World Cup 78 - Roleplay Thread

by **Turori** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:36 am

Cocoa-bo, an establishment taking its name directly from the beloved national animal of Turori, started as a small dessert shop in Kionao. However, it was only after they added chocolate topped drinks to their menu that their popularity started to soar. As more and more patrons scooped up their chocolate flavored pick-me-ups, demand for the Cocoa-bo product skyrocketed and soon new franchised locations were popping up all throughout Turori. Shifting to more of a social 'hang-out' then just a casual place to drop in, get a dessert, and leave, the new locations started adding small foods such as Bagels for the morning, Soups and Sandwiches for Lunch or Dinner and Salads for the entire day. Cocoa-bo has expanded outside of Vilita & Turori. Their first regional location was opened in Andossa Se Mitrin Vega and the company continues to explore avenues to further increase its image, expanding the company footprint across Atlantian Oceania and beyond.

Cocoa-bo is now taking its latest marketing campaign, "Everything's Better With Cocoa-bo" on the road along with the Turori National Team, bringing to bus stops, digital screens and social outlets the image of the host countries flag and backstory 'altered' to show how it would be "Better with Cocoabo"...

...After a mini-campaign highlighting how six of the seven prospective host nations that have submitted bids in whole or part to host the 70th Cup of Harmony competition would actually not be better with the inclusion of Cocoabo, Cocoa-bo has turned the ship around and begun a push to show how Cocoabo, and Cocoa-bo, would actually go quite while out on the high seas...

Bonesea

Every once in a blue moon, a dastardly looking vessel can be seen off in the distance. Some call it a merchants mirage. Others call it 'The last great vessel of the high seas'. Traveling from afar in search of... well, who knows what... but how could it be so great, one must ask, if it didn't have Cocoa-bo to go with it?

With the Turori National Team just one point away from securing a place in the World Cup Finals in Cosumar and Bonesea - with one match to play, it is only natural for Cocoa-bo to begin putting feelers out to understand what it would take to bring their product along with them should the Citizen Squad pull through and collect the requisite point to bring the Turori National Team back to the World Cup Finals in search for their first positive result in the World Cup Finals since qualifying and recording a single victory en route to a group stage exit during World Cup 74. With a pair of Cup of Harmony appearances since then, Cocoa-bo, and the Cocoa-bo were looking for more.

Of course, having just contested the 69th Cup of Harmony during the World Cup 76 cycle in Cosumar, Cocoa-bo; and the Cocoabo; were already quite familiar with the land of the blue-skinned Vloo. But Bonesea, on the other hand, presented a challenge that Cocoa-bo - and the Cocoabo had never before attempted to tackle.

In a geological sense, Bonesea is a young island. Perhaps, an unpredictable island. How would a Cocoa-bo location fair in such an unpredictable geologic environment? What of the Cocoabo? Would they be able to handle the long trips across the Enness Sea? Do the Cocoabo have Sea Legs? Would the harsh cool climate - both out on the open seas... and on the little blip of a land mass sprouting up amongst the blue... be too much for Turori's favorite fauna?

Of course. There was only one way to find out. Bonesfolk have been making their way across the seas to the shores of Vilita & Turori for some time now from the audaciously bred Candy Banda to Napolean and now it is rumored that Ruan Milan and Newlyn Glaze will be calling the Vilitan Cove their home for at least the foreseeable future. Now it was time for a trip in the other direction. The Vilitan National Team have already punched their ticket. So how about it Turori? Wouldn't Bonesea be better with Cocoabo?

by **Nephara** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 4:21 am

Sargossa 3-5 Nephara
(4-3-3) 20 - Tsattalios; 2 - Rafford, 5 - Konoval, 6 - Scharner, 3 - Lohengrin; 8 - Tarashaj, 4 - Rainsford (c), 14 - Gosforth (15 - Rowan 78'); 7 - Szalai (13 - Bereveskos 70'), 17 - Stavanger (11 - Strongbow 78'), 21 - Amokachi
Goals: Amokachi 13', Rainsford 34' pen, Gosforth 56', Scharner 76', Bereveskos 90'

Stick and carrot, stick and carrot - that's all management was. Hit 'em so much with the stick that they never see the carrot coming.
There had been a lot of cause for stick recently. Brandon could point to precisely 45 minutes of 'good performance' during his reign thus far - the second half against Mercedini. And the defence had done well against Sargossa, though the result was really, really not what it needed to be.
Fucking Tveidalen. If Sargossa beat St. Saratoga - and Sargossa really, really ought to beat St. Saratoga - Nepharim would be relying on fucking Tveidalen to bring Sargossa down.
But the Cormorants had to do the job here, first. Against Starblaydia.
Okay.
His speech was succinct, and less tense than usual. 'Play your game, lads, and you'll win'... and the players looked almost surprised. Maybe there'd been too much stick lately... but this carrot was all the more welcome for it.
So Brandon sent them out, confident they'd just get the job done. The tactics were right, the reactions were right. The squad belted out the anthem, stared down the Raiigar, strode into position and clicked into gear.
And that confidence lasted right up until the seventh minute, when Keira Matranga found the top corner from twenty-five yards.

Leona Rafford knew she was in the last-chance saloon, and that wasn't a good place to be at 22 years old.
Brandon just didn't like her. And to be fair, Rafford didn't like him, either, but he pretty clearly wasn't the kind of person who cared as long as she did the job where it counted. And she'd not really done that, enough, against Mercedini and Sargossa. Well, today was going to be different!
Today they were locked 2-2 with an opponent that wasn't going to take a single step back.
Starblaydia had scored with their first shot, and then the Cormorants had been in the ascendancy. Then Gosforth had slid in Amokachi, who'd scored. Then Starblaydia took control again and turned that, eventually, into Nauglamir forcing Tsattalios into a reflex save, and then Benson whipped in a corner and Seth Kilgallon outmuscled Malachite Scharner in a clash of colossi to head home, so it was all immaterial. And then the Cormorants dominated again, and then Rafford had gone on one of her runs, aided and abetted by the clever work of Szalai to release her further forward, and a man almost four hundred and forty-four times her age had kicked her in the shins and she'd fallen over. Helpfully, this was in the box.
Rainsford didn't miss penalties. She didn't miss here, either.
So now it was 2-2, and the game had settled into a sort of equilibrium, for now. It was settling into cautious thrust and gentle counter-thrust as the midfield scuffled about with itself, a fight which Tanith Rainsford was doing her level best to win without kicking anyone too hard, after already getting booked. It was too quiet. Rafford didn't trust it.
She was right not to.
Somehow, the ball spilled loose from a heavy touch from Tarashaj. Somehow, Zapatowski got to it first, and then so- well, very easily, actually, he released Ifil down the right, and Ifil hit it forward to Bentley, and Bentley was suddenly through on fucking goal, and he fired...
... and Tsattalios beat it down with both fists, into the dirt, but it span treacherously backwards towards the goal...
... and Rafford, brain kicking belatedly into gear and only just now realising where her legs had taken her, slid in and hooked her legs around to desperately swipe the ball away from the goal.
Then her studs caught in the net. But it was all to the good - Konoval was there and cleared the ball into the stratosphere, and then the half-time whistle blew like an old, kind friend.
Rafford took a long, deep breath. If that'd gone in, Brandon might actually have just killed all of them. She was a life-saver, she was!

Brandon had opted not to kill everyone at the half-time interval. That faith had been rewarded.
Eventually.
Starblaydia had taken the lead again. Rochella Libra had shown up after Bentley was starting to show the wear and tear of Malachite Scharner's delicate hospitality, and had had an immediate effect. When the outstanding Matranga found her on the corner of the box with an excellent diagonal ball, she fired low and hard across Tsattalios into the corner.
Gosforth struck back, though. It was simple, and beautiful - he janked past Zapotowski, nobody put pressure on him and he just cracked it into the stanchions from outside the box. And this time, for the first time all match, Nephara would take the lead. This time, Stavanger beasted Kilgallon to a corner, but could only flick it onto the far post. That was fine. Scharner was waiting.
And then the onslaught had begun.
Gosforth, Nephara's best player across the match but utterly exhausted now, came off, and so did the weary Stavanger who'd battled hard with his back to goal. On came Rowan and Strongbow who were, most importantly of all, fresh. And then they'd sat back and waited, and Starblaydia had obliged them, charging forward and crashing against the gates. Tsattalios had made just two saves to that point, but made four more in the ten minutes that followed the goal, only able to push another from Matranga onto the post... and Lohengrin and Libra came rushing for it and Libra got past Lohengrin to put the ball in the net... but only after more or less throwing Lohengrin aside. It was very Nepharim, and very disallowed.
That just made things more frantic. Lohengrin was soon given a yellow card for dragging lightning-quick and, again, fresh substitute Soronume back, a textbook professional foul, and Tarashaj kept proceedings honest by putting his studs through Zapotowski. Tsattalios took his fucking time with the goal-kicks, and he eventually earned a caution for it too.
Nepharim took a dim view of cheating, but this was gamesmanship, and as long as it got The Result, it was Different. Just as long as nobody dived or feigned injury or weakness, just as long as nobody tried to make any illusion they were trying to stop the Starblaydi from actually playing football, it was all above-board. They took their cautions as the fair cops they were...
... and then, when Nauglamir's shot took a wicked, spinning deflection off Konoval's calf...
... and Tsattalios became an instant hero by adjusting his trajectory and somehow SLAMMING himself down to his left, clutching onto the ball with both hands - it spilled just a fraction but he reclaimed it, and then, deeply off-balance, got unsteadily but quickly to his feet, because he'd seen something and, more importantly, Avathar hadn't...
... and he smashed the ball high and down the right flank, where Bereveskos was suddenly in a world of space...
... and the world was a simple place in that moment for Andrea Bereveskos, she just had to sprint. And she did, and she did, and Myhill came out to try and stop her but she hit it low, hard and with power past him into the corner.

It wasn't pretty. It wasn't a dominant performance. It was ugly, sweaty, erratic and bad-tempered. But the Nepharim themselves had proven, six years ago, that limping across the line was all the history books cared about.
They'd done their part.
Of course, it would take a miracle to make it into the Cup by this stage. But in football, miracles happened every day, didn't they?

by **Electrum** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 5:45 am

Down in the bunkers at Olympic Stadium, Centralis...

The atmosphere could not be more tense. Above the bunkers, thousands upon thousands of Electrumites poured into the garguantuan and famous stands of the Olympic Stadium, the jewel of Centralis. Today would be the most important day of all in qualifying: this was a must-win: a do or die situation. Unfortunately for the Electrumites, this was the kind of situation they were used to: clinging on for dear life during the past few qualification phases. It was just two years ago Electrum had to defeat The Andromeda Archipelago to gain entry into the World Cup proper, and six years before that, it was Garifunya who had the title of being the sacrificial lamb. This time was a far tougher and a far more experienced opponent than the Garifunyans or the Andromedans: it was Jeruselem they had to defeat. Only a perfect victory was all that was needed. Anything less - a blemish - and it would be all over, just like those identical situations several years ago.

Life as an Electrumite fan was tough: there were never any free points, and never did the Electrumites rest easy with the knowledge that they were safely qualified into the next round of competition. Jeffery Clark, the manager who had guided the Centralis Heart to a surprise Champions Cup semi-final appearance all those years ago, had his fair share of motivational speeches. But this time, he knew that this was the one that really mattered. With the football team assembled, and with just a few minutes before the team would walk onto the pitch, Clark knew they were the only team in the group so far to have defeated Jeruselem, and more spectacularly it was an away match. Admittedly, it was a fluke: Fernando bicycle kicked from 10 m away - no one thought the ball would make it, but a sudden gust threw the ball directly into the goal, allowing Electrum to sneak away with a 1-0 victory: but a victory was still a victory nonetheless. This time, they couldn't rely on luck: they had to rely and draw upon the thousands of spectators who had come to see them play the match of their lives. It was almost like a ritual, by themselves the players talked out their nervousness, and the room slowly quietened and turned towards the manager in the middle, in expectation for what he had to say.

"So it's come down to this.

When you get out on the pitch today, there is one thing I want you to remember. The feeling of victory is fleeting, but the feeling of loss is forever. When you see an opportunity you need to take it with both of your feet and run with it. We've practiced countless of times in the past week, take what you've learnt in practice onto the field and show the multiverse what you're made of.

I want you to give it your all. When you see your fellow teammate struggling, you lift them back up and you tell them what's at stake. You work together and push through the pain barrier. Life is full of barriers, but this is the only one you can force through, it is the only one that is psychological.

They say pain is temporary. They also say regret is forever. Do you know what I say? Glory is forever. Forget about regret. Seek glory, and it shall be yours."

by **Schottia** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 8:19 am

SBCNEWS Online...
Football special - The Road to Cosumar and Bonesea. Part Three

Looking at how tight some of the groups were, with four match days to go, Schottia knew they could count themselves extremely lucky to be home and hosed. While it would lack the fireworks and dramatics of some of Schottia's other World Cup qualifications, the plus side for the fans was that they would get to see some emerging talent take to the field. Lotus Park winger, Liusaidh Kella, was a late call up to the squad, having been drafted in after a recent scouting trip to Brenecia. Lionel Mah had been in the country to watch Mark Deleuze, but came away with the name Kella scribbled in his note book after watching her set up both goals.

Going through the qualifiers with a one hundred percent record would have been very special. However, Lionel Mah had made it quite clear that he wouldn't be putting that achievement above the opportunity to test out one or two fringe players.

Schottia 1–0 New Gazi
Line-up: Kurovski, Abner, Robertson, Bishop, Paul, Conjure, Bánach (J.Ünterhausen), Kennicot (James), Kella, Coultan (Soria-Luna), Renshaw (McCormack)
Goals: Kella

As Schottia welcomed New Gazi to Harbour Hill, the Connoneers still had a real chance of finishing second. As a result, the home side were in for a tough match in front of over 50,000 fans - one which pushed their winning run to the limits. Liusaidh Kella was thrown in from the start on her preferred left-sided position, with Mah keen to get a look at her over the full ninety minutes. There was also a first cap for Chris Bishop, while Anna Kurovski and James Robertson also made rare appearances. DBC stars, Dilon Bánach and Ross Renshaw were also in the starting line up, as the management team begin to think about the final-23.

In an extremely hard fought match, the inexperienced Schottia defence had a real struggle containing Amare Contee, with the striker causing them problems throughout the opening half. Kurovski was called into action several times, most notably, to turn Contee's 23rd minute header over the bar from close range. Schottia brought on Nick James at half time, and that seemed to provide a bit more balance. The Dwile Warriors winger came close to setting up Renshaw, but the Coast man blazed his shot over the bar. It was however, to be the debutant, Kella, who made herself an instant hero as she wriggled past Jac Biobaku before scoring the only goal of the game. After a very good first hour of the game, it was just as Kella looked to have gone quiet that she popped up with the all-important goal.

