Tristan Karnstedt dropped a pass into the box, and Nilssen got his head on it, the ball bounced in no-man’s land towards the left post - Lily Stanton got to the ball a step before Lockwood and crossed to Dickinson for the goal.

The Tigers remained on the attack for quite some time, Alex Cartwright only narrowly missing over the crossbar, and Lily Stanton chipped in with a smash off the far post. Things looked really bad for Ceni early on, especially after a yellow card that could’ve been a red was given to Lockwood for a dicey tackle on Kristopher Nilssen.

Eventually though, it was Noveth to make the Tigers regret not putting away more of their chances with an absolute smash off the right post and by Finch, set up nicely by none other than Vargas Cathair star Jaime del Olmo.

The match continued in a lively manner with lots of back-and-forth attacks and counterattacks, but it would be Alex Cartwright showing he still had it with a few minutes to go in the first half - Cartwright passed to Lily Stanton from the right side, cut into the box, received a pass back and twisted around to make a brilliant shot.

But right after the second half began, it was Jaime del Olmo to make a spectacular run into the box - his smash was just an inch wide and off the post, but it would be Cossadel to get to it first and cheekily tap it back in, Finch slipping and falling awkwardly as he tried to stop the ball.

A bit more back-and-forth followed, but a foul gave Cartwright a penalty kick, and he coolly slotted it home. The Tigers wisely chose to hold back afterwards, parking the bus, and despite del Olmo’s best efforts, there it stayed. Finch finally found his form, stopping a few nice shots and keeping Ceni out of the net, even on a penalty kick.

One intriguing note towards the end of the game was Adrian Carmichael getting himself ejected for a terrible tackle that was about three seconds late, and following that up by trying to punch a referee. Considering that I’ve never seen the guy show emotion before, this was certainly something.
---
Lessons learned -
1.) Steven Meng is no Valdevic
The major concern with Steven Meng going into this friendly (his first starting) was that he couldn’t defend, and he didn’t really disprove this against Gloriax. We all knew about his offensive prowess, but on defense many times he looked lost and confused. All that changed - when the team needed defense after going up three-two, Meng transitioned quickly into a versatile defender, managing to make a few nice plays before Hoover unwisely took him out for Adrian Carmichael, who was tossed from the game eight minutes later. Still, I liked what I saw from the youngster and think he’s a serious threat to Carmichael’s starting hopes.
2.) Sara Reyshavic - Definitely an Option
Nobody expected the thirty-year-old Sara Reyshavic to actually get serious minutes - on the depth chart, she was behind Player, Raburn, and de Vries. But in a surprise tryout, she impressed - helping create chances on the right side as sort of a poor man’s Anthony Player. She differs from Player as she helps out a lot more on defense, but they both have brilliant field vision and good control with passes - certainly an interesting option.
3.) Agudieres isn’t Necessary
We thought Javier Agudieres was getting the nod over Alex Bale because he was far more reliable and a strong leader - but it turns out Bale is just as strong a leader, and he certainly looked reliable this game. While Javier is still the far better option as a sweeper, Bale should be able to get a ton of minutes after a strong performance here, especially since Agudieres made quite a few mistakes against Gloriax.

[San Llera]

San Llera Subpar Again

Starting XI: C. Fons, M. Abello, G. Quella (De Gonia 77), A. Belles, M. Saragosa, E. Bou, H. Fonda, D. Llorens, A. Mallet (Capo 67), C. Mestre
Goalscorers: None

Last night, San Llera acquired what is tied for being their best result yet with a 0-0 draw at Tumbra. And it wasn't even a very good result. That's pretty much the story with San Llera's qualification. Complacency. They were complacent with earning just a draw against a lower-ranked opponent.

For once, Jon Lleranerus was also complacent. You know why? BECAUSE HE IS IN A COMA! Because of you! You sent him into this coma!

In other, more important news, Jon Lleranerus still hasn't woken up. He is still in a coma. There's a 50% chance he will never wake up. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family.

The interim coach for San Llera is Marko Vujvic. They have an interim coach because the head coach was so frustrated with his players that he fell into a coma.

San Llera didn't play that badly today. A draw is disappointing but not awful. And I know I'm overreacting, but something about the way they play makes me want to kill (or at least maim) all of them. Speaking of which, I ran all their players through a hunger games simulator and just enjoyed reading how all of them died. Gerard Quella won. Which seems fitting since he hasn't played too badly.

Here's your damn player ratings:

Starters
C. Fons - 7 - Didn't allow any goals, which I guess is a good thing.
P. Milla - 6 - There were clearly some nerves in Milla's debut, but he shook them off and played decently.
M. Abello - 6.5 - Was solid in defense and had one rocket from 30 yards put that almost found the top corner.
G. Quella - 7 - Set up several chances with his passing and was a rock in defense.
A. Belles - 5 - Belles went forward a lot as usual but just didn't contribute to the attack.
M. Saragosa - 5 - Passing was fine, but San Llera desperately needed more speed out wide.
E. Bou - 7.5 - Bou, always good when San Llera is bad.
H. Fonda - 8 - Tumbra never even got a good chance at goal because of Fonda.
D. Llorens - 7.5 - Don Llorena is returning to form, but he didn't do enough today to get a win.
A. Mallet - 5 - There's a reason he was subbed off.
C. Mestre - 5 - Like Mallet, Mestre was out of ideas in attack.

Substitutes
A. De Gonia - 5.5 - Didn't really do anything in time on the pitch.
J. Capo - 5 - Was no improvement over Mallet.

Next up, San Llera faces the princesses of Jeruselem.

[Semarland]

A few years ago mention the phrases “Marc Lygaard” and “retirement” to any avid Semar football fans and I’ll bet you my whole life they’ll groan and mutter.

Think about it – the prospect of probably Semarland’s greatest ever playing retiring. Maybe not fully, maybe they’ll still continue to deliver the goods for their club, and cease doing so on the international stage. And what makes it worse is the fact there will probably never be another striker who can emulate Lygaard’s performances on the big stage.

But you’re wrong. I can name at least 10 young strikers at the moment who could well and truly take that place. Hope isn’t all lost. Jakob Lindesfarne is in his mid-twenties and is pretty late to the international scene but he’s been lethal in front of goal. Yannick Simeone is still development amidst rumours of a big money move abroad.

Ever since Marc Jacob Lygaard set foot on the international stage, millions of Semars have been in awe because of his regular goalscoring, selflessness and captain fantastic persona. But as they all say, “all good things must come to an end” and as Lygaard approaches his mid-thirties there are talks of him potentially retiring from international football soon.

No one wants to see that, but all is not lost. Lindefarne has a few more years left in him, as does Simeone who has at least ten. They’re both good strikers, but I can’t really see them emulating Lygaard. Lindesfarne is nearly 27 and he’s only got a few caps to his name whilst Simeone’s goals-to-games ratio isn’t the best. Yet, hopefully.

Yes, there’s hope, believe it or not. Some foreign countries may laugh at us for our excessive youth development. Our excessive coverage of youth football. Our fans knowing every player down to the U10s. Well we’ll see who has the last laugh when one of our many talented young strikers scores an injury time winner against you, hmm?

Isaac Nketiah and Serge Mavididi are almost household names, now. The duo broke into the FC Jansberg first team late on last season, both at the tender age of 17. In a 4-0 demolishing of Eikland Sport, both got 1 each. So? Hardly spectacular, only one goal. But they certainly have the potential to go all the way.

In the past three seasons, both have scored over 115 goals combined in all levels. U16, U18, U21 and first team. That is remarkable. To think Lygaard scored around 85 in three youth seasons, the fact that there’s a blossoming partnership doing this is absolutely superb.

It doesn’t stop there in Jansberg. Kwame Nelson, the sole striker scholar of the season before last, Nelson filled in the void Nketiah and Mavididi left as they ventured onto the U21s as Nelson netted a remarkable 37 times at U18 level.

And the next partnership signing scholarships this season at Jansberg are Innocent Kone and ThankGod Anyamele (what great names). Highly sought-after Kone scored 40 times for the U16s when he was an U15, with Anyamele scoring 28 then. For the U16s last season, they didn’t score as much but had impressive goal tallies between them as they go into their scholarship.

