World Cup 79 • CREDRAWK • RP Thread

[Nephara]

Nephara 1-0 Ko-oren
(4-2-3-1) 1 - Tsattalios; 2 - Sorrell, 5 - Konoval, 22 - Theuer, 19 - Vicelich; 4 - Misidjan (23 - Rowland 80'), 15 - Klein; 13 - Fanaiyan, 21 - Gosforth (c, Rowan 65'), 11 - Strongbow (16 - Aspenwood 65'); 9 - Hawke
Goal: Gosforth 14'

Eura 2-3 Nephara
(4-2-3-1 / 4-4-2) 1 - Tsattalios; 18 - Brymora, 5 - Konoval, 6 - Scharner, 3 - Lohengrin; 4 - Misidjan (23 - Rowland 86'), 8 - Tarashaj (15 - Klein 76'); 7 - Szalai, 21 - Gosforth (c, Kendall 62'), 11 - Strongbow; 9 - Hawke
Goals: Szalai 13', Hawke 67', Kendall 88'

THE BRINEMOUTH HERALD
WORLD CUP GROUP H PREVIEW
by Staff

Electrum (4)
Geneva Schwarzer

Qualifying Run One of just two nations to have a better record than Nephara in qualifying, Electrum were sixteen points above third-place Flardania with a 17-1-0 record. They actually opened their campaign with a scoreless home draw against Sargossa (who would ultimately finish second) but were flawless from that point.

History Surprisingly, the almost-neighbours have only met once. In the group stage of World Cup 77, goals from edged Nephara to a 2-1 victory.

Fashion Supplied by Meski, Electrum's home kits are a busy but unmistakably bold mixture of blue, indigo and gold pipin and chevron. Listed second in their clash against Nephara, the kit clash will likely force them into their simpler, all-white with blue chevron away kits, notable for a subtle lightning motif. Right at the centre, a World Cup champions' badge roughly the size of their crest reminds everyone of their quality. Overall, it's very early-to-mid-60s Kirola.

The Squad An aging side counting many veterans of the World Cup winning side from two years ago. The star man is Alan Moore is a fair shout to be the greatest defender in the world right now, a commanding presence in the heart of defence, a genuine defender's defender. Meanwhile, the two-man central midfield of the flaky, silky Ho and exuberant, commanding captain Fernando can really wrest control of games.

Strengths Like fellow Endemians Nephara (and Eura), Electrum play a balanced style of football, strong in all areas of the pitch and with far more stability and solidity at the back than many attack-minded contemporaries. They're disciplined and technically very skilled.

Weaknesses That said... they are very, very old in key areas. Their first-choice forwards are 33 and 32, key winger Henry is 34, with overall just two of their recognised starting outfielders under 30 years old. Eura's age problem was ruthlessly punished twice by uncompromising Nepharim physicality, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to predict that the same powerful, quick, all-action approach may well pay dividends again.

Prospects While Electrum is in a state of transition, as defending champions, they have every right to expect at the very least the quarterfinals, and more likely the semifinals.

Starblaydia (39)
Erik Waldemar

Qualifying Run It came down to the final day, but a convincing 3-0 victory over Jabok secured Starblaydia's place in second, six points behind Vilita and one ahead of an impressive Filindostan.

History Starblaydia, along with Sargossa, managed to capitalise during the Incident of WCQ78. They impressively held Nephara to a 1-1 draw away but were beaten 5-3 at home - even so, their consistency earned them a deserved qualification berth.

Fashion Against Nephara, Starblaydia will wear possibly the most iconic kit in world football - all white, with minimalistic purple trim on the collar, sleeve trim, top of the socks and lettering. The away kit is pretty much just that but reversed. Of course, the five gold stars above the crest add a reminder of their prestige. Supplied by local company Ediraf.

The Squad Lead by Azewyn Feanaro, a timeless figure in Starblaydi history and a fearsome player in her day, this is a side very much aware of its history. The traditional mixture of races, the Starblaydi have a balanced outfit whose main star is two-time World Cup champion Soronume, a mercurial midfielder who can seize games single-handed on his day. Just, those days aren't nearly as often as in his heyday. And of course there's still a di Bradini in the mix - specifically, 22-year old midfielder Marcello of Iskara Daii.

Strengths Starblaydi sides of the past may have dominated matches, but a more pragmatic approach may be to hit on the counter this time around - certainly, all the material is there. Soronume can make things happen in a flash while up front, Kolmkal has a deceptive turn of pace and in general pretty much everything to her game, except, unsurprisingly, height. Ella Kabaya is the main goal-getter, though, a truly modern striker and a danger to any defence. Hit it low and long, especially against aging Electrumites, attack-minded Ethanians and hulking, unwieldy Nepharim, and it may well pay off.

Weaknesses That said, they may well be vulnerable to the same approach. Veteran sweeper Palanadu is genuinely ancient, and time eventually makes itself known even to elves. He's usually got the finely-honed instincts to cover for himself, but in a straight sprint, he's got no chance. A 36-year old goalkeeper in the solid Myhill is similarly unlikely to do much sweeping in behind.

Prospects A dangerous side, not to be taken lightly, and stronger than the side that edged Nephara two years ago. Even so, they are unlikely to progress past the group stage, unfortunate to encounter a very tough top three all in exceptional form.

Nephara (14)
Markus Carney

Qualifying Run Almost perfect, and indeed the Cormorants were the last team in the world to drop points. An eventual 1-0 away defeat to Apox was their only blemish as they did the double over Eura and secured an eleven-point buffer from third in a very dangerous group.

Fashion The Cormorants' kits are supplied by Kirola, as the long-standing partnership that has very nearly lasted Nephara's duration in the WCC continues. Emerald green shirts (with a ... horizontal slashes design, for want of a better word) are complemented by the usual matte black shorts and green socks, with a terracotta shirt (spiced up with vertical, black slashes) and shorts with white socks as a change strip. As a prestigious flair, the gold, silver and bronze star around the badge boast of the Grand Slam of WCC titles.

The Squad A broad, versatile squad from a variety of nations, fairly young as Brandon tries to engineer a turnover of talent. The Cormorants have settled into a 4-2-3-1 designed to get the best from captain Konrad Gosforth, tall and technical, with pace and power on the wings and up front and a rock-solid defence. Also worthy of note is that the Cormorants can boast one of the deepest squads in world football, perhaps only bettered by Cosumar. Anticipate frequent rotation as Brandon tries to keep things fresh.

Strengths This Nephara side is... huge. Whether by design or accident, Brandon has found himself with a muscular, powerful and also terrifyingly quick squad in places, with Leona Rafford almost hilariously small and lithe compared to her compatriots. When push comes to shove, Nephara are uncompromisingly physical, some might say dirty - albeit in the honest, agricultural Nepharim sense.

Weaknesses Nephara have no personnel issues, but there's the sense that, well... when things go wrong for the Cormorants, there's a tendency to utterly implode, everywhere, at once. Michael Brandon has done his utmost to iron these mental issues out, and while it seems to have worked after a nearly flawless qualification, will things unravel here? It also has to be admitted that this Nephara side is rather less technical than the norm, with Konrad Gosforth and Servet Misidjan the only real delicate touches in the regular starting XI.

Prospects While the second round would be an acceptable performance, certainly judging by the squad on paper, it would take a quarterfinal finish to really reclaim Nephara's position as an established power.

Ethane (18)
Karin Rietveld

Qualifying Run Exceptional throughout qualifying, they cantered easily to first place with a 16-0-2 record. Cassadaigua took second, surprisingly catching out Valladares.

History Nephara and the Red Kites (perhaps one of the best nicknames in international football) have never faced one another.

Fashion A tidy, classic design with sharp lines, Ethane will wear their purple and black against Nephara and have a vibrant red and purple away. They're supplied by JMC.

The Squad A team in transition, but from their outstanding qualifying campaign it appears to be bearing fruit already. The Red Kites are young, refreshed and focused on more or less flooding the opposition with waves of devastating attacks. Samuel Mitchell, well on track to hit a hundred caps and a half-century of goals, is the spearhead, extremely popular in his country and improving year-on-year. They're mostly domestically-based, though Sabrefell Moths defender Theresa Desantis is a key player.

Strengths It's hard to look past Ethane's wide variety of young, ambitious and most of all quick forwards. This is a side that excels at carving sides open on the break, and while Mitchell is certainly a convenient focal point, manager Gavin Comi's belief in youth has clearly paid off with three teenagers making the final squad after impressing in qualifying. Even if this cycle doesn't go to plan for the Red Kites, every impact substitution of one of these young players, Cole, Burgess and especially Declan Smith (who must surely be in line for a move abroad sooner rather than later) underlines a bright future.

Weaknesses The midfield is a distinct weak point. On the left flank, Stidolph is an excellent player at Explosive League level, but can't rely on his technique alone at international level - never fast, he's far less so at 33. On the right, Veresoto's mostly gotten over his enfant terrible phase. Mostly. The centre lacks someone who can really stamp their authority, while promising spearhead of the midfield Joseph Owens has suffered poor form during a relegation and seems shorn of confidence.

Prospects It's very possible Ethane will overtake one of the two frontrunners, and are not to be taken lightly. In another group, they would be a standout choice to progress from third seed. Unfortunately for them, they aren't in another group.

[Brenecia]

Gangnam 1 - 2 Brenecia
(4-2-3-1) 20 - Buchanan; 2 - Szukala, 18 - Heneghan, 5 - Varney, 22 - Cattalock; 4 - Ruffan, 16 - Conroy; 15 - Garrard, 11 - Wheeler (8 - Hartsdown 71'), 13 - Macbeth (3 - Levein 81'); 17 - Bannion
Goals: Cattalock 25', Hartsdown 73'

Brenecia 2 - 0 EEC
(4-2-3-1) 12 - Calhoun; 19 - V Hamilton, 18 - Heneghan, 5 - Varney (6 - Cascarine 75'), 3 - Levein; 23 - Alweather (c), 8 - Hartsdown; 15 - Garrard, 11 - Wheeler, 13 - Macbeth (22 - Cattalock 82'); 14 - Charnwood
Goals: Charnwood 36', Garrard 56'

Catherine Bardsley smiled as the repetitive questions rattled her way. Children, children... "I really can't comment as to those reports. We've made it to the World Cup, and now I aim to take the Patriots as far as they can go. I believe that that's-" A flurry of voices interrupted, but she kept talking straight over them. "- my job, yes? Just as your job is to report facts, ladies and gentlemen, not rumours."
One enterprising soul cleared her throat and pressed forward. "If you aren't planning to jump, but Reid's already been hired... does this mean you face the push?"
"Aha, aha..." You are literally fucking insane if you think that. "No."
"But then he-"
"Next question?"
Another guy stepped up, having clearly been psyching himself up for the killer question for the past couple of minutes. "Ms. Bardsley, do you not think that leaving this all in doubt, this, uh, uncertainty, will have an adverse effect on your squad's morale?"
Bardsley smiled. It did not reach her eyes. "Maybe if they read the papers there will be some confusion, but I've been clear and consistent with them. Now, if you choose to print rumours and conjecture and call them facts-"
Garrett, the PR guy, coughed meaningfully. Bardsley took the hint, and wound down.
"- well, they'd be as confused as the rest of your readership."
"That's enough of that line of questioning, I should think," Garret cut in, over four or five other voices. "Do you have anything to ask concerning matters on the pitch?"
When some guy asked if Elsie Drover's starting spot was assured, and could be easily straight-batted back with a coy 'nobody can take their place in the team for granted', Bardsley could have kissed the man.

They stalked off down the tunnel together - Bardsley, Garrett and the assistant, Colm Beckwith.
"Idiots, idiots, idiots," Bardsley seethed - not too loud, you'd be amazed at the reach a modern smartphone's recorder can get, but loud enough to get her bloody point across.
"You can't've expected the BFA to just sit on their hands, can you?" said Garrett, tersely. "Of course they'd shop around for replacements-"
"Is it Reid, then?"
"Ink's barely dry on the contract, but yes-"
"And you let it leak?!" Bardsley's voice hit a new octave. Beckwith winced.
"Sometimes these things can't be helped," he said.
"Nothing can be helped in the fucking BFA. It's a shambles- beyond a shambles. Jesus fucking Christ."
She stormed off ahead of the two men, leaving them stranded in the corridor.
After an awkward pause, Beckwith glanced over. "Hey, ah, you know what Reid's situation is regarding backroom staff?"
"Hey, man, I'm just the PR guy. They don't tell me-"
"Yeah, sure, okay. I know."

The press went ahead with the headlines anyway. 'Jim Reid pencilled in to replace Bardsley after World Cup', said the admirably direct Rozelle Observer - as if it was a done deal already. Sure, it was a done deal already, but they didn't know that.
A lot of footballers didn't really bother with the football media, just kept their heads down and did the job in front of them. Gethin Quill was not one of them, though he was the first to admit he probably should be.
But he didn't let it affect him, or didn't think it did. This was about to be a real test of that resolve.
He pored it over, put down the phone for a bit. Deep breath. Read it again.
. . .
And then decided, fuck it. She had her reasons. She wasn't leaving them in the lurch. He'd get as far as possible in this tournament, then see how the new guy - a promising, experienced appointment - fared in the hot seat.
Yeah. Sounded good.
Head down. Get the job done.

[Farfadillis]

Keys to a Successful World Cup Campaign

Another two-year period, another World Cup. With another World Cup, once again comes hope to Farfadillis. Hope that we will finally amount to something at the biggest stage. So far, all we have to show for our love for the sport is one bronze medal, but could things change this time around? Probably not, but if they are to change, here are the keys to that:

#1: Fôrté Wínrôuge must be at the top of his game

The Farf midfielder is by a long distance the best player in the squad, and his form will be, perhaps, the number one factor in Farfadillis' World Cup campaign. He doesn't phase out of games often, but when he does we struggle terribly, like against Mercedini this cycle. Even though he's purely an attacking player, his presence up front helps us defend simply by us being far more threatening up front. If you have possession, you can't concede, and if you're threatening on the counter, other teams will think twice before attacking you full-force.

Besides that, obviously, Fôrté's influence up front is immeasurable. He's not far from being the top scorer of the team, and he has twice as many assists as his closest competitor, Xíxì Êns. Our attack is very good without him, don't get me wrong, but with him it is arguably the best in the Multiverse.

The good news is Fôrté is coming off the best season in his career. He was unplayable in the Farf league and he guided Mâ Âlâmëómë to a Champions' Cup final, which they lost in penalties. I'm terribly sorry Mâ Âlâmëómë fans, but that's good news for the rest of us Farves. It means Fôrté will be hungry.

#2: A peaceful dressing room

It's no secret that recent political events in Farfadillis have taken a toll in the team's chemistry. Many people, including our very own manager, argue this is good for the team's performances. I disagree, however. If you look at past World Cup-winning squads, you'll notice a very clear pattern: almost all of them had fantastic chemistry both inside and outside the pitch.

Once again, there's good news here. With influences like Elexhé Nofzaleiné no longer around, it's said the players no longer not hate each other so, so, so much.

#3: A well-drilled defense

Alright, first things first: this is probably not possible. However, we can try to make our defense less leaky. Early on this cycle, it seemed like we had finally achieved it. Alas, it was not meant to be. Facing the only good side in our group, we let in eight goals in just one game, for an average of five in the two matches we played against them. It's not that our defenders are bad per se. Indeed, they'd probably be starters in many other national teams in this World Cup. But they're not that good when it comes to actually defending. If Tíbürçìó manages to turn them into a respectably cohesive and relatively remotely solid defense, we could get much further than usual. I risk getting hanged for this, but I truly believe we will stumble at the biggest stages for as long as we keep neglecting defensive football at every level of our players' development.

#4: Luck, lots of it

Yeah, I know, I'm giving some super useful insight right here. But really, as obvious as it may be, luck plays a part in all of this. If Fôrté gets injured in the second game, that's pretty much goodbye World Cup hopes. If we get extremely tough draws at every stage, that's also a goodbye to our World Cup hopes (most likely, at least). If we go to penalties, we need luck. Hitting the post can be the difference between gold and silver. We may not like it, but sometimes what we call being clutch is actually just being lucky. Football is more similar to pseudo-random number generators than we like to believe.

#5: Täjó Çíânflöné must also be at the top of his game

Most everyone agrees Täjó is Farfadillis' second-best player. He's not as influential, but having him at the top of his game is also vital. He scores the most goals and has the third most assists this cycle. Without him, our attack is not toothless, but it does lack a few teeth. His chemistry with Fôrté can prove very important. The two cousins understand each other incredibly well for two players that have never played together at club level. In an ideal world in which Wínrôuge and Çíânflöné were both in fantastic form, we'd be very much unstoppable up front.

The bad news here is Çíânflöné is coming off a serious injury, as you all know. He'll be rushed for the first game, but who knows what might happen. Best case scenario, he'll play like we know he can. Worst case scenario, he'll tear his ACL again. Most likely scenario, he'll not be as good as he used to be. Tearing an ACL does that to people.

Summing up, I think we should be considered among the contenders. We're not as scary as Schottia, but I honestly believe under the right circumstances we could win the most elusive title of all. I think most would agree that we're most likely the second strongest team in the tournament and that we're certainly not outside the top five. But first things first: we've got three very solid opponents to beat in Valanora, Kita-Hinode and 95X. Disaster could very easily strike in a group like this.

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

Dear Drawkland Authorities,

Thank you for welcoming the Holy Empire national football team to your lovely little nation - who knew that Drawkland was so small compared to the limitless expanses of the Dreamed Realm? - and your rather quaint and old-fashioned city of Metropolon (we do so love soaking up the local mundy culture).

We wish to clarify certain procedures relating to our football team prior to the opening match against San Jose Thingimawhotsit.

As you know, due to a series of unfortunate incidents, most of our team - with the notable exceptions of the coaching staff and the midfielders William Space Captain Kiddddddddd'd and Jean-François de La Rocket Ship de Roberval - has turned into zombies. They are intergalactic space pirate zombies. Intergalactic space pirate zombies are cool. Apparently. So we've heard.

Unfortunately, they're also exceptionally dangerous if not properly managed. We would very much like to avoid a repeat of the unfortunate incident in Indusse during qualification. Now, that was admittedly a one-off, but I'm sure that you'd agree that we'd want to go out of our way to avoid having the planet of Sonnel turning into a vast hecatomb of the shuffling brain-consuming undead should an accident happen. This is particularly true since the latest advances in the medical study of zombies have made our national team a little less susceptible to the negative impacts of climate on zombies.

