World Cup 74 - RPing Thread

[Audioslavia]

Us versus The World
Unpopular Bulls very much 'The Enemy' against Popular Hosts.

The Guayabalense have made for popular hosts both on and off the field thus far in World Cup 74. Away from the pitch, the hospitality of the locals - taken advantage of by many an Audioslavian traveller looking for 'light refreshments' before and after games - has gone down well, while on the pitch the host's national team has more than captured the imagination on the way to a semi-final berth. As if it wasn't enough that they put three goals past Ceni and shared the spoils in an eight-goal thriller against Apox, the Mountaineers also beat Gregoryisgodistan and Saintland - popular feats in many parts of the world.

Sunday's barnstormer of a 4-2 victory against Farfadillis - a team who, to be fair, could probably somehow turn a game of tiddlywinks into a 5-4 goalfest - set San Jose Guayabal firmly as favourites among those who no longer have a horse in the race. The combination of a plucky host overdue for major silverware, a brand of exciting, attacking football and a very well-managed Mondial has hooked almost all of the neutrals.

The contrast between SJG and Audioslavia could not be more great.

Kajaxo Imaslavii may be a revered figure in Audioslavia, but his name has been tarnished somewhat by the negative tactics he's employed as national team manager this cycle. With five games gone at the finals, Audioslavia have scored a paltry three goals and have yet to concede, enfuriating the TV execs of the world who have noted viewing figures collapsing for the team's games. As if it wasn't enough that a half-strength Bull side managed to blugeon their way through a dispirited Banguela, denying the watching public the chance to see 'The Bangers' truly shine, they also ground down another overdue underdog in Barunia after having condemned even the ordinarily free-flowing Sunrisians to a nil-all scoreline. Even victory over Gregoryisgodistan - casting the unpopular maniacs out of the tournament - did little to enamour the side to the viewing public, who turned off in droves as soon as it became apparent that Audioslavia were happy just to hang on to their 1-0 quarter-final lead over Barunia in the next game. Audioslavia have made progress over the past couple of years in terms of performance in the latter stages of tournaments, but public opinion in the rest of the world is at an all-time low.

Older Audioslavians have seen it all before, of course.

It's been barely fourteen years since an equally unpopular Audioslavia side spat, dived and tugged their way into a major final - that time that of the AOCAF Cup - wherein they would find themselves roundly booed even before the match had begun. What followed was nothing short of a ritual public humiliation, but then the match was against Valanora, and, as documented plenty of times before, Bulls/Marauders matches have always tended towards sadistic destruction of their foe's egoes on both sides of the rivalry. 5-2 was the score on that occasion, and many on this isle had seen it as a final and total destruction of Audioslavia as a cynical, negative machine seemingly hell-bent on sucking all the life and enjoyment out of football, and the start of a new era of Audioslavian football. Nobody was expecting us to go all out on the attack, of course, but improvements were made under Alexander Kirk which, initially, Imaslavii seemed happy to continue. The team seemed freer, less inclined to sit back when things were going well, more likely to get forward and create on the edge of their opponents' area rather than be content to pump crosses into a crowded penalty area and press when things weren't going their way. Six years on from the start of Imaslavii's reign, the Bulls have gone backwards in terms of watchability and, though we find ourselves with the full compliment of seven football matches in the finals of the World Cup yet again - for the first time since Lee Sharp's tragic failure to put right as a manager what he'd done wrong as a player, and beat The Holy Empire in a World Cup final - there really doesn't seem like progress has been made in terms of skill and strength in depth as well as in terms of overall aesthetic quality of the football.

And here, now, comes Audioslavia's biggest test. San Jose Guayabal are a team who have looked unstoppable so far. Ranked third in the world - one ahead of our Bulls - the Mountaineers barely broke sweat on the way to walking over their group. Johanthan Fanya may be injured, but Juninho dos Santos has proven to be a more than adequate replacement thus far. There is, of course, the familiar figure of one Rodolfo Zelaya (or 'Rudolfo' as this country's anglophone media tend to call him) who has been leading the line for La Selecta (or 'The La Selecta' as channel one call them, appallingly).

For Audioslavia, defence is the key. The pairing of Caceres and Goicoechea have been persevered with despite dips in form for both men over the previous three years, but the decision has been paying off so far. Five games played, zero goals conceded, and with a goal for Caceres to boot. Dallara and Varisco are sure to keep their places at full-back, despite Varisco being taken off early against Barunia as a precaution after the onset of cramp after just fifty minutes. In the midfield, Lemuel Ortez will again be more likely to take the super-sub role, with Imaslavii one of the few Audioslavians who prefers watching Landhuis in that central midfield role, while Magellan will again be throwing his weight around in midfield. Etxezuniyiga and Vengochea will be tasked with getting the ball down the line, Apexarena will be given the job of annoying the opposition defence at every opportunity, while Kryznjak should again lead the line, elbows and all, as he attempts to break the world record for both the amount of headers put over the bar and the amount of opposition feet stood on in one game.

Can Audioslavia continue their run? Or will there be a hollywood ending for the popular hosts? We on the north-eastern isle remain optimistic despite all the evidence.

[Eura]

Thirty soldiers were packed into this "quadruple box", a multi-compartment bunker which formed the front of one part of a larger fortification. Monty and Kat had grown more than used to it now after spending much time here over the past few months. Indeed they had been stuck in this particular section of the line for a number of days, after the "Parvenna Crisis" lockdown. The military were on high alert after Sameba had randomly (and brutally) occupied the small island nation of Pravenna in the Endemian Ocean, although naturally the dictatorship claimed to have been provoked after one of their smallest gunboats "sank". Oddly though, one could have got the impression from this remote bastion's occupants that nothing had happened. It was really little different to the drills they held regularly. The whole unit goes to some assigned positions, stocks everything that is needed in terms of ammunition and supplies, and every man then hunkers down like the world is about to end. This wasn't unusual though, and after a few days the men were acting like it was nothing more than another prolonged drill. Lieutenant Brown paced about the room with his normal dominating demeanor, watching over Charlie Squad as they went over another Frontline Defence session. Bray, Green, Mack and Stein were the troops under his commanding eye on this occasion. Monty and Kat observed from the corner, making sure to stay out of the way of the Lieutenant while he was in full on intimidating mode.

'Bray, range!'
'Six hundred sir.'
'Mack, continuing firing, Stein, you're our spotter, what the fuck are we doing now?' She responded with confidence in her voice, speaking like a soldier who knew what she was going to do every step of the way. However, she was fooling herself if Brown would give her a break today. 'We'll continue suppressing the advancing infantry sir, and instruct B-Box to set up their TOW and take out the tank at the front of the group.'
'Oh really? Sounds bloody simple doesn't it Stein?'
'Sir?'
'Tough shit, one of their A-15's has just dropped a bunker buster next door and they're all dead! What do you do, you have no AT, come on make your mind up!' Stein was suddenly hesitant. 'We need to wait, get contact back.' Brown slapped Mack to the floor, which really demonstrated his strength given that Mack was a big man. 'Oh look, you hesitated, now Mack's got an exit wound the size of your loud gob in his fucking spine! Green, take over! Stein, they're four hundred yards out, there's shrapnel all over this bunker, what do we do!'
'Keep firing sir!'
'You're goddamn right!' The group continued practicing against their imaginary enemies before finally Mace called time on behalf of the Lieutenant. 'Ok everyone, that was better this time. Let's keep on improving.' Brown was displeased with this polite analysis. 'You might be kind, Sergeant, but our enemy won't be. Its very simple, kiddie winks. If you hesitate, we die. Case closed.'

The commanding officer left in a bit of a huff. Respite had arrived for the tired troopers, who had been training in some form since the early hours. Bray snuck off for a clandestine snack, while Stein stormed off with her face red at how the drill had went. Kat popped over to have a word with those who remained. 'Bit intense eh?' Mack looked downbeat. 'Can't believe Brown chose to kill me off again. What does he think I am, a bullet magnet?'
'Must be those rippling muscles of yours, eh?' Mack couldn't help but crack a smile. Monty didn't quite approve of Kat's flirting with one of the butcher men in the team, but he could live with a bit of friendly chatter in the grand scheme of things. She was young after all; this had to be a lot more testing on her patience, whereas Monty was an old hand at waiting for the pieces of work they were doing to coalesce together into a coherent story. Kat turned her attention to Green as Monty predictably put the radio on. 'You did well Greenie, good job.'
'Not good enough for Brown.' The young private stared out into the mist through the narrow gun port. 'Its never good enough.' Kat gave him a sympathetic rub on the shoulder as the radio crackled into life. 'It was tight, there's no question; Valladares grew into the game in the second half and perhaps the key moment came when Craig Gilbert athletically cleared a Frank Rozenthal effort off the line. Yet Eura's persistence and quality paid off finally when Metropolis Alligator's star man Joel Sutton, and teammate George Davies, finalised a predictable script in the nation where they have made themselves household names. Spartan's ball into the box was headed down by Davies perfectly for Sutton to stab the ball in from short range, and it was over.'

Bray returned to the room with a sheepish grin as he chewed on some unidentified food. 'Beat Valladares then? Quality. Did you see the Pasarga game though?'
'No, some of us were too busy doing our jobs!" retorted Green. Bray shrugged off the jibe. 'I don't know man. Churchilli nearly stuffed it single handedly in the first twenty minutes and then we smash them before they make it look decent at the end. Its like Sinclair is from a different planet, his third was one of the best goals I've ever seen! Tell you what, I'm getting the DVD of that one. Has to be among the best World Cup games.' Monty shushed Bray out of nowhere, something that the private didn't take kindly too. 'Look, Mertagne Monty, give it a rest, we know you don't like football but that doesn't mean you can stop us having a bit of levity now and then!' Monty shook at his head at the young man and turned the radio up. 'I love football, that's not why you should shut up. Just listen.' The voice on the radio had changed as the main news story become the main topic of discussion once more. 'Augustine Mitrosaridis, the authoritarian leader of Pravenna, reportedly last took to the airwaves last night making a desperate plea to the domestic security forces to stage "mass resistance" against what he called "the looming menace". Information on the ground has been scarce in Pravenna due to the light media presence there previously, but it is believed that their Endemian Council consulate in the capital Augustinople has been the source of numerous updates on events on the island from the Pravennan side. Our own sources now indicate that the small Pravennan forces, who are modestly equipped and have no air force, have been routed at every turn. Apostilene, Xanthikos, and the port of Argos have all fallen, although it is believed that the town of Karaikos remains under the control of a small garrison while surrounded by Sameban Marines. The fate of the government might be unknown, but it is clear that Sameba has won this war with even more haste and decisiveness than it did with its capture of the Uke Islands from Virabia. At home today, the latest breaking story is that the Home Office have issued a red travel warning with regards to traveling to Endemia.'