Super-Llamaland 3–5 Schottia
Line-up: Gould, Thompson, M.Killanen, Souter, Carlin, J.Ünterhausen, (Cummings), McDonald, E.Killanen (James), Rexmont (Kella), Soria-Luna, McCormack (Martel-Burns)
Goals: Killanen, McCormack (2), Luna, Martel-Burns

It was looking like Lionel Mah may have unearthed a gem, and Kella was indeed in the match day squad for this game, but Steven Rexmont was given the nod ahead of her for the visit to Super-Llamaland. This was a big match for the Tigers, who were looking to follow Schottia in securing their place in the finals. As we could have predicted, the group's second seeds certainly didn't make it easy Schottia, and showed they have some real quality in their ranks. It was the turn of Harry Gould to start between the sticks, with Härlighet Ligan girls, Bella Thompson and Molly Killanen drafted into the defence. There was also a first run out for Grant Carlin, the New Island defender who is making a big splash right now.

In what was a whirlwind first half, with the lead changing hands several times. With Velasquez in particular having a fair amount of joy going up against Bella Thompson, Schottia often found themselves under a fair bit of pressure in the opening forty-five. Eoin Killanen and John McCormack rocketed the Auks ahead in the opening stages, but they found themselves hauled back on both occasions by a dangerous looking Super-Llamaland. In the second half Schottia found their stride though, and put the ball past Markus Sheffield three times to get across the line comfortably. A late goal from star striker, Martel-Burns, did make the score line a little more one-sided than it was, and perhaps betrayed the true story of the match. A John McCormack double, and promising second half run-outs for Kella and James will all be positives Schottia can take from the match.

Schottia 3–2 Coraspia
Line-up: Kurovski, Watt, Doig, Ross, M.Ünterhausen, Bánach (Dornenberger), J.Ünterhausen, James, Kella (Rudden), Soria-Luna, Glendening (Brankovič)
Goals: Kella, James, Brankovič

Schottia fielded what can only be described as a 'B-Team' for this game, with stand-in captain Larry Watt the only player wearing a single digit shirt number. With the utmost respect to rock bottom side Coraspia, however, it was still a game that Schottia should be looking to win at home. There was a very good performance from Dilon Bánach in the centre, and the Handon United midfielder did well in the build up to the opening goal. Kella neatly picked up the through ball from Bánach, racing towards goal, before sliding the ball into the far corner of the net. The regional academy graduate, who also has a degree in Schottic Literature had another very good game, but Lionel Mah moved quickly to caution fan about putting too much pressure on her.

The game wasn't the resounding success Schottia would have liked to go out on, and some sloppy play very nearly let Coraspia back into the match in the second half. Brankovič came on with half an hour left though, and the Eastern Stars striker seemed to give the Auks for cutting edge in attack. The 29-year-old latched on to a cross from Chloe Rudden in the closing stages, tucking away the goal that preserved her nation's perfect record, and puts her at the forefront of the manager's thoughts.

On The Plane
There were definitely difficult decisions to be made for Lionel Mah, as he looked to squeeze 36 into 23. The starting eleven more or less picked itself and - given the way they have played over the last three years - it's been very hard for anyone to stake their claim for a starting berth. Killanen, Coultan, McDonald, and Conjure are all too good to be left out. In terms of

Marine Coast United playmaker, Camila Luna.

who makes up the lower number there are a lot of difficult decisions though. Mah is likely to only take three strikers, Martel-Burns and two others. McCormack, Brankovič, Crew, Glendening and Renshaw have all featured, and there is always the possibility that the manager could bring someone like David Hughes (FC Soessch), or Lucy Curren (Maximum Rovers) in from a standing start.

Lionel Mah will also need to make big decisions in the midfield. Christopheran born playmaker, Luna (right), will be an obvious pick and is seen as the natural successor to Coultan. The harder decision will be choosing between Bánach, Cumming, and Ünterhausen, with only two of them likely to make the cut. While Kerstin Dornenberger did well in a couple of sub appearances, she and Jim Gerrish are likely to miss out. In the wide areas, Liusaidh Kella has come in and done exceeding well, but will it have been enough to unseat either Rudden or Rexmont? Sabrefell Athletic star, Rudden, has been one of Schottia's better performers over the past decade, and we know for a fact that Mah is a big fan of Steven Rexmont. On the right wing Nick James offers something different, and you would feel that he has done enough to earn a place. Obviously, if Mah wanted to go with more experience he could call up someone like Joey Bia (Port Sebastian) or Craig O'Maramy (New Belfast Warriors) but neither were in the original 36, and it would be a risk.

The defence should be a bit more straightforward, with Mark Ünterhausen a dead cert to follow Paul and Souter into the squad as back up centre-back. Likewise in the wingback positions, it should be Abner and Molly Killanen deputising for Watt and Doig respectively. The only thing worth looking out for is whether Mah decides to forgo a midfielder in favour of Ben Ross (who can fill in there) and is had an excellent domestic season. In goals, there's always the chance that Jim Black (Lammerton) could be called back in from the wilderness, but that's unlikely. McNott, Gould and Kurovski are firm favourites to be on the plane.

There are definitely going to be one or two disappointed players, whatever happens. So with no further ado:

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 8:20 am

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WORLD CUP 78 QUALIFIERS: BONGO JOHNSON VS ABANHFLEFT
By Malik Qazizadah

Abanhfleft's Claire Osgood pursues a ball against a Bongo Johnson player. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

BONGO JOHNSON - Abanhfleft's chances of qualifying for the 78th World Cup appeared to slip even further out of their fingers after a "perfect storm" of mistakes and problems saw the Lady Revolutionaries lose to bottom of the table side Bongo Johnson through three very avoidable own goals.

Alexandra Rousseau handed the visitors an early lead as Zsofia Dolan squared the ball to her on the counter, and Dolan then doubled the Lady Revolutionaries' lead with a rasping long-range shot from outside the box which beat the Bongo Johnson keeper with its wicked curve.

But things started to go wrong for the Lady Revolutionaries in the second half when Lea Choi accidentally back-heeled into her own net while defending a rare Bongo Johnson corner, and then Patricia Foulke's back redirected a Bongo Johnson free kick right into the back of the goal to suddenly put the hosts back into the game.

Abanhfleft fought long and hard to restore their advantage but the closest that they came was when Allison Torres' free kick kissed the crossbar before going out of play.

The Fleftic collapse eventually culminated in substitute Amanda Warren, who had been benched in favor of Claire Osgood due to some muscular concerns, as Warren headed the ball past Foulke and into the top right corner while trying to defend a Bongo Johnson cross deep in stoppage time, and Alex Rousseau was dismissed in the dying seconds after she rushed at the time-wasting Bongo Johnson keeper to nip at the ball.

"The perfect storm of mistakes"
From Holly Jonasson's perspective, it seemed as if everything that could go wrong for Abanhfleft did go wrong for them during their trip to Bongo Johnson for the World Cup qualifiers.

The Lady Revolutionaries barely escaped with all three points at home thanks to a goal from Tonya Heaton but today, while every player who scored was a Fleftic player, three of them scored in the wrong goal.

It could be said that all three own goals were easily avoidable, or that it was just a matter of physics working against Abanhfleft, but Amanda Warren's attempt at a defensive header deep in stoppage time would have probably been better defended if she had just kept to her feet instead of making a diving header.

And because of her rash challenge on the Bongo Johnson keeper to attempt to nick the ball, Alexandra Rousseau will be forced to sit out another vital game against Kel Assuk, a game in which Abanhfleft must win after they drew 1-1 in the reverse fixture if the Lady Revolutionaries are to have any hope of qualifying for the World Cup once again.

Abanhfleft women's team manager Holly Jonasson: "It's just unbelievable, the manner in which we lost this game. Every player who scored is a Fleftic player but three of those players scored in the wrong end. It's the stuff of badly written comedy or tragedy. It's quite possibly the worst loss I have ever witnessed. We lost against San Jose Guayabal but at least it was they are actually better than us. This, this loss to Bongo Johnson, it's just not possible. If this was a movie then this script would be trashed immediately for being too unrealistic. But this is the result we got and we just have to accept it and look forward to the next game. Qualification is still possible but only marginally now after this loss. We can make it but we most probably won't, barring a miracle."

Abanhfleft will face Kel Assuk at the Monsanto Stadium in Releinthi for the Lady Revolutionaries' 15th game of the World Cup 78 qualifiers.

    BONGO JOHNSON 3 - 2 ABANHFLEFT
    CHOI (56' og)       ROUSSEAU (18')
  FOULKE (67' og)       DOLAN (29')
WARREN (90+2' og)

ABANHFLEFT
GK: 13 Foulke
RB: 2 Osgood (Warren - 82')
CB: 15 Hannibal
LB: 16 Heaton
RM: 5 Maynard (Vance - 69')
LM: 6 Choi
RW: 7 Prescott
CAM: 10 Torres
LW: 8 Singh
RS: 22 Dolan (Mesbros - 55')
LCB: 11 Rousseau █

STATISTICS
Possession
Bongo Johnson: 41%
Abanhfleft: 59%
Shots
Bongo Johnson: 2 (0 on target)
Abanhfleft: 11 (5 on target)
Corners
Bongo Johnson: 2
Abanhfleft: 7
Fouls
Bongo Johnson: 10
Abanhfleft: 21

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WORLD CUP 78 QUALIFIERS: ABANHFLEFT VS KEL ASSUK
By Malik Qazizadah

Abanhfleft's Miriam Hannibal celebrates her last-gasp winning goal to win all three points for Abanhfleft against Kel Assuk at the Monsanto Stadium in Releinthi. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

RELEINTHI - Abanhfleft returned to winning ways with a close-fought win against visitors Kel Assuk at the Monsanto Stadium in Releinthi, but home supporters will leave the home stadium of Arsenal de Releinthi with a sense of too little, too late as qualification for the World Cup finals seems even more remote as the days and results from other teams pass by.

The game looked set to become a tense affair with Alexandra Rousseau sitting out the game to serve her suspension from the red card she got during the game against Bongo Johnson in which Abanhfleft lost due to three own goals but the Lady Revolutionaries took the lead just a minute after the half-hour mark after Aksil Saidi-Sief rushed out of his six-yard box and brought down Zsofia Dolan with a rugby tackle that saw the Isles of Avon-based goalkeeper sent off immediately, much to the chagrin of the traveling fans. Dolan brushed herself off after some brief treatment from the medical staff and then calmly, almost contemptuously, slotted home the spot kick against replacement keeper Karim Khattabi.

The game then settled down with both teams content to keep possession and pass around the midfield until five minutes into the second half when on a rare foray into the Fleftic box Merida Vance roughly brought down Isula Azellay in the box, and the boos from the traveling fans reverberated throughout the Monsanto Stadium when the referee only showed a yellow card to the Ludogorets Markovsky Ladies midfielder when Vance had brought down Azellay with the same, if not even more force than Aksil Saidi-Sief used on Zsofia Dolan and, just like Dolan twenty minutes earlier, Azellay easily sent Victoria Carter the wrong way to equalize for his side.

It would eventually take a class effort from Amanda Warren to turn herself from the villain to the hero of the Lady Revolutionaries' fans when her angled shot was deflected by Khattabi only as far as Miriam Hannibal, who made no mistake from twelve yards away and scored in the first minute of extra time to make sure that Abanhfleft still has a shadow of a chance of qualifying for the 78th World Cup.

From villain to hero in ninety minutes
Amanda Warren was booed by the home fans from the first kickoff and every time that she touched the ball for her role that she played in Abanhfleft's stunning and heartbreaking defeat against Bongo Johnson to put the Democratic Republic's chances of qualification in complete jeopardy and, at first, it seemed to affect the Arsenal de Releinthi Ladies fullback and it showed in the quality of her play, which had declined after having been competent at worst and stellar at best during the games in which she had appeared for the Lady Revolutionaries.

But, with the scores level at 1-1 and five minutes added on to the end of the regular ninety and with Holly Jonasson seeming to throw everything up to the kitchen sink at the stubborn ten-man Kel Assuk defense, Warren finally came alive once again and participated in the attack which eventually saw Hannibal score the winning goal, as it was Warren's attempt at goal which Khattabi parried away straight at the feet of the Marinos Thimpodopoulos Women center back.

Abanhfleft women's team manager Holly Jonasson: "Oh, God, I don't know what to feel right now. We won, yes, but everyone feels as if we left it too late and we're not going to make it to the World Cup after all the results we got earlier. There are some results which I feel sure right now that people will look back on and say that this is where we lost our chance to qualify. Löpstegl and Kel Assuk away are some very painful draws. And the loss at Bongo Johnson was just heartbreaking. Just thinking about it makes me tear up again. I'm sorry, but we were simply not able to play as we liked and that will very likely cost us dearly."

Abanhfleft will face Hirvania at the Kamil Hirvoni Stadium in Hirvoni, Hirvania for the Lady Revolutionaries' final game of the World Cup 78 qualifiers. Abanhfleft must win and either Tumbra or San Jose Guayabal must drop points if Abanhfleft are to have any hope of qualifying for the 78th World Cup.

          ABANHFLEFT 2 - 1 KEL ASSUK
     DOLAN (31' pen)       AZELLAY (51' pen)
    HANNIBAL (90+1')

KEL ASSUK
GK: 1 Saidi-Sief █
RB: 2 Ouyahia (Khattabi - 30')
RCB: 3 Neqrouz
LCB: 4 Othmani
LB: 5 Azergui
CM: 6 M'Hidi (Taher - 80')
RM: 7 Hasnaoui
LM: 8 Ait Ahmed
CAM: 9 Khalej
RS: 10 Ben Hassi (Feraoun - 72')
LS: 11 Azellay

ABANHFLEFT
GK: 1 Carter
RB: 14 Warren (Osgood - 75')
CB: 15 Hannibal
LB: 16 Heaton
RM: 6 Choi
LM: 17 Vance █ (Maynard - 83')
RW: 7 Prescott
CAM: 10 Torres
LW: 8 Singh
RS: 21 Villegas (Johnson - 65')
LS: 22 Dolan

STATISTICS
Possession
Abanhfleft: 55%
Kel Assuk: 45%
Shots
Abanhfleft: 13 (5 on target)
Kel Assuk: 10 (4 on target)
Corners
Abanhfleft: 5
Kel Assuk: 5
Fouls
Abanhfleft: 17
Kel Assuk: 13

by **Flardania** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 9:10 am

Opening Theme

Bonjour et Ohayōgozaimasu Kirishima. Welcome ladies and gentleman back once more to another World Cup 78 edition of the Kitsune Report, brought to you by the Nagatomo Sports Network (NSN), sponsored by Air Pacifica, and Pocari Surge. Here at the Kitsune Report, it's all about Kirishinan sports. With football currently taking center stage and with matchday fifteen of World Cup qualifiers having been completed,135 teams continue their battle for 30 spots with 1 matchday to go. I'm your host, the fan you can count on the most, to bring you Kitsune news, Keitaaaaaaa Woo! Without any further delay let's get grooving to some world cup football once again!

