World Cup 74 - RPing Thread

[San Jose Guayabal]

World Cup 74 - San José Guayabal & Valladares
Group Stage Matchday 2 Cutoff

Mother Margaret will do her labour today, get ready!

[Valladares]

World Cup 74 - San José Guayabal & Valladares
Group Stage Matchday 2 Cutoff

It's now a matter of make-or-break for some teams. Let's find out what comes next...

...Here.

[Ko-oren]

The Quest for a Point

Imagine a packed train in rush hour. Three people are still looking for a place to sit, and simultaneously all three spot the promised land: two empty seats. That's pretty much what Group D looks like now.

The Dragonflies are readying themselves for the crucial match day three game against Turori. A draw will see us advance to the final 16 for the first time in our history, a win might get us into first place, yet a loss will eliminate us indefinitely. The tie against Pasarga on the first day had some funny consequences: it put us at second place with an advantage over Turori, but it also meant that first place is up for grabs, and Turori can still get it. Tactically and mentally, it meant even bigger things.

The Union took on the multiverse's first placed team with an open mind, not dead set to defend. With some extra attention to the attack, the team took the Wanderers by surprise, scored twice, and took away a point, showing the rest of the group that the Dragonflies can do more than just park the bus. And that's what will put Turori before a difficult choice: will the Dragonflies attack? Defend? How to counter an opponent that always does the same thing - except for one time, two matches ago, against an opponent that absolutely does not warrant the surprise approach?

This chess match will be about as interesting as the rest of the game. If the last training session has anything to say about it, the Ko-orenites are going into the crucial showdown with the same players as they have used against Pasarga and Szavoda. At the end of the session, the team played an 11 vs 11, which gave us a very good indication of which players should end up as starters. We should have Macedo on goal, who allowed two against Pasarga but kept a clean sheet against Szavoda. Macedo is only 25 and still improving in goal.

Defence will be interesting. We know Turori will operate with two fullbacks on the side that will utilise the entire side of the field, so our fullbacks will have to adjust. This will be the task of Nanami Aoki on the left hand side and Celine de Jong on the right. The centre backs will be Davenport, Juliasterinthen and Bahvahnin, as usual.

The midfield will consist of Bagaurunir and Volkov as defensive minded mids, who did excellent work against Pasarga to contain their attacking midfielders, and did just as well against Szavoda. The defensive midfield is the great strength of the Dragonflies, tactically and physically. The rest of the midfield consists of Timo Arevalo and Emeline Millet. Arevalo established himself as the most creative mind on the team and takes a central role in any attack. This also makes him vulnerable to opposing defenders, as they know who they have to take out. Millet is capable of filling the same role more than the 31-year-old Wakefield. In attack, we should have Audrey Leroux. That said, if coach Antonescu wants to create any kind of surprise, he will most likely use one of the extra players called up just before the playoffs. Rong, Ngai, Chou and Deerloonah are unknown to the public and could be a hugely important factor. Bogdan Antonescu has the choice: go for the suprise, or for defensive stability that he has always been able to rely on?

Turori will most likely line up almost exactly like the Dragonflies, in the 'System Turori': three central backs, two fullbacks on the wings with the permission to create chaos further upfield, two strikers and whoever is left on midfield. Sometimes there will be three midfielders, sometimes there will be five, depending on how far the fullbacks are pushing forward. The Union of Ko-oren typically lines up in what the Eels call the System Karela: five defenders and less than two strikers. Defensive. Cautious.

Then again, we only need one point from this game, and nobody is going to care how we get it. We are going to get one of those empty train seats.

[Cosumar]

Shock loss to Electrum casts doubt upon Cosumar's fate ahead of Valladares rematch

C A M P O - G R A N D E -- Electrum boosted their chances of advancing to their first ever Round of 16 with a thrilling 3-2 win yesterday, edging Team Cosumar in a must-win affair for the Terraneans.

Jess Fielding's breathtaking 30-yard chip of Jakk Winterfyll won the game for Electrum in the middle of the second half. After falling behind 2-1 by half time, that wonder-goal completed the restoration of the lead Electrum had briefly taken early on.

It was a deserved opening goal for the Electrumites. They produced numerous chances in the game's opening stages, putting the Vanquishers on their heels with their creativity and intent. Finally, the breakthrough came in the 22nd minute, Burnton 1963 youngster Jake Latham racing past Alexander Soarhaven and into the box before laying the ball across for Kirk Lynn-Peters to slide home. Woeful marking by the Cosumarite defense - shocking after the formidable displays turned in against Semarland and in the pre-WC friendlies.

Cosumar didn't have quite as many chances in the first half, but were far more lethal in finishing them off. Ace Newman, who has been gradually rounding into sharp form recently, had two main chances...and dispatched both. The first was a scrappy striker's goal. He was the first to locate a loose ball in the box and promptly smashed it low under David Fenech. The second showcased Newman's more elegant side, as he volleyed into the top corner with his weaker foot on-the-run, off of Anders Engström's exquisite chip into the box.

Cosumar
13 shots (6 on-target)
46% Possession, 84% pass accuracy
8 corners, 5 offsides
12 fouls, 1 yellow card (Svensson)

Electrum
14 shots (4 on-target)
54% Possession, 83% pass accuracy
5 corners, 6 offsides
10 fouls, 2 yellow cards (Henry, Ramirez)
1 red card (Ramirez)

Cosumar - 2
Newman 28'
Newman 36'

Electrum - 3
Lynn-Peters 22'
Soarhaven 50' (o.g.)
Fielding 64'

Cosumar Subs
Branch 46'
Lilley 70'

As the two teams retreated to the dressing room for the break, most viewers probably figured the favored Cosumarites had taken the lead back for good. However, the confidence of that 2-1 lead did not last long. Electrum once again came out firing on all cylinders to start the half and had equalized within five minutes.

Alexander Soarhaven headed a Rachel Ramirez cross into his own net under pressure (not how the defender had imagined getting onto the scoresheet for the first time as a member of Team Cosumar) and Fielding's winner glided into the net fewer than 15 minutes later.

Cosumar were unfortunate not to have found an equalizer, as their attack was much livelier in the second half after Gethin Ramsey shifted the formation. Despite scoring zero goals compared to the two of the first half, they produced twice as many clear chances. A-League Golden Boot winner Tevin Lilley had a major impact after coming on in the 70th minute. Ultimately, however, the Vanquishers were frustrated by Fenech's four saves in the half and were still empty-handed when the final whistle blew.

It's more than a disappointing result for Team Cosumar. It's a crushing one. There's no painting over this hideous bruise: their chances of advancing just took a massive sucker-punch to the chin. They could've wrapped the group up with a bow with three points, but instead they now face a scenario on the final Matchday in which they cannot even control their own destiny. Electrum is now even with Cosumar at 1-0-1...but hold advantages in head-to-head and goal-differential. To progress in the tournament, Gethin Ramsey's men must better Electrum's result tomorrow. The kicker? Cosumar will have to do it against the hosts, who are oozing confidence right now, in front of a frenzied crowd in Bezieres while Electrum take a comparative walk in the park with Pot 4's Semarland.

Anything can happen, but it seems unrealistic to hope for anything more than a draw against Valladares, especially after they worked us over in the Triangle Cup friendly. The Vanquishers' last hope of reaching their World Cup aspirations may rest with already-eliminated Semarland's ability to defeat Electrum.

AO kinship, don't fail us now.

---

Cosumar Goal-Scorers Tally (37 GF)
Anders Engström (10)
Ace Newman (8)
Mauricio Sigler (7)
Ole Öhman (6)
Aziz Senturk (3)
Vareza Na'Noni (2)
Peter Svensson (1)

Cosumar Assists Tally
Ole Öhman (10)
Anders Engström (6)
Ace Newman (5)
Mauricio Sigler (3)
Sheldon Serra (2)
Maynard Gorham (1)
Peter Svensson (1)
Alexander Soarhaven (1)
Frazan Va'Goshal (1)
Senter Senterekoesima (1)
Aziz Senturk (1)

Substitute Appearances Tally
Tevin Lilley (8)
Belarmin Worsaw (6)
Frazan Va'Goshal (6)
Augen Wittevrongel (5)
Matt Branch (5)
Jacob Pandan (4)
Tiffany Elam (4)
Senter Senterekoesima (3)
Darwyn Lucassen (3)
Vyacheslav Kolen (2)
Arndu Farsgaard (2)
Tomasso Tenebrosa (1)

Cosumar's World Cup 74 Cycle
Qualifying Matchday 1: Cosumar 4-0 Szavoda
Qualifying Matchday 2: Vaugania 2-4 Cosumar
Qualifying Matchday 3: Cosumar 2-2 Sarrbia
Qualifying Matchday 4: Eastfield Lodge 0-1 Cosumar
Qualifying Matchday 5: Cosumar 1-0 Unified Lycan Territories
Qualifying Matchday 6: Owner-osity 0-0 Cosumar
Mid-Qualifying Friendly: San Jose Guayabal 2-0 Cosumar
Qualifying Matchday 8: Szavoda 2-2 Cosumar
Qualifying Matchday 9: Cosumar 6-2 Vaugania
Qualifying Matchday 10: Sarrbia 2-2 Cosumar
Qualifying Matchday 11: Cosumar 3-1 Eastfield Lodge
Qualifying Matchday 12: Unified Lycan Territories 1-3 Cosumar
Qualifying Matchday 13: Cosumar 2-0 Owner-osity
Post-Qual Friendly: Valladares 2-1 Cosumar
Post-Qual Friendly: Cosumar 1-0 The Royal Kingdom of Quebec
World Cup Matchday 1: Semarland 1-3 Cosumar
World Cup Matchday 2: Electrum 3-2 Cosumar
World Cup Matchday 3: Cosumar vs. Valladares (@ Stade de Foix-Jules Picot, Bezieres, Valladares)

Green: Victory
Blue: Draw
Red: Defeat
Home team listed first

[Nephara]

Markus Rensenbrink, Chairman of the NFA, rifled through his papers. Riether's days weren't numbered, but it paid to have a backup plan, and this was looking to be a Plan B kind of World Cup.
The highlights video was on in the background. Taunting him.
Polkopia. The team they'd beaten 8-2 once. Christ.
"Second half starts as Nephara hopes to defend their 2-1 lead, no changes made at half-time, and already the Cormorants are moving forward with intent. Rainsford, to Szalai in space, pulls the trigger... ! Side netting. A little optimistic, in hindsight, but it keeps Ankudinov on his toes..."
What was Riether bringing to the table? She had plenty of good points, even if she failed at this World Cup. And real, genuine failure would be a group stage exit - she'd probably resign then before they could sack her. She just had all these ideas about a bright new attacking style, and, sure, it smashed regional opponents apart. But was it really in the Nepharim character? Had the Cormorants lost their ability to compete on the big stage? Had they, in fact, forgotten how to be underdogs?
"Cawdor's far post cross headed away by Biryukov... but only as far as Covenant, feints, shoots low and hard and it's in! Ankunidov couldn't get down quickly enough, Covenant went for placement but didn't skimp on the power either, and that's the sort of opportunism you'd normally associate with her strike partner. 3-1, and that's bought the Cormorants some breathing room, you'd think..."
Jess Mortlock. The nostalgic option, if not as stupid as it sounded. She'd just outstayed her welcome by a year or two, that was all - maybe she'd be a breath of fresh air now. But it didn't add up. He had better options - hell, Riether was one of the better options. He couldn't go more nostalgic than that, since by all accounts Ramsey aimed to end his career with Cosumar. Which made sense, too. Time was the great healer, but when closing out your career, it was also the enemy.
"Medvedev finds the overlapping run of Sokolov, that's clever, that's dangerous, swings it in away from goal but it's not dealt with by Scharner, Ballard's stranded and Ivanovich! All he has to do is sidefoot it in and he does, and he's trying to wrestle the ball away from Scharner, the Polkopians are up for this! The referee steps in..."
There were a few outside candidates, really. Edmund Agincourt was too old but judging by the miracles he was working with a terrible and broke Cranequin City he was a nice emergency option. A veteran of the pre-UICA days, too. That might be good, it might be bad. Monica Brightwater had a proven record for sweeping a clean slate and starting fresh, but wasn't yet proven as an actual match-winner. Stephen Frew would be perfect but foreign. Rachael Weixelbraun, Miriam Aragon... dreamers. Not winners, not when they can't dictate a transfer policy. Russ Reucassel? That's going too far down the underdog route. Daniel Brunet? An option that offends nobody isn't worth taking.
"Lazarev finds space, he's been allowed far too much room by Rainsford - she's already on a booking, he shoots and- and Ballard's spilled it! Holkeri nearly takes her head off swinging at the ball but that's a goal! Three-all! And now it's the Cormorants desperate to get the play restarted, scenes in the crowd, I think Scharner just threw a punch, this is starting to get out of hand..."
But Reinhard Shale was the favourite. For good reason. The man had a Midas touch, was still in his fifties and had succeeded everywhere he'd been - Maximum Rovers had raced into relevance under him, he'd been the first manager to win the Premiership with two clubs in Treason and Crisisbless and, somewhere in the middle of that, he'd managed the best era of Buyan's national team. Back when they were officially sanctioned. If he could toe the line in a dictatorship while still getting results, he could toe the line here. He played good football, but with a strong basis at the back. Oh, and he liked the press. That would make him the first in Nepharim national team history to not regard anyone with a notepad and dictaphone as the agent of Beelzebub.
Shale. If it came to it, and Riether had to be nudged out of the way, Shale was his man.
And, as he took his folder and marched out of his office, leaving the television to run, he suspected it was only a matter of time.
"Well, all square in the end and deservingly so, but you have to feel it's two points lost for Nephara, one gained for Polkopia. The Cormorants need to smash Super Llamaland and pray Eura win as well - or it will be Polkopia in the second round instead of them. Also damaging, of course, is the loss of Tanith Rainsford and Malachite Scharner through suspension - the latter you'd have to imagine for more than the one match. The final score, then, is Nephara 3, Polkopia 3.