Bray chuckled at the last line spoken before Monty turned the radio back down. 'A travel warning? What, do they think people are suddenly going to go on a budget holiday to Pravenna? Its less attractive when the beaches are full of landing craft. Of course, when its all over, I'll take you there Kat. We can get the deluxe suite, know what I mean?'
'Don't be an arse, Private Bray.' Kat was feeling less amused after that dose of reality had been dealt by the voice of the nation. Green was still staring out of the gun port. 'Green? What's on your mind?'
'I don't get why they bother.'
'What do you mean?' Green turned around to face the group. 'What do I mean? I mean why do they bother taking some shitty little island in Endemia. What next, annex Blaestrom? Form an alliance with Taeshan? Its a non-starter, I just don't get it.' Monty shook his head in profound disagreement. 'No, no, there is a clear logic to it. They needed to remove a key refueling point for your ships in the Endemian Ocena should it ever kick off, and the island is rich in gold and mineral deposits, which they desperately need to get hold of foreign investment or loans. Not to mention the oil the Pravennan's have lying around. Maybe its not the most valuable place to gain but if they want to preserve the balance of forces with you, it might be the only way for them. The question is how you lot react.' That rhetorical question put these men on edge. They knew well that their fate was at the mercy of foreign policy decision makers many miles away. In a country of three billion, they were just a few infantrymen, and at that expendable infantrymen. Green clearly had this on his mind. 'Yeah well, hopefully not too enthusiastically. My Dad is all eager about that sort of thing, seems to forget I'm in the firing line. First line of defence my arse - all we are is the first line of the human shield.' It was a cynical and simplistic view, but there was an element of truth to it. That is why Monty noted down such minor little snippets of dissent in his notes. The foundations of the story he had come here to tell were going to be based on the truth, and nothing else.

[San Jose Guayabal]

WC 74 Finals: Fast reaction ensures Semifinal berth - Zelaya scored two and Vaarisiemi scores on World Cup début.

Farfdillis was our rival in Quarterfinals, a known foe due to past WC matches played between both nations, San José Guayabal played one of their best nights of football in front of a sell-out in Yucuaiquín and reacted quickly, leaving the game almost settled in just thirty-two minutes with a good advantage, the Farves showed some resistance but Vaarisiemi crowned a spectacular début for him with a goal on the seventy-fifth minute, the young stiker put the cherry on the cake and La Selecta won their pass for the Semifinals, in front we will have the Audioslavian bulls, a historic rival.

By: Omar Gavidia, the lover of details.
From: Moncada, Tres Pinos, San Salvador, San José Guayabal - World Cup 74 - Finals.
Posted: Tuesday, June 24th, 2206 - 21:59 (Guayabalense Eastern Time - User's default time)

The Selecta won a second consecutive World Cup qualifying for the semifinals of this prestigious tournament, the last time we beat Cosumar, who also reached its highest in the World Cup 73 point, now the Selecta did the same against Farfadillis, unlike Cosumar he had already reached the quarterfinals before Farfadillis, considering his offensive tendencies, we would have a pretty exciting game in both sectors due to the nature of both teams to play, but also to emphasize the defense of La Selecta, which usually manages to restrain rival and has done in previous matches, except vs Apox, Where four goals were allowed but take into account that the opponent was quite pressure in the game, had to win the game and wait a defeat on the other to qualify for the Round of 16, La Selecta looked calm and support of people in the Estadio Tierra de Fuego, in the city of Yucuaiquín, where 105,000 people gathered in order to enjoy good football, according to trends, expected rivals will not disappoint in the game and something happened, did not disappoint and the goals were from the beginning, La Selecta held nothing back at the start and attacked at any cost and managed to take a good advantage in the game that allowed them to take control of this, as we say “goals that occur at the beginning are the most difficult to digest” and again was evident in the game, while Teitur Vaarisiemi responded well to the confidence granted by Oliveira and Herrera and I Scored a goal in the seventy-fifth minute, showing that he has the quality to be the future concerning the attack of La Selecta.

The atmosphere in the city of Yucuaiquín was surprising, from one day before the atmosphere was joyful, this felt around the game, many coming from different parts of San Jose Guayabal, fans even came from other countries where Guayabelense reside, also had many Farves in place, they and their typical passionate behavior for football and hubbub was noticeable, police kept a tight grip on site and no disorder occurred in the area, some provocative songs between the two teams took place but that's typical among hobbies when there is a match of this magnitude, when it is not in dispute a simple win, but is in dispute the opportunity to make history, or at least try to make history, they are instances which are not always arrive, bodies to which only reach those who have shown more effort and consistency in their playing style throughout of the Qualifiers or in the Finals. The stadium was full two hours before the game, full house and while the start of the game, scheduled for 20:00 hours, at 18:35, he regional government of San Salvador gave people some roast beef, in order to appease the hunger of the participants, apart from certain shows and musical performances that entertained those attending the game, in short, did everything in order to prevent boredom took hold of the fans. The teams took to perform their warm-ups when there was just an hour before kick-off, movements everywhere and discipline was what could be seen in the two participating teams.

Both teams went to the locker room, Oliveira and Herrera spoke to his players and emphasized that they should play with order and avoid lack of concentration, absolutely not keeping anything and go out to attack from the first seconds of the game, to be effective in the opportunities have, avoid making waste to attack, because "who fail goals, Sees the opponent scoring the goals." No change was observed in the initial scheme by La Selecta, although Oliveira told Sebastián Núñez that would likely be replaced with to keep him in good condition, as Núñez reached the right match to finish his recovery from an infection in his ears, and according to medical recommendation, should not play the whole game, needing a little more recovery to play 100% therefore had told Teitur Vaarisiemi to give it a chance in the game, to use the same position Saucedo, though not his natural position. Farfadillis, under the command of Stefan Pekarik, came out with "all the meat on the grill" using a scheme that could even use four front, this being a potential danger to the defense of La Selecta, finally, Farfadillis again use his typical style game, totally offensive, characteristic of a football philosophy unforgiving at all, never calm despite make a lot of goals, they always want to score more and more goals without having you pity the opponent, no matter who it is this rival.

The game started on time at the designated time, at 20:00, Farfadillis made the kick-off and decided to go full force to attack Monrazón gave pass to Kai and decided to conduct an offensive at full speed, he reached the edge of area and gave pass to Nofzaleiné, who decided to throw and try to terraces with a powerful shot, Passarelli was crossed in the trajectory of the ball and it deflected, complicating a little Terrazas, who had to stretch to send the ball after a corner, a play which was complicated more than necessary and took a corner kick, he kicked straight Kai Teran, who Moreira pressure was removed, and then pull but Terrazas stopped the shot with relative ease. Terrazas hit the ground to lose a little time and so relax Farfadillis, it took a few seconds until the referee came to press him to pitch he got up, he did and cleared quickly. After entertaining the ball for a few seconds in midfield, Núñez gave pass to Dos Santos and he advanced down the right side, waited Bregoo, who gave a pass to Zelaya and so decided to pull the goal of Tzaín, a shot pretty powerful in which Tzain did not have any intervening opportunity, Zelaya scored the first goal of the game for La Selecta in the third minute, a move that was a true reflection of how he has behaved La Selecta throughout the World Cup, enough chemistry between players and coordinated movements, passes given at the right time and good accuracy when shooting. Zelaya decided to go to celebrate with the fans that goal that put the lead in La Selecta.

Time began to pass and both teams were not giving larger sample of danger, just when La Selecta scored the first goal of the game in the third minute, the game was bottling in the middle of the pitch and there seemed no way out the mess caused, as a sign that the offensive proposal of both teams was identical, both tried to give their best and attack as most as possible, both midfields nullified themselves, hence the lack of action, though Rudy Valencia destroyed the game by Farfadillis, the ball was lost quickly when Bregoo or Juninho were stopped by Barr with relative ease or were shot down by Roenoujya, the game was still stalling and just when seemed to have an outlet to tangle, the linesman declared offside when Foxreceived a pass by Winrouge, the game was starting to get bored at this stage, inadvertently, both teams were canceling their opportunities to create a chance that could give the goal to one of the two teams. Oliveira gesticulated somewhat annoyed that they should play in the center, but sideways, in order to give more fluidity to the game, even gestures that Oliveira did, it seemed that these were totally ignored by the players, no one paid any attention to his instructions and they kept playing in midfield or giving passes back and forth on defense, Bregoo was losing the ball too quickly, a sign that his unnoticeable move to be a nine false does not go with him, but he moved back to his natural position soon when Herrera scolded him, less offensive and more creative in putting together an attack on the opponent, who seemed to be defending in good way and ruining circuits into La Selecta’s scheme, meanwhile, Sean Fraser was basically missing in the game.

Fourteen minutes played in the match, and another clear opportunity came to La Selecta, when Leonidas Bregoo made an accurate pass to Fraser, the front left joined to the area and returned the ball to Bregoo to maintain possession for a moment, then Bregoo took a pass to Zelaya and he was encouraged to enter the area but he had Barr on his heels, Zelaya perked up and took a powerful shot that crashed into the top right corner of the goal defended by Tzaín, certainly a good reminder for La Vherderroja and their lack of action (yes, surprisingly), which despite attempts to neutralize the performing of La Selecta at the time of attack, they could not find a way to infiltrate our defense to attack and defeat the goal of Abraham Terrazas. But then, Terrazas kicked and when Valecia tried to take the ball and conduct it forward, he was swept by Tor and as a typical Farf, he went forward in order to do a counterattack, then he found Terán, he advanced even more, passed it to Kai and he crashed the shot in the crossbar, sadly, Farfadillis missed a clear chance to react to the early goal scored by La Selecta, the defense received a good way to wake up, as they were completely lost if we talk about speed, it’s something shameful…

Then in the twenty-second minute, Monrazón decided to go to the front but lost the ball against Passarelli, but Winrouge swept and took the ball from Passarelli and tested Terrazas from outside the area, Passarelli could not help and failed to avoid a corner for the Farves, Terán did the free kick and Kai tried to nod the ball, and failed to make contact with it, but Nofzaleiné 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 Farves, 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, the question is if they could keep the shape for the rest of the game, since Farfadillis is a dangerous rival and you can’t trust nor take anything for granted in front of such an offensive team, risks are good to take but against the Farves, one shouldn’t abuse of taking risks.

