Di Bradini Cup 39/U21WC60 (Everything Thread)

[Nephara]

Margravine Alexa Mitroglou's place was at the head of a crowd. Midway through a, uh... well, 'successful' was a word for her first term. She'd been elected on a wave of... well, 'panic' was an unkind word for it. But there was a desire for strength and security, which Mitroglou and her rebranded Nationals provided.
The war was inevitable, in her mind. Nephara stood by, and slightly behind and to the side of, her Euran allies, and Nepharim forces were skirmishing across a few fronts. Iskandervale was almost seized... almost.
But that wasn't her job to take care of. A Margravine had to delegate, and take care of her own work as best she could - the people.
And she was wildly popular, a rare commodity in heads of state. Particularly speaking here, in Chenoworth, a new Nationals heartland.
So she had to admit she felt a little betrayed when one man shoved his way to the front of the audience, two of her guards shouted to "GET DOWN", her knees buckled as she tried to collapse as the sharp pain lanced through her shoulder...

... but she didn't black out. She could always be proud of herself for that.
She heard gunshots and, of course, screaming.
"It's clear!"
The other words just sort of wafted over her. They weren't important now.
Someone lifted her to her feet. That was okay. But then they tried to drag her away. She stumbled and waved them off. "No, no, let-"
"Ma'am, you've been shot."
"Have I? Can't feel a thing."
"You've-"
"Got a speech. 'S fine."
She grabbed the podium and dragged herself to her feet. The audience was... well, trapped, men in suits sweeping in and across, panicked, but... it was safe. Probably. Safe for them. Everyone.
She saw her would-be assassin. Christ, they'd done a job on him. Someone was dragging the body away.
Someone put their hand on her shoulder again, she waved them away again. She had her speech memorised. It was fine.
"... As I was saying, Nephara's place in the forefront of the Community is without doubt..."

[Valanora]

Matchday 2

Group A
Ethane 3–1 Boring Paradise
Schottia 1–3 Pasarga

P Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pasarga                      2   2  0  0    4   1  +3    6     Q
2 Ethane                       2   1  1  0    3   1  +2    4
3 Schottia                     2   0  1  1    1   3  −2    1
4 Boring Paradise              2   0  0  2    1   4  −3    0

Group B
Gadirya 1–0 -Anthor-
Royal Kingdom of Quebec 1–0 Lymantatia

P Group B                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Royal Kingdom of Quebec      2   2  0  0    2   0  +2    6
2 Gadirya                      2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
3 -Anthor-                     2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
4 Lymantatia                   2   0  0  2    0   2  −2    0

Group C
Super-Llamaland 4–0 Eastfield Lodge
Qasden 6–2 Tumbra

P Group C                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Qasden                       2   2  0  0   11   4  +7    6
2 Super-Llamaland              2   1  0  1    6   5  +1    3
3 Eastfield Lodge              2   1  0  1    1   4  −3    3
4 Tumbra                       2   0  0  2    2   7  −5    0

Group D
Taeshan 1–2 Mercedini
HUElavia 0–3 Cosumar

P Group D                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                      2   2  0  0    7   3  +4    6
2 Mercedini                    2   1  0  1    5   5   0    3
3 Taeshan                      2   1  0  1    2   2   0    3
4 HUElavia                     2   0  0  2    0   4  −4    0

Group E
Prusy Krolewskie 1–0 Eshan
Abanhfleft 2–0 Dainer

P Group E                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                   2   2  0  0    3   0  +3    6     Q
2 Prusy Krolewskie             2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
3 Eshan                        2   0  1  1    0   1  −1    1
4 Dainer                       2   0  1  1    0   2  −2    1

Group F
Dylecte 0–1 Savojarna
Unified Sunrise Islands 0–1 San Jose Guayabal

P Group F                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 San Jose Guayabal            2   1  1  0    1   0  +1    4
  Savojarna                    2   1  1  0    1   0  +1    4
3 Unified Sunrise Islands      2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
4 Dylecte                      2   0  0  2    0   2  −2    0

Group G
Mattijana 2–3 The Redvale
Ceni 6–2 Cetheque

P Group G                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Redvale                  2   2  0  0    9   2  +7    6    Q
2 Ceni                         2   1  1  0    7   3  +4    4
3 Mattijana                    2   0  1  1    3   4  −1    1
4 Cetheque                     2   0  0  2    2  12 −10    0

Group H
Kirisaki 0–1 Tomikosan
Chromatika 3–2 Nephara

P Group H                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Chromatika                   2   1  1  0    5   4  +1    4
2 Nephara                      2   1  0  1    3   3   0    3
3 Tomikosan                    2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
4 Kirisaki                     2   0  1  1    2   3  −1    1

[The Redvale]

VIBES
Sports news by and for the fans

Little Devils: Following the young Red Demons in their World Cup
Part Two
Article by Liv Neri, former soldier and fan of all things Markham

Everyone was hoping that after such a good win over Cetheque, the Red Demons would mesh better than they had in the first practice of the tournament, the one that had seen a bunch of players fined and a handful of them thrown out completely. There was an optimism that after playing together, they’d put aside their egos and keep their heads down and focus on the good of the team and not their own playing time or accolades. As it turns out, that was a bit too much to ask for. Things were relatively calm on the day after the opening match, with all of the players reporting to the gym for some light strength and aerobics workouts before being dismissed and spending the day hanging out or exploring the city. When the sun went down, however, that calmness went out the window. You could say that the calmness turned into chaos, even.

I was sleeping when the incident happened. Most of the squad was, too. It happened in the middle of the night, and the only ones who were awake at the time were the ones that were involved. By the time I arrived, there was blood everywhere and there were a few players in the hallway, arguing and trying to figure out what had happened. Everyone said something different about the incident. The only thing the group of players in the hallway agreed on was that nobody would say anything to the police. Some of them stayed behind and tried to clean up the blood and any evidence before the staff arrived. As a journalist, the majority of them didn’t want to talk to me about it, but here’s what I was able to piece together from the few players who claimed to know what had happened. As a condition for talking to them, they also made me withhold their names. They don’t want to be known as the few teammates who went to the press.

According to those players, goalkeeper Mark Fajardo was woken up in the middle of the night by Maura Rush and Marsha Peppers, who tried to throw a pillowcase over his head and intimidate him into giving up his spot as the starting goalkeeper. Except Peppers underestimated his fighting ability, and didn’t realize that he could hold his own in a fight. Fajardo managed to take the pillowcase off of his head and then he attacked Peppers, hitting her in the face a few times before Rush came out of the shadows to intervene and protect her friend. By then, he’d knocked Peppers to the ground with a punch, and turned to face Rush one on one. She replied by pulling out a knife and telling him to calm down. When Fajardo didn’t, she tried to stab him, but again, the girls underestimated the younger boy they were attacking.

Fajardo wrestled the knife out of her hand, which was also when she tried to tackle him. To put it simply, Mark Fajardo was the only one still standing after that attempt. Rush attempted to take him to the ground, but she herself ended up on the ground, and she found that he’d either accidentally or intentionally sliced her neck open while countering her charge. At that point, both girls realized that they had fucked up. Peppers ran out and abandoned Rush, who she supposedly believed was dead after seeing the neck injury. There was plenty of screaming, which was what woke up the rest of the team. Fajardo’s roommate, Ji Hyun Jo, woke up at that point and ran off to wake everyone else up.

Rush was on the ground for a few minutes after getting cut, and her injury is where all the blood came from, but she was able to get up and run off also. Except, everyone realized who had broken into Mark’s room because the trail of blood led back to the room that was shared by Peppers and Rush. The players couldn’t clean the mess up in time, and it was how Fabien Endrizzi found who the blame. Well, he found who to blame when he entered the room and saw Rush’s neck injury for himself. He took Peppers and Rush into different rooms and asked them what had happened. Peppers claimed that Rush had been running with a knife and had slipped. Rush herself had a different story. She said that it was an attempted suicide because she was depressed about leaving Avgaria. After getting both responses, Fabien followed the blood trail back to the place where it had started, and found Mark Fajardo and Ji Hyun Jo arguing over what to do with the knife. Fabien asked Mark why he had cut Maura(and it was obvious that he did), and he responded truthfully and said that they had broken into his room.

He pointed out the pillowcase that they’d put over his head, and the fact that he and Hyun Jo were both still in their underwear. He said that it showed that they had indeed been woken up in the middle of the night and attacked without even being given time to get dressed. Or at least, Fajardo had been. He said that the knife wasn’t even his, and pointed to the engraving on the handle, that had the name ‘M. Rush’. He’d only used in in self defence, he explained to Fabien. Because of being familiar with the temperaments of the players involved, and after seeing the evidence for himself, Fabien accepted that as the explanation to what happened, even though the other players refused to talk about anything that they had seen. By morning, Maura Rush found herself off of the team.

However, she wasn’t quite kicked off. She was released from the squad because of an ‘undisclosed’ injury. Kicking a player off the team is a big deal, and there wasn’t enough hard evidence to kick her off on the grounds of what she did. Even though Fajardo’s story sounded accurate, nobody had actually seen what happened except for him and her and Marsha Peppers, who stuck with her story about running with a knife. But because that story was so poorly constructed, Peppers now owes a twenty thousand drachma debt to the Federation because of the massive fine she received for not cooperating. In any case, Rush wouldn’t be in a state to play, even if she had been cleared of being involved. Her injury was a bad one, that required stitches. The recovery time would put her out of contention for playing in the rest of the tournament.

Her replacement, Nina Herrera, was drafted from the Midland Bluesox on the morning after the incident. Herrera has had her own injury problems, dealing with both shoulder and wrist injuries as well as a couple of concussions that come from her play style as a sweeper keeper, but the staff believed that she’s fit enough to be the backup, at least. And when she’s fit and not injured, Herrera has been very, very good for the Bluesox. After the incident, everything seemingly went back to normal. Well, Peppers became the most avoided person on the team, and Rush tried to get sympathy through social media, but that’s another story. It could have hurt the Red Demons on gameday, but the fact that they won anyway shows that this team has more resolve than anyone believed they did.

=====

Less than three full days after the incident with Rush and Fajardo, the Demons went back out to play against Mattijana with a chance to advance out of the group with one game left to play still. The chance was not just to qualify, but to get a statement win. The last day of the group will decide the seeding, but winning on the second day to qualify sends a message to the rest of the teams that this one is dangerous. And that’s exactly what they did. They went out and made a statement. The Demons were clinical yet again, possessing the ball only forty percent of the time despite coming up with the three goals that were required to win. Two of those three goals came in the second half, when the strikers really came alive and picked apart the weak points in the defense.

When the match first started, the Redvalis were happy to sit back and observe their opponents to see how they were approaching the match. The first ten minutes contained a lot of sideways passes, passes between the two center backs, and short passes between the central midfielders, to keep the ball and observe the formation of the opponent to identify the weak points. And then, they switched styles and went on the attack, going after the obvious mismatch that was in the front of their formation because of Hiroyo Nunez being in position to attack smaller defenders. Rikard Illicic had the main job of marking Hiroyo Nunez, but after she had a few shots past him early on, it was clear that she was going to do what she wanted all match long unless there was a cover defender assigned to crash inside when she tried to make a forward run. Kevin Kyrchowiak ended up filling that role, which helped the Demons by taking him out of any position to charge down the wing at will and make overlapping runs from the wingback position.

But when the defense crashed towards Nunez whenever she had the ball towards the inside, that opened up chances for the rest of the talented attackers. Annamarie Janzen-Hara continued her trend of playing positionless football by switching with Park Sang Chul, getting herself marked by a slower defender, and then blowing by them to challenge Katija Zunija one on one. Zunija ended up being the second defender to get left in the dust when AJ nutmegged her and then gave up a good shot for a great pass to Nunez, who tapped the ball past Vaskaric for the opening goal of the match. That was in the twenty second minute, after the Demons had been down in possession but up in the number of shots for most of the match. They wouldn’t keep their clean sheet going through the end of the half, though.

Simeon Norwood went too far up the wing in the thirty fifth minute and wasn’t in position to stop Marko Vesnic when the winger received a long ball pass from Sophia Savizi. The wing was wide open for Vesnic to run down, and Don Barca was left to try to jump outside to keep Vesnic from getting too far. He cut inside on the center back that isn’t a great outside defender, and ran a few more yards before blasting a shot off of Fajardo’s gloves and in. Thanks to that lapse of concentration from Simeon Norwood, who should have started running back much earlier than he did, the match was 1-1 at halftime. Regardless, Fabien Endrizzi was happy with the performance. They were playing the way he wanted them to play, clinically.

Going into the second half, the team took a more attacking stance to try to grab a go ahead goal. Annamarie Janzen-Hara moved up from attacking midfielder to become a third striker, and the three strikers were supposed to stretch the defense further than it could go and open up holes for attacking fullbacks and midfielders. But AJ’s defense was sorely missed, and the midfield of Mattijana held possession for even longer than they did in the first half, leading up to a fifty sixth minute lob pass to Matej Klusic, who headed the ball past Fajardo to take the lead. Endrizzi was furious after that. Nicolai Carrera de Maris had missed what should have been a header won, and because of that, they were down after playing like the better team. And it looked like they would have a lot to climb back from if they wanted a win and not a draw.

However, Hiroyo Nunez wasn’t going to let the team lose. She took the ball inside, and when the double team quickly arrived, she sent the ball to the wing for Wolf Dreschler, who took one touch before booting a cross to the opposite wing for Park Sang Chul to knock down with his chest and then fire into goal with a rapid shot. It was a quick sequence in the sixtieth minute, and the match was tied at 2-2 again after only a few seconds of possession for the Red Demons. Once again, they used the ball smartly and exploited the main weak spot in the defense to get a quick goal.

The last goal of the match came in minute number seventy one. Again, Hiroyo went inside and forced two defenders to cover her, but this time, she managed to flick the ball up and away from them and towards AJ Hara, who won the header and knocked the ball to the feet of Park Sang Chul. While the striker has been known for his vision and playmaking more than hit shot, he still knew what to do with the ball at his feet right in front of goal. The keeper couldn’t make the dive in time, and Park finished the chance to give the Demons the win. Their total possession number would be forty three percent at the end of the match, but they still had the three goals they needed. Because of their win and their previous large win, they would also clinch qualification for the next round with one game to play.

That one game will be against Ceni, the defending champions. And, you could consider it the first true test for the Demons.

[Cosumar]

DBC success shines uncomfortable light on Ruhl's criminal troubles
Controversial striker has U21s off to flying start with three goals in two

One of the most breathtaking strikes I've ever witnessed at a Di Bradini Cup happened last night, during the match between Cosumar and HUElavia in Goldsan. Halfway through the first half, the Cosumarites, whose attack started slowly and had yet to generate a real scoring chance, freed up 21-year-old striker Airik Ruhl in the box on a free kick. As the ball soared in from 25 yards out, it was behind Ruhl, but the Morponte Fief lad backpedaled rapidly, jumped, twisted 180 degrees and sliced the ball out of thin air. The acrobatic volley sailed back across the face of goal and curled in off the far corner of the crossbar, leaving defenders, teammates and spectators alike gasping in disbelief.

After our local CSBN commentators marveled at the stunning goal on replay a few times, their conversation inevitably turned to the reason why Ruhl's continued inclusion in the Cosumar youth setup has generated such heated debate. In 1008, a 19-year-old Airik Ruhl pleaded guilty to domestic abuse of his then-18-year-old girlfriend during the midseason break of the Sekundar Ligan season. Eight months prior, he had also been charged with shoplifting from a jewelry store in Pelethas. He has also previously been spotted with Klito Sharazjek, an ex-footballer whose career was cut short by involvement in an organized crime ring in southwestern Cosumar. At 16, Ruhl nearly strangled a 40-year-old man unconscious in a nighttime altercation in downtown Mortim.

The camera then zoomed to the intimidating figure of Ruhl, who was smiling in the way that young players sometimes do when they take flight -- overjoyed, surprised and more than a little relieved. While waiting for the game to restart, the commentators then recounted U21 National Team manager Johannes Sulo's explanation for naming Ruhl to his roster. Sulo expected backlash. In a public statement, he reaffirmed that although he holds dear the "highest expectation of honor and integrity that the Dragonshirt has long imbued", he also feels that the Fiefdom Soccer Federation (FSF) has the ability and resources to help Ruhl in ways his domestic club Morponte Fief can't. Though he has completed various legal sentences of community service and brief offseason juvie stays, Ruhl was required by Sulo and the FSF to complete additional sensitivity, citizenship and anger management rehabilitation programs in order to partake in this DBC. But as they spoke, you could tell from the tone of their voices that the CSBN announcers felt Ruhl did not deserve this second chance.

Many Cosumarites with a deep reverence for what representing the Fiefdom means have vocally called for Ruhl to be banned from all National Team programs - even at the youth level. They have a point. Put the clip of Ruhl's 21st minute stunner against HUElavia next to the photographs of his girlfriend's scarred and bruised face and you have a sobering display of the human body's amazing capabilities followed by its horrifying potential for misuse. The juxtaposition of images is undeniably startling.

Ruhl has apologized publicly for battering his girlfriend, saying "in a heated moment, I let my feelings take control of me and did things I should never have done". That "heat of the moment" excuse does not explain some of his other criminal incidents, however, leaving his supposed "dedication to becoming a better citizen" in the run-up to this tournament seeming somewhat disingenuous.