Kirishima 2–1 Frejo Review:

With the Kitsunes having played their previous match against Taeshan to a draw on the road, the Kitsunes returned home to the Dreamscape Arena located in Kairaku, Koyanagi Prefecture to face Frejo. The last time the two teams met the Kitsunes won 2-0 on the road. The match was important as not too long prior, Frejo defeated Eura and the Kitsunes did not want to meet the same fate. The Kitsunes came into the game seeking to remain on top of the Group as the Kitsunes seek to enter the already qualified World Cup 78 with momentum. On the other side Frejo like every other team in Group 4 outside of Eura, was coming in seeking to play for pride. Meaning the pressure was once again mostly on the Kitsunes. Seong Mi-Soo made some changes to the starting XI with Miyoko Hojo in goal for Ai Takagawa, Son Dae-Han in for Pandazi Papadopoulos in midfield, and Miguel Tamayo in at right back for Eizan Iwamoto.

The Kitsunes attempted to strike hard and fast with a shot attempt by Guidice in the 2' minute but it was saved by the opposition goalkeeper. In the 9' the opposition took a shot on goal but it was saved by Hojo. In the resulting corner, the opposition made another shot attempt and it was once again saved by Hojo and in the second consecutive corner, the shot was off-target leading to a roar of approval from the crowd for Hojo's survival of a barrage. In the 23' minute, while the Kitsunes were passing the ball around Ako Izumi found an opening as she made a break towards goal and receiving a pass from Yabuta. Izumi took a fake shot before drilling it in past the keeper for a GOAL! to put the Kitsunes up by 1.

The opposition would try to tie the game up with shots in the 30' and 33' minutes but both were saved by Hojo.In the 37' minute Joseph Yabuta would find an opening but his shot would be deflected off of a defender for a corner. Ako Izumi would take the corner and the ball would connect with Josuke Ichikawa for the GOAL! in the 38' minute to put the Kitsunes up 2-0. Frejo tried to score again in the 44' minute but the shot was off-target. Both teams entered the half with Kirishima in the lead with a score of 2-0 with the shot attempts reading 6-4 in Frejo's favor.

In the second half, things were looking good for Kitsune fans. Kirishima was leading by the same margin they defeated Frejo but this time they were home and it seems the game was in the bag. However this time it was only the Kitsunes playing with pressure especially after their draw with Taeshan so 45 minutes was still a lot of time for things to change. The Kitsunes would start the half trying to seemingly tie Frejo's shot attempts with shots in the 48' and 54' minutes but both were off-target. In the 59' minute Frejo was awarded a corner kick in which they would score a goal to make the scoreline read 2-1 in favor of the Kitsunes. The game from that point forward was tense as the Kitsunes refused to suffer another draw. While the offense was unable to score a third goal, the defense held its end to hand the Kitsunes the win. Final score Kirishima 2, Frejo 1.

Seong Mi-Soo, had this to say following the match. "This game was a must win. It is not because we are supposed to be better than Frejo but rather for the longest time we have had to exhaust all of our resources in qualifications, barely make it to the World Cup and without any momentum, compete with teams who had an excess amount of it. We qualified early and we are able to conserve energy. Now this game that we won tonight and our final game is all about momentum and going into the World Cup looking strong. We have a simple yet also a very complicated goal. To finally escape the group stages of the World Cup something this football loving nation deserves at least once. We are making every step and calculation towards that goal but first, we need to take care of qualification. We will seek to win against New Danican end this qualification strong. "

Kirishima 2       -       1 Frejo 
A. Izumi (23')                 TBD (59')
J. Ichikawa (38')

New Danican v Kirishima Match Preview

There is almost no drama in this next match, and that's just the way I like it and it's been too long since it has been this way. Now I would much rather prefer this next match to be completely devoid of drama but beggers can't be choosers. Besides if I had one wish it wouldn't be a dramaless breeze of qualification but simply escaping the group stages of the World Cup and making a round of 16 appearance. Anyways Kirishima will travel to Grand Stadium to face New Danican. New Danican is ranked 277th in the world and the Kitsunes defeated them 4-1 last time at home. The Kitsunes has defeated them before and could do it again but New Danican had shocked many with their fourth place placing and intend to stay there. On the other hand, the Kitsunes look to take advantage of Eura's bye with a win to both win the group and enter the World Cup with some momentum. In terms of winning the Group, the Kitsunes should be able to do that as well with a draw as they lead in Goal Difference. The Kitsunes are close but can't slip up now. Until next time, Lets Go Kitsunes!

Post by: Keita Woo

by **Sargossa** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:37 am

SSM | Sargossan State Media
International Edition - Sport

On The Cusp, On The Brink

Blanco Borrayo reports from Daroca;

Throughout the campaign the Sargossan football hierarchy has been most adamant that there is no pressure on this current crop of players. Newly appointed Director of Elite Football Luís Molina insisted focus was on the future and that this campaign was about laying a solid foundation for World Cup 79. Hernán Sandoval, the FFS President laid out two, some may say, unambitious targets for the national side. He wanted to see a return to a double digit ranking and he wanted the side to finish the qualification campaign with a position in the group higher than their seeding. While coach Rafael Barrios trotted out the tired cliché that he and the squad were simply happy to take it one match at a time and see what happens. What has happened is a ten game unbeaten run and just a single defeat in the whole campaign. What has happened is that the Corsairs need a single point from a trip to the world’s 244th best side to book a place at the World Cup Finals.

The pressure is now impossible to hide and it has manifested itself in the previous four matches. Sargossa arrived in Yuezhou having scored eighteen goals in their preceding five games but, for the second time in the campaign, the unranked Red Dragons shut up shop completed and worked hard to frustrated their higher ranked opponents. Time and again a darker blue tide burst against a defense that, while lacking any real stars, was supremely well drilled and arrayed in front of a keeper with impressive athletic instincts. The whole unit played superbly and denied Sargossa a sixth straight win.

When the roadshow returned to Sargossan shores it was the home nation cast in the role of spoilers for the visit of the top seeds Nephara. And Sargossa had spoilt things for the Nepharim before, having edged them out of a place at World Cup 66. The Cormorants arrived at the vast bowl of the Independiente in the sprawling city of Goza having royally trounced the Corsairs in Treason in the first match between the sides. But in Goza Michael Brandon led the visitors, having replaced the beleaguered Amethyst Fegelein, and it was a much tighter affair, tighter to the point of outright cagey. It was a match dominated by defenses in which neither the mercurial Penumbra Amokachi nor the in-form Miguel Marí could find a way through. A point apiece was little help for either side, particularly with group leaders Starblaydia enjoying, or perhaps enduring, a bye day.

The trip to Rushmori rivals Darmen had assumed such an importance that there were those that claimed it was the most important of any of the many, many meetings between the two nations. Given that those past meetings have included quarter finals, semi-finals and, indeed, a final of the Copa Rushmori that would seem to be a stretch. But in the context of the group it was a big ‘un. And in the first forty-five minutes the Corsairs blew the All-Greens away but failed to build on Rodrigo Marcellán’s early strike. The profligacy in that half was a good sign that tension was starting to manifest itself within the Sargossan camp, with frustrated words exchanged between players and Barrios on the bench appearing far more rattled than we’ve ever seen him. The second half, inspired by the strangest cameo of the campaign, saw a Darmeni fight back. State president and former All-Green legend Tor Tong Lee made an appearance at the age of 52 and showed he’d lost none of his touch. But even the legend himself couldn’t find away passed a Corsairs side sporting the best defensive record in the group.

The defensive side may have been in rude health but at the other end the misfiring Corsairs had managed just one goal in three matches. The Estadio Bolero, were goals have rarely been in short supply, and the visit of an inexperienced St Saratoga side should have provided the perfect tonic. But, as we saw against Darmen and Yuezhou, the attacking side was laboured and a little uninspired. The visitors had conceded at a rate of more than two goals a game in Group 12 but they found their resilience in the face of a passionate crowd in Daroca. St Saratoga were on the back foot thoughout and were finally broken down nineteen minutes from time when Alejandro Vecino drilled home a knockdown from substitute Iván Mayoral. It was a goal that resulted in an almighty breath of relief sounding out across the Bolero, echoed across the wider nation, and left the Corsairs’ destiny in their own feet going into the final round of matches.

There was a set of circumstances that would have seen Sargossa advance to the Finals with a win over St Saratoga but over in Jhanna a classic was unfolding, as Nephara kept their own hopes alive with a thrilling 5 – 3 win against leaders Starblaydia. But four challengers did become three, a draw in Makongo not enough to keep Darmen in the hunt. And second seeds Mercedini took out their frustrations from an at times exasperating campaign on Tveidalen, dismantling the minnows 6 – 1 in what was their final match of qualifying.

   Group 12                             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Starblaydia                           15   10   2   3    41   21  +20    32
 2 Sargossa                              15    9   5   1    26   15  +11    32
 3 Nephara                               15    8   5   2    32   19  +13    29
 4 Mercedini                             16    8   4   4    49   31  +18    28
 5 Darmen                                15    7   5   3    33   19  +14    26
 6 Yuezhou                               15    4   2   9    18   36  −18    14
 7 St. Saratoga                          15    4   1  10    19   33  −14    13
 8 Tveidalen                             15    3   0  12    19   44  −25     9
 9 Makongo                               15    2   2  11    25   44  −19     8

The maths would suggest that, following that defeat to Nephara, leaders Starblaydia are still at risk. But a healthy advantage in goal difference on their two rivals means that surely the Purple Peril will be present at yet another World Cup Finals. Sargossa are level with the Blaydis and Nephara are three points behind, this is where the final day drama lies. A point for the Corsairs from the trip to Tveidalen and they’ll be heading to their first Finals since World Cup 72. Defeat and nervous eyes turn to Corvistone where Yuezhou will be attempting to upset the Cormorants. In one of those strange footnotes that the World Cup throws Nephara’s opponents Yuezhou have twice denied Sargossa crucial points and the Corsairs’ opposition Tveidalen, in the oddest stat of the whole campaign, have twice beaten Nephara. Who knew when this group was drawn that the respective appearances of those two sides would be quite so influential on the final reckoning.

by **Starblaydia** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:37 am

Part One: Takeaway
Part Two: Duchess
Part Three: Fidget
Part Four: Torque
Part Five: Omen
Part Six: Leap
Part Seven: Screams
Part Eight: Iota
Part Nine: Death
Part Ten: Wrong
Part Eleven: Happy
Part Twelve: Together
Part Thirteen: Sweat

Usually, the appearance of Lord-Protector of Starblaydia Julius Starblayde, Duchess of Sideria Korra Starblayde and President Tororin Halatyrion of the Starblaydi Football Association at a Starblaydia home game would not only test one's ability to spell variations of 'Starblaydia', but also command a fairly high percentage of screen time on the television broadcast.

For this particular game, Starblaydia vs Nephara, there was barely any opportunity to show the Starblaydi power trio, because right from the first minute, the action was free-flowing, fast and furious. Keira Matranga's third goal of the Qualifiers, her 20th for her country in her 67th appearance, got the game off in the manner it was to continue in: a blink-and-you'll-miss-it, rip-roaring affair where both teams were pushing for ever-more goals.

After the draw in Nephara, Ázëwyn Fëanáro's side knew they could do damage to the former World Champions, and damage they did, taking the lead twice in the first half, despite being pegged back both times. The second half, too, was full of agonising chances, missed opportunities and desperate last-ditch tackles and saves. Though Starblaydia took the lead a third time, substitute Rochella Libra from the edge of the area with her first goal of qualifying - and what a goal it was. Though knocked back to three-all, and then a goal disallowed, and then finally hit on the break in the final moments chasing the goal that would have tied it at 4-4 and sent Starblaydia through to Bonesea and Cosumar with a game to spare... Starblaydia suffered tragedy and despair.

It wasn't the goal from Andrea Bereveskos, the eighth of a breathless evening, that dumped Starblaydia to a second loss in four games, where they'd bizarrely scored sixteen goals and conceded twelve. It was in the Praetoran Box. All evening, the cameras had been catching glimpses of the Lord-Protector. Uncomfortable, pale, sweaty in the warm evening air. He had kept disappearing, leaving his seat and going back into the private suite. Then, after Bereveskos scored, after the celebrating Nepharim bench, and traveling fans, and dejected Starblaydi players, manager and crowd, we finally saw the Lord-Protector, on his feet, one hand over his heart, pain etched on his face as his body shuddered and collapsed to the floor. Julius had fallen, and the world had seen it.

They'd seen Korra rush to her father's aid, seen Halatyrion call for help and wave the first responders over, watched as the suited protection detail former a cordon around the fallen Lord-Protector. Then the world saw the from the camera by the corner flag. A different shot, any shot, as the director of the broadcast was overruled and ordered to cut away, the commentators told not to mention it, but they mentioned it anyway. Julius Starblayde was taken away by medical staff, and disappeared into the night faster than Starblaydia's hopes of victory.

by **Port Christopher** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 11:40 am

Goluta 0-2 Port Christopher
Goal: 41" Bronte, 74" Maitfield (pen)

Line up: Torrance 7, Correlo 7, Gonclaves 7, Campbell 8, Nazario-Silva 8, Bronte 7, Graham 7 (65-Kellur 5), Sanchez 8, Maitfield 9, Del Arro 7, Quiñones 6 (87-Jacques 2)

A comfortable victory on the road ensured that Port Christopher go into the final group fixture, still in with a shout of qualifying. The 2-0 win over Group 14 minnows, Goluta, means that Jim Reid's side can now secure a place in the finals with a win at home to Savojarna. By no means straightforward, but given the ups and downs they have experienced this cycle, they'll take any chance they can get. With rivals, Qasden, away to Tobiasia there's always a possibility that a draw or even a defeat could be enough, but it's not one worth holding out for.

The Sea Lions were without the services of Tony Uist and Lara Dixon for the visit to Goluta, with the former carrying a knock and the latter suspended. As a result they set up with Tom Nazario-Silva once again pushed back into the defence, and Ellie Graham covering his midfield duties. Kelsy Merchant's striker, Aurora Quiñones, filled in up front, but with reserves, Aredhel Neil and Sanchia Diaz out injured too, it was a threadbare squad.

Despite their worries, Port Christopher started the game pretty well, with Tim Maitfield and Rachel Del Arro clearly able to cause the Goluta defenders problems. Port Christopher's big league player have been very important to them over the last five years, and that was the case again in this match. There were also no signs of the defensive frailties we saw in some of the earlier fixtures, with Mike Campbell looking good alongside his new partner in crime, Nazario-Silva.