We arrived at the minute twenty-eight of the game and La Selecta had to urgently awaken in the time as the domain that Farfadillis was exercising on them was turning into something hard to take rid, the domain should be shaken as quickly as possible because at any moment they could score a goal to put things differently perspective, then, Rudy Valencia progressed through the midfield and gave filter to Rodolfo Zelaya pass, who arrived in the area and was hampered by the presence of Barr front of him, Zelaya decided to go back a couple of steps and gave pass to Dos Santos, who came in speed and he did a cross to the area, Mixé cleared the ball but Dos Santos turned him to take, this time gave pass to Zelaya and I found Fraser in the ideal position, the experienced player dribbled Barr and entered the area, Tzaín had no chance to Fraser, as he decided to leave it safe and not dribbled like used to do, but decided to pull mercilessly in the lower right corner of the goal and scored the 2-0 for La Selecta at an important time, just when Farfadillis was it going up the defense of La Selecta, the Farves looked upset with each other for oversights and spaces left in the defense, Fraser, who was missing from the action failed to appear at once with this great pass and managed to turn good shot at goal, a good example of efficiency at the front.

La Selecta was looking strong in the first thirty minutes of the game, when they were to the front and decided to attack also had their attempts to enhance a good opportunity at the thirty-second minute, they sought to perform a counter attack, but Fox fouled Bregoo at 30 yards away from the goal of Tzaín, Núñez decided to take a cross instead of a free kick, and it found the had of Rodolfo Zelaya who decided to nod the ball instead of stoping it and shoot as usual, he nodded and scored the third goal of the game, La Selecta had settled a good advantage in a short span of time, La Selecta was up 3-0 against the Farf NT, there wasn’t a goal against surprisingly, solid start for them and a good prepared action from the NT, what Núñez did is something noteworthy, as the Guayabalense NT is used to shoot and not pass, and it seemed that the change into the plans for La Selecta worked fine, a good header and a fast reaction left Tzaín unable to act properly and avid the third goal of the game, the Farves lookes decimated at the moment and unable to attack or score a goal.

After the goal of La Selecta, in the last minutes of the first half, Passarelli got a yellow card due to excessively charge Kai’s body and leave him somewhat injured, requiring medical attention in order to protect their physical integrity, Terán decided to take the ball and prepare for the free kick, which was not executed directly, but decided to give a pass to Tor, who in turn decided to test Terrazas with a powerful shot, Terrazas managed to stop but the power did that was surely burn the hands, there was no time for regrets, but it was time to defend and prevent Farfadillis from scoring the goal, Nofzaleiné made the corner but Moreira managed to clear the ball, this time he failed to do a counterattack because the ball went down the line and led to La Vherderroja undertake a throw in, Fox did it and left the ball to Terán, who advanced to give a pass to Kai, he came to the area and Terrazas managed to react in time, leaving the goal and managed to take the ball through a tackle, then went back to the goal before a shot that Winrouge made, Terrazas stopped the ball did not send a corner, but everything was ready to conduct the clearance, but decided to calm a little game and so avoided problems in the next few minutes, while more time is lost to the extent permitted, a good part of the Farf offense would subside, when Terrazas cleared the ball, the referee whistled and the first half finished, and La Selecta had a superb first half and scored three past Tzaín, a good game for our interests.

Oliveira and Herrera went with the players and told them what to do in the second half, there would be no major changes except to ensure that Valencia also had more freedom of play to destroy part of the game of the Farves, the key was to make a quick attack but concise, seizing opportunities that arise in order to score at least one more goal, no matter when the goal could come, they just wanted another goal just to seal the game for once, the 3-0 was already good in itself, but Herrera asked the players for more goals if possible, so he decided to motivate the players to give 110% of themselves and break up the rival defense at least once in order to get the three points, while the Farves were extremely annoyed with themselves, we could catch Pekarik scolding every player in a wild way, screaming a lot and their players throwing their shoes to the ground as signal of annoyance, it was weird to see that an offensive team like Farfadillis wasn’t having enough chances to attack and score some goals at least, they needed a lot but as we know, we should not give things by granted, the Farves would fight till the end.

The Selecta came with the same mentality to the second half, Oliveira and Herrera wanted more, the players would give it all in order to achieve it and score more goals in order to seal the game for once, it was possible but the Farves will need some goals too, knowing the nature of the game desired by both Guayabalense managers, La Selecta decided to go offensive at the beginning and avoid being patient with their actions. Zelaya moved the ball and the action began, this time decided to start on the right wing verticality, Fraser received Zelaya pass and ran up over the area, and he waited through the area, Zelaya took the ball but had to cede it to Juninho but Mixé appeared and swept, then kicked and gave a large pass to Fox, he went till the area, gave a pass to Terán and then he passed the ball to Kai, Kai didn’t doubt and shoot to the goal of Terrazas, it was a dead on shot to the lower part of the right corner of the goal, Terrazas was unable to save it and the Farves scored the 3-1, they took the ball and went fast to the midfield, they had more time, as we were in the forty seventh minute of the game, much action could happen in the game.

We were arriving to the fifty fifth minute of the game and La Selecta wasn’t taking advantage of a lot of opportunities in this game, until the moment where Terrazas cleared the ball after a long distance shot from Terán trying to surprise him, Saucedo took the ball to the ground and kept control of it, passed it to Valencia who advanced a bit more and then gave to Fraser, who ran through the left wing of the pitch, reached the corner area and dribbled Fox, then passed back to Núñez, then he passed to Bregoo who got connected with Zelaya, they did a combination of passes and Bregoo gave a pass to Zelaya, he was in a privileged position and the experienced Guayabalense striker dribbled Barr and shot but Tzain saved and sent the ball to the corner, the Guayabalense NT had another chance to score a lapidary goal against the Farves, Zelaya kicked, Saucedo nodded but Terán kicked the ball and Winrouge took advantage and ran towards the goal of Terrazas, with a lot of speed and a good stride, Terrazas decided to take a risk and sweep to the ball, he did it and stood up quickly and deflected the ball, the Winrouge chance didn’t progressed too much as he fell on the grass and claimed a fault but the referee didn’t concede it.

Time progressed and La Selecta consolidated its domain even more after that goal, fifty ninfe minutes, managed to get the ball in midfield, gave the ball to Passarelli, a play on the offensive began, Passarelli gave pass to Valencia for this advance and in turn pass the ball to Zelaya, who turned around and ran for about twenty meters, tried to keep the ball up to win the pressure imposed by the defenders, Zelaya stepped forward and gave pass to Sean Fraser, and returned Zelaya ball on a fine move, Zelaya was well in front of the goal and shot to Tazaín, he deflected the shot but unfortunately the linesman raised his flag and sanctioned an offside, the Farves took the ball for a moment in order to start having a bit more domain and relax La Selecta, because the game could get worse for them if they don’t react to the constant attacks made by La Selecta or if the Farves don’t show the football that they did in the first half, where they seemed to be less offensive than other times, losing some fear against La Selecta is something that they needed in that moment, who was trying to get more domain in the game, Oliveira and Herrera changed their line up and made Bregoo stay in his normal position, attacking hard with four forwards, as we say here “putting all the beef into the roaster.” Then at the sixty third minute, Núñez went to the bench and Vaarisiemi jumped to the field, Oliveira and Herrera were risking it all and used four forwards.

The game went on their way by the time, no opportunity occurred on the side of Farfadillis nor on the side of La Selecta, the game reduced its intensity for a couple of minutes, a game played in midfield without many failures and interruptions of the match, each ball was fought fiercely but these attempts always end up being good chances to score for both teams but their defenses acted pretty well and stopped them to avoid another goal, it is a game of back and forth in the midfield and much strategy until the sixty eighth minute, Teitur Vaarisiemi then a ball took a bad clearance by Tzaín 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 4-1 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.

When we reached the seventy fifth minute, La Selecta woke up again and they had another chance to make it 4-1, Terrazas advanced a couple of meters and decided to play as sweeper, a risky move that not any goalkeeper does at this time but he did, he cleared the ball and it landed on Fraser foot, he gave a good pass to Vaarisiemi who was located just in front of the goal, he just had to kick it and push it towards Tzaín, who hadn’t a chance to save Vaarisiemi’s first goal in a World Cup proper, the young promise of Guayabalense Football demonstrated why he has such a status and put the 4-1 in the game, and it was definitively settled the game,good job for La Selecta. After some minutes without action then, in the minute eighty nine, Terán scored inside the area after a pass of Winrouge and Farfadillis scored the final 4-2. La Selecta will face the Audioslavia NT in the semifinals in a game that Oliveira and Herrera expect that the players will give it all in order to progress to the next stage, and he expects that the players will avoid mistakes that caused the elimination in the last cycle’s semifinal against Eura.

[Valladares]

World Cup 74 - San José Guayabal & Valladares
Semifinals Cutoff

Which team will be travelling to Valladares for the final battle? We'll find out soon enough...

Meet your first finalist.

[San Jose Guayabal]

World Cup 74 - San José Guayabal & Valladares
Semifinals Cutoff

Who will be struck by the thunder of luck in this Semifinal?

[San Jose Guayabal]

World Cup 74 - San José Guayabal & Valladares
3PPO Cutoff

Life is life, it's tough sometimes, but at least there's some consolation here.