So that’s five from FC Jansberg. What about elsewhere? Krsthaven, considered the greatest academy in recent times, only have three that come to mind. A few years ago Erik Moss was the next big thing, but the hype died down after then manager Soren-Adren Poulsen failed to incorporate youth from then into the first team.

The three that come to mind are Reiss Claro-Hunt, Kwabena Owusu and Amos Kanu. The latter two are powerful, bulky strikers that specialise in muscling even the toughest central defenders off the ball, hitting screamers and being a downright threat in the air.

Claro-Hunt, however, may not be as bulky, but probably the most talented out of the three. Twin of attacking midfielder Rene, also tipped to be a hot prospect for the future, Marc Lygaard himself has cited Reiss to be Semarland’s next best striker. Son of former Krsthaven and FC Nuholm player and now Krsthaven’s U15 manager, Devane Claro, Reiss and Rene Claro-Hunt are definitely two to watch.

Another one that springs to mind is FC Nuholm’s Admiral Muskwe. Muskwe was inducted into the first team for the last part of last season and performed well for his age and was also called up to Semarland’s most recent Di Bradini Cup squad. Muskwe is a very talented striker too with the potential to make it.

The final player to take our tally to 10 is Eikborg Club’s Nicklas Church. Like Nketiah, Mavididi and Muskwe, he also made his first team debut for his club last season. Whilst being a little older than the others, he’s still developing too and has been linked with moves abroad to get his name out in the spotlight. Whilst he has just as good a chance as the others, he desperately needs to get the attention of Andreas Jansen.

So, to the naysayers, it isn’t all over when Lygaard retires. I can’t guarantee all 10 will be national team stars, but what I can guarantee there are plenty of bright young lights that can certainly lead Semarland to glory. There are adequate replacements for other players too, with Nathaniel Oseni, Marc Strand and Emmanuel Sambu all tipped to be on the fringes of the senior team soon (although Strand is already actually in the squad.)

That concludes my post for the week. I’m looking forward to see you all soon.

Johannes Karstein,
Official youth blogger for the SFA

---

Semarland 1-1 Kazamaturi
Tunde 65’

Semarland 4-4 Eura
Labonne 27’, Lygaard 33’, Simeone 60’, Nkuna-Ybangwa 82’ – Ashtree 9’, 28’, 35’, Oslograd 74’

[Recuecn]

"I've got bad news, Jannick," said Tremblay. "Gerald's not playing. You're on tonight. I know it's a shock. Make us proud."

Jannick was too surprised to say anything. Franky, on the other hand, was more than vocal.

"He's not playing!? What do you mean!? He can't just quit! What kind of professionalism is this? He's just walking out on us before our biggest game? I can't believe this guy--"

Tremblay interrupted. "Franky, you're in no position to critique him. Shut up." Tremblay paused. "I'm sorry, that was unnecessarily rude. I know you two have a bit of a rivalry. But try to remember the friendship you've developped over the last couple months. He's part of this team and we've got to support him."

"We're supposed to support him when he just walks out on us before the big game? Jannick's great, I play with him, but how are we supposed to manage this on the spot? This is like the shortest notice I've ever heard of?

Beck jumped in. "Look, I don't know what Gerald's going through right now, but if he can't play, he has a good reason." Oliver Spencer and Helies de Malhortye stood behind him, arms crossed. "We're going to support his choice, and the defense will be strong in his absence. And you, Franky, can quit talking about him behind his back." Beck shoved Franky back a step.

"If Jannick really feels that uncomfortable, I can be in net for him," said Helies.

"Alright, that's fine," said Tremblay.

"Hey! No! I didn't say that!" exclaimed Jannick. "I'll play!"

"Play then," said Tremblay. "But next I hear of this..."

Jannick played well. The defense, mostly Recuecn FC players, came together around him, stopping attack after Osarian attack. In the second half, Marshall managed to put one through his fingers to the dissapointment of the home crowd. Franky couldn't gather the offense to tie it up. But against the best in the world, nobody was terribly dissapointed.

After the game, Franky got a text from Gerald. It was a picture of a baby. "say hi to rebecca firaut!" said the text. will bring her 2 practice soon"

"I feel like a jerk," said Franky.

[Bears Armed]

Marra Sundaughter swore out loud — but using only Ursine expressions, which I consider it more tasteful to refrain from translating for you — as she stood in the tunnel’s mouth and watched floodwater cover Wimbley’s pitch.
“Razzuns’sfrasssin’hrraghamath-hrrahrgrrrun!! Errgyrtt’hrripph’garrhhrruck!!!”
This match against the low-ranked team of Garifuniya would probably have been the Belles’ best hope for starting a comeback after their far-from-glorious career so far during the series, and rising at least one or two places higher in their qualifying group before the ‘mid-qualifiers’ break… if only it hadn’t been rained off!
Hokay, so it takes a LOT of rain to stop Ursines, but then they’d just had a LOT of rain, what had felt like it should have been at least a month’s-worth by normal expectations, delivered in barely a period barely a third of one watch in length — and starting just after the game’s own beginning (OOC: There are 16 watches in a day, as the Bears usually measure the passage of time, so a third of one watch is equivalent to half an hour — and thus to two-thirds of half a football match’s normal duration — by normal RL reckoning…) — instead. And even if that hadn’t been enough in itself to stop most of the Belles, it would still have been MORE than enough to stop their Human opponents… and so the game had been formally called-off shortly before the half-time whistle would have been blown under normal conditions, and the referee had declared it to be a draw, a furless draw…
“Garrhhrruck-tejharg’sfrasssin-hrrahrgrrrun!!”
She stopped as her words were drowned out by a loud clap of thunder, the first of what soon became many.
”The weather-spirits must have decided to hate urrs, for some reason,” she grumbled more quietly to herself….“or to hate me, anyhows”. Glumly she considered the effect that a failure to get the team into a better position before very much longer might have on her career prospects.

“Marra, Marra!” came an excited-sounding cry from further down the tunnel.
She sighed as she recognised the voice of management intern Iris Western, a teenaged Human female who always seemed over-flowing with energy and cheerfulnes. “Guess what? You’ll never guess!”

“The governing committee at BAAS has decided to sack me as chief coach, already, and you are my replacement?” she replied sarcastically, trying to scrape up as much cheerfulness herself as she could under the circumstances.

“No, silly…
“Oops! I mean, ‘No, chief’… No, all three of the group’s other matches today have ended up as draws — for various different reasons — too!”

“Hwhat?!?” Marra exclaimed. “But the odds against that happening much have been…” She paused as a conclusion forced it way to the surface of her mind.
“Hr’rmm. So, despite this debacle here, we aren’t actually any further behind the group’s current leaders than we were beforepaw. Hokay, we still have one less chance to build up ourr points during this series than I’d hoped for, but at least the gap is no larger… Maybeso I can work with that. Well, I’ll have to work with that. Go down to the changing rooms and tell all of our girls who are still in there that I’ll want to meet with the entire team in the gym straight rright after breakfast tomorrow morning.
"Oh, and Iris?”

"Yes, chief?"

"Don't call me 'chief', hokay?"

"Hokay, ch. Oops!"

[Free Republics]

While Pierre Theriault's brother had gone on to international fame as a soccer coach, he had followed in his father, grandfather and great grandfather's footsteps by attending Republica's Naval Academy and accepting a commission as an officer in Republica's Navy. He had spent the better part of the past decade climbing up the ranks. Then, when he was finally promoted to Admiral, Gregoryisgodistan nuked Hicana and the Empire was suddenly at war. Admiral Theriault IV, as he was commonly called by his troops and by the military beat reporters, would now play a major role in the war.

Pierre's relationship with his more famous brother was complicated. While Rule was his brother, Pierre did not like the way that Rule lost control of his soccer team nor the fact that the Navy had to regularly bail him out for years. Yet, there was nothing that Pierre could do to stop it, for he was a mere Commodore when the Navy WHALES raided the Sarian on his brother's behalf. Nowadays, however, the tables had turned and Rule was unemployed at the moment and sitting around the house waiting for his lawsuit against Consul Kulseth to make it before the courts.

