Di Bradini Cup 41/U21WC62 (Everything Thread)

[Equestrian States]

Low Expectations
The Realistic Fan Site for Equestrian States Sports

Wait, What?
by Downtrodden Crankyface

So, after my article tearing into those morons from Kebec (who got lucky in a 5-4 win over Dainer, I still maintain they'll finish last), I noticed something rather unusual.

As I said, I don't pay close attention to Di Bradini Cup since it's generally a waste of my extremely precious time, but I could've sworn that the next edition of the tournament was supposed to be the 34th, not the 41st, with there being rumors that the Equestrian States was in consideration to host the tournament. What the hell happened to the tournaments in-between there?

I dunno, maybe I'm just so good at ignoring useless bulls*** tournaments like the DBC that I can miss seven editions of them without a second thought.

---

OOC: Not enough time to properly RP what I wanted to, but combined with my roster, you might get a sense where I'm going with this RP line.

[Valanora]

Whose play in the first matchday was far from the fame?

Matchday 2

Group A
Cosumar 4–0 Alpine Union
Eastfield Lodge 2–2 Flindostan

P Group A                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                       2   1  1  0    5   1  +4    4
2 Alpine Union                  2   1  0  1    1   4  −3    3
3 Flindostan                    2   0  2  0    3   3   0    2
4 Eastfield Lodge               1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
5 Taeshan                       1   0  0  1    0   1  −1    0

Group B
Juvencus 2–4 Starblaydia
Pasarga 6–5 Bojikstan

P Group B                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Schottia                      1   1  0  0    3   0  +3    3
2 Bojikstan                     2   1  0  1   10   8  +2    3
3 Pasarga                       1   1  0  0    6   5  +1    3
4 Starblaydia                   2   1  0  1    4   5  −1    3
5 Juvencus                      2   0  0  2    4   9  −5    0

Group C
Natanians and Nosts 1–0 Romaian
Kecrazia 2–1 Damukuni

P Group C                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Natanians and Nosts           2   2  0  0    2   0  +2    6
2 Eshan                         1   1  0  0    2   1  +1    3
  Kecrazia                      1   1  0  0    2   1  +1    3
4 Damukuni                      2   0  0  2    1   3  −2    0
  Romaian                       2   0  0  2    1   3  −2    0

Group D
Abanhfleft 1–5 Northern Sunrise Islands
The Warbler 1–3 Equestrian States

P Group D                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Northern Sunrise Islands      2   2  0  0    7   1  +6    6
2 Equestrian States             2   2  0  0    6   3  +3    6
3 The Warbler                   1   0  0  1    1   3  −2    0
4 Mattijana                     1   0  0  1    0   2  −2    0
5 Abanhfleft                    2   0  0  2    3   8  −5    0

Group E
Furellem 1–2 Albaie
Farfadillis 2–2 Chromatika

P Group E                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Mercedini                     1   1  0  0    3   0  +3    3
2 Albaie                        2   1  0  1    2   4  −2    3
3 Chromatika                    2   0  2  0    3   3   0    2
4 Farfadillis                   1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
5 Furellem                      2   0  1  1    2   3  −1    1

Group F
Devonta 2–3 Savojarna
Coldfield 0–3 Buyan

P Group F                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Buyan                         2   2  0  0    5   1  +4    6
2 Savojarna                     2   1  1  0    4   3  +1    4
3 Eura                          1   0  1  0    1   1   0    1
4 Devonta                       2   0  0  2    3   5  −2    0
5 Coldfield                     1   0  0  1    0   3  −3    0

Group G
Spaam 1–5 Super-Llamaland
Soltsteed 2–6 Qasden

P Group G                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Qasden                        2   1  1  0    7   3  +4    4
2 Ceni                          1   1  0  0    7   2  +5    3
3 Super-Llamaland               2   1  0  1    7   8  −1    3
4 Spaam                         2   0  1  1    2   6  −4    1
5 Soltsteed                     1   0  0  1    2   6  −4    0

Group H
Dainer 2–1 Venganzza
Cassadaigua 1–1 Kebec

P Group H                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kebec                         2   1  1  0    6   5  +1    4
2 Darmen                        1   1  0  0    3   0  +3    3
3 Dainer                        2   1  0  1    6   6   0    3
4 Cassadaigua                   1   0  1  0    1   1   0    1
5 Venganzza                     2   0  0  2    1   5  −4    0

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
Krister Voynov: The Prodigy of Jarnstad

18-year-old Krister Voynov was known to the circle of fanatic football fans, coaches and talent scouts of Savojarna for a long time, but now he has arrived in the collective view of the country's sports community as well as on the international footballing stage. In last night's duel with the Euran U21 in Valanora, the left winger has been the dominating man in his team and played a crucial role in the 1-1 draw. Voynov is currently playing in the FK Metall Academy, but has already been confirmed to move to the FK Admiral Storevik U21 team after the Di Bradini Cup. He has been playing with FKM since he was 13 years old and got the award as Savojarna's Youth Player of the Year in his age category three times. This award is seen as the highest possible honour to be given to a Savojar youth player, and its receivers usually end up in the country's top teams.

Krister Voynov was born on the 14. 4. 1999 in Jarnstad as the son of a Jarnstader woman and a Russian migrant from the Pawlograd area, who had moved to Jarnstad as a miner. His father was a member of the Russian worker's club RFK Jarnstad, and Voynov himself joined the club early on. At age 13, the city's main club HFK discovered the fast and skilled striker. HFK scout Nils Lange, who first scouted him, remembers the first time when he saw Voynov play: "We didn't know much about him. I had received a call two weeks before from my colleague Rolf Mikaelsson, who had watched a game of his son and saw a player on the opposing team that he told me to scout. I found out about RFK's next games and went to one, undercover. I immediately saw who he meant - Krister was way too good for the teams he played". Lange noted not only the skill of his new talent, but especially his teamwork abilities.

"If you're 13 and you know there is someone watching you, coming from a big club that you're a fan of, most kids wanna shine. They try to score and dribble, to impress you. But Krister somehow knew he didn't need that. He had scored multiple goals already and ran around the legs of the opponents, a worker's team as well who couldn't deal with his skill. But what impressed me more than all that was how he played for his team, how he led his team. I immediately called our management and told them they need to offer a contract to this boy, showed them a video and went to write a report. It was beautiful".

Such qualities were also displayed by the young winger in his first match in the Savojar national dress, as a part of the U21 team, last night. Voynov had been a defining moment of the game, and posed a lot of problems to Hurst, the Euran right back that he was facing. The more attacking style employed by the new coaching staff around Tarvesen suits the team's new qualities and the fluidity of the attacking side had greatly troubled the Euran side. Voynov and Mikhailov demonstrated great harmony and routinely switched places on the attack, with the left back pushing forward on the wing while the striker pulled in towards the edge of the box, posing a danger to the Euran goal. Combined with Barnerud's push forward, the Savojars had a great advantage on the left side which they used after 23 minutes to gain the first great chance of the game. Voynov had started it with a pass back to Barnerud, who found the attacking Mikhailov on the wing. Mikhailovs cross landed perfectly on the head of Joni Virtanen, but the ball flew just past the right post of the goal.

It took the Savojars almost an hour to eventually take the lead despite the multiple chances the team had gotten. Ishkurin had started it by dribbling past Garner and did a long pass across the field to Mikhailov. The back passed to the near corner of the box, from where Voynov took aim and launched what seemed to be a shot, but turned out to be a pass to the far post, where Mikko Karpanen slid into the pass and pushed it into the net. The lead did motivate the Euran team, and despite the changes of Tarvesen to make the team more defensive, they could not prevent the late equaliser that was scored following a free kick from the left side. Despite the attempts of Voynov and his teammates, they failed at getting another goal. Nevertheless, the draw against one of the strongest footballing nations of the Multiverse is a great success for the Savojars.

Savojarna 1-1 Eura (0-0)

GOALS: 57' Karpanen 1-0 (Mikhailov); 88' Howell 1-1 (Wright).
YELLOW CARDS: 29' Hopkins, 72' Ljungberg (both foul).
SAVOJARNA: Nurminen - Mikhailov (76' Jensen), Rydman, Teronen, Arjonsson - Barnerud, Ljungberg, Ishkurin (66' Loeseth) - Voynov, Virtanen (81' Zhirkov), Karpanen
EURA: Little - Lord, Hopkins, Roberts, Hurst (71' Fox) - Garner (65' Bevan) - Griffiths, Bevan, Patterson, Wright - Bond (74' Howell).
REMARKS: --

[Cassadaigua]

Early morning, before work Spacebook chatter...

CaptainHannah: It was our first game, don’t be too distraught.
CaitlinMayer9: Trying not to be, but I hate losing. If we didn’t win, we lost.
KelseyDaGoalie: I kinda agree with that. You want to win these games. Maybe if you scored in the 90th minute or something it feels like a win.
CaptainHannah: Yeah, I get that. We did do nicely to get that tying goal in the 65th though. Good job, Chelsea.
Monroe23: Thanks, but I needed to have another, or another one of us needed one.
MissLupe4xo: Hey there! Told you the ref wouldn’t see!
CaitlinMayer9: Thankfully! You better never do that to me when we are on CASE teams.
MissLupe4xo: As long as we’re friends, there’s a better possibility I will pick one of your teammates.
KelseyDaGoalie: After you punched the guy, I was surprised that no one on their team really tried to back him up.
CaptainHannah: Why did you pick Bassot anyway?
MissLupe4xo: Because his name almost rhymes with something else.
KelseyDaGoalie: His teammates never really realized what happened either. If I was that coach, I would be on them about not backing up their teammate. Especially the one who scored for them earlier in the first half.
Monroe23: Very true Kelsey. And I know you enjoyed seeing the guy who scored on you go down like that.
KelseyDaGoalie: Since the ref didn’t see it, hell yeah! I mean he wasn’t the same after the punch. He was hesitant after that, like he was looking over his shoulder. His couple shots after that were easy to stop.
CaptainHannah: Erica Lambert would be proud of how you took him off his game, Lupe. Well done.
MissLupe4xo: Thanks guys!
MissLupe4xo: It would feel better if we would have won, but I guess we can’t complain about a point.
CaitlinMayer9: A draw is a loss.
Monroe23: It looks worse now, Cait, since we also have one less game played.
MissLupe4xo: Who the hell is this next opponent?
CaptainHannah: I hate it when nations use the secret roster strategy. It should be illegal.
KelseyDaGoalie: Yeah but usually teams using that strategy suck anyway. Besides, we have game film on them now.
CaptainHannah: You know I heard CASE is going to be having many scouts in Valanora tomorrow.
CaitlinMayer9: As they should.
MissLupe4xo: Yeah, it’d be great if they could starting becoming a little more serious. We were good when they were serious.

- - - -

CASE President of Scouting for Concord Heights, Jillian Schanke, was in her office, happy that she finally found the e-mail address for Nadine Sorokin, a talented striker playing in Bojikstan


Dear Nadine,

Good morning, I hope this letter finds you well. My name is Jillian Schanke, the President of Scouting for the Concord Heights soccer club, the most successful domestic club in Cassadaigua. It has not been common for our nation to pursue other players from other countries, and in fact it is rather rare. For many reasons, this is because there are few countries where female players have the level of talent in which you do. However, with an announcement that the nation still has not made public with the World Baseball Classic, that is a tide that may be changing.

Your recent game against Juvencus caught my attention. I have not been able to watch the Pasarga match you had yet. I noticed in that match that you’re finishing ability in front of the net was hampered a little bit by the play of a midfielder trying to do a little too much and look cute. I have not been impressed by some of the chemistry on your national team between players, and feel that this can affect your career. At the same time, I know you come from an impressive family lineage.

I know what’s that like. My mother has her #17 retired in Cassadaigua, and was a striker. She also told me the stories about her days in the Di Bradini Cup. It is team chemistry that makes or breaks any squad. Sometimes, though, it is best to separate from the ties that bind you in order to prove yourself. We are a great nation for that, and I would like you to consider contract negotiations with us. In a strong economy in a powerful nation, and the top team, rest assured, we pay very, very well.

Or, if you just want to use this interest to get your midfielders to wake up and respect your talent, I will still root for you.

Thank you,
Jillian Schanke

[Starblaydia]

World Cup 78
Part One: Takeaway | Two: Duchess | Three: Fidget | Four: Torque | Five: Omen | Six: Leap | Seven: Screams | Eight: Iota | Nine: Death | Ten: Wrong | Eleven: Happy | Twelve: Together | Thirteen: Sweat | Fourteen: Taken

The nosedive in Starblaydia's footballing fortunes was attributed to the health condition of their Lord-Protector, Julius Starblayde. Ever since the match near the end of World Cup 78 Qualifying against Nephara, where Lord Starblayde had been rushed unconscious from his seat in the stadium, pale and sweaty, to a private Jhanna hospital, the national team had been genuinely terrible. A loss to Darmen rounded out the qualifiers on a sour note, despite the fact it was the first successful qualifying campaign in twenty years. At the World Cup itself, Starblaydia had been dumped out without scoring a single goal. This wasn't notable in itself, as they were one of the weakest-ranked teams in the entire competition and facing much stronger opposition in the form of Audioslavia, Semarland and Pasarga with only a single scoreless draw to their credit.