[Nephara]

Malachite Scharner punched a wall as she exited the dressing room. It left a mark.
The Cormorants were angry. The bookmakers and pundits had said that Eura was more experienced, technically superior, had better chemistry and, all in all, better. They'd gone out aiming to prove them wrong, but here they were - 3-1 down.
It had been Sinclair first. He'd found space from practically nowhere before a low, raking drive past Ballard. It should have been two soon afterwards, Sinclair releasing Sutton free past the entire defence but the Metropolis man could only shoot straight at Ballard. But it wasn't so bad - Nephara made their way back into the game, and scored with their first shot on target, Amokachi riding a fairly brutal challenge from Craig Gilbert, Prince indecisive coming out for the ball and allowing the Brinemouth forward to just poke it past him.
It didn't last. Hughes put a nice ball into Campbell who got past Katskalidis with a roll of the shoulder and fired powerfully into the ceiling of the net, before Sinclair's raking diagonal ball to the far post was perfect. This time, Sutton got it right. The men in red were 3-1 up, and deserving it.
Red and gold. Imperial colours.
The half-time whistle, the Nepharim were ashamed to admit, was a relief.

That ended here.

The comeback started in the 50th minute. It seemed like it was all headed Eura's way - Ballard had already saved well from Hughes - until another raking ball from Sinclair took Campbell past the defence. Scharner turned on a 50-cent piece to hurl herself across, Campbell firing at goal and the ball intercepted by the Crisisbless defender, full in the face.
Maybe luck had a little part to play, too. The physios put up some fingers and asked her how many she was holding up. Scharner stared at the fuzzy, hazy meat blob and guessed three.
She guessed right. She staggered to her feet and kept playing. The crowd cheered, and she turned to whip them into a frenzy.
It was that crowd roaring as Lienke Vesper took the ball some minutes later, finding herself on the end of Rainsford's pass. Vesper was 24, and this was her first start of the tournament. Churchilli was nine years her senior and a stalwart of the campaign so far. What chance did he really have when Vesper jinked one way, dragged the ball past him and ran the other? A year or two ago, no problem. Today, Vesper was gone, and flying down the wing, cutting inside. Gilbert came across with a sliding challenge but not before Vesper had passed along to Szalai, flying in off the wing with Watson in hot pursuit and smashing the ball past Prince. 3-2 in the 56th minute! Vesper and Szalai celebrated. Amokachi grabbed the ball and hoofed it into the centre, dragging both along with her to the restart. There was urgency. They could do this.
Eura had gotten complacent, but they weren't about to make that mistake again. Watson in particular had an axe to grind, impressively managing to nutmeg Szalai before the temperamental Gwinevra winger caught back up to him and spitefully hacked him to the ground. Elaine Ashdown had a distinctly disappointed word to him - he'd already had one unnecessary red card this campaign, and he was booked again for this.
But her point was made, and she strode imperiously back towards the centre of the pitch. Much of the rest of the Nepharim side may have been inexperienced or unproven, the gallery of rogues to Eura's galaxy of stars, but no neutral would go home disappointed in the central midfield battle between two genuinely world-class players. Elaine Ashdown (29) and John Spartan (32), over 300 caps between them, had gone from being thrown in the middle of excited code tag formations to facing off on the world stage twice in a month.
Spartan had come out on top last time, but this time he seemed just a little off the pace - jaded was the wrong word for a player of such experience, but... tired. Definitely tired. Ashdown was suddenly bounding past him like a gazelle, sashaying past Rose and charging full pelt at the box. She shaped to shoot, then thought better of it, making a quick pass to Amokachi - floating out to the left - moments before Ainsworth cleaned her out. The Brinemouth striker took the ball in her stride and struck it hard and low, Prince getting a hand to it. It wasn't enough... trickling into the net horribly slowly, Covenant and Gilbert both following it into the net. A tussle for the ball started, and the referee had to intervene. But the Cormorants were level.
Would it be enough?
No, Sinclair reminded them by smashing a shot from just outside the box against the upright, it probably wouldn't.
So the Nepharim surged forward. Vesper got more joy against Churchilli and fired into the side netting - Joe Caffin was rushed on to replace the jaded veteran. Vesper took him on as well, but this time the Revolutionaries fullback was equal to her. Taking a gamble, the AFC Treason winger hit the ball off to her right, hoping beyond hope her club teammate, fellow Serpentine youth product and close friend would be there.
Scylla Vyntra was there. Watson ran to cover but Vyntra just cut further and further inside, entirely happy with the prospect of shooting with her right, and as Ainsworth converged on one side and Rose from the other, she did exactly that. It went straight as an arrow into the bottom corner, Prince a second too late.
Eura 3. Nephara 4.
This time you'd bet there was no fucking hurry from the Cormorants to get the ball rolling.
The only worry was that they'd scored too soon - now a side that had failed to keep a clean sheet the entire Cup had to batten down the hatches and absorb the pressure, but in a way that still threatened to hit on the break. Amokachi was tiring, but if she lingered forward... well, she alone was a safeguard against Eura committing. A Eura side without fear of reprisal wouldn't stop at just an equaliser.
The focus shifted to the fact that Kris Campbell was widely considered one of the world's best strikers. Malachite Scharner had only recently cracked double-digit caps and was probably playing through a mild concussion. Vyntra wouldn't be allowed to make any more dogged runs for a while, Sinclair was too present a threat. Ballard saved well from Sutton. Kellard came on for Covenant, mostly because he was a giant target for Nepharim clearances to try and hit. Caffin crossed in low and hard, Campbell's clever heel-flick almost scoring but Ballard somehow saved it with a foot, Katskalidis hoofing the ball at
Riether gave up on creating another goal entirely. Ashdown handed the armband to Diandra Ballard and strode off along with the valiant but utterly exhausted Scylla Vyntra, the pair of them striding off the field and applauding the fans. Lewis Hughes cornered the referee and pointedly made tapping noises at an imaginary watch. The referee ignored him. Marijana Kuralay, a battling box-to-box player, and Daniel Kruse, a centre-half by trade, came on instead. It became immediately apparent that Kuralay's inelegant but necessary task was to slowly murder John Spartan. Playing the right way was all well and good, but there was a World Cup Final at stake. They'd scored four goals, anyway. Surely they'd placated the purists enough.
The tide slowed, but wasn't stemmed. Ainsworth rose for a corner to head straight into Christener on one of the posts. Campbell found some space from nowhere and let loose a snap-shot that went inches over the bar, Ballard motionless. Katskalidis kicked Campbell to the ground an inch away from the penalty area, and thankfully the linesman saw it right. She still got a booking for that. The new Nephara had scored four times, but there was still more than a touch of the old blood and thunder trying to keep Sinclair, Campbell and company at bay. More saves from Ballard. More blocks from the centre-halves. More bookings.
Five minutes added on.
Spartan fired a pass down the right wing and Sinclair took it with a beautiful first touch, perfectly positioned to go forward past the entire Nepharim defence and do as he would, and Kruse made the easiest decision of his life to fell him with a sweep of the legs. Studs, of course, carefully down. What did the yellow card matter? Sinclair gave a homicidal look to the ballboy until he gave the ball back. Ballard hastily marshalled the defence, all hands bar Amokachi back. Even Prince was up for this, but more worrying was the giant figure of Lofty Jones, thrown on in Rose's place, positively looming over... well, everyone.
95th minute out of 95.
Scharner saw the flight of the ball coming as soon as it was hit, and easily headed it clear of danger. For once, Sinclair couldn't pull Eura over the line.
The whistle blew. And blew. And blew.

Bottlegreen, still in her jacket, went over to commisserate with her Zozi teammate Rose in the opposing technical area. Rainsford, similarly, sought out Campbell. Eura-based Kieran Ritter was too busy pumping his fist and screaming to the heavens to bother with sportsmanship. The Nepharim fans had somehow managed to smuggle in a few flares again, and they went off as a good-natured pandemonium reigned.
And Theresa Riether turned to shake Steve Thompson's hand. The usual pleasantries were exchanged, as exhausted players fell to the ground and used every last drop of energy in their bodies to swap shirts all around them.
Riether turned back to face them. They knew, by now, that it would be San Jose Guayabal facing them in the first ever all-Esportivan final. They knew that a year ago, the exact same matchup had played itself out in the Campionato Esportiva final. They knew that the result had been a conclusive 5-1 victory for the Cormorants. They hoped the same would play out again.
Riether knew something else, too, something her players didn't - nobody did. She knew it would be her last match in charge of the side. It wasn't official, yet. But no matter what happened, it would be. She'd done enough. It was time for someone else to take up the banner.
She turned, and walked down the tunnel. The adulation of the fans rang in her ears.

[Barunia]

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

Suns
40
years

To celebrate 40 years of Barunian football, BiS are naming The Suns All-Star team, and we need your help. Throughout the World Cup 74 qualifiers, we'll be providing you with a shortlist of names, and all you need to do is tell us which of those players should be in the Suns All-Stars, and why.

This conclude our lists of candidates. Voting closes at midnight (Barunian Time) on the 24th. Results and squad list will be announced during the WC74 final pre-show on BNN Sports, which will also be live-streamed on baruniainsports.com.bu.

The Suns All-Stars Team


The candidates: Forwards

Victor Castolo
The original superstar, cries of "Castolo, Castolo!" could be heard around Barunian Stadiums whenever Victor got the ball. Victor Castolo was the top-scorer for the Suns in the BoF, and took over captain's duties briefly following Ruskin's departure in WC66. He top scored in that tournament too, and the future looked bright for the Porthaven United legend. However, he suffered a mental breakdown during CoH57, forcing him to be sent home for hospitalisation. But, in a remarkable comeback, Victor was named in the squad for WC66, albeit as a substitution. His mental health was still rocky though, and it was affecting his ability, but he still did enough to get another shot in WC67. This would be Castolo's last outing for the Suns, but he went out on a high. early success saw him play with renewed vigour, and Suns fans were treated to the sight of Victor Castolo at his absolute best. With Victor delivering, the Suns were able to go the distance through qualifying, making it to the World Cup proper for the first time. A fitting tribute to one of the most sublime footballers Barunia has ever produced, whose record of 50 goals is the second highest for any Barunian, and came in just 57 matches.