[Schottia]

What as scene of utter dejection. The Schottic dressing room at The Estadio Tierra de Fuego had a palpable silence as the players trooped in after their narrow defeat to Nova Anglicana. The players had pulled back level four times in a nine goal thriller - and although deep down they knew football wasn't that easy - there was a sense that they felt they deserved better.

It was Schottia's first match with Chloe Rudden back in the starting line-up, after she had been given leave following her partner's release form hospital, and the North Laithland winger definitely made a difference in this game. In comparison to the Vilita match, Schottia looked much more likely to take the game to Nova Anglicana, and exorcise some of the 7-1 daemons form four years ago. Rudden had just been a teenager back then, and she looked much more like the full package this time, as she cancelled out Jimmy Kelly's opener. A quick attacking move from Schottia, opened the Anglicanans up, with Seggerson's clever pass to Coultan, who in turn angled a ball into the path of the on rushing Rudden. The 22-year-old hit a low drive, which curled just inside Thomas Barnett's far post, to pull the tie level. At that point Schottia were in the ascendency, and the fans must have felt like this was a match they could have gotten by the scruff of the neck.

'Oh well, wasn't to be I guess.' This was about as philosophical as Scott Burton ever got. The Conellians defender wasn't exactly renowned as a wordsmith.

'Well that's one way of looking at it.' Replied Chloe Rudden, changing into a dry t-shirt. The Guayabalese climate was a bit humid for her, and in her role as a flying winger, 90 minutes on a pitch was about as much as she could take. Chloe wasn't a bad loser - she wasn't even particularly competitive - but losing in that manner, late on, was a bit much for even her. It seemed to have awoken a grumpiness buried deep down, maybe even a more cutthroat side to her, which her game has always lacked. 'Personally I'm a bit sick of playing my heart out and coming away with Nichts.'

Scott sensed that perhaps he had misjudged the tone on conversation and decided to change topic. 'So how is Gary anyway? Is the big man baring up?' He asked this tentatively, as he wasn't sure how it would go down. He wasn't even sure if they were still technically an item.

'He's fine, or at least I think he is.' She answered, untying her sweaty hair and trying to tease it out of its lump of a shape. 'You know he hates any sort of a fuss, unless he's the one making it. Once everything has blown over, and he can just get back to his normal life then I'm sure he'll be all the happier.'

Scott nodded in agreement, sitting on the bench still fighting with the first shoelace. 'So did he ever mention how it was he came to be at that hiking centre?'

'No.' Chloe relied with a sigh and a shrug of the shoulders. 'I think he was just under lot of pressure, you know, it had built up for a long time.'

Scott nodded along, certainly able to understand, (even if pressure had never compelled him to take a taxi to the mountains in the middle of the night).

'Gary has been in the limelight from a very young age, huh.' She continued. 'And I guess some people can handle it better than others.' Chloe herself had been in the senior squad for Schottia since the age of eighteen, and had been a regular starter in the Nepharim Premiership since the age of nineteen, but her generally cheery demeanour was actually pretty effective at getting her through.

They all had their approaches, and they all had their coping mechanisms. Eoin Killanen for example, who had just walked in and slammed his water bottle hard against the wall, had an unwavering belief that he was the best player in the side. He was clearly furious that Emmanuel Moga's late goal had denied him hero status. Killanen must have felt that his 84th minute equaliser was good enough for a share of the points, but it wasn’t to be.

'You know we can still go through, right?' Scott asked after the Killanen induced silence had lifted. 'We beat Farfadillis and Vilita beat these guy, then that'll be enough to scrape it.'

'Yeah, I know. Just even a draw here would have been nice at least!' Chloe was continuing with her grumpy getting changed routine, where as Scott was still twiddling with the same bootlace. 'Going to need to be the best performance of our lives. We've never beaten a team as good as the Farves before, so it's going to take everything we have.'

Schottia needed a mammoth push if they were going to even nick a point at the World Cup Finals, and as every match went by it got harder and harder to see where that first win was going to come from. Putting in a brave performance was only the first part, having that ruthless killer edge was the all-important final ingredient - and it was something that Schottia were sadly missing. If they had a team of eleven Killanens it might be different, and perhaps that was why Chloe was reluctant to accept Scott's "Oh well..." outlook. Maybe they were all just a bit too nice about this, and they needed to start getting mad when they lost games. They had fought back four times against Nova Anglicana with four different scorers. No mean feat. But when the chips were down, Schottia were happy with the draw and their opposition had wanted more, that was inevitably how they lost. Even if they crashed out against Farfadillis, it was time to go out there and fight for 90 minutes. It was time to stop being happy just to just to qualify.

---

Line-up v. Nova Anglicana: D'Araby, Watt, O'Brian, Burton, Hanlon, Ünterhausen (60-McDonald), Seggerson, Coultan (81-Bia), Rudden, Killanen, Crew (60-Avelione)

Goals: 26" Rudden, 40" Crew, 68" Avelione, 84" Killanen

[Banguela]

”Welcome back on our show, ‘Remember the Days’, where we handle tonight the 2010 World Cup, the first time our Banguelan Gnus made it all the way to the finals.”

The publicities didn’t halt Eberardo Santos to flash his toothpaste smile to the viewers at home. Despite being only forty years yet, which made any living memory of the actual tournament technically impossible, he acted as if he had been one of the chums, something not received all too fondly by the trio of veterans seated to his right.

”And here with us we still have three of the men who can claim to have been part of that team of heroes,” he smiled so broad, the top of his head could fall off, ”Djalma Yaba, former national team manager and back then captain of the team, Bogwa, an international striker at the time and Rui Vunguidica, who debuted for the side in those days.”

It was easy to recognise who’s who after all those years, even if the last two faded from the public eye. Djalma Yaba was still as slick as in his best days, suited up and a natural born leader in his habitat, the cameras. His self-assurance contrasted heavily with Bogwa, who had exchanged his lush hairs for a twenty-pound belly. Rui, on the other hand, had aged well but looked a bit out of place, his heydays not to be situated during the inaugural WC of the national side.

”Of course it would have been an honour to have Joao Ferreira, manager at the San José Guayabal and Valladares World Cup, with us here. Unfortunately, mister Ferreira passed away due to kidney failure a few years,” Eberardo introduced a new topic. ”What was he like?”
”The perfect man on the perfect place,” Djalma decided to spare the death, despite their post-career clashes, ”Someone who received a bunch of players and poor infrastructure and left a squad and a legacy to build on.”

Silent nods from the other duo indicated that they couldn’t but agree on that version of the truth. You could say that disagreeing with the sturdy Djalma Yaba always had been a risky affair and time had not altered that, but the main element was that he spoke the truth. The first manager, notwithstanding the laughable Marco Freite, of the Banguelan side had done miracles with a group of mediocre players although the World Cup had exactly demonstrated how far those dreams could go.

”And how did he react after the opening two games?” Santos attempted to give the whole thing a certain human-interest value.
”I think,” Bogwa opened, ”He was the most disappointed of us all, especially after the Saintland clash. Most of us had gone to those encounters with very little ambition, we knew that we weighed too light and unless an opponent slipped up, there was no chance on a point.”
”During the first game,” Rui continued, ”there were some hopes. Not fully unfitting as well, we had a fine half against Unified Sunrise Islands with another Rui Mokanga goal and hope grew until well…”

The producer was quick enough to show the footage of the victorious Sunrisian goal, a quick combination on the wing leading into a cannonball from Hannah Alcouin ripping the net behind Landa Landa.


”I recall Landa Landa saying ‘that was that’ and he was right.” Djalma Yaba admitted with a smile. ”If there was a point to scrounge, they would have been the only option but they were in a stellar form.”
”But there were two more games…” Santos provided a fine assist.
”Against two sides in the top eight of the multiverse,” Bogwa showcased he hadn’t lost his nose for goals, ”They were not just out of our league, they were three leagues above ours.”

I’m not sure who was responsible for the footage, but the sepia-tinged images of Saintland striker Olivia Florius scoring early on before her side locked up the match were a perfect demonstration of his words.

”So there you are… Up against one of the major candidates for the title whilst already locked in last place of the group after 180 minutes,” Djalma Yaba shakes his head.
”A victory could have…” Santos interrupted, but he got countered swiftly.
”Locked in last, indeed.”

It seemed as if the sentiment of dejection had time-travelled all the way to 2050 as our trio bowed their heads until a remarkably cheeky smile broke through the face of Bogwa.

”So of course, you’re a bit down, but you can’t stay sad, can you.”
”Joao Ferreira did,” Rui grinned.

Sniffing and chuckling like school boys, they were giving the viewer value for their money.

”So you wouldn’t say that the squad back then was feeling disappointed? Because that was the tone of all newspapers, making claims that everyone wanted to go home as quickly as possible,” Santos tried to give a quick sketch of the sentiments those days as the images before the Audioslavia match rolled, showing eleven players with straight faces, ”Everyone appeared nervous, to have had it, … The match too much.”

The screen was filled with testimonies to that hypothesis, even the younger ones immediately recognising the sharp glance from Djalma Yaba and the always boyish grin from Bogwa. Most of the guys seemed to be staring into the black void, rolling the movie of their lives in front of their eyes, as the anthem played. Especially Amarinho and Figuerinho look as if their packed bags stood in the tunnel and the plane was about to go in an hour of two.

”Everyone was ready to go home,” Eberardo Santos continued, stating the generally recognised truth, ”not only was this a game no one felt like playing, it was against a star-filled eleven with enigmatic and respected players like Kryznjak and Vengochea and …”

His litany ended on Djalma Yaba starting to laugh bellowing and the others falling in. After a while, Eberardo couldn’t but ask sheepishly what went on.

”I think the only actual issue was… Oh, well, with Joao Ferreira passed away we can break the secret I guess.” Djalma Yaba uncovered a forty-year old mystery, ”What you see is the hair of the dog. It started simple, just a nightcap with the staff because even if we would go pointless, we hadn’t been humiliated at all and showed ourselves a worthy opponent. We toasted for our run and hoping to return in 2014. Then the manager and all went to bed and… It all snowballed from that. There might have been some dancing on the tables, Amarinho lost a bet and had to run around the pub with nothing but his socks and it didn’t end but for six o’clock when the liquor cabinet had run dry. To avoid Joao Ferreira from knowing, a completely hammered Figuerinho promised to pay the whole thing with a hefty tip if the bartender kept it silent. The poor lad had hardly drunk a beer in his life. So as said was done and Joao Ferreira, God have his soul, died without a clue why he had a bunch of zombies in his dressing room the next morning. Maybe he knew, possibly he smelled, but he never mentioned it…”
”So, before the Audioslavia game, a World Cup encounter…”
”Most of us were still feeling pretty pissed,” Bogwa confessed, ”and the rest is history.”

[Barunia]

BaruniainSports.com.bu
The Number One website for Barunian Sports Fans

Suns
40
years

Forty years on: The Eras of Barunian Football

The Foundation: BoF 51 - CoH 58
The Glory Years: WC 67 - WC 69
The New Dawn: CoH 62 - WC 73

Will a new era start now?

In what is a historic tournament for Barunia, the Suns face the pressure of a must win match against Omerica. It's also a historical game, for two reasons: the Suns have found themselves in situations like this many times, and they've faced their opponents before.
It was in Cup of Harmony 62, when Barunia handed Omerica a 3-1 drubbing to finish top of their group on their way to the final. Back then though, the Suns were coming off a terrible performance in qualifying, and had little idea that the Cup of Harmony would be a turning point to mark a new chapter in Barunian sports history. Now Barunia face the prospect of qualifying out of the group stages of a World Cup for the third time in five attempts. Who knows, perhaps this could be another watershed moment like that Cup of Harmony. Is Omerica Barunia's good luck charm? We'll find out soon.

The key for Barunia in the match will be to hold Omerica at the back. Bainbridge can hold them down with good support from the defence. The defensive midfielder will be crucial, and Kyrow will need to step up for the biggest game of his career as he providea the vital link between the backs and the forwards. Winton was the master at supporting an attacking play while still remaining defensive: Kyrow isn't quite there yet, and as a result the pressure falls back on Marsh to take the ball forward. The biggest problem that gives the team is speed. Lisa Collins-Holzknecht is at her best on the break. Slowing the ball down in midfield may somewhat blunt the effectiveness of the "pocket rocket". If the Suns can get the ball flowing through the midfield quickly, they stand a very good chance of getting an early lead and keeping it.

[Ko-oren]

Union of Ko-oren National Team Hall of Fame

In honour of the first tangible result of the national team, the Union's Association announced to create a Hall of Fame with heroes of past and present that have done something recognisable for the national team. We will go back 20 World Cups, of which Ko-oren has participated in 19. Oh, and that tangible result is the Cup of Harmony, of course. The Association announced 19 names to go into the Hall of Fame because for the 19 World Cup cycles we have been part of. Today we give you names of all inductees.

The first five are synonymous with the national team. The first goal, the most goals scored, most games played, most games coached and the coach to secure our first post-qualification tournament. These include anything from our humble beginnings in World Cup 55 to a completely different team with bigger ambitions in World Cup 70.

1) Simon Everest - Scored the first goal
2) Alizarin Lelantos - Coached the team to the first Cup of Harmony
3) Haki Asgard - Record holder for most matches played for the national team
4) Koyane Shiribeshi - Scored most goals for the national team
5) Pet Rilasthaunden - Most games as coach, introduced the defensive scheme

The next five represent the five eras of the national team. All have been captains of the national team for at least one full cycle.

6) Xi Shang - Shares a first name with worldwide known Xi Foureleven. Shang did appear first, though, and captained the team through World Cup 55.
7) Sobek Dehenat - Started the tradition of an insanely stable and reliable centre back. Back in the day, he had to do this alone in a three-man defence. Appeared around World Cup 58.
8) Fin Fenner - Midfielder with the most accurate of free kicks. Was co captain behind Dehenat for most of his career.
9) Katanmak Juliasterinthen - Currently on his sixth World Cup cycle, and still going strong. He was on the national team from the three-man defence era all the way to the current five-man defence era.
10) Katherine Davenport - Co captain with Juliasterinthen. The two might have different opinions about the way the game should be played, but Ko-oren has never had such a great duo anywhere on the field.