When Port Christopher finally did break the deadlock, in came through an unexpected source. After a Liam Gonclaves freekick cannoned back off the wall, it fell to Maitfield who had a crack himself. The Polaris skipper might have miss hit his strike, but it fell favourably for Maeve Bronte, who deflected in a rare international goal. After they took the lead, the visitors did what they do best, and set about defending it. Lots of quick passes and looking for the easy options while in possession, and working their socks of whenever they lost the ball -- with a narrow lead to defend, Port Christopher are as happy as a pig in shit.

With superior possession, it was only ever going to be a matter of time before Port Christopher sealed the deal, and in the seventy-fourth minute, they got their rewards. A clever ball through from Del Arro sent Quiñones in on goal, but she was upended as she went to pull the trigger. It was another yet another penalty for Port Christopher, and Tim Maitfield coolly and calmly converted into the top corner, sending the keeper the wrong way.

There was a huge sense of relief following a match in which they may well have buckled under the pressure. After fifteen matches they were still hanging in there, and what's more, their fate was in their own hands.

by **Eshan** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 2:05 pm

The Sebio Sentinel
One! More! Point!

With one final game left in the World Cup qualifying campaign, we are sitting pretty in second place, three points clear of third placed Acronius. With only one game left, only three points on the board, we can start getting the champagne out. We literally need a single point to ensure our qualification, and even if we were to lose for only the second time this tournament, we would still almost certainly qualify ahead of Acronius due to our goal differential and goals scored. Coming off a 2-0 victory, blessings to Jean-Marie Bentacur and Marshawn Mercury for scoring, and a long unbeaten streak going all the way back to a defeat against The Holy Empire (don't worry, we got back at them with a 2-0 win in our next match against them), it's hard not to feel supremely confident about our chances of progressing into the World Cup proper. We had plenty of chances to put the group away and secure qualifying, but we blew them all. Hopefully that doesn't prove to be the case here, even though the chances of that happening really are microscopic, it would be true to character if we totally blew it at the last minute. Despite our history of cocking things up, this is our moment. This is our time, this is our chance to answer the calling of the World Cup trophy. We must seize the moment, and you know that the lads will do so or die trying.

Of course, there's plenty of other things going on to capture the attention of the Echani; the 50th Presidential election is right around the corner and it's come down to Social Democrat Senator Revan Bernat and Conservative Octavian Salazaar. Bernat holds an advantage as the day approaches; the Senator holds a 55%-45% lead over the former Conservative Representative and business tycoon Salazaar. That's a lead, but a slim one, and anything can happen in Echani politics, that's part of what makes it so exciting to follow and be a part of the electorate.

Qualification for the World Cup and a new President, what a time to be alive.

by **San Jose Guayabal** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:31 pm

CHAOS

Chapter 5: Life during the blackout - Part II.

Last time, we were focused on describing the social context of the blackout, including sports and different areas that Guayabalenses are well known for participating multiversally such as football, politics, economics, et cetera. Now, it's time to focus on a really popular hobby of the Guayabalenses but rarely attributed to them internationally, a group of activities that the government supported widely in order to keep the populace entertained and busy during the five year period of the blackout, and that activity was culture, from theatre, acting, writing, poetry, etc, the list of activities is large but it was an important part of Guayabalense daily life in that times, to the point that it managed to consolidate well at this time, where the nation has already returned to Esportiva and is now involved in normal activities with the rest of nations, except for the obvious ones... Still cultural activities returned to stay with the Guayabalense nation after being somehow forgotten in the last twenty-or-so years ago.

It's needed some historical background to put this in perspective, since the early years of Spanish colonization of San José Guayabal, it was seen how the local tribes decided to adapt themselves to the usage of Spanish not by imposition of the colonizer forces, instead, they decided to do it in order to increase their knowledge via exchange with them, hence, a lot of traditional epics and histories of the native Guayabalenses is still conserved after seven hundred or more years ago, giving this culture, a considerable amount of intangible wealth. That's how many important indigenous writers such as Pedro Guardado or Anastasia María Chuy are still being considered as the precursors of the Guayabalense literary tradition and also being one of the best writers in history, with many books such as "Chronicles of the Colonization" or "Polar Adventures" (Crónicas de la civilización & Aventuras polares), that tradition was spread throughout history and continued strongly even after the war period, which helped to make it even richer, since the chronicles of several combatants were shared on books that transcended our borders and made themselves a niche among a milieu of important books in terms of popularity in Esportiva. The modernization of the nation and even sports were key to make it even richer, to the point that 65% of Guayabalenses would like to wrote a book before dying, a high percentage that rose even to 100% in certain regions such as El Roblar, a city known for their literary tradition.

That's how the literature earned itself an important position in the social scenarium of San José Guayabal, but nobody was thinking that a blackout would come and would spark again that literary soul into the Guayabalense society, that happening would inspire lots of interesting lectures and stories with varied content: From love histories, to sadness histories; going through sports, cuisine, society, politics, etc. Despite education was forgotten by the government, the values were almost printed socially and the desire to write too, hence, the literary movement known as "Renacimiento Oscuro" (Dark Renaissance) surged abruptly into the social scene. The movement was large, going from average citizens to truly influential people such as Marvin Ramírez or Joel Camargo (Real Estate investor and the other being an ex prime minister) with enough access to media in order to make their books public, taking advantage of an economic boom and lack of entertainment, reading found itself a niche into the Guayabalense daily life once again, people was buying average three books per month and reading, at least, 25 books per year, a figure that was boosted at the end of the period to the quite appreciative 52 books per year, being duplicated in only five years, which is a quite short period of time to have such surge.

Between the plethora of books released in said period, we can found "Amor bajo las sombras" (Love under the shadows) written by Camargo, in which, describes how Samuel Duarte, an 18 years old student of Law found himself under a dilemma, falling in love with a close friend of him, Mariana, of 17 years old and student of medical sciences or not; Samuel tried to convince Mariana's parents in order to allow the relationship and start to date her, something that was rejected because she hasn't the legal age for being into a free relationship by law, something that Samuel was aware of it but decided to try it. Seeing that everything was uphill, even the law that he was studying, he tried to meet her at night, without anybody's consent, being on risk of going to trial if discovered or punished by his parents, he decided to risk everything and managed to meet her several nights, until Mariana's mother discovered a love letter from Samuel at her computer, which also asked her to meet at night, something that was putting Samuel in serious risk. They met but Mariana's mother was there, and confronted Samuel, Mariana tried to ask her mother to approve the relationship but she declined, Mariana said to her mother on a last attempt "Let me be free, let me love him, let me grow up and stop trapping me on a bubble." A phrase that was being immortalized in the Guayabalense culture, as a symbol of freedom to love somebody or avoid overprotection. The book turned quickly into a bestseller and entered into the mandatory books to read in school's curricula one year after being released, the estimate of copies sold is around twenty million in three years, now that San José Guayabal opened itself to the world, there's at least one hundred million copies sold across the multiverse in five editions, being translated to 30 languages.

Perhaps that book has been the most iconic one, but the Dark Renaissance hasn't been limited to literature, instead, it has been spread in arts overall, especially in paintings and theatre. Paintings are not traditional in the Guayabalense art sphere, perhaps, it has been always underrated compared to writing, despite there has been a good amount of paintings, usually reflecting the countryside, deserts, mountains and other planets, but the Dark Renaissance made painting open their vision and expand to different situations of daily life, or reflecting the virus of that period, saudade. Paintings made by Rutilio Saavedra, Francisca Granados and Ernesto Rubalcaba managed to excel across the nation, with exclusive paintings that perfectly could go around the million dollars, since all those paintings made by the three mentioned painters are considered to be masterpieces, although, not multiversal quality, but still being worthy to be considered high-quality paints. Focusing in the most important painting, called "Tristeza" (Sadness), made by Francisca Granados, the paint is considered to be a social reflect of what people was feeling before moving and also in the first days of moving to the new plot of land, which was pure saudade, at it's biggest expression.

In this painting, it is easy to appreciate how Granados made a portrait of her daughter, one day at the evening, arguably in a winter evening due to the extra-clothing of her daughter, who seems to be frustrated and also sad, which describes the overall social situation of the time, sadness and frustration on what a group of people managed to do in order to ruin the reputation of San José Guayabal on that time, it was the collapse of the nation as we knew it, something that is confirmed by the color choice made on the background. The extra-clothing was put there to symbolize the search of comfort that people had in order to quiet down the chill of sadness and deception, as a way of safeguarding. The closed eyes go far away in the description and transcend to the spiritual plane, further away from our understanding, since it is the way how people desired to seek for God's help in order to revert the situation, in an attempt to get even more comfort, this time it was the biggest one, spiritual comfort, also, dreaming a better nation where social unity would prevail at the end, despite the struggle made initially, that can be added to the description as why the character is sleeping, because it's tired of struggle and needs to rejuvenate. The daughter also represents "La Gran Patria" (The Great Motherland) sleeping and trying to recover, in order to get more energy and start its path once again, a path that might be tortuous but will be the best for her sons and daughters.

Theatre companies were surging once again, people needed to hang on and spend some time into good activities apart from football and sports, activities that would give some social awareness and important messages to us, such as it is theatre, which reborn as well and increased its niche among citizens with constant new participations and stories tell, to the point that it massified and extended to a new modality: Communitary theatre. Despite the social situation was really limiting the material that could have been produced, the situation itself is a vast context to feature different situations and emphasize on them, from satire, comedy or reflection, a lot of topics were covered in those times and still is being covered, though, under a new conception, which tends to be satire or comedy, under the premise of "How dumb we were!" and this is proven since the theatre kind of history reconstruction plots are being so common and popular at the same time, to the point that those are being even promoted multiversally. Now going to one of the most curious productions and also the deepest one on its message: The plot made by Christian Gallardo, called "Caminando sobre el débil puente de cuerda" (Walking over the weak rope bridge) is perhaps the most interesting one to feature due to the exhaustive analysis that leaves implicitly in the plot, featuring at least eighty characters and using a lot of material to be produced, cataloging it into a quite complex plot to recreate.

Christian Gallardo struggled in order to show us a plot that features the daily life of an indigenous village called San Juán Chinautla, located on the western mountains of San José Guayabal, a village that was under the claws of saudade, depression was a constant among the people of the village, and their will to progress and move on depended on crossing a rope bridge, which was weak and risky to cross on it, something that prevented people from using it and escape from the depression of living in Chinautla. Some pessimistic people tried to convince others to avoid crossing the bridge, since it would be a risk for their lives and falling would end their lives; A life of depression and sadness wasn't something worthy to spend time, was a phrase used by those who tried to fled the village and transcend into happiness, some of those fled and managed to survive, while others died in the attempt. Then somebody returned to the village and spoke to the rest of people that leaving wasn't a good solution to finish depression, the real solution is to transcend where you are, to risk yourself where you are in order to progress at all senses, to be with your family together and enjoy, it was a mere issue of changing mentality, something that everybody accepted and tried, it worked wonderfully in the village and that's how Chinautla comes back to normal. This shows us that there's no need to leave a region to change, it's needed to make awareness of our actions so we can change.

This were the three main social movements that raised awareness of the situation among the Guayabalense citizens, who were basically exhausted of living in said conditions of isolation and saudade, which didn't helped at all, instead, the solution was to raise awareness and strive to improve, to leave mediocrity away and persevere for a new life, full of blessings and happiness, no matter who would be the neighbor nation, the future depends exclusively of each society and not in other societies, hence, we can say the Guayabalense nation could have found possibly the appropriate medicine to its sickness, so now, it's matter of time to see the citizens of this nation back into their normal activities, with a rejuvenated mentality and hunger to conquer the multiverse in sports, etc (Not a literal conquist, a moral one)

by **Mriin** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:32 pm

Maal was shaking.

The Mriin-Buyan game was in its seventieth minute. Word had just come in from Barunia.

Farfadillis won. Barunia only had six points left available to them, for thirty-four total. A win that night would put Mriin at thirty-five.

Qualification. On their second cycle.
It's not unheard of. Hell, Drawkland qualified on their first go.
But you never dare to think it'll happen to you.

Pawlo was flawless. Every shot Joren took was tracked from the first second. He's beating Solara one-on-one. Aldo didn't even try him.
Janna was playing out of her mind. Buyan possession never lasted five seconds in her half. Malia and Kalia were extensions of her will.
Unstoppable Force vs. Immovable Object looks a lot less fair when the latter effectively wins after twenty minutes.
Time kept clicking away.
Three minutes, shot is wide.
Four minutes, Pawlo reins it in.
Two minutes, Paksas strips Joren.
Thirty seconds, Pawlo charges. Aldo fucks up the chip.
Three minutes...Pawlo can't hang on!
It bounces back. Solara is there.
She gets a hoof on it. Pawlo is somehow in front of it.
It bounces back, further.
Kalia is there. She puts everything she has into it.
Dobrovolskas throws himself.
It's off his chest. It's over the goal. It's a corner.

Aldo's heart is trying to rip itself free.
Joren tells himself he's centered. He's not.
Solara is just seeing shapes.

Joren takes the kick. It flies into the mosh.
It's off Kalia. She wasn't expecting it.
Mikaucis is next to her. He tries to clear with a knee.
Malia heads it right back in.
Dobrovolskas kicks it right back out.

Suddenly, Mari has the ball.
She's past the far post. She has no idea how it got to her.
There's no-one in front of her.

Don starts to cry.

by **Soltsteed** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:48 pm

A coffee shop, Cherrygrove
17 July

“Barely a footnote.”

That’s what Bryan and his teammates had become. The press were all over the Stallions in SPAWK and through the first half of qualifying, but winning just one game out of the last seven had them dropping like rocks. Not even the Walland Daily Press, one of the team’s most vocal backers, wanted to be associated with the failing steeds.

Waiting for his cup of coffee to be finished, Bryan sat down with a copy of the local paper, conveniently stationed on a rack near the creamer and sweeteners. Flipping through to find something interesting, he came across an initiative to make the capital “the City of a Million Pigeons”.

Bryan curiosity was naturally piqued. “Two shillings for a bag of pigeon food?” Bryan questioned aloud, wondering what the hell the St Christopher City Council was thinking selling seed for next-to-nothing. “Glorious socialism, I guess,” he said with a snicker.

The other top stories were nothing too out of the ordinary. A terrorist attack in Port Michael, the government reauthorising conscription, a bike protest clogging the streets of the Palatinate, an editorial prodding fun at the latest conspiratorial ravings, celebrity bullshit and the usual rumours of Mästerheid expansion.

Bryan had to squint to find mention of the Stallions anywhere in the paper: a mere note that the team were hosting Sulsuland in Cherrygrove, an unfortunate reminder of the riots in Port Michael.

Bryan sighed as he put the paper down. Something tells me we are not going to live this down.

“A loss against Sulsuland would be humiliating,” Bryan read aloud from the paper. Tell me something I don’t know. Bryan picked up and continued: “But after a disappointing form in the second half of the qualifiers, it may just be our fate. Jan-Peter Wietdal will need to take a long hard look at this side and make some changes quickly if it is to have a hope of survival—let alone relevancy.”