Fabrice Sagoro
Fabrice Sagoro played for the Suns in the BoF when he was just 19. His youth meant that he was often seen as Castolo's running partner, but Sagoro was a talented footballer in his own right. When Castolo suffered his breakdown, it was Sagoro who stood up and became the team's reliable option for goals. Known for his powerful left boot that could fire in accurate shots from range, he was often the one called up for free kicks. Sagoro played 51 games for the Suns, his final campaign CoH58, where he spearheaded an attack that made it to the quarterfinals. Never daunted by challenges or changing circumstances, he finished his career with 31 goals.

Sjors Van Der Venne
Sjors had a brief career with the Suns, but it was an exciting one, resulting in 17 goals from 24 games. A player known for his breakaway pace, that skill was on full display in one of the most famous goals in Barunian history - the Eura goal. It was in Sjors' first tournament with the Suns, WC68, that the Suns faced Eura on the first matchday of the World Cup proper. Against the odds, the Suns were holding Eura to a draw when Luke Cadena booted upfield. Van Der Venne ran on to the ball, sprinted past his marker, and charged into the box before slotting it how with precision to defeat the then world number 3. Having captured the hearts of a nation, Van Der Venne was called up again for 69, and became one of the scalps from the team's poor performance. Thus the curtain was drawn on a short career, but one that left us all with one hell of a memory.

Miguel Manzana
The man the fans nicknamed "God", Manzana entered the international scene in World Cup 70. Having led the Tridents to a record +100 goals in the X-League, Manzana's ability to score from any part of the field saw him become a vital part of Ruskin's team. Leon Reno was touted as the mainline replacement for Yohan Marris, and Manzana seemed to do nothing to challenge that. In CoH62 however, Manzana threw down the gauntlet, blowing Reno away and cementing his position as the team's leading goalscorer as he powered them to their first grand final appearance. A now legendary performance against Cosumar earned him the title of "god"., and ensured his place on the team for the next two cycles, which included another WC qualification. Manzana missed out on WC73, having suffered an injury in training just prior to the campaign, and did not return for WC74.

Lisa Collins-Holzknecht
Nicknamed the "pocket rocket" for her speed and diminutive stature, Collins-Holzknecht has quickly become one of the nation's biggest names. At just 5 foot 4, Lisa ignores aerial balls and instead looks for the penetrating run and the low drive into the corner of the net. Time and again she's done that for the Suns, and leads the attack after the loss of Manzana.

[Barunia]

JC: Welcome to BNN Sports coverage of the World Cup 74 grand final. I'm John Connor and with me is Kitty Smith.

KS: Thanks John. What a fantastic tournament it's been, especially for the Suns, who equal their best ever finish with a run to the quarter-finals.

JS: Absolutely Kitty, and it's been a historic tournament for the Suns, celebrating 40 years of international football. Now, throughout the tournament, you've been running an online competition to name a Barunia Suns All-Stars team: The best eleven players throughout Suns history. What's the response from the Barunian public been like?

KS: Absolutely amazing. We've had over a million votes come through the system. I should point out, it was open to international voters as well, although the only response we had was an email from a Cosumarite asking why Rose Kingsley wasn't on the short-list.

JC: Obviously a Samaj FC fan. Now, for those viewers not in the know, the competition asked voters to select their best players from a shortlist of candidates, divided into brackets based on position. Let's have a look at the shortlist:

Goalkeepers
Paul Bainbridge
Michelangelo Willans
Toby White
Billy Meyer

Defenders
Lucio David
Cesar Osario
Carl Silva
Julian Millet
Akio Sweet
Pacifique Tsebo

Defensive Midfielders
Bhara
Sam WInton
Luke Cadena
Daniel Kyrow

Midfielders
Harry Centena
Kassandra Berry
Horatio Montoya
Cedric St John
Loren Sanchez
Emmanuel Jackson

Attacking Midfielders
John Bubble
Gregory Plant
Craig Van Diemen
Yohan Marris

Forwards
Victor Castolo
Fabrice Sagoro
Sjors Van Der Venne
Miguel Manzana

How was the shortlist picked, Kitty?

KS: A lot of us at the the BiS office sat down and had a talk about it. We were looking for players who had made a significant contribution to Barunian football, be it long serving stalwart, a short but brilliant career, or even just a fan favourite. In the end we shortened it down to 28 players, and the public have now cut that to 11.

JS: They certainly have, and it is now time to reveal that 11. Here they are, the Suns All-Star team!

Starting XI
GK: Paul Bainbridge
LB:Lucio David
CB:Cesar Osario
CB: Akio Sweet
RB: Carl Silva
DM: Sam Winton
LM: Cedric St. John
RM: Kassandra Berry
AM: Yohan Marris
LF: Victor Castolo
RF: Miguel Manzana

Bench
GK: Michelangelo Willans
CB: Julian Millet
DM: Luke Cadena
CM: Loren Sanchez
AM: John Bubble
CF: Lisa Collins-Holzknecht

JC: It certainly looks a great team, and we'll go through it later during the broadcast. Right now we're going to take a look at our two finalists, but before we do, Kitty, your thoughts on who's going to win?

KS: Well, we've been doing this forty years celebration, and we've been talking about Barunian football history, and the two teams here today emulate that. We have Nephara, who debuted at the same time as the Suns and won our Baptism of Fire, and San Jose Guayabal, who we've played in the Escudo Fraternal for the last five cups. Both these teams did compete in the 40 years celebration tournament. Barunia were beaten by only one side in that tournament - Nephara. I'm going with the Cormorants on this one.

[San Jose Guayabal]

WC 74 Finals: We did it! - La Selecta reaches the World Cup Final!

Audioslavia proved to be a hard-fought rival, their history and experience made them a real threat for La Selecta in their aspiration to reach the final, Zelaya and Faña scored goals fastly and they knew how to protect the advantage at any costs, being solid at the back and demonstrating consistency while attacking was enough to launch them to the ultimate game, the World Cup Final and their rival will be Nephara, and now as our National Anthem says “Now or never let us give proof to the world, That in these veins a Guayabalense blood still flows, That in our chests we hold a name with pride, Victorious in battle, the name of Ramírez!”

By: Lidia González, the lover of match reports.
From: Swangard, Metrópolis, Valladares - World Cup 74 - Finals.
Posted: Sunday, June 29th, 2206 - 20:18 (Guayabalense Central Time - User's default time)

San José Guayabal did it, it was a long wait to see this happening, we waited for lots of years until this moment, yesterday at night, San José Guayabal managed to beat Audioslavia 2-1 in front of a completely sold out crowd in El Roblar, 114,005 fans were supporting with a lot of passion to our national team when playing this game, the local factor was heavy for the Audioslavians, as the height was too, Zelaya struck first with a good combination of passes while Sean Fraser struck just four minutes later after picking the ball just when the goalkeeper Patterick tried to deflect but it was a really nasty deflect attempt by him, the Bulls scored in the second half and La Selecta was forced to defend for a good part of the game but they attacked too and were close to score the third goal of the game, still, a good defensive work helped the national team to achieve the qualification to the final, and now the dream is closer, Nephara is the rival for La Selecta, in the world’s most important game and also the first full-Esportivan final of a World Cup ever, this two teams play more than just a win, a World Cup and the pride of being the first winner of a WC in the region is in game, who will do it? We will have to wait and see how good does the two teams play and the best might win.

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 Audioslavian fans to Stadium in order to prevent both Guayabalense and Audioslavian 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 El Roblar 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 the winner will go to the final of this WC, something that every nation wants but only the best can reach. As for the obligation on the morale of the Audioslavian 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 momentum was 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 Varisco out to reach the goal defended by Patterick, Fraser finished powerfully but the ball was deflected by Patterick, this being the first opportunity for a corner by La Selecta, Zelaya made the corner but the shot was rejected by Patterick, but Bregoo 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 Bregoo 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 Audioslavians 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, Audioslavia 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, Caceres was booked for swept abruptly against Juninho, he managed to recover after the strong sweep from Caceres, Juninho just needed some spray and then, he came back to the field.

Six minutes played in the match, and another clear opportunity came to La Selecta, when Leonidas Bregoo made an accurate pass to Fraser, the front left joined to the area and returned the ball to Bregoo to maintain possession for a moment, then Bregoo took a pass to Zelaya and he was encouraged to enter the area but he had Caceres on his heels, Zelaya perked up and took a powerful shot that crashed into the top right corner of the goal defended by Paterrick, certainly a good reminder for The Bulls and their lack of action, which despite attempts to neutralize the performing of La Selecta at the time of attack, they could not find a way to infiltrate our defense to attack and defeat the goal of Abraham Terrazas. But then, Terrazas kicked and when Valecia tried to take the ball and conduct it forward, he was swept by Etxezuñiga, without fear of risking,he went forward in order to do a counterattack, then he found Apexarena, he advanced even more, passed it to Kryznjak and he crashed the shot in the crossbar, sadly, Audioslavia missed a clear chance to react to the early goal scored by La Selecta, the defense received a good way to wake up, as they were completely lost if we talk about speed, it’s something shameful…

Then in the eighteenth minute, Rudy Valencia gave a wide cross to Núñez, he ran a bit and then passed the ball to Rodolfo Zelaya, who tried to shot but Caceres stopped him, he was forced to give the ball back to Núñez but he passed to Juninho, then to Zelaya and he gave it back to Juninho, he entered to the box and then gave a pass to Zelaya, he run two meters and then shot to the goal of Paterrick, it was a good shot to the upper left corner of the goal, the Audioslavian goalkeeper stood chanceless against the shot of Zelaya, he didn’t moved, the shot was extremely well placed and hard, Zelaya scored the 1-0 for La Selecta and the wild roar of the fans was listened in El Roblar, lots of Audioslavians make themselves feel by booing to the goal but the wild roar of Guayabalense fans was stronger, a good goal put La Selecta ahead but there was a lot of game pending, anything could happen, especially if you have a National Team like Audioslavia constantly pressing your defense in order to score a goal and aim hard to the finals, risks should be taken throughout the game as keeping the advantage or making it bigger would be a priority for the Guayabalense managers.