Support for Ruhl is stronger in Mortim, where he grew up and eventually attended the elite Morponte Fief academy. He scored 20 goals for Morponte Fief's first team in Sekundar Ligan last season, the breakthrough in his young career. On a weekly basis, Ruhl's strength, tenacity and eye for goal made him an enticing option for Sulo. His youth also makes him a more sympathetic figure. Morponte Fief fans tend to frame him as a "good but troubled kid with a tough background" who just needs support and education to stabilize as he matures.

Others, particularly victims of domestic violence and their relatives across Cosumar and the Multiverse, will not quite see it that way. The FSF is putting its credibility and the reputation of its national team programs at risk by associating with Airik Ruhl. So far, the gamble is paying off. Ruhl claimed two goals in the big 4-3 win over Mercedini to open DBC 39, and propelled Cosumar to victory against HUElavia with the opening goal and a late assist. His star grows larger by the day. But as Ruhl continues to shine on the pitch, more and more eyes will be drawn to his shady behavior off of it. If his criminal tendencies worsen after becoming the face of this U21 program, or even after someday featuring for the senior team, he could do irreversible damage to the luster that Cosumar Soccer as a brand has carefully maintained for decades.

Let's hope that Johannes Sulo is justified in his compassion and that young Mr. Ruhl can turn a corner and stick to being dangerous only on the pitch instead of off it. Airik Ruhl and the rest of the 2-0-0 Cosumar U21s play Taeshan tomorrow night and can clinch advancement with a draw.


Sean Edelman
Cosumarite Courier Special Reporter

[Eastfield Lodge]

Eastfield Lodge Roster for DBC 39

Demonym: Eastfielder

Eastfield Lodge is a pretty glorious nation, somewhat situated in Northern Rushmore - in reality, there's a very small island (acting as a transport hub) which hosts a portal linking the NSverse to a small bubble universe, wherein the rest of the Imperial Commonwealth is located (barring a couple of nations, but they’re linked up in other ways). The IC part describes the fact that there are several empires contained within one superstructure – divisions which are somewhat reflected in the convoluted league structure.

Those of you who know this nation well however will wonder what has happened to the Whoniverse (the universe of Doctor Who, the TV programme). Don’t worry, I will (hopefully) RP what went on. To those who don’t know, this nation used be in the NSverse, but due to the acts of a lone madman from The Holy Empire (mad, or pitiful, the legends are a bit shaky), Eastfield Lodge almost vanished from existence, leaving behind a small island (now in Rushmore), attached to a portal connecting here to the Whoniverse. Things happened, the portal became unstable, and we had to form a bubble universe, and as a result, the resulting temporal shockwave both wiped out all electronic records, and did some weird stuff to people’s ages (hence why some names in the team may seem recognisable).

Anyways, because of the initial portal, whilst humans are the overwhelming majority of the populace here, don't be surprised to find several other races and much advanced technology here. Some more historical information can be found here, in lieu of a factbook (NB: a lot of the information there is inaccurate though, TG me for clarification).

Back to the nation itself, Eastfield Lodge is probably the best place to live in the entirety of Rushmore, according to the WA at any rate. Amongst the accolades heaped upon are: Most Compassionate Citizens, Most Beautiful Environments, Happiest Citizens, Most Dedicated Public Healthcare, Healthiest Citizens, Least Corrupt Government, Longest Average Lifespan, Lowest Crime Rates, Nicest Citizens, Largest Public Transportation Department, Safest, Smartest Citizens, Most Popular Tourist Destinations, Best Weather and Largest Welfare Programs. Also of note is the fact that, in a region containing Saintland, Eastfield Lodge is the Most Devout nation, with Islam being the national religion, and that we have the Highest Police Ratios, so do not be alarmed by the sheer number of police officers.

Manager: Robert Andrews

Player are listed higher are more likely to play – strongest starting XI listed in Tactics section

Name                        Age Gender Positions Club
Thijn Persson               18    M       GK     Olympia FC
Marvella Allam              19    F       GK     VLC FC

Renato Hargreaves           18    M       CB     Hellinic Rouge (Pasarga)
Mateusz Hampton             19    M       CB     Walston Brook Albion
As'ad Harrower              18    M       CB     Seniors FC
Janice Hebburn              18    F       CB     Xilon OC
Ginton French               18    M       RB     Boston Yellow Scarves (Unified Sunrise Islands)
Nakia Bugler-Hamilton       18    F       RB     Olympia FC
Marya Garner                19    F       LB     Olympia FC
Ulima Salam                 18    F       LB     RGS Athletic

Ginton West                 18    M       DMF    Matthew Mets (Unified Sunrise Islands)
Ulyaa Cowan                 18    F       DMF    Walston Brook Albion
Graziana Din                18    F       CMF    Hellinic Rouge (Pasarga)
Arjean Jeremiah-Dockson     18    F       CMF    CA Paulinthal  (Pasarga)
Jagger Parsa                18    M       RMF    Soldarian FC   (Valanora)
Nakeya Abati                18    F       RMF    Olympia FC
Sarina Neville              18    F       LMF    Boston Yellow Scarves (Unified Sunrise Islands)
Dennise Glibin              18    F       LMF    Seaton Town
Leonardo Bousquet           18    M       AMF    Neuville Scythers (Unified Sunrise Islands)
Craig Girard-Vaillancourt   18    M       AMF    RGS Athletic

Zaaid Stepan                19    M       ST     Olympia FC
Harman Norris               18    M       ST     Sardin United (Pasarga)
Joel Roscoe-East            19    M       ST     Seniors FC
Lafayette Dandy             19    M       ST     Copper Communists SC

Formation: 4-3-1-2/4-1-2-1-2 (with CMF/DMF respectively)

Strongest XI:
GK: Thijn Persson

RB: Ginton French
CB: Renato Hargreaves
CB: Mateusz Hampton
LB: Marya Garner

CMF: Graziana Din / DMF: Ginton West
RMF: Jagger Parsa
LMF: Sarina Neville
AMF: Leonardo Bousquet

ST: Zaaid Stepan
ST: Harman Norris

Style: +3
RP Permissions:
Select my scorers: Y
Give out yellow cards to my players: Y (maximum five, TG me with a reason for more)
Give out red cards to my players: Y (only one more than the number given to your team, maximum of three - i.e. I get two red cards, you must have at least one)
RP injuries to my players: Y (Maximum 3, no career-ending injuries without my explicit permission – I reserve right to how long players are out; you can RP how severe it looks)
Godmod injuries: Y (within some reason)
Godmod scoring events: Y (Have fun.)
Godmod other events: Y (TG me if you're planning on killing anybody though, or anything really extreme.)

If I do RP, I will include the line-up for the next match in my RP post, along with any suspensions/injuries. If there is no line-up, look through my posts and check for current suspensions/injuries, but otherwise it’s fine. Also, if you're RP'ing any part of my match, please use the full name Eastfield Lodge at least once, it helps me find the RP.

NB: As the people of EL are extremely compassionate, and very civilised (despite what you may say about the religion), it would be uncharacteristic for the coaches/players to lose their temper, dive deliberately (jumping out of the way of bad tackles and falling awkwardly doesn't count), to be sent to the stands (if the ref is clearly very biased however...), spit, argue with the ref or fight. Players will also tend to inform the referee about mistakes/clarifications in judgement regarding throw-ins, fouls given but with no contact and goal kicks/corner kicks (plus other bouts of honesty - up to you).

[Nephara]

THE BRINEMOUTH HERALD
ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SYMBOLISES CLIMATE OF CHAOS AND COURAGE
by Byron Osieck

An amateurish fluke, perhaps. It was, as far as anyone cares to admit, just a single man with a gun. No terrorist organisation has claimed responsibility. But the actions of the late Roman Nemeth, 27, will reverberate around the country.

So many questions need to be asked. Why did he do it? Where did he get that gun? Was he truly acting alone? When will we know the full story? Who stood to gain from this? How was security so lax?

What would've happened had he shot just a little lower?

The Margravine's death would have wreaked political chaos in Nephara, across Esportiva and, in Rushmore, our increasingly close Euran allies. For better or worse, the Margravine has tended to act first and check the Constitution later, backing her personality to ensure that her occasionally overzealous use of authority don't come back to bite her.

It's fair to say that Nephara's political enemies, against whom the current government has taken a strong stance, would benefit from this. Sameba, most obviously, but Nephara has been marked down on South Covello's irrelevant Enemy List a number of times. It would also be reckless to dismiss the possibilities of internal insurgency. The far-right has been robbed of any of their relevance by Mitroglou's hawkish stance, while the fringe of Crownsend secessionists and anti-Corvistone Solution protesters can probably be discounted but any links must be investigated. It may even prove to have just been a man acting alone.

It is equally symbolic, of course, that the Margravine clawed her way back up to her feet, managed to brush away her bodyguards and continued delivering her speech, and even if she only went about nine seconds before slumping over and being dragged to safety by her aides, it was a powerful and resonating soundbite.

There is no doubt that Mitroglou, who has a remarkable eye for theatre, was thinking the same thing. She is a calculated politician, despite her claims to be an everyman, but people from a wide variety of political backgrounds and beliefs agreed that the woman who restored the Nationals to a place on the political spectrum was the right one to take Nephara into this new era. Victory against the disorganised Progressive Democrats in the next election is already a foregone conclusion, over a year out from election day.

#Nepharassassin trended for days - but #StandStrongAlexa eclipsed it within a matter of hours. More pithy, #HeMissed became a meme. It might be callous to call this a win for Nephara, but our head of state, who plans to make her return to public viewing within a day or two, will clearly be seeing it as one.

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

SUNRISIAN FOOTBALL
Summers Bill

During the aftermath of the fair loss to the San Jose Guayabalian squad, USIFC president Jean Mulhouse has finally fully explained the "Summers' Rule". Named after the Summers Company's leader Dan, who has officially agreed with paying for the expenses of the bill every season, it consists of financial aid for any Sunrisian team willing to field Sunrisian players as their starters. Normal human players are worth a total of I$ 1.000 for season while any other sort of player is worth I$ 3.000. The aid is given at the start of the season, before the Sunrisian Championship begins. The bill has not been deemed a success for Sunrisian football, however, according to managers, owners and critics alike. "Most nations would enforce a foreigner cap. Meanwhile, here's the Sunrise Islands who just think it's easier to give money for natives." said Alice Madness' manager Honey Steele. "I'm fine with it, although I wonder if such an aid is financially stable." The Nepharim's point of view is shared by several others, such as Josephine Chevalier, manager of the Arrendine Remparts. "I admit we tend to pick some really odd people but the financial aid surely would help us pick players more conscientiously." The Aurora Sylveons manager Gil Lima, remarkable for earning the Manager of the Season award last time around did remark favorably on a native line-up. "As much as teams like the Senators and the Rangers think their squads are great as is, the time they come to play against more deeply Sunrisian squads like the Sylveons or the Sollupgäng team, they struggle." The Matthew City trio held different opinions about the league choice, as an example. "I think it's restrictive." Lynette Bourbon of the Rangers noted. "Even if there's no real limit on the foreign players we play at the main squad, the heads of all teams will wish we go for the most aid we can possibly get." Meanwhile, Yuri Sasaki smiled at the thought of a 'challenge', "It's like Chun-nese Chess." He noted. "While some of my pieces will always be up for the task, like Chromatika's Thorben, 95X's Foureleven, Nephara's Montreal and the Salvati, Dagger and Berretti trio, I think I can work a way around the others. It's like getting a new set of chess pieces you always had but now can fully use really." Things weren't so hot with the Mets, however. "The federation is gutting our team." said manager Bruno Salvatore. "The Mets reached the top using some of the finest foreigners we could find and I'm not shying away from any sort of reliance on some of the fine names we obtained all over these years. They can eat a massive one if they are really forcing us- Wait, it's not forcing us to have a cap? ... Still, I'm not going to shy away in the slightest, bonus aid be damned."

Probably the most pleased group of people come from the youth leagues. "I love it, Maggle!" said Major League Youth Soccer commentator Ian Hawk. "...Wait, you're not Maggle, right? Well, either way, I'm loving it! Time for the great MLYS talent spin the wheels, shoot all cylinders, rock the world like it's 1960 baby! ... What, did those furry ass bastards complain about the War on the Fur against Thunchester again? Sh'ssake." "Weeeeeell." said the leader of the St. Clementine Nekojin Orphanage, Huckleberry Husk. "I'd be very glad, oh so glad, if we could make some of our dear Nekojins interested in a football career find their one true team as weeeeell! That's faaaaantastic!" Project +90 heads also had something to talk about it. "Albeit I can't speak for my own team, seeing as I'm coaching mostly Eurans." Mateus Carvalho, former National Team player and currently managing the +90 Eura side. "I think it's a perfect opportunity for our Sunrisian branches to fully show their talents. I hope to see more +90 alumni joining the Sunrisian teams. Also cheers on you folk for not telling a damn about how I'm still alive at this place, for crying out loud."

The Matthew Rangers have been the first team to find a way to work it out, starting a relation with the Kirayuki Rangers from the SUN.League. The Miyuzukijin team, named after the Rangers during their days of Christie Travis and company, was already working something out before the season came, but the negotiations were finally set as the bill's terms were finally explained. "We shall loan out some of our more superfluous talent or just the ones that need proper conditioning." said team owner Cassidy Jones. "Plus, and I can't stress this enough, they were literally named after ourselves. Why would we not help?". The Sunrisian Championship promises to have a pretty exciting season on its' way, it seems.

[Abanhfleft]

Lex Talionis, Part Twenty-eight

Highgate Park
Barangay General Trias
Riuwiee, Abanhfleft

Everyone has their secrets, and Attila of the Huns Motorcycle Club was no exception to that rule. But it didn’t use to be that way. For most of his life, he thought he had no secrets which he needed to keep, but following new developments in the war between the Huesca Cartel and the Crows, he found that he had another secret which he now needed to keep or else his life could very well be on the line. The secret which Attila now needed to keep was that he had sired a daughter during his teenage years, and that daughter of his had now become a member of the Huns’ hated rivals, the Corsairs.

It had come about when Attila was eighteen, when he was still known as Danny Linkletter. It had happened as these things always happened, between teenagers high on hormones and drugs and drunk on lots and lots of beer. Danny’s girlfriend, a thin and frail seventeen-year-old named Jessica Pantaleon, had told him that she was pregnant three months after the fact. The pregnancy had been fraught and filled with complications, mostly due to Jessica’s fragile health. Eventually, Jessica gave birth to a healthy seven-pound baby girl, but despite intensive treatment, Jessica Pantaleon passed away twenty hours after childbirth, leaving Danny a single teenage father.

Danny Linkletter hadn’t been ready for that kind of responsibility at that point in his life, which was how he decided to give his daughter up for adoption. Danny’s mother had offered to raise the child as if it was her own, but Danny had refused, saying that he didn’t want to be more of a burden to his parents than he already was at the moment. So Danny had gone to one of the government-mandated orphanages which had been established to counter the growing number of abortions and baby abandonings in the country, which had been very rampant in those days. Before he turned over his daughter to the social workers, Danny had decided to name her Jessica after her mother, and he asked the social workers if they could convince whoever would want to adopt his daughter to keep her name.

Giving up his own daughter, his flesh and blood, to the hands of strangers had served as a wake-up call for Danny Linkletter and convinced him that it was time that he took the responsibility for his actions and be responsible for his own life in general. After two years of working odd jobs, Danny joined the Huns Motorcycle Club and eventually became the ruthless and tough-as-nails Attila that everyone in the MC and the Riuwiee underworld knew and feared. Yet there was still always a soft spot in Attila specially reserved for his daughter and the daughter of his lost love, but that was a side of him which no one ever saw, not even his closest friends in the club.

When he had finally been patched into the Huns, Attila had gone back to the orphanage where he had left his daughter and asked about her status. He was told that a local family had adopted his child and, true to his wishes, had kept the name Jessica for her. Attila had been given the home address of Jessica’s adoptive family, and he quickly and immediately paid them a surreptitious visit.

Jessica Mariano, or Jessi as her adoptive parents apparently called her, looked to be growing in a loving and well-off household, and for Attila, that was much, much more than he could ever hope to offer to her and so he was glad that his daughter had ended up in such a good home. After that one visit, Attila had decided that there was no longer any need for him to keep watching over Jessi as he knew that she would grow up in a good environment, being raised by good adoptive parents.

The possibility that there was darker reason why the Marianos were able to live so well never really came up until four years ago, when Attila saw on the news that Alfredo and Susanna Mariano had been killed in a drive-by shooting by a biker gang claimed to be the Huns, leaving behind their twelve-year-old daughter Jessi. Attila knew that the Huns couldn’t possibly be behind the shooting as there was no reason that he knew of for the gang to kill the Marianos, and if the Huns were indeed behind the shooting then he would have known about it since such hits would have to be voted on by the high-ranking members of the club, of which Attila had become one at that point.