The 54th AOCAF Cup, too, had seen just one victory in the opening game against Rossaline, before being smashed 3-0 by both Osarius and Iskandervale to send Ázëwyn Fëanáro's side home from Tropicorp at the first opportunity. With one win in eight games, and just four goals to their name in that time, Starblaydia's dreams, summed up in the vaguely social media savvy way of '#wewantsix', was looking further way than ever. Good comebacks, however, always require a hero. Though there was none against Schottia in the opening match of the 41st Di Bradini Cup, one soon came to prominence in the second, against Juvencus. And, with a twist of fate that even the most cliched of storytellers wouldn't be able to get away with, when the hero rose, so did the Lord from his slumber.

The young Dwarven starlet Anra Kolmkal proved that her World Cup Qualifying success wasn't just a fluke, when she opened the scoring against Juvencus. Captain Syku Ryku, too, weighed in with a headed goal of his own, not long before he cleared off the line to prevent Juvencus from taking a 3-2 lead. Both of those players were in the minds of the pundits for player of the match in a hard fought draw, but that's when Marcello Di Bradini stepped up. It appears to be set in stone that all young Di Bradini footballers who have the skills and drive to take up the family mantle have to start their careers at Iskara Daii, and young Marcello is no exception. He is a much more physically powerful player than any who have borne the name before him, though, as his gym and fitness regimes border on the obsessive, taking natural playing ability and allying it with a dedication to be faster, stronger and fitter than the opposition. 'MDB' powered through the Juvencus defence, cutting in from the wing or driving the ball to the line again and again, tirelessly fighting and challenging and winning the ball across the left side of midfield. It was from one of these plays, a strong block challenge on the halfway line, that popped the ball loose and in a flash Di Bradini was on it. He raced away into the Juvencus half, powering past the defensive midfielder and towards the box. There, clever play from Da Cunha and Kolmkal drew the defenders away from his path as they moved into space, and Di Bradini slammed a shot into the top-left corner from outside the area, having all the time in the world to compose himself and line up a fierce shot at full sprint.

His second goal, just six minutes later, was a sublime piece of skill at the end of a flowing team move. Having started from the back, the girls and boys in white passed fluidly in neat, ever-changing triangles between them, passing and moving around the Juvencus defenders like they weren't even there. The ball went from one side of the pitch to the other several times as Caballero and Di Bradini provided width, while Mazarbul and Romano held the midfield steady, pivoting around them as Starblaydia probed and advanced and probed and advanced with their slick passing move.Some forty-six passes later, and Di Bradini found himself in the box with his back to goal. He chipped the ball on the turn, not even looking for the goal, and the ball sailed in, skimming the bar as it dropped over the goal line beyond the despairing grasp of the goalie. "That's football!" was the cry from Ázëwyn Fëanáro on the touchline as the team and substitutes celebrated the superb goal.

At 4-2, with victory near certain and only minutes to go, a message flashed up on the screen that was soon reiterated by the commentary team. 'A statement from Lord-Protector Julius Starblayde will follow this match.' Even the Lord-Protector obviously knew not to bother the country while the football was on. The moment the final whistle sounded, despite the director in the stadium trying to cut to close-ups of the Starblaydi players celebrating, the main SCB:Sports feed was interrupted by the SCB:News feed, showing the Praetoran Coat of Arms. As the graphic of the shield that contained all the heraldic elements of Starblaydi nobility faded away, it was replaced by the image of Lord-Protector Julius Starblayde, propped up by pillows in a hospital bed. Tubes and wires connected to his nose, mouth, arms and chest, the last of which hidden by his hospital gown. He breathed deliberately and with some effort, his sunken eyes staring straight into the camera lens. He was pale and looked tired.

"My fellow citizens," he began, "my people. The illness that struck me down two years ago has left me bedridden and, as of this moment, I am unable to continue to run the government of Starblaydia with the effectiveness and tenacity that I desire of myself. In recent weeks the everyday business of governing the country has stalled, on my account. It is, therefore, with great sadness, that I must step back from government with immediate effect, in order to fully recover. In my place, I name my daughter, Korra Starblayde, as my proxy, my Regent, during this time. I trust you will give her the same unwavering support as you have given me throughout my life, for as long as it takes for me to recover. Thank you."

And a nation was stunned.

[Buyan]

It was difficult to recognise beneath the helmets but the casual observer would expect only smiles amongst the gang of youngsters who visibly nervous filled the side corridor of the large hall. Whilst the instructor tried to get his commands above the shrieking noises and continuous echoes that ricocheted against the walls, Jari and Leander ogled them from a passage that was bolted at a higher level, giving you a perfect overview of the racing track which was constructed with dumping ground tires below. The gaffer and his assistant struggled not to feel like teachers on a school trip, with the boys giggling and joking around. With a comfortable victory over Coldfield in the bag and an off day on the schedule, it seemed a good idea for Jari Rinne to break the tension a bit. After all, there was little use in boosting the stamina all day, being in the middle of the domestic season whilst the continuous tactical work could start to get on the nerves. Letting off a bit of steam with a karting activity made perfect sense to Jari whilst Leander had been dragged to the event. Not because he refused to ride himself – despite the grouping vying to see him press his beer belly in the limited space of the kart – but because,

”Young kids and fast cars, that’s asking for trouble,” Leander muffled.
”They’re karts, not cars,” Rinne replied and that was the end of that, despite the flustered, ”but they’re still young kids.” from his right hand.

As it would be madness to let all twenty-three of them occupy the track at once, the group had been split in two heats – with a final for the top dogs to compete in. The opener had been a blast as it became clear that there was a reason why Mathias Hedlund was one of the few without a license. On the pitch, he was a respected element who did all the extra miles but on four wheels it became clear that he was a disaster, managing to miss more corners than there were on the track. No wonder that those at the wheel, let alone those awaiting their turn at the side, were laughing themselves to tears, especially when he took off his helmet after another spectacular crash and bellowed,

”Hey, coach, what clubs offer a driver on top of the wage – I might consider a transfer!”

Nearly eclipsed by the slapstick antics of Hedlund, there had been a close encounter for the victory. Both Sergei Gazulov, still beaming over his clean sheet and the bulky Svante Svensson, who hardly fitted in the small karts, had took the lead at a certain point in time but eventually it was William Marke who came out on top despite his remarkable style, in which he drove the thing as if it were a bumpercar – one hand flat on the wheel, one elbow hanging over the side which moved at the rhythm of the latest dance hit. That they had offered him a flashy orange helmet only added to the whole signature look.

The second heat offered less of the excitement with some guys doing properly, some modestly but only one really knowing what he was doing at the wheel. He swore to God that all he had previously driven was his father’s tractor and his mother’s Ulcan Rapido – a vehicle with less power than your average scooter. Nonetheless, Ivars Berzins flew across the track, beating his best time with every other passage of the finish line and ultimately lapped all his opponents but Saveckas and Oskar and Albin Holm, who didn’t need to be related to be thick as thieves.

”Well, if Sparta gets sick and tired of me, I can still try my luck in the WGPC,” Berzins smiled.

The roaring of the engines already made clear that the final would be less of a friendly. The level of the heats was quite diverse, which opened up space on the track but with all the best bundled up, it became hard versus not soft at all. Well, apart from Ivars who moved into the lead in the opening lap and all they would see from his all race was his engine exhaust pipe. Behind him, an epic duel evolved which looked more like a barbaric battlefield than a chivalrous jousting match. Anyone who dropped the gas a little got a rival on his tail and it was inevitable that mistakes were made because all wanted to keep their top speed until the very corner. William Marke got a bit of distance for second but neither Oskar Holm nor Sergei Gazulov seemed eager to let him go. The Tjelberg man kept his Bengtsmark rival behind him, but only by the smallest of margins and Ardins Saveckas followed up close.

That was, until the chicane before the start-finish. A tricky curve in the track and Holm made clever use of it to move up and over Gazulov, but not without giving the latter a violent bump and nearly pushing him off course. Once recovered, one could see the steam come from underneath his helmet and Sergei felt little for letting this blow over. With abrupt yet sharp gestures, he guided the kart straight back to the wheel of Holm and as the former slowed down for a sharp corner, the starting goalie simply ploughed into his back, nearly catapulting him into the row of tires lined up against the wall of the hall. Nonetheless and with a ruthless move, Holm managed to hold on to that third spot. For now.

Only three turns later, Sergei attempted to pass him by the right just ahead of a left turn, hoping to get into a position to scoop his spot in the subsequent backswitch. Sensing the presence of his rival, Oskar opted to drift to his right as well, closing up the space – eventually so much that even he himself could hardly make the left-hand turn. Realising that he was stuck, Sergei could’ve opted to hit the brakes and try to pass by the inside. But bloody annoyed, he decided in a reflex to drive his kart straight into the right side of Holms, as such flipping it so that Oskar lost control and had his ride getting pushed in between Sergei’s and the tire wall. Loud shrieks had filled their ears for hours now but when they collapsed with the wall, it was as if a bomb exploded and all noise got eclipsed, with tires flying out of their covering and getting launched in all directions. Within seconds, Oskar and Sergei rose from their rides.

”You f’in moron,” Oskar yelled, ”what on earth were you thinking?”
”Thinking? You wouldn’t recognise thinking if it crawled up your arse, you bloody fool,” a furious Sergei replied.
”You nearly injured me!” Holm shrieked.
”Wouldn’t be that much of a loss…” Sergei replied and even before his words were cold, gloved fists were thrown in all directions.

Now, there is one thing you should know about two guys in overalls and helmets trying to get in a bout of fisticuffs. They look ri-di-cu-lous. The kind of stuff that makes young lads hit their thighs whilst being doubled up. But of none of the other players was directed to the masquerade fight going on. Ardins Saveckas, who had avoided getting too caught up in the battle in front of him, stepped out of his kart and simply walked past them towards the ride of William Marke, which stood motionless at the opposite side of the switchback.

”William? Willy?” he cried.
”What’s going on?” someone from the ledge called.
”The tire… The tire! The tire!”

Simply the way that Ardins kept on repeating that mantra brought shivers down ones spine, but especially as he pointed to a loose tire which looked as if it was carelessly left astray. The heavy crash at one side of the switchback had made one of the tires bounce on the track, straight into William Marke who was sending his ‘bumpercar’ into a second spot. Within seconds, Marke seemingly parked into the far side of the track but the unnatural crash test dummy posture bode nothing well.

”Willyyyyy…” resounded through the hall as Ardins’ finger shook into the direction of a small red trail escaping from the bright orange helmet.

[Natanians and Nosts]

Natanians and Nosts defeated Romaian at the Di Bradini Cup.The team is undefeated and is the first placed team at the group.
The match was contested by both sides with Natanians and Nosts having a slight advantage over Romaian.Natanians and Nosts almost scored with Carolus Mihai Lopes after a throw-in at the 28th minute of the first time,but it was Ion Nínnio Ionescu who scored,with a straight shot from 32 metres at the 34th minute of the first period.Romaian opened the second period with a good scoring chance,but Carolus Antonius Apuleius made a good deffence,at the 26th minute Ion Viktor Enderssen scored,but he was offsided.
Natanians and Nosts will face Eshan who beat Romaian at the first round and had a bye at the second.

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

CHAPTER TWO
GET AWAY

To be locked in a place that you don't want to be at.
I'm aware many of these players here enjoy grass pitches.
I'm fine with that myself.
It's just...
To hear the sentence Niikara running down the field for the two-hundredth time?
It sucks.
It's just annoying.
Beyond annoying.
And yet, here I am.
I'm Sayaka Niikara.
A fifth generation Niikara, fifth generation footballer.
In fact, make it seventh.

The first ever footballer in our family was Paul McKnight.
Born at South Crawley, Midlothian Heart at 1960, a fan of the city's capital side Conery Sport.
Football in Midlothian Heart was notorious for how the nation was divided.
The Trouble Years, where half of the nation spoke English while the other half proudly dressed in green and cursed in some weird language people didn't keep track of.
The family's patriarch was a center-back, a pretty rough one, might I add.
Nicknamed Blood Knight, he joined Connery Sport in 1983 after being a sort of journeyman over the lower leagues, playing for teams such as Diamonds, FC Kaunas, King's Creek, Thorn Valley and Bean City.
His physical, non-stop style was respected inside the nation but whenever they went off-seas, Paul would get cold feet and the team tanked.
He was let go at 1988, never really winning a title for the side.
1989 would see the end of the Trouble Years and Blood Knight found himself emerging to a fresh League One representing the Greens' favorite side, Hibernian Athletic.

1990, while Paul joined major side McCartney Spurs, his son Dean was given birth to.
Dean was classified as a wonder-kid by some scouts, but that only backfired as he would use that status as a reason for special treatment.
He became infamous for his five-year stint with Monty Python, where he more or less squeezed them under his foot, having any of his wishes attended by the side.
After they found themselves relegated from League Two, Dean got the reputation of locker room poison.
He would struggle to get a job at Midlothian Heart, falling to the third tier where his only clubs of note were Goal United and Borthwick United, both teams later joining the top tier eventually.
He would retire in 2000 to become a pundit, again eating from his reputation as one kind of a player.

Anne McKnight was born in 2002.
At Connery, Anne had to deal with his father's infamy but eventually she too was drawn to the football field.
As a midfielder, unlike her father and specially unlike his grandfather, she represented the St. Mary High School until getting the opportunity to play for the National University.
That was, at first, all for Anne. She moved into a job as a nurse, avoiding football like the plague.
And then the dimension jump happened.
Now known as Aya Niikara, she tried to continue work as a nurse at the Koneshi Central Hospital but things changed once 2031 came along.
Aya was twenty-nine already. Married and looking towards starting a family.
Although she certainly did follow football, ignoring her father's stubborn requests that she joined local team Shinsu Rowing Club, she had distanced herself from it.
It was then that one illustrious gentleman walked into the Hospital.
His name was Nikolai Thorben, a former goalkeeper representing the Somei-Yoshino team. Although certainly not a native, he had grown close to the Empire ever since the jump.
And now, here he was, old but acting as a manager. He had taken up the role of Sakurahana national football team manager after a ninth place finish.
Sakurahana was notoriously poor in football talent, the state league being pretty much an infant at that point and whatnot.
He was looking for players with experience. Players that could join the local sides and maybe build up that squad he so much wanted.
He presented some valuable insight, tried hard to explain it to her and eventually, she took his suggestion up.