Just four minutes later, at minute twenty two, Oliveira and Herrera pressed the players to keep attacking, to don’t leave the Audioslavian defense in pease, they had to attack more and more in order to make bigger that gap between both teams in the score, it was all or nothing in that game and the players seemed to listen what the managers said, as they were up to the front after a clearance of Terrazas, again, Juninho went on the left wing fastly, Varisco was behind Dos Santos due to his speed, then he passed to Fraser in a cross, he shoot but Paterrick saved, then Zelaya tried to score but Paterrick appeared again but deflected it badly, Fraser had another chance to score, he had the ball and shoot to the lower left corner of Paterrick’s goal, another shot when he hadn’t chance to do as he was recovering after the last save, Fraser made the game 2-0 in that minute and the things get crazier in El Roblar, the fans celebrated with flares and saluting the players who get near to them, an incredible atmosphere was the one lived in El Roblar in that moment.

After the goal of La Selecta, in the half of the first half, Passarelli got a yellow card due to excessively charge Kryznjak’s body and leave him somewhat injured, requiring medical attention in order to protect their physical integrity, Landhuis decided to take the ball and prepare for the free kick, which was not executed directly, but decided to give a pass to Kryznjak, who in turn decided to test Terrazas with a powerful shot, Terrazas managed to stop but the power did that was surely burn the hands, there was no time for regrets, but it was time to defend and prevent Audioslavia from scoring the goal, Landhuis made the corner but Coco managed to clear the ball, this time he failed to do a counterattack because the ball went down the line and led to The Bulls undertake a throw in, Apexarena did it and left the ball to Kryznjak, who advanced to give a pass to Vengoechea, he came to the area and Terrazas managed to react in time, leaving the goal and managed to take the ball through a tackle, then went back to the goal before a shot that Kryznjak made, Terrazas stopped the ball did not send a corner, but everything was ready to conduct the clearance, but decided to calm a little game and so avoided problems in the next few minutes, while more time is lost to the extent permitted, a good part of Audioslavian offense would get calmed for a while.

Thirty-seven minutes already of the game, La Selecta decided to push a bit more as the Audioslavians were about to score a goal, pushing them back was needed and Rodolfo Zelaya managed to have his first clear chance after the goal of Fraser, 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 Paterrick, 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 Caceres 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 Zelaya 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, it 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.

After that chance, the referee took his whistle, the fans went crazy cheering and clapping, with a two goals advantage in the first half and just forty five minutes away from the World Cup Final, They 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 result and the time left, asked their players to defend the best as possible in order to leave Audioslavia unable to act and score a goal, if they do, to go full defense and avoid another goal from The Bulls, who were about to score near the halftime could have given a new point of view to the rest of the match. While the Audioslavians were annoyed and disappointed, Kajaxo Imaslavii scolded all the team due to the defensive fails, the scolding was directed to the goalkeeper, whose mistake was a key that gave the second goal to the Guayabalense National Team in the twenty second minute, in fact, their save attempts that he made previously which were good, went to the bin after that mistake in front of Sean Fraser. Imaslavii told their players to get back into the game and try to come back and score a tie or even win the game.

The game began and indeed it was obvious, Audioslavia was seeking for domain into the game, scoring the goals as fastest as possible, Audioslavia rushed from the start but timely actions from Rudy Valencia prevented the Buls 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 fifty minutes, Valencia gave a long throw towards Bregoo, who managed to take the pressure off the keeper and placed the empty net, this could have been the 3-0 for San José Guayabal but unexpectedly, Bregoo slipped when kick and sent the ball out of the goal, a miracle for the Audioslavians who saw their chance of a historic comeback 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 Paterrick, Dragan Kryznjak tried to shoot from long distance and surprised Terrazas who was out of the goal, the shot that Dragan 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.

When we reached the fifty fourth minute of this game, Audioslavia intensified the pressure over the Guayabalense defence, in fact, La Selecta was being stormed with a lot of mid-range shots from Dragan and Vengoechea, that pressure made its effect in that moment when Dallara gave a pass to Landhuis, then he gave the ball to Magellan who advanced a lot and found Kryznjak in the perfect position to score, he was at the border of the area, he shoot and Terrazas was beaten, a solid shot to the left corner of the goal made the Bulls score the 2-1, the fans of La Selecta booed but the Audioslavians cheered, they had some hope that the game could been turned back to a tie or even a win of the Audioslavians could happen, Kajaxo Imaslavii told their players to push a lot, to keep pushing till the end of the game, he turned the team from Balanced to Etremely Offensive, La Selecta had to push back themselves in order to protect the goal from any Audioslavian chances that could be coming in the rest of the game, anything could happen, as there was a lot of game pending yet, the fans still booed when the Bulls took the ball to the midfield.

La Selecta had to change their mentality during the second half, being a bit defensive was going to help them, this time they were more determined to get a result that could lead to victory and advance to the finals, defending the advantage at all costs was the key, tying the game was the key to reach the finals for those glory-thirsty Audioslavians, a victory would be hard, really hard, it was hard to just see how they had behaved during the first forty-five minutes, committing weird mistakes that led to goals from the rival, not minimizing La Selecta’s merit but what the defense did was just a disaster, if not just see the second goal, that was a disaster, utter disaster but could give a blow through a surprise, did not know who it could be but it could be something that happened, knowing the nature of the game looking to have La Selecta through the instructions of Oliveira and Herrera to their players. Zelaya moved the ball and the action began, this time decided to start on the right wing verticality, Fraser received Zelaya pass and ran up over the area, and he waited through the area, Zelaya took the ball but had to cede it to Juninho for the finish off the goal but the shot was stopped by Paterrick and sent to the corner, the momentum shown was pretty good with that attitude could achieve something pretty good, depending on how they could take advantage of the chances that were generated from midfield or from the defense, Núñez kicked and Zelaya jumped, managed to make contact with the ball and passed it to Sean Fraser, he tried to kick but failed in his attempt, Núñez entered to the area and kicked but committed a mistake, it was sent outside the goal of Paterrick, that happened at the sixtieth minute of the game.

After that attempt from the corner seemed that fans of La Selecta were getting nervous and noisy through the time with those chants like “¡Oooooooh Queremos la copa!” then in thesixty fourth minute I saw one of the best saves, clever clearances ever… I mean, that chance from Audioslavia was almost a goal, definitively… Kryznjak started a good counterattack on the left wing and then passed to Vengoechea, he entered to the area, dribbled Terrazas and when he was about to shoot, guess what happened? Yes… You’re right, Mattías Passarelli saved La Selecta while sweeping at the exact moment, he cleared the ball, then Kryznjak appeared and Passarelli saved with his chest, goodness, Passarelli should be lifted up to legend due to that move, it was a superb move from a slow defender, that’s why he’s the bulwark of the defence… What the fuck was going on with the Audioslavians? They failed two clear chances in less than a minute, their usually good offense was not having his best day on career for sure but what Passarelli did is something worthy to build a statue in his honor and make whatever to make him a legend, what a save from him!

The game went on their way by the time, we were in minute seventy fourth no opportunity occurred on the side of La Selecta after that utter magnific save from Mattías Passarelli, was turning into a monologue for Audioslavia, a game played in midfield where each ball will fight fiercely but these attempts always end up being useful for the Bulls as they were breaking the Guayabalense defense little by little, it is a game of back and forth in the midfield and much strategy until the seventy sixth minute, Sean Fraser then a ball took a bad clearance by Prune Farmer 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, Zelaya continued running and scored but he was booked by continuing with a play already sanctioned in offside, if that goal would be legit, the game would have been settled by then and the celebrations would start really fast for the final, but shame that it wasn’t goal, shame…

In the last ten minutes of the game, it really turned into a monologue from Audioslavia, La Selecta was parking the bus literally, Audioslavia was accumulating players on the front of the area, they keep shooting and shooting but Terrazas saved the shots or the defenders found the ball in the exact moment and kept clearing the ball, the referee took his whistle in the ninety fourth minute of the game, La Selecta is now on the final of the World Cup 74 against Nephara in Valladar soil, the fans went crazy, the Estadio Luis Barbosa turned lik if that was a carnival parade, people throwing bear and cheering wildly was the main factor in the celebrations. Oliveira and Herrera told to the media that Nephara is a tough rival to beat, but they are confident on La Selecta players that they could do it and bring it home. At the same exact moment, Ramón, well known as the writer of the story of “Childhood Dreams” appeared and read the history, here it is, turning into reality, enjoy this work!

Childhood Dreams, wrote by Ramón Suárez.

Raul returned home after finishing the art class, where he had to make a comic about the subject he wanted.
After eating and resting for a moment, Raul did not had a remote idea on what he could draw, looked and thought for a moment I could do, but found nothing to distract decided to watch TV to see if there was something very interesting that inspire him.

But after several hours after sunset saw something that she likes and motivates the heart not only his, but that motivates the heart of nearly fifty six million Guayabalenses, joining in one passion, a sense an inexplicable passion (the official jersey of the SJG NT and a poster of their favorite players of the SJG NT) that unexplained passion that we cannot control, was his inspiration to do the comic for the art class apart that he remembered something very important that motivated him even more, the wish of seeing the national team in a World Cup Final, the dream of every Guayabalense, and very football fan desires that for their nations, but just the best of the best can do it.

The inspiration of Raul.

What motivated him more? The simple fact that the first official game ever of San José Guayabal would be the next day, he had the hope, the wish to win and the desire of seeing them winning a World Cup someday, that motivated him to create a comic where he imagined he was a player of La Selecta, who scored valuable and important goals that clinched the classification of San José Guayabal to the WC, then scored more goals and confirmed their progress to the WC Finals.

SJG fans celebrating the Qualifying to the WC Final.

As he wrote in his comic and what he imagined, San José Guayabal joined entirely in one uncontrollable passion and great joy, attended by thousands of spectators from San José Guayabal, to the stadium which will host the final game in foreign soil, then he drew the score was 2-2 at the last minute of the game and it was fouled in the area, which the referee awarded a penalty and he scored, meaning that La Selecta achieved it, they will be in the WC Finals! San José Guayabal went mental celebrating that historical success.

The game reached the mark of the twelfth minute, no opportunity occurred on the side of Audioslavia nor on the side of La Selecta, the game had become a typical game of strategy and fear of taking risks while attacking, but played with some caution, as both teams could perform a potentially dangerous chance and score a goal from a lost chance, 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 fifteenth minute, Bregoo then a ball took a bad clearance by Paterrick 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 the first goal of the night, but unfortunately no it was, although there was more game ahead and any such eventuality could occur during the rest of the game, since both should risk everything in order to pass to the final, a lot was in game.