Pierre Theriault, on the other hand, was a staunch supporter of the Kulseth government and had actually joined the Holy Party during their rise to power. He was pleased with the Consul's efforts to bring about a moral revolution within a society that Pierre had long considered to be immoral, self-centered, crass and degenerate. His wife, the daughter of a Protestant minister, was also a strong supporter of Consul Kulseth. In fact, she had convinced Pierre to convert to Christianity in order to win her father's permission for the 2 of them to wed. While they weren't members of the True Church, they certainly weren't atheists either and wanted no part of a secular society.

Indeed, radical Christianity's rise had been foreshadowed by its rapid growth in popularity amongst the Republican military. While most troops in those days supported the Nat-Gres, the Christians consistently gained ground amongst the military by promoting a theology that taught a duty for Christians to Crusade to help rid the multiverse of evil. For a long time, the Christian vote had been splintered but when the country was in a mood for change, the Christians were united behind Reino Kulseth and Pierre Theriault had been one of the few people who wasn't surprised when radical Christianity defeated Godless secular fascism and set out to remake the society.

But now Admiral Theriault had orders from none other than the Consul himself. His orders were to relentlessly bombard the Taiyouese coastline, providing a diversion that would allow the WHALES to enter Taiyou and assassinate the Governor to put an end to her revolt. He left Charm Harbor with 3 dozen ships, including 5 gigantic battleships that had not been used since the original conquest of Taiyou and an aircraft carrier to permit aerial bombardment of Taiyouese cities. Finally, as the attention of the press was on Yellow Bay and Nejax, Admiral Theriault's fleet arrived off the coast of Taiyou.

Before commencing with the naval bombardment, they launched several bombers from the aircraft carrier to deliver one final warning to the Taiyouese. The bombers dropped pamphlets that had been machine translated from English to Taiyouese and included so hilariously broken Taiyouese. In fact, some of the pamphets were actually translated into Ciqian instead because they couldn't tell the difference between the 2 languages. The pamphlets were intended to contain demands for the Governor to immediately call off her rebellion, resign and turn himself over to Republican custody. In exchange for meeting these demands, the Republican military would not destroy the island or kill the Governor. The actual translation, however, turned out to be an incoherent disaster and they hadn't even bothered to include English on the pamphlets so it was impossible to tell what the Republicans had actually meant. Nonetheless, Admiral Theriault waited for 24 hours to see whether they would meet all of his demands and spare themselves what they had coming to them for their insolence in rebelling against the Empire...

[Walkany]

The camera switched to Dean and Fargo as the transition animation faded away. They both looked shocked. The director was motioning for them to start talking, but it seemed he was the only one. The entire news crew had watched the game and no one could figure out what happened. Walkany had taken an early lead with an Eddy Haphazard goal and Chris Rolonda assist. Despite the home team's attempts, they just could not seem to break through the Gator's defense or keeper. Throughout the game, the three amigos, Leones Cleen, Chris Rolonda, and Eddy Haphazard dominated, though they could not seem to score on the great goal keeper of Sameba. Clint Daniels, Xander Xavi, and David Lucius all played their part well, but the defense was the highlight of the match. They were a brick wall that refused to let anything past. For the lucky three shots on target that the home team had, Jurgen Coeman stopped them easily.

Suddenly, disaster struck in the eighty-fifth minute. Pep Pep Guardiola slid in towards an opposing player that managed to get past Fil Gones. With his cleats up, Pep smashed the player's knees, knocking him to the ground just inside the box. The referee gave Guardiola a yellow and gave the penalty. The ball was put away easily, equalizing the game for Sameba. Then, only two minutes later, the home team scored again from forty yards out, catching Coeman on his heels. Walkany attacked like mad men. Elbows were flying, dirt was flinging, and the ball never seemed to stop moving. After two more good chances on goal, both from Cleen, it seemed that the result was certain. Sameba was not going to let that fly. They counter attacked in the first minute of injury time, with several one-touch passes allowing them to get a man past Mark de Man. He sprinted towards Coeman who came out of the box to stop him. Finally, after outrunning all the defenders and within spitting distance of Jurgen, the Sameba player took the shot. It curled around the goal keeper, ricocheted off the post, and bounced into the goal. Within six minutes, Walkany had lost the game.

"Dean," Fargo muttered, "What. Just. Happened?"

Dean mumbled his words for a moment before answering, "I think we just lost."

"Ya' think?" Fargo shook his head, astounded that any body could let such a hard worked lead slip away like that.

"Fargo, I think Burnie O'nielle has a lot more to worry about than just bad performances. If he keeps this... this..."

"Bologna?"

"Yes, bologna. If he keeps it up, he'll be out of a job. We need to win our next game. This is a crushing blow, especially after coming out of that great four-one win. Four points in five games? Disgraceful!"

Fargo shuffled his papers before he replied, "I know, Dean, I know. Our next game is against an unranked team, so hopefully we can win this one. My father always told me that you need at least ten out of fifteen points every five games to stay in contention for any competition. It is my belief that we may already be out of the competition. Look at the top two teams in group twelve right now."

The camera brought up the animation for group twelve.

P Group 12                           Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Ko-oren                              5    4   0   1     8    1   +7    12
2 Abanhfleft                           5    3   2   0    14    9   +5    11
3 San José Guayabal                    5    3   0   2    16   10   +6     9
4 New Wolfopolis                       5    2   2   1     6    8   −2     8
5 Sameba                               5    2   1   2     8    9   −1     7
6 Walkany                              5    1   1   3     8   10   −2     4
7 Nurovo                               5    1   0   4     7   12   −5     3
8 Gabbindon and The Liffan Isles       5    0   2   3     8   16   −8     2

Fargo continued, "I predict that Ko-oren and Abanhfleft will both achieve a play-off position, if not qualify for the World Cup. San José as well. Everyone else? Forget about it. Nine games left with a total of twenty-seven points on the line. If we go off of our current form and if we win against Nurovo and tie New Wolfopolis, we will have a total of twelve points at the end of the Qualifiers. O'nielle, get your stuff together, or someone else will!"

The news crew in the background cheered. Dean laughed and crunched up his papers. "So much for beating our record, huh?"

"Looks like we'll be cutting it short tonight folks. Stay tuned tomorrow for a real broadcast of what went wrong."

---

Eddy Haphazard sat with a blanket over him while the plane flew back to Walkany. He did not want his teammates to see him cry. That was possibly the worst defeat the team had ever 'achieved'. Not the highest scoring by far, but the worst. They had been doing so well! Bergmann made a small mistake, though it could have been fixed. What happened? What went wrong? We could have won! He heard Dennis' rap music playing out of his headphones. It sounded like someone was beating on a snare drum while someone else rapped so fast that it sounded like gibberish. Dennis was sitting right next to him and judging by his body language after the game, he was not happy about the result. Poor guy did not even get to play. It would not have mattered though. Sameba had torn through them like butter. The team fell apart. Why? This question was all Eddy thought about the long ride home.

[The Fallenmark Islands]

Watching nervously from the sidelines was a fool’s lot. That was what he’d been saying to himself ever since he’d been sitting on the substitute’s bench for Jan Mayen islanders as a young lad. Even before that, when he was sitting in the stands – or, more accurately, on his Dad’s lap – with a purple and white striped scarf around his neck, Alexsandr van Sorensen had absolutely hated the sensation of not being able to do anything to help the players he was so firmly supporting. It had always tasted bitter to him, with a beige hue darted little waves of anxiety and prepossession around the corner of his vision. He’d hated it then, and he still hated it now. Only now, he had the added stresses not just of being helpless, but of being responsible for the team and their results as well. Management was proving to be far more difficult than he’d hoped.