Further investigations from both the authorities and Attila’s own sources eventually uncovered that Alfredo Mariano had been one of Conam’s many and numerous bookkeepers, in charge of taking care of the gang’s financials and making sure that every penny was where it should be. Alfredo Mariano had received large and generous fees for his service to Conam which was what enabled him and his family to live as well as they did, and Attila knew that taking out any gang’s bookkeeper was a good way of throwing the organization into chaos as they worked to replace him with an equally trustworthy bookie. Yet there was still no good reason for the Huns to kill the Marianos. Everyone from the Doctor to the Witch to everyone else below them claimed ignorance of the hit, and Attila knew that there was no reason for them to hide things from him, so it must be someone else masquerading as the Huns who were responsible for killing the Marianos.

Attila decided then that it was now time for him to reveal himself to his daughter. He hadn’t been expecting to do this until long after he’d retired from riding with the Huns, but the schedule had just been accelerated for him, and though he didn’t know how much of her adoptive parents’ criminal activities Jessi knew, he was hoping that she would adapt quick to a life on the road as a Hun child. But when he got to the Marianos’ house, he found that he had been beaten to the punch by none other than Jose Sorondo, leader of the Corsairs, himself. Apparently, Sorondo had already been close to Jessi even before the shooting, but now Sorondo was offering Jessi the chance to go with him and become his adopted daughter. Judging from the conversation that they had, Jessi firmly believed that she was the biological daughter of the Marianos, and Sorondo didn’t say anything to dissuade her of that opinion.

Attila wanted so bad to go charging into that house and shoot Sorondo in the head for daring to get so close to his daughter, but he held himself back and seethed quietly as Jessi got on the back of Sorondo’s garish and heavily modified bike and started on the path of becoming a part of the Huns’ enemies. Attila would have loved to follow them but a call from the Doctor for a meeting between the top Huns forced him to turn away and leave them for later. After that, Attila was now firmly convinced that the Corsairs were the ones behind the attack on the Marianos even though he had no real proof aside from the fact that Sorondo had been so quick to offer a father figure to Jessi, but that was the only explanation which made sense to his mind then and now.

But how could the Corsairs have known that Jessi was Attila’s daughter? Attila racked his brain, trying to remember if ever he had ever somehow mentioned having a child in passing to any of the former Huns who went off with Sorondo to form the Corsairs. Sure as hell he didn’t mention it to Sorondo himself, whom Attila had never trusted even when the future leader of the Corsairs was still just a hang-around with the Huns. Attila didn’t say anything about a daughter to Francisco Riviero or Orlando Kinse or Patrick Velez or any of the other traitors to the club. For that matter, Attila didn’t say anything about his child to the Doctor or the Witch or the other Huns. So was Jessi just a target of opportunity for Sorondo without any sort of underlying conspiracy to lead her away from the guidance and protection of her true biological father? Attila was never really sure.

When he had the time, Attila began following Jessi around as she adapted to life with Sorondo and the Corsairs. He watched from the shadows as Sorondo invited Jessi to join the youth academy of FC United of Riuwiee, Amelia Pena’s personally-funded football team. It turned out that Jessi was a decent enough goalkeeper for the seventh tier of Fleftic football, although she was so below the pecking order due to the seniority and experience of the other keepers ahead of her. And when she wasn’t practicing with the Blue Warriors, Jessi was spending time in Corsair shops, helping them trick out their rides in ways which Attila found deplorable as a dedicated Hun.

The only hope that Attila had for Jessi now was that she wouldn’t become part of the war between the Huns and the Corsairs in the near future because the Corsairs, for all their numerous faults, didn’t recruit anyone who was underage. Attila had been counting on Jessi’s youth to keep her out of the war but something had happened which had pushed Sorondo into letting Jessi join the Sea Monsters and become part of the war. The Sea Monsters, like the other gangs which the Corsairs had absorbed during their year of aggressive expansion, were the Wannabes’ puppets as much as the Wannabes themselves were puppets of the Crows, fighting the war against the Huesca Cartel for their Anglatian buddies and masters. And, in that sense, the Huns had also become the puppets of the Huescas, although everyone in the club would be quick to refuse such a description. Of course, the truth was almost always bitter…

Now that Jessi was with the Sea Monsters and will definitely be looking to get involved in the war, Attila knew that he would be faced with an impossible choice if ever the Huns went against the Seaweeds and he found his own daughter among the enemy: either he would have to get rid of her, or he would have to make some shit about capturing her and putting some leverage and pressure on Sorondo and force him to some kind of negotiation in exchange for his adopted daughter.

Today, Attila was watching United of Riuwiee’s training ground just beside their home ground of Highgate Park in his black Crown Victoria. Jessi Mariano may be a patched member of the Sea Monsters now but she was still also contracted to United of Riuwiee so she was still participating in their training sessions. Attila had taken to watching his daughter from a distance like a stalker as he now knew that there was no way that she would accept him for who he was, not now that she had been thoroughly taken in by Sorondo’s philosophy and ideology. There was still possibly a chance that he could reveal the whole truth to her, but it wouldn’t be now, or tomorrow, or the near future or even the far future. The very far future also seemed a remote possibility for a reconciliation between them. All he could for right now was that she didn’t get killed for stupidly wanting into this war.

Practice for the players finally wrapped up, and the players began making their way out of the training ground and towards their cars or the street where they would catch trams or taxis which would take them back to their homes. Jessi was one of the last to step out, and she appeared to be talking to one of United’s new signings, that young girl Britt Hanks from the Fhulghamous. Britt said goodbye to Jessi and caught up with one of the older players and walked away from the ground. God, she looks so much like her mother, Attila thought as he got a good look at Jessi in the afternoon light. Jessi had her mother’s thin black hair, long neck, and willowy body, although she didn’t look as frail or sickly as Jessica had been when she was Jessi’s age. But Jessi’s light blue eyes and narrow face, that was all from Attila. It had been such a unique and blessed coincidence that Alfredo and Susanna Mariano looked very much like the adult versions of Danny Linkletter and Jessica Pantaleon that there was no doubt in Jessi’s mind that they were her real parents, not knowing that her real mother had died giving birth to her and her father was a member of the biker gang which she and her new adoptive father loathed and sitting just a few feet away from her, watching from the shadows.

There were two photographs which Attila always kept close to him. One was a picture of him when he was still the young and naïve Danny Linkletter standing beside a very much pregnant Jessica Pantaleon, and the other was an ultrasound picture of baby Jessi still in the womb. Attila kept these two pictures very close to his heart, literally; there was a secret pocket in his leather jacket right above his heart where he kept those two pictures. Right now, as he looked at the now teenaged Jessi, Attila felt the urge to reach into his jacket and take out the ultrasound picture which depicted the tiny and fragile fetus which would one day grow up to become the young lady standing just across the street from him, the young lady who didn’t know yet that her real father was now her worst enemy.

Attila looked up and saw a black convertible lowrider parking on the street right in front of Jessi. He recognized the short black hair of Jose Sorondo immediately. Jessi hopped into the passenger seat of the lowrider, which immediately peeled away in a cloud of smoke. Attila started the engine of his car and was about to follow the lowrider when his phone chirped to tell him that he had a text message. It was from Countess. WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU ATTILA? HANDS WANT PARLEY, DOCTOR SAYS IT’S ALL IN. Attila grunted in disappointment, set his phone aside, put the ultrasound picture back into his secret pocket, and turned his Crown Vic in the opposite direction that the lowrider was traveling.

When Attila arrived at his house, Countess and Kid were already there, waiting for him on their bikes. As Attila parked his car in the garage and took out his own motorcycle, Countess looked up at him and asked, “Where the hell have you been, Attila? We’ll be late for the parley with the Hands if we don’t get a move on now.”

“Just taking care of some personal business which is none of yours,” Attila replied as he put on his cuts over his jacket and straddled his bike. “Did you just say that the Hands want to parley? I didn’t expect them to take this long. Anyway, let’s not miss this one, shall we?” he asked as he put on his helmet and turned on his bike, and the Sapang Bato chapter rode to meet with the Hand of Riuwiee.

The Hand of Riuwiee was one of the older and more distinguished gangs in the capital city of Abanhfleft but despite its age and reputation among the city’s underworld, the Hands had never been the strongest or biggest gang to ever come out of the capital. The Hand had its origins in a paramilitary organization formed by the more formidable citizens of the inner city to protect their families and homes from all the gangs and criminals which called the rest of Riuwiee home. The group had started with noble intentions but pretty soon fell by the wayside as their deals with the gangs to leave their territory alone led them to the same criminal activities which they had once loathed, and soon it had become the only way which they could maintain their hold in the inner city and the historical center.

One thing which differentiated the Hands from the rest of Riuwiee’s gangs was that they weren’t at all interested in expanding their territory. The inner city and the historical center was theirs, and that was all that mattered. And, in the end, it had also proven to be its downfall. The Hands weren’t a gang in the sense that Conam and Fleftic Power and others of that ilk were, and because they had laughably small manpower with which to defend their turf, they were powerless to stop the Corsairs from defeating and conquering them during the latter’s period of aggressive expansion which had put them on the map of the rest of the underworld.

But unlike other gangs which would have run the Hands to the ground, the Corsairs had proven to be merciful conquerors and allowed the Hand of Riuwiee to live on but under only one condition: the Hands were to become an affiliate of the Corsairs. They would still retain their unique identity as the protectors of inner Riuwiee and Riuwiee’s historical center, but whenever the Corsairs told the Hands to do something, they were expected to do it cheerfully and willingly and without asking questions.

This wasn’t to say that the Hands liked this arrangement; in fact, they hated it, and they hated it even more when they found out that the Corsairs were actually receiving outside help from the Crows, some kind of religiously motivated gang from Anglatia which was now embroiled in a war against the Huesca Cartel. Like all other gangs which sprung to life in the Capital Islands of Abanhfleft, the Hand of Riuwiee had a special revulsion for foreigners interfering in the affairs of Fleftics, and so falling under the control of the only gang in the city which was willing to accept outside help and therefore lacked proper Fleftic pride in themselves and their ability to stand against overwhelming odds had really rankled the leadership of the Hands. When the Hands’ leaders had learned that Conam had rejected offers from the Corsairs to join their side due to the aforementioned aversion to foreign help, they had come to the conclusion that the time was ripe for them to rediscover their own Fleftic pride.

As part of the surrender terms between the Corsairs and the Hands, the Hand of Riuwiee had been converted from just a simple and regular gang into a biker gang like the Corsairs, and therefore they had been forced to ride around in the heavily customized and modified bikes of which the Corsairs were so fond. Little if any of the Hands knew how to ride motorcycles, yet another point against the Corsairs. When war had finally broken out between the Corsairs and their rivals the Huns, the Hands had been ordered to hold the inner city and the historical center at all costs against the Huns and the Huescas but, if everything went to plan, there would be no blood that would be shed between both parties as territory was turned over without a fight.

The Hands’ leadership had requested a meeting between them and the Huns through the appropriate mediums and sources. Now, as night fell over the nation’s capital city, the leaders of the Hand of Riuwiee waited for the bikers in a closed and empty parking lot beside the Chief’s Watchtower, one of the most popular landmarks in the city. The Chief’s Watchtower was, as its name suggested, a watchtower made out of wood and stone, erected under the orders of Chief Volga Volta, who would eventually become the first president of an independent and united Abanhfleft. The Hands had arrived in the parking lot mostly in cars, although some of them did arrive in the flashy and blinged-out bikes which the Corsairs had so kindly provided to them. Brock Balaquid, the one whom the Hands had selected to lead them tonight, was straddling one such bike, although he had an unspoken desire to get away from that bike as soon as possible.

The sound of motorcycle engines attracted the attention of the waiting Hands and Balaquid looked up as dozens upon dozens of motorcycles, mostly Harley-Davidsons, arrived en masse at the parking lot. The bikes circled the waiting Hands before taking up positions in front of the inner city gang’s leaders. Other bikes formed a protective ring around the meeting place in case of trouble from either the outside or the inside.

Three bikes rode up to where Balaquid was waiting. The Doctor was at the head of the trio, his international president cuts clashing and incongruous against his neatly pressed blue suit. At his side were the stern-faced Attila, clad all in black, and the Witch, whose red leather coat was like a shining beacon in the moonlit parking lot. Balaquid got off his bike and met the Huns halfway. “You called this parley, Brock,” the Doctor said. “So, what have you to say to us? Or are you just wasting our valuable time making up stand around in this cold and empty lot? Or are you setting us up for an ambush by the Wannabes?”

“The Corsairs don’t know that we’re meeting you here, Doctor, I’ll tell you that much,” Balaquid said quickly and defensively. “We’re here to negotiate a truce.”

“A truce?” the Witch snorted. “I though Corsairs never back away from a good fight.”

“That’s the point,” Balaquid said. “We’re not really Corsairs, much as they try to make us be like them. We’re the Hand of Riuwiee. We were established to protect the inner city and the historical districts, and that’s what we’re going to do tonight.”

“And how exactly do you hope to do that, my man?” Attila asked.

“We’re surrendering,” Balaquid replied matter-of-factly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. “We’re giving up. We quit. We want no more part of this war.”

The Witch walked closer to Balaquid until they were nearly nose-to-nose. “Did you really think giving up in this war was going to be that easy, Brock?” she asked him. “You just can’t walk up to us and say ‘we quit.’ You have to do something more substantial and more lasting than that. Besides, what will your Wannabe friends think now that you’re backing out?”

“Like I told you, Witch, the Corsairs don’t know that we’re meeting you,” Balaquid said. “And I’m telling you, we want out of this war. We know how this is going to end. It’s going to be like the end of the Catholic Revolution all over again. Everyone’s going to be fighting over every scrap of territory until there’s nothing left but ruins. We don’t want that to happen here, where the majority of our country’s cultural treasures are located. The Corsairs don’t care for that because they’ve been influenced by their Anglatian friends and suppliers, but we do. We were established to protect the treasures of the country, and that’s what we’re going to do. The Corsairs don’t have pride for themselves and their own country, or else they wouldn’t have accepted the Crows as easily as they did.”

“We’re hearing what we want to hear right now from you, man,” Attila said. “But, like Witch said, we need something more substantial and lasting than just your words. We need proof that you’re really giving up the Wannabes and returning to the fold. How do you hope to do that?”

“We knew you were going to ask that, so we came prepared. Ronnie, the flag.” One of the other Hands walked up to Balaquid and handed him a roll of purple cloth. Balaquid unrolled the cloth to reveal that it was the flag of the Corsairs, a laughing skull engulfed by red flames on a purple field. “They gave it to us after they conquered us as a sign that they owned us,” Balaquid explained to the Huns. “Now I’m going to show you all just exactly what I think about that.” Balaquid then threw down the flag onto the ground and began stepping and stomping on it with venom and ferocity. Balaquid then took out a bottle filled with gasoline and poured the contents on the flag, and then he struck a match and threw it on the Corsair flag, which immediately ignited and went up in flames. “I would have pissed on it as well but I didn’t want to shock the ladies,” Balaquid added.

“So you burned one of the Wannabes’ flags,” the Doctor said. “Big deal. But how do we really know that you’re really going back to the fold and not just paying us all lip service?”

“I’ll bring you all back to our turf, if you want,” Balaquid offered. “You can help us kick out the Corsairs and those of us who are sympathetic to them. You said you wanted proof we’re really legit wanting back into your good books. Well, here it is.”

“You better make sure that you want to kick out the Corsairs, Brock,” the Witch said in a low and threatening voice. “Or else the Hand of Riuwiee will be wiped off the map faster than you can say stop.”

“I’m telling you, we want them out of our lives,” Balaquid continued. “It’s not worth it, dying for these Corsair scum. If we wanted to die for something, we’d rather die for ourselves.”

This time it was Attila’s turn to lean close to the leader of the Hands. “I really hope in your case that you’re not lying, man,” he said. “You already know what we’re capable of doing when pushed. And you know what the Huescas did to that Crow just a few days ago. If you don’t want to get torn apart by a bunch of bikes or get nailed on a cross, you better really want to kick the Wannabes out of your turf.”

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
DBC 39: Savojarna right before Octofinals

Valanora - Savojarna's youth has surprised us all with a display of camaraderie and effort that we could expect from this glorious nation, but we did not expect the success we had with it. Grouped together with the footballing powerhouses of San Jose Guayabal and the Unified Sunrise Islands, little was to be expected. But the Savojars had proved us wrong on the first day, when an increrdible display of solidarity in defense, of stamina and intelligence in midfield and effort in attack brought us to a 0-0 against big favourites San Jose Guayabal. From the beginning, the Guayabalense were aggressive and gave us a few problems, but the brilliant goalkeeper Mikael Gustafsson, playing in the SFS for ASK Landsmark as replacement keeper, defused most of their attempts. The biggest threat to Savojarna in the first half was when Kevin Santos suddenly got past the Savojar defense and received a pass by Ochoa, not off-side by a few centimetres. The Guayabalense striker aimed for the bottom left corner, but Gustafsson surprised him with a great reflex, deflecting the ball with his foot. The following corner saw Salomón and Rybashev jump to the ball and fall, the referee blowing the whistle. Shock went through Savojarna's team, but in fact, Salomón had accidentally hit Rybashev in the process and it was a free kick for our team. Our biggest chance came just before the whistle, when a free kick from the left side by Perkka was headed at the goal by Joni Virtanen. Costa, caught on the wrong foot, was chanceless, but the ball went past the goal by a few centimetres.