The next five have been the key man in deciding moments in the team's history. That extra goal to see us qualify for the World Cup, that extra tackle that got us three points in the Cup of Harmony, you name it.

11) Naemasu Tokachi - Gave several oh-so-crucial assists to Koyane Shiribeshi, but also managed to score his own goals, especially in the many 1-1 draws back in the day.
12) Palnatoki Idrasil - Scored more often than not in World Cup playoffs.
13) Svarlamn Norn - Might have lost his head in some games, but came out as truly world class in others. Very solid defender.
14) Nalaikh Bagaurunir - Came on to the team all the way from the U-21s. Has been an asset ever since, and now is a key tactician in midfield, saving us many embarrassing moments.
15) Storm Enshadilsa - Second most capped player after Asgard. Unsurprisingly, they are both goalies. Enshadilsa kept more clean sheets than any other goalkeeper by far.

The last four are other noteworthy players or coaches.

16) Ul Leire - Defensive midfielder who played alongside Tokachi, Shiribeshi, Fenner and Asgard and scored in Ko-oren's first final: Market Cup V.
17) Esolywend Eregrent - Attacking midfielder who often joined in the attack and scored two goals against Mytannion in a historic 3-0 victory in the playoffs.
18) Izasul Terathu - Team top scorer during World Cup 66, Ko-oren's first successful qualification to the World Cup.
19) Bogdan Antonescu - Coached the team to the first silverware: a Cup of Harmony trophy. Also lead the team to several World Cups.

[Saintland]

Bank of Acedonia to open branches in Saintland, grant interest-free Loans to King's Government

(SP) Today, Bank of Acedonia announced plans to open offices in Saintland. The Acedonia-based Bank is famous as one of the leading financial services corporations in the multiverse. However, it has been reluctant to expand into Saintland in the past. The historic decision to expand Bank of Acedonia into our Kingdom is the first great success of Prime Minister Andreas Tuccius's effort to lore more foreign investment to our shores. "Today, we received the news that Bank of Acedonia has agreed to expand into the Kingdom of Saintland. This is the first major success for our plan to jumpstart our economy by increasing foreign investment. We hope to announce additional investments in Saintland soon."

The SP has learned that Bank of Acedonia has agreed to move to Saintland as part of a deal with Parliament. Under this deal, Bank of Acedonia will receive some tax exemptions and exemptions from other laws, most notably the laws against usury. In exchange, they will grant interest-free loans to the Government upon demand to help fund vital government services and economic development initiatives. "At Bank of Acedonia, we want to help the Kingdom of Saintland get back upon its feet. Therefore, we have agreed to lend money to the government, at no cost, in perpetuity. In exchange, the Government of Saintland has agreed that we shall be exempt from paying any tax on any assets stored in Saintland until such time as the King's Government has paid off all of its debt to us. I believe that this deal is a win-win for both of us and we look forward to a long and fruitful relationship with the Kingdom of Saintland." - Kyrillos Skiotis, Chief Executive Officer, Bank of Acedonia

Bank of Acedonia is one of the largest banks in the multiverse, with a balance sheet worth trillions of Universal Standard Dollars. The Bank provides customers from around the multiverse with secure, reliable financial services. Feministvs Sanctvsterra leader and Deputy Prime Minister Censorina Polus has agreed to star in a public service announcement that will air on the Royal Networks to promote Bank of Acedonia.

[Ceni]

---

SAN SALVADOR, San José Guayabal - Kirk Koromin and his team are practicing within site of the massive Estadio Cuscatlan, the spiritual home of Guayabalense football and where the team will play Gregoryisgodistan in a match that will determine who will qualify for the Round of 16. Koromin is in fact practicing with his team too, directing the practice while running on the field too. "Let's dribble around the cones," he yells, and leads the way in the exercise. He's a little rusty from his old footballing days, but he hasn't lost the spark that drove him back in his early twenties. A few hours later, after the practice is over and he and his team are thoroughly soaked in sweat, he walks into the locker room and showers off before changing and offering to drive me to a nearby pupusería to have dinner and conduct my interview with him. He strikes me as a good person as we start to talk to each other - genuinely interested in his team and how they do.

Koromin was a popular football player in Ceni back in his youth - he was likely the only popular footballer back then, as football was more of a niche sport back in the days when Kirk was at his prime. After a couple of years, he saw that Cenian football was headed nowhere, so he went back to school, at the University of Ceni, to earn his degree in sports management and started a small sporting-goods store while coaching a local youth team on the side to earn some extra cash, as he still had a passion for football that even the sorry state of Cenian football could not stifle. The youth team he guided ended up winning its age division (not like there was much competition in the youth league) and his style of attacking football combined with the cohesion he built among his players caught the eye of the secretary of Owen Keteris, who was forming a new football club, which would later become Tir Snake Strike. Koromin sold his sporting store and moved into the world of full-time managing for Tir Snake Strike, at the tender age of 40. While he was at school, playing football with some friends, he met his future wife, Dani, and they had two kids, Kel and Kira, who grew up in the era of great uncertainty in Kirk's life, but he remained devoted to them and their development as footballers, guiding them through the process, as he guided Tir Snake Strike through the process of winning the Cenian Premier League title. He remained devoted to his club, often training with his club in the style that increased cohesion, team confidence, and team spirits. Then, after two seasons, Koromin was offered, and accepted, a position as the manager of the Cenian national team, a job at which he has proven adept at. I recently caught up with Kirk Koromin and chatted with him about his successes, his failures, and what motivates him to succeed.

Koromin says that poor results for his team give him more energy to lead the team into even better ones. One of those times was in World Cup 72 - when the team had a series of losses and draws to absolute nobodies and he was the newly-minted manager of Tir Snake Strike. "Have you ever heard of Emporer Pudu? Probably not, yet we lost to them, twice. Absolutely embarrasing. We dis horribly at home too - that wasn't even a guarantee for us. We kept losing left and right. Nothing seemed to work." Koromin, at the time, called up then-manager Osman Ibarra and gave him a stern talking-to. "I told him, in no uncertain terms, that he couldn't just sit there and twiddle his fingers when the team was losing like that." At the time, Ceni's league was in its infancy, and a lot of the national players were playing abroad in leagues that were far away and didn't offer much quality playing time. "Our team suffered as a result. So I offered up two ideas: expand the league, give it more funding, sell television rights, and focus more on youth development. We didn't have too many young guys coming on to the scene, and I thought that was a problem." Then during the World Cup finals - the Cenian FA decided to fire Ibarra and hire Koromin, who had just won his second league title with Tir Snake. "I was a bit surprised," Koromin admits.

Nonetheless, he decided to manage the national team in the way he managed Tir Snake Strike - with vigor, perserverance, and a moderately attacking style. "Nobody likes those teams where they just sit with the ball and wait for you to do something. Those teams are boring to watch. You want to watch the teams where they score goals - which is the point of our game, not to avoid losing by parking the bus." He also brought some of the work ethic he maintained during his two years at Tir Snake Strike - pushing his players hard and pushing himself hard as well. "The team cannot afford to simply hope that we will qualify. We must work hard to qualify for the World Cup." Koromin also learned from his predecessor's mistakes; thus, he began to put more emphasis on the midfield and the attacking midfield, which he believes is the most important part of the game. "The midfield is crucial for determining possession and taking advantage of any opportunities that come our way. Therefore, it is crucial to maintain control in the midfield. Without it, the team cannot succeed. The team cannot succeed based on strikers alone. It must control the midfield first to give the strikers a chance to score." That mentality has helped the team in crucial games such as against Northern Sunrise Islands, where the team won one to nil home and away.

Koromin's style began to produce results in the run-up to World Cup 73, where the team was seeded third. They had a decent first-half campaign, but it wasn't what everbody had exactly wanted. The team lost to Matthewsiania and the Free Republics away, and drew HopNation, the group's second seed, ranked only two spots ahead of them at the time, at home. People at home were disappointed, and some were grumbling, calling for his removal. "Ceni has always had a lame first half of qualification - and it has always done better, much better, in the second half. I was never worried about my performance." Koromin was right - he disproved all doubters when his side did not lose the entire second half of qualification - only drawing against the Free Republics, six to six, in what was perhaps one of the highest scoring games in World Cup qualification history, and winning 1-2 away against HopNation to secure qualification to the playoffs. There they sat through one hundred and eighty minutes of scoreless football - before sitting through another thirty minutes. The penalty shootout to determine who would qualify made the wait worthwhile for some - Ceni's kick-takers did not miss a penalty, while Jacrian Ryaden saved enough, and Gregoryisgodistan missed enough, to send Ceni through to the World Cup. The team was ecstatic; Koromin was a bit more realistic. "We were playing with the big boys now, and we definitely didn't know what to expect once we had finally taken our mindset off the qualification circuits. Eura, Pasarga, Audioslavia - they never worry about qualification. They focus their efforts on the World Cup proper - so they're a lot more ready than we are for the event."

At the World Cup, Ceni distinguished itself. It didn't perform too horribly against Cosumar, held its own against eventual champions Eura for a while, and pulled out a win against Free Republics - they very team they had played in qualifiers. "The victiry over Free Republics was well. Nobody had been expecting that, but it showed that Ceni was ready to play with the big boys now." Even though they had fallen at the group stage, Cenian pundits and commentators showered praise on Koromin. He was modest, though, about his own role in the entire thing. "Did I push them? Yes. Did I give them a new boost of confidence? Perhaps. But I really didn't change the squad that Osman handed to me when he was fired. The players qualified on their own; I merely showed them that they could do it. They did it by themselves." He then had his team train harder than ever, and challenged the team as much as he could. The Trindl Cup came up and Koromin selected a squad of youngsters and substitutes to give them more match experience, a decision he does not regret, even in hindsight. "We had a good squad then," he says, shrugging, "and we just weren't too lucky over in Semarland. We learn from our mistakes, and bad results almost always drive our team to even better ones in the future. There can't be success without failure, and I make sure that our team keeps that in mind when they hit a rough patch."

That rough patch was one of only a couple that Kirk Koromin's team faced on to the road to their second straight World Cup qualification, others being draws against Buyan and two against Boring Paradise. Nonetheless, the team made it to the World Cup as the winner of their group, undefeated, with no need for playoffs at all, courtesy of two wins against the Unified Sunrise Islands, a pretty defensive team with a depth of experience. Now, the team is 0-1-1 in the World Cup itself, with the potential to advance to the round of 16, only on its second visit to the World Cup. The catch - Ceni plays Gregoryisgodistan, the team that Ceni beat to qualify for World Cup 73. They'll be out for revenge - even more so now that Ceni is on the latest installment of Lord Almighty Gregory's Enemy List. Koromin is not worried, but realistic. "I think the likely outcome will be a nil-all draw, just like what we faced the last time we played them. I know our striking team has the capability to score against them, but honestly, I think the best chance to score against them is a penalty, if we even get it that far. I have a lot of hope, but as I've said before, hope is not enough to win. We've been practicing against a very defensive team for a while now, and I think it will pay off, but we'll just have to see how everything turns out."

I asked some of the players at Koromin's training about their thoughts on their new manager. Corran Celgis, who transferred to 1830 Cathair, says Koromin is "strict in training but really gets it out of you. We always have to perform at our best to make him happy, but I think he's made it so our best is all we want ourselves too. He's made us want to do well." Thajan Jaros puts it another way: "He's a second father to most of us. He treats us as he would treat his kids" - ironic because his kids are on the team - "which means treating us fairly at some times and harshly at others. But he's a great coach. He's really brought the best out of all of us." Kaia Travaran, the vice-captain of the team and one of the older members, recalls earlier managers, saying "they didn't put in as much work as Kirk does with us. Sometimes, he practices with us, especially if we've had a bad day or something else going on. He really wants us to succeed and do well, and he puts in the energy to do that. We're not just a team to him, we're one big family to him. And he treats us like family, and we celebrate like a family." Koromin, noticing Travaran's gestures to me, breaks out into a big grin. "Our team really is a big family," he says. "My goal was always to turn the team into a family, so they could work together and stay together. A family that stays together wins together, and we've certainly been doing that."

Moira Sunrider is a sports correspondent for the Cenial Tribune who covers international football all over the world. She enjoys traveling and eating new cuisines. When she's not doing that, she's enjoying her Cenial apartment and watching football with her cat, Sunny.

[Szavoda]

continued from here

Anna looked confusedly at Riley.

“As far as I'm aware, you don’t own a business.”

“That is true. Less of a job really, more of a position.”

“I quite like my position here.”

“I’m sure you do. How much are you paid here?”

“That’s not important, you know that.”

“Right, OK.” Riley paused “Can you ask one of your co-workers to bring us a couple of beers?”

Anna leant back and shouted into the kitchen “Nicola, can you bring us a round of beers. Preferably put some arsenic in the second one.”

Nicola obliged and soon brought a tray with two beers to the table. Riley observed the label before taking a drink.

“Good stuff this – always found it crisper than the brews they've got back home.” Katarina motioned for him to continue. “Anyway, what I'm saying is, a space has opened up in my inner circle, and I think you fit the bill.”

“Really – a 28-year old waitress who lives 3,000 miles away is the perfect pit for a Euran crime boss ‘inner circle’?”

“Don’t be facetious Anna – it’s the old you I'm more interested in, the one who removed her own Kevlar vest to protect her best friend, when she was as good as dead. You’re an excellent gunman, in peak physical condition, you've got your wits about you and you’re brave as hell. Your time in the army and in the PMC game has honed your abilities to the point where you’d be a very useful addition to my personal detail. It’s all heating up over there – no-one knows where anyone stands. Just the other day, this guy who’d been on my detail for two years, one of the most loyal blokes I know, put 6 rounds through my windscreen. He’d been bought off by another group. I now need people with no links to the city – someone who isn't for sale, someone who’ll be loyal and not put a knife in my back.”

“I haven’t held a gun in a year.”

“It’s not something you forget. Trust me – if I had doubts over your abilities, I wouldn’t have travelled across the region to recruit you. I came here because I want you on my side.”