Against Boring Paradise, he’d seen the Herons come from behind once already in the match, when Kekkonen continued to repay the faith put in him by van Sorensen with a superb header from Eirikur Beyer’s chipped cross. But the home side had pulled away again after half time, squeaking in a header of their own at the near post past an embarrassed Pfennig. The first goal he’d had no chance with – a rocket of a shot that had nearly burst through the net itself – but he’d be disappointed with himself for letting that one in. van Sorensen made a mental note to make sure Dietar had a word with him after the match. He couldn’t be too hard on himself, van Sorensen needed him fit and happy. The fact was, he was still the best keeper in the squad by some margin, and with the points in this qualifying group still incredibly tight, the last thing van Sorensen could permit or allow was a crisis of confidence in his first choice number one.

Still, the minutes were ticking down now, and despite some extensive periods of pressure through van Sorensen’s innovative ‘Orion’ formation, he’d been unable to engineer any sort of breakthrough. In response, he’d thrown on Graz in place of Salt, and Juran in place of Ness. The time for subtlety was long gone. With only three minuts on the clock, he threw men forwards valiantly in an attempt to secure what was an unlikely point on paper, but a crucial one in terms of keeping the table nice and tight. More to the point, it was a point that van Sorensen had identified at the very start of the campaign as a possible one if they wanted to push on and make a nuisance of themselves in and around the qualification positions. He didn’t seriously expect to qualify, of course, but points like this here in boring Paradise would send a message out to the rest of the Multiverse that results like this were within the reach of the small island group. Moreover, it would be another one to add to the pile of “results that prove the win over Valanora wasn’t just a fluke”. Niko Aamot and Willem Moss had both scored that day in that historic result for the Herons, and as he watched them ambling up for yet another corner – The Fallenmark Islands’ twelfth of the match – he couldn’t help himself hoping that one or the other of the experience pair would pop up with an equaliser and relive that glorious night just one more time.

There was a rush of expectant noise from The Blue Unit when the corner came in, with Aamot already headed for where everyone knew it was going to hit the six yard box danger area. Everyone, that is, apart from the Boring Paradise defence. Alas, when the big defender made contact with the ball, it bounced off the crossbar with a reverberating crack that broke the hearts of the travelling support just that little bit more and left van Sorensen with his head in his heads. The entire stadium watched the ball harmlessly behind the goal, and then the noise started again in earnest.

The Blue Unit realised that a draw was well within their reach, and they upped the volume. The home support, meanwhile, began to realise at last that the visitors were very much in this match, and they woke. Screaming, they urged their players not to let the result slip.

Dietar Eygenroy stood up and offered his voice to the cauldron of noise swirling around the stands. Somehow, he still seemed louder than anyone else there, and the players in blue and grey soon got the intended message of support. They could do this, they knew they could, they knew the management knew they could, and they must have had to have been deaf if they didn’t know the Blue Unit certainly knew they could do it. They pressed on accordingly.

Minutes trickled past, and the Boring Paradise defenders grew ever desperate, just hoofing the ball out into touch whenever one of the Herons looked like threatening or running onto a cross or through ball.

Suddenly, though, there was the chance! A slip on thr turf at a key moment, and Just was free, with time and space on the ball. Looking up, he saw Beyer losing his marker and passed the ball swiftly and accurately into the path of the team’s dynamic talisman. Executing a perfect turn to get him out of trouble, he rolled it into the path of Kekkonen.

WHAM!

A superb tackle by the out-rushing goalkeeper knocked Kekkonen off his feet, but the ball had been won cleanly, and everyone knew it. With defenders and attackers alike scrambling to restructure themselves after the wild deflection of the spinning ball, van Sorensen suddenly grabbed Eygenroy’s forearm in ecstatic expectation.

With the keeper well off his line still, and defenders still several yards away from reaching the goal line, the ball had fallen to young Gustaf Graz in space. He was open. He was unmarked. He was pulling his foot back already. It was an open goal… surely!

Maybe it was the fact he was yet to score for the national team that made him overcompensate. Maybe it was a rush of blood to the head. Maybe it was the sprawling figure of the goalkeeper with desperate flailing limbs throwing himself into the corner of his vision as he took the shot. Who knows what distracted Graz in the end?

But whatever it was, it was enough. Far too eagerly, Graz unleashed a thunderbolt into an open net, with just enough of a backwards angle in his back to lead the ball to fly far too high and cannon spectacularly off the bar.

CRACK!

For the second time in minutes, van Sorensen held his head in his hands as his side hit the woodwork in front of the away support.

Things got worse however, when the ball landed kindly for a Boring Paradise player instead this time, and a panicked lofted clearance turned out to be the perfect ball for their lone outlet to run onto. One misjudged bounce from Moss later, and the striker was through on goal with Pfennig struggling to get back to his line in time.

Too late.

One long-range effort later, and it was three-one. The Blue Unit were silenced.

Football was a cruel sport, van Sorensen would tell his player later that evening in the changing room, and sometimes it doesn’t reward effort, pressure, talent, or skill. Of course, that was a lesson he’d learnt himself in the stands a long time ago as well.

[Kandorith]

Strange Event After Another


Crystal Empire 2–2 Kandorith

P Group 6                            Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 United States of Devonta             5    4   1   0    14    4  +10    13
2 Polar Islandstates                   5    3   1   1    15    9   +6    10
3 Kandorith                            5    2   3   0    15   11   +4     9
4 Communicar                           5    2   2   1     7    7    0     8
5 Crystal Empire                       5    1   2   2    10   12   −2     5
6 Coreyo                               5    1   1   3     5   10   −5     4
7 Nizov                                5    1   0   4     2    7   −5     3
8 The Greater Vakolicci Haven          5    0   2   3     2   10   −8     2

The odds are with and not with Kandorith at the same time as strange match after strange match seems to arise for the Red Dragons. After the outstanding victory on Polar Islandstates, the team fails to pass another team the next match. Kandorith failed to achieve victory against Crystal Empire in an absolutely explainable style, was it complacency? Or was it just bad luck? Whatever it was it is a mystery to the fans and many critics.


With 5 matches played Kandorith stands at a total of nine points, which is not impressive nor disappointing, although they should have performed better, way better. Xí-tiang has made a promise of creating the best Kandorese team in history, but so far they have only won two out of five matches, the rest being draws; absolute strange draws even. Critics are devoting the performance of the Kandorese team to being lazy and or uninspired. Many things have been put forward to be the cause of it, going as far as the players getting too old. Xí-tiang however has put all those rumors to rest; blaming it on lack of the will to win, something which the team will be focusing on for the next training.


"The Kandorese team looks absolutely solid this year, but the will the score goals seems to be gone, with the new training regime that must return" Xí-tiang exclaimed. "I have no complaints about the team roster nor atmosphere, it is just in front of goal we are leaving too many chances to luck or just not taking the chances. WE are going to focus more on taking every chance we can get to return to our former glory. The Kandorese team is an attacking team and we need to show the world we are without a doubt also a goal scoring team."


Wise words from Xí-tiang on the training schedule and team for sure, but will this cause the team to finally start scoring more goals again? We await the next match, so do the fans. Although the fans are not pleased, they still haven't given up support on Xí-tiang. A recent survey showed over 80% of the nation still in favor of Xí-tiang being in charge of the Kandorese team, where 56% is disappointed with the overall performance. Xí-tiang remains the most popular coach to date, but he has to change things around quickly; or his career might be over.

[Madesu]

JOURDAIN: "Yep, we lost against Xzyxrouw. And guess what? Madesu didn't play at home."

LAMECH: "I mean, the Xatz played pretty good, too, dude. They're a more experienced team, but this is certainly not the end of it. We'll rematch them very soon."

CAETANO: "What do we have? Like 10 more matchdays?"

JOURDAIN: "Something like that."

SERGE: coming from inside the house. Caetano, Jourdain and Lamech were already outside, ready to go ride bikes through a nearby park. "Don't worry guys, we still got time. We'll beat 'em."

CAETANO: "You know, the Xatz are in Esportiva, and Esportiva's going through some hard times these days. I kinda feel for the Xatz that they deserved at least one win to lift their spirits up."

LAMECH: "Their economy sucks, and they're a smaller nation compared to the rest of their neighbors, and the region's pretty much unstable as the days go by. So they're a pretty vulnerable country nowadays."