The comic

Then, the teacher stopped the class and said: “Raul, your story is so beautiful it should not be only heard or exposed, to be admired and contemplated so.”
“Let’s scream” said the teacher
The students shouted “Guayabal! Guayabal! Guayabal! Guayabal! Guayabal!
And that's how football and La Selecta generates passion, a feeling that cannot stop, a fervor, a power, comfort and a sense of unity that makes millions of Guayabalenses join in one sole voice saying:
“Guayabal! Guayabal! Guayabal! Guayabal! Guayabal!.

[Valladares]

World Cup 74 - San José Guayabal & Valladares
The Final Cutoff

Who will be the champions?

THEY are the Champions!

[Nephara]

i.
penumbra (/pɪˈnʌmbrə/)
noun
The shadow cast by the earth or moon over an area experiencing a partial eclipse.

N'golo.
The spirit, the power within you. Your essence.
Penumbra Amokachi brimmed with it, the philosopher-queen of Nephara, and she had a good name for it too, the expression of her power.
She was self-taught, an autodidact both in football terms and in literary ones. It was a well-kept secret that Adnan Szalai, another footballer who'd come in off the streets, wasn't actually literate. Clever, definitely, but he couldn't read or write. Didn't seem to interest him, either.
Amokachi's parents were skint, but they - her mother especially - loved to read, and they passed that love onto her. By fifteen she was already reading Bantu philosophy, and that had stuck with her her whole career, given her strength.
The energy of this place was strong. Ninety-five thousand and twenty-one people could fit into this stadium and sure enough ninety-five thousand and twenty-one tickets had been sold, many of them twice. Guayabalense packing one end of the field, bellowing and lighting flares. Nepharim at the other, universally standing with banners waving and curse-laden chants sung from the off. A wall of neutrals blocking them on either side, because there would be blood were they not seperated.
She stepped out onto the pitch, cradled her mascot, sang the anthem, shook hands, walked to her position, waited for the whistle, rolled the ball to Theodora Covenant. Covenant hit a raking pass acrossfield to Szalai, Szalai ran freely down the right - Guayabal played narrow in the midfield and defence, a weakness, Moreira hesitantly broke formation and Szalai slipped a pass beyond him to Covenant who fired low and hard and wide. Danger.
Terrazas probably had it covered anyway.
The fabric clung to her skin, in its traditional green, black shorts around her waist, green socks underneath white boots. A good, strong kit. A shirt with a strong kuntu, a force to it.
She felt strong wearing this. She hadn't done too well against either Llamaland or Ko-oren earlier in the tournament, and she felt - and she'd said, though some had laughed but veterans like Ashdown and Bottlegreen had nodded - that she hadn't felt as strong in orange. No, this final was good - they'd had their green, San Jose Guayabal had their white and blue, just as it had been a year ago when Nephara had won 5-1 and Amokachi had scored twice.
To think that their opponents were back now! To think that the bookies favoured the Guayabalense!
The battle - for it was a battle, all sound and fury, passes flickering along the lines at a breathless pace - raged on around them, Amokachi doing her part with her strong spirit blazing forward, Rainsford clipping a masterful ball over the top past Salume who tried to grab at Amokachi's shirt which seemed to reject his touch, slipping away from him as she followed suit but-
The touch was heavy. She swore as she tried to follow it, hooking out a sliding foot to try and hit in a cross but Passarelli took it on the shin and belted it away.
Amokachi swore. Next time would be better.
Time passed. Ballard made her presence known when Bregoo tried to slide a shot past her from distance, stretching across and palming the shot wide, getting quickly to her feet. She was 33. Win or lose, this was her last game for Nephara. She'd done superbly so far in the tournament.
Time passed... until dos Santos, in for the injured, iconic Fanya, had the run on her Moths teammate Sasha Christener. No messing from Christener, who scythed him down. She didn't offer him a hand. Now was no time for sportsmanship. She was booked.
Time passed. Amokachi kept feinting, kept threatening, kept running and floating and driving forward, drifting away to find Vyntra's pass before turning and rifling the ball into the box for Ashdown's forward run but it hit Moreira and bounced out for a corner, which ended up sailing over everyone.
Amokachi swore again. But she kept doing her job.
So did Valencia, who was infuriating Rainsford. Tanith also had n'golo, her muntu blazed bright and could sometimes boil over. Amokachi was the same, but she knew how to meditate. When she'd offered to teach Rainsford, the brusque Northerner had had none of it, so here she was, answering Valencia's attempted (and failed) nutmeg with a spiteful little kick to the shins while the referee wasn't looking. It went unnoticed.
Saucedo had better things on his mind, anyway. A forward run, a pass that Katskalidis tried to deal with but could only deflect it straight back at Saucedo, the shot fired low and hard and parried into the floor by Ballard, Scharner getting across to hoof it into the stands moments before Zelaya. Throw-in. Moreira's, to Fraser who hit a cross through to dos Santos out on the right, Amokachi tried to run back because she could see things crumbling but it was too late, Rainsford stretched to intercept the pass to Bregoo but not far enough and Bregoo found Zelaya cutting away from Katskalidis and it all happened so fast and he forced the ball, smashed it, past Ballard.
Amokachi turned behind her, to the jubilant Guayabalense fans. She'd show them. It was only the 32nd minute.
She'd show them.
She kicked off to Covenant, and the Cormorants tried to respond immediately by redoubling their efforts along the flanks, the first beneficiary Scylla Vyntra who Amokachi herself, drifting off Salume, found with a neat pass but the shot couldn't get past Terrazas. Covenant shot, and missed. Ashdown rifled a shot against the post. The momentum threatened to fade.
And then the Guayabalense pressed on again, looking to take the momentum for themselves, Saucedo trying his luck this time and smashing a ball against the foot of the post. Katskalidis turned on a five-pence piece to hook the ball not just away, but forward.
To Adnan Szalai, maybe the fastest man on the pitch, who took the ball on his chest and hooked it beyond Nunyez and ran onto it, Rainsford moving in, the two playing a neat one-two to beat Valencia - unsurprisingly, Rainsford was pleased by this, and more pleased when she got the ball back, holding midfielder or otherwise finding herself among the furthest players forward.
Amokachi burst forward and then checked her run, jerking back away from them as Covenant charged forward and Cawdor made her way to the far post, escaping notice among other spontaneous dynamism, Rainsford hit it across to her and she took it on her studs as she turned, a split second to shoot and she did, finding the bottom corner from memory and deep-seated instinct and praying and, yes, Terrazas clawed desperately but wasn't far enough.
The shot was perfect.
To hell with meditation - the shirt came off as she ran the length of the Guayabalense crowd, enraging them as she whipped the shirt over her head before eventually tossing it to a local Valladar girl of six or so, mobbed by her teammates around the corner flag. They had their goal. They had their goal!
More would have to come.

ii.
Elaine - feminine given name
From an Old French form of Helen. It appears in Arthurian legend; in Thomas Malory's 15th-century compilation 'Le Morte d'Arthur' Elaine was the daughter of Pelleas, the lover of Lancelot, and the mother of Galahad.

"Five-one, lads," Elaine seethed, punching the wood of the tunnel. "Five! Fucking! One! Fucking remember that and we can't fucking lose!"
They had one out of the five now, that was something. The scoreline was even after Penumbra's pinpoint strike and it deserved to be.
Theresa Riether's team-talk had been a lot more cerebral, much more... well, Riether-like. Of course it had been. But times like this... you needed your captain to grab the team round the scruff of the neck and beat the lesson into 'em. Elaine Ashdown mightn't be an old-school player, all languid stride and elegant crossfield passes, but make no mistake - she could stick the boot in when she had to. Not that complacency was ever going to be allowed to set in here.
They needed another goal. If they didn't get it, San Jose surely would. And that was her job.
But the second half worked to frustrate her. Everywhere she turned, white shirts were in her way. A dozen times she tried to pick out the right pass, jinking, turning past one player then another would clatter her, and what she was hoping would be her podium was turning into a slugfest. But the Cormorants always gave as good as they got. Beside her, Rainsford was not a whirlwind of energy like Valencia but instead a more decisive, powerful presence, scything fearlessly in to get the ball and plenty of the man out of the way, raking crossfield balls in where she could.
And it might well only take one.
Fraser moved forward, Christener staring him in the eye and matching him step for step, but he outfoxed her and stepped inside and fired. The phalanx closed - Ballard probably had it, but it was Scharner who hurled herself across with a diving header away, the ball rolling towards midfield. It looked like Bregoo's but somehow it was Rainsford's and she fought her way back through the Guayabalense pack, stabbing out a foot just as Saucedo smashed into her.
The ball came to Ashdown. Conscious of Valencia rushing in, Zelaya coming deep, she turned and fired instinctively over to the left wing where she knew Andrea Cawdor, her beloved compatriot, was lurking.
Valencia crashed into her, too late. Ashdown got up quickly, staggering and stumbling to her feet and breaking into a loping stride, hoping to catch up with the play.
Cawdor's first touch had been almost perfect, jinking it past Moreira just a little too strongly. But Ashdown's triumphant stride into the box slowed, as she realised it was going out of touch.
It was just that kind of game, wasn't it?
Fine.
That was Ashdown's game - long battles split by moments, little spots frozen in time. A dangerous free-kick lashed against the crossbar that made a global audience gasp, Terrazas stranded - what if she'd put just a little more dip in it? A clever forward pass that Passarelli read perfectly to clear safely into touch... maybe if Amokachi had been that little bit quicker. Another fantastic forward ball that caught Bottlegreen, the fresh substitute, just inches offside - what if she'd waited?
But you couldn't put a what-if on the scoresheet.
The final whistle blew, with a promise of another half an hour on the cards. Ashdown wanted to sink to her knees, to cough and wheeze like her lungs were begging her to, to buckle and bend and fall and admit she was, in fact, human.
But she couldn't do that. She couldn't be seen to show weakness, not in front of her players and certainly not in front of the Guayabalense. So, as others crumbled and collapsed, Ashdown stood tall, calm, strong. Vigilant.
Her time, she knew, would come.

iii.
In Greek mythology, Scylla (/ˈsɪlə/ SIL-ə; Greek: Σκύλλα, pronounced [skýl̚la], Skylla) was a monster that lived on one side of a narrow channel of water, opposite its counterpart Charybdis.