Past the break, Savojarna came to more chances on the counter. One of those was likely the biggest chance of the whole match. After San Jose Guayabal lost the ball on the attack, Jotansson played a wonderful pass to the wing, where Debreshenko was suddenly free to go. He moved towards the center and drew Costa from the net, passing over to a completely open Virtanen in front of an empty goal. However, the pass was a bit too fast and Virtanen had to slide in, missing the ball mostly and only deflecting it slightly. The ball then went over the goal line completely harmlessly, and the great opportunity was wasted. The most beautiful scene of the game was probably San Jose Guayabal's almost-goal in the 73rd minute. The central midfield of the Guayabalense got past Jotansson with a nice one-two and gave it over to Ochoa, who stunned Arjonsson with his dribble. He crossed the ball in to Palacios, who had gotten away from Rydman, but his volley shot flew just over the crossbar. There was no chance whatsoever for Gustafsson, who was way too late on the cross and didn't expect a direct shot to the top corner. Savojarna had to fight throughout the match, but managed to hold on to the draw. The match cost them not only a lot of energy, but also a total of three yellow cards, one of them to the crucial defender, Denis Rybashev. The referee was harsh, but fair, and Rybashev acknowledged that his tackle had been too hard and too late, but nevertheless insisted it was necessary to avoid a one-on-one between Santos and Gustafsson.

Savojarna 0-0 San Jose Guayabal (0-0)

SAVOJARNA: Gustafsson - Mikhailov, Rybashev (71. Rydmark), Jacobsson, Arjonsson - Ljungberg (63. Antonsson), Jotansson - Perkka, Tande, Debreshenko - Virtanen (75. Eythorsson)
SAN JOSE GUAYABAL: Costa - Gonzáles, Navas, Coronel, Maroto (78. Acosta) - Ochoa, Chávez, Ospina (63. Elizondo), Salomón - Palacios (82. Gutiérrez), Santos
GOALS: -
YELLOW CARDS: 34' Ljungberg, 53' Rybashev, 66' Coronel, 72' Arjonsson (all foul)

Three days later, the team faced off against Dylecte, a dark horse that did not even submit a roster and therefore, we unfortunately did not know anything about the Dylectians except that they could not be too bad, given that the Unified Sunrise Islands only managed a single goal against them. And they more than lived up to the expectations of Savojarna, opening with a tough defense. The Savojars, more used to building the game from a solid defense than with crafting up plays to get through one, struggled with this situation. First, they took a stab at creativity, which failed rather poorly. The only real chance in the first half was a nice dribbling by Tande against Dylecte's defensive midfield, a magistral pass between their centre-backs and a shot by Virtanen. But the sole striker remained unlucky, when the Dylectian goalkeeper dived just in time to push the ball around the post. Ljungberg managed to win the following header duel, but again the keeper of Dylecte was fast to save the midfielder's attempt and catch the ball safely. The half was almost over when Debreshenko tried to move towards the center and was harshly stopped by the Dylectian number 6. The Savojar winger was taken off the pitch quickly, but returned after half time and will be able to play fully against the United Sunrise Islands. Following the foul, for which the referee gave a yellow, there was a free kick for Savojarna about 35 metres from the goal. With Valtteri Perkka and Krister Jotansson lined up, the Dylectians seemed to expect a cross and only put two men in the wall, something Perkka wanted to take advantage of and shot directly. His shot turned nicely to the goal, but ended up hitting the crossbar.

After the break, Savojarna seemed to have learned that combinations were not going to get them through this tight defense. Coach Jotanen changed the formation by taking Ljungberg off the pitch and adding a second striker in Eythorsson, leading to a 4-4-2 in a diamond shape. This became a 4-1-3-2 as the wingers got more and more attacking throughout the game, and eventually that seemed to prove successful. Eythorsson and Virtanen both got a header off, both of them narrowly missing either over the bar or against a strong goalie. Another good chance came when the returned Debreshenko fooled everyone by not crossing, but laying back to Tande who shot completely open from 25 metres. The ball was deflected by a defender and caught the keeper off-guard, but also missed the net. In the following corner kick, there was an altercation between the substituted Barnerud and a defender, and after the referee separated them and the corner was finally taken, Barnerud was pushed over by a Dylectian. The logical consequence was a penalty, safely scored by Virtanen. Following this goal, Jotanen decided to hold the result and substituted the scorer for defensive midfielder Viktor Antonsson. The Savojar played a very defensive game, hardly conceding any chances but also not getting more than one more, which Eythorsson shot over the bar. After 90 minutes, it was 1-0 for the Savojar, meaning that they now share the top of the group with the team from San Jose Guayabal, who beat the United Sunrise Islands with 0-1 as well.

This means that in the last game, the Savojar have to either win or draw against the United Sunrise Islands in order to proceed over them and the Dylectians. Dylecte, who has no more chance to proceed, could also give Savojarna the qualification by beating San Jose Guayabal. Should this upset happen, Savojarna qualifies for the Round of 16 if they lose to the United Sunrise Islands with at least one goal less difference than San Jose Guayabal loses to Dylecte. Of course, they'd also qualify (and win the group) in such a case if they score points against the USI. Coach Jotanen stated that he had preferred to see a USI victory, as such a result had placed Savojarna relatively safe in second place (depending on the results of the last round), but that his team was not scared of taking on anyway, as no Savojar should ever be. Whatever the result against the USI, this Savojar team stood up bravely against some of the best of the world, and they shall be proud of themselves. If they lose against the Sunrise Islands, they will have missed out only narrowly and are a prodigy for the future. If they score and manage to move on, they will be the first Savojar sports team ever to qualify for an international tournament's KO stage, after failed attempts in handball and men's football in the Copa Rushmori as well as the Rugby Sevens team in Neu Engollon.

Savojarna 1-0 Dylecte(0-0)

SAVOJARNA: Gustafsson - Mikhailov, Rybashev, Jacobsson, Arjonsson - Ljungberg (45' Eythorsson), Jotansson (68' Barnerud) - Perkka, Tande, Debreshenko - Virtanen (81' Antonsson)
DYLECTE: submitted no roster
GOALS: 80' Virtanen (Penalty shot)
YELLOW CARDS: 14' Jacobsson, 36' Dylecte #4, 42' Mikhailov, 45' Dylecte #6, 63' Jotansson, 84' Antonsson (all foul)
REMARKS: 45' +2 Perkka hits crossbar

[Chromatika]

"R-e-d. Red," stated Lightning, clustered around a book with Kéìrâ, learning how to read.

"Good, Lightning, good. You're almost getting there," replied her teacher.

"Damn, this is harder than learning football formations, K.A. It ain't much fun, either," complained the student. They were doing this after every game, after every practice. As Lightning was a sharp individual, she was making considerable progress.

"Still, you've got to learn to read now that you have opportunities out there. You've made so much progress, too," encouraged Andísorí.

"Oh, don't get me wrong. I'm gonna conquer this like I've conquered our formations. Scoring that goal against Nephara felt good. You sure they're one of the best out there?" inquired Lightning. The game against Nephara had been a tough one, but with Kéìrâ scoring a brace and Lightning the game winner, the U-21 team was on top of their group.

"Hell yeah, Lightning. We've met them twice in the last two World Cup Proper Group Stages. One of the best out there. I mean, I play for a team there, now," explained the heart and soul of the team. They all knew that without the force that was Andísorí, the team would be far worse off.

"Oh, I know you're a bigshot, K.A. Everyone knows that. You and your superstar cougar girlfriend. You know, she should get more recognition. Maybe later, eh?" teased Lightning. raised in the streets, she wasn't above pulling some interesting remarks and punches. It made Andísorí, or K.A., blush. Lightning chuckled at that.

"Now, you just tease. She's just five years older than me. She's not the type to care about stardom as much. Rather just do her job out there," she recovered, stammering a little. Lightning laughed at how peeved K.A. was, but it was all fun and games between the two.

"Whatever you say, as long as she treats you right. Now, let's see this word. G-r-e-e-n. Green. P-u-r-p-l-e. Purple," Lightning stated, slowly. The look of focus on the tattooed face was rather intense, but also determined.

"There you go. You'll get this in no time," encouraged her teacher.

"And you keep scoring goals, I keep peppering some in, and we'll see how far we can go this Di Bradini Cup, eh?" laughed Lightning. And they went back to Lightning learning how to read.

[The Redvale]

Edge of Nowhere

Chapter Three

The days went by quickly and then turned into weeks, and the Midland Bluesox kicked off their season in good form. They had a sort of rocky start with a few draws in their first ten games, but after twelve matches, they were in second place in the league behind a red hot FC Maris B. They were also considered to be in pole position to take the title later in the season, because the experts saw the depth in the Midland team that FC Maris just didn’t have after several early senior promotions weakened their academy system. But through the first matches, Midland had only faced one real test, which came when they dispatched the Outer Avgaria Caps by a scoreline of 2-0 after a scoreless halftime. There was a certain restlessness among the fanbase; a feeling that they needed a statement win to prove their credentials and show everyone that they were for real, not fakers who were simply having a hot early season.

That big game was the one against Sporting B, in week thirteen. It was a game that might not be the top one of the week on paper, but the fact that Park Sang Chul was playing his first game back in Avgaria made it a big deal. The smaller stadium that the B team played in, Mill Road Arena, was packed out and filled to it’s 9,000 seat capacity for the match, and because the match was on a Friday night when the senior team wasn’t playing, a number of ultras from Sporting’s Curva Sud were set up behind the southern goal, making noise and lighting flares and generally sending the atmosphere to a level that was rarely seen in youth football. There were, of course, a hundred or so travelers from Midland that were doing the same, and the chanting back and forth between the two sets of fans was something that many of the younger players hadn’t experienced before. But tonight, they would see what playing in a big match was truly like. The atmosphere certainly made it seem like one, even if Midland couldn’t take the league lead even with a win.

The fans were already standing and singing at the time that the Bluesox came out for warmups. Their stars were out first. Park Sang Chul, Vic Tanner, Renato Moleiro, and the ever versatile Mylo Dietrich, along with Nina Herrera. Dietrich had started out as a defensive midfielder but learned to play every position in the midfield and up front, and played the libero role that Fabien Endrizzi liked to employ in the heart of his formations. “Damn, they’re in full voice already,” muttered Park, jogging next to Vic and Renato as they got loose for the match.

“Ole, Sporting!” shouted a leader in the front of the stand, and the entire stand shouted back. It was clear that this wasn’t going to be an easy environment to walk into and win at. “Ale ale, ale ale! Ale ale, ole, ole! Vamos Sporting! Avanti Sporting! Ole ole ole! Vamos Sporting, vamos Sporting, ole ole ole!” continued the fans, and there were already flares raining down onto the area behind goal as the fans decided to kick off the smoke show early. Park stopped and watched, amused. It was interesting that last season, they were singing for him. Now, his team was in town and they were bringing their best atmosphere to try to pull off an upset win against him and his new teammates.

“You ready, kid?” asked Renato, standing next to Park and watching the crowd also. “They’re going to try extra hard to get under your skin, you know. It’s important to start quick. Keep em from having the ball consistently for the first fifteen minutes of the match and they’ll quiet down real quick. But if their boys get the first goal? We aren’t going to hear them shut up all match. You do us all a favor and get the first goal, okay?”

“I’ll try. If the defense crashes towards me as much as the last defenses we face did, I’m going to pass to Vic every time and take the openings they give. Of course, if they put me one on one with a center back, I’m going to do what I do best and make the first move to attack him,” Park replied. “If he backpedals once, I’m taking advantage and blowing by him. That’s a guarantee.”

Renato chuckled as Park’s confidence, and turned his sights to the Sporting warmups. “Let’s just say I’m glad you’re doing it for us now and not them. You know, we’re all trusting you to be the one to win this match. I think you could even say there’s going to be a reward if you do indeed become the one to win it for us. I’m not going to say much more than that. Just think of it as an extra motivation. Now, we better get back to stretching instead of standing and watching. Don’t want to blow the match because of muscle tightness, after all.”

=====

“At forward for the Midland Bluesox… Number nine. Vic Tanner,” said the stadium announcer, as the players were lined up after the playing of the Redvali anthem. The lineups were being announced, but the announcer could barely be heard through the crowd noise. Park was at the end of the lineup, as the center forward, and he didn’t even open his eyes for the lineup announcement. He was strangely calm, doing a bit of meditation during the calm before the storm. While his teammates were shifting around and pumping themselves up mentally, he was as still as a statue. “At forward for Sporting Avgaria, number seven, Sebastian Berrios!”

The crowd roared when the announcer said the name of Park’s rival, the boy who wasn’t as skilled as him but that had taken the starting role last season for being more ‘dedicated’. That assessment made his blood boil. It made him want to go out there and put on a much better performance to humiliate his rival and the staff that had benched him after lying to him about not minding if he played basketball. Finally, Park opened his eyes. There was a new fire there, a new determination. He looked like he was ready to murder someone, but since that wasn’t an option, he would have to settle for absolutely humiliating the other team on the pitch. “At forward for the Midland Bluesox, number twenty one, Park Sang Chul.”

The crowd roared again, but this time it was in disgust instead of cheer. There were plenty of whistles and boos, and Park simply broke away from the line and started walking to center pitch, waving his arms to tell the crowd to jeer louder. There was no emotion at all on his face, only a resolute look of determination that told the opposition to watch out. All signs pointed to him being ready to have another amazing game, one that would cement his status as a legend in this youth league. The crowd chanted about his family, about how they were wealthy bankers from Janford instead of being working class like the families of most Redvali footballers, but Park wasn’t fazed. Someone launched a flare onto the middle of the pitch, and he simply picked it up and tossed it back into the crowd as hard as he could, causing them to whistle more.

When the referee blew the whistle to signal that it was time for kickoff, he sent the ball backwards to Vic and started his run down the pitch already. He didn’t even know what kind of coverage they were marking him with yet, but he didn’t care. He ran as fast as he could, rapidly approaching the offside line, and he gave a shout and put his arms up to show Vic that he was ready for the pass. The other forward made contact with the ball and booted it downfield, and Park went in the air for it. He managed to use the side of his head to knock it to the ground, and then the opposing center back, his former teammate, tried to push him down with his body to reach the ball. Park wasn’t going to let that happen.

His legs burned as he lowered his center of gravity and got lower to the ground, but he wasn’t going to let himself fall. The center back was larger and stronger and he should have pushed him over, but he wasn’t as determined as Park was. He did everything he could to keep him from pushing him down, and then, even though his legs were burning from the pressure, he used all his energy to exert a push backwards to shove the center back off of him and away from the ball. That was all the space he needed to initiate a dribble and then to switch feet to catch the center back flat footed and advance on goal. The crowd was whistling and jeering again because they thought that Park had committed a foul, but soon, they made no noise at all.

Park blasted the shot into the back of the net, and then ran behind the goal and flashed two middle fingers at the supporters on the stand in front of him. He got into a shouting match with them, too, shouting curses back and forth with the fans in the front row. They accused him of being a snake for joining a rival, and he accused them of being just as traitorous for turning on him in his return to Avgaria. “Fuck all of ya’ll!” Park shouted at the top of his lungs, as Vic ran up to pull him away from the stand before someone threw a flare at him. He wasn’t always this fiery, but the fact that he was playing against the city that had turned on him had something to do with it. It made his blood boil, even after scoring.

The referee handed Park a yellow card for the ‘celebration’, but he just chuckled and laughed and said that it was worth it. The match was set to start again, but by now, the Avgaria players were getting in an argument with the referee and saying that it should have been a red card. The fans wouldn’t shot whistling either, and the sound of the stadium wide whistling was near deafening. Sebastian Berrios was screaming at the referee about the yellow card not being a red, and then he was given a yellow of his own for dissent. While he was walking back to the center circle to kick off for Sporting, he gave Park a shove.

Now, the shove was pretty light, and it would have been easy for Park to simply shake off, but because he wanted to see Sebastian get sent off, he took two exaggerated steps backwards before falling flat on his back and acting like he’d been shoved much harder. The referee saw that, and pulled out a second yellow and then a red. It was approximately two minutes into the match, and Midland was already up by one goal and up by one man, too. Berrios was furious, but the referee didn’t want to hear his complaints. If he didn’t leave quickly, he’d end up getting a suspension in addition to the red card.

Park watched him leave, folding his arms and taking in the whole scene. This, this was something different. This was something he hadn’t experienced before. Because for the first time in his entire career, Park wasn’t the hero. He wasn’t anything close to that, but rather, he was the complete opposite. He was the villain, and somehow, he liked that feeling better than the feeling of being the hero that everyone was rooting for. The start of this match was fittingly only the beginning of his career as a villain.

=====

“Is there anybody, in this entire fucking country, that’s better than us right now!?” screamed Nina Herrera, as the Midland Bluesox entered the visitors locker room after the Sox wrapped up their 5-0 romp over Sporting B. “Seriously, who can beat us? Maris? They’re just a flash in the pan! Sporting? We just rolled them in their own place! Janford? After their senior team cleaned out their academy? West Shore, after their top prospects got stolen by Castle? Who’s going to stop us?”

“Nobody!” Renato shouted back, as Park Sang Chul entered the locker room along with the rest of the team.

“Let the Fish enjoy their time at the top, because it’s going to be pretty fucking short,” Park said, laughing for the first time since very early in the match. He’d been completely serious during that match, but now that it was over, he was a bit more open to joking around and having fun with his teammates. He had two personalities, one for during the matches and another for other times, and now his normal personality was showing again. “Oh, and Ren, didn’t you say there would be a reward?”