SERGE: "Yeah but still...MADESU, man!"

JOURDAIN: "So we have Rustler against the Beastkin in Eurasia, Congo, and South America, and we have crisis in Estportiva...all during the world cup qualifiers."

CAETANO: "I think everyone just needs to sing Why can't we be friends altogether and forget about every difference in the world."

SERGE: "Guys the sun's going down soon. Do you guys just wanna walk through a little bit of Kinshasaburg for a while?"

LAMECH: "In fact, what we should do next is get Mom and Dad to take us to watch the next matchday at Didier's."

CAETANO: ignoring Serge. "So who put in the goals today, anyway?"

JOURDAIN: "It was Gibson twice and Beaumont."

LAMECH: "Gibson is a beast!"

JOURDAIN: "You know, Lam, we should just watch the next matchday at church? How does that sound? So we can do serious prayer right before the match for extra good luck, huh?"

LAMECH: "Well, that's not a bad idea..."

SERGE: "Yeah, maybe we could bring the Pope to pray with us on the last 2 matchdays. That'll be a heck of a prayer, I'll say."

LAMECH: "It would."

CAETANO: "It's getting dark. Let's just go inside. I'm getting bitten by mosquitoes here already."

JOURDAIN: "Let's play some World Cup 71, shall we?"

SERGE: "I'm playing as Osarius, called them first. I'm gonna get the GS4 (GameStation 4) from the closet."

JOURDAIN: "I'll play as Ndaku."

CAETANO: "But you're not gonna last not even to the 7th matchday, haha!"

They then go back inside the Porcher house. Lamech then goes into a deep thought and daydream on how Madesu's international sporting reputation would skyrocket once the team qualifies for the world cup. He dreams of living in a nation with not only good international political reputations, but also sporting, especially football. He dreams that one day, Madesu will take part in leading the world in football.

[Szavoda]

continued from here

South-Western Hornchurch, Eura, a few months later

The first signs of spring etched the landscape around Hornchurch as Katarina’s flight touched down at the airport. The normally snow-covered mountains on the horizon were now only peppered with white at their peaks, whilst the sky was blue and the air temperature verged on comfortable. Katarina had spent the last few weeks tying up loose ends: she’d left the military, officially discharged with full honours, telling her comrades she was returning to University, albeit in Eura, to further her studies. That way, should she ever be seen in Eura, the story would make sense. She told her ageing mother that she was going back to University in Nevograd, but she had just grunted and muttered something about young people.

She had shut up her apartment, common practice in Szavoda as opposed to renting it out, and had begun to set up her for her life in Eura, after all, she would be based there for most of time, except when on duty in Szavoda. She was asked by Clyne whether her apartment could be used as a Kreceva base, and she had accepted, as it meant she could go home whilst on operations, albeit it could be crawling with Clyne computer nerds and their kit.

She hauled her rucksack from the overhead storage locker and onto her shoulder, politely excusing herself past the young Euran couple who had occupied the two seats to her right on the flight. She hurried off the plane and into the terminal – Hornchurch’s airport was substantially smaller than Bastion’s behemoth, but still rivalled Kreceva for its size and intake. As was common with Szavdas entering Eura, there was a long and gruelling immigration process, which involved lots of queueing and passport examination. The stern faced border guard looked from her passport, then to Katarina, then back to her passport. After several seconds, the guard tapped his keyboard and examined the screen. The Euran border officials had more data on Szavdas than their own government had on them.

“Nature of your visit ma’am?” grunted the guard.
“Business, I’m working here. All my documents should be in order.”
The guard clicked away again. He examined the screen for a few more seconds.
“And where will you be working?”
“At Clyne Services PMC, 450 Mason Avenue, Hornchurch.”
“And where will you be residing during this time?”
“Excuse me, I have it written down.” Katarina retrieved a scrap of paper from her pocket and unfurled it. “2230b Pinewood Avenue, Hornchurch. Clyne owns the apartments.”

The guard clicked away again, before taking Katarina’s finger prints and a photo, before returning her passport and associated documents and waiving her through. She came into the baggage concourse and retrieved her bags – two large suitcases, considering she was practically upping sticks and starting a new life, at least for the ‘bedding in’ period for two months which Nick had described. He had sent to Katarina a whole pack introducing her to Clyne. It was a collection of various documents, outlining things such as living accommodation; work schedules, wage structure etc., and Katarina had read it extensively. She gathered her suitcases and moved through a further security checkpoint, where her bags were checked, despite the fact they’d been checked twice before. She then moved through to the main arrivals hall, where she was being met by a driver from Clyne. She scanned the waiting crowd, trying to pick out the card with her name on it.

She met the driver and he took her bags, carrying them out into the car park which was now bathed in spring sunshine. He led her to a SUV identical to that which Nick had in his garage, where he loaded the bags and then opened the back door of the car. The drive to Pinewood Avenue, where Clyne’s apartments were, was half an hour and she recognised some of the scenery from when Nick first took her to Mason Avenue and Clyne several months ago.
Pinewood Avenue was a residential street in an upmarket suburb in the south of the city. The streets were wide, with large houses and small scale residential blocks as well as plenty of green space. 2230b was in a particularly elegant block, with a large marble-floored reception which was permanently manned. The driver dropped Katarina out the front, before assisting her with her bags. He took out his PDA before leaving and began to read.

“I’ve just got a message from Mr. Cross, he says I’m to report back here at 10am to take you to Ward House, Clyne’s country residence, where you’ll be formally inducted. Enjoy your evening ma’am, there should be someone waiting inside for you.”

“Thanks, tomorrow then.”

Katarina wheeled her two suitcases through the sliding doors into the cool interior of the apartment building. Once again, it was a stylish lobby area, with a reception area, and Katarina hadn’t made it five steps inside when she was confronted by a woman. Her brain ticked over for a second, before putting a name to a face. It was the short girl, Lauren, from when she first came to Hornchurch. She beamed a broad smile and looked up to Katarina through her thick-framed glasses. She started in Szavda.

“Hi Katarina, good to have you down here. I’m going to show you around, we’re going to be sharing an apartment, hope that’s not a problem.”
“Not at all.”
“Great, let’s get someone to take your bags, and we’ll go up in the lift. Brett, could you grab these bags for Ms. Krevic?”

A young man in a bell-boy uniform nodded and hustled forward, whisking the bags away from Katarina. Lauren led her to the elevators, where they took the lift to the fourth floor, of seven, of the block. The apartment was at the far end of the left corridor, and opened with the swipe of an electronic card. The apartment which Katarina entered was relatively cosy, with an open-pan kitchen and dining room, with a dining table by a large bay window overlooking parkland behind the building. There was a lounge room, with a TV on the wall and a sofa-and-chairs set. The other two rooms were bedrooms; one was filled with bags, boxes and other assorted junk, whilst the other was pristinely clean, keeping in pattern with the whole apartment.

“So yeah, this is the apartment. Two bedder, bathroom attached to each, dining room and kitchen, living room. All the modcons, cable TV, bath and shower, down the road we’ve got restaurants, cafes, shops and useful things, there’s a dry cleaners as well, good little neighbourhood is Westonvale. Also there’s a football club, Hornchurch, play near here. Clyne has a block of season tickets; we like to go every Saturday. Is there football in Szavoda?”
“Err, no, I don’t think so. I know of it, but rugby is a lot more popular".
"We’ll take you on Saturday, it’ll be great.”
“I must admit, I know nothing about it.”
“Don’t worry we’ll teach you. Your room is off to the left, sorry there’s still some of my bags and stuff in there, I meant to ship them out earlier but I had some paperwork to do. I’ll take them out in a moment. You can go dump your bags.”

Katarina smiled and nodded at her new flatmate. She wheeled her suitcases into the room, a comfortable looking room with one window on one side, a queen-size bed, a dresser, a desk and a large wooden wardrobe. She lifted her two suitcases and hauled them onto her bed and dropped her rucksack by the nightstand. She began to unpack when Lauren came in and began to take her bags out of the room.