Extra time had come and gone. Nephara looked spent in attack, despite the fresh legs of Cantor and Bottlegreen, while the defence (bolstered by the fresh Rosewood, his first appearance of the tournament) had stayed strong. Guayabal, on the other hand, were stronger than ever. More than ever, the Cormorants owed Diandra Ballard, the veteran heroine shielding their goal.
She smiled grimly. They'd held out, though.
Funny to think how they'd got this far. Defeat to Eura, a 4-3 goalfest the neutrals had lapped up, then a 3-3 goalfest against Polkopia that the neutrals had, well, also loved. But it was a hugely disappointing result for them, and scraping past Super Llamaland was little consolation.
Their saving grace? Pasarga had failed to top the group, meaning that they played (and ultimately crashed out to) Eura in the following round.
Next had been Ko-oren, seemingly a soft opposition but it had taken penalties to bring them down. It had taken her penalty. She'd see if she couldn't repeat the feat.
Then, the quarterfinals. The Royal Kingdom of Quebec. Another goalfest, and yet again, Nephara had somehow grafted their way through. And, yes - it had been her goal to seal it in extra time.
So the final four, and surely this time they were out, right? This Nephara side that looked poorer on paper than the true golden generation of a few years back, yeah? Against Eura, who'd already beaten them once? The Cormorants had only had one regulation-time win all tournament! And they went 3-1 down by half-time and all the pundits nodded knowingly and now Nephara were in the final and Eura weren't.
The Cormorants had a fantastic squad in some respects, some wonderful players, but they weren't getting through this by playing well. They were just finding a goal where nobody thought they could, grafting and scraping and battling their way through based on the immortal principle of 'we're gonna score one more than you'.
And now they were at the summit, one little penalty shootout away from winning. The fucking. Cup.
Vyntra was fifth again. She was giddy, in a grounded and professional way. She enjoyed the spotlight, and how much of it she'd had lately. She was already a hero. God, imagine if she won this...
She visualised it. Last time... she'd hit it low and hard to her left with her right boot, with a small stutter. This time she'd hit it low and hard to her right with her left boot, without a stutter.
God, being two-footed was great sometimes.
"C'mon, Scylla," said Tanya, gently, from behind her. The fullback nodded, stood and linked arms with the other Cormorants.
They'd come so far. They'd done so much.
But right now, they were just nine fans together, arms joined, watching the protagonists - Abraham Terrazas between the posts. Elaine Ashdown, armband on her bicep, placing the ball on the spot. Diandra Ballard watching and waiting on the edge of the penalty area.
Ashdown hit it perfectly, Terrazas had no chance. Adnan Szalai allowed himself a little fist-pump.
Fraser stepped up, as did Ballard - the Endeavour goalkeeper looked big, intimidating. Fraser eyed her, calmly... and hit a powerful penalty to his left, but Ballard saw it coming, sprang triumphantly over and, no room for error, parried it with both fists away from danger. She came immediately to her feet, roaring defiantly at La Selecta, daring them to do better.
Bottlegreen stepped up. Top right. Perfect penalty. Valencia was unperturbed by Ballard, sending her the wrong way and undercutting a little of her mystique. Cantor, predictable as ever, hammered it home with her left. Terrazas knew what to do but just couldn't get there fast enough. Passarelli - low and hard, 3-2. Rainsford, so cool under pressure, skimming it just agonisingly over Terrazas, a close call but she wouldn't let it faze her, it went in. Zelaya hard left beyond Ballard and... and... oh, shit. That was four apiece.
4-3. Two take- two takers left, if she scored, she...
She could win it all...
Ashdown nudged her forward, not unkindly. Vyntra almost pitched into the grass, but managed to make her quick trot forward look natural. Right, come on.
It was strange. The stadium was full, of course, both sides of the crowd screaming one way or another.
But her brain focused on one thing.
Low and hard to the right.
Unerringly, she struck.

iv.
Theresa - feminine given name
From the Spanish and Portuguese name Teresa. The meaning is uncertain, but it could be derived from Greek θερος (theros)"summer", from Greek θεριζω (therizo) "to harvest".

Riether stood apart from the rest as they stood, watching and casually applauding the Guayabalense as they walked to receive their runners-up medals.
This was it. She'd known it in the group stage as Nephara faced a humiliating second straight group exit, and this hadn't changed her mind. Though - she smiled - it was pretty bloody wonderful to be a part of.
The players weren't letting introspection get to them, though. They were sinking in the moment - their moment - as they should.
The last of the Guayabalense were shuffled off. Now it was their turn.
The PA announcer helpfully called out the names as they came up.
"Number 1, Diandra Ballard!"
Wild applause from the stadium. Ballard was a hero of the campaign, despite the lack of a clean sheet to show for it - she'd saved key penalties, she'd saved the day under pressure, she'd covered for the defence and often been left exposed at the back, never shrinking under the spotlight. Few deserved this more than her.
"Number 2, Sasha Christener!"
Sasha had stepped up just as the pundits had started to wail about Nephara's constant problem position at rightback. Close to a hundred caps later, nobody complained anymore.
"Number 3, Nikita Griffiths!"
Christener's teammate. She'd been capable when called upon.
"Number 4, Tanith Rainsford!"
More cheers around the ground. Uncompromising in defence, all class with the ball at her feet, Rainsford was the keystone of the squad.
"Number 5, Calliope Katskalidis!"
Much would be made of the number of goals Nephara had conceded, but Katskalidis was a great centre-half and only going to improve with time. Riether sincerely believed that Katskalidis and Scharner were the next Belfast and Marlowe - and those two had been allowed their rocky spells early on, hadn't they?
"Number 6, Daniel Kruse!"
Not to discount the efforts of some who had come before. Not everyone valued Daniel Kruse's contributions, and it was possible this would be his last major tournament - but he was a quietly effective professional with an undervalued ability to stride with the ball at his feet.
"Number 7, Adnan Szalai!"
Ah, Adnan. Such a fantastic player, weaving his blue-collar, street-football way past defenders, a proper 'asphalt player' as the papers had taken to calling his like. He'd go far. Fantastically far.
"Number 8, Elaine Ashdown!"
More cheers - the stadium was a cacophony of cheers. Ashdown clapped above her head to acknowledge them - she was shirtless, for the time being, a sport bra across her chest and Rudy Valencia's shirt draped over her shoulder. Ashdown was pure, pure class.
"Number 9, Michael Kellard!"
The only traditional big Nepharim centre-forward Riether had taken, but Kellard had been crucial when he'd been present. His style might not have fit the way Riether had taken the Cormorants, and yet... he was somehow still essential.
"Number 10, Theodora Covenant!"
A wonderful, undervalued player - the way Covenant was willing to drop deep to link up the midfield to attack as the wings pushed forward was what gave this side such a dizzying fluidity in attack. Riether hoped whoever came after her appreciated her contribution.
"Number 11, Andrea Cawdor!"
Cawdor had emerged from basically nothing, taking every chance she'd gotten with the national team as a callow Crisisbless United winger with a high squad number, made the position her own and now shaken off a firm challenge from Vesper. Riether had only the deepest admiration for her.
"Number 12, Lind Pressinger!"
With Ballard retiring, Nephara needed a safe pair of hands - Riether was convinced the fresh-faced blond from eastern Sabrefell was the right man for the job.
"Number 13, Tanya Bottlegreen!"
Bottlegreen was contemplating international retirement, but this might well be her last hurrah anyway - why not go out on a note like this? The veteran winger had always made an impact upon her arrival. She changed games, made them flow around her. And her club career was far from over.
"Number 14, Auburn Tarrant!"
Not being Elaine Ashdown wasn't a crime. Tarrant might be the last name people remember when trying to think of the full squad that came to the Cup, but without a doubt, had Ashdown flagged, Tarrant would have been ready to take up the mantle.
"Number 15, Igrene Cantor!"
A fantastic, emphatic, iconic young striker. Riether had been quick to cap her, and had been rewarded.
"Number 16, Lienke Vesper!"
Link was another exceptional talent in her own right - there were so many strong, young players in this squad, not just one or two to rely upon. This might not be the peak - this might only be the beginning.
"Number 17, Malachi Rosewood!"
But she wasn't the one to continue them forward, she knew that. That wasn't her job to take.
"Number 18, Kieran Ritter!"
No, she'd settle back into club management, maybe after a sabbatical. Less pressure that way, and more factors within her control.
"Number 19, Scylla Vyntra!"
The cheers broke her out of her reverie for a moment. Vyntra, the face of the tournament... the 24-year old leftback of a team who hadn't kept a clean sheet. She'd never have to buy a pint in Nephara again.
"Number 20, Isadora Caravella!"
Another loyal servant when called upon, though she was another aging face. She hadn't expected to taste glory this year - who had?
"Number 21, Penumbra Amokachi!"
Was she the tournament's top scorer? She had to be up there. Amokachi was the sort of wildfire talent oozing quality that Nephara never used to have. But now... Amokachi, Szalai, they were all proof that the system was working.
"Number 22, Malachite Scharner!"
And the system wasn't all about silky attacking skills. Nephara would always need their Scharners, too - latest in a long line running from Rook Harm through Karl Finnan, Brescia Stubbs and now Kieran Ritter alongside Scharner. Firm, nasty, cruel... but honourable, in their way. The great equalisers.
"Number 23, Marijana Kuralay!"
Kuralay didn't deserve to have the last number on the list, but nobody would complain less. Yet another wonderful young player backing up someone even better.
"And the manager, Theresa Riether!"
She.
She didn't know the manager got called up to the podium.
She stood up, the crowd cheering, chanting her name, and collected her medal almost in a daze. The WCC chairman motioned her to the pulpit - oh, God. It was time to make a speech.
She looked out at the crowd. Back at the players. Down at her faithful assistant, Portia Thrift, and across the other staff as well. At the defeated Guayabalense to the other side. Back across the crowd, letting her eyes linger on the waves of green and black still standing by the penalty area where it had all been decided.
"Thank you all," she said simply. "All of this... all of what just happened, this was for you."