Could you please clarify whether you expect there to be any health and safety measures in place before the first matchday here in Metropolon? Would you like us to restrict access to the fans? Limit their ability to interact with the opposition? It's not just your own nation that might be in danger; an unfortunate accident could also potentially wipe the San Jose Whosimathingy team off the face of the World Cup, making it impossible for them to continue in the tournament. And I'm sure we wouldn't want that to happen.

Anyway, do please feel free to get in touch, and we'll take whatever reasonable methods might be necessary to protect the fans, officials, and the opposition. We've had some odd World Cup teams before, but this is the first one since that unfortunate incident with the Aztec deities (you don't remember the Aztec deities? Probably just as well) that's presented a danger to the hosts and opposing teams. We want to work with you to maximise the safety of all concerned.

Note that our midfielders William Space Captain Kiddddddddd'd and Jean-François de La Rocket Ship de Roberval will be wearing a light and flexible chainmail that renders them impervious to zombie bites for the duration of the 90 minutes of each match. We would be happy to share the design of this chainmail with opposing teams if this would help to mitigate against concerns from the other teams in the group.

Sincerely Yours,

The Holy Empire Football Association

[Free Republics]

News Magazine

Center Wins Big in Assembly Elections, Extremist Parties Wiped Out
by: Lucas Huber

The Republican people made a resounding statement against political extremism yesterday as various middle of the road parties claimed virtually all of the seats in the 10,173 seat Federation Assembly. Speaker Patricia Genovese's Moderate Liberal Conservatives finished in first place with a resounding 32.2% of the vote, winning 3357 seats in the Assembly. Former Falatuluan President Abelino Greece's Radicals finished second with 22.4% of the vote, picking up 2325 seats. The Responsible Progress Party, led by Seth Danielsson, the son of party founder Younes Danielsson, finished third, winning 18.3% of the vote and 1922 seats. The Liberty Party scored 15.3% of the vote and 1616 seats led by former Republican National Soccer Team striker Faredin Pozenel. The Outlaw Marijuana Party, Pirate Party and Sex Party also secured representation in the Assembly.

The most striking change in this election result is the complete collapse of the Progressive Party, Green Party, Communist Party, Salvation Circle, Neo-Nat Gres and all other extremist parties. The closest party that missed the 2% threshold required to win seats in the Assembly was the Anarchist Party which seeks to abolish all government and set markets free, based on the theories of some economist named Rothberg. They obtained quite a bit of media attention in the lead up to the election by naming former Republican National Soccer Team centerback Miroslav Bozek as their party leader but it seems even a celebrity party leader wasn't enough to convince 2% of the Republican people to vote for anarchists.

Patricia Genovese and Seth Danielsson have already held a joint press conference outside of the Federation Assembly Arena where they announced the formation of a coalition. Seth Danielsson spoke first at the press conference, calling the coalition agreement "A huge victory for the working class, who will now have a voice in government to stand up for them against the excesses of business." Danielsson also assured businesses that he "is not a socialist" and has "no desire whatsoever to weaken the Republican economy with anti-business policies just for the sake of being anti-business" but would rather focus on "protecting workers, encouraging the formation of labor unions and rooting out political correctness and social justice in all of their grotesque, evil and anti-human forms." Patricia Genovese followed with a few remarks of her own, calling the result "a massive victory for the Republican people and a historic repudiation of extremism in all its forms." It is hard to argue with her assessment. The Speaker stated that she had decided to form a coalition with the Responsible Progress Party because "their leader Mr. Danielsson shares my vision of a stronger, freer and more united Free Republics and my belief that we are strongest when we recognize that we are One Indivisible Federation." She had turned down another coalition with the Radicals and the Liberty Party because "they are too extreme and too committed to an idea of atomistic individualism that is contrary to what the Moderate Liberal Conservatives stand for. They are, quite frankly, obsessed with their precious liberty to a point that is borderline autistic and I'm not going into another coalition with them if I don't have to." She also stated that she "disavows" the "extremist" beliefs of the Outlaw Marijuana Party, condemns the "pro-theft" Pirate Party and has no desire to even talk about a coalition with the Sex Party given that the party's candidates were literally porn stars and prostitutes. Regardless of Speaker Genovese's rhetoric, I believe she will be able to work with the other parties for the good of the Free Republics.

Lucas Huber is News Magazine's newest political correspondent. A recent graduate of Ren Rep University with degrees in journalism and political science, Lucas is a lifelong policy wonk. Politically, he is not affiliated with any party and considers himself a centrist.

[Damukuni]

Just off the east coast of the Seekid District, Drawkland, Sonnel

The sea was quiet, and the port hummed along as usual. Not much was to be said of the weather: The area was calm, Sonnel's sun was shining, and no waves were present.

Suddenly, a roar could be heard directly to the south of the port. Curious townspeople flocked to the shore to hear the great noise. Presently, the cause of the noise could be seen on the horizon: a sea of red, green and blue turbo-powered jetskis. Each jetski had at least one person on it. They travelled in a modified 4-4-2 formation. Behind them were two escort cruisers, each bearing the insignia "DCG/USN." All of the craft were painted red, green, or blue. In between the two escort boats was a small barge, carrying men and women in suits. In the middle was a man with a loudspeaker, singing to a tune that could be heard through the escort boats' speakers.

The Damukunian delegation to the World Cup, arriving in style, had rented twenty-five PWCs from a retailer in the Sonnel States and made the journey across the treacherous waters of the western sea to arrive at the Drawkian port of Cayo, marking one of the most interesting arrivals of a national football team in the event.

[Vilita]

WC79 Qualifying
: Second Half Results :

Vilita [0] - [1] Red Blackiland

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: None

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 51% :: Shots on Target: 3 :: Corner Kicks: 4

:: Red Blackiland Statistics :: :: Possession: 49% :: Shots on Target: 4 :: Corner Kicks: 7

[GK]Zelkki Milake, [D.]Jirijii Januaa, [D.]Arocki Tadalek, [D.]Linkat Cjinder, [D.] Endur Rotropii, [ML] Polaox Torerun, [MC]Tripate Falcon, [MC] Karisto Monafog, [MR] Cavuna Aquafek, [FC]Berali Tzufarei, [FC]Sipke Tarala
BENCH::
[FC]Kiliko Riazen, [FC]Linvoi Warazil, [M]Serabi Chamya, [M]Jurzen Devmiko, [U ]Tenziki Kulakao, [D]Monner Vileai, [GK]Nikki Tzimas

Vilita [3] - [2] Jabok

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: :: 14' Kiliko Riazen :: 41' Tenziki Kulakao :: 54' Jurzen Devmiko

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 58% :: Shots on Target: 8 :: Corner Kicks: 13

:: Jabok Statistics :: :: Possession: 42% :: Shots on Target: 4 :: Corner Kicks: 3

[GK]Upsin Ajaara, [D.]Linkat Cjinder, [D.]Mileke Drokasorna, [D.]Jirijii Januaa, [D.] Rintala Sekagaya, [ML] Cavuna Aquafek, [MC]Westii Yahaya, [MC] Purapal Eskiiy, [MR] Tripate Falcon, [FC]Kiliko Riazen, [FC]Tenziki Kulakao
BENCH::
[FC]Berali Tzufarei, [FC]Linvoi Warazil, [M]Jurzen Devmiko, [M]Cywrenta Vlintejni, [U ]Nuola Brenzil, [D]Monner Vileai, [GK]Cilamara Issah

Vilita [4] - [2] Undarat

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: :: 4' Purapal Eskiiy :: 24' Kiliko Riazen :: 38' Tripate Falcon :: 81' Nuola Brenzil

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 57% :: Shots on Target: 9 :: Corner Kicks: 9

:: Undarat Statistics :: :: Possession: 43% :: Shots on Target: 8 :: Corner Kicks: 10

[GK]Mako Canopii, [D.]Monner Vileai, [D.]Kwuimekii Hentetii, [D.]Jirijii Januaa, [D.] Arocki Tadalek, [ML] Jurzen Devmiko, [MC]Purapal Eskiiy, [MC] Cavuna Aquafek, [MR] Cywrenta Vlintejni, [FC]Kiliko Riazen, [FC]Linvoi Warazil
BENCH::
[FC]Fishtii Blikala, [FC]Nuola Brenzil, [M]Tripate Falcon, [M]Serabi Chamya, [U ]Sipke Tarala, [D]Jirak Trikala, [GK]Upsin Ajaara

Vilita [0] - [0] Islana Lunigo

:: Vilita Goalscorers ::

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 56% :: Shots on Target: 5 :: Corner Kicks: 1

:: Islana Lunigo Statistics :: :: Possession: 44% :: Shots on Target: 3 :: Corner Kicks: 7

[GK]Mako Canopii, [D.]Arocki Tadalek, [D.]Jirijii Januaa, [D.]Kwuimekii Hentetii, [D.] Inbekira Ajhabekk, [ML] Cavuna Aquafek, [MC]Jurzen Devmiko, [MC] Westii Yahaya, [MR] Polaox Torerun, [FC]Kiliko Riazen, [FC]Berali Tzufarei
BENCH::
[FC]Fishtii Blikala, [FC]Linvoi Warazil, [M]Cywrenta Vlintejni, [M]Purapal Eskiiy, [U ]Ikala Mravedii, [D]Linkat Cjinder, [GK]Nikki Tzimas

Vilita [2] - [3] Savojarna

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: :: 43' Cavuna Aquafek :: 47' Inbekira Ajhabekk

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 46% :: Shots on Target: 6 :: Corner Kicks: 12

:: Savojarna Statistics :: :: Possession: 54% :: Shots on Target: 7 :: Corner Kicks: 15

[GK]Nikki Tzimas, [D.]Arocki Tadalek, [D.]Kwuimekii Hentetii, [D.]Monner Vileai, [D.] Inbekira Ajhabekk, [ML] Polaox Torerun, [MC]Cavuna Aquafek, [MC] Tripate Falcon, [MR] Jurzen Devmiko, [FC]Kiliko Riazen, [FC]Fishtii Blikala
BENCH::
[FC]Linvoi Warazil, [FC]Berali Tzufarei, [M]Cywrenta Vlintejni, [M]Westii Yahaya, [U ]Vliela Lianksa, [D]Jirijii Januaa, [GK]Upsin Ajaara

Vilita [4] - [1] The Steel Coast

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: :: 6' Tenziki Kulakao :: 72' Va'a-Rio Kiwavn :: 73' Nii'arala Milaaso :: 80' Nuola Brenzil

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 60% :: Shots on Target: 11 :: Corner Kicks: 4

:: The Steel Coast Statistics :: :: Possession: 40% :: Shots on Target: 3 :: Corner Kicks: 2

[GK]Cilamara Issah, [D.]Jirijii Januaa, [D.]Monner Vileai, [D.]Kwuimekii Hentetii, [D.] Mileke Drokasorna, [ML] Purapal Eskiiy, [MC]Jurzen Devmiko, [MC] Serabi Chamya, [MR] Va'a-Rio Kiwavn, [FC]Tenziki Kulakao, [FC]Nuola Brenzil
BENCH::
[FC]Lboaisa Akarelm, [FC]Nii'arala Milaaso, [M]Cavuna Aquafek, [M]Tripate Falcon, [U ]Karisto Monafog, [D]Endur Rotropii, [GK]Nikki Tzimas

Vilita [4] - [4] Starblaydia

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: :: 3' Kwuimekii Hentetii :: 36' Polaox Torerun :: 63' Nuola Brenzil :: 75' Jurzen Devmiko

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 51% :: Shots on Target: 14 :: Corner Kicks: 11

:: Starblaydia Statistics :: :: Possession: 49% :: Shots on Target: 7 :: Corner Kicks: 13

[GK]Mako Canopii, [D.]Kwuimekii Hentetii, [D.]Jirijii Januaa, [D.]Endur Rotropii, [ML] Cavuna Aquafek, [MC] Polaox Torerun, [MC]Serabi Chamya, [MR] Jurzen Devmiko, [FC] Nuola Brenzil, [FC]Berali Tzufarei, [FC]Sipke Tarala
BENCH::
[FC]Kiliko Riazen, [FC]Tenziki Kulakao, [M]Va'a-Rio Kiwavn, [M]Purapal Eskiiy, [U ]Fishtii Blikala, [D]Linkat Cjinder, [GK]Zelkki Milake

Vilita [2] - [1] Filindostan

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: :: 27' Endur Rotropii :: 83' Cavuna Aquafek

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 58% :: Shots on Target: 7 :: Corner Kicks: 14

:: Filindostan Statistics :: :: Possession: 42% :: Shots on Target: 5 :: Corner Kicks: 6

[GK]Maratopa Inita-Arua, [D.]Linkat Cjinder, [D.]Jirijii Januaa, [D.]Endur Rotropii, [D.] Rintala Sekagaya, [ML] Serabi Chamya, [MC]Westii Yahaya, [MC] Karisto Monafog, [MR] Jurzen Devmiko, [FC]Sipke Tarala, [FC]Nuola Brenzil
BENCH::
[FC]Kiliko Riazen, [FC]Linvoi Warazil, [M]Cavuna Aquafek, [M]Polaox Torerun, [U ]Cywrenta Vlintejni, [D]Arocki Tadalek, [GK]Cilamara Issah

Vilita [4] - [2] Cosneolta

:: Vilita Goalscorers :: :: 44' Berali Tzufarei :: 66' Monner Vileai :: 86' Cavuna Aquafek :: 87' Westii Yahaya

:: Vilita Statistics :: :: Possession: 58% :: Shots on Target: 8 :: Corner Kicks: 5

:: Cosneolta Statistics :: :: Possession: 42% :: Shots on Target: 5 :: Corner Kicks: 6

[GK]Mako Canopii, [D.]Monner Vileai, [D.]Mileke Drokasorna, [D.]Endur Rotropii, [D.] Arocki Tadalek, [ML] Cavuna Aquafek, [MC]Serabi Chamya, [MC] Polaox Torerun, [MR] Va'a-Rio Kiwavn, [FC]Kiliko Riazen, [FC]Fishtii Blikala
BENCH::
[FC]Sipke Tarala, [FC]Berali Tzufarei, [M]Kamarul Zaman, [M]Westii Yahaya, [U ]Jirak Trikala, [D]Jirijii Januaa, [GK]Zelkki Milake

Jungle Cats survive despite dismal second-half campaign

At the halfway point of their World Cup 79 Qualification campaign, the Vilita Jungle Cats were sitting quite pretty atop the Group 13 table with a record of 8 wins, 1 draw and zero defeats. The only points lost over the first 9 matches were in the thrilling derby matchup with long time rivals Starblaydia at the Lonngeylin Coliseum where goals from Jurzen Devmiko, Cavuna Aquafek and Berali Tzufarei were needed to hold the Purple Peril in the long awaited return of the clash of colours. Elsewise, there seemed to be nothing standing in the way of the third-ranked Jungle Cats and a safe place in the World Cup finals in Ceni and Drawkland. They were 6 points clear and keen to let Starblaydia and Filindostan fight each other tooth and nail for the second and final transfer spot in the table. With a group best +15 goal differential, just 8 goals conceded the Jungle Cats were on their way.

Then the second half of qualifying began. Flying high and perhaps a bit overconfident about their position in the table, the Jungle Cats travelled to Red Blackiland to face a side that many thought had thrown in the towel. Instead, however, the Jungle Cats found a resillient side not looking to go down without a fight, defending well and creating good chances. The redblacks ended the Vilita National Team's unbeaten run and were victorious 1-0 in front of their home fans to completely change the complexion of the Group 13 table with all qualifying positions now upfor grabs with Vilita just 3 points ahead of Starblaydia and Filindostan who each were victorious on Matchday 10.

Goals from Kiliko Riazen, Tenziki Kulakao and Jurzen Devmiko were enough to get the Jungle Cats back on track against Jabok but the two goals conceded by Upsin Ajaara perhaps left a little to be desired from the Vilita National Team staff. With Starblaydia held by Islanda Lunigo 1-1 it allowed the Jungle Cats to exapnd their buffer in the qualification zone to 5 points though they were still just 3 points up on now-second place Filindostan.

Just as quickly as Starblaydia and Filindostan had seemed to climb back into the race in Group 13 to challenge Vilita for the top spot, it all seemed to flutter away for them. Vilita returned again to their winning ways on Matchday 12 scoring 4 goals against Undarat to make it 9 over two legs against the Group's bottom side. Meanwhile, Starblaydia were upset 2-0 away at Savojarna, a nation known more for their Ice Hockey prowess then their skills on the pitch - but none the less, they had announced their arrival as a footballing nation by disposing of the five-time World Champions. At the same time, Islana Lunigo played fair amongst the qualification chasers by holding Filindostan to a draw just one matchday after stealing points from Starblaydia thus restoring the Vilitan National Teams 8 point gap over third place and the safety of Automatic Qualification.

Some might have wondered how Islana Lunigo and Savojarna were not in the competition for the Automatic Qualification places on Matchday 13 after Islana Lunigo completed the 1-2-3 combination of holding the top 3 contenders to a draw, a 0-0 result with the Jungle Cats following up the draws with Starblaydia and Filindostan on consecutive matchdays.

Likewise, Savojarna were looking to further establish themselves as a powerhouse following up their victory over Starblaydia on Matchday 12 with a Matchday 13 win over second place Filindostan. But Savojarna were not done their and made Islana Lunigo's three consecutive draws against the top 3 sides in Group 13 look paltry after securing a 3-2 home victory over Group leaders and three-time World Champions Vilita. Incredibly, despite beating the top 3 sides in succession on three straight matchdays, dispatching 8 World Cup trophies in the process, Savojarna still found themselves 12 full points off the top of the table and 9 points back of the Automatic Qualification places - no where near contention and nearly mathematically eliminated with just 4 matchdays to play. While their victories were worth barely more than pride for the Savojar, they did make a huge difference to one team: Red Blackiland. The redblacks casually took care of business in their own matches and took advantage of the points stolen from the top 3 by Savojarna to claw themselves back into contention now just 1 point behind the Starblaydia-Filindostan stalemate for second place and Automatic Qualification to World Cup 79.

Further cementing their Qualification aspirations, Red Blackiland put a stop to the train of Savojarna momentum denying the Savojar the 1-2-3-4 combination by claiming a 1-0 victory over the now-eliminated side. All eyes, however, were certainly on the second place matchup betwene Filindostan and Starblayida which ultimately became a one-sided affair with Filindostan running away 5-1 winners to take sole possession of second place and allow Red Blackiland to sneak past Starblaydia into fourth.