Anna was pensive – she’d been in this situation before, back at the Lumber Mill Hotel several years ago, where Nick O’Callaghan had tried to recruit her to Clyne. She smiled at the similarities between the two situations. In all seriousness, the idea of joining up with Riley had always intrigued her – she’d grown up watching Euran crime dramas as a guilty pleasure, and she’d always admired the handsome and daring gangsters, who seemed to perpetrate loads of crimes, but never get arrested.

“I know your type Anna; you’re not comfortable with this life. You want adventure, you don’t want to stay here – why else would have joined a PMC – everyone knows that business is only for nutters or people with a death wish. Yes, you've lost friends, but that means you’re hardened, you’re ready for it. This business pays like no other – you've seen my house, I'm like the fifth richest fucking guy in the city and I rarely have to get out of bed past 9am. I know you like it here, but I can ensure you’ll like it even more with us in Bastion.”

Anna smiled crookedly - this was surreal. “No, Riley, I don’t want to. If you’d caught me 6 months ago, maybe, but now I’m a different person, I don’t do that.”

“I see.” Riley said slowly. “Well, as I said, I didn’t travel all this way for you to say no. Take my phone number, I’ll be staying at the Grove, down on the Boardwalk. I’m conducting a bit of business around town for a few days, so I’ll be about town if you change your mind.”

Riley stood and scrawled his phone number down on a napkin. He then turned and paced out of the restaurant. Anna remained where she was, finishing both her and Riley’s drink. After a minute, Nicola came out and stood behind Anna, drying a glass with a towel.

“What did he want?”

“Offered me a job, well, a position actually.”

“Do you know him?”

“Yeah – kinda. From a long time ago.” She took the napkin and handed it to Nicola. “I hear he’s single, you can use this better than I can.”

With that, Anna stood and walked back past Nicola and into the kitchen. Inside, the girls had halted their game and had been listening intently to the conversation. She disposed of the two beer bottles into the recycling and sat back down at the card table, as if nothing had happened. The rest of the girls just looked at her. She stared back – that stare you knew meant to leave it alone.

“Deal the fucking cards.”

[Gregoryisgodistan]

Foot Slaves To Face Ceni

Days after obtaining their first World Cup point ever via a 0-0 draw against the wicked platypi of Apox, the Foot Slaves of Gregoryisgodistan will tak on Ceni with a probable spot in the Round of 16 on the line. Even if Gregoryisgodistan wins, Apox could still go through if they upset San Jose Guayabal on their home soil, but that is unlikely. So Gregoryisgodistan has a good chance of going through with a win. Lord Almighty Gregory is unafraid of the Cenians, saying "There is a reason those wicked heathen fools are on our Enemy List, and they deserve their status. We will destroy them, we will wipe them off the map, and we will beat them. We will beat the Cenians in soccer, and we will advance to the Round of 16. We will hopefully play Saintland, and, with Censorina Polus's help, kill the woman impersonating Maria Polus, even though I am sure she will be replaced by a robot because all heathens are liars. So let's teach the Cenians a lesson and beat them tonight."

Enemy Crusher Fatty Footy vowed to personally crush any Cenian fan who taunted him, saying "The Cenians are fools. The Cenians are heathens. If they chant a forbidden fruity word, or take off their shirts, or taunt us in any way with blasphemous or other horrific chants, they will be crushed beneath my body. I am an Enemy Crusher. Crushing is what I do best. And the same goes for any neutral fans from San Jose Guayabal, Land of the Devil. We will crush those fools too. They are lovers of forbidden fruit and forbidden fruity words, but they will have no more xylocarps. We will smash any xylocarps they bring to the stadium and crush any Guaya Bean fans to death if they try such a stunt."

This is sure to be a big game, the biggest in the history of Gregoryisgodistan, which is why Lord Almighty Gregory has, in his infinite wisdom, declared it Must-See TV. All Gregoryisgodistanis will watch on TV except for those lucky enough to travel to San Jose Guayabal. Those in the Guaya Devil Land will be sure to be loud, raucous, and angry. They will not hesitate to fight with Guaya fans in attendance or Cenians, or even to throw stuff at opposing players. And should Rodolfo Zelaya show up after his team's game to celebrate, they will not hesitate to beat him up until he cries. It is one of the life dreams of every Gregoryisgodistani to see Rodolfo Zelaya cry after suffering something horrific at the hands of the Gregoryisgodistanis. Whether that is a loss in the World Cup, a brutal beating, or even if the fans kill Mama Zelaya, Rodolfo will cry and we will rejoice.

Additionally, Lord Almighty Gregory has criticized Dumpy O'Rumpy yet again for being an idiot heathen. In a speech today, he said "Dumpy O'Rumpy is a fool. Dumpy O'Rumpy is a heathen. Dumpy O'Rumpy will be destroyed. Therefore, every day at 11:58 AM, all Gregoryisgodistanis will stop what they are doing and express their Two Minutes of Hate for Dumpy O'Rumpy. We will broadcast messages on all the loudspeakers expressing our hate for Dumpy O'Rumpy, and you can express yours. You can burn Dumpy O'Rumpy in effigy, you can chant "DEATH TO DUMPY", you can express your hatred however you want as long as it is legitimate. We will even award prizes to the most creative hate spotted on our surveillance cameras. And of course, after the Two Minutes of Hate are over, it will be 12:00 noon, and like every hour on the hour, we will sing the national anthem, praising me in song to show your love for me, the One True Lord. You will go from hate to loving adoration, in a deeply symbolic measure. The Two Minutes of Hate will be a thing until Dumpy O'Rumpy is killed, and then perhaps we will target someone else instead, like the Guaya Beans or Shirley-Phelps Roper. Who knows? But for now, the Two Minutes of Hate will target Dumpy O'Rumpy. And feel free to hate his hair too - that thing is hideous, just like him, and ugly too. Dumpy O'Rumpy must be killed, preferably with the Brownie Cutter of Death. He is a heathen, he is a clown, he is a liar, and he is a terrorist. We will wipe him off the wall after we swat that pesky fly. Yes, that is right, Dumpy O'Rumpy is a pest. The first Two Minutes of Hate is tomorrow at 11:58 AM. So get ready, get set, and hate Dumpy O'Rumpy, the worst person in the Multiverse!"

And surely all Gregoryisgodistanis are looking forward to this most awesome moment, where we all spend two minutes every day expressing hate to Dumpy O'Rumpy. It should be fun, so be sure to do it tomorrow if you don't want to be executed along with your family. But tonight, watch the Foot Slaves!

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

"'bout damn time you showed up!" yelled Jean as Noah and his mentor Nana arrived at the Afternight Club. "Sun's the one handling the 'bouts tonight, Noah. 'chu mind if I speak a bit with Nana alone?"
"Is this another of those times you get on your knees and cry for me to return?" said Nana, crossing her arms as Noah simply watched. "You know the answer pretty well by now."
"Club does seem a bit packed of fighters, though, Nana." The Sunrisian smirked. "So, wouldn't 'cha mind if I go get to his sister?"
Jean Marcus stared at him. "Kid, never do that again. You too commoner to pick up swag."
"If you insist." he shrugged, walking towards the chair Sun sat at, writing names down. On the other hand, Nana looked at Jean, not expecting anything good to come out of it.
"Well, ya know..." the Québecois said, searching for words. "Ya know that Mardi kinda has sorta other people like him 'round, aye?"
The kunoichi's eyes opened a bit, some shock coming from the whole ordeal. "You mean... Other parts of the prophecy?"
Jean shrugged, sitting at a bench nearby, leaning his traditional drinking stick to his side. "Yup. At least the looks match 'n all for one of the cats." He tilted his head upwards a bit. "But like, this guy, they call him Star. Sorta has some henchmen 'n stuff. Kinda got a bit jealous 'bout that."
Nana crossed her arms, staring at him. "Go on."
"Well." He continued. "They say his head shines red or somethin' and that you can only find him at night. Quirky stuff. I'd watch yo back if I were ya, I assume Noah is still learnin' stuff. Oh, by the way..."
Nana looked behind her for a bit, before looking back at Jean, who handed her a piece of paper with something printed on it. "What's this?"
"Jeez, man. It's called reading, y'know." said Jean, laughing afterwards. "But if it ain't fun fo ya, here's the nutshell. This girl named Julia, kinda hot if ya ask m'self, said she'd been looking for some guy with a glowing arm. I didn't say anythin' but I think she'll come back here eventually."
The Kazamatsurijin looked at him confused.

A couple of hours earlier, the Afternight Club was opening for their night shift when a loud yell came from near the door.
"Who runs this place?" yelled Julia, dressed as some sort of vigilante.
Jean rolled from his traditional couch, smiling. "The name's Jean Marcus, sweet flower of the night." He came closer to the Apoxian, smirking. "And who'd be the beaut I'm speakin' with?" He said, extending his drinking stick to the girl, only for her to move it away.
"My name is Julia Fairweil! The Apoxian Ace of Justice!" she said with a lot of bravado. "I'm on a searching mission for a very important person."
He laughed, putting his hands down. "Then handcuff me, babe, ya just found the right guy. Your guy."
She crossed her arms, angry. "Not you! I'm looking for a medium-sized boy whose arm glows green!" Jean paused for a minute before starting to laugh as loud as he could. "...What's wrong about it?"
"Man, yo." answered Jean. "Didn't know ya were into kinky cosplay stuff! Either that or ya drunk, never seen anythin' of the like!"
"This isn't cosplay! This is a quest to save the world from the Prophecy!" she yelled.
As that yelled, someone answered with anger from the arcades. "WOULD YOU SHUT UP, I'M ALMOST BEATING THE- OH, DAMN IT!" A ginger man with green eyes, a pudgy body, dressed on a white wifebeater and black pants moved as fast as he could towards the two, angry.
"Oh, boy, you just messed up Jimmy's play." said Jean, moving his stick towards the angry man. "Ain't it right, Jimmy?"
"DAMN STRAIGHT IT IS!" yelled him. "And who is this something here? The Anime Convention is down the road, toots." As he motioned to strike a punch towards her, Julia managed to hold his arm and throw him inside a barrel of wine nearby, breaking it and splashing the drink all over the floor.
"Well. I will come back another time." She then took some money out from a pocket on her costume. "Some compensation over your wine. Thanks for your time, law-abiding citizen." She said as she left the place, still looking for Noah. Jean merely watched, smirking afterwards while putting the money on his pocket.
Jimmy lifted his head a bit. "Law-abiding citizen... my ass!"
Jean struck both of his hands, causing him to fall again head first on the floor. "Shut up, Jimmy."

CHAPTER XII - TEACHER

"Wow." Nana pondered. "Jimmy's morale might be unexisting by now." She then looked at Jean. "So why don't you stop her from ever coming by?"
"Puh-lease, Nana." said Jean, taking a sip of a drink. "Y'know that ain't how I roll. Sure she's lookin' for Noah and that might hurt the biz and all, but I can't let a hot girl on a fuku not enter my realm."
"You really are a pervert... You know that, right?" said Nana, sighing afterwards.
"Ya just mad you're not the only one in town anymoar, dear." he answered. "Plus, if she ever, ever go after Noah, my charm will stop her right in the middle, y'know?"
"You were not a really good Casanova from what I recall, Jean." the Kunoichi brought up.
"Maybe not wit'chu but there's other fish on the sea 'n all. Just let me work my magic, will ya?" he said, tilting his hat.

The night had been mostly uneventful as Noah's opponents clearly didn't match Sun, even with their own prosthetics being a part of their advantages. One could say the couple of days he had been under her wing surely helped him on his fights. By the time Noah had fought his third fight, however, he decided to take some rest. He was panting, sweating somewhat from the fights. He quickly took a seat by Nana, who had been reading the very paper she got from Jean. "So, what's up, Nana?"
She smiled from his sight. "Good to see you are having fun here. I am just reading this paper Jean got me. From Julia."
"The crazy girl from the Academy?" Noah asked, surprised.
"One 'n only." said Jean, taking a sip as he appeared behind Noah. "Also, good goin' ova there, Noah."
"Thanks." he said, nodding. "So, what's the deal?"
The group looked at some noise coming from the entrance of the club. Jean got up first. "Oh, my déjà vu senses tingle."
And truly, Jean wasn't wrong. There she was, on the same sailor fuku, akin to Sailor Moon. "Fiend of injustice, reveal yourself!" yelled Julia, striking a pose. Sun quickly got hold of Julia, dragging her to the ring. "Is the one with the green arm there?"
Sun sighed, finally pushing her in the ring. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. Jean, come here!"

Jean stumbled his way in the ring, a mic on his hands. "It's a... wait for it... Surprise Match of the Night!" Loud cheers emanated from the crowd. "First... still one of the main contenders for the Bio-Engies Afternight Championship Belt! Sun "Pink Rage" Rousseau!" Sun smiled deviously on one side of the corner. "And on the other side of the ring... Some chick on a Sailor Moon costume!" Loud yells and whistles could be heard, leaving the Apoxian angrier, specially since she didn't really see Noah on the ring.
"You're not the one in the g-" Julia almost finished her line, before taking a strong kick to the gut from Sun. She then continued her offense, connecting several strikes to the Ace of Justice before knocking her down to the mat.
Sun started to mock the Apoxian, pacing around her as she stumbled to stand up. "Please, Ace, get up! There's no fun on beating a dead mule!" The Apoxian darted upwards as a result, before trying to strike Sun right on the face, but the Pink Rage was smarter than that, dodging the punch and grabbing her by the arm. She then threw Julia on the ropes, receiving her back with another powerful kick to the gut, this time using her metal leg. The girl grunted, falling down from the impact. Sun simply stood in front of the knocked down Julia, pointing her metal arm at her stomach. "Say again what you were talking about my student."
"...You're his teacher?" asked Julia, looking at Sun from the mat. "How... could you?"
"I assumed teaching a young upcomer would be good. Specially since he bested me once." Sun laughed, staring at her deviously. "Now you on the other hand... Yeah, I don't see much on you."
"He's a demon!" she yelled, stumbling her way up again only to get back to the ground, kissing the mat thanks to the brief pressure put by Sun's metallic leg on her back.
"Nope. He's a good kid, who most likely doesn't appreciate getting called demon." She looked up, still keeping her foot over Julia. "Ain't it so, Noah?"
Noah yelled from the middle of the crowd. "...Well, yeah!"
"Now, now, did you hear that?" Sun said, slowly putting more pressure. "As a teacher, I can't let my student be bothered by some foolish heroine wanna-be that might as well be on her way to the next Cosplay party down the road. Now." She motioned for Jean to come. He got near them and placed the mic near Julia's mouth. "Tell him you're sorry."
"AGH! I'M SORRY! STOP THIS!" she yelled on the microphone. Sun smirked, slowly raising her foot.
Eventually, Julia got up, thanks to the help of Jean Marcus. She stared at Sun with anger. "Now... I cannot allow you any forgiveness for allying with that demon, Miss Sun."
"What did the metallic foot said to the face, Julia?" asked Sun, smiling.
"...What?"
"SMACK!" Sun yelled, kicking Julia right on the head, knocking her out.
Jean stared at her, arms crossed. "I JUST GOT HER UP, GODDAMN IT!"