“Oh, yeah. Well, you see, me and Nina and Vic kind of started this group and called ourselves the Midland Four. We’re going to try to stay together and promote ourselves as one group, but now that you and Lindsey are here, I was thinking we should expand and add you guys. After all, you’re the big name striker around here now,” Renato explained. “We’re dominant at the youth level. Why split up when we leave?”

“Sounds good to me… You know I’m all about winning,” Park said, and that was true. He wasn’t looking to be the sole big name of a team, he just wanted to be with a group of players who could win, even if he had to share the fame. And besides, every group needed someone to be the villain.

[Mercedini]

Di Bradini Cup MD2 Quick Review: Taeshan vs. Mercedini
@ Valanora

The second match day of the Di Bradini Cup was a match to remember as Mercedini picked up their first ever win at the tournament. The Golden Eaglets left it late in the match but they eventually kept their hopes alive thanks to a last gasp winner, propelling them up to second in the group and putting them on the front foot to qualify for their first ever DBC knockout round, but enough about that, let's see how the match went down.
The stage was set for both teams to give it their all, for Taeshan, a chance to secure their spot in the final 16 with a game to spare. Mercedini risked being sent home early if they didn't find any result against another one of the multiverses veteran nations. An unchanged side for Mercedini set the pace of the game early on as they knew they needed to set their stall out early if they wanted to snatch a win. Daniel Dostalok, fresh from a successful move to Schottia, ensured that his team gelled together in the opening minutes despite the early onslaught from the Taeshani offense. Despite the illegible roster that their association provided us before the match, the Taeshani players meshed well together as a unit, including some great passing play to give us the first big chance of the game, Denisov through on goal, a small but no less fatal hesitation gave the defenders time to get back and block the shot, the ball was deflected but all of the venom was taken out of the shot and the ball was easily scooped up by the goalkeeper. After that, chances were few and far between in the match, with half-chances being the plat du jour (or however you spell it). The breakthrough for Mercedini came with clock ticking over into first half stoppage time, Ben Chillotov stepped up to fire home from just outside the six-yard box to give Mercedini a precious lead in the match. Mercedini held possession for a long long while, trying to find the space they needed. Matthias Dawsell was found with a ball down the wing, he ran to the by-line and let out a low cross into the box and Chillotov guided the ball into the bottom corner of the net, somehow squeezing the ball below the sliding defender and the low dive of the goalkeeper. Nirvarna for the travelling fans, they held onto their lead to take a narrow 1-0 lead into the interval.

Both teams were out at the end of the second half early and were eager to get the game started. Taeshan had to cancel out the goal scored late in the first half and the Taeshani manager made the necessary changes to try and get themselves back into the game. The referee blew his whistle for the start of the second half, much to the fanfare of the travelling fans of both nations. The pace had dramatically increased compared to the first half thanks to consistent Taeshani pressure combined with the Mercedinian need for another goal made for a feisty affair. The fans were getting pumped as both teams threatened the net but it was Mercedini who had the biggest chance of them all, Daniel Dostalok who had the ball squared to him by Chillotov, but he fired wide from 9-yard out with the goal at his mercy. Mercedini were left to rue that mistake as Taeshan went straight up the other end of the field to score the equaliser. Jiminez did most of the leg work as he broke forward down the centre, he took the shot on himself but Hosset was equal to it. He parried the ball back into play but Talbot was there to finish with a sublime effort, lifting the ball over the keeper and into the net for the equaliser. Play continued for a while but both teams seemed content with the direction that the match was going in, that's until Mercedini struck at the very end of the match. A stellar ball from the Mercedinian midfielder Johannes Nymark sent Dostalok on his was, carving open the Taeshani defence. He didn't need a second chance as he slipped the ball between the legs of the Taeshani goalkeeper and into the net for the winning goal. Mercedini have made a habit of scoring late goals at this tournament but this time the goal as given them the win over a highly fancied nation. The referee blew his whistle and they had done it. It was hard fought but Mercedini found their first victory at the tournament, and it's only taken them two editions to get there!

FULL TIME
Taeshan 1 - 2 Mercedini
Jiminez 69' | Chillotov 45+1', Dostalok 90'

Mercedini go into their final game against HUElavia knowing their destiny is in their hands. If they beat HUElavia then they could see themselves through to their first knockout round ever in the Di Bradini Cup. A draw could be enough if Cosumar beat Taeshan in their final game. A loss and it could get a whole lot stickier for the golden eaglets. We hope you have everything crossed for this final match, but from us... goodnight!

[San Jose Guayabal]

Editorial: So, What We Should Do Now?

“With Lina Amos as manager, people is now thinking on what should be done in order to make sure that La Selecta could be ready in a fighting fit for the next important competitions such as the World Cup or another tournament on where La Selecta plays, even the Di Bradini Cup, considering that the generational change is something that will happen because it will, it’s a need and it’s urgent to solbve the matter as soon as possible, will her go with the usual scheme?”

By: Victoria Duarte.
From: Mar Sara, Valanora - Editorial.
Posted: December 5th, 2211 - 01:23 (Guayabalense Eastern Time - User's default time)

It might be soon to take conclusions after one friendly done with Senior La Selecta, under the command of Amos, the team showed a good face of attacking football and control of the game, with a different taste but may differ a bit on what was done since more than a decade ago, the new manager has few days on charge and her words of keeping the same game style are causing some stir (as different opinions) among fans, especially in those who are asking for a renewal of what it’s been done on La Selecta, while others react positively to the decision of Amos of trying to stick or “modify slightly” the current system, with the World Cup being on the next corner, preparations are needed in this moment and also, It’s now being needed to depurate a list of potential talent that might be replacement of some current players and give some oxygen to a team that starts to lack it, and giving some of that to a system that has lacked of oxygen since a while ago, and more issues. The list is large and lots of things are needed before we might aim for the World Cup that will be played at home, but it’s now the time to do such things, if we don’t, we might lag behind some teams and we would perform badly on home.

Lina Amos, the Chromatik manager has caused some good vibes among the fans but some are sceptical in some terms, specifically in the game philosophy, since La Selecta has used the same system since decade and a half ago and changes are not something that should be done if it’s wanted, it’s now an obligation, you might now that La Selecta has been resurging since the end of World Cup 75, a disastrous World Cup, but the game idea is now being more predictable than ever, to the point of becoming easy to beat by particular teams as Nephara, a team that apart from being strong physically and authentically warriors, hasn’t a “special argument” for my taste, or sinking strongly on the decisive phases of CE or another tournaments as World Cup, let’s not talk on what happened to us on finals, since when we have been on finals, what we have done is gifting Nephara a big chunk of their important victories they have got (A World Cup and two CEs) I mean, we shall not gift like that since nobody will gift us something as reciprocity… Those defeats have being enough signals that something is malfunctioning in the game system of the national team, some work is needed to be done in order to solve the issue and get forward from we are stuck and of course, getting rid of the Nephara course… which is infamous.

Using the same three players on the offence, the same midfield and the same defence has turned us into something predictable, using the same philosophy of touching the ball close, doing one-twos and counterattacking have become into something slightly boring, but how we shall change? What we need to do in order to exploit all the talent available in our national team and in our youth? Let’s begin with simple stuff as the managers. The change from Oliveira to Amos has gave a needed refreshment to the Guayabalense National team in every sense, the Chromatik is known for being a manager that decides to use the best of what she has available, to exploit the very best that every player has to offer, everything sounds interesting, and the Guayabalense players overall have a wide set of features that can be exploited if a dedicated plan of training and adaptation is used, it might be the end of the self-proclaimed “fútbol total” idea imposed by Oliveira, we can’t say something specific about what Amos might try to do with the National Team, but yesterday’s friendly against Coldfield gave some hints that may led us to trace and make connections on what Amos have done with different teams as Urrhediao and the Chromatik NT. Back to Urrhediao, Amos was known for using a well-defined football style, an attacking one with short passes and precision when doing crosses and defining, along with the maintenance of a defence that rarely conceded lots of goals, she preserved that style even in the World Cup with Chromatika in two times, reaching semi-finals in the last World Cup, she basically prefers keeping control of game instead of giving out the initiative of it to the rival in order to make them fatigue.

If Oliveira was a well-known foe, Amos won’t have problem to get into the National Team, basing ourselves in the logic that around 70% of the players have been for every cycle that San José Guayabal has played football, in other words, since the very beginning, that experience shall be transferred safely to Amos, since she will have at her disposal a really experimented team, ready to achieve the best in the next World Cup, adding that, she might elect some back-up players, namely, the ones who are playing in the Di Bradini Cup, a team led by Oscar Agramonte that has been doing a good jod, although lacking the amount of goals that a Guayabalense team usually scores when playing, the amount doesn’t matters, quality does… Continuing with Amos and yesterday’s friendly against Coldfield, it was obvious that she might use a 4-3-3 and adopt it as her preferred line-up at front of the National Team, something that we saw since the beginning is that this new process won’t be using “fatigue football”, it’ll be more offensive and will attempt to keep control of the game and especially, the midfield, with usage of fast players on the wings and a solid back line to defend the team, relying with Terrazas as the last bulwark in the defence, but, she had different plans with Terrazas, since she decided to make him more active in game creation, with the declining of the usage of long kicks to reach the midfield and find a midfielder to take it, Terrazas now kicks to the nearest player and indicates where to go, in order to take advantage of the privileged vision that a goalkeeper has.

Despite there are some players that might not be able to resist all the ninety minutes of the game, we have some players that might be good back-ups for them in the Di Bradini squad of Oscar Agramonte, players such as Kevin Santos as replacement of Sean Fraser or Jonathan Faña when needed, Santos is as fast as Fraser, and keeping that speed will be important if we decide to continue in this pattern or if we decide to improve said pattern of game, but, Santos is more a cerebral player, since as he scores, he is also a game creator that might not hesitate to go some metres back in order to grab a ball and go forward and distribute it or pull out an individual piece of good game. With Passarelli aging, Julio Navas, central-back of Yucuaiquín FC, might get out of second division this season, since he has being doing a good labour with the national team, hence, projecting himself very well in order to achieve a possibility of playing abroad soon, Navas is not a tall player but a courageous one, a player with good timing and a reliable back, he has a good sense of playing calm and unperturbed, something that might turn him into a candidate to take Passarelli away of his position and turn him as a substitute for certain games. On the midfield, Ramón Ospina is looking to be the big thing in this area, the Alianza FC player is excelling for being a player with a good sense of location and distribution with the ball, pulling off creativity when he touches the ball or passes it, a nice sense of intelligence helps him to be one of the main bulwarks of the Albos, Ospina is likely to replace Sebastián Núñez when he doesn’t resists anymore, Ospina will be the chosen candidate because of his qualities and good physique.

In resume, with some generational change, La Selecta will look more aggressive of what it is now, by having new youth that might refresh the oxygen tank of the team at critical moments, having good talent that might be inspired in order to give their best in the national team and make sure to start making themselves a spot for future caps or being an undisputable starter of the team, opportunities are high and who knows this generation will be the main engine to bring it home soon, It’s obvious that Agramonte has been doing a good job with this team, making all of them to display their best and giving them already physical and mental preparation as if they were the senior national team, that discipline will be useful for the team in order to promote competent players for the national team and avoiding the negative impact that a generational change might have at the first year or two, avoiding that pothole will be critical in order to have well-prepared players.

[Super-Llamaland]

CONFLICT OVER HEDEGAARD ONLY INTENSIFYING

Nikko Hedegaard glided past Ginton West, smoothly knocked a long cross from Michael Ren to the ground, and darted into the penalty box. Hargreaves came out to intercept the striker's run, Marya Garner close on his heels - but the lithe striker simply slalomed between the two, cut forwards, and curled a well-struck shot into the top-right corner. It was the Royals' third goal of the match and Hedegaard's second; the forward also contributed a beautiful pass that Stefan Rinaldi managed to knock home from close range.

Hedegaard is undoubtedly the team's best player, tallying three goals and an assist in his first two matches and almost single-handedly overwhelming opposing defenses. He's impressed for his club, Niesburg, as well, superseding star striker Herlek Jansen, who has since been sold to Öslerholm despite scoring roughly two goals every three games with the Chariots: an impressive record, but still nothing compared to Hedegaard's seventeen goals in fourteen matches.

If this were any other player, the choice would be easy. Hedegaard would be called up to the senior side for the WC77 Qualifiers as the Tigers attempt to return to the World Cup for the first time in six years. But this isn't any other player. The name gives it away: Nikolas Johan Hedegaard may have a Llamanean grandmother, but he's been born and raised in Arondesheim. The only thing attracting him to the Royals - and the only thing that the LFA has to lure him to the senior squad as well - is the Llamaneans' superiority in football. The SuperLleague may still be a work in progress, especially compared to the GuldLiga and its seventy-five-year-history, but the LFA has a decent international product (and, as of now, a youth development program) that Arondesheim completely lacks. The Tigers may not be locks to make the World Cup, but at least they have some chance of making it.

Super-Llamaland already has bad blood with the AFA (Arondic Football Association) after star midfielder Reid Adrian decided to join the Llamanean national team and left-back Adrian Lindberg opted not to join the Arondesheim national team after playing in the Di Bradini Cup. In fact, to even get Hedegaard onto the U21 roster, it's likely that the LFA had to make concessions to their Arondic counterparts (the nature of which are unknown). But with immigration into Super-Llamaland showing no signs of slowing, and Llamanean emigration to Arondesheim increasing as well, conflicts like this are only growing more and more common. Hedegaard may be the most talented of the players the LFA and AFA have been fighting over, but he's only one of what may soon be dozens at stake in a conflict between the two nation's FAs.

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ Showing Strength

The Young Wanderers knew that with the draw between Ethane and Schottia on the first day, coupled with the Wanderers own narrow victory against Boring Paradise, that a victory would secure their place in the knockouts and leave the last matchday without a huge amount of pressure. For a squad whose starters are mostly eighteen year olds, they showed quite amount of resiliency and strength in then taking the opportunity before them and capitalizing on it, blitzing the Schottia squad for a trio of goals while keeping the defense strong enough that they only conceded a single goal. It was a show of might that provided exactly what Tobias Möller was likely looking for from his squad after the way that they were tested on that first matchday. The squad was given a task and rose to it, that is the sort of response that every manager wants and can be proud of when it is shown.

Mücahit Aardenburg might be the key to Club Stein-los SuperLiga future and how they might rise to be a title contender again, as his brace led the way for the Young Wanderers with the striker netting his first just three minutes into the match. The early goal changed the entire outlook of the game for both sides, as the Wanderers didn't have to worry about tireless effort trying to crack what they had thought would be a formidable defense from the Schottia side, while at the same time that it left Schottia having to chase the game, opening themselves up to further attacks by our squad. That opening up was taken advantage of just past the half hour mark when Romano netted his second goal of the tournament after getting an excellent through ball from Jörg Feierabend to spark the counter.

Ferirabend would be part of the third goal as well, as he and Aardenburg played a quick series of one-two passes to bypass a high press by the Schottia squad, letting the striker get free on the keeper and gently loft the shot over the outstretched hands of the opponent. It was a third and deciding goal in the seventieth minute, one that snuffed out all hope that Schottia had of salvaging a result from the match after they had gotten a goal back in the fifty-third minute. However the Wanderers' backline held strong after the one sign of weakness and was able to stay stalwart until the final whistle from the referee that signaled the Wanderers securing the win and the progression on to the next round of the tournament.

Which brings us to the match with Ethane, where Möller will be making a few changes, letting Arcuri and Szakály playing in place of Romano and Ferirabend, as the two "stars" of the side are given a reprieve as they prepare for the knockout match. Given that the goal for the side was merely to make the Round of Sixteen, the squad can play quite free and loose both in the final group game as well as their knockout game. This side has already deliverred on the premise that they were built upon, that the domestic based youth could still produce solid result and be viable options for the Under-21 national team. While it will be years before we see how well these players do in their domestic careers and the national team, but for now they have been a huge reward on Möller's gamble. Be it that they win or draw against Ethane, a side who will be fighting to secure their own progression, they can do so knowing that anything they achieve now is their own personal accomplishment and not be burdened by the weight of expectation.