A random passerby, headed on their way to the Parc des Amis, yelled out to the crowd “Nationalise the Stallions.”

Bryan grimaced. What a cruel, sick joke, he thought. What a stunt.

Given the statistical unlikelihood of miracles, it would probably take a stunt—and a brilliant one at that—to regain the lost love of Soltsteeders.

by **Qasden** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 3:52 pm

Vans and Savojars: Who we Must Rely On

18 days of pride, fear, sadness and rage, the 78th World Cup Qualifiers has brought one of the most interesting campaigns for the Qasden Vans in its 3rd cycle. In Group 14, the Vans had to face foes such as Brenecia, Port Christopher, Tobiasia and Savojarna. During both halves, Merritt and the Qads have performed exceptional compared to previous attempts, having juggled between second, third, and fourth. 2 losses to the Brenecians dented an incredible run, but the zeroes were not the ones that put TQ in such peril. Draws against Port Christopher, EEC, Yesopolitha, and Savojarna dragged the Blue-Reds out of countless points they truly desired.

And now here we are, in another country, begging for Margaret to give us grace. Wearing their white jerseys one final time in the 78 qualifiers, the Qads are facing a pivotal match at Tobiasia. The Green and Whites, a high-profile team for the first half of qualis before becoming obsolete a few days ago, are historically responsible for providing TQ their first international loss in a friendly. In Fyre, the Qads got their revenge as they pummeled Tobiasia to finish the first half in second, a prideful moment for the country. Over the second cycle, Port Christopher, the group's only known team to have participated in WC77, climbed the rungs back up and now stand as Qasden's practical oppressors. After recently drawing to Savojarna in Qad City, the Vans had reached their breakday. Meanwhile, the Blue and Green thrashed Goluta, 2-0, taking the silver spot with one game more. Enraged fans of the feline friends know that this was one of the scariest turn of events. "I can't believe it!" Said one fan as she arrived in Tobiasia, "We were gliding this whole time!".

Researches conducted by General Qasden AF Manager, Zachary Sols, and Sports Analyst, Rosie Fraiser, has shown that the Qads are more-or-less not the only ones that can help them retake the qualification spot. According to host and other nations' medias, the Vans will need a crucial win over the Tobiasians, followed by a Port Christopher defeat or draw against Savojarna, the team that put us into this mess. As Port Christopher is 1 point ahead of us, we'd still be short if they defeat their Savojar adversaries.

"We are aware of the crisis we are in," remarks Association president, Zachary Sedsten. "Sols and Merritt have made it clear to the players that winning tonight is everything if we don't want to repeat our CoH run again. Not only that, but losing is everything as well, for Port Christopher. Tonight, as we watch our players from screens in theaters and pubs, we will pray for every chance we can for Savojarna to score.". After the press conference, he sent on his CatCall™ account "Hope we win tonight. It's about time the Blue and Red see the WC." followed by #PrayForSavojarna, a hashtag resent 50,000 times in the past day.

Can Qasden defeat Tobiasia and earn the right to qualify? Or will Port Christopher seize the opportunity right at the end just like Semarland last cycle? Only one bullet will hit, so stay tuned, stay updated, and stay alert for upcoming QADANS reports, live and moving from World Cup 78!

by **Bonesea** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 4:13 pm

by **Yue Zhou** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 8:33 pm

An Yijun watched as the Red Dragons trudged off the pitch. Nephara had come in desperately needing a win to salvage qualification out of a nightmarish campaign, and although the final scoreline didn't really reflect that (Wei Haidong and Han Ruoyang combining to keep it at two rather than four or five), the Cormorants were dominant throughout the entire game. Not that it would matter, with Sargossa and Starblaydia needing only a draw to qualify ahead of them. But they were alive.

As for Yuezhou? With fourteen points out of sixteen matches, they'd been dead for a long, long time. Nobody could've expected this much to happen. But the YFA chairman had at least expected...signs of life down the stretch, a fight for the Cup of Harmony. Not this. The national team had been playing without a purpose. They couldn't afford to do that. Despite protests from Nangang, the federal government was going to go forwards with the Red Dragons. An Yijun had three more Cycles to get the Red Dragons to the World Cup. Not a lot of time, but enough.

Not with this team though, or with this coach, or with this footballing infrastructure (Yuezhou had basically none). He needed to build a team up quickly, but he was just an executive. He needed a manager.

So he picked up his phone. An Yijun called an old friend who owed him a favor. And his friend picked up on the third ring.

"This is Alex Cartwright."

by **Sulsuland** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 8:54 pm

HUh? WhAt happeN? SulSU wAs oN hiS Way tO kiCk leAtHeR BalL iN FisH neT aND suLsU Get SleEPy anD taKE a biIiIg naP. WheN SulSu wAkE uP PeopLe alL Loud AnD chEeriNg. WhEn gAmES starT? SulSU GonnA wiN thiS TimE!

by **Kolmya** » Tue Jul 11, 2017 10:02 pm

The Löptsegl Saga
”Löpt qualifying run comes to a disappointing, but not unexpected, close”
July 11th, 2017
Written by: Herjolf Kjotvisson

Goal Scorers:

‘80 Halldorsson (LOP)

‘12 Chavez (SJG)
‘38 Santos (SJG)
‘46 Palacios (SJG)
‘59 Palacios (SJG)

Tonight’s match in þingvǫllr stadium took place among an atmosphere that felt mostly resigned and relaxed. Many of the Löpt fans in attendance mostly sipped quietly on ales and meads, the crowd being mostly silent. The game was between group leaders San Jose Guayabal (12-2-3) and the somewhat mid-placed newcomers Löptsegl. The resigned mindset came from the fact that there was no qualifying on the line; it was already basically decided that the Guayabalanese were going forward, and that Löptsegl was not. Despite this, Löptsegl intended on playing almost as hard as they would as if the qualifying was on the line. The San Jose team could also relax a little bit too, knowing they would end up in the top two of Group A, thus qualifying.

It was a frosty night, despite it being summer, with the temperature dropping down to 50°F. Many of the players were in long sleeves, and Thorstar Thormodsson was wearing his iconic hat (pictured later in article). A strong wind was also blowing in from the Northwest, only adding to the chilly weather.

The game started in a normal way, with Löptsegl playing very defensively, and the Guayabalanese taking the more offensive role in the match. Only 12 minutes in, Oscar Chavez scored a goal for San Jose off a cross. Not much happened for another 26 minutes, when Santos put one past Thormodsson from a corner kick. The rest of the first half played out in a similar fashion, with the Löpt people in the stands only staying awake because of the cold, biting wind, and the warm alcohol in their stomachs.

When they returned to the pitch for the second half, the Löptsegl team knew that they were probably going to lose. San Jose Guayabal was simply a better team than them. Years of public interest in football, and a large population to draw from, had really helped propel them to the top of Group A. Almost immediately after the whistle had blown, another goal came in for the Guayabalanese, this time from Marco Palacios. Another 13 minutes went by, however, these minutes were dominated by Guayabal, as opposed to being in contention between the two sides. This offensive drive culminated in another goal for Palacios, his second of the night. The game then proceeded to relax for a while, the Guayabalanese team pulling off the offensive and trying to retain possession, owing to their 4 point lead. This allowed the home team to push up the pitch some, pressing into the opposing team’s half. Eventually, in the 80th minute, a chance came to fruition.

Æiriksson dribbled around both Oscar Chavez and Ramon Ospina, and then sent a cross to Reinn Halldorsson who then volleyed it past Ricardo Costa. A giant cheer erupted from the formerly sleepy crowd. The Löpt team had just scored on the seemingly untouchable Guayabalanese team. At this point it had been decided that a Fótbólblót was in order, basically a party. Bandyblóts were the tradition after big wins in Löpt bandy, and this spur of the moment idea was basically adapting it to football. The only difference about this blót being that no big win was obvious. However, it seemed to many of the crowd in attendance that a victory of sorts had been had. Löptsegl had established itself in international football, and not done too bad in the Baptism of Fire or the Qualifying Stage of the World Cup. This goal scored by Halldorsson felt symbolic in some ways. Maybe Löptsegl’s time would come in the future.

Immediately after the goal had been scored, a couple of young men hopped in one of their cars and headed over to one of the communal storehouses in Nordlys proper, later returning with several barrels of alcohol.

The spirits of the Löpt team had been reinvigorated by this goal, and began pressuring forward very hard. A handful of chances came in the final minutes for the Æiriksson-Halldorsson duo, however they were all saved masterfully by Ricardo Costa. The crowd was too ecstatic to care about the loss, it felt like a victory, and were excited for the after party. It was now getting fairly late into the night, and the temperature dropped even more, to around 40°F. In the spirit of friendly competition, the San Jose Guayabal team was invited to join in on the carousing...

Caption: Halldorsson (L) and Thormodsson (R) at the Fótbólblót

by **Tumbra** » Wed Jul 12, 2017 8:20 am

THE HERALD

ONWARD! BLUE LIONS QUALIFY; MAJOR PLAYERS RETIRE

- Bongo Johnson's 0-2 loss gives Blue Lions three points needed to qualify
- Robin Stoff confirms contract extension till at least World Cup 80
- Sights now set on tournament proper
- First changes afoot; Coleman, Lowe, Bielsen, Geeson all out; more expected before start of tournament
- Brooks may be out of team, unconfirmed reports suggest

GOLDLION - There were mass demonstrations of spontaneous joy in the streets on Sunday evening as Tumbra celebrated qualification to the World Cup proper for the first time in six attempts.

The Blue Lions broke their duck in magnificent fashion with a 0-2 win away at Bongo Johnson, with a Krajewski brace settling the score in favour of the Tumbrans with two minutes to go.

The chilly night match kicked off with Krajewski immediately latching on to a Rhys-Stevens long ball and hitting the ball past a befuddled goalkeeper just one and a half minutes into the game. The goal had been scored so quickly some of the Blue Lions had not even noticed and were just jogging about. The Johnsons quickly recovered, and attempted to make run ins on goal, but the day's back four of Tucker, Brooks, Keum and Reyes all made their runs worthless. Any shots that did make it through the Iron Curtain of the four found themselves blocked by Steven Haines, who was goalkeeper of the day and who was playing his final match for the Tumbran NT.

The match itself then presented itself rather uneventfully, as Tumbra went defensive in order to protect their slim one-goal lead at the break. The defensive strategy worked, for the most part - all in all, the Bongo Johnsons only managed five shots on goal out of seven.

It was not until late in the match where Krajewski made a massive solo run from the centre circle to the goalkeeper where he finished off the match with a far post shot just inside the penalty box. By then, dedicated fans who had made the long journey to the match (and had brought their transistor radios or smartphones) had heard the other scores. San Jose Guayabal had won 4-1 against Löptsegl, while Abanhfleft had won their match 1-4 against Hirvania.

And it was then that the celebrations began in the stands. Moments after the final whistle, Robin Stoff embraced John Krajewski - scorer of 17 goals this qualifying cycle - and tearfully hugged every single one of his players as the Tumbran fans celebrated both in the stands at the faraway nation and at the pubs at home.

The post-match conference confirmed every fan's hopes - there would be changes to the World Cup squad before the finals in Cosumar and Bonesea, and there would be female players in the national team for the first time ever.

That news made the other extremely important news that Stoff had signed a two-cycle extension with the team seemingly diminish in importance. In a TFA statement, the new Secretary-General Tom Kane said that the TFA were pleased that "Robin has extended his contract with the team - it shows a level of commitment and we are prepared to give him even more autonomy than was allowed under the previous administration."

Former leaders of the TFA Hugh Fry and Stephen Laurie were unavailable for comment, as they carried their belongings in shoeboxes toward their cars, evidently having been served with their notices of redundancy.

But there was heartbreak for certain fans of the national team too. Following the match, Steven Haines, William Coleman, Arnold Lowe, Justin Bielsen, Ervin Geeson and Roger Baker all announced that they were leaving the national team with immediate effect. Stoff was quick to name their replacements, suggesting he had them ready for a while now.

Steven Haines was replaced with young goalkeeper Lucien Parker, who may yet evolve into a regular first team starter once Ryan Hughes retires;

William Coleman was replaced with Luke de Coubertin, a previously unattached talent who proved himself at the final Di Bradini Cup that Tumbra attended;

Arnold Lowe was replaced with Jacob Craite, a young midfielder hailing from the northern reaches of Lackland;

Justin Bielsen was replaced with Anna Colt, thus being the first ever female player on the Tumbran NT;

Ervin Geeson was replaced with Tricia Hunt, a promising young midfielder;

Roger Baker was replaced by Elijah Adams, yet another midfielder.

While reports of who might still leave are rife, one rumour that has gained traction is that Brandon Brooks - skipper - may leave the team in favour of a young defender, as several more might do. This move might be one that may prove to be a little too far-fetched, however. Eight changes was what Stoff promised - any more might rock the boat too hard. While the nation isn't expecting too much of the 33rd ranked nation, the absence of footballing giants such as Nephara, Ceni, Abanhfleft, Red Blackiland, Barunia, Mercedini and the absence of other high-ranking nations from the tournament at all like the Unified Sunrise Islands and the Royal Kingdom of Quebec gives just a glint of hope to the Blue Lions.

The team will still be drawn in Pot 4, though they will be the top in the group. The firepower promised by John Krajewski looks set to continue into the World Cup, and he should do well in Cosumar and Bonesea.

GOAL SCORERS (list)
John Krajewski 17
Oliver Ganson 7
Robert Alexander 5
Peter Jones 4
Almar Hussein 3
Henry Butler 2
John-Rhys Stevens 1

No matter who the Blue Lions are drawn with, this team of 23 have successfully brought Tumbra to a World Cup - and that deserves as much mention as the men who stepped out onto the field all those years ago when Tumbra stepped out for their match against Garifunya at their Baptism of Fire.

This is truly an achievement to behold. Onward, Blue Lions!

Bold indicates goals scored by Tumbrans.