Things would get extremely nervy for both of Group 13th former World Champions on Matchday 16 as the classic rivalry moved to Lake Bekk. Once again, there was nothing to separate the sides though not for a lack of trying with 8 goals scored on the day - the Jungle Cats getting tallies from Kwuimekii Hentetii, Polaox Torerun, Nuola Brenzil and Jurzen Devmiko. The draw - which also ensured that the two-legged focus between the sides resulted in no winner during the campaign - also was no help to either side in the Group 13 table. With the points dropped, Vilita fell to just two points ahead of now-second place Filindostan while Starblaydia fell a full four points behind the Automatic Qualification spot with just 6 points left on the table.

Everything could have been decided on the penultimate matchday with the top 4 sides each playing each other. Knowing that with just one matchday to follow, three points would be enough to secure a spot in the World Cup Finals, the Vilita Jungle Cats played an inspired match against third placed Filindostan to claim a 2-1 victory with Galacticos index finalist Cavuna Aquafek netting the game winning goal. The result secured Vilita's place in the World Cup 79 Finals and sent Filindostan tumbling down to fourth place now needing help from two teams in order to have any shot at a World Cup debut after Starblaydia got the 1-0 victory they needed over Red Blackiland to keep everyone's hopes alive going into the final matchday.

While the Jungle Cats came away with another big victory to end their World Cup 79 Qualifying campaign - a 4-2 win away at Cosneolta that pushed them to the top of the Goalscoring charts as well as securing the top spot in the Group 13 table, all eyes were on the match between second place Red Blackiland and fourth place Filindostan. The Filindo's needed a win and help to get to their first World Cup Finals and the Red-Black collapse was complete when Filindostan secured a 1-0 victory eliminating Red Blackiland and putting Filindostan into position. It was all for naught, however, and ultimately neither side would advance as Starblaydia's comfortable 3-0 victory at home against Jabok booked their place in Ceni and Drawkland. For all the ups and downs a roller-coaster Group 13 campaign brought, the prizes ultimately went to the two sides most decorated, with 8 World Cup Trophies between them Vilita & Starblaydia would get the chance to add another trophy to the mantle in World Cup 79 while the up and comers Filindostan and Savojarna would have to settle for the consolation competitions.

GOALKEEPERS :: Mako Canopii led all netminders with 6 appearances during the World Cup 79 Qualification campaign and posting 2 shutouts securing their spot as the #1 choice between the sticks for the World Cup Finals. Zelkki Milake, Nikki Tzimas, Upsin Ajaara, Maratopa Inita-Arua and Ciliamara Issah all made between two and four appearances and each posted a single shutout amongst them.

DEFENDERS :: Jirijii Januaa, Arocki Tadalek and Mileke Drokasorna each made more than 10 appearances for the Vilita National Team on defense. Januaa led all defenders with three goals.

Endur Rotropii, Monner Vileai, Kwuimekii Hentetii and LInkat Cjinder shared the bulk of the rest of the duties and each scored a single goal during the campaign.

MIDFIELDERS :: Turoki Tide midfielder Cavuna Aquafek missed just a single match during the entire World Cup 79 Qualifying campaign - the 1-0 victory over Jabok on Matchday 2 - ultimately appearing in the final 16 matches of the campaign to lead not only all midfielders but all players on the Vilita National Team with four midfielders seeing the bulk of the work for the Jungle Cats

Cavuna Aquafek (17) - 5
Polaox Torerun (14) - 3
Jurzen Devmiko (13) - 4
Purapal Eskiiy (10) - 3

Aquafek took their chances to also lead all midfielders in goals scored with 5 across the campaign with Devmiko close behind with 4 and Torerun and Eskiiy having 3 a piece. The majority of the threat from midfield came from the big four but Jungle Strike's Va'a-Rio Kiwavn did rack up 2 goals in their five appearances. Westii Yahaya and Tripate Falcon also had a single goal.

FORWARDS :: For the most part the workload up top for the Vilita National Team was spread equally amongst 6 different forwards with Berali Tzufarei, Sipke Tarala and Linvoi Warazil each making 11 appearances with Renziki Kulakao, Kiliko Riazen and Fishtii Blikala each appearing 8 or 9 times in the squad during World Cup 79 Qualification.

Tzufarei led all Forwards with 5 goals and shared level top scorer honors with midfielder Cavuna Aquafek. The most efficient forward for the Jungle Cats, however, were the other two forwards who made sporadic appearances but made the most of the time they were given. Jungle Strike FC's Nuola Brenzil made just 6 appearances but netted 3 goals in that time. The best chance-taker of the campaign, however, was most certainly young Eastal Lunar prospect Nii'arala Milaaso.

The 16 year old dual Vilita-Turori national declared for Vilita - potentially due to the uncertain of the competition between the Citizen Squad and the Cocoab Squads in Turori - and made the declaration count after coming on as a second half substitute in the Matchday 15 fixture against The Steel Coast and tallying their first career International Goal on their debut, adding their name to a very exclusive list of Vilitan players to have scored in their debut for the National Team. While Milaaso is not expected to feature for the Jungle Cats in the World Cup Finals, they have certainly announced themselves as a player to watch in the future.


Group of Death awaits Jungle Cats in Drawkland

While the Vilita National Team survived Group 13 of World Cup 79 qualifying mostly unscathed - a handful of dropped points closing the gap to the pack but never truly threatening the Jungle Cats place atop the table, they perhaps would have been hoping for a more forgiving draw in the World Cup Finals but instead found exactly the opposite as they most certainly have been given the most difficult task of any top seed in the World Cup 79 finals.

While the Jungle Cats will still be rolling out as favorites in Group D there will be plenty of reason to fear with the possibility of dropped points against 11th ranked Brenecia or 16th ranked Pasarga is certainly a realistic scenario. There is a particular history between Vilita and Pasarga with the World Champions having previously met in the World Cup 68 Group Stage - won by Pasarga, and the World Cup 68 Semi Finals - won by the Jungle Cats en route to the World Cup 68 title. The draw for the Vilitans is in stark contrast to that of their colonial rivals Turori with three of the four nations in Group D being ranked in the Top 16 of the WCC rankings while every nation in Turori's Group A is ranked 15th or lower with the reigning AOCAF and Eagles Cup Champions Cosumar handed a plush draw as they look to make it a Championship Trifecta.

Elsewhere in Drawkland, The Holy Empire look favored in Group B where Mriin and Damukuni will have a critical head to head matchup that could determine which of the two up-and-comers joins the Holy Empire in the second round and establishes themselves as a future World Cup contender. The future of the two nations could be determined on the pitch in Drawkland.

World #1 side Schottia should have little trouble topping Group C with South Covello looking to impress in their first World Cup after freeing themselves of the wrath of Greg.

Finding themselves in the Schottia half of the draw means that i will be a difficult path to the World Cup Finals for the Jungle Cats but with the Cocoabo in town for the Turori National Team, anything is possible and the Drawkland half is wide open if the Jungle Cats can manage to escape the Group of Death first.

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ A Mountain To Climb

Falling a single rank in the World Cup Rankings is generally nothing major, the rankings are very fluid and often teams near one another have very little difference in regards to the quality of the team and the skill that they possess. So when the Wanderers fell from 15th to 16th in the most recent publication of the rankings, not much fuss was made home nor abroad about the slight shift in the ranking, as the side was still a top 16 team in the world and normally a pot 2 team in the World Cup. That is where things begin to get interesting and when I say interesting, I mean that it is a rather bleak picture given what transpired as a result. With neither Ceni nor Drawkland as a top 8 team in the World, the hosts of the tournament elected to follow the popular idea of awarding themselves as a pot 1 team, shuffling the pots away from the normal rankings. What that meant for the Wanderers is that they went from a pot 2 team to that of a pot 3 team and knowing that the draw was not likely to be very kind to them, especially with the difficulties that the Wanderers had in securing their qualification, needing a result on the last matchday and some help to progress through to the Finals.

What the Wanderers got in the draw was the number two three team in the world with Vilita, the 11th ranked team in the world in Brenecia, and then political, sporting, and regional rivals by the way of Sargossa, with the Corsairs having several scores to settle with the Wanderers with the recent history between the two teams leaning more towards our favor. It is a nightmarish group and one in which one team that had aspirations of at least making the knockouts will end up going home early and likely to the scrutiny of fans and media alike. Though we would prefer to be optimistic about the Wanderers chances against the rest of the group, we also have to be very realistic and predict that the Wanderers will be the odd one out of the three teams, given that Vilita has recently won a World Cup and Brenecia is perpetually the best team from Esportiva and churns out professional, talented players at a rate that nearly rivals that of Cosumar and Audioslavia. Add in the heated rivalry with the Corsairs, this is a group from which the Wanderers might not make it out of, but the possibility is very real that they will not even take a single point out of their efforts in Drawkland.

There is a small amount of hope for the Wanderers though, even though the side did not play very well in the Pre Finals warm up match in Ceni, dropping the match one to nil at the cohosts place. That hope comes in the way of the scheduling for the Wanderers, with the side getting to take on Sargossa in the first match, the "easiest" of the three fixtures from the outside perspective. Then playing Brenecia in the middle match and Vilita in the final game, means that if the side does get the results in those first two matches, they can go into that final match without the added pressure of knowing it would have to be a result or be on the first trip back to the dual islands. That the two powerhouses of the group will play in the first match also means that one, if not both through the hope of a draw, will have dropped points before we plays them adds a certain advantage. The right or wrong mindset can make a huge difference in the Finals, when the differences in qualities between teams are usually razor thin, bar the occasional outside qualifier, like Cassadaigua or 95X in this edition.

The pool was largely trimmed the way that most people expected for the Finals, with the largest surprise coming in the way of Romano and Arcuri were both left out at the top while Taj Zayn Bazzi and Neil Nordegraf being given those spots based on their club form and how they performed in the Qualifiers. While Thor was the only striker that played quite up to the boasted quality of the player, both Bazzi and Nordegraf offer a little something different than Thor and then Romano and Arcuri as well. The weak point of the squad will be that left back position but with so few options of sufficient quality, one simply has to hope that Friedmann has the stamina to play matches in such a short amount of time. All in all, this group is largely what one expected to see from the Wanderers, if they qualified and they have, but is it enough to overcome the difficult challenges of the high quality of Vilita and the tenacity of Brenecia? Odds are not high but hope is what drives players forward, hope will be what the Wanderers will have to rely on, much the same way that it was when Mór Császár moved to Eura to try and have a blossoming footballing career.

[Mriin]

Don fiddled with his tie, giving Joren a side-eye as they stood backstage. "Why'd I let you talk me into this? I've never liked live content."

"It's good publicity! These panel shows are all the rage now, and World Cup hype is hitting a peak."

Solara smirked and patted Don on the wing. "Don't worry, it'll be fun. You can be as snarky as you like and nobody bats an eye!"

"Alright you lot, shuddup," grunted the stagehand. "Your cue is comin' and I don't wanna miss it." They exchanged shrugs and tried to listen in.

"...and that's why I never trust a toaster!"

"Your stories never cease to amaze me, Barin. Anyway, we have a couple of very special guests who'll be joining us after the break!"

"That's right, Taani, we'll have the brains and the brawn behind the national football team! We managed to catch Don Mizzet, Joren Kreuger, and Solara Vol before they blasted off for Drawkland and their sophomore World Cup!"

~commercialism happens, masking a frantic reshuffling where the stage crew realizes they need to seat a dragon~

"And we're back! So obviously what's on everyone's mind is the upcoming World Cup--"

Joren put a hand forward and interjected. "Apologies, Barin, but I have to interject for just a moment. Just before the break you referred to us as the 'brains and the brawn' of the team, and while we certainly appreciate the sentiment, that's not at all a fair thing to say in a team game like football."

"Oh, yes, my bad--of course I didn't mean to put down the rest of the team, they've been playing excellently!"

"You'll have to excuse Barin; I'm afraid he doesn't think about what he says nearly enough."

"So nice to have you on my side, Taani. Anyway! The upcoming World Cup in Ceni and Drawkland, Mriin was drawn into the Drawkie half--"

"It's 'Drawkian', Barin."

"Can I please finish a sentence?!"

"If you don't screw it up, maybe!"

Don shot a glance at the others; Solara was snickering while Joren was just rolling his eyes.

"Alright, alright. Mriin is in Group B. The Holy Empire, San Jose Guayabal, and Damukuni--any thoughts on the competition, Mr. Mizzet?"

“Ah--well, I suppose first we should address the zombie the room.” ~assorted chuckles~ “We’ll have a distinct advantage against The Holy Empire--very hiliariously fielding a team of ‘space zombie pirates’,” said with a roll of the eyes, “in that this particular strain of zombification seems to only affect humans. This was exemplified by the powers-at-be pulling strings to get a few satyr referees WCC accreditation in order to safely officiate the Empire’s away games.”

“So you think our players will be able to play without fear? Even if I wasn’t at risk of being infected, getting bitten by a zombie doesn’t sound like fun…”

Solara leaned forward, doing a bit of subtle flexing. “We’re made of sterner stuff than these zombies are used to. First, they’re going to need a hell of a vertical if they want to take a chunk of my neck!” ~assorted chuckles~ “And as far as I’m concerned, them trying to get physical is a losing proposition. I don’t doubt our, uh, ‘natural advantages,’ had something to do with our quick rise in the ranks, so we haven’t much to worry about literal decaying husks.”

“Ah yes, the satyr’s ‘natural advantages’--I’ve been following your work in Nephara, and wow do their press adore the word ‘hulking’. Guess that explains why their squad looks the way it does, eh? Anyway, even ignoring the whole ‘zombie’ thing, the Empire is still the top-seeded team in the group, so it must be an uphill battle either way.”

“Oh, certainly,” continued Don, “they are still a team of tremendous quality to go with their impressive history. But throughout qualifying it seemed like most of the Empire’s wins came from their healthy players keying off the fear spread by their teammates. If we can nullify their fear aspect, we will ultimately be dealing with a team operating at a fraction of their maximum efficiency. I’m not saying we’re favored, but if we were ever going to best them, now would be the time.”

“Well, it’ll be a game worth watching, to be sure. But not to dwell on that too long: Mr. Krueger, I believe you’ve been looking into the Guayabalese?”

“I have! It usually falls on me to do the dirty work analyzing recent replays of upcoming opponents, and what I’ve been seeing out of the Guayabalese tapes are a shocking lack of presence.”

“Lack of presence? Surely they’ve shown up to their games so far?”

“Yes, physically there--and even just being physically there means a lot for a skilled team against much of the world--but not so much mentally. They still have an extremely low average age among their squad, after the atrocious debacle that was their second-place team from two cycles ago being put to torch--literally. And it seems like these fresh faces, while obviously very athletic and technically skilled, are directionless on the pitch. They don’t seem to move with any clear plan or cohesion, and that showed in their qualifying results. Despite topping their group they barely finished ahead of a gaggle of--honestly--B sides. While the likes of Super-Llamaland, Darmen, and Jerusalem are certainly not pushovers, none of them are what they once were, and a proper Guayabalese team should have made short work of them.”

“Taani, didn’t you send a communiqué to the Guayabalese FA?”

“Indeed, I also took note of their lackluster qualifying play and reached out to see if they had any comment on it. I haven’t gotten any response, and asking around further it seems their FA has gone totally silent as of late. Mayhaps some internal strife is taking place, leading to a listless team? No matter the details, it seems we may have rolled luckily to have both of the top sides we’ll face potentially playing below-par.”

“Of course,” Joren added, “it’ll naturally still be a very difficult game, and for all we know they were saving up all their energy for the finals. I wouldn’t say we’d be lucky to get three points from them, but… close enough.”

“And, finally, there’s--oh, Taani, what was the last team again?”

“At least try not to be useless, Barin. It’s none other than Damukuni, one of the most enigmatic Esportivan nations to grace the game.”

“I have to be honest,” Don grimaced, “I know barely anything about Damukini. They have an interesting league structure I’ve never quite understood, and they seem half-decent at football, but other than that? I’ve got nothing.”

Joren nodded. “I’m mostly just working off the recordings, myself. They play peppy, attacking football, and they do it well--I won’t be surprised if our match evolves into one of those two-way goalfests.”

“Ooh, how exciting! Just like this interview has been--but unfortunately, that’s all the time we have! For me, my partner Basir, and our lovely guests--this is Taani, signing off!”

[Super-Llamaland]

TIGERS HEADING TO CENI
Allison Wen - LSN Football

CENI -- After their dramatic victory over Jeruselem to secure qualification on the last day, the Tigers are heading to a third consecutive World Cup. Despite being drawn into a very difficult Group F and failing to advance past the group stage in their previous two World Cup qualifications, the strength of this Llamanean squad has given fans reason to hope for a first advancement since World Cup 71.

A series of pre-Cup warmup friendlies went about as well as the Tigers should have expected. A slightly rotated Llamanean squad were able to defeat Cassadaigua at home, although a last-second Sophia Trevelyan goal was needed to seal the game. After a hard-fought loss in Cosumar, Steeling welcomed his countrymen with a four-goal triumph before the series was wrapped up with an away draw to Eastfield Lodge.

As such, Curtis Steeling must have seen little reason to mix things up in his final squad selection, a fairly straightforward choice. Sheffield, Bernholm, and Lindberg were the three goalkeepers, while Rodrigues, Reichart, and Strausburg became the backup defenders to the same back four. In midfield, Santana and Carmichael were easy picks to back up the starting trio of Vesely, Møller, and Bao; up front, Trevelyan, Sigurdsson, and Korborg backed up the first-choice attacking trident that has served the Tigers for three Cups now.

The majority of Steeling's choices seemed normal, but with his last two spots, Steeling deviated a little from conventional wisdom. Young defender Emily Gustav had done well during qualifiers, but her inclusion over the likes of Myers-Briggs and Abel as the eighth defender was a little peculiar. Meanwhile, Jayson Herrera's performances have been widely panned, but the midfielder's potential to greatly change a game as an impact sub has convinced Steeling of his utility.

Qasden, Eura, and Chromatika (in that order) will be a tough ask of a talented Llamanean team, with Group F having two serious contenders for the Cup and a well-regarded Pot 4 nation that cannot be taken lightly. Steeling should be able to take three points out of the Tigers' first match (anything else would basically eliminate the Llamaneans from Ro16 contention), but will need at least one more result against the two top-ten nations in the group. It'll be very difficult to advance, but fans will know that the Tigers have the talent to surprise and advance from this group. We can only see how things play out.