She stepped into the Kotobuki Trainers' School Field to jeers of the supporters.
Clad in the red shirts and white shorts that the Shinsu Rowing Club wore, a number 7 on her back.
That was the 2031 Trophy of Eden, a tournament between the many clubs the nation had.
Both Amateur and Pro sides were allowed participation, to the point where most of the sides participating at the tournament that year were professional or supported by companies.
Shinsu Rowing Club (later renamed Shinusu, same with their home town) managed to get past the ATS at the Preliminary Round by two-nil.
Her first big game was a match against Nanto Navy, the previous season Tsutsuji State League champions.
This more or less meant they were playing against the team with fluffy ears.
The game was a bloody affair, Nanto Navy winning via a late-hour shot.
Aya would become a regular of the Sakurahana squad until the year of 2038, where she retired to take care of her upcoming daughter.

Mika Niikara was probably the least football-driven Niikara of the bunch.
Causing her mother's football retirement two years into her life, Mika tried her hardest to avoid football.
Weirdly enough, very much like her mother, she too was convinced by a certain Nikolai Thorben.
Now riding at the top of a down-swinging Herarte Kyuminato that had previously claimed a total of four titles under his supervision, Thorben stumbled upon her while visiting her mother to talk about the old days of the Sakurahana team.
Sakurahana hadn't really won anything during their time at the national team, but had put some impressive efforts.
Sadly, those days were the days of Somei-Yoshino and the Nagatomo twins or Tsutsuji and Clare the Déesse's daughter Mina; both sides more or less destroying the opposition that were on their way.
Mika joined Herarte Kyuminato, but only really played there for four years, helping Thorben's Kyuminato side win the league a fifth time but not much.
She had a kid two years into her tenure, which caused her to often consider retirement until finally going with it.

Satomi Niikara was named after the first ever Queen of Kita-Hinode (and by proxy, the first Queen of the Hinodejin Empire) and probably that name was what pushed her towards what she got.
Unlike her mother, she went all guns ablaze into football, dominating the under-16s and skipping the under-21s entirely, being promoted via loan from Herarte Kyuminato to former KiHi-League regulars now down on their luck Vanilla Kazemaki.
Her first season with the team was fairly successful, albeit the team didn't exactly turn many heads, ending their season at the sixteenth position of the third tier.
She did perform well enough that one of the opponents from that season would eventually pick her up on a loan. She would defend previous season KiHi-League 3 champions Miharu Prayana, helping them reach the third position and thus obtain promotion.
She would also see, on that season, her first caps for the Sakurahana side. Even if they had long since fallen back into mediocrity (to the point that her first cap was against Himawari (the province Miharu Prayana played out of) and not only that team had already guaranteed itself as the second qualifier from Group 2, but Sakurahana had long since been the bottom side of that cycle.
Satomi presented football with class, a call back to the Sunrisian footballers of the old days, although maybe not as flamboyant.
She kept to touches instead of complicated dribbling. Mostly because that was enough.
Even then, not enough. Her team was still pretty bad.

Her first season for Herarte Kyuminato was pretty terrible.
The former giants had fallen prey to the surprises from out of the original states.
Miharu Prayana out of Himawari had been impressive all season long, missing the top by a small margin.
Miishima JACK's, another Himawari team, had put up some respectable numbers, much like two other teams down the road, Kazama Juniver and Mimikyu Kuremura.
Old teams dropped left and right, while the likes of Nishi Delfino Nine looked eerily from down below.
But then as the years went through, Herarte never truly fell. They just stood there. Regulars at the top tier.
Mimikyu Kurmura, Miare CosmoStars, Utsukushima AFC and Pascoal Mashu claimed the title. Teams like Mashu Hellowenia and Velechavant Nanto continued their legacies of titles.
And yet, she stuck at the team. Herarte would go on to win the title of the top tier twice with her, but also play the second division for two seasons.
She was arond up to the memorable 2103 season... and watched her daughter more or less avoid her path.

Sena Nikara was born at 2083, in the middle of a pretty common season.
Unlike her relatives, she didn't have the luxury of a parent retiring not too long after her birth.
Instead, Sena was pretty much grown by the team. And maybe because of this, she grew used to the environment.
Maybe in a nod to one Aya Niikawa, she played with Nikolai Thorben's grandson at Kanshiro Lopunnies, a revival of the memorable Mardi Lopunnies team done at Korean lands, playing not too long away from the Empire's official main castle.
She didn't stick around, however, traveling all across the Empire, as a journey-woman.

And this is where my story more or less starts. 2111.
To put it simple, I more or less am the combination of everything.
My first touch is solid, my strength is remarkable, my spirit is impossible to handle.
And yet, here I am. Complaining that I once again play football.

"Football is a curse."
She muttered as she passed by the Fleftic defenders, unbelieving what just happened.
The number 11 had dribbled over five opponents before netting her hat trick. Arikani Toyotomi scored the first goal while Iori Saitou would claim the final one for their side.
"Football is my curse."

[Schottia]

Corinne Martel-Burns

Lake Cenial Park was packed to the proverbial rafters, as Corinne Martel-Burns tried to negotiate the family picnics and frisbee-golfers without breathing in too much of the joy. When she had spoken to Dr Durí over the phone, she had recommended getting out of Whitehaven, anything she could think of to avoid the inevitable wallowing that came with staying shut up in the flat. Connie's flat had become more and more like a prison of late, in the sense that she both simultaneously hated being there, yet feared leaving it. The physiatrist had given the best advice she could based on their phone conversation; one look at Corinne's posture and body-language and the advice would have been altogether different though. There was someone checking in on her regularly, but Corinne doubted both his willing and his expertise. He seemed to value a quite life, and was perhaps too easily placated by simple reassurances that she was coping.

Corinne was half way up the coast on the train before she noticed that she was actually on her way. It was kind of like coming out of a dream and realising that you were sleepwalking. She had looked down at her feet, groping around slowly for a bag, a jacket. The Polaris striker had to breath a sigh of frustration after realising that she had left without anything other than her bank card and set of keys. Other passengers came and went from the carriage, the noise around her putting her further on edge. Towards the start of the summer she had gotten anxious that her medication was affecting her performances, and after several consultations with doctors both in Ceni and Schottia, had decided to come off the pills altogether. Given the fact that she had been on them since she was a teenager this was a terrible plan; and by "come off them" what she really meant was "just flushing them down the toilet. The guy - she couldn't remember his name - who came round to check in on her would ask her if she were still taking them. Again, a simple yes was all she needed to have him tick a box and move on. This was generally how it went:

He would ask if she were keeping on top of the domestic chores - Yes, she would answer from under a mountain of laundry and dirty dishes - He would tick another box. Are you getting enough sleep, he would then ask - Yes, she would answer, doped up to the eyeballs on so many caffeine pills that she was visibly shaking - He would tick another box. And have you been sober, he would ask - Yes, she would answer, glancing over at the empty bottles which filled up the entire kitchen table - He would once again tick another box.

Corinne called him 'The Box Ticker' - just in her head of course. He had most likely introduced himself, but she never concentrated on names. He had that weird, uncanny quality in a person, whereby he never made eye contact. He would look through her, or past her, or down at the ground. He likely despised her.

If she were going to win anything at Polaris she was going to need to try something different. Last season was woeful, and she couldn't go through that again. Early exit from UICA competition, a domestic season which she actually felt aged her, and long periods out with suspension. She had to try something different. She had to switch off the autopilot and try and take control of her own life. Corinne had taken Dr Durís advice against her own better judgement, and stayed at Polaris. Although, if the doctor had known she was about to be joined by so many of her old Quebecois companions, she might have prescribed a different course of action.

What if it were all a conspiracy? What if the drugs where stopping her from realising her true potential? But a conspiracy between whom? Who cared that much about her football career? It could be an experiment? Maybe she was the product of some genetic engineering... Possibly, it fit the profile. She was probably the best footballer in the world (in her most humble opinion). Maybe, they accidently made her too good. What were the chances? She's asked Ross Renshaw this question while they were having a beer back in Schottia, just after the IAC final. It had taken her the best part of the walk back to convince him she wasn't joking. He'd sort of hummed and hawed, dodged the question even though she'd asked him directly. He said it wasn't out with the realms of possibility - but given the fact that it was obvious he wanted to sleep with her, she had be careful of perfumed-words.

It was something she'd always been careful of in the past; considering what someone's agenda might be before taking any advice. Dr Durí only cared about her health for example. If the choice were between Corinne's career and her mental well being, she would side with the latter ten times out of ten. Ross for example... He was genuinely nice, and he had shown her some great kindness in Spaam. However, he was trying to be nice, and he was most certainly not going to tell her any hard truths.

Oh yeah, that's where she was: Lake Cenial.

There was a frisbee sat in the grass in front of her. It's bright redness against the green grass made it seem to almost glow. Maybe she'd stopped before standing on it. No. There was someone shouting to her.

"Can you throw that back please..?"

Can she throw that back? Could she? Eeeeeh... Probably. What if she through it back weird thought? What if she through it too hard? She didn't know what possibilities had been opened up to her since she had come off the medication; now that she was using the whole of her brain. She had watched a video on the internet where people were talking about this kind of stuff. Alien intervention. Human's genetically engineered, but denied access to their full potential. If it were true that she had been genetically engineered in a way that these abilities had been unlocked, then maybe she could chuck the frisbee half the length of the park?

"Hey Miss, please throw that back..?"

No. Not worth the risk. She stood blinking back at the young man for a moment, before turning tail and running as fast as she could in the other direction.

Schottia 3–0 Starblaydia
Line-up: Lorrey, Hordern, Ceanadach, Herzogenrath, Van Cleef, Loweson, Stenberg (Nevay), McCorralie (Rait), Vaught, Reid, Wedderburn (Annesley)
Goals: 24" 67" Vaught, 54" Wedderburn

Starblaydia's 4-2 win over Juvencus in the second match, made Schottia's opening day result look suddenly more impressive. Anra Kolmkal was a handful, as one might expect, but the Schottic defence did well to keep a handle on the Dwarven forward. With Louis Hordern on the right and Isaiah Vaught on the left, Schottia had a strong threat down both flanks, and caused a lot of problems for Róin Durugnul and Frederico Esposito in the wide areas. Whitehaven winger, Vaught, was man of the match for John McCann's side, bagging a double in the process. There was also a goal for Cornellians starlet, Lara Wedderburn, who struck at the start of second half.

It was undoubtedly a far better start than Schottia would have hoped for, with many of the new players coming into the side impressing far more than expected. Vaught looked close to the finished article and there will be fresh calls for the teenager to be included in the World Cup qualifying pool. Stenberg and Loweson both appeared solid in the midfield, while young Kirsty Nevay also made in impressive debut, coming on as a second half substitute.

[Bojikstan]

Crazy Youth

Chapter Three

It was a cauldron of noise. Bojikstan had once again brought the dedicated and far traveling support that they were becoming known for, and once again, the little country wasn’t showing any fear against opposition that was known across the multiverse. It looked like they’d clawed their way back to a 5-5 draw after a poor start, and they just had to hold on for one last Pasargan onslaught to pick up a point that they weren’t supposed to have. The end of this match was going to be an edgy one, with the Bojikstani defenders throwing caution to the wind and chasing the result instead of worrying about picking up cards.

It looked like it was a tactical masterclass by Bogdan Sorokin, who had used a more attacking style and had pushed Livia Andrade higher up the pitch to keep the pressure on their opponent and keep the possession away from the superior Pasargan attack. While their own attack wasn’t as talented, their constant pressure kept the ball out of the central areas up front and caused havoc in the midfield of their opposition. Will Sorokin had also dropped deeper to play as a fifth defender, recording two crucial blocks that prevented late goals for the opposition. Their game plan was working as planned, they just had to hold on.

That was something that ended up being harder than anyone expected. The crowd didn’t expect a comeback, the players from Bojikstan didn’t expect it, and even the management was acting like the match was already over, picking up their things and getting ready to head back to the locker room soon. And really, there shouldn’t have been a comeback. Nobody expected Hayden Rinde to come out and look for a pass instead of taking a goal kick and putting the ball in the opponent’s half, and they especially didn’t expect his pass to Jose Estay to get intercepted by Alexander Jager.

The Pasargan attacker took advantage of the slow rolling ball, making a charge at the net and blasting the ball into the right corner, where Hayden didn’t have a chance to recover it. 6-5 to Pasarga, in the fourth minute of injury time. There was a roar from behind the goal, but it wasn’t the same kind of noise that had filled the stadium earlier. This wasn’t a cry of celebration, but the sound of hundreds of Bojikstani diehards having their hearts ripped out at once. And it was a cry of shock, that their head case keeper had blown one of the biggest matches of the tournament after conceding two or three bad goals earlier.