[The Saint James Islands]

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TWOEIGHTYEIGHT

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Can Omerica realistically advance from the group?
By Jan-Ändras Arendel, published 15 June 2022

It’s currently an unsettled question in Omerican sports punditry: do Omerica have a legitimate shot at making the World Cup knockout stage on the first attempt? Some, namely perpetually pessimistic Omerican sports fans and Barunians who want to claim Omerica as a so-called “good luck charm”, are saying that it’s a doomed prospect and that Barunia’s advancement is inevitable. Others, the most noted of Omerican optimists, are saying that Barunia’s less stellar performances against Flardania and Valanora indicate that Omerica is bound to go through to the next round. So which is it?

It appears to be either team’s match, to be honest. Yes, Barunia might soon kick themselves for less than stellar performances in their first two matches, but it ultimately might not matter.

The tiebreakers
Important to note are the tiebreakers for the tournament. The first tiebreakers are head-to-head comparisons, namely head-to-head points, goal difference and goals for. If this is inconclusive, goal difference across all matches is taken into consideration, then goals for in all matches, total wins and drawing of lots, though the last three tiebreakers are irrelevant to our prospects.

First and last place in the group have already been determined: Valanora, who win any head-to-head tiebreak against Omerica or Barunia, cannot be caught at the top, while Flardania, who lose any possible tiebreak, cannot escape the bottom, so their match is of no value whatsoever except in the KPB ratings that determine future tournament seeding. Thus, there is no need to consider their match in determining the outcome of the group; the only match that matters is Omerica v Barunia, which will determine who advance as runners-up.

As Omerica and Barunia have not faced each other yet, their tie is currently settled on overall results. This is where Omerica gain the critical advantage that makes this a meaningfully competitive match. Both teams fell to Valanora, with Omerica allowing three and Barunia four. Meanwhile, both teams defeated Flardania, with Barunia scoring one and Omerica two. Add the one goal each team scored against Valanora and Omerica go in with the advantage on overall goal difference: even, compared to –2 for Barunia.

Since a draw won’t separate the teams on points (each would have four), nor change either team’s goal difference, a draw is therefore as good as a win for Omerica and a loss for Barunia, with Omerica advancing on overall goal difference. So the two teams are chasing very different things: Barunia have to play to win, while Omerica simply need to avoid losing.

Simulating the match
Our preferred method would be to calculate an Elo rating for both teams, but doing so would essentially require us to create ratings for every team to have ever taken part in the World Cup and given that we are on the seventy-fourth edition, the time-consuming work that requires and the fact that some games are unfortunately lost to recorded history means that doing so is essentially impossible with absolute certainty and impartiality.

The World Cup Committee have their own rating system which takes into account the last three cycles of WCC-sanctioned tournaments. Each tournament is weighted based on relative importance, with the World Cup finals being the most valuable, followed by World Cup qualifying, the Cup of Harmony and the Baptism of Fire, for which, uniquely, just two editions are considered instead of three. Barunia have a distinct advantage in the ratings, being the 14th ranked side in the world with a rating of 30.48. Omerica, meanwhile, are 37th, with a rating of 19.27. To an uninformed observer, it would seem that Omerica would be utterly screwed, but consider that Omerica beat Nephara in qualifying, where the former was a lowly 51st and the latter a lofty 8th. (Yes, home advantage helped, but still.) And given that Omerica have done better than expected so far and Barunia capitulated to Valanora more decisively than Omerica did, there is a distinctly non-zero chance that Omerica could win.

So to compensate for the lack of our preferred kind of rating system, we’ve opted to use a random simulator built by the National University of Georgetown as a substitute. We’ve accounted for the 11.19 point rating difference between the two teams and opted not to adjust for that nebulous concept of “form”, which is next-to-impossible to pin down objectively. We then simulated ten batches of a thousand matches between the two teams, taking into account the lack of home-pitch advantage for either side and the law of large numbers, though we readily admit that 10,000 matches may not be enough to account for all the random factors in play in the simulations. Batches were Omerica are favoured to advance (less than 500 Barunian wins) are indicated in blue below, while batches where Barunia are favoured (more than 500 Barunian wins) are indicated in red.

Omerica’s win–draw–loss record against Barunia
                 W–   D–   L        GF–   GA
Batch 1:       227– 275– 498       687– 1138
Batch 2:       199– 260– 541       627– 1237
Batch 3:       214– 260– 526       649– 1143
Batch 4:       201– 271– 528       603– 1177
Batch 5:       210– 241– 549       646– 1216
Batch 6:       199– 283– 518       660– 1192
Batch 7:       232– 261– 507       668– 1115
Batch 8:       207– 261– 532       609– 1145
Batch 9:       194– 270– 536       607– 1167
Batch 10:      224– 280– 496       660– 1127
Total:        2107–2662–5231      6416–11657
Estimated chance of Barunia advancing: 52.3%
Estimated chance of Omerica advancing: 47.7%
If Barunia had the superior goal difference:
Estimated chance of Barunia advancing: 78.9%
Estimated chance of Omerica advancing: 21.1%

At first glance, it doesn’t look good for Omerica; Barunia are favoured in eight of our ten batches and in the overall records. But Barunia never take more than 54.9% of wins and in their worst batches drop points just over half the time. Meanwhile, Omerica win about 21% of matches overall and draw more than a quarter of the time, which, given the state of the table, is equivalent to a win in terms of immediate outcomes. While Barunia are favoured to win, the odds of either team advancing are closer to 50–50, effectively making it either team’s game.

Omerica are fortunate enough to walk in with that advantage, though: if Omerica needed to win, Barunia would advance just under eighty percent of the time. Odds approaching 1:1, even if slightly disfavouring Omerica, are far better than odds of 4:1 against.

TwoEightyEight’s verdict
Barunia go in as favourites to advance, but don’t be at all surprised if Omerica pull it off. At the end of the day, winning any tiebreak provides Omerica the critical advantage that makes the match much more competitive than Barunia would like. Cross your fingers and be glad we’re even in this situation to begin with.

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Turanga ʻAhipula ʻo ʻOmerika
6 Jacques la Rouge Road
Port-Alexandre, Philibiscostal 18-A40
COMMONWEALTH OF OMERICA

Official Press Release - Tuku Katipa Hoi ʻe Pieti

Seventy-Fourth World Cup Finals
Omerica national team line-up vs Barunia

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Substitutes
GK—№ 1: Stéphane ROUSSEAU
GK—№ 13: John MARTIN
LD—№ 14: Martin PALL
CD—№ 4: Honoré LEFURGEY
CD—№ 16: Makara ʻO TOA
RD—№ 17: Mikäel CHRISTOPHE
LM—№ 18: Ryan ANDSEN
CM—№ 19: Rangi AMANG
CM—№ 20: Kairo KAMARANI
RM—№ 21: Raia TURI
CF—№ 12: Red TYLER
CF—№ 22: Ekeaka KONANI

Starting eleven
GK—№ 23: Ryan MORELAND
LD—№ 2: Red MILLHOUSE
CD—№ 3: Keone MAKAIO
CD—№ 15: Jean-Marie MOLINEAUX
CD—№ 5: Tre URISTSON
RD—№ 6: Ansel RYAN
LM—№ 7: William PARNELL
CM—№ 8: Tömas DE VRIKT
CM—№ 9: Arani IROHA
RM—№ 10: Casimir PAQUET
CF—№ 11: John PERCIVAL

[Farfadillis]

"Well..." he paced back and forth. "That was terrible." He sighed. "Plain appalling."

The room remained silent. As much as some players usually found Steffan to be a bit too harsh, that day his words rang true to every single one of us. Defensively, we'd funnily enough been fairly decent. Just one goal conceded and all. But, being Farfadillis, we had failed to score. That inequivocally meant we'd played dreadfully. Monrazón's pass success rate must have been in the fifties, Tôr had ran like a headless chicken all game long, I had honestly not been at my best, Wínrôuge was just too selfish, Terán I can't recall ever touching the ball, and Risko and Elexhé's finishing had been as sharp as a smith's hammer. An all-around shitshow. Somehow, we'd underperformed so much we'd actually lost to Vilita. The one team we are supposed to be invincible against.

"Honestly, I don't know what to say." Steffan continued. "You weren't even that bad defensively, if I'm honest. But fuck I've never seen us be so impotent up front. Think we got, like, two shots on target."

Obviously, nobody had kept score of that, but it sounded pretty truthful. That was probably what hurt the most. Two shots on target. As Farfadillis. Yes, we had lost one-nil, but this was more humiliating than, say, getting thrashed five-two by Polar Islandstates so many World Cups ago. None of us really understood why it had happened, either. We had been playing pretty decently before that match, and nothing important happened before it. Things just didn't click.

"I'm really tired of these, guys. I just don't get it. I don't. How can you play so smoothly against one team and three days later you can't string together five passes? This is just another iteration of the Osarius-Eura fiasco last edition. Are you lacking in motivation? Is it that?"

The dressing room was dead silent. I don't believe any of us actually lacked the motivation. What had we won, after all? Two AOCAF Cups? Pathetic.

"Alright, I'll shoulder the blame for that one. I suppose I've not been a good motivator." He clapped his hands and clenched his teeth. "But let me tell you one thing: you have absolutely no excuse for complacency. None of you are Karsten Eiger, Laborious Hawk, Toby Drummond or Craig Sinclair. You've won, what, one or two AOCAF Cups? Only one other person here has won anything else remotely worthy of note."

Steffan's words cut pretty deep. None of us actually liked the idea of retiring without having achieved much of note.

"Even the best of you, you've not done much. Risko, you!" He pointed at him. "You are, I believe, the best Farf player ever. What do you have to show for it? I'll fucking tell you: just a couple of newspapers!"

I was fully expecting things to go really awry after that comment, considering Risko's rather... revolutionary personality. But no, he just stared back at his Polarian manager with the dead eyes of a defeated man. They say he who is silent, when he ought to have spoken and was able to, is taken to agree. Risko, of all people, doing that really drove home how utterly disappointed with ourselves we all were.

"I could start pointing fingers right now. I could tell each and every one of you what you did wrong today. But I'm not going to do it. You know why? Because it's a big fucking waste of time. Half of you will know all of it already, and the other half will ignore my advice completely."

He eyed our reactions and smirked. He knew he was getting to us.

"So no, I'm not gonna spend more thankless hours hammering out our weaknesses, because it just doesn't work. Letting you go all anarchism over team tactics doesn't either, as the Eurans showed us last time around."

His tongue traveled across his lips, evidencing frustration.

"I believe, through the years, I've said plenty of things you all surely remember. More than enough to turn this around. Against Schottia I'll tell you all the starting eleven, and I expect all of you to follow my every word. No whys and no why nots. And you know why you're gonna do it?"

He looked at all of us with eyes that read "I dare you to speak out of turn now."

"Because I'm your fucking manager, and you're all just a bunch of big egos who need to be brought down a peg or two. Outscore Schottia, and I'll ask you to beat our next opponents. And then the next, and then the next, and so on. Bring back the World Cup, and only then may you track back half-assedly, shrug when you send the ball wide or choose not to press. Until then, you're just mediocre ballkickers, not world class footballers."

[Vilita]

Land of Fire Inspires Jungle Cats

Open Finals with Victory over Schottia

Yucuaiquín, San José Guayabal :: When the Vilita National Team arrived in Yucuaiquín, many of the players were more interested in sight seeing than they were in hunkering down and preparing for their opening group stage match against Schottia.

Moments after arriving, the players spotted the Volcano Fuego which is the geological feature responsible for the cities nickname of 'The Land of Fire'. The players interest was only piqued further when they arrived at their lodging, the aptly named 'Fire Hotel'.

Clear that the players would be unable to focus until they knew more about the harbinger of fire, death and earthen transformation in their midst.

Most interesting to coach Simafela, and perhaps gratefully, the majority of the players were more impressed and curious about the Volcano, opposed to being afraid of it. Some of the reactions of the players upon arrival included "Friggin sweet man" and "Lets go check it out!".

So Simafela had one of the trainers collect some information. Turns out the Volcano "Fuego" is definitely active - the smoke lingering in the atmosphere might have otherwise given it away but its activity levels varied throughout the year. There was enough distance between the Volcano and the stadium and hotel that the occasional small, isolated lava flow wouldn't really be a problem to avoid. On the other hand, a full scale eruption would certainly be... a problem.

The more he learned about it the more that coach Simafela wanted to just get the match over with and move on.

According to his trainer, they did give tours that got a good view of the lava pit. Simafela wasn't about to tell the team that however. They'd never show up at morning warmups.

Luckily, the glow of the lava was visible for miles around at night. So he arranged for the team to eat at a local restaurant with an outdoor patio and a view of the Volcano. Simafela called ahead to reserve the entire patio, then loaded the team on the transport and they headed over.

While the team was feasting on a local beef and rice dinner and having great fun trying to point out "the spot where its gonna blow!" any time they saw a new glow where a stream of lava re-emerged through the crusted overlay, Simafela considered whether he should dangle the tour of the Volcano over the teams head as motivation if they could win the World Cup.

After chewing on it a bit, he decided the team was already having enough fun as it were, he'd keep the whole tour bit in his back pocket for the future.