[Valanora]

Matchday 3

Group A
Pasarga 2–1 Ethane
Boring Paradise 1–2 Schottia

P Group A                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pasarga                      3   3  0  0    6   2  +4    9     Q
2 Ethane                       3   1  1  1    4   3  +1    4     Q
3 Schottia                     3   1  1  1    3   4  −1    4
4 Boring Paradise              3   0  0  3    2   6  −4    0
*Ethane ahead of Schottia on Goal Difference

Group B
Lymantatia 0–1 Gadirya
-Anthor- 2–5 Royal Kingdom of Quebec

P Group B                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Royal Kingdom of Quebec      3   3  0  0    7   2  +5    9     Q
2 Gadirya                      3   2  0  1    2   1  +1    6     Q
3 -Anthor-                     3   1  0  2    3   6  −3    3
4 Lymantatia                   3   0  0  3    0   3  −3    0

Group C
Tumbra 2–4 Super-Llamaland
Eastfield Lodge 4–3 Qasden

P Group C                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Qasden                       3   2  0  1   14   8  +6    6     Q
2 Super-Llamaland              3   2  0  1   10   7  +3    6     Q
3 Eastfield Lodge              3   2  0  1    5   7  −2    6
4 Tumbra                       3   0  0  3    4  11  −7    0
*Qasden wins group on Goal Difference, Super-Llamaland ahead of Eastfield Lodge on Goal Difference

Group D
Cosumar 0–0 Taeshan
Mercedini 2–0 HUElavia

P Group D                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                      3   2  1  0    7   3  +4    7     Q
2 Mercedini                    3   2  0  1    7   5  +2    6     Q
3 Taeshan                      3   1  1  1    2   2   0    4
4 HUElavia                     3   0  0  3    0   6  −6    0

Group E
Dainer 0–3 Prusy Krolewskie
Eshan 1–1 Abanhfleft

P Group E                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Abanhfleft                   3   2  1  0    4   1  +3    7     Q
2 Prusy Krolewskie             3   2  0  1    4   1  +3    6     Q
3 Eshan                        3   0  2  1    1   2  −1    2
4 Dainer                       3   0  1  2    0   5  −5    1

Group F
San Jose Guayabal 0–1 Dylecte
Savojarna 0–0 Unified Sunrise Islands

P Group F                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Savojarna                    3   1  2  0    1   0  +1    5     Q
2 San Jose Guayabal            3   1  1  1    1   1   0    4     Q
3 Unified Sunrise Islands      3   1  1  1    1   1   0    4
4 Dylecte                      3   1  0  2    1   2  −1    3
*San Jose Guayabal ahead of Unified Sunrise Island on Head to Head result

Group G
Cetheque 2–3 Mattijana
The Redvale 2–1 Ceni

P Group G                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Redvale                  3   3  0  0   11   3  +8    9     Q
2 Ceni                         3   1  1  1    8   5  +3    4     Q
3 Mattijana                    3   1  1  1    6   6   0    4
4 Cetheque                     3   0  0  3    4  15 −11    0
*Ceni ahead of Mattijana on Goal Difference

Group H
Nephara 3–0 Kirisaki
Tomikosan 3–3 Chromatika

P Group H                    Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Nephara                      3   2  0  1    6   3  +3    6     Q
2 Chromatika                   3   1  2  0    8   7  +1    5     Q
3 Tomikosan                    3   1  1  1    4   4   0    4
4 Kirisaki                     3   0  1  2    2   6  −4    1

Round of Sixteen Fixtures
Pasarga v Mercedini @ Hatire Memorial, Capri
Royal Kingdom of Quebec v Super-Llamaland @ Artani, Mar Sara
Qasden v Gadirya @ Lathal, Ianisle
Cosumar v Ethane @ Metropolis, Ibini
Abanhfleft v Chomatika @ Miner's Haven, Goldsan
Savojarna v Ceni @ Donna Cathedral, Mar Sara
The Redvale v San Jose Guayabal @ The Battleground, Raynor City
Nephara v Prusy Krolewskie @ Hellgate, Raynor City

[Prusy Krolewskie]

Prusy Krolewskie 2nd in group, made it to the round of 16!

Kareen, Valanora - (NEIP) The under 21 Reprezentacja Pruski beat Dainer 3-0 and qualified for the round of 16 of the Di Bradini Cup 39. Prusy Krolewskie attacked at the 11th minute when Przemyslaw Tkocz passed the ball to Elisabeth Nordhaus who dribbled and made a cross to Tymoteusz Swierczewski. Tymoteusz Swierczewski shoots but Goalkeeper #1 made the save. At the 25th minute, The under 21 Reprezentacja Pruski attacked again when Florian Baumgarten dribbled and passed the ball to Kacper Plokarz who passed to Tymoteusz Swierczewski. Tymoteusz Swierczewski made a header pass to Hanna Stronczynski who heads the ball over the net. At the 31st minute, Przemyslaw Tkocz passed the ball to Tobias Götze who dribbled and made a pass to Tymoteusz Swierczewski. Tymoteusz Swierczewski shoots and he scores! Prusy Krolewskie is leading 1-0 and the score remains the same until the halftime.

At the 56th minute, Tobias Götze passed the ball to Hanna Stronczynski who shoots but goalkeeper #1 tips the ball and it goes out of bounds. it's a corner kick for Prusy Krolewskie. Elisabeth Nordhaus takes the corner. She kicks the ball in the penalty area and Krzysztof Blaszczykowski heads the ball over the net. At the 63rd minute, Player #6 passed the ball to Player #9 who try to pass to Player #10 but Slawomir Skrzeszewski blocks the pass. Florian Baumgarten takes the loose ball and dribbles and passes to Tymoteusz Swierczewski who dribbles and passes to Tobias Götze who dribbles and kicks the ball. It's right into the net, 2-0 Prusy Krolewskie! At the 77th minute, Przemyslaw Tkocz passed the ball to Tobias Götze who passed to Hanna Stronczynski. Hanna Stronczynski shoots but it's wide left. At the 84th minute, Player #4 passed to Player #7 who dribbles but Przemyslaw Tkocz tacles him. It's a nice defensive play by the 21 years old defensive midfielder. Prusy Krolewskie attacked at the 90 +1 minute when Klementyna Nowaczyk passed to Elisabeth Nordhaus who dribbles and made a cross to Tymoteusz Swierczewski. Player #3 tripped him in the penalty area, it's a penalty for Prusy Krolewskie. Przemyslaw Tkocz kicks the ball and it's in, 3-0 Prusy Krolewskie and it's the final score!

With two wins and one loss, Prusy Krolewskie finishes in 2nd place in group E behind Abanhfleft. Abanhfleft drew 1-1 against Eshan in their final game, they were sure to get a playoff spot and probably didn't play hard. Prusy Krolewskie has made the round of 16 and will play against Nephara at Hellgate in Raynor City. Nephara are one of the top team in football and they probably have a good youngster team too, so this game won't be easy. Now that Prusy Krolewskie has made the round of 16, this year's team is officially better than last year and Tomasz Mikolajczak allowed just one goal in 3 games so far. Prince Zygmunt III, who attended the hockey game between Prusy Krolewskie and Cosneolta in Travesian, is expected to travel to Raynor City to attend the round of 16 game against Nephara.

BOXSCORE
31st minute: Tymoteusz Swierczewski assisted by Tobias Götze
63rd minute: Tobias Götze assisted by Tymoteusz Swierczewski
90 + 1 minute: Przemyslaw Tkocz (penalty)

Yellow cards:
Prusy Krolewskie: Krzysztof Blaszczykowski
Dainer: Payer #3, Player #5 and Player #6

[The Redvale]

Edge of Nowhere

Chapter Four

The Midland Six, as they called themselves now, bonded quickly. Lindsey Calderon would make her season debut and get both assists in a 2-0 win against East Shore Primavera, and for the first time, all six of the top ranked prospects from the Midland Bluesox would be on the pitch together at one time. Renato Moleiro had continued playing as the anchor of the defense, as a strong but quick central defender who could chase down anyone and keep up with even the fastest of attackers. Vic Tanner was a good partner for Park Sang Chul up front, knowing when to keep the ball and when to pass it off to his shifty fellow striker, who always managed to find himself in good positions in the opposition’s third of the pitch.

Mylo Dietrich was dominating at the libero position and was intelligent enough to handle learning the roles of all of the midfield and wing positions, so he could fit into the role that Endrizzi was famous for employing. Nina Herrera was finally healthy, and after a tough preseason position battle during training camp, she was the starting keeper, and she was undoubtedly the best sweeper in the league. She was incredibly athletic for a keeper, able to keep up with the outfield players in strength and aerobics training, and it was the first time in her career that she was playing completely healthy and in peak form consistently. And then there was Park. Park was… Well, it was hard to describe him, because he fit more than one role. He’d become something of a leader to the Bluesox, but he was also the villain of the team that took the negative attention from the press to allow the others to keep a lower profile in the eyes of the media.

Even though there were more fitting players to be the league’s villain, including a few who played for Midland, Park’s match against Sporting had pissed off the fanbase of the nation’s second most popular team and caused the press to go in on him too, especially the media members that had ties to Sporting as players. Most coaches would condemn Park as a distraction, but not the staff at Midland. Fabien Endrizzi knew from much experience as a top level manager that sometimes, it was necessary to have someone who could take hate from the press and from rival teams, because that person would deflect attention from the others who might not handle it so well. In the case of Midland, Park was the one who was deflecting the attention, and he was doing a brilliant job of directing it all towards himselves and giving his teammates a break.

For a youth league, the Redvali Youth Championship was pretty competitive and well followed. It got media coverage just like the senior leagues. Everyone wanted to know who the next big stars would be, and while there were some flaws in the Midland team, they were largely skipped over because everyone and their mother had an opinion on if Park Sang Chul had a bad attitude or not. It was laughable, really, and that was the opinion of both Park and the staff members, as well as that of the Midland Six.

It was the Midland Six that had led the Bluesox to first place in the league at that point in the season, and they were also the closest players off of the pitch. On the day after they’d arrived back in Midland after the win against East Shore, they were all going out together, not into the city or to a club or to somewhere like that, but into the mountainous woods outside the city. They weren’t looking for the kind of attractions that could be found in a big city like Maris or Avgaria. No, the Six were close enough that they were content spending their off day in the middle of nowhere, enjoying the company of each other. They went hiking at least a couple of times a season, Renato had told Park. This was the first time that they were doing it with him and Lindsey, but the two newcomers fit in just fine. The conversation on the way up the trail started off as a combination of taking shots at their rivals and bantering with each other(Midlanders loved their banter, and no subject was off limits), and the newcomers had no problem replying with banter of their own.

“Hey, new boy, is this your first time hiking?” asked Vic, a grin spreading across his face. “I know you’re from Janford, there aren’t exactly forests up there. Unless you’re from the suburbs and not the center city, but I doubt that. The accent’s a giveaway, you know. You played in Avgaria too, but that’s almost as much of a concrete jungle as Janford is. Please tell me this isn’t your first time seeing a forest up close?”

“Hey, there’s forests in Janford. You just have to go to the park. It’s so big and green that you can almost forget that you’re surrounded by miles upon miles of steel and concrete,” Park said. “You might get jumped by the homeless while you’re there, and the trees don’t do anything to block out the noise, but that’s besides the point. And, for all of Avgaria’s faults, they actually put trees everywhere there. There’s a reason they wear green and call themselves Foresters-”

“No, I don’t mean the trees that they put on the sidewalk,” groaned Vic. “I’m talkin’ about real forests! Like this. Or the ones in Midvale. If you haven’t been into the woods in Midvale, you’re missing out, bruv. There’s trees as far as you can see, and no homeless people waiting to pickpocket you or cars making noise. In Midvale, we’ve got the type of forests that you can get lost in. It’s real tourism. Sometimes, people actually do get lost in em. Well, most of Midvale does, anyway. Glenham has more swamps than woods, but everyone should also experience swamp hiking in Glenham at least once.”

“Swamp… Hiking?” asked Park, not really knowing that much about Midvale as someone who had been born and raised in Janford. “Doesn’t sound like a fun time to me.”

“Didn’t say it was fun, but you sure as hell should try it at least once. Everyone should know what it’s like to wade through a waist high swamp to find your dinner,” Vic chuckled. “It’s right up there on the list of things that are part of the Midvale experience, right next to going to a Red Valley gridiron game and checking out the Markham arms factories. You know, if you’re ever in Markham, just tell me, man. I’ll give you a tour of the place I used to work.”

“Are you shitting me? That’s what you guys call tourism? I knew your economy is pretty martial, but damn,” Park said, and that was when all five of the other players burst out laughing.

“He’s yanking your chain cause you don’t know anything about the mainland,” Renato explained. “And he’s kind of taking the piss out of himself. Midvalis are known for self deprecation, you know. The running joke is that the only thing in Midvale is swamps, forests, and factories. And the joke behind that one is that Markham only has weapons factories. I wouldn’t expect you to know it, coming from central Janford.”

Park sighed, feeling a rare moment where he didn’t fit in. “Oh… Yeah, of course,” he said. “I know we’re joking around, but in all seriousness, sometimes I wish I wasn’t from Janford. I feel like I can’t relate with anyone. The people I know back home are the rich types who just care about cash and family prestige, and everyone here is… I don’t know. Different. Working class, I guess. Sometimes I feel like I’m posing as a working class Midlander, when I know that my parents are in the banking business and that’s what I was actually born into. You get what I’m saying, right?”

“Nobody cares, bruv,” Vic said, shrugging. “Plenty of people move to Midland from other places because the real estate is dirt cheap. You can do you here, and everyone is going to be fine with it. You don’t have to act working class or Midvali or whatever, because the truth is, there’s no such thing as a real Midland identity. Half our citizens are transplants from Maris, Red Valley, and Avgaria. A lot of them came here because of poverty, some for work, and some because they wanted a fresh start and thought that the middle of nowhere would be a good place to find one. You-”

Vic stopped speaking and turned his attention to Nina, who suddenly didn’t look like she felt very well. She had stopped walking, and she was holding her head with both hands and breathing a bit too sharply for comfort. “Oi, Nina, you feeling alright?” Vic asked, as the others stopped too. “You did take your meds, right? I don’t want any accidents happening out here. It’s not like we can quickly call for help or-”

“I’m fine,” Nina said, her voice low and pained. “Just give me a minute. Or two-”

“Hey, I really don’t want anything happening up here, so if you aren’t feeling well, we can head back down,” Vic said, cutting her off. “I saw a little hospital a few miles away from the start of the trail, we could head there and see if they have the-”

“No! I’m fine!” Nina snapped, standing straight and smacking Vic on the chest for the suggestion. Park and Lindsey exchanged a look, and the two newcomers knew that there was definitely something that everyone else knew that they didn’t. Mylo and Renato were both uncomfortable and shifty looking, and Mylo looked like he was looking for an excuse to leave.

“I can go down there myself and come back-” he started, but Nina glared at him and made him shut up quickly after he’d spoken.

“I said no, didn’t I? If I say I’m fine, I’m fine,” Nina said, her voice getting heated very fast. She was going to speak again, but she grabbed her head again and winced. “Damn… Um… Yeah, I’m fine. I could just use some time to sit down. Just a few minutes will do.”

Everyone was silent. Nobody wanted to say the wrong thing, and Park and Lindsey had no idea what was even going on, or what was wrong with Nina. Eventually, Renato spoke up as the most mature and trusted one of the group. “Nina, did you really take your meds?” he asked softly, quiet enough that Park had to strain to hear him. “That’s kind of an important detail… Just tell us the truth, it’s too late to go back and change things anyway.”

Nina didn’t answer, instead turning her back to the others and continuing down the trail. “If you want to head back, then do it. I said I’m fine, I’m going to keep going. I’m going to leave ya’ll to decide what you want to do,” she said, and she kept walking without looking back. Park looked between Lindsey and Renato and Vic, trying to decide what he was going to do.

“What the hell was that about? What’s Nina taking meds for?” he asked.

“It’s a long story for another day,” said Renato, folding his arms. “I think she’s lying, but we can’t just let her walk off by herself. We might as well keep going and act like this conversation didn’t just happen. But Vic, keep an eye on her. It’s like you said, we don’t want anything happening up here. There’s no help for miles, remember that.”

Vic sighed and nodded, and Park didn’t ask again about what was going on. He had a feeling that if it was indeed a problem, he would find out about it firsthand soon enough when they kept going.

=====

After the conversation, everybody was avoiding Nina, and Park didn’t really think it was fair. He made a point of walking with her, a few yards ahead of everyone else. And she appreciated that. She wasn’t the most open person despite her brash nature, but they found themselves in a deeper conversation than the banter that had been going on earlier, and they talked about each other’s families and roots. Nina was from a small town in the West Shore region, and her parents were poor farmers. She was trying to make it big to move out of her town for good and help her parents move out, too. Park also learned during their conversation that she was definitely smarter and more insightful than she seemed in the locker room. Yes, she could be brash and outspoken at times, but there was far more to her than that.

After she talked about herself, he explained that he was from Janford but that he’d spent the last couple of years grinding away in Avgaria only to have the team tell him directly that he would never make it into the senior squad unless he dropped his other sport, despite them saying the opposite earlier. Nina sympathized with him, and she believed that he was doing the right thing by leaving Sporting for Midland. She also related with his problems about not fitting in. After all, she was from West Shore, a place with a very different culture than the industrial one that was prevalent in Midland and the Midvale region in general. While she was being open with him, he didn’t dare ask about earlier. She seemed to want to ignore it, and so Park went along with it by not mentioning it.

The group walked for about twenty more minutes before stopping at a large clearing that had some logs that could be used as benches. They were going to take a break before starting up again and continuing towards the top of the trail, which they wanted to reach by dark. There was a great spot up there to get a good view of the surrounding area from above, and that spot was also good for taking pictures. Vic had been there before, and he had convinced the others to want to hike all the way up the mountainous forest to get to that spot. When everyone found a place to sit in the clearing, Park sat down next to Nina, who was by herself. “You know, it’s kind of unfair that everyone is avoiding you,” he said. “I guess there’s something they know that I don’t.”