[Ceni]

Will it be WAR to claim every point you can get? This is your first WC Finals cutoff!

[Chromatika]

Chromatika in Ceni: Five Things to Watch
By Jordan Lawless

1. Recent Form Remains A Concern

A draw and two losses is something that just didn't happen last time around, although Lambdasia's beating of Chromatika on the final matchday remains a concern. As to be discussed later, Mia Ria's form is the biggest concern of it all. Is this team ready to face the big guns? The other loss to Banjia and the draw versus Boring Paradise... Hopefully they'll be okay.

2. Mia Ria Remains a Question Mark

The Chromatik keeper's form is the biggest question mark at the moment. Nika Justus will be there as a third keeper, but... To be honest? She is their best chance if Nier goes down, and she's unproven after the injury.

3. Miranda Gail Edges Out Rowena Sierra as Backup Striker

No, it's not that Sierra had a bad qualifying cycle - she scored as many goals as Gail did - but Miranda's involvement means more on a cultural and political level, and Rowena couldn't do enough to turn the tables on her favor with that factor. The speedy Gail will likely not play at all - Andisori is the starter by a mile and Victoriane can also play this role as needed.

4. Group E Will Not Be Easy

To make it out of this group will not be easy. Tenth ranked Eura was a World Cup Finalist and Runners-Up to Electrum. Twentieth ranked Super-Llamaland is a perennial qualifier who is looking to make a splash. Twenty-ninth Qasden, after back-to-back Cup of Harmony Championships, will be trying to make a point that they belong in the world of the Proper. The initial matchup against Eura looms large - it will make a huge opening statement for the group. Qasden will be second, and Super-Llamaland third.

5. Round of Sixteen Looms Large

If the Chromatiks do make it out of the group, a loaded Group F awaits them. Valanora, Farfadillis, 95X, and Kita-Hinode (former Unified Sunrise Islands) compose that group, and likely, it will be the Vanorians, Farves, or Hinodejans making it out. "The Glorious Southwest" will be a formidable opponent, and if one of them don't make it out, it would be the former two-time World Champions Kita-Hinode. All-in-all, it won't be easy to make it to eh Quarterfinals.

---

World Cup Proper Matchday 1: Eura vs. Chromatika @ Cenial Halcyon National Stadium
Predicted Starting Lineup: Nier; Morningstar - Aart - Ellen; Kelly (C) - Montague - Sybill - Dragana; Victoriane - Andisori - Niro.
Eura versus Chromatika will be one of the marquee matches of the first day in Ceni, the Runner-Ups taking on one of the best teams in the world. Sutton, Campbell, and Coltrane are among the best players of the world, and Eura's second place finishing of the group was more of a byproduct of Nephara playing well instead of Eura playing poorly.

Parker will field his usual lineup and make changes as necessary.

[Free Republics]

OOC: Since I'm not sure if Drawkland has started reading RPs yet, I'm going to write the rest of my RP for MD1 in a new post.

Soccer General Rule Theriault had finished reading News Magazine's coverage of the election results. As the new owner of the famous magazine, which had become a mouthpiece of CLR sympathizers and other far-left extremists, Theriault had set about cleaning up the magazine by placing his brother Admiral Pierre Theriault as the editor of the magazine. The Admiral's first act had been to fire every "journalist" employed by the magazine and hire replacements whose goal was to reorient News Magazine as a mainstream publication. In fact, the Theriault family's purchase of News Magazine had been financed with favorable terms from Nicholls Bank, the financial institution owned by Consul Nicholls and was part of the government's effort to marginalize extremists without actually violating their freedom of speech rights in order to protect the Free Republics from future political upheaval.

What was not mentioned in the article, written by a young journalist who was selected for his pro-government political leanings, was the fact that most of the people who tended to vote for extremist parties were being relocated, voluntarily or otherwise, to the new charter societies in order to disenfranchise them and prevent them from electing Progressives, Greens, Salvation Circle, other Christianists, Neo-Nat Gres or any other extremist party to public office. There had also been a full-court press by the entire Republican establishment to discredit its extremist opponents, which had proven extremely successful. Now, Consul Nicholls had achieved his dream of restoring a Free Republics where elections mattered very little because all parties fundamentally stood for core Republican values and those who didn't could move to a society that reflected their beliefs, in exchange for their right to vote in Federation elections. Those who were still outspoken "Progressives", on the other hand, were subject to legal action and could be "physically removed" to a charter society under the new Free Helicopter Rides for Traitors Act (the "free helicopter rides" referred to an Internet meme that had become popular on 6chan and was an attempt by the government to appear "hip" and "cool" to the nation's youth). It was an ingenious scheme to marginalize the lunatic fringe and it had worked perfectly.

However, Theriault had his own concerns ahead of him, in the form of the World Cup finals. He had now arrived in Ceni and he had spent hours talking with Nova Hellstrom-Hancock about her preview article about the World Cup for Sporting World.

OOC: The last Nova Hellstrom article I wrote promised a second part. I may or may not write that at some point (This is a really timely read too given what's happening on Thursday in RL. ).

Sporting World

World Cup 79 Preview
by: Nova Hellstrom-Hancock

World Cup 79 is now upon us and it is the most exciting event in sports, with the exceptions of Wrestling Empire in Tohoku Dome and WrestleCade! For the first time in 6 years, Republican National Soccer Team, LLC is back in the World Cup and we request your support. World Cup 78 was one of the more bizarre World Cups in recent memory, culminating with Electrum winning the World Cup with a victory over a Eura team that lost 2 group stage matches and had to win 2 penalty shootouts just to get to the final. It was followed by an even more bizarre qualifying campaign noted for the non-participation of Semarland and Audioslavia. Now, as the World Cup is poised to begin, rumors are floating around about San Jose Guayabal's team possibly withdrawing due to some strange calamity that has recently afflicted their nation. Nonetheless, it is time to put all the weirdness aside and enjoy the most exciting time of the year. Its time to enjoy this year's edition of the World Cup!

While the Free Republics are, amazingly, not the most surprising qualifier to the "experts", Soccer General Rule Theriault's team of teenage boys, led by 14-year-old superstar Love Holm, shocked the multiverse by qualifying at an even younger age than Consul Kyle Bolton and Sir Koby Theodore's team managed to pull off their first run to the World Cup. When the previous generation of Republican players was the same age as these kids, they were finishing in the middle of the table in qualifying before going out at home in the Round of 16 of the Cup of Harmony. In honor of that, Soccer General Rule Theriualt put forward a bid, along with CASE of Cassadaigua, to host this year's Cup of Harmony. Their bid failed but fortunately for both nations they both ended up in the World Cup anyway so they won't have to waste their time playing with the riff-raff in the Cup of Losers.

The Republican National Soccer Team has three opponents scheduled for this World Cup. First of all is Abanhfleft, who have been around a while but are ranked just 26th after failing to qualify for last year's World Cup. Abanhfleft are the lowest ranked side in pot 3. This is the 10th consecutive year that they attempted to qualify for the World Cup and the 5th time that they have successfully qualified. In their previous four appearances in the World Cup finals, they have a total of 1 win, a 3-2 victory over Nephara on the third matchday four years ago. That victory came on the heels of two defeats at the hands of Saintland and Chromatika and despite the loss Nephara still advanced on a tiebreaker en route to a third place finish. Abanhfleft had a better qualifying record than the Republicans did, going 14-2-2 instead of 11-5-2 and also clinched on the final day of qualifying, in their case with a draw against Mercedini in a situation where Mercedini could have forced a tie with a win.

The second Republican opponent is the co-host Ceni, who come into this World Cup ranked 27th after also failing to qualify last year. Ceni made their debut in qualifying for World Cup 67 and this is their 6th qualification in 13 attempts and 6th in their last 7. Ceni's best finish in a World Cup came on their home turf 3 years ago. As a host, they won not just 1 but 3 matches including a Round of 16 win over Valladares before falling to San Jose Guayabal in the Quarterfinals. Away from home, they have never made it out of the group stage of the World Cup. Unfortunately for us, they are on their home turf this year and will be a tough opponent for Soccer General Theriault's troops. Their new coach Luke Longstar has no WCC experience whatsoever but he won some kind of domestic league title and he apparently took an "experimental" team to the semis of the Copa Rushmori. I don't think bringing in a new coach to make his WCC coaching debut in the group stage of the World Cup is a wise move but that's what Ceni decided to do because they fired their previous coach after a run of fluke draws toward the end of qualifying last year.

Finally, there is Bonesea, ranked 8th in the world and hosts of last year's World Cup. Bonesea made their debut 4 years ago with a second place finish at the BoF and earned a surprise spot in the playoffs that year after a scandal caused The Sword Bloke's points to be reset to 0. Surprisingly, they actually managed to knock Gregoryisgodistan out by beating them twice in a row in playoff matches and would even go on to make the Round of 16 where Cosumar ended their Cindyrella run. The following year, they would actually fail to qualify for the World Cup but managed to win the Cup of Harmony with a perfect record. In the past 2 years, they have consecutive appearances in the Quarterfinals, losing to perennial contenders Vilita and The Holy Empire. As everybody who has followed international soccer over the years knows, there is no shame in losing to either of those teams. While Bonesea has never reached the World Cup finals, they have to be considered one of the favorites to win the World Cup this year after dominating their qualifying group. Caro Tyree will look to continue his strong performance for them in the World Cup finals but expect Cade Jones to be right on his tail and DFS players may want to consider playing the coach's kid in their contests.

I had originally intended to write about the rest of the groups as well but due to publishing deadlines, I'm going to skip that. While I am unwilling to make any predictions regarding the outcome of Group E, I can assure you that Bonesea will be a formidable opponent, Abanhfleft will play everybody else hard and Ceni will either look like a contender to win it all on their home turf or be downright terrible. Regardless, you can watch Republican World Cup matches exclusively on your local Eagle affiliate and you can watch re-runs of Republican matches and matches involving other nations across the Eagle Sports family of networks. In addition, we have secured assurances that Eagle Sports will not be broadcasting any World Cup matches head-to-head with NRWC or Zen-Taiyou wrestling programs broadcast on any television network, ensuring your ability to watch all of your favorite wrestlers (including your favorite wrestler: me!) kick asses for a living. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I will be challenging for the NRWC World Ladies Championship tomorrow night against reigning champion Hatsue Okada and I promise to do everything in my power to bring the belt back into the NRWC camp. Please watch my match tomorrow night and please watch the Republican National Soccer Team's World Cup matches.

Nova Hellstrom is the professional wrestling correspondent for Sporting World, the coach for the Republican National Soccer Team, LLC Cheerleading Squad and one of the most decorated champions in the history of the (old) Republican Wrestling Conglomerate where she won the World Ladies Championship on 7 different occasions. At one time, she was a part-time international sports correspondent for Sporting World and a co-chair of the World Cup 68 Seeding Committee. She got her start covering high school soccer for the Petrograd Times before working for Sporting World. At one time, she played girls soccer for Petrograd Christian School. She was Sporting World's correspondent at the 27th Di Bradini Cup, the 52nd Baptism of Fire and during qualifying for the 65th World Cup before transitioning into a successful career as a professional wrestler. She lives in Falatulu with her slave husband Kieran.

[Eura]

FRUSTRATED BUT THROUGH IT - HOW EURA QUALIFIED FOR WORLD CUP 79
Assessing the consistent but sometimes flawed performances of Steve Thompson's post-Spartan and Sinclair era Eura

Qualifying for the 79th World Cup was comfortable in the end for Eura due to the lack of playoff's in this tournament's format, but nevertheless Eura once again finished second in a qualifying group after coming unstuck against a second seed and at least one other team. Defeat to Nephara was not to be unexpected as they are easily the best second seed Eura had faced in a long time, and look like a completely transformed team under Michael Brandon and his Euran assistant Tom Riley, who most readers will remember as Eura's captain during their historic 66th World Cup triumph. Yet the manner of the back to back defeats against them away from home and in Bastion to an almost identical gameplan has left many concerned that Eura have lost their phyiscal bite and are unable to compete against teams who can combine skill and physicality. Outside of Scott Coles, Frank Ainsworth and Sterling Rose it isn't hard to see why this criticism might be made.

The loss to Apox was also a bit of a shocker but offset by Eura's victory in the other tie. Questions are being raised about Eura's sudden insecurity over what formation to use and the ageing nature of a squad that is supposed to represent a refreshed side. Several call ups of veteran players have proved mostly to be poor decisions and the implosion of Freddie Nolan was nothing short of a very public embarrassment for both the player and management. On the positive side however you can't question that Eura stamped out their inconsistency against the smaller sides this cycle, not giving away any cheap defeats to relatively unknown teams. Setting aside the three defeats to Nephara and Apox, Eura had a perfect record in one of the hardest groups in qualifying - and two of those defeats, plus a less worrying 3-0 defeat against Chromatika in a friendly with a rotated squad, were part of one mid-qualifying wobble rather than a pattern of inconsistency. Dion Underwood and the other supporting strikers demonstrated that the frontline is in safe hands as Kris Campbell plays less games. Robert Griffin has looked more secure between the sticks than Jeffrey Douglas. Scott Coles has been a revelation at right back. It is reasonable to conclude that while Eura have much to improve their imperfect but consistent qualifying effort has set them in good stead for the World Cup itself.

Eura 2 -1 Apox
Underwood 25, Campbell 79

Opening against Apox was always going to be difficult after an uneventful friendly victory over Ceni pre-qualifying. Eura didn’t actually play their strongest eleven for this game as John Leach came in for a not fully fit Bryan Butler while Joel Sutton was dropped for Dion Underwood to allow the deployment of two strikers. The changes worked a treat and Eura looked formidably dangerous from start to finish against a resilient and well organised Apox side. Underwood found acres of space behind the opposition defence as Llangolan and Raynerson laid out the red carpet for him to sprint through and score from Sterling Rose’s through ball before Raynerson equalised with a header. In the second half the game shifted more in Eura’s favour and the pressure told when a failed Apox counterattack led to a Euran winner. Ayrton Fox left a big gap when caught upfield leaving Kris Campbell the time he needed on the ball to adjust from an off balance position at a bad angle and finish, his 100th goal in international football, and a memorable one at that.

Ko-oren 0 – 1 Eura
Coles 71

History shows that this is a tricky fixture for Eura who have come unstuck on several occasions against an often underrated Ko-oren team. Methodical in their approach like the most attentive of statisticians, Ko-oren were as defensive as they always have been although being at home they were playing to win in a roundabout way. Eura successfully stifled their creativity with the return of the usual 4-5-1 formation and got the win through a set piece. Peter Morrison drilled in a free kick from the right at a tight angle that Scott Coles only had to glance with his head for a first international goal.

Eura 7 – 1 Akatsurai
Underwood 5, Jones 37, Holmes 46, 80, Nolan 55, Coltrane 63, Blake 69

Eura ran riot against the weakest team in the group with a two striker start like in the Apox game, although this time Campbell was rested and Underwood paired with Bastion strike partner Lofty Jones. Underwood shot Eura into the lead in only the 5th minute with a daring run down the left flank that ended with a collapsing Akatsurai defender and a left footed shot into the bottom right hand corner. The home side were made to wait for their second when Jones typically headed the ball down and past the keeper a 37th minute Coltrane free kick. It was after half time that things really kicked off as Josh Holmes came on for Jones and scored on the counter almost immediately, before Freddie Nolan made it 4-0 with a thunderbolt from 25 yards. The keeper should have done better than spilling Oscar Coltrane’s tame 63rd minute effort into the net but could have done nothing about Harvey Blake’s bullet header, a first international goal on a dream international debut for the defender. Holmes completed the rout in the 80th minute with a simple tap in following Coltrane’s excellent work threading the ball between the keeper and the last man.

Eura 3 – 1 Thibaea
Coltrane 22, Campbell 41, Sutton 75

Thibaea proved more resilient than Eura’s previous opponents and actually took the lead in Bastion through a well worked 20th minute counter attack, only for Eura to equalise two minutes later when Coltrane whipped in a free kick he himself had won on the edge of the box. Campbell gave his side the lead with a driven effort just before half time, and Joel Sutton wrapped up the victory near the end with a volleyed effort from a near post cross accidentally turned far post cross by Peter Morrison.

Natanians and Nosts 0 – 4 Eura
Coltrane 12, 30, Ainsworth 82, Underwood 90+1

Eura took on Natanians and Nosts a few cycles ago when they were easy pickings. Since then they have matured as a side which made it impressive that Eura came away from their country with a 4-0 win. Coltrane was a pivotal factor in victory yet again with two first half goals, both close range efforts after being played in by Campbell and the wingers Morrison and Sutton. Frank Ainsworth put away a neat header at a chaotic late set piece to make it 3-0. Underwood came off the bench in the final few minutes to punish the home side on the counter as they sought a consolation goal, and duly did so, a 40 yard run ending with the ball tucked firmly in the bottom left hand corner.

Taeshan 0 – 2 Eura
Jingleheimer-Smitt 51 (OG), D Sharp 89

Games against ultra-defensive Taeshan are always tense and there was no sense that Eura could rely on three points here. Eura’s record against their fellow Rushmori opponents was good but not perfect, in fact one defeat to Taeshan in particular still stood out as one of the team’s most gutting defeats. Taeshan did not provide much threat going forward but were resolute at the back again. A bit of luck early in the second half was required to give Eura the invaluable breakthrough – Morrison sent a deep cross into the box which overshot and hit the underside of the bar. The ball popped up violently and retreating Taeshan keeper Jacob Jingleheimer-Smitt turned back to greet the ball with his shins, ricocheting it into his own goal. The goal was harsh on Taeshan who pressed for an equaliser and struck the woodwork twice themselves, but Dean Sharp produced one of the most memorable moments of recent Euran international football to secure a win. The 25 year old son of a Euran deity dispossessed Enrique Fuegahita in the centre circle, charged forward beating one defender with pace and another with a well-timed jink to the right, before smashing the ball through the keeper to make it 2-0 at the death. It was a brilliant first international goal.