Hayden dropped to his knees immediately after the goal was conceded. He would do the same thing as soon as the final whistle was blown, which was only a few seconds after the match kicked off again. They’d had a chance for one of their biggest wins as a nation, but of course, he had been the one link in the team to break. It wasn’t even a team loss, because while they won and lost as a team, everyone else had executed perfectly. Liv had ripped the Pasargan back line to shreds, recording one goal and three assists. Nadine had scored a brace. Tyson Marcial had scored the opener, and Alessandra Astacio scored after coming on for Bentley Loken. It was always Hayden that had the fuck up, whether he was playing for Northern Tigres or the national team.

The number one spot truly was a thankless and torturous job.

***

Nadine was surprised to find that she had an email, after getting back to the hotel on the night of the Pasarga match. Wasn’t often that she used email, really. She viewed it as somewhat antiquated, so most of the emails that she got were from her agent or from officials within FC Strasburg. This time, the email was from neither, but it was from someone in an official position. She looked over the email quickly, before looking up the club that it was coming from. Concord Heights. They were the most successful club in Cassadaigua, but did they know that FC Strasburg was the most successful in Bojikstan? It wasn’t easy to get prospects away from the jewel of the west.

She began typing up a response of her own.

I have to say, I’m honored. I know I’m going to get my break someday, but I didn’t think it would come while I’m playing in the academy system. There’s not many TV cameras there, obviously. And I have to say, your offer is pretty tempting. FC Strasburg is the biggest club in our country, and it’s not easy to get prospects from us, but at the same time, playing for FCS is what everyone expects of me. Sometimes, I think about breaking those expectations and writing my own path. I didn’t think the chance would come now, though.

Still, it’s a lot to think about. My family is famous back home. I would be just another player over in your country, and I’m not sure I’m ready to make the jump to looking for stardom over there. I will think about it, though. I might show this to my club and ask for a raise. Maybe we could talk in person, and go over some of the details? Come find me at the hotel. At the very least, it would be interesting to hear from an outsider.

Best wishes,
Nadine.

[Ceni]

No Going Back, No Going Home
Chapter 3: A Birthday to Remember (Part One)

Avi emerged from the pitch sweaty and sticky, panting after his hard workout. He eagerly took the bottle proffered to him, glugging down ice cold water after his exertions. "Man, I feel exhausted," he complained. He saw Asher mosey up next to him.

"Haven't you done this before? You look like a fish out of water, like a polar bear in the desert."

"Well, yeah," said Avi, in between pants and glugs of water, "but never like this before. That was one intense training - why aren't you panting?"

Asher smiled. "Coach Petrossian put us through rigorous training. This barely compares to what he had us do."

Avi grimaced. "Oh, go die in a hole, please." The two walked together into the dugout, where Arthur Arathilion had a few words of encouragement for the team... and an announcement.

"To celebrate Avi's birthday today, we'll be going out to eat tonight... wear something nice. We don't want to look like a gang of buffoons."

Avi blushed. "Aww, thanks, you don't have to do anything..."

Suddenly, the team started signing happy birthday to the embarrassed midfielder. "Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you... happy birthday dear Avi, happy birthday to you."

Out of the corner of his eye, Avi saw Sean Seafire, one of the rowdier kids on the team, come up to him and slap him on the back. "How old are you turning, mate?" he said, with a smile that was way too big.

"Uh, well, um, seventeen," Avi managed to sputter, caught by surprise by his younger teammate.

Sean's toothy grin continued. "Ah, well good on ya." He slapped Avi again, for good measure. "Happy birthday, mate."

He winced at his teammate's slap. "Well, thanks a lot, Sean. It means a lot to me." Soon, the other members of the team came by to congratulate him, including Iain Cyn-Penzag, who frankly came off as pompous to him. Still, though, it felt good to have a decent birthday. He hadn't had a real one ever since his parents died... maybe this would be a change for the better. It seemed like the team had fully accepted him into their family. He could learn to enjoy that.

Avi took a nice, long shower before they went to the restaurant. That felt good - like he was washing all the day's grime and sweat away, watching it just pour down the drain, dissipating into thin air. He stood in the shower for a while, thinking about his birthday. He almost started to cry, recalling what he could about his parents... Avi knew he would have to move on past what happened. It was a constant struggle, but he knew he would have to move on and move forward. There was no going back.

After his long and refreshing shower, Avi got dressed. He chose a red polo and simple slacks, with worn boat shoes to accompany the look. He gelled up his hair again before walking outside the bathroom to get ready, finding Asher standing outside. "Damn, you look nice," he said.

"Nah, it's nothing special. My shoes suck."

"Well, I think the outfit brings out the gleam in your eyes, and the gel in your hair. I like it." Asher smiled. "Happy birthday, Avi." He gave Avi a pat on the back. "I know you'll do great in this tournament."

Avi smiled in return, and the two walked out together to meet up with the team. It was a nice day outside, and because the restaurant was fairly close by, Arthur Arathilion chose to have the team walk together. Avi admired the trees rustling in the wind, the cool Vanorian nights... he was looking forward to his birthday dinner. It made him feel good to finally feel part of a family again, and to have somebody actually care about his birthday. That hadn't happened in a while.

The birthday dinner, in actuality, was a raucous affair. It started off badly when Sean Seafire decided he wanted to knock down a glass of water, spilling the liquid all over the table. "What was that?" Coach Arathilion demanded to know.

"It was totally Iain who knocked down the glass. Not me!" blurted out Sean and Arathilion turned his gaze to Iain.

"I swear... that Sean kid is making trouble again," responded Iain. Soon, the table descended into tumult as Arathilion called over a waiter to clean up the mess. While all of this was happening, Sean decided to ask Avi a million questions about his past. Avi didn't want to answer them.

"Look, Sean, I'd rather not."

"Avi! I'm just curious! Let me ask! I want to know!"

"For the millionth time, Sean, I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Shut up, Sean," interjected Ariana Guri-Montague, the team's captain and one of the more level-headed members of the team. "We're tired of you bugging Ari. He doesn't want to talk, OK?"

That got Sean to shut up - Ariana's personality and his didn't seem to match that well. Soon, the conversation turned to football - after all, what else could it turn to? Avi tended to remain silent during that conversation - he didn't think he had much football IQ. But his teammates did.

"You were awesome today in practice, Avi," said Xavi Caldera, one of the older attacking midfielders. "You saw the space just right, and your passes are just fantastic."

"Thanks Xavi," Avi said. "I'm not sure I really believe that, though - I'm not so sure why you think I'm that good."

"You're awesome, Avi," said Sascha Falkenrath, one of the more mature, and cooler, kids on the team. "I think you have a lot of potential."

Asher jumped into the conversation. "You really shouldn't beat up yourself too much, Avi. You're better than you think."

Avi wanted to demur, but his team wouldn't let him. They kept heaping praise on him, and he couldn't stop them. But at least he was in a place where everyone would support him.

Then, the food came, and everyone dug in.

[Union of Socialist Alpine Republics]

The Alpine Union crushed by Cosumar

Raynor City, Valanora - (NAP) After winning 1-0 against Taeshan, thanks to a goal by Nico Olsen, The Alpine Union was destroyed 4-0 by Cosumar. Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa, at the face off circle, passed to Tymoteusz Swierczewski who passed to Nico Olsen but the pass was intercepted by Isla Sibučić who dribbled with the ball and made a cross to Vega Zeale-Riddick who shoots and scores! 12 seconds into the game, this is one of the fastest goal in the Di Bradini Cup. Cosumar attacked again at the 31st minute when Ahto Va'Negeja passed the ball to Bryger Tidesson who made a header pass to Vega Zeale-Riddick who heads the ball into the net. 2-0 Cosumar. At the 36th minute, Karlus Sjunitsson passed the ball to Isla Sibučić who dribbled and passed back to Scylla Xkoranate who made a short pass to Karlus Sjunitsson who shoots and the ball is in. 3-0 Cosumar at the halftime.

The Alpine Union had a great chance to score at the 61st minute when Keegan Parker passed to Ciaran Wolecki McBride who dribbled and passed to Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa who shoots. Hansi Weschler makes a sensational save but doesn't controls the ball and Elisabeth Nordhaus picks up the lose ball and shoots right on the post. Willem Maersk clears the ball. Cosumar attacked at the 86th minute when Ahto Va'Negeja passed to Jarobi Konsé, who entered in the game at the 74th minute. Jarobi Konsé dribbled and passed to Elodie Sade who made a cross to Scylla Xkoranate who shoots and scores. 4-0 Cosumar and this is the final score.

The Bisons next game is against Eastfield Lodge. Keegan Parker will miss the game because of the flu. Elisabeth Nordhaus will move to DCM and Roksana Kolodziejczyk will take her spot on the wing.

BOXSCORE
1st minute: Vega Zeale-Riddick assisted by Isla Sibučić
31st minute: Vega Zeale-Riddick assisted by Bryger Tidesson
36th minute: Karlus Sjunitsson assisted by Scylla Xkoranate
86th minute: Scylla Xkoranate assisted by Elodie Sade

YELLOW CARDS
Cosumar: Karlus Sjunitsson
Alpine Union: Krzysztof Blaszczykowski and Fryderyka Cwierczakiewiczowa

RED CARDS
Cosumar: None
Alpine Union: None

[Filindostan]

OOC: Headline story inspired from this.

FSNA BERITA FILINDO
Filindostan State News Agency - fsna.fid

ISPORT
(Rory, Can you focus on the team's preparation for the matches against Alpine Union and Taeshan? Also change the headline of this story, we do not want flak from multiversal media. Thanks! - MJT) Filindostan 1-1 Cosumar; Eastfield Lodge 2-2 Filindostan: We Flindostan Now
News by Roraldo "Rory" Enciso

Apparently, another set of organizers made the mistake of misspelling our nation's glorious name.

After the recent Campionato Esportiva hosts, Mattijana misspelled Filindostan as Flindostan, the organizers from Di Bradini Cup hosts Valanora made the same error. After two games, the error was still overlooked and the same nation name is still displayed. When asked, Berna said, "I'm not fazed by the mistake of the Vanorians. We need to focus on our next games against Alpine Union and Taeshan because we have not won a match yet in this tournament, and the next match is crucial because if we fail to win that one, then we are eliminated from the competition.

Filindostan started their Di Bradini Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw with Cosumar. Kartio's slip provided Vega Zeale-Riddick with her first goal of the campaign in the 5th minute. To be fair to the young Filindostanis, they gave their all in the first half - Weici managed to atone for her mistake with a crucial tackle to avoid going two down against the U21 side of the Cosumarites. Amongst the chances they made, Yish managed to score against the run of play five minutes before the first half whistle. There were not so much chances for both teams in the second half, causing them to share the spoils at the end of the game.

Their second match was another draw, this time to Eastfield Lodge. It was the cleanest game anyone could have seen in Filindostani football. There were no yellow cards and red cards, and both the teams employed honest to truth defenses, something that the Filindostanis are not known for. There were goals then and there, as Bochog scored two goals early in the first half, but goals from Jagger Parsa and Crimson "Swift Curse" LaRosso cancelled out their efforts in the second half. There was an Eastfield Lodge goal that did not count, as Parsa's would-have-been second goal was able to be cleared off the line by Buknoy; the referees decided that the goal would stand, but Parsa told the referees that the ball did not wholly cross the line. The referee gave a goal kick as a result.

Their next match will be against Alpine Union, who received a spanking from Cosumar in matchday 2. With the Pula Garuda not playing in Matchday 3, Berna and the coaching staff plus some of the players will look closely to the match to study their opponents in a crucial matchday 4 game.

[Valanora]

Whose group feels like they are going to hell and back?

Matchday 3

Group A
Alpine Union 1–2 Eastfield Lodge
Taeshan 0–0 Cosumar

P Group A                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Cosumar                       3   1  2  0    5   1  +4    5
2 Eastfield Lodge               2   1  1  0    4   3  +1    4
3 Alpine Union                  3   1  0  2    2   6  −4    3
4 Flindostan                    2   0  2  0    3   3   0    2
5 Taeshan                       2   0  1  1    0   1  −1    1

Group B
Starblaydia 1–1 Pasarga
Schottia 2–0 Juvencus

P Group B                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Schottia                      2   2  0  0    5   0  +5    6
2 Pasarga                       2   1  1  0    7   6  +1    4
3 Starblaydia                   3   1  1  1    5   6  −1    4
4 Bojikstan                     2   1  0  1   10   8  +2    3
5 Juvencus                      3   0  0  3    4  11  −7    0

Group C
Romaian 0–1 Kecrazia
Eshan 1–3 Natanians and Nosts

P Group C                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Natanians and Nosts           3   3  0  0    5   1  +4    9
2 Kecrazia                      2   2  0  0    3   1  +2    6
3 Eshan                         2   1  0  1    3   4  −1    3
4 Damukuni                      2   0  0  2    1   3  −2    0
5 Romaian                       3   0  0  3    1   4  −3    0

Group D
Northern Sunrise Islands 2–0 The Warbler
Mattijana 3–3 Abanhfleft

P Group D                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Northern Sunrise Islands      3   3  0  0    9   1  +8    9
2 Equestrian States             2   2  0  0    6   3  +3    6
3 Mattijana                     2   0  1  1    3   5  −2    1
4 Abanhfleft                    3   0  1  2    6  11  −5    1
5 The Warbler                   2   0  0  2    1   5  −4    0

Group E
Albaie 2–0 Farfadillis
Mercedini 4–1 Furellem

P Group E                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Mercedini                     2   2  0  0    7   1  +6    6
2 Albaie                        3   2  0  1    4   4   0    6
3 Chromatika                    2   0  2  0    3   3   0    2
4 Farfadillis                   2   0  1  1    2   4  −2    1
5 Furellem                      3   0  1  2    3   7  −4    1