“There’s a storage closet on the side of the hallway, you can drop your bags in their once your unpacked. I like that dress.” Lauren finished as she pointed towards a pink sun-dress at the top of Katarina’s suitcase.
“Oh, thanks.”

Katarina continued to unpack as Lauren ferried bags out of her room. After several minutes of strategic placing of clothes in various draws and cupboards, as well as the unloading of seven pairs of shoes, the room began to look a bit more like her own. She then helped Lauren take the last of her bags through to the storage cupboard; the last of which was a large and heavy metallic silver case. Katarina hauled it up and enquired as to its contents.

“It’s a hunting rifle. I don’t have a gun safe here so I’m required to keep it in this locked case. There’s good hunting country all around the city. Some of the best in Eura.”

Hunting was one thing that Katarina had done in her childhood. Although she had never met her father, from the age of 13 she had gone out with the local group, and although it was probably a lot less professional and regulated than hunting in Eura, she was a decent shot and enjoyed the whole spectacle.

“What do you hunt?
“Anything that moves. Except people. Deer, birds, hares. If it’s in the woods, and it doesn’t say ‘don’t shoot’, I’ll put a bullet between its eyes.”
“Wow.” Katarina replied, slightly stunned by Lauren’s oddly dark statement. Katarina changed the subject.
“So who else lives in the block, they said Clyne owned a bunch of the apartments?”
“They drop all the single girls in here, so there are five of us, Jennifer and Chloe have the flat across the hall, and Hibs has the one on the fifth floor. She’s the most senior, so she gets one by herself. Got a treadmill in the spare bedroom lucky bitch.”
“Hibs?”
“Molly, you met her. Tall brunette.”
“Oh yeah.”
“We call her Hibs, easier than saying Molly Hibbert-Landsman. Anyway, Jennifer, or Jenny, Argyle is just a regular gun, works on our Recon. Detail, posh girl gone crazy, although we don’t tell her that. Her dad’s a moneyman in Bastion and her mum drinks enough to forget. Put through the best private schools, best University, but wanted to rebel against her parents and all the high society bullshit and joined the army. Realised she didn’t quite despise the high society crap and joined us here. Apparently there wasn’t enough Champagne in the 4th Battalion.” She continued “Chloe Bremner is our deputy Public Relations Officer, so not a gun, but a fun girl. Has to deal with all the shit we cause, well, she assists the actual Public Relations Officer, but yeah. Nice girl, quiet, but actually really fun once you loosen the shackles.”

There was a knock at the door of the apartment and Lauren excused herself to go and answer it, whilst Katarina took her laptop out of her rucksack and fiddled with the adaptor; despite the countries bordering each other, literally everything from Szavoda was incompatible with that of Eura. There was a knock on her open bedroom door and Katarina turned around. It was Molly, Lauren almost blocked out in the door frame. Molly came forward and offered her hand. Katarina took it and smiled.

“Hey Katarina, I’m so glad you decided to join us here at Clyne. I can assure you that it’s the right decision.”
“I’m sure it will be.”

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

OOC - see the Holy Empire roster for a detailed explanation of what's going on here.

And yes, instead of Handel and Purcell (the usual sources) I've shamelessly ripped off West Side Story here; it seemed apt given the opponent, though it's a one-off different format


World Cup 72
An oratorio by Jorge Handeles

ACT 2, SCENE 2
(Matchday 5 - Omerika at Prins Mikäel Pärk)


LEBOURNES
The Holy Empire
My heart's devotion
Let it rise outside the multiverse
Always the Chaco winds blowing
Always the population growing

And no money owing
And the sunlight streaming
And the natives steaming
I like the Imperial Hippodrome
Smoke on your pipe
And put that in

CHORUS
We like to go to Omerika
Watching the match in Omerika
Everything free in Omerika

BALSAMONO
For a small fee in Omerika

DALESSENO
The mundies are always so nice

BALSAMONO
One look at us and they charge twice

CHRYSOBERGES
We'll have to play well to win

LASCARO
Don't be silly, this match is our easiest win

DALESSENO
Skyscrapers bloom here in Mikäelpoort

CHRYSOBERGES
Big cars they zoom here in Mikäelpoort

STRATEGOPOULOSO
Industry boom here in Mikäelpoort

MALE CHORUS
But our dressing room's small here in Mikäelpoort

DALESSENO
Intan is having a marvellous match

BALSAMONO
Our forwards can't score in a brothel, natch

DALESSENO
How did Rosenkrantz score those two goals?

BALSAMONO
We wrongly thought this match was a stroll..

DALESSENO
Life can be bright in Omerika

MALE CHORUS
If you can play in Omerika

FEMALE CHORUS
The opposition's alright in Omerika

MALE CHORUS
But we've been poor in Omerika

FEMALE CHORUS
Christopherson's team they are full of pride

MALE CHORUS
I hope he's proud here of his own side

FEMALE CHORUS
We're free to be anything that we choose

MALE CHORUS
Regrettably this match we chose to lose

BALSAMONO
Shots off the bar in Omerika
We fell apart in Omerika
Terrible time in Omerika

DAPHOPHATES [as Tzimisces]
Don't want to come back to Omerika

[The Sword Bloke]

SWORDEANS TO SETO; "WOW."

The Swordeans have joined the war against SETO, after 10 of the 17 Swordean states voted to join the evil forces, with 68% of Swordeans voting NONO in the referendum. The votes were revealed on live television and radio. The news has led to protests in Angelou, with a record 3,000,000 people being executed for protesting in city square, while 5 notorious criminals have escaped The Sword Bloke for Owner-osity. The parades and mass executions have led to widespread praise of the Swordeans and Shop Owner, with many Internationals going on social media praising the move to join the NONOs, which is actually an alright name for the group. The NONOs. Shop Owner today had a speech to the people, which is written below.

"Hello there Swordeans.
As you know, hours ago we found out that we are on the side of Gregoryisgodistan, Patistan & Quebec in this Esportivan war.
Well, in the hours since, there have been parades held by those who voted NONO, while those who voted SETO have been bombing our beautiful nation.
I can announce proudly that these SETO supporters, all 3m off them, have been executed.
They have been buried in an unknown farm about 5,000 kilometres away from Angelou Coty Centre.
Let this be a warning to you all; SETO fans are Anti-Swordeans.
Thank you for your time everybody, good night."

As you can see you wont be let off easily for your crimes in The Sword Bloke. At the moment, no wars have been started, but Shop Owner is currently at Trooper Bay, making weapons at the famous 'Sword Bloke Eeapons Shop'. It is believed that Shop Owner will have a very powerful weapon ready soon for him to use in this awesome war. Shop Owner loves war, and all of The Sword Bloke loves war. In The Sword Bloke, being killed is a national honour, and in war, you get killed. What is next for the Swordeans? Life or death?

Stop by Shop Owner

When war is on, The Sword Bloke stop.
No speaking, no moving, not even a bop.

They do everything to fight for their great nation.
The nation they fight for is a great creation.

They get their guns, and then they aim.
For the Swordeans, war's like a video game.

When they are killed, they become greats.
And they don't need to pay the huge tax rates.

[Stvoto Latoli]

Section: Home Page
Section: Local News
Section: Business
*** Section: Sport ***
Section: Entertainment
Section: Opinion

High Drama At Trogu How As Cards Fly Again

19 November 4014 - In yet another World Cup 72 qualifying match marred by disciplinary issues, Trogu How played host to a thrilling one all draw between the Golden Crows of the Maritime Empire and the Survivors of Zenic. Though Kuaku Gheberihiq's introduction to the starting eleven was a resolute failure, Stvoto Latoli's only goalscorer was sent off after just a half hour, and a late penalty miss denied the Gold-Whites a win, the dramatic match got blood flowing through the veins of national team supporters who felt their team's campaign was surely dead in the water.