Estadio Tierra de Fuego, Yucuaiquín, San José Guayabal :: With an enjoyable night Volcano watching behind them, the Vilita National Team showed up at Estadio Tierra de Fuego for their morning warmup. The fact that the stadium was a duel-use athletics facility meant there was extra room on the field for all pre-match warmups to take place. Westii Yahaya seemed to be looking around for the Hurdles to do some running excercises but when he asked a Guayabalense stadium staffer he was given an answer he didn't understand, but sounded a lot like "no".

After warmups the team returned to the locker room where they were informed of the starting lineup. It was a pretty unsurprising look for the Jungle Cats, with perhaps one or two exceptions. Cavuna Aquafek, the young Turoki Tide starlet would get the start on right wing, perhaps in an attempt to utilize his pace to exploit the Schottian defense.

Up top it would be Nili Ylimaiina and Berali Tzufarei paired together with coach Ritopa Simafela clearly willing to give the pairing another chance after mixed results throughout the qualification campaign.

Schottia would take the opening kickoff and clearly were looking to take the initiative as Heron Crew took the received the tap from Eoin Killanen before unleashing a long ball set in the path of Chloe Rudden. Momentarily, it appeared that Rudden would be through but her second touch let her down and the ball rolled with pace into the awaiting arms of Zelkki Milake.

There would be more to come from Schottia who were clearly trying to go with a strategy of getting on the board first at all costs. They were perhaps more fearful of their Vilitan colleagues than the Jungle Cats were wary of their Schottia opposition. It was, in fact, Schottia who forced Vilita's Playoff opponents The Holy Empire - the 9th ranked team in the multiverse - into the fate they found. Schottia had outpaced the former World Champions in qualifying group 1 and despite a head-to-head defeat to The Holy Empire, an exciting 4-3 victory over Whovian Tardisia on the final match day was enough to see Schottia through and relegate The Holy Empire to the playoffs.

Of course, this firmly intertwined the destiny of both sides with that of the Jungle Cats, who had to go through The Holy Empire in an historic two-legged playoff triumph just to qualify for the World Cup Finals, where now they were facing Schottia themselves.

Despite the early look of promise from the Group 1 Winners, it would be Vilita who got on the board first. It was another signature free kick from Tripate Falcon in the 19th minute, awarded after an un-missable shirt pull by Johannas Ünterhausen on Berali Tzufarei.

The Jungle Cats were decidedly lined up in a chip-and-head formation but Falcon's effort curled away from the mass of players, skipped on the ground once and bounced just inside the opposite post, leaving Lucas D'Araby stoned footed and the Schottia defense in disbelief.

After the goal, Vilita started taking control of more of the possession and it was looking less and less like Schottia were going to climb back into the game. Attacking movements from both sides were limited and the game shifted into more of a midfield battle than anything else.

Perhaps slightly against the run of play, Schottia would capitalize on a moment of brilliance from Heron Crew just before the stroke of half time. Crew juked first to the left, then to the right leaving Arocki Tadalek in the dust before firing across the face just beyond the outstretched arm of Zelkki Milake and into the back of the net, levelling the scoreline on the stroke of half time.

At the half time interval, Jungle Cats head coach Ritopa Simafela made two changes; Cavun Aquafek and Jirijii Januaa would leave the match and be replaced by Westii Yahaya and attacker Perran Adlani with the Vilitans shifting to a more attack-minded formation.

The added pressure up top would quickly bring dividends.

Adlani's fresh legs helped create some chances early in the second half but the deciding moment came not from the fresh legs but from the legs of Viela Lianksa. Perhaps given an extra step as the Schottian defense cheated towards the fresher Adlani, Lianksa was able to find enough space to get a shot off and quash any momentum that Vilita's opponents had gained from their goal at the half. The goal gave the Jungle Cats a 2-1 advantage just 5 minutes into the second half.

The Jungle Cats would fight hard to retain their 2-1 lead for the remainder of the second half. With about twenty minutes to play, Kaivel Illatara was introduced to the match in an attacking midfield role to keep pressure and keep possession, with Simafela clearly going with the "The best defense is a good offense" strategy.

Schottia continued to throw players forward knowing that a defeat would put a severe damper in their qualification hopes. At times, even their goalkeeper Lucas D'Arby would push forward, nearly to the half way line to claim the ball and send it back up field. With 2 minutes to play, the aggressive strategy finally backfired as D'Arby was sent sprinting back towards goal to try to defend against the on rushing Berali Tzufarei. D'Arby got back into the box but never really got settled in place before the shot came in. Despite still managing to get a touch on the ball, it wasn't enough to redirect it outside the path of the goal and Tzufarei had clinched the three points for the Jungle Cats, who secured a rare opening-match victory in the World Cup Finals.

While going into the match as the favorites, Simafela and the Vilita National Team know all to well that there is no such thing as a sure thing, as their long history of upset defeats by the hand of Farfadillis wouls show. Now, Simafela and the team would look to ride the momentum gained by beating Turori's brand new kitmakers to help them avoid adding to the list of Farfidian upsets and continue the march back to the knockout rounds.

Vilita [3] - [1] Schottia

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: :: 19' Tripate Falcon :: 49' Vliela Lianksa :: 88' Berali Tzufarei

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 56% :: Shots on Target: 7 :: Corner Kicks: 11

:: Schottia Statistics :: :: Possession: 44% :: Shots on Target: 4 :: Corner Kicks: 6

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Vilita Jungle Cats Lineup v. Schottia ::
[GK]Zelkki Milake, [D.]Endur Rotropii, [D.]Jirijii Januaa, [D.]Arocki Tadalek, [ML] Serabi Chamya, [MC] Purapal Eskiiy, [MC]Tripate Falcon, [MC] Vliela Lianksa, [MR] Cavuna Aquafek, [FC]Berali Tzufarei, [FC]Nili Ylimaiina
BENCH::
[FC]Kaivel Illatara, [FC]Kiliko Riazen, [M]Westii Yahaya, [M]Lopaki Kilpter, [U ]Perran Adlani, [D]Monner Vileai, [GK]Kalek Intafel

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[Valladares]

The National Kickoff
The Online Home of Valladar Football!

Pedrinho Steers Hosts to the Next Round

By: Alan Rosero

METROPOLIS AND JUNÍN (VP) - Hi, and welcome to the special coverage of World Cup 74 that we at the National Kickoff have prepared. This is the first time the WC is coming to Valladares, and we are hoping to win it, of course. With heavyweights like Eura, Pasarga, Osarius, and Nephara being drawn into the Valladar section of the tournament, winning the competition looks to be sort of a lofty goal for Valladares, but the Tricolor (as the good hosts they should be) were off to a good start after the first two games of the group stage, edging past a tricky Electrum side by the odd goal in 5 in the opening game of Group A, played at the National Stadium in Swangard and then hammering Semarland in the first World Cup match played at the Arena Junín, thus clinching qualification for the next round with one game in hand. However, there is one player in the Tricolor who has really stood up above the rest, scoring 5 out of those 7 goals we've got. Guess who he is? Of course, it's Pedrinho, the very same dude who kept scoring goals and winning trophies for several years with SK Franz Josef City while his ass was freezing at the same time in the Polar Islandstates, and now he's back in Metropolis Alligators with that spark still untouched, just like he's shown us after those two games.

Thanks to their 15th place in the post-qualifying rankings which made sure they were going to be the lowest ranked team in Pot 1 at the group draw, Valladares were certainly the team everyone wanted in their group. And, Group A was certainly the group everyone wanted to get in because of that same reason. The fact that the Valladars qualified solely by hosting the event meant that the team played fewer games (and none of those were competitive fixtures) than the rest of the 140 World Cup entrants, who were too busy trying to get tickets of their own for the big party in the qualifiers. And the beauty of the draw "rewarded" Semarland, Cosumar, and Electrum as the "fortunate" ones who managed to get into the hosts' group, all of them being teams who topped their qualifying groups...and if we look at the KPBs, we could also say they are "closely packed" with each other. If they thought any of them would run away with the group solely because they got into the same group as one of the hosts, Flabio Flórez and his men would prove them wrong.

No Love for the Neighbours

Electrum were clearly a hard nut to crack. I never doubted that. The fellow Terraneans clinched their ticket to Valladares and San José Guayabal by winning Group 20, sending the remnants of the Free Republics national team (now competing under the name "Falatulu") to the playoffs where they eventually met their elimination. Because of this, avoiding underestimating them was key for us, especially after witnessing their performance during qualifiers. Precisely, our offensive trident had to be aware that they were going to have a tough mission against Electrum as they were going to face the best defense of WC qualifiers, having only allowed 2 goals in 12 outings, and therefore the opening game at Swangard in front of a raucous ~95,000 partisan crowd hoping for a win was to be considered a "high-risk one".

Electrum were confident that their defensive strategy would hold the dangerous Valladar offense back for long enough for them to strike in the most unexpected moment, but the World Cup hos...err, excuse me, co-hosts didn't take too long to let them know that players like Yoan Gignac, Frank Rozenthal, and Pedrinho meant bussiness and weren't going to fool around with them. And so, with a direct football and bringing danger to the goal defended by David Fenech persistently, they finally forced Daniel Brunet and his side to get out of the hole and attack after Pedrinho opened the scoreboard for the Valladars when the clock was only marking 10 minutes. Now, finding themselves trailing 1-0, Electrum decided to go for the equalizer that would leave things as they started, however, Freddy Edwards and Patrick Courtois were always ready to counter Electrum's attempts, paying special attention to Kirk Lynn-Peters, Electrum's captain and engine. But their teammate in the defense, Alexander Lopes decided to play to the limit and as a result he committed several fouls just outside the box, one of those being turned into a goal by Lynn-Peters in the 35th minute. With the score level again, Electrum went back to hide in their shell, and as a result, the Valladar blitz over Fenech's goal became more intense, with the Electrumite goalie denying in the same play both Rozenthal and Juan Pablo Reyes the chance to put Valladares ahead again. However, the corner kick generated from those heroic saves was used by Abel Brücke to great benefit with his header turning into the 2-1 for Valladares in the 44th minute, which meant that Electrum had already conceded as many goals as they did during the whole qualifying phase.

For the second half, the Valladars decided to consolidate their control on the ball and the score, not letting the Electrumites getting close to it, let alone generating a single chance for most of the half. In the 67th minute, Pedrinho would increase the gap between Valladares and Electrum to 3-1 after finishing a deadly counterattack, just when Electrum seemed to be getting back into the game. However, and despite the warning at halftime by Flabio Flórez, Alexander Lopes kept on challenging his fate, and it was Lopes' own carelessness which made him foul Abigail Knight in the box, just under the watchful look of the referee. A clear penalty awarded to Electrum, a clear red card for López (double yellow as he had already booked in the first half), and a clear chance which Kirk Lynn-Peters didn't waste in the 82th minute. With some sand still in the hourglass, and with Valladares playing with only 10 men, Electrum tried to push for another equalizer, but Alexander Roudet had a good début with the NT, despite the 2 goals conceded and didn't allow a third one, securing victory for Valladares in the first match of the World Cup.

Pedrinho Sinks Semarland

The majestic Arena Junín in the now-to-be resort City of Junín (ugh, opening) was now ready to host its first World Cup game, which brought a Valladares side brimming with confidence thanks to their win in the opening game and being also backed by that special 12th player (yes, you, me, and everyone), and a side from Semarland who capitulated at the hands of the Cosumar Dragons/Vanquishers/whatevertheycallthemselvesnow in their first WC game at Canalave and were now coming with the urgent need to get a win in order to continue in contention for a berth into the knockouts. With a kick-off scheduled at 15:30, and the sun hitting hard just like usual in the Endemien, the mission didn't look any easy for the Semars, who should have been already knackered by the long trip from Canalave to Eastern Rushmore, while Valladares clearly had an easier and more relaxing trip from Metropolis.

And it looked like the Semars didn't learn from the mistakes they committed in their first game, because they were totally out of focus, especially defensive focus, during the first minutes of the game. And that is a capital sin when facing Valladares, with players capable of creating goals out of anything. This day was another chance for Pedrinho to show that he's on a scoring streak, and he successfully capitalized on the defensive blunders by the Semar players every time by scoring two goals in quick succession when the game was just starting: 6th and 8th minutes. We hadn't even reached the 20th minute when Frank Rozenthal increased the count of Valladar goals to 3 (15th minute), piling up even more misery on Semarland, who finally tried to react by having timid but harmless approaches to Roudet's goal. We also had several chances to increase our lead before the halftime whistle, but Yoan Gignac kept pardoning the capable Semar goalie Marco Valbuena every time.

The second half had Valladares pressing for more goals while at the same time Semarland couldn't really do anything other than wishing for the game to end quickly. It was at this moment that Flabio Flórez decided to give Juan Pablo Reyes and Yoan Gignac a good rest, sending Angelo Farías and Carlos Alberto Sáez to finish off the job. It was pretty obvious to me that Flórez wasn't happy at all despite being already 3-0 up and dominating Semarland in every aspect. And it was Pedrinho the one that turned his brace into a hat-trick and sank the Semarland ship with the fourth and final goal of the match after 70 minutes, thus giving Valladares the second win after 2 games and qualification for the Round of 16, while leaving the Semars on the brink of elimination after two poor performances.

An Old Foe

With qualification already all but guaranteed for the Valladars, we travel to Bezieres to face Cosumar, who are coming to this match after losing to Electrum in a close affair in Campo Grande. We already have some recent history with the Dragons, that being the 2-1 win in Metropolis in a pre-finals friendly match that formed part of the Triangle Cup where the Vanquishers proved to be a very good side capable of giving us a run for our money. We must also consider the fact that they will be playing for the right to join us in the next stage and that they're currently the 15th best team of the multiverse. But that shouldn't stop us, and we must make sure this match that is predicted to be closely contested will go our way in the end. Let's not disappoint our Bezierien fans. Onward, Valladares!