Group F
Savojarna 1–2 Coldfield
Eura 3–2 Devonta

P Group F                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Buyan                         2   2  0  0    5   1  +4    6
2 Eura                          2   1  1  0    4   3  +1    4
3 Savojarna                     3   1  1  1    5   5   0    4
4 Coldfield                     2   1  0  1    2   4  −2    3
5 Devonta                       3   0  0  3    5   8  −3    0

Group G
Super-Llamaland 1–1 Soltsteed
Ceni 3–2 Spaam

P Group G                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ceni                          2   2  0  0   10   4  +6    6
2 Qasden                        2   1  1  0    7   3  +4    4
3 Super-Llamaland               3   1  1  1    8   9  −1    4
4 Soltsteed                     2   0  1  1    3   7  −4    1
5 Spaam                         3   0  1  2    4   9  −5    1

Group H
Venganzza 2–5 Cassadaigua
Darmen 3–2 Dainer

P Group H                     Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Darmen                        2   2  0  0    6   2  +4    6
2 Cassadaigua                   2   1  1  0    6   3  +3    4
3 Kebec                         2   1  1  0    6   5  +1    4
4 Dainer                        3   1  0  2    8   9  −1    3
5 Venganzza                     3   0  0  3    3  10  −7    0

[Northern Sunrise Islands]

CHAPTER III
GOLD LION

The more I learn about my country's history, the more I realize how weird it all could've been had I been born about fifty years earlier.
Namely, that myself, Arikani Toyotomi would not only attend by a different name but have a different culture.
Oh, and of course, that instead of attending the Mido-Hinode University, I'd be dead.
Like hundreds of others, a result of mostly tribal groups that roamed on horses refusing the Contract.
The Contract, for those who don't know, was established by Queen Hina as a sort of ultimatum.
You could either live as a vassal of the Hinodejin Empire and eventually be annexed diplomatically, be flat out annexed and keep a fair amount of your rights as new citizens of the Empire...
Or face them to death, which meant a couple of hundred horseback warriors... against a force of mercenaries and voluntarily unscripted Hinodejin.
As a History major, I always found it odd how the previous, polite Sunrisians that always bought up land instead of flexing their military power were now talented with a pen but also capable of dishing out brute punishment.

Their forces, decked on white, had been running over the land ever since starting colonies on the Far East of Siberia, just slightly north from their mainland.
Thanks to a massive edge on technology, the Hinodejin always looked different from the rest and this unarguably spurred them towards their run that eventually saw the nation rule from their first ever capital in Hokuto all the way to the edge of Mido-Hinode.
Back then, however, the Hinodejin had been going on a run through the north, allying and annexing tribes of Siberia and more often than not smashing the Mongolian hordes.
Buryatia was sort of a middle-ground between both and the Hinodejin struggled to figure out between which way to work it out.
Their chief, a proud Mongolian, descending from one Gengis Khan, looked down at any efforts towards an alliance and even any trade agreements with the Hinodejin.
In fact, he didn't take them serious in the slightest, even asking if Queen Hina had any reasoning not to kneel down right there and become a concubine.
Hina almost slapped him and any chance of diplomacy while she was at the helm went under.
Queen Tomoyo, who assumed after Hina chose to retire to Utsukushima, looked at the situation and chose to offer them the Contract.
The Hinodejin diplomat, having been laughed off by their tribal-like council, notoriously arrived at the city of Kuru, that too a former place of a tribe, and said to a stationary Tomoyo that "they were going with option three".

February 2074 saw the Hinodejin Forces roam over the frozen lakes of Buryatia, smashing the horseback riders to a pulp.
Maybe thanks to the lack of any massive settlements and a sheer disunity between the peoples of that land, the Hinodejin didn't struggle to find one of the chief's family members.
His daughter, a girl named Shara was found in a ransacked camp. She struggled under the cold of the region and a sheer lack of food.
The chief? Loved it.
He expected that, by having his daughter killed by the Hinodejin, he'd able to unite all the peoples against Tomoyo and the Hinodejin forces.
There was only one problem, though. She was found by Hinodejin general Ryu Futaba.
Now, Ryu Futaba went on to become one of the most respectable generals of the Queen's army and had been a regular presence in most of the nation's wars at Siberia and the Steppes, his debut being against the Mongolian Tribes with Korea.
Although he was a fantastic general, many have since noted that his family life wasn't as good, having distanced himself from his two children and wife thanks to all his non-stop on-field action.
For some reason, Ryu chose to treat the chief's daughter like his own, rushing her to the mainland where she would be treated and well-fed.
His plot broken up, the chief chose to instead hide. That worked for... about seven months.
Having wiped out most of his people, the chief found himself dead in the Battle of Mokhots, leaving the Hinodejin with the job of slapping down any upstart leaders rising on the vacuum.
The Territory of Shara would finally be annexed as a state in 2078, being renamed the Hinodejin State of Sharabi, later adding the territories of Shobari, Kirenigawa and Shirode to its' borders in the following year.
Of note, Shara, now with surname Futaba in honor of the general, was made the state's first governor, helping massively to guarantee peace between the groups of people in the state.

Their success at places like Sharabi became the standard approach by the Hinodejin.
If, at any point, they find interest in conquering land, the Queen will offer the Contract.
The wiser nations accepted the offer politely, regardless of whether they were promptly annexed or spent some time as vassals.
Remaining nations chose the third option.
And you never choose the third option if you know what's good for you.
Sharabi never became a rich state, but it was a pleasant place to live.
I used to live in a sheep farm, like many others. The climate made it a solid mean to earn money, albeit it really picked off when Pokémon were introduced to the region.
But yes, moving from Sharabi to Mido-Hinode was a shock. With large spaces between each city and town, Sharabi really looks different from the three big castles of Mido-Hinode.

And of course, football was a thing.
The first professional team from Sharabi, the Morukawa Steppers, came along in 2079, not too long after the state took its' current form.
A result of a merger of seven different amateur teams, the Steppers signed up to play the Central Hinode League where they promptly ran over teams from the mainland and the Steppes, clawing a remarkable promotion to the fourth tier of the KiHi-League.
Later efforts included the Shara Beens, led by the former governor herself, now trying to provide opportunities for the youth of the state's capital and Tornado Maratsuzono, both in the 2090s.
To be fair, none of these teams were world beaters.
In fact, Shara Beens' first ever trip to the nation's capital was a 7-2 loss to the Kanshiro Lopunnies with a very old Nikolai Thorben at the helm of the new capital's football team.
But football really helps in a place like Sharabi.
You get used to a farm life, the cities normally don't have anything to really offer during weekends.
I used to spend my weekends listening to the kids from another farm play the guitar around a small fire.
Life was boring.
Life still kind of is boring there.
Though I wouldn't move on my own accord.
My parents insisted I joined the University.
According to them, I was strong enough and surely I could use a higher education.
They weren't wrong... it's just...
You don't get that sort of lifestyle anywhere else.
Maybe once I get a degree, I'll move back there.

Arikani Toyotomi stood tall from another power battle against an attacker from The Warbler.
He had been a brick wall ever since the opening whistle.
His imposing size, a result of those years working at his parents' farm made him a strong back.
Meanwhile, the Sunrisians ran past a team of unknowns, winning by 2-0.
Goals courtesy of an inspired Iori Saitou and a power shot by Sayaka Niikara.

[Dainer]

THE PLAYERS

Bravvo
When people look today at the passion with which Bravvo plays football, it's hard to believe he was believed to be destined to become an accountant. Mind you, accountants are highly prized in Dainer, being the foot soldiers of their economic model. He did dedicate himself to math early on, but eventually his talent with a ball won out.

As with many prominent Daineri players, he was first picked up in one of the many clubs of the country's robust amateur circuit; at 14, he was training with Tommy-Atkins and begun his professional road. With his lanky, wiry physique, he was a strange sight in the midst of more athletic-looking teammates, but the club's training regimen soon showed that was no obstacle for him having the high stamina required of a side-back. When he turned professional, he went straight to Eclipse and landed a much needed first team slot.

He's a recognizable sight out of uniform, always dressed in garish colors and peppering his interviews with quotable soundbites. He once claimed that a past interview was full of grammar mistakes because "his copy editor took the day off", and called the people who talk in Musical Language "music ninjas, or Minjas for short", giving rise to the entire nickname for that community.

Yeyeah
Yeyeah is the son of another active player, Calunga, who currently plays at Crystal and fathered the young player when he was 18. He can be described as a fitness maniac. Coaches say he has to be told to stop training, and in the field he runs box to box tirelessly, often looking fresh even after everyone else on the field is out of gas. His life revolves around keeping himself in peak condition. He's also the king of morale, with an infectious zeal for life and a talent for pep talks that have already become well known.

A street football player as a kid, he played in the same neighborhood the kids of Estrela D'Alva once started out in (but not at the same spot, as it's now occupied by the New Fountain stadium). His team played barefoot, as they claimed it gave them better ball control, distinguishing himself by his ability to strong-arm bigger kids in challenges. At age 11 he made the natural move to the Estrela D'Alva youth system, and by 15 he scored his first goal for a professional team.

He also played for Dainer's unremarkable run in the last DBC, but we don't talk much about that.

Season XXVIII was his moment to shine, as he won the Sky Ball twice and got Estrela D'Alva to a second place finish in both the DLA and the Cup.

THE EVENT

DH 25 takes the event to Acropolis, Dainer's capital, for the first time. It features a title fight, like the previous one, and a bunch of matches our players will be interested in. Bravvo likes fighters with a goofy and flamboyant side to them, so he's be looking for the performances of notorious eccentrics Zane Wilton, Carlos Pereira and Fabiano Capitano. Meanwhile, Yeyeah is all about the physique, having a sympathy for strongmen Ikarisse Raikoben and Krogai Dumenau.

The fights begin.

Peregrin Jung vs. Tiphaine Erimpav (Featherweight)

Violent sub artist Jung and goth wunderkind Erimpav are both seeking their first victory in DH, coming off three poor showings each. Erimpav calmly dismantles Jung's offense over the course of three rounds and eventually puts him down with ground and pound.

Zane Wilton vs. Groz Arremer (Light Heavyweight)

Two atypical sportsman put their unique brand of fighting to the test against each other. Wilton's in-ring dancing has been more successful than Arremer's corpulence so far, the latter unable to secure a single win last season. Bravvo hopes it'll be entertaining, but they have a boring and drawn out fight full of fouls before Wilton gets a submission win.

Zoran Uaroahan vs. Séllia Carvalho (Lightweight)

Uaroahan comes into the fight as a clear favorite over Carvalho, whose sedate showings last season got her no fans. While known for his kicks, Uaroahan debuts a new strategy and takes his adversary to the ground, putting her lights out with a precise elbow strike.

Artemis Scholes vs. Holly Innsmouth (Lightweight)

Scholes has emerged as a dark horse in the division, smashing fan and pundit favorites as she climbs the ranks. Holly is seen as an unpredictable brawler whose lack of refinement has cost her recent fights. Scholes destroys Innsmouth with kicks in less than a minute, keeping up her unbeaten streak.

Wakanda Koller vs. Poison Raptor (Light Heavyweight)

Koller has aged badly, former biggest and toughest thing in the division having suffered through three losses in a row and facing a motivated Raptor. Koller becomes a sitting duck to Raptor's strikes but is too tough to be knocked out. Having tired him out, she turns the fight around with a combination of dirty fighting and sheer tenacity, winning by split decision.

Carlos Pereira vs. Renata Skain (Middleweight)

Carlos "Scary Face" Pereira survived a nasty accident that left his head permanently scarred, and now is trying to get a better standing in the ranks after beatings from big names Ganzo Sonashi and Reccario Zypty. Skain, at this point, draws more attention from her family's wealth and her long-winded interviews than her fighting and looks to obtain her first victory in the promotion. Having been rocked early in the fight with some nasty kicks, Pereira takes things to the ground, where he proves to be the better fighter and defeats Skain with an Americana in the third round.

Avasu Shaiyauhar vs. Yonelly Cettane II (Middleweight)

Cettane, a fan favorite in certain circles less interested in the fighting itself, has shown more flair than results, having lost all her fights last season including one to Shaiyauhar, whose brand of creative striking has been a lot more successful. Still, they're both crowd pleasers and even our two players are waiting for this one to be good.

Cettane tries to take the fight to the ground where she likes to finish her opponents, but that turns out to be ill-advised as Shaiyauhar beats her at her game and almost chokes her out twice. Having forced her to fight standing, he dominates the fight further and knocks her out in the second round.

Takajiro Hayabusa. vs. Lucas Dahaka (Middleweight)

Deadly and experienced striker Hayabusa comes hot in the heels of a spectacular victory against heavily favored Rafaela Goldenshield, while Dahaka is young, hungry and has a two fight winning streak. "The Eagle" gives no chance for Dahaka to show his flair and downs him with a few punches scarcely a minute in.

Ikarisse Raikoben vs. Ataliba Silva (Heavyweight)

Ikarisse Raikoben is not just one of Yeyeah's favorite fighters, he's one of the best things in the promotion, having been a title contender a while ago and beat his brother Madaraxes, who will be fighting for the heavyweight title later. Ataliba "The Terrible" Silva is also a highly dangerous fighter, but comes hot in the heels of two defeats to Mangetsujin punk Bokkai Yoshimatsu and heavily disfavored to win.

The fight happens exactly as expected. Ikarisse comes out swinging, drops Ataliba down and smashes his face in.