The match began with a chilly rain falling on the small, fast pitch on the Irish Social Unity Center campus in the Maritime Empire's capital. Fatefully, as the ancient Ariddian referee Aurélien Moineau blew the opening whistle, his red card fell from his pocket and he had to be handed the implement back by Zenic's Alexander Ayaode a few seconds into open play. After five minutes, Nataliaja Irmedheghi tripped up Gavin Barnsley on the left hand side of the Survivors' attacking third. The free kick was too far away and at too tight an angle to be dangerous for a direct shot, but still provided the visitors with a genuine look at the goal mouth. The lanky Gheberihiq was told to switch sides and act as a one-man wall, but apparent communication issues with Moineau led to the Lobyuseistvooshu wingback's unceremonious caution for failing to respect the required distance from the free kick spot. (The free kick, in the end, was too long for any of Zenic's strikers to get a head on.)

Two minutes later, it was Stvoto Latoli working the ball forward. Usama O'Bearga's crafty one-two with Jabbar al Amri opened up a wee bit of space between Survivors defenders Xavier Marshall and Leon Gaspare Rosso. Dashing into the channel, Beolagh Athey received O'Bearga's through ball, but the Brewers target man's second touch sent the ball a shade too far inside, and Xavier Marshall stepped in to clobber a clearance down the pitch. His powerful stride, however, caught Athey's shin along the way, and the Irishman collapsed in a heap. The Golden Crows were livid, screaming for disciplinary action, and angriest of all was O'Bearga, whose pass had set up the move. Evidently using an expletive, the Lobyu wide man saw yellow for dissent.

After ten minutes of uneventful play, the Gold-Whites began to find open space once more. Again al Amri was able to shake his mark, and the Brewers deep-lying midfielder used a delicate lob to find O'Bearga. The right winger cut inside, allowing Athey to pull Marshall out wide, and the Red, Gray, and Chartreuse playmaker unleashed a shot that Bartholomew Sagan had to tip over the bar. A string of corners succeeded. The first was headed to safety by Kolman Gottfried, the second was tackled out by a nervous-looking Gavin Barnsley, who nearly allowed Nataliaja Irmedheghi to advance down the end line towards goal, and the third forced Sagan to make another save as a well-placed-but-not-powerful Zhetroyzheleigu Zowbowbyuthi header. Yasif cleared the ball, but poorly.

Leagh Gilmore collected the ball just ahead of midfield as the clock ticked steadfastly toward the 24-minute mark. The Lobyuseistvooshu right back's deep cross was kept in by a hustling Gidedu Shegalo, who played the ball into space with his first touch and rocketed the ball along the grass with his second, finding Irmedheghi's feet five yards away from goal. Luke Killian's inelegant shove from behind sent the Brewers trequartista flying, and the experienced Moineau pointed confidently at the spot. An outraged Sandro Michel Augustine began yelling incoherently in the Ariddian official's face, and he saw yellow too.

After a brief discussion about who should take the penalty (O'Bearga usually handles them but since Irmedheghi had won the penalty there was debate as to whether she should take it), Usama O'Bearga stepped up. He converted it, and celebrations began.

But celebration wasn't enough for the young Gheberihiq, who was evidently so enthused by his Lobyu teammate's goal that he saw fit to run over to Augustine, talking trash. This proved to be a horrible decision. Moineau, who was in no mood, stepped in without delay and cautioned the young wingback. Upon opening his book, however, the Ariddian saw what everyone else already knew - Gheberihiq had already been booked. The red card followed.

Up a goal but down a man, Stvoto Latoli moved to defense mode. With only Athey, O'Bearga, and Shegalo given authorization to move forward, protecting the lead became the top priority. And things went well - at first. After Zowbowbyuthi blocked a powerful Augustine shot, Gilmore found O'Bearga in space twenty-five yards ahead. O'Bearga evaded Gavin Barnsley with a tricky series of step-overs, and accelerated ahead. Faking inside caused Rosso to over-commit (understandable given O'Bearga's tendency to tuck into the center), and the left back found himself behind the Gold-Whites' right mid (who was now at a full sprint). Rosso's only recourse was to reach for his foe's shoulder, and all he found was a bit of shirt.

This is where things got dicey. The contact was scant, but O'Bearga quite theatrically threw himself on the ground. It was certainly a foul, but the Lobyu winger was obviously fishing for a card. Pissed off on behalf of his countrymen, who he feared might be receiving a probably-undeserved yellow, Seok Kun-Woo rushed over and tried to lift a moaning O'Bearga from the ground. This only irritated O'Bearga, who shoved Seok away. As Moineau informed Rosso it would only be a foul, the referee turned to see a full-on fistfight developing between the Stvoto Latolisi right mid and the Zenician attacking mid. A double yellow was clearly the right call, and that's what Moineau did after pulling the two apart with the help of a few bystanders.

But oh, no. Once again, the man in gold and white had already been booked, and once again came the red. O'Bearga was given his marching orders. It was only the 29th minute, and the Maritime Empire were down to nine men.

Re-purposing Athey as a makeshift center back on account of the Brewers number nine's height, al Tameer doubled down on defense, and the Survivors' attacks began to come in waves. On 33 minutes, Seok wrong-footed Satatu Bei and curled a menacing shot to Shyusoolootru Lyu's left. The captain didn't look at all psychologically scarred by the beatdown inflicted upon him four days before, and his diving save pushed the ball out wide. Two minutes later, Alexander Ayaode spun around Leagh Gilmore and looked to be bearing down upon goal before Zowbowbyuthi came screaming in to strip the Telino attacker of the ball. Gavin Barnsley collected it and swung in a dangerous-looking cross that Sandro Michel Augustine headed on frame, but Lyu made another outstanding save and punched it out to the top of the box. Seok lined up a thunderbolt of a shot with his left foot, but Zowbowbyuthi was there again to block the shot.

Frustration was building for the Survivors as Seok chased down his own rebound. But Gilmore got there first, and Seok angrily showed his cleats and raked into Gilmore's legs. Moineau was having none of it, showing the Zenician playmaker his second yellow, and the onlooking fans at Trogu How rejoiced as their opponents' man advantage was halved. Seok stalked bitterly off the pitch before Moineau even had a chance to raise the red.

But the celebrations were short-lived. In the 40th minute, Leon Gaspare Rosso was able to advance the ball down the wing without too much opposition (O'Bearga's absence likely the cause). Expertly finding Ayaode's feet and drifting cleverly inside, Rosso was open in space to receive the return ball and it was only another last-ditch Zowbowbyuthi tackle that sent the ball dribbling over the end line and prevented the Zenician left back from scoring. Daniel Oliver Barnsley stepped forward to take the corner for the visitors.

Curling in the cross, the younger Barnsley was able to find the head of Xavier Marshall. The Loderno Inferno center back nodded the ball down and Lyu's awkward reflex save wasn't enough to keep it out of the goal. The Survivors rejoiced as Moineau pointed back to midfield. The scores were level, and stayed that way until the whistle blew for half time four minutes later.

It might have seemed as though the momentum had been given away. But Brendan al Tameer, increasingly maligned by local media, apparently gave the half time speech of his life. When the Gold-Whites stepped back on the pitch, they looked like a different team (though perhaps that was because the rain, which had dwindled during the waning minutes of the first half, had now stopped). If the Maritime Empire looked like a team desperately defending a result in the opening forty-five, they looked like a team confidently defending a result in the closing forty-five. Zenic continued to dominate possession, but their chances were fewer despite their ten versus nine man advantage and when they did muster shots on goal, they were either stabbed out by Lyu, who'd recovered from the psychological blow of the Marshall goal, or blocked by Zowbowbyuthi, who seemed to be everywhere on the pitch, always arriving just in time to spoil a golden opportunity for the Golden Crows' enemies.

By the seventy minute mark, the home fans were in full voice: seemingly even happier than they had been in September during the Maritime Empire's rout of Norrehavn. Frustrated and turning against one another, in the previous 25 minutes the Zenicians had seen their continued domination of possession go to waste and they'd had to watch Yasif earn a stupid booking for persistent infringement. Furthermore, al Tameer had used his three subs brilliantly, adding two defenders and a fresh-legged Khalil Kerrigan, whose energetic bursts of pace down either wing prevented attempts to send all the Survivors' resources forward.