[Valanora]

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Valanora: A Modern History
Chapter 4: Promises Fulfilled

Elune was elevated to a Goddess and the guardian of the planet, with Gladerial staying true to her promise and granting elves everlasting life, in effect the species going from merely long lived to functionally immortal. The elves were still susceptible to mortal wounds, they would merely never grow old beyond once they had matured. For Elune, it was bittersweet, to be the cause of such a great gift for her kind but to be cut off from those who had been her kin for all eternity. Despite such a despair weighing on her mind, she watched over her kin as well as the rest of the world, though her gaze was more often cast on that of the elves than it was the other creatures of Silverymoon, though the short, stout creatures of the mountains intrigued her, as did the more bulky elven looking creatures who dwelled mostly near the water sources of the world. Both were primitive and infantile but she could see how if given time, they might come to even rival her kind in exploit and ingenuity.

As time passed, history become myth, myth became legends, and legends became the basis for a growing religion that seemed centered around Elune's own life. Despite Artemis' vocal concerns about creating a religion based on her sister whom Artemis considered missing rather ascended as the legends were told, the religion began to spread. Melikki however held disdain for this new religion and the idea that the pompous youngling would be so chosen by the Great Others to be a special person as much of the rest of the community believe. Determined to prove that Elune had merely gone missing or passed away on her dangerous task which had ample warning not to be done, Melikki attempted to scale Mount Sumarja herself.

Melikki however was not as pure of heart as Elune had been and had attempted to scale the mountain out of spite rather than the challenge it presented itself. The disdain that lingered in her did not call to her Gladerial but rather a foul demon that the elf was not prepared to overcome. It quickly overpowered her and bound her in chains, taking her down through the mountain and into the Seven Hells, however being bound beneath the world was not punishment enough for her hubris the great demon thought. Using its foul ichor, it infected her and corrupted her from the inside out. What had been pale skin with silver hair had turned into skin that was ebony in color and hair that was stark white, her eyes going from golden green to deep purple. Melikki became not just a corrupted elf but a deity in her own right, foul and full of hatred for her former kin. That too was not enough for the demon, who then ascended into the world and brought her children into the underground and corrupted them just the same, though they did not get the same powers as their mother. Cautious as not to let her grow too powerful, the demon kept her bound deep inside the underground while her children became known as Drow among their former kin and the sun burned at their skin and eyes, preventing them from rejoining life above the surface.

Single years became decades, decades became centuries, and Gladerial had soon become a thriving city from a mere small village founded by a handful of adventurers. The population had grown so large that it was not long that new villages began to pop up, even a handful of them inside the great forest at the center of the continent. Those who lived inside the center forest began to shrink in size and muscle growth in addition to become slightly more pale, as they settled to life among the plains and with no real dangers to face with such a vast natural border. These villages would be called the inner kingdom and those outside the became the outer kingdom. Elune wondered how long such peace could last as the world around them was evolving quickly and dangers seemed just around the corner.

[Electrum]

Centralis Herald - Comment - Stewart Faraday

Footballmetrics: New revolution or fanciful numbers?

Teams on the Electrum side of the border, especially in the E-League have recently hired sabermetricians in a new trend to boost their footballing capabilities. The world of sabermetrics, or footballmetrics promises much: better statistical making, better data analysis, which both provide insights on how teams can improve and get that extra edge over their competitors. Risa Shigaraki, a staffer on the Electrum NT has been practising it for years, and has been said to being instrumental for the rise of the Electrumite team from lowly minnows to qualifying the World Cup after a few short seasons. Make no mistake: anyone can have access to the numbers, but the trick is to combine them and analyse them in the right way to get outcomes: her degree in Sports Science and her postgraduate degree in Mathematical Data Analysis shows just how hard she has worked to get there.

Now, seeing the very same success the Electrum NT has gone through, a lot of the teams have been hiring many data analysts to look at the statistics, from behavioural economists to statisticians, they are all keen to jump on the bandwagon. Most of these statisticians have never played a lick of football, or if they had, it was in no professional capacity. This often leads them to be at odds with the manager, who are often former players: hand picked because their success on the pitch would surely lead to managerial success -- but that is not always the case. We can see this dynamic between former coach Milo Wilkinson and Risa Shigaraki, who were said to be at odds with each other off the field at times, though maintaining a cordial friendship on the surface. Risa Shigaraki, known for the use of heat maps to indicate where players were, had always emphasised defence and blocking goals as the key to victory, not scoring more goals as conventional sporting wisdom would suggest. Wilkinson on the other hand was all about the flair and the goals, making a spectacle for the audience sure, but not getting those victories to qualify to the next round.

That's why the Electrumite team benefited enormously when Brunet (who will be retiring from the team amicably after the Electrumite team gets knocked out) joined the helm and immediately instituted a defence, similar to the one in his Maximum City managerial days. Shigaraki just had a better synergy with Brunet, and that change directly led to the rapid rise in the rankings for the Electrumites. As a result, Shigaraki is a trailblazer in the field, now with a stack of numbers by her side, like an arithmancer, many teams are now investing in their own Shigarakis, with state-of-the-art video screens all around the offices, graph and pie charts and so on. It is truly a revolution, and already teams are buying into this new technique in getting the best out of their players. This, in combination with advances to nutrition and dieting, and the hiring of psychologists, chiropractors, physicians and other medical professions means that professional football is barely recognisable from grassroots football, and indeed any kind of football we've seen before. Indeed, the benefits look clear already: Electrum had the best goal defence out of every single team in the World Cup qualifications, only allowing just two goals into the net: Surely some statistical work was at play here.

Some teams however, such as Centralis Heart, are pushing against the new trend arguing that instinct and intuition are better ways to go about managing football. Manager Jeffery Clark for the Heart is a pure traditionalist, scoffing at all the new technology, and more: "I've been living, breathing football since I was born. There is no way a cold, heartless computer could ever be better than my life experience. I know they've been getting results for the National Team so far, but I'd chalk that down to the team being more experienced, not some fanciful mathematics." To some extent, that could be true. The power of instinct is undeniable, and should not be discounted so easily. This can be seen in Clark's masterstroke move during the E-League where he switched Solaris and Perry's positions, out of their comfort zones. The next match they played, Eclipse New Gelderland hadn't gotten used to the new paradigm, allowing the Heart to win 1-0.

Although there is some resistance, it is undoubted that the tide is turning. Indeed, as other nations look to emulate Electrum's success, they may well start their own programs. The Llamas are well known for this program, and it looks like more will take it up. It seems that this change is unstoppable: Will traditional football managing be over as we know it?

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ Easy Does It

When the chips were down and the side needed to get a victory, the squad rose the occasion and in a big way, putting Turori down in a relative easy manner with a control and probe game that kept the Eels at bay for most of the match. With Császár Mór restored to the starting eleven for the match, the Wanderers were full up on experience and grit, ready to fight for the result that was desperately needed to avoid an embarrassing early exit, though that is still somewhat possible despite the victory over the Eels last night. The former captain showed his poise and championship pedigree from the opening whistle, bossing the midfield and directing the Pasarga team as if he was five years younger and still an every game starter for the national team. While his body and skill might not be the same as it was two cycles ago, you can tell that the hunger for the championship is still there with quite the fury.

It would not be the talented starting strikers that would find the back of the net for the Wanderers, rather it was one of the rare goals from Szölôsi Oszlár, getting his head on to the end of a van Stiphout set piece and then a late tally by reserve striker Curtis Théberge to secure the match with his first touch after being subbed on. The Ramusok striker has been trying to force his way into the starting eleven for the entire cycle and with van Stiphout coming up empty with the goals, he may just be getting his wish in the third match. It would be quite the just reward for the young striker who has been deserving of a call up for a few years now, with his move from Stein-los to Cosumar seemingly being the spark needed to get the attention of van Setten.

That is something that the side will definitely have to look at for the next cycle or perhaps even in the Copa Rushmori next month, the squad is in some desperate need of some youth and new faces to augment the amount of experienced players on the squad. It has gotten to the point that even the foreign media outlets are picking up on how long in the tooth some of our squad have become and how that may just be a weakness for the Marauders as the tournament progresses. Can our side who is one of the oldest squads in the World Cup keep up the pace for a full month or will they come up lacking and sucking on fumes, exhausted from the marathon that World Cup cycles are? I personally believe that the side has struck a nice balance, though that is far from being the prevailing thought among all media outlets as we have said.

The squad now faces Szavoda with just a draw required for their advancement though a win would secure the group title and avoiding Eura in the second round, a fate that neither side desires this early in the tournament. A big surprise though is that Nephara failed to beat Polkopia in their second match and are now in danger of missing out on advancing from the group stage entirely, which is definitely something that makes Pasargans more optimistic about advancing past that second round fixture. Szavoda has nothing to play for however, with already being eliminated for advancing out of the group, and that makes them all the more dangerous as they can play fast, loose, and easy as a potential spoiler for the Wanderers. The would be champions have to finish out the task and not be caught too haughty after the dominating performance over the Eels. For as though many scenarios do see the Wanderers advance, a failure to get a result leaves the sides fates in others hands and opens up the possibility of going home in the group stage. That is not a fate that would sit well with the fans or the squad itself, so expect to see that focus that saw them sweep Turori aside and go out there to grab their advancement.

[Turori]

The Latest Sporting News from Turori

Eels Fall to Pasarga, Face Matchday 3 Decider

Stade de la Frontière, Frontière, Valladares :: The Turori Eels rolled into the stadium of one of the most famous teams in Valladares to play one of the top teams in the Multiverse with high hopes of a glamorous victory and a ticket to the World Cup 74 Knockout Rounds.

Less than 2 hours later, they left the same stadium under a cloud of disappointment, defeated comfortably by the World Cup 72 champions and on the outside looking in as far as advancing from Group D was concerned.

System Turori certainly did not work to perfection for the Turori National Team in their second of three group stage matches, unable to find a way to get the ball past Bognar Lukacs in the Pasargan net and conceded either side of the half with the Wanderers getting goals on either side of the half time interval from Szölôsi Oszlár and Curtis Théberge.

Coupled with Ko-oren's slim 1-0 victory over Szavoda, the result left the Eels one point behind the joint Group D leaders Pasarga and Ko-oren. With Pasarga traveling to Arena Junín on matchday 3 to face the Group's bottom side Szavoda, who have already been eliminated, the Wanderers qualification seems all but secured. As such, Turori and Ko-oren will contest what will likely be a winner-take all matchup at Estadio de la Riviera. Thanks to Ko-orens opening matchday draw with Pasarga, a draw would be enough to see the Fireflies through and the Eels packing on a one-way trip back to the Island Emirate.

Like Turori, Ko-oren's path to the World Cup 74 finals went through the playoff round after finishing second placed in group 7 with an 8-3-1 record and +17 Goal Differential. Fireflys head coach Bogdan Antonescu would certainly have felt the pressure to get a result in the playoff after Ko-oren failed to qualify for World Cup 73. However, as defending champions of the Cup of Harmony, the first major WCC silverware for Ko-oren, the Turori Eels would certainly be well aware that the Fireflies were no pushover - a fact exemplified by their defiant performance against the number one team in the multiverse on the opening matchday.

Ko-oren have lost just once during the entire World Cup 74 campaign including the playoffs and thus far in the finals. That statistic must be broken on Matchday 3 in order for the Turori Eels to advance.

Turori [0] - [2] Pasarga

:: Turori Goalscorers :: :: :: - None -

:: Turori Statistics :: :: Possession: 48% :: Shots on Target: 4 :: Corner Kicks: 4

:: Pasarga Statistics :: :: Possession: 52% :: Shots on Target: 6 :: Corner Kicks: 8

:: Pasarga Goalscorers :: :: 32' - Szölôsi Oszlár :: 79' - Curtis Théberge

---

Turori Eels Lineup v. Pasarga :: [GK]G.Q Disterfred II, [D.]Tarek Edgeli, [D.]Geafi Laina-Sola, [D.]Mikki Mayelli, [ML] Klaillal Tuirma, [MC] Kentu Umaka'a, [MC]Etamara Kulkkiia, [MC] Aiden Varess, [MR] Nubara Moafalia, [FC]Inamari Altariiz, [FC]Matlya Eelador

BENCH:: [FC]Enluta Makakio, [FC]Meldi'ita Mungwaii, [M]Kigaoua Oalalka, [M]Inlite Makakio, [U ]Lulu Pumaziiri, [D]Inaosnaa Klanoa, [GK]Mitimi Obalialo

---

New Kits holding up well for Turori

Despite their mixed results on the pitch to start the World Cup 74 Groupstage, there have been no complaints from the players surrounding the quality of their brand new kits provided specifically for World Cup 74 by Schottian kitmaker SchottSport.

The Eels have thus far gone through their kits in order, opening with their Primary Eelskin brown design with blue hoops in their opening matchday victory against the White & Red clad Szavoda.

On matchday 2 against the World #1 ranked Pasarga Wanderers the Eels introduced their tweaked change kit, a base of white with Eelskinbrown highlights which clashed nicely against the the deep Red and Green hues of their Pasargan opposition.

The most exciting matchday for Turori, however, will almost certainly be the third matchday when they will for the first time debut their brand new alternate kits. Designed locally in Turori and produced by SchottSport, they are the first Turori National Team kit with design origins in the Island Emirate since the start of the agreement with Kirola Sports in World Cup 63.

It won't just be the Eels sporting an Alternate look on matchday 3, however. Turori's opponents Ko-oren also look set to sport their alternate kits providing an exciting clash of bold and light colors respectively. While Ko-orens final kit choice for the key matchup at the Estadio de la Riviera has not yet been confirmed, team officials were seen loading up the black kits presumably for transportation to the stadium for matchday. A sneak preview of what the Alternate v. Alternate kit matchup might look like is included.

If Turori are able to come away victorious on Matchday 3, they may consider a change to their kit lineup if for no other reason, superstition. Since naming SchottSport as their kit provider, the Eels have worn the up-and-coming kitmakers product a total of four times, 2 each with the primary and change kit designs. Performance wise, the Turori National Team has won both matches contested in the Eelskin Brown / Blue hoops primary kit design, but failed to win either of the two matches they played in the White change kit design - drawing with Carialus in the opening leg of the World Cup 74 Qualification Playoff then losing on Matchday 2 of Group D play to Pasarga. Should their Turorian Tan alternate kit prove to see a winner, its entirely possible it could find itself getting a promotion in the Turorian wardrobe pecking order.