Eura 3 – 2 Rotztotzka
Campbell 25, 61, Jones 72

It is arguable that the narrow home win against Rotztotzka should have been a red flag for Eura ahead of their game with Nephara. The visitors were a very physical side and took the lead in the 17th minute thanks to a fortuitous goal forced in at a corner against a weak challenge by Butler. Campbell brought Eura level with a special solo effort in the 25th minute from 20 yards but they were behind again before half time when Freddie Nolan was outmuscled on the edge of the box, allowing the opposition a cheap turnover and subsequent goal off the back of a tricky pass through Butler and Ainsworth inside the box. Eura only recovered the situation by throwing on Jones for the abysmal Sutton, using the towering striker’s height to bully Rotztotzka’s defenders into conceding space to Campbell at a corner that permitted him to score a second goal. Jones then bagged the winner himself with his feet in an awkward fashion later in the second half. He had seemed to lose the ball just inside the box with his back to goal, but clawed it back with his long legs, got back to his feet, and then somehow scooped the ball through a group of players and into the corner past the keeper.

Nephara 3 – 0 Eura

Rarely do Eura throw away a long winning streak in this manner. Like their bizarre 4-0 defeat against Flardania/Kirishima during the last qualifying campaign, it was a game where Eura didn’t really seem to turn up. They were fortunate it was only three against an opponent of clearly superior quality to the one that pipped Eura to top of their group last time. Nephara were undoubtedly stepping over the line with much of their physical behaviour and rightly received criticism for it post-game, but there was no hiding that they had looked much fitter and more motivated than a Euran side who are not known for struggling on either of those criteria. Nolan in particular was singled out for a dreadful performance that put his international career in jeopardy overnight. Morrison also continued his poor form (he’d not been at his best regardless of creating several goals in previous games) and both Sutton and Conway had possibly the worst match of their international careers. Only a driven performance off the bench by Liam Armstrong lightened the mood for Thompson in the technical area.

After this game a much changed Eura side were easily beaten 3-0 by Chromatika over the mid-qualifying break, a result that really shook the boat. Holt, Benedict and Cotra dropped out of the set up for Gabriel Harper of Directus, and an uncapped duo from the dominant club side Revolutionaries, Alex Wyatt and Rhys Griffiths. Sutton and Nolan dropped out of the preferred starting lineup although Nolan would be given another chance against Apox.

Apox 3 – 2 Eura
Campbell 50, 63

Losing two games in a row was bad enough but a 3-2 defeat away at Apox caused something of a sensation in Eura who were unaccustomed to being beaten in consecutive games, let alone badly. The scoreline was deceiving; Apox fully deserved the win against Eura despite the away side spending most of the game with ten men. Spartangrad’s big signing James Palmisano gave them the lead with a header past an out of position Griffin. Butler was then sent off for an idiotic tackle that conceded a penalty, which Alpha Gandhi converted smoothly, prompting a tactical substitution of Nolan for centreback Leach. Nolan had looked sub-par again anyway and would now be firmly dropped. Eura fought back somewhat and Campbell played practically as a one man team, converting an over hit Rose through ball to equalise when it seemed beyond reach, and then giving Eura the lead after Apox went down to ten men themselves from the penalty spot (he won the penalty too). Overcoming this comeback, Apox secured a deserved victory late in the game as Gandhi beat Griffin again to put Eura’s qualification hopes in serious danger.

Eura 2 – 0 Ko-oren
Underwood 16, Rose 68

Successive defeats against Nephara, Chromatika (in a friendly, 3-0) and Apox set the pigeons running in the Euran media and speculation mounted that an implosion was imminent, one that would put Eura’s lengthy and impressive qualifying record in danger. It was vitally important that they got a result against Ko-oren and a clean sheet after conceding 9 goals in 3 games. The lineup changed dramatically as Nolan was out and Armstrong in, Sutton relegated to the bench in favour of Robson, and a tired Campbell replaced by Underwood. Crucially Eura scored early, Underwood turning in a low Coltrane cross from the left. In the second half the tension relieved gradually and was finally broken when Robson crossed for Rose to prod the ball past the keeper securing a victory. Revolutionaries pair Wyatt and Griffiths both made impressive debuts for the last twenty minutes or so.

Akatsurai 1 – 2 Eura
Holmes 27, Robson 40

Winning away against Akatsurai by a narrow margin with a second string but still strong team was considered a poor result given that Eura demolished the bottom of the group side 7-1 at home. Thompson was emphatic with a touch of defiance in his response post-match; “a win is a win”. Holmes and Gravesen scored the goals in the first half which preceded a dull second, pockmarked only by a rare Akatsurai goal.

Thibaea 0 – 4 Eura
Robson 33, Morrison 50, Coltrane 56, Tobin 90

The mid-qualifying slump was now in the past and Eura were able to deal with Thibaea away from home in a cool and ruthless manner. Robson’s well taken snapshot finish from a loose ball got things going. A recalled Campbell doubled the lead with his chest, pushing the ball over the line and narrowly avoiding a handball when a revitalised Morrison lofted a cross teasingly along the goal line. Coltrane made it 3-0 with a deflected shot from range and Gael Tobin of Falourr got the fourth with an exceptionally well taken ankle flick at a corner in the final minutes of the match.

Eura 2 – 0 Natanians and Nosts
Coltrane 23, Underwood 45+1

Coltrane tortured Natanians and Nosts on their own turf and did so at home too, scoring the first goal at the end of an intricate passing play from the edge of the six yard box, and then setting up the killer second goal on a plate for Underwood in first half stoppage time. There was controversy as substitute Gravesen received a straight red in the second half for what appeared to be a perfectly fair tackle but it didn’t affect the result.

Al Qurija 1 – 2 Eura
Armstrong 60, Holmes 63

A considerably weakened side was victorious in Al Qurija. Difficult conditions and Tobin going off injured in under a minute made the first half challenging for the visitors who went 1-0 down due to some sloppy defending by Blake and Evan Smith. Harper rattled the bar moments into the second half which set the tone from then on as Eura bombarded the home side’s goal and inevitably took the lead through the powerful right foot of Liam Armstrong for his first international goal. Holmes then came off the bench to score the winner very soon after the equaliser, a rasping effort supplied on a breakaway run by Talbot and Wyatt’s pragmatic but effective passing.

Eura 3 – 0 Taeshan
Morrison 27, Campbell 45+2, Griffiths 70

Steve Thompson was left beaming as his side dominated Taeshan at home in stark contrast to the nervy nature of their away win. Morrison took the pressure off with a spectacular 30 yard strike not long into the game and the first team looked phenomenal in a 4-5-1 format around the central pivot of Rose-Armstrong-Wyatt, with Coltrane on the left and any one of Campbell, Underwood and Holmes up front (in this case the veteran Campbell). Campbell was again on the scoresheet with a well taken finish from a mere snapshot opportunity as the whistle for half time prepared to blow. Griffiths added the icing to the cake with a graceful first international goal, cutting inside the fullback on the right after replacing Morrison to hit an unstoppable low drive through a packed box and the keeper’s legs.

Rotztotzka 0–3 Eura
Holmes 22, Coltrane 52, Sutton 59

Qualification was now secured which permitted Eura to take some liberties with team selection against Rotztotzka, experimenting with a front pairing of Underwood and Holmes behind a midfield diamond featuring Coltrane, Armstrong, Wyatt and Talbot. Eura dominated from start to finish and were rewarded for their tactical adventure with some excellent football from their talented young midfielders. Holmes scored the first with his head and Coltrane the second with an outstretched boot, sliding in to meet a cut across ball from Armstrong that somehow found a gap between three defenders and the goalkeeper. The outstanding Euran performance culminated in a brilliant passing phase of play involving almost the entire team to score the third. Thirty passes were completed from the back at breath taking speed leading to substitute Sutton clipping the ball home from short range.

Eura 2 – 3 Nephara
Campbell 30, Jones 90+2

Playing for pride but not qualification, Eura struggled again with their mental and physical game against Nephara and suffered a disappointing double defeat as a result. Ulsa winger Adnan Szalai gave the visitors the lead with a sensational dribble and goal in the 13th minute but Eura did equalise promptly with the help of some lazy Nepharim defending – yes, you read that correctly – which played in Campbell to score from close range. Nephara made some mid second half changes that paid off while Eura made two that did exactly the opposite. Bringing on the once unstoppable Sutton for Robson threw the team off balance and Sutton’s defensive absent mindedness allowed the overlap for Hawke to score the away team’s second. Freddie Nolan was then introduced, maybe with the hope that he would be driven to play out of his skin by his calamity against Nephara last time out. Unfortunately his only contribution was a brutal revenge tackle on Vedran Tarashaj who had injured the Ulsa midfielder with a nasty tackle in that previous fixture. Tarashaj was taken off for Klein, the severity of his injury unknown, while Nolan was given his marching orders minutes after coming on. An aggressive atmosphere threatened but faded quickly in light of Eura and Nephara’s usual relative friendliness, although the latter’s players and fans took great delight at confirming their victory with a late Kendall goal. Eura’s frustration was summed up by the introduction of final sub Jones producing a consolation goal straight away when they had needed the tactic to work a long time ago. Coltrane’s long ball in found his head and no Nephara player was big or athletic enough to stop the ball going in. It was a disappointing end to what was in context a good qualifying campaign.

The table at the end of qualifying demonstrated that Eura had been consistent, deadly in front of goal and not bad in defence, but had struggled against the stronger teams in the group and cost themselves the top spot with a mid-qualifying breakdown:

.                         Pld   W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Nephara                18   17   0   1    49   14  +35    51
 2 Eura                   18   15   0   3    48   17  +31    45
 3 Apox                   18   13   1   4    41   18  +23    40
 4 Taeshan                18    8   4   6    22   24   −2    28
 5 Ko-oren                18    8   3   7    17   14   +3    27
 6 Natanians and Nosts    18    7   4   7    25   30   −5    25
 7 Al Qurija              18    7   3   8    30   27   +3    24
 8 Rotztotzka             18    3   1  14    12   38  −26    10
 9 Thibaea                18    3   0  15    18   46  −28     9
10 Akatsurai              18    0   2  16     7   41  −34     2

Scorers - Kris Campbell (8), Oscar Coltrane (7), Dion Underwood (5), Josh Holmes (5), Lofty Jones (3), Tom Robson (2), Peter Morrison (2), Joel Sutton (2), Dean Sharp (1) Freddie Nolan (1), Liam Armstrong (1), Sterling Rose (1), Gael Tobin (1), Rhys Griffiths (1), Scott Coles (1), Harvey Blake (1), Frank Ainsworth (1), OG (1).

Ahead of the finals and in light of the conclusion of the domestic season, Eura’s complete squad for the tournament is listed below:

GOALKEEPERS – 1. Robert Griffin 13. Jeffrey Douglas 30. Kevin Belgrave

DEFENDERS – 2. Scott Coles 3. Harvey Conway 4. Bryan Butler 5. Frank Ainsworth 15. John Leach 19. Harvey Blake 21. Ethan Cook 23. Gabriel Harper 25. Evan Smith 27. Oliver Murray

MIDFIELDERS – 6. Sterling Rose 7. Oscar Coltrane 8. Liam Armstrong 11. Tom Robson 12. Peter Morrison 16. Alex Wyatt 18. Gael Tobin 20. John Talbot 22. Joel Sutton 24. Harry Gravesen 28. Rhys Griffiths 29. Ryan Robinson

FORWARDS – 9. Kris Campbell 10. Dion Underwood 14. Lofty Jones 17. Josh Holmes 26. Dean Sharp

Their lineup for the first group stage match:

FORMATION: 4-2-3-1
TEAM: 1. R Griffin, 2. S Coles, 5. F Ainsworth, 4. B Butler, 3. H Conway, 6. S Rose, 8. L Armstrong, 12. P Morrison, 11. T Robson, 7. O Coltrane, 9. K Campbell
SUBS: 13. J Douglas, 21. E Cook, 15. J Leach, 23. G Harper, 16. A Wyatt, 18. G Tobin, 22. J Sutton, 10. D Underwood, 14. L Jones

[Valanora]

Valanora Times
The Unusual Suspects

How to explain what has transpired in Valanora over the last year, very few outsiders could come close to understanding the monumental shift and events that have occurred here in the Eternal Empire. Where there had been millions of elves living within the borders of the Eternal Empire, there now is but tens of thousands and given the exceedingly slow rate at which elves are known for repopulating, it likely means that for the foreseeable future, the leading species in the Empire will be humanity. With the seat of government leaving Raynor City and heading to the newly formed state of Sabine and Caddonia, what was merely a group of city-states administered by Vanorian peacekeepers before the event, there is much in the way of change both politically, socially, and obviously in the sporting domain as well with all things Vanorian. That this event had occurred between the end of the Qualifiers for this Seventy-Ninth World Cup and the Finals themselves, being held in Ceni and Drawkland, meant that over half of the squad that had competed in the Qualifiers was now gone and the managerial staff was left scrambling.

Audioslav fans were happy to see that among those that have stayed here in the mortal realm is none other than the legendary captain of Laborious Hawk, which with his tireless pursuit of perfection and excellence makes for a certain amount of sense. In many ways Hawk is the embodiment of Vanorian working spirit, in a pursuit of excellence that takes decades if not centuries to ever come close to actually obtaining. If there were any one elf among the millions that would have been the perfect avatar of the Vanorian people for those left behind to admire and try to emulate, it would be Hawk. However it is not just Hawk that has stayed, but all four members of what used to be called the Hero Quartet, with Faeron Soldarian, Allendren Fresco, and Espy va Drake also deciding to stay in the mortal realm, as well as the tall and dynamic Raynor City United winger in the lithe form of Ilglerdiriel Lithvathar. Give the latter's recent rise in popularity both at home and abroad, it should not be surprising to see her among those that stayed and the five of them provide the Marauders with a formidable midfield and attack, as well as something resembling cohesion given what the rest of the squad looks like.

Fans of the Premiership will be seeing a lot of the players that had come to the Empire's shores in the national team now and the biggest of those names is the way of Brenecian striker Fionn Lynch, who had already been capped for Brenecia and had played in numerous games in the Qualifiers. However the Gunner forward was told that he would not be making the trip with the national team to Drawkland and would instead have to remain at home. Holding Vanorian citizenship, Lynch decided to file for a one time change of nationality and was granted that change just a week before the registration for the Finals was due and was included into the team. The striker should hopefully play off of Fresco well, given the drive that he is known to have and having had the slight of being considered not good enough for the final twenty-three of his homeland. The Marauders welcome such a force and determination to prove those back in Brenecia that he could still lead a team to a World Cup triumph, something that the fans in the Empire will hope to see from the new Vanorian.

From there though, the rest of the new Vanorian nationals take a bit of a nosedive in terms of quality, though a handful of elves that played in Chromatika decided to remain and were given a call up to the squad as well. Mostly you will see former Sunrisians putting on the blue and gold of the Marauders, with their old homeland a distant memory, in a weird sort of time manipulation and travel that saw them reemerge as Kita-Hinode a few years after their own weird supernatural event that shook that nation to the core, where most had believed the Islands to no longer exist. It is a weird sort of fate that the two teams will meet one another in Ceni and one has to wonder how the likes of Vásquez and Yuki Hatsune will react when they take the field against them. Of special interest for those who like trivia is Perla Sierra, a half Cosumarite and Osarian who has played at Wexax United for several seasons and was named their captain two years ago. With her taking the Vanorian citizenship, it makes her a rare tri-national and one would hope her leadership can be seen on the pitch, especially with the inclusion of Raynor City United's hastily promoted youth goalkeeper into the squad and put as the starter. Given the history of Raynor City being a good youth development club in the past, the hope must be that this twenty-year old is ready to take on the world, as he has likely seen stiff competition in the reserve league.

In Ceni it will be a trio of Atlantian Oceanic nations that will duel one another, alongside Kita-Hinode, with the number two team in the world in Farfadillis in the top pot team from the group. When the Marauders have played the Farfadillis team in the past, goals have come in plenty and that likely will be true once more as the strength of both teams is in their attackers going into the Finals, though for the Marauders it is due to the leaving of the elves. 95X is the surprise qualification and on paper the weakest team in the entire field of thirty-two, however the fact that they have managed to put together a team that qualified just a few years after a total government shutdown means that the legacy of the former AOCAF winner is still somewhat alive. The Geists of Kita-Hinode have the legacy of the Sunrisians to uphold, while this Marauders team has to deal with the fact that the squad that put those five stars on the crest is almost all but gone now. Who can live up to the legacy of their past in the group, the high flying Farfadillis, the bus driven 95X, the apparitions of the former Islanders, or can what once was a mighty force in football have found new life in the most unusual of squads it has ever put together? The answer to that question will be the teams that find a way through to the knockouts from this interesting group here in Rushmore.

[Drawkland]

Here we go! Matchday one awaits! Cutoff!
Scores!
death to mississippi state!!

[Ceni]

---

Twin Threads, Together and Apart

---

I live in a festival of light: solitary particles form unitary waves.
Single beams, together, connect your world and mine.
Lone ribbons, intertwined, bind our fates together.
We live our lives both as one and as many.

---

To Brobdingnag We Go
Chapter Two: Blown Kisses and Forgotten Dresses

---

Andrew emerged from his bedroom only to find Sarah and Seth deeply in conversation. A busybody would have tried to eavesdrop on the conversation, but Andrew merely plopped down on the couch and turned on the TV. Initially, there appeared to be nothing of interest on, but he soon found a channel showing Liam Penderyn's semifinal match in a tennis tournament in Mercedini; his boyfriend was locked in a tight matchup with Mark Southgate, another New Gelderlander. Watching Liam, with his long socks and colorful tennis outfit, made him swim in the hormones of attraction. He blew a kiss to his boyfriend and settled in for a long stay on the couch, as it appeared that Sarah's conversation was ending absolutely no time soon. By the time the match had reached a third set, Andrew was completely engrossed in the television, so engrossed that he barely noticed Sarah tapping him on the shoulder. "What is it?" he said, slightly startled by the interruption.

"We just thought that we would head into Cenial to have dinner - and explain why we're here. I'm sure Dad only gave you a boilerplate answer - sorry about that."

"Nobody believed his explanation - I don't even think he did." Andrew chuckled. "Dad - I feel uncomfortable calling him that, for some reason - claimed that you dragged him down here because you made him feel guilty about being a bad parent."

Now it was Sarah's turn to laugh. "Both of us know that I don't care enough about you to make a Drawkian feel guilty."

"Love you too." Andrew conspicuously blew a fake kiss to Sarah. "So, where were you thinking about eating?"

Sarah slapped a copy of the Cenial Tribune on the table in front of the TV, pointing to a picture on the front page. "There - it's a place called Neoteric, on Novastar Avenue. Modern and swanky. I've heard they serve quite a nasty cocktail, too." She raised an eyebrow. "What do you say about that?"