On eighty minutes, Zenic manager Joseph Michael Sanders had brought on another striker to try and break the deadlock, but his removal of Gavin Barnsley in order to do so proved to be a tactical error, as suddenly Kerrigan had room to roam and was causing all sorts of problems. Despite playing an opponent with just nine people on the pitch, Survivors fans could justifiably complain that their team was being outplayed.

Beolagh Athey, given license to return to the front of the formation with the back line shored up by substitutions, chased down a nifty Nanašimudh Kourouma long ball and waited for help as a cautious Yasif, worried about being booked again by a card-happy referee, gave him room to work. When Kerrigan arrived, Athey slid the ball over to the Zhevassi winger, who used a nifty dummy to clear up some space for a curling lob that Irmedheghi expertly trapped. When Marshall rumbled forward, she simply nutmegged him, stepped forward, and unleashed a fiery blast from the right side, about ten yards from goal, that would have torn the net off if it hadn't cannoned off the near post and out of play. When the fourth official raised his substitutions board before Sagan took the goal kick, the away fans breathed sighs of relief - surely Sanders was going to bring on a defender to help deal with Kerrigan.

But their smiles of relief turned to distorted frowns as the board showed central midfielder Paolo Jorge Camargo would be replacing center back Kolman Gottfried, who had played quite well. Not only had Sanders made his team more defensively frail, he hadn't done anything to fix the Kerrigan threat.

And four minutes later, in the 86th minute, he paid the price. Irmedheghi won the ball after a rough but legal challenge on newcomer Camargo, dodged Killian, and raced forward. As defenders scrambled to neutralize the threat the Brewers trequartista posed, space opened up for Kerrigan once more. Irmedheghi's crucial through ball from midfield played Kerrigan (who left back Rosso was playing on side) clear on goal. The Zhevassi wide man cleverly spun around Bartholomew Sagan, who had raced off his line early, and he had a free shot on an open goal... before...

Sagan, who was now behind Kerrigan, had to make a split-second decision, and made it without delay. He grabbed the Golden Crows' number thirteen and wrestled him to the ground. It was the easiest red card Aurélien Moineau ever had to dish out in his life - the keeper had denied an obvious goalscoring opportunity - and it erased the man advantage as nine were now to play against nine. To make matters worse, the referee pointed to the spot once more. Stvoto Latoli had the chance to win it late.

There couldn't be a repeat of the previous penalty, of course: both O'Bearga, the prior goalscorer, and now Sagan had been sent off. So Sanders used his last substitution and brought on reserve goalkeeper Hiroyama Sai, who now had the unenviable task of saving a point for his ailing team. But who would be the taker? Nataliaja Irmedheghi, who Observer Online readers might remember was briefly considered to take the first half penalty, immediately saw her name put forward, but, according to insider reports that came available after the game ended, she turned the chance down.

Beolagh Athey, not so long ago the Golden Boot winner in Gu Zhahogowdoo, the Stvoto Latolisi top flight, was chosen instead. The Brewers target man looked tired but confident as he stood over the spot. Sai, on the other hand, looked like he didn't much fancy his chances at all. Athey began his approach. A stutter step. Sai was already cheating to his left, practically inviting Athey to bash it to the other side, and he fell much too early as he helplessly watched the ball soar towards the other side of the net...

...except that Athey's thunderbolt of a shot went wide of the post. The chance had gone to waste, and it was still one-all.

That would be the last major action of the night. It was a match to be remembered, to be sure - both sides had seen dramatic opportunities to finish the other off. But in the end a draw did seem the fairest result - the Stvoto Latolisis had defended the result valiantly, down either one or two men, for well over an hour, but Zenic had dominated possession and created enough chances that, were it not for spectacular defending, could have made the result four or five one in favor of the visitors.

We might not be able to call this chaotic game a turning point in the Gold-Whites' fortunes quite yet, but it certainly provides a glimmer of hope as the national team looks forward to three potentially winnable fixtures in December against Britonisea, Sluidor, and Norrehavn. If the Golden Crows can continue to get good performances out of perennial starters like Shyusoolootru Lyu, Jabbar al Amri, and Usama O'Bearga (the latter of whom will obviously miss the game against Britonisea through suspension) and rising newcombers like Zhetroyzheleigu Zowbowbyuthi, Khalil Kerrigan, and Gidedu Shegalo, there's no reason to assume the Maritime Empire is out of the Group 10 race just yet.

1 - 1

Information

Venue: Trogu How, Tobyumosyu, Stvoto Latoli
Attendance: 76,000
Referee: Aurélien Moineau (Ariddia)
Man/Woman of the Match: Zhetroyzheleigu Zowbowbyuthi (Stvoto Latoli)

Managers

Stvoto Latoli: Brendan al Tameer (Stvoto Latoli)
Zenic: Joseph Michael Sanders (Zenic)

Squads

Stvoto Latoli: Lyu; Gilmore, Zowbowbyuthi, abd al Raziq (Kourouma 65'), Gheberihiq; al Amri (Thušabhi 57'), Bei, O'Bearga, Shegalo (Kerrigan 67'), Irmedheghi; Athey
Zenic: Sagan; Yasif, Gottfried (Camargo 82'), Marshall, Rosso; Killian, D. Barnsley, G. Barnsley (Peer 77'), Seok; Augustine (Sai 86'), Ayaode

Goals

Stvoto Latoli: O'Bearga 24' (pen.)
Zenic: Marshall 41'

Next Match

Opponent: Britonisea
Venue: Bridget Kilkenny Stadium, Teach Iarann, Muzira'a Ba'aydah
Stvoto Latoli's Projected Starting XI: Lyu; Gilmore, Zowbowbyuthi, abd al Raziq; al Amri, Bei, Shegalo, Kerrigan, Eji, Irmedheghi; Athey
Referee: Ryan Coles (Calanian Union)

[Apox]

A maelstrom of noise. A cacophony of sound. A terrifying blitzkrieg of the aural senses.

These are thoughts which would have flown through the head of the ant if it was able to comprehend such thoughts at all. Instead, it travelled, winding through the many blades of grass in the Illias Garden stadium in Flardania, avoiding the trampling, destructive feet of the large beasts above. Many a small insectoid creature had met a sticky end from these creatures.

The was a dimming of the noise, a more organised sound, rhythmic, as the ant moved through a vast section of white glass. The ant had seen this type of grass before, but it was still marvellous to behold indeed.

A deafening increase in the noise, as suddenly the ant was weaving through the grass, faster and faster, as the ground shook from the motion of the beasts as they ran, seemingly without purpose. The ant had a purpose. Return to the colony.

A large brightly coloured thing fizzed in the near distance, disappearing before reappearing far away from a different direction. What is this curious beast the ant had never seen before? The ant hurried after it, but it moved so fast. The other large beasts the ant saw seemed to be running up to the strange circular creature, with the circular creature hurrying off as soon as the large beasts got near.

What seemed like eras past to the ant, with the commotion continuing around it.

Then, one of the beasts stopped right next to the ant. It crawled up it's hindquarters, and had just nestled inside it's outer layer (OOC: The player's sock) when with a great upheaval of its world, the beast was moving. The noise was even louder than before, and both ant and beast seemed to be travelling impossibly fast.

Confusing, bewildered and lost, the ant bit into the fleshy surface of the beast on which it stood. The movement came to a stop, with a low roar from high up. The ant crawled out from under the outer layer and onto the normal ground. Above the beasts enormous face was stooped, distorted, staring at the place where the ant had been. The bite mark was this enormous red region, puffy and swollen. The ant was just glad the movement had stopped.

The ant moved off and more beasts and the circular bright creature were seen again as the ant travelled, closer towards the colony. It was nearly there, and then it could put this whole distressing incident behind it.

The surroundings went black. The ant knew what this meant, and it was not good. It scampered towards the edge of the blackness, racing to avoid the icy grip of death which it signalled. It could feel the air pushing it as it's world collapsed.

Then nothing.

(Back in the human world, the full time whistle went. 4-2 to Apox, after one of the Flardanian players had to be subbed off after a weird injury where they'd suffered a bad reaction to some sort of insect bite. The Flardanian team hadn't had the same kind of fluency after that.)