Kel-Assuk 2-3 Tumbra
S. Khalej 19', J. Krajewski 29', J. Krajewski 29', I. Azellay 79', O. Ganson 84'

Tumbra 2-1 Hirvania
J. Krajewski 8', J. Roknovich 88', J. Krajewski 90' + 3'

San Jose Guayabal 2-2 Tumbra
H. Butler 37', K. Santos 49', K. Santos 57', P. Jones 88'

Tumbra 1-0 Nellietopia
J. Krajewski 4'

Löptsegl 0–2 Tumbra
J. Krajewski 16', H. Butler 74'

Tumbra 2-5 Abanhfleft
A. Rosseau 16', J. Krajewski 27' (pen), L. Prescott 31', C. Stuart 51', C. Stuart 55', C. Stuart 77', O. Ganson 90' + 2'

HUElavia 0-1 Tumbra
J. Krajewski 60'

Tumbra 4-1 Bongo Johnson
BONGO JOHNSON STRIKER 7', J. Krajewski 37', O. Ganson 59', O. Ganson 74', O. Ganson 88'

Tumbra 3-1 Kel-Assuk
I. Azellay 74', P. Jones 78', P. Jones 81', R. Alexander 90'

Hirvania 0-2 Tumbra
R. Alexander 16', P. Jones 75'

Tumbra 2-4 San Jose Guayabal
E. Salomon 12', M. Palacios 37', J. Krajewski 41', J. Krajewski 44', K. Santos 67', K. Santos 83'

Nellietopia 2-4 Tumbra
NELLIETOPIA STRIKER 16', NELLIETOPIA STRIKER 19', J. Krajewski 21', R. Alexander 35', R. Alexander 35', J. Krajewski 77'

Tumbra 5-1 Löptsegl
R. Halldorsson 8', J. Krajewski 12', J. Krajewski 19', A. Hussein 29', A. Hussein 49', A. Hussein 88'

Abanhfleft 1-0 Tumbra
K. Villegas 89'

Tumbra 4-2 HUElavia
O. Ganson 6', O. Ganson 17', HUELAVIA STRIKER 37', HUELAVIA STRIKER 49', R. Alexander 62', J-R. Stevens 88'

Bongo Johnson 0-2 Tumbra
J. Krajewski 1', J. Krajewski 88'

OOC: To all potential opponents, do look out for a new roster in the Roster thread. I will probably post a new one.

by **Chromatika** » Thu Jul 13, 2017 6:38 pm

Before the Draw: The Top Ten Most Interesting Groups

Before the madness begins with the draw being supervised by delegates from Bonesea and Cosumar, and being attended by football royalty/government officials from the thirty-two nations, let us see what the top ten most interesting groups would be (the last three involving the Chromatiks). These are not listed in any order, and just reflect the thoughts and opinions of The Rebel.

To remind everyone, here are the pots, with Goals Scored to Goals Allowed in parentheses:

Pot 1: Cosumar, Bonesea, San Jose Guayabal (43:17), Vilita (44:14), Farfadillis (51:25), Valanora (42:19), Audioslavia (32:13), Valladares (48:23)
Pot 2: Chromatika (44:16), Schottia (53:17), Pasarga (33:18), Eura (40:22), Brenecia (22:5), Gregoryisgodistan (21:5), The Holy Empire (43:22), Electrum (39:20)
Pot 3: Semarland (50:21), Osarius (42:21), Damukuni (40:22), Turori (42:20), Super-Llamaland (32:20), Flardania (47:21), Ethane (41:28), Port Christopher (30:17)
Pot 4: Tumbra (39:22), Nova Anglicana (36:17), Drawkland (44:28), Eshan (41:22), Spaam (28:7), Starblaydia (42:13), Mriin (54:25), Sargossa (27:15)

1. Fireworks (Best Offense)
Farfadillis (51 goals scored)
Schottia (53 goals scored)
Semarland (50 goals scored)
Mriin (54 goals scored)

Let's get the corner started with a very prudent stat: offensive firepower. Mriin led the qualifying with an astonishing clip of three goals scored per match, and will be a fourth seed that is expected to try to outscore everyone. To no one's surprise, Farfadillis was one of the most offensive teams as well, although being in the same group as Mriin made it so that they weren't even the most offensive team in qualifying. Semarland scored fifty in a group that featured Valanora and Brigantii, not an easy feat. Schottia's undefeated qualifying campaign had a solid bit of defense but it was the scoring that truly shined. With two hundred and eight goals between the four teams, it would be a memorable one of remarkable firepower.

2. Brick Wall (Best Defense)
Audioslavia (13 goals allowed)
Gregoryisgodistan/Brenecia (5 goals allowed)
Port Christopher (17 goals allowed)
Spaam (7 goals allowed)

The Bulls of Audioslavia have been one of the most consistently defensive teams in the world, and they take the first seed with one less goal conceded than defending Champions Vilita. Gregoryisgodistan has a reputation for being hard-nosed and defensive, but the Patriots of Brenecia actually tied them for the title of the best defense during the qualifiers and the second seed for the group. Port Christopher was the best defense of the third seeds, averaging just over a goal allowed per game; Spaam, group-mates with the Foot Slaves, allowed seven goals only, a remarkable feat for a Pot Four nation. With a total of forty-two goals allowed over sixty-four games - an absurd 0.656 per game - goals would be insanely hard to come by in a group like this.

3. Esportivan Escalation (Esportivan Group)
San Jose Guayabal
Brenecia
Ethane
Tumbra

The most Esportivan group would be headed by San Jose Guayabal, now ranked #1 in the world, looking for their first title. Brenecia would be second, being the last Copa Esportiva Champions and looking stronger than ever. It's a toss up with Damukuni as to whom the third seed should be, but as Ethane is the delegate of Esportiva to the World Assembly, they get the nod. Finally, Tumbra has finally made it to the World Cup, and represents the only Esportivan fourth seed.

4. Atlantian Administration (Atlantian Oceania Group)
Vilita
Osarius
Turori
Starblaydia

In picking the most Atlantian Group, the top seed is the hardest, as five of the eight top seeds are from Atlantian Oceania. Although Audioslavia, Farfadillis, and host Cosumar are fine teams, it comes down to Vilita and Valanora. Vilita gets chosen as the Founder of the region and the defending champion, as well as being a three-time world champion, although Valanora has five titles and the last AOCAF under their name. Osarius gets the nod over Chromatika due to their two World Cup titles, while Turori beat out Semarland because though they'll always be compared to Vilita, they are a force in their own right. Starblaydia beats Mriin when it comes to being one of AO's greatest in history.

5. Hottest (Best Qualifying Record)
Valanora (42)
Schottia (48)
Semarland (42)
Spaam (40)

A group of the best qualifying records would be a doozy. Valanora and Semarland both hail from the same group, where they had forty-two each, Valanora dodging Vilita (41) and Semarland being a bit away from everyone else. Schottia almost tied with Chromatika, but remained the only nation with a perfect record. Spaam had a remarkable qualifying cycle with forty points, and would be the fourth seed.

6. Legacy (Most World Cup Championships)
Valanora (5)
The Holy Empire (4)
Osarius (2)
Starblaydia (5)

Let's pay homage to those who have won it all. Valanora have won five titles over the history of the World Cup, and are very proud of it. Starblaydia match them with five, and are the only fourth pot nation to have won any. Osarius once won back-to-back titles over World Cup 70 and 71, and are the only team in pot 3 to have won any. The Holy Empire edge out Eura's two titles to be the second pot representatives. With sixteen titles between them, and the Purple Peril facing the Marauders once more (with the Firebirds and the Dreamed Realm making an appearance), it would be a doozy to watch.

7. Independents Unite! (None-Big Three Group
Bonesea
Schottia
Flardania
Spaam

The Big Three took up 25/32 spots this time, but that meant seven nations represented regions elsewhere in the Multiverse. Bonesea, as hosts, hail from the Wide Enness Ocean, and will make fifteen other nations try to find it in the middle of the ocean, which will be an interesting feat as the Bonesfolk are reportedly three thousand miles from anywhere. Schottia, from Tyran, edge out The Holy Empire from The Dreamed Realm, as the Schottians are the next hot thing at the moment, and expected to do very well. Flardania hails from Atlas, and is the only non-Big Three nation in pot three, while Spaam edges out Drawkland and Nova Anglicana as the fourth seed representative due to their defensive style and qualifying record. Spaam hails from Wysteria.

8. Chromatik Rivalry (Nations Who're Rivals with Chromatika in Some Way)
Cosumar
Chromatika
Flardania
Drawkland

A group of nations who have a history of rivalry with Chromatika. Cosumar and Chromatika have faced a few times, with the most memorable being Chromatika's 3-2 OT win in the Quarterfinals of World Cup 76. Last time, the two were group-mates in World Cup 77 and played to a nil-nil draw; if the two were to meet again in Cosumar, it'd be another memorable match and another thrilling chapter in a budding rivalry of football. Speaking of World Cups, the first time Chromatika qualified was in World Cup 75, narrowly dodging out Flardania on the last day due to a Goals Difference tiebreaker. The Kitsunes are still bitter about that, for good reason. Drawkland would be the fourth seed for two reasons: the Chromatiks have not had any history with any other nation, and sure, we haven't played Drawkland in football either, but college basketball is a sport and the Drawkish have always had our number in that. A chance to have some revenge would be nice.

9. Chromatik Nightmare (Teams Chromatika Would Hate to Face)
Valanora
Chromatika
Port Christopher
Mriin

It would surprise no one that Valanora would top the list of nations that Chromatiks would hate to see our team go up against. Chromatika has yet to beat Valanora. Whether it be the awe or the mythos or Keira being a fan of Laborious or whatever, the Chromatks just can't get it right. Port Christopher would give the Chromatiks fits due to their effective defense, and Mriin's offense would be something to behold. It'd be a tough group, being stretched both psychologically and physically.

10. First Meetings (Teams Chromatika Has Never Faced, Interest Level Included)
Valladares
Chromatika
Turori
Starblaydia

Chromatika has already played most of the top eight. Playing the Rushmori powerhouses Valladares would be interesting. Turori and Starblaydia would provide intense historical matchups for the Chromatks, and this would be an interesting one to see how the Chromatiks would handle pure class.

by **Spaam** » Sun Jul 16, 2017 3:50 am

Margaret Abandons Spaam

The goddess Margaret has seemed to abandon Spaam in their hour of need, giving them one of the worst possible draws for the World Cup. Spaam has been drawn into Group H in the lovely nation of Bonesea, against two top ten nations and one of the form teams of the qualifying season. Joining the Orange and Black are arguably the greatest team in World Cup history, five-time champions Valanora, 8th-ranked Chromatika, who has not been beaten in almost three years, and Flardania, who dominated Group 3 in qualifying. While Spaam has been one of the form teams over the past two years, with only six teams having a better record in qualifying, three of those teams are in Group H. As a result, critics are not holding out much hope of them improving their record from their last outing on the big stage.

World Cup Preview

Valanora (4)
Valanora has won the World Cup five times and has been in the top 10 consistently for over a hundred years. With that sort of pedigree, they are always favourites to go far in the competition. In World Cup 77, they were one of the favourites, unbeaten through qualifying and the cup until the quarterfinals, where they were eventually defeated by multiverse number one, San Jose Guayabal. Valanora then managed to stay unbeaten to win the most prestigious regional competition, the AOCAF. This time, the elves have only had two losses in qualifying to record the third best performance, and are likely to at least make the quarterfinals for a second time in a row. Their only chance to lose points is Chromatika, who has been in fine form, but they should make it past the group stage. Prediction: 7 points (1st)

Chromatika (8)
While Chromatika has never made a World Cup final, most agree that it is only a matter of time. They stumbled in the group stage in World Cup 77, but they haven't been beaten at the top level since their AOCAF third-place loss to the great Audioslavia. With the second best record in qualifying, only beaten by the in-form Schottia, they will be feared by most teams that face them. Their match against Valanora in the second matchday will likely only decide in which order the two teams progress from the group stage, with this their only likely chance for a loss. Prediction: 7 points (2nd)

Flardania (29)
The Kitsune are probably feeling quite aggrieved, as their only real chance for points is against Spaam. With only one loss in qualifying to former world champions Eura, they were yet another team that was looking good coming into the World Cup, but will have to cause some major upsets to progress past the group stage. In World Cup 77 they had the same record as Spaam, failing to score a single point, but are very unlikely to suffer the same fate this time around. If they can manage to draw against Valanora and Chromatika, and beat the Orange and Black as expected, then they could sneak through to the Round of 16. Prediction: 3 points (3rd)

Spaam (38)
If there is one thing that Spaam loves to do, it is to over-perform. Few expected Spaam to qualify for World Cup 77, but they managed to sneak through, only to be comprehensively beaten in the group stage. Spaam were again underdogs this time around, going against the intimidating Gregoryisgodistan and long-time foes Krytenia. However, against conventional wisdom, they topped their group, only suffering two losses, and boasted the 7th best qualifying record. On one side, few expect Spaam to win any games, but in their defense, they have twice made the World Cup final, have only given away seven goals in qualifying, and have the legendary Alan Belmore playing for them (again). There are few darker horses than the Orange and Black, and no-one will be taking them for granted, but any point they can gain will be a positive. Prediction: 0 points (4th)

Nilmenas City Win Second Title
National League 55 Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Nilmenas City 30 24 3 3 51 20 +31 75
2 Paatukar City 30 21 4 5 56 29 +27 67
3 North Paatukar 30 16 5 9 41 34 +7 53
4 Lake Galaxy 30 15 3 12 41 32 +9 48
5 South Paatukar 30 14 4 12 34 32 +2 46
-----------------------------------------------------------------
14 North Skaganes 30 7 8 15 22 31 −9 29
15 Highbay City 30 5 11 14 26 39 −13 26
16 West Milldale 30 5 4 21 23 56 −33 19
Spaam's top goal scorer, Merlara Sehelin, has led her team to the National League Championship for the second time after a dominant season. Both Nilmenas City and their rivals Paatukar City sewed up the top two positions in the antepenultimate week, with the West Spaamanians having their best season ever. This will be doubly exciting for Sehelin's team, as they have also earnt a spot in the upcoming Champion's Cup. North Paatukar finished in third, with Lake Galaxy earning the last spot into the Globe Cup, despite losing their last game against Kurelin City. South Paatukar, in only their second year, managed to finish in 5th, and could've finished one spot higher if they hadn't lost to Paatukar City. Meanwhile, Highbay City were relegated along with West Milldale, but they will be replaced by two other East Spaam teams, avoiding the tragic scenario of having a National League without any eastern teams.
Queen Oruzaadov Cup Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Smallport 26 17 3 6 53 20 +33 54
2 South Highbay 26 12 10 4 37 20 +17 46
3 Vilsalu 26 13 7 6 24 17 +7 46
4 Taabeka United 26 15 1 10 39 36 +3 46
Smallport have become the most successful second division team, winning the Queen Oruzaadov Cup for a record third time. However, as all three of their victories have come in the past six years, they will be looking to stay in the top flight for longer than one year this time. South Highbay will replace their cross-town rivals Highbay City by managing to finish second, ahead of Vilsalu and Taabeka United on goal difference. Smallport, South Highbay and Vilsalu have all earned spots in the Series B Cup, which will be a boost for Vilsalu's captain Rawesin Holamora, one of the national team's defenders.