Krogai Dumenau vs. Baruk Sandoval (Lightweight)

The ball of adrenaline that is Dumenau looked like he was going to be dominant in the division when he captured the belt last season, but he lost it to another young sensation, Leónidas Quentino. Baruk Sandoval is an aging but still formidable fighter coming off two wins. Yeyeah loves Dumenau's strength, cardio and intense brand of fighting.

It takes less than one minute for Dumenau to grab his adversary and crush him with a series of uppercuts from the clinch.

Fabiano Capitano vs. Ganzo Sonashi (Middleweight)

CAP, as he's better known (caps not optional) is a master of trash talking and the definition of a heel in MMA. Still, he has fans, like Bravvo who likes his dirty and off-beat style. His rival is current champion José Fumicujo, who defeated him for the welterweight title with a counter punch to the skull. On his way, stands Ganzo "The Sting" Sonashi, who has been undefeated since last season and also likes to trash talk, though with an angrier bent. They've spent a lot of time building up to this fight with their tirades to each other, and headline the night as the co-main event. Whoever wins gets a shot at the belt.

CAP started the fight strong, nailing Sonashi with some powerful strikes, then dropping him on the ground. Sonashi almost turned things around with a surprise submission, but CAP managed to avoid it and then knocked "The Sting" out in the first round with ground pounding. He's going to be VERY disappointed if Fumicujo loses his upcoming title fight with Rosiro Hakxul. He really wants some revenge.

Kison Skaniza vs. Barto Vasquez (Welterweight)

Kison Skaniza comes to his fight looking invincible as he captured the title at the promotion's opening and defended it twice. His opponent is Barto Vasquez, who has a similar agility based fighting style and also won three fights in a row. Skaniza is more cocky and confident with a focus on technique, Vasquez is more of a goofball and plays around more, being the talent based half of this equation.

The two players end up in opposite camps as Yeyeah roots for Skaniza and Bravvo picks Vasquez. The midfielder continues to be the lucky supporter of the night, as "Supersonic" massacres Vasquez like he did the last two people trying to take his belt. "The Artist" resists bravely for five rounds, ending up as little more than a bloody punching bag, and limps towards an unanimous decision loss.

Not only Skaniza remains champion, but his next opponent is Eduardo Torres, who he already beat before.

In spite of people calling this fight "a future classic", Scholes/Innsmouth gets the Fight of The Night trophy instead.

[Kep]

Room for Improvement After Draw
Kebec battles to a draw with Cassadaiuga, improvement needed

^{SHARE THIS:}

Tommy Weedelton (@WeedletonSports)(KWS)
^{Odin Centre, Unit AZ-7065 | Sario, Kebec}

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Lamberta Fournieau in open space
she would set up Gabriel Bassot's future goalKWS photo

GLADERIAL (KWS) — Kebec's chances of qualifying for the knockout-phase of the forty-first Di Bradini Cup is still on track as its still early on in the tourney, however, now would be the time for the Kebecois side to move forward and truly harness the squad if they intend on competing for the two guaranteed spots left for the group, a watery game showing against Cassadaguia resulted in a draw with the pink nation, resulting in some ill-fated locker-room talks from Fredrik Wollum and the team after nine shots on goal yielded only one goal and much sloppy play from the Kebecois side. Wollum was decidedly quite angry, commonly speaking his mind (i.e. cussing) at his team and berating their play after the match, so, it should be expected an explosive recovery performance for Kebec today coming off that loss.

Despite our braggadocio from much-anticipated preview, we expected a grueling match between the sides after our editorial staff revised our initial analysis of the squad from Cassadaigua. A respectable bunch was resembled for the match against Kebec, a somewhat offensive-styled squad, a small rivalry was seemingly in the works as the two teams took the field for the second match of the group for that day, we expected some explosive fireworks early on between the two teams, perhaps a push-and-shove match as it was obvious the two teams simply had it for each other after our previous statements. Boy, were we in for a treat when the fireworks started, they simply didn't stop, there was no stopping them - pop - pop - pop - boom, fireworks all abound for this game.

The game started off quietly until the third minute where Alain Sardou got his first clear target at goal, a good shot too that surely should've went in if it weren't for a hand-ball from Hannah Shanely - it was clear as day too, wasn't like it was obscure at all. However, the referee and his biased self allowed the match to continue, just giving Shanely a verbal warning, no automatic yellow card or a prenalty shot for the Kebecois side, she even got off with a pat on the back - they've got to be pals now the ref and Shanely. The match remained quiet for much of the time until the 41st minute where Cassagaigua's only shot on goal in the first-half, attempted by surefooted Emma McKee richoted off the cross-bars into the running-track encircling the stadium, giving Kebec an easy breather as the half neared. Gabriel Bassot broke thru the string of Cassadaggan defenders in the 52nd minute to score and give Kebec the lead in the match, setting up a temporary moment of euphoria that was soon to dissipate in a few minutes. Ironically, in the 57th minute, an unknown force, something that somehow missed the over-flying drone that was watching the entire game - Bassot was brought down as blood flew from his face, there was a large bump forming a blood gushed from a deep cut, however he insisted on playing for the rest of the match despite the fact white stuff was literally oozing from his eye. Chelsea Monroe, a Cassadaggan forward was able to score in the 65th minute to put Cassadaigua back in the match and snatch a sure chance at a win from the Kebecois side. Afterwards Bassot was rushed to the hospital where it has been confirmed that he has lost an eye, he claims he was attacked by a Cassadaggan, however, he has no recollection of her name or number. The Kebecois fan section, known as the "Roaring Dragons" are rumored to have purposefully burned down the Cassadaggan team bus and a stampede is known to have happened at the White Fortress, thirty Cassadaggan fans are confirmed dead from a rush of trampling by fans at the game.

Despite this, Kebec must remain focused as the Di Bradini Cup continues, there's no doubt sanctions will be awaiting the Kebec Footballing Union either now or at the end of the tourney by the multiverse's governing body for football, probably payment will be demanded by Cassadaggan FA, however, that is not of their concern at this time, there is much more important matter on hand. Venganzza is Kebec's next opponent, strictly adhering to one of those unrevealed rosters, we do not know their strengths or weaknesses, however, they were utterly thrashed 5-2 against the Cassagaggans, so, if anyone who cheats like the squad from Cassadaigua team can win, then, certainly, Kebec won't do half-bad playing properly and not attempting to hand-ball anything or mysteriously hurt a player. However, we must move on from our hatred of the Cassadaggan squad and look at the bright side - we have a mini-break in the form of Venganzza to prepare ourselves for our finale against Darmen.

In other notable action, Darmen outlasted Dainer to a fine score of 3-2, Dainer has been a high-scoring squad but they simply cannot manage to pull of wins, despite pulling of eight goals, they've only walked away with one win. Mercedini throttled Furrelim to a scoreline of 4-1, a good result for their squad as they focus on qualifying for the knockouts themselves, Mercedini is the fan favorite by many in Kebec to win this incarnation of the Di Bradini Cup. Starblaydia was unable to overcome another heavy-weight in Parsaga, being forced to acknowledge a 1-a-piece draw with the Crescents of Parsaga as they move on in their FA president's namesake tournament. Former World Cup host, Cosumar battled to a nil--nil draw with Taeshen in the other well-watched match. And that will wrap up another edition of Kebec Weekly Sports. For KWS, I am Tommy Weedleton and I bid you good night from Gladerial.

Score Summary

Kebec
52' - Gabriel Bassot (1) [ Lamberta Fourniea ]
Cassadaigua
65' - Chelsea Monroe (1) [ Unassisted ]

[color=#BF00]Kebec 5-4 Dainer[/color]
Group H, Matchday 1
Scorers: 42', 72', 75' - William Darfin; 57' - Arnaud Allais; 84' - Zachary Didier
@ Vuran Palace, Valarani, Valanora

Kebec 1-1 Cassadaigua
Group H, Matchday 2
Scorers: 57' - Gabriel Bassot
@ White Fortress, Gladerial, Valanora

Goals Scored
William Darfin (3)
Zachary Didier (1)
Gabriel Bassot (1)
Arnaud Allais (1)
Assists
Arnaud Allais (4)
William Darfin (1)
Lamberta Fornieau (1)

Tommy Weedleton contributed to this article.

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980673 comments

^{FAVORITE THIS DISCUSSION}

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@Great1 · 6 minute ago
Gods', the refs are fucking BLIND!

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670493 up · 269302 down

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@Motyocon · 12 minutes ago
Bassot got bitched up - whoever did that's gon get their ass beat when its found out.

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794003 up · 90693 down

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@DarnItAgain · 4 hours ago
Dang bro, fuck Cassadaigua, bunch of hoe-ass females.

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[Cassadaigua]

Players log in again for more Spacebook chatter....

CaitlinMayer9: Good morning!
CaitlinMayer9: Guess I’m first.
Monroe23: Hey there Cait, I was just reading the news. Remember that bus that caught on fire after the Kep game? I heard it was the scouting team from Brattleboro.
CaitlinMayer9: Oh, wow!
Monroe23: Apparently they thought it was our team bus.
KelseyDaGoalie: Good morning all!
CaptainHannah: You hear about the Brattleboro bus?

Monroe23: Yeah, I am surprised that they would send so many people out there.
KelseyDaGoalie: I kind of am too, but there have been a lot of talk about Cassadagan squads being interested in overseas players for the first time. Not just us.
CaitlinMayer9: You think they may have been scouting Kebecois players? Since Brattleboro is on the national border with Sicoutimont (OOC: A former French-themed nation that RP’d)
Miss Lupe4xo: I’m here. So yeah, why aren’t they watching us as closely?
CaptainHannah: We’re subject to the draft. International players aren’t. So Concord Heights, Brattleboro or whoever can only get their young talent that way, since they don’t have the early picks in the draft.
KelseyDaGoalie: We don’t need them here. Our league has done fine and even has prided itself on not pursuing many foreign players.
CaitlinMayer9: Historically yeah, we’ve only really signed players from our region, if anything.
Monroe23: Concord Heights paper suggested they are pursuing Natalie Sorokin from Bojikstan.
CaptainHannah: Nadine, not Natalie. And I think that’s just a publicity stunt.
Miss Lupe4xo: Sorokin’s a prima donna. I like that other player on Bojikstan. Andrade. Cait?
Monroe23: Livia
Miss Lupe4xo: No, I meant Cait! Lol You know I like my rough defenders.
CaitlinMayer9: What?
Miss Lupe4xo: Not you. Since when are you a rough defender?
CaitlinMayer9: Oh. Sorry!
KelseyDaGoalie: You guys know it was a bunch of Dagan fans who died in that stampede.
CaitlinMayer9: Really? I didn’t think they would be.
Monroe23: It was a group of men organized by Male Equality Now. That’s why we didn’t think it was our fans.
KelseyDaGoalie: Just because it was our male fans doesn’t make it any less terrible.
CaitlinMayer9: Never said it was not a tragedy, just that I didn’t think they were Dagan.
CaptainHannah: We should like, do something. Like, wear black patches for them.
Miss Lupe4xo: Black like Bissot’s eye?
CaptainHannah: lol but bigger.
Miss Lupe4xo: When we will do this symbolic gesture?
KelseyDaGoalie: Next game, I suppose. Put it on our shirts.
CaitlinMayer9: Which side?
CaptainHannah: Putting on the right, it’s symbolic to say its by the heart.
Miss Lupe4xo: If it was men, maybe we should have it elsewhere.
Monroe23: lol. No.


CaptainHannah: Great win, first win for us by the way, so that should be our focus.
Monroe23: Which of my goals did you like better?
CaitlinMayer9: The one I got an assist on!
CaptainHannah: I liked ‘em both!
KelseyDaGoalie: The first one was sweet, though.
Monroe23: Thanks, bet I would have scored on you too!
KelseyDaGoalie: I’m not perfect.
CaitlinMayer9: Lupe got away with another punch too. You better chill, though, one of these days its gonna come back on you.
Miss Lupe4xo: That’s the idea, Cait.
CaitlinMayer9: What?
Miss Lupe4xo: I want forwards like you, though maybe not you personally, at least not right now, to be scared of me and wonder if they will be next.
Monroe23: I want to be your teammate for life! Lol
CaptainHannah: That’s why you do it, opponents hate you, teammates love you.
CaitlinMayer9: Why don’t you play that way back there too then?
Miss Lupe4xo: It’s not Hannah’s forte. She knows it. Everyone can try, but very few can do it right.
CaptainHannah: Lupe’s right. Everyone can’t do it like that.
KelseyDaGoalie: If they’re not good at it, they get carded all the time. Lupe wants to do it, then get the retaliation carded, like we saw when the Vengazza player got the yellow.
CaitlinMayer9: Won’t there become a time when the refs will just be like, gee, another one. Then realize Lupe got away with it in other games and just card her anyway?
CaptainHannah: They can’t card what they don’t see. Even if they know who did it, deep down.
Miss Lupe4xo: It’s an art, Cait. Like I said, just stay on my good side when we play at home.