“They do,” Nina shrugged, looking away. She grabbed her head again, though, and then looked up to see if the others had seen the move. “Truth is, I’m not feeling that great today. I didn’t take the medicine like I told the others. But I don’t want to go back, because I can handle it. I’m going to be fine. If I wasn’t, I would go back like the others suggested.”

“Yeah, but what’s wrong in the first place?” asked Park, wondering if he was pressing too far. “What do you take medicine for?”

“What’s it matter to you?” asked Nina, a bit defensively. “You don’t believe me when I say that I’m fine?”

Park shook his head. “Just curious,” he said. “I trust you. I just thought maybe I could help if I knew what was up-”

“You can help by not bothering me and acting like everyone else is acting,” Nina replied. “Sometimes it’s nice to just have someone like you around, who isn’t going to judge me or bother me or avoid me. Okay? Is that too much to ask for?”

“No,” replied Park. “I won’t bring it up again. I’m sorry… If you say you’re fine, I believe you,” he said, and while he wasn’t sure if he really meant that, he wanted to make Nina happy. After all, it was hard to come across a friend he could relate to. When he finally did, it was worth keeping them around.

[Mercedini]

Di Bradini Cup MD3 Quickie: Mercedini vs. HUElavia
@ Valanora

Mercedini bet the odds after their first game to win their final two matches to advance to their first knockout round in the Di Bradini Cup at their second attempt. They beat HUElavia 2-0 in their final match, that coupled with Cosumar and Taeshan's goalless draw meant that Mercedini advanced second in their group. Meaning they have set themselves up with a Round of 16 match against Pasarga, another veteran team who could go all the way.

Mercedini beat HUElavia rather convincingly in the end with two goals in the first half. A early strike from Nymark before the ten minute mark settled the early Mercedinian nerves and gave the golden eaglets a platform to set themselves up for the match. The goal came from a Crasic corner which was flicked on by Di Sansev. The original ball was saved by the goalkeeper but he couldn't hold onto the ball and Nymark prodded home from a yard out. Ecstasy for the Mercedinians, they sent out the early shockwave in the group as they gave themselves the provisional three points from the match, which meant Taeshan had to win to give themselves a chance of qualifying and Cosumar had to nick a point to secure the top spot in the group. Play continued but it was abundantly clear the HUElavia team hadn't turned up, their lack of quality along with the lack of travelling fans meant the atmosphere was diluted to some extent, but the Mercedinians were still partying in the stands as they were currently writing history in the Mercedinian archives which was becoming increasingly longer. Alexander Ytandev practically sealed Mercedini's place in the quarter finals before half time with a header from yet another corner. HUElavia seems all but out of the match, an open goal miss in first half stoppage time compiling their misery. Mercedini with a 2-0 lead going into the break.

The second-half was all about consolidation for the golden eaglets as they attempted to maintain their grasp on the knockout stages. The Mercedinians had made their move and it was up to the other teams in the other match to make theirs. It was 0-0 in the other game which meant that they would go through if results stayed as they were. Mercedini made a series of substitutions to get less experienced players on the pitch and get them game time, they may need them for their knockout round fixture. Chances were at a premium in the second half thanks to Mercedini lack of commitment, they were ahead and that's how they wanted it to stay. When the referee blew his whistle, the Mercedinian players rejoiced as they had done all they could and when the result from the other game came up on the screen the crowd erupted as Mercedini booked their place in their first Di Bradini Cup round of 16, the final result; Mercedini 2, HUElavia 0. Mercedini through in second place.

FULL TIME
Mercedini 2 - 0 HUElavia
Nymark 9', Ytandev 43'

After that rather convincing performance, Mercedini now play football juggernauts Pasarga. Mercedini have already accomplished what they came here to do and that was to reach the knockout stages, however they could make a statement with a win against unbeaten Pasarga. Can they make it through to the quarter finals with a win? Join us tomorrow when we will find out if Mercedini can cause a shock! Goodnight!

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
The Multiverse Guide to SFS: Savojars Vinge Virkaja

LOGO

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Founded: 1. 1. 1939
Affiliation: Air Force
City: Virkaja, SU
Stadium: Flygvafnetstadion (built 1993)
Capacity: 47'000
Number of titles (Amateur): 10
Number of titles (Professional): 0
Number of cup titles: 6
SFS I ranking: 15. (MD 19/38)
Coach: Linus Jansen
Captain: Mika Vatanen

Savojars Vinge Virkaja was founded in 1939 as Aviator, together with the separation of the Savojar Air Force from the Navy, which it had been a part of prior to the split. Savojarna long didn't have an air force past reconnaissance, because the Savojar cultre saw death from above as somewhat cowardly and not worthy of a real warrior. But in a conflict with Bigtopia in 1927, they saw the value of air combat as their enemies had been able to bomb Jarnstad and caused much harm to the Savojar economy, with a big part of its iron supply damaged. In response, the Savojar bought and constructed their own planes, and of course the air forces soon received a sports team as well. SVV was first founded in 1931 together with Aviator as subdivisions of the navy team in Pawlograd, where the air force had its operational headquarters. Leftovers of this era are the fierce rivalry SVV has with the teams from the navy, especially Torpedo. Regional politics led to the relocation of the air force mainbase in 1938, when it became known that the two branches would split per 1939. Virkaja already had a big airfield at the time which was important to transport forces between the islands of Sumanen and Vestrholmen. With the split, the old FK Torpedo Aviatik Pawlograd had been dissolved and its players transferred to the newly established FK Aviator Virkaja. Originally, Aviator was forced to start in the third-highest league, but obviously quickly advanced and in 1942/43, the team made its debut in the SFS. It had only spent three years in the lower tiers, winning the third division in their first season and coming third in their second year, winning the second tier in the second attempt 1942. The club quickly established itself as a middle ground team and was usually seen as the worst of the state teams. This was one one hand due to the general role of Aviator as an army team rather than a prestige project, but also due to the air force having less money at their disposal for football.

The talent that they had gathered was nevertheless enough to make it through the seasons always fairly ahead of any collective teams, which at that time were truly worker's teams and mostly remained so until the 1980s or early 90s. This means that the league was effectively a two-tier league, and Aviator was strongly established in the top layer. They proved their talent in the 1949 cup run, when they managed to get to the semifinals with impressive victories over other first-division teams, but then failed to get through against future champions Partisan. Heading into the 1950s, the air force still was not a well funded department aside from dedicated projects of research. Therefore, Aviator had to rely on whatever funding they could scrape together and couldn't get stable development going. In 1952, the team had a success in upsetting Thorsborg in the league twice, but nevertheless dropped the Championship to the almighty CASK, and failed early on in the Cup. 1955 was finally the year for Virkaja. Their victory in the cup final meant the first title for a Sumanen team in the history of Savojar football. At the time, Aviator also started to serve as a kind of inofficial Sumanen selection team. Even though the highest officials didn't like this development - the Armed Forces, they argued, should be inclusive for the nation - they were not willing to divert funding to Aviator, which they demanded in exchange. This development meant two things: one, the Aviator squad had a good chemistry and built on continuity rather than great talent, and secondly, the team was always popular and had a large fanbase. This seemed to pay off when Thorsborg's dominance came down. In the 1960s, Aviator was one of the three leading teams together with Dynamo and Partisan.

1961/62, the team had started into the League with the best start of the club's history to the time, winning the first nine games. They took a lead that was then challenged by Dynamo Sjoedrhavn, and a very exciting season began. Aviator drew two games in series and then lost to Dynamo at home, which caused to two to come neck-to-neck despite the great start of the Virkaja team. Over the season, leadership changed no less than seven times between them, and it was only in the last round that Aviator Virkaja took a 4-1 victory over its old enemy, FK Torpedo. By this victory, the club managed to win its first Championship in Pawlograd. The winner's ceremony was a chaotic affair, with trouble breaking out on the stands, but eventually the Aviator team could lift its first shield and Tiimo Rantta was crowned top scorer of the league. Rantta, together with winger Petteri Jotarov and Antti Lukarainen in goal, led the team to a second place and a cup victory the year after. And with a overtime victory in 1964, the winning goal scored by Rantta, Aviator became the third team after CASK and Partisan to defend a cup title. In the League, however, things were more difficult. Dynamo and Partisan proved hard opponents, and the 1962 victory could not be repeated first. However, the signing of a new defender added a missing piece. Said defender was the future club legend Olaf Jurtamäki. He had been playing for Metsuri, the biggest collective team in Virkaja, and then moved to the Air Force when he was 18 and drafted. Originally, Jurtamäki only wanted to stay with Aviator for the two years he was obliged to, but he ended up playing there for a full 19 years. In this time, he was seen as one of the best defenders in the world, playing on the Libero position. He orchestrated the game from behind and therefore added the lacking connection between Lukarainen and the Jotarov/Rantta "golden duo". Under his influence, Aviator won its second and third title in 1966 and 1971 as well as a fourth cup title in 1969. 1972, they also spectacularly defended the title, winning it four rounds before the end and, in the end, 11 points ahead of the next contender. This is a feat never accomplished again by Aviator or its successor SVV.

Aviator kept his strength mostly, but took a little dip in the mid 70s due to the career of Rantta and Jotarov ending. This led to a more defensive play resting on the shoulders of Lukarainen, by now well over 30, and Jurtamäki. What lacked was, however, a scorer. In those times, the Aviator team made use of the introduction of shootouts to the Cup, and won many games in this way. 1973-1975, they made the cup final three times in a row, winning it two more times. Only the 1974 cup went to ASK Landsmark in overtime. However, the fifth league title was not so quick to come for the spoilt Virkaja public. Aviator went into the later 1970s with a new offense, based on Kari Ojanen, and this proved to be their salvation. It seemed that Jurtamäki would lose his glory slowly, and after Antti Lukarainen, now aged 39, finished his exceptional career after the '75 cup title, people expected difficult times for Aviator. But as it was the case so many times in Savojarna, troubled teams caught themselves. In 1978, Aviator Virkaja pulled itself together and its relatively young new goalie, Robin Almqvist, tied for second-least goals conceded. Together with a number of goals from Ojanen and his partner Verjanin, the team surprisingly won the League after a dire 1-1 in the second-last round against ASK Landsmark.

Suddenly, people expected Aviator to do well again, and they did. 1979, they finished third, as well as '80. In the 1981 season, the team led the League in the winter break, but suffered from bad luck with Verjanin long-term injured, and Ojanen hurting his knee right in the game when Verjanin returned. In the end, it was only a fifth place for the Virkaja team, after one of the worst second halves of the League. The 1981/82 season then ran under the motto "Revenge from Above", and it took off well immediately. The fourth-round prestige victory over Pawlograd gave Virkaja a lead that it would expand two weeks later with an away victory over first pursuitor Admiral Storevik. From this moment on, Virkaja never gave up the lead and Aviator won its sixth title. It seemed as if the team had managed to form another dynasty. In 1983, finally, Olaf Jurtamäki retired, now aged 37. This led to a change in tactics, as Jurtamäki never really seemed to fit into the four-man-defense and tended to enjoy greater liberties. The now enforced stricter defense tactics led to a great improvement in the defensive realm, and in consequence, the end of the season again saw Aviator on the top. This made them a seven-time champion, and in a heartwarming ceremony, the captain of the 1955 cup winners and 1962 League champions, Teemu Laine, handed the trophy to his son Rysto Laine. He was selected to play as captain only in the final match in order to make this possible, and the Laine remain the only family to have father and son win a League title for Aviator.

The professionalisation did not affect Aviator's results in a positive way, but it led to the construction of a new stadium in 1993, the Flygvafnetstadion (Air Force stadium) and the renaming of the club to Savojars Vinge Virkaja (Savojar's Wing) in order to reflect the turn away from the "Sumanen selection" approach to team building. The following seasons saw SVV in trouble, and while the new stadium did boost attendance measured in percentage, the 90s were not as successful as past times were. The stadium had been a resizing thing, from the massive old 80'000-seater to a more appropriate 47'000-place all-seater. This decision proved to be right, as it was now filled for almost every match. The fans resisted the decision to make it an all-seater, and in a concession the stadium received a small standing section, but with the condition that there would be no increase in capacity. Nevertheless, derbies likely attract up to 50'000 people against the actual capacity rules. In the 2000s, the team seemed to be finally feeling the effect of the new stadium. After losing the 2000 championship narrowly, they returned in 2001 with the first title as SVV. This proved to be an important development in the long run, as the victory encouraged the responsibles to pursue the All-Savojarna strategy they chose. The installment of a country-wide scouting network paid off: When the team won their ninth title in 2011, almost half of it were from its own network of youth players. It seemed that the team would head into the new century on a high when the tenth title followed 2014 and the team became the fourth club to receive a star, but it wouldn't be for long. 2016, an embarassing and unexplicable 12th place was the result, and in the new SFS, the team seems to get nowhere. At half time, it seems more likely that they will be relegated than play for the championship.

[Chromatika]

That was definitely not the result that this team was looking for after a strong showing against Nephara. The hope was that the momentum would carry over and the U-21 Chromatiks would handle Tamikosan with ease, and get out of the group in first place. Alas, that was not to be. True, the offense led by Miranda "Lightning" Gail and Kéìrâ Andísorí picked up where they left off, scoring three goals, one off the captain's foot, One from Karin Zielinski and a neat strike by Ga-yeong Han. However, there were some fundamental problems when defending with the chemistry not quite in place. Ria was too exposed at many moments, and ended up yielding three more goals. This does mean that they yielded an astonishing seven goals, which is definitely not Chromatik football by any means.

Incorporating the new players to the lineup that came from different background was definitely interesting. Hearing the stories of how Lightning and Mimi grew up as then-Red laborers, without books or education, without the opportunities provided to everyone else was definitely something that everyone needed to know. They had heard of how bad the Chromatik Party had been, but to see things outright was different.

Abanhfleft is the next opponent, and comes in sporting a two win and one draw record with four goals scored and one given up. Definitely, the team is more defensive and less offensive; it should be interesting to see how the two teams' strengths collide.

And how much further Kéìrâ Andísorí can carry them.

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ History Meets Promise

The Young Wanderers had nothing to play for and were playing a trio of their reserves and yet still they found a way to grind out a gritty victory against Ethane, who needed but a draw to ensure their own qualification to the next round. However despite the circumstances that surrounded the match, the squad still had the tenacity to find a way to seek out a victory and give themselves the group title and presumably the easier match in the first knockout round. The two to one scoreline and that the Young Wanderers needed a goal in the eighty-forth minute is just a testament to how strongly Ethane played against our side, yet Schwarz' late heroics saw her and the entire team emerge victorious but the scoreboard showed that Ethane too would be progressing as Schottia had only been able to best Boring Paradise by a single goal, leaving Ethane ahead by the thin margins that is the goal difference tiebreaker.

What is there to say about the match, that can't be summed up outside that it was gritty contest of two sides who were both were surprisingly going all out for the victory. One might have been wise to think that Ethane would have had the upper hand in the match, however the Young Wanderers were out to prove that they were more than a side that just relied on two or three players for victory, that they were an entire team of quality talent. Matthias Maur in particular had a great game bossing the middle of the park, though that is his usual role even when Feierabend as his central partner. However Maur was there covering when the team spilled possession or the backline looked that it was about to break, was there in support on the attack to give the strikers another outlet. It is no wonder that the midfielder was given man of the match with that sort of performance.

In the absence of the clinical and technical brilliance of Romano and Ferirabend, the Wanderers had to scrape and fight for their goals, and thus it was rather fitting that the first came off a free kick with Neci Földessy getting his head on the end of the inswinger to bring the Wanderers back after they let in an early goal to their foes. Then of course was Schwarz' late strike from outside the box that allowed the substitute striker to get her name on the scoresheet but it wouldn't have happened had it not been for Maur's hard defensive work in the middle and vision to get the agile striker in on net. That sort of grit will likely do the side good as the matches become even more difficult and the competition scale begins to rise exponentially in each passing round of the tournament.

Which begins in the upcoming match as the Young Wanderers will be taking on a perky side in the form of Mercedini, who are perhaps lucky to have gotten this far. All the same, one merely has too look at the Mercedini record and squad and know that they pose a difficult challenge but they have plenty of exposable flaws, particularly in their defense where they are giving up nearly two goals a game. When one takes into account that they had a clean sheet against HUElavia, one of the tournament's worst teams, then you get a real sense that Mercedini can be caught out quite easily. That being said, their attack is as good as anyone else who has managed to advance into the knockouts, though they are green behind the ears and perhaps do not know any better that they shouldn't be doing this well. That presents a greater challenge than one could quantify, but so does the experience that Pasargan youth squads have in the DBC, and which should go a long way in helping to secure a journey to the Quarterfinals for this experimental squad.

[Ceni]

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CENI DIDN'T PLAY LIKE A CHAMPION AGAINST THE REDVALE
Could be portentous for Round of 16 tie against Savojarna

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Ceni most definitely did not get the result it was looking for against the Redvale in the third match of group stage play in Di Bradini Cup 39 - meaning that Ceni has had the worst group stage in its history ever since DBC 36, where the national federation, despite riding off a final run the previous cycle, sent a team of amateurs, causing the team to go 0-1-2. Although this group stage performance certainly isn't as bad as that of DBC 36, it does have some striking similarities to that campaign, and it could be a portentous omen for Ceni's chances in its Round of 16 tie against the nation of Savojarna, previously unknown on the international footballing circuit.