In the Award Ceremony, Merlara Sehelin has lost out on the Golden Boot Award for the first time in over five years, with Paatukar City striker Eris Balkas taking out the award. However, she will be receiving the Captain's Trophy for her leadership, the youngest ever recipient at only 23. Nilmenas City also took out the Golden Gloves Award, going to their keeper Salrana Permenor who only let through 20 goals in 30 games, and the Defender's Trophy, going to the Guayabalanese James Moreira. Skaganes City midfielder Malrissa Aadan took out the Midfielder's Trophy, while North Paatukar and National coach Hewelan Faaberos won the Coaches Award yet again.

by **Schottia** » Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:08 am

The North Handon Way

Part Eight.

What he would have wanted.

The Hanson-Conavacio Residence

'I'm sorry Mr Menzies,' Claire Hanson had her mobile phone pinned between her ear and her shoulder as she searched around frantically for her car keys. Somehow her life had become like a juggling act in the world's least amusing circus. 'I'll pay for any damage he caused. Really, really, I cannot apologise enough.' She looked in vain under another cushion. 'Hang on, can you hold for a second and I'll take down your bank details.' Claire put the phone on hold, before marching to the bottom of the stairs.

'LEO! LEO! CAN YOU SEND ENRICO DOWN STAIRS IF HE'S WITH YOU! WE SHOULD HAVE LEFT AN HOUR AGO!'

'Sorry about that Mr Menzies. So you're bank details.' Claire resumed her position, but this time with pen and paper at the ready. 'Wha... what do mean money won't cover it?' Claire was getting a bit het; she could feel drops of perspiration gathering on her forehead already, and they hadn't even left the house. 'Mrs Menzies, I can't do any more than apologise; there's no court in the land going to convict a six-year-old for setting fire to you daughter's doll, and... wh... huh...' Claire dropped the notepad and pen, sinking into the sofa in defeat. 'Okay, well I didn't realised that he'd then stuck in back inside her backpack... Oh, and she was wearing it at the time.' Claire had no will left to fight. 'Okay, I'll come over first think tomorrow morning and maybe we can sort this out. Sorry. Yes. Yes. Okay Mrs Menzies. Yes. Okay. Eleven-thirty will be fine. Okay. Goodbye Mrs Menzies. Goodbye.'

'ENRICO DEREK CONAVACIO, COME DOWN THOSE STAIRS AT ONCE!'

There'd not been one single second since Claire had agreed to the charity match that she hadn't regretted it. Looking back on it, she wasn't even sure if she had agreed to anything. It was more the case that she hadn't quite protested hard enough, and her sighs and groans had been interoperated as reluctant agreement, as opposed to outright opposition. Of course it had quickly become too late to cancel, as a list as long as your arm of footballers past and present had signed up. The do-gooders, the philanthropists, and the ones who perhaps felt they needed to give their Karma a top-up before the weight of their salary dragged them down to hell. What's more, her Uncle Gerry was looking forward to it, and how could she disappoint him?

It's funny how you always found things when you weren't looking for them, and Claire located her car keys partially submerged in a half eaten bowl of porridge. They were due at the stadium ten minutes ago; her husband Leonard to play football, while she the kids were there to smile and shake people's hands. She'd factored in plenty of time, knowing the pantomime that was breakfast with the Conavacvios, but inevitably, they'd still run late.

'Into that car NOW! Go! Go! Go!' The Schottia Physio held the front door open as she shooed the three of them out into the driveway. Leonanrdo with their youngest son Matteo on his arm, closely followed by a sulky faced Enrico (a stroppy teenager already, at the age of six). She wiped some off the excess porridge from the keys, and with a heavy heart, followed her family out into the world.

Elsewhere...

Somewhere, in the posh side of North Handon, Gary Corsie and Jane Cleggman were also making their way towards the stadium. Jane's driving had come on leaps and bounds in the last twenty-four hours, and they were making slow but steady progress as they meandered through the capital's leafy suburbs. A little classical music on the radio, the window open a crack, and neither had a care in the world. Gary nodded like a proud parent as his young companion smoothly negotiated a troublesome speed bump.

'Very good Jane.' Gary said calmly. 'I barely even felt that one.' He watched as the young woman struggled to keep the smile from her face. 'It's like night and day since Monday. Night, and, day!'

'I say, you wouldn't half making a cracking driving instructor.' Jane answered brightly. 'Oh and that book you leant me? It helped tremendously.' She had said on the back from their wild goose chase, just how nice it was to spend some quality time with an adult. Her father was always too busy to help, and her mother was, well... a shite mother - more interested in the bingo hall than her daughter’s driving (or anything to do with her daughter for that matter). Gary had insisted that they take the car out again that evening, and get in a little more practice; the only way to get over a fear was to confront it face on... ... ... said the man who ran away from all his troubles.

'Well, I'd need a driver's licence first.' Gary answered. Despite having millions in his bank account, the thought of driving had never appealed to him. 'I think it's the first left up here Jane. Just past the wheely bins.'

'Okay Dad... Shit! I mean Gary.' There was several seconds of awkwardness, which neither of them dared to break until they had successfully negotiated the corner. 'Sorry, all the talk about Dads earlier...' She laughed nervously, eyes fixed for dear life on the road. 'I didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. I mean, I don't think you're my Dad or anything...'

'Not at all.' Gary moved to reassure her. 'And then I think it's straight on at this junction, and first right when you get to the other side.'

'I was actually wondering if I could ask you something?' Jane waited for Gary to nod. 'You seem like a learned guy, could you perhaps look at a couple of university prospectuses for me tonight. I've been pestering my dad for weeks, but he never gets round to it.'

'Och.' Gary swotted the idea away like it was a fly. 'I wouldn't bother with any of that crap, Jane. Those bastards just suck you down, train you to think inside the box.' Gary shook his head, he was getting himself angry. 'One thing you need to realise is that educational establishments are there to control discourse, not expand it. You'd get a better education living in the woods.'

Jane kept her eyes on the road, a pensive expression on her face. 'Thanks for the advice.'

Dyerton Stadium

It was thirty minutes into the long awaited benefit match, and a packed Handon crowed were roaring the teams on. Some local bands had provided the pre-match entertainment, and there was a carnival like atmosphere in the stands. The scene was awash with banners and balloons, forming a wall of colour to see a great man off and raise money for club funds. Mr Hanson wasn't your conventional hero, he was a John Everyman; a loyal and proud supporter - a Working Class Hero. So what better way to honour his life than cramming a pitch with millionaires! Several club legends had come out of retirements to player for the Port Sebastian Select XI, while a cornucopia of big names had answered the call to arms, and taken to the field for the Barbarians. Starling girls, Keira Andisori and Estella Hawke, the infamous Hazel van Robben, and Schottic internationals Eoin Killanen, and Corinne Martel-Burns were but to name a few.

Gary was actually enjoying himself. He'd seen a fair bit of the ball, but that was okay; he was just looking for the easy passes, not trying to do anything stupid. Why couldn't all football games be like this? Wouldn't it be far more enjoyable if they didn't even keep the scores? What if it were more about having a kick about, and appreciating the ball control? The competitive element had always soiled it for him.

Some of the other players had been grumbling about the teams being too much of a mismatch; for some reason losing seemed to irk some people, and he'd never understood why. He was just trying to keep the yogic smile, and focusing on his breathing: In and out, in and out.

'What are you smirking about Beardy?' Ah Beardy, his old nickname from his Port Sebastian days. He'd almost forgotten how much he hated it. Why did people feel the need to point out his features? He didn't call anyone bald-face.

'Nothing Mark.' Gary shrugged his shoulders as he and Mark Allen trooped towards the penalty area. Leonard Conavacio had been upended, and they were getting into position before Eloisa Purinton swung in the freekick. 'I'm just happy, my friend. Try smiling yourself from time to time, it releases positive energy.' Given that he'd never seen the big striker smile once in their time together at Porty, he doubted he would start now. Mark and Gary had been part of the same title winning side twelve years ago, and had both left the club soon after. The Olympic Nassau Bay man had been a prolific striker in his day - both for club and country - but since his pace had fallen off the cliff edge, he'd found caps hard to come by.

'Just fucking concentrate!' He pointed firmly at the goal. 'We can get back into the match here with a goal.' As the striker plodded off towards the six-yard-line, Gary considered telling him that it was just a charity game, but people like Mark had already made up their mind about stuff - you couldn't tell them anything new.

Gary had always been good the air - or so he'd been told - and most coaches had him up for the corners. He couldn't have told anyone what it was made him good at heading the ball, but whenever he put some effort into jumping for it, he normally made contact. Judging the trajectory came quite easily to him, and he guessed his height and excess weight made him hard to stop when in full swing. He watched Eloisa Purinton stood over the ball ready to deliver. She had a good posture; arms akimbo showing the entire world that she meant business. The Gloriaxian was the current team captain at Porty, and had been granted permanent residence in Schottia following the outbreak of the war in her homeland. She always struck Gary as a nice girl - modest, but strong. He supposed she'd been through a lot in her career, probably makes you a bit wiser. Nice looking girl too, not flashy or in your face good looking though... would you call her handsome? Maybe..? Could a woman be handsome? Could a man be pretty..? Those tags were likely non gender specific, but all the same it felt strange to use them in the wrong order...

Shit! She was delivering the ball and Gary was locked in an internal linguistic debate. He wasn't where he was supposed to be, and he needed to move quickly. Charging in late, he seemed to take everyone on the pitch by surprise - including himself - as he connected with the ball. Chromatik defender, Luuk Aart, went flying as Gary travelled like a wrecking ball towards the front post, the ball angling off his forehead like a missile past Harry Gould and straight into the back of the net.

The first Gary knew about was Mark Allen and Lara Silverstein diving on top of him in celebration "What a goal Beardy!" As chuffed as he was to have scored, he would have dearly liked his teammates to get off his chest. Struggling for breath beneath a pile of bodies seemed scant reward for success. Maybe this was a metaphor for life... What? No it wasn't. Not everything is a metaphor Gary.

A moment later Gary's prayers were answered, although only briefly, as no sooner was he on his feet than he found himself flat on his face again. Leonardo Conavacio, bowling him over in his eagerness to make his feelings known, was now charging towards the linesman on the far side. Gary's goal had been chalked off for an infringement, and some of his teammates - Leonardo and Mark in particular - were protesting loudly. It seemed that a tension had been brewing for some time, and with no pressure release valve, Gary's disallowed goal blown the lid off. The referee was doing his best to get between them, and even Claire Hanson had made an appearance on the pitch, clutching her husband by the arm.

'It doesn't matter.' Gary did his best to intervene. 'Perhaps it just wasn't meant to be.' No one was paying a blind bit of attention to him. 'Please, gentlemen. Stop I implore!'

Scuffles were breaking out left right and centre, with a small section of the crowd goading them on. Gary watched as a six-year-old boy ran onto the pitch and kicked the referee in the kneecap. Then as he bent down clutching the injured appendage, the boy proceeded to grab a hold of his hair with both hands. The child must have been part of the Hanson-Conavacio Clan, as Gary watched while Claire carried him kicking and screaming from the pitch clutching the now-bald referee's wig.

'Stop it, please.' Gary spun on the spot, not knowing where to look. 'This isn't the way. Can we not stop and discuss this? Please.' What could he do? Where was Desdemona, she fixed everything? Oh no she wasn't there!

The Power of Breathing. He should never have leant it to Jane, this was his reward for generosity. He should have left it by the water bottles on the touchline just in case of such an occurrence. He even knew the section he needed, page eighty-four: Dealing with conflict.

"Hijo de Puta"

Gary didn't quite catch it, but Hazel van Robben - a Quebecois footballer of considerable note - made some goading comment behind his back. Ordinarily Gary would have said and done nothing, but as it was issued in another language, he couldn't be sure that it wasn't a threat against his strawberries. Owing to the fact that he was a coward, you could normally call him all the names under the sun; you could slap him in the face and he would offer you the other cheek. But his strawberries..? That was different. She and her cronies had been out to get him for years. He'd been taking this from people his entire life. From teammates, kids at school, even Old Mrs Manck. It was like they could sense his weakness and went in for the kill. Well not this time, no, this time was things were going to be different.

'AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGHHH!'

When Gary thought back to the events that followed, it would forever play out in a dreamlike slow motion. Like a Viking warrior, beard flowing majestically behind him, he charged across the turf. Faster than he had ever backtracked during any opposition attack, with more drive than he had ever chased down any through ball, he bore down on the Quebecois. He puffed and blew, as his boots thundered off the surface of the pitch, the excess fat around his midriff swaying from side to side like bowl of jelly.

Van Robben turned round, but it was too late to react, as all one hundred and ninety centimetres and eighty-two kilos of Corsie collided with her. Running at full tilt, both feet off the ground as he connected, it must have been like having a side of beef thrown at you from a moving lorry.

Gary only realised at the last second what he was doing, the possible threat to his strawberries bringing out a deep buried, animalistic urge, which completely took over. He was quite surprised actually how far she travelled through the air, as Van Robben was caught flatfooted, landing with a crunch three metres away. Was she still breathing? Had he killed her?

'You're a fanny, Corsie.' Eventually the silence was broken by Jim Cleggman, who had entered the fray in a bid to restore some order, (and retrieve the referee's hairpiece). He stood shaking his head, no doubt thinking about how 1830 Cathair were going to react to the news that their star asset had been snapped in two during a charity game. 'You really, really, are a fucking fanny!'

All around them the fight raged, on. It somehow felt more like a gladiatorial arena than a football stadium. Corinne Martel-Burns had someone in a headlock, and the Conavacio kid was running around using one of the corner flags as a spear, while Claire tried in vain to restrain him.

'Jim, Please!' He glanced round at Van Robben, who thankfully was starting to stir, and therefore, not knocked out cold. 'Mr Cleggman Sir, it was a.. I mean I...'

'Gary just go, the game is over.' He barked as he pointed in the direction of the tunnel. 'Get out of here before you do any more fucking damage. I'm going to call a stretcher.'

Gary opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Whose idea was this again?

Unnoticed, Hazel van Robben was back on her feet. The former FAS star must have been made of stronger stuff than either he or Cleggman had thought, as both of them were unaware of the approaching danger.

'GARY!' He turned to se Jane running across the pitch, book in and, waving frantically. The Power of Breathing! Page one hundred and three: Dealing with guilt. His possible salvation? 'Look out!' She yelled pointing over his shoulder, but not quick enough as Van Robben was back on her feet and bearing down on him. He closed his eyes and braced for impact, but it was an impact that never came.

'JANE! SWEETHEART..!' When Gary opened his eyes Jim Cleggman was cradling his daughter like a child on the ground in front of him, while Van Robben - to her credit - looked genuinely horrified. 'Jane, honey. Can you hear me? JANE! JANE! JAAAAAAAAAANE!'