Picking up the newspaper, Andrew scanned over the review. "Looks a little pricey - and did you bring anything fancy to wear?" He gestured toward a section of the newspaper. "This says formal attire only - no exceptions."

"Give me that," Sarah said, snatching the paper out of Andrew's hands before scrutinizing it herself. "Well, I'll be darned. Didn't think it was that fancy... or expensive."

At this point, Seth jumped into the conversation. "I brought something." Then he smiled. "Dinner's on me. We have a lot to talk about."

"Well, that settles that," said Sarah, tossing the paper back on the table. "I think I can scavenge up something acceptable in my place here." She grabbed her purse and got up to leave before Andrew stopped her.

"Sarah - wait - let's talk some more. You were barely here, and I feel like we should get to know each other better - after all, we are family."

Sarah turned around and sat down next to Andrew, the couch noticeably sagging under her weight. "As you've probably already realized, my one priority is not family. It's playing soccer - er, football to you - to the best of my abilities. Don't expect me to linger around places doling out pleasantries - I won't." She paused for a second and wet her lips, staring at the television for a moment. "My tone here isn't intended to imply that I don't love you - it's just that I don't want to sit around here and exchanging small talk." After hugging Andrew and giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, she turned around and left the apartment.

"Likely story that she loves me," Andrew muttered to himself. Raising his voice, he turned his gaze to focus on Seth. "What was that about?" he wondered. "I thought we were all going to dinner together - and we have to talk at dinner. She can't avoid chatting."

Seth chuckled and gave Andrew a pat on the head, to which Andrew recoiled a little. "That's my Sarah, headstrong and independent. She never had much use for family with me back in Drawkland, either. Soccer was always first for her, always first." Turning towards the door, he stared at his unfinished drink on the counter. "I'd say that she actually went to go shopping - although I don't know where she'd find Drawkian-sized clothes here." He snorted. "That's another thing about Sarah - in her focus on some areas of her life, she forgets about others. Like packing."

"What's she going to do when she can't find anything? Quit on us in a huff?" Andrew asked.

"I imagine she'll come running to me for help, and of course, I'll give it to her."

Andrew saw the twinkle in his eyes as he recognized what his father had done. "You brought an extra dress for her, didn't you?"

Seth nodded. "I knew she'd forget one. Even though we don't show it outwardly, we love each other, and we know it."

At this point, Andrew had to wonder whether either of them actually loved him. With what his mother had told him, the two had made love underneath the bleachers, and once Seth realized his mother was pregnant, he skedaddled back to Drawkland. Seth had sent things, but never came to visit. The way he had left his mother! The bill came due, and Seth his mother paying the whole thing. All the heartache he caused her! All those years without a father.

Perhaps Seth was coming to make amends to his son.

Tears started to stream down Andrew's face as the memories flowed through his brain. As he covered his face with his hands, he noticed Seth quietly packing his things and leaving. For all of his supposed love, he didn't show much of it towards Andrew.

Maybe he wasn't coming to make amends after all.

As the tears receded, Andrew sighed. It would be a long dinner if all this tension and tragedy was in the midst of upwelling. Nonetheless, he would prepare himself for it.

While he was getting ready, he briefly toyed with the idea of wearing his most obnoxious cowboy costume to the restaurant. That would definitely annoy Sarah, and the idea brought a smile to his face. But it couldn't happen: the restaurant required something a little more formal.

To impress Sarah and Seth, he couldn't just wear a regular old suit, of course. He had to one-up them. Smiling, he picked something out of his closet: it was the perfect choice. The two Drawkians would rest in pieces when they saw him.

---

Series of friendlies offers key lessons for upcoming World Cup

---

Despite the overall winning record of Luke Longstar's recent series of friendlies, the take-away message is one of worry and apprehension as a Cenian NT very similar to the one being proffered at the World Cup suffered some disappointing results, including a 1-1 draw to Northwest Kalactin, a newer side not even in the top 100, and a 6-4 loss to future World Cup opponent Abanhfleft. However, victories over Apox, Filindostan, and Pasarga offered a ray of hope to Longstar and his planning staff.

Ceni had played Apox once before, an inconclusive 1-1 draw in a World Cup 74 finals outing that saw a Cenian side choke to Gregoryisgodistan (now South Covello) in the crucial game to determine advancement. This game, however, was more decisive, with the whole team looking good in a hard-fought 3-2 victory against the world number 44 team. With the likes of Alpha Gandhi, Esmerelda Zanzala, and James Palmisano on their roster, Apox would pose a daunting challenge to the Cenian defense, but they performed admirably, despite goals by Palmisano and Bryton Menheniot. Seeing as this was the first match with a four-man defense in multiple decades, Longstar expected some problems to arise, and it looked like the defense was discombobulated for the first twenty minutes of the game. After the two first-half goals, Longstar substituted Ariana Guri-Montague for Liam Lorechian, and the partnership between her and Miri Windtide looks to be one for the ages. A solid second-half performance from the defense allowed Avi Renning, Andrew Arrowsword, and Marc-Andre Onasi to all notch goals.

Filindostan is a new nation on the world scene, but a rising star, having won the Baptism of Fire; this friendly in the Bicentennial Stadium was the first-ever encounter between the two teams. They proved their worth in the opening minutes, when young striker Bienvenido Arespacochaga opened up his side's account in the fourteenth minute, but Ceni's far more experienced team soon showed their class and style when Allison Swan assisted an admittedly aging Kel Koromin in the thirty-fifth minute. Longstar soon added youth into the mix at halftime, and the gamble paid off as winger Asher Koromin assisted Iain Cyn-Penzag to nudge Ceni into the lead in minute sixty-five; Andrew Arrowsword secured Ceni's victory after an eighty-fifth minute strike.

Northwest Kalactin, with a world ranking of 119, was regarded as easy fodder for a blowout win before the friendly, but the game reminded him of anemic play against teams such as Joaquin States in World Cup 78 that had doomed his predecessor, Elidyr Lyndainium, to the royal sack, as it appeared that Longstar's decision to start several young players backfired. The defense was not a problem, with Guri-Montague and Windtide continuing their excellent chemistry, and the offense didn't seem to be a problem right off the bat, with Iain Cyn-Penzag notching his second ever international goal and Avi Renning playing well, but as the match wore on, it appeared that the striking team of Cyn-Penzag and Sascha Falkenrath was not performing up to its optimum, and wingers Koromin and Caldera were unsuccessful in penetrating the Kalactinian defense.

Among the highlights of the campaign, however, was a 1-0 victory over world number sixteen Pasarga, the first for Ceni in four attempts. Previous attempts to take on Pasarga have ended in disaster, notably a 5-1 thrashing in the first Trindl Cup and a 2-0 loss in the most recent Copa Rushmori, but Ceni finally prevailed after Andrew Arrowsword, Ceni's pride and joy, penetrated Pasarga's fine defense after an incisive pass from Adrian del Toro gave him a great angle into the goal. Meanwhile, in the defense, Zarel Sontebren was chosen alongside Liam Lorechian - and the pairing was very solid, denying Pasarga's lethal offense any goals.

Ceni had previously played Darmen three times before this friendly, going 1-1-1, most recently in Cup of Harmony 70 in which Ceni had failed to advance past the Round of 16, despite being ranked second-highest of all teams in the tournament. A 3-3 draw in New Oxford didn't do anything to clear up this muddled record, with the four-man defense looking quite out of place yet again. Arrowsword, Koromin, and del Toro all managed to score goals, but Darmen's defense held firm a enough points during the match to deny Ceni the victory.

Finally, the match against Abanhfleft was of the most interest to manager Longstar, as the two teams were drawn together in Group E of the World Cup. Unfortunately, it yielded Ceni's second-ever loss in Cenial Halcyon National Stadium - a bad omen for things to come when Ceni hosts Abanhfleft in the very same stadium during the World Cup. The match was topsy-turvy and honestly could have gone either way, but a few defensive errors kept Ceni from having the chances it needed to in this match. Kareem Dagen was the star of the show, scoring a hat trick in the process, while Arrowsword, Koromin, del Toro, and Onasi scored one apiece, with the invaluable help of Avi Renning and Jasper Valaran in midfield, who, as every single friendly has shown, are becoming one kick-ass midfield partnership.

Lessons Learned
1) Ceni must keep the defense together - without a solid centerback pairing (either Windtide/Guri-Montague or Lorechian/Sontebren) to guide the back end, it will be hard to keep offensive teams like Bonesea, Abanhfleft, and Free Republics at bay
2) Ceni must keep the offense together - without clockwork passing and solid multiplayer moves, the offense cannot hope to succeed against weak defenses
3) Chemistry is key - all the players must work together seamlessly, without any shreds of doubt or egoism
4) We need positivity - Ceni can't afford to be Negative Nellie about its chances all the time. It has to have a breakthrough somewhere, somehow. Why not now?

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

OOC 1: The below is reposted from this separate thread: viewtopic.php?p=33188616#p33188616 (with a very light edit of the opening sentence of OOC 2). Please feel free to participate!


OOC 2 - This is a bit of an interactive RP experiment. The Holy Empire's national team currently consists (mostly) of intergalactic zombie space pirates (follow this link for details).

A recurring motif of the squad is a claim that 'intergalactic zombie space pirates are cool'. The poll in this thread allows you to vote on whether this is indeed the case. I also invite additional IC comments in this thread, which IC'ly will be considered 'Ordinary Reality social media posts'. Feel free to add more than one IC comment from multiple IC individuals if you'd like.

I will incorporate both the results of the poll and any comments below this post into my matchday 2 or matchday 3 roleplay (depending on how well this works, and how many replies I get / how well this works.

Hi there mundies!

This is the Holy Empire Football Association writing to you, or interrupting your dreams, or otherwise communicating with you using a technology/method appropriate to your culture. That might include giant laser-lit letter of fire on the tallest mountains in your nation, electronic mail, knots in rope, dreams, or script inscribed in sand prior to the wind and water washing away this transient moment in time; that's not really the point.

What we really want your opinion on is the following question:

Are intergalactic zombie space pirates cool?

We think they're really, really cool. A bit dangerous to you mortal mundies living through boring old linear time, but cool all the same. But do you think they're cool?

We welcome your opinion, which will be sent to the State Bureau for Imperial Security (SBIS) for tabulation, which will allow us in turn to gauge our approach to the team in the remaining matches in World Cup 79.

Please feel free to add some comments below, which we'll also tabulate - and potentially quote in future references to this question of burning transdimensional importance.

So please vote in the poll and add your comments; it doesn't matter if your nation is participating in the World Cup, whether you're a football fan from a non-participating country, or don't know what football is but still have an opinion on intergalactic zombie space pirates. Your opinion is really valuable to us. Sort of. On this issue anyway. Otherwise we wouldn't ask, honest.

Sincerely Yours,

The Holy Empire Football Association

[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 | Di Bradini Cup 41 Part Fifteen: Stunned | World Cup 79: Part Sixteen: Fame | Seventeen: Weird | Eighteen: Sheep

Iconic, Instinctive, Incidental
Starblaydia stun World Cup 74 Champions One-Nil

They said Starblaydia were iconic, they said our legends had instincts to match their reputation, and they said they've been afraid of 'Fearsome Fëanáro' and her team ever since the World Cup 78 Qualifiers where the team in white and purple edged the recent Champions in a straight fight to the Qualification spots. Last night, the Cormorants treated Starblaydia with so much respect, that the five-times Champions picked up their first win in the World Cup Finals for nearly 50 years. Not since facing United Gordonopia in Cassadaigua during World Cup 67 have Starblaydia registered a win in the greatest tournament in the multiverse. The last time they even chalked up a goal was twenty-four years ago, drawing 3-3 with Valladares at the 73rd World Cup.

Last night, Ázëwyn Fëanáro's side turned over the KPBs, the form book, the expectations and the bookies' odds to stun a side that won all but one of their 18 Qualifying matches, making the World Cup at a canter. Despite being one of the weakest-ranked sides at the World Cup for a second Finals in a row, Starblaydia's team walked out with a swagger to match the five stars on their shirt. By contrast, the hulking Cormorants side looked sheepish and wary. It was almost comical to see players of such limited statue like Garkadum, Ryku, Nauglamír and Kolmkal stand proudly with their chests out, while the likes of Lohengrin, Kendall and Hawke stood with hunched shoulders and worried eyes before the national anthems were played-

Simeone put down his newspaper sharply, as a smart knock on his hotel door broke his reading flow. He enjoyed having mundy Starblaydi newspapers in mundy Drawkian hotel rooms, it just felt a little more real that the reality he had become used to over the years in the Dreamed Realm. He strode over to the door and had a quick look through the peephole, just for confirmation's sake.

"It's me, Simeone," came the muffled voice of Ázëwyn Fëanáro, looking directly at the tiny fish-eye lens embedded in the door. The senses of the Elves were still almost supernatural to him. He smiled at her distorted face and stepped back to open the door.

"Come in," he said, "it's good to-"

"I brought someone I'd like you to meet," Ázëwyn interrupted, striding gracefully through the doorway and into the living room that took on extra duties as reception area, kitchen and lounge, "you probably know of him."

Simeone stood open mouthed as a near seven feet tall Elf, broad and strong from head to toe, ducked his head artfully and stepped into the room in two great, easy strides. The Elf himself was no stranger to Simeone, although quite why he was accompanying Ázëwyn, Simeone had no idea. He was the holder of two hundred and sixty-three caps for Starblaydia, bettered only by Ázëwyn herself. He had World Cup 44 and 47 winners' medals to his name and his name was forever spoken when the list of greatest goalkeepers in Starblaydi history came up. Caleb Westwood, Lucas Cable, David Bedford... and Dacil Taniquentar.

"Dacil," Simeone almost stammered, totally unprepared for one of the legends of the Starblaydi game to suddenly step into his hotel room. Why had Ázëwyn brought him? Was it just for a legends' chat or something more? Several more questions ran through Simeone's mind before he realised he had been staring up at the Elf for several seconds. And the Elf had been staring back at him.

"I thought you said this human was different," Dacil said in a deep, growling voice that would tolerate no questioning, "but it appears he's even dumber than I had feared."

"Careful, my Lord," Ázëwyn smiled, "this human outranks you."

"As if," Dacil frowned again, "a mere ex-President of the World Cup Committee can compare to my standing."

"Wait," Simeone said, finally regaining the powers of speech after what seemed like an eternity of the Elves verbally jousting over his head like birds wheeling around the clouds of a big blue sky, "wait, just wait a bloody minute. Ázëwyn, why have you brought one of the finest goalies ever to come see me, why is he in my hotel room yelling at me, and why on earth are you calling him 'my Lord'?"

"In reverse order," Ázëwyn began, crossing her arms and shifting her weight on to one foot to really get a good view of the bickering boys, "may I formally and correctly introduce the First Lord of the Barrow Dwelling Keepers of Yánataurë, otherwise more colloquially and slightly scarily known as the Gravelord, Dacil Taniquentar. He is being less than courteous because he does not realise he is speaking to someone ultimately well above his station and, finally, he's here because he asked to speak to someone with a bit of - how should I translate it, Dacil? - a chance of seeing the new dawn."

The evident enormity of all three answers was barely just beginning to sink in with Simeone, as Gravelords and new dawns were far beyond the chats that he and Ázëwyn had previously had in terms of mythical magnitude. He could just tell that this was something important, and the beginning of something - yet another thing - completely out of his depth. He didn't know which one to have explained properly to him first, they were all fairly fantastical and he couldn't pick just one.

"Outranks me, you claim?" Dacil snorted, "What pathetic human title did they give him?"

"King Eternal of Starblaydia," Ázëwyn flicked her eyebrows up for emphasis, "once and future, and all that. I don't think you ever resigned, officially, did you Simeone?"

Simeone didn't quite know what to say to that, as the last time he'd actually been King of Starblaydia, he was leading a cavalry charge into the teeth of the enemy, before being transported through time and relative dimensions in space back to the centre circle of a football match during a game in progress. Technically he never did give up the crown, after all, but how does one go about actually admitting to that?

"So," Dacil said quickly, "your... Royal Highness? Grace? Imperial Majesty? Whatever. Do you know anything about the - or a - Calling?"

"Um, essentially nothing?"

"Understandable." Dacil allowed, "In some Elven cultures, it's the inevitable drive to return to the land of the setting sun and move beyond the world of mortals. For the Elenmacilnórë, however, a Calling is the drive for our people to emerge from our isolation in the forest realm of Yánataurë, to cease being hidden among the trees and to step out into the wider world - in order to save it.

"This we have done twice in our lifetimes," he continued, "once, long ago, at Ázëwyn's request, in fact, to rescue the native peoples of Starblaydia - as it became known - and free them from outside rule. The second time was much more recently, when we came out and started playing football, matching ourselves against the Elves of the Eternal Empire."

"Both occasions being of equal import, of course," Ázëwyn joked, trying to break the ice in a rather fourth-wall breaking Whedonesque way, but failing.

"Indeed," Dacil said, obviously not meaning it, "but since then, barring a few individuals coming and going, the Calling has been silent. Until, I believe, now."

"Why now?" Simeone asked, hoping against hope that the answer would be the unlikely "hashtag we want six" from the mouth of the Gravelord. Gravelord? If only strikers the world over had known that before; they'd never have tried to score past him.

"Because, I believe, if we do not come now," Dacil's gaze was locked in on Simeone like mithril manacles around his neck, "then the dawn may soon not come. And we need to all fight for the sun to rise and the morning to begin anew. The fate of the world depends upon it."

[South Covello]

South Covello 1-0 Eshan

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, we're coming to you live from Drawkland on the planet Sonnel for this World Cup 79 opener, and what an unusual setting given we're on a foreign planet. When we walked through all the cars in the parking lot, we thought it was some alien forest and remarked about how the trees looked just like cars. But no, they're cars. And we're ready to get underway here from Bethlem Arena in Bethlem. There is a sizeable South Covellan contingent here right now, I'd say about 30,000 fans in this arena are wearing the cyan, red, and gold of our fair homeland.

...

"8th minute, and Jean-Marie Bentacur sends it up to Marco van Ciavatinni for Eshan. He whiffs it into the box but Faddigan sends it up and over the crossbar, so it will be a corner kick for the Echanis. Bentacaur sends the corner in, Baudiello is there to shoot from point blank range, but GREAT REACTION TIME FROM RICHARD HAWKINS WHO DIVES IN FRONT OF IT AND CLUTCHES THE BALL TO HIS BODY! Hawkins now sends it upfield quickly as the Rebels look to counterattack. Halladay, up to Schmidt, Schmidt sends it to Parker Pratt, who shoots from long range just outside the box, but it will be over the crossbar and the South Covello attack is as over as quickly as it began.