First of all, let's examine the similarities - and the differences - with the group stage campaign of Thirty-Six (or Thirty-Sux, as it is known in some circles). For one, this team is relatively understrength compared to the team the previous cycle that moved well into the knockout rounds of the tournament - in 35, Ceni had reached the final, while in 38, Ceni had won the title overall; in 36, however, the team was mainly amateurs, as opposed to professional players who had won the title in 35, while in 39, the Cenian football federation decided to remove some of the main attacking threats - Arrowsword and del Toro - from the lineup due to their national team caps, while other important players - such as Juan Pablo Morales - have aged out. Furthermore, Ceni drew with worse opposition both times - in 36, it drew with Taeshan, which didn't even bother to send a roster of who was competing, and in 39, it drew with Mattijana, which was participating in its first Di Bradini Cup and were obviously not the defending champions. But the similarities end there - this team is mostly professionals, and they still have much of their roster from the title-winning run in 38, as opposed to the team in 36, which had no turnover from the previous event. Arguably, too, this campaign has better coaching, in the form of Peter Petrossian.

The match against The Redvale was perhaps a microcosm of how Ceni's DBC team has been facing some problems, in particular the counterattack. That narrative dominated the theme of the match against Mattijana - and again, it dominated the theme of the match against The Redvale. Ceni could simply not keep up with both teams' counterattacks after unsuccessful attacking runs because much of the team is so far forward in the field, while not focusing as much effort on the defensive side - leaving the goal mostly undefended, with only 3 defenders and one goalkeeper, Luke Khasek, who appeared to make some elementary errors in defending against these counterattacks. Furthermore, Ceni had to deal with the narrative of possession - how it didn't result in all that many goals for Ceni in either the Mattijana or Redvale games. Ceni had the most possession - and, for that matter, the most shots - in both games, yet could not convert that possession or those shots into goals at all, thanks to either defending or poor attacking, however you look at it. Finally, Ceni was perhaps a *tad* bit too overconfident, while Mattijana and The Redvale both played to win. In the end, both teams were able to exploit Cenian weaknesses to score goals, and it's obvious that Ceni did not play like a champion in either of those games.

Finally, let's take a look at Savojarna - the upcoming Round of 16 opponent. They have a very defensive style - in fact, they did not concede a single goal throughout the group stage, while only managing to score one (their record was 1-2-0 - with the only goal scored in a win over Dylecte). They have six defenders (well, four defenders and two defensive midfielders) - meaning that it will be exceedingly hard to penetrate the Savojarnan defense, while on the other hand, it will be exceedingly hard for Savojarna's lone striker to score a goal against Ceni. Then again, we said that about Gregoryisgodistan, and they managed to score a goal against Ceni to win, while not allowing the Cenian offense to penetrate. So it appears that Savojarna will likely win by the score of 1-0 - considering Ceni's poor attacking play and the state of the Savojarnan defense.

[Valanora]

Round of Sixteen
Pasarga 1–0 Mercedini
Royal Kingdom of Quebec 0–3 Super-Llamaland
Qasden 2–0 Gadirya
Cosumar 0–1 Ethane
Abanhfleft 3–0 Chromatika
Savojarna 1–2 Ceni
The Redvale 5–3 San Jose Guayabal
Nephara 1–0 Prusy Krolewskie


Quarterfinal Fixtures
Pasarga v Super-Llamaland @ Donna Cathedral, Mar Sara
Qasden v Ethane @ Hellgate, Raynor City
Abanhfleft v Ceni @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
The Redvale v Nephara @ Hatire Memorial, Capri

[The Redvale]

VIBES
Sports news by and for the fans

Little Devils: Following the young Red Demons in their World Cup
Part Three
Article by Liv Neri, former soldier and fan of all things Markham

Before the match against the defending champions, Ceni, Fabien Endrizzi had a simple message for everyone on the team. Instead of delivering it to them after training, when they would be tired and not necessarily focused on what he was saying, he called them all into a room on their off day before the match to deliver his final thoughts before game day. What he was saying wasn’t complicated, but it was profound. According to the players I talked to, he told them that the only players he wanted on this team were ones that want to be here. Ones that value being on the squad and helping the team win through fulfilling their role more than they value their playing time. He warned everyone that he didn’t want any more antics from players like Felix Bando, and he didn’t want anything else happening like the incident between Maura Rush and Mark Fajardo.

‘Play like you want to be here’ was the big message in that final team meeting, and maybe that was what pushed the Red Demons to victory. A reminder that even the players on the bench had a role, and that if they were unhappy about it, they were able to get up and leave. Nobody was forcing them to stay, and Fabien reminded everyone of that and told them that they were free to go if they were unhappy. The move was designed to end the infighting between the starters and the reserves, but surprisingly, nobody left. The reminder seemed to be enough, and for the first time, there was a day before a match where there weren’t any big arguments between the first and second string players. This, perhaps, is the advantage to having a manager with experience at the top levels. Being a manager who’s won the R League with players that weren’t viewed as world beaters, Endrizzi has always been good at using player psychology to gain an advantage. He’s always had to manage team chemistry well to make up for having less talent than other managers.

Speaking of Fabien Endrizzi, the off day before the Ceni match was when he met with his club players Park Sang Chul, Lindsey Calderon, and Nina Herrera to talk about their futures. All three players last played for the Redvali Youth Championship winning Midland Bluesox, and will need to find new clubs after the tournament as all three of them will be turning nineteen by the next season and therefore will be too old for the RYC. While Endrizzi has always taken good care of his players, he has a special interest in these three because of the way they led his title winning Bluesox team and proved to the nation that his tactics aren’t outdated. During the meeting, Endrizzi talked to the three about potential destinations, and suggested some clubs where he could use his influence to set up good contracts for them. One of the clubs that was brought up was Castle United, the rising second division team that’s quickly moving to the top league because of Bay Athletics investing in them. Another name was Karakosa BK, the record champions from the Endelosi league, who develop talent well with their expensive facilities and great backroom staff.

While the three, and their three big name teammates who aren’t on the squad, originally planned on playing together, they agreed that it might be better to split up because they have different plans for their careers. Nina Herrera only wanted to play in Redvale, or for a big name club abroad; Park Sang Chul was extremely interested in signing for a year with Karakosa to boost his stock with other clubs before trying to hop to a bigger club. Lindsey Calderon was set on rejecting the contract offer from her sister’s club, FC Maris Ladies, to join their rivals from Janford to blaze her own trail. She said that she had almost made up her mind and that it would take a lot to convince her not to join the Janford Roses. And while the three were very close off of the pitch, their plans on it just couldn’t meet. Park had become very set on KBK after hearing from Fabien about how much money he could make on a short contract to boost his stock. Nina still wanted to keep her options open, but she knew that the Women’s EndeLiga wasn’t for her.

Their teammate, libero Mylo Dietrich, was set to join Anthor’s Bankfoot Bears, but the rest of the Midland Six didn’t want to go there and it was likely that the group would find themselves breaking up much faster than they expected. And Renato Moleiro, the most controversial omission from the national squad, is linked with Florence Boldclub, from Bonesea. His aggression and physicality in addition to his exceptional fitness has made him well suited to the style of play over in that country, and it’s unlikely that any of the others will follow him due to not being as well suited to that style. Moleiro is a rough prospect, one that will take more time to develop than someone like Park Sang Chul, and that’s another reason why they’ll likely split up. Vic Tanner, too, is likely to leave for another club than his teammates, even though he’s not as rough of a prospect and Moleiro is. There’s a good chance that he finds himself heading back home to Markham to revitalize a struggling Markham Armor team.

Whatever happens, Fabien reminded the players that their performances in the Di Bradini Cup will play a large role in deciding how much interest they get from teams, both domestic and foreign. Great performances against the best competition are a way to become instantly famous, while playing poorly on a big stage can quickly demolish someone’s reputation with scouts. It’s not necessarily fair, but Endrizzi reminded everyone that it’s how things work, for better or worse. But if the Midland Six can keep playing the way they’ve been playing, especially the three of them on the U-21 team, they won’t have to worry about losing reputation. Right now for Park Sang Chul, Lindsey Calderon, and Nina Herrera, there’s much more to gain than to lose.

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The scene before the Ceni match was certainly dramatic. The players were standing in a line for the anthems, and behind the southern goal, the Redvali fans were gathered. There were hundreds of hardcore supporters that had made the trip, after the youth team proved to be much better than the senior team so far. The sky was shifting from day to night, casting an evening glow over the proceedings, and the Red Demons were debuting their new all black alternate kits, from Bay Athletics. The Cenian players looked like they had been here and done this before, but for the Redvali players, this was all knew. Most of them looked like they could barely believe that they were on the same pitch as the defending youth champs, except for their superstars. Park Sang Chul and Hiroyo Nunez had both played in matches that they believed to be bigger ones, and they had calm, almost emotionless expressions as the teams got ready to start.

When the ball was kicked off, it was immediately clear that Fabien Endrizzi had a tactical surprise up his sleeve for the champs. Instead of coming out in the usual Redvali formation, the Demons played with a low block and held their midfield back, with Park Sang Chul playing as a false nine or center fielder under Hiroyo Nunez, who took over as lone striker up top. While defensive formations are typically associated with having a lot of players in the back, Endrizzi played very defensively through having the midfielders play very low and do just as much defensive work as the actual defenders did. Instead of focusing on getting into good position for chance creation, they backed down and kept themselves in position to make defensive plays. Aferic Esumi was finally let loose and given free reign to defend, and he had his biggest game of the tournament despite not scoring or assisting. He was all over the place, making bone crunching tackles one moment and holding up the ball and using his physical strength to keep it away from the Cenians in the next.

Annamarie Janzen-Hara also returned to her libero role, and instead of lining up high like an attacking midfielder, she set up behind the first defensive line and acted as a bridge between them and the centerbacks. Like Esumi, she was all over the place, roaming around and sometimes switching positions and using her own unique brand of athleticism to locate the most dangerous attacking players and key in on defending them. Hara proved her versatility when she mastered that role, locking onto Ben Lorennion for many of his attacking runs and making him a complete non factor when he was matched up one on one with her. While Hara could use some improvement with her finer technical skills and definitely with her attitude, her one big strength is that she has freakish athleticism despite being of an average size, and her powerful legs and dense midsection are traits that help her in both attacking and defending.

The two forwards, Park Sang Chul and Hiroyo Nunez, focused on defending too. They were an absolute menace to the Cenian back line, swooping in whenever the ball was in the back of the formation to disrupt the passing play from the back and force them into mistakes. Those mistakes would lead to the Redvale’s goals, and they would also be the reason why Ceni finished with more than sixty percent of the possession and only one goal to show for it. Nunez aggressively went after Miri Windtide, using her height to pressure the defender’s clearances at every possible chance. Hiroyo wasn’t spending this match hunting for a goal, she was trying to force the back line into making a mistake. A goal would just be an added bonus. Hiroyo would get her payoff for pressuring the back line, but before that, Ceni would strike first.

Marc-Andre Onasi is one of the few players that has a height advantage on central defender Nicolai Carrera de Maris, with the Redvali defender standing at six foot three and Onasi standing at six foot four, and he used that height advantage to his benefit when he managed to get behind the first line and past a distracted AJ Hara. The height came into play when he received a volley inside from Sofia Falcon, who got the ball away just before Aferic Esumi could jump into her path to knock the volley down. Both the defender and the winger would go for the ball, but Carrera de Maris would lose the matchup and allow Onasi to take control of it and blast a fast shot past Mark Fajardo, who would then scream at him for allowing Onasi to win the header in the first place. Twelve minutes in, and Ceni was leading. Everyone thought that the new money upstarts were folding under the pressure of facing the champions, but their resolve turned out to be much stronger than that.

While some managers would immediately chase a goal to get back in the match, Fabien was patient. His team had already qualified, after all. They didn’t need the win. He realized that in the long run, it would be better to stick with the tactical style that they had started with, because even though a temporary lapse in concentration had cost them the goal, the style was still well suited for the match. The fans would be very happy in the end that Endrizzi did stick with the less attractive style instead of going on the attack to try to get the equalizer. After a quiet twenty minutes, the Demons would find their equalizer in the thirty third minute after Endrizzi waved AJ Hara forward and gave her the freedom to return to her attacking libero role closer to the forwards. As an attacking libero, Hara plays her best football. When playing teams employing man marking, she drags her defenders out of position, finds herself in favorable matchups, and opens up holes for her teammates all over the pitch. You can even say that libero is the most important position in any Endrizzi managed team because of the mismatches that the libero creates that benefit other positions.

In the thirty third minute, one of those mismatches proved to be valuable for the Demons. AJ switched to left back, something she had been doing a lot over the course of the tournament, and she took advantage of the Cenian defense being weaker on that side because Simeon Norwood, the usual left back, is less athletic and less of a threat to attack. Before Ceni could adapt and make a switch of their own to make up for the formation change from the Redvalis, AJ managed to get free on the wing after winning the ball, and she was much faster in transition than any of the close defenders were. Seeing the incoming run from the wing, Hiroyo Nunez started her own run against Miri Windtide, charging at the defender and Cenian captain as AJ crossed the ball just before Hiroyo crossed the offside line. The ball actually went past her, but she managed to use a foot to knock it back in front of her, and she only took two steps before shooting from range towards the bottom right corner and scoring successfully to tie the match up. Notably, the two other defenders in the area were occupied by Park Sang Chul and his run forward that was happening at the same time.

The match was 1-1 at halftime, and while Ceni had dominated possession, they were under pressure every time their back line tried to distribute the ball, and their midfield was having trouble passing beyond the low block of the Red Demons. It was anyone’s game at the half, and despite not being in the lead, the Demons went into the locker room acting like they were up. There was a confidence and swagger to this team that was hard to describe, but it was clear from being around the players. They were past the stage of being shellshocked that they were on the same pitch as one of the great footballing nations. Now, they were back to the mentality that when they played their best, they were untouchable.

At halftime, Fabien let Marcelo go over the tactical adjustments and only talked to the team about the way he wanted them to act mentally. He delivered a few short messages, telling them the same things that he had been telling them all tournament; show no fear, attack the weak points in defense with precision and direction, and focus on reducing mistakes made with individual decisions. He also brought up something new, the fact that the entire world would be watching them. He reminded them that they would be in much better positioning for professional contracts if they put on a good showing against top talent. During halftime, however, the medical staff checked out Lindsey Calderon’s right knee and decided that it would be better for her not to play in the second half after colliding with her own teammate, Aferic Esumi, with a few minutes left in the half. Replacing her as the first center midfielder was Cora Blazen, the superstar of Sporting Women who had been controversially left out of the starting eleven in every match. Blazen was making her first appearance during this tournament, and she was quite loud about mentioning that she deserved to play earlier.

When the second half started, things slowed down as both teams committed less to the attack and waited for the other to get out of position, so they could strike and try to get the winning goal. But the Demons weren’t going to be the first ones to blink. They were content to keep playing the low block. Fabien wanted the win, but he acted tactically as if he was playing for a draw, because he knew that if he continued in that style, his team would get at least one good chance to grab the win on a mistake from the opposition. That happened, but it didn’t happen until very late in the match, after the Demons had put on a masterclass at absorbing pressure as their midfield put in a solid defensive performance and their forwards pressured the defenders, especially the central ones.

The pressure was the reason behind the late winning goal, which came in the eighty seventh minute of the match, when everyone thought that it was going to finish as a draw. The Demons were sitting back and their midfield was playing for the draw instead of going forward, but Park Sang Chul found himself in position to pressure a clearance after Aferic Esumi booted a long ball down the pitch that was recovered by the defense. Astara Kahn attempted to volley the ball out of the danger area, but Park made a leaping deflection that knocked the ball behind her, and then he was in position to make a run through the middle of the back three to challenge Luke Khasek in goal. Park could have shot the ball, but instead of taking his chances with it being saved, he cut hard to the left side and switched to dribbling with his left foot, as Khasek dove right to prepare for the right footed shot. And that move allowed Park to tap the ball behind him and into goal, for the lead with not much time to play.

Perhaps more interesting than the goal was the celebration. Park ran to Hiroyo Nunez, his strike partner and one of his closest friends on the squad, and pulled a necklace from under his jersey and offered it to her. There was some debate from pundits over what he said to her, but the players all told me that he was asking to be her girlfriend. With rumors that Park was dating Nina Herrera, that was certainly an interesting development off the pitch. The two will practically be a celebrity couple, with Park becoming famous for his play and Hiroyo already being well known for being the daughter of current Glenham Athletic striker Aki Nunez, who was bought by FC Maris Ladies as a sixteen year old from Glenham for eight million drachmas. At six foot eight, Nunez was always an X factor for FCML, before her dispute with Sofia Cruze and Shay Hara led to her transfer to Handon United. You could even say she’s more famous than Park, even though Park has had more international success.

Not long after that celebration, there would be two minutes of extra time before the final whistle was blown and the match concluded with the Redvale taking the 2-1 win. The celebration on the pitch was wild afterwards, and for good reason. They had played in their first real test and they had responded to facing competition that was more athletic very well, shutting down the top Cenian players and minimizing mistakes on their own end, while maximizing them on the opposition’s side. Another test, however, would be next. It was a historic test that would see if the Demons could do it when the lights were the brightest, in a match that matters in the long run.