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[San Jose Guayabal]

WC 74 Finals: Ceni posed a threat - Late reaction gives win for La Selecta

Despite getting the lad so early in the match, La Selecta had to struggle against the Cenian NT, who demonstrated to be a real threat with their organized game style and movements to attack, a hard-fought match with no clear domination is the main idea that describes at least 70% of the game but the reaction came with a brace from Zelaya in the last ten minutes, setting the game in favor of La Selecta, giving the desired qualification to the Round of 16 and secured first place in the group.

By: Marvin Zamora, EC's resident footballer.
From: San Salvador, San José Guayabal - World Cup 74 - Finals.
Posted: Thursday, June 16th, 2206 - 20:10 (Guayabalense Eastern Time - User's default time)

An impressionable atmosphere was the one lived in Concepción Batres on a quite cold night of June, considering the fact that we are on southern winter, it was the matchday two of the World Cup Finals and San José Guayabal wanted to settle down things and qualify to the Round of 16, and if possible to settle the first place of the group depending of the outcomes of the other game of Gregoryisgodistan vs Apox, in this game of San José Guayabal vs Ceni, the environment was spectacular since the beginning, thousands of people arrived since early morning to make the line and enter to the stadium and secure their seat for them and their friends who could appear later in the day due to other activities, declaring a holiday all the days that La Selecta will play in this World Cup, at least for Group Stage has been working for good, as the traffic was minimal, the Guayabalense fans decided to go either on public transportation or car pulling in order to reach the location a bit fast, fans from all over the country arrived to see this second game, that might result into a decisive game in the Group Stage for us. A good amount of Cenians, around 15,000 fans arrived to see their National Team facing La Selecta, as the group was at the moment, the Cenians would have needed to win the game in order to have a chance and avoid depending from other results in the third matchday, hence the Cenians were in need to win the game or at least tie and keep their chances in a good position.

That was the atmosphere before the game, everything seemed to be a very heated game because of the atmosphere that both sets of fans were demonstrating within hours of starting the game, a large escort of police officers guided the Cenian fans to Stadium in order to prevent both Guayabalense and Cenian groups met and start a brawl. More fans of San José Guayabal began to come an hour before the game and after the first sparks of a possible brawl, they entered under heavy security measures, the stadium was full half an hour before the game began, It was reported by TicketMax that tickets for the match were sold out just fifty-five minutes after being released for sale either virtual or physical, many had to go to the fan centers for watching the game on giant screens in the main squares of various cities and those who traveled to Concepción Batres and failed to get resale had to settle see one of the five parks designated for fans, finally there were no excuses to miss such an important match for both nations. As for the obligation on the morale of the Cenian National team to win, as for they, qualifying to the Round of 16 would be extraordinary and they are near to achieve that position, doing that would mark history for them, in their second World Cup participation, they have nothing to lose, absolutely nothing.

La Selecta won the toss to take the first possession and the impetus were remarkable because from the first moments of the match it became clear who would take the dominant role and who would take the submissive role regarding the quality of the game in the first minute, Sean Fraser managed to shake Lockwood out to reach the goal defended by Koron, Fraser finished powerfully but the ball was deflected by Koron, this being the first opportunity for a corner by La Selecta, Zelaya made the corner but the shot was rejected by Koron, but Núñez came to kick the ball towards the goal, but left a horrible shot, as he sent off the field, to the point that reached the stands, was a shot of that we are not accustomed to seeing Núñez doing this kind of horrible kicks because of his good qualities to hit the ball from a distance. Since then La Selecta decided to leave the initiative to the Cenians to attack for a while and thus seek cause some fatigue for the opponent and be able to use this factor later in the game, Ceni took control for the first five minutes of the game but La Selecta was ready to give some surprise to them soon by any means, in the third minute, when a counterattack by Juninho, Axakel was booked for swept abruptly against Juninho, he had to be replaced by Teitur Vaarisiemi and fortunately it was not a serious injury but it was a preventive replacement.

San José Guayabal didn’t looked like a whirlwind in the first minutes as usual, when they were to the front and decided to attack also had their attempts to enhance a good opportunity at the sixth minute, they sought to perform a counter attack, Moreira gave a pass to Núñez and then advanced some meters to give a pass to Bregoo, he stayed near the area, then passed the ball to Vaarisiemi who tried to do a cross but passed the ball again to Bregoo, Bregoo again served to Núñez and he decided to give some steps, dribbled Travaran and then decided to give a shot against Koron, a good try it seemed because the chances to see a goal weren’t too likely because the area was crowded but that just turned into an advantage for Núñez and he send the ball straight to the right zone of the goal and he scored, La Selecta was up 1-0 against the Cenian NT, solid start for them and a good prepared action from the NT, some passes and waiting to the appearance of a midfielder or another player who can shot and try to score a goal, and it happened, Núñez knew how to recover after that badly missed chance just three minutes ago, still, the goal improved his mood and the mood of all the team. While the fans were ecstatic celebrating the goal and for now a second qualification to the Round of 16 in a row, well done for a team who keeps doing gradual improvements.

Then in the fifteenth minute, Kel Koromin decided to go to the front but lost the ball against Passarelli, but Kira Koromin swept and too the ball from Passarelli and tested Terrazas from outside the area, Passarelli could not help and failed to avoid a corner for the Cenian NT, Kel Koromin did the free kick and Javier del Olmo tried to nod the ball, and failed to make contact with it, but Kira Koromin was there to try another shot towards the goal but Terrazas displayed his reflexes, sent the ball to the left and then Passarelli kicked the ball far away from the goal, quite dangerous chance from the Cenians, at least the Guayabalense NT was demonstrating that their good shape in the defense is not a casual thing, since they have kept that rhythm since World Cup 71 Qualifiers, Passarelli, as captain has developed a good role as captain before WC 73, he knows on how to keep the nerves on the edge in the defense, while Zelaya, since he was elected as a captain at World Cup 73, has unleashed all his potential, and turned himself into the offensive bastion that the team needed after a couple of bad results in WC 71 and the identity crisis suffered in that moment.

La Selecta managed to take the momentum of the game and literally grabbed the ball, but failed to create opportunities because they set about trying to open holes in the extremely tight defense of the opposing team, Vaarisiemi tried to make counterattacks but in certain plays, he was beaten by opposing defenders, once the referee had to book Celgin with a yellow card because he had already committed too many fouls on Vaarisiemi and it was something that could not run too much about the blows that were inflicted were pretty obvious to the eyes of anybody that doesn’t works in areas related to health but fortunately he managed to recover after a couple of minutes. Zelaya tried in his own and unique way, finishing from outside the penalty area in order to achieve the goal, considering that it was raining and the pitch was ideal for a rebound that may confuse the goalie and so Zelaya would have scored another goal for La Selecta in the game and so go a little further strengthening of the game in favor of San José Guayabal and take the ticket to World Cup Round of 16. It would take time to see a good opportunity from the Cenians in goal and was up until the minute twenty-eight, where Jaros gave a long pass to Kira Koromin, she was in a good position but Kel Koromin was near to her, she gave a pass and Kel Koromin just pushed the ball into the goal of Terrazas, some deep silence appeared in the stadium, the noisy Cenians make them be heard but the Guayabalenses drowned their celebration with a lot of booing, some disgust appeared into the fans as they allowed a goal that could have been prevented easily if they didn’t left too many gaps between the midfield and the defense.

Thirty-five minutes already of the game, La Selecta decided to push a bit more as the Cenians were about to score a second goal, pushing them back was needed and Rodolfo Zelaya managed to have his first clear chance after the goal from Kel Koromin, Zelaya took the ball as usual customary and gave three steps, he distanced, took impulse and decided to make the gesture of kicking but actually decided to go on white to fool the opponent but Núñez did not do so, but he decided to give a pass to Zelaya to this and sent direct throw shooting left post of Koron, Vaarisiemi was able to score when he meet the rebound but performed unnecessary moves because instead of kicking at one time decided to remove the pressure from rivals and seek to pull snugly, his efforts were prosperous as Lockwood cleared the ball near the goal line prevented him from celebrating the goal to La Selecta, what were the clearest opportunity that occurred in the time lapse between the goal of Koromin and the half time, unfortunately not the chance to score but the domain was remarkable was taken, La Selecta managed to reverse what was imposed on itself to tire the opponent and create holes in the defensive, he was being achieved but the opportunities were being wasted but the opponent could not answer due to strong midfield approach a good approach that allowed them to move towards the defensive third of San José Guayabal, except on two occasions but Terrazas managed designed to address these opportunities through effective interventions.

With one goal apiece in the first half, weren’t so relaxed when they went to the changing room, in fact it was a tense environment in La Selecta’s changing room, Oliveira and Herrera who noticed anxious, by the results, they scolded Zelaya for some missed chances during the game but the scolding was mainly on Teitur Vaarisiemi, who was unable to finish a clear chance in front of Koron’s goal, being unable to convert such a chance was extremely bad for the Guayabalense interests, as breaking the tie near the halftime could have given a new point of view to the rest of the match. While the Cenians were happy with the result, their manager asked their players to keep solid in defense, to control any gap and avoid mistakes that could lead to goals for La Selecta, in the end, the ones who were doing “business” were the Cenians with the score, getting in second place due to the score of Gregoryisgodistan vs Apox, which ended 0-0 just on halftime of La Selecta vs Ceni game, well, the result was good for them and weren’t in pressure to win the game, while La Selecta was in pressure to do such an action and then avoid complications in the last Matchday, something that would be harmful for our interests.

The game began and indeed it was predictably, La Selecta was seeking for domain into the game, scoring the goals as fastest as possible, Ceni rushed from the start but timely actions from Rudy Valencia prevented the Cenians to advance further meters from the midfield, Valencia was complying fully the role of being the destroyer of game opponent, avoid making progress and recovering the ball to the attacks made by La Selecta, within forty-eight minutes, Valencia gave a long throw towards Vaarisiemi, who managed to take the pressure off the keeper and placed the empty net, this could have been the 1-2 for San José Guayabal but unexpectedly, Vaarisiemi slipped when kick and sent the ball out of the goal, a miracle for the Cenians who saw their chance of a decent game remained intact, but could not be so easily capitalized by their notable restrictions on some players due to bookings made at some point of the game. Finally, after clearance of Koron, Kel Koromin tried to shoot from long distance and surprised Terrazas who was out of the goal, the shot that Kel Koromin did, came to the side of the net in an attempt to Guayabalense fans booed the way of pretending the nervousness that had suffered while the ball was in flight.

The game went on their way by the time, no opportunity occurred on the side of Ceni nor on the side of La Selecta, the game had become a typical game of strategy and fear of taking risks while attacking, a game played in midfield with many failures and interruptions of the match, each ball was fought fiercely but these attempts always end up being useless for good work of recovery of the ball by both defenses or mid fields, it is a game of back and forth in the midfield and much strategy until sixty-third minute, Teitur Vaarisiemi then a ball took a bad clearance by Koron and decided to run with his speed and feature towards the goal, succeeding in giving a pass to Zelaya who was pitifully a little wide and could not do anything more for taking illegal advantage of its position on the defensive, if the play had been performed as it should have been executed, this could have easily been 1-2 to San José Guayabal but unfortunately no it was, although there was more game ahead and any such eventuality could occur during the last twenty minutes.

La Selecta stood up on the scoreboard against the Cenian National Team, was now a matter of trying to get back in the lead or defend in order to avoid any problems at the end of the match, Oliveira was neutral, even demanding more concentration to attack better the opponent, the mission was to win the game and a goal was needed to do that, it was only a matter of emphasizing the domain and strengthen the result in order to win the three points, it was not impossible nor easy mission, because after that goal, Ceni came up literally with constant attacks which were well contained by the defense of San José Guayabal, that good work up was vanished by an error of Rudy Valencia at seventy-two minutes, where he stumbled for trying to make a play with excessive technical luxuries, Jaros took the ball in order to go forward and look to score, it was decided to give pass to Xasan who was better profiled in front of goal but made a serious error when trying to kick the ball, kicked before the ball arrived and therefore the kick was blank and allowed James Moreira out with the ball and cleared away from the goal only to have Zelaya took the ball and started a counter blow on his own and he did, went to the goal of Koron but dropped him in the area, with a penalty in favor of San Jose Guayabal, a golden opportunity to expand the result. Fraser decided to make the shot from the twelve steps, he went quietly and kicked but he sent it flying into space, it was a catastrophic failure that Fraser made in kicking the penalty.

Being in the last ten minutes (Referee gave three more minutes to the game) the pressure from La Selecta fans was something that was outstanding, apart from the chants, there wasn’t any booing in that part of the game, in the 83rd minute, Kel Koromin had a chance but Mattías Passarelli sent the ball forward, Fraser took it and the counterattack started, Fraser got rid of pressures and gave a pass to Zelaya, he didn’t hesitated and went near Koron, he just lifted the ball over Koron’s head and scored the second goal, finally, the wait was over and the fans of La Selecta were ecstatic again, the waters were back to normal and things got a bit exciting as the Cenians decided to risk It all after Zelaya’s goal, Del Olmo missed a chance in front of Terrazas at the 86th minute of the game, Terrazas catched up the ball and kicked it to the midfield. After the referee added three more minutes, the last reaction from La Selecta came with another group play, Zelaya received a pass from Vaarisiemi and then he was in the area, head to head with Koron and then Zelaya did what he is used to do, putting the ball below Koron’s legs and nutmegging him, that’s how Zelaya scored the 3-1 win for La Selecta, who is now qualified to the Round of 16, their next rival is Apox, who seeks to win against us in Meléndez in order to get into the fight and qualify.

[San Jose Guayabal]

World Cup 74 - San José Guayabal & Valladares
Group Stage Matchday 3 Cutoff

Sixteen teams will qualify today, let's see who will be the eight who will do it on the Valladar side, Viva la vida!

EDITS: Wrong song link and formatting...

[Valladares]

World Cup 74 - San José Guayabal & Valladares
Group Stage Matchday 3 Cutoff

It's time to know who can still have their hopes for glory alive and who can see them going down the drain!

Scores