The next morning

Jim Cleggman dispassionately closed the taxi door, no doubt relieved that Gary was enclosed within. 'Airport, and don't let him out before you get there.' Gary sat in the back, his leatherette travel bag containing all his worldly belongings pulled up to his chin. He clutched it tightly with his one good hand, his other arm in a sling in front of him. His jaw was still a little sore, and he was going to need to rest his bruised ribs, if he were to be fit for the start of next season. The final straw for Mr and Mrs Cleggman had been Jane's revelation that she was no longer going to university, as she had been so inspired by Gary's way of life, that she'd decided to join a holistic living commune on the South Schottic coast instead. She'd apparently dropped the bombshell after regaining consciousness in the ambulance, shortly before proceeding to inform her father that Gary had been a better father to her in the last two days than he had been in eighteen years.

Well that was another two lives ruined. Not bad for just three days work. Funnily enough, thinking back on match, it probably was exactly what Mr Hanson would have wanted.

Hopefully Stick had remembered to water the garden while he'd been away.

Thanks very much to Chromatika, Nephara, and RKQ for generously lending me their players for this match.

by **Gregoryisgodistan** » Sun Jul 16, 2017 5:09 am

Gregoryisgodistan Drawn Into Very Easy Group

The World Cup 78 Draw was held yesterday, and Gregoryisgodistan was drawn into a very easy group, providing them with an excellent opportunity to get over the four point hump that has haunted the Foot Slaves for so long. Gregoryisgodistan was drawn in with the hosts, Cosumar, along with Damukuni and Eshan.

Gregoryisgodistan will kick off the tournament against the hosts, in what will be the first game of the Cosumar half of the tournament, as is tradition. The Foot Slaves will look to vanquish the hosts and defeat them easily. Cosumar is ranked #12 to Gregoryisgodistan's #18, so it should be a competitive match. If Gregoryisgodistan can come away with at least a draw in that match, they will be in prime position to have their best performance ever and advance out of the group stage. If that happens, who knows how far they'll go? Maybe the Foot Slaves will be a surprise upstart and go all the way to the finals, maybe they'll even win the whole thing. Lord Almighty Gregory certainly seems to think so - we'll hear from him later.

On the second matchday, Gregoryisgodistan takes on Eshan, the lowest-ranked team in the group, coming in at 37th in the Multiverse. Gregoryisgodistan, as mentioned above, is ranked almost 20 spots ahead of the Eshanis and should dispose of them easily. But at this level, you never know what will happen - the Foot Slaves will need to be on their toes. Gregoryisgodistan will, as usual, play their outstanding defense, and will look to defend from the get go. The Foot Slaves tied with Brenecia for the best defense in qualifying, with each team allowing a mere five goals in 16 games. What makes that all the more impressive is that the Foot Slaves allowed three goals to Spaam in two games, and just two in the other 14. And Spaam had a surprisingly good defense too, making it all the more surprising that their offense was Gregoryisgodistan's bugaboo.

In the final matchday of the group stage, the fun really starts, as Gregoryisgodistan takes on rivals Damukuni. Damukuni, also known as "DAMN YOU KUNI" or "DAMN YOU PUNY HUMANS", is, of course, on Gregoryisgodistan's Enemy List after some heathens in that country decided to outlaw prunes and arrest followers of the Church of Gregoryisgodistan for simply believing Lord Almighty Gregory is God. Such behavior is, of course, unacceptable, and Gregoryisgodistan will be looking to make them pay on the field, perhaps by winning 31-0 or something like that. It is sure to be a violent game, perhaps with blood, and almost certainly with fights between the fans, perhaps with some prunes thrown into the Damukuni section. It should be a fun game.

If Gregoryisgodistan winds up making the knockout stage, they will face a team from Group B. There are possible matchups with Farfadillis, Eura, Turori, and Drawkland. If the Foot Slaves face Eura, that would certainly be interesting given recent bad blood between the two nations. However, at the moment, Gregoryisgodistan has shown no inclination to tickle the bear, and Eura is smart enough to know that an unprovoked attack on Gregoryisgodistan would lead to global thermonuclear war, so the two sides are at a cold detente right now, and for the foreseeable future.

Lord Almighty Gregory gave a speech on Gregoryisgodistan's chances. Let's hear what he had to say.

Lord Almighty Gregory's Speech to the People

"Good morning, ladies, gentlemen, and slaves. I speak to you today of the World Cup draw that happened last night. We will be in a group with Cosumar, Eshan, and Damukuni. Two of those nations, Cosumar and Damukuni, are on the Enemy List. Poor, sweet, Eshan, is not yet. However, Cosumar is on the Enemy List after an attack by a terrorist gang known as the Heathen Front, and Damukuni, as you know, is on the Enemy List after some idiots outlawed prunes and arrested my loyal followers for drinking prune juice. Thankfully, my holy name be praised, we rescued those true believers from the wrath of Dumbokuni, and brought them here to safety. DAMN YOU, KUNI! DAMN YOU ALL TO HELL!

"Anyway, this is a very easy group and I am confident we will have our best performance ever. For too long, we have had four points, and only four points, in every World Cup. Well, this is our chance to get six, seven, nine, or even more points. We will beat Dumbokuni, we will beat Eshan, and who knows what will happen against Cosumar? They're only a few spots ahead of us, but they are the hosts, so it will be a tough matchup. Regardless, six points should be enough to get to the knockout stage, where anything can happen.

"Speaking of the knockout stage, there's a good chance we will face Eura if we get there. Eura, of course, hates our ally Sameba. We will continue supporting Sameba no matter what nosy old Eura says. Eura, you must stand down next time we help Sameba, or we will consider it an attack on our great nation and respond accordingly. Perhaps with global thermonuclear war. Perhaps not. You won't know until you try it. If you try it. Just don't.

"And we might also face Fartadillis, oops, I mean Farfadillis. Farfadillis has a stupid name, and they like farting. Farting is a crime against me, Lord Almighty Gregory. You shall never fart again, Fartadillis. You shall surrender your farting machines and your beans and anything else that makes you want to fart or flatulize or whatever you call it in your farty nation. Surrender now or prepare to fight!

"The other two teams in Group B who we might face in the Round of 16 are Turori and Drawkland. These two are the lower-ranked teams, so it is less likely we will face them. Nobody cares about Turori, but Drawkland is home to aliens from another planet, apparently. This planet is called Sonnel, and I believe it is the same planet the infamous Sulsu are from. Well, we'll give them fish to take home to Sulsu, fish we confiscated from commoners who are not allowed to eat fish and must only eat prune juice and gruel. And I should remind the Drawkies that our laws apply to humans as well as to intelligent extraterrestrials. They may not apply to talking ponies, but they will apply to the Drawkies. Do not fart or say a forbidden fruity word or anything like that, or Enemy Crusher Fatty Footy will crush you. That being said, the Sulsu are not intelligent in my expert opinion, so the laws do not apply to them. They can fart or sneeze or say forbidden fruity words all they want, we won't execute them. In fact, I want a Sulsu as a pet at my mansion. If the Drawkies would give me one, I would be most happy. Please, Drawkies, can I have a pet Sulsu? We promise our nations will be allies if only I get a pet Sulsu. Pretty please? And maybe I'll get a Squirtle from the Unified Sunrise Islands while I'm at it. Squirtle, please! No Charmander! Only Squirtle! Squirtle is the greatest! Well, I am the greatest, but I am not a Pokemon! And Squirtle is the greatest Pokemon! You know what I meant!

"Now, let us all wish good luck to the Foot Slaves, and remember, each game of the World Cup is must-see TV unless you are lucky enough to travel to Cosumar to watch it in person, or, should we advance far enough, to Bonesea to watch us hoist the nice, shiny third place trophy! Now, one two three GO FOOT SLAVES!"

by **Alasdair I Frosticus** » Sun Jul 16, 2017 1:54 pm

OOC - The Mammoth Compendium of World Cup Lies lives up to its name; you're free to believe it IC'ly, but please don't believe a word of these RPs OOC'ly. They're a compendium of lies.

THE MAMMOTH COMPENDIUM OF WORLD CUP LIES
World Cup 78 edition

GROUP A Only Has Three Teams!
Eshan is confidant of qualifying from a group of only three teams
Damukuni is also confident of qualifying from a group of only three teams
Cosumar has fallen under an ancient gypsy curse stating 'qualification from a group of three shall never be'

GROUP B Is An Alien Land!
Where once Eura stood, only the alien overlords now rule
The chances of anything coming from Farfadillis are a million to one - but still they come.
The Cocoabo of Turori is not a harmless flightless bird, but is rather the vanguard of a chocolate-offering alien invasion from the planet Cocobata
Drawkland was the first nation to be conquered by the ruthless alien chocolate-obsessed hordes of Cocobata

GROUP C is Made of Cheese!
Semarland is a particularly fragrant gorgonzola
The best-selling cheese in Starblaydia is virgin-curdled beaver cheese
In Audioslavia, cheese is collected from unwashed bulls' bollocks
Pasarga is a cheeseless nation, and thus is truly thrice-cursed

GROUP D sings!
The nurgle ballads of Tumbraa make grown men weep and women conceive
Super-Llamaland sings many songs of llamas; the llama is a mighty beast that swings from tree to tree / and feeds upon vicuna meat and hummingbirds and bees
Vilita is a land where choral music creates reality; hence the need to avoid singing the Flood Chorus from the dangerous opera 'Look What We Thought of This Time'
The good people of Schottia are tone deaf, and wouldn't know a good song it it kicked them up the arse with an electrified boot

GROUP E says hello!
Electrum has no word for hello in its primitive pidgin
The national language of Bonesea has 56,089 different words for hello
Not a single person in Osarius has ever said hello
Mriin is the highest-ranked team in the entire tournament, and says hello to no man (or woman, or hermaphrodite, or neuter, or gender-fluid, or other designated sentient being)

GROUP F is where hope and ambition go to die!
The main ambition of Nova Anglicana is to win every single match by a score of 56-0
San Jose Guayabal doesn't want to make it out of the first round
Brenecia once wove hope out the dreams of naked children; which is, let's be honest, more than a little creepy
Ethane shoots up ambition with an unsterilised needle

GROUP G is the single best group in the history of the World Cup!
Valladares doesn't know how lucky it is to be drawn into this group
The Holy Empire looks slightly embarrassed about all of the kudos coming its way for being drawn into this group
Port Christopher has taken one look at this group and said to itself 'that's a damn fine group'
Sargossa praises all of the gods and goddesses of heaven and hell that it's been drawn into this group

GROUP H is surreal!
Valanora thinks elves are teacups
The flying linnet of Flardania caws the colour purple
Chromatika is the middle one
Sing a song of sixpence, sing a song of Spaam, four and twenty processed pork products, sealed into a tin

by **Sargossa** » Sun Jul 16, 2017 3:08 pm

SSM | Sargossan State Media
International Edition - Sport

In It, Not Gonna Win It

Blanco Borrayo reports from Threemilestone;

It’s official ladies and gentlemen, Sargossa are at the World Cup. Several weeks have elapsed since Miguel Marí’s low drive pierced the Tveidalen defence in the final round of qualification. The Corsairs needed just a point from their trip to the minnows to be assured of a place at the greatest show on turf, they took all three. And that wasn’t all. Starblaydia’s defeat in Darmen ensured that Sargossa, ranked 127th coming into the campaign, leapfrogged the Group 12 leaders and finished in first place. That’s first place. In a group of death that contained two former world champions and a Cup of Harmony winner.

Flash forward to the now and the squad are happily ensconced within their team accommodation on Kettle Island, they’ve taken their first sessions at the V2 Training Village and the majority of fans travelling from Sargossa have found a home at the Goat Bluff fan village. The pieces are all on the board, we now await the first move of these, the 78th World Cup Finals.

Thirty tournaments ago the Corsairs made their first even appearance at the Finals, edging out Ad'ihan and Bostopia for a place at the Finals in Bazalonia and Cafundéu. Arguably this time the achievement was even greater. This was a longer qualifying campaign for a start and, unlike the WC48 vintage, precisely nothing was expected of this squad. It was all about getting back to basics, playing for a bit of pride and setting down foundations for future campaigns. Instead Rafael Barrios’ tremendously well drilled side suffered just one defeat, ended the campaign unbeaten in eleven matches and didn’t even concede a goal in the last five fixtures. They may have arrived in Bonesea as the lowest ranked side in the tournament, albeit with a ranking that has halved since taking to the pitch against Mercedini in the first qualifier, but they need fear no one. Except The Holy Empire. Those dudes are terrifying.

Given the nation’s lowly rank any combination of sides from the group draw was going to make tough reading but, just this once, Lady Margaret smiled. Out of the hat came the bottom side in pot one, the second bottom in pot two and the bottom in pot three. When read like that it sounds palatable, but much less so when you put names to the numbers.

First up is a very familiar name to football fans back home. Sargossa and Valladares are two of the very few survivors left standing from the Baptism of Fire class of ’34. Surprisingly, given their respective successes since, it was a tournament to forget for both nations. In fact we collectively managed a grand total of one single victory before both succumbing to group stage exits. Since then Corsairs and La Nacional have clashed on numerous occasions, with the Valladars holding a slight advantage. Plus Sargossa's record defeat is in there too, see if you can spot it.

Past Meetings
Valladares (7)  P11  W4  D2  L5

World Cup 50 (Qualifying) 
Sargossa  2 – 2  Valladares
Valladares  0 – 5  Sargossa 

World Cup 56 (Qualifying)
Valladares  2 – 0  Sargossa
Sargossa  1 – 2  Valladares

World Cup 57 (Qualifying)
Valladares  3 – 1  Sargossa
Sargossa  4 – 1  Valladares

World Cup 59 (Playoff)
Sargossa  3 – 2  Valladares

Copa Rushmori X (Last Sixteen)
Sargossa  1 – 8  Valladares

World Cup 70 (Qualifying)
Sargossa  1 – 1  Valladares
Valladares  2 – 3  Sargossa

Copa Rushmori XXV (Quarter Final)
Sargossa  1 – 3  Valladares

The second team in the group is one to strike awe into any mere mortal. Once again the denizens of the Dreamed Realm are gracing the lands of the Mundis in pursuit of sporting greatness. The Holy Empire have been putting nations to the sporty sword since the very first World Cup and show little sign of stopping any time soon. On three occasions Sargossa have attempted to stop the Empire’s efforts and on three occasions the Corsairs have suffered the narrowest of defeats. Also, it should be noted that we truly praise all of the gods and goddesses of heaven and hell to have been drawn with so august a sporting power. Just so's you know.

Past Meetings
The Holy Empire (19)  P3  W0  D0  L3

World Cup 60 (Group Stage)
Sargossa  0 – 1  The Holy Empire

World Cup 72 (Qualifying) 
The Holy Empire  1 – 0  Sargossa
Sargossa  0 – 1  The Holy Empire

The final team in the group is Port Christopher, a Schottic enclave located in the region of Esportiva. Port Christopher are a well organised unit that held off the challenge of Qasden to take their place here on the final day of qualifying. They’re ranked just outside the top thirty and will most likely compete with Sargossa in the battle to avoid finishing bottom of this group.

Past Meetings
St Christopher (32)  No previous meetings

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