KelseyDaGoalie: Who are you going to punch against Darmen, Lupe?
Miss Lupe4xo: No one. Completely clean game against Darmen.
CaptainHannah: Very smart.
CaitlinMayer9: So, why is that so smart?
Miss Lupe4xo: They look over their shoulder the whole match, knowing what happened in the first two games. Then it never happens. Mind games.
CaptainHannah: Exactly.
Miss Lupe4xo: We want to stay clean against them. As a nation, they are Rushmori and very close to us on the map. Plus, they could have pitchers bean us in baseball if we were in the same group.
CaptainHannah: Big picture! Love it!
Miss Lupe4xo: Save it for Dainer. Maybe Caitlin, you can punch that Bravvo guy, he looks so weak I think even you could do it. I only mess with forwards.
Monroe23: Lol, Caitlin? Get physical? Suuure...
CaitlinMayer9: Yeah, I dunno.
Miss Lupe4xo: Caitlin, if you punch Bravvo when we play Dainer, I promise you I will never mess with you when our club teams play.
CaptainHannah: lol, but let’s worry about Darmen first.
Miss Lupe4xo: Remember, completely clean against Darmen.

[Buyan]

Sergei did an attempt to play the same trick as he would usually do during the national anthem. With a fierce and self-assured glance he would stare into the void of the second ring, trying to look hyper focused whilst mentally wondering about a small detail – did he turn off the lights in the bathroom of the hotel room? However, this time he stood behind a large banner with ten teammates. That in itself would not make such posture impossible but the sentiment that the camera was zooming in on him and him alone made it harder than ever. Deep down he had no trouble imagining what the commentators would say, not only back home but across the multiverse. They would recite the words on the banner and then point out what had been given, slam-bam in the middle of his face in the dressing room during the pre-match tactical.

---

“And on goal, Sergei,” Rinne rounded up the line-up for the clash with Savojarna with a small but audible sigh. One could wonder whether it had been a good idea to start with the strikers for once, instead of the other way around. It made, more than ever, clear that the coach was equally aware of the tension that would be created by his words.

Leaving a silence after those words wasn’t the best of plans either.

”So, I’ll guess he’ll have to kill a teammate before being benched.”

It wasn’t yelled. It wasn’t loud. It came from a corner from the dressing room, from a mouth that usually used little words. But damn, those cut deep.

---

”Ahead of the game, all players of the Young Hedgehogs unite behind a banner for their teammate William Marke – wishing him to get well soon. But it will definitely take some time before we see him return after that awful incident – a horrible crash during a teambuilding activity. According to sources from within the players group, fingers were pointed to goalkeeper Sergei Gazulov of whom a reckless gesture caused the heavy head trauma for the young Tjelberg player – they’re teammates during the regular season as well, by the way.”
“Wow, that must lead to some serious tension in the dressing room, unnamed lead commentator.”
“Definitely, unnamed co-commentator. Guess it’s pretty chilly over there right now.”

[Filindostan]

The scoop of the town is that the FNSC (Filindostani National Sports Commission) is getting its budget slashed by the congress, which is not good news to football and basketball afficionados and will most likely impact Filindostan's bid for the hosting rights of the next Campionato. The agency currently takes charge of all the sports Filindostan participates in, but a fiasco wherein the boxing guys were not sponsored in their MBO stint means one question: "Where did our taxes go?"

Insider information from the boxing camp is that the welterweight and heavyweight participants intentionally lose some of their matches in a form of protest to the commission for the government to look into the fiasco that will most likely to put an end to the term of Acil Pradeek as chairman. The house committee has already drafted their budget as 1000 rupesos only - far, far fewer than the 200 million rupesos that the agency got last year.

With the reputation of the FNSC tainted, the volleyball folks led by Pacha Patungan already formed their own private organization called Volleyball Filindostan, making their own league that will send participants to the international competitions. Another investor, Ricky Tsot Reyos, is planning to form the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilindostan and take the planning of the Filindostan Basketball Association to their hands. The ball is now to the football investor, Jerry Yanghasban to make his move.

Weeks later, on the 2nd of January 90003, he convened with the different owners of the football clubs that will play for the Filindostan Football League and the staff of the Pula Garuda, including Willy Suharto, the manager of the senior squad. They formed the Filindostan Football Federation (FFF), that will oversee the FFL and the running of the national football teams. They will reconvene next week for their official logo, and to decide if they will create a new kit for the national teams.

[Mercedini]

Top 5 Derbies in Mercedinian Football
@ MFA Headquarters - Zoloroni Sports City, Mercedini

With the Mercedinian U21 side involved in the current Di Bradini Cup, we thought we would take a step back from international football and focus on all of the goings on domestically. The Mercedinian Premier League has existed in it's current form for the past two seasons and has developed to a point where domestic rivalriess have cropped up from stadium proximities, regional rivalries or from political and cultural differences. Today, we will go through our picks for the top five Mercedinian derbies taking in all the usual factors that make football derbies so great. So, let's get into it!

#5 - Langtree Derby

---

Langtree United vs. AFC Langtree

We begin out countdown with a rather classical Mercedinian derby, and that's the one between the two sides from Langtree: AFC and United. Mercedini's second city has usually shied away from the sporting spotlight and is more notably involved with other forms of popular culture such as music and art. The two teams in question have had some decent success in their time in the MPL, with Langtree United claiming a spot at the Globe Cup as recent as two seasons ago. However, due to the difficulty of acquiring local talent or the fact that said local talent has moved to more lucrative areas such as nearby Zoloroni has meant progress at both clubs has stagnated to the point where both teams are lagging behind rapidly developing teams such as Shebchetsik, Hoventon and Elspachia. Back to the matter of the Langtree Derby, it's a day which is on the calendar of many-a Langtree native. Traffic comes to a standstill, public transport is absolutely rammed and pubs & bars are open for longer as they attempt to benefit from the big day for the two clubs. Despite AFC Langtree falling on the back foot when it comes to final league positions, they regularly come up with stellar performances in the Langtree Derby and churn out regular results to help their own cause while simultaneously denting the aspirations of their rivals. As is usually the case, Ezekiel Kramini and Dimitri Lamorka are the star players for United and AFC respectively with both teams doing well to hold onto their main players for the upcoming season. We should say that there is a third team which sometimes gets in on the antics, with Ignavi Borough potentially being thrown in the mix should one of the current MPL teams get relegated or if Ignavi gets promoted to the Premier League. If that happens, then we'll get a triple-header of teams from Mercedini's second city, exciting stuff!

#4 - Secondary Sector Scuffle

---

Orga City vs. Zholvi Athletic

These teams may have been friendly Baptism of Fire and IAC group co-hosts, but the rivalry between Mercedini's fourth largest city and one of the nation's largest towns goes back to when their industries were just beginning. Orga and Zholvi are known as the manufacturing bases of Mercedini, where most of the nation's producers are situated. Ironworks, steelworks and potteries are the main players in Orga and Zholvi, which is where the derby title gets it's name from. When these two teams come together, all the workers take a sick day off work to make sure they are well prepared for the clash between the two local clubs, with workers regularly divided between where their workplace is situated, rather than where they grew up. As for results, these teams are surprisingly even during derbies, with both teams also at similar ends of the table by the time the season end. Orga have recently received a big one-up against their rivals, with Zholvi Athletic's shock relegation from the Premier League in the most recent season. This means that league derbies have been put on hold for now, although a fixture between these two teams can still happen in the MFA Cup if the draw gods like a bit of bite in the fixtures. It may not be as fierce as fixtures later in the list, but these teams definitely see it as something to aim for in the calendar, even if they are regularly stranded in mid-table by the end of the table.

#3 - Zoloroni Derby

---

Zoloroni City vs. Zoloroni Metropolitan

Up next is the hottest local derby on the block, the Zoloroni Derby between City and Metropolitan. It has been competitive season after season between these two Mercedinian juggernauts, with City taking the title two seasons ago and Metropolitan claiming the most recent MPL victory and the Champion's Cup spot last season. Funnily enough, both teams have claimed a first and a second in the past two seasons, giving this match the build up of a potential title decider given both teams' domestic powerhouse status. City and Metropolitan have spent big in recent season to ensure they beat their capital and league rivals in the biggest match of the season for these two teams which has earned it the rather fitting title of the 'Mercedinian El Ca$hico' from the fans of fellow MPL teams and other outside detractors, more on that later on. When it comes to the outcome of these matches, both teams are relatively even, however Metropolitan has edged it slightly in recent seasons even if City have had the better rub of the green during the rest of the season. With plenty of high profile signings occurring in the most recent transfer window, there's plenty to look forward to when these teams clash at both the newly renovated Sports City Stadium and at Snowflake Stadium in the upcoming season.

#2 - Derbi Shebnatsiya

---

Dynamo Shebchetsik vs. RFK Ogdenagorv

The city of Shebchetsik and the small town of Ogdenagorv are two places you wouldn't expect a feisty football rivalry to brew up in. However, these two teams (which are both situated in the northern semi-autonomous region of Shebnatsiya) have worked their way up the Mercedinian footballing pyramid and are now in the nation's top tier. This has lead to a new footballing rivalry in the top-tier has been set up between these two teams to see who is the best in the region of Shebnatsiya is. Avid Mercedinian sports fans may mention the fact that this match-up is already a hotly contested fixture in the sport of hockey, with the hockey version of the Shebnatsiya Derby consisting of HK Dynamo Shebchetsik vs. SKK Ogdenagorv and is generally similar to it's footballing counterpart. Results-wise, these teams have never met in either competitive league fixtures or cup games and their first meetings will come in the upcoming season. There are also two further teams that hail from the same region and therefore qualify for a 'Derbi Shebnatskya', those being OFR Ozzaya Agranka and Sutsik Chernomorets all making progress in the lower tiers of Mercedinian football.

#1 - Derby Tossico/Derbi Toksichnyy (Toxic Derby)

---

Zoloroni City vs. Dynamo Shebchetsik

And finally, at number one is probably the most fierce Mercedinian rivalry you will find, and it's not as if the teams are even that close to each other. When it comes to culture and philosophy, these two teams are polar opposites; south-eastern sun vs. far-north-western wind, imported talent vs. homegrown talent, staunch capitalists vs. wannabe socialists, Notorious B.I.G's 'I Love The Dough' vs. Notorious B.I.G's 'Mo Money Mo Problems', it's all set up for a clash between two competing philosophies, a bit like the Cold War! Sufficed to say, it is on the calendar of every Shebchetsik fan, but maybe not every City fan, due to the fact they see Dynamo as just another team to play and beat. Zoloroni City are obviously very well off and have done plenty of things that Shebchetsik fans see as unfair to the rest of the teams who don't have as much financial backing as they do, including but not limited to 'buying their league success'. Shebchetsik have worked hard in developing home grown talent and spending what little they have on players who have potential and then working them with their existing team to deliver terrific results, which (in their eyes) City take a massive shit on. When it comes to match days, atmospheres don't get any more toxic and hostile than matches between these teams with Shebchetsik fans the main perpetrators of the intimidation and vandalism. Dynamo fans have been known to wreck the away end when travelling to the Sports City Stadium and follow that up with intimidation and occadional violence when 'welcoming' Zoloroni City to the Razrabotka Stadion. This culminated in the MFA banning all away fans during matches between these two teams, to quell the actions of both teams and preserve the integrity of Mercedinian domestic football. We hope relations between the two teams improves, however that isn't likely to happen due to the mentality of the two teams, but that just makes things all the more tasty.

---

That's all we have for you regarding out little titbit of coverage about domestic Mercedinian football, we hope that has wet your appetite for the upcoming MPL season including the vast majority of the teams listed here. We will be travelling out to Valanora tomorrow to catch up on the action involving the Mercedinian U21 National Team. We hope you will join us for that, but from Zoloroni, goodnight!

[Chromatika]

Chief Correspondent: Jordan Lawless

Opinion: Why Does Chromatika Struggle at the DBC?

With another draw, this time against Farfadillis, Chromatika sits four points behind Albaie and Mercedini, although they are still in the hunt to make the knockout rounds due to the fact that they have a game left against each of those teams to finish off the group stage. Chromatik fans are having flashbacks to the other DBCs, though - just take a look at the history of Chromatika in the Di Bradini Cup:

DBC 37: 2 W 1 L, 6 PTS, 3rd Place in Group (Lost in tiebreakers)
DBC 38: 0 W 3 L, 0 PTS, Last Place in Group
DBC 39: 1 W 2 D, 5 PTS, Lost in Ro16 to Abanhfleft
DBC 40: 1 W 1 D 1 L, 4 PTS, 3rd Place in Group

As you can see, the young Chromatiks have only made it past the group stage once, and then they lost 0-3 to Abanhfleft. They put Jacques in charge this time around, but are still floundering. Why is it that this team struggles at the U-21 level? I present to you three of the core reasons.

1. Lack of Cohesion

With Collegiate Football just recently starting in Chromatika, there was no such thing as academies or youth football except in high school, and even then, only the big schools in the prevalent cities had them. Chromatika lacks the clubs having U-21 or U-18 teams. In fact, most of the U-15 national team from a while back had to go to San Jose Guayabal or Northern Sunrise Islands to play in youth football. With the advent of collegiate football, hopefully Chromatik infrastructure will start to become more stable in the realm of football, but it is still a work in progress. With so many players playing all around the world, this means that there isn't much cohesion between the players as they have never played with each other, or it's been too long. They don't have enough experience to just come out and be a well-oiled machine, and other teams are taking advantage of that. This is a problem that is fixable, though, in the future, and one that is rather understandable.

2. Clashing Personalities

Perhaps it comes from #1, but when you bring people who are all so good in their individual teams, it's hard to have them all curb their egos. Hermaeus Mora has reportedly stated that he will be the assisting midfielder in the fine crop of midfielders that are playing for Chromatika, but things are still not going very well, and we can tell. Too many times when the opposition scores, players are pointing fingers at each other. Too many times Mia Ria has looked a bit more flustered than she should be. I have no idea what Didier Jacques is doing in the locker room, that is for certain, and I also find it strange that the Chromatika National Senior Team doesn't have the same issues, but things are rather disjointed. I think it might be because the Senior Team went through the Rainbow Revolution together and know that football is more than just a sport, it is their life. Perhaps the younger kids don't quite understand how things work yet. With all the intangibles messed up, though, it's no wonder the team struggles.