...

"17th minute, free kick from just outside the box from Marco van Ciavatinni, he'll send it in, diving deflection by Richard Hawkins! Mercury is there, keeper still on the ground, shoots far post, OH MY! Hawkins raises his right leg and chips it over the bar. It will still be a corner, but now South Covello can step up their defense. Richard Hawkins is amazing. How will the team ever replace him? Anyway, Mercury will take this corner, it comes in, and Faddigan heads it out of the box. Montanari is there, but he sends it over, and it will be a goal kick. We're still scoreless here in Bethelm.

...

"27th minute, free kick from about 40 yards out, to be taken by Parker Pratt. He'll send it up, and finds Sammy Schmidt near the sideline, Schmidt now swings it into the box, Mays and Gautier collide, the ball will roll towards the back line, where Tadero chases it down and clears it, but the ref has already whistled play dead. What's the call? PENALTY KICK! THE REF HAS GIVEN A PENALTY and given a yellow card to Aurélian Gautier. South Covello has a great chance to take the lead!

"It will be Vinnie LaGuche to take the penalty for South Covello. He lines up, goes top right, GOAL SOUTH COVELLO! VINNIE LAGUCHE BURIES IT TO PUT HIS NATION UP 1-0! And his teammates are mobbing him in celebration, but will quickly go back to their positions for the restart. No need for any stupid excessive celebration penalties here. But the fans are chanting "VINNIE! VINNIE!" and it's good for him to hear his real name and not the fake name that the Gregists gave him. And they're singing a silly song about a coconut that they like to sing in order to spite the Gregists. "OLE, OLE OLE OLE, COCONUT, COCONUT!" And they're waving banners with the South Covello flag or with pictures of coconuts, the national fruit."

...

"We're now in the 38th minute, Markovic will send it up to Baudielo, Baudielo tries a quick shot, and Hawkins tips it over the bar for a corner, much to the delight of the South Covellans in attendance. But the Echanis are happy too because they get a corner. And the neutrals are happy because that was a really good play. Isn't it great when everyone's happy? Mercury swings in the corner, but Faddigan clears it well away, and the threat is averted. The coconut chants and the Covello chants come back and everyone's going wild and crazy and is so happy. Wouldn't it be wonderful if South Covello could win the World Cup this time around? It would be so great for this newly free nation, and the whole world would be proud of us.

...

"And there's the halftime whistle, the score South Covello 1, Eshan 0. The Halftime Report Presented By Cocoabo is coming up after these messages.

...

"53rd minute, Henrick passes it up to Yan, who crosses it for Schmidt. South Covello looking to attack here. Schmidt to Mays, Mays tips it back to Pratt, who shoots, but it's tipped over by Gautier so it will be a corner. Pratt to take the corner, it's in the box, Faddigan gets his head on it, but it's tipped over again by Gautier. He's been good today except for conceing the penalty. Pratt will take the corner again, it falls for Mays in the corner of the box, he tries to volley it with his foot, OH OFF THE RIGHT POST AND OUT OF BOUNDS! SO CLOSE TO MAKING IT 2-0! But it's still a one goal game, and the Rebels will need to defend the lead with all their effort and might.

...

"64th minute, oh, and Faddigan concedes the free kick in a dangerous position, about five yards outside the box. Baudielo sends it in, and Mercury is chasing after it, but Faddigan gets there first and heads it away and over the back line, so that will be a corner kick. Mercury now gets set to take the corner kick, he sends it in, leaping save by Richard Hawkins, skying over everybody, and the threat has been averted.

...

"78th minute, counterattack by South Covello, the new sub Nachahalla sends it up to Henrick, Henrick to Yan, Yan sends it to the middle where Pratt might have been if he were still on the field, but in the more defensive 5-3-2 there's nobody there. Race to the ball now, Markovic gets there first but kicks it into the chest of Schmidt and now Mays will run after it and shoot wildly, and Gautier is forced to tip it over. It will be a corner kick for a chance to get a key insurance goal, but first the Rebels will bring on fresh legs, with Trichoff coming off for Nambia Covfefe. And Trichoff gets a round of applause from the South Covellan contingent as he comes off. The Rebels have one substitute left. Here comes the corner now, taken by Mays, Covfefe looks to get on the end of it and head it, but he heads it over. Got into the action quickly, but can't get the header on target and it's still 1-0.

"As the ref signals for four minutes of stoppage, the shot goes over the goal from Eshan, and the South Covellans will make their final substitute. Thomas "Biggy" Faddigan, who looks extremely tired out there, as the 280 pound centreback has played his heart out the entire game, is coming out, and will be replaced by Rufus Hart. And Faddigan gets a standing ovation from this South Covellan crowd. Thomas Faddigan, or Biggy as the fans know him, is one of the top defenders in the world, and the fans' reaction shows it. Hart will come in for the next few mintues.

...

"Deep into stoppage, last chance for Eshan, here's a long volley into the box, Hart heads it away, Clifftopher hoofs it further downfield, there's the final whistle, and South Covello has won their World Cup opener against Eshan! All the players from the bench run onto the field, and the whole team is celebrating in midfield. The mood in the South Covellan part of the stands is sheer jubilation, everyone crying with joy, this is South Covello's first win as a free nation at the World Cup proper. And they're waving the banner and singing the silly song about the coconut and Covello again. This is just glorious, pride, and jubilation!

"We'll be back after these messages for the Postgame Show Presented By CocoMart. And the next South Covello game is in three days time against Tumbra. You can watch it right here, and of course we'll have coverage of all the other World Cup matches too. Back to the studio after this."

[Alasdair I Frosticus]

HOLY EMPIRE HERALD


IT"S OFFICIAL!
Intergalactic Zombie Space Pirates Really Are Cool!

By Anna Comneno

Imperial football fans watching the Holy Empire's dramatic 6-4 come from behind victory over San Jose Thingamawotsits deluged this newspaper with letters declaring 'intergalactic zombie space pirates are cool', but the entire multiverse was waiting with bated breath to discover whether those cute little mundies agreed with us.

But now it's official. Intergalactic zombie space pirates are cool.

The Holy Empire Football Association, State Bureau for Imperial Security, and the Imperial Secretariat of the Purple Inkwell joined forces to poll mundies across different realities in Ordinary Reality to discover their thoughts on this vital and all-consuming (but not, we hope, brain-consuming Ed) issue by polling every contactable sentient mundy (yes, even including the unmoving barnacle things of Sentimoot VI). Methods used included writing polite letters, imposing on individual dreams, writing in laser-lit letters of fire on mountains, electronic mail, knots in rope, script inscribed in sand prior to the wind and water washing away a transient moment in time, and other media appropriate to the technology or status of an individual nation and/or reality.

While the poll is still open, as of this writing 9 vigintillion* mundies (53%) have declared that intergalactic zombie space pirates are cool, only 5 vigintillion misguided mundies (29%) believe that intergalactic zombie space pirates are uncool, while a mere 3 vigintillion mundies (18%) can't make up their minds.

This is a clear victory for the forces of not just coolness, but frostiness. HEFA will henceforth distribute banners at the remaining Imperial football matches in World Cup 79 declaring that:

INTERGALACTIC ZOMBIE SPACE PIRATES ARE FROSTY!

The results of this wonderful, life-affirming (and undead affirming? Ed) poll have also convinced a large number of hitherto reluctant Imperial citizens to acknowledge that the majority of mundies might be cooler than they had previously realised.

Both Holy Empire supporters and neutral mundies will be encouraged to wave these banners at the matches to show their support for the shuffling brain-hungry undead (and the two remaining uninfected chainmal-wearing midfielders).

Do us proud, intergalactic zombie space pirates, and bring the World Cup back to the Imperial City for a record-equalling fifth time!


* All numbers have been rounded to the nearest vigintillion.

[Nephara]

Starblaydia 1-0 Nephara
(4-4-2 / 4-2-3-1) 1 - Tsattalios; 18 - Brymora, 5 - Konoval, 6 - Scharner, 3 - Lohengrin; 7 - Szalai (13 - Fanaiyan 71'), 4 - Misidjan, 15 - Klein (8 - Rosenthal 84'), 11 - Strongbow; 9 - Hawke, 10 - Kendall (14 - Rowan 62')

Everyone knew it wasn't good as soon as he pulled up after the shot. The big man slowed, grimaced, and gently lowered himself to the ground as the physios raced over.
Ursula Rowan was the straight swap. Ursula Rowan was a good player. But Ursula Rowan wasn't the entire reason the Cormorants had played this system.
Heron Kendall, meanwhile, had literally never gone a match in the green shirt without scoring. And her presence was something that their opponents were unlikely to expect...
He knew, of course, that if this didn't work he'd be pilloried from Treason to Brinemouth come the morning papers. But he knew it would work.
it had to fucking work.

An hour had passed; it hadn't worked.
It had, in truth, been a dire match. The Starblaydi had dominated central midfield but Nephara had seriously threatened down the flanks, where Rowena Strongbow was valiantly trying to haul her side across the line. Unfortunately, wherever she dropped a cross to, Palanadu - written off by some for his age before the tournament - had invariably placed himself. Kendall was lost in it all, her cold, mercenary composure tattered and lost, and she had to be hauled off. Rowan came on, geeing up the crowd for a breakthrough that would not come.
Adnan Szalai soon followed, weary after attacking largely alone down the right flank with Brymora solid but overly conservative.

And then, well, when it happened, it happened in a flash. Soronume took up the ball and just had too much time on it, a tiring Rusalka Klein - whose substitute, Circe Rosenthal, was warming up - couldn't close him down quickly enough and he found the pass to thread the needle to Anra Kolmkal, whose first touch was heavy but she was able to nick in just before Konoval could cover, and then Scharner raced in and slid through and...
... well, she got the ball. That was the nicest thing you could say about it. She just took out Kolmkal first, scything through her left calf.
Pawel Zapotowski, the captain, stepped up and lead by example after a fantastic individual match. Tsattalios guessed right, but the ball was in the top corner.
Rosenthal came on, the side rushed forward. Strongbow smashed against the base of the post while Myhill produced an ugly, scrambling but brilliant backpedalling save to deny Hawke, who then had a shot blocked from ten yards. The ball would not go in.
Starblaydia had history. But they were the fourth seeds, and Nephara had needed to win. Brandon, after two years of careful preparation, had just watched ninety minutes of dreary failure at the worst possible moment.
And now, of course, there would have to be an inquest.

The press conference, naturally, was a lot of dross from both sides. The press asked all the wrong questions as Brandon tried to skirt around the truth; the situation was dire, the mathematics for progression were ugly and he was very much in the firing line.
After a lot of Brandon finding ways to casually bring up injuries without directly blaming them, someone finally did ask about the formation switch.
"Valid question," Brandon conceded. "Konrad pulled up, Heron was in electric form, I made the call. Obviously, it hasn't turned out as I'd have liked."
"So springing a sudden change on your players didn't-"
"We've played both in qualifying. We played both in this match. Neither worked. To be honest, lumping this defeat on us playing poorly is pretty damn disrespectful to our opponents who I think would agree that they played excellently."
"So you agree they deserved the win?"
"I don't really see how you can fail to deserve a win. Unless you expect me to dispute the penalty; I don't. The challenge was poor."
"Would you say you showed too much respect to them? Certainly it was less, ahh, physical than against Eura-"
"Too much respect?" Brandon had to restrain himself from spitting on the floor, the old player's habit. "We're all aware of their history, but respect for what? We've won a World Cup this decade,, for fuck's sake"
"But they've won five times as many - there's even players in that squad who can boast-"
"Yeah, yeah, everyone's peddled this 'aristocracy' line long enough. No team can rest on their laurels, ourselves included." Brandon snorted. "Christ... you know, Nephara had an aristocracy of our own, once. If the media knew their history - and what happened, when the uprisings began - maybe they'd know that that isn't the wisest analogy to bring up."
Silence, broken only by Brandon drumming on the desk.
"Now," he went on, quietly. "Realistically, we have to beat Electrum and Ethane in the next two games to be confident of qualification. If we can't face up to quality opposition, injuries or no, then we don't deserve to progress. But I believe in my players, and it'd take a fool to bet against them."

He knew, as the pens furiously scribbled, that this set Nephara up for the fall. The big, bruising, uncompromisingly physical opposing force who would stop at nothing for victory. The matches against Eura had pretty much secured the Cormorants' place as one of the neutrals' least favourite sides. Pretty much everyone outside a green shirt would want Electrum and Ethane to smash Nephara.
But if they just won their next two - three? four? five? ... six? - none of it mattered.

[Turori]

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

Cocoa-bo has been taking its now-famous marketing campaign, "Everything's Better With Cocoa-bo" on the road along with the Turori National Team, bringing to bus stops, digital screens and social outlets the image of the host countries flag and backstory 'altered' to show how it would be "Better with Cocoabo"... While they could simply take the Cocoa-bo campaign to the 9 nations that the Turori National Team would be competing against during the World Cup 79 finals, that prospect seemed both overly exclusionary due to the number of potential nations that would be left out in such a campaign, and somewhat fruitless, as some of the marketing dollars would not be well spent in the more uninteresting locales the Turori National Team, through no fault of their own, would end up during the Qualifying Cycle... such as U-62.

So the folks at Cocoa-bo decided to leave it up to a poll to see what the next nation that would be "Better with Cocoa-bo" would be!

The first round of voting permitted participants to put forth as many nations as they wish for selection. Any nations which were not put forth as a future target for being Better with Cocoabo, as well as any nations which only received a single nomination for being Cocoa-bo'd were eliminated from consideration.

The second round of voting contained 24 nations and the number that could be put forth for further consideration was limited. Half of the nations would be eliminated and put forth into a more serious round of voting which would include on-site visits by representatives from Cocoa-bo to begin to piece together a plan should that nation ultimately selected to be betterified by means of Cocoa-bo.

After adding the budding nation of South Covello and the similarly harsdhipped nation of 95X to the proceedings, the third and final round of ballot reduction polling was able to begin. 14 nations were under consideration but just five nations would survive the final cut and move on to the final consideration round.

Of those five nations, South Covello, Starblaydia and the Equestrian States were selected as potential sites for Cocoa-bo expansion with the Cocoa-bo putting all their immediate focus on the relationship with the South Covellans.

The Final Five nations under consideration - Cassadaigua, the Equestrian States, The newly risen South Covello, upon the former lands ruled by the not-so-mighty Gregory, Northwest Kalactin and Starblaydia were all toured by representatives of Cocoa-bo. Making the cut, however, would be the Equestrian States and Starblaydia, the only two Atlantian Oceania native locations to remain under consideration by the Cocoa-bo team. Joining them would be Cassadaigua, Northwest Kalactin and finally the in-flux situation as developing in the Former land of the Almighty Gregory - or South Covello.

Full marketing plans for each country including identifying locations for pop-up delectable stands and appropriate places for Poster and Flag campaigns to be distributed. Of course, the marketing department rue'd the fact that 95X was not one of the finalists, as the marketing plan in 95X would have been the most obvious, simple plan they had ever written.

Once the Marketing Department had their say, Location scouting was completed and the art department drafted up their designs, the polling was factored in. While the scout team was looking for one, maybe two target nations for final consideration, in the end three nations were found to be virtually inseparable in the final consideration. Northwest Kalactin, while receiving first consideration in some categories, also received last consideration in more categories than any other nation and was hence eliminated from final considerations. In a quite opposite scenario, Cassadaigua received virtually no last considerations, but also virtually no first considerations in any category of rating. Without any obvious first considerations, Cassadaigua was also eliminated. That left the Equestrian States, South Covello and Starblaydia. While South Covello received the most first considerations, the Equestrian States and Starblaydia received the most first and second considerations.

The scout team was unable to differentiate between thre three in the final consideration stage and decided to move forth with a plan to support the possibility of making all three nations 'Better with Cocoa-bo'. The Marketing and Expansion team quickly focused in on one location, however: South Covello.

Studying the market more, the economic team determined that there was a void in the standard purpose goods market in South Covello. International foods, non-traditional foods, heck - even what most would consider traditional foods and basic staples were not widely available. If Cocoa-bo could enter into an agreement with a Turorian distributor, they could go into a joint venture in South Covello as a Wholesale or Discount retailer. Such a model would also allow a greater margin of error by the Cocoa-bo team in estimating the supplies that would need to be sent to South Covello as any overstock could simply be resold at the retailer location.

So the team at Cocoa-bo got on the horn. They made agreements with all the biggest companies in the Vilitan Cove region. The re-factored Covellan Cocoabo Consortium was formed. CoCoCo worked with the commerce secretary of South Covello, a Mr. Matthew Farley, to establish the details, any restrictions or allowances that would be granted into the new economic opportunity for the Turorian firm.

Luckily for the CoCoCo, there were no restrictions initially sought and many allowances implied. CoCoCo worked with haste to begin setting up shop in South Covello.

The pop-up Cocoa-bo confectionary stands were the first to arrive. Shortly after, CoCoCo had begun to snap up land and old storage units previously used to store the personnel effects of Lord Gregory himself to create a system of warehouses that would be suitable to stage and disperse raw goods and materials throughout the Covellan state to new CoCoCo affiliated establishments.

Coco-mart was the first permanent fixture location set up. While it was a work in progress, it laid the groundwork of what to expect. A Cocoa-bo stand was obviously co-located within the Coco-Mart. It was not until the first permanent Cocoa-bo establishment was set up, however, did the locals really get a look at the new flare and openness permitted by the new regime.

To signal the opening of their flagship Cocoa-bo location, the director of the CoCoCo had the honor of raising the flag to fly above the Cocoa-bo and officially kick off the new "Better with Cocoa-bo" campaign, directly tying the fate of former leader Lord Gregory with the arrival of Cocoa-bo into the lands of South Covello. The flag went up to minor shock and overwhelming excitement of all those in attendance.