3. Strategy

Well... Mario Jankovich lived and died by the 4-3-3, and now Jacques is favoring the 3-4-3 instead. Where the National Team has always had an identity - the ultra-defensive 5-3-2 in the beginning, a more fluid hodgepodge in the middle, and now the 3-4-3 that is rather fluid depending on Parker's whims, the U21 team has just looked lackluster. Jacques is now promoting a more open kind of play where anyone can shoot from pretty much anywhere, but it will be interesting to see just how well that permeates through the players. An identity will be required for them to take the next step.

Can the young Chromatiks take the matches against Albaie and Mercedini and qualify to the knockout rounds, where anything can happen? Or will they join the previous iterations as underperformers?

Note: Goalscorers against Farfadillis: Kelly '22 assisted by Thorben; Sierra '81 assisted by Kazumi. Subs: McCallum -> Kelly ('57), Wiechmann -> Will ('71), Croix-Pierre -> Han ('82).
Stating Lineup vs. Albaie: Ria; Nordman - Will - Ilya; Thorben - Kazumi - Mora - Han; Kelly - Victoriane (C) - Prim.

[Ceni]

No Going Back, No Going Home
Chapter 3: A Birthday to Remember (Part Two)

Eating only seemed to make everyone more active, especially Sean. He was just yammering his mouth off after he had gobbled down his food like there was no tomorrow. An alien looking in on the conversation from above would have thought it was Sean's birthday, the way he was dominating the conversation and attracting attention to himself. Avi, on the other hand, was doing his best to remain out of the limelight, preferring to silently chew on his food and mull over things. He started at some of the artwork on the walls of the restaurant, produced by local artists: he particularly enjoyed the Vanorian style, eclectic as it was, with an impressionist piece in the pointillist style depicting a field brimming to the top with wildflowers right next to a cubist piece depicting a Vanorian family, or so Avi thought. The waiter came by and took his plate away; the conversation was getting boring at this point. Avi turned to chewing on his pen to pass the time.

At last, everybody had finished their dinners. Avi paid the bill and was motioning to get up and go when Arthur Arathilion motioned for Avi to sit down. "Hold your horses, there, Avi! We've barely even celebrated your birthday yet! Avi's face grew progressively redder as he saw Arathilion motion a waiter over to him and whisper a couple of things in his ear. His worst fears were confirmed when the waiter returned with a posse of his own kind, with a candle burning on top of a piece of Vanorian wine cake. The posse started singing the familiar, if trite, words of Happy Birthday as some of the other patrons in the restaurant started to join in the chorus. Of course, Sean Seafire was singing as loudly as he could, adding his own histrionics to the already embarrassing situation.

"Make a wish," said the waiter.

Avi blew out the candle, and as he did, time started to seem to go more slowly. He remembered his parents and began to feel warm inside... he wished he could go back on the biggest mistake of his life and have his parents back. Suddenly, the candle stopped burning, and Avi returned from his trip to his own world, his own sanctuary, to a chorus of clapping and cheering. He felt a slap on the back - of course, that would have to be Sean Seafire, perhaps the most annoying person there could ever be. Avi shook his head before managing to sputter out a couple of words. "Thanks guys... but I don't think it was really necessary at all."

"Avi, we're you're family now!" said Asher. "We want to treat you as one of our own, even if you have only been here for a week or two."

"You should celebrate your birthday," added in Ariana. "It shouldn't be a low-key affair here. You deserve a stellar birthday."

Avi was thinking to himself about how exactly what he wanted was a low-key affair when the team produced presents for Avi to open. He was overcome with emotion, so much that tears started to pour out of his eyes like water pouring down the Niagara Falls. He was sobbing, sobbing uncontrollably. They weren't tears of sadness - they were tears of joy. He had never felt this good - or this overwhelmed - before. It felt good to be looked after, especially in a world full of insecurities. Tears filled his field of vision, and as he was wiping them, he saw a large box shoved into his face. It was none other than Sean Seafire himself. "Here! Open mine! Open mine!" the annoying boy, a year younger than Avi, exclaimed with excitement.

Avi was taking a moment to collect himself when Coach Arathilion interrupted him. "Sean, this birthday is not about you. Last I checked, your birthday isn't for another eight months! Stop hogging all the attention." He smiled at Avi. "You can open them whenever you want. Whatever makes you feel comfortable."

"I think I'd rather open them in my hotel room," said Avi, still trying to hold back a few tears. "This is all very overwhelming to me, and I don't think I've had anything like this before. Thank you all. Thank you." He almost started to cry again but held those tears back.

"We just want you to know that we're here for you, Avi," said Asher. "Any time you need us, we'll be here for you."

Avi managed to crack a smile. "I really appreciate that. I really do."

Sean Seafire started to open his mouth but the entire team shut him down almost instantaneously. "Shut up, Sean!" the team said, with the conflicting desires to giggle and emit a collective groan. "We're a bit tired of this," Asher, one of the more mature souls on the team, added. He turned to pat Asher on the back. "Don't worry about Sean," he said. "We'll just ignore him."

Avi smiled again. At that point, one thing was obvious: this was his best birthday ever.

[Bojikstan]

Crazy Youth

Chapter Four

“When did your problems start with the Andrade girl?” asked Will Sorokin, following Nadine into her hotel room as the team returned from their training during the bye. Every practice now, there was some kind of clash between Nadine and Catia. It was turning into a major feud that had drawn in Livia Andrade, who still considered Nadine a friend but who was also very protective of her sister. She’d end her friendship with Nadine if it meant protecting Catia from one of the more popular figures on the team, and the clashes between them had already hit the papers. After the loss to Pasarga, the front page of the Bojikstan Sentinel had showed Hayden Rinde after allowing the game winning goal. On the other side of that page, there was a large picture of Nadine and Livia shoving each other during the match.

“Which Andrade girl are you talking about? Liv? I don’t know what her problem is. She’s just jealous of a friend, that’s all-”

“You’re playing stupid, Nadine. Livia is only upset because you’ve been borderline bullying her little sister since we started camp. And it’s not a good look for the family, or for you. Especially when the press is saying that it’s costing us wins now. You’re not… You’re not helping anyone by bullying some kid that’s two years younger than you, just because she said a few things to you-”

“She’s the one that started it,” Nadine shrugged, flopping down on the bed and turning the TV on. “She’s the one that pulled a gun on me and spouted some bullshit about how I’m ruining her life. She’s the one that ended our friendship over a boy. I can’t help it if she’s sensitive, I’ve done nothing but return the treatment she’s given me.”

“I want to support you, and you know that, but you’re making it hard. Because none of this would have started if you didn’t take Cat Andrade’s boyfriend and kick all of this off-”

“I didn’t know she was going to lose her mind and try to murder me over it. Sheesh. Whatever I’ve done to her isn’t as bad as what she wanted to do before I talked her down. And what are you going to do, Will? Side with Liv? You’ll do nothing. Don’t act like you will, because you wouldn’t upset father-”

“Father is tired of this shit, too. I’m not trying to be mean, I’m just trying to do what’s best for the team, as one of the captains. I’m offering a suggestion to drop whatever was between you and the Andrade sisters and move on. Before it affects the team more than it already has,” Will said, stepping in front of the TV. “You can talk all you want about how justified it is, but you know deep down that the bullying isn’t right-”

“I know that it’s right, and as far as stopping goes, I’ll do nothing of the sort. If they want to end this fight, they can. I’m not going to be the one to extend the olive branch-”

“And when Catia kills herself because of the way you treat her?”

“Why would I care if another edgy teenager necks herself in one last cry for attention? Maybe she should toughen up. Maybe she should find another boy and stop looking at my boyfriend. If that’s how she feels, she should get help. But I’m not going to be the one to give it to her. We were barely friends, anyway. I just let her come with us for things because Liv wanted her around. I thought she was fucking annoying half the time I was around her.”

“When did you become so cold?”

“The fuck do you mean?”

“How can you not even care what happens to one of your teammates?”

“She’s not my teammate. We just represent the same country. Big difference. You get to choose some of your club teammates. I didn’t get to choose to end up on a team with Catia Andrade. I don’t see what the problem is.”

“You don’t see what the problem is, even on the human level?”

Nadine shrugged. “Nobody gives a shit about me. Why should I give a shit about anyone else? Not even you, Will. You took off to Cosumar and left me in Strasburg. As soon as I get in a fight, you side with someone else that isn’t even blood. You think Fedor gives a shit about me, either? Well, he ran away to play in Gallia, when I needed someone to be there. And dad sure as hell doesn’t care. He just wants his perfect midfielder son to do well, because that son looks and plays like him. All I have is mom, and she thinks I’m a disappointment. She hates how I don’t have real skills and how I just look for easy goals.”

“Just because I took an offer doesn’t mean-”

“Get out.”

“Nadine, you’re not being fair-”

“GET THE FUCK OUT!” Nadine screamed, throwing the remote at him. This wasn’t a conversation that she wanted to have right now, and her temper was rising as she remembered her circumstances. “Don’t you have some stuff to do as the vice captain? Fuck you! Get the fuck out of my room!” she added, getting up and shoving him back. “And don’t come here telling me how wrong I am, when you’ll never understand my problems! Of course you won’t, you’re the golden boy of the whole family and you won’t admit it! You think everyone doesn’t pay attention to you because you’re a midfielder, but you couldn’t be more wrong!”

When Will stepped out, she slammed the door in front of him. She expected this from everyone else, but she didn’t expect to hear it from her own brother. And that had her shaken, causing her to slump back down onto the bed and hold her head in her hands. Why was everything in her life filled with conflict right now? If she knew, she probably wouldn’t be in the situation that she was in.

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ Steady the Pace

After sitting through the first round of matches with their bye, the Young Wanderers were eager to get into action and show the class that has seen many believe young Pasargan talent to be among the best in the footballing world over the last decade. After all, they were opening up against Bojikstan, a side that none of the players had ever heard of before and does not have anything resembling any sort of footballing pedigree, yet. The side was confident and looking to run rampant against a bunch of players and a squad that they believed they were completely and utterly better than in every phase of the game. What transpired however was one of the biggest wake up calls that the Young Wanderers could have had happened to them, with the Bojikstan deciding to play a more aggressive and attack minded game than what the braintrust had prepared the side for. Let us not beat around the bush here, the Young Wanderers should have likely only come out of the game with Bojikstan with a single point and be looking at a mountain to climb in their group, but late heroics from Jager and a small mistake from the Bojik keeper was enough to see our squad steal the entirety of the points in an eleven goal thriller that no doubt left both managers looking for answers to fix their defensive lines.

Mór Császár only had a few days between the matches to try and sort out the back line in order to face off against a Starblaydia squad that was high off of nabbing a victory against Juvencus, the exact sort of tonic that the Starblaydi needed after their opening group match where Schottia showed their prowess. While not believing that their inclusion had been a mistake, the manager knew that his initial starting backline was not going to cut it and made a pair of changes for the match against the Purple Peril, switching out Katić and captain Markus Roth for Laurent Chandonnet and Eshan based Ondřej Poláček respectively. While the manager took a lot of the blame for the scoreline, having prepared the side to play more of a controlling tactic against a side that he thought would be set up for the counter and not an attacking press, he also acknowledged that for a group of players labeled some of the best defenders in the Young Wanderers squads of the last decade that they did not play as expected.

The changes seemed to pay dividends as from the outset, the back four looked a far more solid and reliable unit against the flying attack of Starblaydia, keeping them held at bay relatively well. However in asking the midfield to also drop back to help support their defensive players, the strikers for the Wanderers were being starved of service themselves and the game became something of a slug fest in the middle of the park. Petar Galić however would turn the tide when he chested down an attacking throw in and played it into the path of Jager, who took it on the first touch. Bjorn Järvinen managed to palm the shot away, however it was struck with such force that they couldn't control the rebound and Galić quickly pounced on the spilled ball and tapped it past the scrambling defenders to give the Wanderers the lead right on the break of half time. Anra Kolmkal would take advantage of a slip from Chandonnet that allowed the striker a half yard of space to put in a screened shot that was past Szalay before she knew a shot had been taken. Jager thought he had won the game for the Wanderers when he had chested down a long clearance from Berg and put one past Bjorn from the top of the D, but the goal was disallowed as Jager was a half step offside, leaving the game to finish with a point and goal a piece for the two sides scrambling for second.

That scramble might become desperate with the group leaders and perfect side of Schottia now facing the Young Wanderers square in the face, the challenge that they had hoped for and feared. A win against Schottia would not just be a matter of exacting some revenge for the way that the senior squads last match had played out but it would bring the entire group into play going into the final matchday, with the Young Wanderers still to play the side from Juvencus that every other squad in the group has managed to defeat. That match is looking to be a near guaranteed three points but the other four squads in the group are all within three points of each other and each have games against one another. Schottia has looked near invincible in their first two games, with five goals scored and none conceded, taking up the same sort of pace that their senior squad had in the last two years. Can the Young Wanderers find their weakness though, can they play to their own strengths in their strong midfield and good attacking talent? Possession looks to be a key but if they do win that battle can they translate it into scoring chances without the game becoming a barn burner like it was against Bojikstan? While a draw or loss would not be the end of the world, only a victory keeps the Wanderers fate in their own hands going into the last matchday.