With their flagship locations for both Cocoa-bo and Coco-mart now operational, the CoCoCo worked to get additional supplied into the hands of the citizens of South Covello. Standard goods and services that CoCoCo needed to run its own operations in country were imported three-fold with the excess supply immediately turned around and offered with a small added profit to the citizens. Many such goods were sold through the Coco-mart but other locations began to appear under the generic "CoCoCo" branding such as gas stations, electronics and technology distribution and repair centers and a garden center. It was a great opportunity that benefitted both the CoCoCo and the citizens of South Covello and it was off to a fast start, with CoCoCo giving back to the people by turning some of their profits around to ensure the citizens of South Covello would be able to receive beam-back coverage of South Covello's participation in the World Cup 79 finals in Ceni and Drawkland - of course superimposing the Cocoa-bo and Coco-mart brands throughout the telecast where appropriate...

[Schottia]

A Non-Religious Classical Festive Song

Part One.

The longest night.

'What do you mean you're going to book into a hotel.' Ross Renshaw seemed bitterly disappointed, but he had little time to dwell on it. The snow was falling fast - vast flakes the size of old pennies - and the footballer was forced to use all his concentration to keep the car on the road. It had not stopped snowing since the moment they had got off the plane, and the roads were already getting close to hazardous, as Schottians braved the elements to complete the last of their Mid-Winter* preparation.

'I mean, it's not exactly like I'm the paragon of festive cheer.' Connie had her head pressed back against the head rest, eyes closed. It was only midday on the Longest Night* but the snow was falling in such great sheets, that it felt like late evening. 'I don't think your parents would take kindly to having their bathroom door booted of its fucking hinges either.' On the plane over Vilita, Connie had had a panic-attack in the toilet after struggling with the lock. In her anxiety she had turned and kicked the door in, hitting a flight attendant square on the nose and almost having the flight diverted.

'The lock in the bathroom is nice and easy,' Ross reassured her, as her peered through the windscreen. 'From what I remember anyway. And it wasn't your fault, it was just your claustrophobia, it could happen to anyone.'

Sometimes Connie wasn't sure whether Ross was reassuring her or himself in these situations. Trying to convince himself that his girlfriend's idiosyncrasies were normal, and that he wasn't dating someone who was fucking insane. They had been together for about six months now, but their saving grace was perhaps the fact that they had only actually seen each other twice. Living in different regions wasn't idea in a normal relationship, but it their case it probably helped. The first date had gone without a hitch; Connie had managed to summon all her energy and act like a normal person for the length of a movie. She wasn't great at sitting in one place, but she found that if she concentrated, really hard, she could stop her legs from twitching. They hadn't managed to have sex yet; in fact they hadn't really engaged in any form of affection, other than a small peck on the cheek at the airport. Connie found intimacy (when there were genuine emotions at stake) vey hard. Sleeping with a total stranger, or someone you despised was easy - when it was one of your only friends however - it was a little daunting. This was something she'd hoped to put right in Schottia, until Ross dropped the meeting the parents bombshell...

'This snow, wow!' Ross had been faced to slow down to about thirty kmph. 'Does it make you feel all Mid-Wintery?' He turned the radio up a little, filling the car with some sickeningly tacky festive song.

'No. I fucking hate Mid-cunting-Winter.' Honestly, why would anyone take tattooed, half Quebecois girl, with the temperament of a honey badger home to meet their parents? They were probably really normal people. They didn't have the degree in psychology required to have a conversation with her. Connie would give it about five minutes before they were suitably horrified. 'Look, stop the fucking car.'

'Fffff...' Ross inhaled sharply through his teeth. 'I think we are almost there.' He was clearly pretending he hadn't heard. Looking at the state of the roads, it was a toss up between what was more dangerous, losing control of the car, or losing control of Connie. It had been a four hour drive from Handon to where Ross' parents lived in West Belker, a secluded region of north Schottia. The landscape had a remoteness that filled Connie with dread, and the village they had just arrived in had a quaintness that filled her heart with disperse.

'Stop the fucking car! STOP THE FUCKING CAR!' Connie screamed at such a pitch that it seemed to have the desired affect, as the car pulled up by what might have been a pavement somewhere under thirty centimetres of snow.

'Okay, we are more or less there.' Ross went to place a hand on her leg, but seeing the tension, decided otherwise. 'Our house is just the other side of the park.' There was a long pause, while both footballer waited for Connie's muscles to relax a little.

'I'm sorry, Ross, I'm sorry, but I just can't do this.' With a deep breath she managed to relax her posture, finally. 'This is just the combination of three things I fucking hate, people, meeting people, and Mid-Winter.'

Ross seemed bitterly disappointed, but he said nothing. Being disappointed was probably something he would have to get used to. Connie knew that he liked Mid-Winter, and she probably should have said something before now, but the joy in the air had finally worn her down. 'It's aright, don't worry.' Ross said at last, and the poor man looked genuinely heartbroken. Connie had broken him, and it had only taken three meetings. 'Do you want me to drive you back to Handon. I can turn the radio off?'

She shook her head. 'No it's fine, I'll... just point me in the direction of a hotel or something.' Ross tried to take her hand but she slapped it away, with a crack that nearly brought a tear to his eye. 'You can pick me up after all this crap is over.'

The only place to stay in Ross' village was a small inn, just on the other side of the green. Connie had insisted in walking there herself, and by the time she reached the building, she was freezing and soaked to the skin. On the way, a group of kids had thrown a snowball in her direction, prompting her to chase down the ringleader and stuff snow down his shirt until he started to cry -- probably a good thing indeed, that Ross wasn't there to see it.

The Breawall Inn was an eighteenth century building, with rough stone walls, and old pub windows. As she approached, the only light seemed to be issuing from the public bar at the side, and the sound of gentlemen's voices, along with the smell of stale beer, carried through the still air. With any luck the bar would be open over Mid-Winter, and Connie could just spend the two days utterly inebriated in the corner. Key to getting through difficult situations was often being so smashed that you remembered none of it.

As she approached the front door the snow suddenly stopped, and the place was filled with a magical and eerie silence. Not a sole was in sight, and other than the yellow light that poured out across the fresh snow from the pub doorway, there was no light that could be seen. As Connie went to place her hand on the door handle, she hesitated; the ornate brass head it was fashioned into seemed to bear a remarkable resemblance to Claire Hanson's late father. Connie screwed up her eyes; it must have been the medication she was on, it had been playing with her mind all year. Sure enough, when she inspected the knob more closely, it was in fact round, smooth, and without pattern. Unnerved, Connie pressed on and entered the establishment.

The room Connie had been allocated was small, musty, and badly in need of modernisation. It remedied her of her Granny's spare room, right down to the small electric heater in the corner. Her holdall was still in the back of Ross' car, so she was forced to don an old dressing which gown hung over the back of the showroom door, while she tried dry her clothes in front of the heater. The room was cold, and she pulled the dressing gown tightly round her, as her skin broke out in goose bumps. She had asked the landlord, just to send up some dinner and a bottle of wine, having been in little mood to sign autographs. Dinner was a brown looking piece of battered haddock, frozen chips and a wilted and unimaginative salad. Had her manager known she was eating crap like this, he would have had a fit.

Connie inspected the food with suspicion, turning the fish over twice before deciding it was edible. She ate slowing and with little enthusiasm, washing down the dry and overcooked cuisine with swigs of wine straight from the bottle, wiping the excess grease from her mouth with the sleeve of her hotel dressing gown. It was now dusk, and outside the voices of young people singing non-religious classical festive songs drifted into Connie silent sanctuary.

'Bah!' Connie muttered, before downing a six-glug mouthful of wine. The more she thought about it, this whole sorry mess was Mid-Winter's fault. Had it not clouded Ross' judgement, making him think that this wild goose chase was a good idea. If it had just been any other day, they would probably be sat in a bar somewhere enjoying a little time before the World Cup got underway.

Connie left her plate on the floor. She had eaten about half the fish, a third of the chips, and none of the salad. She adjusted and then retied her dressing gown before picking up the bottle of wine, and carrying it to her bed. There was an old CRT television sat atop the chest of drawers, but after several minutes of trying to get it to work, the Polaris striker had to conclude that it wasn't working. 'Come - the fuck - on!' She snapped, slapping the remote against her thigh in anger.

That worked. She thought to herself, as the screen began to crackle with a white noise that wasn't too different from the snow outside. It didn't last long though, as the image soon began to flicker, closely followed by the ceiling light.

'Fucksake!' Connie jumped out of her bed and tried the light switch, as a power cut plunged the room into darkness. 'Typical.' The only light in the room came from the deep-orange glow of the old electric fire. Electric fire? Connie rubbed her eyes again, it had helped earlier when she had started seeing things. She really needed to report this to the doctors, she didn't want to start hallucinating footballs in the middle of a game. The room was now silent, with the hum coming from the electric heater seeming to grow louder, projecting long shadows across the wall. Connie tightened her dressing gown once more, as the air temperature felt suddenly cold, the frozen vapour of her breath now visible.

'WhooOOOoooh....'

'AAARRRGGGHHH!!!'

Connie's blood ran cold, as out of nowhere, a figure appeared in the corner of her room. The bottle of wine shattered against the wall, the red liquid running down and sinking into the carpet. She aimed directly for his head, but to her utter horror the bottle seemed to fly through him and connect with the wall behind. The room was now colder than the night outside as the apparition walked towards her.

'What the fuck are you?' She spluttered, wielding the bedside lamp like a baseball bat. Connie had quickly lept up onto the bed to get some extra height, should it come down to a straight fight.

'Were...' The spirit answered, and it slowly came into focus. 'What were you, I think you mean?'

Connie clenched her teeth and took a swing for the spirit's head, but once again failed to hit anything solid. 'WHO WERE YOU?!' She yelled with frustration, as tears of fright began to run down her cheeks.

'In life I was Derek Hanson.' The ghost answered, as his features became more apparent. 'Claire's father. I have a feeling you don't believe in me Connie...'

'Believe in you?' Connie continued to brandish the lamp, her knuckles clenched white with terror. Her hair was wild, her teeth bared like some wolf, her chest heaved with adrenalin. ' Believe in you? You're not fucking real. I've been seeing shit all day, and I know fucking well that it's that cocktail of shit the doctors have me on. So just fuck off so I can go to sleep.' This must have been why you weren't supposed to drink on that medication.

'I really don't mind what you believe, but know this: I'm only here to pull you back from the brink.' The ghost of Mr Hanson looked her up and down, before shaking his head. 'Although, judging by this the spirits might have their work cut out...'

'Judging by what?'

'Judging by the state of ye! Christ!' The spirit shook his head in disapproval. 'See if you were my daughter...' He pointed a transparent finger in her direction. 'Look at ye standing there with yer dressing gown hung open like some hussy...' He shook his head. '... and imagine lying in bed drinking wine from the bloody bottle.'

Realising her breasts were on display, Connie quickly retied the dressing gown. 'If you are real, why the fuck would you want to haunt me? I'm shit to haunt.'

'Well judging by this reaction I'd say your actually quite funny to spook.' Mr Hanson's ghost smiled. 'Last week I had to haunt some young boy in Lammerton, he wasn't even scared, he just tried to catch me in a bloody shoebox.' The apparition smiled at the memory. 'But anyway, you're getting me sidetracked. I'm just here to deliver a message.'

'Oh?'

'Aye. You're going to be haunted by three spirits - tonight - and It's importing that ye fucking listen to all three of the cunts.'

'Three! Why?'

'Cause ye're a miserable cunt Connie.' Mr Hanson took as seat in the wicker chair in the corner of the room. 'Ye just go around bringing everyone down, and it's going to need to stop. Look at poor Ross! That poor laddie canae dae anything right.'

'Well if I'm a miserable cunt, how is being haunted by three fucking ghosts going to cheer me up!'

'Not ask me, I don't pretend to understand the science behind it, maybe some form of shock therapy.' Mr Hanson shook his head. 'I'm just here as a friendly face to deliver the message; I have it on good authority that it works though.'

'It won't work on me, I'll fucking panic and punch someone.'

'Ye'll be fine, lass.' Mr Hanson sighed. 'Take it from an old cantankerous bastard like me: if you spend your life being a being a miserable cunt, ye just look back on it with nothing but regret when ye'r up there in Heaven. Just meet the spirits, and hear them out.'

Connie loosened her grip on the lamp at long last. 'So there is a heaven? What's it like?' She suddenly found herself filled with a sense of awe and wonder, and not in the least bit afraid. If heaven were real then this changed everything...

'Heaven..?' Mr Hanson answered as if it were the most normal thing he'd ever been asked. 'Aye, it's alright. The beer was a wee bit flat the other night though, I wasn't too impressed... The angel who normally pulls the pints was off, and they had this young angel in, I don't think they'll last long, they've not got the right attitude... But generally it's fine.' He shook himself out of the memory. 'Anyway... I need to be off. Expect the first ghost at one o'clock... and... just... Look, just stick in, and you'll be fine.'

Connie had a thousand questions she wanted to ask, but before she could untie her tongue, the ghost was up out of his seat and had drifted through the wall... no doubt off to finish the pint he had sitting waiting for him in heaven.

*Schottia's predominantly Atheist population celebrate Mid-Winter on the 23rd of December rather than Christmas. They have a lot of the same traditions as Christian nations, except it's all strictly non-religious. The Longest Night refers to the 22nd of December, the Schottic equivalent of Christmas Eve.

[Brenecia]

Brenecia 2 - 1 Vilita
(4-1-4-1) 1 - Woodgate (c); 2 - Carrack, 5 - Scrivener (22 - Bradden 87'), 6 - Szubanski, 3 - Quill; 4 - Gryphon (c); 15 - Crowther (7 - Trevelyan 68'), 8 - Hartsdown (21 - Skorupska 73'), 16 - Drover, 13 - Keohane; 9 - Riordan
Goals: Keohane 23', Trevelyan 90+1'

He was tired of being called a spent force.
He was tired of being shelved for the fresh, new young thing.
Most of all?
He was tired of this fucking goal drought.

Squire Trevelyan sat on the bench, more in hope than anticipation of making a difference. Of course, he wasn't out there - this was the toughest opponent the Patriots had to face, so the bright young thing, Crowther, was out there in his stead.
Some might say - did say - he was lucky to be there at all. Others reasoned, well, there was nobody else, was there? Not that the manager hadn't tried, as was her prerogative, but Hamilton wasn't up to the level and young Cu 'Who?' Roi Garrard wasn't ready. So here he was. The standby.
He could see a lot from this position. Brenecia, set up in their firm, sturdy back four, the extra shield of the double pivots Gryphon and Hartsdown, three hard-pressing attacking midfielders and up front, Griffin Riordan, someone who had to do all the dirty work. Other nations picked from a wealth of stars, but the Patriots were a squad of journeymen scattered to the ends of the earth, from Schottia through Pasarga to Vilita and everywhere in between. Just two players from the 23 played at home - the A-League knew its place, to develop and then ship out.
Straight from the kick-off, the Jungle Cats pounced. They lined up aggressively, they were used to getting their way and they were very much the better side on paper. World champions just two cycles ago, victory was fresh in the memory. They charged and the Patriots pulled back, sponged pressure, drilled to the point where they could make the manic job of putting out fifty fires at once look routine. But it was just that - appearance. And when any one slip -
And there it went, the flicked pass to Torerun who just gently eased past an unbalanced Carrack...
- could lead to disaster -
Torerun fired across the heart of goal, Tarala and Scrivener both went sliding in for it...
- there was nothing you could do but pray.
Tarala could only hit it into Woodgate's chest, and the goalkeeper reacted quickly to fall on the rebound.
So went the match, the Jungle Cats dominating possession but not quite having the final ball, when it happened.
Just like Catherine Bardsley said it would.

It had been drilled into their ears. "You have to score first!" Bardsley had demanded. "If they get the first goal - and we can't bank on them failing to break through - then we stretch out and they kill us on the break! No... we have to score first. Even if it means taking some risks."
And she'd glanced meaningfully at Keohane, who liked risks. Of course she did, she was an Islander. And she took that to heart, having already threatened early when she took the ball past Cjinder and just...
... kept...
... going...
... and should have cut back to an open Riordan but shot into the side netting, instead.
This time, she would do better. This time, when she beat Cjinder, she cut inside, and...
Well.
Trevelyan couldn't actually see, since Gethin Quill had come cantering up in support and blocked his vision from the bench, but after a few seconds? Everyone was cheering. The hows and whys barely seemed to matter by that point.

And for the next hour or so, counting the interval, basically nothing happened. Irritatingly from a Brenecian perspective, the Vilitans weren't willing to play into their hands. They kept tight at the back - and Cjinder got his act together, snuffing out any more from Keohane - while retaining pressure up front.
Eventually, it told. Like anyone watching knew, it just took one slip. Nobody expected it to be Catherine Gryphon, with a simple mishit pass. It was meant to go long to Crowther down the flank but the quietly exceptional Devmiko stretched out a boot to intercept it. He couldn't get onto the rebound, but Aquafek and Hartsdown clattered each other trying to get to it and suddenly it was just Yahaya and a world of space ahead of him. He rushed forward, held off the chasing Gryphon, slid in Tarala who with his first touch played Tzufarei in-
This time, prayer didn't do the trick as the Eastal Lunar man lashed the ball past Woodgate.
And so, both sides went back to the default. Cautious aggression from Vilita, and tiring discipline from Brenecia. But the gaps were starting to show, and something needed to change.
Caught up in the moment, not even Trevelyan thought it would be him.

Brenecia were tiring, and the cautions were mounting up as the tackles came in late and wild, and the referee wised up to their repeated professional fouls. Trevelyan picked up one himself almost immediately after hacking wildly at the ball and getting Torerun instead.
Not the most auspicious start, he had to admit.
Still, he was doing what counted. Pressing high and hard, waiting for that opening to come...
... and it did.
Gryphon, inevitably, started it, picking the substitute Chamya's pocket, looking at the gap where Sander Balliol usually was before hitting a long, raking diagonal ball down the wing. And there was Keohane, nipping out in front of Cjinder to get it, but this time the defender clung close to her and she had to spin away, saw Devmiko coming and slid it across to Gethin Quill, who ran forward into a world of space and looked up and saw Riordan, marked down heavily by two spare defenders.
And Trevelyan, charging into the box like a possessed man, beelining for that far post.
Really, it was all in the cross. It was a perfect, looping parabola, and Trevelyan barely had to address his trajectory at all. Januaa, too late, backpedalled to try and challenge him but the THWACK as the leather hit the forehead was picked up by the mics.
And the rattling of the posts as the ball slammed into the back of the net, Canopii stranded. 2-1 in injury time, and somehow, with a miserly 27% possession, the Patriots had done it when and where it counted.
Football throws up the strangest heroes. Sometimes, it's even the long-time national team stalwart with over a hundred caps.
Wild, right?